mental link, day 32

[headinjuries]

[ Sam crashed hard after the vigil, because between all the lies making him feel like he was going to puke and trying to pick them apart giving him one mother of a headache, staying awake felt like something you only do if you really hate yourself.

Do all newfound psychic powers suck this bad? He was fine with just flying and blowing things up, thanks. ]

( By the way, just figured everybody should know: Seong-Hye Ngazi is full of crap, the Public Safety Commission isn't half as gung-ho about bringing the bomber to justice as she makes it sound, and I'm like ninety percent she actually knows who did it, but that part I'm not quite positive about.

So, you know. In case anybody wanted to break into her office or stalk her or something. I hear some of you guys are actually good at the cloak and dagger stuff.

You're welcome. )

[ He can be found in the common area of the Bearings, scrolling through news reports and radiating pure frustration, if anyone would rather comment to his face instead of over the link. ]

Comments

[batmotif]

[If his next line reads as, "It's because I haven't done it, yet", well. It wouldn't be far from the truth.]

(I won't draw any attention. It wouldn't be the first time I've done something similar, and it won't be the last.)

[Sounds like he's already made up his mind on the matter.]

(Besides, what you're suggesting has the potential to draw just as much attention, if not more.)

[Basically, what Sam just said.]

[adamance]

( If we can openly manipulate the results of the Bout it Out tournament, I believe we can easily do the same here. )

[A beat.]

( You weren't here for that, but we have succeeded before. It was other matters that earned us attention. )

[batmotif]

(Each situation is different, and requires a different approach. Maybe more than one. A success in the past doesn't necessarily mean a success in the future.

What I'm saying is that there's room enough for two paths. Limiting ourselves is pointless. That and I'd rather not have to deal with the consequences of a broken woman, whatever powers you're considering using.)

[adamance]

( We did not break people before. We won't this time, either. )

[It's really as simple as that. There's no physical pain involved. She believes they can be as subtle.]

( Why do you assume the worst with this method? )

[batmotif]

(Because it's playing with fire. And because I can't trust anyone to be completely in control of their powers and the potential for damage they can cause, whether or not they believe otherwise.)

[At least he's upfront about it.]

[adamance]

( Even with the evidence, it will likely prove prudent that she will need to be compelled to move forward with the hidden information.

Are you prepared for that outcome? )

[Her trust is based on results, so she won't fault him for that. Without those results, she would never, in a million years, trust Ren or Petre with this.]

[batmotif]

(Compelling meaning what, exactly? It all depends on exactly what everyone's powers entail, and how they're going to be utilized. I'm not signing off on torture.)

[If he were to be truthful, saying this is a little hypocritical of him. The last man he "interrogated", he hung the man upside down and broke his arm, fractured a couple of his ribs. Landed him in the hospital.

But that was, as Alfred had been quick to tell him, going too far. In retrospect, that's not the kind of thing he wants to rely on, the kind of person he wants to become. Force and intimidation is one thing, cruelty is something else altogether. He still struggles with it, but being so far from home, Bruce tries to his best to remember the wisdom from that night.]

[adamance]

( We will test and train whoever we utilize to plant suggestions without breaking the person in question. That would be a poor tactic. Ren has reason to find whoever we seek. Petre wouldn't have offered if he didn't want to. ) [It's hard not to hold it over Bruce that she knows these people better than he does. She has done a great deal of the legwork, keeping an eye on things, and has put plans in motion to improve their tactical advantage so they don't fail yet again.]

( I used a harsh word. "Rip." I believe that's where you got lost. We are fighting a war. This world is just a casualty of it. )

[greentech]

( I already said I'd try and remote access some of her stuff. Can't be that hard. Way easier then trying to break into some office building, too. )

[batmotif]

(If you think you can do it without setting off any security, then I won't advise against it. Even so, I still think it would be wise for someone to be there, to take a look around.)

[Detective work sometimes means that you just have to look at the scene itself. He may come up with nothing, but at least he can rule it out if that's the case.]

[greentech]

( I'm pretty sure I can handle it. )

[ She's not a detective herself. Just very curious and inquisitive. ]

( I guess I won't say looking around in person would be a bad thing. It just seems like there's way more of a chance of getting caught. )

[batmotif]

[It's a fair concern. Bruce just expects everyone to understand that he plans on being subtle, as if it's universally understood.]

(I've done something like this before. I know there's a risk, but if it's possible, I don't see why we shouldn't try.)

[Of course, he has no idea what the level of security this building might actually entail, which is something he'd have to scope out first.]

[greentech]

( Weird. You don't look like the kind of guy who breaks into building. More like the kind of person who owns the buildings that get broken into. )

[ Sorry, Bruce. ]

[batmotif]

[It's okay... it's an accurate enough estimate of someone who only got to arrive here in his business suit.]

