Chương 21: Chapter 14.2: Secrets, Lies, and Adelie Penguins

The keypad by the door beeped out a familiar tune as Vell punched in the code to Joan's door. She always kept her door locked, unlike most of the people on the floor. As far as he knew, Vell was the only person who had the code. It was either a sign of trust or a way to make booty calls more convenient. Vell chose to believe it was more so the first one, though he didn't have many objections to the second. Joan beckoned him in as soon as the door opened.

She was slumped over on the couch, looking as exhausted as Vell had ever seen her.

"Geez. You look wiped out," Vell noted.

"Yeah, turns out having to talk about every shitty thing that's ever happened to you kind of sucks," Joan said. She rubbed her red eyes and let out a deep sigh.

"Can I help?"

"I could use a hug," Joan admitted. Vell obliged. Joan buried her face in his shoulder and remained there for a solid minute in absolute silence.

"I also need you to do my hair," Joan said, her voice muffled by Vell's shoulder. She pulled her head away from him and pointed at her tangled mess of hair.

"This undercut is ugly as hell when I have my hair down."

"I don't know, I kind of like it," Vell said.

"The mess has it's own style."

"I'll keep that in mind. But right now I need to get it tied up," Joan said.

"If only as a symbolic gesture of me getting my shit together again." Vell nodded and retrieved a hair tie. As he got to work fixing her ponytail, Joan got to work explaining the situation.

"So there's a lawyer guy set up in the faculty building, came here to ask me and a bunch of other people about Roentgen's mana-harvesting incidents and how it's affected us. I already told him everything, obviously, but the case gets stronger with corroborating testimony, so you basically just need to go to him and tell him you agree with everything I said and that Roentgen totally sucks."

"Well, I will do that, but first I'd kind of like to know what I'm agreeing with," Vell said.

"Why? We've talked about Roentgen, you know they're a bunch of shitheads." Like every good member of his generation, Vell maintained a healthy distaste for large corporations. He made a point of avoiding products from Roentgen, Kraid Tech, and many other unethical companies when he could, an ideology Joan shared in. Most major companies had a long checklist of scientific and magical abuses stretching back to before Vell had even been born, but Roentgen's list was particularly long.

"This is a legal case, Joan," Vell said.

"I can't just go in there and say 'Roentgen sucks, give my girlfriend money'."

"But I want money."

"Joan."

"I'm kidding, Harlan, I'll tell you," Joan scoffed.

"Finish up with the ponytail so I can look you in the eyes. Talking to someone with your back turned feels weird."

"It really does," Vell said, speaking from experience. He put the finishing touches on Joan's ponytail and waited for her to turn around and explain herself. She started by gesturing towards her eyes again.

"So, I mentioned on the phone about my eyes," she started. Vell nodded, and Joan carried.

"My dad worked in one of the old ley-line mines for years, during that time Roentgen was skimming off the top of their workers." Vell bit his tongue. Roentgen had achieved corporate dominance thanks to incredibly efficient mana-harvesting, with their machinery leaving competition in the dust at every turn. After several years of almost monopolistic control of the mana market, a leak had revealed that their efficiency was due to Roentgen machinery also absorbing small amounts of mana from the souls of their workers.

The fury (and the lawsuits) had been swift, but Roentgen had amassed enough money to fight off every legal battle, claiming that the soul-harvesting had been an unintentional incident, a clinical error based on how new mana gathering technology was. New regulations were put in place, and any mana-harvesting from humans had stopped long ago, but the damage had been done.

"Messing with the soul messes with the body, you know. My dad got lucky, and avoided the worst of the effects, but that kind of damage can get passed down to the kids too. I just got the eyes, but my sister has it way worse."

"Your sister?" A sister was news to Vell. Joan had never mentioned having any siblings before. Joan reached up and clapped her hands over Vell's mouth for reasons neither of them entirely understood.

"Forget I said that," Joan said.

"Forget it. Like, really, go to Cane and his department of, of brain-learning or whatever and get it erased from your head."

"Neurology," Vell corrected, as he removed Joan's hand from his mouth.

"And I'm, uh, not. I'm not going to do that. I promise I won't tell anyone, though. Is that good?"

"It'll have to do," Joan said.

"We're going to talk about the brain-erasing thing, though. Like, she really fucking hates being talked about."

