Chapter 176: Sabotage.

Shortly after our deal was made, Nathaniel and his team started to produce results. The end product was… not great. Yet with each batch, the quality improved. Not that we could be picky. Not with how everything was coming together.

We were just barely going to make it at this rate. Made worse when, in the days leading up to the next full moon I very nearly passed out. Having constantly used my ice to prop myself up, I’d very nearly pushed myself to the limit, only a worried warning from Samantha saved me from the worst outcome.

Even then, it was a near thing. I was about incapacitated, relying entirely on Leo to help me with work. Shockingly, he really did step up. Doing the lion’s share and then some of the work and competently as well. When I asked how he improved so much, well, “Watching the best at work, obviously.” Flashing a smile as he spoke.

His words didn’t make me feel any better.

With the weekend, and the full moon. Marking the first full month in and leaving us with two more months to work ourselves to death, I spent the weekend at my warehouse.

Work was progressing as always. Talia had made significant inroads in her own research and had also acquired her license. The magic generator was working overtime, and with Talia constantly adding additional juice to it, it was only a matter of time until it was fully charged.

Utilizing the slight time dilation caused by the full moon, I chose to use my time wisely. Over the weeks, I had Talia making ice blocks, for both my work, and when those piled up, I had her ranking them up tow Low-Bronze materials.

Even if most of the material was lost, after so many blocks, there was just enough to make one large block of ice. The purpose of which was to create another knight.

After all, I was in a bit of an odd spot. Ice soldiers weren’t effective enough. Using other materials wouldn’t work. And in order to make my doll soldiers useful, I needed to utilize multiple doll bodies just to make one enhanced doll.

Which was simply not cost-effective.

With no better option, and with no desire to keep churning out subpar soldiers whose fate was simply to be discarded with time, I chose to make another knight. One that would hopefully plug a significant weakness in my current formation.

Fathom held the front. Supported by both Luna and Estrella. A decent formation, but it lacked one key thing, an ability to take out ranged targets. Gun wielding doll soldiers were an option, but for them to work, they’d need significant numbers. And even if the silver rank was still alive, making bullets all the while, their use case, was relatively limited.

As for relying on me to do ranged damage, well… as much as it pained me to admit to it, I was a very subpar combatant. My magic, my abilities were all geared towards supporting and improving my familiars and allies. With my own weapon granting me a kit capable of handling multiple options. Even then, relying on me to take out priority targets was doomed to fail. Especially when I needed to devote my attention on leading and directing.

Unfortunately, the task of carving the ice wasn’t one I could finish in a single night. Even if that night stretched out a fair bit more than usual. Being inside meant that we weren’t fully affected by the effects of the full moon. If anything, it just added an hour or two to the night.

Still, it gave me headstart on the process and by the end of the weekend, we were in May. Time was ticking down.

With the second month, we faced constant harassment. Nothing physical, nothing over the top, just mixed-up files, delays in deliveries of items or products. Although small, each instance added up. Even with Liche and Joan working overtime to keep things under control, with Lian’s assistance, and with even me throwing my hat in the ring, we barely managed to keep the workflow on track as everything seemed ready to just collapse.

Most of it was negligible, and if anything, it only emboldened the team and inspired them to push harder. At least, until we hit the first real snag.

The snag being, the various studios we were working with to produce music for the soundtrack and such suddenly cancelled on us. Apparently, they’d had all their places bought out, forcing me to scramble to locate a new studio with Samantha’s help.

In the end, I had to pay out of pocket and dip into the last of our budget to reserve a middling studio that Samantha swore she could work with. Which in the end, put that section of the project perpetually playing catch up. other issues began to pile up as we found company supplies being hoarded.

Terada offered to chip in, but… I refused. In the end, I dug deeper into my own wallet to buy office essentials. Snack machines went unfilled as we worked through them. Food deliveries were intercepted. It was far too much and yet, HR didn’t seem to care. Not that I expected they would. Not with how much money the second division was making.

We had to start sending people out to get food, which slowed down progress by far too much, at least, until with Samanthan in the lead some of the employees began to prepare lunches and dinners for the team.

Despite their insistence it wasn’t about the money, I made sure to mark down their contributions. Even allowing Terada to chip in as the situation grew more dire. The final nail in the coffin was when our exclusivity contract with a voice acting agency was voided.

