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Experimental Team
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Samad made an indifferent glance in Kiara’s direction. It soured almost immediately at her over the top attempt to try be cheerful and polite, asking about the guesses over the mission details. His lips pressed tightly together as if to tell her silence was better. He expected she already knew the obvious fact that they would be informed shortly instead of making false guesses and discover they to be wrong later. In his mind, that was the best way to build up disappointment. Choosing to ignore her outburst, Samad noticed the human at the end of the table, the notable position of power stand, stand upright after the question.
Upon seeing the ripple dart across the table, Samad’s arms jerked up and off of like it was on fire. This sudden reaction caused Cade’s head to jerk in his direction as a questionable look crossed his face.
‘What…h-?’ In normal fashion the link sounded like a broken radio but Samad had gotten the basic gist of it.
He shot a glare in Cade’s direction, a silent indication for the younger asylum to drop it and causing the blond to turn away. Nothing farther crossed his mind in regards to his sudden reflex as the human continued onward like nothing worth notice had occurred. Samad paid little mind to the brief mention of the antics in the cafeteria, but his peripheral vision noticed Cade shift uncomfortably causing the Iranian to subtly ‘Tch’ under his breath. Any situation with Ante Mortem was bound to be trouble. This mission was no different and he deeply wished to be off it.
The only reason, at least Samad assumed, that the Chrono and Lost number were still alive was either because of two reasons. Either they were too strong to dispose of or managed to complete their given assignments despite the destruction that followed in their wake. It didn’t matter much to him since he didn’t really care to do any in depth reading over how A.R.M.O worked. His attention snapped back to the meeting at hand, derailed a moment by his inner thoughts, as the human summoned up Aii which took the form of a bald, human woman’s head.
A spark of Cade’s amazement crossed over Samad’s own interest. However, unlike Samad, it was plastered clearly on his partner’s facial expression. It seemed Angel was nearly as surprised as Cade over the achievement from his word choice. Not letting the new development distract him, Samad lowered his eyes to the data page that slide under the surface and halted before him. His finger tapped the rectangular shape before him and drew it to pop up into a 3-D holographic image in front of him.
He looked to Cade, who was hunched over and reading it like a normal piece of paper. Samad sighted then idly tapped Cade’s too pulling it up from the flat surface. The younger Asylum looked at him with an apologetic expression which Samad completely ignored in favor of being productive. Meanwhile, his ears listened to the Aii continued to debrief them over the mission.
At mention of the Legende Bloodline, Samad was walled by Cade’s sudden dread. Usually the emotions between them were mild and ignorable, but this time… it was much different. The emotion washed over him in a fashion that felt sickening and unnatural. At first, Samad wasn’t sure what was happening until he glanced toward an apparently pale Cade. Any color that had recovered during his mending was completely now. Confused, Samad began to consider the reasons and recall what he knew he about Cade himself.
For the first time in his life, Samad found his knowledge was nearly nonexistent.
He hadn’t bothered to get to know his partner or about his history, putting him at a disadvantage when it came to solving the mystery before him. This was a fact he wasn’t pleased to face but there was no way to change it now. Mentally his mind reached out to Cade in hopes to both draw Cade’s attention and gleam the needed information.
‘Cade… Cade! Cade, can you hear me?’ Nothing. The doctor just stared at the information display as it turned into video and seemed unresponsive to Samad’s attempts to distract him. Samad’s jawline tightened in frustration. There was a deep and dark desire to grip Cade’s hair back then slam the asylum's face into the table for ignoring him, but he resisted the urge.
After all he promised Zak he would be
nice to Cade even if the balīd deserved it. Not wanting to draw attention from the meeting to them, Samad decided to wait until after the meeting in order to determine why Cade was acting strangely. He continued to listen and reading the information displayed before him, trying to find a connection between his partner and the Legende Bloodline. As the meeting came to a close, Samad was among the first to rise and pushed the wheelchair toward the door.
Once more his mind tried through the link to reach Cade on their way out,
“Mind telling me why you’re reacting the way you are right now or I do I dump your ass upon the floor in the middle of the hallway?” Through the threat sounded sincere, it was far from it. Thankfully Cade didn’t call the bluff,
‘Samad, please not now. We have to get to Anya and now.’ ‘Why?’ A suspicion rose in Samad’s throat causing him to piece the puzzle together gradually.
‘Samad...please,’ Cade almost sounded like he was pleading.
