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 Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2007 8:10 am
Shane hated the city. Towns were good, but cities were another story. As Shane sped along the road, he tried to figure out why it was that so many people had begun to drag him out of the town, and into the city. Today, it was some letter from a place called "Divinity" and he hoped to god that it wasn't some sort of cult recruitment session, and that this Sylph-human thing wasn't some sort of cult leader that he had to drive around everywhere.
Eventually he reached the address, and he gave it a wary look about. I mean, this place was just a little on the extensive side. It looked to him like somebody had just gone and grabbed Alkatraz and jammed it right in the middle of a Gaian city block.
"What the heck?" he said out loud as he parked his bike and began moving towards the wodden door that was imbedded into the wall. It seemed as though he was at the right place.
Great. He was hoping this was some kind of mistake.
It wasn't long before he reached the door, and opened it up to find himself in, what looked like a shop of sorts. As Alice would've said when she stepped first into Wonderland, Shane mumbled.
"Okaaay...this is frieking weird."
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Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2007 8:31 am
At the lone oak desk in the entire room sat a very large, very bored looking man. He had to be at least six and a half feet tall. His graying hair stood up, as if he'd just rolled out of bed and didn't bother taming it. The long, gray overcoat he wore only made him look even more bear-like than he already was. The man hardly fit in the small wooden chair, obviously designed for someone much smaller than he. Without any care for the finely crafted wood, he placed his muddy, black boots on top of the desk, while he leaned back reading a less-than-decent magazine. A shriveled cigarette hung from his mouth, the end glowing a bright red-orange as he inhaled deeply, then sighed out a puff of smoke. Yes, Dmitriev was hard at work.
When the visitor entered through the doorway, Dmitriev took his focus away from the magazine only for a second to glance at the man, and then shifted his attention back to the bikini section. That was the more interesting visual at this point in time.
"Shane Foster?" he asked in a gruff voice, dulled by boredom. His brown eyes never left the magazine. How could Nikita stand this? What did he do all day, sit at this desk with his hands folded awaiting people to walk through the door? He was never taking this job again, if he had anything to say about it. Of course, if the higher-ups demanded it as so, then he really had no voice in the matter. Stupid responsibilities.
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Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2007 9:09 am
Upon seeing the man at the front desk, Shane's immediate reaction was to leave. Guys like this at the front door only meant trouble, and he was in too good of a mood to have to deal with trouble. However, he wasn't a coward eithier. Quickly loosing intrest himself in whatever he was here for, Shane walked forwards towards the man and looked him straight in the eye. If he wasn't going to be more explicive as to what was going on, Shane had no problem with leaving. Nobody wanted to be in the presence of a bored, cigarette smoking, dirty old man in the middle of the city.
"Yeah, that's me." he said, now getting straight to the point "What do you want? I drag myself out of my house all the way here to where I really don't want to be, so this had better be good."
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Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2007 9:17 am
Dmitriev heaved a sigh at the man's response, still not looking at him. Like he actually wanted to be here himself. This was Nikita's job, not an enforcer's. This guy didn't seem like he was going to make things any easier.
"You read the letter, right?" he asked, turning the page. Oh, a centerfold. Damn, that'll have to wait until later. "You know what you're here for?"
This man had better have read the letter. He didn't want to have to go explain all the basics. It wasn't that hard to figure out. Slyphs. Magical beings. Divinity grants them human bodies. They need guardians. End of story. Not that difficult, really. Now, if he wanted to get into the specifics, well that would be a bit harder. Not to mention confidential.
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Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2007 10:03 am
"Of course I read the letter," he said. "Something about me picking up a Slyph right? Mind telling me a little about what they are? I'd like to know about what it is that I'm getting myself into here."
Shane paused. He knew he was overeacting a little bit now, but could you blame him for being a little suspicious? Taking a deep breath, he decided to give the less-than-appealing man a chance
"We can walk and talk if you'd like," he said "I don't think either of us want to be here longer than we have to."
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Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2007 3:52 pm
"Good," Dmitriev replied, finally setting down his magazine on the desk. At least the guy seemed intelligent enough to read the letter. This was a first step in making a good impression on the enforcer. Do your own homework. "There's not much to them. Just magical beings that we've given a human form."
He failed to mention that they could be royal pains in the a**. Like Rodya. At least he'd found the right methods in controlling his own Sylph. Fortunately Rodya had never thought to contact Child Relief services during the execution of said methods.
He continued speaking, standing up to accept Shane's offer on taking a walk. His back was stiff anyway. "That's what you're here for. You're going to take care of it. While we're up and walking I should show you your new apartment. When do you think you can move in?"
Dmitriev opened the back door to the shop, revealing a long hallway lined with mailboxes. He walked through, not bothering to hold the door open for the newest guardian. Yes, chivalry was dead. Especially between men.
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Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2007 5:05 pm
More magical kids huh? What was up with this world and magical kids? Wasn't there anybody normal around here? Just as he was starting to question the possibility of his own magical potential for the zillionth time, Dmitriev opened the door to the line of appartments.
It took Shane a moment to realize what was going on, but to make sure, he looked at Dmitriev with a completely dumfounded look on his face.
"Wait...excuse me?" he said walking forwards and motioning to the hallway "Did you just say move in? Here? I know it sounds crazy but, I swore you just said that. The thought of me living here in the city...I couldn't. It brings out the worst in me."
