Authors: Kurt Bartling
“Michael
,
I asked to talk to you
,
to apologize
to you and Rena
. I was wrong
,
and I feel I have done irreparable damage to two relationships
,
that
which,
I did not
wish
to harm. I was wrong to try to change the dynamic of the team you and Rena
had
formed.
” Takada turns and starts pacing, collecting his thoughts
. “
She
is a remarkable young woman,
with so many
valuable skills.
We
became
concerned
that
putting her in the field was risking too
precious
an asset. I never had to worry about y
ou, you were made for the field …
and I have come to realize, Rena
is
as well
. I understand now that
she
possess not only remarkable intellect, but a remarkable capacity for love, something
I
knew she shared for you, but did not realize
she would develop
so deeply
for Meg. I am truly sorry for my hand in that development.”
Michael
remains silent
.
“I had better leave
,
so you can call and let her know you are alright. I
suspect
I may
have disrupted
the
truly brilliant thought she was on.”
Takada turns to leave. “Oh by the way, I had the glaive you lost replaced. I hope it se
rves you as well as the last.”
As soon as
he’s alone
,
Michael
dials the
Ready Room
from the wall computer.
“Yes
.”
Ms. Smith
answers
.
“Is Rena alright
?”
“Are you
?
”
She
asks
, looking at Rena
.
“Yes, I’m fine.”
Rena forces a smile a
nd nods.
“Then
,
she’s alright.
”
“Tell her, she can
call or
meet me at the dojo when she
’s
ready
to return to our
quarters.” Michael
,
will
ing
to adjust
his schedule around her
,
knowing
she
would not want to be
there
alone
.
“If you two don’t mind, I’d like to ke
ep her here with me for a
little
while.
S
he was on to such a brilliant
idea.
I’d like to have her further explain it to the technicians
,
so we can get a jump on it immediately.”
Ms. Smith
looks
at Rena, who
nod
s
her
agreement
.
“That’s fi
ne. Just have her come to the d
ojo when she feels up to it. If she wants, I can c
ome there and escort her back myself
.”
“I’ll make arrangements to get
Rena
to you. Don’t worry about her.”
“Thank you.
”
After disconnecting,
Michael walks over to the weapons rack,
locating
a familiar wooden box. Opening it, he finds an identical switchblade-glaive.
Rena explains the profiling strategy to the
engineers
,
Ms. Smith
and Mr. Black. They start brainstorming the various topics
Leonidas Drakos
would be
regarded
a
credible source
. The topics r
ange from
emerging technologies
, linchpin strategies
, social-political developments, financial changes,
threats to the populace
and more
.
For each
topic,
the research team develops traits that would define the likely audience.
A
ll
profiles cataloged,
the
y
compile
a
composite list
,
sequenced in order by
traits that occurred in the most profiles
.
The
technicians enter the
traits into
search
-
engine
software
that identifies
people that match
the greatest number of the most popular traits.
The
list of
names
compiled
,
facial recognition
programs
access internet surveillance systems,
search
ing
for
any o
f the names on the list. The greatest concentration of
identified
persons may constitute t
he local
e
for Leonidas
Drakos
’
presentation
.
A
fter all have left the Ready Room
,
Ms. Smith
,
pleased with the prog
ress the team made today
,
makes a couple calls
before sitting down with Rena
.
“
My dear
,
you did wonderfully today
.
Y
ou
a
re
such
an
amazing
young woman
. I would expect you would succeed at anything you were to put your mind too.”
“Thank you
.”
Rena accepts the compliment, though wondering
where the conversation is heading
.
Ms. Smith
takes
her protégés
hands in her own,
“I am truly sorry for the last couple months, losing Meg and Michael’s ‘accident’. Let’s j
ust call it
what it was, a run in with Takada.
”
Rena nods, acknowledging the elephant in the room.
“
We wanted for the best
,
w
e really did.
We all recognize how gifted you are
,
a one of a kind
beautiful
diamond.
You start to
ask yourself,
‘D
o you
wear
that diamond,
exposing it to
the risk of
loss
,
or d
o you lock it away to keep it safe
?
’ You left us with a dilemma.”
Rena looks at
Ms. Smith
, smiling, implying her understanding of the predicament described.
