Warranty Void When Soul is Broken 4

"We should get rings," Meg said as they got dressed. "You know, like… wedding rings," she said shyly.

"Not a bad idea," Adam agreed. "I was planning on seeing what they had available on the Z-Network Auction, but I'm not sure how to get into contact with them, so we can just pick up some mundane rings as placeholders. There should be a store or two at the mall that should have what we need."

Meg squeed, making him laugh.

"Thankfully the prices today are one hundred percent off. We can pretty much clean out the place if you like," he offered. "I wouldn't bother with more than a handful at the moment, the really impressive pieces are either in private collections or museums. Once we have our castle set up, we can spend some time hunting them down."

"Castle?" she asked.

"I mentioned it yesterday. As soon as I contact the Adjuster, we can have the Corporation start construction on a nice castle with robot maids and the like," he explained. "Most agents have huge harems, so the company is used to people ordering castles with robot maids to take care of all the cooking, cleaning, and childcare."

"And it's not expensive?"

"It's usually included in the purchase price for an Island in The Sea of Time," Adam said thoughtfully, "which I already have so it should be pretty cheap to have it added on."

"Can we get a pool?" she asked excitedly.

"And hot tub, steam bath… just about everything really," he replied with a smile. "Being an agent is risky, but the pay is great."

"Let's go get some wedding bands and then set up our new home," Meg said excitedly. "I can't believe all this is happening to me, my life usually sucks."

"I think that's the nature of the universe you're from, it needs a karma sink to compensate for all the good luck everyone else has and it latched onto you," Adam said as he picked up their luggage.

"So… I don't have to worry about it anymore?" she asked anxiously.

"Not a bit," he assured her and followed her out into the hall. "I'll have the Adjuster check to make sure, but even if it was a condition attached to you and not your world, I can spend some points and buy it off."

"Best kidnapper husband ever!"

Zale's Jewelers, Las Angeles Mall

"How about this one?" Meg asked, holding up a hand to show off a gold ring with several large diamonds on it.

"Get one with sapphires, so it matches your eyes," he suggested as he picked through some simple gold bands, looking for one that fit.

"Don't you want anything fancy?" she asked as she saw him trying on rings.

"I'm not one for fancy," he replied with a shrug, "I just want one that shows off the fact that I am married and I'll be replacing it as soon as I get a magical ring, unless the magical ring is gaudy, in which case I'll keep the band and wear the magic ring on my toe."

"What does a magical ring do?" Meg asked curiously.

"Depends on the ring," he said thoughtfully. "I'm thinking Ring of Sustenance or Ring of Regeneration."

"Like from D&D?"

"Exactly that," he agreed. "Most of what you think of as fantasy is reality somewhere. If I am going to wear jewelry, I want it to do something more than just look pretty."

"But they do look pretty," she said with a grin holding up a hand with a wedding ring on it with a massive sapphire surrounded by diamonds.

"You look pretty, they just look okay," he told her, making her blush. "See if they have matching earrings to go with it."

"I come in peace!" someone called out from outside the store.

"One of the teens from earlier?" Meg guessed, looking around for a weapon.

"I doubt there is anyone else in the area," Adam agreed, unconcerned. "They should be sane again, so it's unlikely any of them are going to attack us."

"What do you want?" Meg called out, a little let down that there wouldn't be another fight so she could show off for Adam.

"Just to talk," the teen called out.

"Come in," Adam ordered, "I'm not going to spend the next ten minutes yelling back and forth."

A blonde girl with her hair feathered back and hair sprayed within an inch of its life, wearing a jean jacket and ripped Levi's, cautiously entered the store, favoring one leg but without any obvious bruising. "I come in peace," she repeated.

"What do you need?" Adam asked.

"What's up with that?" she blurted out, staring at his face.

"Got in a fight with an elder being of the outer darkness," Adam replied. "Now, what did you want?"

"You healed a bunch of us…" her voice trailed off unsure of what she wanted to ask.

"And you want to know what's going on," he guessed.

"Yeah," she agreed. "Things haven't made much sense… for a while."

"The radiation from the comet turned everybody exposed to it into sand," John explained. "You were one of the unlucky few who were partially protected so you were only slowly turning into sand and driven crazy and homicidal as a result. I absorbed the radiation from your body, so you are fine now."

