398 Serpent Revealed (1/2)

Nix said goodbye to Shae and gated directly to the Gemini Temple. He was a few minutes early for his rendezvous with Chiba, so he opened the file that Leva had sent him during the night. Covering a yawn with his hand, he took a seat on the platform and started reading.

Subject: Temple of Khione

Agents of Khione approached Kodus Mora after he left Ionova. He was brought to a secret Temple where he was indoctrinated along with dozens of others. He doesn't know the location, only that it was surrounded by jungle and every day was hot and humid.

The two guards he worked with in Ionova were also part of the program. The three of them are tasked with 'spreading the word.' Basically, the word is that the world is ending and that Khione will save those who follow her.

Kodus, his two friends, and two others are working Free Trader City. If they garner enough support, they are to build a temple. It's obvious that he messed up when he went after you. Sometime after he arrived in Free Trader City, he was attacked by a lycanthrope. As he started to turn, he felt an irrational anger building. His intent was to find you and slay you.

Recommendation:

There's a cure for lycanthropy, although it's expensive. If we cure him and send him back to the other cultists, he could become a valuable resource. The other option is to kill him and the other four assigned to Free Trader City. Keep in mind that there were dozens of cultists going through the indoctrination. Some of them were heading to places he'd never heard of before; Jenzi, Safarza, Escavar, and Broyan.

I say we turn him and use him. Until I hear back from you, he'll stay in the Nether with me.

[End of Report.]

Nix turned to the shadow sphinx sitting on his shoulder. ”What do you think, Soup? Lets answer her quickly, so we don't have to worry about it while we are training.”

Leva,

Thanks for the hard work. Cure Kodus before he becomes a minion. The lycanthrope blood may interfere with the process. Cure him, turn him, and put him to work. Find out what our dark priestess friend from the Cabal knows about the Khione Cultists. We need some options on how to deal with these people.

Nix.

***************

[0900 hours Colonial Virtual Reality Lab, St. Paul, Mn]

Director Sahara Obrien's Office

Sahara closed most of the huds she had opened on her desk and turned her complete focus on the dragon NPCs. BALTO was the virtual intelligence that governs the actions of NPCs; however, this did not include the dragons. Initially, dragons were to be thought of as an overpowering existence that didn't regularly interact with humans. They were programmed to be aloof, arrogant, and alien.

Marshal Tucker's face popped up on her desk hud. ”Director Obrien, you asked me to let you know when my class completed their second dive.”

Hara's eyes lit up with interest, smiling slightly while she scanned the results. ”A perfect jump with no fails? That has to be some sort of record.”

Marshal let out a long breath. ”I've never seen anything like it.”

”Give them the weekend off; the next jump is the hardest.”

”Understood Director. Do you still want to see Glory Jones?”

Hara nodded. ”Send her to my office. Thanks for the hard work Marshal.”

”Just doing my job.”

Hara was still considering her dragon problem when Glory stepped into the doorway, she motioned her in with a hand and closed the hud. ”Looks like everything went well.”

”I'm getting used to it. Thanks for the special assignment Director, it was good to see him again.”

”We're friends, so call me Hara.” Hara brought her scores up. ”It seems like you fought very well. Sometimes that can be the biggest issue in this program. Not everyone is a gamer.”

”My training as a corrections officer came in handy.” Glory glanced at her rating. ”Did I mess up when I defended Floyd?”