excolocrack

Today is not one of the days on which I have a lecture, but my path takes me to the campus anyway. A personal errand this time, rather than work. I do not mind; the campus is lovely, as is the walk, and I enjoy seeing my students outside of class, when they are sitting in huddled groups over coffee or walking hand-in-hand down the paths. Several of them recognize me and nod or call to me, and I nod to them in return. I enjoy teaching, though it still feels odd to me to be teaching Mandarin, something that seems so natural to me that it needs no explanation. Ah, well.

It is a beautiful day, and there are many folk on the streets, shopping or wandering or traveling. Illyria is crowded at this time of day, but I see who I am looking for at our usual table. Reading, of course. Smiling, I come up to him and bend to kiss his cheek, "Nihao, Lex." I say, "You are well, I hope?"

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I smile as I see Miao come in. Miao and I have from time to time worked together; our talents are not similar per se, but they are ... complementary. And I think she is one of the colleagues who most closely shares my understanding of how necessary our work is, whilst also being able to regret that certain things must be done.

"Wan an, Miao. Wǒ hěn hǎo, nǐ ne?" She sits down opposite me. "I am glad to have been able to leave my office so early - it is not even dark yet." I smile. "Although my students are taking midterms next week, and so I shall be returning once more to the breach. At least matters have been fairly quiet in other areas," I add. "Although there may a few things to discuss... Nothing pressing. Can I get you a drink?"

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I smile when Lex addresses me in Mandarin. In our spare time I have been teaching him the language, and the speed at which he is learning continually astonishes me. "I am very well my friend," I say as I sit.

"I am glad to have been able to leave my office so early - it is not even dark yet. Although my students are taking midterms next week, and so I shall be returning once more to the breach. At least matters have been fairly quiet in other areas,"

I nod, but do not ask him to elaborate. I know very well what he means, and I am very glad for it as well.

"Although there may a few things to discuss... Nothing pressing. Can I get you a drink?"

"Please. A kir would be lovely." We wait for the waiter to take my order and bring my drink, the perfect shading of pale yellow wine into rich purple cassis. I sip and close my eyes in a moment of pleasure. "So Lex," I say as I set my glass down, "What did you wish to discuss?" I have no worries of being overheard. If it was anything truly sensitive, Lex would not have suggested meeting in public.

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Miao orders a kir, and the waiter brings it along with a martini for me.

"What did you wish to discuss?"

"Straight to business, dear Miao?" I say teasingly. "And here I thought you had missed me." I grin. "There is nothing too pressing... I wondered if you had any thoughts on the illegal clubs that keep springing up at the edge of the outer districts. Law enforcement keep shutting them down, but I am wondering if it is a good use of our time. Not quite either of our area, of course, but we both do have experience in...crowd control. Sometimes valves to release tension are useful, are they not?"

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"Straight to business, dear Miao? And here I thought you had missed me."

"On the contrary, Xiao-Lex," I say, sipping my drink and smiling at him, "I have missed you very much. But if we discuss business now, and get it out of the way, we will have more time to visit. Is that not so?"

"There is nothing too pressing... I wondered if you had any thoughts on the illegal clubs that keep springing up at the edge of the outer districts. Law enforcement keep shutting them down, but I am wondering if it is a good use of our time. Not quite either of our area, of course, but we both do have experience in...crowd control. Sometimes valves to release tension are useful, are they not?"

Lex's tone is light, but I fear that he has not heard all of the rumours that I have. My fingers toy with the stem of my glass. "I fear, my friend, that it is not so simple as all of that," is what I say, finally. "Do you hear the rumours, for example, of the drugs being sold at these clubs?" I do not mean simple things such as heroine. A young man dead in a ditch with a needle in his arm, this is a tragedy, but it is not our domain. No, I mean other sorts of drugs.

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"I fear, my friend, that it is not so simple as all of that. Do you hear the rumours, for example, of the drugs being sold at these clubs?"

I nod.

