The Last Dainv

Chapter 285

TD Tower lobby on Monday in the afternoon. People in business suits came in and out of the building like they were all important. Gale was sure they were, otherwise, they wouldn't be wearing suits or on their phones all the time. Only people who were important were always on their phones.

And here he was, standing completely lost in the lobby.

He still hadn't gotten a keycard yet from Ollie or the place he called 'Human Resource Department,' which awfully sounded like a place filled with men behind desks.

Finance class had just ended a couple of hours ago. Professor's name? He didn't even remember. He had drowned out the class completely just thinking about trying to get the 3 criminal bosses. Thankfully, Mia, Andrew, and Jacob all understood his predicament.

Jacob called it something like 'the responsibility of being the hero in the dark.' That didn't sound too awful coming from Jacob's mouth, though. At least he didn't cringe.

One thing he regretted was not being able to join them for milkshakes at Shake Shack. He only heard about them in books. Oh, how he wanted to try them so much.

But alas!

There were more important events happening in the city of Toronto.

Walking up to the guard's desk, he tapped the table.

The guard looked up at him, an eyebrow raised. "It's you."

"Hi."

"You good, kid?"

"I'm here to see Oliver Glory." Gale paused. "Again."

The guard leaned forward. "You're really here to see Mr. Glory?"

Gale nodded.

The guard's eyes darted around. Leaning in while covering one side of his mouth, he said, "You, uh... think you could give him a word about me? A good word?"

"A good word?" Gale suppressed himself from tilting his head. Best not to signal to this man that he didn't know what that meant.

"Yeah. You know." The guard glanced left and right again. "Give him a good word about me. For real. And I'll do you a favour and put you up there."

Put him up to the floor he wanted? That sounded like a good deal. A good word for being put upward in the elevator was definitely a deal in his favour that dad would even approve of.

"Yes. I'll definitely give him a good word." Gale looked at his nameplate. "Bernard."

Bernard smiled. "Alright. Let's get you up there." He typed something on his pc and then pressed enter really loud. "Go to elevator C. And just press 52. That should take you to his office."

But wasn't Ollie's floor at 58? Gale nodded anyways and went to elevator C. Waving to Bernard, he said, "I'll give him a good word. Trust me!"

"Thanks bro!" the guard said from behind him.

A couple of steps of walking, Gale arrived in front of elevator C. The elevator dinged and opened. Entering it, he imitated what Ollie did the first time he went to floor 58. He pushed in a tiny minuscule amount of essence into the glass panel, and that was it.

The elevator closed and started moving up floors until it reached 58. Once the elevator arrived, it dinged open once more, and out he went.

But what opened was not what he expected. Everywhere were lined cardboard boxes of varying sizes that held anywhere from a small ketchup container to large furniture. Some were labeled with FRAGILE or THIS SIDE UP.

Beside the elevator he came out from, an elevator was kept open with stuff inside that looked like construction materials.

All the way at the end of the corridor, the glass walls that used to separate Ollie's office from the hallway were gone. In their place, dark wooden panels had been installed as if the room belonged to someone older and richer.

A man opened the door and walked through the hallway, then past Gale, carrying a stack of dark wooden planks on his shoulder. The man didn't even give him a glance and went toward the elevator, entering the one currently in service.

What the hell was happening here?

Walking through the hallway littered with boxes, wooden dust, and other miscellaneous items, Gale arrived at the dark wooden door. Pushing through, he saw Nathan and Sarah by the same desk Ollie had. Another dark wooden desk had floral designs, much more organic compared to when he had a sterile-like office.

As Gale looked around, he saw the office had transformed into a cozy-looking office. The floor-to-ceiling windows were partly blocked by plush thick red curtains that were tied in the middle. Large potted plants that went up to chest height sat by the corners and around Ollie's desk.

A small conference table sat in one corner of the room. Not a proper boardroom setup, just a round table surrounded by six armchairs. Plush, comfortable-looking armchairs with leather upholstery. The kind that made Gale wanna take a nap in.

