Nepleslia
Funky City
Docks
There were always SAINT agents. Everywhere. Effy knew that and how she could forget, she didn't know. How she could have thought she would be without their help any longer, she did not know, either.
Effy wondered how long it had been since she had seen black panels, despite being one. Such a familiar sight. Her smile reached up her cheeks as she realized she was surrounded by friends, again. Surrounded by those she called family now.
She rode back to Vicky in a civilian ship contracted quietly by the Strategic Initiatives Network to enter Nepleslian space and take back their operative before she could be compromised.
Sky Marshall's Offices
One Months Earlier
"You'll be here, Miss Peniha... Haptoloa... No, Penihatopsayo—" The assistant to Nepleslia's premier stuttered over Effy Penihatolapsoa's name, going on to say, "Do you mind greatly if I just call you Effy?"
"Yes, Miss Nickelson. You may of course call me by my first name," Effy said with a nod and smile. Her golden circlet that sat on her forehead beneath her grey bangs shimmered in the light of the entrance room to the premier's office while she looked between Elouise Nickelson and the datajockey she had just been given from which to work predominantly from.
The premier's assistant went on, "I'll get you acquainted with staff later. You will only ever be in direct contact with me, though. That way what happens in this office stays in this office."
"I understand fully," Effy replied tersely. "That's the way it should be."
"Good," Elouise Nickelson said succinctly as she sat down at her own desk. "Now, tell me what it's like to be an el—"
Elouise was cut off by the opening of doors to their left. Elouise and Effy both stood up from their chairs as two ID-SOL entered the entrance room and scanned it in its entirety. They nodded to those that stood behind them, where Effy could not see. She made no motion to crane her neck to look. She could only assume who it was that was about to walk through that room.
One Day Later
Effy's finger paused while it was over her datajockey and then she looked over to Elouise surreptitiously, noting that the assistant was fully engrossed in work of her own. Effy continued to key in commands that brought up information she processed slowly, realizing the brevity of the filing work she was doing.
There were things here SAINT didn't know yet. Things that they needed to know. She made mental notes to show her handlers exactly what she had found out when she could next get a secure and encrypted line to them. For now, she would have to do the job expected of her.
From both Nepleslia and Yamatai.
And, so, she continued to scroll through data and file away what she could for SAINT while pushing other pieces of information towards Elouise as Effy saw fit. It was a lot of data-churning, but she was fit for it.
One Week Later
Effy was finally able to speak openly about what she had found out. After having been slipped a Ke-G7-1b bracelet by a sleeper agent she had no prior knowledge of only moments earlier, Effy was finally able to spill out all that she knew about Gaelan Sanders, his business, and his nation of Nepleslia.
She spoke over PANTHEON on a secure, encrypted line while bioelectromagnetic scans of a ten meter radius made sure no other living beings would overhear or come into contact with her while she paced in the bathroom stall like she were in a cell.
When she was done, she turned on the holographic feature and the bracelet was made invisible. She had been thoroughly inspected before getting the job, but she wondered if this would have been something the ID-SOL bodyguards would have found.
It was, but Effy wondered, anyway.
One Week Later
Left alone in the office for the first time since she had gotten the job, Effy did a sweep of the room she worked in with the bracelet, looking to detect any signals within a one meter range of it. In the entrance room, there was nothing. And, so, she went into the Premier's office. This required her to utilize the electronic hacking software of the bracelet.
On her knees, she tampered with the security lock of the door with the bracelet until the stars had aligned and she was able to hear the click of the lock turning and she was in.
Continuing the sweep, Effy eyed every surface and facet of the room. That is, until she was stopped dead in her tracks. The bracelet had picked something up.
A moment later, Effy's face was under the premier's desk while she bent at the waist. She was staring at the tiny black wire of a bug. She instantly popped back up, took another quick glance around the room to both make sure she hadn't missed anything and that nothing was out of place since she had entered, and walked back out of the room, rubbing off her fingerprints from the handle of the door.
At her desk, she set her bracelet's emissions to pink noise to disrupt the signal being transmitted from the bug in the premier's office.
"This is operativeredacted in the field," Effy said into her bracelet to PANTHEON. "I have a bug in the premier's office. I would like confirmation this is one of our assets."
At first, there was nothing, and then there was static and a terse reply. "Negative."
Effy made sure to confirm, "This is not an asset of ours?"
"It is not, operative," came the reply. Effy said nothing and put her wrist down, setting the function on the bracelet to make it invisible once more. Effy got up from her chair, aware she had to remove the bug.
"What happened!?" An ID-SOL had jumped through the door from the outside of the entrance room with a gun raised, looking at the premier's office.
Effy feigned innocence and acted hurt by the idea of a gun in her midst. She crumpled up into herself and shook her head, denoting she knew nothing.
The man rushed forward and keyed the door, opening up the premier's office and going in.
