S1E6: Stalemate
Last modified 2 months, 3 weeks ago
The flashback ends, snapping us violently back to the present. The silence following the revelation of Dorian's betrayal is shattered by a low, terrifying hum.
Selene's body is trembling, the kinetic amplifiers on her wrists vibrating with a dangerous frequency. The room itself begins to shake—chairs rattling, the door handle vibrating as if trying to tear itself free. Outside, the muffled sounds of terrified staff running down the hallway can be heard, but Icarus has already locked the doors.
"Selene, you need to let me explain," Dorian pleads, his voice trembling as much as the floor beneath him.
Selene turns to look at him, her eyes wide and unblinking. It is a look of pure dissociation—she is looking right through him, seeing only the betrayal. Objects around her begin to lift into the air.
"Selene, please," Dorian begs. He makes a choice against his better judgment: he drops his protective jacket and signals Ajax to stand down. He stands before her, defenseless in just a shirt, arms open in a pleading gesture. "I am your brother. I am your blood."
The plea backfires. The chair she was sitting on launches backward with lightning speed, cracking the reinforced glass window.
"Selene, I was afraid to tell you because of this exact reason," Dorian shouts over the rising noise, his feet sliding backward from the force. "But you know who taught me how to be brave? You did. So here I am. Yes, R0-55 is my friend. He is my deep, dark secret."
Michael rolls Compel (Heart) with a -1 penalty (PvP) -> Result: Miss
His words are lost in the storm of her rage. Selene raises her hand, the kinetic gauntlets glowing brighter.
Maia rolls Strike (Iron) + 1 (Gauntlets) - 2 Momentum -> Result: Weak Hit
A shockwave explodes from her body. It blasts everything in the room outward. Screens rip from the walls, smashing to the floor. Dorian is thrown backward, slamming hard against his desk before tumbling over it. Dex, caught in the blast, is thrown against the window and falls to the floor, pinned under debris.
The impact snaps Selene out of her trance. She drops to her knees, gasping for air. "Dex! Dex, where are you?"
"He's over here," Dorian groans, crawling out from behind the desk. He finds the glow-cat pinned under a chair and carefully lifts the debris.
"Don't touch him! I have him!" Selene screams, rushing over. She scoops up the injured cat, whose glow has turned a pained crimson. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she whispers to Dex.
"You hurt him," Dorian says, his voice cold.
"Don't talk to me."
"You need to let me explain."
"There is nothing to explain! Four years! Four years you've hid this from me!"
"With good reason, based on how you've reacted!"
"A Red, Dorian. Not just any Red. The Red," she snarls.
She turns to the door, kicking it with kinetic-enhanced force. It flies off its hinges, slamming into the opposite wall and sending the security guards in the hallway scattering. She storms out, carrying Dex like a wounded child. "Move!" she screams at the terrified staff.
Dorian scrambles to one of the surviving command podiums. "Icarus! Lock every door between here and the exit. Deactivate the elevator."
He gets on the PA system. "This is Dorian Kelvarus. Do not let her leave. She knows full well if she harms you, she'll be brought before the Grand Arbitrium."
"Dorian, I know you can hear me. Let me out!" Selene shouts at the ceiling.
"I will let you leave when we finish our conversation," Dorian's voice echoes. "I have softened all the alarms. No authorities have been alerted. No media. Have some sense and come talk to me."
Michael rolls Face Danger (Wits + Tech) -> Result: Strong Hit + 1 Momentum
He successfully hacks his own building, suppressing the external alarms to keep this a private family feud. But Selene isn't stopping. She sees two guards, Torrin and Zevran, behind a security glass partition.
"If you don't let me out, I will remember you," she threatens, her voice low and dangerous. "I will hunt you down. And once I find you... I will come for your families. Get. Me. Out."
Maia rolls Compel (Iron) -> Result: Weak Hit
The guards are terrified but conflicted. "After hearing what Mr. Kelvarus just said... I think you might be better to bring down your brother. That way we know the situation is under control."
