Chapter 19: Unveiling Intentions
Richard Vance's Office
Rothschild & Co, London branch
Two years later…
The one-eyed and bulldog-faced man sat at his desk busily typing away on his computer, the news playing in the background on a flat-screen television.
"Our top story tonight, a coalition of physicists at the University of California at Berkeley in conjunction with top energy researchers at Trans-Dimensional Technologies as well as tech-priests in the service of Emperor Prometheus's Order of Illumination have recently completed a functional prototype for a first generation fusion reactor. Fusion power is a revolutionary form of power generation that would generate electricity by using heat from nuclear fusion reactions such as those that take place inside the sun's core. A spokesperson for the group said that a 1,000-megawatt electric fusion power plant would consume around 100 kilograms of deuterium and three tons of natural lithium in a year while generating 7 billion kilowatt-hours. To generate the same amount of electricity, a coal-fired power plant would need around 1.5 million tons of coal. The Environmental Protection Agency has confirmed that fusion reactors, unlike normal nuclear reactors that use fission to create power, would not be susceptible to core meltdowns as consistent feeding of the reactor is required to sustain the reaction and would produce no nuclear waste. The U.S government and other major governments around the world have already placed pending orders for such devices when safety testing has been completed by the EPA and they confirm the devices are ready for public consumption.
In other news, the head of the Celestial Emperor Society Jin Longwei has once again petitioned the Chinese government to recognize its legitimacy as a significant political party within the divided nation. Jin himself has stated that the CPC, according to its own public rules, must acknowledge and legitimize groups and organizations that represent a significant portion of the population and its collective will, thus enabling them to become a portion of the ruling body that makes up the party. The Chinese government has yet to make a statement on the petition but it is clear that over the last several months, support for the movement and its intention to reinstate the monarchy with Emperor Prometheus as its head has been growing in multiple provinces of China despite crackdowns by local authorities.
Snarling softly he grabbed the remote, mindlessly switching the channel to something else at random while focusing on the screen in front of him.
"...similar to solar flares, coronal mass ejections are a significant release of plasma and magnetic energy from the sun's surface and can potentially impact Earth in a way similar to an electro-magnetic pulse depending on the position from which it is launched. The largest recorded disturbance caused by a CME was the solar storm of 1859, also known as the Carrington Event, which took down parts of the recently created US telegraph network, starting fires and shocking some telegraph operators…"
Focusing on the work in front of him while listening to the astronomy program with half an ear Vance continued to type until his phone rang a moment later and he picked it up with a hand.
"Richard Vance." He said tersely.
"Sir, it's Patterson." The voice on the other end said. "The project you commissioned is just about finished but we need you to sign off on a few things in person if you can spare the time."
Vance paused in his typing to smile, his eyes glittering darkly. "That is excellent news Patterson. I can make it down this weekend. Do have things ready for me."
"Of course sir." The man said before hanging up the phone.
The man went back to work, his mood much more cheerful than it had been previously.
True to his word, two days later Vance was being driven down the paved road that led to Research Station 13. He had been receiving regular reports from Sergeant Patterson but it was always good to review projects in person.
A final quality check is always important before a project's release into the wild. He thought with amusement. He was eager to unleash the new weapon he had created and could feel the eager desire to lay low Prometheus and his ilk burning hot inside.
In Vance's mind the news could not have come soon enough as Prometheus's power and influence had been growing by leaps and bounds over the past two years. While he was always pleased to hear that the creature's servants had been killed due to some dispute or other, the downside was that they could still communicate with the world of the living. The Dragon had allowed their families to visit the newly deceased before spreading their experiences far and wide to all who would listen. At first they had been dismissed as crackpots like the older Chinese couple the media had interviewed but more and more people had come forward with smartphone videos and other proof that all pointed to the same thing: the afterlife Prometheus offered was real and they had seen it with their own eyes. As the footage of the encounters began to appear on message boards and blogs, the idea had spread like wildfire across the internet until it was all that anyone was talking about. It soon became clear that real spiritual immortality was a reality and just knowing that it was possible had caused millions to flock to the Dragon in the hope that they would be able to live forever in the heavenly realm he offered.
