2018-11-28: An Interesting Puzzle
- Log: An Interesting Puzzle
- Cast: Kahran Ramses, Loren Voss
- Where: Bledavik
- Date: November 28th 2018
- Summary: Ramses summons Loren to his office.
<Pose Tracker> Kahran Ramses has posed.
Some few weeks ago, a Solaris team - led by the Gebler commander himself - investigated reports of a sighting of one Fei Fong Wong near the Leck Mines, in an attempt to determine what was attracting high-priority targets to a (theoretically) abandoned area. The group uncovered an ancient cavern still pulsing with power, and a slightly less ancient artifact of indeterminate origin.
Some few days ago, the reports came back... but were redacted to hell and back. Some few hours ago, follow-up inquiries by one member of the investigation team were logged and forwarded to the senior Gebler officer in the region. Which is why, some few minutes ago, Myyah Hawwa tapped on the door of whatever room Loren was in and spoke the seven words most likely to instigate heart palpitations in the young officer:
"The commander would like to see you."
Kahran Ramses' office is something longtime acquantainces (a vanishingly small number of individuals) will recognize as classic Kahr - equal parts personal and a carefully crafted affectation. The strictly utilitarian pieces - an inelegant but comfortable chair, a battered but serviceable silver tea set - are all him. Other parts - the crystal decanter of some sort of expensive liquor from Etrenank, the hand-carved chess set paused in the midst of some game - are the sorts of things he selects because he feels it's the sort of thing people expect from a senior military officer.
The last piece of the careful presentation is the man himself - standing with his back to the door, peering out the balcony window, spine ramrod straight and arms folded behind his back. When he hears Myyah's two-tap knock (her signal that official business has arrived), he clears his throat and turns toward the door. "Come," he says evenly.
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
'Heart palpitations' was putting it mildly.
Not the fun, enjoyable sort either. No, to say that the young medic is currently awash in fear might be an appropriate state of affairs. The low dose of a tranquilizer he'd taken suddenly seems like it was far too little as he stands before the door.
The worst part is, he can't even think whether he's done something wrong lately. Back on Lunar, he'd have been able to have pointed to a half-dozen examples, but right now...
...Did he make a mistake and not realize it?
The door opens, and then there's no time left to dwell on it at all anymore. Loren takes a breath, steels himself, and steps inside.
"Sir." There is, of course, the picture-perfect salute. He has perhaps moments to take in the lay of the room, of the furnishings that seem 'expected' and those that seem... less so.
"I understand you wanted to see me?"
It takes everything he has to present at least a neutral exterior, all panic and nervousness wedged down somewhere where hopefully it won't show. This is fine, this is fine, this is fine...
<Pose Tracker> Kahran Ramses has posed.
Ramses returns and releases the salute quickly and professionally, then offers the young man a ghost of a smile with flickers of actual amusement haunting the corners of his lips. "I did, yes. Take a seat, please, Lieutenant," the big man says, gesturing to one of the pair of chairs in front of his desk. He then glances past Loren to where Myyah is waiting at the door. He tilts his head slightly.
"Ms. Sadalbari may step in later, commander," Myyah answers. "You can brief her separately if need be?"
Ramses nods, then lifts the first two fingers of his left hand; Myyah nods, and her heels click their way out the door. "I hope you'll forgive me for the abruptness of my summons, Lieutenant," Ramses says, moving toward his side of the desk, "But I was wrapping up my work for the evening when a small matter came to my attention, and it seemed most efficient to just handle it immediately."
He lets that phrase sit there for a moment, because watching subordinates react to fear of the unknown is a pleasure that never really gets old.
"To be specific," Ramses says, picking up a small datapad, "I understand you had further inquiries regarding the artifact we uncovered in the Leck Mines. Normally, such requests would be denied as a matter of need-to-know," he says, looking up over the pad at Loren. "But in light of your role in recovering the artifact, and of your service record generally, I'm inclined to permit it."
