Tetra of The Fall

19 - The Pretender

The manager.

In a world of family leaders, politics, and those in power who are easily offended, the manager is a perceptibly important and essential role.

There are numerous forms of manager. Some organise events while others handle services or are working in the background of bars and hotels.

Much like a hound, they are a territorial beast.

From assignment till death, a manager will provide their services in order to support and create opportunities for their client. They are an all-rounder, capable of any task until done - even if self-sacrificial.

As such important people, managers are separately trained and ranked from society - the highest of whom often being appointed to their life-long position: Manager to the Throne, where they will be assigned to a descendant or relative (direct, indirect or assumed) of a family leader.

As a result of these complex, expensive processes, only those who assign the manager, along with a short list of other people - including the managers themselves - may fire the manager, wherein the manager will undergo review until further notice.

Some managers at this point will seek a new line of employment. Others may simply disappear.

But regardless of their fate, a manager is a manager. And to everyone they are important.

.         .         .

"Tetra Draav... Yes, that all checks out" Adjusting her greying bun with one hand, the bony fingers of her other expertly cracked one by one. Then, with the speed of a snail, both hands began to lower towards the keyboard. For whatever reason, she chewed - possibly at her gums - her deep crimson lipstick progressively bleeding about her mouth.

I frowned, lightly tapping my foot as the lady behind the desk poked keys and chewed. Before me, a name plate glimmered, though I could not care less. Half an hour ago I'd entered this room. And for twenty minutes I'd been standing here before this nameless desk lady. Only now, even after seeing my ID, receiving passwords and cross checking with another member of staff was my identity proven. So naturally, I was already fed up.

"Alright dear, if you would follow me, I will take you to your assigned member of staff" She adjusted her thin, gold-rim glasses, before standing with a wave. As soon as she'd moved, another lady came in to take her place.

We walked down the hallway - a stretch of the citadel where I'd never been before. In fact, most students had never been here before. All around, different men and women in suits and sunglasses watched on as we moved. Their first reaction was a brow creasing concern, enough for a few of them to approach, employing the use of their typical authoritarian stomping. After all, 'how dare I'. But the attitude would change, often in a flash, as soon as they noticed the office lady guiding me. Finally, after quite some time, we arrived at a door.

Despite my still gently simmering anger, my hands now shook with nerves. This was not our halls, our home or even our jurisdiction. In this unfamiliar territory, I was at the mercy of my peers.

"Tetra Draav to see you sir, unappointed"

Thud

The office - about the size of my room, swam in a cacophony of artificial odours - enough to make me cough. At the opposite end of the room lay a pristine desk with a keyboard and monitor, and along one wall to the left, a foldable table had been erected. It was there that he stood, messy hair, greyed skin and a crooked posture while he stirred the contents of a mug with a spoon.

"Good evening, young Draav" With that, a small tea bag emerged, dripping with its absurdly aromatic contents before falling to the bin below. Raising the steaming mug fast, he stepped to his desk without a care, placing it down without a spill. A hand lay outstretched, offering me a seat.

So I sat.

"A rather unexpected surprise I must say... though a welcome one, I suppose. I was just starting to get bored"

I smirked, a small sarcastic laugh. After all, I just got here and he's already screwing with me.

"What's that hmm? Something entertaining?" Still standing, he placed his hands in his pockets, though he left the thumb out. Only now he stood relatively straight, though only to tower above my sitting form..

"It could be funner depending on how this goes. I just got out of recovery, you know." A visible pause, though nothing more.

"My, how interesting indeed. Did the nurse talk about me?" Then came his laugh, though I'd rather proclaim it a clackle. Laughing makes him sound more human.

A vein twitched in my forehead. "Alright, cut it out! You hid my own medicals from me? Huh? Is there a single moral cell in your structure?!"

He recoiled as if startled, a fake expression of worry plastered to his face. "What makes you suggest such a thing?"

My teeth ground. "Hey asshole! I have a file that normally I should be allowed to see! That isn't your own personally restricted resource. That's mine!"

Slowly, the panic in his eyes began to fade. A hand arched down from his tallish frame, displaying a finesse like that of a spider. As he loudly sipped, a grin finally came to fruition, a yellow stain left at the corners of his mouth. "Oh you are... you are fun indeed" He began, leaning forward on his desk to look down on me. "So you say... If I were to have done such a thing - and, I am most certainly not saying it is so - how, then, would one such as yourself have acquired such a restricted resource?"

Caught off guard, I hissed. To dob Nihilla in could mean anything with this snake.

His head began to shake as he leaned back a bit. "Tut tut tut. Tetra, did you commit an offence and break in? Or perhaps you somehow coerced the poor nurse?"

"... you..." I glared.

"Tetra. As I am sure you know, such a claim could cause havoc for my career. After all, how could I afford my lifestyle and expenses without Lady Draav hemorrhaging money into my pockets" He began to stroll around the desk, mug held in one hand while the other's fingers slid along the desk's lacquer.

"I'm afraid that such claims dutifully require evidence before placed. But from what I see, all of your claims are based on some meager assumption. Why, I never mentioned your medicals and yet you come to me, unappointed - and in a fit - over something I personally did not do"

I jumped as a hand fell on my shoulder, stick-like fingers and lengthened chipped nails almost biting through the cloth.

"Besides, you want me here. You voted for yourself by getting all the other managers fired. Never knew where you were, couldn't organise events for you, had no way to contact you... I mean really, there's a list. So, let me put this to you then, shall I?"

He sipped right next to my ear - the pitch spikes as he sucked like stab wounds to the eardrum.

"Either A: we could go through the red tape and do this in an orderly fashion, wherein your argument is invalid, B: we skip the red tape and you hit poor defenseless me, or C: I revoke your right to take part in this oh so important tournament people keep barking about, and demote you to 0 points. Not even a rank D as far as I'm concerned, isn't that right? That or you can drop the case"

I hadn't noticed the warmth in my face, the prickly tingling in my nose as it sniffed, or in my lips as they twitched. Below, a wet droplet fell to my skirt, where it absorbed into the fabric. Reflected in its surface, I witnessed the spectre of hate, the one behind the scenes, paid to pull my strings. My eyes didn't glow, but strangely, the flow of my energy still leaked out.

As I stood, I flicked my wrist.

SMASH!

For a moment, I just shuddered there as he threw up his arms in disgust. When he bent low to pick up the pieces, I was just able to manage a whisper. "You think you're so in control..." I began, walking off slowly.

"All the cool kids have nicknames I suppose. See you next time, tripping hazard"

The door shut.