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Post by luscen on Sept 18, 2023 20:50:42 GMT -6
The halls in the WDSA were about the same as could be found in just about any government building: sanitary, stale, and inoffensive. There were a few plants that broke up the long stretches of hallway, with doors leading to more hallways that carried along to elevators that went to yet more hallways. It was a suffocating nightmare of liminal space, and it was in this particular unending tribute to the banal drone of office space that Casmir currently found himself, grinding his teeth down on a toothpick and contemplating putting a hole in the wall simply for a shift in view.
The Hunter was unusually agitated due to the fact that he'd been finding himself more and more restless ever since the conclusion of the operation on Sidelis. He'd not been present for the fight against Atol, his desire instead to save Sara. And while he still remained convinced of the virtue of his cause, it meant he'd not gotten the closure his lifetime of pursuit demanded. His quarry was done in by someone else's hand, and here he was, alive and unsure of what to do with himself, merely idling away in someplace that smelled of floor wax and fresh paper.
It was utterly maddening.
In truth, he was here because Special Agent Decker had collected those who'd participated in the raid on Atol's island hideaway, to explain what happened next. Casmir had expected some mundane reports of cleanup, an outline of what the bureau intended to do for its next step, and then a reward for the participants, alongside offers or other amenities. What he hadn't expected was to be told that they were going to engage in very risky temporal tomfoolery that could undo the very fabric of reality in an effort to make the problems just go away.
It made sense, of course. The amount of damage - both in terms of loss of life and collateral damage, not to mention the over-exposure to the Supernatural world, itself -was staggering to consider. But that didn't mean Casmir had to think it was at all sound.
Or rather, perhaps it was the nature of the meddling that was the issue.
Just then, the door to his left clicked open, and Casmir grunted. "About time. I have some questions for you, Osprey."
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Post by MP on Sept 18, 2023 21:11:01 GMT -6
Sarkany looked around. Poised to pounce - the man's natural state, he was starting to think. The seraph smiled and raised an academic finger skyward.
"Yes," he said brightly. "You will have time to use the bathroom before the fold. But only if you're quick. I suspect there'll be a line, so I would come early."
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Post by luscen on Sept 19, 2023 17:48:36 GMT -6
Casmir's red eye practically sparked at the attempted levity. He realized the other man's tactic quickly enough however, and took a moment to calm himself, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath through his nose; it wouldn't do any good to let Sarkany get a rise out of him, even if he was in a fit state. No, what he needed was information, and he wouldn't get it by simply trying bite the other man's head off.
"There'll be plenty of time to hit the loo, later," he said, pushing away from the wall to regard Sarkany properly. He kept his hands firmly in his pockets, rolling the toothpick between his teeth and keeping his mismatched eyes on the other man's golden orbs. "What I want to know is: what exactly do you think you're doing, here? This idea wasn't the WDSA's, it was yours. Delphi told me about your attempt to get in touch with your 'buddies,' before the attack on the HQ, so I'm sure you had this in mind as a contingency. Which means you know more about the ins and outs of this than Decker would."
The Hunter took a moment to take the toothpick from his mouth. Tapping the tip with a gloved finger, his features sharpened involuntarily. "So, why are you bringing him here?"
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Post by MP on Sept 19, 2023 20:20:18 GMT -6
Sarkany pivoted, crutch clicking, and started down the hall, counting on the hunter to follow. This conversation was for select ears only, and not for any personnel to stumble across in the hallway. His borrowed office would do, the seraph decided. That should be free enough of eavesdroppers.
"Believe it or not, exploding and going to prison wasn't one of my contingencies. This was just a convenient option that presented itself on Sidelis. And while, yes, I'm more aware of the natural laws behind this, Agent Decker knows as much of the plan as I do. I've kept nothing from him."
Reaching the end of the hallway and the small, neglected side office there, Sarkany nudged open the door with a shoulder and stuck his crutch down as a doorstop. He gestured for Caz to step inside.
"Is it the plan that concerns you? Or the ulterior motives I might have?"
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Post by luscen on Sept 19, 2023 20:31:23 GMT -6
Casmir listened, considering the implications. He calmly stepped around the crutch and into the disused office; if Sarkany's condition made him feel guilty for being confrontational, the Hunter didn't express it. Besides, it didn't seem to have much of an affect on the assassin's temperament, after all.
The scarred man stood in the center of the room, placing his hands back in his pockets, watching Sarkany carefully. "So what you're telling me is you have no idea what you're actually doing," he grunted. "You're just making bigos of the whole damn thing, and hoping it turns out well. So... yes, I think it's fair to say that your 'plan' concerns me, Osprey."
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Post by MP on Sept 19, 2023 21:18:08 GMT -6
"Actually -"
Sarkany was hobbling for the water cooler. He poured two cups and left the hunter's on the table for him, already sipping at his own. He was unused to the kind of presentations the WDSA seemed to favor in their briefings, and his throat was dry.
