[[ Danika, Morven, MV, Marcus -- any of ya'll Kremlin types are welcome to jump in otherwise it'll just be a solo rp ]]
Durante had contacted the Inquisitor. And before the man disappeared off the planet he'd mentioned the boy god wanting to share information.
Angelika sent the boy a private secure text
I am Dr. Woźniak an Atharim scientist. You mentioned to the Inquisitor the tunnels? and help?
His response was not immediate but it came in just as the nights started to get dark
Dr. Weston and co await you at a secret Kremlin facility.
It was cryptic, but it gave her a who and a place just not a why or when. She supposed it didn't matter. And scheduling an appointment wouldn't matter one way or the other. The Kremlin was a big place, and the front desk was the most logical place to start.
She looked the average business woman. Nothing fancy, nothing too strict, but business like. The suit was tailored to fit, she did not look like the nerdy scientist she preferred to walk around like. Today was all about impressions. And not dying. It was a dangerous avenue to undergo, but she doubted that they'd kill her on the spot, she after all had never killed a single soul unlike others -- and Durante walked these walls -- he was a hunter, a killer... exceptions to be made.
At the front desk she smile though it was forced. "My name is Dr. Woźniak. I was sent by a young man, Nox Durante to meet with Dr. Weston. It is about a project down in the bowles of the city."
The women at the front desk didn't blink or respond to her request just continued typing along the computer terminal she was using.
"Excuse me. I need to speak with Dr. Weston."
Several more moments passed and the woman did not respond. Angelika growled at herself.
"Of course the government wouldn't care." Angelika grabbed her bag and started away from the desk.
A young man in a white lab coat caught up to her before she left and took her arm.
"Dr. Woźniak, I'm Dr. Rhys Ferguson, I work with Dr. Weston, she has assigned me to the situation Mr. Durante brought to the Ascendancy's attention. Dr. Weston is busy with her research into the power of men and women and doesn't have time to explore the issue. Come with me."
Angelika frowned but followed the man deep into the Kremlin. He took her to a room that looked more like an kitchen break room than a lab, or office.
"We can talk here."
"I don't know why we are talking about."
"You know about the creatures in the underground."
"Not specifically. There are many creatures below the city."
"Like what?"
Angelika sighed, this would take a long time to explain.
Explaining to the mundane was tedious. Angelika just left it at the bare basics. "Monsters are real, Dr. Ferguson."
They went round and round about the kind, he wanted specifics and Angelika was disinclined to offer them.
"Let's try this a different way. Mr. Durante likened the creatures to chubacabaras -- a parasitic creature who speak with a sort of hive mind."
Angelika frowned. "He told you that?"
"Not me peronally, it's in his report."
"I'd like to see that report."
"Of course."
He handed her the folder in front of him and when she opened it was surprised to find a not so redacted report. "Not what I was expecting. It's quite readable."
"His report looks foolish to most people. He looks crazy. I imagine that is the intent if anyone were to read them."
"I assure you he is not crazy. And do you have his blood samples?" He acknowledged that he did. "I want to see them."
Dr. Ferguson took Angelika to the lab deeper into the Kremlin that she prior knew existed. No badge were swiped -- nothing someone else couldn't get into but till Angelika thought that this went deeper than anyone ever knew. The tunnels were just the beginning.
"The samples were given freely -- to study. We've been unable to determine any of the foreign protein markers."
Angelika looked at one sample under the microscope. "Strange."
"What is?"
"Durante is not displaying any signs of possession? And there are no parasites?"
"Nothing out of the ordinary other than these protein markers."
"Strange." Angelika lifted her eye from the scope and turned to the doctor. "I need to see all his paperwork -- everything you can get your hands on."
"What are you looking for?"
"Specifically how he came across these markers. He may not even know himself."
"He does. He contacted the Ascendancy the moment he was bitten and arm cauterized in the field. He knows exactly when it happened, and how it happened. He wants to know what's going on. And a a public safety -- vials of his blood are out there."
"If they contain no parasites like these samples they are harmless. Though if they are not part of the sample, whoever took them would be nice to know. If the knew what they had their hands on. I want to know everything he said."
For weeks Angelika went down into the depths of the Kremlin to consult with Dr. Ferguson. Durante was unique. He was a reborn god. And he carried the protein markers. The creatures were only found deep in the tunnels. Something new. Someone created them. Angelika saw curiosities in the samples taken. She wished that the inquisitor would bring her back the boy. Alive preferably. Dead if necessary.
Her wallet beeped. She ignored it. The data was speaking to her. If only she could find what she was looking for.
Hours later, Angelika pulled herself out of her work and glanced at her wallet.
Durante may be impossible to bring in unwillingly. Perhaps we can just ask him when he returns from the hunt -- if he survives it.
She growled. The man was failing her. But she wondered what happened. The boy had thrawted every attempt at capturing him. And from what Dr. Ferguson suggested he was willing.
