******
Elijah stood in the rising elevator. He gazed out the window on the city descending beneath him, mixed emotions flooding through him. I've come this far, he thought. I can't lose resolve.
Victor, facing the doors, spoke, "Are you certain you want to do this?"
Elijah shot him a look. "Don't question me. Not now. After all of this work, you want to just give up?"
"No," Victor said with measured calm, "I simply want to make sure that you are certain."
"Of course I am!" Elijah snapped, soft brown eyes lighting up with irritation. "I've brought us this far, haven't I?"
Victor turned towards him, and Elijah felt a chill as the tall man's icy stare bored into him. Even with the intensity of the gaze, Victor kept his voice passive, "This is not something that should be taken lightly. You need to know that."
Elijah hung his head. "Yes, Victor. You're right." He raised it again, feeling a surge of determination. "But yes. I do understand, and I don't intend to hesitate."
Victor's gaze softened, and he turned away, with a look on his face of… Elijah couldn't quite catch it. Sadness? Before he could further contemplate, the elevator came to a stop with a slight shudder. After a soft ding, the doors slid open, and Elijah's eyes lit upon the council chamber he had not seen in years.
Forgetting about the conversation and with nervous energy coursing through his body, he stepped into the circular room. He took a deep breath, trying to ensure that he didn't get too excited. Stepping up the ramp, the soft lighting illuminating the room, he saw at the points of a crescent shaped table two cylinders rising out of the floor on either side of an ornate wooden podium.
Elijah cocked his head as he recognized the crisscrossing of lights and colors, resolving into the form of a young Franklin Lange, creator of Haven and the man who carried the title of Citizen One. Elijah smiled, drew in a shallow breath, and said, "Hello, Father."
Uprising Page 93