The artificial lights over the biodome have been slowly dimming for the past hour, in preparation for the simulated nighttime. The park was now much darker, illuminated only to the point of a full moon on a clear summer night. The various passerby that populated the serene woodlands have been slowly retreating back into the station proper to get their rest for the night, only a few people still lingering, strolling down the cobbled pathways and conversing in hushed tones. The sound of crickets flooded the night as a mellow breeze was introduced into the closed environment, the trees gently swaying in an almost rhythmic manner. Hussaini stood under the wooden pagoda, leaning onto the sturdy cut off wall, with both his arms nestled over it. The cool breeze caressed his face, while his eyes darted over the lake in front of him, captivated by the dancing lights shimmering over the rippling surface. Having not moved for over two hours, he straightened up and stretched out his arms, cracking his neck to relieve some tension, while still looking at the surface of the lake, and occasionally over to the tree lines behind it, as if looking for something. It occurred to him that the person he was supposed to meet may not appear, but he wasn't overly disappointed. He enjoyed the day off he got here, a chance to observe the flow of life, to be alone and unrecognized by the people around him. It was getting chillier than he was comfortable with, and he picked up and put on the jacket he previously discarded and hung over the wall. He inhaled deeply while fixing his jacket and his hair, took one more look around, looking for any sort of movement, and then returned to his original position, arms on top of the wall and looking over the lake.
An hour before the meeting would start, the Roc of the Operative approached the freeport. For quite a while the Roc was just roaming around, flying in circles like a vulture over a carcas. Freeport 10 had not just one bio-dome, which made it a bit difficult to get a good overview over the area. He had that guess it would be on the biodome with the blackened glass, the one that was currently in night-mode. Especially in a shiny system like Tau-37, this was a necessity the people of the freeport felt. There was only so much visible, so the Operative decided to head for the hangar.
Once more he drew some attention with his unusual outfit, which almost resembled a hoverbiking suit, however an unikum with certain extras. The most important one was definitely the internal cooling, as without it, running around in a full body suit with a helmet would turn him into a hot mess within minutes. There was still a bit of time before the Blueberry would arrive, so he decided to move to the dark biodome and take a look at what was given. It was quite big and very different from the biodome on Freeport 2 in Bering. Looking around, he tried to find Hussaini, but he had no idea how he even looked like. So far, he only saw the Commune in space. Right now, they weren't his enemies anymore, simply because of Maren having deals with them. And he hoped that would be his joker in case of this situation derailing.
As his time was about to run out, he had spotted a few individuals that were behaving weird enough to either draw or not draw attention. A begger, a guy who looked like he was selling cardamine, a bunch of other people who were looking rather suspicious and a guy at a pagoda who just existed. In the end, the Operative was not sure whether it would be here in the public. Was he just wasting his time? Maybe it was the other biodome, but there were way more people around. Maybe it would be in a small room somewhere else on the station. Not enough time to find out. Taking a last look at the people around him, he moved back, wanting to be at the hangar bays when his favourite Knight Captain would arrive.
Silently, just like it didn't intend to be found in these god-forsaken pastures of space, an old, worn Sunburst freighter lonely traversed the wastes of Tau-37. A beautiful system, the pilot of the ship deemed it to be, as it was lightened by a pair of siblings that couldn't be more different - the blue and yellow star together truly gave the system a unique touch that couldn't be forgotten. In the distance, first only small, but soon bigger, a station slowly became visible, a beacon of independence so to say, innocently lurking inside an ice field. As soon as the ship left the empty space and entered it, hundreds of tiny ice crystals were suddenly ricocheting off the activated, yet weak shields, creating a sound that began unnerving the pilot steering the vessel.
The previous silence, the one she had been gifted to enjoy for a while and had now been interrupted, was having a calm effect on her, yet such calmness left her alone with the thoughts passing by in her ever concerned head. Thoughts of trickery, chicanery and deceitfulness, words that in her opinion would portray the person she was about to meet very well. To be fair, it would happen in the safeguarded gardens of Freeport 10, a place of neutrality and peace, but she felt unable to avoid the fact that who she would be dealing with was - with certainty - a manipulating man of the more nastier varieties. She would feel a slight taste of emerging contrition, pestering her with a few more or less craven thoughts, before she returned her attention to the station her vessel was about to reach. No, she wouldn't turn her back on the station, after all it was too late to go back on the decision she had made. The superficial calmness of the system didn't help - because calmness could house dangers just as well, she knew.
