SS Presents: THE EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT - PART 6 'Dogs and Collars'

VANGUARD PLAZA - BUILDING 3 - 45th FLOOR

Standing at the bar positioned to the rear of the seating area. Tall in height, Laila maintains a clear view of the theatre sized movie screen. Her arms crossed, her brow furrowed, Laila uncharacteristically nibbles on her lip. Her blue eyes not focused on the dozens of smaller box screens holding views to several candidates battling on the abandoned office floor, but to just one.

“Dirty Martini, Ma’am.” speaks the bartender.

With no reply Laila grabs the martini by the glass stem and sips, her eyes never leaving the screen.

“Who decided on a venue where men get five stalls in a bathroom, but women only get two?”

Recognizing the voice, Laila smirks, “The same idiot who decided all company females only need two weeks for Maternity Leave.” she answers, setting her drink on the marble counter.

Glancing at her friend, Laila smirks as does her friend. Standing far shorter than her, Laila’s friend, decked in a black loose fitting button blouse, black corporate issued blazer and black shorts, tips down her sunglasses so their eyes meet.

“Derek.” they say once.

The shared smile then fades as both women turn their attention to the screens.

“Alright, what I miss?” asks Ana.

“Lester’s ‘Admin’...” Laila sighs, “...already killed his mentor on his order.”

Ana pulls off her glasses and stressfully rubs her eyes, “You mean that womanizing horn dog is actually succeeding in clearing a path for himself to the Board?”

“Harold Fredericks is the only thing left in his way.” Laila bitterly answers, “And that 'yes-man' kiss up is very kill-able. If he's taken out, the Board will panic, promote Lester and let that ‘groper’ be our new boss.”

“Laila, tell me we can do something?” Ana insists.

Letting out a flustered sigh, Laila reaches her in her pocket and pulls out a USB drive, “I allied with Felix Alderman.”

Ana’s eyes open wide as saucers.

Clenching her jaw, Laila gently places the USB drive in her friend's pocket, “Felix gave me intel on his Executive Assistant's plan. Find a terminal, back him up with the ghost drive. Don’t get caught.”

Ana grabs her sleeve but Laila immediately shoves her hand down, forcing Ana to remember herself and stuff her hands in her pocket. Leaning against the bar next to Laila, both women remain quiet as cheering erupts from a group of executives gathered in front of the monitor.

Clenching her fist around the USB drive, Ana looks straight ahead. “It's not fair. Men buddy-system or stab each other in the back to success when we're the ones who did all the work and still get slapped with an N.D.A.”

Clearing her throat, Laila smirks while sipping her martini. “All those men get sloppy Ana.” Laila replies with a curt smile, “We don't, we work and when we do - we always win."

SS PRESENTS: the executive assistant

Issue #6

Dogs and Collars

“This is too much.” mumbles Harold Fredericks, gulping down a mouthful of amber bourbon into his mouth.

Clenching teeth as the bourbon burns down his throat, Harold grabs hold of the shelf as another strong thud trembles the floor, rattling the awards in the glass casing.

“HOW MUCH LONGER IS THIS GONNA LAST!” shouts Harold.

Feeling the tremble ebb away, Felix Alderman, seated in a plush leather chair facing the door, twiddles a fat cigar between his fingers. Releasing a plume of white smoke from his nostrils, Felix sets his cigar on the arm rest and calmly closes his eyes.

“Performance Evaluations usually last no more than an hour or two.” he sleepily answers, “Unless too many people get killed, then we cut it short.”

Harold stops his pacing as if frozen in place and points at Felix, “What if an INTERNAL EMPLOYEE TRYING TO KILL ME?!!”

Again the floor trembles. “ISN’T THAT JUST AS BAD?!” Harold exclaims, “Lester purposefully hired a Yakuza thug to take ‘me’ out. Not you! ME!”

Once more the floor trembles, causing the awards in the glass casing to clang together.

