Part 197: MortuusLupus: Prologue 1

Now that I'm actually alive...



10 months ago...

The junior technician walked nervously down the halls of Parasol Corporation's administration level. The summons he held in his hand trembled in his grip as he approached his destination. Along the walls were masterful engravings of the Corporation's most admired agents and administrators; their eyes were obscured by inset onyx gems, those dark glasses given to the chosen few on their first assignments. Despite the glasses, the engravings still seemed to watch his every step. At the end of the hallway an artisan was finishing a new engraving, a tall, slender dwarf with a well-groomed beard. As he walked by, the tech glanced at the name of this new hero: " Silentio Boborachi, Syrupleaf"

"What a strange name for an assignment," he thought as he turned a corner. The door he was looking for was up ahead. As he approached the door opened on its own, triggered by a hidden pressure plate.

"Marvelous!" he thought to himself, smiling. "I guess these Gate of Climaxians aren't as braindead as I thought."

In the room ahead stood a mighty desk of obsidian, all craftsdwarfship being of the highest quality, studded with spikes of gold, diamond, and decorated with...

"Oh, dear Armok!" he whispered to himself. Decorated with Dwarven bone.

"Ah, MortuusLupus, come in. We've been expecting you," called a gravelly voice beyond the desk. He gestured to an equally ornate and macabre throne. "Please, sit. We have some matters to discuss."