"You're nothing without power. Nothing to the world, nothing to society, nothing to me. Either pull yourself together and make me proud for once, or just accept that you're apparently destined to be a failure."
"...I'm not a failure."
"Prove it."
"I will. I'll make you proud, Father. I promise."
Step by step, hearing the echo of each time Jane's boot lands on the polished stone floor, making her way through the bright halls of the Bastion towards her destination; The Director's "office". If it could even be called that. It's her lab. Her torture chamber.
She hears the crackling of electricity coming from the closed door at the top of the narrow stairway. The lights flicker through the small glass window, and she can hear his screaming, followed by the sound of his fanatic laughter.
The flickering stops and the lights return to normal, and she then can hear heavy panting, joined by a complacent sigh that she recognizes as Corbin. The Director.
Jane steps up to the door and peeks through the circular window, seeing the tall woman dressed in admiral's garbs, and the patch covering her eye. On the ground, kneeling before her and trembling is Fritz.
The Director is smiling down at him, and slowly, she reaches down and grabs his chin, turning his face up to look at her.
"Excellent work, Covett. The new Augmentation is ready for distribution," her soothing, yet patronizing voice sounds muffled through the door, but it raises the hairs on the back of Jane's neck.
Fritz giggles painfully and sits on his knees, looking up at his mistress with a wild yet tortured glint in his eyes.
"Thank you, my lady. Thank you! So, am I to fulfil my next assignment now?"
The Director cocks a brow, but smirks in satisfaction.
"Do you not wish to... rest first?"
"NO," Fritz replies frantically, and with another hysterical laugh. The pain in his eyes shows how his head is pounding as he has yet again had his neural patterns ripped apart and put back together. "I live to serve you, my grace. My pain is your passion. My will is your vision. My life is at your expense."
The Director smiles with a satisfied hum. She pets his head before taking a step back and crossing her hands behind her back.
"Good boy, Covett. Yes. You may go now. And do not return empty handed."
"I would sooner die than fail you, my goddess."
"I would expect nothing less from you. Keep this up, and perhaps your place on the top will be restored."
Fritz stands up excitedly and claps with a pleased giggle. "It will be done, your grace." He gives her a delighted bow before hurrying to the door.
Jane steps back and to the side, lowering her head and holding her hands behind her back as the door opens and Fritz happily skips through, showing her a snarky smirk and scowl before carrying on his way, out of sight.
Jane takes a deep breath, mentally preparing herself as best she can.
"You may enter, Harvey." Hearing The Director's voice address her in that condescending tone makes her heart pulse faster after nearly skipping a beat.
She enters the room, keeping her head down as she swiftly drops to one knee before her. She waits for her to say something, but when she doesn't, Jane decides to take matters into her own hands.
"I am ready for my next assignment, Director. I will do whatever it takes to—"
She stops herself with a shrill yelp at the feeling of a lash across her back and she falls silent, biting her tongue and forcing herself to keep her eyes open.
She hears Corbin's slow, agonizing footsteps; the clicking of her heels as she walks around her to her back, still keeping her distance. Jane can feel her eyes burning on her. Her predatory glare and sadistic smirk.
"Your next assignment? Do you mean to tell me you have completed your last? If that's the case, then tell me;" Jane tenses once she feels The Director's hand on her shoulder.
"Have you found those machines yet?"
Jane swallows back her nerves, only ending up worsening them. She uses every fiber of her being; every ounce of strength she has to not let herself shake from the sheer dread of having to answer honestly. She knows the consequences for lying.
"N—No, Director. But—"
She hisses against the pain when the stern hand on her shoulder runs down her back, pressing hard against the fresh mark from the lash to overlay the initial sting.
"No? Yet here you are, demanding a new task when you have yet to fulfil your current one?"
"I just... I would be more capable of acquiring them with my ability... I—"
"Your gift that I revoked. You cannot ask for something back that was never yours to begin with. Your strength makes you a valuable asset, Harvey. However your actions thus far have pushed your boundaries further and further towards making you a liability. To the Imperium. To Eutria," she gently grabs her by her neck, forcing her to meet her piercing gaze. "To me."
She lets her go and steps away, returning her hands to cross behind her back. Jane watches her, minding the whip still in her hand.
