Around the world...
"Thanks again DeSalle!" Gam shouted to the captain of the boat he was currently leaping off of. His dive was near perfect, but lacking classical athletic training, it came with a splash. Gam resurfaced just as Paladin tossed a couple of life vests overboard, followed by his and Gam's duffel bags. Gam swam over to one, tying it to the life vest as the other one sank. Diving to the bottom, he sighed to himself. The ocean swallowed him, if only for a moment as he grabbed the other duffel bag and pulled it to the surface, narrowly missed by Paladin cannonballing into the waves beside him.
"Nice of you to join me," he said as Paladin grabbed his floating bag and they started swimming to the beach about two hundred meters away.
"I still don't understand why DeSalle wouldn't drop us on the docks." Paladin said as he shifted his bag.
"Simple Paladin," Gam replied. "He doesn't ship for the same people we do. For him, time really is money. We held him up enough when he docked and let us board, and now he's running behind schedule."
Paladin smiled and said, "So that's why we don't take too many jobs from people we don't know."
Gam turned over and started backstroking with his bag hooked to his foot.
"Exactly."
Shortly later the friends had made it to the beach, gotten into their duffel bags(thank god for water proofing)and switched into dry clothes. Gam reached into his duffel bag and pulled out a mask and put it on. He then handed one to Paladin, who looked at him and said, "Huh? I don't wear a mask, remember?"
"You're going to here. These people respect masks as a sign of power."
"So?"
"Well if we don't maintain the balance of power, they'll kill us Paladin."
"But-"
"But what?"
"Well Gam, your masks, well, they'd just look so gay on me."
"Don't worry big brother, I had this one made special just for you. No gayness... Although, Burke might take offense if he heard us talking about all the gayness."
"No he wouldn't he'd make fun of us for being straight."
"Fair enough, Paladin. Let's get going"
Gam walked up from the beach, into a tropical wooded area, his duffel bag slung over his shoulder. Paladin followed and asked, "so why'd you decide to dock the boat here?"
"I knew it would be safe. Because I was wearing a mask when I arrived here the first time, they assumed I was a representative of their gods. Since I'm bringing you along with me, I'm assuming that they will feel the same about you."
"And if they don't?"
"Then Paladin, they'll kill us."
"Oh. So are we heading to Serenity now?"
"Nope, we're gonna see another friend."
"Anyone I know?"
"Nope."
Paladin noticed that Gam was exceptionally quiet on the hike. He wondered, was his captain concerned with Grigori, or simply introspective. These thoughts were quieted when they entered a clearing near what looked to be a four-car garage. Gam pulled a door up and slid under and Paldadin followed suit, closing the door behind him.
"A man with wild eyes and even wilder hair walked up to them, "Gam, how good it is to see you! And I see you brought a friend! How great!"
The man quickly walked past them to a doorway in the floor. He opened it up and ran down the stairs, shouting, "Come on, come on."
The two friends followed him down and Paladin was shocked to see an entire forty foot wall covered with computer monitors. Most were streaming with code that he didn't understand, but some had images, and others were running video. To the right of this mass of monitors stood a large glass case, housing more computer equipment than he'd ever seen. Strapped to the front and back of the case were two air conditioners. Paladin knew enough from his time as a computer tech that these would be necessary to keep the computer system from frying. He had just never seen anything quite like this setup. Truth be told he'd never seen anything anywhere near the likeness of this setup.
"So Gam, did you bring me anything special. And who's your friend. I do so like new friends!"
Gam opened a compartment in his utility belt and as he did so he said, "This is Paladin. And I did bring you something."
Gam pulled out a microchip the size of a slice of cheese, and close to the same color, and he handed it to his eccentric friend."
"Is this?!?" He asked.
Gam nodded and smiled, "Yes, Michael, it's the experimental EK43 microchip."
"OOH!" Shouted Michael as he started dancing a little jig. Literally. "I won't even ask how you got it."
"Good. Be careful, government test labs have had trouble keeping it cool enough, but other than that, it'll kick your ass."
"Paladin's eyes were wondering a drifted to a cluttered workbench, covered in various bits of electronics.
"See anything you like, Pal?"
Paladin's gaze snapped back to Michael and he said, "I don't really know what it all is."
"Well don't worry guys," Michael replied as he ran over to the bench and started tossing of bits of machinery and electronics, "I have presents for you too!!!"
Paladin caught a small box tossed at him.
"High density rebreathers!" Michael yelled, still digging. "Oh, and Gam, improved line grappels! I fixed the stability issues!"
