of my nails. Going up against President Tan in this fucking mood was ill advised. I worked on lowering my blood pressure, starting with some powerful pain killers for the headache from hell, and then stalked off towards the tech-room.
The complete gang were there. Including Xiu Ying and Zhang Jun; sitting in a corner beside Lena. The headache lessened as soon as I saw her. I let a ragged breath out and ran a hand through my hair, then faced Si. He'd not missed a thing. His eyes darted between me and Lena, and back again, and then he turned to his vid-screen.
"The invitation was for you and Lena," he said, bringing up schematics of Parliament House. "But it didn't specifically exclude anyone else."
"We'll keep you here," I said. "We might need someone to coordinate an escape." The joke fell flat. Tension too thick to even get off the ground. Either everyone knew about Lena's and my spat, or they were just naturally uptight about being summoned.
"What about the rest of us?” Paul asked.
I glanced around the room, the full impact of how woefully understaffed we still were hitting me upside the head. I rubbed at my temple distractedly.
"I think it's best if we minimise those who attend," Lena offered, somehow coming to my rescue even when she wasn't trying. "Tan wants answers, but there's no reason to assume he suspects us of being involved. We weren't the Masked. And on every newsfeed running, that's all they're talking about. We make this a casual... well,” she corrected when she received a few arched brows, "semi-casual response to his invitation, and things can't get escalated."
"This is Tan we're talking about," Alan offered.
Lena smiled. It almost looked natural, if you didn't know that face intimately. "What do you think, Trent?"
I had to work not to grimace. Lena was a consummate politician in every possible regard. Trained not only by her Overseer father, but by the cut-throat environment that she'd been raised within. Ohrikee had been a political nightmare for a young orphaned teenage girl.
She knew how to behave publicly. She knew the team needed to see us united.
She also knew how to manipulate a situation to get her own way.
Lena wanted me to curtail the impact on Tan - her self-proclaimed adopted brother - by limiting the amount of backup I brought.
There were ways I could play this. So many different ways. Lena is the love of my life.
But Wánměi is our soul.
I met her level gaze and said, "Alan and Paul are coming with us, Xiu Ying and Zhang Jun will stay behind."
The zebra-lookalikes looked angry. Si looked content. Paul looked excited. And Alan looked relieved.
And Lena? Lena looked Elite.
Now I'd really fucking gone and done it.
Eight
Five Simple Words
Trent
P arliament House stood sentinel over Wánměi River. I ts orange tiled roof and white washed walls set a colonial tone in amongst the lush greens of the native plants surrounding it. Until recently, it had been the seat of the Overseers. Cardinal controlled drones had operated out of the rear half of the enormous structure. Politicians out of the grandiose front section facing the ornate Grafton Bridge.
Each vied for supremacy over the other, but Parliament House had that one firmly in the bag. It crouched low on the river bank, demanding attention. Its bulk impossible to ignore.
Wánměi is not overly large, but our small city-state is heavily populated. I'd always thought we'd had too many Overseers - one was one too many for me - but running a populous nation, as Lee Tan liked to inform us, took a lot of people.
Lena was the one to walk in first. Head high like an Elite. I kept pace and dared any one of the Cardinals on duty to accost us; I was spoiling for a fight. I didn't doubt that Tan would deny me access to his inner chamber if I stepped one foot out of line. But the argument with Lena, and the oppressive nature of Parliament House, had my body tingling, my heart rate racing, and sweat beading my brow.
The cool air-con
The complete gang were there. Including Xiu Ying and Zhang Jun; sitting in a corner beside Lena. The headache lessened as soon as I saw her. I let a ragged breath out and ran a hand through my hair, then faced Si. He'd not missed a thing. His eyes darted between me and Lena, and back again, and then he turned to his vid-screen.
"The invitation was for you and Lena," he said, bringing up schematics of Parliament House. "But it didn't specifically exclude anyone else."
"We'll keep you here," I said. "We might need someone to coordinate an escape." The joke fell flat. Tension too thick to even get off the ground. Either everyone knew about Lena's and my spat, or they were just naturally uptight about being summoned.
"What about the rest of us?” Paul asked.
I glanced around the room, the full impact of how woefully understaffed we still were hitting me upside the head. I rubbed at my temple distractedly.
"I think it's best if we minimise those who attend," Lena offered, somehow coming to my rescue even when she wasn't trying. "Tan wants answers, but there's no reason to assume he suspects us of being involved. We weren't the Masked. And on every newsfeed running, that's all they're talking about. We make this a casual... well,” she corrected when she received a few arched brows, "semi-casual response to his invitation, and things can't get escalated."
"This is Tan we're talking about," Alan offered.
Lena smiled. It almost looked natural, if you didn't know that face intimately. "What do you think, Trent?"
I had to work not to grimace. Lena was a consummate politician in every possible regard. Trained not only by her Overseer father, but by the cut-throat environment that she'd been raised within. Ohrikee had been a political nightmare for a young orphaned teenage girl.
She knew how to behave publicly. She knew the team needed to see us united.
She also knew how to manipulate a situation to get her own way.
Lena wanted me to curtail the impact on Tan - her self-proclaimed adopted brother - by limiting the amount of backup I brought.
There were ways I could play this. So many different ways. Lena is the love of my life.
But Wánměi is our soul.
I met her level gaze and said, "Alan and Paul are coming with us, Xiu Ying and Zhang Jun will stay behind."
The zebra-lookalikes looked angry. Si looked content. Paul looked excited. And Alan looked relieved.
And Lena? Lena looked Elite.
Now I'd really fucking gone and done it.
Eight
Five Simple Words
Trent
P arliament House stood sentinel over Wánměi River. I ts orange tiled roof and white washed walls set a colonial tone in amongst the lush greens of the native plants surrounding it. Until recently, it had been the seat of the Overseers. Cardinal controlled drones had operated out of the rear half of the enormous structure. Politicians out of the grandiose front section facing the ornate Grafton Bridge.
Each vied for supremacy over the other, but Parliament House had that one firmly in the bag. It crouched low on the river bank, demanding attention. Its bulk impossible to ignore.
Wánměi is not overly large, but our small city-state is heavily populated. I'd always thought we'd had too many Overseers - one was one too many for me - but running a populous nation, as Lee Tan liked to inform us, took a lot of people.
Lena was the one to walk in first. Head high like an Elite. I kept pace and dared any one of the Cardinals on duty to accost us; I was spoiling for a fight. I didn't doubt that Tan would deny me access to his inner chamber if I stepped one foot out of line. But the argument with Lena, and the oppressive nature of Parliament House, had my body tingling, my heart rate racing, and sweat beading my brow.
The cool air-con
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