Ci-ci rushed through the streets toward his car, a happy smile on his face, completely oblivious to the happenings in Frae"s apartment.He leaped into the air, gliding over the car"s hood and cleanly onto the driver"s side, before he hopped in and sped away.
If it was a normal call, he wouldn"t have been in such a hurry. But, unfortunately, it was from his job. Considering how little time he spent there, how could he ignore an emergency?
Of course, this wasn"t from Petrov Technologies. Instead, it was a call to his alternate personality: Lucius Grant. It was a bit hard to keep his three selves straight, after all, Ci-ci Bell, Lucius Grant, and Lucius Grandbell, their names were all so similar. But, sometimes, the best hiding place was in plain sight. Who would think that the genius of a generation would pick pseudonyms that were so closely linked?
That aside, it was his law firm that contacted him.
Ci-ci currently worked for a middle rung law firm known as Patterson and Gravelle. Although he had only worked there for a handful of years to now, and rarely showed his face in their offices, he had long since been promoted to the Senior a.s.sociate ranks. It could be said that this was largely in part to his winning of the Milana"s father"s case, one that was seemingly impossible to win.
According to the ranking system of a law firm, one would first begin as a law clerk. Usually, these individuals were students, or recent graduates. Either way, in terms of the lawyer exclusive rankings, the clerk was the bottom rung.
After the clerk came the promotion to Junior a.s.sociate. This was considered the first real step into the world of lawyers and a sign that you were accepted by your respective firm.
The next promotion was Ci-ci"s current ranking, Senior a.s.sociate. This promotion was given not only based on time spent with the firm, but also contributions made. A person could remain a Junior a.s.sociate for the rest of their lives if they didn"t do enough.
After this came the first large separation. The first tier was known as the a.s.sociate rankings, the next were the Partner rankings.
While a.s.sociates were the foundation and future of a firm, Partners were their backbone. In ancient times, when sects and powerful cultivators still existed, Partners would be the equivalent to elders while Senior a.s.sociates were core disciples.
Partners were separated into two large divisions, Partners, and the Heads of the firm, Managing Partners. Partners were separated into Junior Partners and Senior Partners. The difference between these two wasn"t only seniority and power, but also investment. Something that didn"t need to be explained now.
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Finally, there were the ancestors of the firm, usually past Managing Partners and Senior Partners that had taken a step down. These were known as the firm"s Counsel and they usually only made an appearance during times of extreme emergency when the fate of the firm was on the line.
Of course, there was one final thing: the name of the firm. Patterson and Gravelle. What did it mean?
These were the last names of the current Managing Partners and most powerful people in the firm. Unlike the name of other corporations, the name of a law firm was fluid and changed with each generation. Of course, these names were important.
With his driving speed, it wasn"t long before Ci-ci had driven up to a tall corporate building, reflecting blue gla.s.s. Like most other law firms, and firms in general, Patterson and Gravelle rented a few floors within large corporate towers. For them, they utilized the 71st to the 80th floors.
By now, it was late at night and the normally blue tower was an eerie black with a scattering of yellow light.
Ci-ci parked quickly, having long since changed to his Lucius Bell disguise, before jogging into the broad lobby lined with over a dozen elevators.
The lights were dim, and the large information desk had an old security man sitting behind it.
"Hey old man Bones, how you been?"
The old man blinked, startling awake from his nap to see Lucius. "Oh, Lucius. Don"t you know better than to startle an old man? If I died of a heart attack, the world would lose a hero."
Ci-ci laughed as he reached the elevators. Only that old man would react like that to being caught sleeping on the job.
"It"s a s.h.i.t show up there, kid. You should have ignored your pager tonight. You"re in for a long one." By the end of his words, the old man had already dozed off again. But, it was clear by what he said that he was very much aware of everything that went on in this building.
Ci-ci shook his head, chuckling lightly. "Pagers haven"t been relevant for more than a thousand years old man."
When Ci-ci finally reached the 75th floor, the floor that housed his office, he was greeted with a bustling sound that almost made him double check to make sure it really was the middle of the night.
Paper flew across the air, tens of law clerks stood around with their phones to their ears, yelling at poor souls on the other side of the line, even as Junior and Senior a.s.sociates sprinted back and forth down long hallways.
Late night snacks varying from half filled pizza boxes to stale cookies were laid out on every other desk. If Ci-ci didn"t know better, he"d think that that he had entered a frat house instead of the esteemed law firm Patterson and Gravelle was.
"What the h.e.l.l…" Ci-ci muttered to himself. "Did the Queen die?"