"Clear!" The ID-SOL yelled before he exited the room, locked the door, and looked to Effy.
"I left for a moment," Effy muttered quietly, giving the man reason to think she was inconspicuous. "What happened?"
"Nothing, go back to work, Miss..." The ID-SOL seemed to pause, trying to remember her last name, then went with saying, "Effy."
Effy nodded quickly, saying, "I will, but now you have me scared."
"The premier will be out the rest of the day," he told her. "You can go home."
Effy nodded, but said, "Thank you. I live in a tower far from my home, though."
"Nepleslia is your home, now," he told her.
"That it is," Effy said, reprimanding herself for pushing the limits towards insolence. She reiterated, "That it is."
He left her and Effy thought to get up and re-enter the office to de-bug the room, but thought better of it and packed up her things to head to her place in Argent Towers.
One Day Later
Effy sat at her desk, nose deep in some filing and paperwork that she had gotten behind in the day before. She saw something of interest. It was mail to Gaelan Sanders' office that seemed incriminatory to her, but she needed more time to decipher what was being said. She needed to analyze it for what it was, not what she thought it could be.
Before she could think about it more fully, she was interrupted by the door opening and the two ID-SOL that usually opened the doors and cleared the room did so this time, as well.
Behind them though, was Gaelan Sanders himself. "Thank you Ivan, Drax. I wish to speak with someone." He said walking towards Effy. "Ms. Penihatolapsoa." He said softly, actually getting the pronunciation correct, as he stood in front of her desk. "May I have a word?"
"That you can have and more, Premier Sanders," replied Effy.
"I wish to apologize for yesterday's... incident." He said, his face and eyes not showing any emotion one way or the other. "Ivan informed me of what took place. Thank you for your work here. Please take the rest of the day off with full pay. It is the least I can do."
"Thank you, Premier." Effy was grateful to him, but only for the gesture. She didn't want to take any time off. She wanted to hunt and dig and get to know more about him. And, so, that is what she did. "Mr. Premier..." Effy began, then rather bluntly asked, "Is there any way I can have a moment alone in your office with you?"
His ID-SOL body guard Ivan stepped up. "No Ms. Effy you may..." But before he could finish, Gaelan raised a hand to silence him.
"It's quite alright Ivan. I don't believe Ms. Effy is an assassin, and even if she was I am not a helpless old man." He said to the bodyguard. "Yes Ms. Penihatolapsoa, please follow me." He said leading the way to his office.
Effy followed Gaelan Sanders into his room and shut the doors while he sat down at his desk. She remained quiet the entire time and followed Gaelan until she was standing on the side of the desk he was sitting on.
He looked up at Effy and raised an eyebrow.
She moved her hand close to him, slowly and steadily as to not alarm him, and plucked the audio transmitter from its moring underneath the desk. She raised a questioning eyebrow of her own at him.
He was silent, his cybernetic eyes appraising the device. He held out his palm for her to place it and she obliged him by extending her arm and dropping it into his palm.
He began scanning the device with his cybernetics and found the signal. He then proceeded to jam it.
"Well... It appears my assumptions were wrong about you Ms. Penihatolapsoa..." He said looking up at her. "You might well be an Assassin..."
"I'm not an assassin sent to kill you," Effy said clearly and definitively, but in a quiet tone of voice. "I just got this message, Mr. Premier..."
Effy showed him the mail that had been sent to his offices in the form of a message that said, "We know what you do Sanders. We know everything you say. Your time is running out."
Effy moved her jaw into place as she looked at him, her grey-blue eyes rigid and cold as they ascertained his reaction.
"You may want a moment with your people, Mr. Premier," Effy said to him and ducked her head, turning to go out.
He remained quiet and watched her walk out. "Have Ms. Nickelson get the IPG director on the line at once..." He said quietly to Effy as she walked through the door.
One Day Later
Effy sat at her desk as she was typing up a report of the day before at the premier's request on the day prior. It was by a stroke of magic that she knew where it would be, she said.
After all, what was an Elf known for most but that, she wondered to herself, longing for magic that wasn't just potions and pastimes.
She could have forgone telling the Premier about the bug. She could have disabled it herself. She wanted to live out a life that was worthwhile, though. One that was important and full of purpose. She wanted to make allies, as well.
And at this moment, Effy was more of an ally to the Premier than the ID-SOL that stood guard outside of his door, one eye on Effy.
What if the premier didn't know that, she thought. That didn't matter. She was his ally whether he knew or not.
That Night
Walking back to Argent Towers, there came the encroaching sound of footsteps along the path directly behind Effy. She stopped dead in her tracks after a half mile of her peripheries telling her there were pursuers idly stepping in time with her. She let the approach.
They grabbed her quickly, bagged her head, and without hesitation rushed her into a waiting pseudo-cab. They zip-lined her hands and pushed her legs to the side so that both of them could get in.
