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“Lieutenant Colonel,” Lieutenant Hawkeye entered the office with her usual promptness, “I think you’ll need to take a look at this urgently, sir.”
Mustang swiveled his chair away from the window, regarding the officially sealed document in her hands with a dour expression. He pushed aside a stack of transport requisition forms, covering a communicator that was linked to Scarlet team’s chatter as they cleaned up from their positions outside the spaceport. He would have to remember to check where Orion had ended up going with that fellow. Hawkeye’s face was impassive as he took the sealed envelope, but the colonel gave a despondent exhale as he looked at the office of origin.
“Who in R&D has the kind of pull that they’re giving me orders, Lieutenant?”
“Senior researcher Iness Apophis, sir. No obvious reasons for why she’s reaching out to us sir. One of her subordinates was the one who supplied us with the Noqual-mesh, so it’s possible that’s how she got the information, but the timing is unusual to say the least.”
“Seems like you’re getting popular, Lieutenant Colonel!” Second Lieutenant Breda remarked from his desk with a bit of a smirk.
Mustang glanced through the order with a frown. The order wasn’t even a mission, he was just being told to speak with her at his earliest convenience. He didn’t have time for politics and pandering, and this particular document was reeking of it. At the same time, he couldn’t afford any ill-will from someone in the upper echelons of Cytokine without exceptional reasons. This was an opportunity to sidestep a potential opposition in the future.
He pushed back from his desk and got to his feet.
“Yes, it seems I’m being asked to make a house call. Make sure none of our special guests cause any trouble while I’m away.”
Mustang stepped into the laboratory observation room with a hardened expression. Despite its inopportune timing, this was likely to be an important discussion, assuming the planet survived long enough for his ambitions to even matter. Dr Apophis was down in the facility below, hunched over the shining blue form of a dead Akata that lay sprawled on the work table in the middle of the room. The streaks of purple that blotched the beast’s characteristically monochrome skin left little to guess on the reason for her study. Mustang nodded to one of the nearby technicians then reached for the comms.
“Dr., with all due respect, it is considered highly inadvisable to be so close to an unmade being for long lengths of time. Even when it is deceased.”
Dr. Apophis straightened up. She turned to face the observation window, though her face shielding prevented him from seeing her expression.
“I was on the team of scientists who proposed that directive to begin with, Lieutenant Colonel. If we’re to learn anything about how to counter this disassemblation process we need to understand how it works more thoroughly. Give me a moment to decontaminate and I’ll be right out to speak with you.”
Not the most encouraging of first exchanges.
Mustang nodded and proceeded out of the observation room. As he waited in the hallway he considered the likely trajectories of the approaching conversation. Senior Researcher Iness Apophis was a power player in the scientific branch of Cytokine. Born to high ranking nobility she had received the finest education Markov could provide, and had gone on to make notable improvements in the city’s zone reclamation machinery, as well as improved weaponry for Cytokine’s mechanized warriors. Her rank was officially military, but she had a much larger sway within Cytokine’s jurisdiction than even Mustang’s superior officer, potentially even a personal connection to Aaria herself if rumors were to be believed. She was not a woman to be making an enemy of.
Dr Apophis stepped out of the chamber-lock with a datapad in hand. Mustang stood at parade rest. He wasn’t under express orders to report to her, so it would be better to keep his pride held close to the chest for the time being. Dr. Apophis scribbled something in the data pad, then turned to Mustang with an appraising glance.
“So, you’re the one who keeps hounding after those unmade bastards? I thought your branch was focused on police work.”
Mustang blinked casually, ignoring the underlying question for a direct response.
“The planet isn’t secure yet, Ma’am. I find it difficult to spend as much time hunting criminals when the planet is barely clinging to life.” He answered with a nod.
“Quite.” Dir Apophis tucked the datapad under her arm and removed her glasses. She cleaned one of the lenses with a cloth as she spoke.
“It’s certainly high-profile work, these missions. From what I hear your name is being passed around for a promotion, even though you only became a lieutenant colonel a few years back.”
Mustang kept his face impassive, trying to read her mannerisms. She certainly spoke like someone who was more accustomed to giving directions than to dialogue, but instinctively he doubted that such a famously scientific mind would be looking for yes-men.
“I would be honored to receive such attention, Ma’am.” He replied reservedly.
“Oh yes I can imagine so! You’re well positioning yourself to be the new face of Markov’s defenders with your recent parade of posturing!”
Ah. So that was going to be her angle on the situation.
“Has there been a problem, ma’am?” Mustang raised an eyebrow, keeping his tone neutral, and taking shelter behind the shield of decorum. If she wanted to make accusations in a public venue, he would make sure she adhered to the same levels of propriety.
“I’ve no problem with your leveraging our planet’s misfortune, Lieutenant Colonel. Your little stunt back on Naussica showed up the ARC quite handily I think. However, there are some people who are beginning to question that you are acting in Cytokine’s, in Markov’s interests. Wondering if you aren’t just off on your own personal crusade. After all, we can’t have all of our rising young stars going rogue while Cevanti continues to hang by a thread.”
