Unexpected Factors

Sensory Essence

He paused outside the door, glancing warily at the softly glowing emblem on its front face. The last time he had been here was the day he met Risa, and even then, he hadn't even had the chance to go inside. Before that, it had been when he had first received his mission from them several months ago. Heart pounding, he walked forward, the door opening for him at his first set of movements.

It always felt cold in this room. Dahrius felt the hair rise on his arms and the back of his neck as he passed the sentry at the front, who gave the Limbo a curt nod. Dahrius resisted the urge to visibly shudder as he made his short trek across the pathway, reaching the end in only a matter of moments. Kneeling down, the magician bowed his head in respect to both the leader and to the others around him.

Dahrius could just feel every pair of eyes on him from everyone in the room. Every single body in the Arbiters of Hexis cared not for anyone's comfort, and would proceed to stare him down from the moment he walked in until the moment he was out the door. It was unnerving; horribly unnerving. It almost made his skin crawl. There was something eerie in this room, every time. Dahrius idly wondered if they performed executions within these walls.

Silence was deafening in here; the cacophony of every noise in his head amplified by the lack of sound within the confines of the room itself. Was he going insane? Is this how they tortured prisoners? It would be awfully effective. Dahrius's knuckles tightened against their armored coverings, feeling the sweat beading around his temples. Every time he came in here, it felt like the length of silence grew longer and longer. How long had he even been in here? Biting his lower lip, Dahrius kept his head bowed, now aware of perspiration slowly trickling down the side of his face.

"You honor us, Tenno."

The deep, rich voice of the leader rumbled through the floor and coursed through Dahrius's body. Relief and a sense of calmness flooded the Limbo's veins, the silence now broken. That was a sensational feeling almost unlike anything else.

"I've completed my mission, sir," Dahrius responded after taking a moment to assert himself, "I have all of the intel that you requested me to gather."

"Well done, Tenno," the voice reverberated again, this time with faint tones of satisfaction lacing his words, "It was not easy letting Red Veil use you as a subordinate."

Dahrius merely shrugged, not wanting to go into detail about how the followers of Red Veil sometimes killed each other for sport, and how he had almost become a victim. And he would never mention about how many times he had almost been gunned down by Hexis's own hunter squads; the Corrupted Eximus platoons incredibly overwhelming. He had not expected them to pursue him, but as he had thought about it, it only made sense.

All thoughts aside, Dahrius tentatively approached the leader, who did not offer out his hand to take the data.

"Did.. you want me to.." he trailed off, nodding slightly at the small space next to the leader's seated form.

After receiving silence as a response, Dahrius nimbly leapt up towards the platform, landing soundlessly with a graceful bend of his knees. Only then did the leader slowly unclasp his hands, extending one to the side, towards Dahrius. It was rather unnerving being so close to him; the leader's body taller and broader than that of any normal sort of person. His race was a mystery.

Dahrius gently deposited the thin, cylindrical datamass into the awaiting palm. The Hexis leader's fingers immediately closed around it, holding it tightly for safekeeping.

"We will review this material with great interest," he nodded, "you have done well."

Since no motion nor order was made to have Dahrius step down, he waited there next to the larger individual, doing his best not to wring his hands out of nervousness. Upon chance did he catch a faint aroma lingering in the air; a rather deep, musky scent, with light tones of espresso and oiled leather.

It was almost intoxicating.

The magician almost felt his head grow light as he slowly drew another inconspicuous breath, wanting to smell that scent again. Unfortunately, it was not to be; the air carried no tones of aromas of any sort.

"Of course, you will be present for the reviews," the voice cut into Dahrius's thoughts, "Be it far from us to process data without our operative."

"D-definitely," Dahrius stammered, his head still feeling like it was lightly spinning, "I look forward to it."