As a manager-in-training, Erica's duties were limited. She wasn't given direct oversight of anybody in any area, nor was she allowed to work by herself on any matter pertaining to the Chosen Ones' business operations unless she had prior approval from Miss Planner. She spent most of her time following Maxwell around and taking notes as he went about his daily routine. He taught her about leadership theory, project management, the product development cycle, techniques for fostering and retaining top-level talent... pretty much everything Erica was going to need to know when she was finally ready start being a leader herself.
Which she hoped wouldn't be for a while. Erica didn't like the idea of being one of the big bosses at all. It seemed so much more complicated than being a normal employee. So much more stressful. She knew she was in over her head, but it was too late to back out, so she could do was try to make the best of it and keep her head down.
Erica was supposed to spend half of every day shadowing someone (usually Maxwell) and the other half helping Miss Planner organize meetings, maintain schedules, and coordinate the general workflow of the research division's various projects. But she didn't really have to worry about doing any of that after Miss Planner hired seven new managerial support staff during the big restructuring effort. So Erica was left with little to do except tinker with the Soul Shell. It was pretty fun to play around with, actually. Far more fun than sitting in sales meetings and listening to boring speeches about market share and minimum viable products and so on and so forth. And the Soul Shell was cool! It was so sleek and shiny and modern looking! And it was so light and flexible, and it felt so good against her skin. And the helmet was just awesome!
Erica was really happy Miss Planner let her relax a little and do something fun before she started having to deal with all the responsibility that came with being a real leader. She worked on it for at least a couple of hours every single day, sometimes asking the little voice in her head for advice with it, sometimes just trying different things out on her own, sometimes making little tweaks to try to lower activation time or power consumption or smooth out the auric field or whatever. She was starting to get pretty good at working with psychic plastics and making custom parts. Metals, she was still getting the hang of... but she was making progress.
The so-called 'experimental combat team' that Miss Planner assembled for the project was comprised of four teenagers from North Grandebelle High: Ace, Casey, Mona, and Leon. They were supposed to be ready to go after a month with Ghost Knife and Replica, but training them was taking longer than expected. Miss Planner was far too busy with the new managerial support staff program to keep an eye on them, so they were kind of on their own.
They were all so eager to get started, though! And they loved being Chosen Ones! Erica could tell that these kids were going to be a huge asset to the organization once they got a bit more experience under their belts. It was hard to find people so dedicated to the cause, so motivated, so enthusiastic!
It was almost enough to make Erica feel guilty for being such a slacker. She was supposed to be learning how to run things, not sitting around on her butt watching Maxwell work and hoping he would ask her opinion and then giving him some lame answer that he'd probably already thought of on his own. But it wasn't really a big deal, right? The new support staff took care of everything important anyway. And when she did finally take over, Miss Planner's soul fragment would be there to help guide and mentor her... so the fact that she currently spent most of her time in a dark lab experimenting with psychic materials wasn't going to hold her back that much. She'd learn on the job.
Anyway, as long as the Soul Shell was a success, nothing else mattered!
"Hey, why don't we let Ghost try it on? He's the only one that hasn't had a turn inside the armor," Ace said with excitement. "I bet it'll make him twice as powerful!"
Mona and Casey nodded eagerly in agreement. Leon shrugged, but didn't argue... probably because he was excited to see his favorite Chosen hero in action too.
Erica didn't really understand why Ghost Knife was here with the kids in the first place. He just kind of showed up in her office with Ace and Leon like he was one of their parents or something. He wasn't even scheduled to train them on Mondays, was he?
Erica decided to let it slide. She didn't want to make a scene or anything. But Ghost Knife was... kind of making her uncomfortable. His eyes looked dead. Empty. As though he was in a trance or something. He didn't even bother disguising his aura and let it bleed out into the room like an eerie fog. And there was something weird about the way he was looking at Mona. She was still in high school! This guy's supposed to be training her, not, what, coming to the Tower on his day off to follow her around and make googly eyes at her?
He was just plain creepy! Where did Miss Planner find this freak?
"Hmph. I guess I can try it on," said Ghost Knife with a sinister smile. He grabbed one of the Soul Shells and slid his legs inside, looking at Mona the entire time like she was just the best thing ever. She was so happy she smiled and giggled a little, then turned to the others and said "Ghost is gonna get to wear it too?!"
"Yeah! Put it on, Ghost!" said Casey with a grin, bouncing excitedly. "Erica, do you have something Ghost can test his power on while he wears it? How about those pencils? Or, wait. That cardboard box would work even better! He'll chop it up into a million little pieces!"
The kids cheered and clapped. Erica laughed nervously. Why did they all like him so much? They knew he killed people for a living, right?
