Waterstrider

Little Celah, Tseludia Station, Pantheonic Territory, Fourthmonth, 1634 PTS

Astna slammed her fist into the desk, a motion that Deuvar suspected would damage her hand more than the furniture. She cursed, eyes ablaze as she glared at him.

“Why do you people always insist on sending enforcers after him? Isn’t it clear by now that they will accomplish nothing?”

Deuvar responded with a glare of his own. He was not in a mood to accept criticism on this matter. In fact, he was rather angry himself, though he at least had the self control not to rage at everyone near him.

“You know as I do that the Leader had disallowed use of higher strength models in the station,” he said.

She threw her hands up in the air in exasperation, the anger still bubbling beneath her skin.

“You could have at least sent out more forces. Only two enforcers and a smattering of soldiers, really?”

Deuvar sighed. He had wanted to send a third, or even four of the machines if it were possible, and perhaps even another barrier, just to ensure success.

“Ask your son about that. He and his friend have marshaled their forces too far from the district to arrive in time. They haven’t even reported the purpose of their actions. If I didn’t know better, I would have thought they were trying to overthrow the Leader, and take his position\..”

He leaned back in his chair, exhausted from both the failed trap and dealing with his sister. She drained his energy when they spoke over a slate, but it was even worse when she was physically present. He had already developed a severe headache, and if it worsened, he might feel compelled to use violence.

“Besides, it wasn’t entirely a loss,” he continued, attempting to calm her. “You saw what happened to him, sister. He was broken. He should be either dying or left with less than a week to live, I would wager.”

Astna sneered at him.

“I don’t care about the damn Seiyal, Deuvar. I care about the fucking Shade. She’s arriving tomorrow morning, and we don’t even know if they’re in their sect or not.”

Deuvar’s headache worsened.

“Is there something you expect me to do about that?” he boomed, his temper flaring up. “Was I supposed to simply muster more forces than were available, and on such short notice? And then somehow guess that the Shade could destroy multiple layers of the stack at will? Do not reproach me for events out of my control, sister. Perhaps consider your own failures. Is it not true that you let someone break into your system and track your network access?”

Astna stood, suddenly walking out of his office. So once again she fled responsibility for her own failure, right after reproaching him for his. It was typical of her, he thought. At the door frame she turned back, giving him one last glare.

“I hope the next time I see you, the representative won’t have made you a corpse, brother.”

With that, she disappeared from his sight, marching deeper into the complex. Deuvar sighed, rubbing his wrinkled brow as his mood slowly settled. He had not failed to notice that Astna had managed to leave the room before he reported to the Leader about the dead soldiers and the ruined enforcer. He suspected the results would not be pleasant.

Canvas Town, Tseludia Station, Pantheonic Territory, Fourthmonth, 1634 PTS

Eli Dan rather enjoyed his new job. He was the sort of man who had always enjoyed making friends wherever he went. People loved talking to their friends, and all sorts of information could be spilled in such a way. As far as he was concerned, information was power in the underworld. He was no Spider, but he liked to think he had a decent web of his own.

Of course, he believed that he could have been the greatest information broker in the station had he the backing and funds that Astna did. He held great pride in his abilities, and this self confidence fueled his ambitions. His talents had languished under Hidoro, trapped in the mere role of leading a squad of weaker martial artists. When the Riverfiend had taken over, he had leapt at the opportunity granted to him, talking his way into the role of heading the Silk Palace.

Such a role was stereotypically granted to a woman, at least in the films, but it wasn’t as if the Redwater Sect controlled any brothels anyway, so there was no need for any such connections. He had easily acquired the role, managing to avoid the hidden competition for the more sought after positions of the other palace heads. Others wished to gain power over the organization they had been forced into, while Eli wished to use the organization to grow his own power. He found this idea far more compelling.

Headed by a figure such as the Riverfiend, the Redwater Sect was a contender to become a real power in the underworld, after all. While there were risks, joining at its foundation meant great reward, if all went well.

It was these great ambitions of his that had driven Eli to put great effort into his work, using the funds that the Vice Sect Leader had given him to talk to old friends and acquaintances, trying to build his scattered friends into a true information network. While it mostly just spanned Canvas Town at the moment, he knew that it could soon expand throughout the entire station, with proper care. With the funds and protection provided by the sect, Eli knew that he was destined for greatness.

