Fallen

Chapter 2

A sharp knock sounded on the intricately designed wooden door. A heated conversation could be heard, dying off quickly as the knock resonated within the room behind it.

"Come in," a man's voice said. It was deep and rich.

Another man opened the door, its well oiled hinges making no noise. The man who had just entered the room was well built and tall, although having hints around his middle that he enjoyed his meals. He had short brown hair with flecks of gray dotting it. His eyes were brown with a warmth radiating in them. He had a knowing look to his face, a smile ready on his lips. His black suit was tidy and clean with a dark blue tie complimenting it. The man gazed around the room, taking in the several other men sitting at chairs around a rectangular table. At the head of the table sat the man with the deep, rich voice. He spoke again.

"Ah, James. I'm glad we can see each other again. Come, have a seat."

He gestured with a well muscled arm to an empty chair next to a thin man with white patches of hair sticking up.

"Thank you, Nolan," James said as he took a seat. He nodded at the others in greeting.

Nolan, the president of South Realm, was a young man with sleek dark brown hair and piercing blue eyes.  He was strikingly handsome. He commanded an air of authority around him, leaving no doubt who was in charge. He had a lean, muscular figure dressed in a sharp black suit with a black tie. His eyes were constantly analyzing everything, taking in information all the time. Despite this, he had a constant look of amusement on his face, seeming to smile at nearly everything. He had papers sitting before him on the table. Nolan grinned easily as James sat down in his respective seat. Despite the seemingly easygoing exchange between them, tension still remained thick in the air, although not specifically between James and Nolan.

"I hope you had a nice trip from The Territories?" he questioned. "I hear there was a storm stirring up in your path of travel."

James bobbed his head. "It was a nice trip; we managed to dodge the storm by waiting it out, although it did make me a little tardy." He grinned, apparently amused. "I guess you started the meeting without me?"

Nolan smiled back. "Yes, in a sense we 'started' it." He made quotation marks with his fingers, seemingly very out of place with the professional setting. "Anyways, we need to continue on. I believe Lewis had something to mention to you; in fact, I think we all do." He added the last part gently, as if reminding James with something.

"Yes, I believe it's my turn to speak again," Lewis began. He was the nearly bald, thin guy that James had taken a seat next to. His voice was squeaky and resembled something close to the noise a mouse makes. "It has to do with the issue we have been experiencing with experimentation within your country." He looked at James critically from above his thin framed glasses. "Especially about the progress and the deaths."

James took a deep breath. "I have planned to release all the test subjects from the experimentation by tomorrow. To be completely truthful, the experimentation was not my idea in the first place. I never officially approved it for my scientists, but they continued it." He frowned, remembering his attempts at stopping the scientists. It was impossibly hard to eventually convince the "leaders" of them. They had believed that experimentation was the answer to everything, and so were stubborn in their ways.

Another man in the room spoke up. "Yes, but how will you enforce this releasing of test subjects? You didn't seem to mind the experimentation even though it was not officially approved."