Revolution (Book 3 of POE Chronicles)

Chapter 5 Meetings are never easy take 2

"The problem is, Miss Beckett." Kyle suddenly spoke up, as though he had been waiting for this moment for far too long. "That I have no problem at all with the plan, but when it comes to you, I am not so sure."

Cries of protest were immediately made, but I found myself feeling less than bothered by his attitude. He dressed like he was above everyone else, and also spoke like it. I would bet that he had never been outside of Pax and see what it was like in the citybases, or met any POE outside of the ones that are bound by SMS or UGE.

"Then what would you have us do?" I retorted, realising that no one had given me their last name and yet they all seemed to know who I was. I got to ask Tristan about this.

"The tricky part is we have to make the big reveal look authentic, as well as in a good light to push the public over your side." Kyle has begun to stand up and walk around the table leisurely, as though he was addressing a particularly thick group of people. "And I am not sure you are the one to pull it off."

By now Tristan was looking mortified, and everyone else was ready to jump in to reassure me. Stifling the urge to roll my eyes, I wondered if Kyle realised how much he looked like a toddler throwing a tantrum. I could see that his heart was in the right place, but his attitude needs some serious work.

"You met me for all but five minutes, and you already think you know what I am capable of?" I challenged, seeing his confident front faltered a little bit as my reaction wasn't what he expected. For someone who had dealt with the media for so long, he surely is one poor judge of character. Did he really think that he could raffle me with those useless words after all I had been through to come to where I was?

"Let us go through everything first before we jump into any conclusion." Eleanor intercepted quickly, forcing Kyle to sit down with one arm. The latter gave me a disappointed glance before settling in his seat again and Tristan shot me an apologetic look. I shrugged at him, there was no way anyone was worse than Gerald.

"Ignore what Kyle had said about you, but we do have to make sure that the exposure is done in a way that will not push the public into fearing POE." Eleanor said, "We need to strategize a little bit, and it has to be soon."

I nodded, my mind drifting the Academy and my friends in Ganesh family guard. "Does anyone know what is happening with the Academy?" I asked, despite the fact that I will have a full meeting with the UGE tomorrow anyway. Eleanor shared a quick look with the others and I knew that whatever they were going to say, I probably wouldn't like it.

"There are a lot of confusion and lock down about this," Eleanor began, "The fact of the matter is that no one really knows."

I blinked, disappointment flooding my heart. "How?" I asked, against my better judgment. Eleanor's lips pulled into a tight line as she carefully considered her words. I tried to get something out of her mind, but she had been taught how to guard her thoughts.

"There seems to be some kind of an impenetrable barrier around the entire Academy. No one was sure when it came up, or whether anyone from the disaster actually made it back. But it was ascertained that Mr. Andrewson was definitely in there."