"So tell me, Harvey. What makes you think you are worthy of my gift once again? Without payment or sacrifice, there is nothing to reward."
Jane breathes steadily. "I'm not afraid of sacrifice. Whatever you'd have me do, my will is yours to command. I am your pawn. And you, my queen."
The Director chuckles disdainfully, still smiling in self-admiration which makes Jane feel sick to her stomach. "You would do anything...? Hm..." she hums low as she considers her options, then bites her lip with an idea.
"I will tell you what... Now that I think about it, there is... something you could do to possibly earn my favor. A little... 'competition', if you will," she stalks towards her, letting the clicking of her boots grow heavier the closer she gets.
"Fritz Covett has just left for his next assignment. But... should you complete his task before he can, then perhaps you can prove to be not as useless as I am starting to believe you are."
Jane slightly smiles, already aching to do whatever she has to.
"If that is your command, I will do what you require. Please, my lady, what must I do before Fritz can?"
The Director sets the whip on her desk, drawing her long-nailed fingertips over every worn grove over the years of extensive use on the weapon.
"Our unit stationed at the ISC Company shipyard of Wrightendell reported seeing the Lost Descendant of Ophelia. Go to the isle stronghold of Fulminare and retrieve the boy. If you can acquire him and deliver him back to me before Fritz Covett can, then I will deem you valuable to my collection once again."
Jane nods hurriedly. "It will be done. Is that all, Director?"
"Yes. The Lost Descendant does not need to be unharmed, so long as he is brought to me alive. I do not care by what means you use, so long as he is in my hands by the end. Either from your efforts," she grabs Jane's chin to turn her face up towards her. "Or Fritz's."
Jane waits for her to let her go before standing up and bowing her head. "Of course, Director. I won't let you down."
"See to it that you don't. You've already disappointed me thus far. I hope this doesn't become a theme for you, Harvey. Now, go. I grow tired of you. The longer you delay is more time you give Covett to get ahead of the game," she flicks her wrist towards the door without even looking at Jane, returning to her desk as if she's already forgotten she exists.
Jane nods once again before turning and hurrying out the door. As she marches down the hall, a hand catches her shoulder and she stops to look at Kylen.
They stare at her mournfully. "Jane... You know she's just—"
"You're not talking me out of this, so don't even bother trying."
Kylen sighs and lets her go with a weary nod.
"I know."
"Then what are you here for?" Jane crosses her arms and glares viciously at them.
They turn their head away and take a deep breath. "Just... be careful."
Jane huffs and shoves past them, not bothering to take time to prepare. She can't let Fritz win. She can't lose any more of her dignity and respect. She will do anything.
"If you fail again and again, maybe it's time to do something different."
"Maybe I will, Father."
________________________________
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His mouth fights to twist into a giddy grin so he can focus on making these few final touches, but he can't stop thinking about last night. He heard Cree - Cree Tyrell said that he loves him. Not only that, but he let him wash his hair, and he discovered the greatest thing ever once they both dried off after.
Cree's hair is floofy.
It still feels like a dream, but he has to remember that it's all real. Regan has spent years wishing for this to happen, never actually believing it would, but here he is. And he's found that even with the dreams and fantasies, nothing could have prepared him for the real thing.
Because now he's with Cree. He's here, and he's his, and he's real.
He's pulled back to reality when Proctor Quintus grunts and stands up, brushing off his hands before planting them on his hips, stepping back to admire their work.
"Well, Richard. I've gotta say, you surprised me. But, thanks to your help, we've actually managed to do it. The Beacon is ready," the old man chuckles wearily, as if he's trying to convince himself of that reality. "Elder Haegen is going to be beyond pleased with our work."
Regan smiles and stands up as well, giving the old man a pat on the back. "Some are born great, others achieve greatness.' And we, my friend, have achieved something great as a great team!"
Quintus laughs happily and turns away, walking over to his desk to peer over the original schematics, pure disbelief over the fact that the simple drawing has now come to life.
"Now all that's left is to set the plan in motion. With any luck and skill, Eutria will be on a better path thanks to us and the Coalition."
