Project ZEAL

Scene 4 - Darkness and Light (Aitrus)

Aias paced up and down the alley. Where is he? he thought. His contact should have already come and gone by now. He looked down at the pocket watch he carried. The meeting had been scheduled for nearly an hour previous. He's been compromised. There goes three years of manipulation, blackmail, and bribery for nothing...

He was just turning to leave and work his way back to the palace when someone entered the other end of the alley. "The darkness sure falls fast and hard nowadays, doesn't it?" the man called, giving the sign that Aias had given his contact for this meeting. Aias recognized the voice immediately.

"But there's still room for the light," Aias replied, countersigning. "What kept you, Rolan?" Aias remained in the shadows, maintaining the secrecy about his identity. He hadn't let any of his contacts know who he was yet, and he had no intentions of doing so anytime soon.

"Security patrols," Rolan said. "Ever since they caught that one guy snooping around the Council complex, the security patrols have kept curfew much tighter than they used to. Anyway, here's the information you wanted." He held up a scroll, and then tossed it into the pool of light near Aias' feet. In return, Aias tossed a small bag of coins towards the man. Bending over and opening it, Rolan counted his money. "Thanks," he said once satisfied with the count, and then turned away, heading back the way he came.

Once Rolan had gone round the corner, Aias stepped forward and picked up the scroll. He checked the seal and identification number, made sure both were correct, and then picked his way back across the city towards the lifts to the palace. He looked forward to reading the scroll, especially since it contained, among other things, the results of an "experiment" they ran not a week earlier. "Universe 27-Alpha-3," he said, remembering the id on the scroll. Judging from other reports he'd had smuggled out, he knew what this one would contain. He just hoped this one would have something to help him win over people to his cause.

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