mental link: day 34

[erbier]

[ 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!

Comments

[frakkincylons]

( Asking for another bombing? Not worth the risk of losing anyone else. Not when she might already know. )

[ not when he already told Kellix the weird thing about him. he'd said he wouldn't report him, but he didn't say he wouldn't tell Y. so that's. awesome. hahahahaha. he hates this planet. ]

( Something about biological AIs freaked Kellix the frak out. He hit the emotional overload kill switch. Not sure what that means, but he was done after that. )

[snaphiss]

( How difficult would it be to pull off a successful concert? If we're likely to fail that, there's no point in trying in the first place. )

( But if it's easy, you should. We should. )

[adamance]

( If our identities are already compromised, there's no point in risking ourselves or others when we have other leads. )

[Lexa is comfortable in admitting that their identities are compromised.]

[deployed]

( She could just be using you to stage another bombing. There's no guarantee we'd be able to prevent something like what happened at the parlor. )

[adamance]

( If bodies continue to drop around us, people may begin to wonder if we're the culprits. Especially if our identities are easily found to be false. )

[Lexa knows this particular woman is new so her tone is flat and commanding, but not harsh. She doesn't know how much people know about what happened before, or some of the grief that people are still feeling.]

[snaphiss]

( You don't honor the dead by becoming toothless. )

[Meanwhile, Mara's first response is always harshness.]

( There's no way to complete this mission without risk. It's better to know where it is ahead of time and minimize it. )

[nirsighted]

( Maybe we should follow this Y person and get some leverage on her or something... )

[An uneasy, vague suggestion - like he's not completely sure of it himself.]

[adamance]

( Did I say we don't involve our teeth? I said we don't risk the rest of the mission. There's a difference between being forthright about our ambitions and being reckless. Being here is a risk in and of itself. )

[snaphiss]

( We're always at risk here, yes, so an attack could come at any time. If defense is your great concern, better the attack come when we're prepared and ready. )

[erbier]

( So he dislikes you and the humans dislike him. )

[ She hates this planet. What is wrong with these idiots. ]

[erbier]

( It seems rather elaborate, I would need a great deal of support. )

[ Also she doesn't really want to do it. ]

[erbier]

( I would like to know where she goes, yes. I have only ever encountered her in a crowd. )

[ It afforded a kind of safety, no one wanted to make a scene, did they. ]

[erbier]

( Correct, but if she is staging another bombing she will do it regardless of me. )

[erbier]

( You are right, I have no desire to risk the others. )

[ But she's perfectly willing to risk herself, so... whatever. ]

[deployed]

( If she does, your name won't be attached to it. )

[ though that being said— ]

( They could be targeting you. )

[snaphiss]

( But would a failure be taken as a break in identity, or a false weakness we could use to our advantage? )

( We could put on a bad show and present a front of vulnerability and disorganization to draw them out. A good performance isn't the goal; no one cares about that. No one of any substance, anyway. )

[erbier]

( They can target any of us to find the others, yes. )

[ Well, that's where her mind goes with it anyway. If one cover story is compromised it is not hard to simply follow one of them back to the Bearings and find the others. ]

[erbier]

( If I told her I would pursue it, I would have a reason to contact her again. I could leave this interaction more gracefully. )

[adamance]

( You speak as if it's only us and them. The attack won't be coming at the Bearings. )

[adamance]

( We'd be foolish to believe that we aren't compromised. Even in a world of limited technology like my own, someone couldn't pretend to be someone else for very long. They'd be found out.

We should proceed assuming that the same has happened to us. They don't know where we've come from, but that's our only armor at this time. )

[If it were really just Ilde or just one of the Sams, it would be different.

But they were all contacted.]

[adamance]

( I agree with this idea. )

[Even if Nirad managed to deliver it in a rather Nirad way.]

[nirsighted]

( Uh I might be able to do it. )

[No he can't. Y's robot friend would spot him.]

[nirsighted]

[A small prickle of pleasure or pride.]

( Thanks. )

[adamance]

( If nothing else, we may be able to shut down their suspicions in us. )

["Shut down" likely means something else in Lexa speak.]

[nirsighted]

( Yeah maybe. That'd be nice... )