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Codebreaking Conversationalist
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 Posted: Sat Nov 19, 2022 6:20 pm
Adam watched Eion's new form work--would need to ask him what his address was in this form so he didn't mistitle him in a more public space--admiring how he managed to tamp down his fire as he responded with a dry, "Like the motivational posters?" Adam barely did, they served their function and gave the needed impressions and also left his coworkers certain where they stood with him if they were slacking. Good enough. Adam followed instructions even though his brain rebelled against the concept. The desire for power burned deeper. The desire for whatever advantages Emilia and Eion had spoken of burned deeper. The need to see how soul collection would work. Breathe out. 1, 2, 3-- The sensation was cold. Bizarre. Strange. He followed where Eion's hand had disappeared into his chest and his wrist was seemingly missing too, but he felt it. Felt it inside him, clutching something he didn't truly know existed until just that moment, with pain lighting up his senses. Black followed along the arm, and the pain spiked. But Adam did not scream. He would make others scream. As the drip of the power into his soul eased back, he looked down at his outfit in an entertained wonder. This was it? A magic had truly taken him; he felt the tingling of pain throughout his entire body but nothing was enough to keep his mood down. What did this organization do? Did it actually matter? "Did you determine the outfit? Quite traditional, really." He had been to Greece. Adam knew what a fustanella looked like.
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Posted: Sun Nov 20, 2022 7:47 am
The magic took — a uniform overwhelmed the business suit, transformed the boy into someone unrecognizable to anyone who thought to walk in that door. He assumed that, since Adam was to be having a meeting right now, no one would bother interrupting them. But if that happened nonetheless, he supposed he would be teaching Adam starseeding first, rather than Jada.
Faustite removed his hand and shook out the weariness that filled it from such a taxing transaction. While the blaze in his stomach was hidden behind the cincher, the fire in his eyes dimmed. "No." He backed up a margin, however, to take in the outfit to which Adam referred.
Faustite had never been to Greece, despite wanting to go as a kid. His parents weren't keen on the sheer number of steps they would have to climb in the mountainous area, nor was it as magical to them as it was to him. So for faustite, the outfit sparked no recognition. He only took Adam's word for it.
"Suspect Metallia picks her own designs for her soldiers. She's the one that grants us our power. Suspect you won't be learning too much about her for some time yet; much of your time outside your job will be devoted to learning the basics from your new boss, Jadarite. If you want to impress her, best start on one of these." He held his hand out, expectant, to the air, and a pen materialized in his palm. He offered it to the recruit as if he couldn't get it off his hands fast enough.
"That's a tablet. Communication device we use while we're agents. If you think about it, it will appear for you. To dismiss it, think of banishing it. It will recognize your face, only yours, and only like that — 'powered up'.
"Pull the halves apart, then open the Negaverse Training Manual. Best study now for your first meeting with Jada.
"We have some time yet, if you've any questions."
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Codebreaking Conversationalist
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Posted: Sun Nov 20, 2022 10:48 am
"Then I suspect Metallia has decent taste. Your outfit is well-made itself." Adam was not one to kiss a**, no interest in that s**t on his lips, but he did have an acute awareness of power structures and the power of compliments. If Emilia was to be his new boss, and she called in this one to recruit him, he was likely his superior as well. No time was too early to make sure he remained in those good graces, and perhaps Eion had already given signal that wouldn't be difficult. Adam watched a pen appear out of nowhere, a pen that became a full tablet, and he snatched it away from Flameion before he had a chance to throw it away from him. "Nifty piece of tech," he remarked, as he pulled it open. "Some of my coworkers would kill for something like this. Better than having to lug the iPad Pros around, am sure." Adam, for his part, had no interest in handing this over or showing it to them at all. Instead, he rolled it back into a pen and set it on his desk. He'd study it later. For now, he had a ready source of information in front of him that he wouldn't need to dig through dry documentation for. He spared a glance at his computer's clock. Plenty of time to get a few things addressed. "I do have a few." His gaze shifted back to Eion. "I'll begin with these. What is your name in this form?" Easy to assume it wasn't Eion Risk. "I presume you are Jadarite's boss, which means you are in my command chain as well. Metallia sounds like the owner. What is between you and her, if anyone?" He was already beginning to plot out the lay of the land so far as it was relevant to him. "Three. Felt how you touch souls. Now, how do you remove them?"