"Why?"

"Look, she's, uh... how do I put this…" Joan looked away from Vell and wracked her brain for a minute.

"Look, she just doesn't like it, okay? And seriously, don't tell anyone about her. You just have to trust me." Vell was more than a little concerned about Joan's secret sibling, but he figured that was their family business. He added it to the ever-growing list of secrets and mysteries in his life and moved on.

"Alright, no talking about secret sister, I can do that," Vell said.

"Let's get back on track. What've you been talking about with this lawyer guy, and how do I back you up on it?"

"Well for starters these eyeballs are expensive," Joan said, pointing to her face again.

"Good job mentioning your eyes twice and not taking them out, by the way," Vell said.

"Ugh, don't compliment me on that, I catch myself about to pull them out and just point instead," Joan said.

"Anyway, like I was saying, the prosthesis's are expensive, so that's a source of stress right there. And then there's how it affects my self-esteem with my appearance, and my relationships with my peers, and then there's…" Vell sat by patiently as Joan gave an extensive list of everything wrong with her. It turned out far longer than he had expected. Harley mashed the code for Lee's room into the keypad and let herself in.

She could hack her way through if she wanted, and had done so several times, but the beeping gave Lee a heads up that Harley was inbound.

"Lee! Vell isn't answering my texts and I need somebody to sabotage a date. What're you doing tonight?" A muffled groan rang out from the kitchen area of the dorm. Harley sighed and rounded the corner. Lee was sitting at the table, arms crossed on the table, and her face pressed flat against it as well. Harley had come to know this as the "Lee's got a problem" pose. Harley took her usual spot at the far end of the table and clapped her hands together.

"Secret swap not go so well?"

"All was going quite well, actually, at least the first half," Lee mumbled.

"Yes, Vell got cut in half once upon a time, that's all rather odd, I was all set to tell my story, and then Joan called."

"Is Joan calling bad? I thought you liked Joan?"

"I like Joan very much," Lee said.

"Which is why it concerned me greatly that her current eyeless state is a result of the Roentgen corporation, and she is currently participating in a massive lawsuit against them."

"Oh-ho, wow, yeah that's shitty timing," Harley said.

"Wow. Y'all are just a monumentally complicated group of people, you know that? It is fucked up what kind of layers of secrets and bullshit you all have going on."

"I know. It's why I'm truly blessed to know someone as simple as you. Uh, rather, whose life is as uncomplicated."

"That's me, the mentally stable one, much to everyone's surprise," Harley said, pointing a thumb at her chest.

"You want some of the patented Harley straight-talk?"

"I would appreciate it." At that prompt, Harley jumped out of her seat, dove across the table, and grabbed a startled Lee's face with both hands.

"Go. Talk. About. It." Harley demanded, punctuating each word with a light shake of Lee's head. The shaking ended, but the tight grip on Lee's cheeks did not, as Harley continued.

"The longer you sit around and worry about things like this, the more complicated they get. You have to move, you have to take action, and you have to resolve things on your own!" A muffled mumble of a response let Harley know she was gripping Lee's face too tightly. She relaxed her grip on Lee's cheeks enough for Lee to move her lips normally again, and Lee cleared her throat.

"I'm worried that if they find out-""Mom and dad are going to come to visit eventually, they'll find out one way or another," Harley said.

"The best way for everyone to find out is you telling them. Right. Now." Harley once again punctuated words with a head shake. She loosed her grip once again afterwards, giving Lee enough space to nod.

"You're right," Lee said.

"You're absolutely right."

"I usually am," Harley said. She rolled over and laid on her back on the table, staring up at Lee's dorm room ceiling.

"Honestly this is probably your best bet. Go spill some beans to whoever is in charge of that lawsuit. Do some damage, prove you're on the good guy's team."

"Huh. I suppose that's true," Lee said.

"You should have led with that, dear, I feel remarkably more confident now."

"I give good advice, I don't necessarily give it in the optimal order," Harley said.

"You want streamlined service you go to a therapist."

"Still thinking about that, honestly," Lee said.

"The rate this year is going, we'll see." Lee stood and retrieved her purse. Harley stayed on the table.

"Would you like to come, or do you intend on staying on my dining table all evening?"

"Honestly? I'm considering it. Got to skip on my Michaela date somehow. Is it cool if I hide in your dorm?"

