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Chapter Twelve: Light, Shadow and the In-Between

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Pemberley

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30 December 1823

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You'll need an engineering lab, said *Link*. Going on with your theoretical approach won't give you the wanted results.

Where am I going to get a lab? Especially here!

They are building a new underground complex and it is your mother who supervises the construction. You could either ask her to add a floor with laboratories and a few other technical amenities or we could suggest to the architects to adapt the floorplans to provide our scientists a secret hideout. I think they wouldn't really bother about the sudden addendum to the plans. After all such secret labs exist in every good spy novel.

You can suggest?

Only not upgraded Humans but with those it is easy. Especially since they are very near geographically. We know them and we have the means to recognize their mental 'imprint'.

What's a mental 'imprint'.

It's a mind's signature. Each living person, but Fluffy and Speedy who are just nonexistent in that field, has a very special and unique mental signature. It's totally unique and very easily recognizable. No physical disguise holds up against our little power. Once we've seen you we will ever again recognize you. No hiding from us…

That's creepy…

That's also very reassuring. Once we've recognized a Human for an enemy, we will no longer be at risk from a direct attack. We will always know where he is. And, if he is near enough, we will even know what he thinks.

You read thoughts now?

Thoughts cannot be read; a mind is not a book or a newspaper. A mind continually emits electromagnetic waves and those waves can, if you are bright enough, be inferred into a really understandable context.

So, what you say is that you just translate what people are emitting from alone.

More or less. Some people thoughts are guarded, though. Papa d'Arcy's thoughts are unreadable. He just emits pleasantly turned waves that have no sense. We suppose it is because of his martial artist background. His Masters have probably taught him to hide his thoughts…

Why would they do that? People like you, I mean people able to create a *Link* exist only for a few years.

Don't make silly judgments, Lionel. What we can do has, perhaps, been done in the past. And the fact that some people have felt the pull to create ways to disguise their thoughts pushes us to believe it existed before. So, now we are happy to have and the means to spy and the means to avoid being spied on… Aren't we living in a wonderful world?

Is *Link* developing humor, now?

We discovered a few days ago that *Link* is always built around the leading mind. And today it is Charlotte who's at the center. And you know her scolding sense of humor, don't you? It seems that the leading mind's skills are enhanced and easier to use for *Link*. So, should you one day be able to enter the *Link* we would put you at the center and we would have greatly enhanced skills in Physics and Maths. With your skills and *Link*'s power nothing could resist us.

We have tried it, remember? I'm just unable to enter the thought phase you use. It's a thing you've developed together and that clearly must be learned while very young. I have tried quite a few times and nothing came out of it.

So, you decided to stop trying and go back to your research.

I'm smart enough as it is. Smarter is probably not possible.

You clearly are an arrogant son of a Master-spy and a con-artist!

And proud to be…

Why don't you admit it to your mother? She would like it to hear you say that you are proud being her son.

She knows it…

That doesn't change the fact that hearing it will cause her pleasure.

You really believe so? She's not like Mamma Jane. She doesn't hug or embrace easily.

Give it a try!

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- What was that for?

Anne's smiling face had no problem to convince Lionel that *Link* had been right.

- To show you that I love you, Mamma.

Lionel was wondering, like every time he was trying to express feelings, if his voice was true or just disguised into something he believed the other wanted to hear.

- That's sweet… But I already knew that.

This time Lionel's smile was impishly satisfied.

- That's exactly what I said to *Link* but he insisted that even if you knew it still would please you. Did it?

- It did, indeed, said Anne. You can say a thousand time a day and each time it will be as pleasant as the first time…

Lionel's smile disappeared to give way to a frown.

- Which is silly. Once you know a thing, you know it! Why reaffirm it? Isn't it a waste of energy?

Anne couldn't help but embrace her silly son once more and with more energy.

