The Department of Illusion (Solo)

[Eridanus]

Regarding PermissionsGranted by Fallacy for self-modding purposes.

Day 46, Winter of 511 AV
Night-Time
Department of Illusion

Out of the door a handsome middle-aged man strode out, confident in every step he took, his eyes a startling violet that was the source of his intense gaze. A gaze that seemed to stare into one's very soul. This man was Cornelius Flint, Head of the fabled Department of Illusion, and his sudden appearance now made things very interesting, for he often let his supervisor deal with the usual events. The other staff pretended to continue with whatever paperwork they were doing, but their eyes furtively skirted up to keep a tab on the proceeding events.

The fact that the Head himself had decided to deal with this meant that this was no ordinary event. And it is not, for how often was it that a normal civilian entered the high security headquarters with a official's pass-code carrying the said person? Not often at all. There was no precedent, and the Department viewed its secrecy quite seriously.

Cornelius Flint stopped several feet away from the ethaefal, and the entire office was deathly quiet - even the normal ruffle of paper or the occasional whispering was absent - as everyone strained to hear what their boss had to say.

He did not say anything, but spent several moments observing the new arrival, his face an expression of thoughtfulness mixed with contempt, as if he were surveying an insect that should normally be squashed but deciding against it for this insect might be useful.

To FallacyI hope I caught his feeling correctly. I RP'ed Cornelius Flint according to how you portrayed him in the SQ

[Eridanus]

Cornelius continued staring at Eridanus, and the ethaefal refused to back down, glaring back into his eyes defiantly. He had the feeling that he was supposed to feel sorry, to feel like he was not supposed to be here.

He knew that he was probably let in to a secret that normal civilians like him was not supposed to know, but still he refused to back down. It was not as if he sneaked his way here, he walked in from the front door in view for all to see. He had to do it to save a life.

This defiance somehow seemed to amuse the Head of the Department, and a mild smirk began to creep into Cornelius' expression. After several moments of that tension-strung silence, his expression changed, as if he had made a decision and lost interest in the ethaefal.

"Varla!" A single word was uttered from Flint's mouth, a word that resonated with command and authority, befitting of a man used to power and expecting his words to be served.

An akalak suddenly appeared out of nowhere, a huge blue muscled warrior striding out of what seemed to be a wall nearby, and he raised an eyebrow questioningly at him.

"Two-Oh-Two-Eee or Forty-Five-Aye, up to you," Cornelius said, gesturing to Eridanus. Before the ethaefal could say anything, the man turned around and walked back to his office, seemingly having lost interest in this new arrival.

When the door to Flint's office closed, the entire office exploded in chaos and noise as everyone began talking to each other, discussing this recent turn of events. Eridanus continued to stand there, confused, for he felt like he had just received a judgement but not knowing what it was.

The akalak called Varla tapped the ethaefal on the shoulder, and gestured for him to follow the huge man.

[Eridanus]

"Do all of you expect to be paid for gossiping?" Varla demanded in a booming voice that resonated throughout the building. The staff instantly became silent upon the akalak's command, but when he returned his attention to Eridanus they began to whisper to each other, the usual environmental noise of an office environment returning.

"Come with me," the akalak said, and he lead Eridanus to the wall where he came from. He continued walking, and just plainly walked through the wall. Eridanus followed until the wall, and he hesitated for a while just before the wall. It looked pretty solid to him. Then again, Alvadas liked to mess around with its residents' minds, and he tentatively placed a hand on the wall. His palm landed on the solid stone, and he tried pushing against it to no avail.

"You have to walk in confidently, without pause and with intent," the akalak's voice came from behind the wall.

Eridanus sighed, and he stepped back, staring at the wall intently and setting his resolve. At the worst he would probably just get a bloody nose and a bruised ego. He built up his stride, his mind screaming at him to stop this insanity, but his resolve forcing him to go on, and just before he impacted with the wall he closed his eyes, expecting to feel stone against his body.

A few steps later and he was still walking, and he opened his eyes, seeing the amused giant in front of him. He had passed through the wall!

"You don't have to close your eyes, you know," Varla quipped, and the akalak walked to the chair and table at the end of the room. It looked like a large office, and on the large table that he was sitting behind was a simple sign that read Supervisor.

"Take a seat, ethaefal."

