This was life. The excitement in the air was palpable. Even moreso for a sentient. All of the cast members were ready to go. Anton was in his dressing room, applying his makeup. He had done this long enough that he did his own, unless something really difficult had to be done. The role of Orpheus didn't require a lot.

Anton got into costume, which basically consisted of a red toga and a pair of greek sandals. Again, it was nothing elaborate, but it looked fine. He put himself through some warm up exercises, and got himself into character.

The story of Orpheus was a tragedy, but it had its happy moments. He would have several emotions he would have to draw upon tonight, but in reality. He was just excited about this performance. The role of the Greek myth was one he had always wanted to play. And a role he always felt some sort of connection to.

Final preparations complete, Anton got to his place. It was just about time for the curtain to open. The Orchestra was tuning, and Anton got out his lyre - his main prop - and tuned it as well. This would be fun.

2000 hrs and all was assembled. Again the Viking's lined up on the attack ship and Manix was alone on the defense ship. Manix had tried not to think about this battle, this was going to test his skills too and he didn't want it to pre-planed. Easy enough with how busy he had been. He reached for the light, again grabbing it by the throat and taking it down into submission. Each time felt like it took hours, in reality it was less than a heartbeat.

The red flare launched and the fight was on. 2 boat crews hit the water, one in a zeppelin, on team under the water on scuba. A crew was on each side of the pool approaching in a standard "I" formation, 2 other crews on land fanned out further. Manix made his shield around himself and started a strong whirlpool in the center of the pool. The crew in the zeppelin abandoned the boat and willing floated into the malstorm. They began the test firing quick to get bearing an it wasn't long before paint markers hit the shield.

The crews on land, closest to the water was sent 2 more separate threads one build a high wall another built a low wall. Port side attackers hit the high wall while the starboard side tripped over the low. The other 2 crews were out of site. Manix used air and water to create a mirror to see behind him. The port side had built a human pyramid and reached the top pulling the others over, while the starboard side by the 3rd team member was hurdling the fallen with the rear members helping em up. Manix had a surprise for em and that was when the 1st sonic blast hit.

A bell rung in his head but he held the 4 weaves getting ready to adjust them. The second and third, forth , fifth, sixth, from all side one after another his the shield. Manix tied off the malstrom thread, his current shield he thought was making it worse. He expanded the side crushing down, that helped the echo, some. Port and starboard teams were closing in. Using Air he send a solid moving wall at both teams and saw it crash into them when the next round of sonics hit.

Four rounds hit this time the pain was horrible, Manix sank deeper into the waters of his mind. In the mirror 2 crews approached from behind, Port and starboard crews were recovering and getting ready for the 3rd round. Then Manix got an idea. He made concave cones on over his shield, when the 3rd round hit a majority was reflected back toward the Vikings. Even with ear protection they wasn't prepared for their own weapons to be turned on them. Manix was out of time, he was near exhaustion and in sever pain from the sonics.

he untied the malstorm and made it stronger, using wind he send both port and starboard crew splashing into the water (wishing he thought of it before) he sped up the malstrom to the point the underwater crews were now topside and vomit was filling the pool. During this same time 2 threads went behind him snagging one of the crews behind him, like a vine in the jungle. Wrapping them tight from toe to chin, easing just enough so they could breath. One crew he missed and they was at his door.

The lead crew member had raised the but of his weapon to strike the shield. A calculated move, a risky move, Manix dropped that portion of the shield. The Viking fell forward off balance, before he could recover Manix snap kicked him in the chest forcing him to fall back into the others. Manix quickly wrapped them up and tied off all threads but the malstrom, he was shocked with how many he had going at once. The blue flare was launched.

Manix was on his knees, he released and untied all the treads but held onto the power, if someone was hurt bad, he was afraid he could not get it back. 2 Crews were held back and they rushed out to help their team mates, SynJyn rushed to Manix, worried. Never before had he seen the boy so drained. The Vikings nearly won. "Corpsman up was heard from a few places, Manix stood still, they would call him if it was life threatening, did he have the strength to heal? "CAPTAIN MANIX!"
came from behind them.