They had to pay a fee, but they didn’t seem to care. We had, rather, Terada had a specialized contract with the studio and had even leased out them a long time ago. The contract being linked to his work. It was a big deal, it should have been a role anyone would fight for.

Again, they didn’t care. Someone had offered a bigger role, with more money. Leaving us high and dry, and forced to pick among their lowest ranked actors…

This should have been what cracked the whole project. Bad acting could have destroyed everything. And we couldn’t wait, no, we needed them now to save time and effort down the line. To better align with the other aspects.

Instead, we found something surprising. Even Terada had dropped his role to come to the studio to complain and raise a fuss. Which is the only reason they even allowed us to hire another actor. After all, the owner did have a previous relationship with Terada, but even that wasn’t enough to pull their best from a lucrative role.

Amidst all the low tier actors, I found a name I recognized.

“Her. Can we choose her?” I asked, pointing to one. Terada seemed confused, the head of the studio was even more confused but shrugged.

“I don’t see why not.” Was his answer.

And despite Terada’s misgivings, we organized a quick interview, where, the very moment she stepped into the room, she froze like a deer in headlights.

“Prima?” She asked almost confused. Her eyes fixed on me. “Why are you here? I’m supposed to be having an interview…” She trailed off and noticed Terada sitting beside me. I saw it happen as the gears in her head worked as she realized what was happening.

“Exactly, now take a seat. We need to see if you can handle this role, Diva.” My words jolted her into action, she bowed.

“Thank you for giving me this chance!” She announced.

Terada seemed unenthused. If anything, he kept shooting me glances as if to ask, why her? That is until the interview began in earnest. At first Terada was relaxed, but all too quickly I could see the fervor building as she perfectly acted out each role.

“We need her!” He announced as the interview finished.

I couldn’t help but agree, but seeing how he was so enthused, it wasn’t hard to give the girl an extremely favorable contract, to the studio head’s confusion. Even better, we made sure the contract was iron clad so that she couldn’t be poached.

She was to be our main voice and was also going to sing for the credits. Which meant she also got to work with Samantha, and the moment the pair met, they just clicked.

Having Diva on board shot music production through the roof. From being way beyond, it quickly caught up and even surpassed the other stations. Our situation was looking up, and work continued through the month. Not without trouble, but at this point, we were nigh unstoppable.

With the third full moon, I spent more time on my next knight. It was close, but needed some more adjustments before I could call it done. Working the enhanced ice was difficult. Normal tools struggled to cut it. The metal tools even started to chip as I continued to use them. needing constant maintenance.

As for the tools Lance had made for me, they cut well enough. Making it so that eventually I had to rely on them for the task.

Then, June came. The third and final month. By the end of this month, we had to have a finished product. At least, something viable to show off.

“If we can at least present something workable, we can continue working on it until a production date is confirmed.” Terada said, assuaging my concerns. We were nowhere near done. Yet, there was little else we could do.

A week went by as more changes were done, and then another week…

And finally two and a half months in, we had something watchable…

Only…

I was silent. No, the whole division was quiet as the grave as we watched the credits roll. This could be considered a trial watch, just to make sure we didn’t miss anything before we move onto the next phase, which was cleaning it up, polishing and polishing, only…

“Is… that really the best we could do?” I couldn’t help but mutter.

Nobody had a response. By no means was it bad, not with how little time we had… But… as a final product… there was more to it than just simple polishing it needed.

Stilted frames were… fixable. Slight artifacts here and there, we could resolve. What couldn’t be resolved was the story, the plot itself. And that, that was the issue.

The start was fine, the build to the climax was good as well, but when it came to the follow-up, the end of the story… well… That was where it fell apart.

The climax had been the crux of the issue, along with how it would end. We’d worked through a lot of the smaller issues, but the current ending simply wasn’t suitable.

It felt flat, empty. Not just that, but… it was frankly depressing.

The story started on a farm. A boy and his family. An idyllic life, at least, until the father is drafted for war, leaving his family behind. The focus shifts on the boy and his mother doing their best, but a plague sweeps through, followed by a famine and everything goes wrong.

Leaving only the boy alive, and a single old ox. This is where the story truly starts. The boy has enough food to survive until harvest, but he needs to sow the field. Getting the old ox to work, let alone getting it yoked proves the first challenge.

