07-01-2014, 11:20 AM
As Marcus made his way through the tables, weaves of power began filling the room. Obviously the flashbang had elicited a response and he couldn't help a tight smile. But Malik was careful. Clearly, the weaves were designed to do something, the only logical conclusion being that they were to detect. What specifically, he didn't know- the Force itself or could the weaves be tuned enough to detect the ability to use the Force? The thought was intriguing but there was no way to know, at least no way without further risk. He filed the idea away. It was another interesting avenue for him to test with Pyotr. But either way, Marcus was not going to be caught by the very same method that he himself had used. He would not let on that he saw the weaves very clearly.
Indeed, Malik steeled himself- taking note of the weaves' composition for later study- and walked right through one of them. If the weave detected a Force user, this would be it. But he'd had no choice. When nothing happened that he could see, he relaxed a little. More than than, his feigned innocent smile become not feigned, though for all intents and purposes it was still the same. You didn't grow up in the foster care system and not learn how to hide behind a mask, behind a smile. Abusers often sought out weakness and fear. Wearing a mask had been beaten into Marcus since childhood. All part of the will of the Force.
Inside, Malik had to laugh. The Force was in rare form today. For it had revealed three things to him. For one, Ascendancy was a Force user- and a powerful one. He was confident that meant Malik would apprentice to him. Two, as he got closer to the table, he noted all the weaves seemed to be coming from one source- Vellas himself. There was no need to ask Pyotr what he'd seen. Vellas was obviously the source of those rumors.
Three and most importantly, the man emanated numerous weaves of power. He was quite powerful, much more so than Malik himself- for now anyway. But what really intrigued Malik was that the man was using multiple weaves of the power. So he had been right. It was possible. Once again, he'd run up against his own preconceptions of the Force. Less and less did this power seem to operate according to that depicted in the Star Wars universe. He'd already believed that to be the case, of course. Instead he'd believed, for the most part, that it was merely a metaphor for what he was doing. But clearly, even his metaphor was holding him back, the preconceptions he was operating from hindering him. He'd have to reexamine his axioms later, to eradicate any of those remaining. His smile as he sat down was genuine. It seemed that he owed Vellas a favor for teaching him so much. Inside, Malik laughed at the thought.
As he sat down, Vellas looked at him, voice cool. "Welcome back, Marcus. May I have a moment of your time?"
It was the first time he'd spoke to Marcus since their introduction earlier. Malik was not stupid. Vellas had shown no interest in him before and now he was, while at the same time using the Force to detect a Force user.
This man was his enemy. A line from a book came back to him, "There is no teacher but the enemy. No one but the enemy will tell you what the enemy is going to do. No one but the enemy will ever teach you how to destroy and conquer. Only the enemy shows you where you are weak. Only the enemy tells you where he is strong."
It was very good that he'd had a lifetime of practice in dealing with enemies bigger and stronger than himself. For the first time, he was grateful for all that training.
With his smile remaining, the face he'd used to his tormentors, he answered, "Of course, Commander Vellas. What I can I do for you?"
Edited by Marcus DuBois, Jul 1 2014, 11:20 AM.
Indeed, Malik steeled himself- taking note of the weaves' composition for later study- and walked right through one of them. If the weave detected a Force user, this would be it. But he'd had no choice. When nothing happened that he could see, he relaxed a little. More than than, his feigned innocent smile become not feigned, though for all intents and purposes it was still the same. You didn't grow up in the foster care system and not learn how to hide behind a mask, behind a smile. Abusers often sought out weakness and fear. Wearing a mask had been beaten into Marcus since childhood. All part of the will of the Force.
Inside, Malik had to laugh. The Force was in rare form today. For it had revealed three things to him. For one, Ascendancy was a Force user- and a powerful one. He was confident that meant Malik would apprentice to him. Two, as he got closer to the table, he noted all the weaves seemed to be coming from one source- Vellas himself. There was no need to ask Pyotr what he'd seen. Vellas was obviously the source of those rumors.
Three and most importantly, the man emanated numerous weaves of power. He was quite powerful, much more so than Malik himself- for now anyway. But what really intrigued Malik was that the man was using multiple weaves of the power. So he had been right. It was possible. Once again, he'd run up against his own preconceptions of the Force. Less and less did this power seem to operate according to that depicted in the Star Wars universe. He'd already believed that to be the case, of course. Instead he'd believed, for the most part, that it was merely a metaphor for what he was doing. But clearly, even his metaphor was holding him back, the preconceptions he was operating from hindering him. He'd have to reexamine his axioms later, to eradicate any of those remaining. His smile as he sat down was genuine. It seemed that he owed Vellas a favor for teaching him so much. Inside, Malik laughed at the thought.
As he sat down, Vellas looked at him, voice cool. "Welcome back, Marcus. May I have a moment of your time?"
It was the first time he'd spoke to Marcus since their introduction earlier. Malik was not stupid. Vellas had shown no interest in him before and now he was, while at the same time using the Force to detect a Force user.
This man was his enemy. A line from a book came back to him, "There is no teacher but the enemy. No one but the enemy will tell you what the enemy is going to do. No one but the enemy will ever teach you how to destroy and conquer. Only the enemy shows you where you are weak. Only the enemy tells you where he is strong."
It was very good that he'd had a lifetime of practice in dealing with enemies bigger and stronger than himself. For the first time, he was grateful for all that training.
With his smile remaining, the face he'd used to his tormentors, he answered, "Of course, Commander Vellas. What I can I do for you?"
Edited by Marcus DuBois, Jul 1 2014, 11:20 AM.