House of Secrets
A close call on this night, as the Black Owl screeches curses laced with memories, but the Dreamer banishes them with a flurry of white. We go to Absalom Station, in the heart of the city where steel beams groan under the weight of gold, and the blood runs thick with nobility.
Nicholas Carter: "—thought we had this shit handled, Ildanya."
We pan into a lush room decorated in greens and golds, motifs of hissing serpents on nearly every surface. Behind a thin, pale noblewoman with a sword across her lap, an enormous mural of a black bird and white snake dominates the wall. They are entwined in conflict — talon and fang poised to cut flesh — and are painted in a quality that borders on a modern picture. Nicholas Carter glanced at it for a moment, never certain that it was just a painting, before looking back to the head of House Medusa.
Ildanya Medusa: "We do have it handled. Jedarat is barely a speck on the news cycle — your Dream Team and this mess in the Shadari Confederacy has everyone riled up instead."
Nicholas Carter: "All three teams you deployed missed their check-ins. Someone is going to wonder where they went."
Ildanya Medusa: "There have already been investigations. Delayed and squashed, until we have the resources to handle it properly. Which I believe is your job, Mr. Carter." Nicholas chewed on the end of his cigarette, letting the ash fall to the carpet. Ildanya followed its descent with her gaze, which trailed back up after it landed, her expression a little colder than before. Nicholas Carter: "I'll get House Popov on physical containment, just keep the media away."
Ildanya Medusa: "I was already doing that... So what are you really here for?" The detective huffed, filling the air around his head with smoke. Then he reached deep into his coat pockets, and threw a manila folder of documents into Ildanya's lap. Ildanya Medusa: "Is this the part where I say 'what's this'?".
Nicholas Carter: "It's my will and testament. Val has a copy, but it's in her personal files."
Ildanya Medusa: "You need to keep this with us because...?"
Nicholas Carter: "No logical reason. Just a bad feeling." Ildanya put the papers on her sidetable, leaning forward, adjusting the sword in her lap. Her eyes narrowed, looking for the lie within, but not finding an answer. Ildanya Medusa: "Very well. I will submit it myself."
Nicholas Carter: "Thank you." Nic walked across the room, discarding the stub of his cigarette in a nearby ashtray, and then reached into his pocket for another. His shoulders stiffened, and then his hand came free of the pocket — as empty as it had gone in. Ildanya's eyebrow raised again, but now in curiosity instead of anger, and Nic gave his hurried goodbyes. As the twin doors out of Ildanya's office slammed closed, the vision goes black, and so fades the dream...
Nicholas Carter: "All three teams you deployed missed their check-ins. Someone is going to wonder where they went."
Ildanya Medusa: "There have already been investigations. Delayed and squashed, until we have the resources to handle it properly. Which I believe is your job, Mr. Carter." Nicholas chewed on the end of his cigarette, letting the ash fall to the carpet. Ildanya followed its descent with her gaze, which trailed back up after it landed, her expression a little colder than before. Nicholas Carter: "I'll get House Popov on physical containment, just keep the media away."
Ildanya Medusa: "I was already doing that... So what are you really here for?" The detective huffed, filling the air around his head with smoke. Then he reached deep into his coat pockets, and threw a manila folder of documents into Ildanya's lap. Ildanya Medusa: "Is this the part where I say 'what's this'?".
Nicholas Carter: "It's my will and testament. Val has a copy, but it's in her personal files."
Ildanya Medusa: "You need to keep this with us because...?"
Nicholas Carter: "No logical reason. Just a bad feeling." Ildanya put the papers on her sidetable, leaning forward, adjusting the sword in her lap. Her eyes narrowed, looking for the lie within, but not finding an answer. Ildanya Medusa: "Very well. I will submit it myself."
Nicholas Carter: "Thank you." Nic walked across the room, discarding the stub of his cigarette in a nearby ashtray, and then reached into his pocket for another. His shoulders stiffened, and then his hand came free of the pocket — as empty as it had gone in. Ildanya's eyebrow raised again, but now in curiosity instead of anger, and Nic gave his hurried goodbyes. As the twin doors out of Ildanya's office slammed closed, the vision goes black, and so fades the dream...
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