Braxiatel just sat there, leant over his desk with his head in his hands. It had been well past the deadline for Bernice to call back, and every minute he didn't hear back from her was agonizing, their impact marked by the hands of the grandfather clock. Finally forcing his hand, he reached out himself. But instead of her who answered his request for a status update...
It was Joseph.
He looked straight up at the image of the robot with a dead-eyed stare.
"Where. Is. She."
The porter beeped, and let out one of those artificial indignant huffs he was programmed to make. "Bernice left me to stand guard outside a warehouse when she was following the signal. We parted 10.6 hours ago."
Braxiatel eyed Joseph, his expression shifting to one of concern. "And she hasn't returned? Not even spoken to you since?"
The orb rotated in the air, as if to shake its non-existent head. Joseph's voice turned almost depressed, slightly softer, whinier than usual. Another long, false sigh.
"No, Mr Braxiatel. I received no answer when attempting to call her holowatch communicator. Either it is disabled, lost from her person, or the signal is jammed by the shield the atmosphere of this planet has active."
Irving sat up straighter, raising an eyebrow. That was a red flag, to say the least.
"The entire atmosphere of the planet has a jamming field?"
Joseph beeped again, a small confirmation. "There is an 86 percent chance that it covers the entire planet as to ban all unauthorized signals, yes."
Brax nodded in response, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. There were already things that weren't adding up here, and he was light-years away from the scene. He could only imagine what they were finding- or what she found. How was Joseph calling him though, he wondered.
"That is rather suspicious. You're using the trans-temporal data link to reach me then, aren't you?"
The robot seemed proud of himself for that one, visibly perking up about it, then drooping again. "Indeed I am. But Bernice currently cannot access it."
"Call me as soon as you get a read and search for her as far as you can. I'll bring somebody in, and have a few... talks." He inhaled sharply, flaring his nostrils and resting his chin on folded hands, finishing and ending the call to consider his options. This could go in a few ways.
Irving knew that even with caution, speaking with either the Mim or Draconian governments on the issue could trigger a war. The Draconians for him being honest about blatantly violating the treaty- the Mim if he spun the tale in the Collection's favour.
Ideally, nobody would fight with him in the middle of it, but the Mim getting the first move would put him at an advantage. He could possibly get Bernice free if her excuse worked and they hushed it up with no blood shed- but if it didn't then it would be the worst-case scenario.
Irving was already thinking too hard about this, staying at least two steps ahead, considering starting a war he'd spent over a decade explicitly trying to prevent.
He might've been generally kinder and more in a sane state of mind now, this version of him that sat at this Collection today, but he still was always willing to do it. If he had to.
For Benny.
Before resorting to violence, however, he decided to resort to something still not very much better, in his opinion at least.
Jason Kane.
Without Joseph here, he called him over personally. Well, personally in the sense that everyone on the small planetoid would have his smooth voice blasting the request directly into their eardrums.
Flicking on the PA system, Irving made his announcement. Calmly and clearly, he spoke. "Will Jason Kane Prime please come to my office in the mansionhouse? He is needed here on immediate notice. Under threat of expulsion from the Collection."
That seemed to get his attention, because he checked his watch, and not five minutes later Jason- the correct Jason, he confirmed, violently burst through the door.
"I see you still do want to be here, then. Please sit down, it's urgent."
Braxiatel straightened his cuffs and gestured for him to take a seat. Jason collapsed into the chair, breathless.
"Yeah, I still want to be here. What about Benny and Peter? Who's gonna keep an eye out for them?" He still tried to be civil, shifting to the topic at hand. "Alright... what's urgent?"
"What about them?" He paused, shuffling uncomfortably and fidgeting in his usual way. Brax inhaled, trying to put it in a way that wouldn't upset her ex-husband too severely. "Well, currently... Benny is missing."
"She's what?!"
Brax sighed, knowing exactly what Jason would say to it. "You're going to ask when have I ever been concerned about that because she's been gone without calling for far longer and can look after herself, aren't you?"
"That was my second question, yeah."
The raw emotions of his reaction to the news bubbled just under the surface, festering when he swept them under the rug and hid under a layer of snark.
Braxiatel still explained, even though he didn't need to. She asked him to work on his communication, after all. However, he didn't imagine that she was referring to who currently talking to. "For one thing, we made an agreement not to lose contact and are sticking firmly to it. For another, Joseph went with her and hasn't seen her for ten hours."
Jason leaned back, still uncomfortably sceptical. "Alright, that doesn't sound good, no. This isn't a trap of yours?"
"Now why would it be? If I wanted to get rid of you there are much easier ways. And trapping her is hardly my modus operandi, is it?" If he was indeed for whatever reason going to trap and lure him with anyone, that choice was far too obvious. Now, at least.
Jason frowned again, the hesitancy and determination to find Braxiatel in the wrong beginning to fade. "Alright, fine. Just concerned, is all. Why me?"
Like he commonly did with Jason, Brax listed off the reasons on his fingers like one would with a petulant child. "Because you know her well, are actually rather competent at this sort of thing, and most important of all, expendable." He pulled the last finger he counted on taut, pushing it back past the joint's natural limit for emphasis.
