The last operation hadn’t gone completely to plan, but Himiko had still gained something of value from it. Though one of the accompanying Gemini agents had fallen, she was able to glean some important information. She had gotten a hunch during her first encounter with Gemini that they were operating shorthanded and undermanned. The fact that they only sent one other agent with Mika to meet with potentially the most dangerous esper was telling.
Though it also got her mind working, it was also possible that Gemini had other motives to send such limited resources to protect Mika. If protecting her was their true objective, they showed it in a funny way. Leaving it in the hands of a bunch of freelancers with minimal Gemini support was not something you’d do if you truly valued someone. If it had just been any random small fry job, Himiko wouldn’t have batted an eye. The fact that it was a known piece of information that they may end up face to face with Oros meant one of two things. Either Mika was seen as expendable by Gemini, or Gemini wasn’t capable of operating in more than one place at a time.
Both would serve Himiko’s goals regardless of what the actual reason behind it was. But that could be left for later. There were more important things to take care of right now. Figuring she would swing by The Great Escape and see if there was anything interesting she could dig up.
Being in mid walk as she abruptly came to a stop, her thoughts interrupted by the feeling of a familiar presence. Himiko could feel that something was in the air, as she let out a sigh. It was about time she showed her face, especially after having been a no show at the meeting point.
"Seriously?" Oros called out from deeper in the alley.
"You have a four paragraph starter and the entire thing is an inner monologue? Very well, I’ll set the scene." Oros stepped out from behind a dumpster. The alleyway was filled with shadows, but nothing could truly hide the gigantic mop of pink hair on her head. The graffiti on the walls was layered like the pages of a book. Every time a new gang took over they had to tag their turf with something. The most recent addition was the name “Aigorost,” which was made of crudely sprayed tentacles that were strangling the tags under it. The paint was fresh, and there was an aerosol can in Oros’s hand. Perhaps that was what gave Himiko the impression that she was around.
Turning to face Oros, Himiko eyed the fresh tag left behind on the wall, the aerosol being all the evidence she needed for determining just who the latest artist had been. It appeared that there was some meaning behind the wording she had plastered across the wall. Despite being Mad, Himiko had found Oros actions to always have some underlying reason. She never seemed to do anything that didn’t have some reasoning behind it, she always had a rationale, even if the rationale would be considered insane by others.
“Aigorost eh? I see someone has taken up a new hobby in your free time, I don’t foresee a future within the field of art for you, a bit of an endless quest, one that will be eclipsed by your other goals” Golden eyes tracing over the words plastered across the wall with the crude tentacles lacking any kind of artistic refinement. Oros was a lot of things, but a great artist didn’t seem to be one of them.
"Whatever you say, Goldie Glocks. Just tell me if you remember what I wanted you to do." She shook the rattle can.
Her eyes now shifted to meet Oros as she let out a soft sigh in response.
“The better question would be, did you remember what you wanted me to do as I held up my end of the bargain and all I found was a group of naughty nuns, a bit of your fan-fiction list and whatever you presumably stashed within the hidden compartment, now as for your little nickname, I see you have been busy and stumbled across the rather vile title bestowed upon me” Crossing her arms over her chest, clearly not thrilled about Oros throwing that detestable name out into the open. It was time to get to the bottom of this, Oros had left her hanging once already, so now it was her turn to answer the question.
But the bigger question for Himiko was where had Oros been when the meeting time had arrived. Not to mention did she know about the group of Nuns activities and that they had planned the ambush.
"I’m asking you what I wanted because you did it wrong!" Oros whipped the empty can at Himiko. She tilted her head aside letting the can whizz right by her ear, her eyes tracking it briefly before it impacted the ground behind her with a rattle.
"I told you to bring Mika Fang to the church alone. You brought her, the angel, and a slew of freelancers. You got all of GEMINI involved and someone ratted your plan out to the hand. If you want to know why things went tits up, it’s because you couldn’t follow instructions."Giving a shrug of her shoulders, Himiko straightened out her head with a small smile clearly hidden beneath her mask..
