[Vega's POV]
Monday had come quicker than I anticipated. The weekend was nothing special, just healing up from my injuries and mostly relaxing. My father for the most part had left me alone after the random visit to my apartment on Saturday afternoon. With Monday in mind, I got to work.
I decided to sit up on my balcony and work from there. I could use some fresh air. I brewed myself a cup of coffee with creamer, just how I liked it. I carried my laptop and my coffee cup outside, where I set up everything. I could hear the usual sounds of Veilstone City below me. It wasn't as big as Jubilife City, but it was definitely big. It had definitely gained some size since I remember. The Department Store was not even five minutes away, which was amazingly convenient. However, the Galactic Veilstone Building was huge, I could see all the way past route 210 from my top floor balcony.
I booted up my laptop, and waited for the interface to load. I didn't have a password, since no one really came into my office without asking, usually at least. Besides, not everyone was intelligent enough to work on a basic computer. The Commanders were air-headed, at least Mars and Jupiter were. Saturn never really has given me any issues. Maybe it's a female thing, but I don't know.
My laptop finally booted up successfully. I clicked on the program I used to do my work. I waited for it to load, but it was taking a long time. The Wi-Fi signal wasn't the greatest up here, and I really should have asked for my own router. But, I'm hardly ever up here other than to sleep and relax on my days off.
I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. I took it out, to see that my father had texted me. Oh great. I clicked on the message.
"I don't see you logged in. Are you awake?" The text read.
I rolled my eyes. Instead of typing a message, I took a picture of my laptop interface to show that the screen was still loading. I then attached the photo. "The Wi-Fi sucks up here." I typed, then pressed send.
"Asshole." I mumbled. He saw my message almost instantly.
"When it's done loading, the invoice should be there. Make it out to Admin Fermi and finalize it."
"Yeah, like I don't know how to do my job, dad." I said annoyed. The invoice almost always had a return address from where the products were billed from. I would have to check this, because I knew from his expression that Saturday when he mentioned that he was buying more nuclear bomb parts, and possibly even paying for its assembly.
"You got that, Celestina?" Another message from my father popped up.
"Uh huh." I typed, and pressed send. Since when did he start treating me like a child? I definitely showed him that I was capable of doing my job. I wasn't air-headed, unlike Mars and Jupiter.
"Watch your tone." A new message popped up.
I didn't answer, I just left him on read. But I had a reason to now, because my laptop finally finished loading. I clicked on the file with my name on it, and there it was waiting for me. The invoice.
My jaw dropped when I saw it. It was for more nuclear parts, but this time it was for nearly double the amount the last one was. Nearly three-hundred million. There was a stylized alpha in the far right hand corner, right underneath the address. It was from the Tandor region, on an island called Oppenheimer Island. I had heard of the Tandor region, but I can't recall where.
I looked through my files to see if I had any other invoices, and on the bright side, I didn't. So this was all I had to do, and then I was done. I took a drink of my coffee, and went on to do what I had to. But before I did, I grabbed my phone and took a picture of the invoice so I could send it to Looker.
I attached the photo, and pressed send. I then put my phone down, so I could finish finalizing the invoice. I didn't know who this Admin Fermi was or what she had to do with three-hundred million dollars worth of nuclear weapon assembly. Before I could finalize it, my phone vibrated.
I looked down, and it was a message from my father.
"Something wrong with the invoice, Vega? I can contact Fermi if needed, but she'll be annoyed."
My blood instantly ran cold. I had accidentally sent the pic to my father, and not Looker. I immediately started freaking out. "Oh shit, oh fuck, Oh shit!!!!" I yelled loudly.
"Vega. What's wrong? Why did you send the invoice?" Another message popped up.
"Answer me, Celestina!" He kept spamming my messages.
I tried to stay calm. I could lie and say there was, in fact, something wrong with it, but that might sour Fermi's mood and I didn't know if I wanted to mess with her.
