The Eden Projects (EDITING)

Chapter 53. Nihil.

- Maliver -

Maliver strode down the hall with a monstrous footfall. Anger struck at his heels like the fires of hell, bathing his body in a blood boiling contempt. He had been chased off his prize at the request of a withdraw. Worse yet, he didn't have the body. He had no proof of what he had done. So he had nothing to show.

"Simon... Simon... Dr. Maliver- The meeting-"

He balled his fists, shoving past the guard and pushed into the meeting hall. The doors swung wide and came to a slam behind him. "I will not be some toy for you to push around, and I will NOT be putting my teams at risk for pointless endeavors on your behalf. This is lunacy!" He shouted. "I HAD him." Looking to the projected faces of cold and callused World Officials cast on black cloth that hung perfectly from the ceiling at even intervals. "Forget reasoning- I had him." 

"We had to try, some were hoping they would respond differently." A woman moved, speaking clearly. Static chewed at her image. Their satellite no likely needing service it couldn't receive. "You must understand our position in the public eye."

"Public eye- reason does not end with seven of my men dead with nothing to show for it. That is unacceptable." He sat down at the tables head, though he was hardly in the position to claim leadership among them. "They've killed at least a dozen more. Public eye be damned. Some of you are fools."

"Dr. we are considering the complete picture here. All eyes are on the U.S and what will come of our attempts. Bad press will do no good." A man said flippantly.

"With all due respect, you expect so much from me yet deny the resources necessary to complete a single task. I can't be expected to operate like this." Maliver took hold of the tables edges. "We are running out of time and wasting what we do have on meetings such as this. Allow me to do what I must and it will be done."

The room was silent. "Need we remind you that we are on the same side? We share a common goal."

"Common goals demand equal shares. This is hardly equal." Maliver adjusted the cuffs of his shirt and took a deep breath. "I apologize. Surely you understand my frustration."

It was quiet for a long moment.

"What about Zero?" Another said.

"A minor setback." He rubbed his face. "I will have results by the end of this week."

Another speaker joined. "Our resources and support are conditional. We cannot make promises without assurance."

For a flicker of a second, Maliver's confidence dipped. "How can I provide assurance..." He did his best to bolster again. "On my life, on my company's future success, on the good faith you have placed in me. I will have what you want. You will have your evolutions and a clear slate to build on as soon as I have Kasper and end this. I have to put the past to rest."

"No." A man said, his face obscured by a poorly placed banner hung in the room. "You are clouded by your own pride. We have no such inclination." 

"What?" Maliver stood.

"You have a new directive."

Maliver's brow quirked into something of a puzzled line and he tried his best to hide it.

"Tie off the loose ends and we can move forward with the rebuild."

"You mean kill them. All of them?"

"Yes."

"Madam speaker, you can't be serious." Maliver's heart began to pound. "All my work- everything I've done and learned is because of the years observations of them. They're invaluable-"