New Players In The Pattern

[Aiden Finnegan]

Aiden sat in the back seat of his limo, which was parked on a quiet city street. The Red Pit’s neon lights cascaded down onto the sleek black car, giving it a look like someone splashed bright paint all over it. The restaurant specialized in American BBQ, southern BBQ to be specific. It was the closest thing he could find out here that remotely resembled Cajun and Creole cooking. They didn’t use the ‘holy trinity’ in their recipes, but Aiden could live without that. He had never been big on the celery anyway.

                The last few hours were a blur to him now. As soon as Sage had signed off from their VR meeting, Aiden had rushed about the house in a mad dash to pack his bags and get Lasher all set up for the trip. The dog was currently sitting next to Aiden, head sticking out of the window, his drooling face not knowing which way to look as a few locals made their way down the city sidewalks. Lasher was very well behaved, he never barked at anyone unless Aiden willed it. The training lessons weren’t cheap, but he was very thankful for them in the end.

                The food was already ordered and hopefully bagged up, just waiting to be grabbed by Aiden. Sage was nowhere to be seen, yet. Aiden was starting to get nervous. What if the man bailed on him? It wouldn’t be the first time Aiden had been stood up. If it happened again… well, sitting here in a stretch limo had a way of taking away any sting that might come with rejection. Living far away from here would help too; Aiden didn’t often come into Moscow, so there wouldn’t be any risk in running into Sage after a possible rejection. That would be too embarrassing.

                Spending a year or two in a coma had a funny way of keeping you out of the loop. On the ride from Suzdal, Aiden had watched the videos Sage supplied of Nox training. Aiden had to watch it over and over to really believe any of it. The magic in the video could have been faked. But then there were the stories about the Ascended and the Sickness, things Aiden knew about but really never paid attention to despite moving to the area. It’s what had sparked the ideas for this new novel, but Aiden had gone in a completely different direction with his research. After that first spark, he dove right into reading about different myths and legends, not once looking back at what the Ascended was saying on the world stage.

                It was much worse than Aiden feared. The Atharim? Aiden had heard nothing about them until today. He had been excited to learn how to use magic, but if there were those out there that would kill you for doing so… It was like the Salem Witchcraft Trials all over again! Perhaps this really was all a bad idea. A fireball manifested above the car as Aiden felt fear rise up in his gut. He fought it back down and the flame winked out. Aiden scrambled around in his seat, trying to see if anyone walking by noticed.

                “Safe… I think… An assassin wouldn’t be obvious about anything, though… Oh, Sweet Mother, what have I gotten myself into?” Aiden said to himself.

                He almost told the driver to turn back and go home, but then Aiden remembered what Sage had said about the Sickness… Aiden could die either way. At least if he stuck around he could see Sage again and he was starting to like looking at the man.

[Sage]

Sage had a few hours to kill. He set out a wide network to search for Dorian again. It would at least keep his mind from the man he'd just hung up with. Maybe Nox would figure out what he wanted, and maybe not. But Sage didn't care either way. They weren't in a relationship, fuck Nox barely even knew what the fuck he wanted.

Sage still didn't find anything and when he got the text from Aiden he set out to a walk and told Aiden he'd be there when he was there. Unlike Nox Sage didn't know the streets. And Christian wasn't around to drive him so he walked and followed the gps that was in his head. How he fucking missed this. The city was his. it was dark and the streets were not empty but around the mansion Dorian lived it was almost like a ghost town. The rich were tucked in their wealthy beds and Sage was out for a good long walk.

There was a lot of anxiety running through Sage's veins. The drugs he'd been on were almost a thought, but he had what he wanted. He had several background processes going while he walked. He did'nt know the streets well so he had to pay attention not like back home in Alexandria. But this was becoming home... Thoughts of futures were always far and few between. Sage was always afraid of getting close to someone outside of the hacker world. Privacy was one thing, but his secret could get everyone else hurt - at the very least in jail.