That fact alone had frustrated him to no end. Even with his access to media corporations around the world and the disinformation campaign he had been funnelling money into to try and deny the truth, humanity had grabbed ahold of the possibility like a life raft in a storm and refused to let go. The bad news did not stop there either. After seeing how he had dealt with the humanitarian crises in the Middle East and India the UN had decided to acquiesce to the Dragon's demands regarding world-wide travel. With virtually unlimited access to sovereign air space across the world, drone-like arial CO2 scrubbers had been launched by the score into the atmosphere across the planet. Specially crafted by the Dragon and his tech-priests, they not only removing carbon emissions from the air but also seeded the clouds with sulfur dioxide to create a partial reflective effect in an effort to cool the planet's surface. His infuriating machines had also begun building seawalls along various coastal cities and his temples continued to sprout up everywhere like disgusting mushrooms. By now every major city had several at the very least and even the most remote parts of the world had begun hearing of him. All of this goodwill had culminated in the U.N offering him the status of an independent nation-state on the Security Council which the Dragon had happily accepted, making him one of the most powerful members on the Council.
The car slowly pulled up to the vehicle bay, bringing him out of his morose thoughts. The driver efficiently opened the door for him allowing Vance to walk towards the main door with Patterson meeting him there.
"Good to see you again sir." The man said respectfully. "I hope you had a pleasant trip down?"
"Tolerable." Vance replied shortly. "I am hopeful that the news you have will greatly lift my spirits."
"I believe it will sir." The Sergeant replied as they made their way inside and into the elevator.
"As you know, once I outlined the project's scope and its intentions to prevent a hostile takeover by the Dragon and its machine army the specialists were all too eager to get to work." He explained as they descended. "It took several months for them to piece together the machines' inner workings not to mention the unique coding language built into their cores but eventually they managed it."
The elevator arrived and the pair stepped out into the main laboratory. Vance took a moment to look around. The specialists were all at their terminals typing away with a dearth of notes and papers covering each desk. Various whiteboards stood about the room covered in a multitude of complex formulae and various notations. In the middle of the room the two Terminators were partially disassembled with parts carefully placed on top of sheets of note paper, each covered in scribbles. The entire scene was a portrait of focused and frantic energy.
Patterson cleared his throat and everyone turned to face him before the group stood up and quickly moved to meet the new arrival.
"Allow me to introduce to you the project's patron and overseer, Mr. Richard Vance." Patterson announced.
"It's a pleasure to meet you sir!" One of the younger members said enthusiastically with the others quickly nodding.
"I am eager to see the results you have accomplished ladies and gentlemen." He said with a warm smile. "Please, divulge the fruits of your hard labor to me."
The group laughed a bit at his flowery language before the young woman who had spoken gestured him forward.
"These machines were unlike anything we'd ever seen before!" She said in an excited tone as they made their way to the center tables. "The mechanical parts while complex were simple enough to figure out once we were able to do some scans and take it apart to a degree but the most interesting stuff was when we got to the processors and AI coding!"
"We already knew the code was going to be extremely advanced." One of the others said, picking up where the woman left off. "Making a bipedal robot function and do anything a human being can do is an incredibly complex endeavor. But more than that we had to figure out the language itself since the Dragon uses a totally different kind of coding language than anything we were familiar with. It took a while but thankfully coding structures seem to be universally similar at very basic levels, using the same kinds of logic and core functions ours use. From there it was just a matter of making comparisons to functions, like translating from one language to another. But even once we finished the translations we had issues. See a lot of the ancillary and tertiary functions we could rewrite if we wanted but there are a set of core functions that can't be changed."
"They are hard-coded into the chips themselves?" Vance asked, having some knowledge of microchip manufacturing.
The man shook his head. "No, that's the crazy thing! The code is still capable of being altered but it's like there was some kind of energy field surrounding the code itself! That shouldn't even be possible but it was there!" He exclaimed as he quickly moved to one of the consoles and began typing in several commands. A moment later on the screen there appeared blocks of alien coding seemingly coated in what appeared to be flowing liquid gold.
Vance grimaced at the sight. While he was no programmer he knew divine energy when he saw it and every single character was enshrouded in it.
