Team Player

The next day, Alex found herself on a familiar stage, staring down a terribly familiar situation. It was not, given her current condition, something that she had wanted to see.

She saw the same crowd of reporters sitting in front of her, all murmuring to each other as they waited. The atmosphere was far more subdued and uncomfortable than it had been the previous day, in a way that Alex was sure wasn't making the Goldiron executives happy. Melissa's efforts not to scowl whenever she looked over at the Surveyors made that doubly clear.

The Surveyors themselves looked like a sorry lot. Most of them had come out of the portal sporting some sort of wounds, and the Salmon Run team had already requested additional healing supplies. Goldiron had clamped down on any information about who had come out of the portal and with what, just as a matter of course, but the fact that so many Surveyors had come out either shaken or wounded seemed to have been both unwelcome and unexpected.

Still, it appeared that the show had to go on. Melissa squared her shoulders as the last of the Surveyor teams gathered in place and then stepped forward to take her place at the podium. She smiled brightly, obviously attempting to ignore the shell-shocked attitude of the Surveyors behind her.

"Well, I know that many times the Gold Rush can have unanticipated results, but this year has been amazing! Our teams have put forward their best efforts and have returned victorious. Now we'll see which teams can claim the victory, and then we can take a few questions for our valiant competitors."

She paused, drawing out a thick envelope that she proceeded to open dramatically. The journalists stirred, as if impatient to get past the formalities. Melissa's expression flickered with discontent for just a second, and then she smiled.

"The winners of this year's Gold Rush are the visiting team from Blackmist Entreprises!" Melissa turned with elaborate stiffness to gesture to the silent, unmoving team of Surveyors. "They retrieved far more materials from the Rush than any other, and they were one of the first to return. Clearly, they have a bright future ahead of them."

With a broad grin, Roger Oddsen stepped forward to accept the glittering medal from her. "We are grateful to the Goldiron Foundation for this opportunity to prove our mettle!"

Melissa gave him a jaded stare. "It is customary for the Surveyors who participated to receive the award."

He shrugged, raising an eyebrow. "Company policy mandates that such recognition be accepted by the company as a whole rather than individuals. We wouldn't want anyone's egos to be bruised, after all."

She glared at him for a moment and then handed the medal over to him. He tucked it away in a pocket and returned to his position at the side of the team, none of whom had reacted at all to the announcement.

Melissa turned back to the podium and smiled again. "Of course, another part of the Rush is recognition for the efforts of all those who participated. Even though the award goes to Blackmist, we would like to remind everyone that all the Surveyors who were part of the Rush performed extremely well. In fact, I've been informed that their efforts were notable even compared to the earliest Rushes on record! Every Observer who took part has declared that it was one of the more memorable events in the history of our company."

The executive paused and looked down as if consulting her notes, and when she continued, her voice held a clear reluctance. "As is also tradition, the Surveyors involved would be happy to answer any questions about their performance. Please remember that many of them might be… worn out from their efforts, and your questions should reflect that fact. Thank you."

She paused again, glancing back at the Surveyors. Alex sighed as the executive's eyes rested on her for a moment too long. Then Melissa faced forward again. "Who would like to ask the first question?"

It was like she had released a floodgate. Hands shot up all over the room as the reporters called for her attention. Alex was reminded of watching a group of piranhas swarm to feed. Melissa hesitated for a moment before pointing at one of them. "Yes?"

The man stood, and his eyes went straight to Alex. "Valkyrie, we've heard that you killed not one, but two Ogres during the Survey. Is this true, and can you comment on how you accomplished that?"

Alex stared at him for a moment. Her head was still pounding; one night's rest hadn't been able to fully restore her condition. There were occasional flashes of pain when she wasn't paying attention, and every so often her vision blurred. It wasn't the best situation in which to face a pack of reporters.

Still, she was here, and she couldn't avoid it. There was no way out but through.

"Two Ogres were killed during the Survey, but I'm not going to comment on the details." The reporter's mouth opened, but Alex continued before he could protest. "The important thing is that everyone made it back safely."

The reporter scowled, but he sat back down. There were more calls, and Melissa gestured to another reporter, who stood. Her eyes also went to Alex. "Valkyrie, from what we heard, the Ogres came out because one of the teams got too close to the Anchor Point. Do you believe that behavior was reckless?"

Alex saw the leader of the Salmon Run team twitch, but she shook her head. "No. The Ogres were behaving unusually compared to their normal behavior. Their… involvement was not the result of any actions by any specific team."

