Team Player

Alex looked up as a knock sounded on the door. She glanced at the clock and frowned. Audrey and Alessa were supposed to have stopped by in a couple of hours, but someone else had decided to visit early.

She got off the hotel bed and walked to the door. As she reached for the door handle, she paused. Her axe formed in her hand, and she stepped clear of the door as she opened it. "Hello?"

Outside was a woman she recognized, wearing a suit with a pin that showed the crossed-hammers symbol of Goldiron. It was Melissa Langford, the Goldiron executive that she had met at Royal Purple. "Hello, Ms. Morrison. May I come in?"

Alex blinked. She nodded and stepped back, surreptitiously letting her axe vanish. As far as she knew, the woman couldn't be more than an E rank, if she was even a Surveyor at all. The executive just didn't move right.

Melissa walked past her and paused as she looked around the room. "Have you been satisfied with the accommodations so far? We debated giving you a spot in the Surveyor dormitories, but we thought it would be better to separate the teams before the Rush."

She shrugged. "They've been fine. Is there something that I can help you with?"

The executive turned to look back at her. A smile tugged at the corner of her lips. "Ah. Straight to the point. I have always appreciated that about you." She leaned against the hotel's desk, folding her arms. "I understand there were some… irregularities after the introductory Survey earlier today."

Alex tried to repress a grimace. "Just some ill-advised horsing around, unfortunately. Nobody was hurt. It won't happen again."

Melissa's eyes sharpened. "Horsing around that led to two of your teammates returning unconscious?"

There was a brief stab of foreboding, but Alex shoved it away. "Like I said, nobody was hurt."

"Some of the Surveyors seem to think that your team was being rather reckless, and that some of ours might have… encouraged a bit more decorum." Melissa was studying her closely, but Alex kept her expression neutral. "If that is the case, then I apologize. The last thing I want is any animosity between your team and ours."

Alex shook her head, walking over to sit on the bed. "No, it wasn't like that." She sighed, searching for an explanation that the executive would accept. Sam using the Survey as a chance to experiment was looking like a worse idea by the minute. "Nobody on my team has anything but respect for Alessa and Audrey."

Melissa's eyebrow rose. She seemed mildly confused. "So you won't be settling any grudges tomorrow?"

She blinked. "No. Absolutely not." Alex shook her head to emphasize the point. "All we'll do is focus on the Rush. There won't be any more… disruptions. You have my word on it." Even if she had to knock out Sam herself to make sure.

"That is reassuring." A hint of relief crossed Melissa's face. She shifted her position on the desk. "I was under the impression that most Surveyors take being knocked out and thrown through the portal rather severely. Your people weren't hurt?"

Alex repressed a smirk. "No. They're already fine." It was a bit of an overstatement. Joanna had been out a couple of hours; when she'd woken, the Adept had been pale and shaking. There had been a sudden rush to the bathroom before she'd hurled up everything she'd eaten that day. Clara had stayed with her for another hour until the shaking stopped. She was mostly sure that Joanna would be recovered by the time cameras showed up tomorrow.

Sam had come to an hour after Joanna, and unlike her, he'd snapped awake with a sudden volley of profanity unlike anything Alex had ever heard before. He'd clenched his eyes and hands shut and stalked around his hotel room like a caged animal. If he'd been shaking just as bad, it seemed like he'd been far more on the fight side of the adrenaline response, and once he'd come down from it, he'd practically collapsed to sleep it off. The fact that he was able to rest at all was encouraging; she privately hoped it would calm him down a little.

She shook away those idle musings. "To be honest, my team is a bit used to being in a crisis. I think it would probably take a lot more than that to stop us from doing our best."

The executive cracked a smile. "I suppose that is true—though seeing it up close has been…educational." She tilted her head a little to the side, as if to watch Alex from a different angle. "Was it strange, being in a normal portal?"

Alex blinked. She thought back over the Survey. "Honestly? A little bit, yeah. We've either been training in a C rank portal, or going through D ranks that were… tampered with." Melissa nodded, and Alex shrugged. "A normal mission was almost too calm."

