Genesis Crisis: Resurgence IC

Arusians
- Ehlana -

Ehlana’s expression became utterly bored when Rise asked if she could tell her a story.

If you have to… she thought and sighed.

Rise was right, she knew the basics of Aegis’ story from Kurik and she wasn’t really interested in hearing what else Rise had to say about it.

She stared off into space when Rise told her about how they met Jax. Though it was touching as a story, it wasn’t extraordinary. People being forced into roles they didn’t want through blackmail. It happened all the time.

When Rise told her about their history with Alina, her eyes focused on Rise, but still didn’t look any more interested. Conflicts between duty and loyalty. This was a completely unknown concept to her. If you didn’t pull your weight in Arusia, you didn’t survive. There was no conflict.

The only time she actually showed some kind of interest was when Rise told her about Jane. Betrayal on all sides. Even Kaddath wasn’t immune to that. Well soon they would experience what betrayal really meant. And the consequences.

Though she mainly filed away the new facts for later, the compassion with which Rise told them, made her listen quietly, almost respectfully. It fascinated her that Rise was actually tearing up.

“If this is supposed to be torture, it’s definitely working,” Ehlana finally said. “This was quite a tragic sob story. So when you’re done crying, maybe we can move on to something that won’t bore me to death, unless of course that was your intention.”

It wasn’t entirely true, but her expression didn’t betray her lie and her voice was firm, backing up her words. To anyone watching it appeared, Rise’s story hadn’t affected her at all.

The question about lunch caught her off guard. What the heck was with these people?

Ehlana shrugged. “I don’t really care about your food,” she said, going back to her disinterested expression.

Ergo Research
- Lambda -

James seemed surprised by Lambda's reaction to the device, but tried to be understanding.

“I understand if you don’t want to carry it,” he said and offered, “We’ll leave the area closed off and I’ll get some technicians to pick it up and transport it to Kokonoe’s lab. The sooner they can examine it, the sooner they can work on countermeasures.”

Yes, the sooner the better. And no matter how fast the technicians arrived, it would be longer than if Lambda just transported it herself. She hadn't managed to apprehend the intruders. She couldn't allow this to slide as well.

"No need," she said, stepping forward to hoist up the device. "I will take it."

She frowned at it, but held on nonetheless. Just then, James got a report on the woman their captive had impersonated.

"That is good to hear," Lambda said. "We should report this information to Kokonoe."

She turned and headed off toward the facility, holding the strange device at arm's length.

------------------------------

Arusian
- Alexei -

So, this woman was savvy enough to know this probably wouldn't end well for her. Alexei was impressed.

"You are really testing our mercy, woman. I could kill you right now and pretend nothing happen."

Nadenka shrugged, "Be my guest, but you are going to leave a trail if I am found dead." Nadenka replied coldly, and confidently.

Alexei snorted at the exchange. Nadenka had got Belo there. She had potential, this one. Too bad she hadn't been born in Arusia.

"My name is Nadenka Orlov," the woman said, turning her attention to him. "I know well enough that you guys could kill me any time. But, I want to know why you guys are going all these troubles. For what reason?.... I want to know..."

Alexei frowned. He was as likely to end up dead as Nadenka for screwing up every agenda Maxim had set for him, but he wasn't going to add spilling highly classified information to the list.

"I could finish her right now and get rid of extra luggage." Belobog said.

Alexei turned to Belo, an eyebrow raised.

"And when did you get so bloodthirsty?" he asked. "Relax, there's no need for that."

He turned his attention back to Nadenka and frowned.

"It's not my place to disclose that information," he said. "Barring any unforeseen circumstances, I plan to take you all the way to our destination. It'll be up to my superiors to decide what happens then. Maybe if you make yourself useful to them, they'll keep you around."

------------------------------

Aegis
- Kokonoe -

Kokonoe bounced Millie in her arms as the small girl squirmed happily.

"The rest of your bunch are over in the containment sector. They've got the prisoner in one of the containment rooms, presumably interrogating her. You can head up to the observation deck to watch. I've got other work to do."

Hoisting Millie onto her shoulder, Kokonoe headed into her lab to work more on the Redcape antivirus.

---------------------

Council Chambers
- Alina -

Lecarde returned Alina's hug and smiled.

"I won't deny that a part of me misses you and our political skirmishes, but it's harder to heal when the wound stays fresh," he said, looking around the chamber. His eyes fell on the High General's chair, and his expression darkened slightly.

Lecarde followed Alina down the hallway from the chamber as she explained the nature of her summons. He, too, smiled wryly at Alina's description of Minister Winters.

"I really must meet her then," he said. "To have the honor of meeting you twice is more than I could have expected."

-------------------------

Ergo Research
- Rise -

Rise frowned at Ehlana's flippant response to her story. She hadn't expected much, but she had hoped that the prisoner's response might give a little hope as to the nature of her loyalties. It didn't look good, but she couldn't jump to a conclusion yet.

"Okay," she said, heading for the door. "Maybe you'll change your mind when dinner comes around."

She signaled at the window for Lisa to unlock the door, then headed out and around the hall to join the others in the observation deck.

"I don't really know what to think," she said as she entered the room.

Ergo Research
- James -

“We have come bearing a gift,” James announced to Kokonoe when he walked into the lab, followed by Lambda, who was carrying the jammer. He sounded more cheerful than he felt.

“Thanks, Lambda,” he said when she set the jammer down on the floor. “Do you have any technicians here that can analyse it?” he asked Kokonoe, noticing that Markus and Millie were here as well. “I don’t know enough about its potential for a weapon or possible countermeasures to do it myself,” he admitted.

