Laughter was a surprise. The man, Tony, whose name he knew from eavesdropping, was surprisingly welcome and direct. Elias could not thank the man enough for being straightforward. He was sick of playing the word games of the polite boys and girls.
He was taken aback, slightly, when Tony ascertained he knew little about the power. Granted, he was correct, but the rapid series of smokey-eyed blinks fluttered surprise. How could he have known? Reading thoughts? Was something sensed unilaterally that Eli could not yet fathom? Perhaps.
Money and fame he lacked, but what Elias lacked, he exuded in presence of determination. Once set on a certain coarse, he could no more be diverted by the will of mankind than an avalanche stopped by the bark of a Pomeranian.
There was a dread appeal in Tony's allusion to a scheme hatched. A smug smile curled his lips ever so slightly with smile. "Why not? I've nothing else better to do."
They walked side by side like strange brothers of night and day: Tony with his long blonde hair and hawkish gaze and Elias burdened by thick, dark strands and molten focus. "So. You tell me yours, and I'll tell you mine?"
He glanced disquiet at his companion.
Elias seemed confused that he knew he had little experience with the power. Tony hid a smile. It was little more than an educated guess. He had far too much experience dealing with people like Elias that it had become somewhat of a talent.
Elias seemed awfully pleased at the prospect of working together. Far too pleased in fact. Tony should have heeded the warning signs, but it was exactly the type of thing Tony would do himself, and he was nothing if not bold. Besides, the noose tightened around his neck ever so slightly day by day. Something had to be done; anything.
When Elias proposed to trade their secrets, Tony guided him through the library away from the graduate offshoot, now heading towards the exit that would lead them towards the Chancellor's precinct.
In reply, Tony was stark. "My family died because of my abilities. There are those who would destroy our kind; I offer sanctuary and teach those who cannot defend themselves. We have power, and we must use it - together."
His mood turned dark at the thought. "Much to our fortune, our abilities are largely secret. The Chancellor may be on the knife-edge of unveiling out abilities. He must not be allowed to make it public."
The last sentence had an air of finality about it.
Tony shook himself, the confident gait of Elias' stride remidning him of a happier time and of hope. "And what's important enough that you joined up with a desperate madman?"
The last was a joke, although perhaps a tad bitter. Sometimes he felt the world had gone mad.
Elias pushed open the door and handed it off to Tony with less chivalry than when he had held it for the redhead. Granted, Tony was a nice looking fellow, but he simply wasn't Elias' type. Then again, Eli wasn't sure he had a "type." Luckily, as quickly as the thought grew, it faded in lieu of far more interesting conversation.
Tony's story gave Eli quite a lot to consider as someone dear to him had disappeared for no apparent reason. He was convinced his uncle's catastrophe had nothing to do with the everyday shipwreck it supposedly was. Here Tony was telling him of others suffering the same fate. Could his uncle have been involved in a similar plot? The victim of a similar extermination?
Elias wasn't a cold hearted bastard, though. Despite the introversion of his thoughts. "I'm sorry for your loss,"
he offered, semi-uncomfortable to share the obligatory sympathies. He was glad to move on.
To be honest, he wasn't sure if he would be against the revelation of people like them. However, Elias wasn't sure he was ready for the world to turn their attention on him. Not yet.
"No offense, but desperate madmen tend to get things done. Being desperate and all."
The prelude to his story fell flat. Regret and pain did not fill the timbre of his story as it had Tony's. Elias faced frustration and unquenched curiosity. Revenge was thoughts for the future. It was worthless to waste time calculating vengeance for an unidentified adversary.
"You said people like us disappear. My uncle disappeared at sea working for scientists from Wellington and Moscow. I don't know what he was seeking, but it was powerful and he was obsessed with the discovery. Fifty years ago, something similar happened. The only survivor is locked away in a mental hospital. I exhausted all leads in Wellington. Which leaves Moscow."
Elias' story gave Tony pause. More disappearances.
His eyes tightened as did his grip on the power. Elias did not seem to be furious but it was clear he cared for his uncle. His lack of fury only hardened Tony more. It was likely Elias still held out some hope for his uncle. Tony wished he could believe it, but he had seen it too often.
"My sympathies,"
he said earnestly. "Our goals may not be too far apart, it would seem. I don't believe in coincidences."
Tony's steps quickened as an idea came to mind. It was one he shied away from. The memory left only pain and fear. He remembered, he could do it, but did he want to? Could he, if it came down to it?
Surely there were other avenues, his mind told him, but his heart knew otherwise. Just as his raven-haired partner beside him, his options had been exhausted.
Money perhaps? He still had what was left of his family fortune.
No. It was uncertain and would draw attention to him that would endanger his wards.
Persuasion? It was doubtful. Unless the Chancellor was a complete fool, he would be arrested before he had left MSU if he tried.
So, it comes to this?
Tony sincerely hoped it did not. His heart ached at the thought, but the terror young men and women would face was far greater than his own conscience.
