Here we go.

Cover Art: Kirire

Chapter 87

Blake wished it could have been as easy as signing the contract and meeting them the next day but it really wasn't. Not with anomalies involved. She and Jaune went through it all night, and then they had to both be present for a report the next morning – tired out their minds and downing shots of coffee – to Director Nicholas. In it, Jaune and she had to alternate between reading the entire contract out to him and the other directors listening in. And they had to alternate because Jaune's voice gave out with a croak somewhere around the twenty-third page of it. Blake took over while he excused himself to drink some water and splash his face, and then he came back to finish sixteen pages later.

It was a slog, and all for ARC Corp to ultimately shrug and say they didn't know what to do with it. Obviously, they'd been looking for some anomalous effect or overly obnoxious line of text demanding their souls, but the thing was fairly innocuous.

Threatening, of course. It talked of "consequences" for breaches, but always left them "to the discretion of the offended party within reasonable means and reaches" and "with opportunities for restitution mandated before punishment". Legal talk, basically. Her and Jaune's research boiled it down to "if you mess up, they'll demand money or services and if you refuse those then they'll kill you."

It wasn't an exact science but it was what it was.

"It's likely the matchmaker anomaly signed a different contract for their ongoing services," said Jaune, his voice an exhausted drone. "One that indicated he could not reveal the existence of Anomalous & Sons, and that there was a clear line his life would be forfeit if he did. This one seems a lot looser."

"It must be to draw anomalies in," said Nicholas, scowling at the camera. "Present a favourable image before locking them into stricter contracts. You are to sign nothing they present to you, no matter what they offer in return. I don't care if they promise the death of every anomaly on Remnant. We cannot trust them."

"Does that pertain to this contract as well?" asked Associate-Director Saphron. "Because it would be a valuable opportunity to send Jaune to meet with them, and relatively little risk."

Little risk, she said. Blake scoffed. Little risk to them, maybe. Thankfully, no one called her out on her expression. They must have known she'd just claim fatigue for it. The night had been a long one and she was in desperate need of her bed.

"The decision for this must ultimately rest with Director Jaune," said Nicholas.

Now that was a surprise. Genuine care? Probably not. Blake imagined it was more to make it seem like he had a choice, when they all knew there was only one outcome for this. Naturally, Jaune played his part well and bowed his head. "I am prepared to sign the contract and meet with them, but I would like clear instruction on what my objectives are to be. Aggressive action must be ruled off the table already."

"It must be," the older man agreed, "and that includes any aggressive action taken by other offices toward these creatures – even if any of you get the smart idea to attack the location Director Jaune meets at to deal with them. It is almost a guarantee that this representative will be little more than an interim agent of Anomalous & Sons. Killing them will serve little purpose."

That was clear a warning to the others as Blake had ever heard – and it felt like a pointed one toward the Fist Office. She wouldn't put it past them to track Jaune to the location and blow them all up, and to call it "job done" whether or not the Containments Office survived.

"Your objectives should be primarily information gathering," Nicholas continued. "The key information we want is who they are, how many, where they are based, what their objectives are, what their powers are, and how many – and who – are under their control. Naturally, we do not expect any of these answers to come easily. Do the best you can."

"Yes sir." Jaune nodded again. "With your permission, I would like to arrange the meeting for tomorrow. My assistant and I are in need of rest and I don't think it wise to negotiate from a position of weakness."

"Granted. This will give myself and the other offices time to think up any further questions we might want answers to. All offices are to report to me and I shall provide the Containments Office with their final brief. Understood?"

"Yes father."

"Understood, father."

The replies came around the same time, mingling together. Everyone sounded unbearably formal, and Blake was relieved when the video call ended. "Finally," she muttered. "I need to sleep."

"Me too." Jaune yawned. "Good work today. We'll sign and agree the meet tomorrow, or later if they need time. Somehow, I don't think they will."

"Me neither. How dangerous are we expecting this to be?"

"Ideally, not at all. Don't bring any weapons and don't make any sudden moves. We're going to be at our politest in this meeting. Unless they start something, I want this to be the calm and friendly as any time we go out to Alistair's."

Blake sighed. "Jaune, our last time at Alistair's was a disaster."

He paused, groaned and pinched his nose.

"Let's just get some sleep," she suggested.

/-/

It must have been a design choice, and an ominous one at that, to have the contract burst into flames once it was signed by the two of them. It curled into ash and then the ash blew away on the wind, before both her and Jaune's scrolls were rung.

They answered at the same time and the same voice came through both.

"Thank you for your agreement on our contract. As per the terms, we will allow you to set a location and time for your meeting."

