"You probably like the fact that he was in Evelyn's unit too," added Ichigo. "She is known for her clandestine operations. He probably has a few of his own secrets for him to have such a good record in the force. I would say it is better than my own."
"Yes. We needed this warframes alpha team to be effective in special ops and gathering of intelligence. Such operatives would be the most ideal," agreed Hector. "Did you notice that even his grandfather was surprised by his talk about military personnel being sociopaths? He might not just be good at keeping secrets but also at keeping his character a secret even from his own family."
"See. That is exactly what I was talking about. He is a sociopath. We didn't want some prisoners for the same issue. He best be treated as one of the other expendable test subjects," said Victor as he finally realized that Balthazar was quite close to those murderers.
"No. That is the main reason for him to be in the alpha team. We need sociopaths. Ones who wouldn't mind a bit of blood and some disgusting actions. We just need the right kind of sociopaths," said Hector smiling.
"Brother. Do you really think there is such a thing as a right kind of sociopath?"
"Of course, there is," said Hector. "The right kind might not care of a person's feelings, habitually lie or even kill, but they don't kill without reason and their actions tend to achieve something useful or practical. They might choose the lesser evil with far more ease than others but that might save more people than that a righteous stuck up would."
"This is the reason you haven't been a part of our warframe team. There are things that one might need to do on the border that might seem harsh and cruel, but they are necessary. You don't have the experience for considering all of these things," said Hector.
"You think that I might not have the right vision for the biofeedback warframe?" asked Victor. He didn't expect this to be the reason for him to not be selected.
"No. You have the vision. You can imagine. You don't have the experience. Without that it would be hard for you to accept the things that I have just told. You have previously been involved in a lot of non-military projects. That led you to live in certain conditions which had a strong effect on your opinions," said Hector trying to explain to his brother, the reason for this difference of thinking.
"This was the reason that we didn't have any second thoughts in letting you use the somnium technology for public use. You have been in the central area of alliance, have been involved in good medical research and thus, you are very good for controlling technology like the somnium in use by the common populace," continued Hector.
"Why am I still here?" repeated Ichigo.
"I have heard about the attack on his sister Bolena. Thought it was for her tech, but it seems like it is personal and is kept in the hush. I want you to find out what this thing is about?" requested Hector.
"Why are you concerned about his sister?" asked Ichigo.
"I just want to be kept in the loop. There is something off about the family," replied Hector.
"You don't want to check their family. That would bring you no good. Even Harvey wouldn't allow you to do that," said Ichigo.
"No. I know that. I want to know about these siblings. It is odd that these attempts have been made on these siblings. I am curious about what they have done that makes them such targets," said Hector.
"Also, Victor, I would also like it if you could check into his sister's research personally. Though we knew that the response rate for that tech would be lower than ours and also probably the side-effects would be more, I want to make sure that we don't overlook anything. If that tech can be deployed with decent results. It is better that we provide our support," said Hector.
"But brother, it is unnecessary. Our tech.." began Victor.
"I know that our tech is better and could be used for quite a number of things other than warframes. Unlike our's their project is tailored for warframe operations. Just look into it and provide me the details," said Hector.
"See you later," he concluded the meeting and disabled the V.R. room causing both Ichigo and Victor to be kicked out of it.
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With the meeting done, Balthazar checked his email. He had hoped that Leon would contact him for the lessons that he would be receiving, but he didn't get anything from him. The only thing he got regarding that is a confirmation that he is registered as a trainee to use a whip by the alliance under the guidance of Leon. He also got a mail from Ellie who made a design of the devices that she intended to make for him.
There were designs for thin arm bands that sync with his wrist device and could be used to attack with hidden needles and a thin blade to pop out. She also mentioned that the specification required for these to be carried through secure areas require use of special materials and she was still researching on it and is having a difficult time with it.
"Maybe I can actually contact Hector and see if the Scions of Minerva can provide with a good solution for such fibre," thought Balthazar as he saw her mail. "I hope that I get a method to contact him soon."
He was quite surprised that his grandfather hadn't called for him to discuss the meeting but was glad about it. It implied that Winston was finally treating him capable of making good decisions and this trust towards him is going to make life much easier.
With these done, he got out of the V.R. pod. There was still another hour for the game to be restarted and he decided he would spend some time with Anubis and actually try the whip and see how it could be used to control beasts. He took the whip given to him by Lucius and went towards the training grounds.
As he went close to the grounds behind the mansion, Anubis came running and jumped on him pinning him to the ground and began licking his face. Though Balthazar knew that it was done by Anubis in an expression of affection, he hated having its saliva all over his face. It also caused an itchy feeling if left for a couple of minutes.
A caretaker soon followed it. "Young Master, Balthazar. I would have brought Anubis to you if you had requested. It was unnecessary for you to come here," he said.
"Hi, do you know where Lucian Elric is? I would like to meet him," asked Balthazar.
"He is currently at the training ground, where Anubis was. I just came from there following Anubis who suddenly decided to get out and meet you. You seem to have a special bond with him," said the caretaker.
"Thank you. I have known him since he was a pup. I will take him back to the training grounds. You can leave him with me," said Balthazar as he held Anubis by its muzzle with a hand and began rubbing its fur. He always like to rub its fur which being soft and smooth gave a nice pleasant feeling.
