Jack Pine
Archduke of the NDC
- Joined
- Nov 3, 2021
- Messages
- 50
- Reaction score
- 30
The office was sleek, clean, and polished. Everything was immaculate to convey the clean image that the Apostle wanted to convey, even if few ever saw it. The man wore his mask with the most stillness, as he simply sat in the chair gently, making sure not to disturb his charge sitting in his lap. Lilia sat there in papa’s lap at his desk, elbows resting on the dark polished marble desk, game device in hand as she played programs suited for her age.
Maybe he was getting soft, but he was relaxed like this, even before this. Just sitting there, doing nothing, would have bored him to all nine of the hells. The Apostle only lightly sighed in relaxation, a gloved hand gently patting the girl’s head, tussling her two bunny ears. “You are being such a good, and calm girl for daddy today, maybe I can convince mommy to let us go get a treat at the commissary today.”, he said softly to Lilia, who only gave a half excited “oooooooo” at the idea, her attention still mostly distracted by her game.
Lilith stepped into the room at the tail end of Lazarus' statement and snorted. "A treat huh?" She remarked, having opted to wear a tailored suit due to having to handle some, matters with people she couldn't just distract with her form, so had to play it smart this time. That didn't mean it didn't make her look good, but it was certainly more plain than her normal look. "I don't know, I don't think you've done anything special to get one Sir, but Lilia, ehhh, I can think about it." She teased, grinning as she walked to the desk and settled in comfortably in the left chair in front of it.
"How ya doing kiddo?" She asked her daughter, reaching forward to give the young girl a rub of her head as well.
From time to time Craig had the interest, shared with his “current” employer, to discuss geopolitical matters. From an outside perspective it could have looked like a hobby but not for him, he was concerned about the world and the more he grew older the more the time urged him to feel that way.
The tall figure reached the entrance to the Apostle main officer, he was wearing his usually elegant yet martial clothes, the only adding was an elegant black walking stick, with an eagle head at the top of it made out of silver. He made aware a couple of days prior of his meeting with Lazarus, as usual he would have never come uninvited.
Craig waited patiently with his gentlemen-like posture outside the doors as he arrived a minute later than Lilith.
“I’ve managed to not kill anyone today, that’s always special with me in my opinion.”, the apostle said with mock wounded pride, a hand casually reaching over to a panel on the desk. Tapping a couple commands, Craig would be buzzed in, letting him know he was ready for the man to enter. “Also I hope you don’t mind a plus one in the office today, Craig wanted to speak of something. He’s outside right now, about to come in, though I’d enjoy it if you stayed. Just so it’s clear I’m not saying you’re leaving or anything.”, he added with a more serious tone, speaking of business.
Well he thought it would be business anyways, but he didn’t really know for sure. With that man, it could be anything, and in their age it was also sometimes everything. The Apostle would not complain however, as it was good to have these chats from time to time with someone like minded. As in weirdly of a sense of needing one, they were sanity checks for the boss most of the time.
The tall man entered, the stick tapping the floor at each couple of steps, his fierce glance looking at the pair “It is always a pleasure for the eyes to see you in tranquility, Apostle.” His warm voice gave genuine words. Then his cybereyes turned to see the young woman “Miss Lilith glad to see you here, I wasn’t expecting your presence but today it is surely needed.” Craig said as he walked to reach the two.
Lilith snorted. "Oh now your being all formal again. I'm just visiting Lazarus, handing over the paperwork concerning the deal I just sat through for two days, and ready to enjoy some off time." She said to Craig as he spoke, mirth shining in her eyes as she spoke, her voice managing to give that edge of "fuck this shit" that didn't exist anywhere else but her tone.
"I was checking to see how Lilia was doing in his care actually." She said, her voice back to it's normal sense.
Pressing another set of keys to make sure all security was in place, the door locked, and his office now a deadzone as it was designed to be for the most part. Lazarus removed the mask of his more public persona, the Apostle, giving a small sigh of relief as he did. “Yes yes yes, daddy is behaving, my little bun is always safe with me.”, Lazarus finally said, before looking at Craig. “So what would be the topic of discussion for this meeting my old friend, one that you’d need my wife’s expertise for as well. It must be pretty important, or a heavy one if you want to talk to both of us.”
Craig gave a brief smile as he reached the desk, he moved his hand under his long coat to extract a metal sheet, a pad more specifically. “As you know I’ve been financing for the last decade a couple of expeditionary groups under the name of Xiphos. Most of the findings are unworth to mention, but what group Theta found in the Lasglar system is.” He gently placed the pad on the desk surface.
“I’ll let your eyes and ears unfold the records inside.” He concluded as he gave a look at Lilith again “Hope I am not being of any disturbance.”