"You are welcome to, of course, but I will try and wrap this up quickly so I can help ruin your date this evening," Lee said.

"Unfortunately, things may become... complicated."

"Don't pause dramatically like that, you know I hate it."

"Sorry." Vell sat across the table from a man whose face seemed to be composed mostly of mustache, with a smattering of eyebrow to remind you that there should, presumably, be a face somewhere under the fluff. Vell tried to keep his eyes focused on where the lawyer's eyes should have been were they not hidden by the bountiful brows.

"You've been very helpful, Mr. Harlan," The lawyer said, in a droll monotone.

"Your confirmation of Ms. Marsh's testimony should be very useful."

"I'm just glad I could help," Vell said.

"Hopefully it helps everyone get what they're owed." The lawyer had helpfully explained the exact details of the case. He was representing over twenty-thousand individuals across the world who had been negatively affected by the lingering effects of Roentgen's soul-harvesting operations. They were hoping for a settlement of two-hundred million dollars, to be spread evenly across each of the victims, but with Roentgen's army of lawyers on hand, they were prepared for that to be negotiated down to a few dozen.

"Now, I believe I have reached everyone on this campus," the lawyer said.

"But if you are aware of any others who have been affected by Roentgen, or by other corporations, please direct them to me. My firm specializes in such settlements."

"Uh, right, we'll keep you in mind," Vell said. The lawyer had insisted on giving them his business card, which Vell had politely tucked into his pocket without reading it.

"But I don't think there's anyone?" Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

"Not that I know of," Joan said. The door slammed open, and Vell nearly jumped out of his seat as it pounded loudly against the wall. The mustachioed lawyer did not flinch, though his mustache hairs did twitch slightly with the rush of air from the door.

"I'm sorry, that was a bit much," Lee said. She grabbed the door and closed it politely.

"I was in a hurry."

"Hey, Lee," Joan said.

"What brings you here?"

"I was looking to testify in this case," Lee said. She walked over, flexed her fingers oddly as she struggled for a gesture, and then settled for putting an awkward hand on Joan's shoulder.

"Because I want to help you, Joan. I'm on your side, and I want you to know that."

"That's cool," Joan said, not knowing how else to process Lee's strange behavior.

"But, Vell's already sort of got it covered, I don't think this guy really needs anymore support?"

"It's not necessary, no," the lawyer said. Lee shook her head furiously and removed her shaking hand from Joan's shoulder.

"No, I mean, yes, I know, but I'm not here to corroborate anything," Lee said.

"I have my own testimony I'd like to provide." The lawyer tilted his head forward in a stiff nod and opened a new document on his laptop. He then gestured to Vell, who stood up and let Lee slide into the seat across the table from the lawyer. Lee took a deep breath and wrung her hands together.

"May I ask that everything I'm about to say be kept anonymous?"

"I'll have to take your name for legal reasons, but yes, we can use anonymous testimony -to a limited extent." Lee gave a stuff nod, and the lawyer gave an equally stiff nod in return.

"Would you like to give your testimony privately?"

"No, they should stay, actually," Lee said.

"I believe they are long overdue to hear this. Might as well let them know now."

"Very well then." Vell had an odd feeling that that wasn't how legal testimony was supposed to work. He felt like none of what was happening was normal procedure for a lawsuit, but then, he was a scientist, not a lawyer. He accepted the weirdness and kept his focus on Lee.

"Now, your friend said your name was Lee? Is that short for anything?"

"No, actually," Lee said.

"It's a pseudonym." Joan and Vell looked at each other, then at Lee, then back at each other. Thinking back on it, Vell had noticed a few clues that Lee was just a nickname, but he'd always assumed it was short for Lenore or something in that vein.

"Lee" tapped her fingers on the table nervously and worked up the nerve to continue.

"My legal name is XL-X8 C/P Burrows," Lee said, her voice shaking as she said it. The bushy eyebrows of the mustachioed lawyer raised in shock. Joan looked like she'd been stabbed in the gut. Vell, for his part, had no idea what was going on. It was a really weird name, but that didn't explain Joan's look of utter shock -and anger.

"I don't mean to assume," the lawyer began.

"Are you-""How many people do you think are named XL-X8 C/P?" Lee asked, her voice edged with disdain.

