Broker Chapter 217

“Tensions continue to mount in the wake of the failed peace summit between the Pandora Committee and Liberty. Questions have been raised about the reasons as to why the Supervillain Ishtar was allowed to participate. While the Pandora Committee has remained silent on the issue, an agent of Ishtar by the na of phisto delivered a statent to World News Daily stating ‘While I find the idea of unintentionally assisting the Pandora Committee amusing, my goals remain the sa,’ the agent provided no further comnt.”

CLICK

“The ‘Super Idol Villain’ Tenebra began a world tour today starting in Dublin. With the increasing concerns about any conflicts causing the situation with Liberty to boil over, Pandora Committee officials have taken a wait-and-see approach. So far, there has been no violence as a result of the villain’s-”

CLICK

“An unprecedented series of leaks has led to a swath of minor scandals among international shipping organizations, the most notable of which being Red Star Shipping. Evidence has co to light suggesting that the CEO of the company has been involved in a massive human trafficking-”

CLICK

“Whistleblowers in the US Coast Guard and Navy have reported that a missing Nuclear Submarine’s arsenal was discovered disassembled in a warehouse in southern California. All missiles are accounted for as well as their warheads. Sources state that the return of the armants was part of so kind of secret deal that-”

CLICK

“With war on the horizon, there are a lot of questions about what the possible outcos could be once the fighting has settled. No one is expecting a protracted conflict either way you cut it,” one voice said, “What do you think?”

“I think the biggest question no one is considering is what happens when the Pandora Committee wins. If they manage to capture Liberty and end the war, the power balance between them and the United Nations may beco heavily skewed. They already have a standing army, nurous facilities across the world, and there are plans to set up Pandora-operated towns around dungeons,” another voice chid in.

“Do you think they’d make a case for sovereignty?”

“That’s hyperbole at the mont,” the second voice laughed, “But I think the power dynamics in the world are about to go through a big change. So people haven’t really co to terms with the new world we live in, there won’t be any avoiding it soon.”

CLICK

“The world is starting to turn,” Ishtar murmured and looked down at the apple in her hand. She turned it over between her fingers thoughtfully as she examined the skin. There was an odd disconnect between what she saw and the movents. A fragnt of a second, but it was there, still noticeable to her cybernetic brain. She raised the fruit to her lips and took a bite, chewing slowly as its properties began to take hold. She felt her muscles begin to flesh out, her aches fade, then she felt a pop sowhere in her skull, a sizzling that caused her to stop and wince in pain. She spat the apple out.

Damn, I still need those new eyes, she thought irritably.

“Isn’t that tiring?” Amos asked behind her.

She turned and looked at him, an eyebrow raised, “What?”

“Using your ability for eyes?” he asked and put his hands on his hips, “I’ve seen you do it a couple tis.”

She huffed, “Not much different from using them to observe from afar, though usually I am stationary when using it,” she admitted, “There’s a lag.”

He nodded, “Well, it works I guess,” he said with a shrug, “Your new peepers are almost done, don’t worry about it boss. I gotcha covered.”

“Glad to hear it,” she said with a breath and tossed the apple aside, it dissolved as it hit the ground. Evaporating into a faint puff of mana. “I can’t heal properly without them it seems. I’m eating a bit of ambrosia at a ti every day to restore my muscle mass. If I consu too much, the connections start sparking,” she grumbled.

“Ouch,” he chuckled and walked over to stand next to her, peering out the window. “You ready for this?”

Ishtar frowned, “I’m confident. Sonya is still… indisposed though and it feels like I’m missing a part of . Even so, the only opponent that threatens as far as I’m concerned is Liberty and I’ve orchestrated things so that she won’t even be my opponent. I have a different target in mind.”

“You’re targeting Otis, he steamrolled his way into the battle, I heard,” Amos said thoughtfully, “If he gets to Liberty he’ll get himself a heap of glory on top of it not being too indirect for you to get your fancy upgrade out of it.”

“Correct,” Ishtar said, “So I’ll have to hold him off. While I do that, I’ll try a few things on him. I’m curious about what kind of damage I can do that will stick,” she said with a cold smile, “I haven’t had the opportunity to face him directly.”

“Do you think you can kill him?” Amos asked.

She snorted, “Doubtful. I can test his current limits though, I suspect.”

“The other heroes will co after you too.”

She smirked, “We’ll see,” she said, “I won’t be there to kill them and I have a feeling at least a few of them will realize that. The ones in charge will prioritize Liberty.”

