01-28-2018, 10:46 PM
Nikolai was ready for retaliation. Whether barbs or the swing of a sword, he was ready to parry an attack. He was almost relieved when she withdrew inside herself. Then and there was when the resemblance to Evelyn dissipated. Natalie was cold as a Russian winter. Evelyn's soul, meanwhile, was verdant and warm. Perhaps the two women would find the other intolerable.
He shook his head, "Of course she does not know. Do you think a politician campaigning for channeler rights would oppose the notion?"
There was sarcasm in the rhetoric. None were to say that the Ascendancy was without a sense of humor.
He shifted, settling into a more comfortable position. There was a notion of patience to the movement. Perhaps as a parent gently guiding a child to the correct conclusion. She responded to the strategy well, thus far.
"Natalie, I have been moving nations like pieces on a board for longer than you've been alive. Why do you suppose I revealed a top secret program to you? Do you think the Representative from the United States is aware?"
His questions hung in the air like smoke nudging her to accept his wisdom.
In silent answer, he tapped the table to life, logged in with his own thumb and summoned videos widely spread throughout the news. First and foremost was Michael Vellas in Dominance V surrounded by a firestorm of power. The next was destruction of Moscow and the myriad Wallet videos and captured footage of Vellas' ascendant channelers subduing the terrorist Theo Andlain. Finally, the video of the Red Square where the Ascendancy's archway was constructed.
Nikolai paused the video as the camera panned to his own face. In that moment he thought he used all the power the universe channeled into his body, only later that night he would learn that more existed. The Ijiraq's lesson was learned.
He let the image hover in the air for a few more seconds before a swipe collapsed all the light fields. "We all agree that channelers will need to be policed like any other person, but you are absolutely correct in that mortals with sedatives are not the answer. A longer-termed solution will need to be implemented. Everything we know of this age is changing."
A wave of the hand dismissed the rest. "I don't need to tell you any of this, of course."
"Do you know what I stopped but weeks ago? In these very walls?"
His arms opened. She would know the report. It was circulated far and wide over the world. "What do we do when an army of channelers decides to conquer? What will your friends in Masiaka do when the people across the river decide to conquer their neighbors, and they bring native channelers more dangerous than any machine gun? A single channeler in battle could be worth a thousand guns."
He spoke to the very legislation that Evelyn was here to advocate. That the world powers would agree to disarm channelers from the military. To put their resources to uses of humanitarian focus. The daughter of Eleanor Northbrook was likely to agree with that idealistic notion.
Time to strike the anvil. "There are good men in the world. Who better to be our shield? No, our guardians,"
he paused on that term, shuffling it into the back of his mind for now, than good men who wield great power? Commander Vellas is one. There are others, but we need all we can find. The time will come when their shield will be needed. I am but one and I cannot save the world alone."
He blinked slowly, hoping she understood. "Is your friend a good man?"
Did Representative Avalon know about the Facility? No, but she should have figured out such a place existed by now, as how likely Natalie would see the logic as well.
He shook his head, "Of course she does not know. Do you think a politician campaigning for channeler rights would oppose the notion?"
There was sarcasm in the rhetoric. None were to say that the Ascendancy was without a sense of humor.
He shifted, settling into a more comfortable position. There was a notion of patience to the movement. Perhaps as a parent gently guiding a child to the correct conclusion. She responded to the strategy well, thus far.
"Natalie, I have been moving nations like pieces on a board for longer than you've been alive. Why do you suppose I revealed a top secret program to you? Do you think the Representative from the United States is aware?"
His questions hung in the air like smoke nudging her to accept his wisdom.
In silent answer, he tapped the table to life, logged in with his own thumb and summoned videos widely spread throughout the news. First and foremost was Michael Vellas in Dominance V surrounded by a firestorm of power. The next was destruction of Moscow and the myriad Wallet videos and captured footage of Vellas' ascendant channelers subduing the terrorist Theo Andlain. Finally, the video of the Red Square where the Ascendancy's archway was constructed.
Nikolai paused the video as the camera panned to his own face. In that moment he thought he used all the power the universe channeled into his body, only later that night he would learn that more existed. The Ijiraq's lesson was learned.
He let the image hover in the air for a few more seconds before a swipe collapsed all the light fields. "We all agree that channelers will need to be policed like any other person, but you are absolutely correct in that mortals with sedatives are not the answer. A longer-termed solution will need to be implemented. Everything we know of this age is changing."
A wave of the hand dismissed the rest. "I don't need to tell you any of this, of course."
"Do you know what I stopped but weeks ago? In these very walls?"
His arms opened. She would know the report. It was circulated far and wide over the world. "What do we do when an army of channelers decides to conquer? What will your friends in Masiaka do when the people across the river decide to conquer their neighbors, and they bring native channelers more dangerous than any machine gun? A single channeler in battle could be worth a thousand guns."
He spoke to the very legislation that Evelyn was here to advocate. That the world powers would agree to disarm channelers from the military. To put their resources to uses of humanitarian focus. The daughter of Eleanor Northbrook was likely to agree with that idealistic notion.
Time to strike the anvil. "There are good men in the world. Who better to be our shield? No, our guardians,"
he paused on that term, shuffling it into the back of his mind for now, than good men who wield great power? Commander Vellas is one. There are others, but we need all we can find. The time will come when their shield will be needed. I am but one and I cannot save the world alone."
He blinked slowly, hoping she understood. "Is your friend a good man?"
Did Representative Avalon know about the Facility? No, but she should have figured out such a place existed by now, as how likely Natalie would see the logic as well.