Chapter Seven

Story by Diamond Greyfell on SoFurry

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#7 of Crystal Lake

Crime Thriller following the citizens of the city of Crystal Lake, an Island City on the diverse planet of Terra.


Chapter Seven

High above the skyline of Crystal Lake, in one of the tallest skyscrapers, a building that jutted out the ground like a giant tower of glass and steel, shining like a sword at the near center of the city was the Phoenix Grace Regional Offices.

The building shone bright like a diamond, even amongst the blackness of the surrounding sky. There was not building in Crystal Lake more magnificent than this even the central tower of the Vulnira Governmental Tower. Each level had been painstakingly crafted to a beautiful tower that contained a huge, pyramid shaped structure constructed completely of four large highly reflective mirrors.

These mirrors were designed to guide air traffic, both shuttle and commercial aircraft at night so that they did not smash into the side of the colossal tower. The beams of light, appeared like a ray of light from heaven itself as it reflected for miles around the lake that encompassed Crystal Lake.

However these huge spires were not unique to just Crystal Lake. Phoenix Grace had commercial interests all over the world and buildings like these began to tower high into the sky at major cities around the world, including the Phoenix Grace Headquarters in the mountain city of Helfheim in the northern country of Cervijord.

These colossal spires were the brainchild of Phoenix Grace's former CEO, Cecelia Grace herself and a team of architects. Cecelia had wanted to demonstrate the far reaching power of the company and its need to transcend political allegiance or borders to one particular company. They had been a massive construction project that had taken most of her life to see completed but ironically, she never lived to see their completion, some fifthteen years ago.

That was her legacy... a legacy of heavy handed business tactics, extortion and political corruption which she had forged against all odds.

Her son however, was different.

From his official take over of the massive conglomerate, Ivan Grace had attempted to rectify many of the mistakes his ruthless mother had made and given Phoenix Grace a much more friendly face in today's world. He knew that secretly, his mother had actually devoted a lot of corporate time in developing private military contracts for general weapons and viral weaponry, going as far as to make deals with terrorist organisations under the nose of many of Terra's governments.

"Whatever makes money" she used to say to him growing up. He had never really challenged her on this as his mother was an intimidating person in life that could never be talked round.

Now Ivan was free, free to try and make something positive out of his company. However due to his many philanthropic actions around the world, the company has suffered somewhat financially and other rival companies, smelling the scent of blood at Phoenix Grace were starting to edge closer and closer, hoping to get a chance to sit at the table.

"Yes!?" said Ivan as he looked up from his office on the top floor of the Crystal Lake Branch Offices. He normally would not come out to this branch personally but the current situation warranted his attention. The beeping from his desk continued.

"Dammit!" he thought as he had clumsily forgotten to press the button down and talk through the intercom that was embedded into his desk with its flashing, holographic display. He pushed the button down and then spoke again.

"Yes Gina, what is it?"

"Sir, a Miss Equinox is here to see you. I tried to inform her that you were busy but she was insistent..." said a female voice over the intercom.

Ivan looked around for a moment before responding. His office was huge, easily the size of a grand ballroom, each of the four walls were made out of glass which showed the dazzling cityscape of Crystal Lake from every direction. The floor was completely marble, mixed with Jevonite, a rare and beautiful green gemstone that glittered as you walked over it, like small stars in the night sky.

There was a small circular elevator at the other side of the office which was glass and gave access to the floor below where his secretary, Gina was currently working. The lights of the office were currently dimmed so that Ivan could enjoy the breathtaking view of Crystal Lake, Lake and the mainland farmland beyond. This was by far one of the tallest areas in Crystal Lake, a place for solitude and to truly admire the city.

Ivan himself was a rather small looking hybrid of Fesalis and a smaller ocelot like species called Miravikta which had long since seen their country consumed by the vast Fesalis Empire. He was light brown with dark spots all over his body.

His mother had been a Fesalis Viscount, part of the nobility and she had hoped that her son would have more of her traits, something she had constantly reminded him of when she was alive.

Ivan, always a lover of simplicity and efficiency, wore a black turtleneck shirt with black trousers and small framed glasses that he required for reading.