(You know what they say about books and their covers.

I know I've already asked for your help before [the whole building him a grappling gun thing] but you think you might be willing to lend a hand with the building's security if it comes down to it?)

[greentech]

( Yeah, why not? If it helps us wrap this whole mission up faster, I'm definitely in. )

[ The sooner they finish, the sooner she can start figuring out how to get home. ]

[frakkincylons]

( If you're talking trying to manipulate the tech to get to her personal files, don't. We already have two people flagged for trying, we don't need another. )

[ One whose super power is communing with anything technological and the other who's a 2,000 year old AI and sort of robot prophet. The tech here just isn't the same, and it takes native people who know it to get through what's more high security. Another flag and they might have Public Security beating down the door, then everyone in the Nest is screwed. Which is why they need EXTRAAA. ]

( Angel and I have a set up out in the commons room. Come by and I'll fill you in. ) [ by 'setup' he means 'four huge monitors, a bunch of wires, and a lot of junk food wrappers in a small nest on the couch'. ]

[greentech]

( Manipulate? Not exactly. )

[ There's a very discernible flash of irritation. She doesn't like being told that she can't do something, especially something she considers herself very good at. ]

( Unless cracking into it using a computer is "manipulating". If I can deal with alien computer systems, this can't be that much harder. But sure, fill me in. )

[frakkincylons]

( Hack, go head first against their security, do some kind of technokinesis thing, whatever it is you want to do that would involve poking at their digital fortress without asking nicely. Hell, even asking nicely is probably too much at this point. )

[ why are tech nerds always the first to get defensive about people doubting their skills? god, he misses just being a sports jock. ]

( I'm not saying you're not good at it, but you're also not the only one who's good at it. ) [ please just take his word for it, given Angel's in a coma and Rhys is, well, Rhys, and that leaves just Sam to make a show of it and his kind of show is really freaking weird. ] ( I'm from a place more advanced than this is, and I'm used to being able to just take over any kind of computer I can so much as touch. Cyber crime is about as bad as murder is, here. If you break into their systems, they'll know you did, and they'll know where to find you, and when they find you, they find the rest of us too. )

[greentech]

( They won't find me. )

[ She's being a bit brusque, but she feels like she's actually trying to make progress and instead there's someone here trying to put the brakes on before she's even had a chance to try. ]

( Just because you haven't been able to do it doesn't mean I can't. I've had to splice my computer into totally alien systems before and I've made it work! )

[frakkincylons]

( Famous last words. Seriously? )

[ gods, he misses angel. she'd handle this better than he does. especially considering events of late and the fact they have lost people here. plus the part where EXTRAAA's already figured all of their identities out without breaking a sweat. ]

( You're not getting it. Even if there's a 1% chance you screw up, that makes all of us, all 27 people here, in danger. And yeah, that's great and I'm sure you're very good at what you do. I've hijacked an entire alien battlestar with my brain, while in a coma, before I knew frakking anything about computers. ) [ honestly not something he likes to talk about because then there's the 'what the actual fuck are you' that follows it, but it seems important to give perspective here. not only for himself - ] ( Angel's spent her whole life basically living and breathing code. It's not about if you can get in, it's about how closely they're watching, and considering it's the frakking Public Security Commissioner, I'd say it's pretty damn close. )

[nirsighted]

[A buzz like an insect humming louder in the back of Pidge's brain, slowly sorting itself out into syllables, then words:]

( Be really careful. Some of this stuff is pretty tough and I don't think we have enough money to bail you out if you get caught spying on the public security commissioner... )

[greentech]

( Why does everyone here keep acting like I can't take care of myself? )

[nirsighted]

[Whoop. There's a tender nerve.

Nirad makes up for it (or attempts to) with a rush of something like sympathy - a buzz of anxiety, a chopping lake full of rippling uneasiness.]

( I just want you to be careful. It's not very comfortable when someone gets hurt and your brood would be upset. )

[A low, unspoken certainty: he might get upset too. He's supposed to avoid that. He's supposed to be better than that, experienced with loss, but it's all just a tender bruise waiting to get jabbed with something sharp. Please don't do that, Pidge. He's a flincher.]

[greentech]

[ Deep breath, Pidge. He sounds - well, feels - sincere. She bites back her irritation and her urge to keep snapping. She's already on edge from being stuck here. She just doesn't feeling like she's being held back for no good reason. ]

( I know. I just don't want people to get the wrong idea about me or what I can do. )

[nirsighted]

( It's okay. We'll figure it out. Your broodmates will and then everyone else will. )

[That anxious buzz undulates, pitches briefly higher then levels out. He seems certain enough about that.]

( I'm sure you're really good at things. If you want I can show you some of the stuff I've collected from here? Maybe you can use it for something. )