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+--- Thread: The device (/thread-1246.html)
The device - Ascendancy - 06-25-2020
A swipe through the air paused the video in order for Nik to rise. The holo screen was a life-size projection of a recently received transmission. The call was quick. He did not desire to speak long in current company. In fact, if he could have avoided the update personally, he would have delegated the task elsewhere and watched from the shadows. However, these matters were delicate. Whispers were already out there, suppressed for now, and completely capable of utter denial, but the potential for betrayal was always on his mind.
As he rounded the desk, a thoughtful emptiness set the lock of his jaw as it did when he absorbed other tragic news. Deaths, mayhem, tragedy and trauma washed him like oil on water, connected, but not intermingled. As then, so was now.
He paused before the life-sized figure of a dark-haired man about his own age despite the drastic differences in their appearances. The Russian was the stone-flecked cheeks of Scion Marveet, and held aloft before his beady eyes was a sort of necklace.
Nikolai’s fingers signaled his commands, and after some elegant motions, the image of man and surroundings dissolved, leaving only the device. It reminded him somewhat of the Arcus band for its simplicity and symbolism. Though the Arcus band offered nothing practical, this device was of great use, and Scion held the keys to its design in his possession.
He pulled the holographic device away, lifting it as though it was truly present in the room with him. There was no weight, of course, but just comparison, he placed the image around his own collar, superimposed above the suit and tie he usually wore, and studied the shape in a real-world mirror. He tried to imagine what it would look like in person.
After a few moments of contemplation, he reset the paused screen and Scion’s cool face returned to the frame. Behind him sat a somewhat disheveled Zacarias Amengual. If what Scion relayed about the drug lord’s behavior was half as accurate as he claimed, then the plans were going well. Already one loose end was cut away from the conspirators. Two more remained.
Satisfied with the proceedings, Nikolai closed the system down to await the forthcoming news of Amengual’s demise. Hopefully it would be today and they could move ahead with the plans for Butryka detention center.