“I quite agree.” Mustang answered with a furrowed brow, “Though I hardly think my actions draw anywhere close to the behavior of Saren, Ma’am.”
“Oh of course not, Lieutenant Colonel. Nevertheless there are concerns.”
“And I suppose that my presence has been requested so that I might have the opportunity to quiet those concerns?”
“Mmm, now that’s a thought worth pursuing! Assuage people’s worries with a show of good faith! I can perhaps be of some assistance to you here, Lieutenant Colonel. As it happens I need a fresh shipment of Akatan biosteel. Most of our usual methods for acquiring the stuff have been well skewered by the unmaking at this point.”
She snapped her fingers.
“Oh! Speaking of! Make sure you get clean specimens. The unmade ones don’t process the organic steel the same way, and we’re still assessing whether or not it’s a viable alternative material in that state.”
“I can’t say I’d recommend trying use the unmaking, Ma’am.” Mustang commented dryly.
“Which is why you are a soldier and I am a researcher, Lieutenant Colonel.” Dr. Apophis remarked casually, “You solve that little issue for me and I’ll make sure to quell the more concerned members of our company about your antics, mmm?”
It was tantamount to a bribe, but Mustang wasn’t really in the position to argue.
“I’ll have some of my men start to-” he began, but Dr. Apophis spoke over him.
“It would look better if you led the effort personally, I should think. Make it clear to everyone watching who’s needs your putting first. Maybe take one of your pets along to show that they’re willing to actually assist the city rather than just glory hounding.” She eyed Mustang over the top of her glasses with a faint smirk.
“...Right.” Mustang responded levelly.
Either this woman was just an extremely abrasive person or she was trying to provoke him into some kind of reaction. It seemed unlikely that someone as connected as Dr. Apophis would really have such a shallow assessment of the cast of outsiders he had been operating with recently. The officer in Mustang wanted to argue on behalf of his men, but any soldier worth his salt knew this was a time to let himself be the dog. His aims were too high to let himself be derailed by a few barbs.
“I’ll see to it myself that we have them acquired within forty-eight, Ma’am.”
“Oh wonderful!” Dr. Apophis nodded without nearly as much enthusiasm as her words implied, “I need to be getting back to that dissection, but I am quite glad we had a chance to chat. Keep up the good work, Lieutenant Colonel.”
With a wave summary to a dismissal, she re-entered the chamber-lock. Mustang rubbed at his temple with a faint grimace, stepping around a pair of scientists and heading back towards the office. As if countering the unmaking of the very planet wasn’t hard enough, now he was tangling with biting, steely-skinned beasts.
And Akata too.
Mustang swiveled his chair away from the window, regarding the officially sealed document in her hands with a dour expression. He pushed aside a stack of transport requisition forms, covering a communicator that was linked to Scarlet team’s chatter as they cleaned up from their positions outside the spaceport. He would have to remember to check where Orion had ended up going with that fellow. Hawkeye’s face was impassive as he took the sealed envelope, but the colonel gave a despondent exhale as he looked at the office of origin.
“Who in R&D has the kind of pull that they’re giving me orders, Lieutenant?”
“Senior researcher Iness Apophis, sir. No obvious reasons for why she’s reaching out to us sir. One of her subordinates was the one who supplied us with the Noqual-mesh, so it’s possible that’s how she got the information, but the timing is unusual to say the least.”
“Seems like you’re getting popular, Lieutenant Colonel!” Second Lieutenant Breda remarked from his desk with a bit of a smirk.
Mustang glanced through the order with a frown. The order wasn’t even a mission, he was just being told to speak with her at his earliest convenience. He didn’t have time for politics and pandering, and this particular document was reeking of it. At the same time, he couldn’t afford any ill-will from someone in the upper echelons of Cytokine without exceptional reasons. This was an opportunity to sidestep a potential opposition in the future.
He pushed back from his desk and got to his feet.
“Yes, it seems I’m being asked to make a house call. Make sure none of our special guests cause any trouble while I’m away.”
---
Mustang stepped into the laboratory observation room with a hardened expression. Despite its inopportune timing, this was likely to be an important discussion, assuming the planet survived long enough for his ambitions to even matter. Dr Apophis was down in the facility below, hunched over the shining blue form of a dead Akata that lay sprawled on the work table in the middle of the room. The streaks of purple that blotched the beast’s characteristically monochrome skin left little to guess on the reason for her study. Mustang nodded to one of the nearby technicians then reached for the comms.
“Dr., with all due respect, it is considered highly inadvisable to be so close to an unmade being for long lengths of time. Even when it is deceased.”
Dr. Apophis straightened up. She turned to face the observation window, though her face shielding prevented him from seeing her expression.
“I was on the team of scientists who proposed that directive to begin with, Lieutenant Colonel. If we’re to learn anything about how to counter this disassemblation process we need to understand how it works more thoroughly. Give me a moment to decontaminate and I’ll be right out to speak with you.”
Not the most encouraging of first exchanges.