"I suppose we can lay the blame for the… irregularities on that, then." Melissa smiled. "The Rush should be challenging enough to keep your team focused, I hope. We are all looking forward to seeing your best."

Alex nodded and tried to sound reassuring. "We will make sure to do so."

Melissa nodded back, and the executive levered herself off the desk and extended her hand. Alex shook it carefully, and the executive smiled. "I'm glad to hear that, Ms. Morrison."

"Call me Alex." Alex saw a flicker of surprise cross the executive's expression, but she continued as if she hadn't noticed it. "Is there anything else I can help you with?"

Melissa's expression turned a little more neutral. "Now that you mention it, there were some odd readings from the PAD near the end of the Survey. It required us to suspend our next few Surveys, just until things evened out again. Would you know anything about that?"

Alex thought back to the label that the Screen had given her. She still didn't know what a 'boosted' portal would do, and she was sure she didn't want a normal D rank Surveyor to be the one that found out. "I'm afraid not, Ms. Langford. If I find out, I will tell you what I can."

There was a flash of amusement in the woman's eyes, but it was quickly concealed. "I would appreciate it, Ms… Alex." She nodded and headed to the door. "I believe that your new uniforms are waiting for you in the lobby. Thank you again for this talk."

Hoping she hadn't given too much away, Alex opened the door for her and watched the executive walk off. Then she closed the door and leaned against it for a moment. The next day was going to be… interesting, to say the least. At least Ogres would be the biggest thing she'd need to worry about.

"I'm just saying, we should have given you the chance to toss a few into the portal as well, Alex."

Sam grinned when she glared at him, and Alex sighed. "The Goldirons were already getting enough weird readings, you know. Doing it a few more times was only going to make things worse."

He shrugged. "I know, but it would have been useful to see if it did anything for you. You never got Gyreburner after all."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "You really think I'd get another label out of it?"

"No, actually. I think the rules are different when you're a Pioneer. You'd need to bend them in different ways." Sam made a dismissive gesture. "Still, it would be good to be sure. You never know what we could find."

Clara snorted. "Along those lines, what if we are messing with the portal in some way? I don't think we'd want to find that out the hard way."

Sam glanced back at her as they approached the doors leading to the main lobby. "We haven't seen any evidence of that, though. Aside from a few bursts of fire and light…"

He trailed off as Alex shook her head. "Actually, the Screen's been telling me that the portal is boosted each time you've tossed a Grue in. Not sure what that means, but Clara's right. We should probably be a bit more careful from here on in."

Joanna shivered slightly. The Adept's face was still a little pale, though she'd repeatedly said she was good to go on the Rush. "That sounds good to me. We're already going to be dealing with a lot today."

Sam grunted. "Okay, okay, we'll go easy today. Though I think we probably won't attract nearly as much attention as we… did…"

His words trailed off as a dull roar of conversation reached him through the doors to the hotel's lobby. Alex exchanged a look with him and grimaced. She'd been a bit worried about this situation, but there would be no getting around it. She stepped forward and shoved the doors open, keeping her eyes fixed on the doors and moving as quickly as she could without breaking into a run.

The cameras were waiting for her.

There had to be something like twenty paparazzi in the lobby, all with flashing cameras and yelling questions. They rushed at her, as rabid as any Grue horde, and her hands twitched as she resisted the urge to summon her weapons. Her friends clustered in around her, trying to present a united front to the incoming wave of would-be interviewers.

"Valkyrie! What do you think your chances are at the Gold Rush?"

"We've heard that you might switch your contract to Goldiron, is this true?"

"Valkyrie, Valkyrie! What Skill Chain gives you the ability to turn invisible?"

"Valkyrie, do you care to say anything to the accusations that you are a saboteur for hire?"

"There are rumors that you are dating a member of your team. Do you have any comments?"

She felt her eyes twitch at that last one, and she just barely stopped herself from glancing at Sam. Instead, she just kept walking forward, ignoring the people who crowded around in front of her. They knew better than to try to stop her, but that didn't stop the crowd from shoving microphones at her face, taking 'candid' photos, or recording her as she walked. Alex kept her face still and her feet moving, doing her best not to respond to any of the babbling demands that chased after her once she finally reached the car that Goldiron had sent for her team.