Regan's smile slightly falters and he anxiously scratches the back of his head. "About that... are you sure that will go the way we hope? What if the people of Eutria, the humans and the Hexes, just end up turning on each other? I know the goal is to , you know, 'cleanse' the continent of Hexes, but... When you say 'cleanse', you don't mean... mass genocide, do you?"
Quintus sighs and lowers into his chair, leaning back with a jaded groan.
"We are... hoping to avoid that. But we are aware of the possibility of that being an outcome of this plan. If we had a clean way to use the Augmenter on more than one Hex at once, and without fatal drawbacks, we would do so. But... well, it's just not something within our capabilities. If we're lucky, The Director will come to see reason and redact her 'gift' from the public and do the work for us, but if not..."
Regan tilts his head, trying to keep an open mind on this entire plan since they are, after all, in too deep to turn back now.
"What is the 'Augmenter'?" he asks.
Quintus slowly nods. "Ah, right. I forgot you're not from Eutria," he says and pulls out the drawer of his desk, picking out a small black, cylinder device with what appears to have tiny holes dotting all over one end, and a blinking red light on the side.
"This is an Augmenter. We managed to snatch one from a careless Imperium scientist who went snooping around one of our safehouses. Our spies made quick work of him, but we pulled this from his pocket. These little things are used to store Hex abilities, or by the more technical term, 'Augmentations'. When filled, they can harmlessly give a human the stored Augmentation, but to remove an ability from a Hex, there's a special... procedure. Another device must be used with the Augmenter in order to remove the ability safely."
Regan eyes the device curiously before his eyes dart back to meet the Proctor's.
"And... what happens if it's used to remove an ability without the complimentary device?"
"Death, plain and simple. The worst consequence for using it safely is a slight drop in the Hex's sanity, but raw dogging the Augmentation out of them will just kill them. So, we just keep this thing around to study it and maybe find other ways of removing Hex abilities. Could be beneficial in the future, but so far I've turned up naught."
Regan nods slowly and clears his throat. "Well, then... Let's just make sure we never have to use that thing," he chuckles nervously.
So, Hex abilities or 'Augmentations' are quite similar to implants back in Utopia. The thought briefly crosses his mind on if that device, the Augmenter, could be used to remove implants as well, but the risk is too great.
"Knock knock, I just wanted to stop by and... Wow."
Regan and Quintus turn around to see Cree enter the room, staring at the finished relay dish in the center of the room with big eyes and an impressed smile.
Just seeing him makes Regan's heart leap and he unconsciously smiles back, especially when their eyes meet.
"You two did this all on your own, and in only less than three days? Damn, talk about over-achieving," he chuckles and walks over to Regan and Quintus. "I just came to let you guys know that it's dinner time in the mess hall, and why not spend the night on celebrating this thing? Everyone's already down there, so whaddyou say?" he offers and looks between them both, but his eyes and smile linger on Regan, causing his own cheesy grin to grow.
Quintus stands up and stretches his back, resulting in a loud 'pop' and he groans with a chuckle. "I could eat. A lot. And after that, I am going to crash. The Beacon took the last of my will, so now I must recharge with a week of sleep. I'm old, so just tell everyone I'm dead. They'll buy it," he says with a drawn-out yawn. "I'll meet you kids down there. Don't stay too long, Ralph. You've earned a break as much as I," he says and sets the Augmenter on his desk before leaving the room.
Regan rolls his eyes and smiles at the old man as he walks away before returning his focus to Cree, who snickers and cocks a brow.
"'Ralph'?" he questions.
Regan sighs and nods. "Or 'Ron'. Really just whatever the old man feels is appropriate in the moment," he chuckles.
Cree smiles and pats him on the shoulder. "You up for a small party? We could just grab some food and bounce, if you'd prefer to get some rest after all the work you've been doing."
"No, I'll be alright. It'll be nice to see Jewel again. Let's go, Ty—Cree," he sighs. "Still getting used to that, I suppose," he laughs nervously.
Cree smirks and bites his lip before lowering his hand from his shoulder to wrap his arm around his waist, pulling him closer which gets a small squeak out of the tall man. Cree blushes slightly and tries to keep his attention forward as they start making their way towards the mess hall.
It doesn't take long to get there, as the commotion of chatter and some yelling guided their way to the back wing of Fulminare, a completely open space arrayed with long tables and benches, and at the back is the counter set with what's basically an all-you-can-eat buffet.