"I've booked a hotel conference room at the following address." Jaune rattled it off. "Do you need more details than that?"

"That will be enough, sir. Thank you for asking."

"If I may ask a question of my own?" said Jaune.

"I shall do my best to answer, sir. Within reason."

"The contract stated I must attend... well... topless." To show his anomalous self. "But the hotel obviously has a dress code against that. Would your representative be prepared to meet me garbed and then allow me to remove my clothing in the conference room? We might be asked to leave otherwise."

"That will be more than acceptable, sir. As long as you are showing your anomalous self to the representative before you sit down and begin the meeting. The meeting will be timed, of course, to factor in our fees, so our representative will invite you to ready yourself."

"That's appreciated. Is two in the afternoon a good time for you?"

"It will be. Thank you, sir. Please note that you should for any reason be unavailable to attend, we require at least one hour's warning. Failure to provide such will result in you being charged for a flat period of three hours of our time."

"Understood. Thank you."

"Have a good day, sir."

"They have their customer service down if nothing else," said Blake, ending her own call. She'd never provided them her number, and yet she wasn't at all surprised they'd found it. "The weird thing is, I'm still not sure how they are getting in touch with other anomalies. Most won't have scrolls. Or are they only going after humans-turned-anomalies? Those might still have their memories and know how to use technology."

"It could be that or they can teleport to other anomalies. We really don't know." Jaune sighed and pushed himself up. "But I suppose it's worth keeping in mind that a lot of anomalies would attack them on sight or not be sapient. They're only contacting those both intelligent and self-aware enough to negotiate and have objectives. That's still a small percentage of overall anomalies. Which is probably why it's taken us this long to notice them."

That sounded about right. The anomalies that stood out and caught ARC Corp's attention were the more dangerous ones, which hinted at aggression. Things like Blood That Feeds and the Rusted Queen and the Twilight City. Anomalies that were so wholly dangerous that no one could communicate with them. Anomalous & Sons certainly wasn't going to bother trying.

There might well be thousands of anomalies among their clients who were just living peaceful lives staying hidden. If so, she didn't really have a problem with it. The problem came from the fact that they'd now had two recent cases of anomalies – clients of Anomalous & Sons – who had been problematic in some way. Matchmaker had risked exposing people and upheaving the whole concept of romance, and the most recent one had murdered a whole lot of people.

Something was up to have caused such recent cases.

So, they headed to the hotel and had a meal and some drinks there, tipping the friendly (well-paid, probably) waiting staff and heading to the conference room to wait. The clock ticked past 1:30 and approached 2:00, and their tensions rose with every tick.

Finally, an intercom buzzed. "Mr Arc, sir," said the hotel's receptionist. "There's a Mr Sons waiting to meet you at the front desk."

Mr Sons. And here she'd assumed Anomalous & Sons meant "sons" as in children. The name was pronounced the exact same way. Jaune grunted and rose, Blake with him, and they headed out the room to the main desk.

There, a man in a pristine white suit stood with a white briefcase in one hand.

He was unnaturally clean.

White as a suit colour wasn't unheard of, but it was a colour that collected dirt and fluff, and it was raining outside. You wouldn't have known it to look at him. There wasn't a spec of hair or dust out of place, and his features were punishing symmetrical. He was clean shaven, and Blake had the feeling that if she counted every strand of black hair on his head, it'd be both even and evenly distributed, and that the slicked-back look was repeated perfectly on both left and right. When most people said "symmetrical" they mostly meant no droop or roughly even features, but Mr Sons was perfectly symmetrical, down to the exact number of eyelashes.

It was creepy.

Blake remembered studies saying people with more symmetrical features were considered to be more attractive, but here it had gone too far into the uncanny valley, making him look just a little intimidating and inhuman. He smiled, revealing rows of perfectly white teeth.

"Mr Arc and Miss Belladonna," he said, offering a hand. He wasn't wearing gloves but his skin was without blemish and his nails neatly cut. His sleeve tugged back enough to show three wristwatches, each with a black strap, each identical, but all telling different times. "I am Mr Sons, your legal representative from Anomalous & Sons. It is a pleasure to meet you."

"The pleasure is ours," Jaune lied. "We have the meeting room booked, but would you like us to order you a drink before we go in? it'll be on us."

"I'm afraid my dietary requirements are a little too stringent for a place like this. No offence to our kind hosts," he added toward the receptionist. "It is a medical condition of mine."

"Oh. Our staff are highly trained, sirs. I'm sure they can match any specifications you might have."