It took a moment for them all to dive through the doors, but as soon as they were inside, the doors slammed shut and the driver got the vehicle moving. A handful of the photographers went so far as to chase the car, their cameras still flashing as Alex and her friends exchanged looks of relief.

Sam was the first one to speak. "Well, that never gets old."

Joanna said something uncharacteristically coarse under her breath. "Maybe getting Dreamseer today was a bad idea after all."

Clara put a comforting hand on the Adept's arm, even as she gave a warning nod towards the driver. Joanna winced and nodded, but Sam shook his head. "It was always going to be inconvenient. Better to get it out of the way now rather than later."

Alex grimaced as a flash of what she'd seen went through her head. That alien sky full of writhing things… She shook the image away. "If you say so. Both of you are sure you're ready for today, right? It's already going to be rough, and I'd rather default on the contract than risk losing you."

Joanna looked up sharply. "I will go through that portal. No matter what." Her breath grew a bit ragged, and her eyes unfocused, before they snapped back into clarity. She looked at Sam with a disgruntled expression. "Though I wish I knew how you are dealing with it so well. Maybe your mind was already kind of crooked to begin with?"

Sam grinned at her, though the smile seemed more forced than usual. "Maybe. That could definitely be it." Then his smile faded. "Though I will say that it was a lot… worse than I was expecting. A lot worse."

He lapsed into silence, and Alex frowned at him with concern. She'd been assuming he was solid, but the expression on his face worried her. Cautiously, she nudged him with a shoulder. "You still there, Sneak?"

With a shake of his head, Sam responded without looking at her. "Yeah." He looked back at Joanna. "I guess I just went into this wanting to get a good look at what we were up against. Now we know."

Alex felt her frown deepen. The way he'd said the words made her a little worried about more than just the Survey ahead of them. Clara had mentioned that sometimes the vision broke people. Was she seeing that in him now?

Stolen story; please report.

Before she could find the right question to ask, though, Clara just snorted and shook her head. "Well, maybe you should keep your mind on the mission ahead, right? We're going up against Blackmist, and with Liliana in the mix, it's only going to get more complicated. I don't have that much healing for you if you get yourself squished by an Ogre, okay?"

Sam smirked and spread his arms. "Oh please. I'm far too handsome to ever get in that situation. Besides, Alex is going to get herself into trouble way before I do."

"Hey, that's not—"

"Entirely inaccurate?" Joanna grinned despite the paleness in her face, and Alex rolled her eyes, her protests dying unsaid.

"You know what, fine. Maybe I'll just do something to worry all of you this time. What do you think about that?"

Clara laughed. "Like what? Go fight a C rank on your own? Chase down a B rank and toss her out of a helicopter? At this point, we're almost expecting it."

Alex stuck her tongue out at the Acolyte and tried to ignore the driver trying to hide laughter behind a cough. They still had at least one more problem to get through, even if she'd rather go fight an Ogre instead.

Melissa Langford stood at a podium in front of a crowd of reporters. This batch was a lot calmer and more professional than the ambulance chasers outside the hotel. Despite that, Alex couldn't fight the sudden desire to step back and try to fade from view. The outright hunger for a story that some of them seemed to have when they looked at her was just as threatening as anything she'd seen from a Grue.

Luckily, she wasn't exactly facing the crowd alone. There were nearly sixty other Surveyors on the stage with her, all clustered into the ten different teams that had been invited to participate. Most of them were wearing the crossed hammers of Goldiron, but there were others. The cluster of four wearing the red and grey of Red Blade Securities were all glaring at her, which didn't bode well, but was fairly predictable. She had given their company a black eye, after all. The five wearing white uniforms decorated with a pink fish were the group from Salmon Run Solutions, a corp she hadn't really heard from before. None of them appeared to be all that interested in her.

