Interlude 5: Weirding

Kawasani's Bar and Grill, Tokyo-2, September 10th, 2016

Daniel Theisman needed to unwind. After a particularly restless night, and with the retrieval mission looming ahead, he could use all the relaxation he could get.

Which was why he walked into the bar with Percy, Annabeth, Jason, and Piper, giving them a chance to get used to speaking mostly Japanese. They had been out to a few different places already, and this was their latest stop.

As they got seated at their table, a waiter appeared and took their orders. After a moment's deliberation on what to eat with it, Percy and Annabeth decided on blackberry mojitos, Jason asked for a Jack and coke, and Piper simply ordered water.

And as the decision came to Daniel, he surprised none who knew him. "I'll just have a ginger beer please. A Bundaberg, if you have it."

As the waiter walked away, Percy chuckled. "Why am I not surprised that that's the one thing that hasn't changed?" he said wryly.

"Because a strong foundation needs little repair to host any great monument." Daniel replied in an overly solemn tone, eliciting a chuckle from the others.

"So, you became a poet while you were gone, too?" Piper said. "Of all the things an adopted daughter of Athena would do, I never quite considered that one."

Before Daniel could reply, he heard someone, two someones, walk up behind him. "Okay, Gurney. Where did you go and put my Daniel?" A deep familiar voice said with a chuckle from behind Daniel, as a hand firmly gripped his shoulder.

Daniel and the others looked up, and saw Duncan Idaho, along with a woman nearly as tall as him with bright red hair, standing at the table and looking down at them.

Daniel smiled as he chuckled. "Hello, Duncan. Funny we should meet here. Have a seat, meet my good friends here." he said as he scooted over to make room for another chair.

"Certainly," Duncan replied as he looked over to his companion, "if you don't mind, Ms. O'Hanrahan?" he asked courteously.

O'Hanrahan shrugged. "I don't see why not." she replied in a surprisingly deep voice.

As room was made and the two sat down with their drinks, Daniel looked over at O'Hanrahan. "That's quite a catching name. Is it Irish?" he asked with an arched eyebrow.

O'Hanrahan nodded in return. "That it is. My name is Saoirse. I'm the head of security for the Tellan delegation."

"Ah." Percy said as he nodded. "We'll probably be getting in touch with you soon, then. We've just arrived, and Daniel's tasked us with helping out however we can."

"Good to know." Saoirse replied. Then she blinked. "Wait a moment. Daniel, as in…"

"Daniel Theisman." Daniel finished, a quiet dread beginning to bubble in his gut as he wondered what came next.

Saoirse's eyes widened for just a moment before they hardened. "I remember you." she said quietly. Dangerously.

The air around the table seemed to drop a few degrees in temperature as Daniel's eyes gained a sorrowful gleam. "Where?" he asked quietly.

"Tel. The Incursion." Saoirse replied, equally quiet. "When you cut down my whole squad in front of my eyes and left me for dead. For your Spirit soldiers to deal with."

Percy leaned forward as his brow furrowed in anger. "That was the Hollow Saint, and everyone knows that. Not-"

Daniel put a hand on Percy's shoulder. "Stop." he interjected. "She's… she's not entirely wrong. I was there. I remember. Even if I was beating at the inside of my skull to try and get myself to stop."

Saoirse's eyes widened again, a look of shock where once was anger. "Oh." she said numbly. "I'm… I'm sorry."

Daniel took a deep breath. "And for what little it must be by now… my condolences, for your squad."

"Thank you." Saoirse whispered. It was silent for a long moment afterwards as their drinks arrived.

After a long drink, Duncan sighed. "So," he said, looking intently at Percy, "who might you be, besides one of Daniel's many interesting friends?"

"Well," Percy replied, clearly grateful for the change in subject, "I'm Percy Jackson, and this is my wife, Annabeth, and my friends, Jason and Piper. We're demigods who grew up in America."

Duncan nodded slowly. "Demigods? As in, you aren't entirely gods?"

"We're children of the Greek gods." Annabeth replied. "As such, we have supernatural gifts, not entirely unlike being born an Interfacer."

"Ah." Duncan said as he nodded again. "Well, what can you do, then?"

"Well, I can manipulate seawater, as my dad's the sea god and all." Percy said, pointing a finger up as a tiny globe of water appeared above it and began to spin. "Annabeth's mom is the goddess of wisdom, so she's become a human supercomputer, Jason's dad is the god of the sky, so he flies and shoots lightning, and Piper's mom is the goddess of love, so she gets a compelling voice."

Duncan blinked silently for a moment. "So, you all get powers mostly beyond the scope of human capability, while Ms. Piper gets the Voice? That seems… somewhat unbalanced."

