~Mathias and Zachary~
 
 
Zachary sat in silence with the closed suitcase on his lap and the suitcase full of money open in front of him on Mathias' lap. This was a big decision, and he was somewhat shocked at the large sum of money. Reason was his ally, however, and he quickly realised that while, in a single cash payment, that amount seemed to be a lot, it probably contained a pretty standard payment for an engineering project. He also considered how little value money has in Sovereign at the moment, but of course if and when they got out of here that money would most likely be useful. Mr Winters seemed to be a kind enough man, at least enough to allow him freedom. But before he could make his final decision he would need to look inside.

Conveniently, he didn't have to open his case or even move to identify the contents. Using his powers of machine reading he was able to identify the contents (as well as the workings of the suitcase, but he ignored that part) in great detail while merely looking contemplative on the outside. And what he found was quite an interesting project. The schematics outlined the function of a sonic weapon, designed to incapacitate a soldier by emitting an intense sound which causes severe pain in the ear.

To make things more interesting was a brief hand-written document describing the purpose and requirements of this sonic bomb, such requirements requiring modification to the basic design. The strength of this weapon needed to be increased in order to be powerful enough to incapacitate large, strong hosts, which would naturally be more resistant to incapacitation. Attached were a couple of photos of these hosts, illustrating their size and strength. Already he was milling over how he might complete this project and what information he might need. He was not particularly advanced in knowledge of acoustics, but he would be able to suss it out or find the knowledge he needed.

Kaa'is did not have any objections. In fact, the large sum of money seemed to kindle a sense of greed within him, followed by a spate of cynicism but that was not enough to counter the sense of agreement.

With that finally settled, Zachary returned his mind to reality, opened his case and feigned closely examining the papers. "So, you want a sonic weapon?" Zachary said looking up with a smirk, "What's the deadline?"

Mathias was impressed by the use of Zachary's power. He had thought the case would go unopened and such proof pleased him. "You have 96 hours...Are you up to the challenge?" At his own remark Mathias waited with anticipation.

"Of course I'm up to it," Zachary replied confidently, "I should be able to get something together in four days." Especially with the help of his carriage, he added to himself, although the rebellion which was bound to break loose at some point could slow him down.

Quickly downing the remaining contents of the glass, Mathias rose from his chair and stood before the fire. "I can offer you safe passage too, the grounds of this estate are vast, the north-most fields back onto the wall. Help me, and I'll see to it that you are transported safely out of the city when the defences are down...Well...That's presuming you'd want to leave of course? Would you stay? I know it may sound strange my friend, but I have heard rumours that many plan to call Sovereign their home for years to come. I mean to stay is one thing...but some actually LIKE this way of life! The slaughter, the thievery, the completely lack of respect...savages!"

Zachary was in agreement with Mathias on this one, but something itched at the back of his mind, how he had himself savagely slaughtered a man just last night in a host-driven hormonally fuelled rage. He tried to push it back before the grimness made it to his face.

Mathias' glance moving higher, away from the dancing flames, Mathias spies a small framed photograph, his wife and children smile back at him and all thoughts of the cities horrors vanish, as if the embers from the hearth below. "Do you have anyone on the outside Zachary? A loved on?"

This shift of topic brought Zachary away from the dark thoughts of murder and reminded him of why he wanted to get out of Sovereign in the first place. He followed Mathias' gaze and noticed the photograph of what he presumed must be his family. "Indeed I do. My own family. Mother, father, two brothers and a sister. I wasn't going to be in Sovereign for long, I was just going to be here for a short while to do some work on my PhD, but then the Wall came up. My family don't even know if I'm alive..." His voice trailed off, sadness creeping into it. He shook that off and continued, "But hopefully that should change soon. Have you got a workshop or garage I could use?"

"Yes, there's a workshop on the estate: just east of the Manor, next to the garage. We've developed a small scrap heap of sorts around there too, bits and bobs, nobody around here knows what half the materials could possibly be used for, perhaps you might be able to find something there." With that Mathias stood up and walked Zachary to the door, "You will see them again." He said with a gentle tone, the sort only old friends and fathers use. "I promise you Zachary, we will make it out of this city."

"Thank you, Mathias," Zachary replied, "I shall get to work immediately."