Lilith quirked an eyebrow and picked up the pad and examined the material. "No disturbance honestly. As said, the negotiations weren't my personal favorite affair, so this is a nice change of pace." She remarked, examining what was on display. "An interesting stone, looks like it was shaped by artificial means." She said, sliding the tablet to Lazarus to look at. "But the readings say there wasn't anything special about it. What makes you think it was special?" She asked Craig, looking over. She figured that if the various scientific tools couldn't find something special, there was either magic or 'divinity', magic with a different name, able to find something to make it worth more than it's being shaped implied.
“That’s why I ordered the expedition to bring the artifact here.” The tall man agreed to some extent what Lilith said. “My personal judgment is that in such stone is embedded some sort of AI or even a soul, since the prism has been trying to mentally contact those who came near it three times.”
The man then turned and gave his back to the pair, he made a couple of steps as he looked at the ceiling “If such thing is what I personally believe, there is a way to trap souls inside material objects, and if such prism remained active for as much time as now, considering the millions of years that erosion has done to the site. The energy that such magitech can keep is immense.” He then turned back to once again meet the eyes with the rest.
“That kind of technology is not something we know how to reproduce in the same fashion if this is true. So the important question I have for you is Craig. What do you plan to do with it, and should I be under the inference that you want funding to find more?” Lazarus would have leaned forward on his elbows, hands steepled as he had asked that question, if not for the little one. She quite happily played the game, blissfully ignorant to what was being discussed.
Lazarus just defaulted to gently wrapping his arms around his daughter, who reactively just sat back to rest against his chest still playing the hand held. “This is quite the discovery, and while we do have an extensive science division. We are still at the heart of the day, a private military, so any research would have to be mostly third party save for preliminary work.”
“I trust you Lazarus, not only by your curriculum but as one the few men I can call friend in this galaxy.” Craig’s warm voice was in pure contrast to his stoic expression, his hand inside a pocket of the coat as the other firmly gripped the eagle’s head. “And I know of only one place where such an artifact can be kept safe. Which is here.”
He paused for a second before continuing “Secondary effects to the communication with the prism are irrelevant to the sanity of the subjects, headaches post contact that fades in the same day. But it is clear that the sounds are a complex and articulated language that can be reproduced by humanoids. The expeditions are limited as the budget I privately invested, they don’t have laboratories to do any research other than what can be just simply recorded through direct experience with the object and primitive field testing.” The man then cut short to reach the point as he was getting annoyed by his own explanation. “Therefore, yes I am also asking if you would be lenient to take in custody and make research on the object, deciphering it could be a game changer for the whole sector, if my assumptions are right.”
Lilith pinched her nose. "Did none of your expeditions have a mage or some such with them?" She asked. "How do we know this thing isn't cursed? I know there's magical artefacts which could do such. We lost a Black Hat Team to one of them, and I've been scrambling to not only replace them, but also entice mages and witches and the like to join so I can help bolster them."
“We can guard it, no problem, we’ll keep it in containment until more study can be done. But like Lilith has stated, we’re going to need those with the knowledge of a mage to get anywhere significant in terms of progress.” Lazarus replied, reaffirming what his wife had said. He wanted to be safe with whatever the damn thing was, not that he doubted Craig, but he knew when he was about to play with fire. “I might have an idea on one, or two, but that won’t be enough. Proper safety needs to be taken with an unknown like this though.”
Craig slowly nodded at the pair as he also feared what the artifact could still harbor unbeknownst to everyone. “I cannot disagree, your caution is rightful. Unfortunately group Theta can only count on one witch and even she wasn’t able to understand it, but at least she gave us the clearance that we are dealing with ancient magitech and not some sort of old technology.”
For Craig magic had always been an esoteric world, on which he was interested but never took it too seriously till that moment. “That’s where Miss Lilith and I could come to the scene, finding powerful magic sensitives to bring and analyze the prism. I’ll personally take action on the hunt of these people if you’ll allow it, Lazarus.” It would have been something unusual for him, as he usually hunted to kill and not to recruit, and such a thing was to some extent exciting him, as much as he could get excited by something.
Lilith shrugged. "I mean, the normal circuits I've been using haven't been doing anything, and our recruitment programme hasn't been working out Lazarus. We've gotten, maybe, a dozen viable mages in the entirety of NPS, and almost all of them have been antsy about how much desk work they've been stuck doing since they joined us to do field work slinging spells, not sitting at desks slinging papers."
"Craig might not be our first choice for a recruiter, but honestly, our normal choices aren't doing it. Getting a proper skeptic who nonetheless wants to find good mages? That honestly might draw out the ones who are bored of their usual work and want to prove something. I know the UNS has been, iffy about our presence since we started trying to get mages, but we both know the NDC is not the place to go for mage recruitment."