"I've read the reports. And I know of what kind of drugs you speak. They trouble me, too. Our abilities are gifts," I say, "both of nature and careful creation. They are not meant to be used for recreation by the untrained. But I think cracking down on those who buy these drugs is the wrong approach," I say. "I am more interested in the manufacturers. Has it struck you that whoever sells these drugs must have a superb understanding of genetic modification as well as chemical process? I think," I say, lowering my voice, "that we may need to be looking closer to home for a source."

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Lex nods. I thought that he had heard; Lex is always careful to keep up with current affairs. "I've read the reports. And I know of what kind of drugs you speak. They trouble me, too. Our abilities are gifts, both of nature and careful creation. They are not meant to be used for recreation by the untrained."

I nod in agreement. With power such as ours comes great responsibility, and it should not be left in the hands of the ignorant or careless or malicious. Our power is a rarity, which leaves the masses vulnerable to exploitation by the cruel. And that, that is what we Guardians are here to prevent. It is a crime against the wolf to muzzle him...but it keeps the entire flock of sheep safe.

"But I think cracking down on those who buy these drugs is the wrong approach. I am more interested in the manufacturers. Has it struck you that whoever sells these drugs must have a superb understanding of genetic modification as well as chemical process? I think, that we may need to be looking closer to home for a source."

I tilt my head to one side, "Surely no one from the labs." I say. Excolo Corps' security is extremely tight. I cannot imagine anyone from our labs escaping with even the smallest sample. "I am not so sure that this source is from the Guardians. There are Renegades in the slums who would sell anything to anyone, for the correct amount of money." That, to me, feels much more likely.

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This place is always so civilized, and I shall look forward to watching it burn.

Not that I have anything against the company, of course, or my fellow Guardians. Indeed, I've acquired a taste for them in the course of my work. Renegades are bitter, I think because of the rain, and if one or two 'angels' go missing, well, we work in a dangerous field.

"Good evening, Dr. Shairan. Ms. Lei." I carefully do not smile, but bow my head. They are both acquainted with my work for the Company, and those of my compatriots who know my abilities are always rather nervous in my presence. "Fancy seeing the two of you here."

In truth, they make me nervous myself. Persuasion, and empathy... Both subtle gifts. Still, one day I would like to try myself against Ms. Lei, to see if she can overcome my peculiarities. And Dr. Shairan - I would like just a taste, to see what it's like to go through life that way.

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"I am not so sure that this source is from the Guardians. There are Renegades in the slums who would sell anything to anyone, for the correct amount of money."

"But do the Renegades have the technology to synthesise these drugs in the first place? This is what troubles me," I say. "Either they have help from inside the Corporation," I say, very quietly, "or they have far more resources than we yet know of. Either prospect is troubling. I was thinking some infiltration of these nightclubs might be useful, rather than the more heavy handed crackdowns we have seen up until now. We might learn more that way."

Our conversation is interrupted by Benedict Donner. He has one of the more disturbing gifts of our number. The consumption of body or blood seems to me rather unpleasantly visceral in the application of an ability, even if there is a certain rough poetry to it. I have always preferred the more subtle manifestations of power, although the media love the fliers and the shifters. That suits me quite well, for it means I can work unmolested and undetected.

"Good evening, Benedict," I say, politely enough. "What brings you to these parts tonight?"

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"But do the Renegades have the technology to synthesise these drugs in the first place? This is what troubles me. Either they have help from inside the Corporation, or they have far more resources than we yet know of. Either prospect is troubling. I was thinking some infiltration of these nightclubs might be useful, rather than the more heavy handed crackdowns we have seen up until now. We might learn more that way."

My fingernails tap the false marble of the table. I do indeed see what Lex is saying, but... "The more time that we allow them to remain open, the more of these drugs reach the populace," I say slowly. "And the more time they have to cause harm, both to those who take them and those who happen to be around. I am not so certain that it is worth the risk of letting them remain in business, even for a short time."

As we are talking, one of our comrades, Benedict, approaches. I know Benedict, though I am not friendly with him. His gift is...unsavoury, but useful, and a man certainly canot help the gift that he is given, can he? But I would be lying if I said that I was entirely comfortable around him. "Good evening, Dr. Shairan. Ms. Lei. Fancy seeing the two of you here."

