2 hours ago
Nikolai let Nox speak, his expression a perfect study of neutrality. Years of diplomacy honed that mask to an art. He could stand in front of a grieving widow or a victorious general and look exactly the same.
Inside, though, his thoughts were elsewhere. The data. The method. The how.
Nox’s words washed over him as he half-listened: death, dullness, temptation, promises broken. The man was bleeding out his soul across the desk, and while some leaders might have leaned forward with sympathy, Nikolai Brandon simply watched. It wasn’t that he didn’t hear him; he did. He heard every word. He just knew that empathy didn’t solve anything.
When Nox finally finished, Nikolai let it sit just long enough to register that he’d listened, that the confession had been received. Then he leaned forward, elbows on the desk, and spoke in that same even, deliberate tone.
“I understand,” he said, the words almost perfunctory. “It’s… not a simple path you’ve walked.” Then his eyes hardened, moving on. “But this-” he tapped the drive with a knuckle, a faint click against the glass, “This is about how you undid the undoable.”
He considered how to pose this: “These scans will tell me what changed in your brain. They will not tell me who changed it. Or how. Walk me through the procedure. Step by step. How this miracle came to be."
Inside, though, his thoughts were elsewhere. The data. The method. The how.
Nox’s words washed over him as he half-listened: death, dullness, temptation, promises broken. The man was bleeding out his soul across the desk, and while some leaders might have leaned forward with sympathy, Nikolai Brandon simply watched. It wasn’t that he didn’t hear him; he did. He heard every word. He just knew that empathy didn’t solve anything.
When Nox finally finished, Nikolai let it sit just long enough to register that he’d listened, that the confession had been received. Then he leaned forward, elbows on the desk, and spoke in that same even, deliberate tone.
“I understand,” he said, the words almost perfunctory. “It’s… not a simple path you’ve walked.” Then his eyes hardened, moving on. “But this-” he tapped the drive with a knuckle, a faint click against the glass, “This is about how you undid the undoable.”
He considered how to pose this: “These scans will tell me what changed in your brain. They will not tell me who changed it. Or how. Walk me through the procedure. Step by step. How this miracle came to be."