Ramses offers that ghost of a smile again, and the door clicks open a second time. "As you serve with me, Lieutenant, I think you'll learn that I'm not one to stifle initiative in my subordinates. Particularly in situations as... fluid as the one we find ourselves in." Myyah's bootheel clicks presage her arrival, carrying a tray with a pair of glasses. She places one in front of Ramses, then hands the other - containing what seems to be iced tea, with actual ice - to Loren. The commander acknowledges the service with a nod, then continues speaking. "If you have any such requests in the future, you can submit them to myself or to Myyah directly for consideration. So," he says, leaning back in his chair. "What would you like to know?"
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
Loren notes, in passing, that whoever is playing white in the game of chess is likely to lose, unless they take a few key steps. Despite the disadvantage, black has pressed hard.
It's funny -- perhaps a symbol of his somewhat hightened state at the moment -- that this is what stands out to him most. Not the well-worn items, not the origin of a half-dozen pieces of furniture.
Besides, that is, the Commander himself.
It should be against the law, he thinks, remembering a moment later to actually take the steps forward to go and take that seat, to look that good.
It's failing to make his current state of uneasy concealed (?) anxiety go any more smoothly. When he sits, he sits as if the chair he were in were forged entirely from iron.
Leah? He can't help it; he turns his head towards Myyah. Is she coming too--
But his attention is back on Ramses again. He pauses, just for the moment. "...It is no disruption, sir." Which, isn't a lie. He had only been providing some further details requested from research about the thread he'd uncovered during an information-seeking foray.
It's the rest of what Ramses says that causes the young medic to look like a portion of his soul has just exited his body. Unfortunately, he continues to be a little too honest, as his 'big sister' has noted.
He blinks, at the revelation that this is what he's been called in for, and not for some summary guillotining of his career. "...Ah." There is no visible relief that comes along with it, for there really isn't anything that could be called relief to be had right now. Lifting a hand, he glances away as he fidgets with his glasses. "I understand," he says, hoping to accelerate to the point where he can leave and resume breathing properly again. "It won't happen again. I was cur..."
He processes, a pace too slow, what the Commander has just said to him. And again, he blinks, as if trying to reconcile this point. He barely even notices Myyah's return, until such time that she sets down that glass on the desk before him, which evokes a subdued start.
He realizes for the first time that his throat has gone dry.
He doesn't reach for the glass.
"...I see. Thank you, sir." It's a kind gesture. But he'd learned a long time ago that apparent kindness is a good cover for a knife.
What I had wanted to ask about was...
...Can I ask that?
Silence treads out its pace for a moment more before Loren settles on what is, for him, an 'easier' question. "Do we have any further information on what might have caused the shard to be in that cavern? Even the... place itself seemed strange, as if it had been marked by some past event."
And you'd seemed like you recognized something about it all.
<Pose Tracker> Kahran Ramses has posed.
Ramses takes a sip from his own glass, the ice clinking musically as the liquid shifts. He replaces the glass atop his desk, then pushes the datapad across toward where Loren is seated.
"You will know from the unredacted version of the report that the artifact in question is estimated to be several hundred years old," Ramses says, apparently summarizing from memory, as what Loren will find on the datapad is a much more technical version of what the Gebler commander is saying. "What you will not have known is that this is an estimate only. Traditional carbon-dating methods are ineffective when used on material not from this world... which the artifact most definitely is, being unquestionably of Metal Demon origin."
Ramses folds his hands together in front of his chest, still leaning back comfortably in the chair. "The estimate was made by comparison to data available from studies of Dragon Fossils... but here, too, there were complications, as the material density and composition are unusual compared to run-of-the-mill samples." He shifts position. "Our analyst's best guess is that this sample is a piece of armour... or of the body... of one of their elite class, these so-called 'Quarter Knights.' Given what we know of them, it seems most likely to have belonged to Siegfried, Berserk, or the Knight that was reported killed during the wars a thousand years ago," Ramses adds, though this part isn't in the report itself... or indeed any report Loren has ever seen.
Ramses' eyes watch him carefully, assessing the reaction before continuing.
