((Sorry Haze, but I must borrow Havok. Oh and your partner assignments are listed in the OOC.))
Rose Ceilmarz(Nyx) and Swain
Rose protested and pleaded with Feng to rethink her actions as she shoved her scythe away. "Tai! You can't be serious... Don't give into Charlotte's demands! You underestimate her! You have no idea the kinds of things... she'll DO to you..." She shivered as she recalled an obviously disturbing memory. She was about to let loose another stream of protests when she noticed how restless everyone was getting. Having all thirteen, including both twins, Harvesters in one room was probably not a wise decision.
Luckily, it seemed as if everyone wouldn't have to wait for much longer. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched as Gullies did a silent headcount and followed it with a satisfied nod. No one else seemed to notice as he walked over to the large red wall and lean against it. Rose couldn't quite make out what he did exactly, but whatever he did, the wall began to pull apart to unveil a large dark hallway. Everyone silenced their mindless chatter to stare at the new hallway.
Havok motioned with his head for everyone to follow him. Rose stood their for a moment just staring at the hallway then proceded to be the first one to enter. The hallway was long and twisted and seemed to go on forever. Perhaps it did. It finally came to abrupt halt to a door. Gullies opened the door and revealed a large room with a meeting table in the center. It had a total of sixteen chairs around the table and each gothic-style chair had a numeral marked on the back. Except for two. One of which Gullies took beside.... a taken chair. There, at the very end of the table, was him. Swain. He gave off every vibe as being a very important and a very shrewd business man. Although, he didn't seem very old. Only in his thirties, if that. He had long white hair that ended at his shoulder and was very tall. Even when seated. He was adorned in a pure white suit with gold trimmings. Very flamboyent and gaudy. There was also one more detail that caused Rose to frown when she laid eyes on him. He was wearing a carnival mask that covered only the upper portion of his face.
For five long years, they hadn't even heard a direct word from him and even now he wouldn't show his face to them? The more she thought about it, the more it caused her to frown. Even so, she still took her seat towards the middle of the table. The chair labled, "VII." Rose propped her head up with one arm while the other drummed her slender fingers against the mahogany table. As the first one to sit down, Swain turned to smile at her beneath his shrowd of mystery. She gave him a half smile and then proceded to frown again at her thoughts.
As soon as everyone proceded to sit in their assigned seats, Swain stood up and cleared his voice. Just as Rose thought, he was a very tall man and towered over the table.
"Good evening to all of you. As all of you know, my name is Swain." He said as an almost purr. His voice sent shivers down Rose's spines. His voice was beautiful and hypnotic, but was completely unhuman. His voice wasn't like anything she'd ever heard before.
"Now, first of all, I'm sure you're all wondering why I'm wearing this mask... As much as I'd love to share my identity with you all, I cannot at this point in time. Why? Because we've been infiltrated." Rose's eyebrows raised at the comment. Infiltrated? How is that possible?
"You fourteen, including Gullies, are the last people I can trust. However, before I can get into that matter, I'd like to show you some things first."
He gestured towards the wall behind him as a screen lit up. On the screen were a couple charts. The title was, "Krux's Monthly Profit Compared To Rival Companies." On the very top of the chart was Krux highlighted in red. On the bottom, were a whole rainbow of lines that weren't even close to Krux. However, as you looked thorough the months, you'll notice in the last year one dark blue line that dramatically sky-rocketed up the chart right below Krux. During a couple months, the line was even above Krux's.
Rose was fairly certain she was voicing everyone's opinions when she said, "Well so? Every company has to deal with competition. No big deal."
"Ah, yes, as right as you are, Nyx, it wouldn't be any concern of the Harvesters.... if an incident hadn't occured yesterday. It was quickly covered up, so no one would learn of it. Now, I'd like you to pay very close attention to the next picture..."
A new picture appeared on the screen and Rose raised her eyebrows. Now, a normal person would probably either pass out, vomit, or scream, but the Harvesters were quite used to this kind of thing. Even so, it did mildly surprise Rose.
On the screen was a brutal homocide of a woman. Not just any woman either. She was known as Swain's secretary, Nira. Rose often saw her running about the building taking care of things that needed to be done. She was a thin lady with sleak blonde hair. She reminded Rose of a fox. Now, she lay on the ground maliciously ripped and torn to pieces. She was barely recognizable. The only thing left in tact was her head with a look of pure horror etched into her face. The rest of her body was scattered about. Some of her organs were cruelly sown back together in unnatural positions. However, the detail that really left an impression was the message. Written beside the gory mess was a short sentence typed out in..... bones. Nira's bones specifically. It said, "STEP DOWN." Rose was sure to take in one more insignificant detail before Swain took the picture down. A medium-sized black feather lying next to Nira's head.
"So, as you all can see, we have reason to believe this rival company was the one who organized this distasteful show of aggression. However, we have no clue what this organization's name even is. Out in the market, they're simply known as Company X. Because of all this secrecy, it's very difficult to track them. We do believe that there's evidence somewhere. In fact, we believe that a few of their followers are still hanging around in the building. Which leads me to give you your first assignment as full-fledged Harvesters. Investigate any evidence, destroy the spies, and bring your findings. Also one more thing, absolutely NO killing of any other individuals other than the spies. If you kill an innocent, you will severely punished."
Swain put an emphasis on 'severely punished', which sent yet another chill down Rose's spine. This man was extremely powerful. You could feel it coming off of him in waves.
"Final note. I'm assigning you into pairs. None of you are to go without your partners." He waved his arm and a stack of black letters flew out. One landing in front of each person.
"Each has your partner along with the sector you will be investigating. Good luck to you all." With that, the meeting was over and we were free to go. As she strolled out, she carefully opened the letter. She nearly screamed when she saw who her partner was.
This can't be..... how can I be stuck with HIM! she ranted in her head. She crumbled the letter in her hand and collapsed on the waiting room couch while hitting her head against a sofa cushion.
The letter simply stated Zehn as her partner, that they were to investigate Nira's room, and that they believed there were seven spies in total in the building somewhere. However, Rose couldn't get over the fact she was paired with a man...