Nox nodded at Ascendancy's commands for Vaia Plus. Dorian wasn't going to like most of his work being done for him, but Nox doubted they would keep record of it. Their facility was off site and underground for a reason. They had already fired a man for illegal activities.
But it was the delusion that he thought the Atharim were not an army already in Moscow. "There is already an army of Atharim at your feet, Ascendancy. But they are virtually leaderless. Before I was deemed traitor they were scattered, living in safe houses, before the new Regus was instituted. Even now I don't think they've rallied. You tore their, our, world apart when you revealed our nature. Give them purpose even if you send them away, the registry does nothing but foster fear. I signed only because I was a godling myself. Dorian never signed. He nor his son are on any list. Lists means you get hunted."
And that lead to the trifecta. Trust, channelers and Atharim were not ever going to fit the criteria all at the same time. Nox laughed at the idea. "I can give you two out of the three. I can give you people I trust who can channel, or people I'd trust if they were Atharim, or channel and Atharim, but I can't give you all three. I barely trust anyone to begin with and those who I trusted implicitly I had to kill because she went bad."
Nox used his wallet again and flipped to Li Tan, "This is Li Tan, famous actor turned mystical leader. He runs a dojo here in Moscow from the ads I've seen around. He claims to be ex-Atharim and can teach the fine arts of channeling among the Atharim way. No Atharim will touch him for the same reason regular Atharim don't go after you. Because he's public - people will notice. And if people notice the Atharim are fucked. But he's the only channeling Atharim I know of. Aria had a line on a few others but I never met them. So trust isn't ever going to come into the picture."
Nox sighed. "And there are no channelers I trust - not really. I've only met a handful of them. One, no, both, I'd trust in a fight are already in your employ. Ivan Sarkozy is too goodie goodie cop for me. He'll bitch and complain at every turn about how killing is wrong. But I'm not going to stop and ask the people trying to kill me if they'll come peacefully. And Jay Carpenter I'd trust in a fight, good, bad, or ugly. But he's off in the States doing whatever he's doing." and worrying the fuck out of me but Nox didn't say that out loud. "Most of your so called channelers they don't know how to use their gift as a weapon. It's all tricks and play things. Your nine were trained. Jay was trained, when I met him, he was a soldier first, he didn't even know he could weild the power of the gods. I use my gift as a weapon, it's always been a tool to use against the monsters. You'll need to teach anyone how to fight. Most Atharim aren't going to be using their gift for weapons - that's too visible. I didn't care."
"But there are no Atharim I trust. Not a single one. My sister was the only person I trusted. And I trusted Aria, and now both of them are dead. But any Atharim who understand the true reality of our world will help. They'll work with the devil himself if it means saving the world. I don't have to trust them to know they'll do the job you ask of them. I won't say they won't try to kill you or me in the end, but they'll save the world from the monsters."
Nox sighed. "But immediately? I don't have those connections anymore. I don't even have a headquarters to waltz up into and say hey I'm here come and get me but first hey look monsters."
But it was the delusion that he thought the Atharim were not an army already in Moscow. "There is already an army of Atharim at your feet, Ascendancy. But they are virtually leaderless. Before I was deemed traitor they were scattered, living in safe houses, before the new Regus was instituted. Even now I don't think they've rallied. You tore their, our, world apart when you revealed our nature. Give them purpose even if you send them away, the registry does nothing but foster fear. I signed only because I was a godling myself. Dorian never signed. He nor his son are on any list. Lists means you get hunted."
And that lead to the trifecta. Trust, channelers and Atharim were not ever going to fit the criteria all at the same time. Nox laughed at the idea. "I can give you two out of the three. I can give you people I trust who can channel, or people I'd trust if they were Atharim, or channel and Atharim, but I can't give you all three. I barely trust anyone to begin with and those who I trusted implicitly I had to kill because she went bad."
Nox used his wallet again and flipped to Li Tan, "This is Li Tan, famous actor turned mystical leader. He runs a dojo here in Moscow from the ads I've seen around. He claims to be ex-Atharim and can teach the fine arts of channeling among the Atharim way. No Atharim will touch him for the same reason regular Atharim don't go after you. Because he's public - people will notice. And if people notice the Atharim are fucked. But he's the only channeling Atharim I know of. Aria had a line on a few others but I never met them. So trust isn't ever going to come into the picture."
Nox sighed. "And there are no channelers I trust - not really. I've only met a handful of them. One, no, both, I'd trust in a fight are already in your employ. Ivan Sarkozy is too goodie goodie cop for me. He'll bitch and complain at every turn about how killing is wrong. But I'm not going to stop and ask the people trying to kill me if they'll come peacefully. And Jay Carpenter I'd trust in a fight, good, bad, or ugly. But he's off in the States doing whatever he's doing." and worrying the fuck out of me but Nox didn't say that out loud. "Most of your so called channelers they don't know how to use their gift as a weapon. It's all tricks and play things. Your nine were trained. Jay was trained, when I met him, he was a soldier first, he didn't even know he could weild the power of the gods. I use my gift as a weapon, it's always been a tool to use against the monsters. You'll need to teach anyone how to fight. Most Atharim aren't going to be using their gift for weapons - that's too visible. I didn't care."
"But there are no Atharim I trust. Not a single one. My sister was the only person I trusted. And I trusted Aria, and now both of them are dead. But any Atharim who understand the true reality of our world will help. They'll work with the devil himself if it means saving the world. I don't have to trust them to know they'll do the job you ask of them. I won't say they won't try to kill you or me in the end, but they'll save the world from the monsters."
Nox sighed. "But immediately? I don't have those connections anymore. I don't even have a headquarters to waltz up into and say hey I'm here come and get me but first hey look monsters."
![[Image: nox_sig.gif]](http://thefirstage.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/nox_sig.gif)