Ivan pressed down the button at his desk again, aside from the elevator and his desk and chair, the room was almost completely empty.

Minimalist... as he preferred.

"Send her up" he said before sitting back down in his chair to relax for a second as he heard the whirl of elevator going down.

Ding!

A Vulnira female walked off the elevator and started the walk to Ivan's desk. The "click-clack" of her high heels could be heard on the marble floor as she walked, over the complete silence in the room.

The female was tall, about five foot eight and she wore a white office shirt with a small black skirt. Ivan noticed that the shirt was barely able to contain her rather large breasts which jiggled through her visible cleavage, her chest seemed like it could burst out at any time. Her hair was a rather unnatural dyed blonde, long and straight but it was currently tied up in a formal bun.

She appeared to be carrying a small, metal briefcase but Ivan had only noticed that as he had been looking at other things as she walked up to the desk.

"We have a problem..." she said, her voice, powerful and stern with a slight dominatrix tone to her voice that Ivan found somewhat intoxicating. He was sure that she dressed this way on purpose, to please potential male business clients.

Ivan sat back in his large comfortable leather chair. He was having a hard time, not staring at her rather large boobs which seemed to have a mind of their own. "W-What sort of p-problem?" he asked.

Equinox sighed, powerful men were so easily swayed for a bit of flesh, it always seemed rather pathetic to her. She had made her career on the backs of the men like this.

"Aaron's "little side project" has gone a little out of the realms of our control." she returned, keeping her eyes fixed on Ivan as she sat down at his desk.

All Ivan could look at was her huge boobs.

"How puerile" she though, noticing his rather intoxicated gaze. The esteemed Ivan Grace was known for being a serial womanizer by much of the media.

"I told Aaron, his little genetic splicing experiment could only take place as long as it did not risk the majority of our mission, Cassandra!" exclaimed Ivan, snapping back into the real world from the land of "Boobopolis" for a just a second. He looked up at Cassandra's hazel eyes as he spoke.

"Well it seems he thought he could make a better profit, selling it on the black market...." she spoke softly but there was a decisive element of strength to her character.

Doctor Cassandra Equinox was a well known business aide and confidant of Ivan Grace. She had begun her life as a nuclear physicist, designing new weapons of mass destruction from the Vulnira Military. It was the hope of the country that these weapons would never be used in combat but were destructive enough to leave cities as smoldering craters.

After a short hiatus, Cassandra had decided to start a company that manufactured missile parts for the military. Within the first year, she had already made her first million and within five, her company had officially become part of Phoenix Grace's overwhelming majority, rising quickly to take over as the head of Research and Development for the Crystal Lake branch.

"I see... what would you suggest we do?" asked Ivan, getting up and looking at the huge transparent windows behind him. "We cannot allow his greed to compromise our plans..."

He was talking about the former Director of Sciences within Phoenix Grace, Doctor Aaron Naga who had since gone missing after the Everonth discovery. He had been leading a number of different projects in the area but had not reported in work for almost two months. Phoenix Grace private military had raided his house under the "Company Secrets Act" and had found nothing suggesting that he had fled the area.

"I would be more concerned about him going to the local authorities" said Equinox as she adjusted her shirt while sat on the table, her tail swinging behind her. "He could cause a lot of problems before we are ready to commence with the operation."

Ivan looked somewhat concerned, he could not risk another incident with the public and the backlash like his mother had. It had taken him years to build the company back up from the last scandal to a position of trust again. "I can't believe he would do that, he gains nothing from it."

"But still, it is a concern and I suggest that we track him down and have him eliminated before this gets out of hand."

"I really don't think..." started Ivan who wanted to avoid any kind of bloodshed or problems within the company.

"Really Ivan, you think he won't go to the police..." interrupted Cassandra, leaning fully over the table at him, so far that he could clear see her large breasts. "He knows what we are trying to do and we must take all measures to protect the Project until it is complete..."

"B-But..."

"No buts! I have already taken care of it and speaking of "taking care", you seem pretty tense, perhaps I can help you unwind..."

Cassandra grinned as she slowly began to open her shirt. Ivan was slightly pushed back, her body was amazing. He knew he was going to enjoy this.