- Not when you give messages of love, dear. Those messages make a lot of different things to those saying them and those receiving them. Each time you say to me that you love me, it opens your soul to me, and my soul receives your love as a welcomed gift. And that gift is energetically worth a lot more than the energy you've used to say them.

- You are sure about that? I will admit that a few words aren't difficult to utter and do not use a lot of energy but saying that they provide a lot more energy than what you used to utter them seems unscientific…

- Only because you restrain yourself to this plane of existence. When you share love, you open yourself to another plane where energy is a lot easier to share…

She bent a few inches backwards and smiled at him.

- I love you son and I'm extremely proud to be the mother of the smartest boy on Earth…

Something tangled in his heart and he did, indeed, feel a sudden increase in the energy level within him.

- You are right, it does feel like I have access to another source of energy. It's pleasant…

His smile lasted one and a half second to give way to his usual frown.

- If I could tap those energies within me, I could be so much more efficient, you know! I'll hav…

She stopped him with a hug and a kiss.

- The only way to know will be to do whatever is in your power to open up to these energies. And you know the drill, don't you?

He nodded while smiling.

- Indeed. I love you Mom!

- I love you too, dear.

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- What happened to our son? Going from champion of aloofness to embracing loving hugging child seems an exceedingly difficult journey to me…

Anne nodded while basking in her husband's pride.

- I was able to find the words he needed to hear to be convinced that expressing your love for others wasn't a waste of precious energy.

George, knowing the difficulty he had to even speak with his son without losing his temper couldn't help but let his amazement show.

- And how did you do that?

- By pointing him at recognizing that love is another sort of real energy coming from another level of existence…

George couldn't help but to let his doubts appear.

- I'm not sure that I understand the words you just uttered…

- That's because they are not for you but for our son. Our son lives in a kind of parallel world where energy is at the origin of everything. I even believe that energy is the real thing Lionel worships. And it seems that he has a real understanding about how energy works and how to feel it… And now he has been able to feel the energy one taps into when love is shared…

He couldn't help but wink at his wife who had shown quite a lot of enthusiasm for his unscheduled visit to Pemberley.

- If I remember well shared love is rather energy consuming.

- Only the physical share of love, dear. The mental sharing of energy when you say to the other that you love him doesn't consume any but provides a lot. And since he is overly sensitive when it comes to that, I was able to point him at the feeling he was able to sense when hearing genuine love words. And it convinced him that love was indeed a source of energy.

She let a mischievous smile adorn her lips.

- He is, of course, as we speak, busy trying to tap said new energy source, but that is only an odd aftereffect. What is important is the fact that he has been able to feel the difference between his energy when alone and not exposed to love and the energy he had access to when confronted with love. That was everything he needed to fathom the existence and the importance of love. Everything else will depend on his willingness to experiment with other people. As said Jane earlier this month, there is, perhaps, out there a girl who will be able to teach him more. Meanwhile I'm still quite satisfied by what I achieved these last days. It is a lot more than I hoped.

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- You look satisfied and smug…

Jane turned around and smiled at Maureen.

- That's probably because I am both. Satisfied to be here and to have been able to play my usual role during those festivities and smug because of what Anne and I we achieved with young Lionel.

- He is indeed quite unrecognizable. What did you do to him?

- Anne did the most but I am proud to have been the one to point her in the right direction. I could probably have done it too but as the mother it was her privilege and I had no intention to prevent her from, finally, finding the key to her son's heart.

Her smile increased.

- How do you feel the new Lionel?

- Not vastly different from the old one, really. But there are those sudden spikes in interactions with family members. I've seen him hug Joan at least twice and he seemed to enjoy it. Not like he was doing it a few weeks ago.

- That's because now, contrary to before, he no longer fakes it to look like a normal boy, but he feels the inner pull to do it. He's, at last, been able to feel that hugging people while caring for them is a satisfactory action. Not as satisfactory as resolving a math of physics problem but a lot more satisfying than just faking affection.

- Was he faking affection?