Most curious of all, they had taken away Ollie's drink cabinet.

"What's happening here?" Gale asked.

Nathan looked up first. "Gale! Good to see you."

Sarah turned as well. "A renovation, of course. Out with the old, in with the new."

This place now looked like something that was more for old people looking for a cozy life rather than the old robotic tone that Ollie had going on. In fact, those pots that held the plants had a floral design on them that looked strikingly similar to the main desk that screamed of antique.

"How is this new?" Gale asked.

"Tsk tsk tsk," Sarah said. "It's all about the organic feng shui. Ollie asked for more liveliness in his office, and I get to design it." She gestured broadly at the space. "Looks great, doesn't it?"

"Why did you take away the drinks?" Gale asked immediately. "Is there apple juice still around?"

Nathan shook his head. "Ollie asked us to remove it. And no, there's no apple juice up here anymore. Hold on, there wasn't even apple juice in the old one."

"No way. I saw some bottles that had an apple on them."

Nathan and Sarah narrowed their eyes at him.

"There's some in Lab 7," Sarah said. "Floor 52. They keep snacks down there for the researchers."

Right. Lab 7. They even had coffee in there. The naive days that he thought coffee was supposed to be bitter.

"What are you doing here anyway?" Sarah asked, setting down a tablet on the desk.

"I need to talk to Ollie. Something about three criminals in Toronto."

"Are you talking about the idiot trio?"

"The what?"

"The idiot trio." Sarah chuckled. "The three morons fighting over the scraps the Lions and Ollie left behind."

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from NovelBin. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

"Yeah," Gale said. "Bonnie, Yuxuan Lin, and Sombra."

"Well, sucks for you." Sarah pulled out her phone and started tapping at the screen. "Ollie's on an extended vacation."

"Vacation? Since why?"

"Don't know. Didn't ask." Sarah didn't look up from her phone as she typed. "Something about stress management and mental health recovery."

Gale's phone buzzed the moment Sarah put her phone away.

[416-8214-62478: 65 E Liberty Street, unit 808, buzz code 9999]

"Go to that place," Sarah said. "Ollie will be there."

"His apartment?"

"Yup. His one and only apartment."

"Thanks," Gale said, turning to leave.

"And Gale?" Nathan called out.

Gale paused at the door.

"The buzz code is 9999. Don't forget it. The system locks you out after three failed attempts."

"Got it. 9999."

Four nines. Easy to remember. Just like the name Bernard. He'd definitely give Ollie a good word.

Pushing through the wooden double doors and navigating through the cardboard landscape, he waited for the elevator to arrive after tapping the down button.

65 E Liberty Street, unit 808, buzz code 9999.

He didn't know where that was. But fear not, gmaps was here. Pulling out his phone, he typed the exact address and found it in a place called 'Liberty Village'.

It would take around 30 minutes by TTC, and most of the time, the TTC was late. It'd probably take an hour to get there. If he ran, it would probably take him 8 minutes at most if he used Distort to conceal himself. People would just think it was the wind that passed by.

Running it was.

Gale stepped into the elevator and pressed the lobby button. The doors closed.

*

Gale deactivated Distort as he slowed to a stop in the middle of a street. Looking around, he was definitely lost.

This place was called a village, but it was definitely not a village. There were no farms. No wells. No dirt roads or wooden fences. Just condos and apartments and coffee shops and people walking their tiny dogs that couldn't possibly hurt a chicken, basically useless against bears. Bears were like a 100 times bigger than a chicken and had way more muscle mass with even bigger teeth, while chickens didn't even have teeth, while those tiny ball-like fluffy dogs were...

Cute.

Gale wanted to pet it, but the woman pulled her dog away at his stare. Bears were cute too after a couple of forced domestications.

Pulling up his phone, he pulled out the notepad. He typed in, 'Will they allow me to get a pet bear? the best person to ask is probably Lily since she had the most common sense.'

