“This severely complicates matters,” Colton said, looking defeated.
Maren had finished giving her report to Colton, Julio, and Theresa. They sat in the headquarters’ large front room where they’d met an hour earlier, off to the side and sitting on couches. That, it turned out, had been a blessing, as it prevented the three leaders of the mining company from collapsing upon hearing the news.
“More like upends the table,” Theresa said, eyes weighed down with worry. “Law-breakers or eco-terrorists are one thing, but Titans? Working on this mountain is sacrilegious!”
“Come off it,” Julio said, leaning forward, his hands in his hair. “It’s not sacrilegious to dig.”
“It is when the Titans themselves are destroying my equipment!” Theresa said.
“Then what should we do?” Julio said, vaulting to his feet. “Just pack up and leave? We haven’t even made any revenue on this project, let alone profit. We spent everything and more on this!”
“As did so many of our employees,” Colton said, scratching his mustache. “So many gave up everything they had to work these mines. We have their livelihood to think about.”
“Exactly!”
“But our beloved Titans are against this operation. We absolutely can’t go against them.”
“You’ve gotta be–!”
“Even ignoring the sacrilege, Julio, could you imagine the uproar this would stir if we went against the Titans? No one would buy from us again. Have you seen Sekko’s stock recently?”
“That is if there even are Titans there.”
“You calling us liars?” Maren said.
Julio made a little strangled noise in his throat, then avoided her eye.
“What do you suggest, Holy Ones,” Colton asked.
Maren took a deep breath, formed a fist, then flexed her fingers. Why, just because a Titan merged with her soul when she was barely able to form a coherent sentence, did she become some great religious authority? Wielders held no greater or lesser moral high-ground than an average citizen. Wielders lied, cheated, stole, and especially killed, more than likely with greater frequency, than non-Wielders. Yet they were semi-divine, religious authorities who could sway public perception with the snap of a finger.
It was ridiculous, but it was how people saw Wielders. No matter how many times Maren pleaded for people to stop because she wasn’t divine or better than them, they always took it as her being modest and praised her more.
And Maren really didn’t want to answer. At least, she didn’t want to be the one to tell Colton the answer, because there was only one correct resolution to deal with the issue, one that she despised. Mav, however, was leaning forward, elbows on knees and head resting on his interlocking fingers, eyes lost and confused. Maren had never seen him think this much before. At least it was good he was capable of it, but it left Maren alone to dole out the advice.
“Call the church,” Maren said, trying not to let her eye twitch. “There are two Land-type Titans and one Air-type. Get representatives from the Supporter and Autonomous sects. If you contact them now they could be here before dinner, at the soonest. They should do their own investigation and let you know where things go from here.”
“Colton, no,” Julio said. “If we bring the church here, they’ll shut the whole mountain down and declare it a religious site. And even if they give us a payout, that might cover the loan, but not our own spent costs.”
“Or they could commune with the Titans and discover what’s wrong,” Theresa said. “We can help them solve the problem, or the church can help relocate the Titans and we can get to work. That’s happened before.”
“Once! More than twenty years ago! Every other time the church gets involved in a company’s affairs, they shut the operation down. We call the church, we lose everything!”
Colton stared at the floor, eyes distant. His mustache wiggled left and right as he mulled it over. Maren even found herself leaning forward, eager for his response.
“You don’t know that Julio,” Colton sighed, worry-lines etched on his face. “I’ll contact the Supporters and Autonomous sects. We pause all operations until then.”
Julio’s nostrils flared. For a second, he looked ready to curse Colton out. Then, Julio stormed away, slamming the headquarters’ front door behind him as he left them in silence.