[DAY :043]

[nirsighted]

[Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Late in the evening, the pervasive thrum of Nirad's mental presence returns to Bearings. It winds higher - unwrapping, lengthening, widening: small flashes of silver, memories like the scales of so many fish glimpsed through the lapping water of some distance, unfamiliar water. A wet street reflects the glow of neon signs above it; a doorway, rain drizzling off the landing above it; a stream of traffic glittering through the half light--]

( Hi. We're back from following that Ahtaliah Ven guy. Aoba's head is hurting him so he's going to take a break I think but I guess I can tell you what we saw? )

[He doesn't sound hesitant so much as he does distracted.]

( Honestly I didn't see anything very interesting, but maybe it was a bad day for him? Maybe you can't be a bad guy every day of the week, right? Anyway, he worked pretty late then me and Aoba followed his car to a place where he got dinner. It's a nice car. He met with someone there. A lady. A friend, I think, but I don't really know. Maybe we should have followed her instead though because after they had dinner, Ven went home. So we have his address and how to get access to his building and I know which apartment he lives in and if we wanted to get in it seems like it might be pretty easy because he spends so much time at work, you know? I'm sure he's got some super high tech security at home but it's not like he owns the building so it's probably just inside his penthouse or whatever. Uh. Yeah. )

[BUZZZZZZZZZZZZ.]

Comments

[decommission]

( You guys weren't spotted? )

[ The part about Aoba's head hurting is a little bit concerning. ]

[greentech]

[ Pidge's own mental 'voice' rises to meet them. It's sharper and a bit more insistent, but fast and rushing and splitting in a thousand different directions before coming back into a focused point. Glimpses of half-finished electronics, fingers tap-tapping across a keyboard. Sparks. ]

( I've been busy. What's the deal with this guy in the first place? )

[nirsighted]

( Oh no I didn't say that. But he won't remember so it's fine. )

[nirsighted]

( He's the guy behind Ven Diagrams - that company that makes all that tech and mental link chips and stuff. I mean it's not the only one that does it, but definitely one of the bigger developers I guess. Uh. A little while ago one of his warehouses-- )

[an image of an explosion, a flashes of media coverage, an image of a well dressed handsome man who wants justice and then-- nothing]

( We think he found out something about who bombed stuff and was keeping the information secret so we tried to get access to it but couldn't. So he might still know something about H+H1. )

[decommission]

[ Welp. Aoba promised he'd only do that as a last resort, but there's a definite flash of discomfort on Steve's end. ]

( Who was it? )

[wrackful]

( You know, I wasn't going to ask, but: what's with the buzzing? )

[unfavoured]

[ WHERE'S THE UNFOLLOW BUTTON ]

[vocalis]

[ The man himself. ]

Ahtaliah Ven.

[ Aoba's mental voice chimes in, weak and riddled with pain, but he's here and listening. Some of that pain spills over and into the link. Sorry, Steve and Nirad. ]

Don't worry... I didn't hurt him.

[decommission]

[ Aoba can probably feel Steve physically wincing through the bond, both at the information and the sudden headache. ]

( You sure you're up for this right now? [ Talking. ]

[greentech]

( Mental link chips? Do those do what I think they do? )

[ Ha. Interesting. There's a ripple of curiosity. ]

( So you've just been tailing him? Why not actually ask him some questions? Or maybe we should try and break into his private files? )

[vocalis]

We did ask. Sort of.

[ Aoba comes in late, mental voice a bit frail. His head still hurts, and the pain he's in carries over the connection with his answers. If Pidge wants to hear any more, she'll have to deal. ]

[greentech]

How so?

[ Ow. Pidge winces on the other end. What happened?

[circumspector]

[ Oh she - wants to tip a whole bottle of pain medication down his throat right about now. Trying to concentrate on programming with this constant ache pulsing at the back of her mind. ]

(Aoba... do you need anything? Is Nirad looking after you now?)

[vocalis]

[ He would probably do that if he could, and like it in more ways than one ugh why is he so gross ugh. ]

Don't worry Angel, I... I'm fine. Or I will be. Yeah... he brought me some medicine. I'm sure it'll clear up in a few hours, like last time.

[ The last time he used his powers, she probably thought the shared pain was hangover. It's definitely similar. ]

[nirsighted]

[A hum like a mental question - ????????? - that flickers then recedes, the mental buzz undulating up and down and up-- it quiets abruptly. Not silent, just smothered.]

( Oh sorry. I think a lot. )

[nirsighted]

( Aoba went poking around in his brain. )

[Neat, right?]

[nirsighted]

[BUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.]

[vocalis]

[ ENJOY YOUR MIGRAINE. ]

[circumspector]

[ Damnit, Aoba. ]

( If you're sure there's nothing I can do... )

[ fret, fret, fret, fret. Nirad you better be taking good care of him. Says the girl that can't even look after herself but still. ]

( The mission went okay, there weren't any complications? )

[vocalis]

It's fine... it'll pass.

[ Like the last time he used Scrap, though... he's not mentioning that now. Steve probably wouldn't be happy with how much he's been using it lately. ]

I couldn't find anything about H+H1 in his mind, or what Ven Diagrams is hiding. I might have, if I went in deeper... but I would've risked hurting him. So I stopped...

[ There's guilt, between the throbbing. A sense of failure. ]

[decommission]

[ probably not ]

( You made the right call. ) [ Stopping before he did more damage. Steve's thoughts are firm on that, certain against the peaks of guilt and failure. ] ( You use that power to help keep us safe. If you'd hurt him - Ven's a powerful guy, someone woulda noticed and started looking into it. ) [ And potentially lead them back to the Bearings. ]

( We can always go back and check out what he's got in his place.

What about the woman Nirad mentioned? )

[greentech]

( Uh. That's. Kinda weird. )

[ Not really neat so much as horrifying. ]

( Did it work? )

[adamance]

( Why would you choose to follow the woman? Did she seem of interest? )

[Is this Nirad being Nirad or did he, being himself, leave out critical information?]

[sizeofyourbaggage]

[ Sam's paying attention to the rest of the conversations, filing all of the information away, but for the moment he focuses on that first bit. ]

( Will you tell Aoba that if it gets too bad, I'm around to help? )

[vocalis]

It's not as messy as that sounds... I just projected my consciousness into his for a little while.

[ So poked around in his brain. Accurate. ]

Even that way, I couldn't find anything about H+H1. Either he's not associated, or I failed to find out what his company is hiding.