The man in the chair rubbed the back of his neck, wincing, but shrugging at the same time. While justifiably and wisely somewhat afraid of Brax, he could hardly be surprised either. "That's about what I expected to hear, honestly."
"Good, we're on the same page."
Jason almost expected him to offer a tiny, wicked grin there, but Irving wasn't smiling at all today. That only pushed him more in the direction of believing something was wrong, more in the direction of taking action.
"What do you want me to do?"
Finally Brax fully explained. None of it made him look good.
"Bernice went after a piece of the Seal of Time. She was last seen entering a warehouse and ordering Joseph to watch her back. Unfortunately, this is a Draconian world and she's banned from them without papers. However, I don't think she's been properly arrested, because that would've been announced to me."
Jason fell back and crossed his arms, huffing in annoyance. While still worried about her, he didn't like this even if it wasn't a trap. "Great. It's just like you to throw her into the deep end."
"She wanted an adventure before the start of term and to be helpful. I offered her one that could help us all. It's already a regrettable decision, but we don't have time for that now. You care about Bernice, so I'm asking you to start earning your keep and find her. Please," he nearly begged.
Alright, yep. Jason was either crazy or Brax was being as genuine as he ever got.
"Uh-huh. Alright, if you're getting like that, it's a problem. What do I need to do?" He looked to be anticipating something painful
"Take trans-temporal communications equipment, go to the planet, meet Joseph if you can before finding her, and record everything you see. I'm beginning to have suspicions regarding whether or not this could be part of something grander."
The look in Brax's eyes left much to the imagination. So many possible meanings to that. But when was something Irving was in any way involved in not part of something grander? The best way to sniff out a scheme was with a schemer, after all.
"Yeah, it does seem a bit sus, doesn't it?" he grumbled, staring wide-eyed at Brax.
Braxiatel didn't even look up from his papers. There were distances and time frames to calculate. "That, I believe, is your department. Now get in the fastest shuttle we have, it could take over a day without a hyperspace pod. So hurry up."
Still unable to see Brax as completely blameless in the whole thing, he didn't get more polite just because of the circumstances. "I'll get Benny out of your stupid plan, yeah. And whatever the hell anybody else is up to too. Program the shuttle for me, will you? I need to get my things."
"Yes, I'll be on that." He paused as Jason got up to leave. "Farewell, Jason. I hope to see you come back with Benny safe and sound, my dear friend."
"Fuck you too!" he shouted, the door slamming shut behind him.
And he was gone.
After that, Irving waited, and waited, and waited. Sitting there, doing paperwork, not wasting time sleeping, or eating, or even so much as a single cup of tea.
For nearly a day and a half.
Braxiatel sighed loudly, breaking the ambient quiet of nothing but a ticking grandfather clock. He felt alone again, empty. Alone, except for one thing, creeping in the dark crevices. Somehow he was both utterly determined and resigned to his fate.
"This is where I start a war, isn't it?"
'Do you want to start a war? A war you can't win in the end?'
That left a bad taste in his mouth. It made Irving yearn for something strong to wash it down and forget about it all. He stated the inevitable with a frown.
"You are a war I can't win in the end, creature. Oh, how in character it is of me to ignore my principles and start another."
'I could get her back.'
He chuckled sardonically, his tone laced with poison. "You're starting to actually take note of my weaknesses. I might've even commended you if the effort wasn't pathetic." But he promised it one thing. "I'm going to get Bernice, keep the Seal from the wrong hands, and protect the Collection. I won't let continuing to prevent their conflict get in the way of that. Not if I have to choose."
'It will be the Draconians who pay in blood this time, if you do.'
"Once I'm sure Bernice is free from their space and safe, oh, undoubtedly," he remarked, almost nonchalantly. If the fault really was theirs, he didn't anticipate feeling particularly merciful about it.
'Bernice. Not the Seal? Not the universe? Do you forget?'
Irving shuffled uncomfortably. "...I didn't forget. My priorities do indeed lie at the hands of the universe."
But the hands of the universe were hers, in one way or another. Encompassing his future, his past, his other lives, this timeline, and the last, and even more indirectly- all formed in part by Bernice Surprise Summerfield. He knew that. It knew that. It knew the exact sorts of things he would do if any harm came to a single inch of her, because it was inside his head.
'You lie...'
He rolled his eyes at the taunting. It was just tiresome right now, quite literally- fatigue from her presence was already setting in. "Such a new revelation about me. Now, do leave me alone before we both do something I'll be forced to regret later."
He grunted, grimacing in pain as his head began pounding. Pulling back the chains and dragging her away from his conscious mind was an arduous task this time. His existing thoughts were only giving her more power to influence him. Hardly anything deadly- yet. But it was important to tug at the weed's roots before the creature could assert herself.
This situation could very well be the precipice.
He needed to tread carefully.
Lest everyone else fall down with him.
It wouldn't happen again. History wouldn't repeat.
Or would it?
He took a long, steady breath, and before deciding to do something rash, tried to reach his agent in the field. His white bishop on the board.
A shaky, fuzzy signal came through, with Jason Kane's face just barely in frame, running, running for his life. Fear was in his eyes and the colour drained from his face, the only thing he was able to say before it cut off again was:
"Cybermen!"
A stunned silence fell across Braxiatel's office.
War was coming.