Ben finally stopped to catch his breath before continuing at a more controlled pace; the last time he had hauled ass that quickly was when fleeing from a banshee’s self destruct Astral Technique. An apt comparison with how bombastic and volatile Mei Li could be.

  “I feel bad for leaving that Larsa woman out to dry, but if I didn’t get out right there I’d probably wind up being dragged into a match with her afterward and lose my opportunity to-”

  Ben halted his thoughts and fiddled with the flower in his pocket.

  He had settled on a humble gift as his plan to cheer up Rebecca. He asked Milo, someone he’d known since they were in the same rookie group five years ago, to procure something that a woman would like, and he had come through with a fancy flower that Ben didn’t even want to imagine how in the hells he found on such short notice.

  Now however he was having doubts, was Rebecca really the type who’d appreciate something so cliche? For all he knew a pack of cigarettes might be better received given her penchant for the things.

  Alas, this was his one opportunity to strike while the iron was hot so to speak, making it too late to exchange out. In the next hour or two, all seven Inquisitors would be in organizational meetings to prepare for the night of hunting, only free once it was time to use the Procul spell to teleport to their designated region assigned by the divination division of the order.

  Ben wouldn’t blame anyone for thinking the Templars would fall apart without that division, it was how they knew what the most densely monster infested areas were and how to assign manpower.

  The magics they utilized were the fickle kind however, only giving results specifically one hour before dark and no other.

  Ben finally arrived at his destination, staring at that intimidating red door to the Inquisitors lounge. He took a moment to make sure his glasses were clean, hair tidy and clothes free of any pesky wrinkles. With his heart beating like a drum, he approached and knocked.

  As the door opened he went for it, closing his eyes and holding out the flower.

  “This is for you, I hope it cheers you up.”

  A pause of silence followed, Ben opened his eyes and was horrified.

  Standing there wasn’t Rebecca, it was Inquisitor Claudia.

  The scarred woman tilted her head in curiosity much like a cat.

  “…for…me…?”

  Claudia’s light tone of voice betrayed no emotion of any particular sort.

  “Y-yes!” Ben replied despite screaming internally; what was he thinking? Any one of those seven could have answered this door. That it was the unpredictable Claudia meant he couldn’t even explain the situation without possibly upsetting someone nicknamed the grim reaper, an ill recommendation for anyone’s health.

  Claudia took the flower from him, their hands briefly making contact. She felt deathly cold to touch, enough that Ben had to force himself not to pull away in surprise.

  Just when things couldn’t seem to get worse, salt was poured over the wound.

  “Oh, Ben! What are you doing here?”

  Rebecca manifested behind her fellow Inquisitor, bearing full witness to Claudia holding the gift which was intended for her.

  “Oh I…uh…”

  He didn’t know what to say, at this point what he hoped to achieve was well beyond salvation. After a few more seconds of awkward silence between all three parties, Inquisitor Rebecca followed up.

  “I’m heading down to research and development, have a moment to come with?”

  Ben nodded his head, eager for an excuse to get away from Claudia. They said a quick farewell to the stitched cheek woman, who was looking at the flower in a trance and barely paying attention as they exited the scene.

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  Ben and Rebecca strolled a ways down the corridor without saying anything, once again it was the Inquisitor who started a conversation.

  “So, I didn’t know you were signing up to be the beauty in ‘beauty and the beast’, good for you Ben, I hope it works out for the two of you.”

  “NO! I mean…it’s nothing romantic or such, I just…felt bad. Claudia always seems out of it, so I figured giving her something nice might brighten her up a bit.”

  Lying to Rebecca hurt Ben a lot, although paradoxically the only thing that would pain him more was actually being honest about how he felt.

  “I’m sorry if you got the wrong impression, Inquisitor Gravely.”

  Ben flinched as she turned to face him directly, a waft of cigarettes and citrus that coated her like a perfume burning his nose.

  “Don’t start with that formal crap, you’ve known me before I got this title, you’ll probably have it soon yourself, so just Rebecca will do like always.”

  She was blunt as ever, though she seemed to exhale outward in something almost resembling relief.

  It was true, Rebecca Gravely was the shortest tenured inquisitor, holding the position for just two years, meanwhile they had met some four years ago when they were both just ordinary foot soldiers in the order. It was during that time a certain event caused Ben to fall for her.

