First Steps

[Torri]

He had done a poor job explaining himself, but poor-communication was pandemic among commanders. Torri wasn't even clear on what Michael was to the CCD. He was decked in a uniform that bore symbols of command, but then he said the orders came from Nikolai. Apparently Michael was on a first name basis with the Ascendancy, or what little respect he had for him had withered away since Mecca.

It seemed her orders were to determine how and why these powers work. She might add an additional question: why did they manifest in the Sickness.

Michael's story distracted her from mentally chasing the answer. The details were not too difficult to extrapolate, but the dry, near disdain, tone in which it was told made her stomach turn. Such language was not unknown to her. She understood the implications of killing the enemy, but the CCD was not at war with innocent men with strange powers.

Or were they?

The answer didn't matter. Torri served the Custody by keeping their citizens alive and well.
"I will protect them as if they were my own patients,"
she replied.

"I'll begin recruiting the team. Almost everyone will come from their current station at the Facility. Since it seems there is a cure for the Sickness, they'll be reassigned elsewhere anyway."


She assumed Michael knew about the secret facility, but given his protective nature, she doubted he approved of it.