He nodded slowly before turning to face her, “Boss. I-” he hesitated and then rubbed his neck, “I know you care a hell of a lot less about the world compared to Sonya, but-”

She held up a hand and turned to face him, “Her dream is mine,” she said quietly, “Even if I would prefer a throne over a quiet cottage or morial statue in the end,” she chuckled and put a hand on his shoulder, “I won’t let you or her down and I will keep trying until the very last mont to bring her back. Even if-” she frowned and shook her head, “I will fight with everything I have from the mont the battle starts. No absences this ti around.”

He grinned at her, “All hail the hbic,” he laughed and took a step back, sweeping into a bow, “Technocrat, as always, is at your service.”

She bead down at him, “Get those dolls of yours ready, Technocrat. Soon, the world will know just how scary we are.”

“At your command.”

–

[Operation Corinth Dossier]

[The following heroes have been assigned to operation Corinth:

Dungeon Suppression:

FIRST WIND - Dungeon E1. PROTEAN - Dungeon R1. QILIN - Dungeon R2. CAPTAIN STAR - Dungeon R3. EVERTIDE - Dungeon R4…]

Ishtar tabbed over to the next page.

[External Fronts: …]

She tabbed again.

[Frontline Assault:

BLACK LOTUS (Field Commander), EVERGREEN, HANDMAIDEN, OTIS, SAPPORO, VYTAL, AXEL, DERVISH, DRAGOON, BLUESTAR, BANDIT, LIFESAVER, CRUSADER, HARBINGER, SNOW, BLF, SYPHON, MAGNUS, CRANE, RIOT, FELWINTER, ICARUS, ASHWOLF, BEELINE, CRAG…]

Ishtar closed the window and leaned back in her seat, letting out a breath. She tapped a nail on the desk and turned in her chair, glancing up at Marta who stood dutifully at her side. “Excited?”

Marta frowned, “I have a dangerous narcissist assigned to my team,” she grumbled, “And I’m supposed to put up a good act and let him run off to fight you. No, not really.”

Ishtar chuckled, “You get to go play afterwards,” she pointed out, “Really put that new ability of yours to the test. Let know when you want to rge them by the way. You need to stop being so reserved in wanting more strength.”

Her companion offered a noncommittal shrug, “The power you can give out is best utilized spread around, in my opinion. The more powerful agents you have, the more successful I think you’ll be. It has nothing to do with being reserved, ma’am,” she paused and let out a sigh, “But I will ask for more next ti,” she conceded after getting an annoyed look from Ishtar. She bowed her head once before straightening up, “As for rging, Amos had a theory that if I unlock more of my abilities instincts before the rger it may co up with better results. I will wait.”

“Interesting theory,” Ishtar murmured, “I don’t see it, but you do you.”

“Thank you, ma’am.”

Ishtar exhaled and turned back to face the desk, she ran her fingers over it silently before making a lazy gesture. The computer shut down and she shifted back in her seat, resting her head against it and closing her eyes. “I’m going to try again. Leave .”

“As you wish,” her caretaker said and slipped out into the hallway. Ishtar peeked at her as she left before letting out a sigh and allowing her mind to wander. She drifted out and then back, slowly diving deeper and deeper into her subconscious mind as her breathing beca more regular. When she opened her eyes again, she was in that void once more. The mote was there as well.

She cupped her hands beneath it and smiled, “Hello Sonya, how are you feeling?”

Silence.

She sighed and drew Athyst Sorceress out of the warehouse again. “You know. I’ve been in control for nearly a month now,” she said irritably, “Not a peep from you.”

She pulled her knees up in that space, floating in the air as she sat, her legs crossed, her eyes fixed on the little mote. “I distinctly rember a ti when every other word out of your mouth was sass or so manner of impish inside joke…” she trailed off and looked wistfully up at the black void above her, “I miss it. I miss your smile. Not the fake one of the past year, the one you plastered on to make everyone think you were okay. That real smile, the one that reached your eyes.”

She scoffed, “Out there I can barely understand my feelings, my emotions. Here, in this place, so close to where you’re hiding,” she swallowed, “I feel you, if only a little bit. It’s helped now and then, checking in on you.”

She focused on the mote, examining the threads wrapped around it in what could have been easily dismissed as a pattern of nonsense and knots. A net of ethereal fibers, a visualization in her mind of what was really happening. She couldn’t fathom the source, whether it was Sonya or sothing else, but at the very least she could see where to pull to loosen the first thread.

