Finding His Friends

[Sage]

Sage shrugged at all of that. There was nothing he could say or do that would make this man trust him. And Trusting Nox, was going to take a whole lot more trusting on Aiden's part. But there was a level of understanding he could do. Aiden had given away a tidbit of information and Sage split his attentions while he hacked into the the CCD citizenship application database. It wasn't hard to do. He'd done so himself for his own needs after Grim was caught in lieu of himself. Stupid idiot!

But it didn't matter. Aiden would get his paperwork. It was merely a few flags to flip a few signatures to fake and bam it was done. All in a matter of nano seconds with this new processor. Sage was loving it. He cleaned his trail as he left, leaving nothing behind except someone a bit scrubber advanced enough to work faster than human thought. That was where his advantage had always been. It was a thought, not a multifaceted communication between brain to fingers to get out the exact sequence of key strokes to form one single command. It was a thought. Sage was still building many of those connections but the more he used it the better it all became. And being here with Aiden was making those connections so much faster.

"Your paperwork has been approved, and should be printing and be out in tomorrow's mail. I am no video game. And it's no prank, but I get it. There is no reason to trust me, or my friend. Though he is also an American who now calls the CCD his home."


There was one thing that Nox had plenty of, that was data concerning how he channeled. He had videos of fireballs hurtling across the basement and how close many of them had come when Cruz was learning how to form shields to hitting their friend. Sage had watched with his own eyes the brute force teaching Nox gave Cruz. Sage uploaded several videos to Aiden's computer and set a destructive virus in them if they were to ever hit the netted firewall Sage placed around Aiden's computer. What was once insecure now became part of Sage's monitoring. He'd know the moment it passed that threshold, whatever came in Sage would know. Aiden didn't need to know that, the only person who'd willingly given him access had ever been Nox. Why the idiot ever game him full access to his things Sage would never understand, but he'd done that long before they'd ever actually become friends. The only link to his sister... Sage sighed.

"There are videos for you to watch of my friend teaching our friend. If they leave your computer it'll be bad for you and for whoever watches them, so just don't. Delete them if you want, but they can't leave your computer, not ever."

[Aiden Finnegan]

At the mention of his immigration paperwork, Aiden perked up. He started to look at the strange man; really look at him. The man was right and so was Aiden. There was absolutely no reason to trust him or his friend. Although there was something material now, something to prove his good-nature. This stranger decided to put his money where his mouth was and now Aiden would have enough reason to go along with… whatever these two American strangers had in mind.

“Okay, okay… Let’s say I believe you, which I hope you know I’m only entertaining because of the fairy fire that keeps popping up around me, why are you bothering with me? Unless you are a fan of my work, I do not see why I am worth your time or your friend’s help. What do you get out of this? There has to be something… I’ve never once in my life met anyone that would willingly give something of this magnitude away for free. No one on this planet can make fireballs appear, and if they could, I refuse to believe they’d give their secrets away if they got nothing in return… So answer me this if nothing else: What is the price I have to pay?”
Aiden said plainly. There was no subterfuge, no second meaning behind his words. This all seemed to be too good to be true.

Life had gotten weird once he had come out of his coma. Too weird. True, Aiden wanted answers, but he wasn’t born yesterday. There was more here than he was seeing and he wouldn’t sign his soul away before he knew exactly what he was purchasing.
Edited by Aiden_Finnegan, Yesterday, 9:30 PM.

[Sage]

Sage sighed. He wasn't really good at making people trust him. He was a hacker, that alone said don't trust me. He didn't care one way or the other if Aiden beleived him. He could go on about his life and die and no one would really know the wiser. Except he would, and Nox would probably hate him if he didn't convince Aiden to at least talk to Nox. For being Atharim he was such a good guy.

"There is no price." Sage shrugged. "Well not anything you can't give me. All I ask is silence in who I am, what I do and how you found us. Just silence."