She caught a hint of gratitude on the Salmon Run leader's face again, and skepticism on the part of the Red Blade Surveyors. The next reporter stood and had a far more accusatory bent to his tone. "Valkyrie, it has been suggested that the irregularity in this year's Gold Rush might have occurred due to the actions of your team during your tour yesterday. How would you respond to that statement?"

There was a hint of satisfaction on Oddsen's face, but Alex ignored him. "I suppose I'd ask if they have any proof, and then point out that of anyone involved, we were the worst affected." She rolled her left shoulder, feeling a bit of an ache in the bones of her shield arm. "Those things hit hard, you know."

A chuckle ran through some of the reporters, though the one who'd asked the question sat down with a dissatisfied look. Another journalist raised her hand, though she remained seated. "Alex, we've heard that the results of your team were heavily affected by your decision to face those Ogres rather than continuing your efforts to salvage materials. Can you explain your decision to do so?"

Alex blinked. She glanced back at her team, who simply nodded to her. Then she shrugged. "It's what I do. What we do." As the reporter waited, Alex continued in a firm voice. "We work with a motto: Who protects the protectors? The answer to that question is that we do. It's not the most imaginative, perhaps, but it works for us—and that's what we did yesterday. That's the ideal that matters."

She paused as silence filled the room. Then she gave the reporter a tired smile. "Though I will say that we were hoping for a better result. Still, the best you can do is all you can hope for."

The reporter nodded, and yet another reporter spoke up. "That's really similar to Regulation's motto, isn't it?"

Sam gave the man a crooked grin and spoke up. "We never said she was all that creative, okay?"

Alex rolled her eyes and another wave of chuckles spread through the reporters. The next reporter asked the Salmon Run leader about their strategy going into the Rush, and Alex relaxed as the spotlight moved steadily away from her and her friends. Maybe they were going to get through it just fine.

The man stepped aside to let Alex enter the office and then closed the door behind her without entering himself. She glanced back at the plain door and then looked ahead.

It wasn't as luxurious an office as she'd been expecting. It did feature a broad window that looked out over the Goldiron campus, allowing its owner to literally oversee the training areas in the courtyard below. A wooden desk that probably cost as much as six months' rent in any home that Alex had ever known took up one side of the room, along with a bookcase filled with all kinds of arcane business textbooks and historical volumes. Paintings decorated the right side of the room, showing famous scenes in history or illustrating important Surveyors in action. A pair of chairs sat in front of the desk, as if giving petitioners a place to present their case.

The owner of the office stood in front of the window, however, staring down at the ground with a contemplative air. Melissa seemed far calmer than she had during the press conference, but her very stance shouted the unhappiness she was clearly feeling. Alex waited for the executive to turn around, but eventually her impatience got the better of her, and she cleared her throat.

Melissa glanced back at her, an eyebrow quirked in amusement. "You know, this is the first Gold Rush that a Goldiron team hasn't won. Were you aware?"

Alex winced. It had been mentioned at various points during the press conference, mostly in the context of asking the Goldiron teams how they felt about it. The responses had run the range of disappointment, anger, and determination. "I heard, yeah."

The executive looked back towards the window. "It may seem like a small thing, but it was important. A Goldiron Surveyor team has always won the event, and it always proved how ready we were to face the challenges of difficult portals." She sighed. "The fact that we haven't won this year… Let's just say that there are a lot of unhappy people asking why."

Melissa finally turned back to look at Alex. "Can you explain what happened, Valkyrie?"

Hearing her use that title made Alex wince. She met the executive's eyes, however, and nodded. "Things got out of control."

The woman's expression grew cold. "So I gathered. And you had nothing to do with it?"

Alex paused. She shook her head. "Nothing I did yesterday caused what happened. I did my best to stop it from hurting anyone."

Melissa stared at her with eyes that tried to bore into her. Then she turned away. "From what I've been able to determine, that is true. Did you have any suspicion that it would happen?"

"No." Alex grimaced. "I thought at most it would affect my team, and Alessa and Audrey. I didn't expect it to be that bad, however."

The executive looked back at her in something approaching surprise. "What do you mean?"

Alex blinked. She tilted her head to the side. "You didn't know?"

Melissa frowned. "Know what?"

"I thought…" Alex let her shoulders slump. "The Surveys with Alessa and Audrey tend to have a lot more… activity from the Grue, right?"

The executive stared at her for a moment. When she responded, she spoke slowly. "I had not heard that, no."

Alex grimaced. "It's true. At least, it can be." She looked away. "It… happened at Red Blade Securities as well. They aren't the only ones affected. I actually tend to have the worst problem with it, but it happens to all of us when we are… a bit too consistent with Surveys on a particular portal."

