Chapter 15: The Sacred and Profane

[Ariel Tal Shachar]

"That sounds excellent Calithin, good job. I think that is an excellent proposal which seems to take into account all of the concerns that were voiced today. Unless there is anything to add, we will vote on this immediately." The Moderator says with enthusiasm. He smiles and waits for a moment for anyone to voice any objections to the proposal. With no objections, the Council votes and Calithin's resolution passes with over 2/3 of the council's support.

"That completes our meeting. I will see the rest of you at the upcoming Manala Mas party. With the meeting done early, you will have plenty of time to do your shopping."

With nothing more to be discussed at this time, the meeting is ended. These meetings tend not to follow parliamentary proceedure, usually what the Moderator decides is accepted. The Moderator retreats to his own office. Usually it is customary that discussion continues even after he has left, or that it continues into his office. He sits at his desk and reviews the footage from Keitoleinen's mansion. To him, it really is just a mentally ill criminal. He writes a note to himself that he will contact Dr. Lonrott about those individuals.

[Jumala Keitoleinen]

(to Alter)

Keitoleinen votes in favor of Calithin's proposal, even though he is indifferent to most of the discussion. After the meeting is over, he takes a teleportation booth back to his mansion. He finds that the servants have made little progress with clean up, but that there is an angry looking brown haired woman in his home. He isn't certain who she is, but a maid quickly informs him that she is from the Invisible Hand.

"Hello, sorry that I wasn't here sooner. Those meetings of the Economic Council drag on forever. Is there anything I can do to assist you?" Keitoleinen asks her politely.

[Heikki Toivonen]

"All of you are welcome to come inside. Bonifaz is busy at the moment, but I'm sure that he will be with us shortly. I made some strawberry shortcake and chocolate strawberries. There's enough for all of you if you would like some." Heikki says to Kyra, Horacio, and Evana. He opens the door wide and leads them inside to the room where Amelia and Bishop are hanging out.
It is the TV room, but has enough seating for all of them.

"My name is Heikki. It's nice to meet all of you."

[Alter Grossman]

Alter is happy that the servants let her in, although she is concerned that they did not ask for for identification. She holds her coat, hat, and other outerwear in one arm and her briefcase in the other. The servants wanted to take them, but she was worried that she might have to make a hasty exit. Invisible Hand business is so unpredictable.


Alter is pleased when Keitoleinen arrives. She forces a smile and holds her hand out, to shake. "Alter Grossman, Invisible Hand. I'm here to investigate the terrorist attack on your Manala-mas party. May I request that you order your servants to stop cleaning up? They may destroy valuable evidence. Also, may I please have a copy of the guest list, and any security footage you may have of the event?"

[Jumala Keitoleinen]

"Very well...the Economic Council also has video footage from my mansion and around Helsinki. If you would like to view some of that, you are more than welcome." Keitoleinen replies. He tells the maids not to clean up the mess, for now, and leaves for a moment to get the guest list from Tyler Bargrin, who was the head of security at the party.

In no time at all, he presents both the guest list and the video footage to the Hand Member. Keitoleinen is fond of the Invisible Hand, since they tend to be pretty effective, although some members seem a tad freakish.

"A girl named Anya...who was the musician at the party, left with the green haired, clown looking man. Bambi from the Global Bank seemed to think she wanted to leave with him."

[Emmet Fawkes]

Bishop sat reclined on the couch, feet kicked up, when the group entered the room. Taking a deep breath, he fastened the mask tighter to his face as he peered through his eyeholes, over the couch at them. He chuckled upon seeing Kyra again.
"It's the Princess herself again," the man murred softly, clicking his tongue. "And you brought someone else?" He pushed himself up, slinging his arm over the top of the couch to get a better look at the serious-looking girl who looked out of place, Evana. For a moment, he just stared at her, whether or not he thought it was rude--he continued observing her.
"You look like a lost pup," Bishop commented, eyeing her.

[Alter Grossman]

"Possible hostage situation noted. May we sit down somewhere? I need to take a few minutes of your time. If you do not mind, may I ask you to describe your recollection of the attack? Have you seen the culprits before, and are you aware of any motives that they might have?" Alter takes a notepad and pen out of her briefcase. "It is very important that you tell me everything that you know. I would also like to arrange for an interview with your head of security. Perhaps he can provide some insight."

[Calithin Crest]

"Oh yes. That's right. My plans always pass... Because they're amazing. Go me. Self- five!"