The group that really had her attention, though, was standing on the edge of the stage, about as far as they could be from her. They wore all black uniforms, with a grey pattern of wavy lines on their backs that suggested wind or fog. Five of them were wearing full helmets with visors that concealed their faces, while a sixth man stood slightly to one side with his head uncovered and an insincere smile on his face.

They were Blackmist, and even if none of them appeared to be looking in her direction, she still felt like there was a target on her back, right where the new sigil had been stitched into her jacket.

She had to admit that the new uniforms weren't exactly helping. Instead of a comforting, neutral grey, Clifton had apparently felt the need to make them from a green fabric, one so dark that it was nearly black. Dark orange slashes had been added to the cuffs of their sleeves as well, in a pattern that almost looked like lightning bolts. Each of them had been given a personal symbol too, on the right shoulder of their jacket. Hers was a blue axe, Joanna had a blue sword, Clara had been given a crown of thorns, and Sam wore a spear's blade.

The others had just shrugged the changes off, but she couldn't help but feel self-conscious about it all. It felt like she was playacting, somehow, trying to stand out while the grownups did the real work. Her hands twitched as she thought about it, but then Melissa began to speak, and she turned her attention to the executive.

"Welcome, all of you, to our annual Gold Rush Tournament." Melissa paused, turning her head to smile at the corners of the room. "This year is the eleventh anniversary of our first Gold Rush, when this company was founded to face the threats of the Fracture. This portal is the first one our Surveyors faced, and it remains the heart of our efforts on behalf of the world."

She paused and then gestured back to the teams on the stage behind her. "All of these teams are going to recreate a portion of the initial Raid that stabilized this portal, demonstrating their skill and strength in a contest meant to celebrate that founding event. While most of these teams are from the Goldiron Foundation, we've been able to welcome volunteers from outside the Foundation who wished to be a part of this tradition."

Alex tried not to frown at the implication that she wanted to be part of the media frenzy, but it was hard. Melissa continued without pausing. "For those of you who aren't familiar with the Rush, each team will enter the portal and to a predetermined location in the other world known as the Quarry. Their mission will be to salvage materials from the Quarry and return to the portal. The winner of the contest will be the team that recovers the most salvaged material from the Quarry while still returning before the time limit expires. Material salvaged from outside the Quarry will not be counted towards their total."

Melissa smiled and then gestured to another group of people who were standing just below the stage. "Each team will be assigned an official Observer, who is a neutral contractor brought on for today's activities. They will ensure that all teams maintain professional behavior, and will keep track of the materials collected to determine the score for each of them. The teams will be responsible for their Observer's safety; returning without the Observer will result in an immediate disqualification. Observers can also disqualify a team at any time during the Rush."

The executive smiled again and grasped the podium with both hands. "Teams will enter the portal together and set out with their Observers two hours from now. Six hours after that, the winner of the Rush will be determined."

She paused. "So. That's the boring old rules out of the way. Are there any questions for me?"

An impatient murmur of denials rose from the crowd of reporters, and Melissa's smile turned into an impish grin. She nodded. "Then I'm going to go ahead and get out of your way. For the next hour, you are welcome to ask as many questions of our teams as you want. Make sure you get to know them well, because in just a short time, they'll be in the field. I'm sure whatever wagers you place based on their performance will change based on what you learn."

As a chuckle ran through the assembled reporters, Alex felt herself go still. The reporters raised their hands, and she twitched, feeling like she was looking at a flight of oncoming arrows, still uncertain of where they would hit.

Melissa looked around the room and chose one of the reporters, seemingly at random. The man nodded and raised his voice. "I've noticed that the teams from Goldiron are all larger than their competitors. Do any of you feel that this leaves you at a disadvantage?"

One of the Red Blade Surveyors stepped forward, a grin on his face. "At Red Blade, we believe that quality more than outmatches quantity."

Another reporter raised her hand. "The rules of conduct for the Rush include forbidding combat between teams. Do you feel that might be a challenge for you this year?"

The Surveyor blinked. His eyes didn't quite dart towards Alex's team, but the way he shifted gave things away. "No, and even if it was, we at Red Blade Securities are willing to rise to face any challenge." He stepped back from the microphone, finally giving Alex a narrow look.