- I believe so. Not that he wasn't feeling anything for the others but, outside of me, he seemed to never do it at the right time. And when you hug somebody after the mood to hug has disappeared, it's only a very cold physical contact. Now he knows that it must be done immediately…

- Which is even more awkward, you must admit to…

- Not for him since it always was awkward for him since there was no feeling behind the move. Now he knows that when the feeling is there it is time to hug. Immediately not ten minutes later. And since he has only a very small number of people he will ever want to hug, it has been rather easy for Anne to warn his victims that Lionel was going through a new phase in his social life.

She looked at Maureen with a frown.

- How did Joan react?

- With visible pleasure, said Maureen. She didn't look surprised, so I suppose her mother warned her.

- Joan and Lionel had always been tight knitted siblings. I'm quite sure that Lionel's evolution will please her a lot. I hope he will follow *Link*'s advice and speak with her about what he thinks could be of interest for her. She's not as bright as he is – but then who is?- but she has a lot better social skills than he will ever even understand exist. I'm happy that Anne will move here because of Lionel. It will give us the means to bring her into the fold of the sisterhood. She's smart and kind, it will be a pleasure to see her learn the weaving she's entitled to study.

- And with ten she's just in time to enter the circle. What would you have done if Anne hadn't agreed to move?

Jane shrugged.

- Insisted? But in truth I was hopeful to see her accept my arguments. Anne is not an idiot and she has always been aware of Lionel's social flaws. Those deficiencies would have spoiled the boy's life in London. Here we just could ignore them. I knew that she would understand how unhappy he would be in London or Rosings. I had hope but I wouldn't have bet a pound on Anne finally choosing to move towards here.

- It will make George's life a lot harder…

- I spoke with him and he is thrilled to have, at last, the authorization to install an apartment in Pemberley's VIP level. It has been a thorn in his eyes for years and now, because of Lionel and Joan, he will, very formally, be greeted as a member of the family. It is a life's dream becoming true for him.

- And how does Fitzwilliam react?

- Like the cool Statesman he has grown into. He is not pleased but he is totally able to smother his own bad feelings to put the family's interests at the front. And in this very case the fact that he likes and admires young Lionel has played a major role in his acceptation. He agrees with everybody else that Lionel is weird but he has witnessed the boy's brilliance in more than one occasion and, whatever he will say upfront, he's very proud that a Grandson of his beloved father is undeniably the most impressive mind of the Commonwealth.

Jane's smile increased tenfold.

- Fitzwilliam has always been an arrogant prick. A lovely and lovable arrogant prick, but still a prick. So, having the smartest man of the world being a Nephew of him, is a huge satisfaction for him who's the Pater Familias of the Darcy Gens. And to oblige Lionel and Anne he had been, for a long time, very ready to swallow his pride!

Jane winked at her sister.

- So, Lizzy had no real problems to get her husband to be accommodating. He's not happy to have to welcome George in Pemberley but it has been a minor problem in the Darcy's lives for quite a few years. They are both distinguished gentlemen now and we hope that they have learned how to behave in society.

She shrugged to show that she didn't really believe that it would be a problem.

- Now that Anne has accepted to move from London to Pemberley, Fitzwilliam has no longer a choice. Anne has been remarkably clear about how she was seeing her new position in the Darcy Household. She likes it here and since Fitzwilliam likes to have her here, they soon all agreed on the conditions of the move. So, the rest will come from alone. Or not! After all, Fitzwilliam, twenty years ago, was not very fond of my arrogant prick of a French husband and today they are, if not best buddies, a lot more tight knitted than most brothers-in-law. Let's hope that George and his half-brother will be able to overcome their young adults' memories to remember the friends they were when teenagers.

- That would be a very strange occurrence.

- With God's help, everything is possible. Those two loved each other once upon a time. I'm quite sure that that love is still somewhere in their hearts and souls and that we will be able to resurrect it.

Jane shook her head once more.

