The Borealis Garden

He caught the apple deftly despite the darkness and lack of light. He examined it before he did take a bite, assured of his resistance to toxins by his own biology. "Delicious," he smiled a true smile and took another bite as he listened to her. "You are a wise woman." He looked thoughtful. "Are you still staying here in this derelict mansion or have you another location where you are staying?"

"I have no desire to be in any other place unless you wish for me to be in another place. This is my home but as was agreed, I have services to render to you in order to revive it," Talitha said while removing the rest of the sling from her body. She moved her shoulder and rolled it with a low grinding sound of bone against bone.

"You also have one free service to be fulfilled for your assistance despite your lack of ... grace," Talitha said before arching a white brow and peering at his silohuette through the darkness.

Xvander flinched slightly but made no correction that he felt he was owed nothing for what resulted in their first meeting. "You will be more secure and available to me if you are housed at my complex. You are free to come and go as you please, so long as you are always available to contact and do come when called. I do not know yet what sort of asset you will be to my business yet. What skills do you have that I may use. Mental, physical. I need to know how best to place you within my organization." He walked around her slowly.

The Promethean watched Xvander walk around her, casing her abilities, or more so, inspecting her like some exotic animal he had just bought. When he came in front of her, Talitha shot out her hand and placed it on his neck with her thumb resting against his wind pipe. She did not apply pressure but just kept her hand there for unknown reasons.

"Prometheans are chameleon creatures with the ability to mimick anyone we see. There is also a passive ability that is defensive that we may use as a last resort. For most it is uncontrollable without proper schooling but over the years we have come to perfect it. It is difficult to explain without showing it, and to show it my life must be in great danger."

"The best explanation I hold is that I become a mirror to another's mind and they create an image on me, forcing me to appear as a person they most desire to see," Talitha said while her thumb slid over the false flesh.

"But such tales have not been proven true for hundreds of years," the promethean said before dropping her hand.

"I age slower than humans, I heal faster than humans, my senses are more acute than theirs but far more suseptible of being damaged. We are not stronger in physical comparison but marginally faster and more intelligent. The human brain uses less than ten percent of their capacity while Prometheans have evolved to far more than that."

He did not feel particularly threatened when she reached for his neck, however by the time her thumb was in place he had one hand around her wrist, not holding or stopping her, merely there, long claws having pierced his false flesh once more. "Mimicry such as your initial ability is a fascinating one. I shall have to observe and document the transformations to see how the cloning method may need to be altered." He thought about how he may need to employ the services of Cashmere in this. However that would not be his first resort. She would likely deny him should he request her to do something without any evidence as to why. "Is your secondary ability psyonic or magic in origin?" He let her thumb caress his skin, though easily shed and replaced he could still feel the sensation of her thumb there. It was the first time he had allowed anyone to touch him like that. The sensation was... curiously new. "I'd like to measure your brainwaves at some point, for idle curiosity, so it need not be soon. What of your education? What abilities have you learned, in what were you trained?"

"Psionic," Talitha stated before it was her turn to walk around the man, inspecting every inch of him. Her fingers touched along him as the Promethean studied Xvander.

"Espionage. Stealth. Assassination," she stated, listing off a very short list of abilities but some which were highly valuable.

"Will the clone be a copy of me or will it be free to become its own entity?"

"The clone will be made of your genetic material with as little variation as can be managed to ensure that it will be as full Prothean as possible." He stood and let her inspect him. "However one's genetic material alone does not ensure the path of their growth either physical or mental. There will be similarities, of course, but unless there is another factor of which I am unaware, it should be its own entity." He watched her and noted how she moved, nodding at the list she made, it certainly made sense for a shape shifter.

"Being Promethean we are at ever constant war with the Atlanteans, those whom rule the waters while we rule the earth," Talitha explained to Xvander, giving him reason as to why it was her skills laid in the subtle art of killing without being caught.

"That is a long history to tell, however, and I do not desire to do so," the promethean said before coming to a stop before him.