“Firstly Harold…” Felix sigh, already tired of Harold's frayed nerves, “, ...in one hour you will be the Chief Finance Officer for the most enviable, financially stable Data Security Firm on the planet.” he states, raising his sea-blue eyes at the young man, “Everyone should be trying to kill you.”

Harold’s blond brow furrows at the blunt statement. “What?!” he exclaims in disbelief.

Felix folds his arms and raises an eyebrow. “It is the price of power.” he scoffs, “You’re on top now, but you’re a mark. Their goal is to knock you off from being ‘on top’. So, since you’re on top, you should see them first, and plan their demise accor…”

Suddenly Felix's words are cut short as the office door is kicked off its hinges to reveal a Japanese woman standing in the door frame.

Sporting a sleeveless leather kimono, specks of vibrant red blood decorate her emotionless face and cold gaze. A sheathed katana strapped to her hip, the woman’s grips the sheath and flicks up her thumb, exposing part of the blade.

“My name is Kazuko, I am Lester’s Assistant.” she states.

Horrified, Harold opens his mouth, but a scream fails him. Rubbing his profusely sweating face, Harold nervously runs his hands through his auburn hair, backing up to the window.

Grabbing hold of her sword's handle, Kazuko slowly pulls the blade from its sheath, fully exposing the neon blue blade sporting a new black scorch mark in the middle.

“Ha-HAROLD ISN’T HERE!” Harold exclaims.

Tilting her head to the side, Kazuko narrows her eyes, “A bad lie…” she says, now pointing the length of her sword at him, “...is the greatest insult to one's intelligence.” she says.

As if cued by Harold’s gulp, Kazuko wastes no time marching at him, but Felix jolts out his seat, not daring to get in but raises his hands.

“Before-you-skewer-my-protégé, question... ” Felix says rather quickly, “...Did you kill my Executive Assistant?”

Uncharacteristically even for herself, Kazuko pauses. Her steely glare shifts away from Harold to aged business man awaiting her answer

“What’s it to you?”

Felix draws a breath, “Because if you did, then I have a job offer for you.”

“WHAT?!” Harold screamed.

Kazuko brow furrowed her brow, “I’ll decline thank you. Your reputation precedes you.”

“So does my E.A.…” Felix chuckles to Kazuko’s visual disapproval, “...which, since you didn’t answer my question, if you didn’t kill him - you just pissed off the wrong…”

Suddenly Felix notices Kazuko’s eyes do a double take to the window behind him just William shatters through the glass! Flying past Harold and Felix, William rams both feet squarely with full momentum into Kazuko’s chest, launching her straight back into the hallway.

Crashing on the coffee table, William lets out a groan of pain but determinedly wipes off the bits of glass from his person. Sitting up with a strain, William raises his gun, aims and pulls the trigger to hear only an empty ‘click’.

“Great.” William chides, tossing aside the gun.

There in the middle of the crisp narrow white hallway, white secretary desks sit in front of frost glass door offices is Kazuko. Flat down on her belly, Kazuko struggles to get up.

She was injured at the least which was an advantage he needed. Hence, William grinds his teeth as he gets up but then feels a tug on his jacket. Looking over his shoulder, William’s gaze rests on his boss Felix, gripping his jacket with a scowl on his set for the ages.

“Remember...” Felix spits, “...I die, your son dies.”

Turning away from him, William lets out a tired sir. “Thanks for the reminder.”

~*~*~*~

Holding herself up on her hands and knees, Kazuko’s slow to get up. William’s kick, in addition to knocking the wind out of her, was sure to have cracked or bruised a rib or two. However, such concerns are dashed aside as Kazuko feels William’s swift moving feet trembling the floor through her palms.

Instinct kicks in. Kazuko grabs her hilt and draws her blade but is met with deft foot-stomp to her sword handle, shunting the blade back in its sheath! Unsure whether to be impressed or angry, Kazuko moves to counter but sees too late William’s half-turned body in the air, bringing his foot her to face!

