30 Government Headquarters

A soft-spoken gentleman led Noble through the maze of alloy buildings to the center of the complex. Noble had only been to Fort's office a few times before, and that was many years and at least two promotions ago. 

'I had no idea this place was so big.' 

The sheer number of people walking around between buildings was staggering. After adding in the number of people working unseen in the thousands of offices, Noble was beginning to realize just how gargantuan a task it was to keep the government running. 

"Awakened Noble?" the man brought the professor back from her wandering thoughts. "May I…I mean...I just want to say how much we all appreciate how much your father contributed to the government."

"Thank you." Noble looked at the man. He couldn't have been too much older than her. Her father had died seventeen years ago. How much could he really know?

In answer to her unspoken question, the agent continued. "I met him once before his…accident. I was only an intern then. Director Lance was both kind and fair. I might have been the least important person in the room by far, but he did not make me feel that way. The world suffered a great loss when he died." 

"I agree." The professor pushed back tears from her eyes. 

She had already cried over the loss of one family member today. Noble did not want to mourn a second just now. Forcing a smile, she changed the subject slightly.

"I heard there is a statue of Dad somewhere around here." Noble had been unable to come to the unveiling ceremony, but her mother had said it was a lovely affair. 

"Yes, Ma'am. The Garden is just on the other side of this building. We will pass right in front of it before we go inside." The agent beamed as they cleared the alloy wall and headed into a small industrial park.

Manicured trees and bushes lined the walkway leading to a group of austere statues. Some were effigies of Awakened and others, like her father, were mundane humans. But all had helped the government weather the trials of the Spell and keep the world from total destruction. 

Noble stopped in front of the statue she recognized. While the sculptor had been kind on her father's features, they had nailed the knowing expression of Lance's stunning eyes. 

Placing her hand in one outstretched palm, the professor noted how cold it felt in comparison to the warm man her father had been.

Still, it was nice to see him again. "Director Lance." Noble read the plaque. "I wonder how my husband feels about seeing his father-in-law on the way to work every day." 

"If I had to guess, ma'am, he feels honored. I know the Chancellor stops and pays his respects most every day." The soft-spoken agent pointed to the large doors behind them. "Your husband is this way." 

After passing through another set of security, Noble was led up an elevator to the twelfth floor. The offices up here were much larger than the cubicles next to the lobby. 

The agent stopped outside the suite at the end of the hall. "We have arrived. Deputy Director Fort is expecting you." 

"Thank you," Noble dipped her head politely. 

"Good day, Awakened Noble." 

The man's polite reception and pleasant conversation had calmed some of Noble's nerves. If she wasn't arrested and detained as soon as she arrived, it was unlikely to happen now that she had reached her husband's office. 

That was a good sign, right?

Rehearsing what she would say, Noble put her hand on the bronzed doorknob and pushed. Instead of seeing her husband's office, she stepped into a comfortably decorated reception room. Two couches lined both side walls with a spacious desk at the far end of the room. Behind it, another door presumably led to Fort and her impending confrontation.

But between her and the door…

A young woman wearing a high ponytail sat leaning forward in her cushioned chair with one elbow resting on the desk. Her knees were pulled close to her white blouse as she casually ate synthetic sushi from a box.

Enjoying her lunch break, the assistant paid no attention to the visitor's entrance. Instead, her eyes peered through her thick glasses at her propped-up communicator. The small device was causing cheers to fill the room. 

Curious, Noble moved behind the desk to see what the other woman was watching. A smile immediately came to her face. 

It was a replay of the Dreamscape duel which Noble had witnessed a couple of weeks prior. Lemac had just finished goading the crowd when the enigmatic Inha appeared with his now famous 'Pirate Punch'. The young lady watched it, laughed, replayed it, and laughed again. 

"What a doofus!" she muttered under her breath as she shook her head. "Can you believe this guy?" 

"You should have seen it live." Noble chuckled. 

The woman jumped out of her chair only barely managing not to spill her precious sushi on the ground. "Mom! I mean…Ma'am! I did not see you come in." 

The woman tried to tidy her appearance, gave up, and sat back down. 

"I entered rather quietly. I did not want to disturb you." The Professor hoped to calm the young woman's fears. 

Instead, her eyes became more round. "It is my lunch break. The Deputy Director allows me to eat in here!" 

"I don't doubt that…" Noble paused and glanced at the nameplate on the desk. "I don't doubt that Teddy; Fort is a very fair man."

Teddy's face brightened at the comment. "Oh yes. He is waaaay better than my last boss. As long as I keep things neat and organized, he will let me do anything I want. Well, almost anything. I am still trying to get myself a spinning chair."

The assistant tried to spin her desk chair to no avail. 

"I…I don't sit still well. You don't suppose you could casually ask the Deputy Director for a spinning chair for me, could you? He shouldn't know anything about…the incident..and I promise that will never happen again!" 

"I doubt I will be able to make any requests today," Noble answered, her smile fading slightly. 

Their attention was drawn away as the communicator went on to another video. 

Teddy chewed on the clean end of one of her chopsticks as she pushed up her glasses with the other hand. "Oh! Have you seen this one? GoldieRider is one of my favorites!" 

On the screen, a dauntless warrior attacked her opponent. Her black hood slightly obscured her face, but her ruby lips were twisted in malicious glee. 

Holding slim daggers in each of her hands, GoldieRider moved with inhuman speed and agility, eviscerating her opponent in mere moments after the duel began. It was a frightening display of power. 

The voice of the Dreamscape boomed, "GoldieRider has won!" 

"Rip NMR. Better luck next time. You see? Isn't Goldie amazing?!" The assistant looked on in awe. "I'm definitely adding her to my fantasy team in the next tournament." 

Noble had to admit the duelist was quite good. One of these days, they were likely to cross paths. The professor wondered how hard it would be to overcome Goldie's lightning-fast reflexes. Noble's analysis, however, was cut short. 

The door behind the two women flew open, and the professor felt a wave of anxiety hit her from the man in the doorway. 

Noble turned around with a pale smile. "Hello, my love."

Teddy looked up, trying and failing to make her chair spin. With her mouth full of sushi, she waved the ends of her chopsticks together in the air. 

"Hey boss, guess what! You have a visitor!"