In some silly way, it almost feels like being in school. You've got tables separated with the different groups based on their interests or whatnot. Giovanni and Umbra are sitting at a table towards the food bar, and it looks like they're playing a game of cards. Jewel is sitting next to Reela, pretending not to notice as the little girl slips small bites of strawberry to the fennec fox, Toya, who is sitting in the center of the table, occasionally letting out a piercing shriek.
Jarvis is sitting off on his own with a bottle of whiskey in one hand and a hand-held mirror in the other, staring into it and looking at himself from all angles, getting Cree to roll his eyes.
Quintus is still at the food bar, stacking seemingly every kind of vegan option on his paper plate, then grabbing two shot glasses of vodka. The old man walks over to the closest table, not appearing to give a damn about making conversation as much as he cares about devouring his meal.
They also notice that Elder Haegen isn't in the hall. Maybe he's busy, but they were hoping he'd be here to at least tell him about the completion of the Beacon. Maybe he'll show up later, and if not, they can always tell him personally in the Command Chamber.
Reela sees Regan and Cree and her eyes light up. She jumps to stand on her bench and waves them over with a beaming smile worn across her face. Jewel turns and sees them and her joy almost reaches the same as the girl's.
Regan and Cree walk over and Regan sits down on the opposite side of the table as the girls and Cree lets his arm fall from around him, staying standing and leaning forward to address them.
"I'll grab the food. Want anything in particular?" he asks Regan.
He purses his lips, not feeling all that hungry still but knowing that Cree isn't going to take 'no' for an answer.
"I'll just have whatever you are having."
Cree rolls his eyes with a smile. "I'll just grab some extra and you can eat off my plate. How's that sound?"
"That would be nice," Regan says and leans up to give him a quick kiss on his cheek. He sees Cree freeze up and he realizes they never discussed how they would act around each other in public. Did Cree want to hide it? Oh no, what if he just ruined that for him? He should have thought about that more.
Cree clears his throat and gently rubs his back, nodding to Reela and Jewel. "I'll be back."
He walks off to the bar quickly. He noticed Regan's worry after kissing him on the cheek. He doesn't really mind the affection, so long as it's just small things when they're around other people, but his biggest worry is how those 'other people' might react. He doesn't mind people like Reela or Jewel seeing it, but then there's Jarvis.
Now that the Beacon is complete, Jarvis is going to be in charge of guarding Regan soon, and while Cree is away. Therefore, he won't be able to stick up for Regan if Jarvis tries anything untoward.
He starts grabbing a little bit of everything, not entirely sure what Regan would like. Cree has been off with Giovanni running a training course on the outer hull of the island, so he hasn't been able to eat much all day, so he doesn't mind if Regan doesn't eat it all. He's not going to force him to eat more than he's comfortable with, so long as it's something. Baby steps towards helping him feel better.
His attention is snapped back once he notices that infuriating chuckle laced with self-righteousness and cologne that he can practically hear in Jarvis' voice. Only this time, he doesn't hear the voice get louder, but quieter as the asshole must be walking across the room.
Oh no.
He just grabs a bottle of wine and some glasses when he throws his full focus back towards the table with Regan, Reela and Jewel, seeing as Jarvis makes his way towards them with his eyes set on Regan.
Ah, hell no.
Cree grabs his plate, wine bottle and glasses before walking over as well, trying to hurry but having to be careful to not drop the food.
Jarvis leans over the side of the table with his palms flat on the surface directly beside Regan, just close enough to make him uncomfortable but far enough to not make direct contact, but Regan can feel the heat of his presence over his shoulder.
"You're the other newbie, right? Regan, was it? I don't think we've gotten the chance to meet yet," he says. The snide in his tone makes Cree pick up his pace a little bit.
Regan clears his throat and smiles, offering his hand. "No, I don't believe we have. Yes, my name is Regan Angevin. And you?" he keeps his hand out, but Jarvis doesn't even look at it so Regan slowly lowers it back down.
Jewel bites her lip and rubs Reela's shoulder, trying to get her to focus on Toya and not the scene in front of her, but Reela's attention is still trained on Regan and this man.
"Jarvis..." Jewel warns quietly.
