Chapter 240 : Afternoon with friends

James stretched as he rose from his desk, his arms high in the air and his back curved, though still retaining baseline human proportions and flexibility. It may not sound like much, but when you had to consciously think about having bones to keep them, it was easy to slip up and do a little more than the norm. Thankfully, he was normally a rather calm and quiet person, so he never did any big gestures in front of anyone that might have revealed how stretchy he could be. It wouldn't be the end of the world if someone found out, but he preferred to keep people thinking he only had baseline human abilities, aside from his pitch-black body. The little things that further separated him from Silhouette, like how Silhouette's head was ovaloid rather than a natural human shape.

Stepping away from his desk, a small thing in a corner of Silhouette's office, James got ready to head home. He was technically still working, another part of himself checking his computer as Silhouette at his own desk. Well, both desks belonged to him. He was technically a single entity split into two bodies connected by a shadow formed from his own body again, and... Well, James quickly found that trying to think about how he could multitask could become very confusing very quickly. Because it was ultimately just that, multitasking, not split trains of thought, it wasn't like it was another part of his mind operating Silhouette, he was consciously managing both at once - maybe it would be easier to think of him as the shadow hidden in the darkness of his office, with the two physical bodies being hand puppets? Still confusing, but maybe a little less so. He was glad he didn't have to explain how his powers worked to anyone. His allies trusted him and took everything at face value, and his enemies didn't need to know.

James waved goodbye to Silhouette as he left his office, waiting for the door to be closed to retract the second body into his shadow, making sure to have Silhouette do one of his dramatic spins for when he teleported in public appearances. That way, even if the disappearance was spotted, it'd be attributed to Silhouette moving away rather than being an extension of James. Was he perhaps overcomplicating things? Well, considering the sort of people who lived in Zalcien, no, he didn't. Frankly, he was working on being able to have separate bodies out and about without being connected to further reinforce the illusion. He already had body doubles with Solvent and the meat twins, and he was planning on making more out of basic non-sapient slimes, but all those copies had traits that, when under scrutiny, would betray that they weren't the real Silhouette, such as Solvent's bones. Having a "real" Silhouette and a "real" James spotted at different places at the same time would be the final nail in the coffin, hopefully.

At the same time, James had to remember not to hammer in the point too often. People who protest too much are suspicious, regardless of facts. And James did have connections to Silhouette in his civilian identity. Pretending to be two different people who worked in the same building was a headache, especially when one of the two was the big boss, but it would be worth it in the long run.

James headed out of the office building side of the Penumbral Palace, ready to meet up with his friends. Jeremy was getting a little nervous about the scheduled interview, especially since he would be involved both as Maria's handler and to answer a few questions himself, so James and Maggie figured they could have a board game session together, and it would be the perfect opportunity for his friends to meet his kids. They'd head to the school, grab his kids, and go back home for games and dinner before sending his two friends home. Nice, normal, and a pleasant change of pace.

Though James could multitask and was aware of his surroundings at all times, he was still taken out of his casual train of thought when someone glomped him from behind. As stated, he knew exactly who was holding him, and it clearly wasn't meant to be a surprise since Maggie began talking in an overly friendly tone. Suspiciously friendly.

"Heeey, James, Jamesy-boy, my buddy, my pal... Hope you had a nice day today!"

"I've been fine, Maggie. What about you? You seem... Stressed."

Her forced smile cracked a bit before she giggled, shaking her head like James had said something stupid.

"Me? Oh, doing great! Magical experiments, testing products, planning new designs, you know the drill... Say, could you do me one teensy tiny favor? For me?"

With his raised eyebrow impossible to see on his black face, James tilted his head instead to emphasize his suspicion.

"Uh uh. Maybe. It depends. You're not asking to ally against Jeremy during the games, right? That'd be a jerk move."

"What? No! I mean, maybe for a game or two, it'd be funny, but no. No, I... Kinda... Need you to talk to your boss for me."

"You know you could just schedule an appointment, right? Silhouette's a pretty easy boss to contact when he has the time. And if memory serves right, you were his favorite magical creator with your mosquito thigamajig."

