[b][i]Andrew Rivers[/i][/b]

All his life, Andrew had been taken in by the stories of 'Adorably Precocious Children', particularly the types who were able to navigate the world of politics and intrigue as well as any adult, using their child's looks and enthusiasm and the fact that everyone underestimated them in order to achieve their goals. He wanted to be one of them, [i]knew[/i] he could be one of them if given the chance; he was a genius, he knew things which others did not, and he was 'adorable'.

Or so he thought.

Reality was a harsher mistress. Where once he was top dog among the other kids, here he was mistrusted, looked down upon, and regarded as a potential enemy. They had manhandled him a little before interrogations, too. But Andrew knew enough not to bridle - He had learned patience from his imprisonment.

And so upon hearing the explosion of Governor Xiu's headquarters, Andrew waited a little longer, for the Free People's Army to send someone to him to confirm what he had already inferred - That the Governor was dead and the situation in Yuzhny Portveyn was worse than ever. There was a time to act fast and this was now. And so his next words (after checking the rank of the person sent to talk to him, of course) were, "The Green Knights have a few exclusive channels; I know some of them. However, you will need to let me access communications equipment - Anything else but my voice and they'll think you tortured or killed me for the info. As for why I didn't tell you this before... You didn't trust me enough back then."

He needed them to believe him. He needed them to see the determination, the resolution, in his eyes. He needed to convince them. He also needed to convince [i]himself[/i] that there was no way he could have told them about the exclusive channels earlier, that he needed them to trust him more first, that he hadn't just neglected to tell them about it because he was still emotional about his friends dying and his father being in peril and how everything was on a knife's edge.

After all, child/teen geniuses didn't get emotional, except around people they loved, and in order to show them that they are not cold and heartless monsters. 

Either way, he waited, waited for them to bring him before their higher-ups, and waited for them to listen to his promises and his offer of exclusive comms channels. And above all, waiting for them to let him access better comms equipment, dangit!

No sign of frustration showed on his face, or rather he thought that there wasn't any sign of frustration on his face; perhaps there was? He was prepared to plead, to let them have a glimpse of the boy behind the 'Wannabe Guile Hero', if only they'd let him have access to the equipment needed to access the Green Knights' comms channels before it was too late - Don't they know that without the Green Knights themselves, the Free People's Army would lose the reprieve they've gained for a city that they have a chance of controlling now?

If they let him near the comms equipment - It didn't matter if they had a gun placed at the back of his head - If they let him have access to a comms suite, he'd access the most encrypted channel he knew, a channel that his father, Reya, and the Colonel were likely to have kept open. And he'd say, his voice cracking with an undignified, un genius-like sob, "Gawain Green Knights, repeat, Gawain Green Knights? Are you here? Are you alive? This is Andrew Rivers. Repeat, this is Andrew Rivers. No, I'm not in Fort Tie Shan right now; I'm somewhere safe. If you're able to receive my calls, tell my father I love him and to [i]get on the comms right now[/i]. Also, if Engineer Reya is still alive, tell her I'm sorry for ever planning to marry her for her noble title."

And if he was allowed to talk further, he'd say, "As for the Colonel, I'm sorry for being trouble and going off on my own, but I'm safe now. I hope Dad didn't go crazy in my and Mom's absence; she still isn't safe."

Andrew Rivers, the Wannabe Guile Hero, would not realize the irony in that last sentence until later...

[@AndyC][@Pilatus]