"With respect to the cavern itself, we know a little more," Ramses continues. "As I deduced immediately upon entering - and as you may have suspected yourself - the energy suffusing the walls of the cavern corresponds to that which we know as Ether... although if the cavern itself was sealed as long ago as this artifact we found, the amount of Ether energy that must have been discharged at that time is... well, there are estimates in the file," Ramses says dismissively, waving generally at the datapad, which contains a number that is a reasonable fraction of what it takes to power Etrenank for a year.
The big man takes a longer drink from his glass, then clears his throat. "So, to recap," Ramses says, "We have one of the Metal Demon elite confirmed to have been present in a location where, hundreds of years ago, sufficient Ether was discharged to still resonate in the area centuries later... and there is a one in three chance that the only known eyewitness is still alive today." He spreads his hands. "An interesting puzzle, is it not?" he asks. "I'm interested in what you think."
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
His hesitation is only brief. He reaches across the table to take the datapad -- gingerly, as if it might bite him.
He shouldn't be looking at this. And yet, the thrill of seeing something that hasn't been released yet (if ever) to anyone else outside the select few is undeniable. His gaze skims the screen, pausing here and there as if he were attempting to do a few quick calculations in his head.
"Right." His gaze lifts. He nods once, his attention dropping to the estimate once again. "And even radiometrics would be based on a number of assumptions including a closed system, and they have their own known inaccuracies even under best-case scenarios." He's become a little more talkative it seems -- perhaps being presented with something approximating his natural (nerdy) habitat helps.
Still, even for an estimate...
"So it was part of a Metal Demon." He pauses a moment. "Major Yugh had me spend time with and collect samples from the degenerate Metal Demon population that had been in Wayside prior to its destruction." Particularly Riesenlied. "While the 'Tainted' can't be compared to a functional Metal Demon, there are certain similarities in overall structure." He pauses, then swallows, aware again of how dry his throat has become and reaches over for the glass with his left hand. The datapad, meanwhile, is briefly set down.
It wasn't in the report. He now knows something that wasn't in the report.
Or at least, not the version that even the 'select few' would have seen. It's at once terrifying...
...and exhilarating.
But while the one thought dares a 'maybe' the rest of his psyche moves to bat it away. Don't.
As for the cavern--
Fortunately, Loren manages to not choke on his drink though it's a near thing. The speed with which he sets the glass down and goes for the datapad is remarkable. Scrolling down, he finds the figure.
Emperor.
"Given your list of possible candidates," he says, swallowing, "that might mean that whatever was the owner of that fragment might have been in there when the Ether had been discharged and survived."
Which, yes, is the point that the Commander had been coming do.
Loren sets down the datapad carefully.
"What I think..." he echoes, and immediately feels stupid for uttering. His gaze averts, down towards safer harbor at the datapad. "I suppose the obvious thing is that it may be difficult to eliminate one of these Quarter Knights." He glances back up, daring to take a shallower version of the steadying breath he wants to take. "More importantly, though... do they have any idea what might have caused the Ether discharge?" And could it be duplicated?
And is that what you...
No. No, play it safe.
...Idiot. 'Play it safe'. That other you had the right of it. You're not suited for--
He sits a little straighter in his seat. No less as if negotiating the edge, but the trepidation has for now fled. Loren takes another shallow breath.
And then asks the question that's been nagging at him. "Have... you seen something like it before, sir? At the time it seemed like something about the situation was familiar to you."
<Pose Tracker> Kahran Ramses has posed.
Kahran Ramses watches, and reasons. He is not the practitioner of social combat that some of his contemporaries, such as Hyuga Ricdeau, were. But Hyuga was in a class of his own, and Ramses spent most of his formative years with the man. He has also spent a decade climbing the ranks of Gebler, and the equally lethal social circle of the Etrenank elite. You pick up a few things in that amount of time, in those situations. Or you die.
