North America / California (Hearst Castle): February 28th, 1993.
It was a beautiful day for the world. The birds were chirping their songs as mankind went about their daily routines with smiles on their faces at beauty of the city, but also sad looks on their faces at the horror of it whether it be financially, emotionally or physically, yet if you were to look closely in california. To be more specific, at hearst castle. You could see a very beautiful woman sitting inside of a luxerious office with a very serious look on her face while signing document after document like every signature was another nail in somebody else's coffin.
(Crystalline's POV)
*Scratch* *Scratch* *Scratch*
The office was dead silent except for the scratching of my pen, the soft ticking of the clock on the wall and the occasional sound of the ocean outside slamming against the rocks below the cliffs like it too had some unresolved anger in its spirit.
I was currently sitting behind my very large expensive desk in a black silk robe with nothing underneath except a pair of black panties because this is my house and if I want to sign legal papers half naked while looking like money itself then that is exactly what I'm going to do.
My hair was tied up into a loose bun. My face makeupless and still beautiful as hell. My golden manicured nails clicking against the paper every now and then as I flipped another page in the folder in front of me.
"Transfer of royalties, acquisition clearance, trust holdings, title change, estate valuation…damn grandma mia was really out here making old money and not telling nobody." I muttered underneath my breath while signing another page and flipping it.
*Scratch*
I opened another folder and seen the huge black printed words at the top of the page.
MIA MEDIA OWNERSHIP TRANSFER.
I blinked once and leaned back in the office chair slightly while rubbing my smooth chin and said with a low hum "Hmm..."
The room was silent.
I read over the document again and seen all the attached numbers.
Publishing value. Recording rights. Media distribution channels. Old contracts. Broadcast licensing. Vaulted concert footage. Private archives. Ownership of old stage recordings that had not yet been sold or monetized properly.
My eyes narrowed slightly and I thought while tapping my pen against the desk "This isn't just a company. This is a vault. A historical one at that. But if I merge it too early into crystal corporation they'll start sniffing around and putting their raggedy fingers in places they don't belong"
I clicked my teeth and said with a sigh "No. I'm keeping this in liquidity."
Yes. Liquidity.
Not because I don't know what to do with it.
But because I do.
And when you know the value of something too clearly, the best thing to do is hold onto it until the world gets thirsty enough to beg for a sip.
I signed the bottom of the paper.
*Scratch*
"There. Mia media stays separate and liquid until I feel like weaponizing it." I said calmly while blowing lightly on the signature ink and closing the folder.
Suddenly the office phone rang.
*BRRRRING* *BRRRRING*
I glanced at it and smirked slightly from the caller ID.
"Speak of the devil and he dials." I said while picking it up and putting it to my ear.
"Hello adam. What wonderful weather we have today." I said calmly while leaning back in the chair.
The phone was silent for a moment.
"Good morning ms knowles. I trust you had enough time to think over my offer." Said adam calmly from the phone.
I crossed one leg over the other and said with a slight smile on my face as my foot dangled the slipper "I did."
The office was silent.
"And…" Asked adam calmly from the phone.
I glanced down at the black and gold card laying beside my folders and said with cold eyes "I accept."
The room was silent.
The silence on the phone stretched for a moment before adam let out a low chuckle and said "Very good. I knew you were intelligent enough not to waste an opportunity like this."
"I didn't accept because of opportunity. I accepted because I need access and because the people circling my life are beginning to become more bothersome than I care to tolerate." I said calmly while twirling the pen between my fingers.
Adam hummed and said from the phone "So this is about revenge."
I smiled softly and asked "Isn't every powerful decision partly about revenge."
Adam chuckled again and said from the phone "You will fit in very well."
The office went silent.
I looked down at another folder on my desk that had alfred samwell's company breakdown inside of it and thought with a slight smile "Fit in. No darling, I don't intend to fit in. I intend to take over"
"Do you have the date and location for the next gathering." I asked calmly.
"Yes. You will receive it tonight by courier. No calls after this. No written confirmations. You will come alone enough to look respectable but not foolish. You understand the difference." Said adam calmly from the phone.
"I do." I said while opening alfred's financial report folder.
My eyes moved slowly over the numbers.
SAMWELL ENTERPRISE — ESTIMATED NET WORTH: 10,999,450,330.
My smile widened slightly.
Oh.
That old white bastard is richer than he deserves to be.
"What a ugly number to die with" I thought while staring at the net worth on the page.