SynJyn helped Manix up and over to the fallen, it was the man Manix had kicked in the chest. The Corpsman had him on leads and his rhythm was off and his blood pressure narrowing. Manix weaved spirit into the chest. what he saw was alarming, but he was sure he could fix it before passing out. The lining around the heart was filling with fluid and squeezing the heart to the point it could not beat (Pericardia Tampa node). Manix send in flows of all 4 of the elements that he knew of and released the fluid around the heart, breaking up the make up of the fluid so it could be reabsorbed. His blood pressured steadied. Manix then healed the surrounding tissue and use earth and fire to mend the 2 broken ribs, then he waited. He waited as long as he could to see if fluid would return, it didn't, at least for now. Sealing the lining he withdrew and released the power.

The Corpsman could handle the rest, they had standing orders on follow up of any patient Manix healed. The night had quieted or was Manix falling quiet. He looked for and couldn't find SynJyn, in fact he saw nobody, did they leave him? That was his last thought when he finally passed out.


Edited by Manix, Oct 7 2016, 09:03 PM.

2000 hrs and all was assembled. Again the Viking's lined up on the attack ship and Manix was alone on the defense ship. Manix had tried not to think about this battle, this was going to test his skills too and he didn't want it to pre-planed. Easy enough with how busy he had been. He reached for the light, again grabbing it by the throat and taking it down into submission. Each time felt like it took hours, in reality it was less than a heartbeat.

The red flare launched and the fight was on. 2 boat crews hit the water, one in a zeppelin, on team under the water on scuba. A crew was on each side of the pool approaching in a standard "I" formation, 2 other crews on land fanned out further. Manix made his shield around himself and started a strong whirlpool in the center of the pool. The crew in the zeppelin abandoned the boat and willing floated into the malstorm. They began the test firing quick to get bearing an it wasn't long before paint markers hit the shield.

The crews on land, closest to the water was sent 2 more separate threads one build a high wall another built a low wall. Port side attackers hit the high wall while the starboard side tripped over the low. The other 2 crews were out of site. Manix used air and water to create a mirror to see behind him. The port side had built a human pyramid and reached the top pulling the others over, while the starboard side by the 3rd team member was hurdling the fallen with the rear members helping em up. Manix had a surprise for em and that was when the 1st sonic blast hit.

A bell rung in his head but he held the 4 weaves getting ready to adjust them. The second and third, forth , fifth, sixth, from all side one after another his the shield. Manix tied off the malstrom thread, his current shield he thought was making it worse. He expanded the side crushing down, that helped the echo, some. Port and starboard teams were closing in. Using Air he send a solid moving wall at both teams and saw it crash into them when the next round of sonics hit.

Four rounds hit this time the pain was horrible, Manix sank deeper into the waters of his mind. In the mirror 2 crews approached from behind, Port and starboard crews were recovering and getting ready for the 3rd round. Then Manix got an idea. He made concave cones on over his shield, when the 3rd round hit a majority was reflected back toward the Vikings. Even with ear protection they wasn't prepared for their own weapons to be turned on them. Manix was out of time, he was near exhaustion and in sever pain from the sonics.

he untied the malstorm and made it stronger, using wind he send both port and starboard crew splashing into the water (wishing he thought of it before) he sped up the malstrom to the point the underwater crews were now topside and vomit was filling the pool. During this same time 2 threads went behind him snagging one of the crews behind him, like a vine in the jungle. Wrapping them tight from toe to chin, easing just enough so they could breath. One crew he missed and they was at his door.

The lead crew member had raised the but of his weapon to strike the shield. A calculated move, a risky move, Manix dropped that portion of the shield. The Viking fell forward off balance, before he could recover Manix snap kicked him in the chest forcing him to fall back into the others. Manix quickly wrapped them up and tied off all threads but the malstrom, he was shocked with how many he had going at once. The blue flare was launched.

