"Most of your father's work was administrative. He only rarely stepped into the field himself in recent times. So, as soon as you get the hang of it, there's nothing for you to worry about. It's decision-making and resource-allocation, basically." Luisa gave Dig a thumbs-up after handing him another stack of papers to go through,
He looked up at her tiredly.
"That's great and all. But I don't know what decisions are the best or where to allocate the resources to make the most of them. I don't think I will get very good at it, either, at least not within the year."
"Oh, that's fine," Luisa waved away his worries.
"The big man was also constantly worried about whether he made the right choices or not. If you ask me, the best choice you can make isn't the one with the best outcome, it's the one you think is best based on everything you know and can deduce."
"I don't think that's how it works." Dig sighed and lowered his gaze.
The papers were mainly reports about Cob appearances over the last few years, the strike teams his father had sent to deal with them, and the various incidents related to Cobs. There were also documents detailing the efforts Winter Russel had spent rebuilding the city after each incident. In short, it was everything his father had done the last few years instead of coming home.
Suddenly, a screen on the desk lit up behind a stack of papers and started beeping.
"Oh!" Luisa hurriedly shoved the stack off the desk and moved around to get a look.
"A Cob has appeared…" She squinted and looked closer at the map on the screen.
"...Downtown. Hmm, that's tricky. There are a lot of people there." She crossed her arms and leaned back while thinking.
Dig looked at her, waiting for her to say something else. Eventually, she turned to him and tilted her head.
"What are you waiting for?" She asked.
"For you to tell me what to do?" He asked back, confused.
"Come on now, think of it as a test, Dig. A potentially benign Boon or a malicious Curse has appeared in a place with a lot of people and infrastructure. It is in an area not far from here, which means it falls under our jurisdiction. Strike Teams One through Three are out on expeditions, leaving only Strike Team Four in the city. What do you do?"
Dig blinked helplessly.
"I mean, is there anything else I can do other than ask Team Four to handle it?" He asked in confusion.
"There is." Luisa nodded.
"It's still early, so you can ask Team Four to secure the area before people start crowding. Team Three is slated to return this afternoon, so you can leave it to them once they do. But there are a few risks with this course of action.
"People eager to claim a new Boon for themselves might sneak past Team Four's perimeter and provoke the Cob. Now, if it's a Boon, it's not so bad. But if it's a Curse, and a bad one at that…Well, I'll leave the rest to your imagination.
"Secondly, what if Team Three is delayed? The longer we wait to deal with the Cob, the more precarious the situation will get. It's also a waste of time and resources. We will also incur the people's displeasure if we interfere with business in that area during the event. There's also a risk of Team Three returning injured and incapable of dealing with the Cob. At that point, we will have to wait for any of the other teams or have Team Four handle it in the end after having stayed on guard for an entire day."
"Everything you say makes it sound like sending Team Four to handle it at once is our best option."
"Well, Team Four is Mogdo Dal and a bunch of rookies. The odds of them making a mistake and unleashing a Curse upon the city are naturally higher than any of the other teams. In short, your choices are between a risky but fast solution and a risky but drawn-out solution." Although Luisa's words were very pessimistic, she said them with a smile as she explained the situation.
"This sucks!" Dig complained, turning his gaze back to the map.
"Can I ask Mogdo Dal for his opinion?" Dig asked.
Luisa tilted her head from side to side.
"You can, but that will be Mogdo Dal's first opinion of you, and he tends to stick to his first impression of people."
"But if I make a bad impression by making the wrong decision, won't that be worse?"
"Then you'd better not make the wrong decision." Luisa patted his shoulder in support.
Dig sighed.
"From what I've heard, Mogdo Dal is strong and smart and all that, so he should be able to handle it. Send Team Four to deal with the Cob."
"Understood, Boss."
"Don't call me that."
"Sure thing."
"..."
"Boss." Luisa grinned and darted off to relay 'the head of the company's' instructions to Team Four.
Dig couldn't focus on the documents in front of him, so he just looked at the screen and waited.
CoBs had a tendency to disrupt technology in their surroundings, so getting live updates would be difficult. He would most likely only get an update once the incident was over.
Luisa returned a minute and a half later with yet another file. This one, however, contained the list of all the members of Team Four, including Mogdo Dal.
"I really think this is a bad idea, Luisa," He said while looking at the pictures.
"Sending Team Four?"
"No, putting me in this chair. I don't know shit about anything. A pigeon would be better than me. How am I even supposed to take responsibility when I fuck up? Not if. When."
Luisa didn't answer immediately. She walked around the desk, tracing the back of Dig's chair with her hand and swiveling it around to make him look out over the city behind him.
"I agree. It is bad. But it's the situation that sucks, not the idea. This is simply making the best of the hand we have. You'll make mistakes, some of them costly. But the end result will still be better than if you don't step up."
Dig's eyes narrowed.
"Is my father hiding somewhere?"
"Huh?" Luisa tilted her head, surprised. Hadn't they already been through this?
"Is this some kind of scheme to make me the heir against my will?" Dig asked.
The idea hadn't struck him until he listened to Luisa's wording. By stepping up here and now, he would realize the responsibility on his father's shoulders and the influence he would get by becoming heir. Dig would see that the benefits and needs outweighed his desire for freedom.
If it hadn't been for his dream, he would have suspected it immediately. Instead, he just took Luisa's words at face value and filled in the rest with his imagination.
"Do you honestly think your father would risk the lives of his subordinates for something like that? Luisa retorted.
"Yes," Dig answered without hesitation.