"Of course. I am the daughter of Roentgen's CEO, Noel Burrows." Vell nodded. That explained the looks. It did not explain any of the other questions now raised, but Vell was starting to get used to the questions piling on.

"Well then," the lawyer said.

"This should be interesting. What do you have to say in regards to your fathers actions?"

"I have to say that he knows exactly what he has done," Lee said.

"And he knows he has weaseled out of underpaying lawsuits before. I was in the room when he congratulated his lawyers for 'making sure those people got a quarter of what they could've'. Exact quote." The lawyer began typing with a furious energy Vell hadn't seen during his own testimony. He understood that perfectly. Even buried as it was behind the mustache, Vell could see excitement on the lawyer's face.

"Now, can you name the lawyers he spoke to?"

"I can and will," Lee said.

"And a whole lot more." Lee began a tirade, naming every name and quoting every quote she could remember off the top of her head. Joan's expression of shock softened, but did not fade. As soon as Lee provided the last of her testimony, the lawyer practically ran out of the room. He assured them all that Lee's testimony could very well ensure the most successful lawsuit ever filed against Roentgen. Lee had reiterated once more that she wanted her testimony to be anonymous, and politely bid the lawyer goodbye.

As soon as he and his mustache had left, Lee turned to face Vell and Joan. She did not speak. Neither did Joan.

"So," Vell began.

"I take it you'd prefer we still call you 'Lee'."

"If you ever call me that other name, or any variation thereof, I will slap you," Lee said, without an ounce of humor. The silence returned again. This time Joan deigned to break it.

"I don't buy into that 'sins of the father' bullshit, if you're worried about it," Joan said.

"I don't blame you for what your dad or your grandpa did." Lee nodded. That was a relief to hear. Joan wasn't done yet, though.

"But I do blame you for what you haven't done," Joan said.

"And you haven't done a hell of a lot."

"Joan-""No, hold on, what are you thinking, only getting involved now, because you've finally seen firsthand how miserable your dad made someone? We hang out a few times and now you grow a conscience? People have been out there suffering for years, Lee, and you knew!" Lee held her hands out in a placating gesture.

"Joan, I know you're upset, and you have reason to be," Lee said.

"But-""No, Lee, you listen to me, because all those 'reasons' I have to be mad, I've got a lot less of them than some people," Joan said.

"I was born blind, and I'm one of the lucky ones."

"Hey, maybe we should give her a chance to talk," Vell suggested. Joan shook her head.

"You could have done so much more, so much sooner," Joan said accusingly. Vell physically grabbed Joan by the shoulder and pushed her a step further from Lee.

"Hey! Whatever you think, she helped you and a lot of other people just now. You need to at least give her a chance to explain herself." In all the time both Lee and Joan had spent with Vell, they had never heard him raise his voice in anger. The sudden and unfamiliar tones of frustration in his voice shocked Joan into compliance. She withdrew another step back and nodded. Vell gestureds towards Lee, giving her the go-ahead to speak.

"Thank you," she began.

"And, Joan is right. I've had ample opportunities to make change. I have chosen not to make use of them, because I have a plan."

"What plan?" Joan asked, the venom in her voice making clear her anger had not been entirely muted.

"So far as my father is concerned I am still his perfect little girl, and his heir apparent," Lee said.

"If I continue to play the role he has imagined for me, I'll be in charge of Roentgen one day."

"And how many years is that going to take?" Joan said.

"Your dad's company hurt people and is still hurting people, Lee. There's going to be a lot of suffering while you wait to take the throne, princess."

"I know that," Lee spat.

"But what am I supposed to do? Help more lawsuits? I understand that the money will help you, Joan, but what is it going to change in the long run? My father and his cronies don't even blink at losing two hundred million. They just cut the wages and benefits of their employees to recoup the losses. You can't beat them with legislation and lawsuits." Joan had no rebuttal for that. Lee took the silence as an invitation to continue.

"I will continue to play my part," Lee said.

"For the long term benefit of everyone."

"It doesn't sound like you're happy about it," Vell noted.

"It's not a perfect plan, I will admit," Lee said. The melancholy in her voice could not be ignored, even by Joan. She shrugged her shoulders and stepped back.

"I guess this must be tough for you," Joan said.

"Sorry I freaked out on you. I can't possibly understand having to choose between doing whats right and my family."