“I saw your ‘daughter’ today,” she said as she willed the ntal fibers to separate, pulling them apart with surgical care, “You were right about her,” she shook her head, “I thought she would turn out to be a true monster when the ti ca, that she’d evolve into a villain who could proudly sit in her one seat at the inner circle,” she tugged another point on the infinitesimal threads and chuckled, “You really do know the human heart better than I ever could. That girl who could only dream of revenge, who suffered through nightmares and clung to you like a security blanket, do you know what she did?”

She smiled, “She looked in the eyes and told she wanted to be a hero.”

Ishtar felt the first few fibers unwind and fall away and moved on to the next only for a jolt to race through her body, the force inside the fibers lashing out again. Athyst Sorceress receded and fled back into her warehouse. She closed her eyes and nodded, “Nothing worth doing is ever easy,” she admitted and lowered her hands from the mote.

“Keep fighting, little sister,” she said and returned to the waking world.

–

She wasn’t sure how much ti had passed. She had stopped counting the days that had turned into months and then years and then decades. Had a century already gone by? Two? Her body was still alive, she could feel it. A constant reminder that this place, regardless of how real it seed, was nothing more than a very elaborate illusion. She had no way of knowing, though, how the ti displacent of this place worked. Had she been enduring this for only a few hours? Was it days? Did it even matter?

The ti spent inside still felt real.

As did everything else.

She sat up in the small plot of flowers, her gown askew, her hair a tousled ss. She looked around and found herself alone again, a bitter taste filling her mouth. Her shoulders sagged and she wasn’t sure whether it was from relief or sha. Her neck itched and she reached up to run a finger over a small bruise on her throat, her fingernail digging into it as the anger ca back. Frustration bubbling in her chest. She pulled her knees up to her chest and tried to breathe, tried to push it out of her mind.

It was so hard to think, so hard to clear her mind long enough to reflect. Every day was a new kind of tornt. So more inventive than others. The teasing and coaxing had gone away at so point after she had rembered her na. Now it only happened when more was expected to follow. She bit her lip and steadied herself as she went through the nas once again. Hundreds of thousands of recitations, over and over so that this place could not make her forget.

“Carla, Chunhua, Marta, Amos, Beyol-”

Crik!

A twig snapped behind her and she froze, tension racing up her back. Is she back already? Did I think too hard? Just leave alone, I want to think for a while. Can’t you just let clear my head you monster? Haven’t you had enough fun?

“Sonya, you look terrible, are you alright?”

She blinked and turned, startled by the lodic voice that called out to her. Just a few feet away was a woman in black leathers, raven hair cut short and rainbow-colored eyes glittering. She took a step forward and paused as Sonya backed away, “She did a number on you this ti, huh?” the woman said with a sigh.

Sonya looked away, “What do you want, Loki?”

“I just wanna talk, it's been a couple years since I visited, hasn’t it?” the Great One asked, taking a few more steps forward and sitting down in the flowers.

Sonya opened her eyes and squinted in Loki’s direction, “New body?”

“I changed it up last year,” Loki said, looking down at herself, “Was thinking about switching back for a while. What do you think?”

Sonya pressed her lips together, “You look… fine, I guess,” she grumbled before letting out a weary sigh, “No, I’m sorry. You’re very pretty. It’s a good look.”

Loki brightened and crossed her legs. Sonya knew what that ant. They were settling in for one of their longer chats. She huffed out a breath and turned to face them properly. Loki was a conundrum to her. When she’d first laid eyes upon them, they’d seed like soone that she would have happily put into the ground for the kind of danger they represented to the world around them.

And yet, as she got to know Loki, she realized that the only thing they truly cared about was their holand and the court they belonged to. Loki’s beliefs about the arbiters were extre, but ca from a place of genuine worry. It was hard to bla them for it. Their constant visits to Titania’s court had led to a few tense encounters at first, then brief conversations, and finally what she could almost describe as a friendship.

Sonya brushed her hair out of her face. So socializing would be good for , I think.

“So what did you want to talk about today?” she asked, trying to sound stronger than she felt.

“I wanted to let you know I brought back a prisoner with ,” Loki said, looking proud, “We’re finally going to get so answers.”

She raised her eyebrows, “Oh? Mis- Titania must be very pleased. Do I know them?”

“You might have heard of her,” the trickster said with a grin, “Pandora.”