Mercenaries’ Tale – 3.09 A Simple Request
“Ingrates! Cretins! Morons! What the hell do I pay you people for?!” Silverton Salmanic hollered in anger as he slammed his fists onto his mahogany desk, spittle flying from his mouth with each insult. His bionic eye reacted to his mood, an ominous red glow emitting from it as his anger swelled. The pair of clerks that were the brunt of his rage coward on the other side of the expansive piece of furniture that was the desk. Those who witnessed the C.E.O this upset rarely left the room in one piece.
“O-our security teams are combing the desert, s-sir! Th-they-re doing their utmost to-”
“Clearly that’s not good enough!” Silverton roared as he threw his “in” tray across the room, the plastic casing smashing to pieces as it impacted the wall with a loud crash, causing paper to be flung about the room and for the clerks to wince in terror.
“Who the hell are these people!? How did they escape!? We had one rule! Nobody sees inside the power plant and you people can’t even-”
A knock on the door leading to the elevator interrupted his train of thought, Lucretia stepping through a moment later as if this was just a normal day at the office, her face an emotionless mask.
“Is this a bad time, sir?” she asked innocently. Her entrance seemed to reset Silverton, the business man regaining his composure. His bionics slowly returned to a blue glow as he began smoothing his hair back into place.
“That depends entirely on what you want, ms Velarina. You can clearly see I am in a meeting…” he gave off a threatening air as he spoke, heavily implying that there would be trouble if she were to waste his time. If Lucretia was concerned then she didn’t show it, merely bowing her head respectfully.
“There’s a call on your private line, sir. Shall I put it through?”
Silverton’s nostrils flared as he huffed. The only people that had access to that line were either important share holders or his family. Seeing as how his family knew better than to try and contact him outside of very specific periods of time, that meant it was far more likely to be a shareholder, most of which had only come into possession of their shares due to being close personal friends with his father. He’d gladly be rid of them all if he could…
“What the hell could it be now? Put them through,” he took a moment to readjust his tie as he made himself comfortable in his large leather chair. The clerks took this as a reprieve and practically ran for the door. Lucretia stepped aside, taking care to note their names and faces as they left in case she were needed to take care of them later. A digital clipboard was in her hand, the secretary using it to connect the call.
Silverton took a breath and then pressed a button on his desk, a hologram being projected at his eye level. For a moment it was a small, spinning hourglass as the call was connected, then a pair of identical female faces appeared floating on the holographic screen. They looked to be in their thirties, their blonde hair neatly tied back into matching ponytails. Half-moon spectacles were primly perched on the bridges of their noses, the two glancing out at the world through them with a look of disdain. Even their clothes matched, the two wearing identical white lab coats. The sight of them caused Silverton to perk up in mild interest.
“The Alexandretta sisters? I should have guessed. How long has it been?” He slipped into casual conversation like an overcoat, his demeanour relaxing. The sisters were less amused.
“Five years and two weeks ago,”
“When we performed that favour for you,” the two took turns to speak, finishing each other’s sentences as if they were sharing a singular mind. Those who weren’t familiar with the twins – Alice and Zena Alexandretta – often found it dis-concerting. Silverton had known these two since he was a small child, the two having worked closely with his father for a time. He knew their speech patterns were but the tip of a very strange and particularly dis-concerting iceberg.
“Of course. And I suppose you have felt the need to get in touch due to all of your foot soldiers currently littering my power plant, hmm?” he reached for a coffee mug and took a sip, taking care to control his body language for the time being. His organic eye maintained eye-contact whilst the bionic one slowly clicked and clacked around its socket, taking in not just the sister’s facial expressions but also the state of his desk and the room at large post-tantrum.
“That was an unfortunate,”
“Outcome and we can only apologise,” the two began.
“Unfortunate due to being caught? Or for losing so many assets?” Silverton used his free hand to idly neatened some of the paperwork that had landed on his desk when throwing the in-tray, a bored expression resting on his features.
“We could not afford to,”
“Lose the opportunity. We could not,”
“Risk our target going back into hiding.”
“This would be the mage, correct?” Silverton glanced towards his secretary, Lucretia bringing up her clipboard.
“Part of a trio of mercenaries, Gratin is a grade six Twigarnian magi who was allied with an ex-member of New Dawn. He and his fellows were being closely monitored during their time in Galmanoc and the Galmanee desert. If someone had not deemed it fit to interfere with our security systems, he may well of been apprehended rather than given a chance to escape,” she surmised for the room at large, Silverton turning his attention back towards the holographic screen.
“That is putting it delicately. Not only were security feeds inside the Power Plant cut, but a heavily armoured air craft shot down many of our own before proceeding to explode inside an important delivery route. Our supplies of mythril at the plant may well become shockingly low if other delivery methods aren’t procured,” he drummed his fingers on the desk thoughtfully, “what reason could you possibly have for causing so much damage? You of all people know how important that supply route was. Given your own work with my father, you are just as likely to suffer severe consequences should the public learn of the true nature of the power source…” he left the sentence hanging, absorbing their reactions. The twins were unfazed.
“Tell us, Silverton,”
“Have you heard of The Nexus before?” Silverton’s face remained emotionless despite the seemingly random turn in the conversation. His cybernetic eye, however, snapped to the screen, clacking as the optical systems within zoomed in on the scientists and refocused itself, the iris expanding and dilating appropriately.
