Meeting Log
Attendees: O5-08
- PoI-012-A ("Iris Dark")
- EoI-012-A ("Chiras Darke Sai'Tek")
BEGIN LOG
O5-8 stands in front of a dark wooden door. His hand rests on the round doorknob. He breathes in fresh air and exhales before finally opening the door and entering the room behind.
The office is a spacious chamber with a single window on the leftmost wall that offers a view of the London skyline. The minimalist décor present is sparse yet expensive: small marble statues, some plants, and a single family portrait depicting a large man with a smile on his face, a woman who is also smiling, and a girl no older than 10, though she is not smiling. Her expression is impassive, and her eyes are dead and calculating.
Iris Dark sits in front of the portrait at a large desk filled with neatly arranged papers and a closed laptop. O5-8 walks toward the desk. Iris's gaze shifts to him.
Iris Dark: Eight.
O5-8: Ms. Dark.
Iris Dark: I'm impressed you managed to make it here this early. Traffic was good today, I hope?
O5-8: As a matter of fact, it was. But now that you mention it, I'm going to assume you had a hand in that.
Iris Dark: Naturally.
O5-8 takes a seat. His gaze lands on the empty chair beside him.
O5-8: I was under the impression this would be a private meeting.
Iris Dark: It will be. Mostly.
O5-8: "Mostly"?
Iris Dark: We're waiting for someone.
O5-8: Percival's letter suggested this would be between you and me. I don't like last-minute changes.
Iris Dark: Believe me, neither do I, but someone else insisted on being present today, and Percival agreed to that. Unfortunately, there's nothing I can do about it.
O5-8 sighs and leans back in his chair. The two remain silent for two minutes, with the only audible element being the ventilation system.
At 18:07, the office door opens. O5-8 turns around and immediately clears his throat.
A tall humanoid entity with distinctly reptilian characteristics enters the room. She is approximately 2.1 meters tall and possesses scales that are dark green in coloration, a protruding snout, and amber eyes with black vertical pupils. She is dressed in a black lounge suit designed to accommodate a digitigrade stance and a large tail.
Chiras Darke: Overseer Eight. It is a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance.
She extends a clawed hand toward O5-8. O5-8 does not reply immediately, but he quickly regains his composure and shakes her hand.
O5-8: Ahem, likewise.
O5-8 glances at Iris.
O5-8: I would have appreciated it if you had told me of your associate's nature.
Chiras chuckles and sits in the chair beside O5-8.
Chiras Darke: Please excuse her. I am afraid Iris prefers not to speak of me if she can help it. Our relationship is far from the closest, despite my best efforts to amend that.
Iris looks directly at Chiras for several seconds, then back at O5-8.
Iris Dark: Eight, this is Chiras Darke Sai'Tek, my… half-cousin. She will be answering all of your questions. I'm simply here to be a witness and to sign whatever needs signing on behalf of MC&D.
Iris opens and turns on the laptop on the desk.
Iris Dark: In the meantime, I have an urgent business to attend.
O5-8 turns to Chiras.
O5-8: I'm sorry, half-cousin?
Chiras Darke: Percival Darke is also my biological grandfather. He married grandmother some 300 years ago, and they had children. Those children then had children of their own, and I am one of them.
O5-8: I see. And I suppose this familial relationship is important for the matter at hand?
Chiras Darke: Very much so. The livelihood of my kind is the most affected by your organization's "meddling," as grandfather so graciously put it.
O5-8 folds his hands together and remains silent for several seconds.
O5-8: Then allow me to be direct. What exactly is MC&D hiding in the Carpathians? Not only did an incident with Valravn almost happen because of it, but the security of one of the most isolated and fortified locations on the entire planet was breached by someone deep in Percival's pockets for the sole reason of keeping us out of it. That isn't done for no reason.
Chiras Darke: Right. First and foremost, I want to apologize for that on his behalf; grandfather can go to unnecessary lengths when it comes to matters concerning family. To answer your question, what you are looking for in the mountains is my home… or rather, the doorway that leads to it.
O5-8: Please elaborate.
Her tail flicks once behind the chair.
Chiras Darke: Whatever your organization detected was caused by a fissure in space-time that serves as a gateway to what the Foundation calls a "Nexus," one populated by my kind, the Zadotek. What happened on the 14th was a technical mishap with the mechanism used to open it, nothing more.
O5-8: A technical mishap that generated disturbances detectable from orbit?
Chiras Darke: Yes. And I must say, your satellites are quite impressive for picking them up.
O5-8: You're dodging the question.
Chiras Darke: I am not doing such thing, your question was simply too vague.
Pause. O5-8 leans forward.
O5-8: What's the deal?
Chiras Darke: Pardon?
