The Code of Our Alliance

4: Motivational Speaking

The Honeycomb Stacks are big, very tall and deep. We keep going down, down, down.

Veilshade frowns as the platform drops to the bottom of the huge chasm. The only lights down here are from the Honeycombs, and they cast the milky yellow glow across all of us. She inches closer to Isabelle, a furrow between her brows.

"Uh, hope you don't mind, but uh .... I've got a question," she says.

Isabelle turns to her, picking up a clipboard. "Yes, Veilshade?"

"Right. Uh, what exactly do you think we can do here? We aren't exactly motivational speakers, after all..."

Isabelle shrugs.  "Better be ones, today." She shrugs past Veilshade, who snarls a bit. Veilshade then glances my way, muttering low.

"What the hell is her issue?"

I shrug. "Best to not ask any questions, I guess."

She rolls her eyes. "Naturally."

We follow Isabelle toward a narrow doorway, and the tunnel beyond it takes us into the same walls that compose the Honeycomb Stacks. We walk deep in the tunnel, none of us speaking.

"Isabelle is a hard-ass," Orothos says to me telepathically.

"Yea, but so is everyone else who works here, huh."

"True, true. But, Quaith? Be careful. Something about this 'mission' doesn't feel right."

"I know, I feel the same way, Orothos," I reply.

My gaze snaps ahead as soon as Isabelle opens a large, metal door that screeches on its hinges as she opens it. We walk into the huge, dim room beyond the door. Once we are inside, lights start to turn brighter.

Looking around, the room is an amphitheater, and we are on the lower stage, surrounded by people from the Stacks, all watching us closely. They don't speak, but they're all so widely different....

Isabelle gestures for us to sit down, and we obey.

She stands in the center of the stage, sighing as she shuffles through the papers. She then looks up, and begins her speech.

"I know you all are here against your wills. But this is not a choice you must make, it is a set-in-stone event. An historic event for each of you," she says.  Isabelle nods toward me, then. "I have a leader of a particularly powerful group of your peers here today. Meet Quaith, an agent whose power is deeply Paranormal. She is here to get you into the proper mindset to begin your missions tomorrow."

Isabelle backs up as I slowly walk toward the podium in front of her. She watches me closely, and I do my best to ignore her. She glares, but I don't say anything, despite my own anger toward her. This bitch doesn't know us, yet she thinks she has power here.

"We have power here, Quaith. But still. Be careful what you say, okay? You don't want her to get mad and hurt you or someone else. We need to consolidate. Make sure to reserve your power for when we need it."

Orothos's voice from his mind is fleeting, but I still feel his rage toward Isabelle. He's right, I know that. But I still cannot stop the wave of righteous rage.