“If not, maybe we should request someone from Helios,” he suggested. “They have the best weapon engineers so they can devise a countermeasure as well…” he mused.

------------------------

- Lenka -

Lenka raised her eyebrows at Luke. It was like he couldn’t get out the observation room fast enough. Why was that?

Her attention was diverted to the scene in the white room and she stepped closer to the window.

Rise was very passionate about her story and Lenka suddenly felt very emotional. Though she knew most of the story, she had forgotten how much her brother, Rise and the others had gone through.

She felt her eyes tear up. When Rise’s story came to an end, Lenka stepped back, wiping her eyes.

Then she noticed Luke, still standing by the door. He was upset. No that wasn’t true. He was angry. Angry at how the prisoner was being treated and frustrated that he himself was being detained for some unknown reason.

He stormed out just as Rise left their prisoner and came into the observation room.

“I think it was very brave to tell her that story,” Lenka said quietly.

------------------------

- Ehlana -

Ehlana exhaled slowly when Rise left the room. It was a little mean spirited to give her such a brush off, but she couldn’t afford to show any more weaknesses.

When she was alone, Ehlana closed her eyes, shutting out once again the white clinical light.

With no distraction left but her own thoughts, she ran through their missions Kaddath since Aegis began interfering and tried to figure out where they had gone wrong.

Aegis

- Lisa -

Lisa arched a brow at Luke's mini-blowup, but she seemed completely unimpressed with his statements. "Honestly? I don't know what you are." She responded, giving Luke a long look. "But, I do know that Jax, someone I trust implicitly, asked that you be kept here."


"Do I think you're gonna make a run for it?" She didn't give him time to respond before answering her own question. "Not really. If you wanted to run, you could have already done so."


"However." She punctuated the word by throwing an arm over his shoulder. "It is my duty to my friend and current commanding officer to ensure that you stick around. If that makes you uncomfortable, I'm sorry, but you're being treated with far more respect that you're returning here."


"As for the prisoner, she happens to be tied to a chair, in a room that only opens from the outside. Your guest suite has a nice, cozy bed, a network hookup, and a window. Perhaps you'd like to rethink your concept of 'equal treatment' before we continue this conversation?"

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Council Chambers

- Alina -

"I think one of me is enough, honestly." Alina responded with a smirk. "But I can't deny it has been oddly amusing to have her around. She definitely keeps me on my toes, and if I had a problem with it, I think she'd also keep me honest. That's what really counts here."

As they reached the doorway, she paused, glancing at her companion once more. "I don't mean to stir up unpleasant memories, but you really were the only person I could think of. Serena hasn't realized yet that exerting pressure isn't always the best way to get results. I'm hoping you can teach her how to arrive at her destinations through more peaceful means."

Pushing the doors open, Alina strode into the room, heading up to her chair. As she turned to face the council, it was all she could do to steel herself against what decision they might have reached.


"The floor is now open. How do we wish to proceed?"

Arusian
Nadenka & Belobog

Nadenka nodded, understanding what the man was implying. Nadenka looked at the window, and soon she was again in deep thought.

Belobog, on the other hand, was not happy that they were not going to kill her. He felt like she's a lose end and that bothered him too much.

But, perhaps, another reason was he felt like he and his fellow comrades somehow being too weak. Too weak to end the life of their enemies.

He felt they were being too merciful to their enemies. In any case, he did not raise his voice. He decided to follow Alexei's decision.

______________________________________________________

Aegis
Luke Jaron

Luke stopped a moment when she responded in the honesty. For once, someone was being real with him; the reason why they would follow the order of Jax than letting Luke do whatever he likes.

Even though, Luke risked his life, they still trusted their old friends more than Luke for the old time sake.

Luke curled his lips when Lisa implied that he had a choice of running; Luke wanted to say how she was wrong about such implication, but she did not give him the chance to.

"However." Luke was caught off guard with Lisa's arm around his shoulder "It is my duty to my friend and current commanding officer to ensure that you stick around. If that makes you uncomfortable, I'm sorry, but you're being treated with far more respect that you're returning here." feeling restricted, he quickly free himself from her arm, putting little more distance from her by walking little faster.

"As for the prisoner, she happens to be tied to a chair, in a room that only opens from the outside. Your guest suite has a nice, cozy bed, a network hookup, and a window. Perhaps you'd like to rethink your concept of 'equal treatment' before we continue this conversation?"

That statement made Luke stopped once again. "Of course... You are surrounded by someone you trust, I, on the other hand, do not trust single one of you." Luke glanced back at her, then he swiftly moved his step, hoping to distance himself from Lisa even further. "You are definitely right, my place is cozy and that prisoner is probably having it hard time. But, have you heard about expression of thorn covered cushion? Bet, you have. Or perhaps you never have." Luke bite his lips, now he thought about it, it made him more angry that they never thought about his friend... no, he was just an outsider to them and his friend was just outsider to them too. Two lives that did not matter too much for them. "You guys never had to go through the same mental torture that the world of two years ago had put me through... Yeah, I cannot say in strong conviction that I had the worse experience than any one of you, but have you ever try to be in my current perspective? At least once? Oh wait, you don't know me and I do not know you."

Luke could see the guest room, he quickly opened and entered the room, locking himself inside the room.

"You know what, let's not continue the conversation and let me be alone in the cozy guest room. Perhaps then I would realize what you actually mean."

Ergo Research
- Kokonoe -

“We have come bearing a gift.”

Kokonoe looked around from her computer, eyeing the jammer. She was intrigued by the device, but she really didn't have the time to get into that right now.

"Probably best to let Helios tackle it for now," she said. "We have enough on our hands with the Redcape situation. Lambda, put a message through to Arya Tarsos about it."