“Fine fine fine, do what you need to. If it gets it done, get your recruits, even if it takes a sign on bonus. Just respect the local laws, and make sure they’re kept within the appropriate level of intel isolation.” Lazarus grumbled, not a big fan of the business shit, but it’s what made his living. Whoever said socio and psychopaths made good heads of business, clearly never understood how fucking boring it was for them.
A thin smile traced the face of the tall man “Thank you Lazarus.”
Maybe he was getting soft, but he was relaxed like this, even before this. Just sitting there, doing nothing, would have bored him to all nine of the hells. The Apostle only lightly sighed in relaxation, a gloved hand gently patting the girl’s head, tussling her two bunny ears. “You are being such a good, and calm girl for daddy today, maybe I can convince mommy to let us go get a treat at the commissary today.”, he said softly to Lilia, who only gave a half excited “oooooooo” at the idea, her attention still mostly distracted by her game.
Lilith stepped into the room at the tail end of Lazarus' statement and snorted. "A treat huh?" She remarked, having opted to wear a tailored suit due to having to handle some, matters with people she couldn't just distract with her form, so had to play it smart this time. That didn't mean it didn't make her look good, but it was certainly more plain than her normal look. "I don't know, I don't think you've done anything special to get one Sir, but Lilia, ehhh, I can think about it." She teased, grinning as she walked to the desk and settled in comfortably in the left chair in front of it.
"How ya doing kiddo?" She asked her daughter, reaching forward to give the young girl a rub of her head as well.
From time to time Craig had the interest, shared with his “current” employer, to discuss geopolitical matters. From an outside perspective it could have looked like a hobby but not for him, he was concerned about the world and the more he grew older the more the time urged him to feel that way.
The tall figure reached the entrance to the Apostle main officer, he was wearing his usually elegant yet martial clothes, the only adding was an elegant black walking stick, with an eagle head at the top of it made out of silver. He made aware a couple of days prior of his meeting with Lazarus, as usual he would have never come uninvited.
Craig waited patiently with his gentlemen-like posture outside the doors as he arrived a minute later than Lilith.
“I’ve managed to not kill anyone today, that’s always special with me in my opinion.”, the apostle said with mock wounded pride, a hand casually reaching over to a panel on the desk. Tapping a couple commands, Craig would be buzzed in, letting him know he was ready for the man to enter. “Also I hope you don’t mind a plus one in the office today, Craig wanted to speak of something. He’s outside right now, about to come in, though I’d enjoy it if you stayed. Just so it’s clear I’m not saying you’re leaving or anything.”, he added with a more serious tone, speaking of business.
Well he thought it would be business anyways, but he didn’t really know for sure. With that man, it could be anything, and in their age it was also sometimes everything. The Apostle would not complain however, as it was good to have these chats from time to time with someone like minded. As in weirdly of a sense of needing one, they were sanity checks for the boss most of the time.
The tall man entered, the stick tapping the floor at each couple of steps, his fierce glance looking at the pair “It is always a pleasure for the eyes to see you in tranquility, Apostle.” His warm voice gave genuine words. Then his cybereyes turned to see the young woman “Miss Lilith glad to see you here, I wasn’t expecting your presence but today it is surely needed.” Craig said as he walked to reach the two.
Lilith snorted. "Oh now your being all formal again. I'm just visiting Lazarus, handing over the paperwork concerning the deal I just sat through for two days, and ready to enjoy some off time." She said to Craig as he spoke, mirth shining in her eyes as she spoke, her voice managing to give that edge of "fuck this shit" that didn't exist anywhere else but her tone.
"I was checking to see how Lilia was doing in his care actually." She said, her voice back to it's normal sense.
Pressing another set of keys to make sure all security was in place, the door locked, and his office now a deadzone as it was designed to be for the most part. Lazarus removed the mask of his more public persona, the Apostle, giving a small sigh of relief as he did. “Yes yes yes, daddy is behaving, my little bun is always safe with me.”, Lazarus finally said, before looking at Craig. “So what would be the topic of discussion for this meeting my old friend, one that you’d need my wife’s expertise for as well. It must be pretty important, or a heavy one if you want to talk to both of us.”
Craig gave a brief smile as he reached the desk, he moved his hand under his long coat to extract a metal sheet, a pad more specifically. “As you know I’ve been financing for the last decade a couple of expeditionary groups under the name of Xiphos. Most of the findings are unworth to mention, but what group Theta found in the Lasglar system is.” He gently placed the pad on the desk surface.
“I’ll let your eyes and ears unfold the records inside.” He concluded as he gave a look at Lilith again “Hope I am not being of any disturbance.”
Lilith quirked an eyebrow and picked up the pad and examined the material. "No disturbance honestly. As said, the negotiations weren't my personal favorite affair, so this is a nice change of pace." She remarked, examining what was on display. "An interesting stone, looks like it was shaped by artificial means." She said, sliding the tablet to Lazarus to look at. "But the readings say there wasn't anything special about it. What makes you think it was special?" She asked Craig, looking over. She figured that if the various scientific tools couldn't find something special, there was either magic or 'divinity', magic with a different name, able to find something to make it worth more than it's being shaped implied.
