The Empty Construct

Wyknish

Wyknish

That's my secret-I never know what I'm doing
Iliana stood in front of the human in charge of communications, Gordon Siaden. He stared down at her, his glare drilling into her skull. She glared back, locking eyes with him for a few seconds. His eye twitched, and he stomped over to the young soldier trembling in the doorway.

“She. Is. Not. HUMAN!” He roared at the soldier, spit flying from his lips. The soldier nodded nervously.

“Y-yes sir. But-but the General-he said that she would be perfect f-for this mission sir!” The soldier cried. Gordon growled at the soldier in frustration, then turned back to Iliana. He had realised there was nothing he could do hours ago, but he was still ready to throw a tantrum. Instead, he turned back to the Faerie.

“Why does he think you have any combat skills?” He demanded. Iliana straightened her back and tilted her chin up.

“I am skilled with a gun, sir. I am also competent with a staff, and can take leadership when necessary.” Gordon snorted.

“That’s not what I gathered from your file.” He grabbed a folder off the desk behind him. “Tests show traces of essokinesis, or the power to bend-“

“Cheating! I have never used that magic!” Iliana protested. “If I am going to do anything, it will be using technology and my own mind and body.”

Gordon smirked.

“Well, there may be a situation where you are forced to use it,” he replied, chucking the folder onto a messy pile on his desk.

“I can’t change the team now, I suppose. So you will be exploring the new construct, and reporting back daily. The others will be here soon. You can vote for a leader amongst yourselves.” With that, he turned on his heels and marched out, the soldier rushing after him.
 
Ishum was
a man of direction, a man of goals, a man who- "Oooh! Is that a clock, what gear system does it work on?" He asked, looking a twitchy and seemingly odd guard. The guard eyed Ishum with intimidation, before jerking his head in the other direction. Ishum chuckled to himself, turned back to the clock, and patted it twice with his right hand. "I'll see you again," He whispered with a flirtatious tone to the gear system.

He continued towards the HOC's office, while he hadn't met "Gordon Something Something" yet, he guessed he was a decent man. He imagined the feeling of mutual respect filling the air when he saw Gordon, but no matter what, he still dreaded this meeting. Approaching his office, he began to hear the hollering of a kid who lost his dessert, with the exception of that kid being a full-grown man with a high reputation. Ishum leaned his body against the door, pressing his ear firmly against the door to overhear the tantrum.

"She. Is. Not. Human!" Was what filled Ishum's cup of curiosity for the day. He sat down near the door, rubbing an itch on his bald dome with his rough leather gloves. Man, this is a real game-changer. I wonder who's in there right now, a mermaid, oh yeah, wonder if it's a hot mermaid....He stared into space, pondering to himself with his life's biggest questions. Could be a merman, yeah, it could. Who wants a merman anyways? They're not that good looking, not as much as the head honcho of women right here.

After a good couple of seconds of sexy-mermaid thoughts, the shouting turned to silence. He gave Gordon a solid minute to calm down before knocking twice, opening the door slowly as he asked the day old question, "Hey, is this a bad time?" Ishum turned to see the fae standing across from Gordon, "Oh, hello there miss." Ishum said with a flirtatious grin on his face, then changed to confused, "Wait, you're.... Gordon right? I don't have the wrong room do I?"
 
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Valen was near prancing down the hallway, these soldier types giving sideways looks as he did, he giggled at the looks, messing with them would be fun. He made his way to the briefing room, passing by a angry looking officer who trudged past him giving him a sideways glance before scoffing and making his way further passed.
Valen giggled again causing the immediate area to be filled with an eerie childlike giggle. A few of the soldiers started to sweat, the officer growling angrily. Valen continued down the hall, eager to meet his team and explore the new construct.
He got to the door and went in, looking around the room at all the people inside. His gazed stopped on one person in particular, another Fae like himself, his blood boiled and magic surged in his veins as he stared. He hated others of his kind, and he wondered what would bring one from the gilded halls to come here. Then he noticed she was dressed like the soldiers in the room, and deduced that she must've left Silvermead to live among the humans, joining their military no less.
He pulled his hat further down and giggled once more as he took a seat, this would be fun.
 
"Kelby come on, we need to get there on time." Kae sighed, leaning on the wall by the portal to Valden. Looking through, he saw many people passing by, rushing back and forth without noticing the gaping portal in the alley. Cracking his neck, he rolled his shoulders back and dusted off his sleeves, dropping the duffel bag he owned on the ground next to him. Turning around to look at his sister, he reached in the back pocket of his dark grey pants and pulled out the letter his father wrote to the man in charge in Valden. Glancing over it, he read the fluff his father wrote about honor, deals, and taking chances on his children signing up for this mission. Flicking the paper with one hand, he folded it back up and sticking it in the official envelope and pushing off the wall as his sister walked up. "Finally."