Manix was on his knees, he released and untied all the treads but held onto the power, if someone was hurt bad, he was afraid he could not get it back. 2 Crews were held back and they rushed out to help their team mates, SynJyn rushed to Manix, worried. Never before had he seen the boy so drained. The Vikings nearly won. "Corpsman up was heard from a few places, Manix stood still, they would call him if it was life threatening, did he have the strength to heal? "CAPTAIN MANIX!"
came from behind them.

SynJyn helped Manix up and over to the fallen, it was the man Manix had kicked in the chest. The Corpsman had him on leads and his rhythm was off and his blood pressure narrowing. Manix weaved spirit into the chest. what he saw was alarming, but he was sure he could fix it before passing out. The lining around the heart was filling with fluid and squeezing the heart to the point it could not beat (Pericardia Tampa node). Manix send in flows of all 4 of the elements that he knew of and released the fluid around the heart, breaking up the make up of the fluid so it could be reabsorbed. His blood pressured steadied. Manix then healed the surrounding tissue and use earth and fire to mend the 2 broken ribs, then he waited. He waited as long as he could to see if fluid would return, it didn't, at least for now. Sealing the lining he withdrew and released the power.

The Corpsman could handle the rest, they had standing orders on follow up of any patient Manix healed. The night had quieted or was Manix falling quiet. He looked for and couldn't find SynJyn, in fact he saw nobody, did they leave him? That was his last thought when he finally passed out.


Edited by Manix, Oct 7 2016, 09:03 PM.

All Victoria could think of as she made her way to the entrance of the Kremlin was that she should have changed. Wouldn't have been hard, just drag her uniform out of her bag, use a room in the airport. Would've been wrinkled however, so maybe it was all pointless anyway. She was stressing over nothing now, and it was just silly. The General would be more bothered with dedication than flashy show. Hopefully.

The Kremlin was impressive enough by itself;the great, ancient red brick, the home of Russian might and power for centuries. Now it represented the beating heart of half the world. It was enough to make the hairs on her arm rise, goosebumps prickling sense of awe. The masses of armed soldiers, crawling about like a swarm of ants, hammered that feeling in. How could anyone even bring a nuclear device into here? It was a thought that still raised an indignant anger in her; her oaths to the Custody and the Ascendancy stood strong. It was like an attack on them, was an attack on her. Practically as a solider, it could well be.

Of course she was stopped by guards, barked questions on why a civilian was walking around the seat of the government, under guard as it was. Fishing out her military identification changed that completely, earning her crisp salutes, respectful words. Her own military bearing seeped in again, no longer friendly as she had been with Sierra. Back straight, eyes cold, mouth set in a grim line. A quick couple of barked questions earned her the directions she needed to the reception of the central complex. Victoria was starting to realise that she had no real clue where she was going, or what she was supposed to do. Perhaps waving around her orders would help.

Boots clicking along stones, before onto the tiles as she passed through the sliding doors of the building, Victoria took a deep breath. Officers, suited men and women, walked everywhere, files in hands, muttering to each other quietly. This was where an empire was ran. It was... so impressive. Heading to a desk in the center, Victoria slammed to a halt in front of a receptionist, earning a surprised look from the man. Pulling out her i.d., and a copy of the orders from Koertig, she somehow straightened even more.

"Colonel Victoria Wolff of the 3rd Regiment, Army Division Panzer. I have orders to see General Bader Koertig, as early as I can. Is he available with the Kremlin under lock down?"

A young man was specially delivered to the hospital ER when he collapsed in the arrival area of the airport. On his wallet was a document that was titled "In Case of Emergency". Inside the document was contact information for the doctor the young man was to be meeting and express instructions to only take him to this hospital where Dr. Marcil worked.