Bashed across her left temple, Kazuko sees stars as she’s sent spinning to the floor but strives to extend her leg for a reciprocated blind back-kick! Kicked by Kazuko's leg across the torso, William’s sent flying over a secretary’s desk and falling onto the other side!

“You are NOT winning this!!”shouts Kazuko, wincing from the pain radiating across her head.

Groaning in pain, William glanced at his scuffed watch, he told his new ‘team’ he needed five minutes, ten maximum. Now five have already passed.

Staggering onto her feet, Kazuko leans against the wall of the narrow hallway, drags herself towards her target: Harold and Felix, both watching her from their office.

Grinding her teeth, Kazuko, determined to finish her assignment, pushes herself off the wall and, fixing her attention at her targets, breaks out into a full charge.

In the office, Harold screams, “SHE’S COMING SHE’ COMING!” he yells in full panic to Felix.

“I see that!!” spits Felix, watching Kazuko charge at them with a fleet footed William chasing after her from behind row empty secretaries' desks. Seeing he's outpaced by Kazuko, William promptly grabs a bronze letter-opener from a desk and flings it!

Catching a shiny glint from the corner of her eye, Kazuko stops short and ducks, missing the knife-like letter stab into the wall with a tremble. Determined still, Kazuko lunges forward but William throws himself over a desk and back-kicks Kazuko square in the chest, backing her away from the office.

“GAH!” Kazuko cries out, grimacing in pain as she clutches her chest and staggers back. Seething in pain, Kazuko curses herself. William's kick to her chest through the window fractured something and he was targeting it all the same.

Struggling to catch her breath, Kazuko tries to rally herself but William rips the blade out the wall and tackles Kazuko’s torso, throwing her onto a secretaries desk. Pinning her arms over her wounded chest, William presses down on her injury!

“AAAH!” Kazuko cries out as William raises the blade over his head, poised to plunge in her chest.

Then, between the seconds, William pauses. As if time stopped for a moment. William looks into his enemies face. Past the pain, the hate and anger churning in her expression, peering into her eyes he sees something. His brow furrows at the flash of a moment of something he too recognized all too well.

Sadness?

HIs wide open in shock at his hesitancy, Felix runs to the office door frame and leans out, “FINISH HUURR!”

Snapping himself out of his train of thought, William suddenly sees all the red ink within Kazuko’s sleeve tattoos, glow!

As if lit by light panels underneath her skin, William follows the tattoos that illuminate up along her arms, her neck to the squares of her cheeks that clench..

William’s gaze meets with Kazuko's narrowed eyes.

“Oh sh…”

Throwing her hand up, Kazuko grabs William by the throat and squeezes with the strength of four men.

In one motion, Kazuko throws William to the left like a doll! Cracking the dry wall on impact, William sinks into it as Kazuko leaps off the desk and brutishly punches William’s face through the drywall to the otherside!

His screams muffled by the debris, Kazuko takes off running!

“GET...” yells Kazuko, dragging Williams' entire body, tearing a jagged line across the walls as she nears the elevators, “...OUT OF MY WAY!” she yells, throwing him out the wall and careening him another 100 feet down the hallway!

“GAAAH!” William shouts, bouncing off against the elevator door and dropping to the floor in a heap of dust.

Harold's eyes open wide in pure shock. The no more than 5’9 tall Japanese woman stands in the corridor like a tired beast. Her sloped shoulders rising, her illuminated tattoos glowing, Kazuko remains perfectly still, waiting to see if William moves, let alone twitches.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?”

Harold’s neck snaps into attention to Felix standing amidst the broken table with his arms folded and nothing but an impressed expression washing over his face.

“For decades Governments outlawed and ‘sterilized’ the growing populous of ‘powered’ people out of fear." Felix reminisces, "In the end, they couldn’t see a world of ‘mixed races’ literally becoming new weapons they couldn’t control.”

Harold gulps, watching the expression on Felix face become increasing sinister, almost diabolic.