"Hello Benedict," I say after Lex has greeted him. "You are looking well tonight."

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"Good evening, Benedict," Dr. Shairan says, looking up at me. "What brings you to these parts tonight?" Ms. Lei echoes his greeting. "You are looking well tonight."

I smile again, noticing from the corner of my eye several people watching us. A young woman, messing about with some mechanism, and an older - ah, Ms. Desmet. "I was hungry," I tell Dr. Shairan. "You look lovely as well, Ms Lei." I sit myself at their table.

"There has been some concerns among Management about rumours regarding a rise in the trafficking of certain substances," I say quietly, ordering a cup of tea. "As your work puts you in among the city populace, I was asked to check in, to see if you'd heard similar things."

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"I was hungry," says Benedict, and I raise an eyebrow, wondering if that is a joke in rather poor taste. He begins to talk, and I nod.

"Miao and I were both discussing the same issue," I say. "A happy coincidence." Or not. Benedict does have a way of turning up at appropriate moments. Usually before he takes a bite from someone. I do not consider myself at risk from him, however. The Corporation has never had any reasons to doubt my loyalty. "Do join us, then. A drink?" I ask him, and I glance toward the bar and see Parras Desmet. An attractive woman, although ambitious in a cold sort of way. I like her, however, and I raise a hand and smile, and -

My head snaps up as there is a soft sighing sound, and I have time to drop my head to the table and push Miao's down as the front windows explode inward.

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Benedict joins us with no invitation, which is somewhat rude, I think, but neither Lex nor I protest. "There has been some concerns among Management about rumours regarding a rise in the trafficking of certain substances. As your work puts you in among the city populace, I was asked to check in, to see if you'd heard similar things."

Parras is sitting nearby. I smile and raise my hand to her as Lex responds to Benedict, inviting him to stay after the fact. I am about to add in my own impressions when Lex suddenly seizes me and forces my head down. I have only a split-second to wonder what he is doing when there is a blast and the sound of shattering glass. I cry out against the tabletop as shards and chunks of plaster rain around us, my ears ringing and throbbing from the noise.

When I raise my head, my heart is pounding. Several of the tables nearest the front of the bar have been overturned, and there are people on the ground - unconscious or dead, I know not. My ears are ringing, and something is tickling my hair. I touch it, and my fingers come away red. "Is everyone alright?" I say, and am amazed that my voice is not shaking.

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tess-thiess.livejournal.com

I've got my apparatus set up. There's lots 'a devils here - so powerful I have t'shut it down quickly 'afore I attract attention. At least five, all 'v 'em from the lowest circles.

The Chinese one, the woman. I remember her from the riot two weeks ago. She walked through the crowd and they fell away weepin'. If 'm quick I can do it. A short spell to blur the memory of my features, and audacity'll take care 'a the rest.

And then the windows blow in and there's a flash as the ward shatters. Fuck. I step up into the silence after the blast, the shooter fallin' with practised ease into my hand. Three steps, a quick pop and the click 'a the action cyclin' and then I'm leavin', the side door in my sight, not even lookin' back.

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"Is everyone alright?" Miao says over the roar in my ears, but I am already on my feet. I switch my earpiece to the emergency frequency.

"Emergency," I say, and I know that in the crash room the computers are triangulating my location. "Alpha Red," I add, to bring in the appropriate response teams. I glance at Miao briefly, see that she is mostly unhurt, and then I climb onto the table.

"Everyone," I say, very calmly, letting my shoulders relax, my hands rest by my sides, palms out. People keep talking, crying, whimpering. A man is making a thick wet sound. "Quiet." I feel the pressure of the thought expand in my head and then radiate outward. "Quiet, please. Everyone is going to sit still, and then we are going to talk." I jump off the table. "Can you keep people calm, Miao?" I say, and then I move across the bar.