"Ok," said the man bowing out and leaving them alone.
A few minutes later, Balthazar reached the training grounds along with Anubis at his heels. The training ground was filled a few beasts running around and jumping through various hurdles. There were a couple of people who were at a corner treating any injuries that the beasts might incur in the training, while Elric with another tamer at the centre commanding the beasts.
"Hi Lucian," greeting Balthazar with a shout from outside the racetrack. It was hardly audible, but Lucian noticed it. He beckoned for Balthazar to come into the center. The racetrack was full of beasts running. Balthazar choose a gap and run along with Anubis to cross the track reaching the centre.
"Young Master, Balthazar. This is Eduardo Elric, a cousin of mine who also works here. You would seldom see him as he is too old and occasionally comes to help me when he gets bored," said Lucian introducing the man beside him.
"Nice to meet you Mr. Eduardo. Were you also a tamer by profession?" asked Balthazar as he shook Eduardo's hand. Eduardo was quite similar looking to Lucian with respect to build and facial features and had orange hair.
"No. I was an explorer most of my life. I used to herd away beasts when occupying new planets most of the time," said Eduardo.
"I was told by Little rock that you wanted to talk to me about something. Are you going to get more friends of yours for the morning training?" asked Lucian.
"No. I am not a big fan of that training either. I actually wanted to learn something from you," replied Balthazar.
"You want to learn from me? You interested in taming?" asked Lucian in surprise. He had known of Balthazar's achievements at the military from the news and for a rising star like him to request to learn from him wasn't something he ever expected.
"You can always ask me to train a specific beast that you captured, or you could also contact me to capture any specific animal for you. You don't need to spend time learning if that is what you have in mind," said Lucian reigning in his expressions.
He realized that though Balthazar was famous, he was a person that could be considered to be in his late teens and a young master of a prestigious family. So, he thought that Balthazar had taken fancy to a specific animal that he wanted to rear as it was a common thing among other young masters. Similar requests had come to him from other members of the family.
"I can even train them in such a way that they would only listen to your commands. You don't need to involve yourself in the work," he continued.
"No. No. You misunderstand. I don't want any of that. Truth be told, I am learning the use of a whip as a weapon. I was told that it is widely used by many tamers in controlling the animals," explained Balthazar. "I wanted to know how you do that and possible a bit of practice?" he asked in a lower voice trying to see Elric's stand in use of the animals for the sake of practice of a novice.
"Sir, with all due respect, a whip isn't a simple tool to use like a blade. It requires a lot of practice and one needs to register for its use. Tamers are allowed, but even we are under restrictions and can't harm animals except for situations when we are being aggressively attacked. The restrictions are much severe for its use as a weapon," said Elric trying to convince him against what he considered a foolish endeavor. He believed that with this knowledge Balthazar would at least back of for now and he could inform about Balthazar's intentions to an elder in the family.
"I already have registered as an apprentice under weapons master Leon for using a whip," said Balthazar opening the mail he received in the morning on his wrist device and showing it to Elric. "I am already familiar with using a whip a bit. At the very least, I know well enough to avoid accidentally hitting anyone with it," he continued with a smile.
"Hmm. Ok. I agree that you are qualified on paper, but it lies outside my daily duties. I am an employee and am not willing to do it for free nor could I do it when I am busy," said Elric. It was an attempt to irritate Balthazar so that he would leave him alone. He expected Balthazar to learn for a few days and then give up as taming required a lot of work and time to be spent on the animals which according to his observations, rich kids were hardly good at.
"Of course, I am willing to compensate you for your time," replied Balthazar. Any other young master of the family would get irritated and probably start warning Elric at this time but for Balthazar it was an obvious thing. He was an assassin who killed for money and charged based on the difficulty. Any change in parameters of the work, he would usually make a similar statement and request his employers to compensate for any extra work he needed to do.
Elric didn't know what else he could do to avoid Balthazar and finally accepted. "Ok, I will send you times when I am free and could have someone take over my duties," he said.
"Why don't we start today? I believe with Mr. Eduardo here, he could take over for you for some time" said Balthazar pointing towards Eduardo.
"I don't mind, Lucian. Hell, I want to see if you are any good a teaching?" said Eduardo without giving Lucian a chance to make another excuse. He felt that the training would be a good source of entertainment.
"Fine," said Lucian. "So, what do you know about taming?"
"Not much. Consider me a novice," replied Balthazar.
"Actually, do you have any interest in taming or do you just want to know of the use of whip in taming?" asked Lucian as he thought about Balthazar's request.
"The second part."
"OK. That makes it simpler. Most expect an extensive use of whip in taming wild animals but it isn't so. Hitting the whip is quite close to taboo in taming of animals," said Lucian.
"You don't whip them in taming. Even horse carts used to whip animals to make them speed up, right?" asked Balthazar. Though he had never seen it in real-life, he had seen it in vita-nova in his previous life.
"Wow! Many tamers also don't know this as one hardly sees animals used for transport these days," said Lucian. "What you told is true, but these are not the same as the whips we have in our hands. Those are shorter ones with dull end and don't hurt the animals like these. You can even use a rope in place of those."