Page 6 of Legacy of Chaos

That wasn’t going to happen. Stryke had built StryTech from the ground up. He’d overseen the construction at every level. He’d personally hired every single employee. It was a well-oiled machine that worked because everyone here had been hand-chosen for their ability to synchronize with the company and its other employees.

Stryke wasn’t about to toss a bunch of unknown loose cogs into his machine.

“We don’t work with anyone on the outside,” he said. “I’m sure you understand.”

“That’s the thing.” Kynan wandered over to a whiteboard covered in equations. “I don’t understand.” He frowned at the writing. “I don’t understand this, either. What is it?”

“Calculations for a floating hydro-reflective disk. Basically, a nearly invisible umbrella.”

“No shit?” Kynan glanced back at him. “Why?”

“I hate carrying a bulky umbrella, but I also hate getting wet.” Hell, he didn’t even like getting into his pool and hot tub. He’d only built them for Masumi. “Wouldn’t you love to have a device the size of a penny that you can activate during a rainstorm and suddenly have a shield over your head?”

“Huh. That does sound cool.” Kynan swung back around to Stryke. “You know what else would be cool? Letting my people work with yours.”

“Why? You don’t trust me?”

“Stryke, I’ve known you since the day you were born. Your parents are some of my best friends, and your brothers work for me. It’s not about trust. It’s about making sure we know exactly how our weapons work. We want to be able to maintain them and not be beholden to StryTech every time we need a repair.” He glanced out the window at Sydney Harbor, its blue waters glittering in the noon sunlight. “We appreciate all the tech you’ve developed for us, but it’s invasive as hell.”

“Invasive?” Stryke gave the other male a flat, questioning look. “Invasive, how?”

“Oh, come on.” Kynan pulled a shiny disc from his pocket and held it up. “This is what I’m talking about. The tracking on these Harrowgate coins. You know every time we use one. It’s bullshit.”

“That was part of our agreement.”

“It’s still bullshit. We only agreed because you had us over a barrel. We need to be able to get humans through Harrowgates alive. We also bowed to your requirement that all our demon DNA scanners be connected to your servers. We’ve agreed to many contracts that favor StryTech, just like everyone else has. We’ve followed your rules and haveneverasked for special treatment for friends and family.” He met Stryke’s gaze, the cool denim-blue in his intelligent eyes making it clear he was ready to dig his heels in on this. “But I’m playing the friends and family card today. Giving our people input into Reaper’s development isn’t an unreasonable request.”

Stryke had been ready to put his foot down. He could, and he knew it. DART wanted this weapon so badly that if he asked Kynan for his only child as payment, Dawn would show up wrapped in a ribbon.

Well, not really. Kynan would draw the line at pimping out his daughter, but still, Stryke figured there wasn’t much the guy wouldn’t do to make this deal.

But Kynan had a point. He’d never asked StryTech for more than anyone else had. Allowing this one small thing could help rebuild a measure of the goodwill StryTech had lost when Smiter smote Kynan’s people.

Plus, Stryke really did respect the guy, and that wasn’t something he said about many people.

“How many are we talking about?” he asked.

Guarded optimism flickered in Ky’s eyes. “I can get a three-person team together by the end of the week. A technomancer, an engineer, and an arms expert.”

Three was too many. Even two sounded like a lot.

“You can send one. The technomancer. My senior Mancer is out on paternity leave.”

There was a heartbeat of hesitation, and Stryke wondered if Kynan would push for one more. Stryke would push back. One was more than enough.

Finally, Ky nodded. “That’ll work.”

“Great. Let’s have our people hash out the details.” Stryke sank down in his chair. “Now, were these minor negotiations so important that you demanded an in-person meeting instead of our usual virtual chat?”

Kynan came back toward him. “You know they’re not.”

Yeah, he did. “You want to know what went down at the WCSG’s inquiry.”

“My agency’s future is at stake,” Ky said. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t stressed out.”

No doubt he was. DART and The Aegis had been in a cold war for decades, and just as they were trying to make an effort to work together…well, a lot of people died. And one of StryTech’s weapons had been at the center of the incident.

“They mainly wanted to know about Smiter’s capabilities. They were more curious about that than anything. But I got the feeling they believe DART’s version of events over The Aegis’s. How they feel about a DART agent turning into a vengeance demon and killing a dozen people is a mystery.”

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