Into the Depths
It took a moment for Finch to realize that the voice he had heard was in his head and not aloud, unused as he was to telepathic communications. Looking around he quickly caught sight of Null behind him, his new ally summoning him to a meeting with who he assumed was the leader of this motley crew of revolutionaries.
"Sounds good to me," he agreed as he followed after her with a casual step that nonetheless easily kept up. Someone with a place like this, he could see the wisdom of what she was saying. Besides, he had to leave a good first impression and being late was unlikely to do that.
As they headed towards their destination, Finch prepared himself for the meeting that he had coming up. It was going to be interesting, that was for sure. "Is there anything I should know about this guy before I meet him?" he asked. It couldn't hurt to inquire so he wasn't taken off guard by something fairly important, though h could understand some things being kept secret because they couldn't really be explained properly. He'd find out sooner or later, as he waited to see if she had anything to tell him about.
Don't be rude. Listen. Null replied after a moment. Don't overload with the questions.
"Okay, seems easy enough," Finch agreed to the voice in his head. He could definitely cut it back a bit, presumably whoever this guy was had experience explaining these sorts of things to people already. There was no use in being needlessly pushy about stuff. That was all he had to say, and he fell quiet as he followed along to their destination
Null led Finch through a series of corridors before coming to two giant doors that reached from floor to ceiling. Nearly two stories tall they were impressive to look at.
A single knock using a rung and Null waved Finch forward as the doors began opening themselves.
"Welcome to my home, Finch. Approach me, and we shall converse on your next course of action," a voice like low rolling thunder sounded from the head of the room, sitting on a raised throne of metal, covered in shadows.
Entering into the throne room, Finch suppressed a low whistle as he looked around. It was big and impressive, some giant sized hall that seemed fit for a larger group than the one he had met before. It was all metal of course, the only thing it was missing was some tapestries or something.
Approaching, he found that there was a figure waiting for him, cast in shadows for the most part and seated upon an ornate metal throne. One could only imagine that it was a pain to sit on something like that, without a pad in addition to the metal and such. He did not feel too bad about not being in that situation, that was for sure.
"Hello," he replied with a nod as he drew close, before bowing once he had come to a stop. "It's an honor to meet you at last, and to be invited into this organization of yours. From what I can tell it's fairly exclusive."
"Yes, I have always been careful of who I would allow inside my inner sanctuary," the man said with an offhand gesture. "So tell me, Finch, how do you like my handiwork?" He asked, his hands thrown wide.
"It's very impressive," Finch admitted as he glanced around the hall. "It must have taken a lot of resources to make this place." He could only guess as such, but even if it didn't he would learn a bit more about the man he was conversing with. There was no harm in trying to ferret out his abilities, should things happen later on and his employment here become a bit more abbreviated than it would have otherwise been.
The man chuckled, a sound like gravel grinding against gravel. "Everything you see here is made by my own hand, shaped and formed by my will," he replied, leaning forward into the light. Finally able to see his features, Finch would be be met with the sight of a man in his mid forties.
Further inspection would net Finch the realization that there was something...off... In the man's eyes. A kind of power, twisted and turned, lurking beneath the surface. A malicious glint, almost, clouding over the spark of intelligence.
"It is proper for you to be impressed. For who could not be impressed by my power, the power of Chrysopoeic!" He raised his hands high during the exclamation, a tilted smile upon his lips, before returning to the shadows with fingers steepled. "Now, then. I want you to prove yourself worthy. Worthy of a place in my ranks. Worthy of the gifts I give. Worthy of the knowledge I hold."
Were it in any other circumstances Finch would have assumed that the man was just speaking with his ego, but when it came to Epics you could never be certain. As such it was reasonable to think that he had indeed made this place all by himself, which was definitely impressive as far as any abilities he had seen before was concerned.
it was at that point he got to see who he was actually speaking to, and it was not what he had expected. Oh he supposed the fellow was attractive enough, but there was more to it than that. He liked to think that he was fairly good at reading people and there was something about this guy that sent a chill through his bones. If it wren't for his confidence he might have begun to think that he was a bit in over his head at this point.
Of course at that point he was left with the conundrum of 'proving himself worthy'. How did you do that for a guy who could do something like this? Somehow he had the feeling that a mere display of his powers would not be sufficient. "Alright. I doubt my powers would be of interest to someone of your ability, so I'll do my best to provide another example, like my abduction of the mayor that presumably drew your attention to me in the first place," he replied in as much calm as he could muster, trying to feel out if there was something in particular the man wanted aside from that.
Chrysopoeic chuckled. "I had something else in mind."
With a wave of his hand, the center of the room literally split apart between them, a platform rising up to fill the gap. Chained to the platform was a woman, perhaps 23 years old, with fiery red hair and terrified hazel eyes. Upon seeing Finch, whom she was facing, a spark of hope crossed her face to be quickly replaced with doubt.
"This is a rather minor Epic who goes by... Temporal. Distasteful. She holds answers that she has refused to give me. I want you to get that information from her."
Wondering what the man meant, Finch was soon informed as a platform rose into the room in a very elaborate display. Spotting the woman on it, he had some idea of where this was going before he was told and his suspicions confirmed. The only interesting thing there was that this was an Epic, and he idly wondered what her power was. Probably something related to time, by the name.
"Alright then," he agreed with a curt nod before stepping forwards and up to the platform. It was too bad that apparently he didn't get to know what his employer was looking for, but presumably Chrysopoeic would know it when he heard it.
Now, this sort of business wasn't really his thing, but Finch would give it the best that he could. Of course he couldn't just start stabbing her, that wouldn't really accomplish anything. "Hey there," he said with a nod as he drew near, coming to a stop near Temporal with a relaxed stance. "So, what's your real name? Or are you one of those Epics who lives the hero act?"