Melissa's eyes widened slightly. "Alessa and Audrey were some of our most active Surveyors during our recovery. They were the most experienced, and I always assumed…"

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Then her eyes narrowed. "Does this have anything to do with what Royal Purple was doing?"

"What? No." Alex hesitated. "Not Royal Purple."

The executive studied her a moment longer. Then her eyes widened. "Golden Swallow. You were all…" She leaned forward, grasping the back of a nearby chair. "Did you know it would happen?"

Alex returned her stare with a level look. "No. This is the first time we've been near an Anchor Point when things were bad." She shook her head. "You can usually avoid it by limiting back-to-back Surveys in a single portal. I've given you a bit of breathing room there. She… it won't be back for at least a month or two."

"Which should give us enough time to change our Survey patterns." Melissa snorted. "Of course, that's not the only issue. Did you know that your antics actually seem to have lowered the portal's energy readings? They were worried that you got close to downgrading the thing."

She winced. "Sorry. Again, I was just doing the best with what I had."

Melissa waved the apology aside. "That is what I asked of you. I suppose I should be grateful that we didn't have casualties. If Ogres had started attacking all of our teams, we'd have worse than this embarrassment to deal with."

Then she paused. "Of course, not all of Goldiron feels that way, unfortunately. It may be some time before you're invited to return here, if at all."

The pained expression on the executive's face failed to rob the sting from the words. Alex sighed. "I understand." She extended her hand. "All the same, thank you for inviting us."

Melissa considered the offered hand. Then she crossed the distance to shake it. "It was an unforgettable experience, Valkyrie." She smiled. "Hopefully, your next engagement is somewhat less interesting than this one."

When Alex returned to the hotel, she found the others waiting for her in her room. Audrey and Alessa were both there as well, lounging on her bed, while Sam leaned against the far window. Joanna had appropriated the chair, while Clara was sitting on the desk beside her.

Alex gave them all a baffled look. "I don't remember giving you a key to get in here."

Sam shrugged. "Don't worry, I worked it out for you." He grinned at her exasperated look and then tossed her spare key onto the desk. "What did the suit have to say?"

"She wanted to know exactly how I messed up the Gold Rush for her." Alex looked at Alessa. "You guys might be getting a few less Surveys in the future. Sorry."

Audrey scowled, but Alessa shrugged. "Better than getting my head caved in by an Ogre, I guess. Liliana was always a problem, but I thought we had it handled. Then I saw those things coming…"

The Porter shivered, and Alex nodded. "You and me both." She remembered those massive claws reaching for her and grimaced. "Still, we all made it out of there alive. That's what matters."

"Oh no you don't." Audrey levered herself up into a sitting position. "You're not going to get away without telling me exactly what went down in that pit."

Alex raised her eyebrows and looked at Sam. "I assumed you would have already told them."

He shook his head. "I mean, I could have, but even I don't know what exactly you did down there. I figured it would be better to just let you fill all of us in at once."

She nodded. "All right. We've already checked for bugs?" Joanna nodded, and Alex looked back at Audrey. "Okay, remember how we don't talk about who my mom is? This is kind of the same deal…"

Alessa put one hand over her eyes and flopped back on the bed. "You know, I really should just start expecting this kind of thing from you, Alex, but for some reason, I can't. I just keep hoping that at some point you'll start being normal."

Joanna snorted. She had been working on her phone for most of the explanation, aside from tossing in the occasional comment. "I've given up on that. You might as well do it, too."

Audrey was frowning, her expression locked in contemplation. "So that explains the whole choking thing. And the Grue-in-the-portal thing, too." She looked at Alessa. "Does Goldiron have any portals close together?"

The Porter peeked out at Audrey from under her hand. "Nope. And we aren't doing any of that anytime soon. We're already probably in hot water for jinxing the Gold Rush."

Sam cleared his throat. "It would probably be a good idea to let things cool down for a while. Just in case we've managed to attract too much attention."

Alex gave him an arched eyebrow. "Really? That seems a bit rich coming from you."

"It's not my fault you keep out-crazying me." He shook his head. "That move was insanely dangerous. No wonder you seemed half-cooked when we got to you."

Clara nodded. "Your Skills were practically burned out when we reached you too. It was like you were back to where you were before you crossed the portal."

The comment brought Alessa's hand down from her face. She looked at Alex with a sudden expression of concern. "You're all right now, aren't you? The last thing we need is for you to somehow break yourself."

Alex hesitated. "I have been feeling better. My Skills seem like they're active again, and my Attributes aren't as muted as they were right after." She glanced at Sam. "I even went for a run this morning."

He snorted, leaning back with his arms crossed. "It was the first time I was able to make her sweat, but yeah, she'd getting closer to normal. As normal as she gets, anyway."

