Failure?, part I

[littlebean]

Failure?, part I

If there was anything that Kremnaes excelled at, it was following orders. Regardless of who is commander was, he did his damndest to always do what he was told, because that's all that he could do. If Sturm said to keep Shin within the city, that's what he would do, if Shin told him to leave and get away from him, that's what Kremnaes would gladly do. But what if he could manage both at the same time? It would be nothing short of a miracle, and Kremnaes sure could use several right about now.

To him, the mission had been a complete failure. He couldn't trick Shin into believing his story about his false condition and he couldn't even manage to stay by Shin's side to accompany him as Sturm had suggested. For seemingly no reason, Shin completely blew up at him. The man was unreasonable. What reason did he have not to think he was there to merely monitor his condition? Kremnaes showed up, was perfectly honest with him about his task, and sat quietly out of his way the entire time. He played the part perfectly well, he was just making a delivery of pills and keeping an eye on his condition, what reason did Shin have to get so angry? There was the disappearing act Kremnaes tried to pull (and failed) but it was easily explained by the medication refills. What could it have been?

He asked himself all these questions on his way back, never slowing his walking pace until he arrived. It had only lasted for a day and a night, but that small time period had been trying and exhausting. With no sleep, no food (that stayed down), the constant back breaking walking pace and the whole almost getting killed, he had nothing to show for it. All he had was the sword Shin had given him for some reason, and he didn't know what this meant to his assignment.

Reaching back into his mantle, he turned on the communication device Sturm had given him and waited for a moment to catch his breath before speaking. He could have gone walking around to look for Sturm, but by now he was too tired, he'd rather ask where he was this way.

"M-master...." He paused to gasp some more then continued. "I'm here master, and I-iiii have something to give you!"

[Nayt]

Sturm wasn't in his office, his library, or even his living quarters. That only meant he could be one other place, and that was a place Kremnaes didn't have access to. There was an entire section of the man's facility which required special clearance to enter. The whole of it was a shady enough place, but the areas that required special clearance . . . that was a whole different kind of mess.

But, regardless of the fact that Sturm was clearly busy elsewhere, static would not respond to Kremnaes when he accessed the radio and called in to Sturm.

"Kremnaes?" the man asked.

It was Sturm, without a doubt. It wouldn't have been anyone else, really. Kremnaes's communication device was tuned to Sturm's own, after all. That, incidentally, made Kremnaes one of few that could contact Sturm directly at any time he really wanted to.

"What is it?"

[littlebean]

"Oh thank god."

Kremnaes muttered to himself, resting his back against the wall, communication device in one hand and sword in the other. Hearing Sturm's voice on the other end was sort of comforting, a familiar voice belonging to someone he was confident wouldn't harm him. He would have preffered it if Sturm had told him where he was so he could make the delivery, but chances were like last time Kremnaes interrupted him while he was particularly busy as of Sturm was simply ALWAYS busy.

There was the guilty feeling he got when he talked to Sturm because he KNEW he must have been interrupting something, but now wasn't the time for that or apologies, he wouldn't waste his time saying sorry. What he wanted more than anything was for his mission to be completed.

"I uh..." But how could he tell his master that he failed him? Wouldn't Sturm find it odd that he was here at the facility instead of with Shin like he should be? " I-i h-have the sword...Shin's sword master." He spat out the truth and didn't mention how he obtained it or what had happened, not unless he asked him to. Leaning against the wall he waited for the response.

[Nayt]

"I see."

That was odd. Sturm hadn't asked for Kremnaes to take Shin's sword or anything. Oh well. He could probably make do with it somehow. For a moment, Sturm went silent. There was a brief period of static between he and Kremnaes, but only for a lack of talking.

"Master, are you sure you wish to do this?"

"--it's ready."

"This is extremely dangerous!"

"Kremnaes--leave it in my office," Sturm replied at last, extremely prompt and immediately following the voices of the other Ersatzshad which seemed to be in the same room as him, all of which audible, if only faintly, to Kremnaes, "And return to Shiden. But be alone in the next few hours; I'll contact you. It's important, but I cannot address it now."

And with that, there'd be only static . . .

[littlebean]

Kremnaes sighed and waited patiently for a response, he wasn't going to bother the man. What could he do to make him respond quicker? Nothing, he would wait. He didn't wait too long, but eventually the communication deviced murrmurred something to him in a staticky whisper.

"Master, are you sure you wish to do this?"

"--it's ready."

"This is extremely dangerous!"

"M-master?" Kremnaes spoke into the machine, concern and questioning in his voice. Unsure of what he was hearing, every word was hesitant, part of him wondered if he should be saying anything at all, or if he should be hearing what he was hearing. Whoever was on the other end like Kremnaes had an uneasy feeling about what was happening, and he didn't much like the idea of anything remotely dangerous happening. Sturm was not alone, he must have caught him in the middle of a very important experiment of sorts. It would need his full attention, Kremnaes did not want to keep him.

"Y-yes master." When instructed to leave the sword in his office, Kremnaes was already marching off towards it. "And return to Shiden. But be alone in the next few hours; I'll contact you. It's important, but I cannot address it now."

.....

"Y-y-yes of course master! Rrrrr-return to Shin right away! I'm on my way!" His voice wavered and his false confidence was so nauseatingly fake that anyone could obviously tell he was nervous through the sniffling. If Sturm could see him now, his hands were shaking visibly, the sword wobbling in his slimey grip. After everything that happened, after Shin gave him his sword he had to return to him, somehow convince him not to kill him and at the same time find some alone time within a vague time limit of a few hours without trying to look even more suspicious.

The mission was far from over, it had barely begun. Clearly what he experienced was the lesser half, the real challenge was beginning. Quickly dropping the sword off on Sturm's desk, regrettfully he turned around and left the clinic, heading back to Isac's place.