04-08-2020, 08:52 PM
The Connections Auroras Can Make
Kerlian Intelligence Service HQ, Grapevale
8th April 2020
“Excuse me?” Abbie Foster politely asked the other woman sitting at the reception desk. “I’d like to speak with whoever is coordinating information gathering from Auroras. My KCID is 21562356.”
“One moment please,” the receptionist said, eyeing the other woman suspiciously while looking up her identity number on the system. Once it pulled up a result, her suspicion vanished immediately, replaced by what looked like deference. “Ms Foster, of course! Do you prefer Abigail or Elizabeth? No matter, I’ll show you to the taskforce room immediately!”
The receptionist, looking flustered, hurried to stand up from her position and exist the desk to lead the Aurora to the elevators. Abbie followed, smiling to herself a little at the woman’s demeanour. Since her return to the Matriarchy, she’d noticed that when people realised she’d once been an Aurora, they treated her with a level of respect that, while not quite the same as how one would treat a Councillor, was far greater than that given to a normal citizen of Kerlile.
“It’s floor five, ma’am,” the receptionist said, pressing the button to summon the elevator. “I’m afraid I cannot accompany you, I don’t have clearance for that floor.”
“It’s fine, I can find my way,” Abbie reassured the woman. “You have other tasks to see to. Please, don’t trouble yourself on my account.”
The elevator arrived, and Abbie quickly stepped inside, smiling gratefully at the woman.
“Yes, ma’am,” the receptionist said, nodding her head slightly and avoiding eye contact, lest she be seen as disrespectful. Abbie scanned her ID card and pressed the button labelled 5, breathing a sigh of relief once the doors closed. She didn’t like it when people treated her with too much respect. She didn’t feel she’d earned it.
Upon arrival at floor five, she stepped out and glanced from side to side. It was not what she’d been expecting at all. Doors were open, revealing offices full of empty tables. A blank sheet of paper was flapping in the breeze from an open window, crawling along the floor. There was a silence, only broken by the occasional sounds of typing and cursing from the far end of the left-hand corridor. Abbie cautiously turned left and made her way to the end.
“Hello?” she called softly when she reached the door of the occupied office.
“Goddess! You startled me!” a woman said, spinning around on her chair. “Have you come to collect more of these?” she asked, gesturing at a box full of computer monitors.
“Um, no,” Abbie began uncertainly. “I’m a former member of the Programme, I’ve come to report something I thought would be of interest.”
“Oh, right,” the woman said, hesitating. “That’s not really my area, if I’m honest. I’m just here to finish the paperwork, all the debriefs should have been sorted by now. If you have new information, and you don’t work for us any more, you should probably just report it like any other citizen.”
“Right,” Abbie said blankly, turning and walking down the corridor. So that’s what they’d done with the great Aurora Programme. Packed it up, shoved it in boxes and abandoned it. The people of Kerlile may look up to Auroras, but it seemed their government did not share that opinion.
She went back down to the ground floor, and walked back up to the reception desk, to the same woman she’d spoken to earlier.
“Excuse me? Sorry to bother you again, but the person on floor 5 wasn’t very helpful. Where might I file a report of information I believe is relevant to national security?”
“Oh, well…” the receptionist began.
“Floor 5, did I hear?” a woman said behind Abbie, causing her to jump and turn. People normally couldn’t sneak up on her. “Yes, you look familiar… Abigail Foster, Bjeorg. Come with me, I’ll hear your report.”
Wondering how the woman knew her identity, Abbie glanced at the receptionist for confirmation, and received an enthusiastic nod. The newcomer led Abbie back to the elevator, and up to the second floor, where she took the Aurora into an office. From the silence after the woman closed the door, Abbie gathered it was soundproof.
“Do you have something new to report, Aurora, that wasn’t in your debrief report?” the woman asked, her voice suddenly a little less friendly than it was in the corridor.
“I do,” Abbie nodded, not letting her unease show. She reached into her bag and pulled out a copy of an Eirian newspaper. “I mentioned an encounter I’d had during the Bjeorg conflict in 1991 during my debriefing, but this story hadn’t broken yet and I missed the connection.”
“The Einherjar File,” the woman nodded. “I’ve seen this story. We’re looking into it, but some elements of the Service are less than certain about the possibility of this thing existing from Eiria, of all places.”
“It exists. I had an encounter with two people I now believe were part of this. I ran across them when I was watching the Eirian Army. They were good, certainly as good as an Aurora. There were two, a man and a woman: they called themselves Apollo and Artemis.”
