Don Kuat

Speaker. Report.

The text on the computer screen flatly commands. I glance up at the door of my office to double check that the hefty bolt is still in place. Satisfied that no one is going to barge in, I leaf through the notes I made for this communication with the Management. Wetting my lips a little, I lean forward and whisper into the microphone on my desk.

"Jasvinder had been poisoning Lisa with bad serum. The matter has been handled and I've got Lisa on my personal reserve of the stuff." I say. Starting with good news is generally the smart thing to do. Gives me more room to maneuver in the meeting.

What is Operative Minster's status now?

"She's recovering steadily, but still weak." I reply, "Lisa almost lost control of the body to her host. She needs to build her strength more before I can begin training her." I don't talk about the hassle of smuggling serum to Lisa. The matron at the orphanage would never allow her to bring in any suspicious crap. And the serum raises all the flags as something suspicious. So that means we need to setup prearranged meetings so she can do drugs in peace.

Man, that sounds way more sketchy than it really is.

And Jasvinder Krishnan? We noticed that your other colleague has not returned to her own body yet.

I such my breath in and check my notes again, "I cornered Jasvinder while rescuing Lisa, but another assassin attacked us. Then the Militia showed up. I decided to secure Lisa's safety and fell back." There is a long pause before the Management fires off their response.

You made the right choice Speaker. Operative Minster's safety is paramount.

I stifle a sigh of relief and wipe the sweat from my brow with a handkerchief. Good thing the Management accepted my explanation. I'm off the hook for letting Jasvinder escape, at least for now.

Based on your earlier report we have investigated the presence of these 'assassins' as you call them. There has been a troubling development.

"Oh?" I make an inquisitive noise.

We have increased our monitoring of Foundation Four and noticed an increased diversion of divine energy not attributed to us. A similar amount to what we are draining to sustain our operations and catalyze your powers in fact. Has there been any increased Fallen activity recently?

"Yeah." I confirm, "There was a big Fallen attack on the Citadel."

The dirac sea is growing unstable. The negative particles which make up its surface are losing their cohesion and charge. This makes it easy for the in-dimension's Consensus to breach the sea's surface.

"That has always been happening." I protest, "Ever since Earth began tapping Foundation Four for divine energy."

True, but the degradation of the dirac sea was at a manageable pace. It is for that reason we kept our siphoning to a more restrained level after the disaster that was the initial attempt.

"Its preventing Earth's recovery though." I note rather sourly, "Most of the restoration work was done during the full throttle days. Our planet is slowly sliding backwards."

Killing the golden goose would do Earth no good in the long run. Which is why Operative Minster has become so necessary.

"So, the assassins?" I ask, bringing the conversation back to the topic at hand.

We suspect the Blue Ocean Initiative has begun their own siphoning operations on Foundation Four. The remaining Foundations cannot keep up with the increased drain, causing the dirac sea's surface to 'thin out' at an accelerated rate. That would explain the increased ferocity of the Fallen and the presence of rival Operatives.

"How is this even possible?" I complain while recalling my earlier unpleasant experience at the Cathedral, "Don't we have that big jammer set up blasting interference all day, every day?"

The Tombstone? Yes. It is functioning perfectly. The reason why our systems could not detect the BOI's presence was because they were not extracting divine energy to Earth, like we are.

"Then where's that energy going then?" I frown, not liking the revelations being thrown about.

Somewhere within the dirac sea. The divine energy tapped by the BOI never leaves the dirac sea. That is how they've been bypassing the Tombstone's interdiction. The energy is siphoned away at the point Foundation Four meets the dirac sea and is diverted to somewhere within.

"And that place is?" I query, folding my arms tightly.

Unknown. Our sensors cannot penetrate deep enough to get further details. This is however not the main problem you should be worried about.

"I know." I chew my lip meditatively, the script for this meeting lying forgotten on my lap, "Blue Ocean's presence throws off our timetable completely. The more divine energy is pulled away from the sea's surface, the faster the Consensus will break through."

And harvest everything for themselves. Do not forget that part. If the Consensus progressed along the same path as we have, they have no great need for gods but -

"A very dire need for divine energy." I complete the sentence, "I got it. Time is against us."

The presence of rival Operatives also raises another problem. BOI may have acquired the same administrator level access to the dirac sea as we have.

"I noticed that already." I comment, "The assassins could alter world settings just like I do. Only on a more modest scale."

Be cautious. We do not know exactly how the BOI can access administrator level privileges without tripping alarms on our end. Their method of tapping Foundation Four may be substantially different from what we know.

"But the end result would be no different, its the same catalyst." I say, "I'll keep both eyes open anyway."

Good. Anything else to report?

"Sarkar reported in. The Leader has made her move." I answer while going back to consult my notes, "I need more time to prepare Lisa. Can Sarkar run some interference, buy us some breathing space?"

Operative Sarkar's position is precarious. He cannot afford to move too openly.

"I get that. He's our deep cover agent." I respond, "But Jasvinder cost us too much time. Lisa will be late for her debut if the Leader gets her way."

What contingencies have been prepared for this scenario?

"Contingencies? What contingencies?" I quip somewhat waspishly, "I was thrown into the hot seat slightly more than a week ago. Dealing with Jasvinder's sabotage has taken up almost all my time."

All senior operatives have developed contingencies for sudden developments. There should be one in place right now.

"No idea about any of that." I grumble, "If you haven't noticed it yet, there was no orderly transfer of responsibilities on my end."

Another long silence from the Management.

"This wouldn't have happened if the Jasvinder problem had been dealt with firmly," I prompt, "instead of kicking the can down the road."

The loss of a deployed Operative was deemed to be too severe. A new host would take years to mature into a useful state.

"And here we are." I shoot back, "Look, I'm pretty shorthanded here. So either Sarkar needs to take more chances or I wander off into the concrete desert hunting for this Saint and leaving Lisa without an instructor. Which is it going to be?"

Stay the course. We shall debate among ourselves as to the next step of action. In the meantime, tell Sarkar to observe and report any further developments regarding this Saint. If need be, you can be dispatched to handle her once a location has been pinned down.

"Makes sense." I concede, "Going out into the concrete desert blind is never a good idea anyway."

Is there anything else, Speaker?

"Nah. I'm good." I lean back into my chair, tension draining out of my body.

Then we shall close the meeting. Earth prevails.

"Earth prevails." I salute lazily at my computer as the Management blasts the transmission system with their record cleaning and doctoring wave of malicious data. That went well, all things considered. Managing to save Lisa must have earned me a huge amount of points with the bosses back home.

But the information I received is nevertheless incredibly troubling. Earth has reached its best before date. Without Yah, the entire planet was beginning to wind itself down, like an old grandfather clock. Not that it would have existed much longer with Yah around, thanks to that bastard's plans for us, but the point remains. The Directorate had managed to hook Earth up to a form of life support, but time is running out.

A growing volcano of anger begins to spring in my heart. The Blue Ocean Initiative should be our allies in this fight. Yet they are off interfering and doing who knows what with the divine energy they siphon away. We are all in this together. If someone like me can see that, why can't they?

My annoyed gaze drifts to the box of thumb drives from the Cathedral that still needs to be processed. Whatever, I'm not in the mood right now. Its not as if those thumb drives are going anywhere soon. I toss my notes for the meeting into a nearby shredder and begin locking up my office, the fate of my planet lying heavily on my shoulders.

Sometimes it can be too difficult to bear.

But an early lunch always makes things feel better.