01-28-2018, 07:38 PM
Agreement on the table, she expected the meeting to draw to a close. Instead she found herself blinking a measure of surprise at what he said next, the final words bitten out hard, and with all the venom of a striking snake. Her insides cooled. Something ancient stirred in her chest, as half remembered as the touch of Jay's hand when she woke in the hospital. It blurred her thoughts with something she could not fully grasp but was painful to examine. And somehow inevitable.
The tension froze tightness in her chest; her expression remained still, falling back into old mechanisms of control. Any hint of surprise was fleeting. She focused on the presented facts instead. A facility forty stories underground? No information was offered freely; this was not a gift, and yet she was not sure she could exactly discern why he chose now to offer it. Assuming it was true and not a test of her reactions. Certainly he watched her closely.
He had every reason to.
It felt real, though, and when offered frankness Natalie was inclined towards the same transparency. She preferred the candour of him now, even if it set them at odds. "I think you know it won't. You speak of channeler rights in one breath, and indoctrination in the other. He's a soldier. Am I to infer you're making a weapon?"
She did not know for certain that Jay had not agreed to it; he had been arrested for murder, and they could have used it as leverage against him. Channelers had value; Brandon said it himself. But perhaps no choice had been given for the very same reasons; his rights revoked on admission of guilt, even without proof. Why, though? Did war darken the horizon? She had already told Brandon she was not an enemy of necessity. Jay was a soldier. He chose that life; in the voice message he'd even spoken about the good kinds of killing.
But also his fear of that naked truth; fear still sharp enough to cut her now.
A frown feathered her brow; she let it. Would this 'training' coax that darkness out of him? Hone it to the sharpest blade? The prospect grieved her in a way she could not explain, even to herself, and in its ashes she found a cold anger. What gamble was Danjou taking? With the lives of his own men, this time; trading them like goods. I need to speak to Jared. Though it might already be too late for warnings. And maybe Danjou wouldn't offer all his secrets. Or all his assets.
She could feel the threat of her temper; it flashed up into her gaze but found no other outlet. Brandon spoke not of people but possessions, valued for their successes and of negligible worth in failure. If he survives the training. It brushed against her soul with icy fingers, but reacted with steel; there was strength in fury. He would survive.
Though of what might be left she turned away from considering
"Does Representative Avalon know about this facility?"
Her disapproval was clear; she had said nothing in the last few moments to make Brandon think she would support him in this. But when the shadows of concern cleared, she perceived the bones of a challenge for what she finally thought it was. She didn't turn aside from ugliness. He hadn't won her loyalty -- he would be foolish to think otherwise, and if anything she questioned him more -- but he won a piece of respect for so direct a risk. Her father's stern face loomed. Those burning papers ash in her hands.
"On the contrary, I find it even more necessary."
The tension froze tightness in her chest; her expression remained still, falling back into old mechanisms of control. Any hint of surprise was fleeting. She focused on the presented facts instead. A facility forty stories underground? No information was offered freely; this was not a gift, and yet she was not sure she could exactly discern why he chose now to offer it. Assuming it was true and not a test of her reactions. Certainly he watched her closely.
He had every reason to.
It felt real, though, and when offered frankness Natalie was inclined towards the same transparency. She preferred the candour of him now, even if it set them at odds. "I think you know it won't. You speak of channeler rights in one breath, and indoctrination in the other. He's a soldier. Am I to infer you're making a weapon?"
She did not know for certain that Jay had not agreed to it; he had been arrested for murder, and they could have used it as leverage against him. Channelers had value; Brandon said it himself. But perhaps no choice had been given for the very same reasons; his rights revoked on admission of guilt, even without proof. Why, though? Did war darken the horizon? She had already told Brandon she was not an enemy of necessity. Jay was a soldier. He chose that life; in the voice message he'd even spoken about the good kinds of killing.
But also his fear of that naked truth; fear still sharp enough to cut her now.
A frown feathered her brow; she let it. Would this 'training' coax that darkness out of him? Hone it to the sharpest blade? The prospect grieved her in a way she could not explain, even to herself, and in its ashes she found a cold anger. What gamble was Danjou taking? With the lives of his own men, this time; trading them like goods. I need to speak to Jared. Though it might already be too late for warnings. And maybe Danjou wouldn't offer all his secrets. Or all his assets.
She could feel the threat of her temper; it flashed up into her gaze but found no other outlet. Brandon spoke not of people but possessions, valued for their successes and of negligible worth in failure. If he survives the training. It brushed against her soul with icy fingers, but reacted with steel; there was strength in fury. He would survive.
Though of what might be left she turned away from considering
"Does Representative Avalon know about this facility?"
Her disapproval was clear; she had said nothing in the last few moments to make Brandon think she would support him in this. But when the shadows of concern cleared, she perceived the bones of a challenge for what she finally thought it was. She didn't turn aside from ugliness. He hadn't won her loyalty -- he would be foolish to think otherwise, and if anything she questioned him more -- but he won a piece of respect for so direct a risk. Her father's stern face loomed. Those burning papers ash in her hands.
"On the contrary, I find it even more necessary."