Lambda nodded and headed out to dispatch the message. Kokonoe watched her go, then turned to James.

"You want to help me run some simulations? I'm working on modifying the strain silencer right now, but I'll need simulation programs set up to make sure we cover any possible variables."

------------------------

- Rise -

Rise entered just as Luke was deriding all of them. Coming off of Ehlana's frosty response to her words, this just twisted the knife a little deeper.

“I think it was very brave to tell her that story,” Lenka said quietly. Rise attempted a smile.

"For all the good it did," she murmured. She and Lenka watched Lisa escort Luke out before taking the chair Lisa had vacated.

"It feels all wrong," Rise murmured. "I mean, Aegis wasn't always holding hands in perfect unity, but we still felt like a team."

She sighed and looked out into the chamber where Ehlana sat, bound to the chair.

"I hope Jax gets here soon," she said.

------------------------

Council Chambers

- Jax -

Jax relaxed slightly as Alina entered the chambers once more, Lecarde following in her wake. He was not part of the council, so he moved discreetly to the side of the doors to observe.

"The floor is now open. How do we wish to proceed?" Alina asked. There was silence in the chamber for a few moments.

"To our understanding," Serena said, breaking the silence. "All of the known Redcapes have been strain users who, as of now, have not registered for strain silencing or Army recruitment. Before we extend the matter of strain silencing to the Army, it would be prudent to begin with those uncooperative with the existing laws."

"A committee must be formed to look into these holes in the system," Durmail said, picking up off of this train of thought. "Perhaps visit the local city centers to gain an understanding of the population's opinions on the matter as well. We are representatives of the people, after all."

Raidon sighed softly to Jax's left.

"There is unrest in the city's after this information breech. Perhaps, a personal touch would be helpful."

Lecarde was trying to meet Alina's eyes. This might be the sort of opportunity she was looking for.

"It's true that the regulations have not been as strictly enforced as they should be," Jax admitted, frowning. "It's a hard line to keep order while distancing from the questionable methods of the past."

It didn't help that he wasn't entirely convinced Army recruitment or silencing should be the only two options. He looked from Serena to Alina, brow furrowed.

"Minister Winters may be right, however. Working out the kinks in the existing regulations is the place to start."

Ergo Research
- James -

Yes, Arya would probably be the right person to call. She’d know what to do. He hadn’t spent much time with her, but from Lisa’s stories, she was a capable engineer.

“Sure,” James nodded when Kokonoe asked for his help.

He pulled up the nearest computer and began typing. “What are the parameters?” he asked and began setting up a simulation program.

“By the way, do you know what our prisoner injected into the Redcape?” he asked after a while without looking up. His eyes were focused on the screen.

-----------------------------

- Lenka -

“It’s difficult. Trust takes time,” Lenka said, swinging her chair around to face Rise. “Ehlana doesn’t trust you. We don’t trust her. And we shouldn’t. She has no reason to believe anything you say. If I had to venture a guess….she’s being defensive.”

She shrugged helplessly. “And Luke…I know he’s upset, but I also feel he doesn’t trust us. And he thinks we don’t trust him, because Jax wants to talk to him.”

“You’re right, it’s all messed up. But we’ll make it. Eventually somebody will start trusting somebody. We have you and James and Lisa.” Lenka smiled and still looked like she hadn’t lost her faith. “Look at what you did in just a few short days that the police was unable to do for weeks since the first Redcapes showed up.”

There was a silence.

“Have you heard from Jax?” Lenka finally asked. “When is he coming?”

-----------------------------

Helios Weapons Developmet
- Arya -

“Lieutenant Tarsos. Please report to the service deck.”

A metallic voice sounded through the flight hangar, repeating the message twice.

A few engineers looked up, searching for the person in question. Arya looked up from the jet engine block she was working on. She was in working attire, holding tools and flashlight.

“Caspar, take over,” she said and climbed the ladder down. She handed her sergeant the tools and checked a clipboard. “Crank it up another 1.5 percent and test the output. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

She walked off, heading to the service deck.

Aegis

- Lisa -

"Trust is a two way street." Lisa replied just before the door closed. "You can't demand ours without offering yours too."

She sighed and setup a com alert to herself if the hallway camera saw the door open. Why did men have to be so stubborn and set in their ways? The university probably offered a course on that. Maybe she'd look into it when she got back from this little venture.

Shaking her head, Lisa made her way back down the hall towards the others. Hopefully, Jax could talk some sense into Luke before he did something foolish.

---------------------------------------------------------------

- Marcus -

"Who's Jax?" Marcus asked around a yawn as he entered the room. "Another friend of yours?"

He glanced back and forth between the two women in the room before noticing the window. "I see you've given our intruder different accomodations." He said, slowly approaching the glass to look down at her. "Any idea who she is?"

---------------------------------------------------------------

Council Chamber

- Keynes -

With an impassive face, Keynes watched the council members around him jump at ideas, none of them more original than the last. Perhaps he shouldn't have expected any more than that when he got back into politics though. For now, he remained silent. Watching. Waiting patiently. If the entirity of the country didn't rely on these people, he might have found the scene comical. Instead, it simply made him sad.

This was the world he'd fought wars for, the world Jane had died for, the world his daughter would grow up in. He couldn't allow it to fail. That just wasn't an option.

---------------------------------------------------------------

- Alina -


"I agree that the system has holes." Alina responded, nodding to Durmail. "And Jax does raise an interesting point about leniency. We have allowed some things to slide a little in favor of threatening the peace that the public has enjoyed. If that decision has inadvertently lead to a different kind of disturbance, perhaps we should reconsider our approach."