The Red Pitts was new to Sage and he hoped that Aiden would be there. It was hard thinking this might be a date... He hadn't actually met anyone for food or drinks in a long while. There was a limo parked on the side of the road. Had to be Aiden, but Sage wasn't about to presume. He stood outside the establishment and leaned against the wall and scanned the area. The facial recognition software was still buggy and it was also off doing other things for him. Sage direly missed his server to off set some process. He'd have to talk to Dorian once they found him... Sage grabbed the license plate of the limo and was running records on it. But he'd wait for Aiden to approach him. Playing hard to get? Maybe not but he'd still wait.

[Aiden Finnegan]

Any worries that might have been running through Aiden’s head were chased away when he saw Sage walk up to the restaurant. He was relieved to see that Sage hadn’t changed his appearance with the digital magic, that would’ve sucked. Aiden was shallow in the looks department, there was no hiding that. He wanted what he wanted and that was that. Why settle? Especially where relationships were concerned. He might meet his future husband or wife (though he definitely preferred men over women) out here, meaning he’d have to look at them for the rest of his life. His future partner would have to be attractive if Aiden was going to stare at them day in and day out. Sage was nice to look at.

                Aiden turned to Lasher and patted his head, “Daddy will be right back, okay, Lash?” The dog gave a short, happy bark in reply, almost as if he understood what Aiden had said.

                Rolling down the window, Aiden called out to Sage, “How much?” He busted out into a rich gale of laughter as he got out of the limo’s back seat, “I kid, I kid, of course. I probably couldn’t afford you.”

                Aiden walked right up to Sage and gave a slight bow. It was meant to be playful, Aiden was never one to shake hands unless he was in a professional setting. He would’ve hugged the other man, but that wasn't exactly proper for their first meeting and Aiden had been plenty forward already. Sage seemed to be receptive to the playful passes… Aiden could’ve been reading too much into that. He had a habit of doing so where romance was involved. Then again, he never really had to try. His fame had taken care of much of that, Sage didn’t seem starstruck. That was good. That was very good.

                “I already ordered the food. I wasn’t sure if you wanted to go back to your house or not. We could stay here too, though. I doubt it would be an issue to plate everything up for us. Or we could go somewhere else, but I profess I’m still new to the area, despite being here for 2 years now… I don’t get out much. We could just drive around and eat, that’s a bonus of having the limo. I got Lasher in there too but he won’t beg,” Aiden said smoothly, “I’m all yours tonight, Sage; so anything you wanna do is fine by me.”

[Sage]

Sage hadn't really been cat called before. And if he was he'd been too busy in his own head to really notice. He was an awkward child and an even more awkward teenager. Though with his ability to practically see anything he wanted he really hadn't needed to venture out into the world. Watching was usually good enough. But doing was better, he had to admit to that. He enjoyed doing much more than watching. But he had an endless supply of watching... no one even really knew. But Sage recognized the musical laughter even before he started laughing. Sage was sure Aiden could afford him, he wasn't living life on a large scale. Though his money said otherwise. He hadn't gotten any of it legally. A few dollars shaved off here and a few big hacks that paid out well in the end, a few stocks there. All in all Sage had worked for it, but not like Aiden had. He was just a normal guy living an extrodinary life thanks to his shit luck for parents.

Sage looked at the limo with a sly smile, "Maybe later." Aiden wanted to meet in a public place, let them get a few more of those safe moments in before they were alone. Sage couldn't help but wonder... "I think we should get something to eat, I'm kinda hungry right now, and BBQ in the backseat of a car just doesn't seem all that safe." Sage winked, "Unless of course your goal is to get my clothes off. And if that's the case I'm gonna have to say, not on the first date." Which was a lie, he'd definitely would specially for Aiden Finnegan. Fucking rockstar!

