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 Posted: Fri Aug 11, 2023 11:13 pm
So. The Negaverse. Corruption.
And with it, losing the life and identity she’d built. There was a lot to prepare, and she suddenly understood Celestina’s desire to get it all done quickly. The struggle and weight she’d been pushing uphill has finally been pushed to the peak and all it needed, all she wanted, was to give it one last good push into a state of rapid, decisive momentum.
Emily tried not to think too much of the softer, warmer parts of her life that were about to be cut off. The practicals were important too, and much easier to deal with.
What was the state of her savings anyway?
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Posted: Fri Aug 11, 2023 11:14 pm
“Dwight,” she began out of the blue, “...would you be upset if I turned, by standard definition, evil?”
Looking up from his phone, her assistant/manager/editor stared silently at her for much too long before slowly stating, “Emily. I’ve met Mindy Lee.”
“I’m not sure what you mean by that.”
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Posted: Fri Aug 11, 2023 11:17 pm
Unlike Celestina, she didn’t plan on faking her death. Rather, she wanted to fake Emily Moffat’s ongoing life, for as long as possible. And here, being a somewhat public persona on social media would prove useful. There could be videos pre-recorded, and once past that point, podcasts were still an option. AI voice and writing technology could enable Dwight to keep Maid4You and The Cleansing Way going for, possibly, years. It was odd to consider, in some ways a little scary, but also kind of cool.
One thing she wouldn’t be able to have AI handle would be the both small and large scale retreats at Cinder Ranch outside Destiny City. But she didn’t want to let those stop, either. In fact, it’d be better if they grew.
“I want investment in the ranch to double. Retreats year-round instead of just during the summer. We’ll hand the reins over to several long-time followers of The Way. The ones I’ve taken to space.”
“Like…hand it over fully?”
“I can’t ask you to do everything, Dwight-”
“I mean, 95% of everything is still pretty close to everything, Em.”
“-and you don’t even like those retreats.”
“I’m just not into cult stuff, okay?”
“It is not a cult.”
“Let’s check back in a year and see if that still stands up in court. But sure okay, Project True Believer or whatever is a go.”
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Posted: Fri Aug 11, 2023 11:18 pm
“I mean, I guess I’d describe you as Neutral Evil?”
“Excuse me?”
“Or Neutral-Neutral?”
The compromise was met with a blank stare and Dwight sighed.
“I really wish you wouldn’t go officially evil this soon. I think there'd be good numbers dumping you into an Actual Play series for a while.”
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Posted: Fri Aug 11, 2023 11:19 pm
Bank account. A little here.
Bank account. A little there.
Investment. Sell.
Bank account. A little more from this one.
Apartment building. Sell.
Meat packing plant. Keep. Change the retina scan to a keypad.
Studio and dojo. Transfer under Dwight’s name.
Bank account. Empty and close.
Cash. Cash. Prepaid card. Cash. Prepaid card.
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Posted: Fri Aug 11, 2023 11:20 pm
“You can help yourself to my accounts.”
“I’m not going to help myself to your accounts.”
Emily sighed with gusty fondness and placed a firm hand on Dwight’s shoulder, “Then double your salary. And…transfer the diamond mine to your name.”
“The diamond mine,” he choked, with what she could only assume was profound emotion.
“And the two silver mines as well,” she added generously.
For a moment, Dwight looked ready to say something. It took several attempts to get out, but eventually he gave a stilted, “Thank you. Emily.” And then he placed his head in his hands, shoulders shaking.
Another pat on the shoulders. “There, there. I won’t be able to profit from them anymore anyway.”
She completely missed his wheezy little, “You never have in the first place.”
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Posted: Fri Aug 11, 2023 11:21 pm
Car. Sold.
Beach house. Transferred under Dwight’s name.
Vespa. Placed in the storage unit under a fake name.
Investment. Held.
Investment. Sold.
Undeveloped land. Held to be transferred to The Cleansing Way™.
Cinder Ranch. Held to be transferred to The Cleansing Way™.
Cash. Cash. Cash. Cash.
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Posted: Fri Aug 11, 2023 11:23 pm
“Like, not to undermine your New Awakening moment, because honestly, you seem a lot happier than you’ve been for a long while. But why? Weren’t you just helping blow up The Bank of Evil a few months ago?”
“The Credit Union of Evil,” Hestia corrected, wisp weaving through her hair in some kind of silent game.
“Okay! Yeah!”
“It’s just what I need to do, Dwight. And…” she sighed, and there was an almost smug calmness as she continued, “Hestia doesn’t have enemies. Only opponents brought by circumstance.”
“Don’t you think they’ll mind the circumstance of you blowing up their bank?”
“Credit union. And…” she looked solemnly out the window, the wisp floating out from her bangs to mimic the pose, “...can you help me draw up a resume?”
“You’re giving evil your resume.” His voice was flat but he slumped in a moment of fullbody resignation, because of course she was.
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Posted: Fri Aug 11, 2023 11:24 pm
Cash. Cash. Cash. Cash.
Briefcases of cash being left in the storage unit. Stacks of prepaid credit cards entering her subspace. If she wasn’t already rushing toward a new identity before, she’d need to now in order to avoid money laundering suspicions.
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Posted: Fri Aug 11, 2023 11:26 pm
“I don’t think you’re bad,” was the eventual conclusion. “You’re not a bad person, Emily. And if you work for evil I don’t think you’ll become a bad person. I just think like, maybe you aren’t all that concerned about being good, either.”
She considered it. Fair enough.
“You did stuff that seemed good because you were following your space culture business. But like, that’s not good for the sake of being good, right? That’s good for the sake of doing what you think is correct.”
The silence stretched between them before he finished, “But that’s just who you are, and I like who you are. Am I upset you’re leaving me behind? That you may forget me and everything we’ve done together like it never happened? I am so, so totally, pissed off at you for that. Not forgiving you for it, ever. But I’ll still like you once you’re officially One of the Baddies. Okay?”
“Okay."
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Posted: Fri Aug 11, 2023 11:27 pm
Money was always the easy part.
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