OC Short Stories

"Family" Meeting

Kaleb sat at his desk in his office, video calling with the rest of his "family". He rolled his eyes as Edward brought up the current state of the Ironworks.

"Frankly, brother," Edward started, "it is of great concern to this council that you aren't properly caring for the needs of your residents. I overheard a few of my employees refer to it as the "slums" of our dear city!"

Kaleb twirled a sharp shard of iron between his fingers, unconcerned with the claims of his "dear brother" -- he mentally gagged just thinking of him -- and instead rebuked his statement. "Edward, the Ironworks is filled with factories. Factories produce smog and other byproducts that aren't exactly fantastic for the environment. Where exactly do you think those byproducts go?"

Ben scoffed, fixing his tie and smoothing out his suit even though he didn't need to. "You know full well I have provided creatures to deal with those issues." The animal enthusiast whistled, his two pet crows flocking to his side. He tilted his head as the one to his left squawked out words only he could understand, while making the other members in the call cringe. Ben turned back towards the camera, frowning. "And instead of making use of them as they were intended, you keep them as pets."

Kaleb looked to the corner of his office, where one of Ben's strange creations was lying. He shrugged. "What can I say? They're great for encouraging productivity."

"Threatening to feed people to them does not count as encouragement."

"Oh potato, tomato. Same difference." Kaleb rolled his eyes in annoyance. Honestly, what business did these people have telling him what to do in his district? "Besides, my human workers are few and far between to begin with. Pretty much everything is run by automatons."

Jackson bolted up, a spark flying from his hair and a grin on his face that Kaleb couldn't help but feel was nothing short of prideful. "Robots, Kaleb. Not automatons. You let me design them, remember?"

Kaleb had to suppress a grin. Most of the Council he couldn't stand, but he couldn't help but see Jackson as a little brother of sorts. Maybe it was his energetic nature. Jackson was one of the only ones that Kaleb let call him brother. "Yes, Jackson, I apologize. I can't thank you enough for your contribution to the Ironworks." Ben's eye twitched slightly. Kaleb continued on. "And perhaps, Ben, you may not have considered the fact that if these creatures had been used for their intended purpose, their lifespans would have been cut incredibly short. Perhaps if we had more plants-"

"I could help with that!" Alice cut him off, realizing where exactly it was he was going with this. "I could have one of my people draw up some plans for a few parks near the residential area, maybe create some rooftop gardens as well to encourage a sense of community." Alice kept going on and on and Kaleb couldn't help but smirk at the looks on Ben and Edward's faces. He so loved annoying those two.

Alice wasn't quite sibling-level like Jackson was, but Kaleb still respected her for other reasons. Namely how much more down-to-Earth she was compared to the rest of their "family", Kaleb included. Then a knock was heard on Edward's door and everyone went silent.

"Must be one of my agents." Edward called for them to come in and a girl with messy purple hair and an eyepatch walked in, one that Kaleb couldn't help but feel like he recognized. Edward beamed and turned back to the camera. "Forgive me, everyone, but I'm afraid I'll have to cut this meeting short. I'll see you all next week." Edward left the call and so Kaleb, Ben, Jackson, and Alice were all left sitting there.

Eventually the silence was broken when Jackson decided to ask the question on everyone's minds. "Edward has agents?"