Since I knew I was leaving I could make preparations for my trip. The first thing that came to mind was obviously grinding up my last few points to G rank so I could give Benny an ability. But despite how cool that sounded I decided that ranking up now would be too suspicious. Massive influx of points from killing Stricture or not, the capital branch would be expecting an H ranker and if I had a whole ten more points of impact it would be a dead giveaway.

Once I got there it would be simple to explain away my rank up with the resources and fame I got in the larger city, but until then I was stuck where I was. Still, I called Benny to ask him if he wanted to come with, and he practically jumped at the chance. My friend had been having the time of his life with his inventing, and I knew he would be excited to go even deeper into this new world with me.

I briefly wondered what his ability would be when I unlocked it. I was pretty sure having a skill didn't predispose you to a specific ability, so it was unlikely he would end up a mad scientist. After getting in touch with Benny though I had one very important thing to handle, so I scheduled a meeting with my Uncle. I was expecting to be put off, Zeke was a busy guy, and a meeting wasn't the same as a phone call, but surprisingly he accepted and fit me in the same day.

I took a bus down to the WCP building, using my black card to bypass security as usual and headed down to where I knew his office was. I got in nearly immediately, and I walked over and slumped into the chair. I was in costume, because I'd been here in costume before so I had a valid reason for coming around, and I wanted to avoid associating my normal identity with the WCP anyway. I took my mask off as I entered the office though.

Zeke smirked at me as I sat down. "I'm impressed kid. You managed to get rid of that asshole all on your own. Granted getting snatched by a serial killer was kind of stupid, but you made it work." Zeke was leaned back in his chair, sipping a scotch and looking just as sloppy and unkempt as ever. "I'm guessing you're here about the whole Academy thing right?" My eyes widened and he chuckled. "Kid, I have people in every gang in this city and the Unity too. I knew about that before you did."

I nodded. "Yeah, I do want to talk about that. But before that I want to ask about Stricture. You told me you couldn't help me because of the rules, but he almost killed me. What would you have done if I'd died?" I knew he was under orders, probably contractually enforced orders given some of the things he'd said about my dad, but I admit I was a little angry still. I knew he was stronger than anyone on this planet, even if I didn't know how strong. He could have helped.

He just gave me a sad smile. "I'd have killed him myself, given you a proper funeral, and probably headed over to the Black Sorrow Cult's territory to fuck them up for a couple decades to deal with my grief." He must have seen the hurt on my face. "I told you when you started this path how things would go Shane. I told you I wouldn't be able to help you against people your own rank. I wish I could. I wish I could just crush all the problems in your way and feed you the resources you needed."

The tightness in his voice and the clench of his teeth told me how angry this situation made him. "But I can't. I'm bound by contract to act in a certain way. Your father made me sign a binding agreement that I would follow the rules of that selection and help give you the best chance to advance. Eli always did have too much faith in rules and structure." He snorted. "It was one of the main reasons he and your mother would fight, and why he made sure she couldn't come back after..."

His eyes widened as he snapped his mouth shut, and he doubled over in pain. A mark appeared on his forehead, glowing red. A brand of a skull with devil horns. He breathed through his nose for a bit before straightening up, face pale and sweaty. "Shit. I drank too much after I heard about your close call. That was stupid." He chuckled bitterly. "Sorry kid. Slipped up a bit there. But as you can see, I'm not free to talk. Like I said. An edict from your old man, and I'm not going to gainsay him."

He'd said those exact words before, but where the last time I'd heard stubborn loyalty, now they sounded different to me. They sounded forced, like he wished they weren't true. It occurred to me that I had made a lot of assumptions about the position my dad left Zeke in, and it made me hate him a little bit knowing that he'd done something like that to his best friend. I tried to imagine putting Benny under some kind of geas or compulsion but the image wouldn't come. I'd kind of shoved thoughts of my mom to the back of my head when I heard she didn't want to be here, but it sounded like I didn't have the whole story. Abandonment issues aside, it might be a good idea to look into her a bit more.

I sighed, knowing I wouldn't get more from him. Couldn't get more. "Ok Zeke, well how does this work? Can you protect me from here? Do you go with me? Will the capital branch let you just show up like that? I'm not really sure how any of this is supposed to go down." After the up close and personal demonstration that there were bigger forces acting on my Uncle I didn't want to push him into a position where he might get in trouble for coming with me.