Nurse Yvette had found the young man lying in a catatonic state on the floor. Now he was resting comfortably in the emergency room waiting his turn. He was out of the woods for now, though he had yet to regain consciousness. Or was very good at pretending to be asleep. There were several files on his wallet labeled medical records but Yvette hadn't opened them - rather she was unable to open them they were encrypted with some pass phrase she hoped Dr. Marcil would know. But Dr. Marcil was unavailable for the next few days as he was away on business. When she'd called him, he said, "The boy will be fine. Keep his medication the same. Just monitor him. I will be back tomorrow."

Yvette waited for the doctor who would eventually admit the boy. His wallet continued to beep with incoming messages. She thought about answering them, but she didn't feel right, she'd already invaded his privacy once. But sound was adding to her headache - she needed a breathe of fresh air real quick. She out the sliding doors to find some - he was perfectly safe where he was now and not really her problem,

****

The beeping of the monitors woke Sage. His hold body hurt like he'd been dropped from upon high. He knew he was in a hospital, he could tell just from the smell. But the place was busier than his last room. He sighed when his wallet buzzed. He squinted his eyes open to find the offending equipment, it was across the room on a chair with the rest of his things. He sighed - hospital gowns sucked.

Sage opened his eyes fully and tried to get a good look around. Short of the fact that there were signs hanging in Russian as well as English, it didn't look that different from the last hospital he was in.

His wallet buzzed again and Sage tried to move to get out of the bed without yanking the IV from his arm, or completely showing off his backside...

The wall rang. Jaxen spied the sender and considered ignoring the call. In the end, he activated the feed and the video sprang to life. "Hi mom,"
he said and stood in front of the bed to block the array of clothes laid out behind him.

His mother was a beautiful woman even at her age. Having bore a number of children, and Jaxen the youngest, she had her years on her, but she wore them like a gilded swan. Her dark hair curled softly upon her shoulders. Her deep eyes were caverns that pierced straight to his heart. She could always see through him. Jaxen said that she was the only person alive that could know when he was truly drunk.

"Jaxen, I see you bought a plane ticket. Why are you going west?"

He figured she'd be alerted by the purchase. Not that money meant anything to her, but it may seem odd. Jaxen rarely traveled to western europe. He disliked the region. "I thought I'd do a little sight-seeing before the world goes to hell."


She didn't buy it, but either she didn't care or she knew the real truth. Scion probably shared with his ex-wife the nature of Jaxen's extracurricular activities. No doubt she didn't approve. "Alright son, but you be safe and do not end up in jail. I don't like Ireland any more than you do, and I do not want to fly out there to get you."

Jaxen smiled, "Of course, mother."
He closed the screen and finished packing.

The flight was so freaking boring. He hated airplanes. Unless he was the pilot. He once took lessons for six months just so he could steal a small private jet out of a hanger. Now that had been a fun trip. But flying commercial from Moscow to Dublin was almost not worth any sword of Nuada, even if it was made of light.

Honestly, he'd never been to Ireland, or what was left of Ireland after the CCD swallowed it. Except for the name, when he landed in Dublin, it didn't seem that different than what he imagined. Except the air seemed to stink. Weird smells. Grassy. And like sheep shit. Or maybe that was all in his head. Neither did he like beer. He preferred vodka, like a good Russian. The accent was atrocious. He felt like they spoke a foreign language. Seemed everyone else thought the same of him. He had to say the name of his hotel three times to the cab driver before he understood. Jaxen, in no mood to deal with translating from English to jibberish or whatever they spoke in this city, rolled his eyes and all but fell asleep in the back seat of the cab on the way in. The hotel was in downtown Dublin.

When they arrived, he entered a hotel that looked like it was a former fortress. Unlike castles as one pictured in their mind, this was not as cool as that. The walls were stone alright. The doors heavy. The lighting poor. The toilets tiny. The beds uncomfortable. He was about to turn around and go find a real hotel when he caught a flash of a dark-haired woman at the check-in desk. She wore a snug pencil skirt, high heels and a button-down blouse that seemed about to burst at the bust.

