Post by Max Kameren on Aug 6, 2018 18:28:28 GMT -5
It had been a week since the ambush, since their return to the Ministry and their punishment was handed down. Max’s attempt to throw himself under the bus had been unsuccessful: two weeks suspension for all three conspirators. For Briar and Eden it began immediately. For Max it was suspended, his punishment pending upon the completion of his original version of purgatory: finishing the stone.
For weeks Max had been throwing his mental and physical health at the mercy of this assignment. It broke him down gradually, grating his resolve away with each piece of his soul he sacrificed to feed it. He would rest thoroughly in between each session but still each day felt worse. His body wasn’t recovering fast enough for the deadline to be reached, but still he pushed. As if to mock him for the last few weeks the stone had stopped growing entirely, driving him mad with no physical progress to show for his weariness.
The lift pinged on an empty bullpen for Law Enforcement hours before it’s usual morning rush and he slumped out. It was easier this way, Max had found. Less auras to process as he worked meant more energy to put forward. It meant he would be in and out of the office too early to catch Alex’s disappointed looks in passing. And also it had the bonus affect of lining up Max’s exhaustion perfectly with Eden’s suspension-depression naps, timing it so Max could be there for her when she needed him not to nod off.
Like a zombie Max plodded into the laboratory that held the stone, a lifeless body to match the bodiless spirit whose office he inhabited. The stone beckoned, pulsing in the presence of its aura’s twin. It was covered in a shroud, but somehow still seemed to shine with its pure white roundness rejecting shadow. Max had little energy left in him for awe at its simple beauty. He clumsily pulled up a stool in the lab, removed the shroud, and set to work.
The cut to his thumb was such a natural movement at this point that he barely felt it. He sliced dutifully, coaxing the rich red blood to the surface before he placed it on the stone. The draining was immediate and Max seemed to melt, resting his head on the table with the Stone resting in his outstretched palm. He closed his eyes, already prepared to rest as soon as the object finished with him.
Vmm.
There was a slight surge and his connection was severed. Max opened his eyes wide in surprise. He let the Stone go and it drifted, coming to a graceful stop floating a few inches above the table. Max looked down at his thumb and it had somehow healed itself. He looked up at the Stone in surprise and for the first time felt an aura within it: his aura. It was familiar but independent, cut off from him and calm, as if showing its creator what it had become.
Max pushed himself back from the table, rushing to a desk at the head of the lab and pounding on it with a weak fist. “Cain. Cain!” He called, his voice jumpy with tired excitement. He turned back to face it and leaned against the desk. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to celebrate or panic, but he couldn’t stop looking at it.
“It’s finished.”
For weeks Max had been throwing his mental and physical health at the mercy of this assignment. It broke him down gradually, grating his resolve away with each piece of his soul he sacrificed to feed it. He would rest thoroughly in between each session but still each day felt worse. His body wasn’t recovering fast enough for the deadline to be reached, but still he pushed. As if to mock him for the last few weeks the stone had stopped growing entirely, driving him mad with no physical progress to show for his weariness.
The lift pinged on an empty bullpen for Law Enforcement hours before it’s usual morning rush and he slumped out. It was easier this way, Max had found. Less auras to process as he worked meant more energy to put forward. It meant he would be in and out of the office too early to catch Alex’s disappointed looks in passing. And also it had the bonus affect of lining up Max’s exhaustion perfectly with Eden’s suspension-depression naps, timing it so Max could be there for her when she needed him not to nod off.
Like a zombie Max plodded into the laboratory that held the stone, a lifeless body to match the bodiless spirit whose office he inhabited. The stone beckoned, pulsing in the presence of its aura’s twin. It was covered in a shroud, but somehow still seemed to shine with its pure white roundness rejecting shadow. Max had little energy left in him for awe at its simple beauty. He clumsily pulled up a stool in the lab, removed the shroud, and set to work.
The cut to his thumb was such a natural movement at this point that he barely felt it. He sliced dutifully, coaxing the rich red blood to the surface before he placed it on the stone. The draining was immediate and Max seemed to melt, resting his head on the table with the Stone resting in his outstretched palm. He closed his eyes, already prepared to rest as soon as the object finished with him.
Vmm.
There was a slight surge and his connection was severed. Max opened his eyes wide in surprise. He let the Stone go and it drifted, coming to a graceful stop floating a few inches above the table. Max looked down at his thumb and it had somehow healed itself. He looked up at the Stone in surprise and for the first time felt an aura within it: his aura. It was familiar but independent, cut off from him and calm, as if showing its creator what it had become.
Max pushed himself back from the table, rushing to a desk at the head of the lab and pounding on it with a weak fist. “Cain. Cain!” He called, his voice jumpy with tired excitement. He turned back to face it and leaned against the desk. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to celebrate or panic, but he couldn’t stop looking at it.
“It’s finished.”