“No.” His face was tight, his voice curt. Tick had never seen him so insistent. “There are times when you must remember that your power doesn’t put you in charge. Do you understand? You’ve sworn your services to the Realitants, and I’m giving you an order.”
Tick sighed, feeling lower than low. “Okay, then. Yes, sir.”
He turned away from his boss and looked squarely at his mom and sister, both of whom stared right back. Tick’s mind spun, calculating. He felt the gathering force within his chest.
“I’m really sorry, Mom,” he said.
Then he winked her and Lisa back to Reality Prime.
Chapter 34
Diabolical Plans Again
Reginald Chu sat in a chair, looking out a window that had no glass.
The chair was inside a structure that could barely be called that—it was nothing more than a few panels of wood nailed together with a makeshift roof of plastic thrown on top. The floor was nothing but the sodden rot of an old forest floor. And the single window existed because one of the stray pieces of wood used for the hut just so happened to have a hole in it. The air was hot and steamy, seeming to rise from the moist earth as if a pool of ancient lava rested somewhere beneath the ground.
It was a far cry from the offices he had enjoyed the last time he’d been to the Fourth Reality. This had been his home, the world he had ruled singlehandedly. Until the Realitants came. Until Mistress Jane betrayed him and helped push the Higginbottom boy to the madness that had demolished his entire headquarters, which had been shaped by the most advanced technology possible into a literal mountain of glass and steel. But Chu Industries was like the great phoenix of legend. Its shell had been destroyed, but the spirit was about to rise again from the ashes.
A surprisingly low number of people had been killed that day. Many of his top executives survived. And since that fateful day when he was catapulted to the Nonex by the unfortunate meeting with his Alterant—that slimy, weakling of a science teacher—the cogs and wheels of his great empire had been turning. Planning for his return. Putting the pieces of the puzzle back into place. Watching for the first sign of his nanolocator.
And now he was back.
But he didn’t want anyone besides his closest staff to know about it. Not yet. That was the reason he was in the middle of a forest, miles from the temporary location of Chu Industries, in a hut cobbled together by two idiots on the bottom of the payroll. Two idiots who had been taken care of as soon as their work was done. He relished the discomfort of the pitiful makeshift office they’d created for him. He needed the shack. It reminded him of how great his power had once been, and it motivated him to find that power once again.
There was a tapping—three hits—at the ugly slab of wood that served as his door. Reginald waited. Another three. Then two. Ten seconds passed. Five taps. Chu reached below his chair and pushed the button on the tiny device that had been taped there. The shack may have looked harmless, but if anyone tried to enter without his permission, they would’ve been completely incinerated by the automated lazbots hidden in the trees.
“Come in, Benson.” He knew who it was because only one person had been taught the code that had been used on the door. There was something incredibly dopey about the man, but Benson was faithful beyond anything Chu had ever witnessed. So faithful he’d almost died on several occasions.
Just as he’d been instructed, he waited until Chu repeated the command—“Come in, Benson”—before finally slipping inside the small hut of discarded wood.
“I’m ready to give you a full report,” the man said nervously, which pleased Chu. At Chu Industries, there was no room for error.
“What did you find out.” Reginald always spoke his questions as statements. They were commands for information, not requests.
“I spoke with every department head,” Benson began, his eyes cast to the floor and his hands folded before him. A servant, through and through. “In almost every way, we’re back to full strength. Everything from personnel levels to supplies to research and development. Most importantly, the underground facility is only a few weeks from completion. This time your mountain will be a real one, boss.”
“Benson.”
“Yes, boss?”
“Don’t ever call me ‘boss’ again.”
“I’m sorry, sir. I just wanted to show some respect—show who’s the, um, boss.”
Reginald stood up. He figured there was time for one more lesson before the real data started pouring out. “Benson. I think you would agree with me that neither I, nor you, need any reminder whatsoever that I am your boss.”
“Yes, sir. Of course, sir.”
Chu sat back down. “Good. I won’t interrupt you again. Tell me everything. Especially about the findings concerning the Fourth Dimension.”
Benson started talking, and as more time went by, the more quickly he spoke.
True to his word, Chu didn’t say one thing or present one inquiry. A half hour later, he knew exactly what he needed to do and how to do it.
Within six months, Chu Industries would no longer be a company. Or an empire.
It would be Reality itself.
Chapter 35