"Whatever this stuff is we can't do anything to get around it." The man explained, not noticing Vance's expression as he continued his distracted monologue. "Fortunately we don't have to since it only seems to control the most central functions like the primary executable for a program. The point is, we can make it do all sorts of things as long as they don't contradict the central commands isolated within these bits."
"The next task was to create an invasive program that could intertwine itself seamlessly into the machines' coding without its anti-intrusion measures detecting it." Another woman spoke up, this one with a much cooler and business-like tone. "That was also a decent challenge but we managed to simulate the appropriate hand-shake protocols and bypass some of the security checks to make it connect and update various functions so that it would follow commands and obey without serious analysis of the orders on its part. Unfortunately any new orders it receives are automatically cross-checked against its core programming no matter how we tried to redirect it or falsify an approval command from the protected core so we had to work around that limitation, which we did with a fair amount of success."
"In other words you have partial control of these machines." Vance remarked.
"We know how to make them into puppets and have them accomplish a wide variety of tasks so long as it doesn't contradict their primary commands, rather like a patient under hypnosis. So long as you don't instruct them to doing something that would be against their core principles or values they'll do as you ask but push too far and the 'trance' so to speak, is broken. Any serious breach of protocol would automatically activate their anti-intrusion and self-defense systems, purging the Hydra program we created."
"All we need now is a delivery system." Patterson stated. "Unfortunately we weren't given any instructions in that regard."
Vance smirked. "Leave that part to me. You've all done very well given the immense pressure you have been under as well as the extraordinarily complex tasks I asked you to complete. I'm extremely pleased with the work you've accomplished here. You should all be quite proud, truly you are each an unparalleled genius in your fields, no one else could have accomplished what you have here in such a short amount of time." He said effusively.
Vance walked around to each one, shaking their hand firmly and congratulating them before Patterson walked him out.
"We'll send the finished package to you in a few days time by secure courier." Patterson said. "I realize it isn't the perfect solution you wanted but…"
"It is good enough." Vance replied. "I can certainly make use of this and the knowledge alone that was gained will be extremely valuable in the future. Have them compile all of their notes and the information into something understandable that can be reproduced and used by others if needed. That will keep them busy for a little while longer as well as keep this project under wraps until the delivery method has done its work."
"And when their contracts are up?" Patterson asked mildly.
Vance glanced at him with a cold smile. "No loose ends."
Patterson nodded crisply. "As you say sir."
Prometheus's Temple…
"The neural substrate project is going well." Davis informed Prometheus. "The test subject has not suffered any ill effects so far and retains full mental function."
Prometheus nodded. "Excellent. And the alkaline material we introduced into the test region of the Pacific Ocean?"
"The water's Ph level in the region is returning to pre-crisis acidity levels." Davis replied. "Some of the local ecosystem is being negatively impacted by the introduction of the substance, unfortunately. We'll need to tweak the formula to make sure it doesn't kill off marine life. I have several simulations running at the moment to try and alter the formulations sufficiently without losing potency."
Prometheus nodded. "Good. Let me know as soon as you have a viable mixture for testing. The Sahara team sent a message yesterday evening, saying the replanting phase is completed for the regions they were working in. So far the results have been fairly positive."
"It will take several years of sustained growth to confirm the minimum viability of the project." Davis cautioned.
Prometheus nodded. "Quite, but I am prepared to wait. This is a long term project and it will come to fruition in one manner or another but I will make use of the region regardless."
Focusing his mental energies he contacted Arianasa. How goes our forays into Africa? He asked her.
The local governments of the coastal nations have been receptive to our offers, given our willingness to aid them regarding shoring up their sea walls but the more interior states have been more reticent, preferring to remain insular. Arianasa replied from thousands of miles away, coordinating the various relief efforts Prometheus's servants and citizens were undertaking on the continent. Fortunately we have made inroads with the local tribes and villages in the rural areas thanks to our ability to offer them clean water and other necessities as well as healing and simple education. The U.N does not want us spreading the faith to them against the governments' wishes and the governments themselves have stated that they do not want us describing your rulership either, but we have gotten around that by educating them on your life before you ascended to Bahamut's Herald, telling them your life as an ordinary man and cleric and what you were able to accomplish. As such they still see you as a messianic figure who can come to their aid, at least in subtle ways.