Angelika sent a return message.
Send him the invitation to my lab. We can detain him indefinitely there.
[[ @"Grym" feel free to jump in here, Zef and Jer are going to have a conversation you are also welcome to take part in. ]]
A most unique message captured her attention. A creature was captured -- one of those things that had been plaguing her research and now there was one to examine. She wondered woefully if it were alive. That would be the holy grail -- what were these things?
She texted the Atharim hunter her details and she awaited the arrival of the sample.
The boy may not be necessary though still it was of high concern that this boy god walked free among the rest of the mortals and under the protection of the Ascendancy himself -- also another god walking free. Though the reports of the attempts on either of the men were nothing to scoff at. They both escaped numerous attempts to capture and or kill them, all failing -- one for countless years and the other for a handful. Few gods had escaped the Atharim. Ironically many of those that have were of the Atharim.
The details were vague. She didn't know this Atharim Scientist. Scientists weren't common among the Atharim. Unless it was technology you wanted -- but one that studied the creatures was far and few between. There were classes of course on the biology of monsters and Zef had taken one or two when she was a kid -- but everything she learned was from her father, and his father before him. Years upon years of hunting and training all poured into one being. Her legacy would carry on -- eventually.
The lab was found in a non-descript building with no sign or windows only a door with the faint scrawling of a snake eating its own tail in the wood -- almost like someone had drawn it in the dust, except you couldn't wipe it away.
Zef didn't knock, she passed her identity card over the scanner set discretely in the door frame and the door snicked open. Why have guards when tech can guard the pass.
The door opened into a long empty passage way with flickering lights. Totally gave you that classic horror film vibe. "This is so cliche."
At the end of the hall a woman in a white lab coat waited. "Dr. Woźniak I presume? My name is Zephry Lelantos and this is Grym. We have a present for you." Zef nodded towards the bag Grym was still holding.
"Follow me!"
They passed through the double doors into a stark white room with what looked like glass cages everywhere. "Put it in here." The doctor said holding open a glass box on wheels.
She was very happy to reach their destination. Every few minutes, the critter in the bag began to stir, and Grym was getting pissed at having to punch it back still again. The doctor was going to have a good time with it, but at one point, she wondered if they should just kill it before dropping it off. Just in case it were to escape and the whole bunch repopulated again.
The lab was in a scary rundown building. Even the old florescent lamps flickered as they passed under their haunting illumination. It ran chills down Grym’s spine, and she moved cautiously forward. Her weapons were still strapped down, but she didn’t let her defenses relax too much.
Soon, they were greeted by the woman she assumed they were here to meet.
“Grym,” she repeated, but her hands were occupied taking care of the bag and its contents. There was no chance to shake hands.
They were led to a room full of plexiglass cages. Unbreakable, she hoped. Quick as dumping out a venomous snake, Grym upended the bag and quickly stepped aside so the lid could be secured.
A bloodied lump of a rodent-like creature landed on its back. It quickly righted itself and snapped at the fingers of the person closing the lid. Foam fell from its mouth. There were gashes on its body and one eye was soggy dark. Probably from Grym’s many punches.
“That little bitch has a nasty bite. Don’t get too close doctor,” Grym turned to her, relieved to be freed of the responsibility.
The ugly little thing thrashed against the clear walls of the cage and left blood and ooze along the interior it scratched and gnawed at to release itself. "How ugly. I am aware of it's bite if it's the reason the boy god cut off his own arm."
Angelika watched it with curiosity, her eyes never leaving it's reaction to the new surroundings. "Tell me, how did you come across this. The Inquistor said the boy was going on a killing spree, taking them all out." She sighed. "If I could get my hands on him..." she thought out loud. There were things he wasn't telling the Ascendancy. Or that the Ascendancy wasn't telling the doctors. The boy left a lot out of his reports too. Angelika knew how the Atharim worked. Never share all the information in one place. Except for with the Atharim of course -- but never the proper authorities lest they piece together the unknown.
Grym found herself blinking and dumbfounded near to silence. “He cut off his own arm?” she made a grimace that said she wouldn’t be able to do the same. She’d heard of it before. Stories of people trapped at the ankle or wrist, forced to severe the limb to free themselves or face certain death. There were other stories of people caught in machinery or snatched by the jaws of a monster, with either sure to swallow them whole, and they had but once choice to escape. Even for an Atharim, it was the stuff of nightmares. Her axes were sharp and swift, but even Grym couldn’t fathom the situation. She may just be ready to go ahead and die, but fear did some crazy things to a deranged mind.
“I didn’t see a lot of killing, but it seemed that way. We were only interested in him until we saw a whole load of the gods there,” she added as an after thought. “I just grabbed this one as it ran by my foot. I don’t know why.. seemed like a good idea at the time and figured I could always kill it later.”