[Eridanus]

Eridanus took a seat before the heavily-built akalak, who looked too big for the chair he was sitting on. He had no idea what was happening throughout, but he had the feeling that his silent questions were about to be answered, for better or worse.

"I am Varla Swivle, the Supervisor of the Department of Illusion, the branch of the government that does not exist," the blue-skinned warrior began. "That man just now is my boss, and everyone else's boss as well. Cornelius Flint, the Head of the DOI."

"Now you must be wondering what is going to happen to you. To be honest, I'll admit that there has been not much precedent regarding cases like yours. He gave me two choices, and seeing that you have done us a service by saving one of our men I'll give you these two choices as well."

The akalak steepled his fingers, resting his elbows on the table and scrutinized the ethaefal quite piercingly.

"But before that, let me hear what happened."

Over the next half a bell, Eridanus spilled the beans. Everything that happened from the moment he walked out of the door of his government-provided housing to look for the Library, to the point of how he entered the Department. Every now and then the akalak requested for him to clarify some points, or to repeat certain segments, or to ask for more detail.

When he was finally done, the ethaefal looked down in surprise to find a glass of cool water that appeared suddenly on the table just in front of him.

"Have a drink," the akalak said, his thoughts far off as he processed the events that transpired.

The ethaefal sipped the cooling water, which somehow felt not only refreshing but sparkly as well, as if he was drinking the essence of the stars, whatever that might taste like. After a while, Varla came to a mental conclusion and he cleared his throat to get Eri's attention.

"Yes yes... it seems that my choice is quite right. I'll want to... but..." Varla muttered, and thought for a few more seconds before directly addressing the leth-born. "What is your name, ethaefal?"

In his confusion and due to the hurried progression of events, Eridanus had quite forgotten basic courtesies like this, and he quickly gave his name apologetically.

"Eridanus... that star. How fitting..." Varla mumbled. He directed his gaze intensely at the ethaefal, and said, "Why did you come to Alvadas, Eridanus, child of Leth?"

[Eridanus]

"The government sent their agents to pick me from Sunberth. Something about a prophecy regarding the recent events," Eridanus answered truthfully. Of course, these were not the only reasons he left Sunberth, but this answer would probably be the most fitting one.

Varla raised an eyebrow, and began looking at the ethaefal in a more intrigued manner. "You're one of those people? Coincidence, coincidence..." He trailed off.

"That man you saved earlier? He is Stanley Harper, one of our agents. That woman you saw earlier was his partner and sister, Stacey Harper. She has been unfortunately declared as Mission In Action. It is quite likely that she's dead, but we cannot declare a Killed In Action unless we have concrete evidence of death."

"Tell me Eridanus. What were you thinking at that time? Why didn't you run away? Why did you risk yourself for people you don't know against things you don't know?"

Eridanus paused, and he could feel the searching gaze of the akalak on him. He felt like he was being cross-examined, though he had no idea why. He had already given his side of the story; whatever intelligence they could glean from him had already been granted. What would the organization hope in asking these random questions?

"I obey the city's wishes, Varla. This is not my first time here, and the city is a dynamic city. Some might even call it sentient. If the city demands something of you, it usually mean that something is going wrong and it decided that you are capable of solving it. That man, in a way, protected me earlier from the unknown attacks of those strange creatures. My honor and pride did not allow me to leave him to his death, not after I saw what it did to the woman."

It was the ethaefal's turn to direct an intense gaze at the akalak, the tone of his voice resounding with the surreal celestial glamor his divine connection with Leth granted.

"I do not love combat, akalak, despite wearing these swords wherever I go. It is a mere necessity. These swords protect me, but it is a burden for I cannot in good conscience leave a fellow man behind to those... things."

[Eridanus]

"What did you think those things are, Eridanus?" Varla asked, as if administering some sort of test.

"I have no idea," the ethaefal began. He had no idea why he was being asked these questions, but he assumed that it served some sort of purpose for the department and the government. "I have already told you as much as I know about them from observation. I have never seen them before elsewhere in Mizahar, though."

"That is correct. The Department calls them Zulu-Five-Fives, and the ones you met might possibly be either an Epsilon or Delta category, most probably an Epsilon, from what you've described."

The akalak chuckled at the huge expression of utter confusion from Eridanus. It was clearly evident that he had no idea what the Supervisor had just said.

