Chapter 43: Chit chat

***Narrator P.O.V.

"Re-schedule all the meetings to tomorrow. I will be in my office, only disturb me if it's something important." Serena instructed her secretary before entering the office on her own. 

"Did I make you wait for too long?" Serena smiled at Kar-el as she took her seat. He was sitting on one of the chairs reserved for the guests. 

"It appears that you are enjoying this." Kar-el smiled a bit as he played with a paperweight.

"I wouldn't deny it." She leaned a bit on her chair and tilted her head sideways. 

"So, what caused you to visit me without any prior notice? It has been years since we last sat face to face like this." She swirled her chair in circles. 

"I thought so as well. I have been neglecting you, wasn't I? That's why I am here, just to meet my favorite A.I . " Kar-el chuckled. 

"Oh, please. Like anyone would fall for that." Serena rolled her eyes. 

"So, how is your new body treating you?" Kar-el ignored the jab fired at him and instead changed the topic. 

"Ahh. It has its ups and downs. This body makes it easier for people to let their guard down. Although, some want to get in my pants every so often." Serena shrugged. 

Kar-el couldn't help but laugh loudly. 

"Poor fellows, they don't know what is under those pants, sadly." Kar-el put the paperweight on the table. 

*Knock* *Knock*

Both turned toward the gate to find Serena's secretary standing outside. Serena motioned her to come inside. 

She opened the door after receiving permission and nodded to both of them. 

"Yes, dear?" Serena questioned. 

"Mr. Stark is hosting a business party to celebrate his birthday today. You also received an invite, miss." She walked beside Serena and whispered in her ear, but Kar-el had no problem listening to it. 

Serena glanced at Kar-el before replying, " Isn't it a bit late to invite on the day of the said party?" 

The Secretary was quick to read the hidden meaning and stopped whispering in her ear. 

"We received the invitation 3 days ago, but the receptionist tasked to handle these tasks made a mistake and mixed the invitation with unnecessary documents."

"Interesting. How did something like this happen? " Serena curiously questioned.

" She is an intern that recently joined us. We are hosting a few interns from the nearby university under a scholarship program. It's a joint project where we provide internships to smart but poor students. And in return, we will receive preferential treatment while searching for new employees in said universities." She pulled out a document and passed it to Serena. 

It held all the interns' names and 

information. 

"I see, did you ask her why she made such a mistake?" Serena just glanced at the document before putting it down. 

"Of course. She accepted her mistake and was ready to bear the consequences. When I asked why she told me She was focused on her exam that was about to be held the next day, which led to her making such a mistake." Kar-el looked at the name of the said girl and realized that she was the same receptionist he met today. 

"She appears to be quite a bright student," Serena commented, and the secretary nodded. 

"Okay, tell her she has to score in the top 3 this semester. Otherwise, she would only receive 70% of her salary from now on until the next 3 months." 

"Also, make preparations for the party. You will be joining me as my date. " The secretary gave a light nod and quickly left the room.

"A date, huh?" Kar-el whistled once she left. 

"If I go alone. I would have to deal with unnecessary attention." Serena sighed. 

"You are playing a dangerous game with her. Her body language tells me she is looking forward to the date." Kar-el glanced at the door once. 

"It took quite a bit of effort to make her interested in me, but it was worth it. It feels good to have a shield agent, fall in love with me who was tasked to monitor me instead." She smiled a bit while looking at her nails.

"So, speak now." She narrowed her eyes. 

"What do you mean?" Kar-el tried to play innocent. 

"You would have never visited me out of the blue without an objective. So, what is it?" She snapped at him.

Kar-el wiped non-existent sweat from his forehead. 

" Don't you think it's about time we increase our pace? " He smiled wryly. 

"What's with this sudden change in attitude? Last I remember, you were idling around with no plan in mind." Serena acted like she was seriously thinking with her left hand on her chin. 

"Let bygones be bygones, shall we? Think about the future. "

"If you say so." Serena shrugged mockingly at me while rolling her eyes. 

"What about that girl? Didn't you agree to work with her on her project?" Serena asked.

"Oh, Jane. I don't think I would be able to assist with her affairs regularly. Make something up for me, will you?" Kar-el shamelessly begged. 

"You can be quite a  pain, you know that? Always doing stuff and then dumping them on me to deal with? Have some shame, you imbecile." Serena stared at him with dead eyes. 

"Anyways, how much have we progressed on the spaceship building program? I found you a new toy just recently, I am thinking of going on a trip to run some tests on it." Kar-el left the scythe inside his apartment. It took quite an effort to carry that thing inside the apartment without breaking something since it was so big. 

"You have to delay it for half a year then. It takes time to mine asteroid belts and refine the raw material. The base would take at least 4 months to be built, enough that I can start making a spaceship of your requirements." 

"Fine, I shall focus on making contact with the shield in the meantime. They must be quite worried right now." 