Yet another reporter asked a question about which of the Goldiron teams considered themselves the likely winners—an obvious bait to draw out a little rivalry among the coworkers—and each of the Surveyor teams took the chance to respond. The next question went to the Salmon Run team, asking if their new corporation was really ready for such a difficult mission, which drew out a half-indignant response from the team leader.

More questions followed as the reporters tried to interrogate the Goldiron teams about the conditions in the other world, and how they would compare to previous Rushes. A few of the Surveyors reported the Grue were a little more active than usual—something Alex put down to Liliana's interference—but most of them sounded confident. There were a few other questions peppered in for Red Blade Securities about some sort of shakeup at the corporation headquarters, and another directed at Salmon Run about an incident at another portal involving their team and another corporation.

As the conference continued, Alex felt herself start to relax. Maybe there was enough occupying the reporters' minds that they just didn't care as much about her and her involvement in things. It was something of a relief to be relatively ignored for once; it probably wouldn't do her any harm to fade into the background for a bit, especially with everything that Sam and the others had been up to.

One of the reporters raised their hand and Melissa called on them. The woman nodded to herself. "This is the first time that a team from Blackmist Enterprises has been seen in public. We don't have many details about what your corporation does. Would you be able to give us more information on your team, and how you expect to perform?"

The majority of the Blackmist team just stared back at the reporter, but the one with his face uncovered stepped forward. "I would be happy to answer that question, actually. My name is Roger Oddsen, and I'm the public relations specialist for our team today."

He glanced back at the Surveyors, who hadn't moved at all. "At Blackmist, we've been trying to identify the best way to create effective Survey teams that can respond to any situation. After years of research and development, we've managed to create a special, proprietary enrichment program that we are confident will prove superior to any other currently in use."

Roger gestured back at the motionless team. "These five Surveyors are the first products of that program. As such, we expect them to do very, very well today, despite the fact that they are unfamiliar with the area around the portal."

Melissa spoke up at this point, an unreadable expression on her face. "To be clear, they were offered an escorted tour of the area, but declined. Apparently, they feel unwilling to reveal any information about their team's abilities before the Rush."

Another reporter raised their hand. "How will that work with the Observer they're being assigned?"

Roger gave the reporter a slow smile. "We are confident that the non-disclosure agreement that the Observer signed before the contest will be… sufficient to guarantee that our actions aren't revealed to the public."

The Observer in question fidgeted a little, which made Alex narrow her eyes. Another reporter raised their hand. "Blackmist is a subsidiary of Greylight Industries, correct?" Roger nodded, and the reporter continued, her voice deceptively deferential. "How confident can clients of Blackmist be in the protection and services you offer, when another subsidiary of Greylight was forcefully closed by Regulation due to dangerous and illegal practices?"

Alex grimaced at the reference to Royal Purple, but Roger simply bared his teeth in a smile that looked only slightly strained. "Well, I'm sure that you noticed that our Surveyors aren't exactly advertising their identities?" As the reporter nodded, he continued. "A part of Greylight's internal analysis of the incidents at Royal Purple determined that the problems, at least in part, stemmed from the cult of personality that was built up at the company. Surveyors were treated more as celebrities and given the license to develop public personae that were not in line with our values or mission. As a matter of course, all Blackmist Surveyors will be anonymous in public, in order to prevent a similar crisis of employees putting their personal gain over the good of the company."

The reporter frowned. "You're saying that anonymizing your employees will prevent the sort of corruption that caused the Royal Scandal?"

Roger's lips twisted in clear disdain. "I would prefer that we not trivialize the tragedies at Royal Purple with such a flippant name, but yes. Our new procedures and training will prevent any and all incidents of that nature, and any clients of Blackmist will find that their confidence will be well rewarded by the service we provide."

Dread had already started to congeal in Alex's gut before the next reporter raised his hand. Too many people were looking in her direction, and the next few questions were almost too obvious to be a surprise. Her fears were confirmed a moment later as the reporter looked directly at her and spoke.

