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Emotions Legend
[quote][b]Asmodeus (Oct 12, 2001 03:12 p.m.):[/b] "Is she ready?" Vaisou's voice drifted to him from the hallway, and Nathan stiffened a little. He didn't like the sound of that. Even so, when the man stepped into the small briefing room Nathan's face was the same resolute, slightly grim mask he had worn in front of Vaisou ever since he'd known what it was he was working for. Since it had become clear to him what was at stake, Nathan had not allowed Vaisou any emotional output at all, when he could prevent it. Such things only got in the way, and they were sacred. There was only one person Nathan would ever reveal his feelings to again, and she wasn't here. Vaisou greeted him with a jovial smile, as always, and Nathan nodded slightly, as always. He almost didn't mind it anymore. It was stable. It was solid. It was [i]constant[/i]. Wearing a mask was much easier when everyone else wore them too. Besides, if Vaisou was smiling, whatever he had to tell him was not going to please him, and to have that method of prediction made him feel more in control, even if the forecast was not a good one. Of course, nothing Vaisou told him ever [i]pleased[/i] him. If it was something decisive, or something that he was going to be punished for, Vaisou would be serious. Nathan had only seen him serious twice since his arrival, once during the discussion and once after his attendance at the interview of that Wolf spy Abrams who'd managed to slip his restraints and attack the interrogator. Apparently, he had been expected to intervene. Nathan did nothing he wasn't specifically told to do. The repercussions had been...unpleasant. Nathan did not mind Vaisou's smile much at all. "Good morning, Mr. Terrence," he said cheerfully, and took a comfortable seat. It only took a moment of expectant staring from Vaisou before he responded as expected. "Good morning, sir." His response was nothing more or less than formal, and Vaisou took no note of his lack of enthusiasm. Business as usual. "Well, I assume you're eager to learn the purpose of my visit this morning, Nathan. Isn't every day a fine young man like yourself completes his nursery training. Excited?" Nathan's eyes narrowed slightly, but his pulse immediately increased. Finished. He was finished, or almost. They had never given him any idea of his progress, but he knew how long he'd been here. They'd given him increasingly difficult tasks and tests over the past four years, and he'd silently done all they asked him to do. Complaint would have slowed his ascension, and so he made none. Now it was almost done, and Kat would be graduating soon, if she hadn't already. Now he would be free. He leashed his enthusiasm immediately. If there was one thing his IA training had taught him, it was that no one was ever really [i]free[/i]. There were only differing levels of dependence. Everyone required something. Everyone [i]needed[/i] something, and to get what you wanted from someone, you needed only to provide what that person needed...or offer to refrain from depriving them of it. Whatever this man asked him to do now, he would do, because Nathan needed Katera. Freedom was an illusion. He would have her. That was enough. "Yes," he replied softly, but there was enough energy behind that word to give his voice more life than it normally contained. Vaisou nodded approvingly. "Well, normally, Nathan," the man said, his tone lowering confidentially to indicate he was [i]sharing[/i], "we have a routine case that we ask our students to handle for us - something simple, you know, something..." Vaisou hesitated, waving his hand airily to summon the correct word. "...[i]light[/i]." The grin returned, and despite his new eagerness, Nathan began to feel a little nervous. [i]What can they do that hasn't been done? I will be in charge. What can they ask me to do that I won't, to see her again? Nothing.[/i] "You see," Vaisou said almost apologetically, "we have a [i]situation[/i], and it needs to be handled. Quickly. The subject is...oh, a little younger than you, I'd wager, and we feel she'd respond best to a peer." That nervousness diminished somewhat. Nathan had attended female and male interrogations. At first, it had been difficult. The women almost always cried, and he had nearly gotten himself into trouble when one of the interrogators had attempted to strike a particularly reluctant female prisoner. If the woman had not cracked afterwards as quickly as she did, he could have faced formidable consquences. As it was, they watched him extremely carefully, and before the month was out he had, to his disgust, attended three other similar "interviews". Two of them turned violent, and had he not been in a separate viewing room for the first, it would have become still more violent. Vaisou had seen him afterwards, asking solicitously if Nathan felt he could handle viewing female criminals being treated roughly. It was the only time since Vaisou had dispensed