The Choice

Posted on Sun Oct 6th, 2024 @ 6:45am by Solveig Kallestad & Cornelius Sinclair

2,676 words; about a 13 minute read

Mission: Summer's Fading Light
Location: Red Rock Academy
Timeline: 8/21/2016

It had been three days since Solveig had arrived and settled in at Red Rock. She had kept mostly to herself and focused on situating her cottage to her liking and making a list of things she would need to buy that were not there. Outside of a few passing meetings, she hadn’t interacted with more of the staff nor students, but it didn’t bother her in the slightest, in fact she was thankful for the time to adjust to the new surroundings. She would need to head town for the day, but before that she had a meeting of her own to attend.

She wore a simple a-line knee-length dress with a scoop neckline and fluttering sleeves. The patterned blue chiffon material kept it light and airy. Her hair was pulled back from her beautiful face by a few pins, but ultimately left down in its natural wave; it made her look more her age. She was set to meet with Cornelius Sinclair and after hearing both Jon and Winston’s accounts, she couldn’t say she was looking forward to it at all. After getting directions from one of the students, she found herself outside of the man’s office and lifted a hand to knock on the heavy wooden door.

After a few seconds, the door opened and a portly, red-faced woman with brown hair and a slightly startled disposition appeared there. She wore a gray skirt and a canary-yellow jacket. Grinning, she looked Solveig up and down.

“You must be Mr. Sinclair’s 10 o’clock. She’s here-”

“I can see that Brenda, thank you.” came the dry, monotone response of the man behind the large wooden desk. “You may go. Miss Kallestad, please, come in.”

Solveig smiled at the other woman and gave a polite nod as she stepped inside the office and walked up to the desk.

“Good morning, sir.” She greeted with her gentle voice.

“Is it good?” he asked in a formal, almost bored voice as he looked up at her. He wore glasses, a dark gray suit with a black and white tie, and had ashen brown skin and close-cropped graying hair.

“Yes.” She replied easily and was not dissuaded by the rather frosty greeting. “It may not stay a good morning, but for now it is”

“Well, the work continues in the good days and the bad, so it doesn’t really matter, does it?” he asked, leaning back in his seat and steepling his fingers. “I wanted to have a chance to meet with you. The two of us were hired at the same Board meeting, so I didn’t get a chance to review your resume and background beforehand. I figured it would be good for us to meet as fellow employees and make sure we are on the same page. Tell me about yourself, Miss Kallestad. What brings you to Red Rock Academy?”

“I was approached by Dr. Sinclair about a month ago as he was seeking to fill the groundskeeper position and my talents are naturally suited to such work. My mother had recently passed and he knew I would be moving soon, so he wanted to offer me a position here. After taking some time to consider, I thought the opportunity was a good one and accepted his offer.”

“I see. And I assume you’re happy with your decision so far? After all, it is a beautiful campus and the property will only be getting more interesting with new additions.” Cornilius asked the question with a cold, but somehow amiable expression. The smile was there at his lips, but even there he wasn’t totally committed.

“I am, yes. I hope to be able to provide a relaxing place for staff and students alike.” Solveig remained calm and unperturbed by his chilly demeanor. Some people were simply like that for one reason or another.

“That’s good. I can only expect you’ll be quite skilled at your job considering your mutation. There are certainly benefits to having superpowers, aren’t there?” he asked, seeming to settle in. He removed his glasses and sat them down on the desk in front of him.

“Of course, sir.” Her voice was easy and kind as was her usual. She didn’t bring up there were plenty of negatives that came with being what she was; he knew that very well already. Her blue eyes began to wander around the room to take it in and see if she could get a better idea of who the man sitting before her was in his day to day life.

“You’re an immigrant, are you not?” he asked, reaching for a paper file marked “classified” and sliding it to the middle of the desk. “I happened upon this file, and it tells an interesting story about a family in turmoil, serving their country at some great cost to themselves. That story is yours.”

“I am, yes, but I have been in the states for a decade and am a legal resident.” Finally, that small smile faded as she looked at the manila folder sitting on his desk. She didn’t reach for it of course, she already knew what was inside. “Is that a problem, sir?”

