THE MOMENT
"I think we'll choose to do things the simple way," a new voice startled Tristan. The fairy he was arguing was also caught by surprise; but, the tiny creature smiled and flew past him as he turned around to see the newcomer.
"RUBY!" the fairy landed on the shoulder of a young woman wearing a red suit. "He's saying we need to pay taxes!"
"I heard...," Ruby looked up and met Tristan's eyes. "...you're not supposed to be here." Tristan chuckled and shook his head.
"My boss says otherwise. This forest is on our land, any person living here needs to pay taxes."
"Do you understand that you're trying to impose taxes on a fairy society?" Ruby asked.
"It's our right and their duty to pay," Tristan shrugged.
"No, you don't get it," Ruby added. "Does the name Chroma Corp. mean anything to you?"
"No," Tristan shook his head. "But, I do have other stops to get to. I'll send someone else to deal with this," he said.
"The thing is...," Ruby said. She pulled out a glass card and began tapping the surface like a smartphone. "...Chroma Corp. made a deal with your government. That's how you know fairies exist at all; we educated you."
"Is that right?" Tristan didn't mean for the question to sound so condescending. He was genuinely curious and surprised by the news. His first instinct was to ignore her ideas as distractions and lies. But, the truth was there had recently been a very clear change-over. He could separate his career neatly into 'Before Myths were real' and 'After Myths proven real'. It struck him as strange that it wasn't bigger news; and, he couldn't help but notice that a lot of the information came extremely organized. At the time, he imagined it was old knowledge recently opened up to IRS operations.
"Part of the arrangement was that Fae creatures would not have to pay taxes, unfortunately, it seems your boss, or someone higher up, got greedy."
"I'm sorry," Tristan shrugged. "I'm doing my job; if you don't want to pay there are ways you can appeal."
"Oh, that won't be necessary," Ruby smiled. "Chroma Corp. is taking over your government... now," she pressed the glass card one final time.
"What?" That was a bold claim that Tristan wanted to be sure he heard correctly.
"Like I said, Chroma Corp. made arrangements. Whoever decided to pull the strings might not have been aware of it, or they might not have known how serious we were. Either way, Chroma Corp. employees will be taking over key positions in your government by the end of the day."
"You can't...," Tristan shook his head. He wanted to argue on principle; but, something about the way Ruby held herself told him she was certainly more than capable. "...can you...?" he asked as his mind tried to make sense of things.
"It's Chroma Corp's right...," Ruby grinned. " ...and your government's duty to pay for their mistakes."