I feel pretty fantastic. I give myself a high five and start gathering my things when the meeting is ajourned. They can go ahead and just call me The Great Compromiser from now on, Henry Clay has got nothing on me. Waddup!

"Great meeting guys, seriously. That was awesome. Things got decided like I don't even know what."

[Jumala Keitoleinen]

"The place is a mess, but we can talk in one of the dining rooms downstairs." Keitoleinen suggests and leads the way. "I was outside during the attacks, so, I never saw much of anything. You would probably want to talk to someone who was inside the mansion, or even on the second floor, since that was where the action was. I think some other Hand members and some Creditors may already be investigating, so they might have some information as well." Keitoleinen states. He gives Alter Tyler's information, so she can contact him later if she likes.

"The explosion started in the weapons room. Footage shows a man who looks clown like in the room before the explosion and how he escaped with Anya. Anya was shot by another woman, a pale woman with dark hair who seemed to have some sort of problem with the clown man. None of these people are known among the Blessed. The Clown man later fired fireworks at my mansion and was involved in a van chase in Helsinki. Is there anything else you would like to know?"

[Malak Al-Dabaran]

"I think it was pretty brave...or insane to attack the Manalists...leaning more to insane. Though, it makes me wish that we could do something. We haven't planned or organized anything. It is rather depressing. If some insane terrorist or criminal can do something...well, we should as well." Malak says to Tuesday and Hilja. Though, his mind draws a blank about what they can actually do.

"We should try to organize something...but I think the only thing we really have going on is our newspaper. I guess that is a start. Maybe we should try to distribute our newspaper more aggressively." Malak suggests.

"Especially after I write about the party."

[Anna Kraise]

How boring! Slumping against the wall, she could practically feel the boredom laughing in her ear at her misery. Her usual Manalist soldier uniform enveloped her human curves. Stupid communists! Or terrorists! Honestly, the Economic meeting was confusing her with their back and forth bickering.
She idly twirled her hair around her index finger, her free arm resting across her stomach. The white locks were also in their usual high pony-tail, the hair that fell down swept over one shoulder. Oh, she knew what she could do! Taking her arm off her stomach, she begun to style in another braid in her hair to add onto the other two she had already put in out of boredom.

The young dragon really needed to think of better things to do when she bored.

Or, perhaps, simply build a better tolerance to boredom. This was, after all, an Economic Council meeting. She wasn't usually put on duty here, but she had been as an add safety measures after the commiterrorist attacks. Ha! Commiterrorist, maybe she should be on the council. It was a compromise she found pleasing, so that one old grouchy lady and know it all man should too!
... Ugh. How long was this going to drag on for? Being bored with the braid, she drops it, the half braid section of her hair falling back onto the rest. Father! They could've gone without a dragon here, what with the Manala shield and all that other fancy technology.
Of course, the fact she wasn't on the good side of the priests again could have a factor in it... She cringed and pouted, remembering the scolding she had gotten before being rudely told to come here. What was a big deal if she kept a cute human guy as a pet? It wasn't her fault they always wanted to escape! Honestly, she had really liked that one. It was a shame. She had a thing for dark-haired ones.

Sighing dramatically, she lifted her baby blues up to look over the people of the Council once more. None of them were really cute except a few. Wasn't this supposed to be the Blessed? Crossing her arms, annoyed, at the fact not all of them were absolutely beautiful like the Blessed should be. Hmm, that strong looking one was pretty nice looking... What was his name?
She couldn't remember, but she thought he was one of the Wrath. She really liked his obviously Manalist devoted tattoos. Licking her lips, she tried to think of what the Wrath was. They did something for the Father, which meant they were good. But what was it they did? Something was telling her it was something she wasn't goin-

Oh, damn. They tried to kill anything that wasn't human, didn't they? She begun pouting again. How unfair, so the Wrath would hate her just because she happened to be able to transform into a beautiful white dragon? Nah, she was positive if they saw it they would love her beauty! Beaming at the thought, she hardly noticed the meeting was going to an end.

Her nose caught wift of something delicious, something like candy. The priests never let her eat candy! They always said a dragon had to keep a high intake of only meat. She never felt right when she ate the meat they brought her, though, like it wasn't supposed to come from them. How strange, maybe it was a dragon thing? But the plants were yummy! They started including plants after she kept getting sick.
Pinpointing the source of the smell, she kept her eyes of Calithin until the meeting ended. Practically pouncing off the wall, she almost rammed straight into the table next to him. "Hey Calithin! What were you eating? Do you have anymore? Pleeease?" She speaks rather quickly due to her excitement, clasping her hands together over her chest as she leaned toward him. Her eyes stared at him pleadingly, her body bouncing slightly.