[Aiden Finnegan]

Aiden’s eyebrows climbed almost to his hairline at Sage’s comment. He felt himself blush. It took an effort to bring his brows back down where they belonged. He was left speechless for half of a second. Aiden laughed, though not uneasily, “Yeah, not on the first date. I’m getting a little too old for that… Besides, in my experience, screwing the first time you meet someone tends to end poorly. Maybe tomorrow though.” He chuckled again at that last bit.

                Rolling down the partition window, Aiden called up to the driver, “Cooper, my friend and I here are going to head into the restaurant for a quick bite. Would you mind taking Lasher around the block a few times while we dine?” The driver nodded at that. Aiden called back, “Thanks, Cooper. You want anything?” The driver shook his head and urged Aiden on.

                A moment of shock passed through Aiden as he got out of the car and stood next to Sage. The man was taller than him, not by much, but Aiden still noticed. He ran his eyes up and down the man, finally getting a real look at him. Sage looked lean, much like Aiden, but Aiden had more muscle. He wouldn’t know for sure without ‘getting into Sage’s pants,’ but he had a good eye for the human body. Sage looked younger than Aiden too, but then again, Aiden looked incredible for his age. Most wouldn’t guess that Aiden was pushing 34.

                “Yeah, I guess I wasn’t really thinking about that suggestion… BBQ in the backseat… How tasteless, right? I was just thinking about the views of the city, didn’t even contemplate the possibility of getting messy in the back… With BBQ sauce. Stuff gets everywhere,” Aiden said to Sage with a chuckle.

                Aiden guided Sage into The Red Pitt, briefly touching the back of his arm while doing so. Aiden really had no intention of bedding the other man tonight, or tomorrow. He might really need Nox’s help and he couldn’t mess that opportunity up. If Aiden screwed Sage’s brains out tonight, that was all good and well, but then it really could just be a one night stand; and those things tended to go sour. Better to at least learn a little bit more about Sage before Aiden decided to romp around in his bedsheets.

                That wasn’t to say Aiden was against making out on the first date.

                Or copping a feel.

                But Aiden was getting ahead of himself again. The only thing he knew about Sage was the fact that he was a scary-good hacker and also that he was a fellow American. Was Sage even his real name? It had to be, otherwise, why would he have tried identifying himself as the ‘wicked-whatever’? Aiden was positive he wouldn’t have learned Sage’s name until meeting him in person. It was a great shock that the man had finally caved.

                Walking over to the counter, Aiden instructed the staff to hold on to the food he had ordered, the pair would take it home with them. Aiden was just going to have them plate it, but it was a lot and Aiden had been thinking of currying favor with Nox and the other roommates, so he would stick to that plan. They would bring it home for them and order something else here. Money wasn’t the issue.

                A waitress quickly seated them near the back, well away from any other patrons. It was a roundtable for two, a red tablecloth was draped over it. Aiden thought it looked like a giant handkerchief. The theme of the restaurant was more dramatic than he remembered. The owner tried decorating in an over the top American theme. Texas specifically. A large cartoon Uncle Sam was eating a pig whole on the back wall. Neon lights were everywhere, all in the shapes of cacti and cowboys. Haybales lined the back corner and empty whiskey bottles sat at every table, Christmas lights stuffed into the bottles giving a soft contrast to the garish lighted signs around the room. The waitress left them their menus and walked off without much of a word.

                “Yes, we would like some drinks,” Aiden said sarcastically to the Waitress’ back. She didn’t hear him or pretended not to. He pulled out Sage’s seat for him, acting the perfect gentleman, before walking back to the other side and seating himself. He didn’t bother picking up the menu, having just poured over it an hour ago. Gesturing to the one before Sage, Aiden said, “Anything and everything you want. It’s on me, obviously. I’d recommend the ‘big, fat piggy basket.’ It’s basically a sampler platter of half the menu. The best half, in my humble opinion. Do you drink? They’ve got a few good local brews served here. Damn good stuff.” Aiden was smiling very widely at Sage. His left leg was bouncing in place. That meant he was nervous. He stopped the bouncing, worried it might lead to a few fireballs manifesting in the restaurant.