his terms that Nathan had come near breaking composure, and that evening, alone in his room, he had been forced into serious contemplation. He held no misconceptions about the guilt or innocence of the people the IA interrogated. They questioned whoever they felt they needed to question to obtain the information desired. It was not a matter of guilt or innocence. The people questioned almost always had a fairly decent chance to cooperate peacefully before violence was inflicted. If it was important enough to them not to be injured, they would tell. If it was important enough to them not to tell, they would be injured. These things happened with or without his interference, and no change would be made dependent upon how he decided. The things that [i]did[/i] depend on it were the things that he needed. Katera depended on it. The only thing his reticence would bring him would be Charybdis. The only thing his participation would bring him was Katera. Katera, and guilt. But what difference would it make? As Vaisou had not-so-subtly mocked him, Nathan was far more guilty than those interrogators were. They were merely performing their job function. Nathan had simply lost his temper. They were required to do it. Nathan had done it recreationally. For [i]fun.[/i] His soul couldn't get much blacker. After he had Katera, maybe he would have the chance to become more moderate. He would have his life with her to spend, to make up for what he'd done to her and to others with his love for her. Until then...until then, he would do whatever he had to. Everyone who stood between him and Katera - Vaisou, his instructors, the prisoners - they were obstacles. They were enemies. They were [i]Wick[/i]. The second interrogation he had still struggled for icy composure, but he hadn't struggled against an urge to leap into the fray and defend the woman. It had merely taken much of his concentration and willpower to keep from smiling. He hated it, in himself and in others, but he would do what he had to. If Vaisou needed further demonstration, Nathan was willing to provide it. Vaisou lifted a desk from his briefcase, activated the display and then turned it, that Nathan might read it more easily. "Her name is Clara McKendrick. She'll be twenty years old next week. She was a promising student at Palani University earthside until last year, when she apparently formed an association with Phillip Highland, one of the -" "I know the name," Nathan interrupted smoothly as he began to scan the document. "Sympathizer-turned-strategist for the SA chapter of the Wolves. Alleged to have been the mind behind the destruction of Lunar Outpost IV two years ago." Nathan looked at Vaisou with unwilling curiousity. "Was he?" Vaisou grinned, of course. "Oh, yes. He made it his special pet project to remove our presence from the moon completely. In fact, we found out he had designs on Outpost VII as well just last week, and Ms. McKendrick's unexpected stay with us was mostly...insurance. She came quietly enough. This is the second occasion she's spent time with us. Last time we had her in less than adequate facilities, and a small group of Wolves forced entry and helped her to escape. It should be noted," he added conversationally, "that Highland knew she was incarcerated, and didn't bother coming himself." Nathan said nothing to his, but a single fair eyebrow raised a millimeter as he continued to look through the file. "On the subject of Outpost VII," Vaisou continued inexorably, "you'll be glad to know that one of our marine patrols positively identified and killed one Phillip Highland at about 4:00 standard time this morning. Sadly, the Marine AIT doesn't have much of an intelligence prerequisite, and Highland was on his way [i]out[/i]. He has traditionally placed the most important structural explosives himself, apparently. Not terribly intelligent, for an intelligent man." Vaisou shrugged. "To summarize, Outpost VII is now being quietly evacuated, but we need to know the location and detonation time for those explosives, if there is a timer. If there's a trigger, we need to know that. Frankly, we need to know quite a bit, and we have very little information to go on...and we feel certain that, properly persuaded, Ms. McKendrick could provide you with anything we need to know. "That persuasion won't be easy. You've read over her information. McKendrick has been following this man around like a faithful pet since they met, and that kind of loyalty is hard to crack. She doesn't know about his death. That would only complicate matters at this point. I don't envy you, Nathan, but if you succeed, you're done. If you fail..." Vaisou shrugged again. "We lose approximately 2000 viable IF employees and $200 million dollars' worth of equipment, and you're done." The man's look left Nathan no confusion about the definition of the second [i]done[/i]. All or nothing. He shut down the desk and stood slowly. "Where is she?"[/quote]
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