Chapter 3

Lyrissa Shander stood at the window and took in the vista spread out below.

She was in a conference room on the one-hundred-and-thirty-seventh floor of the Torvan Interchange Centre. The massive building was a two-hundred storey mega-scraper which dominated downtown Hacon’s Vision. An architectural and engineering marvel, the T.I.C. housed hundreds of offices, shops, residences and indoor parks.

The view from the window was spectacular. From her vantage point even other skyscrapers in the downtown core were beneath her feet. The rest of the city looked like a child’s model set with miniature buildings.

A tone sounded from the conference room’s speakers and Lyrissa turned around. A long, modern-looking glass table was in the centre of the carpeted floor. The head of the table was directly in front of her with a black, executive-style chair ready for her use. The rest of the table had similar chairs down its length, though the spacing seemed odd. The gaps were wide enough that more chairs could have fit easily.

“Belica has joined the conference,” an electronically generated voice said.

A hologram of Belica Meadows shimmered into existence at one such empty spot. Her three dimensional image was seated in a chair that was distinctly out of place - an oversized, bulky recliner, like those found in the first class cabin of an airplane.

Belica had a mug of dark liquid in her hand. Coffee, one cream and two sugars Lyrissa assumed, knowing her friend. The quality of the hologram was so detailed that Lyrissa could see the steam rising from the top.

Belica’s image had a quizzical expression on her face as she took a sip of her coffee.

“Hey Babes, are you there?” she asked.

Lyrissa stepped away from the window and seated herself at the conference table’s head.

“Oh, there you are!” Belica smiled brightly as Lyrissa entered the projection system’s field of view. “Were you admiring the view? Quite something, isn’t it?”

“I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of it,” Lyrissa admitted.

“Is that why you sent me back to Astagar instead of coming yourself?” Belica teased.

“Yes, that’s it exactly,” Lyrissa replied dryly and Belica laughed.

“Rae should be logging in soon,” Belica said. “I’m surprised I beat him to it. We were just talking on the phone.”

As she finished speaking another tone sounded.

“Rae has joined the conference,” the system said.

The image of a sandy-haired, heavyset man appeared at the table. He was seated in an armchair that would have been more at place in a living room than before the glass conference table.

“Good morning,” Rae Hitema said with a jovial smile. “Lyrissa, did you get Portent to program some kind of holographic magic into these conference systems? Every time we use it you seem more beautiful than the last!”

Belica giggled at Rae’s harmless flirtation while Lyrissa returned Rae’s smile.

Rae Hitema was a skilled financial advisor and the manager of her personal fortune. More than that, Rae was a dear friend who’d earned Lyrissa’s trust and respect. He’d been by her side since back when a young, financially inexperienced actress had first sought professional advice. It was with Rae’s support and guidance that she’d started on the journey which lead to the founding of one of the Soelanar Empire’s most successful new private investment firms.

“It’s good to see you too, Rae,” Lyrissa said. “You best watch yourself though. If your wife hears you talking like that you’ll be sleeping in that armchair for days.”

“More likely in a hospital bed, you mean!” he chortled and the three of them shared a laugh.

Over the years, Lyrissa had met Rae’s family several times. She’d been to his home in Astagar for dinner with his feisty wife and much more serene daughter.

“How’s the family?” Lyrissa asked.

“They’re doing well,” Rae replied. “The wife’s a bit upset because our girl’s been busy and hasn’t visited lately. I’m told she’ll be coming over in a couple of weeks, you and Belica are welcome to stop by.”

Lyrissa smiled. “I’d like that, your wife’s an excellent cook.”

“Don’t I know it!” Rae chuckled and patted his ample belly.

Rae’s holographic image looked from side to side. “I thought Paula would be joining us?”

“She’ll be here in a few minutes,” Lyrissa said. “Belica scheduled a little time for just the three of us to go over my personal numbers first.”

“Ah, of course,” Rae said. “I’ll just bring those up then, shall I?”

Lyrissa nodded permission and Rae reached down out of the field of view of the cameras in his living room. It would have seemed strange to someone not used to it because the crystal clear, near-to-life image of his arm abruptly terminated once it reached a certain point, cut off as if it’d never existed. Lyrissa was quite familiar with holo-conferencing technology though. With the spectre of her illness looming over her every moment, she preferred to keep business dealings at arm’s length so she could cut the visual short if any embarrassing tremors started.

A shadow of bitterness passed over her thoughts but Lyrissa quickly pushed it aside. Strangely, it was the thought of Orthin dun Maltos which brought her comfort. The memory of last night’s dinner and the revelation of his cybernetic arm flashed through her mind. The thoughts brought a different kind of embarrassment but she decided not to dwell on the implications too much at this time.

Meanwhile, Rae had brought a laptop computer onto his lap. He entered some commands on the keyboard then an image appeared in the air above the conference table.

“I’ve thrown something together to show what I think is the most advantageous setup for the trust,” Rae said. “It’s a significant dent in your personal accounts but I think you’ll agree it will produce the best results.”