Danger might being an understatement.
The way the Sunburst landed on one of the free landing pads of the Freeport could have reminded one of a very old man trying to bend down and finding pain in his back as a consequence. Giving quite similar noises to the man's groaning. Putting her hands away from the console, the pilot realized they were trembling, only slightly, but perceptible. She would have to cool down - which she was absolutely certain of. One by one, the systems were switched off, reducing the noise it made more and more until it fall completely silent. The back hatch opened with an awful squeaking and a feminine figure tramped out of it - her legs felt weirdly heavy. As she had been expecting due to the late hours, the hangar was pretty much deserted, one or two lone engineers were frantically running around. What she however couldn't help but notice was a Roc standing on another landing pad, and not far away from it another figure she was downright relieved to see. Looking as weird as ever in his suit. It was regulating her heartbeat positively as she was moving up to him, a distinct smile playing around her lips.
"Good to see you", said she when she halted right before him and shook his hand. She was being dead serious, and a modest hint of fear was audible as she spoke. "I hope you got all your stuff ready and prepared? I'd favour if we get out of here alive, in one piece and without any major scratches."
"I am prepared. But you don't look really fit," the Operative's as usual androgynous voice sounded, altered by the voice morpher in his helmet. "Are you alright?"" Maybe John found out how to doggy her, he thought without voicing it. It made him smirk, though. "Where do we meet Hussaini?""
Elena's face kept being quite emotionless, likely an attempt to avoid an insight into her inner feelings. Even though it was yet only her bodyguard and friend and not some bogey that was standing before her. "Not much sleep", she said vapidly before shrugging her shoulders to a minor degree. "I'm alright, don't worry about me." A small pause later, she went on. "We will meet him in one of the biodomes. Where only a few will see us together. Would be extremely bad publicity if too many people find me together with him. Maybe I should have gotten a mask as well." She would turn her body around, hiding the slight smile that formed on her lips on purpose, and would aim for the hangar's exist, leading to the vast, complex network of floors and corridors of the Freeport.
Expecting him to follow her, she asked: "How long have you been here already? I take it you haven't seen him by now, am I right?" As they were talking, they reached the door leading out of the hangar, entering the first of many more hallways to come until they would come to their destination. The corridores were certainly more busy than the hangar had proven to be, with many figures and faces of partly dubious origins walking the opposite direction. And as always, the mere fact of a blue-haired woman and a man who made the appearance of a hoverbiker would draw more eyes than desired. Hoping that this will change once they are actually in the biodome, Elena kept taking sometimes the left, sometimes the right fork and striding through the hallways which light tubes were lightening in a dazzling white.
And so they walked towards the bio-dome, the one with the darkened glass. Even though she obviously had some doubts about the entire plan, it made him smile to see her again, and it made him smile even more to be able to look at her without her seeing it. "I tried to locate him earlier, but I was only able to guess how he might look like. Not sure if he was even around when I observed the area." Walking more by her side again, he carefully eyed their surroundings as they finally reached the bio dome. With a push on a button at the little display at his arm he switched to a night-mode of the helmet's visor, showing everything way better visible for him through the black material. "Baby is fine?" he asked her while he scanned the area, waiting for her to give him a hint of who could be the Commune guy.
As soon as they were entering the biodome, Elena tried to ignore exactly those doubts and concerns she still had about the whole action. It's too late anyways, she told herself over and over again, seemingly quiet from the outside, while she let her gaze wander around the scenery of the biodome. Her hands were resting on her hips during the whole time, making her overall appearance seem not relaxed, but rather tense, her facial expressions turning strained, her eyes narrowing to tiny slits for a few seconds. Silently they stood besides each other, while she was letting the scenery unfold its effects on her mind, deeply inhaling the fresh air.
It had become quite dark inside the biodome, obviously in an attempt to simulate a late evening, however it was still lightened enough by various lamps emitting a warmly glowing light to perceive her surroundings well enough. It was a positive surprise that the climate was anything but tropic, it was more like an imitation of a temperate climate zone, which made breathing a lot easier and sweating a negligible factor. What was relieving to see as well was the low number of people still attending the place. Maybe there really wouldn't be as many witnesses as she had feared.