Effy knew this day would come. She was prepared for it and many other like it. She allowed herself to be pushed into the back of the cab-like vehicle and moved limply in between the hands that carted her there.
They asked her, "When did you start working for the premier?"
She remained silent and there was a burning sensation on her temple as their fist slammed into it through the bag they had put over her head.
"I said when?!"
Another fist hit her through the fabric, this time to her jaw. Effy sat motionless, placid, like a tame wave that laps at the beach as if nothing is happening around it.
They removed the bag, just as she wished they would. It was at that moment Effy looked to each side to gain visuals of her abductors and then slammed her forehead into the nose of one and looked to the other.
"Who do you work for?!" she asked through hissed teeth after she had knocked the bridge of the other's nose.
"We—We..." Sputtered one of the men.
"We ask the questions!" Shouted the faux-cab driver.
"Who are you working for?!" Effy yelled back.
"I work for me!" He chuckled. "And you work for the Sky Marshall... Tell me about him, Sweetheart!"
The men to her sides were regaining control of themselves and one managed to punch Effy in the same part of her jaw she had been hit in before. It was only just starting to sting. She wouldn't let it deter her. It was at the moment that she gritted her teeth together and knew she could persevere that she was hit from the other side along her cheek. She groaned and they pulled her head back by one of her silver braids.
"You like this?" The driver asked. "We got lots more! Tell us a simple answer to a simple question, how long have you been working for him?"
Effy pouted her lips and spat out, "I'll exchange information for information, but this is a two way street!"
"Eh?" The driver said, "I see we're talking each other's language, now."
Effy asked, "What do you plan on doing with the premier?"
"When did you start working for him?" Came the reply.
"Me first!" Effy said hotly.
"We're gonna fatten him up and we're gonna kill him. That what you want to hear?" The driver asked.
"Since the beginning of the year!" Effy announced to him, grateful to know what she now knew. "Not long! Why do you want to know how long I've been working for him?"
"We want to know if you know what he knows. Now... Do you?" He asked.
"I don't know a thing!"
"She's not lying," said one of the men in the back seat with her.
"I'm taking her out!" The driver yelled as he brought a .45 out from under his jacket and next to his chest and pointed it at Effy's head.
She took one long, last look around the cab. The driver was the most important facet, quite obviously. He had dark, smooth skin and short, red hair. Those next to her she planned on killing outright, so they were unfathomably unimportant. What she wanted to focus on was the driver. She pulled apart her wrists until the zip-ties snapped at their weak points and she brought her hands to hold the gun and twisted it out of his hands. He wailed as she brought the gun to the each of the men next to her and shot point blank.
They were Effy's first true kills. The blood splattered across the back seat and across her pale face, her dress, and her grey hair.
"What the fuu—" The driver said as he grabbed into his vest and pulled out his secondary gun. As he pulled his gun up to face her, she aimed and pulled the trigger.
It clicked, but nothing happened. Something had gone wrong and she didn't have time to see why. She ducked her head and crawled over the dead man next to her before the driver could realize his target had moved. She flung open the door and flung herself from the cab as he took shots at her previous position. She barrel-rolled along the pavement and scraped her elbows, forearms, knees and cheek against the road.
The cab slowed and stopped and she dashed through the crowd, grabbing a coat from a man's shoulder as she did. She put it on as she ran, gaining a disguise. She made her way away from the street and scaled a chainlink fence, gingerly hopping from one side of the barbed wire at the top to the other, then hopped down from the top of it, rolling again to re-distribute the force of the fall.
She sprinted back to the towers where she lived and made her way to her level and, finally, her rooms. She cleared them and put her back against the door of the bathroom when she had. She shook off the overwhelming feelings, to no avail, and turned on the hot water. She shed her dress and put her circlet on the countertop before stepping into the heat of the shower and letting the water push the blood off of her.
One and a Half Weeks Later
Effy was going about her day when her eyes picked up something odd. Something out of place. Something that should not have been there. Her training kicked in and she lunged for the double doors of the premier's office as the two ID-SOL closed both of them. She tumbled into the room and gripped the Nepleslian premier's crisp clean uniform's jacket with both her hands and pulled him out of the way of the blast.
An explosive had been planted underneath his desk on the side opposite the one he sat at and Effy had noticed it as the ID-SOL had opened the door.
Now, though, she was being thrust into a choke-hold and managed to say while being squeezed around the neck, "Get out! Get out!"
Gaelan had been about to sit when Effy half tackled, half pulled him down to the floor, just before the explosive detonated. Gaelan's cybernetic hands moved to shield himself and his eyes shut of for a moment to not fry the systems with the light. As the dust settled, his ID-SOLs had come in and had Effy in a choke hold.
"Re... Relase her at once. She is coming with me to the bunker." He ordered standing and half throwing the ID-SOL off with his enhanced cybernetic strength. He offered her a hand. "We are getting out of here now!"