"It's a flying mini-fan, the anti-parasite stuff is a bonus function. But yeah, I know, I just... I may have accidentally blown up a few rare and expensive components I need, and I kinda don't want to be the one to tell him I screwed up and he needs to pay more."

"How bad is it?"

She sighed as she let go, one hand going up to scratch at the back of her neck.

"A few thousand Xerins. For each one."

"Bloody hell, Maggie. Why were you using that kind of thing for fans that are supposed to be built and sold en masse?"

"I may have been using the funds for the fans to work on the next project."

"Maggie..."

She winced as she stepped back, arms raised in a defensive gesture.

"It's still for Silhouette, I swear! I... Well, you know how the Empress dropped by the other day, right?"

"Yeah? And Silhouette handled it. Besides, she wasn't here herself."

"Yeah, and I'm glad she wasn't. Anyway, seeing her pretty murder bots at our door got me thinking. I made my fans to be utility things, but what if we reprogrammed them as, say, magical attack drones? Ones that are made specifically to fight robots? An anti-machine effect instead of the anti-parasite one."

"Wouldn't they blow themselves up, then? They are machines you add magic onto, after all."

"See, that's the thing with magic, you always gotta try something new."

"That's how they blew up."

"That's how they blew up."

Seeing James' unamused look - or, well, the way his face was silently looking her way - she winced and looked away. James just shook his head before rubbing his temple.

"Sigh, Maggie... Look, I'll ask, but please don't do that kind of stunt next time. Can you even afford to experiment with new stuff with your current project's budget? I don't think it's quite finished and ready for production yet, is it?"

"Yeah, I know, but... Man, working on that fan got annoying really fast as soon as I had to work with others. I mean, the thing's almost done, it's just back and forths with the rune guys now to make sure that everything works perfectly and is optimized to the max. Well, there are also some final adjustments with the internal components, but Techlord told us he was busy right now and what we have is close enough to perfection to be sellable. He said something about making a better deluxe version when he had the time."

"Uh. So, you have nothing to do while waiting for the rune people to be done with their experiments and share the results, and you decided to play around with what you had on hand."

"Yeppers. I know, not my smartest move, and I really screwed up with the explosion thing, but it's a normal thing usually for tinkerers and enchanters to be working on multiple projects at the same time. I mean, new, actively evolving projects, not just remaking the same thing again and again to sell it. Most enchanters don't really have the equipment to manufacture stuff in large numbers. I mean, even the scribe guys are essentially running a sweat shop."

"Is it still a sweat shop? I thought Silhouette had changed the rules when he took over."

"Okay, the rune guys are running a not-evil sweat shop, with actually nice working conditions. Still a bunch of guys doing the same thing again and again because magic is a messy business that doesn't like being automated."

"I mean, would it be still be magic if it weren't wistful and if machines could handle it reliably?"

"Hey, I didn't say automation was impossible, just hard. Magitech's a big thing for a reason. But yeah, I get what you mean. I mean, electricity is cool and all, it's also a powerful natural force, but it doesn't have the same whoa factor as magic does. There's just something about this versatile energy that's almost alive surrounding us all that..."

Jeremy cleared his throat as he approached the pair, interrupting Maggie. She frowned and glared at him, and James couldn't help but notice the faintest twitch at the corner of his grey friend's mouth, a sliver of amusement slipping past his usual aloof visage.

"Maggie. James. I hope I didn't keep you waiting. Just some last-minute paperwork to deal with. Something about a small explosion in the creators' workshop and missing supplies. I'm sure you would know nothing about it, Maggie."

"Oh, come on! It could have been anyone who borrowed those supplies!"

"You're the only member of staff I know that loves discussing her love of explosions in her free time."

"Hey! You can't use off-the-clock behavior for a work-related investigation! That's unfair! Betrayal of trust! Mixing of private and work life! Uncool!"

James chuckled at his friends' antics, gently pushing himself between them as he grabbed their shoulders.

"Come on, let's leave that behind for now. Maggie messed up-"

"Hey!"

"-and I'll be the one to tell Silhouette his favorite inventor blew a hole into her budget."

