[color=BDBDBD][center][b][u][color=DBA901]Palace - Upper Ring[/color][/u][/b][/center] [color=FFFFFF][b]“Hey.”[/b][/color] [color=FFFFFF][b]“Hey.”[/b][/color] [color=FFFFFF][b]“Important?”[/b][/color] Koeska nodded. [color=FFFFFF][b]“I know you were watching the news. You’re always watching. How was your date?”[/b][/color] Cypher ran a hand through short bristled hair. [color=FFFFFF][b]“Uuhh. Short. What do you think?”[/b][/color] He said flashing her a [i]did you really just ask me that?[/i] look. [color=FFFFFF][b]“Maybe next time then?”[/b][/color] She replied in a somewhat playful tone. She watched the comment fall to the wayside and felt him push past her. [color=FFFFFF][b]“Wait.”[/b][/color] She grabbed him by the arm but only because she had to. [color=FFFFFF][b]“What?”[/b][/color] Cypher turned to look at her once again only to notice that she’d closed the gap between the both of them until her chest was pressed against his. [color=FFFFFF][b]“It’s happening.”[/b][/color] She began, whispering now. [color=FFFFFF][b]“They changed their mind and had me…”[/b][/color] She paused but Cypher already knew what she had to say. [color=FFFFFF][b]“How much time?”[/b][/color] [color=FFFFFF][b]“By tonight.”[/b][/color] She looked up at him. They were unbelievably close to each other now, too close. Cypher raised an eyebrow. [color=FFFFFF][b]“You need to stop.”[/b][/color] He whispered to which she smiled and took a small step back. He continued. [color=FFFFFF][b]“Tonight. I’ll probably be out of the city by then. You going to be okay?”[/b][/color] [color=FFFFFF][b]“I’ll be fine. They’ve already briefed me on the details, probably have a few things to say to you before you’re gone.”[/b][/color] [color=FFFFFF][b]“Yeah… and so will she.”[/b][/color] [color=FFFFFF][b]“Without a doubt.”[/b][/color] [center][color=DBA901]---x---[/color][/center] Cypher pushed open the double doors and stepped into a long rectangular room, Koeska following at his heel. Sunlight was filtering through the windows on one side throwing shadows across the floor and highlighting those things most important. Besides the elongated black table in the center and it’s surrounding chairs, there stood scattered about a various intervals, men and women clothed in suits of monotonous color. They were each indisposed off, consumed in personal conversations of near trivial complexity when compared to the looming topic at hand. The rest of the room was rather bland in a sense. Stark white walls adjourned with the portraits of those persons who once held power in the government. The opposite wall held those of the Wu family line. They all looked eerily familiar though there was a look of hidden disdain that increased the farther away one traveled from the first. The last wall was for all intents and purposes a blank monitor. It was black at the moment and would probably stay that way. There was no need for dated technology when one had… this table. [color=FFFFFF][b]”Ladies. Gentlemen. Find your seats please.”[/b][/color] Talk came to an abrupt halt. The fleeting silence was followed by the clap of heels against stone marble and the scratch of dragging chair legs. It was a short minute the room was comfortable… as comfortable as they could manage. Wu took over. [color=FFFFFF][b]”Getting right into it. The plant at our Northern colony. A team has been selected and will be sent out immediately. Arrival projected within one day.”[/b][/color] [color=FFFFFF][b]”Team?”[/b][/color] Someone in the room chimed in. It sounded more like an accusation than was probably intended. [color=FFFFFF][b]”I’m sorry?”[/b][/color] [color=FFFFFF][b]”The solution to our energy crisis couldn’t be more obvious. The plant is at it’s limit. Ba Sing Se runs at nearly five times its capacity from the third century. It’s a miracle that the site didn’t shut down a few decades ago.”[/b][/color] [color=FFFFFF][b]”According to research verified by Dr. Rooke himself our use of Synergy as an energy source is primitive at best.”[/b][/color] Wu was countering now in a tone that meandered on boredom. They’d had this conversation before and he knew it was bound to come up again. [color=FFFFFF][b]”As you all already know Synergy itself is like a balloon. It can be stretched and compressed and stacked. A million balloons could fit into one… a deciding factor into why we voted to keep the one portal open. However we're not even close to scratching the surface of this tech which is why I assigned Rooke as part of the team."[/b][/color] He was getting ahead of himself. [color=FFFFFF][b]"I understand the point you want to make but it won’t change anything. We’ve already decided.”[/b][/color] The point? There are, or were, three spirit portals The Southern spirit portal and one in the heart of what was once Republic City. They were both closed and the portal in the north kept open as more of final ditch plan to save a last minute idea. They’d been running off Synergy from the one plant since the war with no problem. The portal was like the open end of a faucet attached to the ocean itself. This faucet fed into a river and the river split into multiple streams that fed the city it’s power. Of course as the city continued to grow, so too did it’s energy needs. Eventually the river ran with water so thin it was as good as dry and they had to constantly force the mouth of the faucet wider to adjust. It was only a matter of time before the plant broke down. The obvious answer was to open another portal… but that came with it’s own risks. Wu continued, not wanting to allow enough room in the silence for someone to work up the nerve to speak. [color=FFFFFF][b]”The team as follows: Cypher will lead security detail with a handful of his detachment. His discretion. Rooke will lead his own team of two in the hopes that his research will be expedited and we can start work on compressing Synergy. One of our best engineers will accompany them to head repairs with the team already stationed at the plant. Additional funding for the entire venture from Mr. Sutler.”[/b][/color] [color=FFFFFF][b]”Another reason why we need to rethink this. He is one of the major reasons why this is becoming an issue. It's companies such as his that keep pushing for expansion when we aren’t ready yet. We’re a balloon that’s ready to pop.”[/b][/color] [color=FFFFFF][b]”And he’s helping to fix the problem. Not wasting his breath on the ideas of a future that aren’t certain. The fundamental reason why we are here, scrambling to piece together some semblance of a world in the first place.”[/b][/color] He stopped it there when he could have kept going. He could hear himself yelling over his own voice now. Searching the eyes in the room for some further objection, it looked like most of those in attendance had nothing futher to say. [color=FFFFFF][b]”What’s next?”[/b][/color] [color=FFFFFF][b]”Propositio-”[/b][/color] Koeska had begun to read off the next line in the itinerary but she was cut off with a wave of the King’s hand. [color=FFFFFF][b]”No. Next.”[/b][/color] [center][color=DBA901]---x---[/color][/center] Rooke would receive a phone call from an unfamiliar yet urgent female voice. A pair of men would be arriving at his office shortly to explain to him what would unfold in his near future. A task from the King himself, a few days or more away from Ba Sing Se, a chance to explore the possibilities of Synergy more closely than before. Stuff that those above him thought would pique his interest. Details would be explained in full in a due time… all he had to do was wait for their arrival. [/color]