Gam caught the package and stuffed in his bag. Paladin looking over did the same with the rebreathers.
"And ah!" Michael said as he found a large box and carried it over, nearly dropping it until Paladin steadied him and took the box.
"All kinds of goodies for you guys."
"Great," Gam replied. "Any cargo?"
"You bet!" Michael handed Gam a box the size of a cinder block.
"Uh," Michael," Gam said, "You know I got an entire cargo hold."
Michael ran over to a desk that was so clean that it seemed out of place shouting, "Yes! And I'm going to pay for the whole cargo hold! Pick up more cargo on the way if you want, just make sure that box gets to Monty!!! It is IMPORTANT!"
"You got it," Gam said as Michael handed him an envelope, heavy with money. "This is too much."
"If you knew what was in that box, you'd think differently."
"We don't care what's in the box," Paladin chimed in. "Look at all the stuff you gave us!"
"The EK43 microchip more than covers that. Now take the money, or else I'll gas you!"
Gam stood firm for a minute, and then put the money in a compartment in his belt.
"Good!" Michael all but shouted, "Now get out, I have to work!!!"
And with that, he went back to the bench, and Gam started back up to the surface. Emerging in the garage-like structure Paladin closed the door behind him and said, "Autistic. Obsessive-compulsive. But nice."
"Your detective skills are improving Paladin."
"Thank you. What was with the gas statement?"
"he has the whole place rigged with sleeping gas that he can voice activate. He gasses himself regularly to build up a resistance."
"So Gam, what now?
"We go to Serenity and-"
Gam was silenced when he opened the garage door and there stood a whole mess of islanders, some carrying machetes.
"Gam stood firm and said, "Or maybe we don't head to Serenity."
An old man walked up to Gam and put his hand on his shoulder. "You have returned masked one. And you have brought another representative with you." The old man looked over at Paladin, who was shocked with the power he saw in the old man's eyes.
"It is good to be back, Oncalla." Gam replied.
"You have chosen the perfect time. The Ketturi festival will begin tonight, and you and your companion can show us your heritage in the festival ring." The old man paused and looked behind him, "Bukari, Danuk! Take their things to the temple lodge!" Two younger men took the duffel bags and boxes from the guys, and carried them away.
Oncalla turned to our heroes once more and bowed to them. Gam bowed back, and seeing this Paladin followed suit.
"Enjoy the island today, avatars. But when the moon is in the center of the sky, meet us at the festival ring, or you shall forever be punished by the gods.
Oncalla turned and the group walked away. Paladin began to ask a question, but Gam put his hand up to stop him. Once the villagers were a safe distance away, Gam lowered his hand and Paladin said, "What is this test?"
Gam cracked his knuckles and began walking. "The Ketturi festival is a festival that they use to honor their gods. If a representative of their gods happens to arrive for the festival, they must prove their worthiness."
Paladin scratched his head as he followed Gam along the trail. "But that doesn't make sense."
"Okay, junior detective, remember when you were teaching me to use the fire element and you told me that fire would serve me if I respected and honored it?"
"Sure."
"Same thing. They believe that their gods serve them if they respect and honor said gods. They honor the gods by making sure that those who represent the gods are up to par."
"How do they do that?"
"We'll fight the island's best warriors, and I assure you they are tough. No utility belts, no tricks, no blades. Just good old fashioned bare-chested, war-paint, and rustic weapons."
"Okay."
"Then we have to prove our descendancy."
"Our what?"
"We have to prove that in some way we are descendants of the gods."
Paladin stopped and lit a cigarette, and said after his first drag, "Don't you feel weird pretending to represent gods you don't worship? I mean, aren't you kind of pulling one over on them?"
Gam turned and took the cigarette from Paladin's lips. Gam took a drag, coughed a bit, and handed it back. "I don't feel weird or bad about it, no." He turned and started walking again and continued, "We may not worship their gods, but we respect their beliefs, and through that we honor their gods. Plus I'm a spiritualist, I believe that all the gods are simply representations of a divinity that we cannot understand."
"But what makes us representatives or descendents of their gods besides the fact that we're wearing masks and we respect their beliefs."
Gam turned back at him and gave him a quick jab to the shelbow. "We're the descendants of angels, brother. That means we have a spark of... a spark of something in us. And that lineage gives us a responsibility to the divine, even if we don't understand it as these people do."
Gam started walking again and then asked, "Have you been doing your fire meditations?"
"Yeah," Paladin replied. "Why"
Gam glanced over his shoulder and said, "Because the islanders especially respect fire and water."
"Well, that's us."
After that, they stepped into a clearing, at the top of a hill.