“…My father may have mentioned something about that…” replied the business man vaguely, lazily waving a hand as a way of saying that it had been a trifling detail in a half-forgotten conversation from long ago. His eye remained motionless however, telling the scientists that for once they had Silverton’s full attention. It was his one tell; the eye usually travelling around the room, lingering on random points of interest as Silverton’s mind wandered. It only ever stopped on the rare occasions when Silverton deemed something truly important. Seeing the motionless eye had a habit of unnerving Lucretia as it was so rare to see. The sisters, meanwhile, found themselves smiling at this little detail.
“Your father had a vested interest in aethionics1,”
“Considering the nature of the power source your company uses to energise the planet,”
“You can understand why. He came to us many times to see if we could,”
“Improve the efficiency of the power extraction process,”
“Seeing if there was a way to extend the lifespans of the mages in order to achieve,”
“Maximum extraction and so on. He thought the Nexus would allow him to harness,”
“More power than a mere mage was capable of,” the two explained. Silverton leaned back in his plush chair and steepled his fingers together.
“And could it?”
“That would require further study,”
“Although signs point to yes. The Nexus is akin to the Holy Grail for Aethioligists,”
“As it is posited that it is the birth place of magic, creating aether particles in a,”
“Similar process to how a star creates atoms. We wish to study it.”
“Interesting. What has this to do with three random mercenaries and all of your dead employees currently littering my power plant?”
“The Twigarnian that accompanied the two humans known as Douglas McCracken and,”
“Katherine O’Donnell is an experiment designated Subject GR4-71N. We believe its what ms Velarina designated as “Gratin”. It was created from DNA… provided by the Tserulian Monastery. That DNA had,”
“Originally belonged to one of the men to first discover The Nexus and therefore had access to the site known as-”
“The Spire…” Silverton finished.
“So you have heard of it?” Alice noted, the two scientists somewhat surprised by the revelation.
“Father turned it into a bedtime story of sorts for me when I was younger and I in turn have told the story to my own heir. He said that once upon of time, a thousand years ago, a collection of magic users from every section of the Element Wheel travelled to the far reaches of space along with their young protégés in search of The Nexus Point; the birthplace of magic. When they arrived, they created a wondrous Spire from which they could study The Nexus and one day learn to harness it for themselves. They lived in harmony for many years, attuning to the power of The Nexus until two outsiders belonging to the Tserulian Monastery arrived searching for the criminal Fire Mage known as Ve’hem; a traitorous Twigarnian that had stolen a great deal of money before leading his friends to the far reaches of space. In order to protect himself, Ve’hem promised the monks to bestow upon them the power of The Nexus in the hopes that this will earn him his freedom. The power he unleashed wiped out the mages, however, only Ve’hem’s cowardly son surviving. The boy’s last act was to use his magic to hide The Nexus from all who may come to seek it, The Spire being the only way to reveal its location. The Spire may only open for those that had dwelt within it, the Boy confident that the secret of The Nexus would die with him along with the tragedy that had occurred to his family,”
“And now Subject GR4-71N is the key to reopening The Spire and rediscovering The Nexus,”
“I believe I am beginning to see why you went to the lengths you did to recapture this experiment,” Silverton muttered, thoughtful.
“And why we are coming to you now. By all means,”
“Do as you will with its companions. GR4-71N is vital to our work.”
“You too may find some benefit in allowing us to take back our property,”
“I rather wish you had spoken to me of this before breaking into the power plant…” mused Silverton. The Sisters remained silent, merely watching him like a couple of hawks.
“Do you need him alive?”
“Preferably. We’re not certain as to how the Spire operates. It may only work for GR4-71N and,”
“Unfortunately, we no longer have the DNA sample,”
“Used in its creation in our possession,”
“Hmm. In that case, you have my word that he – or it – be captured rather than killed. I will be in touch once this has been achieved,” Silverton agreed. The sisters bowed their heads respectfully.
“Thank you,”
“Silverton Salmanic. It has been a pleasure,”
“Speaking with you,” said the two before they ended the call. Silverton did not move, staring at the now empty air whilst lost in his own world. Lucretia nervously cleared her throat.
“Are you just going to let them take the mage?” she asked aloud, curious.
“…No. My father went to great pains to discover the probable location of the Nexus. I am not about to allow those old fools to reap the benefits of his work,”
“He knew where it was?” inquired the confidant to her employer. Silverton allowed himself a smile.
“He was obsessed with the tale of The Spire for the longest time, forging connections with the Tserulian Monastery in order to gain access to everything they had on Ve’hem and his research team. He collected all of his early publications and managed to extrapolate the coordinates from that, no doubt with the Alexandretta’s help,” he explained, his chin resting on his steepled fingers as he considered this, “I wonder if they are aware that I kept all of his old files…?” he lapsed into silence, a far away look in his eye.
“…Sir?” Lucretia prompted. All this talk of mages and magic was unsettling her. Silverton had always been the level-headed businessman. The sudden interest in rumoured magical nexuses and mystical spires felt like a departure from the norm.
Silverton surprised her by getting to his feet.
“Cancel my appointments for the rest of the day. I have matters to attend to at home…”
“I… really?” Silverton lived in his penthouse, a lavish apartment taking up the majority of this floor of Salmanic Tower. He hadn’t set foot in his ancestral home of Salmanic Manor since the death of his wife years prior.
“You heard me, Ms Valerina. There is much to be done…”
1Aethionics is the scientific study of magic. Because some people, when told “a wizard did it”, can’t help but ask “how”?
Post by Sam | October 8, 2022 at 12:01 am | The Mercenaries' Tale | No comment
Tags: Aether, GR4-71N, Lucretia Velarina, Nexus, Salmanic Incorporated, Silverton Salmanic, The Alexandretta Sisters, The Spire, Ve'hem