Chapter 69 (1/2)

Primrose Park was an unfamiliar sight for Daniel. The tranquil stretch of land was the home of a sprawling shopping mall in his home dimension. Here, it was a beautiful forest, surrounding a lake, rural and serene. A paved path meandered around the water's edge, with wooden benches and fountains dotted across the landscape. Birdsong echoed through the trees, a welcome distraction from Dan's purpose here.

He sat on a shaded bench, within sight of the lake. A few families milled about on the shore, their children playing in the shallows. Dogs frolicked among them, dipping in and out of the water without a care. Sounds of laughter just barely reached Dan's ears. It was a beautiful day.

A beautiful day thoroughly ruined by the severe woman sitting beside him. Matilda Fairbanks was hardly the most intimidating of individuals when judging purely by appearance. Standing at 5'1, with a slight build, graying hair, and deep crow's feet around her eyes, the woman could have easily passed as someone's grandmother. Then she opened her mouth, and revealed a personality made out of sandpaper.

”You certainly took your time responding to my messages,” she opened the conversation, a bare hint of annoyance flashing across her face. The older woman's expression was stern, like a disappointed teacher.

Dan shrugged carelessly. ”I've been busy.”

The plan was a simple one. Admit nothing, acknowledge nothing, play dumb as a rock. He and Abby had prepared a plausible explanation for how his power worked, but the best case scenario was to never need it. Though his girlfriend had tentatively argued in favor of a partial reveal, Dan did not trust the elderly woman in the slightest. Regardless of her apparent friendship with Professor Tawny, the way she'd gone about confronting Dan felt wrong to his instincts. Perhaps he was just being paranoid, but Dan erred on the side caution.

”Why am I here?” he asked directly, turning away from the idyllic lake. The question came out more rude than he intended, but he couldn't bring himself to care. This meeting, Matilda's entire existence, was an inconvenience that he didn't want to deal with. He could be making out with Abby right now, instead of dealing with an old woman's curiosity.

Whether from his tone or his shameless false ignorance, Matilda's expression darkened. ”I think you know.” There was a warning in her tone, slight but audible.

Dan disregarded it entirely. Whether or not she had his balls in a vice was immaterial for this conversation. Marcus had taught him well: never let an opponent think they hold power over you. He had forgotten that lesson, in his first conversation with her. He wouldn't forget again.

”Why don't you tell me, just in case?” Dan suggested cheerfully. He plastered an apologetic smile on his face. ”I'm just... a little forgetful, y'know?” He regretted the taunt as soon as it left his lips. It was a fine line between asserting his own control over the situation, and outright baiting the woman.

Dan was not very good at riding that line.

Matilda's scowl confirmed his thoughts, but the stern woman kept her composure. ”Your power interests me. I believe it capable of more than you've admitted, and I want an opportunity to explore it. Natural powers are beyond rare, these days.”

The frank admission startled Dan, and his eyes widened. He hadn't expected her to just come out and admit things in such a way. His expression slipped, but he turned the half-formed grimace into polite confusion.

”I have no idea what you are talking about.” His voice was earnest, his face a picture of innocence. Like butter wouldn't melt in his mouth. This was an old skill, but easy to remember. He just pictured her as his old boss, demanding some form of pointless paperwork that hadn't bothered to complete. He thought he'd sold his ignorance rather well.

Matilda wasn't buying it. Her stern visage barely shifted as she examined his face. With a soft snort, she said, ”Your poker face has improved since we last spoke.”

It was much easier when he had time to prepare. The panic of possible discovery had overridden his good sense at the time, but it had been hard for Dan to feel anything other than happiness these past few days. He could handle this, he just needed the proper excuses.

Fortunately, he had one prepared. ”I thought you were going to chew me out!” he exclaimed indignantly. ”You brought me away from everyone, and you had that look on your face. You can hardly blame me for being discombobulated. You're friends with Professor Tawny; for all I know, you could have me kicked out of the class for incompetence!”

Matlida's brow furrowed. ”You would have to be a demonstrable danger to yourself or others for Tawny to dismiss you in such a way.” Dan knew that already, but he managed to fake an enlightened expression as the elderly woman continued. ”Furthermore, he is a sworn officer. Do you really believe that he would expel you on my word alone?” She paused, then shook her head. ”No. Don't play games. Claim ignorance all you like, make your excuses, but I know the truth of the matter.”

Well, it was worth a shot. Dan could play an extremely convincing bumbler—A fact that Abby had pointed out, much to his embarrassment—and if Matilda had no hard evidence, it might have worked. Sadly, she seemed rather convinced of her deductions.

He couldn't help but ask, ”Why are you so sure of yourself?”

The questioned perked up the older woman. Her back straightened, and some of the annoyance faded from her countenance. Striking a lecturing pose, she began, ”Firstly, the short-hop upgrade requires line-of-sight and an open area for a reason. Did you know that the earliest iteration of the upgrade was perfectly capable of teleporting blindly?”

Dan indicated the negative, something sinking in his stomach. The short-hop was an unpopular and little known upgrade. He'd been relying on its relative anonymity to spin his bullshit. If Matilda had in-depth knowledge on it, he might be in a bit of trouble.

She smirked at his answer. ”Oh yes, it's quite true, though you'll have trouble finding any official records of that fact. You see, the initial trials ended with roughly a 30% fatality rate. People kept ending up inside the environment, you see? It was remarkably deadly.”

The sinking feeling worsened.

”Naturally, safety measures were implemented afterwards. A simple mental block, preventing teleportation without visual confirmation of appropriate space.” She paused, giving him a long look. ”The fact that you are alive, despite teleporting blindly through thick undergrowth, says a great deal about your actual capabilities.”

He hadn't known that, nor had it come up while researching the short-hop. It made sense, he could reluctantly acknowledge, in that a company wouldn't exactly advertise that sort of thing. Messy deaths had a bad habit of putting off customers. Still, it was aggravating that Matilda had access to that information.

Or she could be bluffing. Hm.