- And to be frank what do we have to lose by trying?

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- You are sure about that, son? You don't look like the most athletic of my Nephews and I do have a few doubts about your motivation.

Geoffrey had just finished his morning training with his daughter, and he had been surprised to discover that Lionel had been there looking at them the whole hour.

- I know and I will admit that it is not what I spontaneously would like to do, answered Lionel. But *Link* had convinced me that I should do more physical training and that your martial art should be what I should follow.

Geoffrey who was at the same time proud and freaked out each time he heard about *Link* and its influence over quite a lot of people in Pemberley, let out a long sigh.

- I have no doubt that you have the physical background to be good at it, but it will force you to spend at least two hours a day out of your library and away from your books. Do you think you can do that?

- I have no idea, answered Lionel who had, a long time ago, made the decision to say the truth whatever said truth was.

- That's a truthful answer and a good beginning for this kind of endeavor. You now that it won't be me who will train you?

- That was always a given! I will perhaps, in the future, ask for your help to progress into the higher ranks but we are a long way from that sort of demand. For now, I just need a man -or a woman- able to teach me the basic moves. And since the other pupils of Rob's magic class are probably as interested as me, we could do it together. It would help me to have emulation.

Geoffrey smiled at the young boy's honesty.

- I'll ask Maureen to reopen her beginners' class. She's done it before with the elder kids and they were quite satisfied with her teachings. She will get you through the basics and once there you'll have enough experience to decide if you are motivated enough to go on. And even if you stop there you still will have enough knowledge to come out a bad encounter.

- We have bodyguards, Uncle…

- Bodyguards is a shitty way to earn its life. Believe the assassin I was, bodyguards are always the first to die, son. So, it could be that, at some point you will be alone facing some bad guy. That day, and it will come, it always comes, you'll see that what I call a basic training is a lot more than just learning the easy steps.

He looked Lionel in the eyes.

- You are sure about that, son?

- I am…

Geoffrey shot him his proudest smile.

- Good, I'll warn Maureen that she has new motivated pupils.

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Pemberley

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3rd January 1824

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You' should have stepped aside, said *Link*. We warned you…

Could you please bother somebody else while I'm training?

You are the one with the best link with me, answered *Link*. It's easier to keep a thorough scan of your movements with you than with the others. And they are a lot less gifted for that sort of things than you.

I'm gifted? Looking at the number of times Aunt Maureen has thrown me all over the place, I don't feel to be gifted.

The others are training with each other, you have your sensei most of the time dealing with you. That's a sign. She knows you can handle her. The others are a lot less sprightly.

Of course, while discussing with *Link* his focus lessened and he was soon flying in a very ungraceful way towards the Dojo's outer border.

- Focus, Lionel, hissed Maureen. I know you could have avoided my move. You've done it before.

- It's difficult to focus on you with *Link* commenting my awful footwork and my degrading focus.

- *Link*'s with you?

- They are, as usual, cheating, grumbled Lionel. I do the effort and they store my memories… That's how they learn so many things so easily. They are following my very moves during the training.

- And it bothers you?

- Only when they comment on my mistakes and failures. *Link* is, most of the time, an arrogant prick.

- That runs deep in the family, answered Maureen with a smile. So, since you are the vessel I can use to teach that band of cheaters the basics, you'll have to be even more focused. You are not alone to follow my lessons. We wouldn't want them to take on bad habits, now, would we?

- It would be easier if they avoided the comment part…

- Just listen to them and if what they said is interesting, use it to improve your moves. You'll progress a lot faster with a running debrief in your mind.

- It disturbs me.

- Learn to use it to your advantage. They say that you are the most focused boy ever. Show me the truth of that rumor.

She clapped twice.

- Robert, you're with me for the next training run. Joan you take your brother and please show him that you are as good as him. It seems he believes that just because he is male, he is gifted in our art.

- Will do, Sensei, said Joan with a smile.

