[General Lucaen Status Updated]
The notification slid across Aurelius' HUD-- no chime, no ping. Yet, it doesn't go unnoticed. Anything that relates back to Luc, will forever be etched in his core like a man starved.
Aurelius stopped his surveillance in the lab. Turning away from the sleek prism that reflected the ordinary day of Elysians from their perspectives. His admirers below whispered and feigned busyness, eager to earn the slight attention Aurelius might grace them with. The chatters, the looks, all left as his daily white noise.
Took him long enough.
Aurelius glanced at the crowd of low-tiered engineers. Bestowed a dismissive wave, a performance of generosity, a graceful motion that sent the working lads into a flurry of hesitant nods. They were always admiring the charisma he exuded. Always idolizing.
I was getting worried.
His thoughts were a grim contrast to his exterior. But that was what made Aurelius, the man he was. Always up for the image-- The chameleon.
"On your way to your assigned mission, General?" A researcher meddled in his sight. Hoping to get a sense of camaraderie.
Aurelius turned to him, noting his body language. The rigidness in his posture.
He's second-guessing. Pathetic.
How desperate. How invaluable, but they don't have to know that. They should get what they have so long fantasized about. Aurelius was the prop in their fantasy, no?
"Correct, assigned this morning."
"How tiresome. Can you believe I need to exert myself almost every day lately?" He complained to the researcher, his hand to his chest, in a placid manner. A gesture that seeks sympathy.
The guy acknowledged Aurelius with a chuckle. "What do you expect? We are deployed under the Optic. You chose this career, haha!"
The sound of pure companionship was irritating. Especially by him. Who does he think he is?
Aurelius shrugged a little, accompanied by a huff, "You and Luc are no different. Always stoic, ain't you?"
"Let loose a little." He continued with a grumble. A playful one, mirroring his earlier easiness.
The guy shook his head dismissively, patting Aurelius's shoulder before walking off to the Inventory as if he had personally known Aurelius. Aurelius' gaze trailed his back. The band of his department was seen under the fading sight. His left arm screams of an engineer from miles away.
I see, he's the engineer behind.. Supplies?
Well, he couldn't afford to waste his energy associating with that guy. Nothing plausible. Aurelius snapped back to his focus, to the case he very much dreaded.
He left the lab in his usual wide strides, his peripheral vision narrowed to only what he had in mind. The atmosphere died down while he went for the staircase-- only his efficient steps and the sound of his feathers against the marbled tiles filled the HQ.
By the top floor, Caius' office emerged right in front of him, to his left. His IOD was seen tidying the place, transferring piles of documents from one to another. A little wholesome, as it used levitation to hover the papers. Judging by the files alone, it was clear it had been a long time since Caius went into his office.
Probably out hunting cores the moment Optic assigns him a case. His exo's a high-maintenance after all. Needed them for fuels, poor guy.
The overall architecture of this building was straightforward. Built for efficiency, discipline, and duty above all. The top floor consisted of office after office right next to each other. A miniature cell for each of us, the Generals. To log in daily with a big smile on our face.
One might say it's one of the perks of being a General, congratulations!
He mocked internally as he reached Lucaen's office. The layout of these offices was random, perhaps. Caius, Lucaen, Mine, and then General Nefertari. One thing he was grateful for, was that every time he went to his office? He would need to bypass Lucaen's first. Without a doubt, he will find any excuse he can get to see him.
Truth be told, he had no real say in minding his own business over Lucaen's. As logical as it was to continue to his office and ignore Lucaen? Too late, he was already trespassing in his office as if he owned whatever was inside it. Yet, the very boring office was getting merrier with his intrusive presence alone. Like it was blessed unconsented.
"Luc, take a look at the mission."
As with any other moment where Aurelius keeps barging in, the IOD could not ignore his overbearing presence as it efficiently registered him. Too blinding, too loud to leave as another metal. It had become a routine for the system. Just like how it never flagged Caius when he went for General Nefertari's every so often.
[Welcome, General Aurelius]
[Please State Your Purpose]
Aurelius let the greetings be, as it is, not a glance was spared to the IOD. The IOD was predictable, but not the general in front of him. Never.