She leaned back in her chair, listening to a few more comments. "Raidon brings up a good point about a personal touch. One of the most obvious disconnects between the previous administration and the people it served was lack of face to face communication."


"I propose a small group to reach out to the people, starting here in the city, and moving about the country for the next couple weeks." She waved Lecarde forward. "An old friend of mine is well acquainted with the different refugee groups nearby, and I've asked him to advise such a committee."


"Minister Winters, you've been most vocal about this matter." Alina turned her gaze to the other woman. "If you have so much to say, perhaps the people will be willing to hear you. Pick two other council members to round out your new committee."


"This won't be anything like sitting in the Council Chambers though. You're going to be a wolf among sheep. The people need to understand that we've given them freedoms to avoid the conflicts that the previous administration created, but if they're not willing to respect the boundaries of those freedoms, they will be taken away."

Ergo Research
- Kokonoe -

"There should be a probability algorithm on there," Kokonoe said, not looking away from her computer screen. "I used it for the original silencing strain. Modify the demo strain to include the Redcape virus and alter the parameters to search for active sites on the virus instead of the strain."

Her fingers flew over the keys as she worked to get this cure figured out. Who knew when the next distraction would come up to drag her away from her work. Besides, that Luke kid was likely to blow a gasket if she didn't get his friend cured soon.

“By the way, do you know what our prisoner injected into the Redcape?”

Kokonoe turned from the computer for the first time, frowning.

"A synthetic neurotoxin. Wicked one, too. I haven't seen the likes of it before. Whoever engineered it is a genius. We're just lucky the Diarahan crystals I had on hand were enough. It's funny, though. I would have thought they'd account for a healing strain when making it. Surely, they would have tested it."

---------------------------------------------------------------

- Rise -

"I guess you're right," Rise said. She wished it didn't have to be that way though. As to when Jax would arrive, she could only shrug.

"Who's Jax? Another friend of yours?"

Rise and Lenka turned around to see Marcus enter the room.

"Hey," she said, smiling. "Yeah, he is. He's also the Chief of Police."

She followed Marcus' gaze out into the room below where their prisoner was strapped to the chair.

"Her name is Ehlana," she told him. "That's all we've gotten so far."

Rise looked away, thinking on what Lenka had said. It made her think of old times, with Aegis sitting around the table together. Those meals together were some of her favorite memories.

"Hey," she said, sitting up. "Lenka, how would you like to help me make dinner for everyone?"

She got up from her seat, feeling rejuvenated by the idea.

"Jane taught me. I used to help her cook for Aegis when we were holed up in the bunker," she said. "It always brought us all together.

She took Lenka's hand and headed for the door. After a second's pause, she turned and grabbed Marcus by the arm.

"Come on. You too."

---------------------------------------------------------------

Grand Council Chamber
- Jax -

Serena gazed for several moments at Alina before leaning back in her chair and nodding.

"Yes," she said. "I believe that's a good plan. I would like to see the public sentiment for myself."

She turned and gave Lecarde a scrutinizing look.

"If that's decided," Jax said, standing up, "With your permission, High General, I'd like to get to Ergo and see to the captive."

He gave Alina a half-bow, winked out of the corner of his eye, and headed out of the chambers. He'd wasted enough time here. He'd always been a man of action, not words. Right now, the best thing he could do was start making things happen.

Luke Jaron

"Oh yeah? Risking my life for your cause was not an action of trust for you? Stop rationalizing it yourself, you guys do not trust me because I am still a stranger to you."

Said Luke, when Lisa made her comment about trust, as the door finally closed and as he heard Lisa stepping away from the door, Luke sighed. "Psychology major, my ***.... I bet whoever she's in charge feels uncomfortable to speak about their real problems to her..."

Luke gazed at the window, it looked like he could break out if he wanted. Luke stared at his hand, suddenly his hand turned into red... Luke shook his head... the day he was caught by Legion... the horrible memory.... it came back to him.

Ergo Research
- James -

“Got it,” he said and pulled up the algorithm and began modifying the demo strain to take into account the new properties of the Redcape virus.

It took quite a while and after Kokonoe’s last response the conversation between them subsided. They worked mostly in silence, only the typing of the keys could be heard unless Millie demanded attention from Kokonoe.

Finally James hit one last key and leaned back in his chair. The algorithm began its worked and started calculation probabilities, taking into account all the different parameters.

It was a slow process, much slower than he liked, but as always computers couldn’t be rushed.

“It’s running the simulation now, but it looks like it could take a while,” James said, watching the numbers.

------------------------------
- Lenka -

Lenka looked up when Marcus came into the observation room. He still looked a little tired, but much better than before.

“She’s very good at not saying anything,” Lenka added to Rise’s response. Clearly she didn't approve of Ehlana's behaviour. “But she’s also kind of brazen.”

Her eyes looked at Ehlana, who didn’t seem like she was in distress. Actually she looked like she was sleeping.

Lenka’s face lit up at Rise’s suggestion.

“I like that idea,” Lenka said “Of course I’d like to help.”

After pulling Marcus with them, they made their way towards the kitchen.

“So are you any good at cooking?” Lenka asked Marcus.

------------------------------
Helios Weapons Developmet

“Please follow me, Lieutenant.”

They went inside the Captain’s bureau where he handed Arya a piece of paper.

“It’s a request from Ergo Research Lab,” her Captain explained. “Apparently they have acquired an interesting piece of technology with an unknown origin. They have their hands full and since it has weapon potential, they asked us to take a look at it,” he paused. “I told them I would send one of my best engineers.”

