Just then the doors to the apartment opened. Moyo struggled with the two trays carrying two cups of Latte into the room. Everyone turned to him. He also paused in his steps.
"I'm deeply sorry Dr. Pearl. It seems I have interrupted something important," Moyo bowed.
Dr. Pearl's eyes could not help but observe Moyo's hands. She frowned a little and then her lips blossomed into a smile,"not bad!"
Getting up, she walked up to him and took the two cups. She sipped from each, "Hmmm! not bad! What was your name again?"
"MoYo, Dr."
"You got the job Moyo," Pearl nodded.
"But... but I already work here," Moyo replied.
"Yes! But now you got the job." She walked past him, "Come on children! Those nagging old things are going to piss me off again if I'm late."
Sasha, Emilia, and Adria followed behind her. As Adria passed Moyo, He winked at him.
"YES!!!" Moyo screamed in joy once he was sure they had gone.
They journeyed shortly from the elevator to a much higher floor. In fact, Adria suspected that this was the peak of the giant letter 'A' building.
The Elevator stopped but even before it opened, they were scanned. Apparently, the layer of security here was much tighter, which was later proven as true the more they advanced. At nearly every corner or bend, was a scanner. And finally, they arrived at two huge doors. On it had the label: Directors only.
"Directors only please!" The voice of an AI sounded, "All other staff, please wait behind." But Dr. Pearl did not seem to care.
"Override code 4412697 Mother Darkling."
"Override code accepted." A mechanical sound was heard and the doors opened up.
Dr. Pearl took the lead into the room while Sasha, Emilia, and Adria followed behind her.
This was a very huge room surrounded by glass walls that gave a perfect view of the outside world. Adria could bet that with his kind of eyesight, he could probably see all the way into town. But then again, from this height, the surrounding buildings looked more like lego toys.
At the center of the room was a long oval table and surrounding it were eight well-spaced out chairs, like planets around the sun.
The room was semi-dark, and this was not because the lighting was bad, but because the people in this room always loved to keep to themselves. Regardless, before Adria's eyes, they were as clear as day.
Nevertheless, the current situation of those in the room was not of any concern to Adria. Rather, his attention was solely on Dr. Pearl. Adria's senses were sharper than most, especially when he was sober.
He had noticed that Dr. Pearl's total demeanor had changed entirely the moment she walked into the room. It felt like she had left all the parts he considered as annoying at the door. More like the difference when a tiger was with her cubs and when she was facing a fierce pack of wolfs.
"My sweet Pearl!" A deep manly voice went out, "you called for a meeting and yet you kept us waiting for so long."
Adria looked in the direction of the voice. This was a slightly obese man. Adria immediately recognized him. This man was called Mr. Ramond and he was in charge of the Ryouen core (soul energy core) distribution. He was also a strong suitor of Dr. Pearl's
Dr. Pearl only slightly looked in his direction before averting her eyes. She took her time, walking like she owned the place all the way to a seat at the table.
"Dr. Pearl! Did you not hear what Director Ramond said!?" Another voice went out. Although it was a very feminine voice, Adria could see clearly that it came from a man. He was quite thin and he had makeup on with fixed long eyelashes. Also, it was ironic that not just his frame but also his seat position on the table was a direct opposite of Mr. Ramond.
Adria was not sure of his name. But he knew that this man was generally called, Mr. Chin Chin. He was the person in charge of the company's Finances. He was also always at log heads with Dr. Pearl. Her overspending which was always approved by the board was ever on his nerves.
"You are late for a meeting you called for. Also..." His eyes trailed through Adria Emilia and Sasha that was standing behind Dr. Pearl's seat. "I can see that you brought your CHILDREN! to a meeting with Directors of the Board."
Avalon did not have a CEO but rather a board that consisted of eight members that ran the company. Each canceled the other out in either: Company shares, Influence, Status, important holdings, assets, and even military power. Or at least that was what it seemed to outsiders on the surface.
Adria instantly felt a change that came from Dr. Pearl. If she was nonchalant but guarded against the wolves before, now she was about to bear her claws. She turned to him and smiled.
"Director Chin Chin. I believe that you might require at the moment a brief history to help... JOG your memory."
"Huh!" Mr. Chin Chin raised a brow at her.
"Mr. Chin Chin. I hope you still remember the events of about twenty years ago. When all oil rigs around the globe suddenly ran dry. When oil reserves became most sorted after. 'Black gold' became 'Black Diamond'. "
"Of cause I do... It was even worse than the Great Depression that happened during the 1930s and early 1940s. Economies crashed and Countries folded in on themselves. Some even had to merge and become one for survival. How could I forget? It was not exactly a time one can so easily not remember."
"Good! I am glad you still remember. But what you failed to mention is that it was also called the Great Synchronicity. At the time the world lost its primary source of fuel. It was also at that exact period that a new source of energy was discovered by this company. Ryouen Energy. The Energy of the soul. I wonder if you remember what happened afterward?"
"Actually! I do..."
"Well! Just in case you have forgotten, I can humbly remind you." She rudely cut him off.
"It was the introduction to a new age. A new period in the history of man. We learned how to harvest the power of souls from living things and use them for our own consumption. And soon economies prospered once more, however, the normal human life expectancy also dropped. In fact, depression increased across the globe by a good 64%. And suicide rates also went up the ladder by around the same mark. Human beings had overdone it and we were paying the price for touching the soul..."