Custodes Terra

As Terrence had predicted, he eventually found Clarie on the dance floor. He had never to fond of dancing, and neither skillful at it, but the night demanded it, the music demanded it. Clarie's hips demanded it. Well, let's hope I learned something from seeing people dance two days every week, thought him to himself and began to move smoothly between the crowd, trying to keep a cool movement that it could barely called dance as he go close to her. "Hey, Clarie. I see you are having fun!" Said Terrence, trying not to jump on her too suddenly.

He did tried hard to enjoy dancing, and to be honest, doing so with Clarie was, at least, not as demotivating as doing so alone. But tired after all he had to do this day, Terrence tried to convince her to go somewhere else, with a bench or a seat preferably. "Hey, I'm a little bit... Overloaded of this place.... Would you like to go somewhere else?" Asked him, having to get real close to her for her to hear him.
 
Claire’s eyes opened instantly at the sound of Terrance’s voice. He seemed to be trying to not startle her. He was dancing beside her moving closer. His actions seemed a little hesitant, unsure of his actions. She took it as him being in unfamiliar waters. She’d never seen him with any other girls yet alone dancing. This added to her curiosity towards him. She smiled pleased he’d found her in the midst of all the people surrounding them.

He asked if they could go somewhere else since he was ‘overloaded’ of this place. She thought this was understandable since he had just come off a shift here. “Since you asked,” Claire responded instantly leaning in closely to add, “Lead the way.” She linked her arm through his so they wouldn’t get separated in the crowds wondering where he’d choose to take her tonight. It was definitely going to be an interesting night back.
 
Terrence nodded, and even blushed a little bit when Clarie hold him by the arm. He looked for a moment towards the entrance, and seeing the ammount of people in between, he decided to go trough the back door. Terrence lead her through the back shop of the club and finally got to the back door. Finally going outside, he took a deep breath, enjoying the 'clean' air of the outside. "Finally..." Muttered him looking at the sky. Then, he looked at her and noticed he hadn't let her go yet. Blushing again a little bit more, he looked at the other side and pointed towards the end of the street.

"There's a place... Is a pub with nice music and calmer ambiance... Isn't as crowded as the Alley cat." Said him, trying not to think too much about this whole kind of 'date' situation and jusrt trying to enjoy the time with Clarie. "Is not far from here." Said Terrence, looking back at her and hoping for her to say yes.
 
Claire noticed the slight blush that rose to Terrance’s cheeks and found herself delighted. It was rare that a man she was with blushed. Most of the time they were hardened criminals with years of experience. They were the highest of the high in organized crime. Terrance however was nothing like the men she’d encountered before. She’d have to remember that and calculate it into her actions from here on. He began to lead her towards the back exit. Bruno saw them just as they were about to be at the back door and raised a brow in surprise.

She winked at him and smiled confidently as Terrence led her outside. “Sounds amazing,” She said and really meant it too letting him lead her. It was kind of nice. Normally she was the one leading even if she let the men think that they were. Terrence could be very good for her in both a professional and a personal way.
 
Terrence smiled. He simply smiled and walked nest to her as he lead her to the pub he talked about. Being with a girl this close felt nice, even if Terrence could 'feel' something off in her. He didn't really knew what it was, and probably was just his mind playing tricks with him, but there was something... Uncommon in the way she acted. Not that there was something wrong or something like that, there was just this 'thing' floating around her personality which made Terrence had that weird sensation. But again, it was probably nothing, so he shook it off and just enjoyed the moment.

"It's here." Announced him as they reached a rather small door, no guards or even a line outside. Just the mild rhythm of the music coming from inside. And as Terrence had described it, the place was really comfortable to the sight, and to the hearing. The music was loud enough to be heard, but low enough to be able to talk with the people regularly. Once they grabbed their drinks at the bar, Terrence found a nice place to sit on and spend some more calm moments with Clarie. "So, you told me you've been busy at work? Where do you work at?" Asked him.
 
Walking in the darkness with Terrence Claire’s breathing remained even but her heart rate seemed to race. She realized in a way this was her first real date in she couldn’t remember how long. Suddenly she felt like a teenager once more and hardly contained a giggle from escaping her lips. Thankfully the place he was leading her to wasn’t that far away. She’d walked right by the place just hours before actually never even glancing at the small door he opened.