                “So, uh…” Aiden mumbled, the nervousness not really retreating. He hadn’t done this in a while. It didn’t help that Sage had been deflective earlier in the day. Aiden wasn’t really sure what to ask him. He didn’t want to be rebuffed again, but Sage did agree to come out with him. And he did make a rather forward statement earlier. Although Sage said ‘not on the first date,’ that expression of his said otherwise. No, Sage would be more open. Aiden was sure of it. “Where you from? What do you do when you’re not hacking your way into my home? Why are you in Russia? Sorry if that’s too many questions at once. I’m just curious. The only thing we talked about earlier was your friend, Nox, and… well… you know,” Aiden said with a wink. He was in fact referring to Channeling and everything he had watched in those videos, but he didn't want anyone else to hear; they were pretty far from the other patrons all things considered. Aiden didn't even realize that the added wink put a completely different spin on his last statement.

[Sage]

It was night. The sights were pretty nice, specially if you looked out over the city, but that wasn't really Sage's thing he'd probably end up staring at Aiden the whole time. It still felt really weird to be out with someone he'd followed around on the internet. He had really only ever met Nox, and only then because Aurora had died. He sighed. He'd never met any of the people he lovingly stalked. That's what Cruz called it. Nox didn't care, he was used to weird things, the Atharim had brain washed him. Aiden's hand on his arm made Sage shiver. He had to get a hold of himself. He wasn't going to fanboi and he wasn't star struck.

Everything in Moscow was different, the decor here was over the top American, like they had seen a bunch of TV shows and just copied everything. it was sad really, the CCD tried to ignore the States, but the people still clung to old things, but Sage had to admit it smelled great in here. All that cooking meat. The rest of it be damned.

Sage ordered what Aiden recommended and let the other man order their drinks. "I've only just starting enjoying different brews. My so-called friends didn't exactly drink." And when they did it wasn't beer.

After the orders were taken questions poured out of Aiden's mouth and Sage could only grin. He didn't often talk about himself, but then he didn't really have to tell those he was out with much. They either knew him or they didn't care. This was a first for him. "I'm originally from Alexandria. Use to hang out in DC, actually was in DC before I came here. I had an ailment." Sage didn't want to tell Aiden he had a computer in his head implanted by his parents. How fucked up that was and everything, but his little secret, he didn't even have a port to worry about all wireless, so fucking awesome. Nox couldn't take it away anymore. "I came here where the only Doctor who could treat me. But in the process of coming here I lost everything at home, I had left percautions cause I was afraid the doctor might rip me off so not all my possessions got taken, but I have nothing but the things I brought with me. " Sage grinned. "That's not a pity party. I have a good friend and he has a good 'job'" The air quotes around job cause Nox didn't really work for Dorian he worked to protect Cruz and Dorian but he was more there because they were all on the same side.

"I'll eventually return to my former glory here in Moscow. But for now I'm searching for a friend, and helping Nox with the greater good. At least that's what he keeps telling me." Sage grinned at Aiden. Sage started out in his normal voice but when he said Aiden's name he lowered it to a whisper to poke fun at the man hiding in plain sight just a little, "What brings Punk Rock Star Aiden Finnegan to the CCD? And why is he hiding?"

[Aiden Finnegan]

Aiden ordered a variety bucket of beers for the two of them. It seemed to be this joint’s gimmick. Probably poking fun at how ravenous Americans are portrayed in the rest of the world. They weren’t wrong about that. As an American, Aiden knew fully well how much his countrymen enjoyed excess. Who didn’t? The only problem was that the United States didn’t really have room for excess anymore. They had fallen from grace. Would the same thing happen here? The Roman Empire didn’t even last, and everyone in Antiquity thought that was the height of civilization.