Perhaps Asher Walters the cleric should walk amongst them for a time to prove the Emperor's desire to help them. He suggested. It has been too long since I have done such work in any case.
I think they would appreciate that. Arianasa replied. They already have great respect for me given what the tech-priests have told them and what we have accomplished.
I will keep you informed. He said briskly before his tone softened. I am proud of what you have accomplished my love. Not only in Africa but elsewhere. I love you.
I love you too. She replied fondly. I will be home soon.
The connection faded and Prometheus returned his attention to Davis. "The refugees on Raenei continue to flourish from what I understand."
"Quite, though communication is still somewhat limited given the dimensional divide between Oerth space-time and Earth's." Davis replied. "I also received a message from Kyprioth, that reporter wants another exclusive."
"You've been keeping an eye on him I presume?" Prometheus asked.
"Of course." Davis replied. "We've been tracking his movements regularly via the nanites Kyprioth imparted to him a while back. He's gone to quite a few locations but none of them have been offices of the newspaper he purports to work for. On paper at least he is employed by them but he has never gotten any accolades for his work or any kind of public recognition, even though he has been speaking with a high ranking member of your court. That alone would merit more public exposure; various media interviews who would ask his impressions about Kyprioth and what he had seen or thought but there's nothing. The man writes his articles and then vanishes for a while until he requests another interview."
"Is he a freelancer?" Prometheus asked.
"Not according to the information I have." Davis replied. "I've been trying to keep my investigations limited to public records and other information that's easily obtained so as not to cause an incident but frankly, the deeper I dig, the more ghost-like this man becomes. There are records of his school, previous work history, residence, and so on, but they all seem more like a smokescreen than anything. He apparently lives in a run down apartment in a Section 8 housing complex normally rented to low income or mentally deficient people. I had some of our people interview the administrators at the schools he attended but no one remembers him."
"If he were a legitimate and successful reporter this would not be the case." Prometheus mused. "You believe him to be an enemy asset?"
"Indeed, especially considering one of the places he infrequently visits is a private security firm called Lindhurst Security." Davis replied. "I think it's time we find out just who this man is."
Some time later…
Clarence followed the brightly-suited man into Prometheus's temple. His request for another interview had been granted and he followed the man he knew as Reynard down a few main corridors before the Jester turned to face one of the unmarked doors along the wall. Punching a long series of numbers into the keypad next to it, the door swished open immediately with Reynard gesturing to follow him. The corridor beyond was done in various metals of chrome, brass, and gold like the others but unlike the main hallways this area seemed more utilitarian in nature with piping built into the walls.
"Is this some sort of utility area?" Clarence asked.
"That's one way to look at it." Reynard remarked. "This is part of the more...private areas of the temple. The areas used by the priests and the Royal family to move about."
"Really?" Clarence asked in surprise as they turned a corner. "Well I appreciate you giving me a backstage tour so to speak."
"This is merely the transition." Reynard replied with a mysterious smile. "The real story will be revealed soon enough."
Walking down several more corridors they came to what was obviously a high security door. The massive door was vault-like in nature with heavy slabs of solid silvery metal inset into the wall with the dragon sunburst emblazoned on it. Walking up to the door itself Reynard glanced at Clarence. "This door is infused with the very essence of the Emperor itself, giving it the ability to recognize those who attempt to open it. Only a select few may pass through here unhindered." Reynard turned to look at him fully, his face serious. "You are about to become privy to one of the Empire's secrets. I trust you understand the implications."
Clarence nodded silently as Reynard turned back to the door and pressed his hand against it. A moment later the door ground open slowly, revealing a short corridor with an archway of silver and gold beyond, the center of the arch filled with a multitude of scintillating energies of various colors.
Reynard smiled encouragingly at him as he gestured the man forward. "After you."
Swallowing quietly Clarence slowly walked up to the portal, examining it for a moment before entering the kaleidoscope of lights. He suddenly felt as if he were being pulled forward at great speed down a multicolored tunnel that stretched to infinity before suddenly he found himself on the other side, a similar-looking corridor before him though this one was covered in much less metal, mixing with light colored smooth stone. Reynard appeared behind him a moment later, walking forward as if this mode of travel were common for him, though on reflection Clarence considered it might very well be considering the abilities the Dragon possessed.