Lucaen nodded slightly, acknowledging Aurelius. Efficient, as always. Elysium is the embodiment of it after all. Yet, Lucaen treated Aurelius the same as how he treated the IODs. Not with a slight care.
"I have taken a look at it."
"Aurelius, you have been in the emergence, twice in a week. "
"A little odd." Lucaen pointed out the abnormality of it. To the graph he printed out. The way it was held by Lucaen, too delicate.
"Repetitions in emergence usually occur once a month, not once in two weeks." He nudged his robe for who knows how many times. A habit he had picked up when he was 12 years old.
"The Optic didn't raise a new alert about it, you're thinking too much, Luc," Aurelius dismissed it coldly. Sparing no thought for it than necessary.
Aurelius knew that saying it lightly wouldn't help him, and for once, contributed to his comfort. "How is your status?"
The question was unexpected. It made Lucaen decide to look at him, pondering what he was getting into. "Operational performance is at 100% and so are the others."
"Emergence case usually takes place in Echolon. I'm sure you know that already."
"Echolon, helminths, all means wavelength disruption."
"Your general performance will be dropped by 50% and if it's helminths, which I assume, very highly. Your Efficiency and Flow would drop to 10% so would your skill Strength." Aurelius was relentless in his revelation. Never leaving his sight on Lucaen, absorbing any micro expressions of Lucaen at a distance. He can't afford to have this guy overthinking.
"Perhaps it is the reason why I am accompanied by a certain someone." He let out a low huff.
The air shifted, it was lighter with a shrug of Aurelius. "Precisely. Your core-based skills are useless."
"It's better to experience it rather than standing here and think endlessly." He continued.
Lucaen, for the first time, didn't retort. He was insufficient in data regarding emergence cases. The only way he could piece all the information together was by witnessing it. The pairing, the mission type, Optic always does within reasoning. He has no reason to doubt the Optic.
That is an unspoken truth in all Elysium.
Aurelius turned away, a subtle invitation for Lucaen to follow his trail. The IOD noted the behaviors of the Generals in front of it, streamlining the silence of acceptance directly to the Optic.
The system changed, the Hub below was updated to,
[EMERGENCE]
[G. Aurelius Everhart//ASSIGNED//STATUS: IN PROGRESS// LIVE UPDATE>0% Completion]
[G. Lucaen Theron//ASSIGNED//STATUS: IN PROGRESS// LIVE UPDATE>0% Completion]
[G. Caius//ASSIGNED//STATUS: IN PROGRESS// LIVE UPDATE>76% Completion]
The top floor's quietness greeted Aurelius and Lucaen as they stepped out of the caged office. It's just the two of them on the top floor with the occasional buzz of IODs.
How serene. Aurelius thought to himself as he made way to the linking port, the navigation system. He outlined the insertion port, scratching the chassis with his right palm. On the outside, it looked appreciative, but the more you look at it, you can't dismiss the scratches it left behind.
Lucaen set the destination with a quick wave of his dominant hand. Hovering over multiple of lands and stopped right on Echolon. The Forbidden place. A place where helminths lingered and feasted. The synchronization rhythm would be distorted the moment they reach that contradicting place.
Any dispatcher would struggle to maintain their own rhythm, and that's an invitation for the helminths. A microscopic error that hijacks your system and will take over your core if left undominated. The horror of this universe indeed.
Aurelius asserted his synchronization port, settling on it. It glows bright out of the planet's liveliness on his left arm. He could see the hesitance in Lucaen. Aurelius won't point that out; he found it adorable.
Lucaen glanced at the port and back to Aurelius. That hesitance, again. "This is annoying."
A low chuckle slipped out of Aurelius, "Don't dawdle on it, Luc."
Lucaen begrudgingly rested his port next to Aurelius. A beautiful vulnerability reserved for him.
To reveal one's synchronization port is to reveal their direct path to the core. That was probably what Lucaen had thought.
Synchronization ports show their internal systems, the rhythm they synced to. Any sensations to it would be multiplied, and the whole system of one exo would need to let it intrude to interweave rhythms altogether. Failure to interweave, is just a direct invitation for helminths to breach.
Aurelius scoffed at Lucaen, "Still found it uncomfortable, huh?"
A silent acknowledgment as he didn't utter a single word of defiance.
At least, he trusted me enough to expose it.