Joan had followed martial art training in London for the last two years and she was already quite good with a lot of defensive moves. Her attacks were still weak -because of her small size and lack of muscles- but she still was better than Lionel. And being Lionel's sibling, she had no scruples to show off as often as possible.

Lionel didn't let the grumble he felt leave his throat. He would just have to endure his sister's demonstration.

And it will be better with her. You are the same size, we will be able to learn new, more normal, moves.

Don't you have better things to do than plaguing me?

Training with you is fun and it doesn't prevent us from doing other things at the same time. We are very eclectic, as you know.

Show off!

Not in the least and be careful she's coming form your left, she will use her sweeping inside move…

Soon he was looking at the ceiling while his head was ringing.

What about be careful don't you understand?

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- That's interesting, said Geoff while massaging Jane's shoulders and back after what had been a rather athletic night. *Link* is piggybacking Lionel's training? And they acquire his memories?

- That's what Lionel said, answered Maureen from her bathtub.

- Didn't you make a little try?

- I learned about it last afternoon and must I remind you that *Link*'s members are all around three years old? We'll have to wait a few more years to test them…

- Perhaps not, countered Jane with a very subdued -if appreciative- voice. They are upgraded and their bodies are a lot more resistant that that of normal children. We could perhaps create a new training schedule for them. And it would do them a wealth of good. They do tend to be a lot less mobile than normal children. They are lying around quite a lot.

- At least they don't become fat, said Maureen who was the one who, day after day, forced the little band of lazy bones to perform an hour of swimming in the lake.

Maureen let out a long sigh.

- Thank God we have Wave to motivate them or we would never get them to do any physical activity. Swimming is the only sport they really love performing. And I suspect that it is because they are thinking about their next trip to Spalatro.

- Whatever the reason, it is a good thing, said Geoffrey. I'm not sure the bug would let them become fat, but it still is better to have them train and perform normal physical activities. I'm not sure I ever saw one of them run…

- Running is not a very natural activity for a three-year-old toddler.

- If they ever were toddlers, they ceased to be quite a few months ago, noted Jane. But I agree with Geoffrey we need to make them move.

- You always agree with Geoffrey, Jane, said Yasmina from her desk.

They could all hear the smile in her voice.

She had, as was her habit, joined the party just after Christmas and had been quite often at the center of their husband's attention. She still wasn't interested in bearing another child, but Jane was sure that, in the not so distant future, she would be able to convince her to give it another try.

- That's because most of the time what he says is not only true but infused with a lot of wisdom.

Maureen and Yasmina couldn't help but laugh out aloud.

Because Jane's answer hadn't contained even a small trace of irony.

Jane was indeed convinced by what she just said.

- I don't see why you laugh out so loud, protested said Geoffrey. I am a lot wiser now than when we first met.

- Don't take me wrong, love, I did love what you did to get me out of that heavily guarded British Prison, but one thing has always been very pregnant in my mind: it has never been an example of wisdom. Becoming wiser when there was no wisdom at all is indeed an exploit! What makes me laugh is just a fact that wisdom isn't the advantage I naturally link to my beloved husband…

- You cannot say that, protested Jane. He never acted foolishly in my memories.

- If, for you, wisdom and not acting foolishly is the same, said Maureen, then you are probably right, he's wiser now than he was in the past. But being wiser isn't the same as being wise. At least not in my opinion.

She winked at Geoffrey.

- Would a wise man have married three feisty and demanding wives like us? I really doubt it…

Even Geoffrey who was quite skilled with fast replies, was muted there.

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- Why would you need that?

Charles who was, like every other member of the family, in the middle of packing his coffers, looked at Lionel.

- I feel that, even if I still have a lot of theoretical ground to cross, it is time to try some of my theories out. I need to make things happen and for that I need machines to build the tools I feel are necessary.

Charles closed his last coffer and walked to Lionel who was sitting on the edge of Charles bed.