"Shit, that explains so much," she muttered. "Except for the fact that, that all sounds hella crazy, even if I did live through it."

"The comet isn't due for another pass for about another 20 thousand years or so, so you can pretty much live your life however you want now," he told her.

"That's…." her voice trailed off and she shook her head.

"Yeah, leaves you with a bit of free time and taking responsibility for yourself," Adam said kindly. "Pretty sure the workers at the Nuclear plants have survived, but I'd wait another week to give the rest of the dust zombies time to die before trying to reach one."

"How many people are left?" she asked quietly.

"No idea," he admitted with a shrug. "I'm thinking a couple of hundred per continent, tops."

"So, it's the end of the world," she said fatalistically.

Adam gave her a confused look. "How do you figure?"

"Well, that's not enough to keep the human race going, especially if we're scattered across the continent," she pointed out.

"You don't even need a hundred people," Adam assured her. "Trust me, the world isn't over, it's just a bit quieter right now. People will have kids and those kids will spread out and find other people's kids and so on. Everyone will have to learn a lot more to keep up with everything that needs to be done, but the human race is in no danger."

"Really?" she asked hopefully.

"Really," he said. "Tell you what, if I run across anyone who doesn't mind moving, I'll send them here."

"Thanks," she said.

"How about some introductions?" Meg suggested.

"Tiffani with an I, fourteen years old," Adam guessed.

The teen rolled her eyes. "Fourteen and a half," she said firmly, "and it's Sandi with an I."

"Really?" Meg asked in surprise. "I thought you were at least seventeen."

"Thanks," she said brightly. "And who are you two?"

"This is my wife Meg, she's eighteen I believe," he introduced, getting a huge hug, "and I'm Adam, not sure of my age…. I'm thinking below fifty but over thirty…"

"You don't look ancient," Sandi noted, "but then you don't look… fully human either."

"I'm about three quarters human," Adam told her, amused, "seventy percent if you want to be picky."

"And thirty percent… that?" Sandi gestured towards his black arm.

"Twenty five percent that," he told her, "I'm five percent sword."

"Is that a dick joke?" she asked.

"No," he waved it off with a grin, not bothering to explain anything more.

"Well… I'll just go and let the others know, thanks for saving us," Sandi said awkwardly before leaving.

"She didn't look fourteen," Meg said, picking up the store bag she'd filled with jewelry.

"Californian Mall Rats often look a lot more developed than they should," Adam told her. "I think it was something in the water."

"Wish they'd had it in our water," she said. "I've got everything I wanted, we can go now."

"We can stop by the food court and grab something, I'm a bit hungry."

"Some food does sound good," Meg agreed.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The portal opened and the two walked down the ramp, Adam pausing to pick up the luggage he'd dropped off on the way to the mall. "I'll send a message to the company to send an Adjuster and we can schedule our first mission. I spotted one world that is pretty safe and with the right powers should be a cakewalk."

"How do you contact them?" Meg asked curiously, wondering if they should retrieve a picnic table or wait in the RV.

"I've got a mental connection to the company thanks to the contract," he replied as he sent a request for an Adjuster. "One should show up any time now."

"What's an Adjuster do?" she asked, deciding just to sit on the ramp and eat.

Adam set down the luggage and joined her. "An Adjuster is an agent's handler, they're the main point of contact with the company and file whatever paperwork is needed as the skills an agent needs to succeed rarely involves filling out forms. Often, they are female and end up as part of the harem, provided the Agent is a successful one of course, so while they do try and push for the company's interests it's balanced out by them trying to get the best deal for the agent. Of course, so many agents die in their first couple of missions that they often end up with a drinking problem or severely depressed."

"Now I'm worried," Meg said anxiously.

"Agents die because they take on more than they can handle or they are complete morons," he explained, wrapping an arm around her. "A number get unlucky on their first mission, when they have limited resources, but I was lucky enough to get a buttload for free and my first actual mission is going to be a cakewalk even without that."

"Really?" she asked, wanting reassurance, since her life had been nothing but a series of disasters up till now.

