Chapter Six
There was an air of awkwardness consuming the five men standing in the office. Four out of the five in various forms of embarrassment, hung their heads in shame being bested by a high school girl threatening part of their life line. One of the cloaked men, a post hyperventilating Voyager, was sprawled out on the ground acting as if he had a heart attack. Albedo sighs with relief but restraints himself from saying anything in front of the albino man, while Virgil and Kevin avoided eye contact with their master, fearing what he would do next.
The slender man stands up after crouching down to bop the girl on the head, and snaps his fingers. The girl floats up from the floor and starts to flash binary codes throughout her body until disappearing. The man remains stone faced amongst his lackeys as he turns to them.
"S-sir, we apologize. I have no idea how she could have gotten free from that domain. The coordinates were set specifically to that one area without any easy exits, and-" The slender man raises a hand to silence the anxious red testament. Wilhelm replies in his monotone voice, "You were warned about getting too close, were you not?"
Wilhelm steps to the left and says, "Polonia." The walls and ceiling around them flicker and morphs into a white light destroying the office. The four men flinch at the destroyed room until seeing a different form out of the white light. The new domain that appeared around them was nowhere near the Dammerung's current location. The group of men were surprised to be back, or in their case, still on Fifth Jerusalem.
Kevin felt mortified he became tricked by his own design codes, the man almost wanting to blush with how easy he fell into the encephalon's deceit. "Told you," whispered Voyager who now stood next to him with a smug look on his face. Kevin glares at him after witnessing his display of 'I almost pissed my pants thinking I was about to die' moment when interacting with the squire.
The scientist looks around the real world, making sure this was the real deal as Albedo and Virgil takes turns pinching each other unconvinced. The walls were a warm stone grey with green marble floors in a loft styled condominium. He remembered this was the unit he used to rent as a summer home. Quiet, peaceful, and surprisingly devoid of human contact. The expensive condominium complex, despite the lovely views of Fifth Jerusalem's Evergreen park, was not home to many civilians. The lofts themselves stayed mostly vacant, which proved to work in their favor of well…keeping things hidden.
Kevin walks by the windows to gaze at the stunning view of the park, a view that spanned across the greenery and into the concrete terrain of the various buildings surrounding it.
Kevin shifts his gaze over to a black encephalon chair several feet away from the floating monitor while Wilhelm checked the monitor's readings. Sitting on the chair was a girl in a grey pleated skirt, a white shirt, and a tan sweater vest strapped comfortably to the cushions in a reclined position. The bulky gear from the encephalon covered up most of her face, while a few needles stuck out from parts of her body such as her neck. The encephalon headgear may have covered up most of her face, but he knew well who was under the headgear.
He remembered over a week ago having the mission brought to his attention. Wilhelm had originally deployed Voyager as the sole Testament hunting down the elusive Angeles, a former informant and brief servant to his master until her betrayal years ago. His master appeared almost befuddled by the sudden change in allegiance until one month ago when he reported to Wilhelm the sighting of the peculiar young girl. Thus started his involvement in a mission that turned from hunting down Angeles to settling for the next best thing….
Gaining a bargaining chip.
"Good, things still appear normal despite the interference." Reported a calmer Wilhelm. Kevin moves over to the monitor to see healthy vital signs for the 'bargaining chip'.
"Will she be alright?" asked a curious Virgil.
"Yes, she should be fine based on the vital readings. I don't understand how she could even figure out how to leave that domain," replied Kevin. The man hears his master chuckle when he caught the scientist pouting.
"You're surprised? That void you made wasn't very convincing," snorts Voyager.
"Well Erich, you could have jumped in at any time to put in your effort," grumbled Kevin.
"It wouldn't have mattered how convincing the domain was, gentlemen. Her ability to morph a space around her into her own subconscious schema is just a taste of her true power." Wilhelm takes a turn pouting while standing over the encephalon chair. "It's a shame this form of her power is still in it's infancy though," he sighs and passively pats the girl's hand.
"It's been over a week since the abduction. Doesn't seem like she cares too much about the kid," Virgil snorts.
"Oh trust me, I'm sure 'Angie' is beside herself over her disappearance. However, our move has put her in a difficult position. She could continue to meddle in our affairs and potentially leave the girl at my mercy. Or, she could stop this foolishness all together. Either way she will lose something of value. It only is a matter of what she decides to do," Wilhelm calmly replies with a monotone voice.
"I take it we will be banking on that chick's paranoia the longer she does nothing?" Virgil said.
"Hmm, you make it seem like this plan will take too long. A little psychological torture never hurts," argued the grinning Albedo.
"Except for the part where Yeshua finds out what we did. Course, I'm more concerned about the one she once served," Voyager eyes narrow with an air of distrust for the former servant.
"She could take that risk, if she was fine with the consequences…." Wilhelm begins chuckling with amusement at the thought. "Angeles knows it would be suicide on her part to turn me in. After our last encounter, she knows what will happen if she doesn't comply. I would not be a man of my word if I didn't follow through with my threat," Wilhelm muttered coldly.
He watched the girl sitting in the encephalon chair with an expressionless gaze. The girl's body breathed in normal rhythm countering the beeps coming from her vitals. The man softly fidgets his fingers on his left hand contemplating when to carry out that threat. It wouldn't take long, he could make it painless. Just a snap of his fingers or a wave of his hand, he could snap her dainty neck. He would be paid his debt from Angeles through such a brutal exchange, if he himself didn't mind the cost. He would be saved the trouble later….
"No, there is no need to do that yet. There is still a few more weeks before her deadline." Wilhelm looks to the monitor again and starts to type on the computer.
"Since the girl has grown tired of her little play pin, I will just have to manipulate the situation through other means. Shouldn't be too hard in her current mindset. This stage of the subconscious level is good for my abilities to work their magic. After all, where do you think she got them from?" The albino man chuckles at his own joke and pauses to think of an updated plan.
"I last detected Angeles in the Second Militia star system. Albedo, I will leave this one up to you this time. Voyager, follow Dmitri Yuriev for any signs of progress on his plans. As for you, Virgil, check in on Yeshua and the maiden of Zarathustra, while Kevin returns to finishing Mary's vessel." Wilhelm continues typing on the screen. The space inside the encephalon appearing to shift into a new illusion.
"As for me, I think I will stay here a bit longer fixing a few bugs."
