The Bargainer 12

The Bargainer
Chapter 12

-VB-

“So this is it?” Alexandria asked me as she stared at the broken fragment of an STC, Standard Template Construct of the Warhammer 40k universe, that I had managed to take from one of the worlds under Tyranid sieges.

“Yes. It’s one of the millions if not billions of databases that will help you reproduce interstellar technology,” I replied as I nursed my wounds.

Despite possessing a body that can heal wounds quickly through multiple means, Hive Fleet Leviathan had, after encountering me multiple times across multiple worlds, adapted to my regenerative strengths and bioengineered extremely potent corrosive acid attacks. pH no longer had a scale for that kind of attack.

Sample of the aforementioned attack was now in one of the PRT R&D facilities for research into use against regenerating villain Brutes and Endbringers alike.

“Have you checked what this one contains?”

“Nope,” I scoffed. “I don’t know much about technology, just enough to use it like the rest of the world. It’s up to you and your scientists to figure it out.”

“Shame,” she hummed as she set it down. “It’ll be easier for us to prioritize if we knew what was in it.”

I shrugged. “I can only deliver to you what I can find.”

She nodded imperiously. “Good. Dismissed.”

I waved her goodbye as I stood up from my chair and left her office. Portaling to my office in New York City, I got a little surprise when I found someone waiting for me just outside of it.

“Miss Militia?” I asked one of the new Protectorate heroes who had just graduated from the Wards no more than a month ago.

It’s been a year since I came to Worm and settled down as one of its heroes and collaborator of the Cauldron.

Yes, it took me a year to find a single STC, which spoke a lot about their security and rarity.

A lot of other events happened since then, too.

For example, Mouse Protector left the Protectorate, but remained an affiliate of the PRT and Protectorate. She also remained a recurring and regular “client.”

...Who was I kidding?

Jennifer was my lover. Much like her cape persona, Jennifer, once she got over her initial embarrassment, became more extroverted with me, which involved experimenting in all manner of things. Dates, movie nights, fancy dinners, junk food dinners, sex marathons, and cuddling were all involved.

That said, Jennifer highly encouraged me to bring other women onboard this relationship because, in her words, “I can’t settle down well enough, so you need other minders!”

Finding Miss Militia here today was no coincidence. I could feel Jennifer’s fingers all over this.

I smiled at her.

“Welcome to my office, Miss Militia,” I said as I opened the door and let her in. She nodded stiffly and walked in first and then I followed after her, closing the door behind her.

Once we sat down, we got down to the business side of the things, because Miss Militia was not a woman for pleasantries when she was irked.

“What did you do to Mouse Protector that got her to leave the Protectorate?”

… Okay, so maybe I was right about Jennifer’s involvement, just not in the way I expected it.

“Why do you think that I was involved in her decision making?” I asked her without emotion. I didn’t do something ridiculous as doing paperwork while talking. It would be rude and disrespectful to the woman who’s signed up to do what was right for the right reasons, so I gave her my full attention.

It might not always get the other party to give me their full attention, but that’s why I used it sparingly.

Miss Militia, however, saw my overall behavior and straightened her back. She saw how I wasn’t dismissing her like how many directors would by doing something else while listening to her report or complaints or praises, so she gave me her honest thoughts in return.

“She spends a lot of time with you. A lot of us don’t notice it, but I do.”

“Hmm. I thought you were busy between work and your relationship with Chevalier?”

It was a relationship known to those who met the Wards before their graduation.

“I was,” she replied a little sadly.

“Was?”

“We decided to end our relationship. I was staying in New York City and he was moving to Philadelphia. Both of us knew that a long distance relationship was not going to work, especially since Protectorates get more work than Wards.”

“Smart,” I hummed. “And my condolences.”

She nodded stiffly.

“I would like an answer, then.”

I drummed my fingers on the table as I thought about revealing the extent of my relationship with Mouse Protector. Miss Militia wouldn’t betray my - or Jennifer’s - trust easily, so I saw no harm in telling her, especially since none of what we were doing was amoral, unethical, illegal, or bad in the general sense.

“I am capable of boosting other parahumans’ powers.”

Her eyes widened.

“However, it involves tantric rituals.”

She blinked. “What does tantric mean?”

“Sexual.”

There was a moment of pause as the word failed to register in her mind before it did. She blushed.

“O-Oh.”

“Depending on the intensity of the ritual, involved parahumans can experience increased parameters on all aspects of their powers, though sometimes the power themselves would rather funnel the offered improvement elsewhere.”

She narrowed her eyes. “You know about powers?”

“I am keenly aware.”

Our eyes met and her shoulders relaxed. She came here to get answers on behalf of her friends, but it was obvious that as our conversation continued, she wanted her own answers.

I preempted her. “Ask away,” I offered with a smile as I took off my hood and lower face covering.

She hesitated before her lips parted and questioned flowed out.

I answered what I could, and even then, we were in my office for hours on end.

-VB-

A/N: MM opening up to Alan. I wonder who's next to join his bed.