In the Networks Sydney branch offices, several people were sat around a conference table while an image displayed on a screen. Keith, Annabeth, Gladys, Koen and Nigel were all in attendance, as was Eustace Brown, the grizzled director of the Harvest Division, and Asya, the International ...
2020-09-24 23:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostHeres the situation, Koen said through voice chat. The ADEs are river hydras. Big ones. Lots of regeneration, lots of poison, lots of heads. Weve got two that are ideally placed. Far enough apart that we can take them on separately but close enough that we can take out one and in...
2020-09-23 23:01:00 +0000 UTC View PostJason saw flashes of what Nigels team could bring to the table if they fought more like adventurers. While the general approach was for focus fire tactics, they each had specialties that were pulled out against various creatures.
The scouts rarely used their firearms full of expans...
2020-09-22 23:01:02 +0000 UTC View PostAs a Network team set up a ritual to open the aperture to the proto-astral space, Nigel talked Jason through the assembled force. The Networks tactical presence consisted of two platoons of three nine-person sections. Four of the six boasted silver-rank tactical division members, while a specia...
2020-09-21 23:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostSitting at a table in the bar lounge of his houseboat, Jason spent considerable time hammering out details with Keith and Annabeth. For loot distribution, Jason would keep a percentage for his own needs and trade the rest for more ordinary remuneration, such as money or use of the Networks wide...
2020-09-18 23:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostJason looked over at Other Gordon.
Are you sure that this guy should be hearing all this? he asked.
Participation in formal negotiations with outside parties is part of our agreement with the government, Keith said.
You know that when word about magic goes public, that...
2020-09-17 23:01:00 +0000 UTC View PostI think we should start, Keith said, by getting everyone on the same page in terms of who we are and what we do.
I think thats my cue to go, Vermillion said. Now that the meeting has been facilitated without anyone trying to kidnap anyone else, Ill bow out to allow you to ...
2020-09-16 23:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostJason woke early, did his weight training and then went through his combat training. Now that Shade was able to exert an amount of physical force, he could leverage his knowledge of Jasons martial art style to use multiple bodies and spar as part of advancing Jasons skill set. As Jason...
2020-09-15 23:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostOn the way back from picking Emi up at school, Jason suggested they take advantage of the warm day. Casselton had pleasant winters as it were and the afternoon temperature had climbed into the high twenties. The unseasonable heat was begging the beach towns residents into the cool waters...
2020-09-14 23:01:00 +0000 UTC View PostIt was a strange closing of the circle as Jason watched his recordings with his family. Seeing himself with no way of ever knowing if the moment he was now experiencing would ever happen.
There was over a hundred and fifty hours of the recordings. Most of the early recording were of ...
2020-09-11 23:00:06 +0000 UTC View PostErika approached the houseboat flanked by her family and the towering figure of Taika, all carrying crates of alcohol. Jason and Emi came out to meet them, standing on the lower deck that was level with the jetty. Jason waved them aboard.
Thanks for helping with the drinks, he sa...
2020-09-10 23:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostSo, how are you doing after yesterday? Jason asked his niece as Shade drove them toward the marina.
Its weird, Emi said. I kind of like having this big secret.
Well, its time to let your Mum and Dad in on the secret, Jason said. Do you think you can help s...
2020-09-09 23:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostErika, Ian and Kaito were gathered in a waiting room with Jasons mother, Cheryl, and her brother, Robert. Emi had been left with Amy and her children. This was something Erika had come to regret, given her increasing suspicions surrounding Jason and the visit Emi had paid to her Grand Na...
2020-09-08 23:01:00 +0000 UTC View PostErika had put together a simple dinner of salad, tartiflette and buttermilk pie. Tartiflette was a potato, bacon, onion and cheese casserole that made a great winter warmer. They sat somewhat awkwardly at the table, talking around the topic of Jasons mysterious return to life.
Jaso...