Efy stared wide-eyed at Gaelan Sanders and her whole body shivered as he heard his command.
"Of course, Sky Marshall!" Effy said sharply as she was whisked away. "Of cou—" She couldn't finish her statement as Ivan snarled.
"Shut up! You're lucky the Premier let you live." Ivan said through gritted teeth.
"Ivan not the time!" Gaelan yelled as they all ran for the bunker. As they reached it Drax and Ivan held out a hand. "That is as far as..."
"You fucking morons!" Gaelan snapped, cursing infront of Effy for the first time. "She saved my life you muscle brained idiots. She is coming in and we are having a chat. Make sure everyone gets to safety." He ordered.
"But sir!" Ivan yelled.
"That is a direct order! Go!" Gaelan fired back.
The ID-SOLs looked at one another, then Ivan took off towards the blast. Leaving Drax to guard the door. Gaelan ushered Effy inside.
She walked quickly, her feet going before the rest of her body as her sage-green dress dragged along the ground. Her shoulders were bare and she was noticeably folding into herself. An exemplary show of shock was written all over her body.
"Premier Sanders—" Effy began, turning to him once fully inside the bunker.
She couldn't finish any statement, though, as Gaelan spoke out, saying, "Who are you... Really?" He asked flatly as he moved and sat down on one of the chairs spread throughout the room.
"I am an assistant to your assistant, Premier!" Effy replied without hesitation.
"Bullshit." Gaelan muttered, too tired to conjure up any real anger. "First you find a listening device under my desk, and then you save me from an attack on my life... You are not just some assistant."
Effy breathed in, then out, without saying anything.
He let the silence hang in the air for some time.
"My people..." Effy began, then went on. "They have the ability to scry, to conjure..."
Gaelan let out a sigh that conveyed that he was unconvinced but just sat there. The lines under his eyes were deep and sunken as if he hadn't slept well in quite some time. "In any event... It would seem I owe you my life Ms. Effy..." He said finally.
"It would," Effy replied. "But do not take that to mean I will take some advantage over you, Premier Sanders. I want to only know that I can bow out of my position in your offices and would like to see myself out of the position as assistant to your assistant."
Gaelan smirked softly. "What? Hazardous work enviorment?" He chuckled. "Yes... you may leave once we are let out of this bunker. Until then you are stuck in here with me so get comfortable..."
Trying not to inhale too sharply, Effy breathed in and nodded. "That I can do," she said and looked to Gaelan with wide eyes, asking him,"How do you do it?"
"Hmm? Do what?" He asked looking back to her.
"Live a life os such extraordinary importance?" Effy asked.
Her mask was down, even the one she kept at home. Even the one she kept at Vicky. The mask that thought she could hold a public office as important as Gaelan's. That was her goal, after all. Underneath the Star Army training and the title of assistant to the assistant was her undeniable need to be a politician that would talk to Gaelan Sanders as an equal.
Gaelan considered the question for a moment. "It's not an easy life, that is for damn sure..." He said looking to Effy. "But I do it because my country needed a leader. And the people thought I was the best choice." He shrugged remembering a old old quote. "I was fine with just being a field marshal. Then I was Premier Gorman's Military advisor. When Premier Gorman steeped down I was the logical choice for some reason." He said explaining. "I lead and continue to lead because I want to lead Nepleslia into a new era, and because if I don't then who else will..." He finally added.
Having been given quite a bit to think about, effy sat silent for a moment, then divulged parts of herself that were apparent after a cursory glance over her files.
She said, "I want to lead because it's what I want, not what my people want. Maybe that is where I have gone wrong. Maybe that is where I have gone right. I will only know once in office, I would think."
Gaelan smiled softly. "As you can see, people don't like that I am here... But sometimes we must do what is best for them and not what they want. It makes us unpopular, but in the end when they see what we were trying to achieve... That is what makes it all worth it." He said quietly. "Sometimes we have to make the hard calls..."
Effy nodded, knowing what those hard calls could be and said to Gaelan softly, "I think you have done a fine job. I am one of those that thinks your hard calls have been ones worth making and the right decisions all in one. I am one of the many that believe in you, Premier Sanders."
Gaelan smiled. "Thank you Ms Effy, and for what it is worth. You will make a great politician for your people." He said with a nod.
"I hope I do..." Effy said, voice trailing off. "I hope you can see that your people want you, they just don't all know it. Not yet." Effy's voice had become decisive and it sounded like she had full confidence in her words. "There are some that do not know what is best for them, but even more that believe in you as much as they believe in themselves!"
He smiled again at the elf. "Thank you Effy, I will continue to be the voice of my people. And I will continue to serve them to the best of my abilities until I am no longer able to draw breath." He added.
He scanned the room and sighed again. He rested his head against the wall and shut off his cybernetic eyes. "We will be here for quite some time... Try and get some rest."