One of the things he picks up, by what Loren doesn't say, is that Leah probably hasn't told him about Krelian yet. Or, if she did, he's hiding it better than anything else. Which is a shame, Ramses thinks. It would be nice to hold something like that over her head.
"Well, you've seen something of the like as well," Ramses answers, tugging the glove off his left hand, then holds it up, revealing a set of silver rings on each finger, bound together by faint chain links, that are actually flecked with glittering crystal nodes. "Element-class members of Gebler have access to devices such as these - Ether Boosters - which can amplify our natural abilities by a factor of... well, three or so. Four or five, at most, though channeling that much power, even with assistance, would be highly dangerous." Coming from a man who Loren has seen use Speed Star with the same casual air as chewing gum, this should say something.
Ramses starts tugging his glove back into place. "Suffice to say that there are other such devices - older ones - that exceed the output of our more modern boosters by an order of magnitude." His eyes narrow slightly as he watches Loren. "Or perhaps two orders." The Gebler commander takes a sip from his glass again. "If one of these artifacts was present at the site for an extended duration, it might create such a resonant echo. But, Lieutenant," Ramses says, his voice growing slightly more excited. "If two of these artifacts were present - if, in fact, their users were fighting each other, and this sheared pauldron was battle damage - it would not only explain the echo... it would suggest that these Metal Demons might still possess those artifacts."
Ramses leans back in his chair, and something shifts - not in his posture, nor his tone of voice, nor even in his apparent mood. What happens is a moment of clarity akin to the first time a person sees an iceberg, marvels at its size... then realizes they are only seeing the tip of a mountain, protruding above the surface of the water.
"We have been somewhat passive in our response to these creatures," Ramses muses idly, looking up at the roof thoughtfully. "I am beginning to reconsider this decision."
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
Even Loren -- for all his wariness and professed social caution -- is only a novice at the games people play.
Someday, to his dismay, he'll even realize that, and perhaps even understand that part of the reason why he remains such a novice is that same over-cautiousness.
As his own 'instructor' in the blade, Cassidy Cain, had noted in somewhat different contexts: he's not flexible or adaptable enough.
'You've seen something of the like as well', says the Commander, and for a split-second bafflement is the order of the day.
Before Ramses' hand moves to tug off his glove.
Right. That. He himself has access to a lesser kin to the amplifiers, though the 'tuner' at best improves his own particular supportive talents by about... 0.5x. If that. More powerful is the amplification system in his Gear, but even that doesn't hold a candle to a what a higher-ranked officer's might be capable of.
Or van Houten's Gear, he thinks, and even though she's dead and gone, that thought doesn't pass without a shiver of rusted-over jealousy.
Even so, five times over... is hard to grapple with.
Though he has an idea of what it might look like, given what happened to a few members of his graduating class.
One of the fun, exciting things that Loren got to do shortly after graduation was treat the injuries of those of the unlucky few who survived van Houten's outburst.
"I see," he says, because what else can he say? "So you're saying that what caused it may have been a device similar..."
He trails out.
Yes. Exactly that. Something the dead civilizations left behind.
"...Two orders of magnitude?" Loren takes a breath, his gaze unfocused as he appears to attempt to work that one out in his head.
Then exhales, having apparently settled on an unhappy conclusion. "That could kill -- no, would kill -- even an expert at channeling Ether. Someone who could use something like that--"
His gaze meets Ramses'. Perhaps they have had a similar line of thinking. Who would have used it last?
Yes.
"...That's bad," he finishes, attention returning to the datapad, as if he could read the screen even at this oblique angle.
If he had forgotten it -- if he had never really understood the depth of power the Commander wields: well, here it is again. With as much unconcerned presence as the highest peaks, here it is. Tension returns to Loren's frame: he straightens in his seat with all the grim resignation one might have at a funeral.
This is the part Leah had mentioned. The reward for hard work is more work?
Here it is.
"...Then..."
It's not a statement that needs to be finished. He already knows what the 'then' is.
So he nods. "I understand. I remain at the ready."
He will have to go, for that is the deal he made with Leah.