"Alexandretta Morrison, you were present during the problems at Royal Purple. Do you feel that the kinds of changes Mr. Oddsen is describing would have prevented what happened?"

Her initial reaction—a definite, flat denial—took some willpower to restrain. Instead, she sucked in a breath and let it out slowly, trying to find the same equilibrium her mother had shown at so many conferences in the past. "As I am still technically an employee of Royal Purple, I am currently bound by a non-disclosure agreement and cannot comment on anything that happened at the company."

The reporter raised an eyebrow. "You aren't here as a representative of Royal Purple, correct?"

Alex shook her head. "No, we're here as independent contractors. We were honored to be invited to participate."

Another reporter raised her hand. She looked like a shark that had smelled blood in the water. "I'm surprised you were given a license, given the number of incidents throughout your career. The collapse of Golden Swallow, the Red Blade Revolution, the Royal Scandal…"

It took another effort to keep her first response contained. Lightning bolts weren't good for public relations, after all. "Was there a question there, ma'am?"

The reporter blinked. She glanced around. "I was just wondering if we should anticipate another such incident here today, during the Rush."

This answer was easy. "No, you should not."

"Probably because it is much more fun to spring them as a surprise, right Valkyrie?" Roger's smile was a hair away from a vicious smile.

Alex returned it in kind. "Actually, most of my opponents tend to see me coming, Mr. Oddsen. They just couldn't stop me anyway. Something to remember."

There was a rush of murmurs through the reporters, along with a few chuckles. She heard Joanna sigh behind her and Clara groan. The Blackmist specialist glared at her, his bland mask slipping for just a moment. Before he could respond, another reporter spoke up.

"Ms. Morrison—or Valkyrie, whichever you prefer…" He trailed off leadingly, and Alex turned her attention back to the crowd.

"Just call me Alex."

He nodded. "All right, Alex. I know most of your career seems to be covered by a suspicious number of NDAs, but there have been a rather large number of Surveyor casualties and disappearances around you. Some have suggested that means you are a danger to those around you, and a few people have protested your inclusion in this event. Do you have anything to say about that?"

She took a moment to calm herself. Then she shrugged. "I'm a Surveyor. By definition, I'm going to be dangerous. The question is, who am I dangerous to?" Alex just barely kept herself from looking in Blackmist's direction. "I think my record can answer that on its own."

Sam muttered something behind her, and she saw Audrey trying to cover a laugh. She ignored them and turned her attention to the next reporter. The woman had a cheeky grin on her face. "If that's the case, maybe I should ask if I'm safe around you."

Alex raised an eyebrow. "Are you trying to murder people or cause an Escalation Event?" The reporter blinked and shook her head. "Then I think you're good."

Another chuckle ran through the room, though it seemed a little nervous this time. She was just starting to hope that the reporters had lost interest in her when another reporter raised her hand. "Alex, there have been recent rumors of strange PAD readings around you and your team. This includes incidents here and at Emerald Bay less than a week ago. Is that something the public should be worried about?"

Mentally kicking Sam in the shin, Alex shook her head. "No."

The reporter frowned. "Are you sure? Given your history with disruptions to the portals—"

"It isn't anything related to that. There's no need to be concerned about it." She couldn't help but glance back at Sam, who was trying his best to look innocent. "Just some poor judgment that will not be repeated."

As the reporter settled back in her seat, another raised his hand. "One last question, Alex. What are your goals during the Rush today? Do you think you'll take first place?"

Alex blinked. She shrugged. "We will do our best. That's all anyone can hope for."

He nodded, though he looked unsatisfied. The next question went back to a Goldiron Surveyor, who answered about an attempt they made at the Rush in the past. As the rest of the questions steadily moved away from her, Alex felt herself relax again.

She was aware of the way the Blackmist specialist kept glaring at her, but she ignored that and tried to focus on the job ahead. In the end, it would be the ones who walked out of the portal who mattered, after all—and if Blackmist tried anything, at least they'd have witnesses.

Alex kept telling herself that as the conference wore on and tried to ignore the voice that kept insisting that witnesses around Greylight had a tendency to disappear.