"Hmph. Seems unfair to the others, still."

"Well, the others aren't buddies with the big boss' assistant, so that's their problem. Ain't that right, James?"

"I think Silhouette would be understanding with anyone in Maggie's situation... So long as she makes sure it doesn't happen again. Which you will, ain't that right, Maggie?"

"Yeah, yeah, I promise... Sooo, we're gonna go pick up your kids, right? Where's your car?"

"I don't have one."

Both Jeremy and Maggie paused as they turned to look at James, scrutinizing his face for the smallest detail they could perceive that might hint that he was playing a trick on them. Jeremy, his vision being affected by his own shadow affinity, let him see James' features clearly, and thus was the first to realize that no, this wasn't a joke.

"You... You're being serious. You don't have a car."

"Neither do either of you, if I recall correctly."

"We were both young and jobless until Silhouette recruited us. We both live alone and only have to care for ourselves. We can both make do with bus trips and the occasional taxi, and rely on our local grocery stores for, well, groceries. But you..."

"You're a dad, James! Having a car is, like, a basic dad thing! Every dad has a car he takes care of! Sometimes more than he does of the kids! That's parenting 101!"

"...While I may find Maggie's perception of the relationship between fathers and vehicles unhealthy and worrying, her base point stands. You have five children. You can't seriously be expecting to walk them everywhere. What if you have an emergency? Or you need to go on a trip? You need to have a car. The family car is named as such for a reason."

"Well, I haven't felt the need for one yet. I live close to the workplace, and my place is close to the school. And I can handle groceries. One of the benefits of being Cored is that carrying a few bags at a time isn't a problem, so long as you're careful."

Jeremy scoffed, but still nodded.

"I can't entirely disagree on that point. It is useful to be stronger than the median person, even if it isn't by much. Still, you should consider looking into it. You may not need a vehicle now, but it may come up later. Do you even have a driving licence?"

"Not in this country. I'm not sure it'd be valid."

Maggie nodded wisely.

"Right, foreigner thing. Welp, guess we're going for a little walk, then. Nothing we can't handle. Man, I can't wait to meet your cute little kids. Still kinda hard to believe you're a dad, to be honest. Say, are they excited to meet us?"

"Oh, yes. Goliath - the oldest, absolute sweetheart - is a tinkerer too, you know. He'd love to talk to you about stuff, even if he's more of a science guy than a magic one. Foudre... Might be interested in your magic thing? Hard to say until you two meet. You should hit it off."

Jeremy cleared his throat. James caught his unspoken question.

"Oh, Lucille will like you, Jeremy, I think. And Blanche will love to talk about your fashion sense. I can't promise it'll be nice to hear, but she'll talk about it. The black and white fashion should be up her alley, though."

Maggie hummed as she counted on her fingers, muttering names under her breath.

"Goliath, Foudre, Lucille, Blanche... Don't you have a fifth one? David, right? You don't think he'll like us?"

"I think David will like messing with you. As for actually talking to you... Well, your hobbies don't match. He'll try to be nice, I know, he promised and I trust him, but he'd much rather hunt something than play board games. He's the most in touch with his animal instincts of the band, and that means that civilized life isn't... Well, he's happy we have a home and food, and I'm quite pleased to say he has fun at school, courtesy of his cool teacher and his new friends, but I know he misses the wilder parts of our previous life."

"Aw, poor baby. I mean, you could still... Take him out hunting? I think? I don't know, I never had to think about that kinda stuff. I'm pretty sure Awakened animals can join programs to fulfill their instincts. Jeremy, you're the nerd, share your infinite edgy wisdom."

"There are programs, yes, though I trust James already researched those and has studied the question with his son and or a professional, yes?"

"Yeah. I'm not stopping him, I know he needs to be active and channel his energy into it. It's just that there's a tangible difference between living somewhere where danger may appear at any moment and living in a place where you have to go out of your way to find places where you can freely rampage to your heart's content."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it. Wait, did you say 'rampage'? That's... A little more extreme than I thought. Rats aren't particularly violent animals, right? James? Why are you laughing? James!"