12-24-2013, 12:08 PM
Some minutes passed before the room found their courage. To Nikolai, those in his presence were a ghostly sea of faces appearing and disappearing in his domain. To his left, a giant of the diesel-industry edged closer. His company had been petitioning for additional manufacturing permits outside Central Dominance lands. So far, the applications had been repeatedly denied; but Nik would not discourage the attempt to grease his palm anyway. It would make the man no difference, but it showed courage, and Nikolai would not deny the man his hopes.
Meanwhile, nearby waited an executive from a pharmaceutical industry that thought they'd found a vaccine for The Sickness. Nikolai was sure their end-results would prove inconclusive, but they were welcome to conduct their experiments nonetheless. Any adverse effects to come out of it were the cost of clinical trials, but he had yet to decide what to do about the crop of godlings running around on their own. The majority continued to die off, but a few, the more powerful, fought for their survival. The decision plaguing him was whether to aim a few missiles like Yuri and Alric and use them to clear a path for their brothers or obliterate the need for one at all.
His considerations were interrupted by a new face piercing the veil. He fearlessly entered the reverent temple built up around Nikolai, Yuri, and Alric. Nothing flashed on the periphery of his vision, which meant they had not come face to face before - at least not since the device's implantation - but they didn't need to. Jaxen was the spitting image his father had been at his age. Scion Marveet was a titan of Moscow; the man with the poisonous sting, his reputation for covert ruthlessness was as intimidating as his namesake - a scorpion - waiting in the dark. The man's empire touched a vast array of businesses - legal and not - but his cunning - and bank accounts - poised him just beyond the reach of Custody attorneys; and while dishonorable, his intelligence earned Nikolai's respect.
Jaxen's mother was almost as infamous as his father. Beautiful and shrewd, like arsenic-laced silk, her passion and cunning still lit a fire behind eyes now crimped with age. One, even the Ascendancy himself, would not want to be her enemy. Luckily, she was one whom Nikolai had considered an ally for many years. Together, these two victors of the ASU's entrepreneur wars produced a young man fearless enough to interrupt a private conversation. With a knowing smile, Nikolai welcomed the mutiny, motivated by curiosity, and willing to test how far Jaxen would remain at the helm. More importantly, it gave Nikolai a gauge of the youngest Marveet heir's talents. How dangerous, if at all, was the young man? And could such a pirate be collected for a greater purpose?
Nikolai found the comparison to Caesar unoffensive; clever, even - and neither did his expression waiver while Axel's money poured upon his feet. Fitting, yes, but Jaxen's tauntings were quite incorrect. Tax evasion was nearly a capital crime in the CCD, and what the nouveau riche owed to their motherland - and Nikolai's fatherly vision - was a tightly regulated affair. Yuri seemed none too impressed by the play on words, or the historical joke passed over his head, but there was still his question to answer, and as Nikolai leaned in to issue a command, he finally saw through the charade.
It turned out, Jaxen actually was a pirate, and he was going to be useful after all. Nik exchanged one response tipping his tongue for another, and told Yuri they would speak again under quieter circumstances. He ended it that Yuri not fear dismissal, that Nik's assurances were as eternal as his word.
Momentarily freed from confines of their conversation, he didn't give Jaxen's game away, but instead sought out one of the earlier ghosts he'd seen in the mist; the one whom hung back while Jaxen plowed forward. When he found her pale face, his eyes narrowed thoughtfully. Which of the two of them were the board piece and which the game master? Interesting.
Twisting the ring around his thumb delivered a familiar signal to an undercover agent. One that eventually approached her with a very specific invitation.
Meanwhile, nearby waited an executive from a pharmaceutical industry that thought they'd found a vaccine for The Sickness. Nikolai was sure their end-results would prove inconclusive, but they were welcome to conduct their experiments nonetheless. Any adverse effects to come out of it were the cost of clinical trials, but he had yet to decide what to do about the crop of godlings running around on their own. The majority continued to die off, but a few, the more powerful, fought for their survival. The decision plaguing him was whether to aim a few missiles like Yuri and Alric and use them to clear a path for their brothers or obliterate the need for one at all.
His considerations were interrupted by a new face piercing the veil. He fearlessly entered the reverent temple built up around Nikolai, Yuri, and Alric. Nothing flashed on the periphery of his vision, which meant they had not come face to face before - at least not since the device's implantation - but they didn't need to. Jaxen was the spitting image his father had been at his age. Scion Marveet was a titan of Moscow; the man with the poisonous sting, his reputation for covert ruthlessness was as intimidating as his namesake - a scorpion - waiting in the dark. The man's empire touched a vast array of businesses - legal and not - but his cunning - and bank accounts - poised him just beyond the reach of Custody attorneys; and while dishonorable, his intelligence earned Nikolai's respect.
Jaxen's mother was almost as infamous as his father. Beautiful and shrewd, like arsenic-laced silk, her passion and cunning still lit a fire behind eyes now crimped with age. One, even the Ascendancy himself, would not want to be her enemy. Luckily, she was one whom Nikolai had considered an ally for many years. Together, these two victors of the ASU's entrepreneur wars produced a young man fearless enough to interrupt a private conversation. With a knowing smile, Nikolai welcomed the mutiny, motivated by curiosity, and willing to test how far Jaxen would remain at the helm. More importantly, it gave Nikolai a gauge of the youngest Marveet heir's talents. How dangerous, if at all, was the young man? And could such a pirate be collected for a greater purpose?
Nikolai found the comparison to Caesar unoffensive; clever, even - and neither did his expression waiver while Axel's money poured upon his feet. Fitting, yes, but Jaxen's tauntings were quite incorrect. Tax evasion was nearly a capital crime in the CCD, and what the nouveau riche owed to their motherland - and Nikolai's fatherly vision - was a tightly regulated affair. Yuri seemed none too impressed by the play on words, or the historical joke passed over his head, but there was still his question to answer, and as Nikolai leaned in to issue a command, he finally saw through the charade.
It turned out, Jaxen actually was a pirate, and he was going to be useful after all. Nik exchanged one response tipping his tongue for another, and told Yuri they would speak again under quieter circumstances. He ended it that Yuri not fear dismissal, that Nik's assurances were as eternal as his word.
Momentarily freed from confines of their conversation, he didn't give Jaxen's game away, but instead sought out one of the earlier ghosts he'd seen in the mist; the one whom hung back while Jaxen plowed forward. When he found her pale face, his eyes narrowed thoughtfully. Which of the two of them were the board piece and which the game master? Interesting.
Twisting the ring around his thumb delivered a familiar signal to an undercover agent. One that eventually approached her with a very specific invitation.