Chapter 9

“ ... and so we would propose to move you to the security department.” I stared in disbelief at the ‘Regional Vice-President of Operations of ChertWell Medical Residences’ or Robert, as he asked me to call him earlier.

“I have no qualifications to be a security guard!” I replied. I knew I’d been told by my Steward not to volunteer anything, but this was crazy.

“You have exactly what we are looking for. You are a Hunter that can quell a portal.” He replied. So that’s what this was about.

“You want to swap job descriptions of my union Sister and then send her into known deadly situations? I strongly object!” said my Steward, his voice raised. “These Portals are deadly, this one more than others because its monsters are extremely toxic. This is a no-go”

“We wish to prevent another breakout of these monsters in order to protect our residents and employees. Don’t you want to help with that?” The VP asked, strongly leaning on the word ‘help’.

Those of us who work in patient care, do so because we care for the patients first, then try to make a career of it. Management of these businesses know this and feels free to use that fact against us. Often.

“You should have built a more robust containment system around that portal in the basement. There was adequate information available for Management to know of the dangers, and you did a piss-poor job of it. Nearly 50 deaths here hang on your decision to put in a substandard protection. This interview is over.” said my Steward as he stood up and waited for me to do the same.

“Other duties as required: it’s part of your job description...” our increasingly unpleasant VP dropped. I wanted to say something but decided to heed the Stewards advice for now.

“Oh come on, Portal entry has been deemed a hazardous activity by the federal government, the only people without the right to refuse that Unsafe Work are police, firefighters, paramedics and active military personnel ... Cut your losses!” He said, pointing to the UNIFOR blaze on his arm.

“Permission to return to work?” I offered politely while standing, ready to leave.

“Dismissed...” was all he said.

As we walked down the hallway back to the patient accommodation blocks, he muttered under his breath “They are still trying to shift blame and focus to wherever they can. So far as I know they haven’t even upgraded the containment around that portal yet!” It seemed cold and callous to me, but then again, I was just a worker, what did I know?

Instead of driving up on Saturday for the next portal run, I went up on Friday, bringing Janet’s mother with us. She was a quiet lady, but lived in a well-cared for house in a really nice subdivision that was basically on my way to the campground. “Call me Ruth...” she said, jumping into the passenger seat of my van. Just a year ago I would have spent an hour or more cleaning the van before allowing anyone else in, but recent changes went well beyond the front door of my house. We made small talk for the hour and a half trip, and I learned she was still married, but Ian (husband) was on a long assignment in Trinidad and had been there three years. She said she visited frequently.

Janet had a whole table set up outside under some new big tent thing that wasn’t there before. I’d brought some salads and other supplies that I knew we use a lot of. The plan was to stay the night, make the run tomorrow, stay the night after and make a few videos then or the next day before I left her for her second week of guard duty.

When dinner was done, the kids all went to the park. Us ladies all followed along behind. Seneca ran ahead after unsuccessfully trying to cajole the toddler to go faster. Ashley just held Sam’s hand and walked at his pace. Janet and I caught up easily and gladly grasped their free hands, the four of us slowly making our way together.

Chatting quietly after Ruth had driven off to her B&B, I realized that Janet and I had way more in common than any of my work, or school friends did. While most people didn’t post that they’d been granted a weapon, it was common fodder for gossip, therefore basically everyone knew who had what. Besides children, work and the Portals, we shared the same taste in movies, politics and oddly enough ... poetry.

Just for a laugh, we set up the overhead camera at the kitchen table to record our story session. We changed into different tops (hilariously no fewer than ten Universities had sent her shirts and sweaters, a few of them with the university name printed upside down. I grabbed a Queens V-neck t-shirt because I liked the colours. It was ridiculously tight and I thought it perfect. Janet went for UCLA again, but this one was bright yellow, with the printing upside down.

“Greetings internet, we are the Portal Chicks who identify shit, tonight is first of its kind, we’re having a pre-portal chat. Tomorrow our team is entering a Blue portal for the first time. What are your thoughts Ell?” Janet opened up.

“Well Jay, I’m glad we’re drinking tea instead of wine, Blue is a tough challenge and I want my wits about me...”. We went on for a few minutes about our plans and preparations in general before I steered the conversation towards the identification of something.

“Jay, let me tell you about this...” I dropped the bandanna in her hands then went along and told the story of how I got it. I pulled no punches when I described how I felt after coming to the conclusion that I wasn’t really part of the team, but I did give the Bitch full marks for healing me in the hospital after the Breakout (I did not mention her getting any of my silver though).

“There are good and not-so-good Hunters out there to work with, sometimes they are even the same person at different times...” Janet speculated. “So, this bandanna has a pattern eh?” And she held it up to the camera. “Pirates emblem! Let’s see what it is.” The bandanna disappeared.

There was a pause, quite a long one. When it re-appeared it had changed a little. “Title is ‘Rackham’s Flag’ and it’s a doozy! Ok, here goes:

When worn by the Captain:

Boon: All sailors under the flag receive stamina +1. Enemy encounter rate +20%. Sailors can always hear the Captain. Booty must be divided per the Pirate Code. Discipline must per the Pirate Code. Only the Captain is the Captain.

Restrictions: Men only Must have a Bladed weapon Cannot be removed during combat Non-Transferable once engaged Restricted where non-aligned If the Captain dies, all is lost.

She finished quietly. “I don’t like the sound of that last one ... seems like with this guy, you gotta take the good with the bad. For some dude or I guess Scallywag with a great team and a sword, it might be a good idea. We can’t use it though.” She handed it back to me.

“Thanks Jay, it’s a damn shame though ... I think it’s just my colour!”

Janet laughed “well that’s all for this episode of ‘The Portal Chicks who Identify Shit’. As always, send me the shit you find and I’ll identify it. The address is in the title block. Shipping is your problem, but identifying it is free. Let us know what you think in the comments below. If you have a great trade, let us know. Good luck and stay safe out there.”

I tapped the stop button, and we fired it off to the production clerk of Vivideo. Janet had hooted with laughter when I revealed that I actually owned a small portion of the company. “Gives you extra reason to wear a tight top ‘for the likes’ hunh!” I’d been worried she would be all uptight about it.

We had planned shooting another video, but instead we just climbed into bed. What is said earlier was true. We were entering a blue portal the next day and needed our rest.

We were eating a simple but filling breakfast when the rest of the team started to show up. DeMarcus with a big grin asked “You two internet stars now? Imagine my surprise to hear you two chattin’ away about a big ol’ ant Dong in my MeTube feed”

“Sure beats lookin’ at your ugly mug...” I joked.

“He’s not that bad...” said Janet with a smile. “I’ll bet he cleans up nice...”

DeMarcus’s smile went to 1 million watts.

“How did everyone do moving your ill-gotten gains?” I asked just trying to divert the attention from these two. It turned out nobody had sold anything this week. I mentioned the offers I’d gotten for the Dong, including the one from China that was ridiculous.