Lyrissa looked closely at the information Rae had projected into the viewing area. He wasn’t simply being polite - as skilled as he was at his job, he was well aware that by now she was at least his equal when it came to financial decisions. In fact he’d sometimes jokingly taken to saying that he should pay her for financial advice.

She used the trackball built into the arm of her chair to quickly scroll through the documents. Belica and Rae made quiet small talk with each other but she mostly tuned them out as she focused. Rae’s plan looked solid. It covered everything she’d thought of herself and looked independently sustainable for a long time, even under pessimistic economic assumptions.

“This will do nicely,” Lyrissa said finally. “Please proceed.”

Rae politely ended his conversation with Belica, typed a note into the file, closed his laptop - and that was that. Rae was quite used to Lyrissa’s decision-making style by now. Once she chose a course of action she tended to commit immediately and fully.

“May I ask what brought on this particular act of generosity?” Rae asked as he returned his laptop out of sight.

“Lyrissa’s gone starry-eyed over a boy,” Belica jumped in before Lyrissa could reply. Rae laughed while Lyrissa glared at her friend’s image.

“Somehow I doubt that’s the real story,” Rae said wryly.

“Once again, Belica’s playing fast and loose with the truth,” Lyrissa shook her head while Belica stuck out her tongue. “However, there’s the tiniest kernel of fact in what she said,” she admitted.

“Really?” Rae blinked in surprise then grinned. “Do tell.”

Lyrissa briefly explained how she’d encountered Orthin at the Eclipse Transport reception then arranged to meet again later.

“During dinner, the demonic incursion in Merth came up. He opened my eyes as to what the Lightbringers do internationally and it inspired me to help.”

“Ah, that explains why you want the trust set up to help disadvantaged countries the most,” Rae nodded. “It’s a good plan - even if it’s all to impress a boy.” He said the last with a straight face.

“Ha! That’s what I said!” Belica exclaimed.

Lyrissa looked at Rae with feigned hurt. “With friends like these, who needs enemies,” she lamented while Belica laughed.

“Now that’s out of the way, there’s something I wanted to show you before the others join us,” Belica said.

Lyrissa’s eyes narrowed. Her personal assistant tried to maintain an innocent expression but she knew that tone of voice - Belica was up to something.

“You didn’t find another silly news piece or internet meme, did you?” Lyrissa asked suspiciously.

Belica broke into a grin. “A meme. I was hoping you wouldn’t guess, just this once.”

“Let’s see it,” Rae said eagerly.

Lyrissa didn’t even bother trying to discourage them. They both seemed to take an unnatural joy in sharing these kinds of things - always when she was present of course.

“How do I do this again?” Belica asked plaintively as she leaned forward and appeared to search the empty air.

“You have to go to the ‘View’ menu,” Rae replied.

“Oh, right. Thanks!”

Belica’s hologram reached forward and touched something out of view. Another image appeared above the conference table, this time it was an old picture of Lyrissa. She recognized where it was from immediately - a scene in ‘Starborn’, the last movie she’d filmed.

Her younger self looked like she’d seen better days. Her face was battered and grimy and she was dressed in not much more than torn, discreetly placed rags. The ragged clothing - or more accurately, lack thereof - didn’t bother Lyrissa. In her modeling and acting career she’d frequently worn less. Instead she focused a critical eye on her expression in the image. It was a good shot, she felt. The defiance and determination the scene had called for were visibly expressed on her younger face.

“‘That’s it, you win. I can’t take anymore, ‘“ Rae quoted. “‘Said no woman ever.’”

Lyrissa had been so focused on analyzing her younger image’s portrayal of emotion she hadn’t read the text that came with it. The first part that Rae had quoted appeared in pink, cursive script at the top of the picture. The second part was writ large in bold, black letters at the bottom.

“That’s a good one, Belica,” Rae said. “Can you send it to me? The wife will love it! My daughter too, for that matter.”

“Sure thing!” Belica replied then hesitated. “Now where... ?”

“First, minimize the conference application,” Rae offered helpfully.

Lyrissa shook her head while Rae talked Belica through the process of sending him the image. She really needed to work harder at convincing Belica to take some sort of technical aptitude course. Belica was the most optimistic person she’d ever known and could charm a dragon into giving up its treasure, but she took a long time to become comfortable with unfamiliar technology.

Lyrissa cocked her head to the side and looked at the entrance to the conference room. She thought she’d heard something outside. Before she could interrupt her friends the handle turned and the door pushed into the room. Dressed in a light coloured business suit, Paula Perez strode briskly inside.

The founder and former owner of Eclipse Transport greeted Lyrissa with a smile. “Looks like the party started without me,” Paula said. She examined the image in the centre of the conference table. Since it was a two dimensional picture, the holoprojector had automatically rendered it as a double-sided image, so it was fully visible from her end. “I feel overdressed, I left my rags at home,” she said wryly.