"For an improvised plan, it's one of the best-researched alterations I've worked with. You don't usually get details right from the cow's mouth. They said I "extracted" the information, but really Atol was more than cooperative. He gave us everything we'd need for a safe attempt, and enough room to undo and adjust if there are problems. And before you ask, yes, I can guarantee the details he gave were true."
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Post by luscen on Sept 19, 2023 21:30:11 GMT -6
“I’m sure that they were,” Casmir muttered, stepping over to take the water. He picked it up, electing only to hold it while still maintaining eye contact with Sarkany. “But if this was really about just undoing the damage of the Warp, there are other options that could be taken, surely. Each of which would be less of a risk.”
Perhaps it was a presumptuous statement. But something in his gut told the blonde that his intuition wasn’t that far off. After all, what was so different from extricating a target to simply eliminating them?
“What exactly are you playing at, here?”
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Post by MP on Sept 20, 2023 1:00:03 GMT -6
"Well," Sarkany said, head tilting. "That depends on what you think of as risk. My colleagues only care for the stability of a world; what happens in it is not our concern. If this were just about undoing the damage, risk-free, I would dig out the cult by the roots and let history fall where it may. Your present would likely be unrecognizable - I doubt many of you would even exist."
There was a chilling lack of emotion to the words, and it was this that gave weight to the truth. Sarkany spoke of this option with the casual speculation of someone browsing a magazine. He had done it before - was fully capable of doing so again.
"But," he said, "if you all like your present the way it is, we could choose an agent to act in Atol's stead. We'll have to speculate on history, of course. Train them in the language, the scraps of culture your researchers have dug up. Figure out a convincing lie to slip them into the temple and hoodwink an all-powerful god. And then we trust they'll be able to resist their own judgement calls, their emotions, their personal motives. Or -"
He shrugged.
"We use the agent already there, with a known reason to join the present as it is, who cannot influence the past with knowledge of your present."
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Post by luscen on Sept 20, 2023 1:57:41 GMT -6
Despite the fact that he had anticipated it, the casualness with which Sarkany spoke of radically altering worlds’ histories unsettled Casmir. He could tell the golden-eyed man was telling the truth, there was no reason to think otherwise-just how many billions of lives had he and his people snuffed out in service to their tasks? Who - or what - even were these people?
’Don’t act as though you aren’t of the same mind,’ a part of him pointed out. ’One life to save a hundred more. Or did you think you were special?’
It was a valid point, though the scope was a little different. Regardless, the Hunter suddenly felt his throat a little too dry, and took a sip of water.
“Point taken,” Casmir replied at length. “Though that last part’s the one that sticks out, a bit,” he continued, regaining his composure. “‘‘Agent,’ you said. Not the word I’d use… And I get the feeling you want him to be here almost as much as he does. That’s a bit of an absurdity, given everything he’d done, especially to you.”
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Post by MP on Sept 20, 2023 3:15:07 GMT -6
"Ah. Agent is a word we use." Sarkany waved a dismissive hand. "An agent of our will. One who acts for us. Our hand. I fall back on familiar terminology sometimes. Say a representative, if you like."
He turned to face Casmir more squarely. Serious concerns merited serious answers. He let the play drop from his voice.
"As for wanting him here. He is conveniently placed. And his alterations to the timeline will bring him here - or nearly here - regardless. Abandoning him once he serves his purpose will drive him down the same path he walked before. We could kill him once he arrives, but there'd be no point. He'll be a boy, inexperienced and ignorant of the things he would have done."
Not that it seemed to convince Casmir any. Sarkany glanced at his expression, considered the closed office door, and decided that a simple explanation wouldn't do any harm. Certainly not as much as letting the hunter make his own assumptions.
"They are different men," he said plainly, holding the hunter's gaze. "A shade like you, or like these WDSA, would be harder to change. You exist as many versions at once; you're like drops in a river, all flowing in a common direction. But creatures like Atol, and creatures like me, exist in the singular. Change the conditions that shaped him, and you pull up the Prophet by the roots. The man who harmed me and mine is dead and gone. This boy will only share his name."
The gravity dropped from his tone. Sarkany shrugged, back to his usual slouching self.
"The way I see it, he's accepting a lot of risk for very little reward. If he sets your world right, it's only fair we keep our end of the bargain."
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Post by luscen on Sept 20, 2023 3:40:17 GMT -6
Casmir’s brow furrowed at Sarkany’s response, the scar pulling unpleasantly along his jawline. He regarded the other man for a moment, considering his words.
“There was a farmer that once took pity on a viper dying in the snow,” he mused, taking another drink of his water, never looking away from Sarkany. “He held it to his breast within his coat, giving it warmth. When the snake’s strength returned, it struck at the farmer’s neck, repaying his kindness with ferocity, and leaving the man dying on the side of the road, cursing his lot.”