"There she is Paladin," Gam said, pointing downward. "There's Serenity."
Following Gam's gaze, Paladin saw the large sailboat docked on the dock about a mile away.
"Well," Paladin shrugged, "What the hell are we waiting for?"
Gam smiled as they started walking again.
"Nice of you to join me," he said as Paladin grabbed his floating bag and they started swimming to the beach about two hundred meters away.
"I still don't understand why DeSalle wouldn't drop us on the docks." Paladin said as he shifted his bag.
"Simple Paladin," Gam replied. "He doesn't ship for the same people we do. For him, time really is money. We held him up enough when he docked and let us board, and now he's running behind schedule."
Paladin smiled and said, "So that's why we don't take too many jobs from people we don't know."
Gam turned over and started backstroking with his bag hooked to his foot.
"Exactly."
Shortly later the friends had made it to the beach, gotten into their duffel bags(thank god for water proofing)and switched into dry clothes. Gam reached into his duffel bag and pulled out a mask and put it on. He then handed one to Paladin, who looked at him and said, "Huh? I don't wear a mask, remember?"
"You're going to here. These people respect masks as a sign of power."
"So?"
"Well if we don't maintain the balance of power, they'll kill us Paladin."
"But-"
"But what?"
"Well Gam, your masks, well, they'd just look so gay on me."
"Don't worry big brother, I had this one made special just for you. No gayness... Although, Burke might take offense if he heard us talking about all the gayness."
"No he wouldn't he'd make fun of us for being straight."
"Fair enough, Paladin. Let's get going"
Gam walked up from the beach, into a tropical wooded area, his duffel bag slung over his shoulder. Paladin followed and asked, "so why'd you decide to dock the boat here?"
"I knew it would be safe. Because I was wearing a mask when I arrived here the first time, they assumed I was a representative of their gods. Since I'm bringing you along with me, I'm assuming that they will feel the same about you."
"And if they don't?"
"Then Paladin, they'll kill us."
"Oh. So are we heading to Serenity now?"
"Nope, we're gonna see another friend."
"Anyone I know?"
"Nope."
Paladin noticed that Gam was exceptionally quiet on the hike. He wondered, was his captain concerned with Grigori, or simply introspective. These thoughts were quieted when they entered a clearing near what looked to be a four-car garage. Gam pulled a door up and slid under and Paldadin followed suit, closing the door behind him.
"A man with wild eyes and even wilder hair walked up to them, "Gam, how good it is to see you! And I see you brought a friend! How great!"
The man quickly walked past them to a doorway in the floor. He opened it up and ran down the stairs, shouting, "Come on, come on."
The two friends followed him down and Paladin was shocked to see an entire forty foot wall covered with computer monitors. Most were streaming with code that he didn't understand, but some had images, and others were running video. To the right of this mass of monitors stood a large glass case, housing more computer equipment than he'd ever seen. Strapped to the front and back of the case were two air conditioners. Paladin knew enough from his time as a computer tech that these would be necessary to keep the computer system from frying. He had just never seen anything quite like this setup. Truth be told he'd never seen anything anywhere near the likeness of this setup.
"So Gam, did you bring me anything special. And who's your friend. I do so like new friends!"
Gam opened a compartment in his utility belt and as he did so he said, "This is Paladin. And I did bring you something."
Gam pulled out a microchip the size of a slice of cheese, and close to the same color, and he handed it to his eccentric friend."
"Is this?!?" He asked.
Gam nodded and smiled, "Yes, Michael, it's the experimental EK43 microchip."
"OOH!" Shouted Michael as he started dancing a little jig. Literally. "I won't even ask how you got it."
"Good. Be careful, government test labs have had trouble keeping it cool enough, but other than that, it'll kick your ass."
"Paladin's eyes were wondering a drifted to a cluttered workbench, covered in various bits of electronics.
"See anything you like, Pal?"
Paladin's gaze snapped back to Michael and he said, "I don't really know what it all is."
"Well don't worry guys," Michael replied as he ran over to the bench and started tossing of bits of machinery and electronics, "I have presents for you too!!!"
Paladin caught a small box tossed at him.
"High density rebreathers!" Michael yelled, still digging. "Oh, and Gam, improved line grappels! I fixed the stability issues!"
Gam caught the package and stuffed in his bag. Paladin looking over did the same with the rebreathers.
"And ah!" Michael said as he found a large box and carried it over, nearly dropping it until Paladin steadied him and took the box.
"All kinds of goodies for you guys."
"Great," Gam replied. "Any cargo?"