He promptly waltzed straight to the desk, scrubbed a hand through his hair and waited in line behind her, not at all minding the wait.

Just started my own thread of stuff to go on the wiki rather than keep PM'ing thal. This way she can stay more organized and up to date. *grin

Entry: Jai Asad Kojima


3rd Age life

Origin: Tar Valon

Occupation: Was raised to be an accountant and apprentice banker but became an Asha'man of the Black Tower

Age: Late 20's

Channeler: Learner, found by testing. Strong enough to Travel, only slightly more than average Asha'man strength. Learned very quickly due to his OCD habits.

Important relationships :

Zakar Kojima - eldest brother. Strict, professional, germophobe, OCD tendencies, married with two children and having an affair with a barmaid named Jaslene. One of her children may be his. Has a terrible temper. Manipulative and controlling of Jaslene. Brilliant accountant and chief executive in charge of the Kojima banking house.

Andreu Kojima - middle brother. Wild, outgoing personality. Life of the party. Wildly paranoid and bipolar. He tends to go on months long disappearances. Gambler. Drunk. Good at knife fighting and fisticuffs. He is a financial officer at the banking house.

Jai Asad Kojima - youngest brother. OCD habits as a child, probably was the most well balanced of the three brothers. But the taint touched his tendencies and he became wildly paranoid, sometimes with good reason, and marked OCD habits, especially when uncomfortable and stressed. Something of a mathematic genius, he can perform complex equations in his head. The Black Tower made use of his talents as a code-writer and breaker. Namesake of Asad Kojima.

Asad Kojima - The Malkieri great-father whose bride to be was found by Aes Sedai and sent to be a novice in the White Tower. When she was put out after refusing the Arches, she stayed in Tar Valon and Asad abandoned his life in Malkier to be with her. They founded a small banking house with what fortune he had. It is his sword that became the heirloom passed down from father to son ever since. The sword was destined to become Zakar's.

Jon Foxsus - Owner of the Golden Fox inn and tavern. He was Jai's best friend growing up despite the enormous gap between the two families in social structure.

Jaslene (Foxsus) Basinthe - Jon's sister. Jai's first love and boyhood crush. He wanted to propose to her but was distracted by the testers from the Black tower. After being discovered he could channel, he never got the chance. She has red curly hair, a bubbly personality and big smile. She's now having an affair with Zakar, and she never loved Jai the way he loved her.

Mikel Basinthe - Jai and Jon's other best friend growing up. He became a Tower Guard, just like Jai always planned to do (he was going to blow off the banking business and become a Guard). He ended up marrying Jaslene.

Lt. Tomdry - a veteran lieutenant in the Dragon's Legion. On a campaign near the blightborder, he led the charge to save the life of a single Asha'man that had become so exhausted and wounded, he foolishly took on a Fade single-handedly, sword to sword. The Fade cut him down, slicing up his belly, and Tomdry and his men valiantly charged. They killed the Fade, but at the cost of all their lives, and saved the Asha'man so he could be healed. That Asha'man was Jai in his first battle after gaining the Dragon pins. The tale was sung by a gleeman (Byron Calanail) in the Golden Fox, and while Jai's name was left out, he recognized the tale as his own.

Daryen Daimon - Asha'man king of Arad Doman. Much stronger in the power than Jai. He is the one Jai reported to in Arad Doman to aid in battling the ongoing seanchan presence. They've been good friends and lovers for some time, although not in a romantic relationship per say. Jai also serves as a level of protection for Daryen and stays near him in court when not dismantling seanchan damane-houses, and was bonded by him for that purpose.

Fate Sedai - A sitter of the Brown Ajah and Daryen's sister. Her machinations got Nythadri involved in plots in Arad Doman, entangling her with Jai. Jai met her in the Golden Fox, and made a bet to eat an entire ghost pepper without passing out. In exchange, he would get to ride one of her prized Razors. He survived, but accidentally blinded himself when he rubbed his hands in his eyes. He had to be healed to see again.

