[ COMPLETED ]
German Translations Provided By @vanessanats
BOOK 1 of the ORPHIC series
ZEITGEIST
/ˈtsītˌɡīst,ˈzītˌɡīst/
the defining spirit or mood of a particular period of history as shown by the ideas and beliefs of the time.
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"Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed."
North Dakota, America January, 2004
BY THE THIRD DAY OF the mission, Agent Martinez finally announced that they were officially snowed into the cabin. They had attempted to open the door, and immediately failed. They could see a sliver of forestry out the first floor windows, but the van was half-way buried, and no one was interested in shoveling away that much snow. So they were more or less stuck. And to top off the STRIKE team's luck, Winter was unstable- confused- and had to be reminded what the hell they were doing in the middle of a goddamn storm.
Verfall knew Winter could become that storm itself.
She hadn't slept, not that she needed sleep yet. Winter had awoken as Winter, and completely forgot the existence of his prior identity. Verfall had been expecting it, so she wasn't surprised when he gazed at her with a touch of coldness.
Volya hadn't shown his face to either weapon, and Verfall wondered if he really did feel guilty. None of them ever did- it was always a facade, a manipulation tactic. But Volya's deliberate avoidance of her was, well, it was a blatant act of guilt. Her handler had no reason to feel guilty for administering punishment when she'd clearly deserved it.
She still wasn't quite over the fact she had almost killed him.
Agent Martinez, Agent Lee and Agent Rumlow were circled around a dining table, eating granola bars. The three looked tired as the sun dipped under the horizon.
Agent Westfahl clambered down the steps later, still half asleep from his nap as he grabbed whatever coffee was leftover. He drained it without a second thought, running a hand through his hair as he stretched.
Agent Rollins was seated on the couch of the living room, flipping through channels boredly.
Verfall was seated on the ground beside him, with Winter to her right. He was wrapped in a blanket- a makeshift burrito that Volya had mandated.
It wasn't like the Commander hadn't left his room- he did. He just tried his best to stay out of sight of Verfall, which consequently included Winter since they were practically attached by the hip.
Agent Rollins paused onto a dog show, and Winter leaned forwards with awe.
Verfall's eyes scanned the fluffy creatures groomed to perfection, and she found herself leaning forwards too. They watched it for a few minutes, before Agent Rollins got bored of it and turned to the next channel- a blinding green field with two teams tossing a diamond shaped ball.
