176: A Company of Fools: Growth, Revaluations, and Bonds I

"Experiment #223560 Code name: Troxigal. Bases: Banana slug, Poison Dart Frog. Type: Biological warfare Evo. Modified for size and mucus generation, the Toxigal contains the highly toxic agent of the poison dart frog that has been modified and concentrated inside the mucus that it excreted from its skin. Casual contact will cause muscle spasms, liver damage, hallucinations, heart palpitations, and finally death. Recommend scrapping. Tropical has no control over mucus generation or toxicity of said mucus…" I read aloud the lab notes of one of the experimental svo files that Madilyn had gotten for me.

Inside the file was an illustration of the evo along with the notes of all the scientists that worked on it and the evos lysdale script. To any techno-splicing company, the file was worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Were these folders to be given to any of Justice technologies competitors it would be disastrous but not as fun for me.

"So what's the plan for these exactly?" Iris asked as she thumbed through another one of the folders.

Iris, Sin, Louie, Angie, KC, Haws, and I were back at the shop. In the kitchen to be specific with Bo, Jade and Nate. All of us were either seated at the table or leaning against a nearby counter or wall. I was pacing around the table while I read that last file. Madilyn was in the main show room of the shop being watched by Gargesh and the other Orkands.

After Madilyn secured those files, under my supervision, we all returned to the shop to look them over as well as plan our next move.

"Simple, I'm going to look them over and see if there are any that I can tweak and shape then we're going to start selling them. But that last part won't be for a while since the lab doesn't have a maturation tank anymore." I replied then set the Toxigal folder back on top of the stack of folders and pointed to Louie's family and Haws. "Right now the pressing problem getting you four set up somewhere."

"Well if you want somewhere to stay, the sale of that apartment building down the street went through. I have all the keys, we can just set the four of them up there for the time being." Jade spoke up.

"That's amazing! You okay with that Louie, Angie, Haws?" I asked. Haws and Angie's faces lit up.

"That's fine with me. I was wondering how I was going to get out of the country but if you got a place for me to stay for a little bit then that's fine." Haws replied.

"That's lovely, thank you Chase." Angie said then looked to her husband.

"No." Louie said sternly and simply. Angie frowned and looked at her husband while juggling a sleeping KC in her arms.

"What do you mean no, Louie?" She asked.

"I mean no, we are not staying here." Louie said turning to her and frowning. "What are going to do? Hide in that apartment until Chase or someone can smuggle us out of the country? What are we going to do for money? Hell, we're illegal aliens technically?" Louie said.

"Illegal Aliens?" Nate repeated.

"Yeah…technically. When Justice technologies moved people over to man that facility they never did it through official channels. We don't have a passport, money; or anyway to get back to America." Haws spoke up.

"Well I might know someone who can help with getting all of you passports." Iris said then flashed me a look. I knew who she was referring to instantly, however we'd have to patch things up first with her before we asked that.

"Passports are only part of the problem! We just broke our son out of a Justice Technologies facility! We can't go home or else we'll probably be executed, we're illegal so we can be round up and probably shipped back to the states, and even of we do manage to get out of the country where would we go? I'm a techno-splicing scientist with a very specific set of skills, outside of America I am useless!" Louie barked.

"Well not useless." I said. Louie turned and frowned at me, the look on his face told me he was ready for another rant but I quickly spoke up. "You and Haws can work for my company, Angie too."

"Work for you?!" Louie and Haws exclaimed. I nodded and crossed my arms proudly over my chest.

"My company may be small right now but we're quickly expanding. For what I have planned we'll need a techno-splicing scientist real soon and someone we'll versed in handling evos." I said. I walked over to the kitchen counter and grabbed a pencil and some paper and write down a number for Louie's salary then walked over and handed it to him. "I'm sure this much would be worth you staying a while."

Louie took the paper and looked at it. At first he had no reaction and then slowly his eyes bulged and he got red in the face and looked like he was about to pass out.

"ARE YOU SERIOUS!" Louie bellowed. Angie reached over and slapped her husband.

"Louie, don't wake KC!" She hissed. Louie held the paper in front of her face and her eyes got wide as well. She looked to me in a panic. "Are you serious? That's triple what Louie makes in a year!"

"Geez how much am I getting monthly?" Louie asked.

"That was your monthly pay." I said. Louie and Angie's eyes glassed over, and they both stared off into space. "That'll also be your starting pay too Haws."

Haws stood up and peeked at the piece of paper that Angie had. His eyes widened like Louie and Angie's did and he quickly turned to me.

"How the hell can you afford to pay anyone that!" Haws exclaimed. Iris walked over and looked at the figure on the paper and huffed.

"That's what he's paying everyone." She said dismissively.

"You'll go bankrupt in months paying people like that! How the hell are you able to afford that?" Haws asked.

