*A hundred kilometers away from the Phoenix Base, Agent N lounges atop a tree, quietly making a phone call.*
Agent N: Yeah…. I heard what happened. I'm sorry to hear about that. I’ll look into it. Hahaha, well, it's a little hard to dig up info on that, kids, since I'm across the pond, but I’ll see what my associates can dig up. It’s gonna be hard, considering my situation. I don't have much freedom here.
*She sighs and pauses for a moment, looking around to see if anyone is there.
There's a faint rustling as she shifts her weight to get more comfortable.*
Agent N: Oh, you wanna know about Lorenzie? Humph, he’s alive, I can tell you that much, but he's changed. So far so that the him that I know and care for is almost gone. Truth be told, I’m scared for him. The gods aren't exactly merciful, they’re petty and childish at times. They might go behind Pandora and actually do more than punish him. I can understand why he’s so pissed at them.
*Clutching her chest, she lowers her voice once more.*
Agent N: No, no, god no! I'm not gonna turn over to Phoenix, but I understand. Each and everyone of the poor bastards have been slighted in some way, either by pandora or the boys and girls above. I understand their frustrations, I mean, look, 250 years ago, Pandora was a mess, merciless and, well, for a lack of a better word, evil, until Madam Povell’s ancestor took over. It was fucked up. During that time, the agency gained a lot of enemies. Most were silent, but others, not so much. There's a lot of wounds in Phoenix’s heart, but…. most of them can be resolved. I'm gonna see what I can do, but it’s gonna take a while. Hopefully, we can prevent a full out war. I don't want to lose what’s left of him… an... I-I’ll call you back!
*Suddenly, she notices a presence behind her, it shifting and moving frantically, almost crazed in its movements*
Agent N: Oh, darling, you came to pick me up. If you're going to do that, at least greet me with a passionate kiss. Hehehe!
Lorenzo: Oh, I would have greeted you, however, you seemed to be taking an important call. How rude of me it would have been to interrupt. Still, a rather interesting conversation you were having there. Yu even mentioned me. Tell me, who was it? A love interest? A dear friend…?
*Walks closer and catches N’s chin in his fingers, tilting her head to look at him, a smile on his lips, but his eyes stone cold*
Lorenzo: Or perhaps, a little bird was singing?
Agent N: You know as well as I do that you're the only man in my life… Well, at least for now? Or are you telling me that, after you faced your death, you found someone new here in this little playpen of yours?
Lorenzo: If it had been a new lover you were calling, I might have been a little more lax, however….
*With his free hand that wasn’t holding her chin, he grabs hold of N’s wrist, the hand of which still held onto the phone she had been using. Lorenzo’s expression darkens*
Lorenzo: Deny it all you want. I know what you did. You claim you have feelings for me still, that you will ‘save me’, and yet you would betray me like this? Are you so in love with your precious Pandora, even knowing it’s scummy past, that you would throw away anything we once had for them?
Agent N: Excuse me? Well, if you were listening to that much, you should know how worried I am about you. You should know how much I disagree with certain policy they had. I was one of the driving forces that got Pandora to educate the mundane about the mystic! You should know how much I want to save you from your own destruction! You wanna make a change in pandora, then go there, be an agent and argue your case!
*She scoffs*
Agent N: Or are you gonna be a little bitch ass kid and throw a tantrum, so daddy can notice you and mother pandora can give in? I thought you were better than this… I thought you were a righteous man, not a fool with a superiority complex.
Lorenzo: This has nothing to do with that. Pandora will not change for one person. Not in a way that it would truly matter. Even with surface changes, building a palace on sand will still cause its splendor to sink. Just because it’s head may appear as a rose, it does not take away the thorns beneath it, bleeding anyone who comes too close to it’s secrets. No, what ‘this’ is is about trust. How, pray tell, can you ‘save’ anyone if you so willfully betray them to the very people you know he cannot trust? All you do is slash at the trust you had, and burn down what bridges are left behind. Your idea of ‘saving’ is no different than the promise of escaping pain by tying a noose around a person’s neck and to pull until they feel pain no more, killing any connections with every final gasping breath.
*Agent N slowly runs her fingers through his hair, her eyes locked on his as if searching for something that was long since buried. She chuckles softly.*
Agent N: I’m beginning to see why you and I didn’t get along in the beginning. You’re just as stubborn as the gods you hate so much. Silly love. What a partner of mine. I don’t think you would ever listen. You… you were always one to only believe what was in front of your eyes…. Then… then why not come back with me? I’ll show you how much has changed.
From the people that work there, to the morels it holds so dear... I admit, the organisation was bad for the longest time. It had to play the role of the bad guy. But are you telling me at the time there was another way? It had to be firm in its judgment, unmovable about its decisions, like a parent forcing a child further in a certain direction, it did it because it knew that it had no choice at the time. But…. after the Red War, it’s children rebelled. It forced it’s child to raise their voice. It was forced to listen, and take action on those cries. And, together, both parent and child found a middle ground.
The old ways were bended - not completely abolished, but amended to make it easier for its new generation. The old officials and elders made way for the next generation, all governed by Madam Povell. She changed everything, because even she knew things couldn't stay the same. Lorenzie, if you won’t listen to me, at least let me show you how different things are, how far five years has reforged the organisation.
We both know you’re not meant for this place... so please...
*Shaking his head, Lorenzo pulls away from N, turning his back to her*
Lorenzo: You are many things, N….But I hadn’t believed that nieve was one of them. You make it sound as though I haven’t have eyes and ears within Pandora, myself? You truly think that what you have been shown truly is all there is to Pandora? Then you truly are a fool. There is so much you don’t believe Pandora capable of that it almost physically hurts to hear you sing its praises. I had thought, when you first came here, that you knew, that you had seen the corruption still hidden under its depths, cloaked by its shiny new front, but all you did was come here as a puppet for them, knowing nothing about just who holds the strings.