Eventually through ups and downs the pair begin to work together. Bonds are formed, so on, so forth. After that initial period as the pair hit a rhythm, the next trial makes itself known. Other people.

Hearing that he has food, seeing that he has an ox, people begin to approach. At first, it’s fine. Nothing dangerous. But as time goes on, it gets more dangerous. Until finally, on one day, they assault the house and try to loot the place.

The current ending was… that after the assault the boy and the ox lay still in the now looted house. Were they alive or dead? Did it matter? The field was ruined, his stores were gone. It was unlikely he’d survive, it was bleak and everyone knew it.

In a way, I could see how this work reflects Terada, and that of his relationship with his subordinates. After all, the people that attacked the house weren’t foreigners, no, they were all people the boy had known. Neighbors, friends, and such.

Perhaps, in a way, it touches upon how everyone feels with this project as well. Unsatisfied, and unhappy with the status quo. Sure, I did what I could, people were motivated to get it done, but somewhere along the line, their own emotions, their own feelings had bled into the work.

This… was a failure on my part, or, rather, this was more Terada’s fault. He was the captain here, and though I took the wheel, he did nothing to help me correct course. If anything, he seemed resigned to our destination.

An early grave as we crash into an iceberg, or a coastal reef, just shy of greatness.

Could I have urged him on? Pushed him forward? In many ways, Terada was like that old ox, stubborn, unyielding. And yet, at the same time, just tired. Waiting until they died. Perhaps I was the foolish young boy trying to yoke that old beast of burden? Desperately trying to fight against fate?

When Terada first wrote this script, perhaps he saw himself as the boy. Urging the ox forward, inspiring it to press on. Giving it new life. Now, any of that boyish imagination was gone. Buried under decades of wear and tear…

We had no good answer on how to fix this, how to make it better. We had two weeks before we made the final submission. Time that should be put into refining the product…

Should I accept this result? This mediocre offering? Sure, it would sell, but for Terada’s final work, it wasn’t anything special. If anything, it showed his age, and not in the best of ways…

It would probably be accepted, I’d probably get my job, and yet…

“It’s not good enough.” I eventually say.

“Are you saying we should go back to the drawing board? We only have two weeks!” Kenta replied.

“Just the editing alone would be hell…” Tom of all people said, shrinking when I looked over at him.

“We’d have to change the script, the audio, even the dialogue, that really is a lot Prima.” Samantha added.

Terada though, was silent. Almost absent, as he vacantly stared at us. Already, the room was filled with the sounds of discussions and arguments. What tentative teamwork we had was rapidly falling apart.

Do I accept, do I go all in?

I slammed my palm on the desk, the noise was enough to break through the noise. Slowly, I stood.

“Take the weekend off.” I announced to the gathered people. “Rest and focus on relaxing. When we come in on Monday, we’ll give the project one last look over and see if we can’t make something of this mess. Understood?”

There were nods, a few frowns, but nobody openly dissented.

“Good, now make sure the files are backed up. If we can’t come up with anything, we need to make sure we have something to fall on. Just in case.” With that, everyone dispersed. I couldn’t help but groan.

I glanced over at Joan and Liche, both were eyeing me, but neither approached. I knew what they were thinking, that I was doing too much, expecting too much. That this was good enough, that I should be satisfied with this.

Yet, I wasn’t. Not just because it wasn’t a good enough result, but also because the man of the hour. Terada himself had done little to nothing to avert this disaster or even warn me.

I wanted to chew him out. To get his head screwed back on, but I knew he was at the end of his rope. That a single wrong word would see him shatter into a million pieces and give up entirely.

In the end, there was nothing but bad decisions in front of me. No right path forward.

With a heavy heart, I took my own words to heart and spent the weekend focusing on other tasks. My phone, mercifully quiet. By the end of it, my next creation was nearly done. I only needed to think of a name and animate him. For he would be my newest knight.

Talia continued her research and spent more time at the library. Without Talia around, Shi would take the time to watch me as I work. Never speaking, never doing anything beyond watching.

It didn’t bother me. If anything, it helped me to perform better. To better give it my all.

Come Monday, I was refreshed and ready. I arrived at the office expecting a team ready to work. Instead, I arrived to a division in chaos.

Something had happened.