Effy nodded gently and began to ruminate on what would become of her in but a few hours.
Funky City
Docks
There were always SAINT agents. Everywhere. Effy knew that and how she could forget, she didn't know. How she could have thought she would be without their help any longer, she did not know, either.
Effy wondered how long it had been since she had seen black panels, despite being one. Such a familiar sight. Her smile reached up her cheeks as she realized she was surrounded by friends, again. Surrounded by those she called family now.
She rode back to Vicky in a civilian ship contracted quietly by the Strategic Initiatives Network to enter Nepleslian space and take back their operative before she could be compromised.
Sky Marshall's Offices
One Months Earlier
"You'll be here, Miss Peniha... Haptoloa... No, Penihatopsayo—" The assistant to Nepleslia's premier stuttered over Effy Penihatolapsoa's name, going on to say, "Do you mind greatly if I just call you Effy?"
"Yes, Miss Nickelson. You may of course call me by my first name," Effy said with a nod and smile. Her golden circlet that sat on her forehead beneath her grey bangs shimmered in the light of the entrance room to the premier's office while she looked between Elouise Nickelson and the datajockey she had just been given from which to work predominantly from.
The premier's assistant went on, "I'll get you acquainted with staff later. You will only ever be in direct contact with me, though. That way what happens in this office stays in this office."
"I understand fully," Effy replied tersely. "That's the way it should be."
"Good," Elouise Nickelson said succinctly as she sat down at her own desk. "Now, tell me what it's like to be an el—"
Elouise was cut off by the opening of doors to their left. Elouise and Effy both stood up from their chairs as two ID-SOL entered the entrance room and scanned it in its entirety. They nodded to those that stood behind them, where Effy could not see. She made no motion to crane her neck to look. She could only assume who it was that was about to walk through that room.
One Day Later
Effy's finger paused while it was over her datajockey and then she looked over to Elouise surreptitiously, noting that the assistant was fully engrossed in work of her own. Effy continued to key in commands that brought up information she processed slowly, realizing the brevity of the filing work she was doing.
There were things here SAINT didn't know yet. Things that they needed to know. She made mental notes to show her handlers exactly what she had found out when she could next get a secure and encrypted line to them. For now, she would have to do the job expected of her.
From both Nepleslia and Yamatai.
And, so, she continued to scroll through data and file away what she could for SAINT while pushing other pieces of information towards Elouise as Effy saw fit. It was a lot of data-churning, but she was fit for it.
One Week Later
Effy was finally able to speak openly about what she had found out. After having been slipped a Ke-G7-1b bracelet by a sleeper agent she had no prior knowledge of only moments earlier, Effy was finally able to spill out all that she knew about Gaelan Sanders, his business, and his nation of Nepleslia.
She spoke over PANTHEON on a secure, encrypted line while bioelectromagnetic scans of a ten meter radius made sure no other living beings would overhear or come into contact with her while she paced in the bathroom stall like she were in a cell.
When she was done, she turned on the holographic feature and the bracelet was made invisible. She had been thoroughly inspected before getting the job, but she wondered if this would have been something the ID-SOL bodyguards would have found.
It was, but Effy wondered, anyway.
One Week Later
Left alone in the office for the first time since she had gotten the job, Effy did a sweep of the room she worked in with the bracelet, looking to detect any signals within a one meter range of it. In the entrance room, there was nothing. And, so, she went into the Premier's office. This required her to utilize the electronic hacking software of the bracelet.
On her knees, she tampered with the security lock of the door with the bracelet until the stars had aligned and she was able to hear the click of the lock turning and she was in.
Continuing the sweep, Effy eyed every surface and facet of the room. That is, until she was stopped dead in her tracks. The bracelet had picked something up.
A moment later, Effy's face was under the premier's desk while she bent at the waist. She was staring at the tiny black wire of a bug. She instantly popped back up, took another quick glance around the room to both make sure she hadn't missed anything and that nothing was out of place since she had entered, and walked back out of the room, rubbing off her fingerprints from the handle of the door.
At her desk, she set her bracelet's emissions to pink noise to disrupt the signal being transmitted from the bug in the premier's office.
"This is operative
At first, there was nothing, and then there was static and a terse reply. "Negative."
Effy made sure to confirm, "This is not an asset of ours?"
"It is not, operative," came the reply. Effy said nothing and put her wrist down, setting the function on the bracelet to make it invisible once more. Effy got up from her chair, aware she had to remove the bug.
"What happened!?" An ID-SOL had jumped through the door from the outside of the entrance room with a gun raised, looking at the premier's office.
Effy feigned innocence and acted hurt by the idea of a gun in her midst. She crumpled up into herself and shook her head, denoting she knew nothing.
The man rushed forward and keyed the door, opening up the premier's office and going in.
"Clear!" The ID-SOL yelled before he exited the room, locked the door, and looked to Effy.