"Calm down." She said, smiling up at him as she hooked her bow onto the loop of her pants. "We will be there just in time. Plus dad guaranteed us a spot so no need to rush." Walking past him and through the portal, she gripped her duffel bag tighter and walked confidently down the street. Kae placed the portal just down the street form the building they needed and boy was she grateful. The streets in Valden were always so crowded with everyone stuck in their technology.

Kae walked behind his sister, letting the portal close as they left the alley and merged in with the others in Valden. Quickly, they crossed the street and entered a tall and modern styled building, searching for the elevators. "Can I help you?" The receptionist asked, looking up over the large glasses on the edge of her nose. Sliding her the envelope, she glanced at the seal and then up at him and Kelby with curious eyes. Looking over them, he could tell that she hadn't seen Merfolk before and was wondering what they looked like when exposed to water. "4th floor, second door on the left." She mumbled, handing him back the envelop as she stared at him in awe. Smiling weakly at her, he tucked the envelope in the pocket on the inside of his jacket and tapped Kae on the shoulder, signalling her to follow him to the elevators.

"She was checking you out." Kelby snickered as the doors closed and they caught the receptionist leaning forward to continue to look at him. Rolling his eyes, he shook his head slightly as the elevator took them to the 4th floor, announcing their arrival with a slight bell. Following the receptionist's directions, Kae opened the 2nd door on the left with Kelby close behind him attempting to look over his shoulder into the room before them.
 
Iliana strolled over to the desk and snatched up the file Gordon had dropped. She wanted to rip out the page on her powers, but decided that simply reading it would have to suffice. She flicked through all the documents and certificates, before arriving at a paper with two paragraphs of text on it.

Shows signs of magic, the file began. Essokinesis, a rarity, especially in the Fae. As a child, would often create things out of thin air, and other children reported structures changing whenever she said she wanted them to.

The file went on like this for a while, and Iliana began to tire of it. However, she continued, skimming through the writing. The final line made her heart drop.

Would recommend an exile to Dragontooth by the age of 16.

Iliana felt her blood boil. How dare they lump her in with the Dragontooth scum! It was an awful place, with no law, no justice, no mercy! She slammed the file shut. Surely that was an old document. She would have proven her worth by now. Iliana took a few deep breaths, then turned back to the others in the room just as the door flew open.
 
Ishum studied the room as well as the duo in there, oh, and the guard who's prepared to have a heart attack at any loud noise. He saw the fae gripping a file tightly before hearing a muffled giggle, a giggle that made him noticed a smudge on his lens when he turned to see a robed stranger. The armored baldy took off his glasses, reached into his pouch for a small silk napkin, and slowly cleaned the lenses. He glared at everyone with a blind squint, trying to point out the blurry physical differences between the people there and the furniture. His wrinkled forehead, originally being hidden by his frames, were now evermore displayed. It was true, glasses do make one look ten years younger.

Ishum whistled quietly to himself, getting into a rhythm of cleaning his glasses. The process itself should've taken no less than thirty seconds, but Ishum entertained himself when it came to busy work. His whistle converted into a small leg shuffle, he hopped and bopped in place as he quietly danced to the song in his head. After this two-minute song and dance combo, he placed his frames back onto the bridge of his tanned nose. "So..." He said awkwardly, turning back to the file in the Fae's hand, "Were we supposed to pick up a file, because I didn't grab mine." He was talking to a wall full of silence and judgement, his face started to feel hot with embarrassment. "I'll just- I'll just sit over here..." Ishum mumbled, turning to the nearest empty seat, grabbing it, and sitting in it backwards. His torso leaning on the back of the chair as he looked around for others staring at him.
 
Ferrik saluted the Gordon man. He'd dropped the wings and the pretty face of his fae body by the door-a shame, he liked that one. But he'd heard the yelling. The Gordon man liked humans. He could be a human. A really good one. As he'd walked to the door, he'd grown taller, bulkier, lost some hair, gained some scars. He looked like a real, combat ready idiot. He'd plucked some details from the guards he'd passed, and knocked one out and stolen his sword for realism. He hated swords, usually, too big and too awkward, but he was nothing if not a slave to his craft, and bit bulky men used big bulky swords. He swung it experimentally a few times, getting his muscles right, and by the time he hit the Gordon man, he'd looked relieved just to have a big old buff human ready to go explore his shiny new construct.
Ferrik grinned, walking into the office on the tail of two merfolk. Similar looking. Siblings. Probably. He subtly gave himself another couple of inches as he ducked his head out from under the doorframe. That was this shape done. There were plenty of people in the room already. He wondered if this was all? His eyes flickered over them quickly, even as he thought about what to name this new body. Orik. Orik was good. He liked taking a bit of his previous name into the new one. Besides, he didn't know how long Orik was going to stick around for. What would Orik see of these people? Two merfolk. A human who would never last two seconds in a Silvermead dance show, a hatted giggly potential threat, and an angry looking army fae. He nodded at her. She looked like a leader, and Orik recognised these things. He'd served in the army too, after all.
 