"We are one, unified within these confines as a singular point in the collective. We are Temporal," the woman replied, her eyes narrowing in suspicion before widening in surprise. "You are no friend. Within the hour you will cause the collective harm."
A glance at Chrysopoeic would show him sitting impassively, watching intently.
The woman strained on her chains to no avail. "Escape from bindings has gone against what we saw," she murmured, sounding both agitated and confused.
....Right, definitely one of those 'live the role' types, Finch decided in reaction to the esoteric response. That was really the only way to treat it, though he wondered what she meant when she said collective. Were there others like her, or was she just using flowery language? He stopped himself from asking for the moment, figuring it would be best to get on with what he was supposed to be doing.
He was not expecting her to give him an opening, but he was quick to take advantage of it. "Do the things you see usually end up happening, or is it just a most likely outcome thing?"Whatever answer she gave to him would be useful, both in planning his moves going forward and in learning about her powers. He just hoped she was willing to talk
"They are the stone steps of time itself. You will always step on them, The Collective has merely already stepped on more and less at once than is normal," the woman sighed. "We have already told this. We have explained that we cannot see what does not pertain to the Collective."
Alright then. That was weird and a bit frustrating in the whole 'cryptic' talk, but it was easy enough to parse out given what had been said before. So it seemed like things were st, to some extent, and she couldn't see anything that didn't affect this 'collective' of hers. Which explained why she had been captured, one would assume.
Finch nodded then, pacing slowly to keep in motion. "If that's the case, what does your vision say about this? You know I'm going to bring harm to your collective and that you'll still be here in the future. Do you see yourself telling m what I want to know, or do your visions conveniently not work for that part?"
The woman shook her head furiously. "We see what happens to the Collective. We see that you will cause harm in some form to the Collective. We do not see why or how. The Collective is not allowed to know."
Well then, that was about what he had expected though it was also unfortunate that she would not play along. Finch was prepared to move on though, as she voiced some semblance of defiance or just plain ignorance. After a few moments he produced a glass cylinder from his clothes, using his powers to twist it into the form of a knife. Just for show, at least for the moment.
"Oh I don't know, you seem like a smart girl Temporal. I'm sure you can figure out how I harm the Collective. Sure, I could just stab you with this knife but you aren't the Collective, it just works through you, if I'm understanding what you say." He showed off the knife, letting it catch in the light. "That means that, more likely than not, the harm comes because you're supposed to tell me what I want to know."
He paused then. "I mean, unless you want me to rough you up a bit first so you feel better about yourself. I can do that too."
The woman pulled against her chains, trying to pull away. "We cannot answer because we cannot know! We have said this to you and to him. We have told you all that we know! Let the Collective go!" She sobbed softly, a small red mark appearing along her neck for just a moment before disappearing. "The Collective sees what involves the Collective! No more! We can't make it more clear. The Collective is not strong enough to see past the Shroud the great have impressed upon us."
That definitely inspired a reaction from her, but he was not about to back down and let this simply stand. He had the feeling that his current employer would not approve of that outcome, so Finch would do what he could to make it happen. He paused for a moment before striking, dagger of glass drawing a thin line across her cheek that soon began to shift to red as blood swelled to the surface.
"Well now we have a bit of a conundrum don't we," he remarked as if he had done nothing. "Cause your vision says you'll be alive in the future, but if you don't have the answer he wants there's no point in keeping you around here now is there? He's not just going to keep you around for his amusement. If you can't come up with something then it looks like we're going to have a problem." He had to wonder if he was pushing a bit much, but if he did not want to accept failure it did not seem like he had much choice.
"We have told you we cannot see! Why can you understand?" She whispered.
"Enough. Tell me the location of the Well, the High, and the results.
This charade has gone on long enough, woman," Chrysopoeic spoke up.
"We have told you! We cannot see it! It has always been hidden! We can only see the Collective!"
"Very well. You have been rather unhelpful. Finch, remove her from this plane into the next."
Finch was not saddened as that seemed to herald the end of the conversation, his work coming to naught. It didn't seem like it was being held against him, so he supposed that he should be grateful for that. It wasn't his fault that she couldn't see what was needed.
"Got it," he replied with a salute to his employer as he stepped forwards once again. "Last chance," he said to Temporal as he held the blade to her neck. "Your vision is about to be wrong, so I guess you aren't as capable of seeing as you thought you were."
"We are the Collective, and we only know what comes to us. We used to be Jess. Now we are every reference point of Jess. We are the Collective. We cannot answer your questions. We submit to our fate."
"Finish this, Finch. I will not say it again."
Finch wasn't sure what he had been hoping for there, but it was clear that nothing had changed. Apparently her visions were not as absolute as one would have thought, since it was about to be proven incorrect. He wasn't really the kind who liked getting his hands dirty, but at this point there wasn't really anything else to do.
So he did it. "Alright then, that's that." With a swift move he jabbed the knife into her neck, delivering a fatal blow before he pulled it free. A flick tossed what blood had gotten on it away as he stepped back. He turned towards Chrysopoeic, waiting to see what he would say.
"Congratulations, Finch. You've proven yourself worthy. Go relax, retrieve your personal effects. When the others are done we will meet as one and discuss the progress the Alkahest has made," Chrysopoeic announced slowly, locking eyes with Finch as a grin spread across his face.
For a moment Finch supposed that he had been expecting some dramatic occurrence, some last second save for Temporal to swoop in out of nowhere. But it had not happened and now it was over. He had definitely brought harm to the Collective though, that was for sure. More important though was learning that he had passed the test here. That meant his chance for the fame he sought would continue.
"Thank you, I look forward to it," Finch replied with a nod before taking his leave. At the very least this was going to be interesting, that was for sure
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