"Fail me in giving me a child, in one way or another, I will make it my personal goal to take whatever I can away from you whether it be your life, your pride, your mate, or whatever else I deem appropriate. You have my word on that, Xvander. I do not play games."

His hand flashed out, faster than before when he had caught her wrist and slipped deftly past her head. "I will not fail you in this. You have my word," he withdrew his hand slowly, brushing the leaf that he had caught between two fingers against her pointed ear and cheek. "Shall I set a time frame for some results? A positive breakdown of your DNA, analysis of your enzyme structure. Perhaps some collateral of mine?" He examined the leaf and let it go a moment later to continue its journey in the light breeze. "I am not fond of playing games. I have given you my word that it shall be done to the best of my ability, and I assure you it will."

If there was surprise or, even, fear felt in Talitha, she did not show even a hint towards such emotions. Her face was nothing more than a blank slate, stoic and emotionless. When Xvander drew the leaf against her pale flesh, the Promethean blinked languishly. Once.

"Run your tests when you please, Xvander, but for tonight I aim to rest. I am still healing from your eagerness to aid without proper knowledge. Were it not that you broke my shoulder into a shattered ruin, I would allow you to have your tests tonight. But that is not the case, now, is it," Talitha said before walking toward him. It seemed that she was not going to step aside but merely walk into him and yet at the last second Talitha side-stepped Xvander, brushing their shoulders together.

"We shall see," was all the Promethean said while moving toward the gate leading out to the street and away from the ruined home.

Xvander let her pass and then turned to follow her, pausing briefly to get his bike and turn it around towards the street as well. He held out is card to her as he passed. "My complex is near the sea shore not too far from here. The address is on the card. Tonight is yours, Talitha, tomorrow you will show up there. I will have a doctor in my employ take samples and ask all those pesky professional questions which I overlooked. "Rooms will be ready for you tomorrow and I will acquaint you with the other people under my employ."

There was a hesitation in her step and Talitha came to a stop for a moment, looking at him. The sea. There was an amazing amount of fear for any large body of water for Prometheans and it showed on her face.

"Your complex will not be acceptable. Find another place, Xvander, or lose me. I will go no where near the ocean, or lake, or any river," Talitha stated while standing there, unrelenting to give into him or his desires.

It would not happen. She would not go there.

"Fine," he said after a moment, his words curt and sharp, though he took note of the fear on her face. "I will come and collect you here tomorrow. I will find an inland facility where the tests may be conducted." He looked back at the mansion thoughtfully and narrowed his eyes then looked back at her. He almost gave voice to the question but pursed his lips instead. "There will be much to discuss tomorrow." His complex was getting out of date by his standards. It was due for renovation. But perhaps... there was an alternative option. It would put him in the city proper with his base of operations, something he had thought impossible. A clerk and a lawyer would be needed. Much to do, much to do. He straddled his bike and with the press of a button it roared into life, the helicopter engine overpowering the bike to dangerous levels.

"Journey home safe. I would hate to lose my child prematurely," Talitha said, though it was lost in the roar of the engine. Her ears rang and she turned on heel to be away from the cacophanous sound, leaving to the manor.

A red door opened and then it closed.

Tobias Duan test

Alexis Raban tests things here as well.

Contingent Omega swooped from a second story window and "landed" softly in the gardens of the Borealis Manor. The blue metal sphere turned left, then right.
"Still grid. I must be looking at things from the wrong perspective. I'll just-", it trailed off, freezing in place with utter silence. After approximately three moments it began to swivel back and forth again. Bouncing along in the air it moved through the garden, briefly stopping and emitting a faint beam of light over a few flora before moving on.
"Much better," Contingent remarked, "All I needed was to apply reason to the scene. These flowering angiosperms are far more interesting than the grid pattern from before." Contingent dawdled on awhile longer before slowly drifting out of the gardens, floating in the direction of Wing Cities Main Street.

You notice Void Dust appear on the ground.