"The enchanted items he sells are things that people are willing to pay billions for. In order to pay for everyone in this rooms salary he just has to sell one enchanted item and he's set." Iris said. Louie shook his head.

"Splicers have too much money on their hands of they can afford to pay that much." He said.

"Yeah well a lot of people that want things made from me are from nobility and royalty. They have deep pockets and willing to pay, that being said I'm not going to just roll over and let them talk to me any way they want. The same goes for anyone that works for me. They insult anyone here they're bounced and put on a ban list." I said. Haws smirked and nodded his head.

"Glad to hear you say that. Well fuck, count me in Chase, I'll work for you…oof, never thought I'd hear myself say that…" Haws said. I nodded with a massive smile on my face and walked over to Haws and hugged him.

"Great! Glad to have you on board." Chase said. Haws chuckled a pushed me off him playfully.

"Okay now, don't mess up my good shirt." He said with a chuckle.

I looked over at Louie and Angie. Angie stared daggers at Louie while rubbing her son's head who was starting to stir from all the noise. I was honestly surprised he didn't wake up when Louie and Haws started screaming.

"Of course Angie and I will take you up on your offer." Louie said sheepishly. Angie nodded at her husband then looked to me and smiled.

"If there is anything I can do to help just ask Chase. Thank you for helping us" Angie said.

"Don't mention it, After everything that happened in St. Louis I would have to be heartless to not help you guys." I said. Jade stood up and smiled sweetly at Louie, Angie, Haws, and KC.

"After everything you all have been through you must be tired. I can take you over to the apartment building and get you all settled." Jade said then looked at KC, still dressed in the scrubs that the scientist in the facility had him in. "I should also have some of Bo's old other stored over there too, hopefully we can find something that'll fit this cutie."

"Thank you." Angie said gratefully. She and Louie stood along with Haws and followed Jade out the back of the shop. Bo jumped down from his spot on the counter and raced after hos mom and the others to catch up.

"So…what are you going to do about the other one you picked up?" Nate asked pointing the door leading to the show room.

I channeled mana into the void pocket enchanted ring and put the rest of the files that Madilyn gave me inside.

"Keep my word, and see what happens." I said tjen started towards the door.

"So you're going to tell her about shaping?" Iris asked. I nodded which made Iris groan.

"Fine. Let's see what happens now." Iris groaned groaned and stood to follow me.

"Before you go Boss. What you want me to do with that Karen woman?" Sin asked. I stopped just before the door and thought a moment.

"Strip her naked and then leave her in the gold city. Police will pick her up, with no passport or way to prove who she is she'll rot in a jail cell for a good while." I replied. Sin chuckled and nodded.

"Roger that Boss." He said then stood up and left the same way Jade and the others did.

I opened the door leading back to the show room and was slightly surprised by what I saw. Madilyn was standing in front of Gargesh taking measurements of his arms, the odd part was that Gargesh was just standing there letting it happen. The other five Orkands in the room didn't seem to have a problem with it either. I blinked a few times then looked to Iris to check and see if she was seeing the same thing. She had the same dumbfounded look.

"Ummm….Madilyn what are you doing?" I asked. Madilyn looked over her shoulder at me and rolled the tape measure she was using back up and stuck it in her pockets.

"Collecting data. I thought that would be self-explanatory." She said in a know it all tone that pissed me off. "I'm assuming you had a chance to look over the files I procured?"

"A few of them. What I looked at seemed legit, which begs the question: why did you get them for us?" I replied. Madilyn looked at me like I was stupid.

"So you would tell me what your shaping technique is." Madilyn said with a obnoxious shake of her head.

"For that little bit of knowledge you'd be willing to sell your grandfather's company secrets?" I asked. Madilyn laughed and shook her head.

"Little bit of knowledge? I might be a lot of things but what I am not is stupid…" Madilyn said.

"That's debatable." Iris interrupted. Madilyn scowled at Iris but continued on with what she was saying.

"…Anyone with a brain can see that your shaping technique makes strong evos…unnaturally strong evos. Which is saying something since there is nothing natural about evos at all. So naturally any techno-splicing scientist worth calling a scientist would want to know about it, meaning me."

"OK. Shaping is a new way of splicing that I created that uses aspects of both techno-splicing and traditional splicing. Creating custom tailored evos that all surpass a ascended evo In terms of power, intelligence, and survivability." II explained. Madilyn's eyes widened as her mouth dropped open.

"Stronger than ascended evos?!" She exclaimed then quickly collected herself. "Actually that make sense. Any evo that could do even half of what yours can do is deserving of the ascended title…no…thar doesn't quite cut it actually…it's more likely they're beyond ascended…like they're…."

"Transcended evos." I interrupted. Madilyn nodded enthusiastically and pointed a finger at me.

"Yes! Exactly! Evos that have transcended what is normal and even abnormal. They are in a league of their own…" Madilyn said excitedly.

"You said you're a techno-splicing scientist earlier, what exactly is your field of expertise?" I asked.