Sage wished for his footage of the event but he didn't have it. Fucking Grim!

"Call me a good samaritan today. My friend is that all time. Always helping people even those that hate him. Such a sweet guy." The last was said in sarcasm. Nox was not sweet, he was an asshole. He was annoying Sage thought to himself. "I don't care one way or the other. Fireballs out of thin air, sounds perfectly safe to me. Until the sickness kills you anyway. Then it's bye-bye money and bye-bye the good life."

[Aiden Finnegan]

Aiden’s eyes widened a fraction at the mention of ‘the sickness.’ The coma was still fresh in his memory… or rather waking up from it. He was not eager to wind up in a hospital, at least not for many more years to come. Those sterile surroundings and foreign faces hovering over your body; there was nothing in the world more uncomfortable than the hospital.

                “Wasn’t my coma enough? Geeze… You say you put the contact info on my desktop? Okay… okay… I’ll give him a call and my silence you shall have.” Aiden said warily to the strange, handsome man. There was a part of Aiden that didn’t want to believe any of this, but there had just been too many oddities in his life. Proof of that was how quickly he adapted to this very strange cyber meeting; at least he thought he adapted well to it.

                If nothing else came out of this, he would use it as inspiration for his new novel. There were still some holes in the plot that needed patching. He’d have to change a few names and terms, of course, but this whole afternoon really was like something torn right from his book. It was unnerving.

                “So… What were those shadow creatures? Just something from your imagination or… don’t tell me those were real… I can deal with fireballs and sickness and hyper-realistic simulations, but monsters?” Aiden felt his stomach drop before he heard the answer. Bile rose in the back of his throat as he thought of those horrifying eyes watching him, tracking him. What was more frightening was the fact that he didn’t even know what those monster things were. They were just a mass of shadows and eyes. The unknown was infinitely terrifying.

                “Yeah… I do think I’ll call your friend…”

[Sage]

Sage shrugged. "I don't know what they are. Nox doesn't know either. And if he doesn't know that scares me." Nox wasn't a walking encylopedia of monsters like Aurora, or even Aria. He didn't know Aria but she was the curator of most of Nox's intel on monsters and she didn't know what they were.

"But they are real." Sage said.

But he smiled when Aiden agreed to call Nox. "Call him tomorrow afternoon. He's at some fancy smanchy ball at the Kremlin rubbing elbows with the rich and powerful." Nox might not be too appreciative if he was interrupted.

"Aiden, what you doing? Baba Yaga? I can show you things that are scarier and even more fanciful."

[Aiden Finnegan]

A dozen fireballs twinkled overhead as Aiden’s stomach did a backflip. He found himself sinking into the leather office chair, Lasher not even stirring on the couch. Aiden groaned.

                “Ah, crap, that really sucks… friend? Still don’t know your name, but you just told me your friend’s. Nox, was it? What kind of name is Nox… Isn’t that a spell from that old book series, Harry Potter? If it’s not… Well, I’ll be surprised,” Aiden said frankly to the stranger before taking a long puff of his Cuban.

                “Yeah, I’ll give Nox,” Aiden put extra emphasis on the name, “a call tomorrow after lunch. Which, I mean, if you’re not doing anything, I wouldn’t be opposed to the company… But if you’re using a VR simulation to talk to me, I can assume you’re nowhere near Suzdal.” He was only half serious with the offer. First off, he was sure this strange man would turn him down, secondly, he still didn’t really trust the man; but Aiden figured he could pry a little if the man actually did agree to go out for a bite to eat. He was already taking a risk in being so open with the man, what was one more to pile on top?

                “I am doing research for my new trilogy. The first book is almost done; it’s about the gods from various world mythologies coming back to Earth amidst a global crisis. One of the Gods that have come back, in the story, is Baba Yaga. I was just doing some research on her origins… But then you interrupted me… And I think you’re forgetting that you already showed me something scarier… And, really, what could be more fanciful than a strange, handsome man wandering into my study?” Aiden winked at the man, again only half serious. He couldn’t really place how he felt about the stranger. He didn’t hate him. That was a good thing.