Valen giggled again at all the newcomers, so many different types of people, so many races, the newest newcomer peaked his interest as he could sense the innate magic in him, be it whatever type it was. The mad look the other fae in the room had was funny, people got so worked up over silly things. The merfolk we're interesting, he'd never had the chance to interact with their kind as the usually were to lazy to leave their construct. The human in the room, cause he was sure the newest one was not human at least not completely, was an interesting fellow and was sure to be fun to mess with. Once again he giggled, filling the room with that eerie child like one, and leaned back smiling under his scarf. If these were the ones he'd be traveling with then things were going to be doubly fun. A few soldiers in the room looked at him wearily, and the glowing light that was mistaken for his eyes danced over at them.
 
Kae and Kelby leaned against the farthest wall in the room. Not really sure what all was supposed to be happening. Kae watched everyone in the room, flexing his hands as he played with a small orb of water being froze and thawed out by Kelby. They were communicating amongst themselves just by looking at each other, Kae, annoyed at the man who kept laughing and Kelby, giddy with excitement. “We should call dad and check in.” Kelby thought, looking at her brother with round eyes. She was starting to get hot even though she was dressed quite revealingly. Her white shirt was cut right about her ribcage and her pants hung low on her hips. “Don’t bother him, he won’t even bother getting up to answer it. It’s meal time back home.” Kae responded, raising his eyebrows at her. Rolling her eyes, she cooled the air around them, carefull not to bother the others just Incase they hated the cool air unlike merfolk who were used to the cold waters and prefer the air to be cool when on land.
 
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Iliana sighed and turned to the bald man.

"No, that's just..." trailing off, she shook her head and examined the group. Two of the merfolk, two humans, and a black mage, who's race she couldn't really tell. She didn't know who any of them were...but introductions had never really be her thing. Iliana stood still, hoping that someone else would introduce themselves first.
 
Valen giggled again, swiveling the yellow orbs over to the group, deciding now would be a great time to start a conversation, as silence only got him so far, "Hello all gathered today, gathered here to go explore the new construct that has appeared," he stood up bowing dramatically, "Valen Nerkict, black mage, at your service" he proclaimed, his voice similar to the childlike giggle, if not sounding a bit distorted, "A pleasure to make your acquaintance.". A pair of sharp looking teeth smiled at the group.
 
Ishum nodded silently, filling his mouth with air and heaving out a loud sigh. He obnoxiously scooted his wooden chair against the rougher flooring, before giving up halfway to stand up. He clapped his leather gloves against each other, turning to stare at each one in the room, then patted the back of Nerkict's shoulder. "Well, uh..." I don't like him, Ishum thought He's a mage, and he's bla- Wait no, a Black Mage, I think that's something else. Either way, don't trust magic, especially someone who's always so eager and giggly. There's jokes, and then there's just acting suspicious. Right now, he's on my list of tricksters....

...

Where'd I leave that list anyways? I think I gave it to that cute neighbor down the street. If she still has it, then she knows I dislike her creepy uncle. Wait, where am I? Ishum slowly recovered from his thought process, he lifted an arm to point at Valen, "Ain't he a... thing, sweet." He returned to the middle of the room and rubbed his head for luck, or charm for this case, "Alright, well, my name is Ishum. If you can't pronounce it right, it's eye, like," He points to his right eye, "Eyeball, and then shum. Anywho, if you need something made fast, or if you'd like to talk." Ishum says smoothly, knocking twice on his metal breastplate, "Just give me a knock."

The pathetic excuse for a comedic swordsman returned to his royal thrown with mild pride and a severe case of humiliation. No matter how he was perceived, his face exuded confidence, though his body resembled a man who's had too many ales and tried to sit on a child's seat. Once he finally asserted his dominance over the chair, Ishum waited patiently for the next person to introduce him or herself.
 
Iliana relaxed slightly, glad the black mage-Valen- had started introductions.

“Lieutenant Iliana Bywaur. It’s a...pleasure to meet you.” Her eyes drifted sideways to eye Valen, but she quickly turned her attention back to the rest of the group.

She heard footsteps coming down the hall to Gordon’s office.

“That will be the messenger boy coming to tell us a vehicle had been prepared. I expect we shall have to hurry our introductions,” she announced, before striding over to the door and grabbing an assault rifle that was propped against the door. She smiled and ran her hand along it, before nodding at the others.

“Go on, then,” she said.
 