“Not at all, Miss Kallestad. Not at all.” He said casually though his voice was low to near indifference. “Are you a happy American? Do you like living here?”

“Yes. It has been a safe place for my family after our continued troubles in Norway. I have no complaints and was grateful for the chance to move.” She replied and looked into his eyes. There seemed to be nothing there to see. It was mildly unsettling and reminded her of the looks in the eyes of the doctors and scientists when she was a young girl being observed in a lab.

“Then I have an opportunity for you to serve your new country in a way only you can.” Cornelius said. “The Mutant Intelligence Agency has received permission from the Board of this Academy to employ some of its more capable employees in government national security work. The salary and benefits package is sizable, and I’d like you to sign up.”

“No, thank you.” Solveig replied succinctly, not even feeling the need to hear the man out.

The very slight politeness in Cornelius’ expression disappeared and he looked at Solveig like she was a stupid child. He blinked and laced his fingers over his stomach, still quite calm.

“Ten thousand dollars a month is no small thing for a woman in your position.” he said, obviously unperturbed. “And I know you have family that could use some help as well, considering the events of last night.”

Solveig looked away then, frowning. She knew vaguely what Cornelius was speaking of - she had seen the news, but it was the dreams that were more damning. “Eisa made her choices.”

“We all make our choices. But that doesn’t mean you can’t help. I happen to know the DMA is trying to find her. God only knows what prison for mutants they’ll throw her in when they get their hands on her.” Cornelius said, his words sounding concerned, but his voice sober and indifferent. “I was hoping you and I could make a business arrangement that will help all three of us.”

She didn’t return her eyes to Cornelius, but she had heard what he had said. Instead she simply looked out of the window and took a deep breath. “It isn’t the first time and won’t be the last I’m sure. She wouldn’t accept the help anyway, and if you knew anything about her you would know that.”

“She doesn’t need to accept it. I can make all the trouble go away quite easily. When is the last time you saw one of those celebrities who are notorious criminals arrested? Application of the law is inconsistent in this country.” Cornelius said, raising his eyebrows and smiling a bit. “And that gives lots of power to men like me. All you have to do is ask.”

“Did you read this file?” Solveig suddenly asked, bringing her attention back to him fully and tapping the folder sitting between him. “You picked the wrong twin.”

“I picked the twin in front of me, honestly. There’s nothing particularly wonderful about you besides that.” He said, looking her in the eyes. “You don’t want money and you don’t want to help your sister. I suppose that leaves you with peace and safety, right? You want to be left alone.”

“If there’s nothing particularly wonderful about me, then why does my refusal matter?” She asked, her brows lifting. “Yes, I do want to be left alone, I want peace and safety. I don’t particularly care about money, and I haven’t actually spoken to my sister in many years.”

“So soft, so strong, so special and independent.” Cornelius said, and smiled fully. “You get to make your own choices, Miss Kallestad. Eventually, you will choose to join Operation Vanguard, though. I was hoping you would prove reasonable and avoid the inevitable. I suppose I picked the wrong sister on that one as well.”

“You did.” Solveig simply smiled, running her fingers over the folder. “Inept in combat situations. Unwilling to engage.”

“All you need, Miss Kallestad, is the proper training and a man who believes in you.” Cornelius said with interest. “I sound like my father now, don’t I?”

“Training was never the problem, sir, nor people believing in me. I do not believe in taking lives, I never have, and I refuse to do so.” She moved her hand from the file and sat back. “I won’t fight.”

“Miss Kallestad..” he started, giving her a piercing smile. “Who ever said a word about taking lives? Those are your suppositions, not my words.”

Solveig looked at him and this time her usually gentle eyes hardened, growing cool. She had sat across from men like him for many, many years of her young life. Sociopathic, unfeeling, focused on their own goals and uncaring of those they used to get to them.

“I will not fight.”

“What do you do when you’re in danger then? Stand there and let yourself be harmed?” He asked curiously. “You never fight for any reason?”