I picked up my phone. Instead, I decided to play stupid. "This is the invoice you're talking about, right? There was another one in my folder." I typed, and pressed send.
'Strange. There shouldn't have been two. What's the other one for?" My father's new message read.
"FUCK!" I said loudly. However, I thought up a quick plan. I duplicated the invoice, and sent it to myself. I had an off the wall plan that might work.
"Oh, it's just a duplicate. My mistake." I typed. I prayed to Arceus that he would buy it.
"CURIE's a bit on the insane side. I'll check with Fermi, make sure there isn't a mistake."
"Okay. Do you still want me to finalize this, or do you want to wait to make sure there's no mistakes?" I played off. I pressed send.
My dad's text bubble popped up. "I'll get in touch with Fermi to make sure. I don't want any issues. So, just wait for the moment." The message came through.
I breathed a sigh of relief. At least if he chose to go through my laptop, there were two files. So, it would look like the same file was sent twice. "10-4. Just let me know." I typed, and pressed send.
The message was delivered, but my dad hadn't read it. I decided to relax and enjoy my coffee for the time being.
[Cyrus' POV]
I was ticked off, to say the least. CURIE told me Fermi was competent, if a little arrogant. Maybe I should tell her where to hire an accountant. I dialed Fermi's number, and she answered quickly.
"Hello, Cyrus~ How may I help you?", Fermi's voice came. She had a girly voice, contradictory to her personality - cold, calculating, sadistic, and arrogant were all words that described her. I was convinced it was a facade from her contract killer days. She had killed Bianca for me three years ago and had also killed Crystal four years ago, but back then she was a free agent. I had no idea she would join Team Atom when I first met her, but she definitely seemed the type to have that sort of goal in alignment.
"There were two invoices, according to my accountant. Are you overcharging me?"
"No, no, not at all!~ My version of the software is a bit older, so it may have been a software bug. Team Atom doesn't really have the finances to do much outside produce parts right now, and your purchases of our bombs will definitely help that."
"That still does not explain why there are two invoices."
Her facade seemed to fade. She seemed annoyed, since her position was administration, not accounting.
"I can assure you you were only charged once, Cyrus. Sometimes software messes up, which normally happens when either there's a bad connection, or one's wireless network is weak. Our internet isn't the greatest here. We're on Oppenheimer because the mainland is irradiated, remember? If two invoices were sent, just have your accountant fill out one of them and can the other. It's an easy fix."
"She has been working on a poor connection. She told me that much."
"Then she needs a better connection. There's less of a chance our connection is at fault."
"What's the solution?"
"So, the solution is to tell your accountant to fill out one, and delete the other. I personally don't care for it, I'm only doing accounting because we don't have an accountant yet. Maybe with that new deal we struck we'll be able to hire one."
"Alright then."
"By the way, CURIE wants me to have a meeting with you regarding our plans. That'll be on Sunday, 3 weeks from now. Are you free?"
"Yes, I am. I don't take weekends off, unlike my subordinates." I said proudly.
"And bring your accountant. We're talking about money and I feel it'd be good for her to be in the know."
"I'll see what I can do on that front. She likes her relaxation, but if it's important business..." I said.
"Alright, I've gotta go. These bombs don't build themselves, Cyrus."
"I'll talk to you later."
Fermi hung up first. What she said made sense, but I couldn't help but to feel something more was going on. CURIE was insane, after all. Ten years in stasis with that strange Pokemon Urayne did that to her, according to Fermi.
I went to Vega's contact, and called her.
[Vega's POV]
I continued to enjoy the rest of my coffee, when I heard my phone vibrating. I saw my dad's contact pop up. Oh shit. This could either be good or bad. I put down my coffee mug, and picked up my phone.
"Hello?" I answered.
"Hello, Vega. You managed to get Fermi out of her facade, I haven't done that before."
I was confused by this statement. "Um..."