“How interesting…” mused the woman, who then smiled at Abbie. “Do tell me more…”
Kerlian Intelligence Service HQ, Grapevale
8th April 2020
“Excuse me?” Abbie Foster politely asked the other woman sitting at the reception desk. “I’d like to speak with whoever is coordinating information gathering from Auroras. My KCID is 21562356.”
“One moment please,” the receptionist said, eyeing the other woman suspiciously while looking up her identity number on the system. Once it pulled up a result, her suspicion vanished immediately, replaced by what looked like deference. “Ms Foster, of course! Do you prefer Abigail or Elizabeth? No matter, I’ll show you to the taskforce room immediately!”
The receptionist, looking flustered, hurried to stand up from her position and exist the desk to lead the Aurora to the elevators. Abbie followed, smiling to herself a little at the woman’s demeanour. Since her return to the Matriarchy, she’d noticed that when people realised she’d once been an Aurora, they treated her with a level of respect that, while not quite the same as how one would treat a Councillor, was far greater than that given to a normal citizen of Kerlile.
“It’s floor five, ma’am,” the receptionist said, pressing the button to summon the elevator. “I’m afraid I cannot accompany you, I don’t have clearance for that floor.”
“It’s fine, I can find my way,” Abbie reassured the woman. “You have other tasks to see to. Please, don’t trouble yourself on my account.”
The elevator arrived, and Abbie quickly stepped inside, smiling gratefully at the woman.
“Yes, ma’am,” the receptionist said, nodding her head slightly and avoiding eye contact, lest she be seen as disrespectful. Abbie scanned her ID card and pressed the button labelled 5, breathing a sigh of relief once the doors closed. She didn’t like it when people treated her with too much respect. She didn’t feel she’d earned it.
Upon arrival at floor five, she stepped out and glanced from side to side. It was not what she’d been expecting at all. Doors were open, revealing offices full of empty tables. A blank sheet of paper was flapping in the breeze from an open window, crawling along the floor. There was a silence, only broken by the occasional sounds of typing and cursing from the far end of the left-hand corridor. Abbie cautiously turned left and made her way to the end.
“Hello?” she called softly when she reached the door of the occupied office.
“Goddess! You startled me!” a woman said, spinning around on her chair. “Have you come to collect more of these?” she asked, gesturing at a box full of computer monitors.
“Um, no,” Abbie began uncertainly. “I’m a former member of the Programme, I’ve come to report something I thought would be of interest.”
“Oh, right,” the woman said, hesitating. “That’s not really my area, if I’m honest. I’m just here to finish the paperwork, all the debriefs should have been sorted by now. If you have new information, and you don’t work for us any more, you should probably just report it like any other citizen.”
“Right,” Abbie said blankly, turning and walking down the corridor. So that’s what they’d done with the great Aurora Programme. Packed it up, shoved it in boxes and abandoned it. The people of Kerlile may look up to Auroras, but it seemed their government did not share that opinion.
She went back down to the ground floor, and walked back up to the reception desk, to the same woman she’d spoken to earlier.
“Excuse me? Sorry to bother you again, but the person on floor 5 wasn’t very helpful. Where might I file a report of information I believe is relevant to national security?”
“Oh, well…” the receptionist began.
“Floor 5, did I hear?” a woman said behind Abbie, causing her to jump and turn. People normally couldn’t sneak up on her. “Yes, you look familiar… Abigail Foster, Bjeorg. Come with me, I’ll hear your report.”
Wondering how the woman knew her identity, Abbie glanced at the receptionist for confirmation, and received an enthusiastic nod. The newcomer led Abbie back to the elevator, and up to the second floor, where she took the Aurora into an office. From the silence after the woman closed the door, Abbie gathered it was soundproof.
“Do you have something new to report, Aurora, that wasn’t in your debrief report?” the woman asked, her voice suddenly a little less friendly than it was in the corridor.
“I do,” Abbie nodded, not letting her unease show. She reached into her bag and pulled out a copy of an Eirian newspaper. “I mentioned an encounter I’d had during the Bjeorg conflict in 1991 during my debriefing, but this story hadn’t broken yet and I missed the connection.”
“The Einherjar File,” the woman nodded. “I’ve seen this story. We’re looking into it, but some elements of the Service are less than certain about the possibility of this thing existing from Eiria, of all places.”
“It exists. I had an encounter with two people I now believe were part of this. I ran across them when I was watching the Eirian Army. They were good, certainly as good as an Aurora. There were two, a man and a woman: they called themselves Apollo and Artemis.”
“How interesting…” mused the woman, who then smiled at Abbie. “Do tell me more…”
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