mental link | Day: 38

[earthborn]

( Some of you may have noticed a fire, not too long ago. Or maybe you were busy, fair enough. )

[Shepard's broadcast is just that; open, conversational. Let's have a little chat, all of you. The fire last night burned through a fair portion of the Descendants' dormitory, destroying property and causing distress. Deaths? Don't worry about it. Shepard certainly isn't.]

( I would like to formally take responsibility for that incident. Don't worry, we didn't get caught, this isn't my first time setting fire to something-- no, Sam, it was fine, I had it under control. More to the point, we happened to acquire a bunch of junk, including some tech Pidge has been making good use of-- You're welcome, by the way. ) [This addendum delivered with no particular malice. All the blame and none of the credit, that's how it always goes. ( As for the rest, I have it; decent haul, some of which might be relevant, some of which might just be that I've stolen somebody's junk mail for all I know. )

[Always a risk with smash-and-grab]

( Anybody who thinks they might have some insights, feel free to have a look. )

Comments

[100mitsubishis]

[He almost doesn't 'say' anything, mostly because he's heard there was a fire started and nobody asked him for his help in stoking up the blaze. But also because he's not the really get involved guy, he's more the Godfather, waiting for folks to come to him out of desperation.

Regardless, tech can be fun. It might not have a steering wheel, but it's something.]

( You need copies of the tech? )

[He can make copies of the tech.]

[earthborn]

( That would be convenient, since you're offering. Yes. )

[More copies of the tech means more hands can figure out what it's for, or if it has anything useful about it, so far as intel goes.]

( Already passed some of it to Pidge, though, so you'd have to circle round there, to get the full package. )

[100mitsubishis]

[His copies will be perfect, but they will depend on what he's shown. Pidge will have to deliver the goods and explain every facet, let him touch it, consider it, get to know its inner workings. He's not a copy machine, he's an artist.

But Shepherd's part of his Brood. She should have an inkling.]

( I'm not offering, yet. )

[Kavinsky wants to test drive it first. But if Pidge is the way to go, surely the master and commander can pass on the message.]

[theycalledmeacurse]

[ This turn of events is not the least bit surprising. Rogue might not know Shepard very well, but the impression of her being someone who gets things done no matter the cost was quite a solid one. And, truth be told, she kinda likes it that way. ]

( So you're a thief and an arsonist. What else do you have on your resume, sugar? )

[sizeofyourbaggage]

[ Sup K don't mind Sam while he just focuses his attention on this, mind brushing against Kavinsky's. ]

( Not yet, huh? )

[ ...he is really proud of him for even suggesting it though. ]

[earthborn]

( Plenty of options, door's not locked. )

[There is the deep sensation of a sigh, somewhere far away and very tired. It's always something. And here it's simple; he wants. But what?]

( You gonna make me ask why? )

[100mitsubishis]

[It's purely cerebral, and yet there's the sensation that Kavinsky just put on a pair of sunglasses and sunk low in his seat.

Sam. Damn it.]

( Butt out, wingman. Big kids are talking. )

[And yet part of him leans into the attention, like the arc of a cat's spine under the right hand.

Only a part, though, and a traitorous, insolent part that the rest of Kavinsky would like to take out back and shoot.]

[earthborn]

( Long story. )

[Let's not beat around the bush-- this is business. And Shepard at work is not a joke, nor is she any kind of soft.]

( I'll tell you about later. For now, let's just say that I don't tend to make a lot of friends. )

[100mitsubishis]

[Kavinsky wants and wants and wants and wants. It gnaws away at him, that want.]

( No. I'm gonna tell you I want to see all of it. Alone. And I want to keep the stuff you cub scouts don't need. )

[Because he can make the demand, not because there's honest payout to it.]

[shri]

[ And by completely separate measure, Lakshmi is furious. Palatable to the edge of her mind as it reaches ]

( Did you take leave of your senses? Did you think, at all? Or did you simply rush off because it seemed a good idea and that was enough? )

[theycalledmeacurse]

[ Ah, one of those types. She should have guessed. ]

( You get things done. Trust me, that's something I can appreciate. And something I'm always willing to help with. )

[earthborn]

( You contribute to this mission, you can have it. After we're done on this planet. )

[The sensation of folded arms, steel bulwark. She's not unsympathetic, but sympathy doesn't get a vote.]