After a period of leaden silence, they reached the Chancellor's precinct and Tony stopped, taking Elias by the arm. "You are determined to see this through? No matter where it leads? You may never be able to live a normal life again. You may have to run and hide just to survive. If you leave now, forget everything, you may be able to escape notice."
His eyes bored into Elias'. "So, will you continue?"
While Tony didn't believe in coincidence, Elias was apathetic toward providence. He entertained the idea of fate, but at the end of the day, he didn't care to dwell on the future. He was fully engaged in the present.
They continued in silence for some time. The buildings changed their architecture slightly as they proceeded. The library, with its hints of modern technology planted like jewelry around the face of an aged woman, was an institution of the past. The Chancellor's offices gleamed new and pristine. In the space of a few hundred steps it seemed he and Tony passed from one century and emerged in another.
Before they entered the area proper, Tony grabbed him by the arm. Elias gaze swung from the grip back to Tony, flat and piercing correction while the man that held him attempted to intimidate him with ultimatums.
"My fate is my own. Do not assume to know what I care for and what I am willing to sacrifice. If I were disinterested, I would walk away. I may still, but take me at my word, Tony, I will never run and hide. Not from anyone."
He pulled his arm free and gestured toward the door. "Shall we?"
He even held it open for him. Despite the quiet demeanor, his heart was racing excitement.
Elias held the door open, waiting, and Tony gave him a sharp smile. The young man was determined and exuded confidence. Just the man Tony needed. His students were excellent, but they did not have the daring that Elias did. Perhaps Michael would have helped, but he was not available.
Tony didn't bother to reply. Elias said his fate was his own, and Tony would respect that. He simply entered the precinct and started towards the Chancellor's office.
Strangely, they did not encounter any staff, and Tony frowned when he found the receptionists desk empty.
Cautious, he tried the door.
Locked.
With a simple weave of fire, he melted the lock and the door opened with an agonizingly loud squeak. Tony looked back at Elias with a raised brow.
Upon entering, Tony found nothing at first glance. The office was nothing unusual. The desk was cluttered with an abundance of holo-logs and even a few scraps of paper.
Then he heard an almost imperceptible bump from behind the desk. Tony rounded the room and under the desk sat the Chancellor, huddled with his hands hugging his knees. "Are you here to take me now as well?"
Tony glanced at Elias before returning to the man with a soft smile. "No, Chancellor. I am here to help. Come, let's get you out of there."
Tony bent down and helped the man into his seat. His greying hair was slick with sweat but his eyes were alert.
"Me and my friend only came for information, nothing more. If you need help, we may be able to aid you."
"Information?"
the Chancellor said in a harsh tone. "You want to know about the Oceanic operation as well? Who are you with? the Americans? The Chinese? Damn the man who convinced me to take interest! I said it would be nothing but trouble!"
Tony put a calming hand on the Chancellor's back, giving him a pat while he looked to Elias. "Ask your questions, it seems your options just opened up."
The Chancellor was dragged out from beneath his desk, and Elias casually studied the face of arguably one of the most powerful men in the city.
With Tony at his back and Elias before him, the man was at the mercy of their interrogation. Lo and behold, he admitted his involvement even before the first question was posed.
“Very well.”
Eli spoke to Tony, welcoming this propitious turn of events.
He dug out his uncle’s Wallet and scrolled for a picture of his uncle that he finally showed the Chancellor.
“One year ago, a marine biologist named Paul Donovan accepted a position at Victoria University in collaboration with your institution.”
He positioned the Wallet so to force Chancellor look at the picture. The image was of a dark-haired, tanned man in his early thirties. Paul, as Elias remembered him, was quick to smile and quick to help. He told terrible jokes, couldn’t talk to an attractive girl to save his life, and read sci-fi novels in his spare time.
“He disappeared looking for something you commissioned, for something that fifty years ago was sought by another team; another team that also disappeared..”
The Chancellor grimaced and Elias suddenly had the sense he was not saying anything the man did not already know.
Eli retracted the Wallet and leaned over the Chancellor’s desk. He would give the man the opportunity to explain. “Paul Donovan was my uncle, and I was living with him in Wellington when he never returned from sea. I think I’m owed an explanation. What were they seeking? And why is nobody doing a damned thing to search for them?”
Tony kept a steadying hand around the Chancellor's shoulder as Elias began his questioning. Despite being full with the power, it was a trick he learned in his old life that Tony used now, although aided by his enhanced senses. He could sense the Chancellor's reactions to Elias' questions as they were raised.
It was evident that the man knew exactly what Elias was talking about, but would he reveal it? Elias' intensity loomed over the room like the shadow of a wave about to crash onto sand.
Tony did not interfere however, and waited for the Chancellor to react. He hoped for all of their sakes he would not hold back.
"I..I-Wait!"
the Chancellor stammered then hit on something. "You're the boy who has been making a mess of -"
Tony cut him off with a small squeeze. That route would get them nowhere, and Elias looked intent enough to kill already. "Understandable, is it not? You will forgive Mr. Donovan for worrying about his family, yes? I'm sure you would do the same in his position, were your own family at risk."