"Really," he assured her. "Island in The Sea of Time, is usually about a mile and a half in diameter, but we have a full ten miles of space. Normally I'd have to buy at least two upgrades on it for that and while the extra space is not immediately useful, it does provide plenty of room for whatever we want to do. We have a World Gate, which is another expensive purchase, as it lets you travel to worlds other than the one where your current mission is taking place on or you have previously completed a mission on. I can always pop back into the world we just left to grab weapons, money, food or whatever else I need which makes things a lot easier."

"That does make me feel better," Meg said snuggling into his side with a relieved sigh.

"I'd also picked Gamer and Magical Weapon, but getting carved up seems to have screwed up the Gamer and I had to absorb the sword," he said thoughtfully. "I'll have the Adjuster see if he can fix things because Gamer is an insanely useful power set."

The gate opened up behind them and a tall, broad shoulder, man with blue eyes and dark hair stepped out, dressed in an inexpensive dark blue suit with a trench coat over it. "Hello, I'm Chris Chan, your Adjuster. Your contract doesn't seem to be fully filled out, but then I might just be reading it wrong. I'll warn you now, I'm really not that bright."

Meg turned to look at Adam wondering how he'd gotten so far off base on what his Adjuster would be like.

"Huh, I expected a big titty elf or something similar," Adam said as he got up and offered a hand. "Adam Eastman."

Chris shook his hand. "That's what the majority of Adjusters are," he agreed. "I don't know why I was chosen to be your Adjuster, but they said if I did this one job, I'd have my contract stamped Paid in Full, so here I am."

"What was your contract?" Meg asked.

"I took a five-year security contract with the Legal division of section D in return for the guarantee of food, housing, and someone that would be happy to see me whenever I returned home," he said with a bright smile.

"That seems a bit cheap," Meg said. "Did you get some famous girl for signing it?"

"No, I got a corgi," Chris said.

"They really screwed you there," she said with a wince.

"I was sleeping in a cardboard box in an alley when the company offered me a contract," he explained. "I know I'm pretty stupid, people have told me that my entire life, but the Company gave me a job I can actually do and Gatsby my corgi, the most adorable and lovable dog in existence. I have zero regrets. Besides, there are always side jobs you can do and after a couple of years I was able to afford a waifu, I have an Elisabeth on order right now."

"An Elisabeth?" Meg asked.

"Think Victorian England type of girl with the power to create portals at will, beautiful, kind, someone who will back you up in a fight," Adam listed off. "They are really popular for obvious reasons." He turned to Chris. "I'm not sure why they'd send you… unless they worried about me going Robby, which is kinda obvious now that I think about it."

"Going Robby?" Meg asked as Chris winced.

"If the ROB who contacted the person screwed things up enough, which has been known to happen, the agent may end up working to gain enough power to take them out. The company allows them to try as long as they don't cause a lot of collateral damage," Chris explained. "Play stupid games, win stupid prizes."

"I got about a third of me carved off… but I'm pretty happy with how things have turned out," Adam said. "Maybe the ROB carved off the part of me that would object, all I know is I'm eager to get my contract completed and get to work."

"And they chose me, because if I died it wouldn't be a big loss, since Adjusters are either really smart or really well trained," Chris decided. "Looks like I got lucky."

"We may have to hire one of those big titty, well trained, elves to assist you," Meg said, "just to make sure all the paperwork is filled out correctly."

"Can we do that?" Chris asked.

"I don't see why not," Adam said, "it's not like they get paid all that much."

"I should probably do that first before I screw things up," Chris said.

"Sounds good," Adam said. "Feel free to bring Gatsby with you next time, I know corgis like to run around a lot."

"Thanks, I'll do that," Chris said. He pulled a cell phone out of his pocket and started going through various apps. "It's in here somewhere," he muttered before finding what he was looking for and tapping the screen, causing the World Gate to open, revealing an office with a shocked looking woman with large breasts and pointed ears. "I'll be back in a couple of hours."

"See you then," Adam said, giving a wave as Chris vanished through the portal and it closed. "Well, that was interesting. So, what should we do while we're waiting?"

Meg smiled and licked her lips.

"Sex?" he guessed.

"Sex," she agreed.

Typing by: Dogbertcarroll

AN: Yes, I typed it myself this time. Yay me!

Beta by: Abyssal Angel