Arya’s eyes flew over the request. It was very vague, but urgent. Analyse, process and potentially devise counter measures. So it was serious and potentially dangerous.

“When can I leave?” she asked.

“There’s a jet waiting,” her Captain said. “Wheels go up in 5.”

She nodded. “Please inform my crew of my absence,” she said and headed towards the flight deck.

Aegis

- Marcus -

"Ehlana, huh?" Marcus muttered, rubbing his rib cage, which still hurt, despite the healing he'd received. At least now he knew the name of the woman who had thrown him around so easily.

He hadn't really heard anything else past that when Rise grabbed him by the arm and dragged him from the room. "I- What?"

Marcus glanced from Lenka to Rise and back again. "I know basic stuff." He responded to the former's question. "We were expected to learn how to take care of ourselves, and the older ones were also in charge of making sure the kids got taken care of. So, I learned what I had to, but I wouldn't exactly call myself proficient."

-----------------------------------------------------------

- Lisa -

"How are my two favorite nerds doing?" Lisa asked as she walked into the lab and dropped into a rolling chair. Dealing with Luke had been less than ideal, and she was trying not to let it get to her. He had some valid points, but he also seemed to have trouble with objectivity. Boy, if that didn't remind her of someone...

-----------------------------------------------------------

Council Chambers

"By all means." Alina waved to the exit, indicating that Jax could take his leave.

She watched him leave before turning her attention back to Serena. "I'll expect your selections by tomorrow morning, Minister Winters. We need a plan in place as soon as possible."

Ergo Research
- Kokonoe, Jax -

Kokonoe stopped with her calculations to look over at the simulation.

"Well, I've managed to get most of the reconfiguration done," she said. "We're making progress, at least."

Lisa came into the room and dropped into one of the chairs, looking weary.

"I have two guesses as to who you've been with," she said dryly. "Hopefully, Jax will get that well-toned butt of his over here and sort it all out soon."

"Sooner than you think."

They all turned to see Jax standing in the doorway, Lambda just behind him.

"I have retrieved Chief Mathis from the capital," she said, stating the obvious. Jax smiled at them all and headed over to Lisa first, who was the closest.

"Hey, Lisa," he said, giving her a one-armed hug. "How are you holding up?"'

He turned to James next and offered a hand, grinning.

"James, how's it going?" he said, shaking James' hand with a firm grip.

"How are things with the Council?" Kokonoe asked, thinking of Keynes. Jax sighed and shrugged.

"About what you'd expect," he replied. "Things were already tense with the strain registration system, and this Redcape situation has just thrown a match on the dry wood."

He shook his head, as though trying to shake off a pesky fly.

"Anyway, how's the situation here?" he asked. "Should I be handling our hostage situation first, or our runaway?"

-----------------------------------------------------------

- Rise -

Rise smiled at Marcus, shaking her pigtails.

"You don't need to be proficient," she said confidently. "I'll be handling the cooking."

They entered the kitchen, and Rise surveyed the work areas like a commander surveying the battlefield.

"All right," she said, turning to the other two. "I'm feeling a vegetable stew and a roast. Lenka, you think you can find the vegetables and start dicing? Marcus, try to find a big pot for the stew and some cutlery. I'll look for the spices."

She clapped her hands, beamed, and marched off to work.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Council Chambers

Serena nodded at Alina, then stood and filed out of the chamber with the rest of the Council. Only Keynes, Raidon, and Alina remained behind.

"I'm impressed," Raidon said. "You managed to survive that relatively unscathed. But this is just a temporary fix. Sooner or later, we're going to have to get to the root of the matter."

Ergo Research
- James -

“Working hard,” James replied to Lisa. “With a little bit of progress.”

He spun around on his chair. “How are things on your end?”

However they were interrupted by the arrival of Jax. James felt a sense of relief when he saw Jax. Surely now they would be able to sort everything out and make progress.

He smiled at Jax. “Sounds like it was just as exciting as here.”

“Anyways, as far as I know Rise, and I’m guessing Lenka, are watching the prisoner,” he explained, looking over at Lisa. She probably knew more about what they were up to. “We’ve also retrieved the jammer they used,” he added and gestured towards it. “However, no one here is a weapons specialist, so we’ve called Helios to send an engineer.”

He now turned towards Lisa. “They’re sending Arya,” he told her, realising she probably didn’t know yet. “She should be arriving soon.”

“As far as the other intruders goes…they managed to leave the island on a private charter before we could find them,” his expression darkened. “Possibly with the help of someone from the military.” James shrugged helplessly. “I have the whole coast on alert and their profiles are being circulated to all police stations and security at transportation hubs.”

“By the way, you should probably sign off on that order,” James said, giving Jax a half-grin. “I may have danced around some lines to get those orders out quickly.”

“And for now we’re working hard on a possible way to cure or reverse the effects of the Redcape. At least we know it’s not a natural mutation but it’s induced through a virus-like substance.”

---------------------

- Lenka -

Lenka nodded and went over to the cooling chambers. It was well stocked.

She collected a selection of vegetables, taking her time to make sure all the flavours would work well together. When she got back into the kitchen, she set them down and looked at the pile looking thoughtful.

“Mh…let’s see…there’s you, Marcus, James…” she used her fingers to count how many of them would eat dinner. “I think I’ll need some more,” she said with a smile and took another trip to the cooling chamber.

“Alright, let’s get stared,” she and looked around for some cutting boards and knives.

“Marcus, did you see any knives around here?”

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Ergo Research Lab
- Arya -

A few minutes later.

