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Aberrant: Children of Quantum Fire - [Interlude] Exalted Diplomacy


Shosuro Miren

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June 26th, 2027

The Royal Palace, Kinshasa, Congo

Puck had materialized in the room set aside for such things in the diplomatic wing of the Royal Palace in Kinshasa. Although the two nova guards in the room only glanced over him, he felt the tingle of an attempt at a telepathic scan; the faint frown on the nova to his left, an attractive Congolese woman, as she failed to sense even the most innocuous of surface thoughts earned a small shrug. "I'm only thinking naughty thoughts, I promise," he winked at her. She started; none of the intel she'd been given said that Puck had telepathic abilities but no only had he resisted her scan, he'd felt it. That didn't happen very often.

The other nova, another woman but this one of French descent, finished whatever kind of quantum-based scan she was doing and nodded. "He's clean." Her eyes flicked back over to him, "Well, he's not carry any weapons at least. Welcome to Kinshasa, Puck. You'll be meeting with the king in the West Garden salon. Please follow Kalen; he's waiting outside for you and will be your guide during your time in the Palace."

Puck nodded and gave the two women polite bows before heading out of the room; he could hear them gossiping about him after the doors closed. Kalen, a nova youth with a striking resemblance to the telepathic nova in the greeting room, bowed deeply and then started a little once he actually caught site of his charge for the day. They looked at each other for a moment; Puck took pity on the boy and finally prompted, "The West Garden salon? We shouldn't keep the King waiting."

"Uh, oui-yes, yes sir. This way please!" They set off at a steady clip through the hallways of the Palace, staff quite used to nova visitors still stopping to stare and whisper as they went.

Puck could smell the delicate air of flowers and fruiting trees wafting down the hallway as they neared the West Garden salon; he could even detect the faint but unmistakable smell of cherry blossoms combined with a green earthiness. Sakura is here....she lives here. He set the thought and small buzz of annoyance aside; she wouldn't be involved in his negotiations with the Storm King, thankfully. Kalen bowed deeply at the door, oblivious to Puck's discovery or thoughts, and opened the door; the youth stayed outside with the posted guards.

Puck stepped into a the semi-circle room; it budded off the palace like a soap bubble. Except for the wall that room shared with the hallway, floor and domed ceiling were clear glass; sunlight streamed down on the cream-colored room and furniture and beyond the transparent walls was a large zen garden, itself surrounded by a carefully tended flower garden that showcased the diversity and beauty of the Congolese jungle. A small bar ran along the one true wall to his left, and an antique writing desk took up the space to his right. In the center of the room was a sitting area: two couches facing each other, a loveseat on one side of them and two overstuffed chairs on the other side. A glass coffee table sat comfortably in the center and boasted a delicate china tea set.

On one couch sat the Storm King, every bit as a large and impressive as Puck had been told he would be; next to him was the Morrigan, the king's feral adoptive daughter and a better bodyguard than if he'd stuffed half the Congolese army in the room with them. Not that the Storm King really needed a bodyguard, and Puck had heard through the great rumor mill of nova life that she'd been taking and interest in governance lately. They both stood when he entered and the king made his way over, shaking Puck's hand with friendly courtesy and motioning to the sitting area. "Puck, a pleasure to meet you. Please, sit. And this is my daughter, Morrigan. She'll be sitting in with us, if that's okay."

Puck took a seat on the opposite couch and nodded to the pretty and predatory nova. "Einherjar, Morrigan. I have no objection to her presence, so long as my request for this to be considered a sealed conversation is still granted."

The large Nordic nova waved a hand dismissively, "Of course, of course. Now, what did you want to discuss?"

Puck poured them all cups of the strongly spiced tea and took one for himself. "There are two matters. The second is dependent of the first and firstly I would like to open branches of the Exatl! organization in the Congo, beginning with a headquarters here in Kinshasa."

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The Morrigan was nervous. She'd heard about this Puck though research and information that Esperance had provided to them both. Morri was sure that Esperance had provided primarily for the Morrigan, rather than for Einherjar. The subject had made the matter of his force of personality clear. So when he sauntered into the room and tried to dazzle her with his quantum, she was ready.

Or so she thought.

