Not a single moment he believed him, as it was the same act he put up when denying it, not even directly, as before. He enjoyed this way too much, that was for sure. So the Operative was right, he was infected. That might make it a bit more diffictult to play out his joker. It would be worth a try, but the situation was now considerably more dangerous than before. He was pretty sure he himself was still under the protection of Maren and Valery, maybe even Enma as she owed him one. It would just require to show him who he was, the Operative thought. Damnit! He started questioning himself whether he was still able to protect her. Maybe the K'hara had their plans for Elena, maybe it was just the Commune, he didn't know. His hand remained at the paralyzer, just to make sure he would be able to shoot first. The other hand was longing for Elena's hand or leg or whatever he would be able to grab, wanting to signalize her how the situation changed to their disadvantage. If he was infected, he was able to kill them without a single move, all just with the telekinetic abilities of the incubus. A simple telekinetical cut in their brains and it was over.
It was the only case he didn't expect. There was nothing they were able to do against it.
A chuckle escaped him as soon as Elena mentioned "God". The chuckle slowly grew, building up, until it transitioned into a laughter, growing in intensity up to the threshold of hysterical. He could barely contain himself. He wiped the tears from his eyes as the laughter receded, gasping for air and then putting his hand over his mouth. - "I'm sorry, but that was just so..." - He didn't finish the sentence, rather transitioning to the next thought in line - "It's just so funny how people predictably grasp for "God's plan", as if intimately acquainted with it, whenever they're confronted with something 'unnatural'."
"But yes..." - He cleared his throat as he regained his composure and returned to a more dignified stance - "A collective, so simply, yet so efficiently-..."
The Operative's sudden elevated heartbeat alarmed him, and he quickly turned to look at him, spying his arm moving towards something, picking up his intent to do him harm. He wasn't certain, but he was pretty sure. He licked the corner of his lip while staring at him in silence for a few moments. - "I think you're thinking about doing something you're most certainly going to regret."
[::alert::protocol-override-request::alert] - The beholder buzzed in the back of his head, alarmed by the situation. Hussaini jerked his head slightly to the right, in the overall direction where the beholder was perched in a treetop, with a high-powered laser rifle aimed at their position. [::negative::-stay-alert::] - Hussaini responded silently, his eyes darting left and right as he sent out the telepathic message.
"Now, why don't we calm down..." - He raised his hand, showing the Operative his palm; He wasn't afraid for his life, but he didn't have a clear picture of what his weapon was, and he wasn't infatuated with the idea of being riddled with laser shots or bullets. - "And we can forget all about it..."
He looked at him intently, ready to act at any given second.
"Hussaini," the Operative began with a calm voice, not being aware of the beholder but being aware of the next sudden move may determinate who will survive and who won't, "I do believe you are infected. Which means no matter what I do, it will result in my death. This raises a few questions. First of all, are you replaceable? Because I am. Second question: Do we need to have this escalate? No? Then you should stop this act right here and now. You're not impressing her."
With his heartbeat slowly calming down but his hand still at the paralyzer, he kept the eye-contact at him. "Miss Voigt enjoys a certain protection."
If there was something Hussaini hated more than anything else, it was being challenged, reduced to a position when he's not in complete control. His jaw tightened and his eyes narrowed, as the idea of killing the Operative took hold inside his head. It was hard to hold back when all that was necessary was a thought, a bit of effort to rupture the blood vessels and flood his brain with blood. But no, he wasn't about to be reduced to that, not without a very good reason. He wasn't going to give them the satisfaction of certainty, of knowing they were right about him.
"No, that's not how this is going to go down." - He grinned again, sure of himself once more. - "Let's consider for a moment, this ludicrous notion of yours. That I am 'infected'."
He started getting up slowly, with both his hands up, his palms open. - "Then don't you think you'd be at a disadvantage here?"
"The bravado is cute and all..." - He stepped over the bench he was sitting on, and walked backward away from the table and towards the cut-off wall. The Beholder had a clear shot now, in the case of anything going wrong. - "But let's look at this realistically."
"I don't think we can continue these talks anymore..." - He lowered his hands, now standing at some five feet from the table. - "So here's what you're going to do; You're going to stand up, both of you, and you're going to back away, then turn around and leave."
He paused for a moment while sending out a message. - [::protocol:black::authorized::prepare::defensive-fire::]
"I won't repeat twice." - He reaffirmed as a red light appeared at one of the treetops, and a pinging sound filled the silence of the night. A sound they would recognize as the charging of a laser sniper rifle.