Tony hit the mark, the Chancellor stiffened. "Ah. Yes. I see. Of course, forgive me, Mr. Donovan. I am unusually stressed lately, as you can see."
He managed a short imitation of laughter.
"Yes, we understand. We want to help. You see, we are outside of the MSU hierarchy, just two concerned men. We can do things that someone of your reputation, Chancellor, could not."
However the man read the comment, it was to their benefit. He nodded quickly. "Yes, yes. I see. I cannot be blamed for this. I am just doing a young man a favour. To find his uncle."
Tony nodded sombrely as the Chancellor continued. "Yes. We did commission a team, although I was against it. People had forgotten about the past, you see? They thought they had a better chance. Better technology, safety precautions, so I was convinced. It went well at first. We found something."
Here the Chancellor paused for a moment, perhaps reconsidering, but Tony urged him on with an encouraging smile. "However, there was another team."
Tony's curiosity spiked at the man's tone. "They...They took our findings. The team, all of it. When we began our investigation, others started to disappear as well."
Tony did not have to ask why. It was a burden the man seemed to be glad to unload. "The latest was a dear friend, a professor here. He traced the group. The last thing he said to me was that they were laying low in the Zamoskvoreche district. He said something about the river."
The Chancellor suddenly snatched something from his desk, and held out a piece of paper in trembling hands. "Here...This is where he was going. Before...Before he disappeared."
Tony glanced at Elias urging him to take the paper. "Thank you, Chancellor. We shall find your friend."
He looked up at Elias again. "Do you have any more to ask? Our friend here should get some rest. Very soon."
Elias allowed the Chancellor his moment to explain. However, as he went on, the clouds of a storm gathered on the horizon.
The story corraborated with that of Paul's. His uncle had spoken of revolutionary findings. At the time, Eli listened to the man's science with but half an ear, but all he could hear was the luring song of leaving Utah. His uncle might have been a sheep farmer and Eli would have followed him if it meant trading Kenab for New Zealand.
This man, this beetle beneath his shoe was the reason his uncle was gone, the reason Eli's life in New Zealand was washed away.
Tony's agreeable nature interrupted the gathering storm, and Eli accepted the paper. The professor whom he had an appointment with was the one to have disappeared. Come back later, his note had read.
Who constituted this so-called second team? The Chancellor accused Eli and Tony of being Chinese or American. Were governments involved in the plot?
He put the map aside for now. "Just one more question, Tony."
Eli said coolly. "What were they seeking?"
The Chancellor quickly clammed up, shaking his head as though whatever was in his thoughts would spawn his worse nightmare should he speak it aloud. What could draw the fear of one such as the chancellor, lure the silence of world governments, and draw the fantasies of a marine biologist? What, indeed?
The Chancellor quickly faded at Elias' last question, the question that had been in the forefront of his mind. What reduced a man of such standing to trembling? His desire to know pulsed almost as brightly as the power in his grasp did.
"I..."
the man hesitated, starting to shake. Tony gripped his shoulder firmly. "I don't know."
Tony frowned as the Chancellor slumped in his grasp, now trembling so hard Tony had to steady him.
"You don't know?"
His tone was incredulously harsh.
"I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know."
The answer was repeated over and over like a charm. Tony's face turned black, but resisted the urge to torture the information out of the man.
They had a lead. If it had broken the Chancellor, perhaps it was wise to leave well enough alone until they found this 'other' team. Tony spoke before Elias, with his considerably darker temperament decided to do anything rash. "We won't learn anything more from him."
His tone was firm and left no opening for debate.
On the heels of that he started to weave, against his better judgement but befitting his soured mood. "This,"
he said as the complex weave took form around the Chancellor's brain. "I should never have remembered."
His tone turned soft in reminiscence, his own patches of missing memory and blighted sickness invading his mind. "I am not sure if it was even meant to be learned, or a product of failure."
As the wave touched the Chancellor, Tony placed a gag of air between the man's open mouth before the screaming began. Tears dripped down his cheeks as Tony continued. "It hurt as much and more when I was subjected to it,"
he provided in the interlude, as much to say something as it was to enlighten Elias.
Then...the weave rippled and his control slipped. The soundless screams were cut eeirely short and Tony reluctantly removed the gag. The Chancellor looked at him in confusion and not the slightest spark of his former sharpness. Tony grimaced as he surveyed the disaster of his failure.
"I had hoped..."
his voice faded. It was pointless. The moment he had begun the weave was the moment he had decided, and it was not one he regretted. They needed it far too much to regret. "That... is a weave to remove memory. Not to fog or make someone forget - but completely remove - cut like a slice of brain from the body. This,"
he gestured to the expressionless Chancellor. "is the price of failure."
He took a moment to look at the Chancellor one last time before turning his back on the scene. "His mind is destroyed. He won't be able to speak, much less remember our visit. Come, let's go. We have a lead."