"It was either their connection or yours, she was upset because she had to explain it to me. She usually speaks in a girly voice, but she became real serious when I asked her why we had gotten two invoices. Probably theirs, they are on Oppenheimer Island if you read the address."
I mentally breathed a sigh of relief. I got lucky this time, now I really had to watch what I was doing. "Oh, well it's okay. So, what do you want me to do?" I asked.
"She said to just delete the duplicate, and send in one. Nothing more, nothing less." He said. Something sounded weird about him. He sounded oddly... happy? If that's even possible for my father.
"Okay, I can do that no problem. Give me literally ten minutes, and I can have it done." I said, as I pulled up the invoice that was sent to me. I deleted the duplicate I had sent myself.
"Perfect. Also Vega, I have a small surprise for you." My father said.
I didn't know how to respond to this. My father wasn't the type to give surprises, not good ones anyway. "Uh..." I said, not really knowing what else to say.
"I'm getting you a pay raise. You're an invaluable member of Team Galactic, no matter how much we fight, and, well... You'll have to see what the actual surprise is."
I took a minute to fathom this. Did someone drug my coffee this morning? I could have sworn I bought fresh grounds Sunday night. My father sounded weirdly happy. I got paid pretty well already by my father, but to be told I was getting a raise... I would soon have more money than I knew what to do with soon. "Uh, thanks dad. I.. don't really know what to say." I said.
"You don't have to thank me. I'll be up soon to install your surprise."
Oh Arceus. Couldn't he just leave it at my doorstep or something? Also, what did he mean by install? Was he installing cameras in my apartment so he could spy on me? Okay, maybe I was getting too paranoid. But, I could never tell with him. It felt... odd. Almost too good to be true.
"Uh, okay. Thanks dad, I think?" I said, unsure.
My father didn't say anything, instead he hung up the phone. Something now felt off. But, I tried to shake it off. I put my phone down, and focused on the invoice. I made everything out to Admin Fermi like he told me to, and put in all the information with our address. Before I knew it, it was ready to be sent.
I re-checked all of the info and made sure it was correct. Everything looked great, so I sent it in. I took a sigh of relief, and was happy I could now enjoy my day. I shut down my laptop, and closed it. I picked it up, along with my coffee mug and went back inside. I slid the balcony door closed behind me.
As soon as I put my laptop back on the counter, there was a knock on the door. I heard Lumen come out of my bedroom and begin growling.
"Lumen, go to the bedroom, please!" I called out. I saw him limp back and lay down on my bed. I closed my bedroom door.
I heard my front door open. I still didn't feel comfortable with my father having access to my apartment. I sighed.
"Vega?!" He called out.
"I'm here!" I called back. "Invoice is done and has been sent." I said. I rounded the corner from the hallway, and saw my father's familiar figure. He was holding a box. He still looked the same. He had his usual dark expression.
"I got you a router. This is a luxury the Commanders don't have yet, and it's to aid you with your work." He said, with a small smile. He still had his glare though.
I couldn't believe it. "Uh... Thanks, dad? But, I'm not gonna be working up here a lot, if not at all..." I felt my eyebrow raise in confusion.
"Well, maybe you could play games or something when you like to relax." My dad said simply.
"Do I look like Saturn to you?" I asked. Saturn was the only other person I knew of in HQ who gamed. He stayed on the same floor as me, but more towards the front. Sometimes he would be too loud, but thankfully this wasn't very often.
My dad breathed hard, as if he had mimicked a laugh.
"No, but it wouldn't hurt to play something with him. What's that strategy game he's into? I played it once, and it was complicated, but the map was relaxing to look at." He said.
I sucked in my face, forming a double chin. I was so lost. Why was my dad acting like this? This was so unlike him, and I definitely wasn't interested in playing video games with Saturn of all people. I'd prefer to hang out with him over Jupiter and Mars, but that's about it.
