Ancients Pouting
The bleak vacuum of space surrounds the windows of an executive office. The Compass of Order and Chaos rotates in a serene motion, radiating a soft green light in half the room that evening. Sitting by the desk, an albino man eyes the grinning White Testament standing in front of him. His face and eyes maintain a calm demeanor as he silently grows a chip on his shoulder.
"I'm just going to ask one last time. I swear," said Albedo. He looks directly at his master with a serious expression on his face. There was a round of muted groans around the office from Virgil and Voyager while Wilhelm glared at the URTV.
"Okay, so you…you, got up from this chair…you went to Ariadne to visit a bunch of angels…you happen to get drunk with Angeles…and then you 'used the force'…" Albedo starts to wink at the red eyed man, enjoying the juicy details he was so cordially left out of for the longest.
"Please stop," begged a now ill Virgil listening to Albedo's euphemism.
"Why do you make it sound so improbable that I could do that? I can literally raise people from the dead, orchestrate total control of the masses, and even teleport objects the size of planets. You really think I could not 'get laid'?" Wilhelm appears offended by the URTV's reaction as the skeptical Albedo stifles his snickers.
"I'm just saying, you are kind of a hermit. Also, aren't angels supposed to be, well, virgins?" mocks Albedo.
"Astonishingly the opposite. We are, very affectionate beings," Wilhelm chose his words carefully as he flips the layer of his hair covering his face. He didn't appreciate where this conversation was going.
"So that means you've, wellllllllllll?"
"Yes, Albedo. I've engaged in sex quite often in the past," Wilhelm begins to narrow his eyes at the URTV. The White Testament clears his throat attempting to stop snickering. He had to get this right, much to the displeasure of the other Testaments.
"Oh, okay cool. Cool. Then you might be able to tell me what this is," Albedo pulls out something from his pocket. As he hoped, Wilhelm calmly opens a portal to the imaginary domain. Albedo is sent hurling inside the portal cracking up, while Virgil and Voyager hold onto seats in the office.
"It was worth iiiiiiiittttttt," Albedo laughs maniacally through the blinding portal. The portal closes behind him as a condom wrapper falls to the floor.
Wilhelm's eye twitches with annoyance, the man leaning forward in his chair with the office lights creating an eerie glow around them. Kevin materializes into the office just in time to see the ominous glare coming from his master scowling in his chair. Kevin turns white as a ghost before shuffling beside a stiff Voyager and an ill looking Virgil.
"He finally did his joke I see?" whispered Kevin.
The other two nod and watched Wilhelm groan and lower his head onto the desk. The man appeared sore from being tricked by Angeles (and physically sore after the Matriarch's visit). The albino man takes comfort in sending Albedo hurling into a vortex of death, knowing the vortex was only a temporary fix. He takes a moment to watch the girl through the compass, mesmerized by the pink aura that surrounded the girl's body. He could not shake off the pesky feeling that this will he felt both at the park and now was eerily familiar, with these recent days reassuring his suspicions on where it came from.
"Should one of us say something?" Kevin whispered to Virgil.
"I'm not touching that mine field," Voyager replied in a hushed tone.
"Personally I didn't think a joke would get him so worked up," Virgil chimed from behind the two. Voyager turns to Virgil and says, "I think it might be more from some family drama."
"You mean over that one lady that made Kevin wet himself?" Virgil smiled.
"Different lady," Kevin glared.
"Would you fools stop whispering over there? It's making it hard to concentrate," Wilhelm snarled from his seat.
The three men flinch and bow feverishly, not wanting to receive their master's wrath. The red eyed man turns his attention back to the glowing compass and sighs with a disgruntled tone. He ruffles his white hair with fatigue and groans. "These variables have certainly set me back, haven't they?"
"...I'm sorry things haven't turned out as planned, sir." Kevin replied. Wilhelm responds by rubbing his temples again for the fifth time that evening and sighing irritable sighs. You think being alive for 6000 years, he could come up with a good revenge plan against Angeles. Especially after he rediscovered her lie.