"This way." Reynard said and Clarence began to follow after him, the vault doors behind him closing ponderously.
"It might interest you to know that we are now in a different universe altogether." The auburn-haired man remarked idly as if the information was no more important than the day's weather. "We are now in the Emperor's home universe, in fact the very solar system he comes from."
Clarence's eyes widened at that. "Seriously?" He asked incredulously. To him the trip had taken mere seconds. While he was no physicist he was well aware that such cosmic distances would be impossible to cross so quickly, nevermind transitioning to another universe entirely. Intellectually he and everyone else knew the Dragon had claimed to come from another dimension so such travel was potentially possible but having it confirmed in such a visceral way was another matter entirely.
Glancing about, he noticed the building was quite airy in appearance with high arched ceilings and many large windows allowing in a great deal of sunshine. Leading him to a window, Reynard gestured to the small but modern city beyond.
"Welcome to Raenei, one of the planets under the control of the Emperor." He smiled.
Reynard escorted him through the streets of the city, allowing him to speak with some of the residents, the vast majority being refugees the Dragon had taken in over the last three years. While still rather shocked about being on what was an alien world in a different universe Clarence managed to keep his wits about him as he asked the people various questions about their lives before and after arriving and what their situation was like, living on an entirely different planet. To his surprise most were quite pleased having adopted quite quickly to the change. The fact that they were able to live in peace with their basic necessities met and had stable employment was far better than their previous situation and as a result they were more than willing to submit to the Dragon's authority with most of them having converted to his religion.
"This place seems almost too good to be true." Clarence commented shortly thereafter as they made their way through one of the business districts. "Do you have a problem with crime?"
"No society is perfect, of course." Reynard was saying as they made their way between a pair of buildings. "You will always find some malcontents but most are…" Suddenly a group of individuals surrounded them, blocking both ends of the alleyway they found themselves in.
"Ah...it appears we found a few of those malcontents I mentioned." Reynard said nervously, looking back and forth between the two groups as they approached, wielding knives and various makeshift weapons, their faces covered with hoods and cloths.
The two groups rushed them without a word, tackling both of them to the ground and pinning them. As Clarence tried to force the press of bodies off of him a sweet-smelling cloth was pressed to his face. Quickly holding his breath he tried lashing out at his attackers but they pinned his arms and legs until finally he was forced to breathe through the cloth, the substance it had been soaked in quickly rendering him unconscious.
Some time later
Unknown location...
Clarence slowly awoke, his consciousness swimming back into focus. As his senses engaged he activated his implants, sharpening his hearing and vision. He was in a dark room with a solid floor but besides his own breathing, there was no one there. It was then he realized he was tied to a chair, his wrists and ankles bound as he tried to move. Frowning he flexed his muscles, trying to loosen them and wriggle free but they were bound too tightly. While enhanced musculature was a possibility these days few made use of them due to the dangers of accidentally tearing apart one's natural muscles or the anchor points attaching the artificial muscles to the limbs due to overextension. At the moment, however, he wouldn't have minded taking the risk.
Suddenly a door at the end of the room opened and two figures stepped inside, shutting the door behind them. A normal person would have struggled to make them out in the near total darkness but his ocular implants allowed him to see the hazy male figures as they walked forward, one stepping around him while the other stood before him with his hands clasped behind his back.
"Clarence Morton." The man before him mused. "I've been looking forward to meeting you."
"How do you know my name." Clarence asked evenly. He knew there were any number of ways to find out but any details would be helpful at the moment.
"We have our ways." The man replied vaguely. "Why don't we talk face to face?" He suggested.
Suddenly a pair of overhead lamps turned on above Clarence and the man, bathing them in light while leaving the rest of the room in darkness. At the same time Clarence felt the stab of a needle as it pierced the back of his neck, making him hiss as he felt cool liquid injected under his flesh.
"Truth serum." The man before him stated. "For a meeting such as this I would hate for there to be any lies or misunderstandings between us." He said with a smile.
