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Episode
046
“Whine, whine, whine. Complain, complain, complain.
“I just wanna get my hands on him.”
Ledger looked back over the passenger’s seat at Armand as the
younger knight grumbled, as if to himself. Armand looked up at Ledger, his
mouth turned in a harsh grimace. “I’m telling you, I could have taken
him.”
“Right.” Roland said, turning the large car to the left. They
turned into a parking lot, avoiding a stoplight. “You and what army?
Morgan would chew you up and he wouldn’t even spit out the seeds.” The
knight looked back at Armand also. “In fact, unless I forgot something,
he kind of already did. Or was that just a bad piercing job in your
chest?”
Armand just looked away. He chewed on his bitterness, watching the
city go by. “It was just a good shot.” He finally grumbled out.
“Here he goes again.” Ledger grumbled. Roland nodded solemnly.
“I’m serious.” Armand nodded, more speaking to himself than
to his two friends. “He’s not a knight. I am. I could take him in a
straight-up, one on one fight.”
“Right.” Ledger said, shaking his head. He looked over at
Roland. “Man, Morgan would eat him alive.”
“That’s true.” Roland nodded. But slowly, a small smile
appeared on his face. “But then again, I don’t know about you, but I
think that wanna-be knight needs to have some manners taught to him.” He
looked over at Ledger.
“What are you getting at?” Ledger asked, a cautious look on his
face.
“Nothing.” Roland said to himself, concentrating momentarily on
his driving.
“What is the current state of the reactor?” Aaron said, sitting
at the desk in the small, cubicle office.
“Well, that’s a bit difficult to say.” Organ said, flexing
and unflexing his fingers as he spoke to Aaron. With his elbows on the
desk and his hands in front of his face, Organ seemed to either shake
badly or to stay perfectly still. “The work is behind schedule, but
it’s going steadily.”
“Behind schedule.” Aaron repeated solemnly. “Alright.
Worst-case scenario. When will it be completed?”
“Without the final components,” Organ said, thinking quickly,
his high-pitched, nasal voice echoing in the bare office. “I’d say
that the reactor would be otherwise completed around the beginning of
July.”
Aaron rubbed his face. “And if we, the Investigator’s Clan, got
you the missing components? What then?”
“If we really pushed it,” Organ said, still thinking about the
question. “If we really pushed it, I mean really, really pushed it.
I’m talking . . .” “Organ.”
Aaron said, his patience gone. “Oh.
Right.” Organ said, swallowing hard. “If we really pushed it, we could
have it done by mid-May.”
“Done?” Aaron said. “As in ‘ready to produce power’
done?”
Organ nodded.
“To whom it may concern,” Said the well-dressed man in the
center of the large, circular room. Around the speaker, a wide assortment
of well-dressed socialites and formal figures stood, condensing the tight
room into one big party.
“On this day, we shall see the temporary union of two of the arms
of the Brotherhood of the Sun. In the grand tradition of our illustrious
ancestors, we shall press forward, surviving over our short-coming and our
set-backs, and striving to take forward the dawn of the new day so that a
new age may come to humanity.”
“And thus, it is with great pleasure and excitement that I
proclaim that Phillip Assanti shall take-over the responsibilities of the
Hand of the Brotherhood, seeing to the security and the safety of all whom
he may call his brother.” In the crowd, there was some slight laughter
to the asexual designation. “And he shall remain in the command of the
Miracle Worker’s Clan, to see to it that the vision of the future is
maintained and perfected beyond any previous dream.”
Cheers and applause followed.
Errol hit the button on the remote. He looked away, not even noting
the other three in the office with him. He leaned forward on the table to
the side of the room, the remote held in his hands as he seemed to force
the very ideas of what he had seen from his mind.
“No good came come from this.” Ian said, still standing against
Aaron’s empty desk.
“That, Ian, is an understatement.” Orson said, sitting next to
the beanpole. He looked across the way, at where Uriel and Errol both
waited. “The boss is still checking on the reactor, right?”
Errol nodded grimly.
“Do you think he knows?” Orson asked. “About this.”
Uriel nodded, just as grimly.
“Just one good shot.” Armand said, motioning for a hard upper
cut in the backseat of Roland’s car. “One good shot.”
“Oh, shut up.” Roland exclaimed, glaring into the rear-view
mirror at Armand. “He kicked your ass. Take it like a man.”
“He interfered in a knight’s operation.” Armand protested.
“No, he didn’t.” Roland said. “He kept you from getting
your ass kicked. And probably saved your worthless life.” Armand fell
defeatedly back to his seat, looking away. He bit down on his jaw, keeping
quiet.
“Say something, will you?” Roland said, looking over at Ledger.
“What?” The black knight said. “I agree with him.” |