"Pardon me, I get too used to our lingo sometimes. We call them shadowkin, child-of-Leth. We categorize them according to power, the ones you met with the Harpers were probably low-level ones. Definitely not fresh, but weak nonetheless."

"They are most definitely not weak," Eridanus objected, interrupting Varla's explanation. He knew a powerful mage when he saw one, and the man he saved was definitely one of the better projectionists he had met throughout his travels.

"Oh yes, trust me Eridanus, those were the weaker ones. Relatively speaking."

There was a short pause as the ethaefal digested these words. If the weaker ones were that powerful, what about the rest? Was Alvadas in danger, then? Varla read the leth-born's questions quite easily, and he calmly continued his speech.

"The Underground is a very dangerous place, and so much of it remained unmapped and unknown, even to us. That is our purpose - to completely discover and understand the mysteries of this unknown aspect of our city so that the Azure Triad can better decide on how to deal with this issue."

"Why are you telling me all this?"

"Doubtless Flint would not be as patient as me, but you will see soon enough."

[Eridanus]

Varla Swivle uncrossed his fingers, and he began to tap the desk with one of his fingers. It was a strange sight for a huge muscular creature like he to tap the desk so delicately, but Eri's focus on that was gone when he began talking again.

"The Harpers were rookie scouts part of the DOI's Development Team. They were picked for having one of the best performance in the cohort, and tonight's mission was supposed to be pretty run-of-the-mill. Basic patrol and observation, with a low chance of incidents. We expected danger, naturally, but nothing more than they could handle. We did not expect to find shadowkin this far out," Varla sighed, the pain on his face due to the loss of one of his men evident.

"What do you mean?"

"Shadowkin are a native phenomena to a closed section of the Underground. Recently they have been spotted outside, but the numbers were low enough to be written off as either a mistaken observation - we are mortal after all and therefore fallible - or an anomaly. Stacey Harper is our first casualty from shadowkin outside their native environment, and tonight's events is most probably our first ever armed encounter outside."

The akalak did not say more for the time being as he sank into a deep thought. Eridanus was still as confused as ever, his mind racing to process all this information. It seemed that with more questions answered, more questions surfaced. He felt like he was wading into this pool of the unknown, of a world not known to him, and honestly it was both exciting and terrifying at the same time.

"What would you do, if you were in my shoes?" Varla posed a question suddenly.

It was out of the blue, and pretty random, but the part of the ethaefal's brain that governed logic, strategy and tactics pushed into high gear as he tried his best to review and analyze the information he was given.

"I would increase surveillance activities, with a strong emphasis on stealth, or increase the firepower of these patrols. Collect more data to confirm the appearance of these... shadowkin. Analyze and cross-reference based on whatever you have before - from how you talked I assume your men have come into contact with these things before?"

The Supervisor nodded curtly and gestured for the ethaefal to continue.

"Study their behavior, intelligence, weaknesses, patterns. Cross-reference to any recent events or sources that might have information on these creatures. Only with all these data can I - or you - make an enlightened and informed decision. Anything before that would be fraught with risk."

[Eridanus]

Varla nodded, with the hidden delight of a student passing some sort of test. "You seem quite learned, Eridanus. Just a little curiosity on my part, if you don't mind sharing. Have you ever studied at a place of formal education? A school?"

"The University of Zeltiva," the ethaefal replied, with a hint of pride. He had learned many things, both arcane and mundane, practical and theoretical, from that place, as well as many non-academic things. That place had changed him, and some of his life values and world-view. "The Academy and The Lyceum in Denval, and our very own Acumen Asylum, along with a plethora of apprenticeships and terms under self-employed instructors and teachers on a range of topics and subjects."

The akalak seemed genuinely impressed by this, remarking, "You do seem to have an unnatural hunger for knowledge, eh?"

It was a rhetorical question, and the ethaefal did not reply. It was an accurate observation, for knowledge was one of the things he used to fill the empty void within, something to give him a goal and things to look forward to in his potentially dreary immortal life. He had prayers and thoughts of Priskil to give him hope, and the motivation to meet Leth somehow and get an answer to his predicament to spur him on, but knowledge was one of the things that filled in the blanks to keep him going.

"The Department of Illusion is the government's first and only sword, shield and intelligence against the unknown. We study illusions, and try our best to master the unknown. We keep the Underground as securely as we could away from the average civilian, and it is my apologies that despite our efforts the city still managed to redirect you. I must say though it is a stroke of good fortune for Stanley Harper though."

