The asura awoke staring at the sky. At first she thought she hadn't opened her eyes, the view was so dark. Slowly she saw the soft flicker of stars and a slim white curve. It was the moon, a slim crescent, smiling down at her. She could hear noises, people possibly? Bleary eyed, she turned her head to see a human hovered over her, a medic's symbol on his chest.
"She's awake!" he called out. He turned toward her with a look of concern. "Miss Zojja, can you hear me?"
She blinked. Yes, she was Zojja. Why was she here? Why wasn't she in her lab? Where was Mr. Sparkles?
"She's not responding!" the medic called.
"I'll . . . respond . . . when there's . . . something to respond to," Zojja said slowly. Things were slowly piecing themselves back together. The Savant was to take her out to dinner in Lion's Arch. They were waiting for someone and . . .
"Miss Zojja, there was an attack in the main plaza," another human, this time in shiny gold armor. "I know this is a delicate time, but we need to get a statement from you as soon as possible."
She slowly stood up and dusted herself off, her body aching all over.
"Where are they? Where's Mr. Sparkles?" she asked.
The Lionguard looked confused. "You were in an explosion," he spoke slowly and calmly, "I need you to-"
"I heard you the first time," Zojja snapped. "I'm asking where the Savant and Batanga are, as well as the condition of my GOLEM, Mr. Sparkles." She was starting to feel more like herself. Zojja brushed past the Lionguard to exit the tent. They were still in the main plaza, and there were a few other tents set up. Portions were cordoned off to keep onlookers at bay. Scanning around, she didn't see the Savant or Batanga.
The Lionguard came behind her, and lightly touched her shoulder. She brushed it off and looked at him in irritation.
"Well? Where are they?" Zojja fumed. She felt a dull ache from the back of her head, but ignored it. There were more pressing matters.
"Do you mean Lionguard Batanga? She took off to one of the far tents with another asura. I can-"
"I can find them, THANKS," and Zojja went off without a backward glance. She had seen the gleam of an energy crystal, and was certain it was from Mr. Sparkles. Apparently "Lionguard" Batanga was taking care of Tippa, so they should be fine. Not surprising for an Order of Whispers Agent to have a few aliases.
Getting to the site of the gleam, Zojja silently praised her sharp eyes. It was indeed Mr. Sparkles, and he was in shambles. He was still whole, but he no longer glowed with energy, and his usual blue lights were gone. Too much damage for her to fix here without the proper equipment, she'd have to just salvage what was important. She quietly took some tools out of her belt, and pried the main core data crystal out of its socket. Anyone with that information could get some very sensitive data and know more about her golem than she'd ever want them to. Everything else was too damaged or unworthy of being taken with her.
Zojja began inspecting the golem. From the looks of it, Mr. Sparkles had absorbed the majority of the initial blast, and channeled the energy into itself for later disbursement. She barely remembered the first blast, but did recall seeing the Savant and Agent Batanga blown away from her. Unfortunately it couldn't safely discharge the energy later, which was most likely where the second blast came from. No burns are scorch marks around. This information combined with his ability to absorb the energy meant the bomb was arcane in nature. Most likely Inquest, they did love their arcane energy blasts. The troubling thing was that there was enough energy released that Mr. Sparkles couldn't safely discharge it later or back at the source in a concentrated attack (something she'd perfected on him long ago). Very unusual.
Zojja frowned, and then pulled out her 2-way lab communicator. She promised the Savant she would leave the lab for the night, but she hadn't promised to stay out of touch with her krewe.
"Snaff Memorial Lab, come in, this is Zojja," she called.
"This is Snaff Memorial Lab, how can we help you?" the voice was static and crackles, but she could hear them well enough. She recognized the voice as Klunk, a newly hired krewemember.
"Klunk, get a pick up krewe to Lion's Arch immediately. Mr. Sparkles is down," she ordered.
"Do you need-"
"You're talking to me, so that means you're not getting down here. Get a full golem transport to get him back to the lab NOW," she snapped. She shut off the device, and made her way to the far tents.
Looking around, she noticed that tents were still being put up, and citizens treated. That meant she hadn't been out for long. Good, they could regroup and figure out what happened. No one messes with her golem and gets away with it.
She found Batanga in the third tent she checked. She was no longer in that gaudy outfit, but changed into her more practical Whispers uniform. The blonde asura was hovering over the Savant, who was sitting upright but looked decidedly placated. The Savant was heavily bruised on her arms and legs, with a large cut on her lower lip. She noticed her as she came into the tent and gave a wide smile.
"Baldy!" the Savant said happily.
"WHAT," Zojja replied.
