09-12-2024, 02:24 PM
“I am glad to know it. I would not want you to think you had been misled if I was wrong.” That was unlikely, of course, but Bastian liked to be straight down the line, and neither did he wish to foster any incidental complacency.
“He will not die before we have answers, I assure you,” he said of the man behind the screen. Preferably he would not die at all, but Bastian understood the remit here. If neither Vellas nor the Facility’s scientists knew what had caused the issue, it could not be replicated, and nor could it be remedied. If such a fix were even possible. Where science currently failed, the Power would explore instead -- for answers not cure. Bastian was not without his own drive for knowledge. Nor did he believe he would have been selected for a purely mundane task. It was only the complication of suicidal that dampened his response.
Ultimately he considered this secret a revelation that would by nature leak eventually, or just as likely be discovered by someone else, but he paused to consider if there was another layer to Vellas’s statement then. He would not question it, of course, but he liked to be aware of the undercurrents. Bastian intended to earn his place at the top. “We have some time to be ahead of the curve,” he said instead. “I will of course keep you apprised of my progress.”
He turned to look at Michael properly, absorbing the molten reaction. Bastian was often accused of being humourless. Which wasn't true. However he was usually so dry and monotone with his sarcasm that it was often misconstrued as something else. No smile lifted his lips even now, but there was perhaps amusement in his eyes then. It had been meant entirely in jest – both parts. New as he was to the pin at his throat, he realised there was a complicated relationship between the Dominion’s Commander and the Ascendancy. Vellas bowed now, but their strength was almost matched.
“It serves all of us to be reminded of our own mortality, Commander,” he added. “But I am pleased to see you spirited. By your leave?”
“He will not die before we have answers, I assure you,” he said of the man behind the screen. Preferably he would not die at all, but Bastian understood the remit here. If neither Vellas nor the Facility’s scientists knew what had caused the issue, it could not be replicated, and nor could it be remedied. If such a fix were even possible. Where science currently failed, the Power would explore instead -- for answers not cure. Bastian was not without his own drive for knowledge. Nor did he believe he would have been selected for a purely mundane task. It was only the complication of suicidal that dampened his response.
Ultimately he considered this secret a revelation that would by nature leak eventually, or just as likely be discovered by someone else, but he paused to consider if there was another layer to Vellas’s statement then. He would not question it, of course, but he liked to be aware of the undercurrents. Bastian intended to earn his place at the top. “We have some time to be ahead of the curve,” he said instead. “I will of course keep you apprised of my progress.”
He turned to look at Michael properly, absorbing the molten reaction. Bastian was often accused of being humourless. Which wasn't true. However he was usually so dry and monotone with his sarcasm that it was often misconstrued as something else. No smile lifted his lips even now, but there was perhaps amusement in his eyes then. It had been meant entirely in jest – both parts. New as he was to the pin at his throat, he realised there was a complicated relationship between the Dominion’s Commander and the Ascendancy. Vellas bowed now, but their strength was almost matched.
“It serves all of us to be reminded of our own mortality, Commander,” he added. “But I am pleased to see you spirited. By your leave?”
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