                “Why do you keep saying that? Why do you hang around them if you don’t consider them friends? I will be the first to admit that I have none… Just my sister and my parents. Being famous is incredibly lonely. You have it all, but you rarely have the love. I’m not even that close to my parents… And my sister… Well, I’ve probably pissed her off since leaving. I wouldn’t be surprised if she chased me here. After my coma, she kept saying I had to go to Russia. Didn’t really believe her,” Aiden blushed slightly, “Well, not until today.”

                The waitress made her way over and dropped the bucket of beers on the table. Aiden waited for Sage to pick one. Each was different and he wasn’t sure what flavors the other man liked. Best to let him have first picked. If things progressed past tonight, Aiden would need to know these things. Good boyfriends knew as much as they could about their lovers.

                Sage went on, talking about his past. Aiden listened attentively, not once taking his eyes off of the other man. “As much traveling as I’ve done, I’ve never been to that part of the country. My Dad used to do a lot of business with the Government, so he was visiting up there a few times a year. I’ve never had much of a mind for politics, so why go? Although I’m kicking myself now. I may have run into you a few years earlier if I went along for the trip, but here we are now.”

                Hearing about Sage’s illness brought memories of the coma back, and then the Channeling sickness, which Aiden still hadn’t caught. He was thankful for that. Sage though? He looked perfectly healthy, “Um. If you don’t mind my asking, what’s wrong? It must be life-threatening if you had to come all the way out here… And I get it if you’d rather not talk about it. After my coma, I just kind of retreated in on myself. Didn’t talk to a single soul, besides my butler of course, until I came here; and I’ve already told you Dimitri, my personal assistant, is the only person I’ve regularly talked to since the move…”

                Former glory? What, is Sage the kingpin of hackers in America? I’ll be filing that away for future questioning…

                Sage grinned at Aiden and he felt himself blush again. That was really getting old. He never blushed this much. He was always calm, cool, and in control. He’d been nervous since arriving. The left leg started bouncing again as Aiden looked down at the table.

                “Why am I here? Shame,” Aiden said to Sage as he looked back up at the man, “Did you see the last movie I was in? Did real well in the states… Everyone was lauded… Except me. I can’t walk down the streets of America anymore, not unless I want to be laughed at, taunted, or followed. The paparazzi are even more brutal when you fuck up. Oh, I know, woe is me! But… It just sucks… I really liked what I did and a lot of other people did too… But then the coma happened and when I woke up it was like a different world…”

                Aiden’s shoulders hunched down as he began dwelling on the past. His voice dipped a little low, “Everything I’ve tried to do since waking up has ended in failure. No exceptions. I came here because this is the last place anyone would think to look for me. I needed to ‘find my self,’ for a lack of better term. The new novel didn’t come about until I had started building the manor… and even that I’m not satisfied with. My editors and publisher just love it… But I don’t know…” He grew quiet for a moment. Aiden didn’t intend on being so open with Sage, or so vulnerable, but there it was. He couldn’t take any of it back. He just had to hope that Sage didn’t think that Aiden sounded like a rich, spoiled, whiny little baby.

                “…Sorry about that. Probably too much for the first date, huh?”

[Sage]

Sage laughed at his question. There wasn't really anything to say that wouldn't make matters worse. He was hacker and he didn't exactly have friends like normal people did. Some would say he was a stalker and not a friend. Hell Cruz did call him that to his face a time or two. He'd never had someone like Nox or Cruz before it was all very new. And if it weren't for Nox and Cruz he'd be pretty lonely now too. His name trashed, his friends on the outs. He couldn't even reach out. His life kinda sucked.

Aiden blushed again and Sage reached across the table and touched his hand. It was a comforting gesture not really trying to do more but it felt like more, the flirting, and the smart comments. Mostly on his part, but there was no need to be freaking out. Good company, good beer, Sage just grabbed one, he didn't really care for it. He'd only just started drinking it now anyway.