Lennox Orander - A very powerful Asha'man in the Black Tower and a blade master.

Araya - Asha'man of the Black Tower and former Tinker

Nythadri Vanditera - An Accepted of the White Tower that sees Jai as more than an an insane dangerous Asha'man

Edited by Jay Carpenter, Oct 6 2016, 04:36 PM.

continued from here

Sasha couldn't come with him to Moscow, he was only slightly disappointed as she left him at the security check point. She kissed him on the cheek before he stepped through the metal detectors. He of course set the alarm off. Sage handed the security man a letter from his doctor - foreign object in his head. Nothing he can do about it.

The note was not the only thing he'd been given by the doctors there. He had more pills than he could count - antibiotics, steroids, and various kinds pain medications. Three of them he had to take otherwise he could keel over in a few days and he'd never get to Moscow. Sasha had insisted he set alarms to remind himself to take the pills since he knew how absent-minded he could be.

They still searched him with the wand and found nothing.

Once he'd cleared security Sage turned around and waved at Sasha. He might not ever see her again. Sage grabbed the laptop case and his carry-on and headed for his departure terminal. Everything was fuzzy because of the meds. He was surprised he could walk just fine. But Sasha and Bryan had programmed his wallet to navigate him to his terminal, through his layover in Amsterdam and finally get him to the luggage carousel in Moscow. The airline knew that he was heavily medicated and someone was sent to find him.

Sage had never really left Alexandria, DC didn't count, it was within walking distance - though he usually rode the train. The fact that his first trip out of Alexandria was also out of the country was not lost on Sage. He wasn't exactly afraid of flying. The idea that he'd have to take the wireless dongle from the port out and turn it off had kept him land bound most of his life. The loss of information flow was worse than withdrawal from caffeine or any thing else he'd come down from. He didn't need any drugs when all he had to do was plug in. There was no fear this time he couldn't feel anything. There was no anxiety, no withdrawal symptoms. Everything was being masked by the foggy feeling and the utter lack of anything going on in his head.

***

The flight to Amsterdam was long. Sage sat in first-class by the window, a young man sat next to him. He wore a suit which couldn't have been comfortable for the amount of time they'd be flying to Amsterdam. He was cute but Sage could barely form more than a few words after he'd taken the pain bills. So he let himself drift off into oblivion. He didn't sleep exactly, his thoughts lingered on memories, on bits of code he ran through his mind without thinking about it. It was odd not getting feedback, but Sage could almost see the results as he drifted in this space of nothingness.

He landed in Amsterdam with only a slight fog to his head. He had managed to eat and drink before they landed and was relatively ready to start the next leg of the trip in four hours. Thankfully the man who'd sat next to him was also going to Russia. Sage smiled. "Why did you wear a suit all the way from DC here?"


The man looked across the seats at Sage and frowned. "I'm meeting business partners on this leg of the trip, I wasn't sure if I'd have time to change."

"Are they late?"


The man shook his head. "Not yet. Our flight doesn't leave for four hours. But I've been late before and I didn't want to take that chance this time."

"You make this trip often then?"


"Yes. Moscow is our main head quarters so I travel back and forth a lot."

"What do you do?"


"I'm a software developer."

Sage grinned. "Fancy that."


"What do you do if you don't mind me asking?"

"A little bit of this, a little bit of that. Currently I'm being employed to white hat for a software company. They are developing a new firewall and I'm the lucky one who gets to break it."


The man raised his eyebrow. "You wouldn't go by the handle of Phaser would you?"

Sage laughed. "You know a hacker isn't going to just say yes to that right?"


The young man moved closer and leaned in to whisper, "That little fuck head is toasting all our work."

Sage chuckled knowingly "Isn't that his job? So you write better code so hackers like him don't break in. Or at least give them something to work really hard to get in?"