"I left for a moment," Effy muttered quietly, giving the man reason to think she was inconspicuous. "What happened?"
"Nothing, go back to work, Miss..." The ID-SOL seemed to pause, trying to remember her last name, then went with saying, "Effy."
Effy nodded quickly, saying, "I will, but now you have me scared."
"The premier will be out the rest of the day," he told her. "You can go home."
Effy nodded, but said, "Thank you. I live in a tower far from my home, though."
"Nepleslia is your home, now," he told her.
"That it is," Effy said, reprimanding herself for pushing the limits towards insolence. She reiterated, "That it is."
He left her and Effy thought to get up and re-enter the office to de-bug the room, but thought better of it and packed up her things to head to her place in Argent Towers.
One Day Later
Effy sat at her desk, nose deep in some filing and paperwork that she had gotten behind in the day before. She saw something of interest. It was mail to Gaelan Sanders' office that seemed incriminatory to her, but she needed more time to decipher what was being said. She needed to analyze it for what it was, not what she thought it could be.
Before she could think about it more fully, she was interrupted by the door opening and the two ID-SOL that usually opened the doors and cleared the room did so this time, as well.
Behind them though, was Gaelan Sanders himself. "Thank you Ivan, Drax. I wish to speak with someone." He said walking towards Effy. "Ms. Penihatolapsoa." He said softly, actually getting the pronunciation correct, as he stood in front of her desk. "May I have a word?"
"That you can have and more, Premier Sanders," replied Effy.
"I wish to apologize for yesterday's... incident." He said, his face and eyes not showing any emotion one way or the other. "Ivan informed me of what took place. Thank you for your work here. Please take the rest of the day off with full pay. It is the least I can do."
"Thank you, Premier." Effy was grateful to him, but only for the gesture. She didn't want to take any time off. She wanted to hunt and dig and get to know more about him. And, so, that is what she did. "Mr. Premier..." Effy began, then rather bluntly asked, "Is there any way I can have a moment alone in your office with you?"
His ID-SOL body guard Ivan stepped up. "No Ms. Effy you may..." But before he could finish, Gaelan raised a hand to silence him.
"It's quite alright Ivan. I don't believe Ms. Effy is an assassin, and even if she was I am not a helpless old man." He said to the bodyguard. "Yes Ms. Penihatolapsoa, please follow me." He said leading the way to his office.
Effy followed Gaelan Sanders into his room and shut the doors while he sat down at his desk. She remained quiet the entire time and followed Gaelan until she was standing on the side of the desk he was sitting on.
He looked up at Effy and raised an eyebrow.
She moved her hand close to him, slowly and steadily as to not alarm him, and plucked the audio transmitter from its moring underneath the desk. She raised a questioning eyebrow of her own at him.
He was silent, his cybernetic eyes appraising the device. He held out his palm for her to place it and she obliged him by extending her arm and dropping it into his palm.
He began scanning the device with his cybernetics and found the signal. He then proceeded to jam it.
"Well... It appears my assumptions were wrong about you Ms. Penihatolapsoa..." He said looking up at her. "You might well be an Assassin..."
"I'm not an assassin sent to kill you," Effy said clearly and definitively, but in a quiet tone of voice. "I just got this message, Mr. Premier..."
Effy showed him the mail that had been sent to his offices in the form of a message that said, "We know what you do Sanders. We know everything you say. Your time is running out."
Effy moved her jaw into place as she looked at him, her grey-blue eyes rigid and cold as they ascertained his reaction.
"You may want a moment with your people, Mr. Premier," Effy said to him and ducked her head, turning to go out.
He remained quiet and watched her walk out. "Have Ms. Nickelson get the IPG director on the line at once..." He said quietly to Effy as she walked through the door.
One Day Later
Effy sat at her desk as she was typing up a report of the day before at the premier's request on the day prior. It was by a stroke of magic that she knew where it would be, she said.
After all, what was an Elf known for most but that, she wondered to herself, longing for magic that wasn't just potions and pastimes.
She could have forgone telling the Premier about the bug. She could have disabled it herself. She wanted to live out a life that was worthwhile, though. One that was important and full of purpose. She wanted to make allies, as well.
And at this moment, Effy was more of an ally to the Premier than the ID-SOL that stood guard outside of his door, one eye on Effy.
What if the premier didn't know that, she thought. That didn't matter. She was his ally whether he knew or not.
That Night
Walking back to Argent Towers, there came the encroaching sound of footsteps along the path directly behind Effy. She stopped dead in her tracks after a half mile of her peripheries telling her there were pursuers idly stepping in time with her. She let the approach.
They grabbed her quickly, bagged her head, and without hesitation rushed her into a waiting pseudo-cab. They zip-lined her hands and pushed her legs to the side so that both of them could get in.
Effy knew this day would come. She was prepared for it and many other like it. She allowed herself to be pushed into the back of the cab-like vehicle and moved limply in between the hands that carted her there.
