Chapter 42: Chapter 41: War And Diplomacy Part 3

Carl immediately tried to reply to the message, to explain everything that was going on… But all he got in response was “You are the leader. Lead. We all trust you.” The message was both frustrating and comforting.

Knowing everyone was alive had granted him a reprieve from the grief that had been gnawing at him for weeks.

“Come on, let’s go enjoy the party. Everyone is safe and we have a big day after tomorrow.” Those present were all relieved, not only for Klaire and those not present, but also for Carl’s renewed clarity.

They had all been distracted, the potential for Carl to do something reckless had them walking on egg-shells without realising it.

The part continued without a hitch, then Leanna left as to prepare for work the next day. “Carl, I’m sorry you can’t talk to me about everything, I feel like I’m letting you down when you need me more than you ever have.”

“Don’t be silly Mum, you’re sacrificing yourself just to keep the committee of our backs.” Carl gave her a hug as he said goodbye, then watched her pass through the gate back to SATS. “Are you going with Mum, Mum?”

“No, I think I’ll stay here tonight and catch up with Lydia, Leanna is far too busy preparing for the start of the new year next month to be playing host. Lydia, care to show me to the guest room…”

“We don’t have one of those, but you can stay in mine tonight… Carl, we really need a guest house for guests, especially with who we have coming.”

“Right, on it, but I hope they aren’t here long enough to need it.”

“Sorry if I’m intruding…” Alisha said, a little bit hurt as she didn’t know what was happening.

“Oh no! Not you mum, Lydia can fill you in when you get to her room.”

With that, Lydia hurried off to catch her up and heal her wounded heart.

“Carl. I wish to speak to you about my pack.” Carl was greeted by the words as he returned to the house above.

It was Gillian’s dad, a strange person to be talking to him since he held a grudge for Gillian leaving his pack.

“Sorry, what can I do for you? If you’re going to ask me to release Gillian the choice is his.” Carl was trying to remove himself from the middle of the ongoing familial drama, he had enough of his own family drama to contend with and Carl honestly didn’t see his as quite as important.

“I don’t want him back, after everything they showed us tonight I’m sure he is where he needs to be. I want to ask you outright, do you have plans for the rest of my pack. You have a great deal of power, that black and white drag-”

“His name is Equinox, I created him but he is far stronger than me and not under my control. He joined my faction voluntarily, so if you’re worried about me making a dozen of him don’t be, not even sure I can make one more since the system patched to stop me creating anything too dangerous.”

“Well that is certainly a relief, but no… I was going to say that men with power always crave more, so tell me what your next move is.”

“My next move is to clean all the plates I’ve been spinning. I don’t have any intention of using my friends to go around picking fights or enslaving anyone. I just want to live in peace with my family.”

“Well, I suppose that’s good enough for now, I’d like that in writing if I could.”

“You know what, I have a diplomatic meeting the day after tomorrow. Why not go get Gillian to draw up a non-disclosure agreement for you to sign? If you do that, you can stay and watch what happens, then if you want we can sign a formal treaty.”

“Treaty?”

“My faction was recognised by several gods, mostly the ones that took interest when Klaire and I were married by Grandma Lillim… Unfortunately, that means I have to be incredibly formal about everything.”

“Sounds reasonable, what if I don’t sign?”

“Then you won’t remember anything between now and then.”

“Fine, I’ll go find Gillian.”

“I already messaged him, he said he’ll be here in a sec, he’s just having a chat with Darren and Daniel. Anyway, I’m going to go see Alysse and her parents. I better make them the same offer. Goodnight Mr.Remus.”

Carl wasted no time in approaching Alysse and her parents…

“Good evening, Mr and Mrs. Nisse, sorry I haven’t said “hello” yet.”

“Not to worry, Alysse told us you have been in a poor state with Klaire and Levi gone. Glad to hear she got in touch. She was a bit distraught that her favourite power couple weren’t both present.” Carl sighed, but found it sweet that she told her parents everything and was happy she was better at staying in touch than Gillian was.

“I know you two are busy, but as I just explained to Mr. Remus, my situation requires a bit more formality…” Carl explained everything that he had just done so with Gillian’s dad and they seemed happy to be extended the same courtesy, agreeing and quickly communicating with those that needed to know about the impromptu extension to their trip.

By the end of the night though it wasn’t just parents, Darren and Daniel had also signed the NDAs and a couple of Alysse’s friends as well who regretted not signing up for the optional program because they were too busy on their projects to meet the deadline for signing up.

There was also a couple of Blaine’s colleagues, which being all humans was a great boon as the committee would be less likely to interfere with a greater human presence.

When all seven had signed the documents, Carl left them shellshocked by explaining exactly who was coming, the day after tomorrow.

“The dragon gods… You’re going to be having negotiations with the dragon gods… Alysse are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah the dragons will be fine, Now Carl is thinking clearly he’ll probably be petting them by the end. If it isn’t human it seems to love him unconditionally.” Alysse chuckled.