  “Sorry Rebecca, I’m a bit frazzled at the moment. I am curious though, why are you heading down to R & D? I doubt it’s to sample Dr. Norton’s hospitality.”

  She rolled her eyes in response.

  “The good doctor has been working on a major project for the High Priest, thanks to a bunch of seniority bullshit, I get to be the lucky soul who checks in to see if it’ll be ready for tonight.”

  After a while they arrived at the entrance to the division, inside was a wide open laboratory which was defined by sterile white walls; quite the contrast from the grey stone found elsewhere.

  A number of people in lab coats were milling about. Normally they were working on separate experiments, but it seemed like it was all hands on deck around some kind of large engine looking object.

  A rotund man was pointing and directing everyone about. He wore a bowler hat, monocle and had a pinstripe shirt whose buttons were straining to keep his stomach contained. He paused upon seeing the duo, who stood out amongst the sea of white coats.

  This was Dr. Norton AKA Professor Norton AKA Gilbert Norton PHD. He was one of the most brilliant minds in the world and a self described polymath. Ben preferred to describe him as a pretentious asshole.

  “Hmph, finally a proper audience.” Dr. Norton adjusted his monocle.

  “I take it you two are here to verify that my brilliant invention is operational?”

  He gestured to the large machine behind him.

  “You got that right, this was apparently supposed to be up and running last night, what’s the hold up?” Rebecca huffed out, not having much patience to spare.

  “This is an incredibly sensitive device I’ll have you know, just tuning it was a difficult and extensive process. Now, however, the Daedalus engine is functional. Behold!”

  At his command a few of the assistants flipped a number of switches.

  The machine whirred and shook, an orange looking object on the top, presumably the power source, began to glow and in a flash of amber light four humanoids appeared, standing in front of them.

  They were completely featureless, reminiscent of mannequins in many ways. Dr. Norton looked back toward his visitors, awaiting praise for his breakthrough genius.

  “Uh…what the hell are these things?” Rebecca asked, not particularly blown away by what she was witnessing. Norton scowled.

  “These right here are what I have dubbed ‘Facsimile’; they are completely autonomous and are programmed with four modes of attack: sword, spear, axe and bare handed. They are the soldiers of the future!”

  With a snap of his fingers, three of the faceless humanoids manifested one of the respective weaponry, while the last assumed a martial arts stance.

  “The High Priest commissioned this project so that even solo hunters can call upon immediate reinforcements in the field. They are still primitive, certainly, but if you ask me it’s only a matter of time until they evolve enough to handle entire missions on their own.”

  The Dr. once again looked towards Ben and Rebecca to acknowledge his brilliance.

  “You know those superhero team tv shows? These remind me of the mooks that appear to help the villain of an episode and get treated as cannon fodder so that the good guys look cool.”

  Ben’s comparison caused Rebbeca to stifle a chuckle. Norton on the other hand was far from amused.

  “Laugh now, but know this, my Facsimiles are getting their trial run starting tonight, and should enough of the hunters who volunteer to test them give raving reviews over this month, they will receive full integration into the Templar’s forces. Don't be surprised when your jobs become redundant in a few years, kek kek kek.”

  Dr. Norton’s signature laugh was both distinct and grating.

  A few annoyed glares were exchanged by the two sides, emblematic of a holy order that wasn’t exactly fully united in many regards.

  “My part is done now, if you’ll excuse me I have personal business to attend to on my private island. If you or your colleagues have any further questions on the Daedalus project then take it up with my assistant Cyrus, he’ll be running this division for the duration of my absence.”

  ————————

  After settling things away in R & D and reporting about the status of the project as well as Norton’s vacation to the other Inquisitors, Ben and Rebecca found themselves wishing each other good luck on another night of hunting.

  As Rebecca turned to leave for her meetings, Ben finally found the courage to speak up.

  “I heard you weren’t feeling great after those rookies died last night. I’m really sorry I couldn’t do anything to help with that.”

  Ben shuffled back and forth nervously before retreating away in what could best be called a walking sprint down the hall. The moment was just a bit too much for him.

  Rebecca blinked rapidly a few times before smiling.

  “Dummy…you already did.”