Plane Intentions
~ Starring ~
Val as Deni
Brood as Vita
[2,254]
~ Starring ~
Val as Deni
Brood as Vita
[2,254]
Deni breathed a cloud of smoke as he strode down the street. He found himself in an unfamiliar district of Terminus, though the strong Hiemis winds were just as bitter as Lupanar. They lashed at his sleeveless black trench coat, whipping it left and right. Fortunately, he opted for his tight teal shirt for an extra layer. That and he intended to make an impression.
The enchanter he was going to meet was not exactly the most well-known, but Deni's contacts had given him a few conversational pointers to get him on board.
The pale-white velen placed the cigarette back into his mouth and inhaled deeply. His blue eyes fixed upon the sign he had been looking for, just outside a quaint shop. On the outside it didn't look like much. Deni smirked. Another talking point. He walked through the doorway and was instantly relieved by the softening of the gales outside.
"Anybody home?" Deni asked.
It was a cold day in Terminus. Vita still had not acclimated to city life. His latest expedition to the forest proved solemn for his ideals into organics. Time and time again the majority of Bio’s were an example of why they could not be left unattended. However, to create a sanctuary for Demvir and information the young machina would need exa and lots of it.
He stood pensively staring at several clay flower pots that contained a variety of medical, alchemical, and enchantment based flora. He walked out to the front of his intimate store. White shelves littered with a few rare gems and other enchantment items sat on display sparsely. Swords and armor that glowed with basic level enchantments. The floor had a large array drawn on it. Triangles and circles overlapped in some kind of array foriegn to most practitioners, but not to Vita.
Abruptly his store door flung open and the miasma of a Bio traipsed through like he owned the place. Vita was getting quite good at swallowing his disdain for others but needs out weighed her personal dogma.
“Welcome…” He paused as gears turned in his neck as if trying to fight an urge. “What brings you to the Collective?”
The pelagian’s blue eyes wandered the store for a few moments, taking in the neatly arranged plants and minerals, the obsessive way that the armour and weapons had been lined up. It was clear that the shop belonged to one of the machinae and the clicking of gears confirmed what Deni needed to know.
“The Collective,” the velen mused. “It’s a nice little place you have here.”
Deni took in one final deep drag of his cigarette before flicking the butt outside. When he spoke, the last fumes of the folium evaporated in front of him.
“Oh, sorry, where are my manners? My name’s Deni Perfide. I heard the proprietor of this establishment might be able to help me with something I am interested in.”
The rogue flourished his black trench coat and sat down in the chair at Vita’s desk.
“You know much about planar travel?”
Classic Velen features. Deep eyes, tall stature, sharp teeth, audible tones, rubbery skin. Vita took a cursory glance at the new customer. The way he spoke though was almost [terran?] which the Demvir found interesting.
His patron exhibited the organic hubris he had come to known. Walking around the meticulously organized store like he owned the place. The essence of smoke tainting the carefully balanced air in his workshop.
Vita shook his head disapprovingly. “Do not apologize for the shortcomings of all organic life; it is beyond you. I am Vita, the Adept Enchanter of the Collective.”
A chair usually reserved for Vita now stolen by Deni became a topic of tension among the two instantly. The machina’s shoulders sunk as pressurized escaped from his internal workings like a sigh. Clearly annoyed, the enchanter turned his back to the patron and started out his store window pensively.
“Presumably from the Arcanium.” Flashbacks of the Amber forest and its fracture flashed in his mind. “I gave my detailed report to them, you may look it up there. I have nothing more to say to someone with…” he searched for the right word “disposition.”
Another irresponsible mind trying to use planar travel for their own gain.
“Are you sure?” Deni asked, that semblance of a smile still ever-present on his face. The organic races were much easier to read, especially after all of Deni’s experience in dealing with people from all walks of life. The demvir always had this strange… hollow feeling when he tried to gauge their mood.
The velen leaned forward in the chair. Even if he was a machina, he was a researcher of a sort. He needed to be alerted of something intriguing.
“I didn’t want to go to the Arcanum and have their legions of researchers poking and prodding me all day long. I’d much prefer to confide in a talented individual that deserves a chance to prove his worth.”
The pelagian’s blue eyes tried carefully to find something in the demvir’s, to anticipate some kind of reaction to the information he was about to give away. Imparting the details of recent events to a stranger was certainly a risk, though a measured one.
“You see, I and an associate of mine have successfully travelled across the planes.”
Vita was used to this feeling, cat and mouse, barter exchange, supply and demand. Such a pedestrian way of thinking. He had much grander intentions for him and his race, but sometimes fate had a part for us to play even if it was just taking out the trash. He pivoted on his heels walking towards the desk. A wave of his hand clocked the door and his windows filled with fog. The store's light dimmed.
“You would not be the first to doubt the intentions of the Arcanum or their ability to manage”, he folded his hands behind his back once more, “lower species’ corruption.” Gears in his eyes screamed softly as faint glow lit from behind them.
Deni’s statement was not a lie. Residual planar energies clung to him like a virus. This was entirely different from the manner in which the planar energies clung to professor Albinon.
“It would appear. State your query and I will consider your request.”
The velen suppressed a wince. Lower species? Perhaps seeking Vita out had been a mistake. Getting the Societas involved with a demvir supremacist would definitely end badly, no matter which way he looked at it. Silently, Deni tucked away the warnings in a corner of his mind and damned the consequences. If this reclusive machina could help him save Ignis, it would be worth it.