The moment her red eyes locked with his crystal blue ones, she felt that rush of heat in her body that signaled male attention. A low growl slipped from her, more from instinct than anything else. Einherjar felt her press herself into the couch but his ward made no further movement. When he glanced at her quickly, a smile was curling her lips. He could still smell that she was upset, but she managed that uneasy expression. Puck got a distant nod instead of a handshake.

Those red eyes bore into his with an intimidating intensity; if this was what she was like when she was merely intent, Puck wasn't sure he wanted to see her truly focused on him in a negative way. Were that focus sexual, it would be incredible, but that was unlikely from the rumors he'd heard about her. She was silent until his request; as he finished speaking, she leaning forward and said, "Why more than one? What is your purpose in having multiple branches here?"

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Puck blinked, but returned the volley gamely, "Not everyone in the Congo lives in Kinshasa. Smaller additional branches through the country offers a greater number of people access to our services and membership, if they desire. It's the same reason that there a multiple branches opened and opening across the US and Japan. We have the resources to fund branches and not all individuals that might benefit from us or are interested in membership have the resources to travel to major cities."

"It wouldn't happen instantly, the smaller branches, I mean." He shrugged. "We'll need time to get set up properly here in Kinshasa and learn all the ins and outs of operating in the Congo first, and then find appropriate places to put satellite branches." He smiled at the dangerous, at least formerly feral nova; he enjoyed her directness, if not the suspicion attached to it.

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"I think you'll find that the Congo is fairly easy to operate in." Einherjar chose to speak, the rumble of his voice like caged thunder in the large room. Pale eyes like two chips of glowing ice studied Puck, their gaze neither friendly nor unfriendly, just... measuring. As though he had predicted several dozen courses this meeting could take, and was watching to see which was right. Apparently the Storm King was a hard man to put on the back foot, as a number of opponents both political and physical had learned to their cost. Puck knew that there were new novas, 2nd generation children, who considered the ex-Elite a 'dinosaur', slower and less evolved than they were, all too human despite his power and status. Puck liked to believe that he himself wasn't so presumptious, and that 'dinosaurs' could be dangerous too.

"The question I have for you, however, is 'why?'" Einherjar asked softly, examining the younger nova. "Why do we want Exalt! here at all?" Under the neat, thick blond beard, white teeth showed in a grin. "Sell me on the idea, sir."

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Puck settled into the couch and smiled at the king. "Well, I could attempt to spin you tales the charity work that Exalt! does, the business that offer economic and cultural benefits for the surrounding communities, the opportunities that the organization offers to members, and so on, but that doesn't really give you any more than any other non-profit organization can offer. Nor does it explain why after basing the business in the US and then next expanding to Japan, both UN countries, why I would look to expanding to a nation not only not a UN nation, but one that has at best what would be called strained ties with the UN and its daughter agencies." He sipped his tea and then set the cup down. "The truth of the matter is that I have something to offer the nova race that I cannot offer from any country affiliated with Project Utopia or bound by the agreements between Utopia and the UN."

He pulled out his OpPhone and pulled up the dossier on Genesis' machines; the information described the effect and use of the machines without any schematics beyond the user interface. "These are being provided to Exalt! by a manufacturer that prefers to remain anonymous but wishes to do what they may for novakind. I have personally seen the effect and they operate as advertised. My main impetus for opening branches of Exalt! in the Congo is to provide a second facility for the use of these machines." He quirked a grin at both of them. "We've been referring to them as Taint-B-Gone machines. There's an official name buried in here somewhere, but I doubt it will catch on except in scientific circles - and on brochures."

"The manufacturer values their privacy in the matter and has designed the machines with a kill-and-fry switch for any attempts to open them up and study the tech - meaning that any nation bound by Utopia's Novatech division's approval for new tech cannot host these devices, despite what they could mean for novas as a whole." He shrugged. "The Congo is pretty much unique in its freedom from those constraints, first-world conditions, and incredibly high nova population. So that's why I'm here personally and asking for permission to extend Exalt! operations to the Congo."

Enhancements
Using Candor.
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Morri’s glowing red eyes narrowed at the mention of the machines, and that pinched suspicion didn’t leave her face. “First, do they work?” As always, her British accent, a mirror of Ein’s, seemed at odds with her reputation of a feral destroyer of lives on the battlefield. “You’re asking King Einherjar to give his permission based on the benefit of these machines. I would like to see a demonstration of their prowess. I assume they have been tested?”

