Chapter 179 – The Boss’s Office
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A small blonde woman in a simple black business suit with the kind of perfect, doll-like facial features that made Karen wonder how much she'd spent on surgical enhancements sat in an office chair that was too big for her. Her skin was about five shades lighter than Nikki's perfect caramel. A massive red gemstone that looked like it belonged on some queen's royal scepter was displayed prominently on her desk, as was a metal plaque reading 'Young Business Leader' and a framed photo of an elderly woman, presumably her mother.

Nikki introduced Karen to the boss as 'my good friend Karen, who I met through my last job at a gift shop downtown. She's thinking about a career change.' Karen smiled and politely waved back at her in acknowledgement while simultaneously feeling extremely uncomfortable and out of place and she desperately wished she was somewhere else. But she was there, and there was nothing at to do except sit quietly and try to look harmless as the strange little lady took a moment to admire her in silence.

Nikki leaned over the armrest of the chair next to her boss's desk and whispered into her ear, just loud enough to be overheard.

"I would love it if you could hire my best friend, ma'am," she said in her best 'please please pleaseee!' voice. "She is one of the smartest, most talented, most hardworking people you'll ever meet."

Miss Planner put her thumb and index finger to her chin.

"It's good timing. We could use all the help we can get right now," she said, squinting at Karen thoughtfully. "If you think she'd be a good fit..."

"Actually, uh, this was just supposed to be a friendly visit," interjected Karen, stepping forward and smiling timidly. "I'm really not looking for a new job right now. It was, you know... Nikki's always telling me about this place and I figured, why not take a look?"

"Of course, I completely understand," said the pretty little boss with pursed lips and twinkling blue eyes as she leaned back in her comfy executive chair. "Well, I hope you've been enjoying your visit so far. Please, don't hesitate to ask for anything! Any friend of Nikki's is a friend of mine."

"Thank you, Miss Planner," said Karen, smiling uncomfortably. "It's been really interesting. Um... it's very nice here, actually."

"Is the Tower different from what you expected? Or what you heard about?" asked Miss Planner, resting her head in her hands.

"I actually didn't know what to expect at all," admitted Karen. "I mean, with a name like the Chosen Ones... maybe I was expecting something more, you know, organized or militaristic or whatever. I wasn't prepared for everything here to be so calm and comfortable."

"Business is business, but that doesn't mean it has to be a battlefield, if you know what I mean," said Miss Planner, flipping her hair. "There’s a common misconception that a relaxed work environment leads to poor productivity, but I actually think the opposite is true... the Chosen Ones are the most productive psychic organization on the planet because we love what we do."

"Yeah!" said Nikki. "I feel the same way, like... this is a really cool place to work and everyone's super supportive of one another. It's great to be a psychic in a place like this, Karen!"

Karen was getting angry and she knew it was showing on her face. She turned away from Nikki and Miss Planner and closed her eyes.

Psychic. How she hated that word.

'Gaze.' 'Slash.' 'Lie Detection.' Karen had all kinds of psychic gifts, and all they ever did was introduce chaos and misery into her life. She couldn't control them. And they never went away, no matter how much she wanted them to.

She'd messed around too much when she was younger. Hopped aboard the Nuke Express. Developed her psychic powers. Overdosed and damaged her liver and pancreas and brain. Almost died but went right back to smoking Nuke like nothing ever happened. Got jerked around by the Pit Kings. Beat up, stabbed, stepped on. Kept in a cage, for a while. Ran away. Still had nightmares.

So yeah, the whole 'psychic' thing had been a complete disaster. And now she was clean and sober and trying to start over again. Now all she wanted was a normal job and a quiet, peaceful life without any of the complications of psychic powers, drugs, or crazy gang members trying to force her into slavery.

The Chosen Ones weren't a real company. They were some kind of criminal enterprise. It was really, really obvious. Even if Rex hadn't told her that was the case, she would have figured it out on her own pretty quick. Their name on its own implied they were doing something bad. Miss Planner and all those dozens of psychics in business suits and black robes were the same type of people as the Pit Kings and the Four Families and the Devils of Evil. Criminals who used their psychic powers to hurt people. And Karen was definitely NOT interested in working with anyone like that.

Karen took a deep breath and reminded herself to keep it together. She was here on a mission to find out everything there was to know about the Chosen Ones, and Miss Planner was just the right person to help her do that. She needed to be brave. She needed to keep her wits about her. She needed to focus.

"Are you alright, Karen?" asked Nikki. "You're shaking. What's wrong?"

"Sorry. Sorry, Nikki. I'm fine. It's nothing," said Karen, rubbing her eyes. "If you don't mind, Miss Planner, could we talk for a minute? I had some questions about the Chosen Ones. Just a few small things..."

"Of course, I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have about us," said Miss Planner, tilting her head and smiling gently. "But you do seem rather lost in thought. Are you sure everything's okay? Did I say something wrong?"

Karen sighed.

"No, no, not at all, ma'am. It's just... uh, psychic stuff freaks me out. Because I used to know some bad people who were, you know, psychics. And they did a lot of really awful things... so you can imagine that seeing all this, it's..."

"It's hard for you," said Miss Planner with a knowing smile.

"Yeah, exactly," agreed Karen with a nervous laugh. "I'm sorry, Miss Planner."

"Oh, you poor girl," murmured Miss Planner sympathetically. "Why don't you come over here and have a seat? Let's talk. Maybe we can clear the air about this whole 'psychic' thing. I want you to feel comfortable here, okay?"

"Okay." Karen sat down across from the little blonde boss and smiled awkwardly. Miss Planner leaned forward and placed her hands on her knees, studying Karen intently. The room felt strangely cold.

Karen cleared her throat and looked away. Oh God, what was she getting herself into here?

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