The solicitor chuckled. It was an unearthly sound. "Thank you for the offer but I must decline. Lead on, Mr Arc. We must both prepare before our meeting."

Jaune moved first, Mr Sons taking the space behind him and Blake following. He didn't appear concerned at Blake's presence behind him, but then they had already made their agreement to the deal and she dreaded to imagine what fate might befall her if any action she took was deemed aggressive. Her eyes darted left and right, suddenly afraid other members of ARC Corp might be here in defiance of the Director's orders, but nothing was out of place.

Once they were in the conference room, Mr Sons moved past them and drew out the seat, then frowned and knelt. He stared at the surface of it for a long moment, sighed, and drew out a small makeup case from within his suit. Instead of makeup, however, he drew out cleaning supplies and began to rub and treat the chair.

"Is all well?" asked Jaune. "We can ask for a new chair if needs be."

"Worry not, this is just a peculiarity of mine. The contract you signed offers liability only in the event of intentional aggression or damage, so you need not concern yourself with me dying from sitting on a chair." He sighed. "I simply prefer things to be in order. Cleanly." He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, and Blake got the feeling he was suppressing genuine rage. "This venue is well cared for, but even they cannot offer perfect cleanliness. No human can. 99.9% of germs destroyed, they say. There's good legal precedent for why they must be so specific. Alas, science may never be able to take care of that last 0.01%. How frustrating."

"Would you prefer if we all stood?" Jaune offered.

"I appreciate your kindness in offering but infinite stamina is not a trait I possess. I must simply accept less than perfection." He sighed once more, pulled the chair back and sat, then began to scrub at the table itself. "Please see to revealing yourself to me. This may yet take me a minute."

Jaune looked to Blake and shrugged, then began to undress. It probably should have been more embarrassing than it was for the two of them, but caution and wary fear over the anomaly before them won out over that. Blake accepted his suit jacket and shirt, then his gloves, and winced as she took in his form.

The burns had spread.

They'd overtaken his arm completely, and now his shoulder. They'd reached up his neck to the point where they would almost ready to poke out above his shirt collar, and they'd gone so far across his back as to cross over his spine. On the front, they'd swept over one of his pecs and begun touching his abs, while a longer strand was swallowing his left side, around his heart. Soon, they would meet in the middle and engulf him fully.

Blake wasn't sure what would happen then. Nothing good, she suspected. Jaune peeled his gloves off and let them fall onto the table, beside the clothes she set down. It occurred to her that she didn't know how they never set fire or burned. Were they, too, anomalous in some way? Or did the fire only burn certain things? Maybe it was a limited element of control. Jaune drew over a stool without a backrest with his foot and sat on it. Anything taller and he'd have burned it.

"It will be dangerous for me to touch anything," Jaune warned. "I want you to be aware of that, Mr Sons, so that we don't have any unfortunate accidents that lead to accusations of aggressive action taken on either of our parts."

"Yes. Yes. Of course. I will not ask you to touch anything and will hold no ill-will should you damage anything of mine by my own negligence." The way he said it suggested there would be none. "Let me just get my equipment out."

He placed his briefcase on the table, unclicked it, and then began laying out a few objects. A timer, a notepad, a single pen, a law degree. Mr Sons took the briefcase down and then spent a full two minutes arranging the items in perfect lines on the table. The pen was something he spent the most time with, not only aligning it perpendicular to the notepad's side, but then rotating it carefully, so that the clip lay upright. The pen was gold and black and inlaid with Anomalous & Sons on the side. He then took a deep breath and ever-so-gently turned the front page of the notepad over, sliding it back under itself with all the caution of a man defusing a bomb. He seemed relieved once it was done without incident.

"I apologise," he said, after. "An unsightly display might be jarring but we all have our little rituals. Things must be in place. They must be. Otherwise, how will one get anything done? Discipline and order are key to law, Mr Arc. Miss Belladonna. And law is not good or evil. It simply is the law. It is there to maintain order. Do you believe the law is good, Miss Belladonna? You have a past in breaking it. I know."

Blake tensed.

"Oh, worry not. ARC Corp has legally absolved you of such and I'm sure any competent lawyer could get you out of trouble for it. We've also agreed to no aggressive action and me accusing or charging you for a past crime would certainly count. This is merely an academic question. Consider it professional curiosity."

Blake glanced to Jaune before answering. He nodded for her to go ahead.

"I know the law isn't necessarily one thing or the other," she said. "The White Fang are considered lawbreakers because they break the law and a lot of people think them evil – and they can be. But they can also be good, protecting genuinely mistreated faunus. And sometimes the law protects bad people."

