Ch 13. Noble discussion

As if Zuwa's warning entered a ear and exited the other, Eury went directly to the jugular, striding with her hand behind her back and bowing her head as deeply as possible. Under that shade, she mutters a greeting that makes Zuwa facepalm.

-" The great heretic in person."

Rhodium looked at her with marginal interest and left out a dry chuckle. " You know, from the profile I constructed, I wouldn't have taken you as a true believer. Was growing up in a parish orphanage all it took?"

Diaz- "Orphan- Tsz, everything with this girl, man", the boy grinned.

Eury- " Eaten the holy paper in the morning, kneeled on the carpet in the afternoon, and lighted the gas sticks at night. As the teachings required. What about your side, still practice the dailies?"

Rhodium- " No, we've given up on all that tradition. Actually, we do keep a ledger of 'dailies'. Daily tasks that is. Trades, shipping, R&D, mostly software developing of alternative programs. Anything to increase the legitimancy of our sect."

The girl's eyes lighted for a moment, and she felt that she was on the right trackt. " But the Puritanical Light is already considered a true, legitimate, commercial entity and form of expressing one's faith. The upper levels join their congregations, the large companies work with them in trades and soon enough, at least as whispers go, they sect might even be a contenteder in the Rankings."

She waited, breathlessly, for this leader to say something, but Pure Metal stood idly, it's gaze passing the girl and starring at Sammy, eyes widening and narrowing, studying. Zuwa then yelled from the side- " What did I say, girlie? No crap about the sect."

Rhodium- " No, it's fine. I do am tired of having to relate the original's vision, but the little believer is keen on digging for information. Aren't you, Euryale Seto, last daughter of the Phorcus and Seto? Nice attempt at hiding your identity, by the way, very creative. " The leader read with a mocking tone, scrolling through a set of files.

The girl stared him down with the eyes of a snake ready to strike, but the constant reminder of Sammy's shaking hand grabbing on her shirt grounded her on the present. Just for a boost, she turned around to take a look at Diaz, who responded with two thumbs up and a wide smile. Boldness charged.

Eury- "- And my parents liked to continue our family's little tradition of naming us after greek myths. I know. They were…quirky", she remarked with a nostalgic glint in her eyes. " Which I can also say about you, Rhodium? Is that why you're dressed like a cube, want to resemble you're depiction in the period table? Is that silvery skin natural or do you powder yourself everyday like that?"

To her and Zuwa's surprise, the outburst managed to pull a coughing laugh from the leader.

-" Oh wow, incredible. I never thought about it like that", Rhodium said between choking laughs. " Would you believe me that this was the original Noble's vission for himself?"

It took Rhodium a few seconds to recover, during which two unseen assistants ran from the dark to catch and bottle the teal tears that the leader weeped from laughter.

Rhodium- " Right. You know what, sure, I'll indulge you, but only if you can spring out other comebacks like that. Such isolated laughing sessions are worth the lung injections that I'll have to deal with afterward. So, what was your question?"

Diaz couldn't help but do a small fist bump and whisper " Fuck yeah, good job Eury. " Zuwa caught it and proceed to tease him with lots of relantionship and girls questions, with incredible embarasing results.

Eury- " Thank…you? I guess, at the end of the day, I just want to know what do you and the purilights want with Sammy?"

Rhodium- " Purilig- what the…Zuwa, why didn't we ever thought to simplify them like that in reports?"

Zuwa- " It sounds way too unthreatening and cute, sir. I don't think any of our followers- anyone- could take them serious anymore."

Rhodium- " No, I don't care. You two", the leader then snapped a finger at the assistants. " Update our terminology. Now." As demanded, the entire facility received a neatly worded email about the update, and then quickly ignored by the staff the following minute.

Rhodium- " As for the boy- we don't care. If the purilights-", which only the sound of the word made Zuwa sigh in dejection- " want him, then we'll do everything we can to be a burden to them. I can guess their plans with him, but it's definetly not their usual trafficking they are up to."

Eury tighted her grip on Sammy's hand for a few long moments, but her face remained stagnant like a rock.

Rhodium- " …You knew? Excuse me for asking, but were you-"

Eury- " No", she answered quickly, quiverring. " No…But there were kids missing from the orphanage day after day. And for once, when I saw a chance to actually save one, I took it."

Rhodium- " I see. That was…brave of you. I won't dwell on that more, if that's ok with you."

Eury- " Sure. But how do you know that he wasn't part of those dealings?"

The leader pressed a button and a screened opened up. " This. Project Custome Transmogrified Drone, a large endeavor which pools resources from all the companies. And the Puritanical Sect. I don't know for what reason, but they have been demanding fully organic human bodies. Bodies as fresh as the first humans that walked this planet."

Diaz rolled his eyes at that, and mustered a "creepy asholes" under his breath. But he expected that kind of desires from the ones at the top. " Zuwa…would you choose imortality if you had the chance?", the boy asked, forgeting his anger for a moment.

Zuwa- " Yes. But not in body, just in spirit. Which is something that the Inclusive Sect promised me. More time for me to cleanse it. "

Diaz- "…By killing and lying?"

Zuwa- " Tools, my boy. Those are only tools used during our biological sitting. The spirit's cleanse is a personal journey, different for everyone. Mine- as I found out- is to help Noble give everyone the time they need."

Diaz- " Guessing that Noble told you that."

Zuwa- " Nope. I discovered it, Noble 3 didn't even knew who I was when I knocked on the door. That's how I know it."

Eury- " So then, the solution is quite easy, isn't it? We give Sammy a prostheti-", but Rhodium raised a hand to stop her.

Rhodium- " Tell me, you know about the worker cloning project, right?", to which the girl nodded. " There are only a few going around, I think only a few hundred. But neither has prosthetics or enhancements, as their blood rejects it. Or a special enzyme does."

Eury- " You don't mean-"

Rhodium- " Not 100% sure, but I wouldn't put it past them to burden the kids with that curse. Which is why we tested Sammy's blood when we forged the deaths. Positive so far."

Diaz- " Oh, for fuck sake. You could have at least told us about it then. Sammy, Eury, don't listem to him. We're out of here."

Zuwa- " Boy, stop being so stubborn. And what exactly from everything that happened so far gave you the impre-"

Diaz- " Everything? You, this lair, a fucking sect- do you want more?"

Rhodium laughed and pointed out the obvius. " Sure, that is correct. But to be fair, I also had doubts about you, but now I'm want to built a better relantionship with you kids. So how about we start with an apology gift. Hmm?

Diaz- " And what possibly cou-"

Rhodium- " New indentities and a safe future for the boy…And I'll be frank as well. The blood might hold some secrets we could use against the purilights. Whatever advantage we could garner from it, I still don't know. But I don't want to kick an opportunity to the curve. Right, Eury? Like you said, you would take any opportunity to save someone, right?"

Eury- " Sammy…what do you say? Do you want to give them your blood?"

Sammy- " Would that keep Eury and Diaz safe?", to which Rhodium nodded and even promised. " Ok…I'm fine with it."

Rhodium- " Good. Eury, what do you say about the Steno?", a question which filled the girl with an unbridled fury.

Eury- " Funny…asshole. I don't my dead sister's name, what the hell is wrong with you?"

Rhodium- " It's too late, unfortunately, I already finished all the paperwork, Steno. Rodriguez", he then turned to Diaz, and finally to Sammy. " Let's go with Robert."