The Hunter polished off his cup, crumpling it in his fist and tossing it in the trash. “This… ‘Fold’ Decker mentioned,” Casmir queried, changing the subject. “What exactly does it entail? What’s going to happen, once your ‘Agent’ sets foot in Wathais?”
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Post by MP on Sept 20, 2023 4:02:29 GMT -6
Sarkany sighed. It had been worth a shot, but it seemed Casmir saw Atol as venomous to the core. He supposed that was understandable. It was hard to look at the mage, at the damage he'd done and the blood he'd drawn, and see the child he'd once been.
"It won't feel like anything at first. You'll gather here in one room for me, and you'll sit, and when I say, you'll go home." Sarkany watched the hunter's mannerisms while he spoke. The subtle set of his jaw, or the lines around his eyes. "The fold will only activate once the agent arrives. When he does, it'll be subtle. Natural. Like suddenly remembering where you put your spectacles, hm? If you used them."
He smiled.
"From then on, your life before the alteration will be like any other memory. I've seen some minds cope by putting them in chronological order - the life before placed earlier, and the life after interpreted as later. But I've seen others mix them all together. Most us don't remember every event of our lives in order, anyway - just flashes of relevant memories. This will be no different."
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Post by luscen on Sept 20, 2023 4:22:03 GMT -6
Casmir’s expression briefly shifted from stern suspicion to introspective bemusement at the other man’s word’s. “So then, we’ll remember everything about who we were, before the… recurrence.”
Sara came to mind, and with it another conflicted set of emotions that tied his feelings into a Gordian knot. But there was also Delphi, Sjira, Ru, Marchelute, and others.
“Memories alone are one thing, though,” he growled, shaking his head. “What else? In case you forget, Sjira’s brood was butchered, and it was by your ‘Agent’s’ hand.”
Casmir folded his arms his chest, frowning as he considered various possibilities. “He may wink out existence and be replaced by some quantum instance that has no idea who you or Marchelute even are. Or he may cease to exist entirely, killed while still a hatchling.”
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Post by MP on Sept 20, 2023 14:51:42 GMT -6
At the mention of quantum, Sarkany tipped his head momentarily. There was no recognition of the word, no light of understanding. He rifled through his memory for some helpful context and decided this must be some kind of magical concern. The seraph crossed his arms.
"You think I made the decision without him?" Yellow eyes held Casmir's. "He knows the plan in full. We've already discussed his options - and his wishes."
Sarkany fluttered his fingers, a dismissive wave from under crossed arms.
"The point of all this is to keep your present intact - Sjira's life included. Atol's instructions will keep events as close to the original conditions as possible. The WDSA leadership has thoroughly reviewed the potential impacts. And I'm sure Agent Decker has taken it back to the FBI as well. My eyes are hardly the only ones on this plan."
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Post by luscen on Sept 20, 2023 17:10:59 GMT -6
"Dec- no," Casmir waved his hand to dismiss the other man's misunderstanding. "This isn't about who you talked to, Ospery. That part's already been said and done. I'm asking about the details."
He noticed that Sarkany seemed perplexed when he'd mentioned the concept of a Sjira that was physically different than the one they both knew. One not just in memories, but in physical appearance. Casmir had never been quite sure, but it wasn't the first time he'd wondered just how human Sarkany actually was.
Regardless, he needed to explain in a way that the other man would understand what it was Casmir was asking. He looked around the room, little more than a spare office, and decided to use a pen and a spare sheet of paper laying on a nearby table.
"In our timeline," the Hunter began, drafting a sketch of Sjira, his dark and green hair falling over his right eye, hands in his pockets and scarf hung loosely from his neck. "Sjira met you, was attacked by Atol, and then was left to himself, having to grow up on his own. Somehow, he managed to make it in spite of everything thrown at him."
"But in the other timeline," Casmir continued, before flipping the paper over and beginning a second sketch. "Atol's not there. Or he is, but something is different. Maybe he's not the head of the Soundless. Maybe he's only faking. Either way, he doesn't pursue Sjira. Because of this, the kid doesn't have the same fear driving him in the first timeline. He takes risks. He gets hurt."
Casmir held the page up for Sarkany to look at. What the gray-haired man saw was a familiar face, only now there were ugly scars running along Sjira's mouth, a part of his ear was torn off, and he was missing his right arm, the limb tied off at the sleeve just below the elbow.
"Change one thing, more things change as a result," the Hunter commented, flipping the paper to show the two versions of the Dragonling. "Atol's been around here for a long, long time. He's had plenty of opportunity to leave his mark, and it goes just beyond the memories people will have. Doing this is going to affect more than just our memories, it will have other consequences. I'm asking you if you know what those are. Can you know what those are? What is it that we're going to be dealing with, when this plan of yours actually happens?"
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