The Operative's gesture, holding her right leg tightly, had indicated her that the whole situation could turn out quite ugly. In an observing position, she had watched the two men full-blow colliding with each other, trying to stay out of it for the time being. They should handle it between each other, she couldn't have done much anyways. Now and then, it would take her some restrain not to interfere, especially when Red talked about him being replacable and such nonsense. The path this conversation was about to follow however made her blood pressure rise up and her fast beating heart pound against her chest, very well hearable for Bassam.
The situation had derailed enough already - though honestly Elena hadn't expected anything different considering the men she was with. Even though her initial plan hadn't worked out to its full degree, after all Hussaini had insisted on a tidal wave of advertising words rather than on facts, but at least she had been able to gather some information. Like the possible infection of the literal mogul before her. However right now, she didn't find that interesting, rather minatory.
All of a sudden, she hectically stood up, not because of Hussaini ordering her to, but because without forewarning she heard something disturbing the brief silence that had appeared beforehand. And it awfully well reminded her of a noise she really was not fond of hearing right now. The sound of a rifle, presumably energy based, charging its energy, she analyzed quickly. She frantically gazed around the scenery in a matter of a few seconds, hoping to see something like a red dot in the darkness that would indicate the location of who was likely to be an assassin. Not waiting for what Red would do, she took a few steps back, turning her body around randomly and desperately searching for the rifleman who had to hide somewhere in the biodome. "Oh fu.ck..." was the only thing she mumbled.
The tension was almost unbearable, but the Operative got what he wanted - a sudden ending of this meeting. Adrenalin was rushing through his body like it didn't happen in a long time. He felt very vivid, if he was honest. "Miss Voigt, please return to your ship. I will follow you in a minute," the neutered voice sounded out of his helmet, his hand still at the weapon in the holster, his eyes still focused on Hussaini. "Don't worry. Nothing bad will happen. Just head for your ship and wait for me there."
The pointer from the Beholder's rifle danced over the Operative's body, but the agent wouldn't take a shot without explicit say so, or a shot being taken at his Overseer. Hussaini stood in place, hardly moving a muscle, looking at the Operative, baffled with his lingering presence. - "Still here? Better have a good reason." - He shook his head.
Giving the Operative a doubtful look, however not saying anything else about it, she turned around in the direction of the cobbly pathway, making her way away from the pagoda again, down the path. If she was being honest to herself, she didn't like that at all. Being ordered away while he wanted to stay back, for whatever reason. What the hell would he still want to interact with this guy? Why exposing oneself to such a danger, especially if it seemed so absolutely unnecessary? It quickly became apparent to her that there was something she didn't know.
But definitely something she wanted to know. It was already suspicious enough she looked behind herself from time to time while walking down the path, eyeing the pagoda, but as soon as she was sure none of the two - and hopefully neither the rifleman - would see her movements anymore, she made a quick jump into the bushes, hiding there. Making sure she would be in hearing range of Hussaini and her friend speaking.
Waiting for Elena to have left the area, without looking after her but steadily watching Bassam, he kept his hand at the paralyzer. After what felt like half a minute, he began talking again. "The Commune and I have common friends and common enemies, Hussaini. I believe you know about a certain situation that began in the Omega-9 system, lead to the Cayman system and later ended in the Omicron Kappa system, where Skywolf One and Two got their hands on something that previously was owned by our common friends. It was delivered by a certain agent and a certain religious fanatic who later got a new perspective on things. You surely know who am I talking about. I just want you to know that those two individuals enjoy my protection and vice versa. And thus, if you decide to harm Miss Voigt and force me to intervention, at least one of those two individuals might be very mad at you." It was the moment when the Operative decided to let go of his paralyzer. He stood up and straightened himself. "I am sorry if I interfered with your plan, but it is important to keep Miss Voigt out of all this. She enjoys a unique standing right now. It would be unfortunate to alter this standing, directly or indirectly. Whatever you had in mind to do with her, I ask you to find someone else for it." It was all he wanted to say. Thus he made a move to turn around, intending to leave.
"Gaster doesn't seem like the type to keep pets. So you must be a plaything of Unschuld's" - He crossed his arms as he shifted his weight to his right leg and grinned. - "But you're sorely mistaken if you think that gives you some right to meddle in things that don't concern you."
"But out of consideration for what appears to be some sort of delusion on your part, and out respect for what I assume is your mistress, I'll repeat myself again; Leave now, and don't look back." - He paused - "Interfere with my business again, and not even a sudden reappearance of the Creators will save you."
The light from the treetops went out, as the Beholder powered down his rifle. Hussaini turned his back on the Operative, and started walking towards the wall overlooking the lake.