"And crystalline..." Said adam suddenly from the phone.
"What." I asked calmly.
"Do not make the mistake of thinking alfred is just another old racist businessman. He is old money filth. Clever. Careful. Vindictive. If you move against him, move once and move correctly." Said adam with a very serious tone from the phone.
The office was silent.
I tapped my golden nail against the net worth figure and thought while staring at the numbers "10,999,450,330. Why should a bastard like that continue breathing when his money could be helping my future, my company, my family and my revenge"
The office was absolutely silent.
My face remained calm. But inside my head.
I was already dressing his funeral in black.
I was already picturing his board stripped apart. His assets frozen. His sons fighting like starving dogs. His lawyers sweating. His mistress crying. His businesses circling bankruptcy. And me…
I would be there in a black suit and a diamond earring with a very soft smile on my face while signing whatever needed to be signed while his 10,999,450,330 rolled sweetly into my own empire and storage.
"Adam." I said calmly.
LYes." Said adam from the phone.
"Shut the hell up, If a man like alfred samwell were to suddenly die, who exactly would be positioned to inherit the bulk of his holdings." I said calmly while looking over the succession chart.
The phone was silent for a moment.
Then adam said lowly from the phone "That depends on whether he dies wealthy and stable…or exposed and collapsing."
A slow smile spread across my face and I said softly "Good answer. Your brain cells are still actively doing what it needs to."
Adam chuckled faintly and said "Don't get ahead of yourself."
"I'm already ahead. That's why I answered." I said while closing the folder.
"No. You answered. I'll see you soon ms knowles." Said adam calmly from the phone.
The line went dead.
*Click*
I slowly lowered the phone from my ear and stared at it for a moment before saying with a low sigh "I just said that dumbasss. Anyways first I rot his image. Then I watch who panics. Then I decide who survives. The end"
A soft knock came at the office door.
*KNOCK* *KNOCK*
"COME IN." I said loudly while stacking the folders neatly.
The door opened and edward stepped inside with his usual poised face and said calmly "Ma'am. A truck from the academy has arrived."
I blinked once and asked confusedly "The academy."
"Yes ma'am. They brought crates. A lot of them." Said edward with a slight pause as he averted his eyes away from my nude outfit.
I stared at him for a moment and thought with a flabbergasted look on my face "Oh. The trophies"
I got up from the office chair immediately and said with a wave of my hand "Take me to them."
TIMESKIP: A couple minutes later.
I made my way down the huge staircase in a pair of black house slippers and my silk robe swaying around my legs while the entire front entrance hall of hearst castle looked like a rich museum had exploded.
There were wooden crates everywhere.
Huge ones. Medium ones. Some slim. Some heavy looking as hell.
Three delivery men in academy uniforms stood awkwardly near the door while butlers pried open the lids of the first few crates.
Selena was already there in the hall with a oversized coffee mug in one hand and her robe half tied looking like she had just woke up angry on purpose.
In my honest opinion. I feel she's settling into the rich auntie era nicely.
Adesina sat on the mobility scooter nearby with her oxygen tubes in and her glasses low on her nose looking at the crates like she was deciding whether they were tacky or useful.
"What the hell is all this." Asked selena while side eyeing me.
I went over to the nearest crate and looked inside as the butler lifted the lid completely.
Inside was one of the honorary legend awards.
Huge. Golden. Polished. Expensive looking.
Then another crate opened.
Another award.
Then another.
And another.
Eleven shiny gramophone legend awards lined up one after the other in black velvet like the academy had panicked and sent over a guilt package.
I stared for a moment and said with a sigh "My apology trophies."
Selena blinked twice and said loudly "THEY SENT ALL ELEVEN TO THE HOUSE."
"Yes." I said calmly while folding my arms over my bare chest.
The delivery men adjusted there throats and looked away Instantly.
Adesina adjusted her glasses and said with a scoff "Only eleven. Cheap bastards."
I looked at big mama and pointed at her while saying "Exactly."
One of the delivery men cleared his throat nervously and said "Ms knowles, there is also a letter enclosed from the recording academy."
Edward handed me a cream envelope with gold trim.
I covered my breasts with the robe an opened the envelope and read over it silently for a moment.
I laughed.
Loudly.
Selena narrowed her eyes and asked "What they say."
I folded the letter and said with a smile "They called the awards a symbol of their 'deep and ongoing respect for my historic artistry and contribution to music."
Selena let out the ugliest laugh I ever heard and said "That means they scared."
