Pneuma paused, hovering in the air quietly, turning to gaze in bewilderment at the brilliant explosion from the spot he had just come from. As he gazed toward the explosion, he felt the presence of his teammates surrounding him at this, the agreed upon point of rendezvous.
"It is done," Sheik said, smiling at Mimic, who grinned widely with the face of Danny Hearn.
"Oh, yeah..." the shape-shifter said, brushing off his clothes. "That was more fun than I've had on a mission in a while..."
Rose glared at her co-worker, raising an eyebrow.
"What?" Mimic asked, shrugging. "Did you see who that was back there? That was Kristogar Velo! I worked with him in the government back in the day. I would've loved to stop and catch up... see what he's been up to as of late."
"I think it is rather obvious that Mr. Velo has been working for MBL Consulting," Sheik responded, walking over to Pneuma's still-hovering form. "Apparently, our employer couldn't trust the job to just one firm..."
"Could've been more than one," Mimic surmised, changing his face to it's normal featureless expression. "...employer, I mean."
Sheik stopped at this, pondering. "A very astute observation, Mimic," he said, running his hand over his long beard. "However, our loyalties lie only to our employer and to his demands."
As the Sheik extended his hand, the quiet spirit known as Pneuma slipped the leather-bound book into his tanned palm. As the Arab's eyes scanned the tome, his expression remained completely unaffected by what he saw.
"So, what's the verdict?" Mimic asked, his hair changing to a stark red color.
"It is the Liber Vitae," the Sheik answered monotonously. Then, looking in the direction of the cemetary, where the explosion had just lit up the sky, he spoke once more: "We must return to our Berlin safehouse. From there, we will contact Omicron, Xyber, X-Acute, and Arges in Brazil. Let them know we've found it and that they can fall back."
"And in the meantime?" Mimic asked.
"In the meantime," Sheik said, handing the book to Rose, who nodded and slipped it into her bag. "In the meantime, we return to Switzerland and find a way to make contact with our employer. With any luck, we'll be able to arrange an exchange sometime within the next few business days, before MBL Consulting realizes that we've given them the slip."
Mimic popped his neck, his face now that of a thin, long-haired Irish grudge band drummer, as he walked to the road, beginning his hitchhike to the safehouse. Pneuma sighed his assent and vanished from view, heading back to the safehouse. Rose immediately darted back into the forested area, attempting to find the best route back. When they had gone, the Sheik sat calmly on the ground, crossing his legs in a meditation position and closing his eyes. A whispered incantation and a deep breath later... and any evidence that any members of the Geneva-based superhuman organization Project Omicron had once stood on that spot vanished without a trace...