Having to stand still through that entire thing had built up a bit of energy.

[Horacio Hatfield]

Horacio stays behind the women when he enters the house. He is quiet for now since there will be time to talk later and he doesn't want to interupt anyone. For now, he just helps himself to some of the strawberry shortcake.
"So, out of curiousity, there are rumors amongst...some people I know, that there was some sort of attack inside Helsinki. Does anyone know about that? Or is it just a hoax?"

[Amelia 20]

"Once I built a railroad...dime...dime...can you spare a dime. We're in the money. We're in the money. Someone stop him, he won't get away. Dangerous criminals against the economy." Amelia chirps from the corner of the room. She notices the new comers and sits back down. She rocks back and forth a little. She closes her eyes and shakes her head.

"I am...Amelia 20. Are you Creditors too? What are our orders now?" She asks the others in the room. She is a little more calm now.

[Durante Dushkriti-Fahid]

Keitoleinen's mansion. Supposedly there was some kind of terrorist activity there. What kind of name was Keitoleinen, anyway? Maybe it was Russian or something? Dante glanced at his watched and realized he was late. Cursing, he almost fell down the flight of stairs of the base, caught himself half-bent over and pushed the door open. He'd have to take the teleportation booth—thank god there was one close to here. They were gonna' skin him alive. They were going to spit him out in pieces. The foolish nervous-grin stayed plastered on his face as he ran, tucking his military shirt into his pants as he went. Man, it was chilly outside! He regretted leaving his jacket back in his locker.
“Their... seriously gonna kick my ass for this.”

Even though he knew his ass was on the line, he definitely couldn't get the foxtrot song, Is You Is or Is You Ain't My Baby, out of his head. Damn, when he realized what he was supposed to be doing, he was working on a new routine. His old partner broke her leg doing one of the stunts, so he was stuck with doing solo routines. It was a bummer, but he couldn't find anyone else at the moment—definitely a bummer, he'd have to ask around. There weren't a lot of enlisted soldier girls around, he just got lucky with his partner, she wasn't too shabby either. He finally reached the brightly-colored booth with golden dragons dancing on its frame, he sucked a breath in and slipped inside. He clicked the coordinates, and waited for that weird sinking feeling that made him want to lose his lunch.

Dante held his stomach gingerly as he stumbled out of the booth, glancing up at the humongous house he assumed as Keitoleiner's. He didn't see any other mansions that size. Man, he'd kill for a house like that, all fancy schmancy. The walk there would be pretty long, so he started the trek to the front door, snapping his fingers as went. He couldn't stop himself.

“Is you is or is you ain't my baby, well, the way you're acting lately, well it makes me doubt,” he sang quietly to himself, glancing around to see if anyone was outside—it's not like anyone would care, but he didn't want anyone to see him. He held his arms out stiff, pretending to dance with someone as he spun around, cross-stepping and swooping down the walkway.

“Is my baby still my baby too?” Dante took a few clicking steps up to the door, holding one hand behind his back like a waiter and ringing the doorbell. Coughing, he stiffened his posture, fixed his collar and waited. He hoped that no one he knew on base was here, hoped that no one knew he was late.

He was supposed to be supporting anyone else from the Invisible Hand who'd come early, like he was supposed to be, and now he was late, and now it was awkward. Oh god.

[Émilie LaFramboise]

Mind control! Émilie pressed her lips into a thin line, gripping her chair's arms under the table for a moment. She quickly resumed her cool, but her mouth was shut for the rest of the meeting. She was glad Calithin spoke out against it, at least, even if she couldn't bring herself to. Agreeing with his plan, the meeting officially ended.

She hardly ever stayed for the after chat. What was the point? Standing, she pushed her chair politely in and took a quick glance around the room. The sight of snow white hair shocked her, her eyes locking on the women briefly. It reminded her the true silver white of her own hair. Seeing the "M" on the woman's cap was enough to convince her, however, that it was no nymph.

At least, she couldn't imagine a nymph being a Manalist soldier. What did she know? Sighing mentally, she threw the strap of her bag over her shoulder and begun to exit the room. She felt like returning home to relay the horrid news to Vivien, but at the same time she felt like finding comfort in people who shared her peaceful ideals. She knew no one like that.

She had looked for them, too, as her true self. It wasn't easy. How do you bring up a subject like that? "Oh, hey, so... do you happen to be a pacifist? Maybe a rebel? I'm cool with either!" Hardly.