“I will defend myself if necessary, but defending myself and signing up for a team that you’ll be sending to do God knows what to God knows who is entirely different.” Certainly he wasn’t foolish enough to equate the two.

“I think you’re being a little short sighted to reject my offer without even hearing the mission profile. As far as I’m concerned, defending yourself isn’t a problem at all.” He said, clearing his throat. “Recon, deliveries, and rescue missions.”

She narrowed her eyes at him, clearly not taking the line he was feeding her. It was impossible that there wasn’t more to this. Everything in her was telling her this was bad news. “Recon and deliveries of what?”

“That’s classified.” Cornelius responded succinctly. “And, at present, you don’t have the clearance for it. If you signed up, I would be able to tell you.”

“I understand. The answer is no.” Solveig replied and placed her hands on the desk. “Signing a contract where I have no idea what will be going on until after I do and then can’t back out would be the height of stupidity. I will not do that.”

“What a pity. Somehow we will have to manage without you.” he said, blinking and giving no impression of any frustration in the slightest. “After all, it's not as if I can make you. You’re a free person.”

“Well, sir, as you said. There is nothing particularly wonderful about me - I’m simply in front of you. I’m sure there will be many more who are simply in front of you who would be happy to join your effort.” She smiled in the face of his blinking.

“I couldn’t have said it better myself.” He said, comical yet dry, and then fell silent. He watched her to see if she would leave or try to talk about something else.

“Is there anything else you wished to speak with me about today, sir? Anything about my actual duties here?” She asked him, remaining passive and unbothered by his words.

“Not particularly, no. Is there anything you believe I should know?”

“Dr. Sinclair mentioned that there was quite a large amount of surplus budget. I had suggested the idea of making an oasis here on the campus for the students to enjoy. It would also help cut down on the food bill for the school in the future.” She offered up to him but had a nagging suspicion he was going to dismiss the idea out of hand. Tit for tat.

“Reduce the food bill? Do you grow crops in a place like this?” He asked, furrowing his brow curiously.

“I can, yes.” Solveig smiled and nodded. “Vegetables, mostly, some grains. Fruit doesn’t tend to fare too well, but even in a place like this you’d be surprised what can grow as long as you have someone willing to look after it.”

“I assume you’ll need help come harvest time then.” Cornelius said. “How much planting are you planning to do exactly?”

“I’m sure I can manage, really. If people wanted to come help just to have some experience with it, that would be fine, but I could manage on my own. As for how much, that would depend on if I am able to make the oasis or not and how much room I could be provided to grow the crops.” She was surprised he seemed interested, but she was also guarded.

Cornelius wasn’t particularly interested, but he certainly wasn’t dismissing the idea out of hand. He cleared his throat, and looked at her with cool eyes, as always.

“Contractors will be on the property in the next few days and will be making some…minor additions to the campus over the next few weeks. I have a very wide latitude from the Board to manage building projects. In other words, I could easily help you make your vision a reality.”

“I have no doubt you could.” Solveig agreed, her beautiful blue eyes wary. She had a feeling what would come next.

“Have a detailed plan on my desk by next Monday, and I’ll give it some serious consideration.” He said dryly, perhaps defying her expectations. “Is there anything else?”

“Yes, one last thing. I was curious if there is any small stipend for purchasing incidentals I might need for the groundskeeper cottage while I am there?” Her brows lifted slightly.

“A thousand dollars per year, if my memory is correct. And it always is.” He answered. “You can either sign a requisition form and have me fulfill the payment up front or you can hand in your receipts and be reimbursed. The latter is most easy.”

“Alright, thank you.” Solveig smiled and gave no indication of which she would do, but she wasn’t exactly keen on the man seeing receipts for sanitary items and other such incidentals. “I think that is all the questions I have for now.”

“Yes, good.” He said with a nod, and then continued to watch her as if she were about to do something very interesting.

“Thank you for your time, sir.” She stood and gave a respectful nod to him, then turned and walked out of the office without another glance. She didn’t particularly like Cornelius, but she didn’t have to like him to work with him as long as her refusal to join his little terror squad didn’t hinder her ability to do her job. Only time would tell, really.

END

 

RSS Feed