"Oh that's not the hard part of it at all," Lee said. Her quiet, mournful tone was suddenly cut with a bladed edge of anger.

"The hard part is putting up with my family long enough for the plan to work." The rage seeping into Lee's voice put a chill down Joan's spine. The unexpected anger in Vell's voice had been righteous frustration, a more muted, understandable kind of anger. The sudden fury that crept into Lee's voice now was vindictive, unrestrained, and intense.

"So. You don't like your dad, I take it?"

"Don't like him? No. I despise him," Lee hissed.

"You think you hate him? You think you loathe my father? You have suffered the consequences of one decision. I lived with him. Every day, for twenty years years of my life, I was beholden to him, on the front lines of every childish whim, every malevolent, thoughtless impulse." As she spoke, Lee gestured more and more frantically with her hands, her hands tensing as if putting a throttling an invisible neck. Whenever Lee got too stressed, she liked to imagine strangling her father.

It was calming, like a stress ball but with patricide.

"My 'real name' is a series of gibberish bullshit my mother thought would be 'unique'. Vell got confused earlier when I told him I was from Egypt, you know why? Because I have a British accent, and I have a British accent because my parents though it would be charming, so they hired British tutors and caretakers, and banned anyone without a British accent from speaking to me for the first eight years of my life!"

Joan inched closer to Vell and stayed silent as Lee continued, sounding like she was about two steps removed from a supervillain monologue with every word.

"Do you want to know why I'm always tripping over myself? Because I had a posture coach who would hit me with a ruler if I didn't sit and walk and do everything with the inhuman poise of my parents ideal little princess, and now when I try to walk like a normal fucking person I barely know what to do!" Lee grasped at her temples in a fury for a moment. Joan stepped up, but Vell put a hand on her shoulder and kept her back. He could tell Lee wasn't done yet. Tears of rage were welling up in her eyes now.

"I hate my parents! I hate them so much it makes me want to puke," Lee said.

"But I put up with their deluded whims, and their childish idiocy, and my father's cartoonish villainy because I want to inherit his company and burn it to the ground." Lee pulled her hands away from her head and clenched them into tight fists.

"I am going to be the CEO of Roentgen some day. And the minute I am in charge, I will end it all. I will reveal every evil thing my family has ever done, I will spend every cent of his fortune on reparations and charity, and I will laugh while I drag his name through the mud. The last time my father ever sees his 'precious, perfect daughter' will be when I come to spit in his face as I tear apart his life's work brick by brick and dollar by dollar."

Her clenched fists tensed so tight Lee's knuckles turned white and her veins bulged.

"Choosing between doing what's right and my family is easy, Joan," Lee spat.

"The only hard part is resisting the urge to push my parents off a cliff, or put them on one of my father's stupid spaceships and blasting them into the sun, or reprogramming all their self-driving cars to run them over on sight, or-" Lee then proceeded to list off seven other possible means of parricide, and showed no signs of stopping. Vell kind of felt like she needed to be stopped, though, so he let go of Joan.

The continued ranting was starting to get uncomfortable, and he hoped Joan had an idea on how to calm Lee down. Joan stepped up and put her hands on Lee's shoulders.

"I knew I liked you," Joan said, with a sly smile on her face.

"You want to burn the motherfucker down?" Lee looked up with red eyes and a hungry grin.

"More than anything," she hissed.

"Count me in." Joan extended her hand, and Lee clasped it firmly in a conspiratorial stranglehold. Vell stared on in confusion. That certainly hadn't turned out the way he planned. He still felt like Lee needed to take her rage down a notch or two, but he had no ideas. He could possibly ask Harley-"Oh shit, Harley," Vell said. Harley eyed the knife on the table. It was dull, but with the right force behind it, it'd do.

Michaela had set up a beachfront table for their date, and all but dragged Harley to it in spite of her attempts to cancel or change their plans. Michaela started to hit the tenth minute of her monologue about her vacation to the Galapagos over the summer, and despite her attempts to not listen, Harley was starting to piece together the details of Michaela nearly extincting a species of finch without realizing it. Around a nearby building corner, Joan, Vell, and Lee leaned around the corner.

The reminder of Harley's plight had spurred them to change the subject from corporate sabotage to romantic sabotage. The trio observed Harley's precarious situation and then darted back around the corner. Lee nearly fell into the nearby bushes as she darted, but Joan caught her and set her upright.