"Also, if you'd like.. I will grant you the permission to work from up here as much as you'd like, as long as you're able to complete the tasks you need to do up here. If you need to work from your office, I'd suggest you do that." My father said, simply.
"Dad, are you feeling okay? Did you hit your head?" I asked. I was so lost.
"No. I struck a deal with Team Atom, they're going to be our sole bomb provider and in return, we're going to help them organize." He said, as he opened the box.
I now felt sick to my stomach. That's when I remembered. I looked down at my chest, and saw the silver heart pin. I had made it a point to wear it every day now, even when I was just lounging around my apartment. "Oh, that's cool." I responded, not really knowing what else to say.
"Where would you want this?" He asked, as he held the router out.
I looked around my apartment. "Uh, beside the TV is fine." I said.
I watched my father install the router. He was very quick with it. He was done within a few minutes. I knew he was very into technology, but I didn't realize how good he was. The router was up and running within five minutes.
"I think you should set up a password. It's your personal Wi-Fi, after all. You and I are the only ones who need to access it. I have the same network." He said.
"Sounds great dad, thanks. I really appreciate it." I said. I couldn't believe this. I already had it pretty good here, but my dad just made my work pretty much a luxury.
"You're welcome. By the way, check your bank account when you can. I gave you a bonus. The Commanders got one too, but I showed my little girl a little extra appreciation. It's the least I could do after this last week."
"Oh gag me with a spoon." I thought. He has never called me his little girl before. I don't know if it was this new deal he sealed, but I kind of wanted my grumpy father back. He still had his grumpy facial expressions, it was his tone that was different.
"Uh- Where's my father and what did you do with him?" I joked.
"Right here." He said, simply. As calm as he seemed, he was never one for humor. So, I guess he was still my same old father. "Go ahead and relax. But I do have a request."
"What is it, dad?" I asked.
"I'm meeting with Fermi and possibly CURIE in a few weeks. Fermi would like me to bring you, if that's alright. It's on a Sunday, and Fermi's a bit air-headed, as you say, but it'll be fine as long as I do most of the talking. You'll mostly be there to talk about finances." He said.
I appreciated the notice, but at the same time I was now nervous. I had no idea who these people were, and they definitely weren't good. But maybe it was good to gather information. "Uh, yeah dad. Of course I'll come." I said. I knew I'd definitely have to wear my spycam for this.
"Very well, then. I'll leave you to relax." He said, getting ready to leave. "You finished the invoice, correct?" He asked.
"Yeah. I sent it in thirty minutes ago, not even that." I said. "Fermi should have received it by now." I added.
"Alright. She should get back with me soon, I'll leave you to relax for the rest of the day." He said. "Though, keep checking your files. More important things could pop up."
I rolled my eyes subtlely. "Of course I can never finish on a work day early." I thought. "Okay, dad. I got it." I said, simply.
"Have a good day, Vega." He said, as he opened my door and closed it behind him loudly just as he had done before.
My apartment was quiet now. I walked over to my bedroom door, and let Lumen out. He came running out and growling, just as he does every time my dad pays a visit.
"Relax, he's gone," I said. "The encounter was actually pleasant this time." I added, as I reached down to pet him.
Lumen seemed happy with that news, and with being petted. For an Umbreon, he had a pretty intimidating growl. It sounded similar to a Charizard sometimes. Some were scared of him, but they were a bit superstitious in my opinion. Dark types aren't that bad. I originally wanted a Sylveon, but I didn't want to have to relocate to another region just for that. In Sinnoh, you weren't able to get Sylveon. Only those with special permission, like diplomats and the Champion, get to bring Pokemon from out of the region.
I was interrupted by my phone buzzing in my pocket. I took it out, and saw it was Looker calling. I looked around to check my surroundings, and I answered it.
"Hello?"
"Hello, Vega. I thought he'd never leave. It seems that meeting is worth going to. CURIE destroyed Tandor, you know. Oppenheimer is the last habitable place in the Tandor region, and she took it over." Looker said through my phone.
