DAY :027

[onemind]

[A day after the new arrivals show up and before anyone has really had a chance to settle in, every member of the nest gets an Extranet message at the exact same time from an untraceable source. It doesn't show up in your inbox; instead it opens in another window - don’t mistake it for a pop-up because if you close it, then you won’t be able to respond in line. The chat window's cursor blinks at you as the words scroll across, line by line; the message is accompanied by an unblinking blue eyeball avatar:]

XSome kind of brain trust you areX.

XWe've seen you sticking your noses where they don't belongX.

XOf course, they're not really your noses, are theyX?

XRemind us again: what it is that you think you’re trying to doX?



((ooc: feel free to use this post to respond in-line to EXTRAAA, as well as chat with other hosts via the mental-link or personal interactions. please be aware that this post has a time limit and all responses from extraaa will cease end of day 8/19; this doesn't mean you can't continue to tag this post afterward, just that extraaa will likely have gone silent by that point))

Comments

[decommission]

[ He appears unfazed, though he does frown a bit as he opens his mouth. ]

You getting anywhere with them? [ Mr. Blue Eyes over there. ]

[unfavoured]

About as much as you would expect from a bunch of cryptic assholes pretending they're helping. [ That means no.

She's also the worst person to handle delicate subjects with words. ] Did you?

[decommission]

[ Arms cross over his chest, both eyebrows raising. ]

Kinda. [ Not much, but - ] They know we went poking around Diagram's place during the match - and they're pretty sure the head honcho's got a good idea of who's responsible. [ Which was pretty much what they'd been thinking too when that whole operation was set up, with Ven pulling his reward for any info.

Getting back into HQ again looking for clues isn't going to be a walk in the park, but - ] I was thinking... maybe we oughta pay another visit to that factory worker.

[ He hadn't been willing to talk that first time, but he'd been suspicious as all hell - and maybe Steve's a little less reluctant to lean on him a bit this time around. This wasn't just an empty building that got bombed. ]

[unfavoured]

[ Show off. She gives a glance to the device again before shutting it. She wasn't lying - Parker is many things, but a liar isn't one of them - when she said she had little interest, but the fact was, sitting on her hands just was not something she was prepared to do. Too boring. Besides, she might find out a starting point the more she knows. ]

Of course they know. Whose bright idea was it to send untrained people to an infiltration mission?

[ She is blaming Angel for that one. It is a thought interrupted by Steve's idea. She blinks slowly at him, like she is making sure those words came out of his mouth. She sighs, looking away from him again to the wall because it's somehow more interesting than Steve. What a nice person. ]

Were you? Why?

[decommission]

[ He ignores her mission commentary just as surely as she avoids looking at him. Cutting to the chase here. ]

Well, if Ven's not responsible, but he does know something - and he's not sharing with anyone else, don't you think it's gotta be something that would make him look bad? [ A beat, one hand raising to rub at the back of his neck. Is this making sense? ] That Faram guy's the one contact we have, and we already know where he spends his time so - can't hurt to see if he's willing to talk this time, right?

[ The guy had said they weren't the only ones keeping tabs on him. ]

[unfavoured]

[ Parker sits with a lean forward, elbows on her knees as she rubs her face tiredly. She has never been one to sleep much, nor properly, and much less here with the feeling of other people swimming in her head. She is getting better at it, every day learning how to push and block thoughts that aren't hers, of fighting the urge that is not hers to connect. But it is tiring and it makes her restless and moodier than she normally is.

It is the single only reason she had engaged in the infiltration of Ven's building. Something to distract her. It went as bad as you would expect it to. But she wasn't invested in it, not in the way maybe others were. Her interested in it has died out since then, as she realizes that none of these people could tell her the answers she is looking for - what are these Hosts, who do they serve, what is their purpose? Right now, that is her only interest. To dismantle the Hive.

And so, her impulse is to tell Steve to go away. She holds back, however, slowly dropping her hand from her face to look up at him. ]

I meant, why do you care?