"Alright, ideas?" Vell asked, as Lee regained her balance.

"I could use hydromancy to create a wave and wash the date away," Lee suggested.

"Good start, but I think Harley's already mad at us for being late and we don't want her to be mad at us for getting her wet," Vell said.

"I actually think she'd be rather keen on walking across campus in a wet t-shirt," Lee said. Vell had to admit she was right.

"However, I now recall Michaela is a marine biologist and will likely not be bothered by a little saltwater."

"Can't we just walk in and say Harley's mom is sick and she needs to take a phone call or something?" Joan asked.

"Oh nothing that simple ever works, darling," Lee said.

"You'll need to get at least twice as contrived for the plan to function properly."

"I wish I'd remembered sooner, I could've carved a rune that would help," Vell said. Joan's eyebrows jumped up and she reached into her pocket.

"I've got this," she said, holding up an uncharged "sight" rune.

"I was carving it to have something to do with my hands while I talked to the lawyer."

"Alright, so we can make someone see something," Lee said. She took the rune and charged it, just in case.

"What can we do with that?" Vell poked his head around the corner again. Michaela was still ranting away, talking about her Galapagos expedition, to a supremely disinterested Harley. It took a solid minute of staring, but Vell finally put together a plan.

"Give me the rune," Vell said.

"I need to make some minor changes."

"And then I had to go all the way up this hill to find another nest, but it was so worth it, those little eggs just made the most divine eggs benedict you've ever had," Michaela said. He continued story about the breakfast on her fifth day of vacation was cut short by Vell and Joan arriving.

"Hey there, Michaela," Vell said as he clapped her on the shoulder. After the greeting, Joan took over, since she was the better liar.

"Did Harley mention maybe doing a double date? We thought we had something else going on, but our schedule cleared." Vell and Joan took a seat without waiting for an answer. Harley was struggling to find a facial expression that balanced her gratitude that they'd shown up with her anger that they'd shown up so late.

"I'd rather you didn't," Michaela said. Joan suddenly switched to a pitiful expression.

"I'm sorry. It's just, Vell really needs to learn his way around a date. I love him but he's just no good at conversation," Joan said. She then gestured to Michaela.

"I just really thought I should bring Vell to a date like this, to see how someone should really handle romance." The ego-stroking was as obvious as it was effective. Michaela preened, brushed back her hair.

"Well, if he needs to learn by example that badly," Michaela said.

"As I was saying…" As she resumed her tirade about nearly eating a species of finch onto the endangered list, Vell leaned over and whispered to Harley.

"Let's go, I slapped a rune on her shoulder to make her see an illusion of us all," Vell said. Harley didn't need to be told twice. She bolted before Vell had even finished the last word of his sentence. He and Joan shared a quick glance at Michaela and then made a mad dash in turn.

"You guys are so late," Harley hissed, as soon as they were all around the corner.

"I've been listening to her rant for thirty minutes!"

"Why'd you even go along with it, I thought you were just going to hide?"

"Michaela can be surprisingly persistent and surprisingly okay with breaking and entering," Harley said.

"You might need to have someone fix your door, Lee."

"Wonderful," Lee said.

"Well, at least we know she can afford it," Joan snapped.

"Ooooh, so I take it the conversation went well," Harley said, her harsh expression suddenly brightening.

"Are we all good? All secrets laid bare? Everybody friends?"

"Everything is just fine," Joan said.

"In fact, I think we could do a bit more talking. I got some ideas for how you can drain daddy's coffers without risking your inheritance."

"I am all ears," Lee said with a predatory smile. The two of them walked off side by side, chatting about some ways to stab Lee's dad in the back. Metaphorically, for now, but Vell didn't like their tone. He and Harley were left behind for the moment.

"So, she gets a little intense," Vell said.

"Gee, you think?" Harley said.

"Did she mentioning pissing on her dad's grave? She always liked saying that."

"She did not," Vell said.

"She did mention spitting in his face as she burned his company to the ground, though."

"Ah, yeah, that's a favorite too."

"Any ideas on how to make her chill out a little?"

"Oh I was actually hoping you'd have some," Harley said.

"I got nothing." Vell shook his head.

"Well fuck," Harley said.