“No, I need to set up a video conference,” Arya’s voice, sounding slightly impatient, was coming down the hallway towards the lab. “I can’t work on this alone. And I also need this to be moved to a more secure environment. From these pictures, I can’t work on it in a lab. What if I have to turn it on? Do you want another incident of equipment failure?”

The researcher who was escorting her shook his head and started to take notes. “I’ll see to have it moved to one of our containment chambers,” he said and walked off.

Arya stopped in the doorframe. She looked happy and relaxed.

“Jax,” she greeted him. “So you’re the reason I had to take a jet,” she said with a wink and shook his hand. In reality she was relieved when they told her that Lambda was otherwise occupied. Even though it was a very efficient way to travel, it always shook up her insides.

She gave a wave to James and Kokonoe and then walked straight over to Lisa, giving her a tight hug. “I’m happy to see you again.”

Luke Jaron

"Get him!" Shouted one of the men, Luke could hear them still chasing him; where was he? Why was he brought here? "Come back here boy! If you want to live!" That was a lie, these men were killing people who were under their custody, and he was not going to be one of them. Luke quickly turned right, but that turn led him to the dead end. The men chuckled, laughed and their eyes of madness stared at him mercilessly. They had weapons, Luke had only his fists. The men came closer to Luke, and as they came closer, Luke decided to commit the sin he should never commit...His excuse? To survive...

Aegis

- Lisa -

"You have no idea how glad I am to see you right now." Lisa grumbled, latching onto Jax for a moment before sinking back into her chair.

She sighed as he went around the room, but perked up at his final question. "Runaway? I assume you're referring to Luke?"

Before he could answer, her sister entered the room though, and Lisa practically launched herself into Arya's arms. "Ohmygosh!"


"Arya, I'm so glad you're here." She said, giving her sister a tight hug.

------------------------------------------------------------

- Marcus -

"Right..."

Marcus opened a cabinet to find rows of glasses. Nope, not that one.

After a few more tries, he came away with a sizeable pot, which he sat on the stovetop in front of Rise. "Will this work?"

A moment later, Lenka asked about knives, and he waved to a magnet strip over the countertop. "Which do you prefer?" He plucked a chef's knife and a paring knife from the strip and held them up with a roguish grin. "Safe or wicked?"

------------------------------------------------------------

Council Chambers

- Keynes -

"I disagree." Keynes said, stepping up beside Raidon. "You've got a good game face, but I can see the cracks in it. Be honest, how long do you think you can keep this up?"

He watched Alina take a long breath before sinking back into her chair. "Honestly? I don't know how we even begin to fix things."


"For starters, sending Serena as an envoy is a good way to keep her occupied and teach her more about the will of the public, but we both know that she's sharp. This might get her out of my hair for a week, at the most. In the meantime, we need a solid game plan."

"Agreed." Keynes responded, running his fingers through his hair. "For the moment, it looks like the voting is off the table, but I suspect they won't let that last long."

He glanced at his communicator when it buzzed before turning his attention to Raidon. "It would seem that Arya is at Ergo. Would you care to join me in visiting with our prisoner?"


"You two go ahead." Alina waved them towards the door. "I've got work to do, and I'd like to know that at least someone in this administration isn't buried under a mountain of paperwork at the moment."

Luke Jaron

"What are you!?" Shouted the last standing man as Luke broke his comrades' neck; Luke, in response, stared at the man mercilessly with his emotionally dead eyes, the man started to back away then quickly turned and ran. The man casted his Kaja Strain to escape from the scene, but Luke was already blocking his way. 'How!?' The man shouted in panic, as he moved back, he stumbled on the dead body of his comrades. Luke, ever slowly, walked towards the man. The man quickly stood up, "if this is the case, I will take you down with me! You monster!" The man shouted angrily, but before he could make the move, Luke was in range. then twisted the man's arm, and soon his neck. The men who were chasing Luke... they were all dead...

Luke sighed heavily, the idea of meeting a police officer somehow led him to recount the first killing he did. Luke silently shifted his gaze to the door... should he run now and perhaps chase down those who turned his friend...?

How many times did he cry for help and how many times that cry went unnoticed? World was not going to help him so he had to become the monster so that no one could touch him. Was that wrong? And what about now? The world already have abandoned him once, what's stopping it from doing it again?

Luke stood up, but he sighed then sat down as he remembered what Mark used to tell him... "Give the world another chance."

Ergo Research
- Jax -

Jax listened to James' briefing, nodding grimly.

"I'll check in on that lead," he said. "In the meantime, I think I should check on the prisoner."

"Do the kid first," Kokonoe interjected. "God knows that holing up in a room by himself isn't going to do his angst any favors."

Jax laughed and shook his head. Kokonoe still didn't pull her punches. He could still remember her first arrival into the bunker and how she'd beaten them all down with her words.

"All right, I'll talk to Luke first," he said. Just then, Arya entered the room. Jax beamed at her and took her hand.

"Great to see you," he said. "All right, I'll meet up with you guys in a bit."

Jax left the lab and headed down the hallway to the room Kokonoe had told him. Jax gave the door a smart rap with his knuckles and cleared his throat.

"Luke Jarron? My name is Jax. Is it all right if I come in?"

------------------------------------------------------------

- Rise -

Rise snorted loudly at Marcus' lame attempt at flirting as she started filling the pot with broth and adding spices.

"Sorry, Marcus, but the recipe doesn't call for cheese," she said, smirking. She'd known this would be a good idea. Already, it felt like everyone was starting to relax.

She looked at Marcus and Lenka and was suddenly struck with an idea. It seemed stupid that she never realized it before. Having navigated the rough waters of love, she could spot a budding relationship a mile away.

"So... you guys seem to know each other pretty well," she said casually. Had Marcus been pining for Lenka all along, the way James had for her?