"We are the line standing between the peace and prosperity of the normal city functioning above, and the chaos and anarchy that is the Underground. We have been doing our job for centuries, but little by little, we will surely conquer the unknown."

Varla Swivle stopped and looked at Eridanus critically, before clearing his throat and changing his tone to speak more formally.

"And now we have come to a choice. The choice that Cornelius Flint gave me to make, and one that I will know give to you. Think carefully before you give an answer, for it may well change your life as you know it."

[Eridanus]

"The Two-Oh-Two-Eee or the Forty-Five-Aye. Two protocols, one largely obscured and one commonly invoked. We may be a secret organization, but we have to still account to the Azure Triad for our actions and so developed protocols as guidelines for our actions."

"The 202E is an old protocol that was created more of an afterthought, and I would never honestly expect it to be invoked, much less by our Head. He seemed to think something different in you, though, and I will remind you again that your case has no actual precedent to serve as a guideline."

"Now, the 45A, that is most commonly invoked. We have our own team of highly skilled and talented hypnotists whose very job revolves around 45A. If you have ever wondered throughout our conversation how such a big organization as ours managed to remain secret for so long, it is because of these people. If you choose, we can make you forget that all of this happened, and you can resume your life as you see fit. Do not worry about any damage to your intelligence or memories, for we have been doing this for centuries. Our team of talented people will ensure no lasting damage done."

"The 202E... is an invitation to join our team. If you so choose, you willingly enter our services as will be accorded the same privileges and rules that the rest of our employees have. You will be bound by the same statute of secrecy that we abide by, and you will be in effect, employed by the government. You can choose day or night working hours, whatever you prefer. Be warned though, for once you decide on this you may be exposed to things you did not wish existed, sights you may want to unsee, and your sanity might be sorely tested."

Varla sounded like he was reciting a spiel from a written speech, and the words he added after that sounded more informal and personal.

"You are capable and have the potential, Eridanus. This much I know from Flint's scrutiny earlier. Oh yes, he is a very observant man, there is a reason why he is Head. I know that I should not seek to persuade you either way, when in fact you might be far better off accepting the 45A. However, before you do, think about our city. Think about the silent dangers below it, and what we strive to do to understand and protect everyone from it."

"It is ultimately your choice, and I will not blame nor judge you for either one."

With that the Supervisor lapsed back into his chair, silently gazing at Eridanus as he awaited an answer.

[Eridanus]

The ethaefal was in turmoil. Despite the hints given he had not quite expected this turn of events. He was used to government agencies always making the decisions, doing things that they thought was best for the people. He was suddenly given this huge choice, and was being treated quite respectfully by most probably the second highest ranked official in the DOI. The burden of choice... he fully understood what the akalak meant.

If the decision had been made for him it would be easy to just accept his circumstances and went along. However, now that he was faced with this choice he had to properly consider the impacts on his life. What would he do? What should he do?

He did not quite relish the prospect of facing such dangers and risking his life on a daily basis. Yet, other men and women were risking their lives daily to protect the blissfully ignorant population from the dangers of the unknown, and as he saw himself as a resident and citizen of Alvadas there was a sort of obligation for him to contribute if they saw his skill-set as useful.

More importantly, he hated the idea of losing information. He loved information, he pursued knowledge, and the thought of having that erased away was too much to bear. Would ignorance be a better thing? If one wanted to live a blissfully ignorant one, perhaps. What reaction would Leth or Priskil have if they disapproved of his actions? Or more importantly, what would they have done in his shoes?

Eridanus constantly sought to better himself and his understanding of the world, and to constantly try to reduce the bridge between his two most favored gods, one he sees as a father and one he sees as a close, beloved friend and confidante.

When he thought of it this way, suddenly the decision was clear. There was no more need for internal agonizing, or for mental calculations. He simply had to follow his heart, and despite what logical calculations his mind could throw at him, his heart's desire was simple. A burning desire to do the right thing, and to discover the secrets of this hidden world beyond the veil of normalcy.

The ethaefal's face composed from one of torn conflict to one of silent resolve, and he simply replied, "202E."

The Supervisor had been watching the leth-born's internal torment, from consideration to resolution, and upon receiving a vocal confirmation Varla broke into a huge grin, beaming widely.

"Welcome to the team, Eridanus. Welcome to the Department of Illusion."