"Now look us now." he grins, "Thirty years later in a ‘government free’ society ruled by corporations, it took the 'businessman' to find the few ‘powered’ people left to put the collar on these ‘beautiful’ weapons - so they could be useful dogs. Beautiful, isn’t it?”

Looking at Kazuko standing in the middle of the half-destroyed hallway with red light emanating from her tattoos, Harold gulps hard as she eerily turns her head in their direction, staring right at him.

Harold’s heart thuds in his chest. Taking a step back, Harold stumbles over the debris and falls on his rump, shaking his head, “Ah-a bu-beautiful gun is a scary gun when you don’t have one!” he exclaims.

Noticing her dropped sword at her feet, Kazuko stomps on the handle, flipping the blade to herself before snatching it out the air.

Felix arches his eyebrow at Harold’s statement. “You donut, Vanguard Industries is a principal shareholder in the formation of our new world. What makes you think we wouldn’t have a few ‘guns’ at our disposal?!”

Leaning her shoulder back, Kazuko grips her sword handle firmly before throwing like a pitcher on a baseball mound.

“RAAA!” she yells, hurling the blade in precision accuracy at Harold!

Blood drains from Harold’s face! “NAAAAOOOo!” he screams.

However, Harold, having felt nothing or surmising his death was so quick he must’ve ascended to heaven, drops his arms.

Instantly, Harold’s eyes widen, unable to believe his own eyes.

Felix, standing beside him, can not help but grin at the sight of the katana suspended in in mid-air threshold of their office door.

Kazuko’s drops. Confusion and anger swell within her. Her eyes darted from place to place. Searching, analyzing. What around the threshold of the door would explain the phenomena.

Then she hears it. The painful groan. The sound of a body coping with ache and soreness.

Quickly Kazuko turns around. Her eyes wide with equal parts anger and shock at the sight of William on his feet. His black suit tattered and covered in white dust. Dozens of small red cuts decorating the side of his face coated in white dust. His green eyes are alive with light and power. Blood trickling down his nose while he holds out his trembling hand as if grabbing something.

Kazuko’s face twists into frustration with a snarl. Glancing over shoulder she observes her sword, trembling in the suspended air, then falls to the floor with a clatter.

Turning to face him, Kazuko’s brow furrows as William sweeps his hands back, palms facing the wall! Suddenly an explosive burst of air explodes behind him and William rockets through the narrow hallway like a missile, rattling the glass doors!

No time to think, Kazuko leaps in the air and fans out her legs and arms for William to zip by underneath.

Then her heart sinks. Her stomach aches. Every thought in her mind screams a warning as William does zip beneath her, but slams his feet to prompt halt!

Kazuko’s eyes immediately notices the churning swirl of frosty white air within William’s cupped palms as he narrows his eyes at her..

“My turn!”

Thrusting up his cup palms, William unleashes a deafening ‘BOOM’ that quakes the entire floor , shattering the glass doors, throwing desks off the floor into the air and rattling the metal studs within the walls!

Covering his face as debris falls beside him, William curls up on his side, waiting for the noise and trembling to fade. Feeling trickles of dust and a warmth on his face, William peaks behind his forearms and sees the bright warm sun held in the blue sky through a new hole within the ceiling. Kazuko nowhere to be seen.

From inside their office, Harold leans forward on his hands, his mouth open in pure awe.

“You think I would be in this chaos without a gun like him?” Felix cockily smirks to Harold, “Governments in the past made the critical mistake of letting people like him think they’re ‘special and unique’. But that’s how uprisings began. People believed they had rights. Hence why 99% of powered people worldwide were eradicated thirty years ago.

“He survived though.” Harold comments, “A telekinetic or is he, telepathic?”

“Heavens no. All the telepaths were killed.” Felix smirks, “He’s a one in a ten thousand. A telekinetic. A true minority, but he can’t advertise that talent, not unless I say so.”

Harold watches William push aside fragments of the drywall and slowly rise to his feet, bathed in the sunlight shining through.

