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She'd just stood up from her desk to go home when someone walked in.

He must have been new; she didn't recognize him.

He was an otter with slicked back hair but the unassuming ones always got to you first.

She had an AK-12 in her largest desk compartment just for the unassuming ones.

"Excuse me, ma'am, Director Harper wanted me to give you"-

Opera lifted the manila folder from his shaking hands, placing it on her desk and sitting back down.

"You may be excused."

He nodded and left without further words, probably beating himself up internally.

Something was always done wrong, wasn't it?

On the smallest scale but you'd be up hours in bed just thinking about it, if you didn't have someone else to pad your time...

Being young.

She missed-

No, she hated it.

Opera scanned over the contents of the first and only paper with her reptilian eyes, trained to filter out the fillers and get right into what was the big deal...

A splinter cell, in Jinn.

Even better, one of her operatives had infiltrated it.

James was asking for the go ahead to expose them at the cost of their spy's life...

Or leave them be and see what they would do to Jinn.

Or otherwise, fail, to do.

With an involuntary yet almost willing huff, Opera sat back down in her chair and began to read it in detail.

Politics.

Ethics.

Morals.

The chess game.

The 50/50's of life and sheer gambling of it all, she was disgusted with it, that God made it the way he did, and she was disgusted with him.

Then again, there was one superior always.

She was only the most important woman on Earth.

Whatever this splinter cell wanted, she would have to find out before leaking them to the rest of Jinn (and the public of Southeast Asia) via agent whatshisname.

She added it to the list of things she had to do.

As Caine walked in, she felt no remorse and was proud of what she'd done to him.

It's 6:30, Mrs. Opera. Your appointment is at 7. Is something keeping you?

It sent a shiver down her spine, the telepathic link established by the two Janus members in the building bouncing around her mind and seeming to come from all places in the room at once.

It humiliated Caine, her auxiliary goal, but it was better than sign language. Opera considered that too, but didn't want to go through the trouble of learning it. Anything that would let them communicate.

Nothing you need to know about. Escort me to my car, please.

To some, it was inhumane.

To few, it was right.

To Opera, it was simply the chess game.

///

There were many bars in Korea, but only a few catered to the Western sort of people.

He was the foreigner, but so he was everywhere he went.

Or perhaps, more the stranger.

The Paragon of Mystery.

Here in Asia a Snow Tiger wasn't much out of the ordinary but he couldn't escape the air he gave off, his faked accent practiced yet the art of deception wasn't unlocked to him yet.

But the only constant, he thought as his contact walked in through the door, was that he was on someone's leash, particularly of the government kind.

Or just someone that wanted someone dead.

And he was about to switch handlers.

Jackson Drayton, as he was known then, had no metal separating him from the outside world.

At the moment.

He also had no eyepatch or (large) scars, and his black hair wasn't streaked with gray either, the same topknot as he maintained.

"Ajax" as his trade name given by the Turkish government, made eye contact with the new arrival.

She was local, because a foreigner in Jinn wasn't ever doing anything besides official business.

A wolfess of some sort, he couldn't identify anything past the fur and the muzzle length.

Pitch black fur, hair only coming down on one side and buzzed on the other in patterns.

A Jinn eye, actually.

She was wearing street clothes, same as him, same as everyone else here.

Sitting down across from Ajax, casually. He'd expected some sort of covert spy meetup, introduction then the flirtatious charade where underlying fate was already sealed but you were still gripping tenaciously... and maybe a drink or two, but... No fun to be had.

Maybe he was an overanalyst.

Maybe he was in bars too much.

"Ajax, correct?"

"...You're just going to say that in front of everyone here?"

In compound, they were speaking English, not even Euro Common.

"Do you suspect the GRA are here, American?"

"...They're everywhere, aren't they?"

A look of boredom crossed her face and someone brought two drinks to the table, a bright red bottle with the Jinn eye on it as well.

Ajax eyed it until she touched hers, then took a single sip.

He couldn't place it, but it was damn strong and he coughed as she calmly set hers back on the table.

"I anticipated you would be tainted by the programming of the west. We will drill that out, no need for concern."

His eyes were watering now and he could only nod, his throat on fire.

Eyeing her bottle, it was of a lighter color red, lights shining clearly through it.

Empty.