Morri didn’t say it, but there was a risk to the Congo here. Utopia already had issues with the African nation’s use of “black” novatech and Morri could see Taint-B-Gone only accelerating the process. She hadn’t missed that despite being dedicated to the development of the quality of nova life, including the eradication of nova taint, Utopia actually stomped very hard on anything that might lessen their control over the novas. It pissed her off to no end, but that didn’t mean that she’d welcome Puck and his weird group into her home with open arms just to put a thumb in Utopia’s eye. “And on that note, if we don’t allow your machines, will you still want to operate in this country?”

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He nodded. "Yes, to all three questions." He tapped the OpPhone and brought up the medical scans that Star had done on the half-dozen volunteers that had used the machines. They all had had only low levels of taint, a necessity by Genesis' word, for the simple expediency of time. He passed the phone to the Morrigan for her perusal. "These are the records we have from the first round of nova trials. If you scroll all the way to the bottom, there are also the records for the experiments that the developer did on tissue samples as well."

"If you page over to the next file, it's distilled into something readable by those of us without medical degrees." He grinned at the two of them. "Trust me, it's a much easier read. Even in Bodhi, I was quickly left behind after 'it worked'."

He sighed as he moved on to the last point, "While we chose the Congo for our next sovereign nation to approach for expansion because of the machines and the unique opportunity presented, a 'no' on the machines is no reason to then avoid the country. Exalt! still offers all the benefits of a well-run philanthropic organization for the country and the Congo still offers an environment very appealing to Exalt!: a place where both novas and baselines live side-by-side and are valued without either being exploited."

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A slim eyebrow rose as Morri accepted the OpPhone, careful not to touch it's owner's skin directly. She didn't follow most of the test information, but she could read and understand the introductions. The corners of her mouth turned down slightly as she pondered this twist in the world; a mind that matured at Einherjar's knee had no problem grasping many of the possibilities and futures this foretold. She couldn't guess them all, but she was no mental slouch either. The thing that worried her most was the reaction to the machines. Making them tamper-proof bothered her; if they were meant to benefit the world, then why were they set up that way? That made her uncomfortable with the thought that only Exalt! had access to the technology - the ability to help so many people. Even Morri herself could have her eyes back, if she wanted. But she didn't care enough to even consider it - when she looked in the mirror, she saw herself and part of her was the red, glowing eyes.

She didn't address her worries head-on, however. "What will you charge to use the Taint-be-Gones?" Morri asked bluntly. Her red eyes met Puck's with all the force for her distrust and disdain for strangers, particular male strangers, who wanted something from her.

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Puck accepted her distrust with equanimity. He didn't know the particulars of her past, but he was well acquainted with her reputation. "Our thought is a sliding scale fee based on an individual nova's means." She stared at him, the intensity of her gaze demanding a more complete disclosure.

He was quiet for a moment, and when he spoke again it was with a softer but more personal quality to his voice. "These machines....they offer novas that do not want to join the Teragen or any other group that might be out there that has found other means of interacting with taint a way of dealing with what can be a crippling or even lethal alteration to their quantum signature. It does not remove the gross effects that can be wrought upon a nova by the accumulation of taint, but it does restore the original paths of quantum flow through the nova's node. These machines have the possibility of being a lifeline to many novas."

He glanced between the two of them and shrugged. "I'd set it for free if I thought a significant number of novas wishing to use the devices would actually trust that. If they will here in the Congo, then free. The sliding scale fee is to give the impression that Exalt! is trying to profit from the technology. However, the practicality of the matter is that most people do not trust anything that seems entirely altruistic or at least unmotivated by personal gain. That the manufacturer of these devices has created them as a closed 'black box' system will only heighten that suspicion. By charging a fee - and money is usually quite easy for novas to come by - those that would use the machines feel a measure of security in understanding the 'base motivations' of Exalt! in offering access to them."

"That I am a Terat offering a way to rid a person of taint only complicates the issue further." He shrugged, looking mildly annoyed at that. "The basic design we have for the process now is to create a resort-like enclosure to house the machines and any companions those using the machines would like to have along to give them a feeling of control and security. The process can take weeks or months depending on the level of taint the nova has accumulated and the nova is essentially in cryogenic stasis for that period. Any fees charged would simply be reinvested in the compound itself; Exalt! is merely acting as an intermediary due to the manufacturer's desire to remain anonymous."

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