05-23-2015, 10:20 AM
Every time Aria smiled at him, he disliked her further. It made the respect she showed previously feel like a tease. As she toyed with Simon, touching his face and smiling sweetly up at him, Nikolai came to realize her emotions were always manipulative. Thus he would need to assume nothing about her was sincere. The epiphany was freeing, actually. Knowing someone was always untrustworthy was more reliable than the day he was betrayed by someone who had his trust. Michael came to mind, and a sliver of an idea formed as to how he was going to confront the man regarding this secret he kept.
Aria showed that she could manipulate someone into obeying her. How, Nikolai did not truly understand. She claimed to be able to control another person's emotions, but how that translated into control of free will was an elusive concept.
She also made apparent that she did not have to constantly maintain physical touch to continue her mind-control. If she had, then the moment she withdrew her fingers from Simon's face he would have rebounded. Instead, he remained in the daze she'd previously induced with a single brush of the hand.
Then, her demonstration changed. Simon physically bent his neck. His eyes lowered to the floor. His arms tensed and his hands began to shake. What Nikolai witnessed was terrifying. An agent of his, in whom he trusted his safety, fell to his knees like a beggar. Simon tried to escape, Nikolai saw him pull away, but the resistance was momentary. When Aria finally released him, the agent hurried from her side, huddling behind Nikolai like a child in need of protection.
Nik glanced at the hidden Simon. The man was unrecognizable, now. With that, Aria revealed another of her limitations: the effect would wear off. Was it similar to the manipulation Nicholas Trano used upon him? That he did not even know it was happening at the time?
Nik remained where he was, looking down upon this new, dangerous weapon in his arsenal. "What are the limitations of your powers? What can you not do?"
He was not going to send a weapon into battle without knowing when it would break. "If you say that one of my best Barrier Preator agents is not strong of will, then I doubt few men in the world exhibit the strong-will you describe. What of me? Would your power work on me? Did it work on Michael? And to what extent?"
He had to know.
Aria showed that she could manipulate someone into obeying her. How, Nikolai did not truly understand. She claimed to be able to control another person's emotions, but how that translated into control of free will was an elusive concept.
She also made apparent that she did not have to constantly maintain physical touch to continue her mind-control. If she had, then the moment she withdrew her fingers from Simon's face he would have rebounded. Instead, he remained in the daze she'd previously induced with a single brush of the hand.
Then, her demonstration changed. Simon physically bent his neck. His eyes lowered to the floor. His arms tensed and his hands began to shake. What Nikolai witnessed was terrifying. An agent of his, in whom he trusted his safety, fell to his knees like a beggar. Simon tried to escape, Nikolai saw him pull away, but the resistance was momentary. When Aria finally released him, the agent hurried from her side, huddling behind Nikolai like a child in need of protection.
Nik glanced at the hidden Simon. The man was unrecognizable, now. With that, Aria revealed another of her limitations: the effect would wear off. Was it similar to the manipulation Nicholas Trano used upon him? That he did not even know it was happening at the time?
Nik remained where he was, looking down upon this new, dangerous weapon in his arsenal. "What are the limitations of your powers? What can you not do?"
He was not going to send a weapon into battle without knowing when it would break. "If you say that one of my best Barrier Preator agents is not strong of will, then I doubt few men in the world exhibit the strong-will you describe. What of me? Would your power work on me? Did it work on Michael? And to what extent?"
He had to know.