They asked her, "When did you start working for the premier?"
She remained silent and there was a burning sensation on her temple as their fist slammed into it through the bag they had put over her head.
"I said when?!"
Another fist hit her through the fabric, this time to her jaw. Effy sat motionless, placid, like a tame wave that laps at the beach as if nothing is happening around it.
They removed the bag, just as she wished they would. It was at that moment Effy looked to each side to gain visuals of her abductors and then slammed her forehead into the nose of one and looked to the other.
"Who do you work for?!" she asked through hissed teeth after she had knocked the bridge of the other's nose.
"We—We..." Sputtered one of the men.
"We ask the questions!" Shouted the faux-cab driver.
"Who are you working for?!" Effy yelled back.
"I work for me!" He chuckled. "And you work for the Sky Marshall... Tell me about him, Sweetheart!"
The men to her sides were regaining control of themselves and one managed to punch Effy in the same part of her jaw she had been hit in before. It was only just starting to sting. She wouldn't let it deter her. It was at the moment that she gritted her teeth together and knew she could persevere that she was hit from the other side along her cheek. She groaned and they pulled her head back by one of her silver braids.
"You like this?" The driver asked. "We got lots more! Tell us a simple answer to a simple question, how long have you been working for him?"
Effy pouted her lips and spat out, "I'll exchange information for information, but this is a two way street!"
"Eh?" The driver said, "I see we're talking each other's language, now."
Effy asked, "What do you plan on doing with the premier?"
"When did you start working for him?" Came the reply.
"Me first!" Effy said hotly.
"We're gonna fatten him up and we're gonna kill him. That what you want to hear?" The driver asked.
"Since the beginning of the year!" Effy announced to him, grateful to know what she now knew. "Not long! Why do you want to know how long I've been working for him?"
"We want to know if you know what he knows. Now... Do you?" He asked.
"I don't know a thing!"
"She's not lying," said one of the men in the back seat with her.
"I'm taking her out!" The driver yelled as he brought a .45 out from under his jacket and next to his chest and pointed it at Effy's head.
She took one long, last look around the cab. The driver was the most important facet, quite obviously. He had dark, smooth skin and short, red hair. Those next to her she planned on killing outright, so they were unfathomably unimportant. What she wanted to focus on was the driver. She pulled apart her wrists until the zip-ties snapped at their weak points and she brought her hands to hold the gun and twisted it out of his hands. He wailed as she brought the gun to the each of the men next to her and shot point blank.
They were Effy's first true kills. The blood splattered across the back seat and across her pale face, her dress, and her grey hair.
"What the fuu—" The driver said as he grabbed into his vest and pulled out his secondary gun. As he pulled his gun up to face her, she aimed and pulled the trigger.
It clicked, but nothing happened. Something had gone wrong and she didn't have time to see why. She ducked her head and crawled over the dead man next to her before the driver could realize his target had moved. She flung open the door and flung herself from the cab as he took shots at her previous position. She barrel-rolled along the pavement and scraped her elbows, forearms, knees and cheek against the road.
The cab slowed and stopped and she dashed through the crowd, grabbing a coat from a man's shoulder as she did. She put it on as she ran, gaining a disguise. She made her way away from the street and scaled a chainlink fence, gingerly hopping from one side of the barbed wire at the top to the other, then hopped down from the top of it, rolling again to re-distribute the force of the fall.
She sprinted back to the towers where she lived and made her way to her level and, finally, her rooms. She cleared them and put her back against the door of the bathroom when she had. She shook off the overwhelming feelings, to no avail, and turned on the hot water. She shed her dress and put her circlet on the countertop before stepping into the heat of the shower and letting the water push the blood off of her.
One and a Half Weeks Later
Effy was going about her day when her eyes picked up something odd. Something out of place. Something that should not have been there. Her training kicked in and she lunged for the double doors of the premier's office as the two ID-SOL closed both of them. She tumbled into the room and gripped the Nepleslian premier's crisp clean uniform's jacket with both her hands and pulled him out of the way of the blast.
An explosive had been planted underneath his desk on the side opposite the one he sat at and Effy had noticed it as the ID-SOL had opened the door.
Now, though, she was being thrust into a choke-hold and managed to say while being squeezed around the neck, "Get out! Get out!"
Gaelan had been about to sit when Effy half tackled, half pulled him down to the floor, just before the explosive detonated. Gaelan's cybernetic hands moved to shield himself and his eyes shut of for a moment to not fry the systems with the light. As the dust settled, his ID-SOLs had come in and had Effy in a choke hold.
"Re... Relase her at once. She is coming with me to the bunker." He ordered standing and half throwing the ID-SOL off with his enhanced cybernetic strength. He offered her a hand. "We are getting out of here now!"
Efy stared wide-eyed at Gaelan Sanders and her whole body shivered as he heard his command.