"The guys not even human. They say he's an AI."

"So your company is stupid enough to pay a supposed AI hacker top dollar all because he's noted as one of the best?"


"So you are saying he's not an AI?"

"Not to my knowledge. He lives and breathes as best as the next man."


"You know him?"

"I know of him. I've worked with him."
Sage could barely keep from laughing. It wasn't everyday you get to hear people bash you to your face or see the awe in their face when they speak of your work. Today must be his lucky day.

***

The last leg of the trip was just as uneventful as the first. Once Sage had gotten on the plane in his first class seat by the window he downed another pain pill. He was slowly going to become an addict if he had to keep popping them like he was. He was not eager to go under the knife while wide awake. Those memories still woke him up late at night. It was the worse thing to wake up to.

Sage found himself at the carousel before 4 pm. Apparently Nox was not one for being early. He sent Annoying little brother a regular text message telling him he was the arrival area since that's where he ended up while walking around.

Sage sat down a little bleary eyed from all the travel to wait.


Edited by Sage, Oct 5 2016, 07:59 PM.

Just wanted to let everyone know that HQ is burning and the fire will eventually burn the place to the ground. Anyone is free to RP getting out or getting any of their stuff they want out. Be advised that are Atharim safe houses that should be available should you need them. And that before long, you should be expecting contact via your wallet (and/or PM).

The damage done could potentially make tracking people hard, so any who wish to slip through the cracks have that opportunity now.

Have fun.

R.

The phone rang and an elbow jabbed him in the ribs.
"Who is calling at this hour?" Safa grumbled.
Carl snatched the wallet from the bedside table, rubbing his eyes as he did. When he saw the number he immediately sat up.
"I will take this in the kitchen," he said. Slipping his feet into houseshoes, he quickly shuffled out of the room. Safa was asleep again before he even shut the door.

Navigating the dark apartment by the light of the wallet, he answered the moment he entered the kitchen.
"Carl Kincaid," he said softly so not to waken Safa. Their apartment was tiny, only three rooms. In the central district of Moscow, it was all they could afford.

The voice on the other end spoke a few moments, then Carl felt the blood drain from his face. He rushed to the wall screens and padded the command for the tv.

Drenched in the blue light of the news, he absorbed the scenes on replay. Two ambulances departed the gates of the Kremlin. He put a hand to his forehead, jaw dropped wide when the images of the hospital interior were played. He immediately recognized the images as derived from hospital security feeds, and a knot formed in his gut.

"I'll be there in thirty minutes." He flipped on the coffeemaker and hurried to dress.

***

Thirty-two minutes later.

Carl cursed himself for forgetting his coat. All he had was the rumpled jacket of his suit, which he huddled down into for warmth. The pre-dawn air was frigid.

He anticipated the building that housed the Consulate on Digital Strategy and Security to be dim and empty. Instead, he found it bustling and bright. He must not have been the only one to get a call to come in.

Fumbling with his badge between numb fingers, he paused to look down the street just as the door unlocked. The Red Square lay three blocks away and even from this distance he could make out the noise of crowds and see the lights of the Kremlin reflected on the low-hanging clouds overhead. To think the place was nearly obliterated tonight, he shivered and ducked in.

A series of security measures awaited passage. Handprints, retinal scan, even a quick read DNA sequencer were required. Soon, he gained full admittance to the heart of Custody digital security Consulate. As a strategist, he only had his cubicle, but as he passed the director's office, he knocked on the window to alert them he had arrived. The scent of fresh coffee was heavy on the air. He poked his head in the door as the director looked up from his desk. The man was in his late fifties with thin gray hair and a square jaw. Like Carl, he wore a rumpled suit. He also dressed in a hurry. Carl hated to know who it was that called the director in the middle of the night to get to work.

"I'm getting coffee and I'll get right to work."

He dropped his stuff at his cubicle, snatched his usual cup, wiped it out with his sleeve and stalked off to the break room.