Of course, he was still just starting out. Given the amount of funds he continued to receive compared to the limited utility he had yet provided his new employers, his power within the sect itself was limited. If anything, he risked losing his role or funding. Thus, when the Vice Sect Leader appeared from nowhere in his office to deliver him a quite difficult task, he had no ability to refuse. Particularly given how dour the mood she was in.

“Is that all the information you have?” he asked, hoping there was something she had forgotten to mention.

As he asked the question, he quickly noted down all the information she had given him on a terminal. Ester Perivar, elder Staiven, blue-eyed. Should have gone missing years ago or had been taken by the government. With only that, she wished him to find the man. However, he felt extremely wary about the matter. This pertained to secrets of the Pantheonic Government! Eli hesitated, but eventually decided to speak his mind, taking advantage of the gap in her response.

“Vice Sect Leader, ma’am, are you certain you wish me to investigate this? Our information network is newly formed. We would need to spend a great deal of money to investigate, and it would be almost impossible to do so without attracting notice by one group or another.”

He looked at Rachel’s face as he spoke, trying to discern her reaction to his words. He found her expression unreadable, other than what almost seemed a hint of stress and anxiety.

“I don’t care who finds out about it,” she said. “In fact, all the better, perhaps that will bring those who know out of the woodwork. All that matters now is results, as fast as possible.”

Eli fixed his well-groomed hair, hands moving in habit due to his nervousness. His lips pursed as he considered who he might even speak to in order to find out such information. He licked his lips before replying. It was risky, but perhaps he could simply approach targets he intended to recruit, or maybe hire someone to seduce a target.

The task was quite difficult, but if he succeeded, he could raise his importance greatly in the eyes of his superiors. If there was anything that Eli had learnt in his time in the underworld, it was that one could never suck up too much to one’s boss.They not only held influence upon one’s career, but also one’s very life. To live and work in such an environment was to walk a tightrope, and those who refused to strengthen their lifeline as best as possible were fools, at least in his estimation. He was happy to lick any and all boots he deemed necessary to achieve his aspirations.

Despite this, Eli couldn’t help but twitch slightly under the harsh eyes of Vice Sect Leader Rachel. He bowed to her respectfully, trying to cover his nervous expression.

“I… will bring you results within a week or two.”

She immediately responded with a cold look.

“That’s too long. Find his location within the next two days.”

Without another word, she vanished into thin air, as if she had never been present in the first place.

Eli sighed, leaning back in his seat as a bead of sweat dripped down his brow. He would have argued had she stayed, regardless of the risk of angering his superior. Such a short time period… It was unrealistic, to say the least. He would even go as far as to say it was perhaps even impossible.

Ultimately, however, there was little he could do but follow the orders he was given. He shifted his terminal’s screen, looking at the long list of contacts he had cultivated over the years, and developed further over the past few weeks. It was time to begin hunting, but he still had little idea where he should start. He licked his lips as he continued to scan the list.

Something gave him the feeling that this request would leave him with additional gray hairs.

Domines: [A rare Osine who interacts more with Ascendants than their own people, Domines is treated as a deity by the inhabitants of Canvas, though they have little interest in them, preferring to work on complex constructions of geology, architecture, and meteorology that warp the nature of reality more than was allowed within Osine space. Domines is worshipped as a goddess by the Seiyal, despite lacking any sort of biological sex. Canvas has a continent known as the Heart of Domines, largely uninhabited due to how inimical its terrain is to mortal lifeforms. The entire continent is a massive, ever-evolving art project created using advanced science and an Osine's own abilities, and Canvas sometimes receives tourism from Osine and Ascendants as a result. Domines never took sides in the conflict between Ceirra and Saaya, willing to work with either of them if the project was interesting enough, resulting in great works such as the Halls of the Sun and the Downpour region, respectively. It is said that Domines once created a set of nigh indestructible weapons on a whim, after being requested by the earliest martial god. Over the millennia since, these items have spread out, and many have gone missing entirely.]