<Pose Tracker> Kahran Ramses has posed.
Ramses looks Loren over carefully at the last words, but finally nods crisply. What other secrets the young man may be hiding are his - for he's hidden them sufficiently well. "That's good," he says, proving Leah's words prophetic. "For I have a specific task in mind for you."
He leans forward, propping his elbows on his desk, steepling his fingers in front of his face. "These Metal Demons twice attacked Adlehyde - the first time, from what we can tell, to gain something from the royal family. And the second, well... perhaps they were owed money?" Ramses shrugs. "At any rate - they have displayed an unnatural obsession for this particular breed of -Lamb-, and I can only assume it is for a reason."
Ramses pauses. "Given our dear ally the Prime Minister..." he says, barely managing not to roll his eyes. "...leapt to take her into protective custody, Princess Cecilia has little reason to trust us. Nevertheless... the enemy of my enemy is my enemy's enemy," Ramses says, quoting an ancient, much-more-accurate-than-the-original saying, "And so whatever else she might be in the future, she is an asset now. I will attempt to make contact directly, but if she has been listening to Keil's daughter and her paramour, I expect that to fail. When it does, Lieutenant, I need to know who she listens to. Whose counsel she values." The big man's lips tickle at the corners. "It is to that person that I wish you to make a simple offer - our full cooperation with her efforts to rid the world of the Metal Demon scourge."
Ramses stands and rises to his full height. "In the meantime, Lieutenant... I will ready Gebler for war."
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
For anyone else, Loren might have at least snorted at the quip, if not gone so far as to allow a chuckle. Her and now, in front of who is the foremost authority he has to answer to in his life right now, he doesn't so much as allow his face to twitch. He is for now a statue.
An rather on-edge statue, to be accurate.
But he hadn't thought about it -- the reason for the second attack. It hadn't been as prologued as the first either, as he understood it. There had to have been something they had been after -- perhaps something that hadn't been there -- and perhaps what it was was the princess herself.
It's telling that he even keeps a straight face when the matter of the Prime Minister comes up.
But there is a point where he speaks and does more than play the part of statue:
"No, I don't think she would," he says, quite plainly. "More than likely," he continues, recalling his own half of the events that had unfolded in Bledavik -- the terror of what she'd unleashed in her escape, and then the shame that he'd faced afterwards -- and his gaze darkening as a consequence, "she still does keep counsel with Keil. They were closely connected the last time I crossed paths with the princess. Perhaps she even listens to him." Her paramour, Leon -- who apparently Loren won't even dignify with a name or ephitet.
As if possibly realizing the unfortunate implications of such a statement for the Commander's success, he does append: "Though perhaps it may have changed."
But he doesn't think so.
Which means--
"...Understood."
Who is it who provides Cecilia with advice now? Is it still Keil?
...
This is... not going to end well, he muses to himself.
He decides to keep this one to himself. He might get lucky. For once.
And so he stands. "Understood. If there is nothing else that you need from me, sir..."
<Pose Tracker> Kahran Ramses has posed.
Ramses straightens to attention. "Nothing, Lieutenant... except to stress that I value your continued well-being more than this alliance. If it seems you are under threat, abandon the idea. We will accomplish this with or without the aid of some -Lamb- princess."
The big man snaps off a salute. "Dismissed, Lieutenant. You have my thanks."
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
It's still strange to have someone -- let alone someone as high up the foodchain as the Commander -- tell him that his well-being is valued. Not that anyone worth worrying about ever explicitly said the opposite, but... it always felt rote. Like they were saying one thing while implying another: 'don't you dare fail'.
Stranger still the fact that when the Commander says it, he feels like he can believe it.
"Understood. I will not take unnecessary risks."
No, he's not going to carry on like he did on Lunar again.
Even if he'd tried to run then, too, from the man with the eerie blue eyes.
Loren salutes in kind, long since settled back into his standard-issue outwardly-properly-neutral demeanor. "I am grateful to assist," he replies in kind before taking his leave.
So his mission in Elru proper starts.