"You bet!" Michael handed Gam a box the size of a cinder block.
"Uh," Michael," Gam said, "You know I got an entire cargo hold."
Michael ran over to a desk that was so clean that it seemed out of place shouting, "Yes! And I'm going to pay for the whole cargo hold! Pick up more cargo on the way if you want, just make sure that box gets to Monty!!! It is IMPORTANT!"
"You got it," Gam said as Michael handed him an envelope, heavy with money. "This is too much."
"If you knew what was in that box, you'd think differently."
"We don't care what's in the box," Paladin chimed in. "Look at all the stuff you gave us!"
"The EK43 microchip more than covers that. Now take the money, or else I'll gas you!"
Gam stood firm for a minute, and then put the money in a compartment in his belt.
"Good!" Michael all but shouted, "Now get out, I have to work!!!"
And with that, he went back to the bench, and Gam started back up to the surface. Emerging in the garage-like structure Paladin closed the door behind him and said, "Autistic. Obsessive-compulsive. But nice."
"Your detective skills are improving Paladin."
"Thank you. What was with the gas statement?"
"he has the whole place rigged with sleeping gas that he can voice activate. He gasses himself regularly to build up a resistance."
"So Gam, what now?
"We go to Serenity and-"
Gam was silenced when he opened the garage door and there stood a whole mess of islanders, some carrying machetes.
"Gam stood firm and said, "Or maybe we don't head to Serenity."
An old man walked up to Gam and put his hand on his shoulder. "You have returned masked one. And you have brought another representative with you." The old man looked over at Paladin, who was shocked with the power he saw in the old man's eyes.
"It is good to be back, Oncalla." Gam replied.
"You have chosen the perfect time. The Ketturi festival will begin tonight, and you and your companion can show us your heritage in the festival ring." The old man paused and looked behind him, "Bukari, Danuk! Take their things to the temple lodge!" Two younger men took the duffel bags and boxes from the guys, and carried them away.
Oncalla turned to our heroes once more and bowed to them. Gam bowed back, and seeing this Paladin followed suit.
"Enjoy the island today, avatars. But when the moon is in the center of the sky, meet us at the festival ring, or you shall forever be punished by the gods.
Oncalla turned and the group walked away. Paladin began to ask a question, but Gam put his hand up to stop him. Once the villagers were a safe distance away, Gam lowered his hand and Paladin said, "What is this test?"
Gam cracked his knuckles and began walking. "The Ketturi festival is a festival that they use to honor their gods. If a representative of their gods happens to arrive for the festival, they must prove their worthiness."
Paladin scratched his head as he followed Gam along the trail. "But that doesn't make sense."
"Okay, junior detective, remember when you were teaching me to use the fire element and you told me that fire would serve me if I respected and honored it?"
"Sure."
"Same thing. They believe that their gods serve them if they respect and honor said gods. They honor the gods by making sure that those who represent the gods are up to par."
"How do they do that?"
"We'll fight the island's best warriors, and I assure you they are tough. No utility belts, no tricks, no blades. Just good old fashioned bare-chested, war-paint, and rustic weapons."
"Okay."
"Then we have to prove our descendancy."
"Our what?"
"We have to prove that in some way we are descendants of the gods."
Paladin stopped and lit a cigarette, and said after his first drag, "Don't you feel weird pretending to represent gods you don't worship? I mean, aren't you kind of pulling one over on them?"
Gam turned and took the cigarette from Paladin's lips. Gam took a drag, coughed a bit, and handed it back. "I don't feel weird or bad about it, no." He turned and started walking again and continued, "We may not worship their gods, but we respect their beliefs, and through that we honor their gods. Plus I'm a spiritualist, I believe that all the gods are simply representations of a divinity that we cannot understand."
"But what makes us representatives or descendents of their gods besides the fact that we're wearing masks and we respect their beliefs."
Gam turned back at him and gave him a quick jab to the shelbow. "We're the descendants of angels, brother. That means we have a spark of... a spark of something in us. And that lineage gives us a responsibility to the divine, even if we don't understand it as these people do."
Gam started walking again and then asked, "Have you been doing your fire meditations?"
"Yeah," Paladin replied. "Why"
Gam glanced over his shoulder and said, "Because the islanders especially respect fire and water."
"Well, that's us."
After that, they stepped into a clearing, at the top of a hill.
"There she is Paladin," Gam said, pointing downward. "There's Serenity."
Following Gam's gaze, Paladin saw the large sailboat docked on the dock about a mile away.
"Well," Paladin shrugged, "What the hell are we waiting for?"
Gam smiled as they started walking again.