A tall young adult awaits in his office abroad the research station watching out his window how another "Bullhead" is slowly being assembled in the docks of Alabama. He seems careless and calm, expecting a call at any moment; after a short while it suddenly sounds across the room in a faint ambient tone. With a hand gesture he answers the call and turns around:
Secretary:Your guest has just docked. Shall I have him wait there for you? Valerian Aion: No. Have an armed escort welcome him. Give the officer temporary additional clearances and instruct him to take our guest on a short tour, after which he'll be brought to me.
He then closes the call and opens the surveillance systems software watching closely at Anthony's reactions as he was travelling along the station. After what must'have been around thirty minutes, a short knock on the door followed by the officer entering. Before he could say a word, Valerian interrupts him:
After the receiving last message, Anthony bought the ship at Freeport 11 and flew back to Omicron Rho, left his own battletransport moored with the station with the crew onboard. Nonunderstaneable excitement owned his feelings while he flew to the pointed station, Latif can't understand the purpose of this invite and what is actually going on. A few hours ago he arrived at Invicta Research Complex in safe. One of the Core warships slowly being assembled in the docks of Alabama shipyard looks as to the skeleton of a big fish. Tony looked on the ship with some fear. "Another machine of death." - he sadly thought and start entering the station docks.
Softly land his ship, Antony turned off the ship systems. He has suited in a pilot uniform: white costume with blue lines and an Ageira mark on his right shoulder. He left the ship and face the Core armed guardsmen who await him. One of the soldiers made a step forward and welcome him. "Mister Latif, we were ordered to meet you. Please, follow us." - said the tail man, with short black hair. By the gesture, he welcomed Tony to follow him. The rest two soldiers stand behind Latif and together they left the hangar.
The complex was big, and a lot of zones were restricted to visit by unauthorized people. Anthony with interest looked into the windows in the walls while they were walking through the station. In half of an hour or even more and finally came to the reception room. The young redhead secretary met them with a smile, but a black-haired soldier just came to the big door and short knocked to it. Then he has entered the room, gave an order from the man inside and then invited Anthony to walk inside.
Valerian inspects his appearance and the way he presented himself. After a brief silence he has the door close behind Anthony with a push of a button on his desk console.
Valerian: Mister Latif! I'm glad you could make it. Apologies for taking you out of your way on such short notice; I'm sure you have other business to attend to and schedule to follow, but there are things I'd like to discuss with you about.
He gestures towards his guest to sit down, after which he opens up his holographic screen on which they could both see Anthony's file and logs of all previous interactions he has had with The Core and the APM - communications, transactions, recorded stays within Core space...so on and so forth
Valerian:You see, we keep a close eye on our guests, and I've kept an eye on you as of late. You've accessed our space and facilities the most out of all Ageira employees, according to our records, almost twice as often compared to anyone else in your organization. If I wouldn't know better I'd say you've grown quite fond of The Core, or should I say - the APM. I doubt a man of your education and experience would care for the military affairs The Core indulges into.
Valerian stands up from his chair and grabs a bottle with a couple of glasses from a wall compartment, offering Anthony a drink.
Valerian:I hope you understand that this "visit" needs to stay between us, hence I went to the lengths of contacting you directly on a short range transmission rather than talking to the Ageira officials. Let me ask you something - how much do you earn in your current organization?
"I am flattered by your attention to my person, mister Aion." - Anthony really felt flattered - it was a pleasure to realize the attention of a powerful person. He short smiled and said. - "To be honest, I am not a supporter of military methods. I prefer to negotiate before shooting. But, sometimes your organization attracts for me more than a super-corporation with this bureaucracy and restrictions."
He has accepted the drink and took the pure glass. "Mister Aion, I understand the necessity to keep this conversation in secret, and I will keep it secret." - he drank a little. The drink was good and Latif enjoyed its taste. - "Excuse me for that question, but do you trying to recruit me?"
He laughs a short. - "Anyway, before you answer me, I will answer the last question. I earn quite good money, but there are never enough credits."
A forced, polite smile could be seen on Valerian's face before his reply
Valerian: Something most people don't realize or are capable of understanding is that The Core and APM are two different organization working with eachother, interdependent of one another. Without APM, Core has noone to provide them with ships, state of the art technology, means of obtaining resources etcetera. Without security, funding, tech scavenging, expansion and all that, the APM is not able to meet its quota and purpose. A bit of Ying Yang if I may.
Valerian swiftly sips his drink and sits back down laid back on his chair. It suddenly became noticeable that he was forcing his posture to not reveal how tired he was
Valerian:For this reason the APM does not have to dwell in military activities, Core handling all and everything. We are a corporation, not a military. The secrecy is needed because our position is vulnerable without it - we are the main provider of alien technology and we cannot allow corruption to occur before opportunities.
On the hologram he reveals Anthony's public file regarding his education. A Bachelor's Degree in Robotics Engineering
Valerian:I can understand the need to avoid military implications in your line of work, just as I do in mine. However the APM, as you very well know, builds not only small ships, but war vessels too. I am aware that in our world they are needed and if someone should do them, we might as well be the ones to do so. The Core's warships are some of the best known to mankind and we intent to build even more.
Valerian leans forward from his chair and looks Anthony in the eyes
Valerian:You probably realized by now where this is going. No, I am not trying to recruit you. I'm making you an offer of mutual benefit - your pockets can be full with more than you will ever need, depending on how hard you plan on working while being part of something big, bigger than you and me; in the same time I reach my objective and quota. Before I continue, I'll give you the chance to say no and we can pretend this never happened. If you intend to hear more, however, there is no going back, and I'm not speaking metaphorically.
Anthony thought few minutes before he reply. Latif was interested to know what Valerian will say, but at the same time, he was scared the risk. He glanced at the hologram. "I want to know more, Mister Aion." - finally, the man said.
Valerian: Very well. I'm glad we can continue.- He opens up a channel to his secretary -I need a "Leash" kit brought to my office.
After a brief moment an officer in a plain uniform enters the room and hands Valerian a small metal box after which he leaves closing the door behind him. Valerian opens the container and pulls out a tubular device with a sharp needle at the end, almost like a syringe, then hands it over to Anthony.
Valerian:This is a dormant cell which acts on remote directive - when in contact with blood it makes it's way to the spine and surrounds a vertebrae - a parasite. It's harmless up until the moment it is stimulated with a very specific sequence of radio waves, moment in which it swiftly erodes the spine until the subject is either completely paralyzed or dead.
Valerian waits to read a reaction on Anthony's face, but can't quite figure out if it's fear or fascination.
Valerian:If we are to work together, I'm afraid I will need more than your word, but that shouldn't be a problem I reckon. If you wish no harm to The Core or the APM, you have nothing to fear. The choice is yours; simply inject yourself with the parasite or use the door behind you and we can pretend this never happened. - Valerian sighs deeply - Know this though: if you are truly prepared to give up on your former life, nothing will ever be the same. You will have more credits than you can spend, a section of land of your choosing on Nauru to do with as you please and most importantly a chance to create something no other organization in Sirius is capable of. There is nothing more powerful and magnificent than what secrets the Nomads have left for us to discover.
"You offer me to become a slave, mister Aion?" with the fear, in eyes, Anthony asked and looked at the "Leash". "But also you offer me a real profit and knowledge?"
The man remembered vessels, which destroyed "Odyssey" - strange dangerous ships, shifting around the battlefield. He flinched when Nomads were mentioned by Aion. Anthony was thought around ten minutes, and then a man finally answered to his interlocutor: "My answer is No. I won't work with the Core"