"The baby is alright", said she, tilting her head to the right and eyeing her bodyguard. "We can talk about that later, but let's get this stuff done first." Elena knew she had to look for a pagoda, and in fact there was one, standing rather aside from everything else, seemingly secluded. A good place he had chosen there, she thought. And not just by chance, there was indeed a person standing in it whose face she already knew from the Neural Net channel she had opened up with him before. She couldn't see much of him up there, but if she was truly honest to herself, it was already enough. With her index finger she discreetly pointed at the pagoda. "See this guy? That's him." Once again, she looked into the Operative's visor. "Let's go, shall we?"
Walking down the cobbled paths, Elena would begin making her way up to the pagoda. It wasn't exactly a path she wanted to go, yet she strangely enough felt an urge to do so.
"Try to relax. Everything will be alright. He won't even dare touching you, that's something only John and I are allowed to," he told her quietly, smirking in his helmet before they got closer to the pagoda. What he said was well out of audible range for Bassam, although with an incubus inside the Commune man, that was completely different. The Operative however didn't know he was infected.
"Everything --- alright. Won't even -- Something only John and I are allowed to." - Hussaini's ears moved slightly as the sound hit them from afar, his eyes narrowed as he listened in, straining to paint a complete picture of the approaching people.
[::two persons::approach vector::advise:advise::] - One of the Beholders buzzed inside his mind over a direct neural link, with the aid of the new neocortex implants, affording both enhanced communication and acting as a means of control. Hussaini ignored the warning, having noticed them a good half a second before the Beholder. He felt disappointment for a brief moment, almost aghast at the apparent inefficiency of his agents. Hussaini shifted his weight, now fully aware of the footsteps moving closer and closer. He opted to feign not noticing them for a few seconds longer, to avoid presenting himself as something extraordinary straight off. He counted the footsteps as his eyes danced up and down, tracking each stomp on the cobblestone. Then the footsteps stopped.
Hussaini straightened up, and looked into the distance for another moment, lifted his chin as he inhaled deeply, a nictating membrane sliding over his eyes twice in quick succession, with an almost audible "click". He exhaled and forced an expression of friendliness over his, until now, blank face, then slowly turned around to greet his guests. He extended his arms to the sides, a big grin on his face. - "Elena dear, you made it after all..." - He paused as he took a few steps towards Elena and Red, lowering his hands. - "I was worried you ran into some trouble. But I see you've been well taken care of."
He eyed the Operative up and down, unblinkingly for several seconds, before turning his gaze back to Elena, still smiling.
As they had finally the pagode, Elena would abruptly stop, as the scenery around her, together with her company, slowly faded away from her attention. Instead, she would centre it solely on the figure before her, which would still build a noticeable contrast with the overall darkness of the biodome. This overall calm demeanor, but also the fact that he was more than two heads taller than her already began awing her slightly. For a moment, she'd dart a brief, concerned glance at the Operative's visor before Hussaini began turning around slowly
Though she had seen her before in the Neural Net Channel - his appearance wasn't completely new to her -, meeting him in person now, from face to face, with only a few meters parting both of them, it was a whole other story. Especially since he had caught her off-guard, for a moment he'd see her real expressions, the intimidation and even fear in her face. Elena straightened herself as he caught sight of her and her acquaintance, trying to not look as cowed as she might was. The worst in fact were his absolutely baleful, somewhat aberrant eyes - they were pinning her down, scanning her, and for a moment it felt like those eyes couldn't be lied to. Together with his smile that she had doubts trusting, it made for a very interesting first appearance.
A gulp was audible, and after she had straightened herself, she managed to put up a decently friendly facial play at last. It still wasn't a comfortable situation, yet it was now time to disguise this. "Bassam...", said she with a still fairly shaky voice. Realizing this, she coughed for a second, trying to cast a shadow over it, before going on. "It's a pleasure to meet you. More than ever, now finally in person." An overally forced smile played around her lips. It felt more than ugly to do this, and it actually surprised her that she had difficulty acting like she had intended to. Get yourself together, she thought silently to herself, then began speaking again. "I was just thinking the later hours, when less visitors are here, would probably be a lot more enjoyable for all of us." Else, she wasn't sure how to greet him properly. A handshake? Maybe even an embrace? Everything that would make her seem chilled...
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