“I’m Kelby and this is Kae.” Kelby announced, first pointing to herself and then at Kae. She thought Kae was going to get off the wall and now like he usually did but his back was glued to the wall as he continued to play with the orb, changing its shape from a flat, sharp edged disk to a dagger. He was normally quiet at first but he was always respectful. She raised her eyebrow at him but he purposely averted her gaze, focusing solely on playing with the orb. “We’re uh, honored to work with you all.”
 
Orik nodded at all the others in stony silence. He was a man of action, Orik was, and words did not become him. He would show respect to these men and women he was travelling with until they gave him cause to treat them otherwise. As always, he stashed away little details of the people around him, the merfolk's lean builds, Valen's high, unsettling voice, Ishum's squinting awkwardness, and Iliana's solidity. He added more of that into his personality while he waited for the others to give their introductions. Magic seemed to be rampant in the room. Orik nodded. It would be useful to have some magic while they went around the new construct. Orik's sword would only get them so far. Iliana was a lieutenant then. He was right. He nodded at her once more, mixing a little deference in when she swung the assault rifle onto her shoulder. "My name is Orik," Orik said. His voice was deep, booming, and a little gravelly from rough use. The door opened behind him, admitting the messenger.
 
Valen continued standing taking everyone else in, he didn't like Orik, he was hiding something, he acted much to stereotypical. Iliana was a Fae and that was reason enough for him. He didn't know what to make of Kelby and Kae, the pair gave of the least information, information he'd dig out eventually. And Ishum, well he could tell the man didn't like him, that he made him uncomfortable, and that was a fun thought.
Overall the group looked interesting, and he'd have fun gathering their secrets whether they gave them willingly or not. The door opening broke his thoughts and he giggled once more as he saw the messenger.
 
The messenger look terrified at the group that was gathered in the room. Valen was giggling again. Offering him a warm smile, Iliana nodded at him to speak.

“There-there is a vehicle waiting downstairs. It will drop you off a few miles into the new construct,” He squeaked, before running away down the hall. She turned to glare at Valen.

“You’re a fae, aren’t you?” She paused for a moment, in case he reacted instantly and violently. “You giggle as much as my mother, and in the same way too” she chuckled, before starting down the hallway. “I need to change,” she called over her shoulder, “If you require anything, do it now!”
 
Seems like she’s the leader. Kelby thought to Kae touching his arm. She was glad to not be the only woman in the group. It was bad enough people underestimated the two because of the lazy rep Merfolk have but she got the worst of it because she was a woman. Little did they know, she freeze every single one of them if she had to. Meh. Kae responded, shrugging at her touch. Ok what’s wrong? She asked folding her arms. Not 30 minuets ago he was standing at the portal, rushing her to come and now he’s being cold towards her. Quickly she unfolded her arms, realizing that they were arguing silently in a room full of people they didn’t know.
You’ll see. Was all that Kae could muster up. He couldn’t pin point what exactly unsettled him but he was never wrong. He was glad Kelby didn’t elaborate on their introduction. The less they knew about them, the better and he planned on keeping it that way. Finally meeting his sister’s eyes, he knew she understood what he was getting at but she couldn’t hide the questions swiming around in her head. Shrugging again, he pushed off the wall and walked out the door with her close behind. He wanted to get good seats in the vehicle they prepared for the group of misfits.
 
Ishum was glad that they were all getting along. However, he didn't know how to feel about them, they seemed nice, well, except for that merman. That one was rather quiet and uninterested, not that it wasn't nice to have one silent person on the trip. Seeing how fast that messenger ran in and out plopped a question into his head, "Why is everyone here so nervous?" He asked rhetorically, hoping nobody actually heard him. The merfolk exiting peaked his interest, Someone's impatient. Ishum thought, crouching out of his seat to get to the doorway.

"Come on showponies, we've got a job to do..." He shouted to the rest of his team, knocking boisterously against the doorframe to catch their attention. He turned his head to the hallway, the dynamic duo must've gotten a headstart to the vehicle. "I wonder what they got us." He muttered under his breath, "Maybe something cool, maybe a dragon! No.. They wouldn't give us a dragon, that's just stupid." His self-conversation extended till he reached his end destination, which of course was the vehicle.
 
That left Valen and Orik left in the room, the former having gone stiff quiet from Iliana's question. His yellow orbs flickered briefly, dancing over to where the not-man was, before dancing back to the doorway.
He stepped forward and proceeded to walk down the hallway, leaving a slight chill in the air as he did so, soldiers moved out of he way seeming of their own accord. She's a sharp one, have to keep my on her, but not as much as Orik, I like him even less. He thought to himself as he renewed his wards on the way to the transport, hoping it wasnt to mechanical, black magic and machines never got along.
As he got there he was still seething, having slowly and unconsciously dropped the temperature around him to the point of frost as he stepped.
 
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