"Of course they are. What were you thinking? Instead of traveling to outer space before increasing your speed, what you did, was fly at sea level at hypersonic speeds. "

"Because of your suit's invisibility, they don't know what caused the fluctuations in the atmosphere. Right now they are trying everything to find who or what was traveling at such high speeds." She reported. 

"Ohh, already inside their network?" Kar-el hopefully asked. 

"Me? No. That is Orphina's Job." Orphina greeted Kar-el after Serena mentioned.

"I wonder how should I approach them?" Kar-el debated to himself, before asking." Can you arrange 2-3 tons of titanium for me?" 

"Can be arranged. What are you thinking?" Serena curiously asked. 

" Building a spaceship, what else?" Kar-el smiled devilishly. 

"Anyway, send the coordinates when it is ready to be picked up. I'm leaving, feeling a bit hungry." Kar-el quickly made way for the door. 

He suddenly stopped and turned, " Ohh right, prepare some explosives too while you are at it." and then left. 

"F***king bastard." Serena cursed angrily as soon as he left, ignoring the fact, that he probably heard it given his Kryptonian lineage. 

A few minutes later, her secretary Emily entered the office. 

"Who was that, miss?" She asked while putting a few papers on the table. 

"A promising student that I am sponsoring," Serena grumbled. 

"I never saw anyone from the program personally visiting you like this." Emily continued the conversation as Serena read the papers. 

"Yeah, he is a bit of a special case. Can you please, check my timetable and tell me when I am free at the latest?" She signed the papers before passing them to her. 

Emily nodded," You have 2 hours on the day after tomorrow." 

"Okay, please invite miss Jane Foster for a meeting. We recently agreed to provide funds for her research. Also, can you get me some dark chocolate?" Serena requested. 

"No problem. Let me check what can be done." 

****Somewhere around North Dakota 

*knock* *knock* 

Ajak turned her head toward the gate after the knocking. She put her teacup down, walked to the door, and opened it. 

Ikarus smiled a bit at her before glancing at the farm. 

"May I come in, Ajak?" His voice was still as soft as the day they met each other for the first time. Those eyes that searched for praise while also confused about how to proceed. 

She softly nodded at him before making room for him. 

Icarus walked inside before she closed the door once again. 

" How are you, Ajak? " Icarus asked while walking in the hallway. 

"I am fine. How about you?" Ajak asked while preparing some tea for Icarus. 

"Just waiting, that's all," Icarus said after a bit of silence. 

He sounded like a broken man to Ajak's ears. 

"Ohh, Icarus, why are doing this to yourself and Sarsi?" Ajak lamented. 

"I can't be with her, Ajak. I just...can't." Icarus's voice was shivering with emotions," I can't lie to her, no more." 

"Then tell her. Tell her everything that I told you once." Icarus raised his head to find Ajak encouragingly nodding at him. 

"That too is impossible. She is too attached, Ajak. It will break her. It's better if she doesn't know until the last moment." Icarus shook his head. 

"I'm sorry..... This is all my fault. I shouldn't have told you." Ajak made her palm into fists and rested them on her thighs. 

Icarus wanted to console her just like she did for all those years but he hesitated and lowered his head. 

They both remained silent for some time before Icarus finally spoke. 

"Why did you call me, Ajak?" Icarus wondered if it is the time yet. The moment when the celestial seed burst inside the core of this planet. 

"Something changed 40 days ago. All the cosmic energy that the celestial seed used to feed on stopped reaching it. Something else is consuming the energy now." Ajak took deep breaths to calm her emotions down.

"Deviants??" Icarus reckoned. 

"I'm not sure about that. We killed all of them a few centuries ago after all. Plus, this is on another scale altogether. The deviants we killed all those years ago were not capable of something like this." Ajak recalled.

"While they could divert and consume some percentage of cosmic energy that celestial seed feeds on. They were incapable of stopping it completely unless they are in billions." 

"Are you saying it is a new type of deviant that we missed all those years while it kept evolving by itself?" Icarus did encounter a deviant like that during the Mayan period. 

It stayed inside an underground cave for 2 thousand years, slowly feeding on cosmic energy and continuously evolving before they found it. It surprised everyone with how strong it was in terms of raw strength. 

"It's Possible, but I think it's something else. It's almost impossible for a deviant to be active and stay hidden from humans in current times. Plus, why did it start to happen 40 days ago and not before if it was a deviant?" 

"What do you want me to do, Ajak?" Icarus looked outside the window. 

"I have asked Phastos to make a device that would trace the source of the problem. You are the most suitable candidate for scouting, Icarus. I want you to find the source of the problem and see if you can eliminate it. Remember not to engage, if it is outside of your capabilities." Ajak stood beside him and followed his gaze. 

"You are allowed, to use the armor as it will protect you from human surveillance. Try to be discreet." Icarus nodded. 

"Does Arishem knows about it?" Icarus asked. 

"He does not if it's something outside of our capabilities. I will ask him for advice then," Ajak replied. 

(Edited by: AzuraD)