"Calm down, Tippa's not herself," Batanga sighed. She finished bandaging a cut on the Savant's arm and stood to face her.
The Savant giggled. Something was wrong. The Savant had her silly moments, but not during times of crisis. She was a soldier and a capable leader who shined during times like these. She did not giggle and call names when lives might be on the line.
"Savant?" asked Zojja cautiously.
The Savant didn't respond, instead she slowly tilted to the side until she fell over. She then proceeded to roll back and forth, oblivious to Zojja's shock.
"What did that bomb do?!" Zojja was horrified. This was worse than death. The Savant, HER Savant, was now an idiot.
"Not the bomb," Batanga said calmly. "Poison, from a powder on her face. I've collected a sample and sent it to my order already." Batanga was quickly putting away her medical supplies, and jotting down notes.
Zojja came closer and tried to stop the Savant from her rolling. That didn't work, and instead she tripped and ended up on the floor with her. Zojja managed to pin down the Savant.
"Savant! SAVANT!" Zojja yelled. "Compose yourself!"
Batanga sighed. "That's not going to work. That poison did a number on her. Don't worry, I'm taking care of it."
Batanga grabbed the Savant, pulling her out from under Zojja and onto her feet. She put her arm around the addled asura to steady her, and began to make their way out the back of the tent.
"Where are you taking her?" Zojja asked, picking herself off the floor.
"Don't you have a golem to worry about?" Batanga replied coldly.
"My krewe is taking care of it, and you didn't answer me," she snapped. "We should take her back to Rata Sum, we can run tests-"
Batanga ignored her and continued to lead the Savant away. The Savant could walk, but not without assistance. She was humming to herself, blissfully unaware of the tension around her.
Zojja gritted her teeth and ran in front of the pair.
"I'm trying to help, why aren't you listening to me?!" snapped Zojja.
Batanga paused walking, and looked hard at her, ears back in an aggressive posture.
"Do you see what kind of condition she's in? We don't have TIME to run back to your lab and do tests, and we have no idea what going through a gate could do to her. Do you even know what just happened?"
"There was a bomb, the Savant was poisoned-"
"She was poisoned trying to help you" Batanga snapped. "That's what witnesses say."
"When did you have time to interview witnesses? What else do you know?"
Batanga snorted and began walking again. "Do you know how much danger Tippa is in right now? Neurological poisons are nasty, and often have long term or irreversible effects. I don't have time to talk to you and help her at the same time."
"Which is why you need my help. I can-"
"You want to know what happened?" Batanga huffed. "Tippa risked her life for you, pushing you out of the way of the poison shot that was meant for you. If things were reversed, I don't think you'd do the same. Frankly, I'm surprised you haven't ran back to your lab, and forgot her like your other pet projects."
"You don't know me!" Zojja spat.
Without the forward momentum carrying her, the Savant was leaning dangerously away from her support. Batanga pulled her close then continued.
"I don't, but I know your type. I see it all the time in my work. A hotshot with a heavy dose of talent who doesn't care about anyone. Think they can do it all themselves. New recruits like that don't last long in my line of work. They can get the job done, sure, but being in the Order of Whispers-well, any of the orders, is much more than that. Most likely why you could never get into one."
"How DARE-"
Batanga cut her off with a snarl. "How dare I what? Bring up how you've discarded apprentices like used handkerchiefs? How once someone is no longer useful, you dump him or her by the wayside? How many of your former "Savants" are you even still in contact with? That you even remember? You've gone through HUNDREDS of krewe members in the past 5 years! That's ridiculous! Given your record I can't see how you expect me to think you're genuine."
The bald asura was quiet for a moment. Not the point of her rant, but the possibility of the attacker being in one of those groups was disturbingly high, if it wasn't the Inquest. Also it would make it harder to find out the assailants identity.
"I'm going to help Tippa. If you're serious about this, you'll have to trust me. You don't have any expertise in poisons, and going back to Rata Sum would waste time. But feel free to pick up the pieces of your precious golem and take it back to your lab. I can handle this on my own." Batanga continued to lead Tippa away, disappearing into the night.
Zojja felt the rage swell inside her, but swallowed her anger. Batanga was right; Zojja was not an expert in poisons or alchemy. She grudgingly knew that if anyone would be an expert on the subject, it would be a Whispers member. Zojja wanted to wait for her krewe to oversee Mr. Sparkles' clean up, but that would have to wait. She would deal with Mr. Sparkles later, after she helped the Savant. Zojja adjusted her belt, then followed Batanga and the Savant into the dark. Batanga didn't know her, and she'd show that blonde just how true that was.
Author's Note: . . . and now for Zojja's POV! The rest of the story will be told from her perspective. Writing for her was fun!