05-27-2014, 05:55 PM
The newest appointment to the prestigious Custody apprenticeship program was to be picked up at the Central Dominance International Airport, formerly known as Moscow International exactly forty-five minutes after touchdown. Everything was prearranged, of course, as part and parcel of the honor bestowed upon him.
The days of drivers standing with signs on congested airport trafficways were distant memories at CDI. High-resolution gps tracking easily coordinated point-to-point rendezvous. All the new apprentice needed was to work the software preloaded on the state of the art Wallet shipped to his home before he left to find his way. It would direct him to a black Mercedes towncar, four-door, spacious and sharp as a blade.
The driver, a contracted civilian, was completely unaware of the importance of either the traveler or the woman in the car waiting for him, assisted Marcus with his luggage. Both car and driver might appear no different than any of the other Mercedes, Jaguars or BMW's lining the curb, but Marcus was front and center, protected and given right of way by the pair of orange-fringed CCD flags posted on the hood.
Krasivolkya Constantine looked up with Marcus sat beside her. There was a stern freeze across the planes of her face that did not soften despite the recognition. She was a handsome woman, though she would cringe to be called as such. Her short, infinitely curly hair was tightly groomed. Her suit was colored Custody-gray but without the cut of military shapes. The pin on her lapel was that of the Ascendancy's double-crescent, modified silver, as only the Ascendancy had the right to wear the black and orange.
Krasivolkya stretched out a hand to shake Marcus' and immediately transferred to him a Wallet-document itinerary. The same itinerary that she swiped to the air in front of them. The first of many details to discuss was her own identification.
"My name is Krasivolkya Constatine, Chief Liaison in the Executive office of the Ascendancy, Custody of State. You are Marcus DuBois, on behalf of the EoA and the Ascendancy, I welcome and congratulate you. In the fifteen years since this program was founded, your predecessors have gone on to hold influential offices across all seven Dominances, operate billion-dollar corporations, and regularly utilize the apprentice Alma mater network to achieve mutual goals."
She swiped to the next screen. "This will be your itinerary for today. You will find schedules and a modified syllabus of expectations for the next six weeks in the rest of the files. Today, it is my honor to take you to the Kremlin where you will sit through security debriefing before being shown to living quarters."
The next swipe revealed a 3D hologram of the interior structures of the Kremlin. In the southwest corner sat the Grand Kremlin Palace "Visiting dignitaries, Patrons and their families often stay in the Palace. It occupies one-hundred fifty square kilometers in size, and is one of multiple structures not open to the public."
Throughout the duration of the drive, the beauty, symmetry and majesty of Moscow blurred by them. Soon they delved from the sleek highway of the ring road system and delved toward the heart of an empire. The red walls of the Kremlin loomed in the distance.
<small>((K.V. written with permission))</small>
The days of drivers standing with signs on congested airport trafficways were distant memories at CDI. High-resolution gps tracking easily coordinated point-to-point rendezvous. All the new apprentice needed was to work the software preloaded on the state of the art Wallet shipped to his home before he left to find his way. It would direct him to a black Mercedes towncar, four-door, spacious and sharp as a blade.
The driver, a contracted civilian, was completely unaware of the importance of either the traveler or the woman in the car waiting for him, assisted Marcus with his luggage. Both car and driver might appear no different than any of the other Mercedes, Jaguars or BMW's lining the curb, but Marcus was front and center, protected and given right of way by the pair of orange-fringed CCD flags posted on the hood.
Krasivolkya Constantine looked up with Marcus sat beside her. There was a stern freeze across the planes of her face that did not soften despite the recognition. She was a handsome woman, though she would cringe to be called as such. Her short, infinitely curly hair was tightly groomed. Her suit was colored Custody-gray but without the cut of military shapes. The pin on her lapel was that of the Ascendancy's double-crescent, modified silver, as only the Ascendancy had the right to wear the black and orange.
Krasivolkya stretched out a hand to shake Marcus' and immediately transferred to him a Wallet-document itinerary. The same itinerary that she swiped to the air in front of them. The first of many details to discuss was her own identification.
"My name is Krasivolkya Constatine, Chief Liaison in the Executive office of the Ascendancy, Custody of State. You are Marcus DuBois, on behalf of the EoA and the Ascendancy, I welcome and congratulate you. In the fifteen years since this program was founded, your predecessors have gone on to hold influential offices across all seven Dominances, operate billion-dollar corporations, and regularly utilize the apprentice Alma mater network to achieve mutual goals."
She swiped to the next screen. "This will be your itinerary for today. You will find schedules and a modified syllabus of expectations for the next six weeks in the rest of the files. Today, it is my honor to take you to the Kremlin where you will sit through security debriefing before being shown to living quarters."
The next swipe revealed a 3D hologram of the interior structures of the Kremlin. In the southwest corner sat the Grand Kremlin Palace "Visiting dignitaries, Patrons and their families often stay in the Palace. It occupies one-hundred fifty square kilometers in size, and is one of multiple structures not open to the public."
Throughout the duration of the drive, the beauty, symmetry and majesty of Moscow blurred by them. Soon they delved from the sleek highway of the ring road system and delved toward the heart of an empire. The red walls of the Kremlin loomed in the distance.
<small>((K.V. written with permission))</small>