station72 | mental link: day 34

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mental link: day 34

[ It is actually quite late when Ilde's soft voice moves through the hosts, her scent of smoke and earth. She is at a club somewhere deep in the city, dazzled by noise and light, something you are free to establish if you look for it. ]

( It has been suggested to me by a hacker named Y that I throw a concert to lure our bombers out again. )

[ This part is forthright, a statement of fact with no value attachment to it. ]

( I believe she is questioning who I really am. If I refuse this idea, I may encourage that. )

[ This may not be strictly true, but it is how Ilde has perceived their conversation. ]

( She seems to know something, but is it worth losing my guise? If not, how am I to refuse this suggestion and maintain it. I do not know if she is a part of the group who contacted us before. She may already know I am false and this is all a game. )

OOC: link & all threadjacking here very much encouraged!

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( Maybe if someone can give me a quick getaway, but if they're too close they'll mess with my ability. )

[There's a low, churning sensation - someone chewing their lip, tongue running absently against the backs of their teeth as they think. Nervous tics, indecisive.]

[ A light touch, offering to soothe. Praise and pride that he would offer himself to her goals. ]

( I see. I will inquire among the hosts. We do not want you to be hurt. )

[ And by we she mostly means I, her possessiveness flaring at low intensity. ]

( Okay. Just let me know? I should be able to follow her no problem. --How did you meet this person anyway? What are they like? )

( Some of the local children introduced us. )

[ She says children when they're the same age.... ]

( They look up to her, I think they wished to impress me. They tell me she is an excellent hacker, with much significance. )

[A tiny spark. Piqued interest.]

( Oh that's neat. I wonder if she's actually any good. )

( I am not sure how to tell, it is out of my depth. )

( I might be able to check. I can do some hacking. She might not notice. )

[Pick, pick, pick, the sensation of a nail digging at an old scar. He rolls the idea around. It might be dangerous. He's not really that good, but he cold erase that he'd been there. No one would have to know, would they?]

( Would that be safe? Perhaps we should speak with Sam. )

[ Anders, implied. ]

( It's probably fine. But sure we could. He seems good at that kind of thing. )

[Probably.]

( I do not know enough myself. You could tell me more about it? )

( Oh. )

[He hums, a murmuring note of something like surprise. A tug of uncertainty like some wind changing direction and checking across the face suddenly.]

( Sure I could tell you about the basics. It might be easier if I just showed you though. Less complicated that way? )

( Yes, then we will decide what to do next. )

[ And by we she means she will, don't worry buddy. ]

[Good. He isn't very good at decision making but this? Telling stories - sharing things. That's okay. He's pretty good at that.]

( All right. I'll come find you. It's easier to do in person. )

[He can do that pretty well too: follow the thread of her mind with a little concentration. It makes for a strange sensation - a slow building of Nirad's mental hum at the back of her mind as he focuses his attention on her, plodding along at a steady pace as he worms his way through the world here to meet her.]

[ She is still covered in sweat and glitter when he finds her, alone on the rooftop to be with the plants, it's where one should always expect her to be. The sun is just starting to rise, she watches its alien glittering through the cracks of the alien city beyond. Silent a long moment before she turns her head, and then remains so, ]

( Hello, Nirad. )

[It smells clear up here - as clear as Condordia's able to anyway: something sweet and green punctuating the salt tang of synthetic machinery. They're alien smells, but they aren't bad ones and he can appreciate that, as pretty in its own way as the sliver of sun beginning to eke its way through the city's close knit skyline.

He wanders toward the small shape of her in the half light, loitering unbothered at her side until she thinks in his direction.]

Hi.

[He sits down on the edge of the planter, no ceremony.]

Are you okay?

Edited (html why) 2016-09-18 17:17 (UTC)

[ She says nothing at all for a long moment. ]

Yes. Merely tired.

[ Her exhaustion is about as remarkable as taking note of the weather. She is always tired, bone deep. So she simply shrugs, sweeping her hair off of her neck to let the breeze catch on her skin. ]

I am happy to see you.

[ What else would she say when he has offered to be so helpful. ]

[There, a small lick of pleasure in the string-thin bond wound between their minds. Oh. That's nice of her to say. He rubs his arms absently, momentarily faltering over a response - and then Nirad simply shrugs and settles where he sits like he's acclimated to his own skin.]

I'm glad you came back okay. We need to be careful. I think we're getting close to some dangerous people, you know?

[Sometimes it woke him up in the middle of the night: that gnawing, bone deep anxiety. The closer they got to finishing their mission here, the more dangerous anything they had to do was going to be. He doesn't like the idea of her getting hurt. --Of anyone getting hurt, really.]

[ Of course the pleasure is there, she knows about him. The awareness is a mixture of sharpness and sweetness, a ribbon of satin that can be soft to the touch or tight at the throat. Both are useful, and so at least her attention is not feigned. She knows exactly how she became this way and cannot entirely regret it, she knows the value of death and adulation. They make a hypnotic perfume... ]

That is our goal, yes. [ She agrees, there is no rebuke in her tone, merely an airy reminder. ] I am doing my best to tread carefully. That is why I reached out tonight.

[ It isn't in her usual habit to look to anyone, there had never been anyone to look to, but now there is the Hive, the Nest, the Brood. All whispering, all with skills and advice... She cannot rely on them too heavily, there is a need to self-actualization, but there is also plenty enough to be learned when she is ignorant. ]

[He's nodding in agreement, a faint bobbing of the head as his fingers turn in his lap: picking absently at his cuticles, scraping the edge of his thumbnail along the lines of his knuckles. It's an unconscious, uneasy compulsion like scuffing a callus over softer skin.]

That makes sense. [After a second, he turns his hand over - across his knee and to her, palm upturned and fingers soft.] I can show you what I know. It isn't a lot, but it's something.

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erbier - 2016-09-27 01:08 (UTC) - Expand

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nirsighted - 2016-09-27 23:27 (UTC) - Expand

What would you need to pull of a uh... quick getaway?

[ He pops in like an unexpected song blaring on a fifteen-year-old girl's blog. Those nerves, that hum, it's rubbing off on him. ]

[There's an answering buzzing resonance, an easy warmth. Good. He likes Aoba hanging around in the back of his head.]

( I dunno. A jetpack would be cool. )

[ The beat of his frequency drops for a moment. He doesn't find the suggestion amusing... okay, maybe a little. ]

Right. I don't think they have those here.

[ As flat as his voice sounds, there's a returned tingle of warmth behind it. He likes Nirad hanging around in his head too, even if he won't verbally admit it. Gotta stay on task. ]

In case we can't find one, I can probably stop anyone from chasing you down.

( Sure if you want to. I think it'll be okay but you can come hang out with me if you want to. )

[Not gonna turn that down, even if it means making things a little tougher. Slipping away as one person is easy. Two is kind of hard. But that's okay; he's getting better at doing things that are tough.]

[ He makes it sound so casual, like they aren't risking their lives trying to track down sensitive information. Like it's a... a... date?

No, he can't allow himself to think of the word. Not in a way that Nirad would hear, anyway. He'd turn red. ]

Okay.

[ He's already turning red. ]

[Whoa don't turn red, it'll make Nirad turn red and then they'll both be-- his face is hot.]

( Cool. I'll let you know when I'm going to go. )

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