The next day was pretty much spent tidying up and removing the perimeter wall as Gillian had promised the Lugarians. Free from risk, Carl, Gillian, Alysse and Blanc delighted in shattering everybody’s expectations in every way.

“So you guys just can’t be asked with normality anymore then?” Daniel laughed.

“Yeah Alysse, seems like only yesterday you were hitting the cupboard door with a hammer because it was stuck… Now you can just break it down and reassemble it and everything inside good as new.” One of Alysse’s friends, Sophie said as Alysse broke the wall down and reassembled it into hyper compact blocks that Gillian then moved like they were dataslates.

“Hey! Carl’s the freak who can reshape creatures and planets!” Gillian argued, trying to defend his own normality ,which even he didn’t believe was intact.

“Yeah and Klaire is the one who can obliterate an army of hellbeasts with literal comets and a gatling gun that shoots miniature suns.” Alysse was in the same boat.

“Guys, I think we need to be honest here… We’re all freaks now, those two dragged us down to their level in a heartbeat. All we can do is try to be responsible and not be the sort of freak that has three kids before turning nineteen.

Carl, who was carrying a block with even less effort than Gillian, stopped with the intention to say something. The words died in his mouth however the instant Kitsunoko bumped into him as Squidge and her carried another block.

“Dad, these are heavy, please don’t stop like that in front of us.”

’Yeah Dad, not that she is actually holding much weight, I’m making sure to take enough she doesn’t hurt herself.’

“You know what, yeah… You guys are right, but unfortunately Gillian already has Sitter and you two will have one of your own before long, just let me know when you need a cradle for any others.” Carl laughed, leaning into the now completely undefendable weirdness that was his life.

“Hey Carl, speaking of Sitter… Can you tell him to chill, I ke-”

“No, if you aren’t happy with the dynamic between you two, then figure it out. The whole point of it is to experience how much effort I put into my relationships with them. Take the rest of the day off everyone. When I’m done with this lot I’m going to go set up Mirage for diplomatic ventures specifically, too risky to bring every guest to HQ.”

“Good shout.”

“You just told them to take the rest of the day, what is your idea of time-off exactly?”

Gillian laughed at his dad’s question. “Dad, we can watch in the map room. Hey Carl. you have an audience now, wanna try the theatrics again?” He chuckled as Carl stuck a finger up at him and got slapped by Alisha.

After that he stopped holding back and had the rest done in minutes, then stored all the blocks in his armlet and left for Mirage.

The others watch through the holographic map display.

Then their mouths dropped as the land reshaped, foundations set and structures came into existence instantly. They watched as Carl tapped away at something that didn’t appear on the camera feed.

“What’s he even doing? Did he lose his mind?” Sophie asked.

“No, it must not appear on camera, but his skill gives him a sculpting tool like you get in some games. With drop down lists filled with prefab options, he can…” As Blanc explained more camera feeds linked to the display revealing the inside of the structure laid out like a communal domicile. “Guess he was adding more cameras.”

“Seriously, what are his skills?” She asked.

“Good luck getting Lillim and Kyubi to talk… They know more than anyone, but they can’t say, if they let too much slip it would be crossing a line we mortals don’t understand. We already crossed it a couple of times and now we might be at war with dragons.” Gillian sighed, reinforcing how dangerous their situation was.

“I want in.” Sophie said to everyone’s surprise. “I think Carl can finally do it and make humans less despicable.” Her words hit everyone much harder than she expected.

“Thank you for saying that Sophie, but you do know your family could be dragged into it as well.” Lydia said as she tried to hide the pride that Alisha was completely failing to.

“I know, I don’t care… My family is pure-blood supremacist scum. They haven’t spoken to me in years. Thanks to them, no human team would take me because they were told not to involve themselves with a sympathiser and no half-blood team would take me because they couldn’t trust me. I hate working in the committee sectors and don’t have the talents not to.”

“Let’s see how it goes tomorrow, Miss. Simons… Carl won’t take on anyone if it will immediately drag them into a war.” Kon said, forcing her to give it more thought.

“I want in too… My family will gladly leave the committee territory if they can get out from under their thumb.” Daniel said, before adding. “Can I invite the patriarch and my parents?”

Gillian sent a message to Carl, then Carl gave a thumbs up over the camera. “Looks like you’re good Daniel, but do you mind if I send the message, I need to make sure there isn’t any hidden code in the message.” Gillian chuckled, only half-joking.

“Wow! Where’s the trust?” Daniel quipped as he held out his slate.

“We have gods coming for chats, I don’t even know you’re you mate.” Gillian laughed, at the stunned but completely understanding expressions on everyone’s faces.

“Well guys, I didn’t plan on using these just yet, but I’ll send over the application form. We need to know what you can do and what you would like to do with it.” Blanc said as he tapped at his slate.

They kept watching as Carl turned the small forward base to a diplomatic township.

“You guys really lucked out, that planet he’s on having earth’s atmosphere, I mean.”