Mustang nodded and proceeded out of the observation room. As he waited in the hallway he considered the likely trajectories of the approaching conversation. Senior Researcher Iness Apophis was a power player in the scientific branch of Cytokine. Born to high ranking nobility she had received the finest education Markov could provide, and had gone on to make notable improvements in the city’s zone reclamation machinery, as well as improved weaponry for Cytokine’s mechanized warriors. Her rank was officially military, but she had a much larger sway within Cytokine’s jurisdiction than even Mustang’s superior officer, potentially even a personal connection to Aaria herself if rumors were to be believed. She was not a woman to be making an enemy of.
Dr Apophis stepped out of the chamber-lock with a datapad in hand. Mustang stood at parade rest. He wasn’t under express orders to report to her, so it would be better to keep his pride held close to the chest for the time being. Dr. Apophis scribbled something in the data pad, then turned to Mustang with an appraising glance.
“So, you’re the one who keeps hounding after those unmade bastards? I thought your branch was focused on police work.”
Mustang blinked casually, ignoring the underlying question for a direct response.
“The planet isn’t secure yet, Ma’am. I find it difficult to spend as much time hunting criminals when the planet is barely clinging to life.” He answered with a nod.
“Quite.” Dir Apophis tucked the datapad under her arm and removed her glasses. She cleaned one of the lenses with a cloth as she spoke.
“It’s certainly high-profile work, these missions. From what I hear your name is being passed around for a promotion, even though you only became a lieutenant colonel a few years back.”
Mustang kept his face impassive, trying to read her mannerisms. She certainly spoke like someone who was more accustomed to giving directions than to dialogue, but instinctively he doubted that such a famously scientific mind would be looking for yes-men.
“I would be honored to receive such attention, Ma’am.” He replied reservedly.
“Oh yes I can imagine so! You’re well positioning yourself to be the new face of Markov’s defenders with your recent parade of posturing!”
Ah. So that was going to be her angle on the situation.
“Has there been a problem, ma’am?” Mustang raised an eyebrow, keeping his tone neutral, and taking shelter behind the shield of decorum. If she wanted to make accusations in a public venue, he would make sure she adhered to the same levels of propriety.
“I’ve no problem with your leveraging our planet’s misfortune, Lieutenant Colonel. Your little stunt back on Naussica showed up the ARC quite handily I think. However, there are some people who are beginning to question that you are acting in Cytokine’s, in Markov’s interests. Wondering if you aren’t just off on your own personal crusade. After all, we can’t have all of our rising young stars going rogue while Cevanti continues to hang by a thread.”
“I quite agree.” Mustang answered with a furrowed brow, “Though I hardly think my actions draw anywhere close to the behavior of Saren, Ma’am.”
“Oh of course not, Lieutenant Colonel. Nevertheless there are concerns.”
“And I suppose that my presence has been requested so that I might have the opportunity to quiet those concerns?”
“Mmm, now that’s a thought worth pursuing! Assuage people’s worries with a show of good faith! I can perhaps be of some assistance to you here, Lieutenant Colonel. As it happens I need a fresh shipment of Akatan biosteel. Most of our usual methods for acquiring the stuff have been well skewered by the unmaking at this point.”
She snapped her fingers.
“Oh! Speaking of! Make sure you get clean specimens. The unmade ones don’t process the organic steel the same way, and we’re still assessing whether or not it’s a viable alternative material in that state.”
“I can’t say I’d recommend trying use the unmaking, Ma’am.” Mustang commented dryly.
“Which is why you are a soldier and I am a researcher, Lieutenant Colonel.” Dr. Apophis remarked casually, “You solve that little issue for me and I’ll make sure to quell the more concerned members of our company about your antics, mmm?”
It was tantamount to a bribe, but Mustang wasn’t really in the position to argue.
“I’ll have some of my men start to-” he began, but Dr. Apophis spoke over him.
“It would look better if you led the effort personally, I should think. Make it clear to everyone watching who’s needs your putting first. Maybe take one of your pets along to show that they’re willing to actually assist the city rather than just glory hounding.” She eyed Mustang over the top of her glasses with a faint smirk.
“...Right.” Mustang responded levelly.
Either this woman was just an extremely abrasive person or she was trying to provoke him into some kind of reaction. It seemed unlikely that someone as connected as Dr. Apophis would really have such a shallow assessment of the cast of outsiders he had been operating with recently. The officer in Mustang wanted to argue on behalf of his men, but any soldier worth his salt knew this was a time to let himself be the dog. His aims were too high to let himself be derailed by a few barbs.
“I’ll see to it myself that we have them acquired within forty-eight, Ma’am.”
“Oh wonderful!” Dr. Apophis nodded without nearly as much enthusiasm as her words implied, “I need to be getting back to that dissection, but I am quite glad we had a chance to chat. Keep up the good work, Lieutenant Colonel.”
With a wave summary to a dismissal, she re-entered the chamber-lock. Mustang rubbed at his temple with a faint grimace, stepping around a pair of scientists and heading back towards the office. As if countering the unmaking of the very planet wasn’t hard enough, now he was tangling with biting, steely-skinned beasts.
And Akata too.