The Lost

Opportunity

The Curator waited at the door for Annabeth to be ready and directed her towards the office of the elders, where she had first met them. The Elder, Rich, the uncle of the girl, Marina she had rescued, greeted them as they walked through the door. "Ah, just the two people I wanted to see." He smiled, and came over, and grabbed The Curator's hand, shaking it. He then turned to Annabeth and held his hand out to her.

She looked at the hand, and then back up to him. She was contemplating if she wanted to touch this man. He was responsible for the first assignment she had, and her hand was still healing. Gingerly she reached out and took his hand after a few seconds, and put on a fake smile. "Elder... Rich, was it?" She asked, not taking her eyes off of his face.

He nodded, and returned her smile, it was genuine. "Yes, I am Elder Rich. I am glad you can remember my name, and my face, Annabeth. I just wanted to say, thank you. Thank you very much for saving my grand niece. If not for you, I don't know what they would have done to her." He bowed to her, and let go of her hand. "I have invited you and The Curator here for lunch, at a special place of my choosing, as a thank you. You will be able to go outside of the facility for this occasion. But I need to know. Will you behave? Will you not try to run?"

She thought of the opportunity this presented, and then she thought of The Curator, and she looked down and away, and finally returned her gaze to Elder Rich. "For the duration of this occasion, and the potential to not always stay secluded here. Yes, I will behave, and I will not attempt to run." She stated, holding her hands in front of her, left over right.

Elder Rich smiled, and looked at them both. "Good. I hope you like the place we are going to go. It has live entertainment, And the food is second to none. Meet me by the elevators, and we can be on our way." He indicated a bank of elevators on the left hand side of the room before he went and talked to one of the guards, who then spoke into a radio on his shoulder.

The Curator and Annabeth were already walking, leaving the Elder to do whatever he needed to do, make whatever preparations he needed to make in order to maintain safety and protocols.

They were met by the elevators by the female who was also on the council of Elders. "Ah, Engrid, you'll be joining us as well?" Asked The Curator as he noticed who had walked up to them.

She smiled at The Curator, and then gave Annabeth a less than pleasant look. It didn't totally say disdain, but it definitely was not one of welcome. "Yes, Curator, I will be joining you for lunch. This will be a business meeting to discuss.... things." She said the last word as she looked at Annabeth. "Will your project be joining us?"

Annabeth was livid at the fact she had just been called a project, and not looked at by this woman as an individual with her own brain, heart or ideals. But Annabeth kept her protestation to herself and bit her tongue, literally, to prevent her saying something she might actually regret to this woman.

The Curator, bless his kind heart, defended her. "Her name is Annabeth. And yes, she will be joining us for lunch, at the the request of Elder Rich." He stated. She was taken aback at his willingness to defend her. It made her appreciate him even more than she already did.

"Is that so?" She responded as she looked at The Curator, and then over Annabeth's Shoulder to Elder Rich, who was just walking up to them now with a retinue of four armed guards for protection.

"Hello, Engrid. Will you be taking the same elevator and vehicle to Mannings?" He asked as one of the guards hit the elevator button and checked it to make sure it was safe. He stood to the side, and two other guards entered the elevator, followed by Elder Rich and The Curator.

Annabeth stepped into the elevator as well, and turned around, waiting for the response of the woman. " I'll take the next elevator down, and my private car. I will meet you at Manning's within the hour. Try not to be bored in my absence." She stated as she walked to a nearby elevator with her hands linked behind her back. Even for an older woman, she had a slim figure, and was lithe. She walked with the grace of a thirty year old, Maybe she was in her thirties. But she looked much older.

She frowned at the interaction, her brows furrowed, until Elder Rich leaned over to speak quietly to her. "You have to forgive, Elder Engrid. She has lost much since she has come here. She was exiled from her home world, and this was a place where she found herself. She rose quickly through the ranks both physically and through politics until she was offered a seat on the Council by a resigning member. I fear she had much to learn still in matters of humility. And much more in common decency." He said, and stood straight again.

Annabeth looked at Rich, and began to move her lips to speak and ask a question, and then thought better of it and closed her mouth. She would just have to ask The Curator about it later, the next time they were alone perhaps.

The Curator looked at Annabeth, and could see that she was troubled, but kept his question to himself as well. He received a message on a data pad that was attached to his arm, and he looked down at it. "Ah. The analysis has completed on your Data, Annabeth. And by the readouts from my system, you will have no lasting effects of the memory recall. Nor should you have to fear reliving the same pain. But like with all technology and of course the human psyche, we should always be weary, and cautious." He smiled kindly at her.

She smiled back at him, She was thankful he had told her. it was one less thing she had to worry about right now. She seemed to relax a little bit, and then the Elder Rich spoke up. "What was that about a memory recall, Curator?" He asked, looking suddenly serious.

The Curator looked back at Rich. "I have already submitted the findings to your tablet after the incident occurred, Elder Rich. During a training exercise, she injured herself, badly. and during the healing process, we had talked a little, and she had a flashback as some of her old memories surfaced. There is no lasting damage, and I don't believe we should have to worry about this effecting her performance in the field." He gave a reassuring smile.

Annabeth looked at Rich's face, and noticed the skepticism she saw there, but ignored it. This was not her fight. To pick a fight with the Elder would gain her nothing, especially when the subject matter was herself. How long had they been riding in this elevator? It felt like they had been descending for quite some time. "How far down do we have to go in order to reach this place?" She asked to the occupants of the elevator at large.

To her surprise it was the lead guard who answered. "From the council chamber to the garage is a seventeen-hundred floor descent. From the garage to Manning Chateau, it is a one hour hover car journey through the streets of the city. We have to pass many check points, and for security reasons, each check point has a three minute security sweep of the vehicle. If we were to walk, which I do not suggest with the current divide in the city residents, we could cut the time down to fifteen minutes, but this way is much safer."

That piqued her interest a great deal. Unrest in the civilian sector? What was actually going on here? Who were these people and what were their actual goals if not everyone was content. Then again, it would have been the same on earth. People were never content with what they had. Those who had little wanted more, and those that had plenty never seemed to want to share. She sighed to herself, and leaned against the side of the elevator until the elevator came to a complete stop and the doors hissed open.

She opened her eyes, and The Curator and Elder Rich followed the guards out of the elevator. The two guards behind her waited, and the one to her left spoke. "Please move forward and out of the elevator car." And then went silent as he expected the order to be followed without question. Once she had made her way out of the elevator car, she turned left and followed after Elder Rich and The Curator.

The two guards stepped out and the lead guard entered a command on the control panel that closed and a readout above the car stated it was locked and secured. The green light that shown turned red, and the guards fell in around them, and walked them to Elder Rich's car, where they got in and the lead guard took up a seat where the driver's seat would usually be. But he entered their destination, and then he turned around to face them as the hover car appeared to drive itself out of the garage.