"Of course, Sky Marshall!" Effy said sharply as she was whisked away. "Of cou—" She couldn't finish her statement as Ivan snarled.
"Shut up! You're lucky the Premier let you live." Ivan said through gritted teeth.
"Ivan not the time!" Gaelan yelled as they all ran for the bunker. As they reached it Drax and Ivan held out a hand. "That is as far as..."
"You fucking morons!" Gaelan snapped, cursing infront of Effy for the first time. "She saved my life you muscle brained idiots. She is coming in and we are having a chat. Make sure everyone gets to safety." He ordered.
"But sir!" Ivan yelled.
"That is a direct order! Go!" Gaelan fired back.
The ID-SOLs looked at one another, then Ivan took off towards the blast. Leaving Drax to guard the door. Gaelan ushered Effy inside.
She walked quickly, her feet going before the rest of her body as her sage-green dress dragged along the ground. Her shoulders were bare and she was noticeably folding into herself. An exemplary show of shock was written all over her body.
"Premier Sanders—" Effy began, turning to him once fully inside the bunker.
She couldn't finish any statement, though, as Gaelan spoke out, saying, "Who are you... Really?" He asked flatly as he moved and sat down on one of the chairs spread throughout the room.
"I am an assistant to your assistant, Premier!" Effy replied without hesitation.
"Bullshit." Gaelan muttered, too tired to conjure up any real anger. "First you find a listening device under my desk, and then you save me from an attack on my life... You are not just some assistant."
Effy breathed in, then out, without saying anything.
He let the silence hang in the air for some time.
"My people..." Effy began, then went on. "They have the ability to scry, to conjure..."
Gaelan let out a sigh that conveyed that he was unconvinced but just sat there. The lines under his eyes were deep and sunken as if he hadn't slept well in quite some time. "In any event... It would seem I owe you my life Ms. Effy..." He said finally.
"It would," Effy replied. "But do not take that to mean I will take some advantage over you, Premier Sanders. I want to only know that I can bow out of my position in your offices and would like to see myself out of the position as assistant to your assistant."
Gaelan smirked softly. "What? Hazardous work enviorment?" He chuckled. "Yes... you may leave once we are let out of this bunker. Until then you are stuck in here with me so get comfortable..."
Trying not to inhale too sharply, Effy breathed in and nodded. "That I can do," she said and looked to Gaelan with wide eyes, asking him,"How do you do it?"
"Hmm? Do what?" He asked looking back to her.
"Live a life os such extraordinary importance?" Effy asked.
Her mask was down, even the one she kept at home. Even the one she kept at Vicky. The mask that thought she could hold a public office as important as Gaelan's. That was her goal, after all. Underneath the Star Army training and the title of assistant to the assistant was her undeniable need to be a politician that would talk to Gaelan Sanders as an equal.
Gaelan considered the question for a moment. "It's not an easy life, that is for damn sure..." He said looking to Effy. "But I do it because my country needed a leader. And the people thought I was the best choice." He shrugged remembering a old old quote. "I was fine with just being a field marshal. Then I was Premier Gorman's Military advisor. When Premier Gorman steeped down I was the logical choice for some reason." He said explaining. "I lead and continue to lead because I want to lead Nepleslia into a new era, and because if I don't then who else will..." He finally added.
Having been given quite a bit to think about, effy sat silent for a moment, then divulged parts of herself that were apparent after a cursory glance over her files.
She said, "I want to lead because it's what I want, not what my people want. Maybe that is where I have gone wrong. Maybe that is where I have gone right. I will only know once in office, I would think."
Gaelan smiled softly. "As you can see, people don't like that I am here... But sometimes we must do what is best for them and not what they want. It makes us unpopular, but in the end when they see what we were trying to achieve... That is what makes it all worth it." He said quietly. "Sometimes we have to make the hard calls..."
Effy nodded, knowing what those hard calls could be and said to Gaelan softly, "I think you have done a fine job. I am one of those that thinks your hard calls have been ones worth making and the right decisions all in one. I am one of the many that believe in you, Premier Sanders."
Gaelan smiled. "Thank you Ms Effy, and for what it is worth. You will make a great politician for your people." He said with a nod.
"I hope I do..." Effy said, voice trailing off. "I hope you can see that your people want you, they just don't all know it. Not yet." Effy's voice had become decisive and it sounded like she had full confidence in her words. "There are some that do not know what is best for them, but even more that believe in you as much as they believe in themselves!"
He smiled again at the elf. "Thank you Effy, I will continue to be the voice of my people. And I will continue to serve them to the best of my abilities until I am no longer able to draw breath." He added.
He scanned the room and sighed again. He rested his head against the wall and shut off his cybernetic eyes. "We will be here for quite some time... Try and get some rest."
Effy nodded gently and began to ruminate on what would become of her in but a few hours.