"Well you know a true fan isn't going to shit all over you if made one bad thing. It happens, we make mistakes. I liked the movie. There's this really hot guy in it." Sage grinned at Aiden as their food arrived.

"And you'd be surprised how much I know about you. Hacker - remember?" There were stories he could tell, he wouldn't. But he had stories. He had lots of stories, though all of them were gone now... Sage hated that Grim had destroyed his life works in whatever gesture he thought he was doing. Fucking friend he was...

[Aiden Finnegan]

Sage didn’t really look at the beer upon picking it up. Aiden owed it to not having a preference. Nothing wrong with that. He didn’t really have much of a preference until he started drinking the stuff regularly; he had also lost that preference when he switched to whiskey. Nowadays he just tried craft brews, some thought that pretentious, but Aiden loved the variety. Imagine his shock when he discovered chocolate beer! Most would turn up a nose at the combination, but Aiden loved chocolate and he loved getting intoxicated. Why not marry the two?

                The somber mood that had taken Aiden ebbed away as Sage touched his hand. He looked directly into Sage’s eyes and just smiled. He appreciated the gesture. It wasn’t a sexy, daring move; Sage clearly wasn’t trying to impress him; he had already seen to that with the whole techno-magic show that had taken place in Aiden’s study. That was damn near charming. Well… Almost. He really could have done without those shadow monsters.

                This wasn’t sexy. This was charming. It rendered Sage slightly vulnerable in Aiden’s eyes; and complex. Earlier, it had seemed like Sage was putting on a show. He had come across as cocky and brazen, and maybe he was those things. Aiden didn’t know. But all of that could’ve just been a thick skin to wear against the world. He wanted to know who the ‘Wicked-Truth’ was, but it started to appear that the answer to that question was more complex than Aiden could have guessed. Good thing he liked a challenge.

                Sage slipped in a few more choice words that made Aiden smile again. The food arrived, two ‘big, fat piggy platters.’ Aiden wouldn’t even finish half of this, but he enjoyed having a little bit of it all. He’d take the leftovers, though. Either pass those along to Sage’s household or force Cooper to bring it home for his wife and kids. The serving portions here really were ridiculous. Aiden had to laugh at it, “I’m sorry, Sage. I really did forget how huge the sampler was. Please, don’t feel pressured into eating more than a forkful, really, we can take the rest home.”

                Three different types of ribs with different sauces each, barbequed chicken breast, buffalo wings, pulled pork, hotlinks, rib-tips, collard greens with bacon, triple mac-and-cheese, jalapeno cornbread, roasted corn with garlic butter, texas toast, and pork-n-beans. All of that sounded heavenly, but both trays took up the entire table. Aiden probably could’ve finished his, but he left his Mary Jane at home and the munchies didn’t just manifest on their own.

                “I’m glad you liked the movie and that one hot guy,” Aiden said between bites of toast, “but you don’t need to humor me. I was overzealous when I took the role. Shouldn’t have accepted a part in a movie before I even got out of the hospital bed… Doesn’t help how I feel about the whole situation though. I appreciate it, though, Sage. You’re the first person outside of my immediate family to say something nice about it.”

                His ears pricked at the mention of hacking, “Oh? That much of a voyeur are we?”

                …I knew I shouldn’t have told Dimitri to buy me that fucking webcam, Aiden thought.

                “I’m sure I’d be curious,” Aiden said after a long swig of his beer, “Can’t be that much if you just realized today that I can… you know… The fireballs happen almost every hour when I’m at home, and as I’ve said, I don’t often leave home… Then again I don’t have all of my security cameras installed yet.”

                Aiden made a mental note to add that to Dimitri’s list. He had nothing but time. Maybe he found a groundskeeper since Aiden left.

                Maybe just a quick text after dinner… I really wouldn’t be surprised if he did hire one.

