Kingsley opened the door to what seemed like an abandoned factory. But as the man lead Q through another door, a whole new world was experienced. Inside the second door were a plethora of cubicles. Then, to the far right, a gun range inside the building. Q grated his teeth at the noise. He had sensitive hearing. All Talvians did.
\nKingsley quickly led Q into an office, however, and inside, it was soundproofed. Two chairs and a desk with another chair, complete with person behind it was the setup of the room. When the office door closed, Q loosened up and looked to Mercain, the man behind the desk.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Who is this, Kingsley?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Mercain questioned as he stood from his chair, looking to Q. Mercain had dyed his hair blue, but otherwise wore clothing very similar to Kingsley’s.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I thought I would show you something special today,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Kingsley said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I stumbled over this boy on the street. If you’ll notice, you can’t feel his ki.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Mercain looked to Q as the Talvian’s face was overcome with dread. What had he gotten himself into? Dexterians weren’t supposed to know what limiters were. This was a trap of somesort. He began to walk to the door. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Excuse me…\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said.<\/p>\n
Kingsley’s hand came out and shoved Q into the chair with a thud. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153You stay there,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he commanded.
\nQ rubbed his shoulder in his chair as he waited. Kingsley was surprisingly strong.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153As I was saying,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Kingsley continued, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153he’s wearing a type of limiter. It’s called a Negator. They only make them in Cybil. This boy is very important to us.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Mercain quirked a brow. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Why? Because he has a connection to Cybil? Kingsley, please. Tell me you didn’t come here just for that<\/em>.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Kingsley smirked. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153There is more. He’s Talvian, so his ki is much stronger than a normal human’s. However, the main reason I brought him here is because this boy is the Soul Stealer.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Don’t be ridiculous!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d the Talvian shouted. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I am not that monster!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n Mercain watched Q for a moment, then turned to Kingsley, fingering a pen in his right hand idly. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Soul Stealer’s been missing for twenty years. Just because you found some stranger with a Negator doesn’t mean he’s it,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said unenthusiastically, flipping the pen between his first two fingers and leaning back in his chair.<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Don’t be stupid, Mercain. This boy is in his mid-twenties. The last Phoenix died in Talvia and the Soul Stealer’s last known origin was near Talvia. This is a Talvian, obviously ejected from his tribe because of his looks and his Rez. This is not coincidence.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Hey!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Q shouted, insulted. Q couldn’t be the Soul Stealer. He wasn’t. And he certainly wouldn’t believe someone was trying to convince another that he was. Mercain bit his lip, halting his pen spinning as he watched Q’s reactions. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I know you’re trustworthy Kingsley, but I am hard pressed to believe you this time.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Q seemed to believe what he was saying. Mercain considered himself a good judge of people’s emotions. Q didn’t appear to be lying.<\/p>\n He turned an eye to Kingsley, sitting up in his chair and pulling up to the desk, putting his pen down atop it. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153If you can prove it to me…\u00e2\u20ac\u009d He thought aloud, finally focusing all his attention on Kingsley, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153…Possess him and show me.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Possess me?!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Q yelled. He looked to Kingsley in shock. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153You’re a Possessor<\/em>?!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Q could still breathe, but barely. Luckily, his collar protected him somewhat, although the buckle was digging into his skin rather uncomfortably from the pressure of Kingsley’s grip.<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Listen,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d the Talvian wheezed. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153If I really am the Soul Stealer, do you really want the Seekers to come here?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Don’t be stupid,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Kingsley spat. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Nobody cares about Dexterity. If they did, the Monte Cristons would’ve come to kill the Phoenix long a go.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n Q coughed. He would’ve laughed at the irony if this had been a different situation. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Of course they want that. The Monte Cristons are bigots. But that’s why we have you<\/em>, isn’t it?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Kingsley sneered. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Now where’s your Negator? In your clothes? Those sunglasses of yours?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d The other man narrowed his blue eyes. Q pulled back the hammer on the gun as Mercain came from around the desk. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Are you sure?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he questioned, eying the danger.<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It’s a bluff,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Kingsley growled. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153There’s no way he loaded this before he bought it.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d
\nHe looked back to Q, wondering what he could do with outside technology. He didn’t want to get back into the market with foreign tech just yet. This was an interesting development, sure, but Kingsley usually gave him better things. Things that he considered to be better than this.<\/p>\n
\nKingsley looked to Q, who stood up out of his chair.<\/p>\n
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I was banished because I liked human culture more than Talvian. I couldn’t even grasp the language too well. I am not the Soul Stealer!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\nThe Talvian jumped forward, unsheathing his new knife. He had to get out of this place. They were going to take his limiter off- he couldn’t allow that. And hell if he’d let himself be possessed.
\nHe went to stab Kingsley in the gut, but the man easily sidestepped into Q’s form and grabbed the Talvian’s wrist, raising it high above his head. Kingsley then used his free hand to grasp Q’s neck.<\/p>\n
\nSeekers were trained to seek out a specific person’s ki signature. Different Resonance Souls felt differently. Almost always, there was a permanent hit out on two Resonants: The Soul Seeker and the Phoenix. If Q was the Soul Stealer, when his negator was taken off, the place would be crawling with Seekers within days or even hours.<\/p>\n
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153What if they want Dexterity to be destroyed by her?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d He rasped.<\/p>\n
\nAll limiters were essentially just microchips. They could be hidden anywhere.
\nBut rather than reply, Q took his free hand and unholstered the gun he’d just bought, putting the muzzle to Kingsley’s stomach.<\/p>\n
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Mercain, get this kid’s glasses off.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\nQ’s grip tightened in fear as Mercain came closer toward him, reaching for the sunglasses.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"series":[30],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cc.khat.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/510"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cc.khat.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cc.khat.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cc.khat.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cc.khat.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=510"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/cc.khat.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/510\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":572,"href":"https:\/\/cc.khat.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/510\/revisions\/572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cc.khat.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=510"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cc.khat.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=510"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cc.khat.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=510"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cc.khat.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fseries&post=510"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}