“That’s why I ordered the expedition to bring the artifact here.” The tall man agreed to some extent what Lilith said. “My personal judgment is that in such stone is embedded some sort of AI or even a soul, since the prism has been trying to mentally contact those who came near it three times.”
The man then turned and gave his back to the pair, he made a couple of steps as he looked at the ceiling “If such thing is what I personally believe, there is a way to trap souls inside material objects, and if such prism remained active for as much time as now, considering the millions of years that erosion has done to the site. The energy that such magitech can keep is immense.” He then turned back to once again meet the eyes with the rest.
“That kind of technology is not something we know how to reproduce in the same fashion if this is true. So the important question I have for you is Craig. What do you plan to do with it, and should I be under the inference that you want funding to find more?” Lazarus would have leaned forward on his elbows, hands steepled as he had asked that question, if not for the little one. She quite happily played the game, blissfully ignorant to what was being discussed.
Lazarus just defaulted to gently wrapping his arms around his daughter, who reactively just sat back to rest against his chest still playing the hand held. “This is quite the discovery, and while we do have an extensive science division. We are still at the heart of the day, a private military, so any research would have to be mostly third party save for preliminary work.”
“I trust you Lazarus, not only by your curriculum but as one the few men I can call friend in this galaxy.” Craig’s warm voice was in pure contrast to his stoic expression, his hand inside a pocket of the coat as the other firmly gripped the eagle’s head. “And I know of only one place where such an artifact can be kept safe. Which is here.”
He paused for a second before continuing “Secondary effects to the communication with the prism are irrelevant to the sanity of the subjects, headaches post contact that fades in the same day. But it is clear that the sounds are a complex and articulated language that can be reproduced by humanoids. The expeditions are limited as the budget I privately invested, they don’t have laboratories to do any research other than what can be just simply recorded through direct experience with the object and primitive field testing.” The man then cut short to reach the point as he was getting annoyed by his own explanation. “Therefore, yes I am also asking if you would be lenient to take in custody and make research on the object, deciphering it could be a game changer for the whole sector, if my assumptions are right.”
Lilith pinched her nose. "Did none of your expeditions have a mage or some such with them?" She asked. "How do we know this thing isn't cursed? I know there's magical artefacts which could do such. We lost a Black Hat Team to one of them, and I've been scrambling to not only replace them, but also entice mages and witches and the like to join so I can help bolster them."
“We can guard it, no problem, we’ll keep it in containment until more study can be done. But like Lilith has stated, we’re going to need those with the knowledge of a mage to get anywhere significant in terms of progress.” Lazarus replied, reaffirming what his wife had said. He wanted to be safe with whatever the damn thing was, not that he doubted Craig, but he knew when he was about to play with fire. “I might have an idea on one, or two, but that won’t be enough. Proper safety needs to be taken with an unknown like this though.”
Craig slowly nodded at the pair as he also feared what the artifact could still harbor unbeknownst to everyone. “I cannot disagree, your caution is rightful. Unfortunately group Theta can only count on one witch and even she wasn’t able to understand it, but at least she gave us the clearance that we are dealing with ancient magitech and not some sort of old technology.”
For Craig magic had always been an esoteric world, on which he was interested but never took it too seriously till that moment. “That’s where Miss Lilith and I could come to the scene, finding powerful magic sensitives to bring and analyze the prism. I’ll personally take action on the hunt of these people if you’ll allow it, Lazarus.” It would have been something unusual for him, as he usually hunted to kill and not to recruit, and such a thing was to some extent exciting him, as much as he could get excited by something.
Lilith shrugged. "I mean, the normal circuits I've been using haven't been doing anything, and our recruitment programme hasn't been working out Lazarus. We've gotten, maybe, a dozen viable mages in the entirety of NPS, and almost all of them have been antsy about how much desk work they've been stuck doing since they joined us to do field work slinging spells, not sitting at desks slinging papers."
"Craig might not be our first choice for a recruiter, but honestly, our normal choices aren't doing it. Getting a proper skeptic who nonetheless wants to find good mages? That honestly might draw out the ones who are bored of their usual work and want to prove something. I know the UNS has been, iffy about our presence since we started trying to get mages, but we both know the NDC is not the place to go for mage recruitment."
“Fine fine fine, do what you need to. If it gets it done, get your recruits, even if it takes a sign on bonus. Just respect the local laws, and make sure they’re kept within the appropriate level of intel isolation.” Lazarus grumbled, not a big fan of the business shit, but it’s what made his living. Whoever said socio and psychopaths made good heads of business, clearly never understood how fucking boring it was for them.
A thin smile traced the face of the tall man “Thank you Lazarus.”