2020-09-07 23:01:00 +0000 UTC View PostJason led the uncharacteristically docile child outside and they got into his car. She goggled at the gull wing doors and sleek interior. She was even more startled when the car took off without Jason touching the steering wheel. For a long while they drove in silence, Emi watching Jason c...
2020-09-04 23:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostJason stood on the patio, looking out at the yard. He sensed her approach but didnt turn around.
I wasnt sure it was really you, Amy said, talking to his back. The others dont realise how different you are, yet. Theres the physical stuff. The chin, obviously, but the be...
2020-09-03 23:00:59 +0000 UTC View PostJason returned to Erikas house in the crisp air of the winter Saturday morning. After giving his sister a night to process his sudden return, he was expecting a thorough grilling. He wanted to bring her into the fold as quickly as he could but knew that dumping everything at once was a r...
2020-09-02 23:08:08 +0000 UTC View PostThe naked womans feet trailed on the floor as she was dragged through concrete halls, not cooperating even enough to stumble along. The closest thing she had to clothing was the collar around her neck. They only used category two guards for her, which tied up some of their most valuable ...
2020-09-01 23:02:26 +0000 UTC View PostYou should come to your sisters party tomorrow night instead of just showing up after, Hiro said.
Not a good plan, Jason said. Ooh, smell that. I missed garlic.
They were in the kitchen of Jasons cloud houseboat as Jason prepared an evening meal.
How muc...
2020-08-31 23:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostHow long since youve been back? Jason asked Hiro as the motorhome drew closer to their hometown of Casselton Beach.
Your memorial service. There wasnt a body, obviously, so no burial or cremation.
The body is just a vessel, Jason said. It probably sounds weird...
2020-08-28 23:01:00 +0000 UTC View PostThe magical motorhome made its way north long the coast. On the bottom floor, the windows had turned opaque as Taika, Hiro and Vermillion watched some of Jasons earliest recording on a hologram-like recording crystal projector. Jasons clean-shaven, iron-rank appearance was somewhat dif...
2020-08-27 23:01:00 +0000 UTC View PostFinally, Jason said. He was standing in front of Hiros apartment building with the cloud flask in his hand.
-------
Annabeths eyes snapped open. As a category one, her senses were only slightly heightened, but something had triggered an instinctive reaction and awakened her. Straining her aura senses, she couldnt detect anything that might have set them off.
Next to her, Susan remained in blis...
2020-08-25 23:22:15 +0000 UTC View PostThe building looked like any of the other industrial warehouses around it. The inside, however, was an operations centre for the Cabal. Three reinforced security doors lay between the exterior and a set of concrete stairs leading down to a square, concrete room, behind a fourth, even more ...
2020-08-24 23:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostLook at the way he moves, said Nigel, the combat instructor of the Networks Sydney branch. That fighting style isnt an extension of ordinary martial arts.
A cluster of Network analysts and investigators were watching the footage Aram had captured of Asanos rooftop fight...
2020-08-21 23:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostJason was perched on a rooftop, looking at his uncles town house from across the street. Shade appeared next to him.
Find anyone else? Jason asked.
No, Shade said. Just the one iron-ranker inside.
Meaning that that hes either alone, or whoever else they ...
2020-08-20 23:00:02 +0000 UTC View PostShade pulled into an underground parking structure where they wouldnt be seen and parked. Jason and Vermillion got out of the car, the others following suit. Hiro and Taika both looked stressed.
I know things are coming thick and fast, Jason said. Its overwhelming, but Im...
2020-08-19 23:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostThe art gallery displayed no more signage than a plaque beside a nondescript door. It was the kind of place that if you didnt know it was there, then you werent meant to. For many years, the it had served as a money laundering operation for some of the Networks shadier revenue stream...
2020-08-18 23:01:00 +0000 UTC View PostA sleep-deprived Annabeth Tilden was shotgunning coffee.
More, she demanded hoarsely as she finished, sending her assistant to replenish her supply. One of the side effects of being an essence user was an ability to resist the effects of caffeine, leading many coffee drinkers to ...
2020-08-17 23:01:01 +0000 UTC View Post