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Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2007 5:23 pm
Dmitriev kept walking, signaling for Shane to do the same. "You're moving in here. We need to keep the Sylphs under close surveillance, and we can't do that unless their guardians live here."
At the end of the mailbox-filled hallway, he opened the door that led to the compound itself. Beyond the tall walls surrounding the block, lay a grassy area filled with different buildings. Dmitriev always thought whoever designed this place should be shot. The buildings were scattered everywhere with no sign of reason.
"The apartments are free, and they come furnished," he continued. It never really occurred to him that someone might not want to move in. Well, if this guy didn't, then he'd just have to make him want to. "We have larger ones if you happen to have people who live with you."
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Posted: Tue Jun 19, 2007 5:37 pm
Surveillance? That was odd. Shane thought he was the one that would be keeping his own kid under surveillance. He'd have to bring that up with them at a later date, he didn't want to seem like he was being pushy. Then again, he sorta was.
"The appartments are fine," Shane lied as he followed "And size isn't a concern to me. I just like my house the way it is, that's all. Besides, I don't think my son would be ready to move any-" Shane stopped mid-sentence as a thought occured to him when he took a look at the compound. It reminded him of the time that...
"Listen, this is a magical facility right? Can't you just make a portal from a room to my house? I've had it done once before using a broom closet. It shouldn't be too hard for you people to do. Just promise me that, and I'll pick an appartment. Technically, if we do it like that, I'd still be part of the property."
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Posted: Fri Jun 22, 2007 3:37 pm
Dmitriev stopped, turned around, and stared down at the man with cold gray eyes. Did he seriously think that he had the authority to do something like create a portal? Not that he couldn't, of course. No, he could at the expense of his magical well-being--those things were ******** hard to do correctly. But he wasn't about to risk getting in trouble with the higher-ups just for this guy.
"That will be determined by those with more authority, and less mercy than I," he responded coldly. They didn't like bending their rules on a whim. "And even if it does get approved, you'll still be spending most of your time here."
If he didn't accept those terms, well then they'd just have to find a new guardian for the Sylph. That part shouldn't be too hard. And then maybe he'd received orders to have this 'Shane Foster' magically disappear. That would be the fun part.
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Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2007 1:31 pm
"Fine," he answered fearlessly "Then I'll take it up with them."
He wasn't really in the mood to argue anymore with this man, as he clearly didn't have the authority to do anything about it. He'd just bide his time then and talk to the officials when he had the chance.
"Until then, I'll stay in one of the appartments for now. I'll need to go and pick up my son after I see this sylph though. I'd be able to meet her now right?"
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Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2007 1:50 pm
Dmitriev took a long draw from his cigarette, still hanging loosely from his mouth. "You do that."
The smoke poured from his mouth as he spoke, not caring that he was blowing it down into the other man's face. Ha. Like any of the higher-ups in Divinity would actually talk to this guy. More than likely he was just going to get redirected to Nikita, who would do whatever was asked of him. Pansy. But then again, Nikita was always such a ******** doormat. Fortunately that did have its uses sometimes. Most of the time, however, it was just annoying.
"Good," Dmitriev replied, his pocket jingling as he pulled out a giant key ring. Not only were there the keys to every apartment on the complex, but their duplicates as well. He flipped through them, not really paying attention to the numbers, until he pulled two off the ring. One he stuck in his pocket and the other he handed to Shane. "That's your new apartment. The number's written on it."
At the last question he paused for a moment. Did this guy think he knew everything? "We'll call you when your Sylph is ready. We don't know the gender either, so don't be so sure of yourself."
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Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2007 8:59 pm
"Hey man, relax it was just a guess. He, she, doesn't really matter to me, I'll take just as good care of it." Shane said as he pocketed the key. This guy was really touchy, Shane realized. Made him wonder what these higher-ups were like to make a guy like this act so by-the-book. Still, it didn't matter to him personally; Shane was never one to really back down unless there was no other option. He decided that there was one other thing that needed to be said here too, and he hoped that it'd make the man a little less edgy.
"Sorry, I don't think we properly introduced ourselves. I guess you already know my name," he said holding out his hand "Shane Foster."
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Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2007 9:12 pm
"Dmitriev," he huffed, not bothering to return the handshake. Instead, he just stared at it before lifting his gaze to Shane as if saying, 'Are you ******** kidding me?' with his eyes. Like a handshake would ease the tension here.
"Let's cut the crap," he finally said, taking out his cigarette, which had still been hanging from the side of his mouth since the other man entered the building. "I don't like you, and it's pretty obvious you don't like me either. I gave you your key, you know what we expect of you, and I don't really feel like playing tour guide anymore."
Like most other people in existence, this guy just rubbed him the wrong way.
"Unless you have any other questions, you can go find your own apartment and show yourself out afterward."
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Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2007 9:24 pm
That was the last straw. Shane wasn't being unfriendly, or anything, and suddenly, he comes in and is demanded to leave his house to be trapped within this facility, rudely by a man who hardly even made an attempt not to be a total jackass. It was then, that something in the emotional electricity in the air sparked something in Shane that hadn't emerged in years. It was for just a fraction of a second, but there was no mistaking the look that passed over Shane's face was something close to murderous, and he had no problem with shooting it Dmitriev's way...at least during the fraction of the second.
Soon as that happened though, Shane flushed with a mixture of embarrassment, shock and rage. He had no idea why his cool had slipped like that. Not wanting to cause any more damage, Shane hurried off in the direction of his apartment without a second glance back.
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