“No, Carl changed that too… The first time we went there, there were some unknown elements in the air, one of them is fatally toxic to lycans and I nearly died.”

“What!? Have you learned anything about it? If someone found it or replicated it…”

“Dad, don’t worry, Alysse made some equipment that Lydia used to analyse it, then she made a cure in case I ever got contaminated again. Carl has eradicated the element from the air around the base… Or town I guess.”

Carl finished the demonstration then reappeared, but quickly left to spend some family time with Alisha, Lydia, Squidge and Kitsunoko.

“I guess it is getting pretty late in the day… We should go over how things are going to play out tomorrow, with you guys. Obviously you won’t be at Mirage, we’ll hang back here. Carl will be taking Squidge, Equinox, Gillian and Sitter.”

“Why is Gillian going?”

“Well because he is our head of diplomatic affairs, been doing alright with the chasm-dwarf’s rep.”

“My son… Is head of diplomatic affairs? Are you all stupid?”

“No, but you must be to not see your son’s strengths.” The retort from Alysse shut everyone up. “He’s naturally confident, admits his faults and a very gifted linguist. He is already mostly fluent in their language.”

“Indeed. Don’t you dare undermine his confidence again, even if you are his father, we all respect his talents as much as we admonish his flaws.” Kon added.

“Yeah, kid knows his limits… Knows when to ask for help and when to figure it out on his own. He doesn’t over reach and asks for Carl’s approval before moving forward.” Noah added.

“Besides that, I learned when I’m out of my depth the hard way and Carl taught me not to underestimate individuals…. Anyway, we have to go greet Daniel’s family reps., oh and not that I particularly care anymore but hopefully you at least respect what Carl is doing.”

“I do… For someone to be capable of so much and hold onto his ideals is a rare thing. I’ll certainly be signing a treaty with him.”

“Good, hope you’re ready for the negotiations. I know your pack doesn’t have a whole lot to offer, so you should think about that a bit.” Gillian said as he, and Daniel headed off to the gate room with Blanc in tow.

Kon sent him a message as they walked away.

[ MESSAGE RECEIVED FROM KON : WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY “WHAT THEY CAN OFFER”? ]

[ MESSAGE RECIEVED FROM GILLIAN : I DON’T REALLY KNOW… JUST WANTED TO MAKE HIM SWEAT A BIT FOR LOOKING DOWN ON ME… I KNOW, IT WAS CHILDISH, I SHOULDN’T USE FACTION AFFAIRS TO GET BACK AT HIM. FEEL FREE TO TELL HIM I WAS JOKING. ]

[ MESSAGE RECEIVED FROM KON : NO, I THINK IT MIGHT BE GOOD TO LET HIM SWEAT, HE NEEDS TO KNOW THAT HE ISN’T THE ALPHA OUR PACK FOLLOWS. ]

Kon had to hide his smirk as he sent the last message and Gillian’s father became absorbed with resource consideration to see what exactly they could offer that would be even a fraction as valuable as even being aligned with this faction was.

“Alysse, I think our family could offer contact with the gnomes, they aren’t the most reliable bunch and are easily distracted but they can offer a great deal in terms of ingenuity if you have any projects you don’t have the manpower to handle yourselves.”

“Err…. Sure… I will speak to, Gillian…”

[ MESSAGE RECEIVED FROM KON : WHAT THE HELL IS ALL THIS ABOUT NEGOTIATIONS!!! MY PARENTS ARE OFFERING STUFF THAT IS GOING OVER MY HEAD DUMBASS!!!. ]

[ MESSAGE RECEIVED FROM KON : I THINK WE SHOULD HAVE A MEETING, IT IS TRUE THIS STARTED AS A JOKE, BUT IT IS REASONABLE TO WANT TO KNOW EXACTLY WHAT THESE ALLIANCES WILL BRING US AND THEY SHOULD BE STIPULATED. ]

[ MESSAGE RECEIVED FROM CARL : AGREED. THIS IS ON YOU GIL, JUST MAKE SURE YOU DON’T MAKE OR ACCEPT ANY PROMISES THAT CAN’T BE KEPT, DON’T WANT TO KNOW HOW THE SYSTEM WILL PUNISH SYSTEM VIOLATIONS. ]

Suddenly Gillian was regretting the joke and left Kon and Noah to see the NDAs signed, whilst he gathered Alysse and Blanc for a tactical meeting to evaluate what they should be asking for.

After two hours their meeting ended, they decided that instead of sub-contracting they should ask for manuals to help Alysse grow when there is something she couldn’t figure out.

From the lycans, Gillian was going to have them as stand by search and rescue if anyone gets lost on one of their worlds.

Sophie was great with electrical engineering.

Daniel was in a bit of a strange case, his family were practically coming on as refugees from committee territory depending on how things went.

“Seriously though, we doing the right thing there? We’ll be asking them to swallow their pride… Don’t know how Dan’ll take it.”

“Hate to say it, but we can’t handle this any other way, the committee alienated a lot of half-breed families. If we just said “move in” we would burn through far too many resources.”

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