Immediately she decided she liked the vibe this establishment offered. There were no crowds to fight throw, no roaring music to yell over, or lines to wait for drinks. They walked over to the bar and immediately were served and then Terrence led her over to a seat so they could talk. However his first question made her sigh. He asked about work. Of course she’d figured that the subject would come up but she hated lying to him about it. She spent every moment of the missions lying. She didn’t want to lie to anyone when she was off so she tended to avoid the subject. However every question asked deserved an answer.

Taking a drink Claire nodded and said, “Yes I’ve been in Italy actually on business. I work for Willard Industries. Have you heard of it? We are one of the most reputable global event organizers and head hunters. Our saying is “No matter where you are, who or what you need, give us a call and be worry free.” She laughed at the laying shaking her head before sighing, “It’s really good to be back though. My timing just sucks apparently. I was actually at the airport when the first message from Custodes Terra broadcasted. Hadn’t even had time to enjoy my starbucks.”
 
Terrence chuckled, that was a funny saying. He didn't really knew that company, didn't even heard about it, but he didn't put too much thought about it anyway. What he did paid attention was to her laugh, so cheerful and yet, mysterious. And her eyes, so beautiful and still so secret and intriguing. That woman really had something attracting in her, besides the obviously fantastic body and charisma.

"Yeah, I saw it too.... Still feels unbelievable." Said him. "I mean, who in his sane mind would do something like that? Sure the governments and entrepreneurs are doing nothing to stop this crisis, or even to help the poor... But I don't think this is the way to do it. Even if those who that Custodes guy punishes are guilty." Explained him. Terrence was strongly against using that kind of extreme violence against people. Guilty or not. "Killing people just doesn't feels right, you know? I... I don't think I would be able to do it my self. Even if a had to!" Exclaimed him. Then he realized he may have gone a little bit too far with his tiny political speech.

"But that's just my opinion." Said Terrence with a smile.
 
Claire nodded her head as he told her how he felt about Custodes Terra. She did agree that the guilty should be brought to justice as well but that was for the law to do with jail time and financial retribution. It was not for some radicals to decide who should pay with their lives. It was an extreme most found offensive. However Terrence continued and Claire looked away from him out across the room not really seeing what was there as he mentioned the killing in itself. He said that he didn’t think he could do that even if he had to.

His words shouldn’t have affected Claire the way they had. She felt as if she shouldn’t be here with Terrence. There had been 5 times in her career that Claire had to murder. Each time it was investigated and ruled ‘justified killing’ but still it didn’t change the fact that Claire had to take another’s life. Terrence had never been put in that position and probably never would be. He was good. He was sweet, handsome, passionate about his beliefs. She knew that she’d never be able to give him the type of relationship he deserved and even though this was just one date Claire felt that she wasn’t even deserving of this.

However Claire looked back at him knowing that she had to find out about the guy from college trying to recruit people. She would use Terrence and though she felt badly already about it more innocent families would be losing the ones they loved if Custodes Terra wasn’t stopped. She smiled though her eyes still held traces of sadness. “I feel the same. The more money you have the longer it takes for you to be brought to justice however that doesn’t give anyone the right to decide who are guilty of the crimes. I feel for the family’s who are left to pick up the pieces,” She said with a shake of her head just imagining what they are going through.

“Although,” Claire said in an slightly awed tone, “I can only imagine how talented and organized the group is. To do such things and broadcast them globally without leaving a trace. I’m the best at my job but I don’t think I could ever be that precise. Can you imagine the guy they have doing the broadcasts? I wonder what types of technology they are using?” Her cheeks flushed with a rosy red in embarrassment and she took a drink before saying, “The group itself may be bad but their talents weren’t at one point surely.”

Option one of getting anyone to do as you wished was to entice their passion or love and connect it with what you wanted. The technology Custodes Terra would be using is probably much more advance than anything Terrance had ever gotten his hands on and the man responsible for setting everything up for the broadcasts would surely know so many tidbits that Terrence wouldn’t be taught in college.
 
"Well, if I had to guess..." And then Terrence began to talk about computers, weird technologies and many other things on his field. He was so enthused about it he lost the focus on Custodes Terra and simply began to guess how someone could break into the emission of the TV network and broadcast stuff in it. "... Of course, if the code is good enough, with a simple super computing system you are good to go. You would be shocked if you knew how poor is the security of the cable tv network." Explained him with a smile.