"Indeed. Indeed. In truth, the law was never intended to decide right or wrong – only instil some order onto a chaotic world. Through history, people have been called heroes for breaking the law. Others have been called villains for protecting it. Good or evil can exist with or without law, but order cannot. Without law, and the consequences of it, there would be no order. Only chaos. And I... I do not like chaos," he said, his voice shaking. "Disorder, mess, clutter." He shuddered. "It offends me."

"Is that why you refused a drink?" asked Jaune.

"Of course. How can one be sure the glass is perfectly cleaned? How can one be sure the water is perfectly pure? My diet requires meticulous care that few can accomplish. Everything must be laid out in order, but also cooked in order. The chemical composition of proteins and carbohydrates must be perfect. A single grain of salt or spec of dust on a vegetable and..." He trailed off, took a deep breath, and composed himself. "I apologise for my outburst."

"No. It's fine. I asked and you answered. Your preferences are your own."

"Thank you." Mr Sons reached for the timer. "Shall we begin, then? Are there any questions you have before I do so?"

"I have one," said Blake. "How will this be paid? Are we to make a bank transfer? We didn't bring enough cash on us."

"Ahah. Worry not." Mr Sons smiled kindly. "An invoice will be sent – and the payment will be legal tender, of course. We do not deal in souls here. You may pay via cash, bank transfer, debit or any other way you might pay for any professional service."

Was he not worried about them tracking the payment? ARC Corp would almost certainly try. The fact he wasn't suggested it wouldn't work, but she knew that wouldn't stop them trying. They had to make the attempt.

"One last question," said Jaune. "Do you consent to us recording this for training purposes?"

"I do. However, I would ask for the device to be placed upon the table and to be seen. I will offer my assurances it will not be interfered with."

Jaune nodded and gestured for Blake to place it down. Given he couldn't wear clothes or touch anything with his hands, the wire had obviously been placed on her clothing. Blake unspooled it and laid it on the table, then sat back down again.

"Very good," said Mr Sons. "This is Mr Sons of Anomalous & Sons meeting with Jaune Arc, Director of ARC Corp, and Blake Bellaonna, Assistant of Director Jaune Arc of the Containments Office. The time is 2:05pm on Wednesday. I, Mr Sons, consent to this recording." He paused.

"I, Jaune Arc, consent to this recording and meeting."

"I, Blake Belladonna, consent to the recording and meeting."

"Very good." With a click, the button was pressed and the clock began to tick. Blake eyed it, but it looked normal. Digital, even. It reminded her of a chess clock. "The clock has been started and our fees will be calculated based on the outcome. Please, by all means, tell us what you need."

Jaune leaned forward. "ARC Corp has some questions to ask of Anomalous & Sons. We'd like to pose them to you and ask you to answer. Of course, you are well within your rights to refuse."

"Naturally. Ask away."

"Who are Anomalous & Sons?"

"We are a legal service specialising in anomalous law. We serve anomalies across Remnant, providing legal representation, advice and support."

"Who are your clients?"

"I'm afraid that I cannot answer that question as it would be in defiance of numerous privacy and business laws across individual kingdoms. All I can tell you is that our clients are anomalous. I apologise."

"Are you aware that several of your clients have caused untold harm, Mr Sons?"

"I am aware of two such instances, yes." Mr Sons remained calm. "The first would be a Mr— Ah, I should not say his name. You knew him as the matchmaker. I would point out that he was in breach of contract, which was why his contract was terminated. The other, I do believe you killed recently."

"Indeed, we did. By aiding and assisting them, wouldn't Anomalous & Sons be considered to have broken the law?"

Jaune phrased it as a question, which was a wise move on his part. If he'd accused Anomalous & Sons then there was a chance he could be accused in turn of defamation, which could be seen as a hostile action. By making it a question, he was inviting Mr Sons to comment on a hypothetical situation.

"That would be the case if we had assisted them in breaking the law. However, our work with them was unrelated to the actions they took. As you know, it is necessary for all people – innocent or criminal – to have access to legal representation. We cannot be held responsible for what our clients choose to do after we have dealt with them."

They should, Blake thought.

"In that case, would you be willing to confirm to me that Anomalous & Sons were not involved in aggressive action towards humanity or against ARC Corp?"

Mr Sons smiled. "I would."

Jaune leaned back. "Really?"

"Yes. And, to those who shall be looking over this in the future, allow me to make it clear. Anomalous & Sons did have dealings with both anomalies. However, our dealings were not, in each case respectively, to assist Matchmaker in his online efforts to match people across the world, nor in the case of the Skinwalker were they to assist in harming members of Miss Branwen's tribe. In both cases, our services were unrelated to the actions they took against ARC Corp. However, I cannot comment on what those services were even though our clients are no longer among the living."

