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[ Martin had always known that Lukas would kill him in the end. If not along the way, then surely at the end, once he'd gotten what he wanted out of Martin, whatever that turned out to be. When the Lonely rose up to swallow him, he'd accepted his impending death with ... what?

What did he have left, really? Numbness, mostly. A hallucination of Jon in the Lonely, looking for him, but - but that was impossible, ridiculous. His mind playing cruel tricks. He settled himself down in the frigid surf, knees drawn up close to his chest, unshed tears frozen to his cheeks and lashes.

And then. A door. A door that shouldn't exist, that couldn't exist. That he shouldn't take at all. The Lonely was terrible, yes, but it was quiet, and it was peaceful. Martin was aligned enough with it by now to very nearly enjoy it, in a strange and terrible way. The Spiral would be infinitely worse than this quiet beach.

But ... it was hope, too. In a strange way. Hope enough that Martin found himself turning the door handle and stepping through, leaving the false comfort of the Lonely behind him.

The transition was unpleasant. Long. But Martin couldn't remember it after; he only remembered stumbling out through the door of a supply closet somewhere deep in the Archives, blinking up at the dim bulbs that pretended to be sufficient. What time was it? Had he escaped? Where were Lukas and Elias now?

And where was Jon? ]

Date: 2020-08-18 11:09 pm (UTC)
contractuallybinding: (012)
From: [personal profile] contractuallybinding
[Elias' office was not built for economy or intimidation. He had little use for either one. His work was a pleasure rather than a necessity and it changed one's outlook. With one's outlook shifting, it allowed a man to have particular design choices.

Elias' office was built for discomfort. It was built to make it hard to focus, for one's mind and eyes to wander. There were oddities, strange whorls in the woodwork. The temperature was always just a little too warm, a little too humid, the chair not quite uncomfortable until one's been in it too long. Books on the shelf with titles on their spines designed to trigger the more common embarrassing or interesting memories that a guilty person (and really, who wasn't a LITTLE guilty.)

In short, no meeting here was ever pleasant. Elias' little bureaucratic throne was exactly to his taste.

Which is why this particular visitor was always a bit irksome. Well. He was in general. But he hardly feared the hemisphere announcing a camera, or paid even a second look at the carefully 'casually' placed recorder.

Peter Lukas wouldn't show up on any of them.

So instead, he reluctantly focused his attention on the cheerfully abrasive little man instead.
]

Prompt. I'll give you that.

Date: 2020-08-19 01:03 am (UTC)
contractuallybinding: (008)
From: [personal profile] contractuallybinding
[Perhaps that's the point, for the victims to look back and count the ways they should have known. How obvious it was with one single piece of information.






Or Elias is just self congratulatory and extra like that.

No one said they had to be exclusive.
]

Absolutely nothing else.

You know, in other circumstances, I would consider that quite the ... overt disrespect of my territory.

Date: 2020-08-19 01:28 am (UTC)
contractuallybinding: (010)
From: [personal profile] contractuallybinding
Would you?

[He steeples his fingers, letting the silence carry through the room a long moment. Peter's far too used to him to be affected by it, but Elias is too old to break old habits now.]

Let me guess, you've have no explanations as to how that happened.

[Whether he has or hasn't.]

Date: 2020-08-19 02:07 am (UTC)
contractuallybinding: (Default)
From: [personal profile] contractuallybinding
[He raises his eyebrows.]

Well. Never let it be said I don't entertain the plausibility of your theories. As wild as some may be.

Date: 2020-08-19 02:16 am (UTC)
contractuallybinding: (009)
From: [personal profile] contractuallybinding
[In normal circumstances, it would be new if generally unremarkable to either of them. Something to pick at, a pain most keep desperately secret, perhaps, but nothing concerning.

But this was hardly normal circumstances and Peter is either being deliberately obtuse or playing.
]

Care to elaborate?

Date: 2020-08-19 02:36 am (UTC)
contractuallybinding: (003)
From: [personal profile] contractuallybinding
Martin. [It's a tiny annoyance, but one that garners a twitch.

He leans back in his chair, thoughtful. That was ... an unexpected complication. But is it useful or not? That is the question.
]

No, no I imagine it isn't. I believe I may know the source, though very little as to what it actually is. Or is not.

Date: 2020-08-19 02:51 am (UTC)
contractuallybinding: (Default)
From: [personal profile] contractuallybinding
A chance encounter, if one would believe it. I was merely checking on my investments and well...

No wonder you'd dragged your feet setting sail. Someone in London that close to becoming a full avatar and you hadn't noticed.
Edited Date: 2020-08-19 02:52 am (UTC)

Date: 2020-08-19 12:46 pm (UTC)
contractuallybinding: (015)
From: [personal profile] contractuallybinding
Oh, no. That assistant was barely in foundling stages, even before you had what I could only assume was a meal. [It's ever so hard to see directly at Lukas' actions. He rather nurtured the idea it's why they enjoyed funding the Institute.]

No, I think I've got a strong lead on the source of ... both of our difficulties.

I'll pull the relevant information from my Archive shortly. [There is something in the way he says it, that he doesn't mean the physical location below the office.] I do believe it may come with a bit of .. adjustment of plans.

Date: 2020-08-19 12:54 pm (UTC)
contractuallybinding: (Default)
From: [personal profile] contractuallybinding
I'd only thought you'd be interested in information. I thought you'd like a look at the new player.

Though, I am always open to... create opportunities, if you have something you'd like to place on the table.

Date: 2020-08-19 03:39 pm (UTC)
contractuallybinding: (001)
From: [personal profile] contractuallybinding
[He mutters 'like an octopus.' Though more clearly:]

Oh, you could. My. I can just imagine how much they would depend on you.

[The scathing sarcasm is more than enough to let Peter know how likely he thinks Elias is to interfere in THAT particular way.]

Date: 2020-08-19 04:17 pm (UTC)
contractuallybinding: (004)
From: [personal profile] contractuallybinding
[It's those little gaps that prickle in turn. Lapses even in his own memory that sit sour and stinging. He gives Peter a particularly dour look, even while he turns over that plural. More aware than he put on, but that was hardly unusual.]

Martin. [Perfunctorily and reflexive correction.]

As for the agreement... no. I don't need you to make that particular scar... In the company he has, he's bound to get bitten at some point. Hardly something I need to worry about. No, I need something else from you.

[A hand traces an elegant arc.] Resources. There are some, ah, factions with some reticence when dealing with myself.

[He is, in fact, asking Peter to actually DEAL with people. Eyes and tone quite serious.]

Date: 2020-08-19 04:47 pm (UTC)
contractuallybinding: (001)
From: [personal profile] contractuallybinding
Now, now. A little pain for a great deal of profit. I know you've quite a few won bets that you've never collected. All I'd require is a nice, impersonal but firm note here and there.

[To his benefit, naturally. To enjoy the reward of victories he hadn't earned.]

I wouldn't ask such a thing without sweetening the pot a little.

I propose we put our... philosophies to the test. I'll wager the very seat of power I have that you cannot convince this little group to truly believe in this ... little emergency theory.

Date: 2020-08-19 05:05 pm (UTC)
contractuallybinding: (013)
From: [personal profile] contractuallybinding
[If nothing else, Elias knew how to work with someone who needed, wanted, so desperately to know.]

Not the other one? I would have thought you'd enjoy breaking him to your particular standards. Well, very well. I believe I can relinquish that much.

[Another problem solved. Goodness, and he didn't even have to demand it.]

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Martin K(nife) Blackwood

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