O5-8: Percival doesn't involve himself with us nearly as much since Iris took over his portion of the company. He must get something substantial out of this for him to personally go out of his way to address us directly.
Chiras Darke: Well, nothing.
Pause.
O5-8: Nothing?
Chiras lets out a low hiss that resembles a chuckle and returns to her previous posture.
Chiras Darke: Nothing with material worth that is. What he does receive is the affection of grandmother.
O5-8: Do you expect me to believe that Percival Darke is giving refuge and protection to an entire species for… what, love?
Chiras Darke: Oh, I didn't mean it that way! I know better than to take a man of your caliber for a fool, Overseer. But you must understand that love… well, it is the most twisted curse of all, is it not? It has a way of changing history and people, for better or worse. And grandfather is not an exception to that rule.
O5-8: Forgive my skepticism, but I have a hard time believing that. Even so, why did he call it an asset in his letter?
Chiras Darke: He is several centuries older than everyone in this room, and he has spent a majority of that time running the most profitable company on the planet. I surmise that he struggles with separating his business-centric mindset from most other things.
O5-8: That's a charitable interpretation of Percival's character.
Chiras Darke: Would you expect any less? He is my grandfather, after all.
Another pause. O5-8 sighs after several seconds and leans back again.
O5-8: What was used to open this portal? We could tell that nothing thaumaturgical was involved, and the analysis performed by Ontokinetics on the readings we picked up was largely inconclusive.
Chiras Darke: That—
Iris Dark: She won't be answering that question.
Chiras and O5-8 turn to look at Iris. Her eyes are still focused on the laptop.
Iris Dark: Sensitive information. You understand.
O5-8's gaze lingers on Iris for a few seconds before returning to face Chiras. She shrugs.
Chiras Darke: At the very least, I can assure you that the method is safe. As I said, what happened on the 14th was merely an unexpected mishap. My team and I will make sure that it does not happen again.
O5-8: Your assurances would carry more weight if we could verify those claims ourselves.
Chiras Darke: Undoubtedly so, I'm sure. But you cannot. I am afraid you will have to trust my word this time.
O5-8: That's a huge request, Ms. Sai'Tek. Trust is—
Chiras lifts a hand.
Chiras Darke: Just 'Darke' is fine, Overseer. Sai'Tek is the name of my tribe; it feels strange to be called that outside of certain contexts.
O5-8: …Right, my apologies. As I was saying, Ms. Darke, trust is built on more than just words.
Chiras Darke: I understand your incredulity, Overseer. But I must disagree with that premise. I have dutifully answered all of your questions thus far, and I have done so honestly. The fact that I am even here in the first place should mean something.
O5-8: Why?
Chiras Darke: Because grandfather can be paranoid. He did not want me to be here at first. He did not want you or your Foundation to know of the existence of my kind beyond what Iris would have told you. I can understand his reasons to some extent, but I believe this was the better option in the long term. At the very least, even if you still do not trust me, you can now put a face to the problem you are dealing with.
Pause.
O5-8: Iris?
Iris Dark: She's telling the truth. If it means anything, I didn’t want her here either.
O5-8: It does, thank you.
O5-8 takes a deep breath.
O5-8: …Very well, I will choose to believe you this time, Ms. Darke. However, that doesn't mean my colleagues will do the same.
Chiras closes her eyes and bares her teeth.
Chiras Darke: Of course, I would expect nothing less from your council. But, I imagine that you have some more immediate demands?
O5-8: Not many. For now, we will continue to monitor the Carpathians from orbit. I trust Percival won't have any objections to that?
Chiras Darke: I cannot speak for grandfather, but as long as the Foundation keeps its distance, there should not be an issue with it.
O5-8: Good. Now, I know I'm taking a shot in the dark here, but is there any possibility we could learn more about your species?
Chiras shakes her head.
Chiras Darke: I am sorry to say, but no. Grandfather would object to that.
O5-8: It was worth a try.
Pause. O5-8 glances briefly toward the window, then at Iris, and finally at Chiras.
O5-8: Then I believe we're done here.
Chiras Darke: Is that so?
O5-8 pushes his chair back and stands up.
O5-8: You've given me enough information to justify not escalating the situation any further. If you do keep everything under control as you've promised, we can pretend nothing happened on our end.
Chiras follows suit and stands up herself. She then extends a clawed hand, which O5-8 promptly shakes.
Chiras Darke: I am glad we could resolve this situation so swiftly, Overseer.
O5-8: Likewise. Ms. Dark, Ms. Darke.
Iris Dark nods and Chiras parts her lips, baring her teeth, and closes her eyes. Without another word, O5-8 turns around and walks toward the door. He opens it and steps out, closing it quietly behind him.
END LOG