She stuck her tongue out at him, but Audrey spoke up before she could think up an effective comeback. "So we'll hold off on this stuff, at least for a little while, but what are you guys going to do? You can't exactly stick around here. Your contract is over tomorrow, right?"

Joanna nodded. "We have the rooms until tomorrow morning. After that, we get a ride to the train station."

Clara glanced down at her. "We're going to Brownhat next, right?"

The Adept nodded. "For a full two to three weeks, if things work out right." She tapped on her phone, likely bringing up the contract's details. "At least one Survey a day on a D rank portal, all expenses paid, three-quarters the rate we got paid here. It should be a really good gig."

Alex frowned. "Yeah. It sounds… too good, really."

Alessa snorted. "You're complaining about something that's too simple?"

"I'm just saying, I remember working with Brownhat before. They didn't exactly splurge on their Surveyors." Alex looked back at Joanna. "Any catches in the contract that you could find?"

Joanna shook her head, though she was also frowning now. "There wasn't anything that I could see. Just normal portal control, salvage work…" Then she paused. "And training work. For the Surveyors at the site."

Clara blinked. "Huh. Didn't they have almost nobody there last time we visited?"

Sam nodded. "Yeah. Just one D rank and a handful of E's, if I remember right." He looked at Alex. "Wonder what they want training for?"

Alex shrugged. It didn't sound like too bad of a situation, and if they were really offering daily Surveys… "I guess we'll have to find out when we get there." She looked back at Audrey and Alessa. "Are you two going to be all right?"

Alessa shook her head and chuckled. "She asks that like we're the ones in trouble." She met Alex's eyes and grew serious. "We've all got about six months left on our contract, right? When it's done, we're coming to find you. Be ready for us."

A feeling of unease ran through Alex, but she nodded slowly. "I don't know if I can—"

The Porter raised a hand. "Let's not pretend that this is about a job. You're doing something important—really important. I want to help, and I imagine Audrey does too." Then Alessa cracked an unexpected smile. "Not that I'd complain about an introduction to certain parents, though…"

Audrey let out a bark of laughter. "Not bad at all, Flinch! I'm definitely in!"

Sam gave the Squire a raised eyebrow, even as Alessa put a hand back over her eyes. "Flinch?"

"Oh yeah." Audrey's grin practically seemed to split her face. "She almost never reacts anymore when the Grue hit her, but when that Ogre almost slapped her, she winced a little bit. It's the perfect nickname, don't you think?"

Alessa gave her a glare. "Yours isn't much better, Thud."

Audrey laughed again and gave the Porter a friendly slug in the arm; it was impossible to tell how much force she used, but Alessa didn't react any more than a brick wall would have. Alex watched them for another moment, and then she smiled.

Tomorrow was going to be another bright day.

They left the town early the next morning, hopping onboard a train that would take them as close as they could get to the Brownhat facility. There wasn't a train station near the actual facility itself; the portal was stationed out in the middle of nowhere, so the company had sprung for some kind of cab service to retrieve them once the ride was over.

It was almost a relief to be moving again, not least because it would hopefully be the last time they would have an entire horde of paparazzi waiting for them in the hotel lobby. Alex had been tempted multiple times to bring her weapons to hand—not to use, of course, but just to send a message—but Clara had been giving her stern looks as they waded through the flashing camera lights and shouted questions.

There had been one guy that had actually tried to get right in her face, but Audrey had just tossed him up on top of the awning over the exit to the hotel. He'd still been shouting at them to get him down when they'd clambered on board the shuttle, and the rest of the 'photographers' had gotten the message. Their final goodbyes with Alessa and Audrey had been peaceful enough, with no further interruptions before Alex and her team had boarded the train.

Now they were speeding down the tracks in the near-empty car set aside for Surveyors. Sam had already done his sweep for bugs, and they were happily tucked away in their seats. Or most of them were, at least.

"I still say that a plane would have been more efficient." Joanna muttered something a little out of earshot as she tried to get comfortable on the train seat. She hadn't stopped grousing since they had gotten onboard.

Clara seemed to be trying to repress a smile. "Now Joanna, you know our delicate little Valkyrie can't deal with those newfangled flying machines. They upset her poor stomach so."

Sam laughed, though he unsuccessfully tried to cover it with a cough. Alex gave the Acolyte a glare, and then shoved herself a little lower in her seat. "I thought we needed to be careful about money. Trains are cheaper."

Joanna rolled her eyes. "Sure. If you don't mind moving at a snail's pace." She gestured to the window. "It'll take us most of the day to get there. If we'd flown, we might have been able to do our first Survey today."