Adesina nodded from the scooter and said "They should be."
I looked back at the eleven trophies and said with a low hum "Move them to the west gallery. Not the main entrance. I don't need every guest seeing my apology collection the moment they walk in."
"Yes ma'am."Said the butlers in unison while getting to work.
The delivery men looked like they wanted to vanish into the floor.
I waved one hand at them and said with a fake smile "You all can leave now. Thank you for carrying the academy's shame all the way to my home."
They nodded quickly and damn near fled out the double doors.
*Boom*
Selena looked at the trophies again and asked "So…you still mad."
I turned and looked at her with a blank face and said "Yes."
Selena nodded and sipped her coffee and said "Valid."
Adesina smirked slightly and said "At least now if you ever run out of chairs, you can melt a few of them down and make a bench."
I snorted and said with a slight smile "Big mama. That is the ultimate petty but not a bad idea at all."
Selena had a what the fuck look on her face as she stared at big mama.
"What. They ugly anyway." Said adesina with a shrug.
I looked back at the trophies being carried away one by one and thought calmly "Keep your legend awards. I still remember the four slaps"
At least now I know what your face looks like up close.
Don't you all agree.
My dearest readers.
(Unknown POV)
The room was cold. Not ordinary cold.
Not the kind that made your skin shiver and settle.
No.
This was the kind of cold that made the air feel wrong.
Sterile. Artificial. Hungry.
Rows and rows of glass tubes stretched down the length of a massive underground chamber so wide and high that the ceiling disappeared into shadow above. White lights flickered overhead with a faint electrical hum and silver walkways ran between the tubes like arteries through a corpse.
Inside each tube floated a body.
Men.
Women.
Children.
Old.
Young.
Thin.
Heavy.
Different races. Different heights. Different faces.
All suspended in thick colored liquid.
Some tubes were filled with pale blue. Some with deep green. Some with gold. Some with crimson. Some with violet so dark it almost looked black.
Bubbles rose slowly around their bodies.
Machines pulsed. Monitors blinked. Wires disappeared into flesh. Needles fed into veins.
And every now and then one of the bodies twitched.
(Unknown POV)
A pair of polished black shoes moved slowly across the metal walkway.
*Tak* *Tak* *Tak*
The unknown figure stopped in front of one of the largest tubes.
Inside floated a young boy no older than ten with his eyes closed and his small body covered in silver wiring along the spine. The liquid around him was a pale green and his fingers twitched slightly every few seconds like some part of him was still trying to remember movement.
The unknown figure moved on.
Another tube held a elderly woman in deep gold fluid. Another a broad shouldered man in crimson. Another a teenager in blue with his mouth open beneath an oxygen mask. Another a middle aged woman in black-violet liquid with her hair drifting around her face like seaweed.
The chamber was silent except for the hum of machines and the slow mechanical voice of a nearby monitor with a blue, cube artificial face "Subject 44. Stable. Subject 102. Rejection response minimized. Subject 19. Pulse irregular. Subject 201. Mutation rate increased."
The figure stopped before the final row.
There at the center of the chamber stood the largest tube of all.
Twice as tall as the others. Thicker glass. More wires. More machines.
Inside floated a girl.
Young. Brown skinned. Thin framed. No older than maybe twelve.
Her hair drifted around her face in the dark red liquid and both of her eyes were open.
Not blinking.
Just open.
Watching.
The unknown figure stood there for a long time before he said in a low, calm voice "Project starfish is almost ready."
The chamber remained still.
The girl's fingers twitched slightly inside the tube.
A nearby scientist wearing gloves and a white coat stepped forward nervously with a clipboard in hand and said "The survival rate is still lower than projected, sir. The younger subjects are adapting faster but the older ones have greater force output when successful."
The unknown figure did not look away from the girl in the tube.
"And the consciousness retention." Asked the figure calmly.
The scientist swallowed and said "Unstable. Some retain fragments. Some wake hostile. Some…remember too much."
The room was silent.
The girl in the tube kept staring.
The unknown figure slowly stepped closer to the glass and said while studying her face "Then break the remembering part."
The scientist nodded immediately and said "Yes sir."
The figure turned slightly and looked out across the endless rows of floating bodies and the many colors of liquid and whispered with a low satisfaction in his voice "Soon there will be no more ordinary humans left at the top of this world."
Behind the glass, inside the largest tube, the girl's open eyes did not move.
But one tear drifted slowly from the corner of her eye into the dark red liquid.
…
THE END…