Ms. Smith
continues, “
Michael is an excellent protector, quite possibly the most dangerous protector one could have, being not only amazingly skilled but more importantly, motivated by love.
Not that we didn’t think you couldn’t protect yourself, you’d proven quite adept in defensive arts.
We wanted to protect you
, as well
.
We thought bringing another asset into your team was the best way to accomplish that goal.
We hoped
the excellent job
Michael
did training you, ma
king you an extension of him
, he could replicate in another. To our best recollection, he succeeded
, you both did.
I
n the short time
you had with her
,
you molded
Meg
into
a
fusion
of
both
o
f you,
i
n more ways than we had expected.
Although, w
e underestimated two things
,
the bond you would form and her true nature.
”
Tears form
in Rena’s eyes as she thinks of the beautiful young
woman
that came to mean so much to her and Michael.
“She’s
a good person, always has been
.
T
hrust into a sit
uation
she did not deserve, Meg made the best of it.
I wonder what
would’ve
happened to her if I wasn’t
quite so smart, so valuable, i
f I
had never taken
pity on her in the dining
hall
,
stepping in to protect
her.” Rena look
s
off into space,
reflecting,
t
rying to imagine
her sister
,
safe
.
“But Rena, you are this intelligent and you are always goi
ng to protect those
you take pity on
. It’s who you are, it’s your
nature
. That rational is akin to saying ‘if the wind never blew, the leaves would never
fall from the trees’. You cannot
second guess possibilities that could
never be.”
“Maybe you
’
r
e
right?
I just hope tha
t wher
ever she is, she’s at p
e
a
ce and happy
.”
Rena states,
wiping the tears from her eyes
.
“Well, I’ve taken enough
of your
time
,
they s
hould have completed their work
.”
Ms. Smith
comments
with a Cheshire cat smile
.
“Excuse me?” Rena questions
,
curious
that
the conversation took
a turn
she
hadn’t expected
.
“Well, young lady, I had better get you to your protector. I would hat
e to be between you and Michael
when he’s concerned about you. People tend to end up dead in those situations.
”
S
till
puzzled
,
Rena
tries to decline
the
offer
of a
babysit
ter
.
Ms. Smith
will hear nothing of it.
The walk to the dojo is pleasant for both
.
When they ent
er, Michael,
still practicing
, is
unaware of their presence. Rena and
Ms. Smith
remain quiet, not wanting to
interrupt him, preferring to watch his artistry
.
Wearing
his field jumper, the
gl
aive
affixed behind his back
with
several knives
fitted
into sleeves around his thighs,
Michael
p
ac
es
back and forth
the width of the dojo.
Moving slowly, like a large cat on the prowl, he
concentrat
es
on a wooden mannequin at the fa
r end of the room
, at least sixty
feet
away.
Rena watc
hes as
he
closes his eyes
,
focusing
.
Starting from a c
rouch
ed position near the floor,
Michael mo
ves gracefully into a pirouette. Exploding
from
the spin, h
is
arms
pitch
forward releasing two knives.
S
print
ing
diagonal
ly
across the dojo, diving forward
into a roll,
he
emerg
es
,
sailing over the floor as
another
knife
races from his hand
.
C
o
ntinuing
his traj
ectory
,
Michael
leap
s
high up
the wall, taking
several steps, appearing to defy gravity
. He
launches himself off
the
vertical
surface
into a tight spin
,
three more knives
airborne
.
Careening across
the
floor
,
he
roll
s
to his feet,
continuing
in a full sprint back across the dojo, performing several spins, rolls, flips
and dives. Th
r
oughout the
pass,
more knives
expel
like quills, seemingly emerging from his body without assistance from his arms and
hands. At the end of the pass
,
Michael
transitions
into a violent spinning
aerial
, h
i
s right
hand moving to his back
.
I
n one fluid
motion
,
he
detaches
the crescent shaped glaive
,
his
arm
arcing
into a sweeping pitch
,
generat
ing
so much
velocity
on
release
Rena’s eyes cannot track
the weapon in the air
.
She r
eacquir
es
the disc
the moment
it
splits the head of the dummy
,
cleanly in half. Michael end
s
the
exercise
crouched
like a spring
,
ready to
detonate
.