Work Text:
For the first time since she was a child, Marie had been outsmarted.
Outsmarting everyone in UC had been easy. All of them were either business people, in which she appealed to their greed, or grunt workers who were just in it for the paycheck and she bribed them. It had been a long time since anyone had posed a challenge to her. But the people of Turing Town were different than she expected.
Marie tapped her fingers against her desk, a habit she had picked up from Novae. She stared at the computer that held Annie's source code. A quick call to Travis down in IT would get rid of the AI and keep her conscious clean.
She knew that half of the population of the town was inhuman. None of them were doing a great job of hiding that fact. That's why she had prepared all the proper measures against them: immunity to Siren's song, silver for the werepeople, iron for the fae, all the materials needed to kill vampires, and a special potion that mimicked the street lamps for the Fog. And of course regular weaponry for the humans.
But she had blind spots. Three main blind spots, in terms of the inhumans. One, the Milcamps ghosts. She knew how to deal with regular ghosts, angry and emotional as they are. But these ghosts are capable of full conversation and seem in control of their emotions. Marie had never seen a ghost that acted more human than not, but the Milcamps proved that it's possible.
Solutions? Currently, she could think of none, but she could always ask Diana later for ideas.
A knock on the door, a code between Marie and her assistant. She smiled. Maybe she could get an answer sooner than she thought.
"Ms. Fontaine, I canceled your meetings as you asked, but the director does want to call you later," Diana said as she walked into Marie's office without looking up from her tablet.
"That's fine Diana, thank you for doing that." Everytime Marie looked at Diana, she saw Da-eun, but she had chosen Diana for that reason.
"Diana, might I be able to...how do you English speakers say, pick your brain?"
"Of course, Ms. Fontaine."
"What do you know about ghosts?"
"They are emotional and stuck to the living world. There is no official way to get rid of a ghost other than to sever the tie to the living world, but containment is usually how we deal with them. Special containers can be designed that once a ghost is let in, they cannot be let out." Not once did Diana look up from her tablet.
A container. Perfect.
"How many ghosts can one container hold?"
"Up to a dozen, after that it starts breaking down."
And she didn't even have to separate the couple. Call her heartless all you want, Marie was a romantic.
Two, that damned Seer. It was easy to use Novae's abilities to her advantage because Novae didn't know what they were doing. But that pink and purple bitch knew what they were capable of, and they even managed to talk to the Fog! Edgar the fog man couldn't even do that, and the Fog is his parent. And for the life of her, she cannot find *anything* about this Seer, even their name. Seers had been studied by UC for years, but it's still finding new things every day, which makes Seers unpredictable.
Solutions? Get the Seer out of the way. And she knew the perfect person for the job.
"Diana, if you don't mind, would you tell Ariadne to come to my office ASAP? I have a new job for her."
"On it, ma'am." Diana started tapping away at her tablet, sending a message to the infamous Spider.
Minutes later, a knock on the door sent Diana to open it, and on the other side was Ariadne, the Spider. She was dressed like she always was, all black suit and her makeup highlighting her many eyes.
"Ms. Fontaine, you summoned me?" Ariadne smiled with a small bow.
"It's delightful to see you again, Ari. We have got to get drinks together sometime," Marie responded with a smile of her own. Ariadne responded very well to praise and attention.
"It would be my honor, Ms. Fontaine. Diana said that it was urgent, and that you had a new job for me?"
"Yes." Marie stood from her desk to stand in front of Ariadne. Despite being several inches shorter, it was still clear who was in charge. "There's a Seer in that town I was telling you about, and they are getting in my way. I need you to take care of them."
A sadistic grin overtook Ariadne's polite one. "Any particular instructions on how they are to end up?"
"As long as they are gone, I don't care what you do."
Marie gives a description of the Seer before returning to her desk. "I want this done as soon as possible. Any other work you've been assigned needs to be pushed back, and if it's urgent then just send it to Diana and she'll have someone handle it."
"It will be done quickly and deftly, Ms. Fontaine. I won't let you down," and with that, the Spider takes her leave.
Three, the prince of Hell. She hadn't seen them, but it's impossible to ignore his aura. Asmodeus, head incubus of Hell and one of the seven princes of Hell, was a mighty foe indeed. For as strong as she was, there was no way she could ever beat her in any fight. She would be dead before she could cast any spell. Why exactly a prince of Hell is in Turing Town is currently unknown to her, but if she wanted to get Novae back and kill that rat who'd stolen their heart and broke the majority of the potion's effects, she needed to get Asmodeus out of the way.
Solutions? Don't hit physically, hit emotionally. It was one of her best tactics, hitting someone in the feelings instead of in the gut. With her subpar physical strength, she had to make up for it in other ways.
"One last thing, Diana, and then you can have the rest of the day off," Marie called to her assistant, who was still on her tablet in the doorway.
"Yes, Ms. Fontaine?"
"Call Harriet here."
Diana's eyes widened a fraction, and Marie new that meant she was utterly buffounded by what she had asked of her.
"Are you sure, Ms. Fontaine? Whatever you need Harriet for, I can assure you-"
"I know what I asked for, Diana," Marie responded. Harriet was a potential risk, but not for the reasons that Diana thought. But unfortunately, Harriet was the best option for kidnapping a child.
Diana complied with a nod, and seconds later a knock echoed through the office. Diana sighed, and opened the door to Harriet.
"Heya Diana, does the boss need something from me?" Marie couldn't see Harriet, but she could certainly hear her.
Without a word, Diana opened the door to let Harriet in, who jumped right onto the couch that Marie kept in her office for guests.
"Hey boss! How's it going on the search for Novae?" Harriet asked with a smile. It's only because she knew better that Marie didn't believe that the smile was real.
"I have located them, Harriet. But to retrieve them, I need your assistance."
Harriet blinked in shock. "You want me to help you? Last time I tried to do that, you told me I was an incompetent cow."
Marie cringed internally. She knew that those words were going to haunt her. "I did say that, but I was emotional. I didn't mean that, mon amie. In truth, you are the only person I trust for this job."
And Harriet was drawn in. “Of course you need me! What’s the plan, boss?”
Marie would hope that her underlings would be less easy to manipulate, but the people UC hires are purposefully simple minded. “I need you to kidnap a child.”
A frown crossed Harriet’s face. “Why am I the best person for that job?”
“The child is a demon.”
“Ah, then yes I am.” Harriet sat up on the couch and looked into Marie’s eyes. It was like she was looking for something. “Any specific things I need to keep in mind?”
“One, don’t harm the child. I need them safe for a bargain I need to make. Two, the quieter they go, the better. And three, their parent is Asmodeus.”
Harriet’s eyes widened at the last point. “Then how the hell am I supposed to get this child away without them noticing?”
“I am going to make a scenario in which Asmodeus has to return from his ‘extended vacation’. A little trouble in…well, the opposite of paradise,” Marie says, sitting beside Harriet.
“Do you have connections everywhere?”
“Yes.”
Harriet laughs, before standing and crossing the room to the door. “Any weaknesses to exploit?”
Marie smiled slightly. “A cat. The child has a cat named Meatloaf.”
Harriet nods before taking her leave. Diana looks over to Marie with a curious look. “All of this, and for what?”
“For Novae, Diana. All for Novae.” Marie waved a hand. “You’re dismissed. Go have a personal day.”
Diana glances up, stops for a moment, then leaves.
Yes. Yes, it was all for Novae. She held up the cracked mirror in her pocket, watched her reflection in a hundred shards. Despite what everyone seemed to think, she does truly love Novae.
And for Novae, she would burn the whole world.