*Taking a shuddering breath, he turns around once more, eyes searching her face*
Lorenzo: Please, N. I beg of you, finish what you have with Pandora. Crush this communicator. Stay here, with me. There is nothing Pandora can offer you but pain when you discover the truth.
Agent N: The nieve one is you… What do you think I’ve been doing all this time? How many secrets do you think I know…? When I came back to agency, it was barely holding on. I didn’t have time to mourn you or the fallen, so I decided to work up the ranks, getting closer to the top, to Madam povell, opening her eyes to the ideals that we both had. It was the one thing I could do to keep you all alive in the agency. And, from then on, the lower agents were given a voice. The thing that had been denied to them, they were given the chance we never had and the equality we all yearned for... In that place, it was final given.
Don’t take my word for it, but, at least once….comeback to the agency with me. Come back and see it with your own eyes, instead of a screen. Their goals might just be the same as yours? Just their ways are radically different.
Lorenzo: ….There is no way to change your mind….is there?
Agent N: Lorenzo, please!
*Lorenzo pulls away once more, eyes dark.*
Lorenzo: I had never truly taken you for a fool before. I thought I knew you. But perhaps….You’ve been tainted just as much. But, don’t worry, I have….a solution for that.
*With that, he snaps his fingers. A moment later, N arms are grabbed and yanked back by phoenix agents, restraining her*
Agent N: LORENZO! You bastards!!!! Release me! Release mfmmmmm!!!
*Both her hands and mouth are bound. A wave of fear rushes through her veins, her breath labored as she stares at Lorenzo. Unaffected by her stare, Lorenzo moves forwards to where her phone is clasped in one of her restrained hands and wrenched it from her grasp, his fingers tightening around it, as if restraining himself from crushing it in his grip*
Lorenzo: If you are so set on being the spokesperson of the enemy, then you will be treated as such.
*Turning to the Phoenix Agents*
Lorenzo: Take her to the cells, strip her of any weapons, any communication devices or electrical equipment. If it can even be transformed into a makeshift communication device or even a pick lock, remove it from her.
*Looking Back to N with dark, cold eyes.*
Lorenzo: Perhaps a little solitary confinement might change your mind.
*With that, he turned away, moving into the darkness of the room, his cold voice calling out behind him*
Lorenzo: Take her away.
Agent N [inner thought]: Lorenzio...how far have you fallen….? How far has the vail been pulled over your eyes, that you can't even see the truth that's in front of you…? You're being deceived by them, but you're so focused on your goal that you're only seeing the world in black and white. Our world has long since change in the time you been away and so has the playing field. I'm not your enemy! They are! But will you only realise this after I'm no longer in this world… Lorenzie...please….
*Lorenzo, however, does not look at her, nor change his mind. He stays coldly silent as N is dragged away, his hand clenched over the communicator and his head held high. The only sign of any distress left behind is after N and the agents are no longer in earshot, leaving him alone in the cold darkness, a single tears dripping to the cold stone floor.*
*It is a few hours later, composed once more, that Lorenzo arrives back at the base, alone in his office as he stares down at the offending communicator on his desk. Slowly, he reaches for it and opens up to the lock screen. After a moment of debate, Lorenzo begins to attempt various pass codes to open it, from old codes he remembers during his time as her partner, to other codes he believes she could have chosen. However, all fail. His grits his teeth and is about to send for someone from the technical department to crack the phone when his eyes land on the picture sitting on his desk and he freezes. He remembers something. With her constant talk of ‘saving him’ and her sentimental personality, an idea comes to mind that could fit both of those categories as a code. With a pregnant pause, slowly, he begins to type out the code - the table number of the restaurant that they used to go to, his breath still, hoping his guess was correct…*
*The lock key is cleared, allowing him access to the communicator*
*The first thing he sees as he unlocks the screen is a picture. A picture of himself, along with N, smiling and happy, as they once were in the old days, before fate tore them apart. He wanted to linger on the image, however, a message caught his eye, the notification mentioning his name. Eyes narrowing slightly, he opens the text and reads*
Agent C [Text Message]: hey i hurd Lorenzo is with you whats taking you so long to get him back to us… we all miss him and im gonna be the one to show him arround when he gets home. I can wait to see him so you better brng him back even if you have to dragim by the coller. Our family isent the same with out him. Hahaha anyway im off to the scool now were gonna be starting to teach the kids about the mystic. For the first time not gonna lie im nurvous but well were gonna do our best its what the others would have wanted. So get ‘dad’ back you the groupe ‘mom’ hahah well bie call me when you can its not fair you been speeking to S alone dummy. :P
*For a long moment, Lorenzo just stares at the text, his face contorting as he stands up, fast enough to knock over his chair, Arm sung back, ready to throw the offending technology across the room for tearing his heart to pieces, but his arm freezes. It shakes as he tries to throw it away, shatter it, break it, but, his arm shakes, and slowly, his arm lowers. With a frustrated cry, hand clenched over the communicator, he presses his fists against his eyes, sinking down to his knees against the desk, breathing ragged, muffled, choked. The sounds harsh against the utter silence of the room.*
*Eventually, he pulls his hands away, eyes fixing on the photograph on his desk, an almost bitter smile on his tortured face.*
Lorenzo: You never will change….will you….?
*Burying his face in his arms, communicator still clenched loosely in his hand, he whispers an almost inaudible wish*
Lorenzo: Never….change...
[END]
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