Clarence glared as he examined the man before him carefully. He was solidly built with a slight tan, short brown hair, and matching eyes. His face was average as was his height and he was dressed in an old dark blue hoodie and jeans with a pair of brown boots. Clarence focused his vision but after several seconds he could not pick out one distinguishing feature on the man's face or body. He was a complete nobody, a ghost who would fit in anywhere.
"You won't recognize me." The man remarked, apparently realizing Clarence's intense gaze. "I'm not on any wanted list nor am I famous or well known in any way. And that's the point." He said. "I'm a ghost, just like you. Or rather, you play at being a ghost but I am the real deal." He said teasingly.
"You got a name?" Clarence asked sharply.
The man shrugged. "You can call me Colt. It's as good a name as any." He replied idly. "But I'm rather more interested in you Clarence." He said pointedly. "You and your friend. Oh don't worry about him," he said as Clarence tried to peer into the darkness around them, "your flamboyant tour guide is taking a little nap right now. He won't be harmed. After all, I have no intention of bringing the Dragon's wrath down upon me by hurting someone close to him."
Clarence looked at him carefully. He said 'Dragon' not 'the Emperor' or 'Prometheus'. Interesting…
"Why did you attack me?" He demanded.
"I? I didn't do anything." The man replied with a grin. "I just asked my men to bring you here. I didn't think you'd accept a formal invitation and I didn't want to make a spectacle of it. But as I said, I'm more interested in you. I've been doing some digging into you Mr. Morton and imagine my surprise when I find you aren't actually a journalist, but a private investigator linked to Lindhurst Security." He smirked.
Clarence stilled at that.
Colt chuckled quietly for a moment. "Oh yes. I know what you are and I have a fairly good idea of who Lindhurst has been linked to. Of course, you're going to tell me all about that."
"My handler might know the details but I don't." Clarence replied firmly. "Safer for the client that way." His eyes widened and he clamped his mouth shut, shocked at the looseness of his tongue.
"Effective, isn't it?" Colt asked slyly. "It's a very specific blend. Now why don't you tell me the real reason for these interviews you've been having with the Court Jester?"
"I'm not going to tell you that I'm trying to dig up dirt on the Dragon for my client!" He exclaimed, only to clench his fists in frustration.
"Why don't you tell me what you've found out so far?" Colt suggested.
Clarence found his mouth moving seemingly of its own accord as he began to describe his activities at length, reporting on the facts he had found, the conjectures he had, and the conclusions he had reported to Lindhurst. Finally after nearly an hour of talking Clarence finally wound down. The other man had brought Colt a chair at some point and Colt had simply sat back and listened to him ramble until he couldn't think of anything else to say regarding his assignment.
"Interesting." Colt remarked with interest after a few moments of silence as he gestured to the other man. "Get him some water, he must be parched."
Clarence blinked in surprise as the other man left the room, returning a few moments later with a cup of water with a straw.
At Clarence's dubious look Colt chuckled. "Seriously? If we wanted to kill you Clarence why would we waste time with poison?" He asked before pulling a Glock from behind his back and pointing it at Clarence's forehead. "I could just shoot you right now and save us all a lot of time and effort." He growled, his eyes cold.
A moment later he smirked and replaced the weapon back where he had pulled it from. "Thankfully I don't think it needs to come to that. You see, I think you and your clients are just the kind of people I'm looking for." He said confidentially.
"How?" Clarence asked suspiciously.
"Well it's like this," Colt replied easily, "not everybody loves the Dragon and worships him, even though his priests like to play up the notion that the entire empire is behind him. Some would like to see him replaced, not only here on Raenei but on his homeworld of Oerth as well and I represent a group that has those same goals in mind. He's not as infallible as he likes to pretend, you know." He smirked. "He's been taken down before but he managed to claw his way back into power. I think you and your clients could help us out quite a bit and unless I'm quite wrong your people would like him taken out as well."
"I don't know who my clients are." Clarence insisted. "You know that!"
"I know, but I'm sure your company could arrange a more...direct meeting. Of course I'm sure they're right paranoid bastards so they won't trust a request like that so I'll tell you want. Have your company pass on a message that we want to discuss an exchange of ideas. They can set the place, time, whatever stipulations and security they want."
