Cleaning Up After The Ancients - Chapter 124

Chapter 124 - Morning After - Part 2

Once, years ago when Xiaoyi had taken her first job with the government her mother had quoted an old proverb to her. When on a tiger's back, it is hard to dismount.

At the time she had thought she understood, and had taken that assumed lesson to heart by building a foundation of information and favors that should have guaranteed her a way to safely dismount the tiger if the need ever arose.

With current hindsight however, the tiger her mother had been warning her about likely had not been the government itself, but the various circumstances she might encounter working for them.

Having what she heavily suspected was ten years added back onto her biological clock was a heaven sent miracle. But it was the type of miracle that would risk her disappearing into a research lab somewhere if the aging higher ups in the government ever discovered it had occurred.

It had taken her most of her bath so far to calm the anxiety that had begun to gnaw at her over that thought. An embarrassingly long time given the only one likely to notice her change given the cover her usual makeup provided was her mother.

More worrying was the question of just how she was going to keep Eventus from talking about what he had done in earshot of others who might put the clues together. So far it was likely everyone, like her, had just taken his words to be the type of rhetorical bragging that followed health and wellness claims across the ages.

However that likely owed as much to the Ancient investing so little emotional weight to the capability as it did their own obvious misunderstanding of just what healing actually entailed. Though there was a nagging suspicion in the back of her mind that either the Atlantis expedition or the SGC had purposefully excluded the mention of certain capabilities from their reports about the Ancients.

She could see why they might have done it of course, the potential that capability represented was such that the bare knowledge of its existence would consume diplomatic discourse to the point where war would be all but guaranteed.

A plan solidified itself in her mind at that thought, and with a sigh she pulled herself out of the faux wood tub and began the annoying process of styling her look up to the professional diplomat level she’d been stuck using every day since the Atlantis expedition had returned through the Stargate.

Finishing up a half hour later with a last light fluff of her hair, she exited into the main room, noting with some amusement that the traditional looking breakfast that appeared to have been set out in the interim of her time getting ready was still completely untouched.

As tempting as it was to sit down and partake, it had already been long enough since she had received the request to meet Supervisor Bai that the additional delay of doing so would likely further sour what was probably an already bad mood. 

Her walk to the small building the MSS had taken over was relatively short. And she offered a sympathetic smile to the pair of period costumed security officers guarding the door as she entered.

The single room inside was rather bare for what should have been a field operations control center, the only signs of even moderately advanced technology in sight the ceiling lights and a handful of portable typewriters on tables up against the walls that had probably been dug up from one of the studio's prop rooms.

“Shen.” Bai Xiuying greeted, motioning for her to take a seat in the swivel chair across from the central table he had set himself up in.

“Supervisor Bai.” Xiaoyi returned as she sat down, taking a moment to glance over the typewriters before continuing. “An interesting solution to the information problem.”

One that she suspected was only likely to work so long as Eventus didn't turn his technology's sensors directly towards the borrowed building.

Bai nodded. “A necessary one, the monitoring systems installed on the villa had no wireless access points. Yet the Ancient was able to completely override the feeds in a sustained manner that still has anything digital pointed in the two bedrooms general direction playing back cat recordings.”

That was somewhat more thought out of an attempt to monitor Eventus than Xiaoyi had assumed, though it didn't really make the attempt itself any less stupid.

“Interestingly it seems whatever method he's using to detect and counter our monitoring doesn't seem to register or interfere with purely analog methods like chemical photography.”

Xiaoyi frowned slightly as several possibilities for that oversight flashed across her mind. 

“It's probably overconfidence at play.” She offered, knowing he wouldn't believe she didn't have at least that level of insight into the way the man thought by now. 

“Our analysts agree.” Bai said, giving her a tight smile. “And if the Atlantis files are to be believed, it's something of a general failing of his people.”

“Does that have something to do with why you called me here?” Xiaoyi floated cautiously.

“In a round about way.” Bai confirmed. “For a number of reasons your success with seducing the Ancient last night was considerably unexpected.”

There was a tone of slight derision attached to those last words that Xiaoyi didn't like, but that was true of the man’s way of doing things in general.

“Permission to make the attempt was granted by Minister Xu himself before we even arrived here.” 

“Yes.” Bai agreed in that same decisive tone as before. “And your past dalliances in no way suggest the capability to leverage things into the more long term favor we are hoping for with this.”

Xiaoyi just barely stopped herself from rolling her eyes at the obvious attempt to prompt her into overstepping herself. “Gaining the Ancient’s long term favor is simple, he hands it out like a grandparent passing out red envelopes to their grandchildren on new years.”

Of course, she was rapidly coming to understand what mattered was not his favor, it was his interest. Though she wasn’t planning to share that with the MSS since they might use the information to try and sideline her. Something that was absolutely unacceptable given it would increase the risk of them discovering what Eventus had done to her last night.

“And yet he discounts the overtures of my agents to focus his attention on you." Bai pointed out drolly. “You must have some idea why that is?”

“Of course.” Xiaoyi agreed, mentally going over what bones she could safely throw to the supervisor since there was no possibility he would believe her if she tried to claim she had no insight into the matter. “From what I’ve put together, Eventus likely believes your agents are making their overtures as part of their job instead of out of an actual desire to sleep with him.”

Whoever had decided on the subservient serving girl approach was a fool, sure statistically speaking it had the best record of success when dealing with the rich and powerful. But even a basic psychological profile should have been enough to show the Ancient had more in common with your average overworked schoolteacher than he did those types.

“Which they of course are.” Bai muttered, angrily clenching the arm of his chair hard enough that the cheap plastic armrest gave an ominous creak. “But for him to discount them entirely because of it is annoying.”

That could likely be laid on the feet of the agents passively waiting for Eventus to call on them instead of actively pushing to converse with him. However mentioning that would risk some punishment descending on the women, and that could backfire onto Xiaoyi’s own plans in all sorts of unfortunate ways.

“From now on you should attempt to smooth their path.” Bai continued. “Invite one of the agents to join your activities while bedding him if you must.”

“Why the sudden pressure?” Xiaoyi inquired, clamping down on the instinctual cringe that followed the thought of once more being forced into such an arrangement. 

“The Americans discovered something big enough that they are risking a military lock down of a portion of their capital to secure it.” Bai answered after seeming to consider her question for a moment. “They even pushed for us to contact the Ancient when their own methods proved unable to. Which leads our analysts to believe whatever was discovered is likely Ancient in nature.”

Xiaoyi frowned at that, Alien technology brought back to Earth through the Stargate program was covered by the gate alliance treaty. The same didn’t hold true for Alien technology discovered on Earth. A purposeful loophole that had been agreed upon by the various governments involved in hopes that some historical discovery like the Antarctic Outpost might provide them a unique edge.

“I’ll see what I can do.”

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Author’s Notes: She won’t, but she’ll certainly make it look like she’s trying. After all, she's not in a position where she can say no to such things, yet.