[decommission]

[ His brow creases, searching her face as if he's not sure that he heard her right, or he's struggling to understand what she means. A week earlier he might've paused to answer for a different reason. Their mission on Concordia hasn't been sitting well with him for some time. Without any clear cut sign of their enemy, the creature that attacked him back at the camp - their actions feel like meddling. The people of Opia are wrong to treat their androids poorly, but defending their rights is only one part of the end goal.

He can't say he's motivated by their orders.

His eyes narrow, features hardening. ]

People died. I need know who's responsible. [ He's been sitting around long enough licking his wounds. ] I'm gonna go see what Faram has to say.

[ With or without her. ]

[unfavoured]

[ That is the whole problem, isn't it? Their. Not something Parker is willing to take up as hers, however. Her style never was based on taking up missions for the higher ups. She has always carved her own. Following orders is not something she does well unless there is absolute certainty that it will align with her own goals. And right now, it certainly does not - especially considering that she doesn't even know what their goals are.

Their enemy might just as well be her ally.

Parker's face remains unchanged at his words. People died. People always die. Not to say she believes in the sacrifice of innocent lives, but she does not completely eradicate the philosophy of see no means to an end. And it doesn't matter to her, not one bit, that one of the people that died was someone belonging to the Nest. Yes, she had felt it, like everyone else, but she was adamant in completely ignoring the loss that doesn't make any sense to her. This isn't your mind, she wants to yell out. Not your mind, not your heart. They are hers and hers alone and she damn well will make sure they will continue to remain unadulterated by instincts that are not hers. ]

And how are you going to do that? [ She tilts her head at a slight angle, eyebrow raised. ] Annoy him to death?

[decommission]

If that's what it takes. [ His mind's made up. He can figure out a plan on the way.

Without another word, Steve starts heading toward the elevator. Maybe he can catch the guy on his way back from work. ]

[unfavoured]

[ That was not the answer she was expecting. Parker raises her eyebrows at his outburst (kind of, not really, but she sees it, the determination), staring at the wall like it's going to talk back to her or something, and then back to Steve as he heads towards the elevator.

It goes by, a beat. A long moment, that's almost too late. There's a deep, annoyed sigh. ]

Don't be an idiot. [ She drags the words, annoyed. Slowly stands up, a little slower than normal, but that's what you get when there are scratches and bruises under the whole of your back. ] If you go there without a plan, you might as well lose the only clue left.

[ And the only reason there is any interest in her part is that partially, she wants to know who these people are for the pure truth. The other part is that there is still hope that maybe she can understand what is going on a little better. ]

[decommission]

[ His hand's already pressing the button to call the elevator. He frowns at it, then turns to look over his shoulder: ]

How would you do it? [ She's the one that broke into Faram's place the first time. Parker's got a bad attitude, but she's got half a clue about this mission work. That's why he came over here in the first place. He's no dummy - he'll gladly take her help, he's just not going to beg for it. ]

[unfavoured]

I wouldn't get involved in the first place.

[ Why? Again, while she thought once it might have been a good clue before, there is not a lot of interest after having talked to the oh so ominous people. But she sighs anyway, walking up to him to where he stands. ]

You follow him instead of staking out his apartment. But considering everything, I'm sure he's going to be paranoid, so following him is not going to be easy. You see if he meets with anyone regularly. If you can't get anything from him, at least you might get lucky with one of his contacts.

[decommission]

[ Ignoring that first part.

He steps inside the elevator, pressing down on the button to keep the door open. ]

He oughta be getting off work in the next hour. [ Following him home without getting spotted during rush hour shouldn't be too hard, plenty of crowd to blend in with. The he's just got to get lucky that Faram's going out for his noodles tonight instead of ordering in. A beat, and he eyes her, letting his hand off the hold door button. ] Thanks.

[ For the advice. It's sincere. ]