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Dr. Shairan invites me to join Ms. Lei and himself, and I am settling myself at the table when his head jerks around. I follow his gaze, and then there's a thump and a roar and Shairan is dropping his head. The explosion tosses me backwards, and I feel my spine crack into a post with a snap that seems surprisingly loud, given the explosion.

I am quite lucid as I fall. Everything is quite slow, and clear, and I must admire the way Shairan takes charge of things as the dust begins to settle.

There is a burning know low in my back as the bones knit and nerves reconnect. The advice I received was disturbingly accurate. I feel liquid running down my lip and suck it back in, for I can't afford to lose any of what I took just now.

I wonder if anyone else saw the woman who shot at Ms. Lei. I pull myself up as my legs begin to respond. Ms. Lei is bleeding slowly from her scalp. I am amazed at her luck, for is her assassin had been in any less hurry she would be dead, and I would be trying to preserve what I could, in my own way.

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Lex calms everyone in his usual easy and efficient manner, and asks me to help keep everyone quiet. It is him that I focus on; his calmness and his determination. That is what I focus and project on those around us, overpowering their fear and their pain. My own head is beginning to hurt, a slow, steady throb, but I do not allow it to stop me. This is our duty. This is why we are here.

As I work, I think that I see Madame Voronin slipping out through the doors. But I do not let it trouble me. All of my thoughts, all of my energy, go into what I am doing; pushing Lex's calmness, Lex's confidence, into the frightened minds of the crowd.

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The scent of blood in the bar is quite overwhelming, and were it not so public - I must remember to keep such thoughts to myself. Dr. Shairan and Ms. Lei seem to have the situation well in hand, and I doubt I can be of use. And of course, I recall seeing a pale blonde woman leaving with bodyguards - Mrs. Voronin.

My legs find their function as I leave, the small cuts healing with small sounds of glass hitting the floor as shards are pushed from my skin. Kind of the Company to provide such sustenance.

The car is big, and dark. It is quite secure, I am sure, and so I do not touch the window, merely fold my hands and wait in my torn bloodstained clothing. She will see me, I am sure.

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I cannot see inside, but eventually one of her men comes out to let me inside. Big and square, like most bodyguards. It is an amusing thought, them protecting her, but with her gifts they can deal with any neutered physical threats.

"Hello Benedict."

The car is cool inside, and quite. It smells of leather and faint perfume, and now of dust and blood. My ears are still ringing, but it fades slowly in the quiet of the interior. "What a to do that was. Miao and Alexander are no doubt in their element. There were people killed," she says, unperturbed. "How many, do you think?"

I think back to the blood, and the shape and movement of bodies. The moans as people realize they are alive. "Some six or seven, I imagine. Those near the windows and those hit fatally by debris. Another dozen injured, with the remained shocked and mildly hurt." I shake my head. "It could have been much worse, I suppose." I do not comment on her condition - Mrs. Voronin could hardly be other than fine, and if not it would be well not to comment on it.

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She looks past me while I speak, gazing at the wreckage with bland equanimity. "Oh, much worse indeed," she agrees when I finish speaking. "I do not think any of ours were hurt, not badly, and so this becomes a meaningless act." I am not sure I agree, for they get better with practice, and next time I might not have been so cautious, or Dr. Shairan so swift.

"Not senseless, certainly, for there is always a motive, but meaningless, in the scheme of things." Mrs. Voronin leans close and flicks away a speck of debris with one slim, elegant finger. "They will always be afraid of us, Benedict. Should fear be punished, do you think?"

I frown for a moment. "Fear is healthy, but if it becomes overwhelming it can be turned to anger, and to rebellion. Best to show our good face to the general public, and then to eradicate those hopeless cases without mercy or hesitation." I smile. "Unless it is better to give malcontents known groups to join, so that we can keep an eye on them more easily." I glance out the window. "This sort of thing could be done just as easily by a single unknown terrorist - better we know who they are."

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I wonder if I have gone too far, but Mrs. Voronin has never minded my peculiarities. I suspect she sees them as a tool to be used - much like myself. "They use to burn witches, in days gone by. Out in the badlands, the practise resurfaces periodically." I nod absently. I have seen people burn, have burnt them in fact when bodies were inconvenient, but I haven't seen anything quite so ritualistic. My own needs are more expedient.