"It's quite alright. I have not given up yet. To do so would be irresponsible at this point...this catalyst has opened a new set of variables I have ignored for too long. The Matriarch, the family itself, and now this bastard child throwing herself into something I dread may affect the very nature of our domain."
"Would you like to carry out your threat sooner? 'She who shall not be named' has another week left," Virgil asked. Wilhelm gives a cocky smile, ignoring the impending dread that kept growing within him after looking in the Compass.
"I'll stick to my word on that one. 'Angie' is starting to run out of places to hide, given your sighting of her back within Fifth Jerusalem. However, her presence will no doubt affect the others. It should have been expected knowing the 'family's' behavior towards deserters. In some ways it's all too predictable."
Kevin steps forward attempting to change the subject for Wilhelm. "Master, what did that one woman from earlier want with you?"
"Hm? Nothing to be concerned about now, the Matriarch and I have an agreement involving the Failsafe. We watch over him for a short period of time, and then she will have him for what she sees fit." Wilhelm vaguely explained.
"Yeshua as you know is the Failsafe of this Universe. His powers are not only determined by UDO, but by two prevailing archangels as well. Sisters of life and death you could say," Wilhelm smirked at the nickname and continued to watch the girl projected from the artifact. Lydia was observed in the ball of green light, sitting on the couch and covering her head in frustration. "I do find it odd the Matriarch only has interest in the Failsafe. Your efforts to hide our 'little bargaining chip' went unnoticed I see." Voyager proudly smirks while Wilhelm continues talking.
"It is good to keep her away from our affairs in that area for now, at least until the three week deadline is up." Wilhelm ponders over the situation, his mind not completely sold on what to do, now that the Matriarch was beginning to order him around again. The Testaments quietly think of ideas on the situation, allowing their master time to watch the Compass for signs of the future. Wilhelm watched the girl fall sideways onto the couch cushions, the anxious girl resolving herself to sleep.
Wilhelm's mind trails off when his eyes become entranced by the Compass's sudden changes in hue. The voices around him muffled when he gives his full attention to the image he sees in the distorted flow. His hand reaches out to the vision as Kevin's muffled voice called out to him. He could feel an ominous will ever encroaching upon him, flashes of pinkish subconscious waves swirling around him like a cyclone. The world around him collapses as Wilhelm reaches out to the light trying to grasp the vision more clearly. Only to be met with piercing spears formed by the opposing will, his mind dodging the spikes that reached out to impale him. Dark shadows burst through the ground below his feet, overpowering him in its embrace. He felt like he was being dragged into hell by his neck, a woman's deep snarling voice lulling him to oblivion. He panics as a set of malevolent voices join the snarling voice, screeching out to him.
"Somebody catch him!" Kevin cried out. Wilhelm felt himself fall to the floor with a loud thud. His body arching back twitching and twisting into a seizure. The voices of the others were still muffled as he lied there on the ground, the black abyss pulling him under as the compass spins erratically on the desk.
-Federation Medical Pavilion, Research Division-
An albino woman sits at her office desk staring out into the government district of the city. A woman with long voluminous white hair quietly reflects on her orders from Lucifer, her ruby red eyes never blinking in her reflection on the window. She recalls a few weeks before her 'mother' beckoning her to come for a visit. The memory a brief one. She walked the indoor courtyard with the Matriarch who enjoyed the cloudy day stroll. She had kept her steps behind her in respect to the archangel in front of her.
"You wished to see me, Mother? Have something gone wrong?" The ruby eyed woman asked. The archangel, the Matriarch, turned her head to reply with a casual tone. "Oh no, Melvina. It's just, I heard recently that your brother was in the area. I assume that you told him to report to me," Lucifer said.
"Yes, it was like pulling teeth getting him to just speak with me. I finally met him today to gain rapport." Melvina rolls her eyes remembering her last conversation with her brother.
"Such a reclusive man he's becoming," The Matriarch chuckles.
"Him of all things, becoming as antisocial as a hermit. I hope he doesn't try to leave without visiting again." Her fingers play with the petals of a flower, the plant slowly dying from her caress. She turns to look at Melvina with a contemplating gaze.
