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Emergence
#1
Nikolai was absconded by military security forces as soon as he reconnected with the surface. Later he would receive a report detailing how far into the undercity they traversed and it would astound him. To think that there was so much subterranean world under the city streets was almost inconceivable. Even more astounding, more existed. Jay and Nox would find out how far the rabbit hole went. The call to go with them pulled at Nik with such ferocity that he seriously considered returning more than once. Ultimately, responsibility and duty carried him to fresh air, but it wasn’t a sweet emergence.

The ride back to the Kremlin wasn’t one of stealth. After the appropriate transfer to a secure vehicle, he was ferried to the fortress in his usual standard. He checked a communications and updates on high priority items, but he refused all personal interactions other than who else was in the car with him.

Marcos and Allan were transferred back to the Kremlin in the same vehicle as the Ascendancy. It had little to do with the desire to debrief what just occurred, and more about the practicality of stealth. His vehicle was impenetrable to scans and hacks. There couldn’t be a hint of their involvement in the undercity.

Except the activity hadn’t gone unnoticed.

It seemed that some undercity denizens had escaped the fire, but not everyone survived. The expulsion of hundreds of homeless into the surface had attracted a lot of media attention. Reports of violence and fires sweeping the homeless camps underground led to panic and worry. It was nothing compared to the chaos that would have erupted had the monsters of below followed, but it wasn’t the kind of PR that Nikolai liked.
Take care of it, he responded, anticipating that this attention be diverted swiftly. Trouble among the homeless was usually easy to dismiss in a city like theirs.

The Kremlin grounds were secured from prying eyes. Not so much as a secretary was allowed to peer out the window while Ascendancy, Marcus and Allan were transferred from the vehicles and into the safety of the building proper. He wanted to clean up as soon as possible, and only distant passerbys even glimpsed that the Ascendancy was back on the grounds. Orders were left with Allan to debrief the rest of the Rods and work out a defense program for future non-human threats.

He left Marcus with instructions too. “I want you to set up an analysis of our channeler intelligence and registries for anyone who could potentially combine channeling with the science of genetic engineering. We need to carefully monitor their activities. I don’t want a rogue channeler accidentally creating an entire new species.”
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Emergence - by Ascendancy - 04-23-2022, 02:20 AM

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