Deni raised himself out of the chair and fixed his gaze on Vita.
“I’m here to make a deal, but you don’t seem like the kind of… person who enjoys dealing with organics, so I’m going to be transparent with you.”
The pale gunslinger inhaled deeply and let loose a sigh as he began to pace around the small shop.
“I am a veteran of the Black Portal campaign, one of the few to return from the assault on Krevati Evimerias, where the people of Hiemis fought back against daemons and archmagi. More recently, I assisted the Pelagian Empire in ending a war with the Ophidians. I helped save the village of Flumen Petram from complete destruction. I am also the guildmaster of The Societas, a collection of associates that has only grown in influence with the fame we have gathered from recent events.”
Deni’s smirk deepened.
“What I’m saying is we have resources. You could build a bigger shop with a more comfortable business. All I’m asking is that you help me with a little research on planar travel.”
Vita listened to the entirety of what the Velen had to say. He spoke so feverishly it seemed in one breath. He moved ever closer waving his hand as a chair moved to accommodate his half seated stance like a dance. His voice was calm, cold, and deliberate.
“I do not care of your influence nor of your riches. These concepts are below me.”
A silence that stretched the seconds into what felt like an eternity.
“However, I do care about altruism and high moral standards. I read the reports on the Black Portal Campaign presumably what initiated the planar research division within the Arcanum. I recognize you as one of worth, consider this assessment a point in your favor.”
He pointed at a white cabinet with a sliding glass door with intent as three volumes of research notes fluttered onto the table between them.
“Planar travel in the wrong hands is extremely troublesome at best. There are those that would seek to exploit it. Taint its very concept with their greed. If this is why you have come to seek me out then I will repeat my official response to the Arcanum, but if there is another reason you and this associate of yours want to look into transcending this plane.”
Vita looked down at his hands that were folded together while his eyes opened wide.
“I understand that with my current environment exploration into this concept will be slow and tedious. You are offering me everything that a researcher should want. I am not without my principles, though. Organic races cannot be trusted with the power to walk through time and space. You have made it above the required ten percent threshold through your actions that permit you to offer your assistance. Explain more.”
Perhaps it was his recent chain of predicaments putting a strain on his mental state, but Deni’s patience was tested by the demvir. It was rare that he dealt with one of his kind, rarer still that he heard about one that believed their race superior to the organic races. Yet there Vita stood, head held high, disinterested in riches yet tending to such a diminutive establishment. Deni decided that he must have had a few cogs loose, but that trait didn’t solely belong to the demvir. In fact, that sense of superiority was more common in the organic races. And yet that trait bothered the velen. It wouldn’t do to openly support an individual that could strive for another Cursus War.
Damn the consequences!
Deni’s smile dropped suddenly. He had hoped that the demvir would have been more openly cooperative. Clearly he had expected too much.
“I need to find a way to travel to Natum,” the rogue said slowly as if the words were being dragged out of his mouth. “To save the dearest person in the world to me and to investigate the anomaly that afflicts her. While that may not be of any interest to someone as high and mighty as you, any discoveries could do your research credit.”
Vita slowly began opening the pages of the books in front of Deni with a magical hand. Slowly, each turn of the page detailed the overlappings of where the planes aligned with ours. Months of geographical data and energy readings neatly outlined along the margins of the pages.
“I will accept your offer if only to have my research be of help to someone. However, your discretion is a parameter for success to this algorithm.” Vita broke out the septa, an astrolabe like device that measured the exact point of overlap between one plane and ours.
“This belonged to a brilliant engineer. One of your kin, Fectum Septemtrionis from Oppidum Bulla. Her research, workshop, and anyone else she might have spoken about to include the Arcanum are, how would a biological put it, loose ends.”
He stared intently into the Velen’s eyes. “The grand equation, our purpose for being awoken. The probability of one Demvir faction protecting all knowledge. Proprietors and keepers of it for eternity. That is my goal.”
He looked around at the limitations of his facilities.
“Access granted.”
The pale velen struggled to conceal his astonishment. A scientist whose very ideals were precious to him above all else, yet was disinterested in the influence and funding necessary to empower those beliefs. A machina that spoke so ill of the organic races, yet would assist a stranger just to save another stranger. Vita was quite the conundrum, one that Deni hoped he could solve.
The rogue stared at the septa, then back to Vita. His smile returned with a sigh of relief.
"Alright," Deni said victoriously. "I'll keep my ears to the ground on leads regarding the awakening of the demvir."
He reached one webbed hand into his jacket pocket and placed a small piece of card on Vita's desk.
"When you're ready to proceed, head to this address. Got any more questions?"
The friction in the room was akin to two gears that had not been lubricated in some time. Nevertheless the Demvir took the opportunity he saw before him, but that did not mean he was going to change who he was. A limber hand reached across the table plucking the card and studying it carefully.
Into the lion’s den I go. Perhaps, I will find more like those I have already lost in my quest.
“As agreed, under the guise as an Enchanter and Alchemist for Societas.”
“Of course,” Deni acknowledged with a faint nod. “Confidentiality is one of our most essential traits.”
The velen took a cigarette out of his pocket and placed it between his smirking lips as he glanced towards the door.
“I look forward to seeing you soon, Vita.”