- I have asked some of my best scientists to study your theories and even if they are confused, most of them are of the opinion that your theories are groundbreaking and revolutionary. The problem they encounter is that they don't understand what goal you pursue. What do you want to do in the end?

- I want to understand how the Universe is organized, Uncle. I want, I need to know how God has built our world. Once I know how it has been done I hope to be able to redo it differently.

- Why redo it differently?

- Because doing the same would be just a repetition of something that we already know is working. I want to understand how it works but that's only the first step. Once I know how it was done, I hope to be able to see ways to do it differently…

- You already said that but if I can easily understand why one would want to understand how things work, I don't see any sane reason to look for ways to do it differently.

- How many different ways to fly have you invented, Uncle? Four, five? Why have you even looked at a second way to fly once your airships had been constructed? You had a perfectly sane and efficient way to fly, why look elsewhere?

Charles could only nod.

- I see where you want to go.

Lionel didn't stop he needed to be sure that his Uncle would see at what he was hinting.

- Today you have airships, planes, gliders, gyrocopters, spaceships and even, in a certain manner, parachutes that allow a man or a woman to fly. Had you stopped at your first success we would have airships and that would be it. We wouldn't be able to fly from Pemberley to Mumbai in less than four hours and we wouldn't be able to save people who are in need on a mountain side. Each different way to fly has opened new possibilities, new ways to use the concept of flying in more innovative ways.

He looked his Uncle in the eyes.

- That's what I want to do with the founding rules of the Universe. God has created this Universe following certain rules and I'm wondering if those rules are the only ones or, if, behind that peculiar path He used here with us, one couldn't find some other path leading to another range of rules?

Lionel shook his head.

- When I look at my discoveries there is one thing that always seems overbearing: that everything looks so very similar. And you know why it is so? Because God has used a certain pattern to create this Universe and the more I look at said creation, the more evident that peculiar pattern becomes.

A smile appeared on his lips.

- I'm sure that there are other patterns He had conceived. And with those different patterns He surely didn't stay idle! It's not how I see Him. I'm sure that He did create different Universes which aren't very different but clearly aren't the same.

He looked at the ceiling.

- I feel that there are an infinity of patterns and each pattern has an infinity of tiny variations. But tiny or not, each one will have begotten a different Universe.

He smiled at his Uncle.

- There is something out there that produces each fraction of a second something new, something revolutionary and something wonderful. And I wish to be able to look at some of those new creations while they are being designed…

Finally, Charles nodded.

- I have supported some very foolish plans in my life but never ever before have I supported an Attempt to emulate God. It is perhaps time to leave my usual pettiness to think in a grander scale.

He patted Lionel on the cheek and turned around to move towards the door of his apartment.

- I'll see your mother and I'll organize with her the engineering level you need. You will have your machine tools and the engineers needed to make them work but you know the rules, what is discovered or invented with monies I provide cannot be kept secret and must be revealed to the whole world.

- I know the rules Uncle and I promise that what is discovered within the engineering level you finance, will be brought to the knowledge of the general public.

Charles frowned at the rather circumvoluted sentence but didn't really react. After all Lionel was known to be special. And he doubted that a ten year old child, whatever smart, would already be using legalese to hide his real intentions.

You are sure about that?

Yes, I'm quite sure that there will be plenty of preliminary discoveries that will please Uncle Charles desire to help Humankind.

What about the real, the groundbreaking discoveries?

We'll have to build another lab. With the same machine tools but with nobody working for the Company.

It will cost a lot of money…

I have a stipendium and so do you…

It will take a few years before we are allowed to use the money our parents are hoarding for us. And the day we begin to spend a part of it they will fall upon us like a buzzard on a old carcass.

We will find ways to get to money, said Lionel.

Legally?

Or not… answered Lionel. There must be ways to syphon money out of the parallel illegal economy.

Are you sure that is a good idea?

You said you could read thoughts, grumbled Lionel.

But only from people we know and whose mind pattern has been explored.