He seemed to have guessed that worry though because he burst out laughing. "Gods kid, don't get the wrong idea. My bindings apply to the candidacy and the rules I have to follow as your guardian. Local interaction between me and the branches on Callus aren't covered." He blinked. "Oh wait, I never told you what rank I was did I? No wonder you were worried." I shook my head and he grinned like he was in on some private joke. "I'm a B ranker. The capital branch can bite my ass. If I show up and tell them to jump, they'll already be a foot in the air by the time they ask how high."

My eyes widened in shock. "B-B rank?" B rankers had point values in the tens of millions. People with Legendary ranked abilities and skills. I swallowed hard. "I mean...I knew you were strong but I figured you were like a D ranker. B rank is..that's a lot." Honestly the scale of it was almost too large for me to comprehend, but considering how difficult the curve became from even H to G I had to imagine it took years and massive amounts of resources and renown to reach B rank, especially since I was pretty positive Zeke was mainly a crafter.

He basked a bit in the smugness of being so powerful before he continued. "Anyway, I'll leave this branch to my second and head to the capital with you. Honestly the Deacon over there already knows about me anyway, though he doesn't have a clue why I'm here. Once I show up he'll probably step down out of respect rather than piss me off, but I doubt I'll accept. Running a WCP branch in a hundred billion person city isn't the same as running this one. It's a ton more work and I'm far from interested."

I snorted at that, a smile creeping onto my face. "I see how it is, you're acting like you're doing this to keep an eye on me but it's really your diabolical master plan to get more time to be a lazy drunk. I should have known." I gave him a sly smile. "What about Stella? I've heard you two had quite the star crossed romance. You even got all protective when you found out the Black Sorrow Cult was sanctioning a hit on her. You should have seen her blush." I expected him to wave that off or roll his eyes, but Zeke actually looked...uncomfortable. My eyes widened. "Wait...Ian isn't actually your kid is he?"

Zeke glared at me. "No, he is not my kid! She had him before we met. But Stella and I are...complicated. We're not an all the time thing. We both know we aren't compatible long term. She's ambitious as hell and power aside I AM a lazy drunk. Not that she knows how strong I am. I think she suspects I'm E rank, MAYBE D." He sighed, slumping back. "But I'll miss her. She's a world class pain in my ass, but she makes my day a little better. Some advice kid, don't put off romance until you're stronger. It causes plenty of problems."

I winced at having brought it up, seeing that he was genuinely unhappy thinking about it. I decided to change the subject. "Anyway, I'm arranging to bring Benny with me. The mess with Stricture gave me a ton of points, I'm clocking in at eighty one points now, and I'll have enough to give him his ability when I hit G rank I think. Or close to it." I was pretty excited to find out what that was going to be like, literally giving someone superpowers. It sounded amazing. I'd even considered giving them to Maria too, but she was still sixteen and couldn't come with us so I'd decided to wait.

He whistled at that. "Shit kid, even for a candidate that's fast. Technically speaking you can hit G in twenty three days, but that's only if you spend all four wishes on stats every day and never miss any time. I know for a fact you've given people skills and accrued some resources and it hasn't even been three weeks yet I don't think." He smirked at me. "I told you starting with every stat would be a huge boost to you, didn't I? Having those options, not to mention having the stats to use to make an impression, it's a hell of starter package."

I had to give him that. Having to earn a new stat or alter my fighting style to give myself a reputation that would give me points in a stat I didn't have would have been hellish. Not to mention how useful my points were to my DS Mastery. Seeing he was still looking drained from whatever the hell that brand was on his head. I stood up, nodding to my Uncle and giving him a cheerful smile. "I'll let you get back to work. I have to check with Shadowthorn but I think we're leaving in a week at most." My smile turned soft. "Maybe that'll give you time to say some goodbyes."

Zeke's answering smirk was tired and almost sad. "I'll get everything in order. See you soon kid." I slipped my mask back on and headed out. As I climbed back onto the bus and headed home I mulled over what I'd learned. Things in my life weren't what they seemed, and I might have an even better reason to be pissed at my dad than I'd thought. I wasn't sure what exactly was going on, but I was pretty sure it was time for me to start looking into it.