"I want you to watch your brother closely. These days he has been too secretive to my liking," The Matriarch ordered. The Albino woman frowns looking away from the Matriarch as her elder narrows her eyes at the knight. "Find out what he is planning, and report it to me."
"Understood," Melvina replies. She materializes out of existence, the Matriarch left in peace within the courtyard.
Since their meeting, Melvina had no trouble investigating her brother in secret, with her first part of snooping involving looking into his need for the 'puppets'. Unsurprisingly, Melvina found no data trail on the Testaments. She knew her brother would hide his ties well to his lackeys, creating many personas/aliases to confuse anyone off his trail, and using said aliases to control several organizations from behind the scenes. Her favorite being the Heinlein persona for Ormus' Patriarch, Melvina's mind chuckled at the stark difference between the Wilhelm and Heinlein personalities.
Although she worried he modeled Heinlein after her, her mind was more concerned over a different matter. One that made her blood boil. Her eyes turn to the computer, which had several files pulled up on a 'phantom patient' admitted days ago to the hospital ward. Suspicious of the file, Melvina dug deeper, noting that the 'phantom patient' had no file listed anywhere on the Fifth Jerusalem database for the Federation Fleet. No medical records, no school or home information, not even a birth certificate or phone contact could be found anywhere. Melvina turned her suspicions to the UMN, discovering a certain method of coding specialized engineers used prior to Michtam's destruction. A method of coding that wasn't used except by those of higher up authority in the Federation Fleet for manipulating data.
The communication panel on the woman's computer rings, Melvina snaps out of her train of thought and answers the call on her computer.
"Report Mr. Shahid."
"Sir! It's about the sample sent on one of our patients. Th-this data, I have no idea how we could have missed this patient!"
"What are you talking about?" Melvina snipped at the neurology researcher.
"The data we have on patient 641208P indicates strong wavelengths like the subjects used in the Zohar experiments. Sir, these numbers! These can't be right?!"
"Let me see their data on the neural wavelengths," Melvina commanded. "But sir, we provided you this data weeks ago for processing. It should have- "
"Don't lie to me, Mr. Shahid. I have not received anything of the sort. Now let me see it."
"Y-Yes!" The startled researcher sends the information to the impatient woman. She stares at the computer as the data from the patient appears on screen. Neural wavelengths and data revolving numerous numbers flowed on the screen quickly. Melvina's eyes widen at the wavelengths observed on the screen compared to the numbers, a spine-tingling chill goes through her body.
"Why have I not received this before?!" Melvina asked.
"With all due respect, director, we provided you with the data weeks ago." The timid man repeated. The woman becomes livid, her eye twitches as she thinks of how they could have missed them.
"What is the status on patient 641208P?" Melvina sneered from her seat.
"She-she discharged the same day of admission. We tried to contact the patient for 'follow-up', but there is NOTHING listed anywhere on the patient. There's not even an official discharge order, or anything past the admissions note. It's- "
"It's as if she was erased from the system entirely," Melvina finishes the man's sentence. The woman had no doubt in her mind that she was missing that patient data for a reason. Her mind tracing back to a few weeks ago, thinking about the sighting of the deserter before the Federation Pavilion's data was hacked. Yes, she remember her brother ended up visiting that same day after much prodding...she pauses in thought with suspicion gleaming in her ruby eyes.
"You think you're so sly, don't you?"
"I beg your pardon," The researcher asks with a high-pitched voice.
"Nothing. Have these files processed and a new disc copy set on my desk pronto, Mr. Shahid. I need to contact the Federation's Executive Director on this matter." Melvina looks at the patient photo ID, staring at the results closely.
"One more thing Mr. Shahid."
"Sir?"
"Have my 'associates' notified immediately after the files are fully processed. We must find this...she must be returned to the family."
"Yes sir," The researcher exits off the video chat to complete his orders. Melvina narrows her eyes at the image and data samples, picking up her jacket before leaving her seat. The woman walks out of the office and disappears to have a familial visit of her own.