That's when it hit me. "You know, I had heard of the Tandor region and now I think I remember. Wasn't there a news report saying that a reactor combusted or something? They made it sound like a freak accident, though." I said, remembering seeing it on TV a while back.
"Well, it was not a freak accident, Vega. The reactor was tampered with, more than likely by CURIE. We haven't been able to investigate the region due to the high levels of radioactive materials. We don't have enough Hazard Suits between us and the Rangers, and any Pokemon would go Nuclear as a result of radiation and attack us." He explained.
"Oh." I said.
"But, that's not why I'm calling you. Be careful with that router. I heard your father say that he has the same network. He likely has some form of spyware on it, Vega. If you connect your laptop or even your phone to it, he can access your interface in real time if he has the right materials. Meaning he can see your messages, who you've called, and what you've been doing." Looker said, eerily.
It all made sense now. Of course I thought my father being in a good mood wasn't the case. He was happy he'd be able to spy on me. That disturbed me. I now feel sick to my stomach. I looked at the router, for now I didn't even want it in my apartment. I could give it to Saturn, let him change the password and name. Or, I could keep it and just change everything. But, I knew my father would then ask questions.
"Him granting you the permission to work from your apartment was a sly move, Vega. He hopes you will, so he can spy on you. I'd recommend working from your office as usual. The work computers aren't connected to Cyrus's network, are they?" He asked.
That was honestly a good question. "I honestly don't know, Looker. Even so, he could probably connect mine to his if he wanted."
That's when it dawned on me. What if that's what he was doing now? Getting me to stay far from my office so he can make the changes? My father was a master manipulator, without a doubt. But what if they sent another invoice? Maybe he'd ordered more.
"I have a plan. But, here's what you need to do. Tomorrow, go to your office as usual. Look for any evidence of your hardware being tampered with. I will tell you what to look for. If you see evidence of tampering, you need to damage your whole hard drive. I'll tell you how to do that, also. Call one of my computer repair guys, and I'll have them install a whole new system for you. These are the systems the police use, and they're almost impossible to tamper with." Looker explained.
I was nervous now. "Looker, that sounds too risky. What if he finds out? My dad is no stranger to technology." I said, almost shrieking.
"Have I steered you wrong, yet? Just trust me, Vega. I know exactly what to do." Looker reassured me.
I sighed over the phone. "And what if Team Atom does send another invoice?" I asked, hearing the panic in my own voice.
"Then just do your job as normal, or if Cyrus asks that it be done in a specific way, follow his orders. But, don't search anything or do anything on your laptop to make you look demeaning. Just simply use your laptop for work for now." Looker explained. I could tell he was trying to calm me down, and it was working.
"Relax, Vega. You're safe if you follow my plan." Looker said.
I sighed. He hadn't steered me wrong yet, but now I was worried. I contemplated just unplugging the router, and not using it. But his plan was sound.
"Alright, Looker. Will do." I said.
"Good. I am always watching Vega. If Cyrus or Fermi tries to hurt you, it'll be recorded. More likely her than CURIE, anyway." He said, reassuring me once more.
"I trust your judgement, Looker." I said. "I'm gonna go ahead and go though."
"Alright, Vega. Take care of yourself. Remember, be careful what you do on your laptop. I will text you tomorrow and tell you what to look for on your work computer." He said.
"Sounds good. Talk to you later." I said, and hung up my phone.
I decided to text my father. "Text me if an invoice comes through. Outside of that, I'm off." I typed, then pressed send.
The text was delivered, but he hadn't read it right away. I just assumed he was busy.
*Tap tap tap* There was a knock on my door. Lumen got up, and started growling. I was lost. Why had he come back? However, I was taken aback when Lumen stuck his nose under the door and began wagging his tail. This must have been someone new, or just not my father.