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Posted: Mon Nov 21, 2022 8:11 am
Faustite left the outfit comment to marinate in silence as he watched the new recruit. This one was very familiar with ladder climbing, as he had heard it called — small wonder that he asked about it in the context of the Negaverse.
"Faustite." He vacated the area from behind the desk and found suitable real estate atop which to pace. Fingers laced loosely into his belt loops as he walked. It was a proper floor to pace, felt sturdy underfoot, and his metal heels didn't sound so clangorous here. "Won't see me as Eion much, so get used to calling me that.
"Top of the organization is Metallia, then Queen Laurelite, then her General-Sovereigns: Axinite, Lepidolite, Hessonite, and Jet. They each head one of four branches: Axinite runs Information, associated with intelligence and reconnaissance; Lepidolite runs Infiltration, associated with career placement and spread of information; Hessonite runs Special Operations, associated with internal affairs and tactical missions; Jet, under Laurelite, runs General Operatives, which is where everyone starts out. Beneath them are Generals — like myself — who are parts of their branches.
"This concerns you far more than the upper echelons: Generals head teams of Captains like Jadarite, who manage Lieutenants like yourself. You are to report to your Captain foremost unless she instructs you to report to me. Headache," he called, and a cloud of fireflies shimmered into existence in the office. "Message Jadarite. Tell her it's done. She can stage her initial meeting with her new subordinate as soon as convenient."
As he spoke, the cloud of bugs coalesced into the shape of Jadarite, then summoned its own tablet to hand to take down the required message. It typed slowly, but with the added benefit of not melting the keyboard as it worked.
"For your last question," flame eyes lit on the new Lieutenant again, "Just pull."
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Codebreaking Conversationalist
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Posted: Mon Nov 21, 2022 8:04 pm
Made sense that he didn't spend much time in that civilian disguise--and he would call it a disguise at this point considering what he was looking at, and watching pace--if this was what that skin was holding back. If he had a form like that, he would disinclined to leave it, himself. Of course, there was something to the magic of being able to walk up as he was, only interesting for what he was wearing and his general attractive form and little else. ... And also for not being on fire, he supposed. "Understood, Faustite." He understood the concept of military fairly quickly with the terms he started with. Branches. General. Captain. He was a lieutenant, and like when he had simply been an accountant, he didn't plan on keeping that title long. And he presumed that Infiltration would be where he was filed, considering how he had been recruited and what he had been recruited for. While Faustite spoke, he looked like he was taking notes mentally even if none aloud, fingers tapping out nothing against the desk. That stopped and stuttered as he saw fireflies appear and then form into the suited form of a body he was familiar with, a person he was familiar with. That was a fascinating ability. As was the concept that all he had to do was don this guise and just... Pull. "That easy to end a life, mm?" Adamite or whatever the hell he was now leaned back as he tossed over the concept in thought. "Can't say I'm upset about that. What do I have to do to even get my hand through there? "Also," he tilted his head toward the firefly Jadarite, "that a youma?"
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Posted: Mon Nov 21, 2022 9:18 pm
All this talking left a boy parched. He paced to the desk, where he spotted a mug and a thermos. The mug, he hoped, had tea, but the color of the liquid wasn't looking promising. He assumed the thermos had coffee, judging by some of the sleep-deprived officers he met in the halls over the years. Wordless, Faustite tented his fingers over the rim of the mug and picked it up. Giving it a quick sniff, Faustite's face rankled in disgust and he set the mug down quickly enough that a few drops of coffee sloshed out. Then he tried the thermos — picked it up, opened it, sniffed. Smelled more like thermos than anything else. As he tasted it, he found it was pleasantly full of water, and downed a few gulps before retiring it on the desk.
"Always been easy to end a life," Faustite reminded him. People were fragile things, easily snuffed out by accident or purposeful intent. People died by car accidents, stabbings, and neck breaks, just as they died from choking on pretzels or drowning in an inch of still water. Compared to other methods, starseeding was one of the more difficult ones for the concentration involved.
"Best not do it for sport or revenge. Makes you look suspect. Negaverse isn't in a place to afford serial killers." He didn't know when — or if — they would. "Easier to starseed someone — take their soul — once you learn to drain energy. More appropriate for Jadarite to teach you those.