[Sage]

Sage laughed. He laughed so hard his avatar sat down on the ground. Harry Potter! "Nox probably doesn't even know who Harry Potter is! I will have to tease him about it."

"I'm in Moscow. I'm sure I could arrange a car anywhere I want." Was Aiden flirting a little? That made Sage curious. Nox was never very open, but he was now... he'd even kissed him before he'd left, promised a maybe. Sage took one look at the Irish rock star and sighed. "I'm not sure we'd have much time, but you could meet with Nox here, we have plenty of space. I could make the introductions."

[Aiden Finnegan]

“Must not be much of a reader, this Nox,” Aiden noted the stranger still hadn’t named himself, “Might as well show him the movies while you’re at it. I’m sure this fellow would shit his pants if he hears is name being yelled while some Brit waves a stick around.” He smirked at the stranger. Yes, if he could get the man to lower his defenses a little, he might get that name.

                “You’re only a few hours away then, not bad. I could have a driver come collect you, but I might as well make the trip there if Nox is going to be of any help to me. I assume my little phone call will wind up extending its self to many others, and inevitably a face-to-face meeting. Why not get it out of the way now? So long as I am not imposing. I’d hate to show up and be turned away if this Nox doesn’t want me showing up so suddenly. I have a condo in Moscow; I wouldn’t mind relocating for a few days to the city. Lord knows Dimitri can handle everything here while I’m gone,” Aiden spoke smoothly, the Cuban drifting to his lips every so often. He took a long gulp of his watered-down whiskey.

                If anything, this little trip would push Dimitri into finally finding a groundskeeper. It had been a month since Aiden asked and that was the one thing Dimitri had problems with. Well, someone had to watch the house, and that someone would be Dimitri. He hated being tied down, so trapping him here for the week might make him see reason.

                “How do you all feel about dogs? I would just hate leaving Lasher behind,” Aiden asked the stranger, giving him a very warm smile.

[Sage]

Sage giggled. "He'd probably get a kick out of it. You can't watch TV or read books when your whole life is dedicated to hunting monsters. He's not exactly the most capable young man in all things that matter in life."

He went on about how it would end up a meeting and Sage could only nod and agree. "Dogs are good. Nox has a puppy who would probably love a playmate. And there is more than enough room for you to stay here until you get what you need done. But I understand if you don't feel comfortable. The place is hideous."

Sage sighed. He couldn't hide his name and Sage sent Aiden the contact information to Dorian's estate. "If someone other than I open the door you can tell them you are there for Sage, or Nox. Though Nox might get kinda freaked out if some strange guy came asking about him." Sage smirked. "That could be kinda funny."

[Aiden Finnegan]

“…More?” Aiden asked as the cigar dropped from his mouth and into his lap. He leaped up as the butt of the thing singed a hole in the crotch of his pants, “Stupid! Ah! Sorry about that.” Aiden’s face turned a little red, broadcasting his embarrassment for the stranger to see. Lasher was up on his feet and next to Aiden in an instant. He started sniffing at Aiden’s hand. 

                “I’m all right, boy. Just a little clumsy is all,” Aiden spoke to the dog reassuringly, ruffling the spot behind his right ear.

                “Well, no promises. How about I wait on accepting the offer until we meet face-to-face. I have my own space if need be… Hideous you say? Do you guys need an architect? You know this was all me,” Aiden gestured around him, “Well, me and a few contractors. You get the picture.”

                Ding ding ding!

                We have a name!

                “Sage, you say…? I like it. My sister’s name is Rowan. I’m sure you two would have a lot in common. Any other surprises I should know about? You guys aren’t keeping monsters in cages or anything freaky are you?”Aiden asked, cocking an eyebrow at Sage. His smirk was back and he took a step towards the digital man.