He chuckles arrogantly and dodges his eyes to her. "What's the matter, Dee? I'm just being friendly to the new guy," he looks to Reela. "And you must be that... 'elf' kid Elder Haegen was talking about. It true that you were taken outta your home by this guy, here?" he nods his head towards Regan while keeping his eyes on Reela.
The girl bites her lip and shakes her head. "Regan and Cree saved me. They're my dads now!" she giggles happily, and Jarvis grimaces, but tries to cover it up with his conceited smirk.
"Don't you think you deserve... normal parents?"
Reela tilts her head. "But... they are normal."
Regan frowns and looks up at Jarvis with a glare. "I beg your pardon?"
Cree reaches the table and sets the food down a little too quickly, inserting himself between Regan and Jarvis, paying no mind to anybody but this asshole in front of him.
"Do yourself a favor and buzz off, pal."
"I'm just trying to be friendly, shorty. You should show some manners to your superior," he clicks his tongue and winks. Cree's jaw hardens and he makes no effort to even try being hospitable.
"Did it sound like I was asking?"
Jarvis chuckles and steps around Cree to sit down on the bench on Regan's other side, leaning back against the table.
"So, Regan. Tell me. You must... get a lotta slack, yeah? I mean, I'm not – you know – like you, but you're a decently attractive guy. Tall, handsome and polite. A catch. Do you really wanna, you know, waste all that on being a... what? A twink?"
No one even realizes what's happening before Jarvis is swiftly grabbed by the collar of his jacket and slammed up against the nearest wall. Cree glares up at him, anger burning in his eyes, but on the outside, he shows nothing but composed resentment.
Cree doesn't say anything until he's sure he's got the prick's attention, which it seems like he does on some level. His eyes still hold a smug gleam, but it only appears to be on the surface. Guess he wasn't expecting this to escalate like this.
"Jarvis, let me clear somethin' up for you, kay? Try to pay attention, 'cause I'm only gonna say this once," he starts, his voice is stern but calm, as if he's a parent scolding someone else's child for picking on his son. He has to keep it commanding, but professional.
It seems to get his attention.
"You can beat me up and call me 'short' or whatever other witless insults you can pull out of your ass, but let me make one thing clear." He breathes steadily, but with enough force to silently let Jarvis know how serious he is, as if he wasn't already making that obvious.
"You don't hurt Regan. You don't insult Regan. Hell, don't even look at Regan. Because if you do, you can believe me with full conviction when I say that I will make your life a living hell."
He pushes against his chest with a little more force and leans up to get in his face.
"Do I make myself clear?"
Jarvis provides no witty remark, not even a smirk. He just slowly brings his hands up at his sides.
"Crystal," he says. He can't tell if it was genuine or another half-assed comment, but he takes it as he sees it. Because if it wasn't sincere and Jarvis doesn't listen, then Cree will be sure to show him just how serious he was.
He nods once, sternly, before letting him go and taking a small step back. "Good. Now, why don't you make yourself useful and go inform Elder Haegen that the Beacon is done so we can get our orders for tomorrow," he narrows his eyes and condescendingly tilts his head.
"Or is that too much for your narrow-mind to handle?"
Jarvis huffs and throws his hands up again, his smirk returns but now it just looks forced.
"You know what, fine. Fine. You win. I'll go tell him. But only because I'm not gonna lower myself to stick around the filth here," he scoffs and turns away, leaving and trying to look like he's not in a hurry to get as far away from Cree as possible.
Cree nods to himself before returning to the table, ignoring the fact that he knows damn well that little scene got the attention of the entire room. But he doesn't give a shit as he drapes his arm around Regan's shoulders and pulls him against him.
Regan shudders as if he had forgotten how to breathe and he looks down at Cree.
"Cree Tyrell. You are the sexiest man I have ever seen," he practically swoons.
Cree smirks and grabs the bottle of wine, pouring some into two glasses and he turns his head up so his mouth is just below Regan's ear, uttering under his breath.
"You should invest in a mirror."
He doesn't wait to see Regan's blush and his brief moment of panic over the tone of his voice in company of that statement. He just turns forward and holds up his glass of wine to the rest of the room.
"To the Old-World." And he takes a drink.