Do we know any dishonest people?

We know Napoleon, said *Link*. Did you know that he has taken over all the illegal businesses of all the territories the Consulate possess?

And more, said another part of *Link*. He's busy taking over the Russian Mafia.

It wouldn't be a good idea to antagonize Napoleon, said Lionel. He's not the sanest man and he has a reputation to be a greedy mongrel. I'm quite sure he wouldn't like to be robbed, even by us.

There could be a possibility there, said *Link*. We have access to Napoleon's very own Villain. The man who supervises all of Napoleon's illegal businesses!

Who's that?

It's the famous Gianluca Benevento, the Corsican Pirate and Slaver who has been Uncle d'Arcy's personal manservant for years when he wasn't married to Mamma Jane. He has embezzled quite a lot of money from Napoleon's illegal affairs. He's as rich as they come outside of the family. We could easily find out where he hides his money and embezzle the embezzler…

No, said Lionel. If he was Uncle d'Arcy friend, we can't do that. But we could convince him to become our ally. Who will accept to deal with a ten year old child or a group of twelve toddlers?

We are no longer toddlers, came the protest immediately.

You still look like them, so we need an adult and this Gianluca Benevento seems to be the perfect choice.

He's not the most honest man around, said *Link*.

He has been Uncle d'Arcy trusted second for years. For me, it means that he is trustworthy. And we could offer him to be upgraded. He's not yet there.

Napoleon promised him…

And we can make sure that he gets what he wants.

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Pemberley

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5th January 1824

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Benevento climbed out of the passenger cockpit of the plane that had awaited him at the Versailles Airfield.

He was a little worried since it had been the first time in years that d'Arcy had asked for a private interview with him.

Could it be possible that he had learned about the little side businesses he had launched a few months earlier in London?

He should have been more insistent when Napoleon had come up with his latest expansion project. What could be easily done in Russia without too much problems would be a lot more difficult in Great Grand Britain.

But Napoleon's arguments had been sane ones. Why stop at GGB's borders? The ruffians there were working for themselves and not for the Crown. Robbing them wouldn't rob the British population, just the bad apples nobody seemed to look after.

A servant was waiting at the entrance of the Manor.

- Signore Benevento?

- That's would be me, yes…

The servant showed him the inside of the Manor.

- Please follow, me, Sir, you are awaited by Mr. Darcy.

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Saying that he wasn't surprised would have been a blatant lie.

Saying that he was flabbergasted was, on the other side, the perfect truth.

There was a bunch of kids, noticeably young kids, looking at him while lounging on various oriental sitting apparatuses.

And one not yet teenager sitting behind a desk.

- Welcome at Pemberley, Signore Benevento, let me introduce us before beginning our little chat. I'm Lionel Darcy, the son of George and Anne Darcy and behind me you will recognize a whole bunch of Darcys, Bingleys, Durocs and other Gordons who will be a part of our agreement.

- Agreement, Sir?

- Hopefully so, Signore! We would like to talk to you about a business proposition we are quite sure will have your interest.

Benevento who had been following the d'Arcy family since he had entered Napoleon's service had had no problems to recognize the children as the last batch of what the Journalists throughout the world had been calling the Darcy Dozen, nodded and let a smile appear on his face. Whatever was about to happen here, he was quite sure that it would be interesting.

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- You read thoughts?

Lionel Darcy shook his head and pointed behind him.

- I don't, they do! It seems that I didn't get the right incentives when I was a fetus. It is perhaps recoverable but for now I'm not able to do it.

- I'm not sure it reassures me. said Benevento.

Don't worry we have been monitoring you since your last stay here with Napoleon. We already know everything about your little arrangement with the First Consul and the world of the Night.

Luckily for him, Benevento had been preparing himself for the worst and he was able not to piss himself when the voice intruded into his mind.

We won't inform anybody, don't worry. We believe that staying discreet about such a series of illegalities will be a lot more useful than blabbering to adults who risk to be upset by said news.