Felix looks to Harold but gestures at William, “Hence your job Harold when you're’ on board as a CFO is to keep dogs like him on a tight leash.” he says, observing William, “Evaluations like today prove their capability, but never enable that feeling. Keep them trapped in a system, or else…”

“Chaos.” Harold finishes.

Felix smirks with a nod of approval, “Exactly my boy. Exactly.”

Glancing at his watch, William limps over to the office where Felix stares blazes into him like a sustained bullet wound. Stopping at the office door, Felix slowly roves over his Executive Assistant appearance.

His shoes scuffed. His tailored black suit tattered and covered white dust. His white shirt is decorated with specks of bright red blood. His tie loose around the collar. William’s angular bruised face half coated in white dust with contrasting red cuts decorate one side of his face as if it was a new art form.

Yet what intrigues Felix most of all is William’s eyes. His glowing, vibrant green eyes that seem to power even at the center iris with hints of gold.

“Where’s your Halo-Disc?” Felix snaps, his voice cold and demanding, “That concept weapon’s worth more than your kid.”

Leaning against the door, barely able to stand on his feet, William nods, “I left it behind. Didn’t want to take a chance she’d use it against me.”

Felix arches his eyebrow, “Evaluations not over yet, we’ll see if that was a smart move.”

“Its.

Felix grimaces.

“Sir.” William quickly adds.

Felix snorts, shaking his head while pulling out a cigar from his inner jacket and bites off the tip, spitting the small bit, “I wonder Harold, does William fight best knowing he’ll lose his son...”

William pushes off the doorframe, standing on his own two feet as Felix lights his cigar.

Spewing a cloud of smoke from his nose, Felix smiles a sinister grin while glaring at his Executive Assistant through the whisper thin smoke, “...Or does he fight best when just feels like he’s losing?”

Harold takes a long hard blink before looking at William’s clenched jaw tighten.

Twiddling his cigar between his fingers with a sick grin, Felix waits for answer.

However William closes his eyes, lets out a long breath and calms himself.

“Excuse me.” replies William, extending right hand towards four other Office Suites along the extended section of the corridor. Sweeping his hand back, William throws the doors open.

Closing his eyes, William concentrates. Dampening his power, William opens his eyes to the sound of collective mutters and footstep and observes the four other executives emerge.

Drawing a tired breath, William stands about face and bows, “Good Afternoon Sirs.” he exclaims, standing upright, “I am here to escort you downstairs for Transport.”

One individual, a tall lanky older fellow in a grey suit, black tie and white dress shirt points his golden cane at him, “And WHO are you! You’re not Melissa!”

“WHERE IS CHESTER!” exclaims another voice.

Rubbing the back of his head, William smirks, “No, I’m the…

THE EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT

PART 6

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ROOFTOP

“GUUUUUUH!”

Gasping awake, Kazuko opens her eyes, staring at the bright yellow sun held in the sky. Immediately pain greets her. Her face twists in agony. Barely able to move, let along twitch, Kazuko pants short breath, barely able to contain the excruciating pain. The cool touch of liquid of pooling under her.

Lifting her hand, Kazuko vision double as she sees her hand coated in red blood.

Weak, she drops her hands to side. Closing her eyes, Kazuko face twists to grief, unable to hold back the tears.

“Watashu...YuRuusteh…” she sobs, unleashing a torrent of tears.

Unable to hear the the grind of gravel underfoot, Kazuko than feels the sun become blocked out.

Crying still, Kazuko opens her eyes, but then, brings her whimpers to silence. Her face stiffens and her jaw clenches at the sight of a young raven haired woman looking down at her.

Holding up a vial of blue liquid between her fingers, the young woman pushes up her sunglasses.

“Oh good you’re not dead…” she smiles, “...Lester would’ve been pissed!”

Kazuko eyes shift to the woman standing over her, observing her injuries “Who are you?”

“Shaw, Anna Shaw.” she replies before squatting beside her and holding up a USB stick , “I’m your second chance.”

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To be continued….