“The man is like a hydra himself,” Eustace said, “except instead of heads, he has ridiculous utility powers. Did we confirm he has a portal ability yet? Allowing anyone connected with his communication ability to loot a dimensional entity is basically gold raining from heaven. The only challenge is figuring out how to collect it all when the tactical teams are leaving a trail of treasure like Hansel and Gretel if they came from a Saudi oil family. This guy is what I’d wish for if I found a genie in a bottle.”
“That communication ability is also incredible,” Koen said. “I’d put Asano on the response team of every incursion space if I could.”
“I disagree,” Nigel said. “Yes, Asano brings a lot to the table. And I like the guy. I’d have a beer with him any day, but I don’t want him watching my back.”
“Explain,” Keith said.
“He’s unreliable. He acts without warning and only follows directions as long as he doesn’t think he knows better. And he’s the type to always think he knows better. He’s powerful, but I’ll take someone I can trust standing behind me over someone who’ll be amazing if he doesn’t wander off first.”
“I will acknowledge he would be better employed to operate independently,” Koen said. “Nigel, even if you don’t want to fight with him, would you be willing to train with him? You’re head of the training program and don’t use cores. That puts you in the best position to pick up and pass on his methods.”
“That I can do,” Nigel said. “When my people aren’t on the line, I’ll work with him, no worries. It’ll let me offset any problematic attitudes he tries to introduce to our people about discipline and following orders. But if you put him in the field, I don’t want him attached to my section. Trying to incorporate him into a chain of command would be futile. He’s too arrogant.”
“He never much cared for authority,” Asya said, speaking for the first time in the meeting. “He always liked to question and provoke.”
The recording had shaken Asya quite badly. The man she met on the houseboat was a natural progression from the boy she had known. The sexy, impish grin and intelligent eyes full of insolence and promise. Treating conversations like prize fights, constantly streaming nonsense to throw off the opposition.
The man in the recording was something else entirely. The malevolent power and the grand destructive force that followed. The chilling voice chanting a sinister incantation to mercilessly finish a monster already on the precipice of death. The incongruity with the Jason Asano she knew left her unnerved.
“It seems like the French were onto something, trying to snatch up Asano,” Keith said. “Clearly, though, active cooperation is more valuable than forced capitulation. I think I’m just about ready to recommend we do whatever it takes to get a deal.”
“We should,” Eustace said. “Someone told me that Asya made a joke about giving him Bora Bora. If that’s in any way possible, I say we do it. Just one incursion with a looting power and it’s clear how China and America have become so dominant, poaching everyone with a loot power from other countries. I’m not sure there can be a price that isn’t worth paying, given the riches we can expect to reap. We need to lock this down before the US and China come sniffing around.”
“As the IC representative,” Asya said, “I can’t advocate tying this up in factional politics. It’s only right for your branch to claim some benefits, but if you try and keep the pie to yourselves, you’ll get cut when others come to take their own slice.”
“I don’t think Asano will want to give the Lyon branch as much as a crumb,” Anna said. “After what they did, the only reason he’s open to collaboration is that he wants us to deliver the other outworlder.”
“Asano made it clear that he wants access to dimensional entities,” Keith said. “Presumably, that’s tied to his advancement methodology, which we’ll learn for ourselves soon enough. He needs us to access the dimensional spaces.”
“I think that’s less of a certainty than you’re suggesting,” Gladys said. “He’s given me a peek at his magical knowledge. Now that he knows about the grid and we’ve shown him how to access apertures, he may have everything he needs to access incursion spaces himself.”
“Tapping into the grid?” Keith asked. “Is that even possible?”
“The grid is designed to be accessible to anyone with the requisite knowledge,” Asya said. “Given that he’s been to a place that makes our magic look like Bronze Age technology, it seems likely that he could.”
Keith let out a sigh. “My largest concern is oversight. Our only leverage in enforcing any agreement is the ability to take what we provide away. If that isn’t a real threat, what reason does he have to abide to our agreement?”
“I’ve had analysts poring over his whole life for a week,” Anna said. “Our profile suggests that loyalty is a core value for him. Their analysis is that if we play it straight with him, he will hold up his end.”
“For how long?” Keith asked. “What happens when we deliver the other outworlder? What happens if we can’t?”
“We’re increasing pressure on the Lyon branch,” Asya said. “They can’t just kidnap anyone they want something from.”
“Tell that to Miranda Ellis,” Anna said darkly.
“There’s a reason she was moved out of the Melbourne branch,” Keith said, “but now isn’t the time to revisit old grudges. After seeing Asano in action, I think I can get the Steering Committee to move forward on making a final agreement with him. What about the International Committee?”
“My recommendation will be to go along with that,” Asya said. “I’m just a representative, though. The actual decision will be made above my head.”
“You should realise that we’re playing with fire here,” Nigel warned. “I think, after watching this recording, we all realise that Asano is dangerous. Do we really want him running around unchecked?”
“The agreement is what keeps him in check,” Keith said. “What’s your alternative? Some kind of enforcement?”
“If we went down that road—which I strongly recommend against,” Koen said, “then we need to avoid the mistakes of the Lyon branch. From a tactical perspective, we hit him hard and fast, with overwhelming force. I’m talking all of our category threes, including Gladys. He can build up to endanger a category three, but he’s vulnerable in the early stages of a fight. We don’t give him a chance to ramp up to the power level he showed against the Lyon branch operative and the Hydra. And I’m not talking about capture. We put him all the way down and make sure he stays there.”
“Agreed on both counts,” Anna said. “We shouldn’t do this, but if we do, we do it thoroughly. Our analysis is that he’ll play it straight if we do, but if we turn on him and he’s not dead, he will hurt us. Really hurt us.”
“You think he’ll go after our families?” Keith said.
“No,” Anna said. “I think his threats to my wife were just a message not to go after his own family. He knows the way to really hurt us is by going after our secrets. He’s threatened as much in the past. Once he’s curing children’s cancer on television, we can’t touch him, while he can blow us wide open. Or he goes to the Cabal. Maybe the EOA. You think they won’t welcome him with open arms?”