                “Okay then, smartypants, what don’t you know about me? I’d hate to bore you by going over personal details you apparently know already… But you have to tell me things I don’t know about you,” Aiden said to Sage. A wolfish grin appeared on Aiden’s face as he took another drink from his bottle.

[Sage]

Sage's eyes went wide at the amount of food on the plates. That was like a family's worth of food. Something Nox or Christian might make for all of them to eat on. He was glad Aiden had said something he wouldn't want to feel like he was some ungrateful person after all, not that he couldn't pay for his own meal. He could and he would and if all went well he might get the chance. Aiden hadn't flinched when he touched his hand and Sage wanted to touch more. Thoughts that he shouldn't be thinking on a first date ran through his mind and conjured all sorts of images.

Aiden didn't know the half of it. And he wasn't about to tell him all of it. "So me first. Then we'll play a game." Sage said biting into the wings. He missed all the bad things about chicken wings, when a health nut cooked for you you didn't get things like chicken wings, sure chicken in buffalo sauce, but even that was something rare. Maybe when Christian cooked, but Nox did more of that because he lived on some internal clock no one really understood. Sage had never lived with people until now, and now he was at their whim. It was strange and yet comfortable. He'd found a family outside of his own. Not that they were that much of one.

Sage sat the remains of the wing down and looked at Aiden with a grim smile. "You asked about my ailment? It wasn't a sickness so to speak, my parents when I was five implanted a computer into my brain. They couldn't get funding for a human trial so they used their own offspring to power their careers forward. It worked. I can probably compute things faster than quantum computers because of the speed of thought coupled with the power of the circuit boards. But they didn't think too far into the future and the boards started to corrode and made me sick - headaches, fevers, things akin to the sickness I've heard. I came here to get it fixed. Almost died a few times except for the help of a good doctor who was like Nox - like you. She healed me enough to get me through my surgery and the replacement is spectacular."

Sage threaded another version of the facial recognition software so he could use it while he ran through camera feeds looking for Dorian. It would tax his system, but it was a good trial. A great way to test the new hardware. He'd normally throw the search for dorian on to the server but he didn't have one. Sage sighed, he did need one.

Sage picked up a rib and held it between two fingers while he grinned at Aiden. "I can tell you anything about anyone in this room." Sage nodded towards an older couple seated at the table next to them. He identified them as Mr and Mrs. Herman Volkov, "The Volkov's over there have been married for 35 years today." Sage flagged down the waitress and looked up at the pretty girl with a quick smile. "It's their anniversary today, I'd like to order them a piece of your chocolate cake. But don't tell them where it came from."

Her eyes went wide, and then she nodded. "Yes, sir. I'll bring you a bill for it."

"Thanks." Sage looked at Aiden. "I have all your public data at my finger tips. And all the private details, like the last time you saw Kyle, I used to have video footage of you and him walking into the hotel, and then Kyle following later. But all that information should have burnt when someone tried to get at it. It doesn't exist. But don't worry I'm not the type of 'voyeur' who uses the information to gain favor - most of the time. I like information, the ones and zeros coursing through my mind is like a drug. It is a drug for me. When I couldn't get to the information highway it was like torture. But the very thing could have killed me." Sage knew that this was the moment Aiden had to decide whether or not he was worth it. Sage never told people what he could do. Well except Nox, but he accepted the strange and weird with a grain of salt. His moral compass wasn't pointed in the same direction of everyone else's. It wasn't eve pointed in the same direction as Sage's. Sage knew he was corrupted by the power he possessed. He used it for his own gain. If there was anything Sage admired about any of the Atharim he'd met so far, they were as corrupted by their beliefs as he was, but their corruption was for the greater good. Yeah killing gods was bad, but not all of them believed that, he already found three, out of how many - there had to be more. Sage wondered what Aiden would say if he found out what Nox really was. But he hoped it was after Nox helped Aiden.