His was dark, thick.

"What if I told you the nanobots you just ingested are now assembling a bomb within your chest?"

Wincing, he didn't open his eyes and banged his fist on the table, the feeling only getting worse from there. No locals paid any attention to the pair.

"Welcome to Jinn, Ajax. I'm sure you will find your stay enjoyable."

///

My heart was hammering and my throat was cold, but I couldn't take notice.

Not now.

Aggression. Defense.

That which changed the order of the two falling down to parry, intricacies of unarmed combat still unexplored.

Philosophy. Battleground.

One has to be careful not to go mad, drawing up plans and finding each and every painful time... They never work.

Nadir. Zenith.

Reyna's fist finally connected with my chest, not a blow enough to stagger me, but to force a stop.

We both forthrightly walked over to the bench we'd placed our waters, emptying the bottles before we dared speak a word, still breathing heavily.

"Congratulations, Tai. You managed to run away for a full five minutes."

I was offended and she laughed, taking the gravity-

Wait. Reyna? Laughing?

Not a moment later her bared whites disappeared to me and I was left with a smile.

"I digress. I noticed you seemed to be focused on my eyes the whole time. I still don't know why, but it's best if you pay attention to my advance as well."

I'd noticed she would move me all around the weight room during the fight- to the walls, back to the center, the firing range, etc.

Maybe she wanted me to take notice of it but I was too busy on...

Well, what I was usually busy with.

The times I saw Reyna became rarer and rarer; I'd spend so much time wondering about what she was doing and if she was avoiding me on purpose.

This had been our only training session this week, but she was in some sort of good mood. At least, for her.

"To do justice, you have improved in great measure."

I only gave a nod, not picked up by her as we walked back to the center of the weight room.

I would feel somewhat guilty about not talking to anyone else, but I felt differently around Reyna.

Maybe, on the spectrum of Tai, this was the furthest towards who I wanted to be.

Who I should be...

"Are you afraid of me, Tai?"

We stood in the center of the room, and she faced me.

I didn't, staring towards the wall.

"I am only afraid of what I do not know."

The corner of her mouth upturned, barely tangible in my eyes.

No, I didn't know Reyna.

Yes, I felt afraid and many other things.

At least Reyna didn't play or hold back with me like everyone else did.

Maybe that was why I was afraid of her.

The guillotine amongst the nooses.

So many uncertainties in life, too many maybes, no assurances.

I struck quickly, and it was lost in the tossing sea of fury unleased bypredator and the retaliating, unwilling prey.

I was not going to play these games anymore.

I began to press further into her whenever I saw indication of movement, and realized what made Reyna such a great fighter.

There was so much more in the opponent than oneself- manipulation was the real key to winning.

I had to confuse Reyna, somehow.

I'd tried to many times, but I had to understand her.

Find a weakness in something she did, and ready myself for it.

Observing everything that she did in response, I began to repeat certain moves and tear myself away from her eyes, if only for a moment.

Every response was similar, but as soon as she realized I was waiting to see what would happen, she began to change things up.

It was too late, and I had already discerned her initial responses, primal instinct.

I would wait another ten minutes before trying something again, if I lasted that long.

Whoever made first contact won, but these sparring sessions had gotten so intense to the point we could go a full minute just circling each other.

And, like she said...

I'm good at running away from things.

One of Reyna's punches grazed my ear and stung, I retreated quickly.

This time, she pursued me, stepping forward and continuing her advance.

We were moving towards the wall- certain death... I had to do something.

I wanted this win more than anything.

A sudden trance came over me and I shoved her back. It wouldn't count as a hit unless one fell, but it couldn't be blocked.

Reyna moved forward again, not letting me move from the wall.

My hands lowered to my sides and a wave of vertigo hit me suddenly, the same that would come from my Janus-induced headaches.

The jackal stopped, inches from me now.

Staring into my eyes.

Fear cloaked her.

I tried to move but I found my body had shut down, I was paralyzed on my feet.

Dissonant thoughts were extremely painful, and I stopped thinking.

Watching her, she took a single step back, breathing pattern upset for the first time since we'd started sparring.

I stared at her, into the sea.

I understood now- there were only waves and infinity in the eyes.

No land. No refuge.

Dead infinity, emerald skies.

