Aran's smile slowly vanished as Commander Botrelle spoke. He had made a mistake in underestimating her and now he was paying the price for it. Oddly enough though, as she spoke, his mind cleared. He was no longer swarmed with so many conflicting thoughts as to what he should do or say to get himself out of this situation, he was calm and he knew what to say now.

As the commander finished talking, Aran stared into her eyes directly with a deathly serious expression and started speaking.

"My lady, what I said but a moment ago... forget it all, for I'm sure you already know, but it was a lie I had poorly weaved to get me out of this situation." he spoke, keeping his sights transfixed on her. "I'm all for advancements for humanity, and though I don't wish to brag myself, I was the one who brought the department I'm in back to life. I'm also all for recognition of talent, however, you can imagine the rage I felt when much younger people like Commander Lovette, or Commander Zaide were placed as commanders ahead of me, even though I worked in this department for more than twenty-five damn years as an Alchemist!" Aran grit his teeth the moment he mentioned his superior, Commander Zaide.

"Now, Commander Lovette proved that he was indeed very talented despite his looks, so I learned to live with it. However, when Zaide was made a Knight Commander over me, I was furious and complained to the people that placed Zaide there in the first place, but I was given some vague, bullshit excuses and ordered me to get back to my work." Aran was obviously angry and he did not calm down one bit as he rose from his seat and stood in front of the desk, towering above Botrelle.

"So, to answer your question, no, I was not trying to make a fool of the department, I was trying to make a fool of the department head, Zaide, and the fools who placed him there in first place... though that might not have exactly worked as you have already seen." for a few moments, Aran stared directly into her eyes for a moment, eyes shining with rage before finally backing off and placing himself back in his seat. "So, what's your verdict Commander Botrelle, dismantling my project, prison for life, execution..." Aran's voice trailed off after the last word as he continued to stare at her.

However, a thought reached him, if he was imprisoned or executed, what would happen to his much younger sister who would instantly be associated with him. The worried expression flashed only for a moment before it returned to the serious one that he had earlier and waited for the commander's response.

[hr]

[color=0076a3]"Yeah, yeah, sorry."[/color] Specter apologized as Spire simply stood there and waited for the dagger to be either removed or for his spine to be severed. However, as the dagger left his wound, he barred his teeth to prevent himself from cursing once again and rose to his feet, just in time to hear the steps moving around them in the smoke. These were most likely Bellataire's special ops, the best of the best and as him, people trained to kill without remorse.

Specter drew his guns, however, he chose not to shoot randomly in the smoke, the chances of him actually hitting anyone were slim, as their chances of actually being able to get to cover. He imagined that Johnny's men had started to surround both the house and the smoke. Nevertheless, he backed down along with Spire and Hell, being in a group was a slightly better prospect than standing alone... at least in the case at hand and he prepared himself for a fight.

However, then, he heard Dawn's voice coming from house, she wanted to negotiate for their safety. That was a relief... for the Wanderers at least. His fate was shrouded in mystery, though he didn't have to guess very hard about the possibilities he faced ahead of him. Even so, he decided to stay with Spire and wait for Johnny's response.