Wing City Conference Center

Phinx sat at a banquet table, arms crossed over her chest similar to a child on the verge of throwing a tantrum. Even the look on her face said 'No ice cream before dinner'. A few of the Invictus escorts sat with her, though they mostly had their attention elsewhere.

"This is gay." Phinx said, "Mulan, isn't this gay?" She asked, her question meant for an Asian woman seated next to her. "What?" The woman asked.

"Isn't this gay?"

"Chemo isn't here, and you're not drunk singing Queen to Stryfe yet. Once again showing off some weird lesbian UST that borders on BST." Mulan answered, "I like you." Phinx said, "Might as well get to know you. And, we don't have UST. We're just co-worker friends."

"Right..."

"You're from China? You don't sound very Chinese." Phinx said to Mulan, "Before I joined the PLA I studied at a university in America. Boston." Mulan answered, glancing around the room. Her eyes fell on Mollem, she read about him.

"No relation to those crazy PLA guys that we had to deal with before?" Phinx asked, "Not that I know of. I hope not." Mulan said, "You never know. Military politics makes for many factions, many of them pro-war. Just with varying levels of nuking and invading."

Mulan shrugged, "It's behind me."

Mollem himself remained silent while the Confessor continued his line of questioning. Kesslee was well known for his tactics, but of course it was unlikely Sonja would know of Kesslee specifically, being that he was a high profile confessor, and generally shrouded in secrecy.

"A local photographer..." Kesslee said, turning to Mollem who continued to say nothing, and then Kesslee turned back to Sonja.

"Tell me... what purpose is a Terran Photographer going to serve?" The Confessor asked, until Mollem raised his hand slightly off the table, and the Confessor backed off.

"Terra is not a place for someone to stay for long periods of time. It would be prudent to come home, before something bad happened to you." Mollem finally said.

"Of course, Divine Shadow," she replied. "I intend to return to Langara by the end of the month." She very much wanted to excuse herself from the table, but one didn't simply excuse themself from an audience with the Divine Shadow. Though truthfully it was Kesslee that had her uncomfortable. The way he looked at her, the way he spoke to her. "Is there anything else I can do for you?" she asked, silently hoping Kesslee would simply say no and let her on her way.

Kesslee waved his hand in dismissal, and Mollem simply nodded silently.

Only after Sonja left would Mollem lean over towards his Confessor. "Keep an eye on her, if she's doing anything out of the ordinary, terminate her." He said silently, before he leaned back into his chair, offering a disarming smile.

Once away from the Confessor and Mollem, Sonja made for the entrance of the conference center at a brisk pace. She felt ill and her chest was tight. The confessor had thoroughly unnerved her and once she made it outside she placed her hands on a guard rail to catch some fresh air.

She must have looked as bad as she felt, because an officer moved a hand to her arm, asking her if she was alright.

She nodded.

"I'm fine, I just needed some air," she explained with a weak smile. "Thank you."

She adjusted her shoulder bag and headed down the stone steps. She didn't care to head back inside while that confessor was in there. He made her skin crawl, and she hadn't liked his interest in her. She hadn't broken any Aschen laws, but that didn't mean much where a confessor was concerned. They had a reputation for being able to make a man confess to anything, regardless of whether he was guilty or not. She would just as soon rather head back to her hotel, and put this whole matter behind her.

The old man was almost surprised. Many familiar faces had entered the room, many of which he could name. He had expected the event to be smaller. It was a pleasant thought, however. Perhaps his hopes of winning the election were not so far away at this time like he had suspected.

Giles gave Mollem’s hand a tight shake, a friendly smile given to him. “Thank you, thank you. I’m not too well known just yet, but I’m climbing the ranks slowly. Also, we appreciate your donation to the Funds Against Famine.” He gave him a nod, but found himself facing yet another person as the man went to take his seat. Before he could even ask who he was.

“But who could ignore these people, most of who’ve had their homes taken away in such an unforgiving fashion? Any true citizen of Wing City would understand. Nevertheless, thank you. May I ask, what is your name? You are from Hafirjan, am I correct?”

Meanwhile, Ariel gave Leaf a look of genuine loathing. She jammed her thumb in the direction of Giles. “That way, if you want the old man. You can keep the card. Really,” she rumbled, hands clasped behind her back. Everything about her was telling Leaf to move on. “You can give him the papers yourself.”

Najia smiled warmly that Giles had picked out her place of origins so easily.

"That I am," she replied. "My name is Najia Okeke. But please do not let me keep you from everyone else," she added. "It was a pleasure to meet you Mr. Fabron."

"Ice queen." Leaf mumbled, shaking his head, putting the card back into his backpocket and approaching Giles, rifling though the papers and finding the right page before passing it off. "Excuse me, sir. Just some minor updates and amendments to some of the events guests, some of them you might find interesting." Leaf would try and pass the sheet of paper over to the politician.

Leaf would turn to respectfully Najia and nod. This was a far cry from his business. The Aschen weren't even allowed in his old workplace, but everything had to the change for the best, right? Right.

Leaf could hope.

"The pleasure is all mine," replied the old politician to her. "Enjoy the dinner, Miss Okeke."

As Leif approached him, the Giles turned his attention around. "Yes? Leaf, I'm not sure this is the time, but..." He took the paper and looked it over quickly, getting the general idea. He wasn't quite sure what could be so urgent.

Sabnach materializes from the void.

Sabnach vanishes into nothingness, but you get the feeling they are heading somewhere else.