I could tell she'd done this so many times, to so many others like me.

Trying to reach the depths... To find there was only the void.

And drown.

Forever sinking in the twilight.

"Tai..."

A shock ran through my body and I fell to the ground, head throbbing.

Steadying myself with my right arm, the other to my temple, one knee bent, I looked up to Reyna.

She flinched.

Reyna flinched.

Shaking her head, I couldn't discern whatever was happening here.

Not even offering me a hand, she grabbed her equipment bag from the bench and turned to leave.

I only groaned when I tried to shout for her, get help, do something.

"You... You have to find someone else to train with. Kyle, Jake, Riddick, I don't care. Not me. Not anymore."

"P-please..."

Not even turning around, I watched her leave.

I was once more the dust on her shoe, and what delusions I had of building something with her fell.

My hand faltered and the headache started, my body shutting down before I could do anything about it.

///

"So let me get this straight... One of our Janus operatives? Just one?"

Exasperated sigh.

"That's what I asked for. I expect to receive them."

"Alright... When do I need to send them over?"

"Before the end of the week. They don't have to be trained, just know they won't be coming back."

"...From Trojan Labs?"

"...Yes. We'll need them permanently. Lifespan doesn't matter."

"I'll check the lists, one moment, sir."

Ramses' eyes darkened, staring out the window that made up one wall of his office.

The Phantom Forest, a cloaking device concealing Trojan Labs from the rest of the world, was shimmering against the moonlight.

Anyone outside of it would simply see giant crater, presumably formed by a nuclear blast, unsafe to go to. Though Trojan Labs generated quite a bit of radiation, it was only a ruse.

He'd been trying to get Opera , then James, now just one of James' assistants.

"We've found one with a lifespan about half a year, not trained. In his abilities, at least. Tai, no other info on him."

"Is he stationed in Norway? Global Service Squadron 201?"

"...Yes, actually. But that squadron really isn't anything special"-

"Get someone else."

His niece was stationed with that particular one, and in their encoded letters she'd spoken fondly of him. No one else on her team received praise.

Reyna would never change, she was just as he wanted her to be. Especially now.

Ramses smiled to himself, rare for him, thinking of the grand scheme at play.

Right then, he could order the complete destruction of both GRA and Jinn alike. But it wouldn't exactly be the most intellectual response.

To put it simply... A few dozen nukes would set the world as it was before. And Ramses couldn't guarantee the world's survival.

Systematically removing the world's two biggest obstacles would be ideal, as was his plan.

"We can spare one more, actually. His name is Lucian, and he still has a good two years. But the GYFT has custody of him."

Ramses grunted.

"Who gave you the authority to dictate where these two go?"

"Director Harper, of course."

"Is he in the room now?"

"...No," he said after a pause. "I have him on the phone. He's busy with his family."

"Ask him why he wouldn't answer me."

Another longer, tenser pause.

A smirk formed on the jackal's face.

"Director Harper is busy with his family, I'm sorry, sir."

"Send him my regards. And send Lucian to the Black Garden facility, if you would."

"Right- oh..." Ramses could faintly hear James' voice through the assistant's other phone.

"Director Harper wants to know where you're taking him after that."

So he had suspicions. As Ramses surmised.

He would have to deal with that, too. It wasn't as if James could be disposed of like a whistleblower.

And Ramses already offered him money on several occasions.

It dawned on him.

The family, of course.

"Probably to Madrid or Cairo- no, Madrid. We just want to run a few minor tests."

"...But you said he's not coming back?"

"No, definitely not."

Ramses hung up the phone before anything else could be said, and sat down in his chair.

He'd gotten no sleep for the past 40 or so hours, constantly working on things such as this.

Ramses was not the man in the chair, or the chess player.

Ramses was the one who got his hands dirty. Who conceived Trojan's greatest works, tactics, victories.

But he could not deny, just as Opera had compared it to...

It all just was a grandiose game of chess.

///

Exposition through phone calls: the story

Imagine painstakingly dropping plot leads that take like 3 books to coalesce.

And then having none present in the now ;(

Like I said things get spicy but you have to wait on it.

Btw there is a reason why Reyna is avoiding Tai and I think I did rush it but I continually complain that this feels like ETERNITY before something happens :(

Stay frosty

Djynn