Torrin glances at Zevran, his hand hovering over his comms. "Maybe we should call for backup..."
"I wish you would call backup. I like a challenge," Selene spits. She sets Dex down and prepares to force the reinforced doors open.
Meanwhile, Dorian is trying to manage the chaos. He needs to get them out of there, but he also needs to catch her.
Michael rolls Check Your Gear (Supply) -> Result: Weak Hit (Sacrifice Resources)
He manages to summon their ship, The Venture, to the building's side, sacrificing valuable supplies to rush the arrival.
They initiate a shared progress track: Breakthrough (Dangerous).
Selene attacks the reinforced door.
Maia rolls Face Danger (Iron) -> Result: Weak Hit (Suffer -1 Spirit)
She slams through the metal, denting it just enough to squeeze through. She grabs Dex and sprints for the elevator, only to find it locked down.
"Selene, do you feel like talking?" Dorian asks through her personal comms earpiece. "You know, I truly wished you'd be more open-minded than mother. That's what made you better than her."
Selene rips the earpiece out, throws it on the ground, and crushes it under her boot.
Dorian, watching through the security cameras, turns to Icarus. "You're going to have to drive." He then hacks into the building's environmental controls.
Michael rolls Face Danger (Wits) -> Result: Strong Hit
He snaps his fingers. The entire building goes dark. Emergency sprinklers activate, drenching the hallway in cold water and locking down the emergency exits.
"Water will not slow me down," Selene mutters. She pulls out a digital multi-tool from her belt.
Maia rolls Check Your Gear (Supply) -> Result: Weak Hit (Sacrifice Resources)
She finds the tool, but it's not connected to the grid. As she tries to hotwire the door panel, a nearby security camera swivels toward her.
"Selene, this is not you. You're not thinking clearly," Dorian's voice comes through the camera's speaker.
She raises a hand and blasts the camera off the wall with a kinetic pulse.
"I'm not finished talking to you," Dorian says from the panel she is working on. "You break this, you're stuck in here. And I think you're running out of fuel."
"I'll get out of here. I'm finishing the mission, with or without you. Or maybe just without you, since I don't think you need to see the death of your best friend."
"If you think he won't see you coming, you are sorely mistaken."
"I'll be ready."
"You're not even ready to drive."
"I've been training my entire life for this! You think I'm not ready?"
"And you're willing to step on me to get to where you want to be?" Dorian challenges. "You hypocrite! You're going to lash out at me when you've been having your own breaking of creed that I have kept secret?"
Selene freezes. "It's not the same and you know it."
"Regardless, we both have something that could ruin us. Selene, if you try to leave without me, without speaking to me, I will expose it. There is more to this than you understand. If you just sit and talk to me, brother to sister, we can come to an understanding... But if you aren't going to give me a chance to speak, I will throw a nightmare in your path. You taught me to bring a gun to a negotiation."
Michael rolls Compel (Heart) -> Result: Weak Hit
The threat hangs in the air. Selene knows he isn't lying. If he exposes her relationship with Kaelle, her life is over.
"Where do you want to meet?" she asks, seething.
"Come back to the lab."
"I'm not going back to your damn lab!"
"Then go to the roof."
The elevator light illuminates. The green arrow points up.
Selene walks into the elevator, Dex trailing behind her. When the doors open on the roof, the Venture is floating there, just off the edge, engines humming. Dorian stands in front of it, jacket back on, arms folded. Ajax sits on his shoulder, his golden chassis stained with dry blood from the explosion. Dorian has a streak of dry blood down one side of his face from the impact.
Selene walks up to him, stopping inches away.
"If you threaten me again, I will end you. And then the entire Kelvarus family will be done."
She brushes past him and walks onto the ship.
Dorian stands there for a moment in the rain, the weight of his victory feeling remarkably like defeat.
"There are worse fates," he whispers.
He turns and follows her onto the Venture.
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