I opened my door, to reveal that it was Saturn. I was surprised, for he very rarely turned up on my doorstep. Lumen sniffed his feet, and wagged his tail. It was good that Lumen seemed to like Saturn. That normally meant the person wasn't bad news. I never got that vibe from Saturn, anyway. He was more level headed than anyone else I knew.
"Uh, can I help you?" I asked. I just figured maybe he wanted my Wi-Fi password, but instead he told me something different.
"Your dad wants me to go to some island to meet with someone. I'm to supervise work on the bombs, since I'm more experienced at administration than this Fermi lady. I had a video chat with CURIE. Her outfit gives me the creeps."
"At least my father did good by picking you and not Mars or Jupiter. But, that's cool." I said. I tried to play it off as normal as possible.
"I actually came to ask if you'd watch my Toxicroak for me. I was told I can't bring Pokemon to the island. They wouldn't tell me why. They did tell me it was part of that destroyed region, but nothing more." He said.
I nodded. "Yeah, I can do that. He's not much to take care of, you know," I said. "When will you be back?" I asked.
"Master Cyrus said he wanted me to spend a week there, and a week away. So, on the weeks I'm not here, I'll just need someone to check in."
I did a fake gag. "I still don't understand why you all call him Master. It's weird to me." I said, It's true, it was.
"He says it's because he's going to be the Master of the new world. But, I don't get it. I can't say that I understand him." Saturn said, as he crossed his arms over his chest.
I chuckled. "I'm his kid, and I don't even understand him. Imagine how I feel." I said, It was true. My father always talks about making a new world. But, I didn't understand how he intended on doing so. Even still, I felt that CURIE had something to do with it. I thought about whether or not to let Saturn in on my plans. However, I decided against it because I didn't want to take any chances. Saturn would be there for the planning meeting, but would be back the rest of the week on the particular week they had chosen.
"That's got to be rough," Saturn said. "But, he seems happy having you on board. When you agreed to work for him, it was the happiest I had seen him ever. He even smiled a few times." He added.
I laughed. "Yeah, right. My father and smiling don't go together." I said.
"You are right about that. Even I'll admit, it was creepy. But, he's happy to have you here." Saturn said. "Well, that's what I came for. I will be leaving next week. It'll be eight days the first week, I'll be back Monday afternoon but you'll see me on Sunday." He explained.
I nodded. "Sounds good. See you then." I said.
"Make sure he's fed, watered, and that he's not too cold. Toxicroak are cold-blooded."
"Duh." I said. It wasn't rocket science to take care of a Pokemon.
"He enjoys Yanma as a treat." He mentioned.
Saturn had a tendency to go on and on. But he loved Toxicroak, so leaving him here must have been hard. But Oppenheimer must have some radiation, so exposing something he loves to it wouldn't be a good idea.
"Don't worry, Saturn. I got him." I said.
"Oh, also. What's your Wi-Fi password? I want to play Europa Universalis with some buds, my Kalos game is going well. Planning on allying with Motostoke next time, I have a really good friend there who will kill Galar."
I laughed. I knew he came over here mainly for that. "Actually, I don't have a password on it yet. So, you can just use it." That's when I had an idea. If multiple people were using my wifi, then how would my dad tell which one was me?
"Oh, also! If you see Mars and Jupiter, let them know my wifi is free to use. Grunts can use it too if they'd like, I don't care. I know the wifi signal up here sucks." I said, and smiled. "Hell, tell all of HQ they can use it. Advertise it to your heart's content." I'm sure he'd do it sparingly, actually. His game was known to desync on our current WiFi.
Saturn looked at me weirdly. "Uh- Okay." He said. "Well, thanks for the access." He added.
"You're welcome. Enjoy it." I said, and smiled.
I watched Saturn walk away to the front of the hall to his apartment. Lumen walked inside and I shut the door behind me.
My dad wanted to be sly and play games? Well, two can play at this game, too.