Note taking, done.

Regardless of the dog, Gale couldn't believe that he was lied to by gmaps. This was no village. The only reason why he was able to find this village was due to Erin's faint signature that tugged at Presence Between's tendrils.

Why was Erin here?

That question could wait. At least he had a direction now.

Following the signature, Gale found the building. 65 E Liberty Street. A mid-rise apartment with a glass entrance and an intercom panel beside the door.

Why was Erin inside Ollie's building?

The question could no longer wait. He'd ask the moment he saw her.

He typed in the buzz code. 9999.

The intercom crackled.

"Who is it?" Ollie's voice came through the speaker, groggy and tired.

"It's Gale."

"Gale?"

"Yes. Gale Hathie. My mom and dad are Faeren and Reyler Hathie."

Ollie didn't reply immediately for a couple of seconds. Then, "Right. Yeah. Come up."

The door clicked open.

Infiltration, success. Gale pushed through and entered the lobby. It looked like a normal apartment, not the fancy condo he was expecting from someone who owned Glorious Glory's Bazaar.

Brown carpet. Dim lighting. Plenty of outdoor light coming through the windows, but no fancy chandeliers or marble floors. Just a small lobby with a couple of worn armchairs and a fake plant in the corner.

He could tell by licking it with Presence Between's tendrils. Definitely a useless decoration if it provided no oxygen to the surrounding area.

He tapped the up button on the elevator, and the doors opened immediately. Stepping in, he pressed 8 and rode it up.

The hallway on the eighth floor was narrow, with beige walls and a single dim light fixture that looked like a ball every 2 or 3 meters. It wasn't even.

Gale stopped in front of 808 and raised his hand to knock.

A blue outline formed on the door and it swung open.

"Come in." Ollie stood by what looked like the living room. Behind him was a flat screen TV, playing a colourful 3D family movie.

Gale entered the apartment, taking in the view of his friend's living lifestyle. A combined living room and kitchen, with a single hallway leading to what was probably a bedroom and bathroom. The furniture was minimal, but there were a number of picture frames all around the walls, on the fridge, and by the end table of the sofa.

And that's where he saw Erin, cross-legged, floating, eating a bowl of popcorn while watching the TV.

"Erin, why are you here?" Gale asked.

"I am providing Oliver Glory with a request for proposal," Erin said, not turning away from the colourful penguins. "The Rift Aperture System requires manufacturing. His resources are adequate for the task."

Ollie collapsed onto the other end of the couch. "She's been here since this morning."

"Why not use the Ann's resources?" Gale asked Erin.

"I have already incurred significant debt to the Ann family." Erin finally looked away from the TV, her emotionless eyes meeting Gale's. "I prefer not to accumulate additional obligations. Furthermore, Lady Esther is unwilling to provide assistance for reasons that cannot be stated."

"Can't you just make it yourself? You made all the equipment for the group in the Tomb."

"Enough of these meaningless questions." Erin's voice remained flat, but there was an edge to it. "I do not possess a Star Forge in this realm. To create the final version of the Rift Aperture System, I require resources as vast as 'Glory Industries' can provide. The prototypes I constructed in the Tomb were temporary solutions with limited functionality."

Gale turned to Ollie. "Isn't this what you wanted though?"

"What?" Ollie asked, caught off guard.

"Project Threshold. You wanted the resources it could bring." Gale sat down in the middle of the couch between the two. "If Erin can make a fully working product, that's exactly what you were looking for."

Ollie sighed. He leaned back into the couch, his head tilting toward the ceiling. "I appreciate Erin's knowledge. But there are things I'm dealing with right now."

"Like what?"

Ollie's eyes drifted to the wall.

Gale followed his gaze.

A picture frame hung there. Inside was a photo of two people. Ollie, looking younger and happier, with his arm around a woman with long dark hair and a bright smile.

"Is that your...?" Gale started.