Piper blinked. "The Voice? That sounds like an oddly specific designation."

Duncan nodded. "It's a power of the Bene Gesserit witches from the Echo I come from. A compelling, commanding voice. I've seen it used by..." he trailed off, a forlorn look entering his eyes.

"I've heard it too." Daniel said. "It's… somewhat different from your powers of suggestion, Piper." he paused, seeming to consider something for a moment. Then, he sighed. "Allow me to demonstrate." he said, ignoring as Duncan's eyes went wide.

Daniel looked intently at Percy. It had been a while since he had heard him speak as comprehensively as the Voice needed to get a firm hold on his mind, but he'd done enough talking recently to allow for at least a decent profile.

He took a deep breath, the muscles in his throat twitching into position just so, precisely as he instructed them to, memories of eavesdropping on Lady Jessica and Paul's training pushed aside for a moment. There was another breath, one that was quiet, almost silent. Then, he spoke. To Percy, it seemed that no sound came at first as he uttered the words, then they seemed to ripple out with many layered voices, only one such voice belonging to him, all the others those of women.

"Give me your drink."

Percy's hand reached for his drink, lifting it and beginning to reach out to Daniel before he paused, his eyes wide. "Woah." he nearly whispered as he took his drink back and took a sip. "That is freaky."

Daniel sighed quietly and nodded. "And no Interfacing or magic to be blocked. It's purely mental self-control and biorhythmic manipulation. It's only a small part of the Prana Bindu training the Bene Gesserits received, which would become the Weirding Way, but it's the part I filed away for later. I don't use it often. For one, it takes actually hearing someone talk, in person, to work. No recordings or other getarounds. Anyone with a sufficiently strong will can resist it, though that is a high bar to clear. And finally, I hate taking away people's free will like that. But the situation sometimes arises that I need it."

"So how did you learn it?" Duncan asked, clearly both impressed and somewhat terrified. "Any man who got caught learning that sort of thing got disappeared by the Bene Gesserit. To say they guarded their secrets jealously would be the understatement of the century."

"I was Paul's personal bodyguard if you'll recall." Daniel said as a slight smile tugged at his lips. "I was supposed to shadow him. Even if that meant sitting outside of a room while he talked with his mother for long periods of time."

"And Lady Jessica was a member of the Bene Gesserit." Duncan concluded as Daniel nodded.

He sighed quietly after a moment of silence. "I miss that boy. Before we went to Arrakis. When he was warmer. Kinder." he sighed again and shook his head as he chuckled. "Forgive an old man his musings. We have the present to enjoy, after all."

"So," he continued as he looked at Percy, "how long ago did you get here?"

"Only yesterday." Percy replied. "I'll admit, the Seabrakers parked around the Echo did slow things down somewhat, but not by much."

"Other Seabreakers here already?" Duncan mused. "That was quick. It's only been a little over a month or so since we started negotiations."

"I can guess at who they are though." Daniel interjected. "Merchants. Free agents, licensed agents from the League or Tel, probably even a few smugglers wondering if they can chance getting in without anyone noticing."

"Now, I was a student of history before I became a Worldstrider." Daniel continued. "We'll need to be quite careful in how we let these merchants in. They could destabilize the entire world without ever meaning to. Or, in the case of smugglers, without caring."

"I can see how that might work." Saoirse replied. "But the League agents, at least most of them, are likely highly trained for this sort of first contact, the Tellan envoys at least as much so. But once they're allowed in, it's the smugglers we'll have to keep an eye on."

"Then perhaps you and the Outriders will have another mission profile in the near future." Daniel said as he glanced at his companions.

"Maybe." Percy replied. "Either way, it's going to make things interesting around here." he said with a shrug.

. . .

Eventually, however, the group had to go their separate ways. As they stood outside the bar, Duncan wrapped Daniel in a comfortably familiar bone-crushing hug for a brief moment. "Good to see you, as always." Duncan said as he let Daniel go.

"You too, Duncan." Daniel said after taking a breath. "Take care. I'll see you around."

As Duncan began to walk off, Saoirse stood there for a moment, regarding Daniel with an unreadable expression. "Good luck." she said simply, then turned and walked away in Duncan's direction.

Daniel simply looked on as Percy put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey." he said quietly. "You can make it. You've come this far, obviously."

"Have I?" Daniel replied, equally quiet. "Will I ever fully escape the Hollow Saint's shadow?"

After a silent moment, Daniel sighed. "I wish I knew." he said forlornly. Then he took a deep breath then smiled at Percy. "Well, let's get a move on, then. Tokyo-2 won't explore itself, will it?"