"Well... we're going on a trip"
"I want you to work for me and me alone"
Lia looked sideways at Leonard and made her intentions clear. On the other hand, Arlan was quite confused by Lia's proposal.
"Work for you?"
Arlan was really surprised, he didn't know how he could help Lia. When she told him that the scale had a price, Arlan basically gave everything away.
What could he offer Lia?
The answer was simple. Nothing.
"Yes, of course it includes a salary and everything else"
Arlan looked at Leonard and saw that the old man was also quite confused.
"Don't worry, it's a pretty easy and harmless job"
'Hope so' Lia thought to herself.
Seeing that Arlan seemed rather hesitant, Lia offered him a backup.
"Just give me your answer when you have thought it through"
Arlan nodded his head, but before he left, he had to ask one last question.
"Do I have any other options besides working for you?"
Lia smiled warmly at Arlan's question and answered in a quiet tone.
"No"
A little more than half an hour later, Arlan came out of Lia's office, visibly tired. He had decided to work for Lia for a while and had to sign some legal papers.
Although he was a minor at the moment, Lia assured him that there would be no problem. Arlan wasn't so sure, but he decided to trust her, besides he had no other choice.
Allete got up from one of the chairs in the waiting room and approached Arlan.
"Ready?" Allete asked.
Arlan said goodbye to Lia's secretary and went to the elevator.
"Something like that."
Allete noticed Arlan's discouraged tone and understood that all was not well.
"Can I ask what happened?"
Arlan and Allete were of a similar age, she was only 4 years older than him, so they got along well from the beginning. Arlan had never had a personal assistant before, so he just treated her as someone close to him who would take care of everything for him.
Allete also took some of his confidence and treated him more casually, but at the end of the day, Allete was still his assistant and he had to show her the proper respect.
She knew that what had been discussed in Lia's office was confidential, so she understood why Arlan had chosen not to tell her. Still, to her surprise, Arlan sighed and looked at her with a forced smile.
"Well... we're going on a trip"
***
A few days later, a private jet was flying at full speed over the Pacific Ocean. Inside, Arlan was fiddling with a 20-centimeter-long black knife.
It was the result of using the scale as a material to create a weapon. Arlan did his tests, and the blade did not explode, it was strong enough.
The negative point was that without the medicine Arlan was taking, he would hear the voice when using the knife, so he could not use it for a long time. At least he didn't feel weak when he touched the knife like he did when he touched an intact scale.
"How much longer?" asked Arlan with a hint of boredom.
In the seat on the opposite side of the jet, Allete looked out the window at the vast, endless blue sea. Listening to Arlan, she picked up a holographic tablet from the table next to her and fiddled with it until she reached the map.
"According to this... another hour"
Arlan sighed in boredom and sat back in his chair.
They had left over 2 hours ago and there was still another hour to go. Considering how much technology had advanced in the last decades, 3 hours to cover almost half of the planet was simply insane.
The place they had taken off from was a huge artificial island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, built by several countries years ago.
Leonard started his company around that time and by some events ended up being the largest company on the island, which led to him earning a lot of money and reputation.
The artificial island, also known as Estereum, was large enough to compete with medium-sized countries.
Lost in thought, Arlan continued to play with his new knife, and when he got bored, he would watch some entertainment to pass the time.
After an hour, they finally saw the island in the distance. Arlan stretched out, knowing they were close to landing, but a little turbulence forced him to stop.
"What's wrong?" asked Arlan with some concern.
Nothing would be wrong if it were 20 or 30 years ago, when turbulence was a normal occurrence in air travel. In this era, however, the sensation of turbulence was a sign that something was wrong.
Allete also looked confused, so she got up from her seat and walked to the cockpit of the jet. Arlan also wanted to know what was going on, so he got up and followed her.
When Arlan reached the cockpit, he heard Allete talking to the pilot and co-pilot.
"The signals have been jammed, all communication with the outside has been cut off," the jet captain pointed out.
"Why?" asked Allete in obvious dismay.
The captain tapped several buttons, trying to figure something out, but soon gave up.
"We don't know, we have to land and do the proper maintenance"
Allete bit her nails anxiously and stepped out of the cockpit to find Arlan behind her.
"You, okay?" Arlan asked.
Allete was aware that he had overheard her conversation with the captain, so she didn't hide the truth from him.
"Apparently there's some kind of problem blocking all signals, including communications"
Arlan worried a little, but quickly dismissed those useless thoughts that would only cause him anxiety in the end. There was nothing he could do, besides his job hadn't changed. All he needed was to land safely on the island and nothing more.
They both returned to their respective seats, but before they could sit down, a large turbulence forced them to look for support so they wouldn't fall.
"What now?" cried Allete worriedly.
They both ran back to the cockpit, unaware that at some point the entire interior of the jet had gone unnaturally dark.
When they reached the cockpit, Allete found the two men staring blankly.
"What's going on...?"
Before she could finish her question, Allete was speechless as she looked out the cockpit window at the sky.
Arlan, who arrived after her, also noticed and didn't know what to say.
"Where are we?"
The sky was red, and the clouds were full of lightning that threatened to strike the jet at any moment.
Down on the island, smoke rose dangerously from the volcano, and in plain sight, in the ruins of the cities that had collapsed 7 years ago, were hundreds of corpses and strange creatures fighting each other for food.