"Yeah," Ollie whispered. "It is."

Gale didn't know what to say. Especially since he didn't have a beef jerky in his wallet anymore. Nothing he could say could provide comfort better than food.

The silence stretched for a bit. A couple of seconds, maybe four or 5.

"Your time to recover is hereby granted," Erin said, floating the bowl of popcorn onto the coffee table. "However, if you delay for too long, there are more lives at stake than just your own emotional well-being. From the little data I've gathered, it suggests an increase in rift openings year over year."

Ollie didn't answer.

If it's one thing Gale knew, it was grieving someone who had left him, truly special people deserve that time to mourn. Standing up, he turned to Erin. "Ollie's dealing with enough right now. We should go. Let's not bother him."

Moving towards the door, he said, "Sorry for intruding."

Erin followed him closely, however, Ollie's voice stopped both of them. "Wait."

They stopped.

"What did you want to talk about?" Ollie asked.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. Distraction helps."

Gale turned back around. "It's about the three criminals. Bonnie, Yuxuan Lin, and Sombra. Do you know anything about them?"

"I do." Ollie sat up. "But I already contracted it out to Marine to handle."

"Marine?" Last thing Gale recalled, she was part of the Blue Witches.

"They're taking care of the cleanup." Ollie smiled weakly. "Probably best you don't get involved."

"Why not?"

"Because it's too low level for you." Ollie laughed. "You'd be taking money out of the Blue Witches' pockets. They need the contract more than you need the experience."

Oh well, damn. Gale didn't even think about it like that. If these guys were too low level, then Marine and her witches can probably take care of the threat. But just in case...

"Can the Blue Witches handle it, though?" he asked.

"You've got a lot to learn about Aur still." Ollie's smirk. "Trust me. It's better you get some more rift experience rather than dealing with street-level petty crime."

"The short one is correct," Erin said.

Ollie's eye twitched at 'short one'.

"Young lamb," Erin continued, "we are to depart to a rift in the Northwest Territories. A leisure rift."

"A leisure rift?" Gale frowned. "Why a leisure rift?"

"From my analysis of Aurian rift databases, that particular rift leads to an area I am familiar with. We must confirm its nature," Erin said. "Additionally, it will allow you to gain experience in closing rifts."

"Woah, woah, woah. That's a leisure rift for a reason," Ollie said. "How are you going to close it? It's stable."

"Aurian rift classification is primitive," Erin said flatly. "It is missing several key components of proper rift categorization. The distinction between 'leisure' and 'volatile' rifts is an oversimplification that fails to account for the state of the Origin defense mechanism within the realm that it leads to." She floated forward towards the TV. "Shall I provide another lecture?"

Ollie put a palm on his face. "No. No more. Please."

"I wanted to hear it though," Gale said.

"NO!" Ollie shouted in a panic. "She's been talking for three hours already about the Rift Aperture System. Three hours! Without stopping!"

Gale looked at Erin with newfound respect. "You talked for three hours straight?"

"Correct."

"That's impressive."

"Your praise is noted."

Ollie buried his face in his hands.

Gale suddenly remembered. "Oh. Did you get a text from Jackie?"

Ollie peeked one eye out from between his fingers. "Yeah. I got it."

"And?"

"I'm already on it." Ollie plopped back down on the couch. "Only because you asked me to."

"Thanks," Gale said. "I owe you one."

"No, you don't." Ollie sighed. "I owe you one."

"The young lamb and I shall depart," Erin said, already floating toward the door. "Oliver Glory, consider my proposal. The corruption still looms beyond."

"Will do," Ollie muttered.

"One more thing!" Gale suddenly said.

"What?"

"Bernard said to give you a word," Gale said.

"What word?"

"Good. That's what he told me to tell you."

Ollie raised an eyebrow, sighing and muttering, "What the hell does that mean..."

Gale turned back to the door, proudly walking back. Job well done. Bernard would also be proud of him for being able to relay the message.