------------------------------------------------------------

Council Chambers

- Raidon -

"It would seem that Arya is at Ergo. Would you care to join me in visiting with our prisoner?"

Raidon looked uncomfortable at the prospect. "Arya" and "prisoner" brought back bad memories.

"Right," he said, nodding. It would be good to see Arya, in any case. With the way things had been lately, they hadn't had too many moments to just spend time together.

Ergo Research Lab
- Arya -

Arya was a little surprised by the emotional response from Lisa and held her a few seconds.

“Are you free right now?” she asked Lisa. “Do you want to come help me with this?” she added and gestured towards the jammer when she released Lisa from their tight hug.

A few moments later some technicians came in and lifted the jammer onto a pallet truck, signalling that they were ready to go.

“I’ll be in one of your containment labs on the sub level,” Arya said to Kokonoe. “Though I might have to take it back to Helios, depending on what I find.”

-------------------------
- James -

James watched the reunion between Lisa and Arya. It was good to see, considering how the situation was two years ago.

Slowly they had the lab to themselves again as Jax left to talk to Luke and shortly after Arya with Lisa to take a closer look at the jammer.

Suddenly there was a signal from his computer and he turned his attention back to the screen.

“The simulation is done,” he told Kokonoe. “But I’m not sure this looks right…” he said, sounding doubtful. If these simulations were correct they needed to work even faster.

-------------------------
Ergo Research Kitchen
- Lenka -

Lenka laughed and rolled her eyes at Marcus. Without hesitation she grabbed the chef’s knife and began dicing up the vegetables. She looked like she’d done this before, still she worked slowly, concentrating so she wouldn’t cut her fingers.

“You know if you’re done with fetching pots, you’re welcome to help,” she said to Marcus.

Lenka was done with the zucchini and brought the first batch over to Rise.

“Well, we’re in the same year in university and we have a few classes together,” Lenka explained. Suddenly she looked a little embarrassed and smiled. “Actually we first met when I was on my way to the nurse after feeling quite faint. He helped me out.”

Luke Jaron

Luke stared at the door, the man who called himself Jax was there and was waiting on the other side. Should he open it or make his escape now?

Luke stood up, and shifted his gaze to the window, then to the door. Luke sighed and reluctantly opened the door for Jax.

Luke quickly sat again where he sat previously, he had his arm crossed. Luke stared at Jax, coldly.

"So what did I do so wrong to be chained here?" said Luke, even though he knew fully well why, but Luke helped them. For helping them, instead of help, he was treated like a person that needs to be questioned for motives and his actions...

What about the new government then... it did not sound like his friend was the only one and the new government that was supposed to be different from the old, acted very like the old system. They tried to hide the redcaps situation from people...

If only Luke knew.... only he knew... could he have stopped his friend from turning into one?

Luke could suddenly feel anger growing inside him; an officer perhaps that played a part in hiding the information of redcape... Luke's eyes stared at Jax, with anger, waiting Jax for stating the obvious.

Aegis

- Lisa -

"Sure." Lisa responded with a grin. "I could use a distraction, right about now."

She walked beside Arya as they made their way towards the elevator. "Between the prisoner situation, and the ticking time-bomb that is Luke, I'm not quite sure which way is up anymore." Lisa sighed. "I bet you've got something cool to talk about though."


"How are things going for you? Any fun new toys you're getting to test out?"

-------------------------------------------------------

- Marcus -

"Right..." Marcus grabbed the other knife from the magnet strip and began peeling carrots with it. The motion was a little awkward at first, but after a few tries, he got the hang of it.

Rise was still a mystery to him. At first, she seemed to dislike him, but he hadn't come up with a good reason why. Now, she seemed to have decided to include him in her teasing, which was (maybe) reserved for friends?

"I did what anyone would have done." Marcus replied as Lenka mentioned how they met. "Besides." He grinned at her. "You practically fell into my arms when you did a header off the stairs." Of course, he'd been following her rather closely at the time, having noticed the unusually pale expression on her normally bright face. She didn't need to know that though...

[OOC: I'll post for Keynes next round.]

Ergo Research Lab
- Kokonoe -

Kokonoe turned her attention to James' computer and watched the simulations run through.

"As I thought," she murmured. "It's going to burn out before long. Pretty soon, not even the strain silencing will be able to stop it."

She turned back to her computer and began to type even faster. Then she stood and strode over to her benchtop, where she began to switch on various instruments and analyze her strain silencing samples.

"One way or another," Kokonoe told James, "I think we'll have our answer tonight."

-------------------------

- Rise -

Rise had been listening to Lenka's explanation and her banter with her Marcus. When Marcus said she fell into his arms, however, Rise almost dropped the tray with the roast as she loaded it into the oven.

"What's this now?" she asked, turning to Lenka with eyebrows raised and a cat-like smirk on her lips. "Fell into his arms, huh? That wasn't a staged maneuver, was it?"

It sounded like something she would have tried back when she was crushing hard on Jax. Did Lenka have a crush on Marcus? James would not like it.

--------------------

- Jax -

It was easy to see that Luke had all his defenses up. Jax definitely hadn't anticipated this level of hostility, but it didn't exactly surprise him either.

"So what did I do so wrong to be chained here?" Luke barked out, before Jax even had a chance to speak.

"We'll get to that," Jax said, taking a seat. "First, I'm sorry about your friend. I'm sure there must be a lot on your mind."

He sighed and look off into the distance as the memories came back.

"I had a little sister, you know," he told Luke quietly. "She was taken by Legion, held captive to force me into being their Red Rider. It was all I could think about. Every moment of the day, it ate me up inside."