"But can you confirm that Anomalous & Sons did not aid the last one, for instance, in killing members of Raven's tribe?"

"I can confirm that much. Anomalous & Sons works to represent its clients within the law. We do not engage with them to break the law."

"But you had to know what would happen," Blake interrupted. "You had to know it needed human flesh to survive, and you helped set it loose among Raven's tribe."

"The actions taken by our clients are not our responsibility."

"Even if they're painfully obvious!?"

"Miss Belladonna, should we prosecute your schoolteachers for the criminal you became later in life? Should we prosecute your parents for having failed to discipline you?" The smug bastard smiled at her, and it was only Jaune's foot stamping on hers that held her back. He'd have grabbed her shoulders if it wouldn't have burned her. "You can no more hold us responsible for doing our job with clients that go on to commit crimes than you can hold a barber responsible for having cut a serial killer's hair. We provide a service. We hold ourselves professionally to that service. Had they sought to break the law while we were working with them, the contract would have been void and they would have faced the consequences. The Matchmaker did as such and was punished. The Skinwalker did not. That is all I can say on the matter."

Jaune pushed on before Blake could say anything. "What are your intentions towards ARC Corp?"

Mr Sons shrugged. "We have none."

"Excuse me?"

"Anomalous & Sons has no involvement and no intention of being involved with ARC Corp. We are two different businesses, each serving different sectors, and each with our own mission statements and strategic objectives. Anomalous & Sons intends to continue working with clients regardless of ARC Corp's opinion on the matter."

"That may be in breach of law," Blake warned.

"You're referring to the new laws ARC Corp has attempted to force into power?" Mr Sons smiled sarcastically. "Yes, we are aware of those. You might find that they are not as watertight as you all believe. Besides, ARC Corp mandated in those same laws that anomalous creatures do not have any rights, which means they do not have the right to societal protection and also do not have the right to shelter under any laws. If they cannot benefit from and follow the laws designed to protect them, that also means they cannot be held under the laws that would damage them."

"Hang on a second," said Jaune. "That's not how the legal system works. You said yourself it's not good or bad. Even if the new laws is exploitative and cruel, it's still the law."

"Indeed, but I ought to remind you that solicitors like ourselves are regularly paid to challenge laws and to appeal against them. You might not have noticed but there have already been hundreds of appeals lodged against your news laws already."

Blake's eyes widened.

Jaune's, too. "What!?"

"Not from ourselves, of course. That would be spurious. We lodged one appeal. However, your overarching ploy appears to have ruffled many feathers. You've managed to convince people around the world that this law is being put in place as some precursor for later control laws – perhaps against faunus, or other minorities." Mr Sons smiled politely. "As such, almost every law office on Remnant is clamouring to receive further detail on the law. What is an anomalous creature? Who dictates what one is? What is the law intended to protect against? These are the questions being asked, and I daresay ARC Corp isn't prepared to give out the answer. As such, the law will remain in limbo forever."

Damn it. This was what Jaune's dad got for trying to rush things through. It was no surprise either. New laws were always scrutinised, and a vague one like this must have set off red flags everywhere. When a law comes out trying to tackle knife crime, for instance, you can look at it and see what its intentions are. A law coming out to tackle some unknown threat would look just vague enough to have people worrying about why it had been made, and at whom it was targeted.

The fact it was worded to prevent law offices representing an undefined set of people would have been more than enough reason for those very offices to appeal against it. Even if they weren't sure who it was aimed at, the wording would have made it clear it was a law designed to strip rights and – more importantly – strip them of future clients.

And lawyers were nothing if not protective of their bottom line.

"But I don't think this is what you truly want to know. Is it, Mr Arc?" Mr Sons set his hands down upon the table, perfectly in the centre of his arrangement of tools and notepad. "You must be wondering why we agreed to meet with you despite that ARC Corp would want nothing more than to see us all killed. It's a great risk on our part for a rather paltry reward, given your vast wealth and ability to pay our fees."

Jaune hesitated. It wasn't a question Nicholas had given them, but it was something both he and Blake had silently wondered over. "Why, then?" he asked. "Why agree to meet with me at all knowing the risks?"

"Because, Mr Arc, we would like to represent you."

"I'm not in need of legal representation."

"You may be in the future."

"Against whom?"

Mr Sons smiled. "Against ARC Corp, of course."

Next Chapter: 5th February

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