- Can you hear my thoughts, or do I need to speak out aloud?

Lionel is unable to hear your thoughts. Better to speak aloud, thank you.

- What's the deal?

- We need a man like you to provide me with everything I need to formalize my plans.

Gianluca failed to hide his surprise.

- Your plans?

- Indeed, even if I'm only ten years old, I do have plans and those plans are too… Let's say mature to be launched by me at this very moment. Hence your presence here. You have Uncle Geoff's trust, and you are a man who's used to move in the shadows of our society. The perfect candidate to be our little business's front.

Benevento was about to ask what was in for him when the voice was back in his head.

We will provide you with the bug and make you enter in the ridiculously small cohort of upgraded humans. And, what's even better, we will guarantee that Aunt Jane will be at your side when you are dying because of said bug's effort to adapt you to him.

- How do you intend to deal with the financial side of the deal?

- Some people say that you have quite a huge sum hidden away within ten accounts that exist under false identities in the Company's Bank for Oriental Investments. We believe you will agree to grant me the necessary loans and I will officially repay you on your legitime London bank account as soon as I have access to my money.

Meanwhile we could provide a few unusual services which would considerably ease your job for the First Consul. If we remember well, he has been rather unpleasant the last time you had to report that you still have no idea who's behind the London Gang for Outstanding Services. We could easily provide you with the names of LOGOS' leaders should you really want to know.

- Does King William know them? Is he involved?

- No to both questions, William is an honest ruler who would, had he that knowledge, send out his best police officers. But some other family members with a rather shady past do know about them and if they are not directly involved, they do, from time to time, use the Brotherhood's wide range of services to further a not always totally clean operation. It isn't as thorough as those of some foreign rulers, but it turns around the availability of discreet and not very curious manpower.

- I see, said Benevento, and I must admit that your answer does help me a lot more than I thought. I really believe that, if I report to napoleon that d'Arcy is using LOGOS for some unofficial affairs he will, at last, recognize that Great Britain's underworld is out of our reach.

He looked at the little band of very unsettling youngsters.

- Are you able to read anybody's thoughts?

Every person one of us has met is from there on readable if he is in our range.

You are scaring me shitless.

Why would that be? What sane grown man would be afraid of a few pathetic not yet four-year-old youngsters?

Benevento took a long breath and looked Lionel in the eyes. Once upon a time when he had met for the first time the cold-blooded killer who had saved him from slavery he wouldn't have imagined that he would, one day, enter into business with said man's offspring. And he wouldn't have believed those who would have warned him that said offspring would be so much more dangerous than their genitor.

- I think you've got yourself an associate and a partner. What do you need and where do you need it?

- To begin with, I need the best miners you can find. But they must live at, at least, two thousand miles from France. I want you to hire them, send them discreetly to France where they will be under the supervision of a couple of architects you'll find on site. The place they will find has a rather important series of underground caves you'll have to fit out to give them as much comfort as possible because they won't be allowed to leave their workplace. And once they have done their job, I want them shipped back to their country of origins with no knowledge of where they have worked and for whom they have worked.

Benevento was tempted to propose a better and cheaper solution, but he decided that he wouldn't trigger that very special trap.

- Not easy, but doable, said he instead.

He looked at the youngsters.

- I suppose that you won't have any difficulty to give me other instructions?

If you intend to move to the moon, let us know, it will lessen our anxiety.

The ten-year-old stood up and moved towards the room immediately followed by the youngsters.

- Stay, Uncle d'Arcy has just been informed that you are present and that you wish to speak with him.

- I wish to speak with him? About what, dear God?

- I would focus on LOGOS, were I you. They have recently opened a subsidiary in Paris you don't know about yet. Coupled with your knowledge about Uncle Geoff's relations with said LOGOS, it could be the reason of your presence, could it not?

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Soon to come… A Chapter looking at Lexi's family…

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