[earthborn]

( Oh I'm sorry, did I disrupt some plan of yours that you neglected to share with me? Kill a friend you planned on keeping longer than a month? No? )

[Sorry not sorry.]

( You don't like it? Work faster next time. )

[100mitsubishis]

[It's not really a negotiation. There's no one else here who can do what he can do. But, they are supposed to work together, and he did sign up for just such a gig.

Her promise is fair. Kavinsky doesn't really care for it, but it's fair.]

( Hey, Pidge. Wanna get wasted and play around with the new toy? )

[He's sort of talking to Shepherd still but mostly as a secondary listener on the call. His attention is turned elsewhere.]

[shri]

( I have made no secret of any of my plans. I had befriended Keya's Aunt, a high ranking member of their party, as some measure of use out of one of our own being killed.

Perhaps you forgot that it was one of their lives that was saved. That perhaps we could ask for anything from that.

But you might have ruined all of it because you didn't have the - what, patience? Ability to see five steps beyond yourself? )

[earthborn]

( I wouldn't make that promise so quick, Rogue. But I appreciate the vote of confidence. )

[She usually has to do more than instigate a small-time, if flashy, burglary before someone gets this impressed, but Shepard's not the kind to spend too long looking a gift horse in the mouth.]

( I mean, if that's really what does it for you... you are definitely in luck. )

[greentech]

( Intoxication and electronics don't mix. )

[ There's a beat. A pause. ]

( Maybe after I finish. )

[theycalledmeacurse]

( I like unique people. You fit that bill perfectly. )

[ She used to be surrounded by them; it's nice having someone like that in her life again. Nevermind the part of her that occasionally worries about how it'll all turn out. ]

( And I meant what I said. Sabotage, infiltration, interrogation - I've had experience with all of it. )

[earthborn]

( Impatience and destruction, That's me. Took you a long time to figure that one out, too-- what else are you missing? )

[Shepard feels it's probably rude to scoff in Lakshmi's face after this; she doesn't believe for a minute that gratitude, even for a life lost or a life avenged, would have gotten them what they needed. Or, maybe it would have, who knows, but only too late. This trip is long, but not infinite.]

( So, I made a judgement call, too late to take it back. What are you gonna do about it? )

[100mitsubishis]

[Pidge, Pidge, Pidge. Close to the right answer, but not quite. He'll help steer her in the proper direction.]

( I'm talking about something that will open up our minds. If I'm gonna copy it, I need to know everything it can do. )

[shri]

( I gave you the benefit of the doubt that you in some way deserved the title Commander. )

[ It's bitten out, hard between her teeth. ]

(Judgement implied you bothered to think, was there an impetus to pick a mourning family - a politically powerful mourning family?

Or did you just, oh, I do not know, draw names out of a hat for your idiocy? )

[earthborn]

( It's always good to have a diversified team. I like to handle my own interrogations, usually, but I'll grant that you do have a particular talent that makes you well-suited to the job. )

[How it all turns out? Shepard, buoyed by good fortune and her own sense of at least having moved something forward, doesn't seem to care.]

( Would you say that counts as torture, what you do? I like to keep it clean, as much as I can, but... Y'know. Circumstances, best to know my options. )

[greentech]

( Look, you can do what you want, but I'm not going to operate machinery while I think my hand is the coolest thing in the universe to look at. I don't want to break it before we even get anywhere... )

[theycalledmeacurse]

[ Torture. Even the word makes her uncomfortable, stirring up things she refuses to think about right now, so she shoves them all back down into the dark depths of her mind where they belong. ]

( It's not a pleasant experience, but it doesn't hurt. It's pressure more than pain, and it's quick. A few seconds is all it takes to knock someone out and get plenty of information. )

[earthborn]

( Since you asked so nicely: I'm looking for actionable intel here, and we have the least on that group. So I started there. )

[The threat is casual; had no one convinced her not to, she might have done more. She may yet do more. Who is going to stop her, and how?]

( Your way is slow, less violent, quieter-- cleaner. Fine, I accept that, in a perfect world you'd be right every time. But it is slow. You're more concerned because they lost someone recently, and they're in mourning, that it's inconvenient to your sensibilities, and ruins some efforts on your part. You befriended them, and that's understandable.

I'm more concerned that every single one of them will be dead before their next birthday, if we don't figure this out in a hurry. Because we will have to kill them. )