Clarence narrowed his eyes at this. "Even if they were to accept, how do you expect them to get here? The Dragon controls the portals to Earth."
Colt chuckled quietly at this. "I don't, but the Dragon's a lot more lax about stuff coming from Raenei than coming to it. After all, as far as he knows, the whole planet is his and everyone here loves him. Let's let him keep that delusion for now. I can smuggle some of my people through the portals to Earth once we know when and where to meet."
"All I can do is to pass the message along." Clarence told him. "I can't guarantee anything."
Colt shrugged. "Of course you can't, you're just the courier. But that's all I need for you to do."
Clarence was silent for a few moments as he considered his options. However, in the end he knew he only had once choice if he had any chance of getting free and returning to Earth.
"Alright. I'll do it."
Colt smiled. "Smart man. Cut him loose and give him the antidote."
Clarence hissed as he felt the stab of a second needle into his neck before the ropes were loosened.
"The truth serum will wear off shortly. That stuff we injected you with also contains a mild sedative. Plausible deniability, you can always say you were unconscious the whole time after that 'attack'. They might give you a physical to make sure you're alright but they won't do any kind of blood testing unless you insist on it." He remarked pointedly.
Clarence nodded, his eyes becoming heavy and his body lethargic.
"Say hi to your boss when you get home." Colt teased him as his vision faded.
Some time later Clarence slowly awoke to find himself in a soft bed. Blinking to clear his blurry vision he found himself in what appeared to be a nicely furnished hospital room. Looking about, he found Reynard sitting near the bed in a chair, a welcoming smile gracing his face.
"Ah excellent! You're finally awake!" Reynard exclaimed quietly. "Welcome back Clarence!"
"What happened to me?" He asked drowsily.
Reynard shook his head regretfully. "Bad bit of business I'm afraid. We both got attacked by a bunch of uncouths in the city. I woke up a little while ago a few rooms over but fortunately they gave me a clean bill of health. Of course the fact that I am a person of some importance helped," he teased, "so I was able to wait here for you. Thankfully neither of us received any lasting injuries from what I understand. I assume palace security made them scatter before they could do anything more."
His face became sober a moment later. "I really must apologize Clarence, I had no idea the city was that unsafe that close to the palace. Rest assured we will find out who did this." He said seriously.
"Stupid bunch of idiots, that's all." Clarence remarked as his head became clearer. "I've had worse in my time. Funny thing, lots of people don't like journalists."
Reynard shook his head with a smile. "I'm glad you're taking this so calmly. Even so, there will be an investigation at the very least. The Emperor will be most unhappy that something happened to one of his guests, not to mention the attack on my person, someone in the inner court. I will let you know when we have more information."
Clarence nodded. "Well even with the...excitement today I was able to get plenty of subject matter for my next piece." He said.
"May it be as popular as the others." Reynard said.
"Ah, I see our guest is awake!" A middle aged man with greying hair and an open white robe remarked pleasantly as he swished into the room. "I'm Healer Phillips. How are you feeling young man?" He asked kindly.
"Better." Clarence replied. "Am I free to go?"
The man spoke a few words causing an aura of soft white light to appear around his hand as he waved it slowly around Clarence's head and body. A moment later he nodded. "No serious injuries and your mental state appears stable. As a guest of the Emperor you won't need to fill out any annoying paperwork or release forms. You can leave whenever you wish."
"Thanks." Clarence remarked as he carefully got up, testing his legs before glancing at Reynard. "Shall we?"
Nodding, Reynard quickly escorted him out of the hospital and back to the palace, this time taking a vehicle to ensure their security. Soon enough he was through the portal and safely on his way back to Earth.
Elsewhere…
Colt focused his will, activating the nanites in his head to activate a secure connection between him and his superior. The connection was established almost immediately.
It's done. He stated. The offer will be made shortly. All we need to do now is wait to see if they bite.
They will. The man on the other end replied confidently. They can't help but be interested given what we are offering them. At the very least they will meet with us or send a more direct representative. Either way, we will have our connection to them. Good work.
Thank you sir. Colt replied before the connection was closed, a smile of anticipation appearing on his face.