Abruptly, Samad came to an instant stop in the middle of the trip toward the transporter circle. Wordlessly the Iranian stepped toward the front and glared at his partner with a look that, if it was possible, might’ve killed Cade on the spot. He open his mouth instead of using their telepathic link, not caring if the others spotted their friction,
“No, not until you tell me why. I want know why you called her by her first and what your connection to the Legende Bloodline is, Cade.” Cade fell silent for several moments. His eyes studied Samad and slowly his head shook in disbelief,
“You never once looked at my history, have you? If you did, then you would know the Legendes treated my father after he contracted a rare disease that was caused by Alchemy over the years. They also witness my surge, reported it and retained me until A.M.R.O. arrived to collect me.” Taking a breath, Cade then added in a tone more irritated than he wanted to show,
“If you spent the time to learn anything about me, you wouldn’t be asking me that and instead focusing on the mission.” Clearly pissed off, the younger Asylum lowered his arms and pushed his wheels to move on. However, Samad had placed the brakes on causing his attempts to fail. His eyes glanced toward Samad in expectancy causing the Iranian to flip about the back and release the brakes as he pushed the wheelchair along.
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Time: After Departure to Venice
Location: Innocence → Cafe Florian
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Cade had felt his strength returning to his limbs, but it was slow going and in small amounts. Cautiously he pushed himself from the wheelchair and gripped his bag, ensuring he had everything. The doctor barely managed to retain his balance as he left his seat behind, his wobbly feet edged toward the teleportation ring. He had nervously watched the first team, Ante Mortem, slip through then abruptly vanish into the glowing sigil’s center. His stomach curled and twisted in building anxiety before the tingling darted across his surface causing his eyes to close in fear. The sensation was very much like the one an individual had in a limb when it had fallen asleep.
A series of sharp needles gently poked and prodded the surface for several moments, then faded away. It was enough to catch his attention as his eye fluttered open to the daylight peering through his eyelids. Causally he noticed his position beside the window and glanced through it, the view overlooking one of Venice’s numerous waterways. A vaporetto, a large water bus of a boat, skirted across the surface while it chugged from sight.
Distracted for a moment, Cade watched it a moment then was jerked to attention by Samad.
“Stop daydreaming and focus on the mission,” The Iranian bluntly put it as he began to move toward the exit, his desire to finish this shined through. He flat out ignored Ante Mortem’s antics and focused on the information he did know. According to the data given to each of the Asylums, Anya Legende was currently somewhere in this wounding path of waterways and medieval pathways that one could easily get lost in. This made their mission rather difficult since even tourists went missing in Venice.
On instinct, Samad turned to his partner and only source of psychological insight on the subject. He was their best lead, much to the Iranian’s disgust, as he looked expectedly at Cade before he voiced his thoughts,
“Do you have any idea where she might be? Insights on her personality would help and make this much easier.” “Give me a moment, it’s been a while. Last time I saw her was when she was comforting me over the fact my life was no longer about to be mine and it was a very… upsetting time for both of us,” Cade said as he thoughtfully placed his finger on his lips, thinking about why she would be here. The Pallidino Bloodline hadn’t been exactly accepting of the Legende Bloodline purely due to religion conflicts through they tolerated each other much better than others. In fact, the Legende were the most sociable and indifferent family when came to relationships with the others. The memories caused his heart to tighten and jerk in his chest, a flutter of pain bring depression and sharp pain into his attention.
“Cade,” Samad growled in warning.
“Growling isn’t going to help, I’m thinking and working through it.” After another moment, a thought occurred to him,
“If Anya is in Venice, her first actions would likely to locate one of the churches sponsored by the Pallidino Bloodline and try to get into contact with them. She’s going to likely see a sanctuary of sorts. What’s the nearest church that fits that description?” His eyes turned to Samad who already was pulling what little information he could on the landmarks and the Pallino Bloodline’s assets,
“Nearest two are Saint Mark's Basilica, or nicknamed the Chiesa d'Oro, and Chiesa di San Moisè. We should be able to also find some information if she’s managed to make contact with any of the Pallidino family members. So which one do you feel it the best to head to first?” “Saint Mark’s Basilica. It’s well known and a large place, but it doesn’t mean she’ll be there,” Cade admitted with uncertainty in his voice.
Samad nodded, then looked to the others who had teleported with them and asked,
“Who’s going where? If we find no trace of Anya, be sure to check the surrounding areas just in case she hasn’t made it there yet.” 
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