"Fear is already anger. Anger at the inevitable. They are afraid because they know they will be replaced, one day."

I look down at my hands, crusted with flaking blood fading to brown. "Not yet inevitable, I think, but soon. We're better, frankly, and even the enemies of the Company have embraced that fact."

Her words again agree with my own, which would be more gratifying were I not her student in such things. My opinions should be expected to reflect her own much of the time. "People forget that a terrorist is a useful tool, whether he knows it or not. Zealotry trains their mind into obeying, one has only to change their focus. And the renegades, well..." My lip curls. "Chaff to be winnowed clean."

Mrs. Voronin looks as me speculatively. "I wonder if you would like to play a little game, Benedict." I still my features and body, my eyes bright. "We have a man at the facility who can tell a great deal about a person by their scent, and the scent they leave behind. He isn't to be trusted, but you might visit him, and utilise his gifts at the scene." She looks past me again. "Just between us, of course."

I nod. "Of course," I say, my voice hardly betraying a quaver of anticipation. "I shall be discreet, when I return." It's difficult to remain discreet when eating someone's flesh of course, but who cares about this man, so long as he is still available afterwards?

"I shall go directly, I think. This scene has rather motivated me," I explain rather euphemistically. "Good day to you, Mrs. Voronin."

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tess-thiess.livejournal.com

One of these days I'll find a devil who can sniff out magicks, and then I'll have a problem. But in the meantime I can walk among them, showin' 'em what they expect t'see. They dunt see my gift, and with some effort they dunt see the shooter at my back, hidden under my jacket. Their machines ignore it too, 'cause they're easier t'fool in some ways.

Harder in others, but that ain't my job, and it ain't my reason fer bein' here. Someone got word that several more dangerous devils would be gathering here tonight. We're startin' t'shift supplies 'v the new drugs, and we can't afford more heat on us. I ain't so keen on the drugs, but it brings in cash 'n it causes trouble fer the devils, and that's important.

I ain't quite sure who they are, so I find myself a corner table and pull out my sextant, and start t'take it apart. It ain't so strange, with all the university folks and artists, and we're learned t'hide our gear.

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parras-siren.livejournal.com

It isn't a terrible sort of place, I suppose, and really, one can't work all the time. And they do make an excellent silver fizz.

I sip it at the bar, because really, I'm not sure I want to be here all that long, and look for faces I know. Oh, there's darling Miao. I do think she might have put on a tiny bit of weight since I last saw her, but really it mostly just makes her look healthy.

She's with Lex Shairan, and I smile with some satisfaction - they do work ever so well together, and it would be ever so convenient if they ended up a couple. Heaven knows we could use that particular combination of abilities in one individual. The idea that either of them wouldn't abide by their reproductive duty to Excolo Corp - well. It's really more a moral duty than anything, and they're both so very conscientious. The powers that be are convinced that sooner or later we're going to work out the mechanics of the Guardians' talents, and I've been hearing ever such interesting things coming out of the breeding programme.

I'm thinking of going over when that Donner individual joins them. A most interesting combination of talents at that table, now. His is really rather intriguing, if a little macabre. Perhaps he and Miao...? I look at them thoughtfully.

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I feel perfectly at my ease, now. It is an unpleasant situation, to be sure, but I have the calm certainty that in this moment I understand my role. Miao has calmed the crowd. I hear the whine of ambulances' sirens as they approach. The hurt will be tended to soon.

I crouch down in front of a blonde woman.

"Are you alright?" I ask, and she nods, eyes glazed. She is in shock, but Miao's comforting is working well. I can feel something of the effect of it myself, my own confidence magnified.

"Good," I say. I take her hands comfortingly. "You will be quite alright. Now," I say, and I let my desire to persuade bloom in my head, feeling like hot petals unfurling. "Tell me if you know anything about what happened."

This one proves to know nothing in particular, and I move onto the next.

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