Jax looked back and met Luke's eyes.

"If it weren't for Rise and the others, I would never have been able to see her one last time before she died. If they hadn't been there to support me... I don't know what I would have done. It's at time like these that you need to open up to the people who want to help you. Cause the fact is, no one's strong enough to handle this kind of thing alone."

Luke Jaron

Luke was surprised by Jax's answer and how he openly told Luke about his past definitely caught him off guard.

However, he quickly find his composure, and break his eye contact with Jax "Look, I am sorry for your loss. I understand you and Aegis had hard time. Your researcher already have told me and the damn prisoner made it sure my friend would not survive the night."

Luke bite his lips, "Do not take it wrongly... Unlike me, you had shoulders that you could lean on your struggles. I had none during mine and I had to kill to survive the civil war, and how it ended put me through much misery."

Luke could not help, but bring his eyes cast downwards. Luke sighed, "Mark was the only person in my entire life who tried to show me something..."

Luke eyes filled with anger suddenly as he had remember something to hate the person in front of him. "And he is about to disappear, because you new government that had promised to be different from old government decided to hide the information about redcape!"

Luke quickly stood up in hot temper, his fists clenched, but he quickly sat down. "Just tell me what I am charged against... I had enough talking to you and your friends who acts as if they were the only ones who had go through their worst... yeah, perhaps, my experience may not be so bad compared to you all, but right now, to me, I am having my worst day ever... " Luke sighed, "if you don't have anything else to say... leave me be...."

Ergo Research Lab
- James -

James looked grim at the conclusion. That wasn’t a very good prospect for the Redcape, but there was only so much they could do with the time they had. How would Luke react if they failed?

He spun the thought further, pulling up the files of all the other people that had been reported missing in the connection with the Redcape appearances. Watching how rapidly the transformation took place, there was likely no more hope for them, even if they could be found.

When Kokonoe began to analyse her strain silencing samples, he walked over to watch.

“How long before you’re able to try a life sampling?” he asked. “And is there anything else I can do?”

----------------------------

- Lenka -

“Fell into your arms?” Lenka echoed and rolled her eyes at Marcus. She didn’t look the slightest bit embarrassed.

“Yes, of course,” she said, clearly in an amused sarcastic tone. “I timed one of my unpredictable fainting spells to get you alone in an empty hallway, just waiting for you to be my knight in shining armour and rescue me from impending doom” She grinned.

“Sorry, but I’ve updated my fairy tale,” Lenka said. The fact that she was barely able to walk straight and had no idea Marcus was even in the hallway at said moment was not something she planned to disclose now.

Lenka brought another bowl full of cut vegetables over to Rise.

----------------------------

Containment Lab
- Arya -

After they got out of the elevator, they walked into a containment lab. The technicians set the jammer down and brought in some more boxes of equipment that were marked with the Helios logo.

Arya began unpacking some of her equipment.

“I’m not exactly up to speed with what is happening here,” Arya said and smiled at Lisa. She cringed a little at the word prisoner. “I left very sudden from Helios and apparently most of the info is on a need-to-know basis.”

“By the way, this is the most interesting piece of equipment, I’ve seen in a long time. How did this machine come into your possession?” she asked. “And what is this about a prisoner? And who is Luke?”

Gently she unscrewed the power plate from the jammer and looked over the circuit before looking back at Lisa, waiting for an answer.

Aegis

- Marcus -

"I hardly think you were doomed." Marcus responded with a knowing chuckle. "Although you'd probably have sported a pretty nasty bump on your head from hitting the stairs."

"Besides." He continued as he dumped the peeled carrots into the pot on the stove. "I'm definitely not fairy tale material, and even if I was, I wouldn't be a knight." His expression darkened for a moment before Marcus scooped a handful of spices that Rise had already set aside into a bowl and began grinding them into powder.

Maybe he wouldn't be the knight, but that didn't subtract from the fact that he wanted to be...

Wait, where had that come from? Did he want to be the knight?

He blinked a few times, and a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. Okay, maybe he did.

--------------------------------------------------------

- Lisa -

"Right." Lisa said with a giggle. "I totally forgot you hadn't been around for all of this."

She tapped her chin a few times, considering her sister's words. "As far as I know, nothing is confidential. Besides, I trust you." Lisa sighed, twining her fingers together behind her back. "We were capturing something called a Redcape, which happens to have once been a friend of this university student, Luke. Apparently, his buddy Mark, got injected with something, and it turned him into a monster." She shivered at the thought.

"It's eerily similar to the tactics Legion used, but the methodology is different. Instead of magic, this was apparently a work of science. I don't know all the details." She turned a knowing smile in Arya's direction. "When James started talking about molecular chemistry, I sort of zoned out."

"Anyway, Luke saw the transformation happen. So, he interjected himself into Rise's group before they came to collect me at the university. After that, we captured the Redcape and brought it here. While James and Kokonoe were working on a cure for the injection, a small raid occurred. They used that." She gestured to the device. "To knock out the electricity in the facility, and someone disguised as a lab technician made it into the lab."

"After we disabled the device, we were able to capture the woman that got in, but we've not been able to get much information out of her." Lisa shuddered visibly. "None of us are very big on information extraction."

"So, hopefully, this thing," she gestured to the machine again, "can tell us something about where she came from and what she was planning."

--------------------------------------------------------

- Keynes -

Keynes gestured for Raidon to follow him as they made their way through the halls towards the main laboratory. "So, how have the investigations been going?" He wasn't big on small talk, but considering their history, Keynes was trying to bridge the gap. He had to work with the man. So, some level of trust needed to be rebuilt...