[Danny]

Crim has a heavily scarred tail, and that's about it, sorry.

the comment about the 'Alliance' was a loke, really. although we have begun coordinating...

this next chapter seems more significant than it is, all it really does is show us the god for the first time, and sets things up for later.

CHAPTER 35

“Come in. Ah, Snikkit, what can –”

Grozit broke off when he saw the expression on Snikkit’s face. It was an expression of contempt.

“What do you want, Snikkit?”

Two drones floated into the room. They stopped one on either side of Snikkit.

“Stand up.”

Grozit laughed. What did Snikkit think he was doing?

“STAND UP!”

Grozit stopped laughing. It was no longer funny. He had never seen Snikkit shout before. And those drones looked uncomfortably like they were… aiming at Grozit.

“What do you think you’re doing, Snikkit?”

“I’m taking what’s mine. Stand up.”

Grozit looked around. He couldn’t see what Snikkit was talking about. “There isn’t anything of yours in here. Now, if you don’t mind…”

Snikkit laughed. It was a hollow laugh. It wasn’t the kind of laugh you laughed when you’d just heard something funny. Nor was it the sort of laugh that you laughed when you were nervous. It was uncharacteristic of Snikkit to ever laugh. Smile, maybe. Snigger, yes. But never laugh.

“You see?” he said, to no one in particular. “He’s so stupid, he doesn’t even know when he’s being threatened!” He leaned across the table towards Grozit. “I’m taking control of the factory. Well, no, that’s a lie, I’ve had control of the factory for years, now; you’ve been nothing more than a puppet. I’ve run everything. You order me to order the workers to do something, and I order them to do what I want them to do. Then I tell you I’ve done as you asked. Are you telling me you didn’t even suspect me?”

Grozit was silent for a second, and then he flared up. “A puppet? You think I do nothing? Do you even know why we are able to cut down the trees? If I were to die now, you wouldn’t know what was happening! Our machinery would just vanish, and the forest would grow back at a rate of knots.”

Snikkit snarled into Grozit’s face. “Want to test that theory?”

Grozit stood up. “Help me.”

It was not so much a plea as a statement of fact. Snikkit looked around, to see who he was talking to, but there was nothing but the two drones.

“There’s no point asking them,” Snikkit said, misinterpreting Grozit. “They’re under my –”

He broke off. He had seen something in the corner of his eye. He spun, to see a patch of pure darkness. It wasn’t just black; it emitted blackness, like one of those holes in space that the scientists were always going on about. It seemed to suck the light out of everything around it. It was growing around them, seeming to swallow all.

~YOU CALLED?

The voice seemed to come straight into Snikkit’s head, as if bypassing his ears. In contrast, Grozit’s voice sounded like a melody.

“This bastard thinks he’s in control! He plans to remove me from my post!”

~ DO YOU?

Snikkit realised that the voice was directed at him. He also had the uncomfortable impression that the black space was staring at him.

“Who are you?”

Grozit laughed. “He is the reason you are not in control! He’s the power behind the whole operation!”

Snikkit made an almost imperceptible nod, and the two Drones flew forward at the hole, guns blazing. There were two small flashes, and the Drones disappeared. Looking round, Snikkit saw that they were hovering behind him, where they had been before.

~ DO NOT TRY ANYTHING LIKE THAT AGAIN. NOW ANSWER MY QUESTION. DO YOU BELIEVE YOU HAVE CONTROL?

Snikkit flustered. “I may not, if what Grozit says is true. But I should have! He is an incompetent! I don’t know how he has made it possible to deforest, but that’s all he has done. He manages things inefficiently! The only reason we didn’t go bankrupt years ago was because I took control of our finances!”

~ IS THIS TRUE?

Grozit looked outraged. “It is not! Snikkit is merely an over ambitious executive with a high view of himself.”

“Then how come these Drones obey my command? How come there aren’t legions of troops backing you up?”

“Well…”

“I bet you couldn’t even say how many trees we cut down yesterday!”

“What, altogether? Well, maybe, 400?”

Snikkit sniggered. “12,000. And that was a bad day. How many sawmills do we have in operation?”

“50?”

“242. How many –”

~ENOUGH. I HAVE HEARD ENOUGH. SNIKKIT, YOU HAVE PROVEN YOURSELF TO BE THE TRUE MANAGER OF THE OPERATION.

Grozit was shocked. “But we had an agreement…”

~OUR AGREEMENT IS VOID. I HAVE A NEW AGREEMENT.

Snikkit smiled. “What shall I do with him?”

~I DO NOT CARE. DO WHAT YOU WILL.

The black mass began to diminish. As it shrunk, a groaning sound filled the air, making it impossible to be heard. Once the mass had disappeared, there was a silence in the room. Snikkit tried to conceal his disappointment of not actually discovering what this ‘agreement’ was, and consoled himself with the fact that he now seemed to have a powerful ally. He turned to Grozit, who was sitting again, a shell-shocked expression on his face. At a signal from Snikkit, the drones flew over towards Grozit.

“Well then, I think it’s time you and your son had some quality time together, in the cells…”