"Advanced gene mapping and sequencing." She replied then flicked her hair hair back over her shoulder. "…it's…"

"A advanced application of using a lysdale script in order to fully map out a evos genetic sequence." I interrupted then looked to Iris.. "A relatively unliked field but one that is vital for techno-splicing."

Madilyn looked like she did not like being interrupted like that but quickly buried that anger.

"Yes, you're right. Though it's mostly hated because it requires an actual brain in order to fully map out evos sequences. One mistake and the whole project is a bust." Madilyn said. She tapped her finger to her lips a couple times and looked off into the distance. "Okay. I've decided that I am going to work for you."

Iris and I looked at each other then back at her and then back at each other again.

"I'm sorry you're going to what?" I asked, pretty sure I didn't hear her correctly.

"I am going to work for you. Come on, try and keep up." Madilyn said haughtily.

"And why the hell would I even consider hiring you?" I asked.

"You literally just showed us that you can't be trusted. You sold your own family secrets out for a little bit of knowledge." Iris said. Madilyn laughed and shook her head.

"Family? Please, The Justice clan might be a lot of things but a family is not one of them. I have five brothers and three sisters, and I know every last one of them would literally stab me in the back if it meant they could get their hands on my granddaddy's money." Madilyn said.

"And I feel like you'd do the same to me." I said.

"Your caution is warranted and smart. Were we in America I probably would. But I am not in America nor do I have any desire to return." Madilyn said.

"Yeah I don't buy that. You were all 'my grandfather this' and 'grandfather that' in the facility. You seemed like you couldn't wait to be rid of us vile, disgusting splicers." Iris said with a hint of venom in her tone.

"I will admit working for a splicer isn't…ideal. However working for you helps me with my own goal." Madilyn admitted. I narrowed my eyes at her.

"And what goal is that?" I asked.

"To destroy my family…of course." Madilyn said nonchalantly. My eyes widened once again as I turned to look at Iris who had the same look.

"Why would you want to destroy your own family?" I asked. Madilyn chuckled and started pacing around Gargesh.

"I have five brothers and three sisters, nine of us altogether. My father has three brothers and one sister, five of them altogether. However…I used to have seven brothers and five sisters. My dad four brothers and three sisters."

"What happened to your siblings?" Iris asked.

"The Justice family is a old one, has ties to some of America's greatest moments including its founding. We're seen as a great family, a pillar of the country. Well great families need great children to continue the family line. No child with the name Justice can be seen as anything less than perfect…or that child will be no more." Madilyn said in a low tone.

"They killed your siblings? Your parents?" I asked. Madilyn nodded and looked away.

"My Father killed my brothers and my sisters just as my grandfather killed my aunts and my uncle. As no doubt his father did the same with his siblings they deemed defective." Madilyn's fists had been clenched so hard that her nails were digging into her skin making her palms bleed. " I want them all to suffer and after all that has happened to you and yours at the hands of my family I'm sure you're gunning for them too."

"I am." I said truthfully.

"Then let's work together, I will do all I can to help build this business of yours so we can have a better shot at taking them out!" She exclaimed. I stood silently for a moment then walked over to Madilyn and got in her face.

"I am just going to say this to you. This company and all the people that work for it mean the world to me, they mean more than my own life. If you stab me in the back or do anything that would harm anyone here. I will kill you, without hesitation or remorse. You got that?" I could almost barely recognize my own voice with all the venom and malice I put into it when I spoke. It certainly caught Iris off guard. Madilyn kept herself together and nodded in response.

"I would expect nothing less after all I've seen of you today." She said confidently, I noticed a little gleam in her eye that for a split second I thought was respect but then remember who her family is I quickly disregard that thought.

"Good…" I turned to Gargesh and the other orkands. "…take her to the apartment building and find Jade. Tell her to set her up there as well and then assign two of you to keep watch on the apartment."

"Yes Starry Chief!" Gargesh replied slapped he a Closed fist in his chest.

"Cautious…I approve." Madilyn said then followed Gargesh out of the shop.

I let out a loud sigh once Madilyn was gone and turned to Iris. I was exhausted, physically and mentally but judging from the look on Iris face she wasn't ready to call it a night just yet. She had a determined look in her eye that I had only seen a few times in the few months that I had known her.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Can I ask you a favor?" Iris asked.

"Yeah…you want me to take you to see Jane right now, don't you?" I said. Iris nodded and clenched her fists.

"Today had helped me see things clearly…you've helped me see things clearly. I want to protect Lady…no Jane. Not as her guardian but as her friend. I want to be there for her and help her grow as a splicer but in order to do that I have to stop being the yes man that I've turned into. I need to point out her mistakes. Help her see the world beyond her sheltered palace." Iris said. Her eyes shined with a determination so strong they practically glowed. I smirked at her and nodded.

"Okay! Let's go talk to that spoiled princess!"