It was almost a compelling argument, if Alex didn't have such vivid memories of the Greyhawk flights churning her guts. She grimaced and shook her head. "We'll be there soon enough. Just be patient."

"That's rich, coming from you." The Adept gave her a narrow look and then sighed. "At least we've made enough to keep ourselves in house and home. We might want to leave our next employer a little… happier about our performance, however."

Sam tilted his head. "You think Goldiron is going to badmouth us?"

She looked back at him with a grim expression. "I think word of mouth is important, and our first two clients haven't exactly been pleased." Joanna raised a hand and started ticking off fingers. "Emerald Bay couldn't wait to get rid of us, even though we did exactly what they asked. Goldiron was happy in public, but their board is probably furious over what went on during the Gold Rush. Put that together with what we did at Royal Purple, Red Blade, Golden Swallow…"

Clara spoke up as Alex winced. "Who cares what they think? We did the best thing we could possibly do, and the Surveyors involved know what happened."

"The Surveyors aren't the ones hiring us or giving us access to portals." Joanna shook her head. "If we don't get hired, we don't get to keep getting stronger. If we don't get stronger, then our… friends at Greylight might arrange for us to be dealt with. We can't forget that."

Sam snorted. "Not to mention that we still need to eat. Unless we've managed to make enough to last the next six months?"

The Adept hesitated. "Not quite, but close." She tapped on her phone for a moment. "If this job goes well, then maybe it'll be enough. If things go south again, though…"

She gave Alex a frank look, and Alex sighed. "All right, I get the picture. We'll try to play nice with Brownhat, for all the good it'll do us." Then she looked at Clara. "Speaking of Greylight, though, I don't suppose you managed to get a look at our friends from Blackmist?"

The Acolyte blinked. She gave Alex a wry smile. "I was a little busy at the time, Alex, what with trying to keep you alive and maybe not get killed myself…"

Alex nodded. "I know. I just didn't know if you managed to get a look at them at all." She tapped at her head beside her eyes, and Clara's lips twisted.

"Well, now that you mention it, I did happen to look their way." She hesitated. "All five looked like they had taken the same Role twice, the same way Joanna and I did. One for each Role."

Sam grunted, his expression serious. "That fits. It looked like the Squire was the one that was just punching everything. The one with the armor."

Joanna nodded. "Their Adept was… impressive. It looked like they had focused on Thermal magic. The level of power and control would have been a problem even for me."

"Same with that Acolyte. Sun focused, obviously, but they were doing well." Sam glanced at Alex and shrugged. "To be honest, they almost seemed like they would have been a match for us, under the right circumstances. They tore through the Grue like they didn't have any worries about it at all."

Clara winced. "Especially the last two. The Porter with the shield and that Page." She looked at Alex. "He's the one with the sword and dagger. He was fast. Really fast. The Grue almost looked like they were standing still."

"It was like watching Rabbit move all over again." Joanna shook her head. "Still, what made me worried was how they worked, not just their Skills. It was like watching a group of robots move. Cold, disciplined. None of them even looked alarmed when the Ogres started showing up. They just stuck to the mission and kept harvesting Outposts. I think the Page was the only one that even looked the slightest bit interested."

Alex nodded slowly. Their descriptions fit what she had seen of the Surveyors in the brief glimpse she'd had of them. Combined with the note from Warner, it was enough to make her grateful that they hadn't had the opportunity to stab her in the back during the Rush.

Then she frowned. "They didn't make a move on us after I was down?"

Clara shook her head. "No. They didn't even get close."

Sam blinked. His brow furrowed. "Not just that, they almost went out of their way to avoid us. When we were pulling you out through the Gravelyards, they actually swung wide to make sure our paths didn't cross."

Joanna blinked. She looked back and forth between Alex and Sam. "You think that means something?"

Alex nodded again. "Yeah. I think somebody might have warned them off from messing with us, at least this time."

Sam grinned. "I guess our reputation actually helped us for once. Not sure how that will work out for us next time, but…"

"If it meant we didn't have to fight those guys right after we fought a bunch of Ogres, I'm all for it." Clara shook her head. "Seriously, they seemed just a little too spooky. I'd be happy if we never had to run across them ever again."

The others murmured their quiet agreements, but Alex couldn't help but feel like Clara's hopes were going to be disappointed, sooner or later. Just the fact that Greylight was apparently able to train Surveyors like that out of nowhere was enough to worry about.

Either way, at least all they'd need to worry about in the near future was getting stronger themselves. She was getting close to C rank, now; hopefully their time at Brownhat would see her reach that next step without any further incidents.