"And yes," he finished as he turned to the copy of Jadarite. "Headache's my youma. Can get your own when you're a Captain."
Faustite paused, glanced at the clock hung on the wall behind the desk. "Should get going. Think about your normal self to let go of that guise. Best you don't let others see you like that.
"Jadarite will be in touch. Certain you'll figure out how to contact me, too."
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Codebreaking Conversationalist
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Posted: Mon Nov 21, 2022 9:43 pm
Adam watched Faustite carefully as he made his way back to the desk, his brows lifting in something akin to amusement as he realized what he was going for. Honestly, he would have offered to get him something, perhaps some water from a nearby water cooler -- perhaps he should try adding one of those to his office -- but Faustite had already been making disgusted faces before he even had gotten to that point. He certainly wasn't used to people simply taking from his drinks -- looked like he figured out where the water was, he preferred to keep his water cool and avoided mugs for that reason -- but he also wasn't used to being inducted into an organization featuring soul snatching and demons. Coming across Emilia on Tinder had changed much more than he would have expected. "Suppose you're not wrong about that. It is usually just very," he pursed his lips, "messy. And with consequence. I'll make sure to keep what I do measured." Alas. Best laid plans and all as such, he needn't get ahead of himself as thrilling as the prospect. And yet, there was a part of his mind that pondered what more he could do already with those powers. Energy draining too, he supposed. It sounded much less flashy, much less visceral than the stealing of a life, but perhaps not everything needed to be so heavy. That could have its own utilities, even if just by tiring people too deeply to make them realize fully what a bad offer they were signing. Adam closed his eyes, the power melting away and leaving just the businessman in a suit in its wake. Mm. After being Adam...ite, this felt almost boring. A lot of things felt boring. "If they can be that helpful, I look forward to commanding my own." His gaze stayed on Faustite as he seemed to be on his way out. "I look forward to speaking with you again, Faustite."
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Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2022 8:02 am
If Jadarite just had him awaken a prolific serial killer, then Faustite was never going to hear the end of it. Even if he didn't have any personal stakes in whatever victims this man maybe stalking, he was well aware that Infiltration would suffer no further messes of his — of the burning sort or the murder sort. That went down the line from him, too, extending to the rest of his entire team, and any subordinates under his direct subordinates. Unfortunately for Faustite, he needed to stay on their good side.
"Good. See to it that I don't get angry letters from Infiltration." He rapped his knuckles on the desk twice.
Faustite nodded as he turned, then waved Headache on to follow him. To hear that Adam had an interest in youma brightened his mood; after having had only one agent in their midst, and that agent showing no particular appreciation for youma, he quite liked hearing that her subordinate thought they were interesting — if only from a commanding standpoint. He supposed that was all he could expect from humans; seldom did they appreciate the strange new complexities that rose out of a youma when their human side was completely extinguished.
Whatever. He finished his deed, and it was nearly two. He was overdue for his three-hour nap.
"You'll hear from me," he assured. As he approached the door, as if making to leave through it, the burning youth vanished in a hint of smoke and cinder. At nearly the same time, Headache likewise disappeared into the same type of portal from whence it came, and the pair left nothing more in their wake but the lingering scent of copper, salt, and moondust.
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Codebreaking Conversationalist
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Posted: Fri Nov 25, 2022 6:53 am
"Wouldn't do much good for either of us, would it." Adam knew from who had recruited him originally and by Faustite's own words that going wild and losing all the control he strained to keep on himself would not be favorable. It would hurt his reputation, hurt the reputation of his superiors, and no doubt circle back into him. Shameful really, nothing he wanted to be part of really. The concept of taking souls thrilled him like little else he had ever heard, a fantastical dream that only was capable in dreams or perhaps nightmares... But he needed to be careful. Plans. Like completing a maze, a well-laid plan was always the most satisfying. Adam watched as Faustite and his youma--what a fascinating creature--approached the door. Expected him to open it and exit it to follow... But then, he was simply gone, and so was the former mimic of Jadarite. Teleportation. Fascinating. He took a few moments to review his schedule. His next meeting was in fifteen minutes. Did that buy him enough time to call on the mysterious form again and get started reading? Absolutely.
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