His technological chi chat was simple enough for anyone to understand, but still, it was precise enough to be actually helpful. Of course, there were things that escaped to his understanding. "... I'm not sure how they pulled out the interned broadcast tho.... That is a complete different issue and sure required a impressive computing power. But is not only about the computers, is also about the energy. I mean, the electric input required to power up all that computers had to be huge...." Explained him. "Oh, and there is also that crazy invisible thing? I'm really speechless about it. It's just.... I don't know how they managed to do that. I didn't knew it was even possible!" Exclaimed him with a chuckle.

"Anyway, thinking about it with perspective... I wouldn't worry too much about them. As all the terrorist groups they will not get too far before they are taken down or they are rot by their own corruption." Said Terrence, finding relief in his own words. "Or who knows, maybe this is all just a viral thing of those and ends up being just a commercial campaign for a car, or an alcoholic drink." He couldn't be more wrong.
 
She listened intently to his explanation about the technology Custodes Terra had used. She sent a silent prayer to Jonathon hoping he had some things figured out when they talked next. Claire would stop by the office with some food and coffee for him knowing he’d still be trying to get a fix on the organization. Terrence did seem a little impressed by the actions of Custodes Terra thinking about it from a technical stand point but would it be enough to convince him to lead her to the recruit? She’d have to press on with the conversation and see where it flowed.

He said he wasn’t worried too much about the situation and foolishly even suggested it be a gimmick to sell cars or a drink. She raised her eyebrows widely in shock at his words. “Really?” She said in surprise stunned for a moment. “I don’t think so,” she said after she’d taken another drink. Looking around them to see if anyone was within ear shot and then she leaned closer to him secretively, “One of the men killed in the broadcast over the internet earlier looked very familiar. He was a previous client of mine and I can’t be certain however it would make sense for him to be at that meeting. My company is checking into the familiarity of it and I should know by tomorrow if the man has used my services in the past.”

Leaning back she shrugged and soothed the mood over by saying “However we shouldn’t be too worried about . . . “ She paused and eyed him up and down before continuing, “unless you’re doing something illegal and immoral.” Laughing she let him know it was a joke as she finished her drink.
 
Terrence laughed with her, it was fun because... Well, not too fun if you think about it, but hell, fun after all. "Yeah..." Muttered him, taking the last sip of his drink. Taking a quick glance at the clock, he was shocked of how late it had get. Talking with Claire did made the time fly, and now he was a little bit worried about if he would had enough time to rest.

"Hey, it's been really nice hanging out with you, Claire.... But I it's getting really late and I have to get up early tomorrow." Explained him, looking a little bit sad because he didn't had the freedom to order another round and keep chatting with her. "But... But I really enjoyed chatting with you... So... I... Well, I was wondering if you would like to... I don't know... Meet another day? Maybe next weekend.. Or before?" Again, Terrence was making a mess of himself just by trying to ask her her phone number.
 
Claire sighed when Terrence told her that he had to get up early tomorrow meaning they’d have to part ways tonight. She knew it’d happen sooner than she wanted but it didn’t make the parting any better. Claire had enjoyed spending time with Terrence being herself. She didn’t know when she’d get the chance to do so again. “I suppose you are right. It’s been a pleasure,” Claire told him with a warm smile really meaning it. She listened intently to Terrence’s next words as he stumbled over asking her out again. She found this cute and tilted her head to one side a light smile on her lips as he continued.

“I would like that though as always I don’t know how long I’ll be in town for so hopefully we will have time to hang out again,” She said as she took a napkin from the holder on their table and then her key rings out of her pocket finding the pen connected to it. She wrote her number and then her name in swirly cursive. She handed it to Terrence and said, “That’s my cell phone. You can reach me on there almost all the time. Give me a call when you get some free time. Maybe we can grab some coffee.”
 
Terrence eyes lit with happiness when Clarie offered him her number. He was excited! Sure there were guys back at the club who picked women and even had sex with them in the bathrooms of that place, and all in one night. But Terrence wasn't that kind of guy, and he didn't even wanted to. He enjoyed talking with a woman, having some laughs and healthy fun before anything could get more intimate. He liked to know the person he talked to before going any further. And truth was that had lead him to some unfortunate relationship endings along his life. Still, he wasn't giving up in his ways, and now more than eve, it seemed he was starting to have some luck in love.

"Sure, I... I will!" Said him cheerfully. After a short but nice walk with her and a few goodbyes, Terrence parted to his apartment, his heart still pounding fast, and once there, he slipped into his bed and closed his eyes. It seemed that today had been a great day after all.