Good updates everyone.
Speaking of which, let's expand on Mystery Character from the original Urist saga a wee bit. I'll begin with this.
He looked at himself in the mirror. He wasn't preening or admiring himself. He was frankly examining himself, alert for flaws, for weaknesses, for the truth. Instead, he saw a man. One of many men who could easily pass for a dwarf, which explained his upcoming assignment.
He was short, for a human. He was slender, but had wiry muscles. His eyes were the earthy brown of good dirt, and his hair was a darker chocolate brown. His beard was short, and well trimmed, a necessary part of his marginal disguise. He had a strong jaw, and high cheekbones, lending to an aristocratic appearance. Overall, he was somewhat forgettable, the kind of face that everyone has, and no one remembers. A tremendous asset for an agent.
He looked away from the mirror, and pulled on the roughly made tunic. He slipped a few small trinkets into his pockets; a small flimsiplast picture of his parents, a communication device, and a steel ring with a picture of the corporation's logo on it.
Then he left his little room for the last time. Little did he know that this mission would be his last. Little did he know that he would be party to fell and terrible deeds within the coming weeks. His mission was a good one, to preserve the timeline of a specific fort in a specific dimension, to not allow outside agents to disrupt how things would progress. Such a task always sounds so easy, but with so many corporations sending out so many agents, in truth it was fundamentally impossible. Due to such things as the butterfly effect, an agent in a city on the other side of a planet could have a drastic effect on the events that were supposed to be preserved.
He knew this, and accepted that his task was far more difficult than most would believe. He was good at his job. He turned a corner, and opened a set of double doors into a conference room. Inside was six beings of various races, dressed formally, sitting at a conference table. Each being had before them a folder, containing the agent's profile, a description of the 'normal' timeline events expected from the mission area, and a cost-benefit analysis from Accounting.
The agent seated himself in the chair at the head of the table, and nodded at the beings before him. Suits. They were a necessary evil for the continuing operation of the company. He had become an expert at manipulating bureaucrats into doing what he wished and quickly. This mission briefing would be no different.
"So, Iohanne." Said the dwarf nearest to the agent, "This will be your one hundred thirty-second mission in your tenure here, correct?" The dwarf shuffled some papers around in the folder.
Iohanne, the agent, said, "That is correct, sir."
The being across the table from the dwarf, some sort of sentient with three eyes and oddly shaped hands, said, "Out of your completed missions, one hundred and twelve were successful, were they not?"
Iohanne nodded silently, no emotion showing on his face. The unsuccessful missions were no fault of his own, and the files said as much. The strange being nodded back, then said, "Do you believe this mission will have a benefit to outweigh the cost of trandimensional travel?"
Iohanne nodded slowly this time, and said, "If no unexpected circumstances arise, then yes. As you all well know, in my mission to Universe Kappa 12XM, I was assaulted by unlicensed operatives from an unknown source. I was forced to terminate them. Their bodies were found to unacceptably alter the timeline after that, which caused several messy paradoxes. It cost us a lot. But that was outside my control at the time."
The dwarf spoke up, "Indeed. We know that. You are always under tight observation for exactly this reason, and your mission controller is under orders to inform you immediately of any operatives detected in your vicinity. This mission, we have detected one licensed portal, and at least two operatives. We have suspicions that there are nearly five operatives being deployed into this mission area, as it has been deemed to have tremendous signifigance down the line. We expect you to be able to eliminate all the enemy operatives and return their bodies here, to prevent the timeline from being affected."
Iohanne nodded gravely. "I am aware of the protocols. I also have decided on my methods. If you will give me a greenlight, then I will get started on my mission. I believe it will take no longer than three weeks to track down and eliminate all the operatives within Lokumokab."
A heretofore silent being spoke up. It, for its race was hermaphroditic, wasn't even vaguely humanoid, and as such, its chair was of an altogether different style. It adjusted thermal display sheets with tentacles, and gurgled in its strange voice, "Our approval is dependant on a single thing."
Iohanne cocked his head, and said, "This is not normal. What is it?"
The being gurgled what seemed like a chuckle, and said, "We must ask that you not glimpse the adamantine of this world. Our auguries of the potentialites of such a situation suggest such a glimpse would be your undoing, as well as the possible death of an entire iteration."
Iohanne narrowed his eyes, "Auguries? This word suggests omens and other such vague predictions."
The being shuddered fitfully, "You must either agree, or we will deny you."
Iohanne shrugged, "Very well. I will not gaze upon any adamantine during my mission. I still don't understand why you insist on this, but it is not my place to question."
The being went very still. "You are given approval of this committee. Proceed to portal twenty-one immediately."
Iohanne stood, and bowed gently to the committee, "I will not return until this mission is complete." Then he turned, and headed to the portal. His fate tempting words were ignored by the committee, who had already moved onto budget discussion.
Moments later, Iohanne stood before a transdimensional portal. He smiled at the technician operating it, a pretty human female. She smiled back, and said, "You will appear in a mid-level mineshaft, very close to the main stairwell. We've already located your first target, but he is very well entrenched, and a direct assault would be unwise. I recommend finding a cat's paw to use against him, some scapegoat to do the dirty work for you." She shrugged, "But I'm not the assassin. Good luck, Iohanne."
Iohanne gritted his teeth, and stepped through the portal.
Ninja'd.
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Topic: [34.11] Spearbreakers - It shudders and begins to move (Read 2280420 times)