“I don’t see what the problem is, one less GEMINI agent to worry about, besides I never thought you’d be one to be concerned about either GEMINI or freelancers being present, the more the merrier if you ask me, it just confirmed that GEMINI is more rotten to the core then I initially believed, since the information was spread so quickly with only a very select few being privy to that information” Not seeing much of a problem with anything she had done personally. Though perhaps she had misjudged Oros, she never took her as one to be cautious or hesitant. At the end of the day, Himiko had gained more profit than she had anticipated, even if that profit was information only.
After all, what did Oros have to worry about?
"You think I didn’t know the secret agents had a bad actor? The only thing you confirmed is that we can’t work together. I gave you a simple task and you fumbled it like a virgin dropping a condom between the cushions. Talk about killing the mood." Oros grinned.
Lifting up her left hand, she gave a wag of finger with her right hand on her hip
“You and I have a different definition of what a failure is. It was quite successful on my end, even if you chickened out because of some agents and freelancers crashing the party, but your loss is my gain this time around” "I’m a chicken? Does that make the rest of you ants, or grain?" The Mad esper didn’t stop grinning.
"Doesn’t matter. IYou failure was so spectacular it brought a smile to my face. I might be willing to give you an extra chance, but you gotta earn it, alright?" Pausing for a moment as she gave it some more thought. After mulling it over, she figured it wouldn’t hurt to at least hear out Oros on what she wanted her to do this time around.
“Now, we both have different agendas, but I’m willing to hear out what you have to offer when it comes to your ‘earn it’ task.” "I think Pax Septimus doesn’t have enough relationship drama in it." She drew her sword and gazed into its surface.
"Any time I eavesdrop on you guys, you’re always trying to kill this one, screw over that one, flex on another. When you’re nice, it never advances past friendship. Where’s the romance?" She slid her sword back in its sheath.
"I want you to get into a relationship. Shouldn’t be hard with all the lonely losers around. If you can get someone to be your F buddy I’ll consider taking you on again. "Narrowing her eyes as she looked Oros in the eyes, it wasn’t a request that Himiko had ever anticipated coming from someone like them. But at the same time, was it really such a surprise? Raising an eyebrow as she came to grips with the outlandish request.
“My, my….if you keep up that kind of talk, we might have to change your name to ‘Oros the Horny.’ What do you gain from this setup? Does it fulfill some deep down secret desire you hold dear to your heart? To relive the one that got away?” "I have my reasons, that’s all you need to know." Oros folded her arms.
Being somewhat bewildered but amused at the same time by the request. It would likely be an easy enough task, she was right about one thing. There were plenty of suckers and losers in Pax Septimus. All as easy as the last to pull the wool over their eyes if you just knew the right buttons to push and the right strings to pool.
“You know, you have a point, in the world of espers there is never any room for romance, or a future to dream of, they act so dreary and just accept their inevitable and pathetic early death, very few have the greed, the desire and the ability to see the forest through the trees. Life is a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving to death.” "Yas, yaaas!" She reached her hand out like a sith lord compelling their son to join the dark side.
"But make no mistake, Goldie Glocks. This is not a mere excuse for you to hoodwink some pleb. You need to make an effort to form genuine feelings for them. As much as you possibly can, at least." The mad esper understood that Himiko would likely never love someone as much as she loved her ‘wealth,’ in whatever form it took.
"Because if the world is filled with starving idiots, isn’t it about time you feasted!?"“I’ve been feasting my entire life, whatever I desire, I make it mine through my own means, the only genuine feelings I have, are the ones that exist for my ultimate goal, some believe money is all you need, that money is the only thing that holds true value, but they are wrong, I come from money, I have had money, no…the true thing that I desire is ultimate knowledge, it is far more valuable than any treasure or money, to pursue objects of knowledge, or objects that hold some sort of special connection are the true wonders of this dreary world, do you really believe some piece of scum would ever be able to draw out even the smallest inkling of compassion from my golden heart?" cooly responding as Himiko saw very little value in love and in feelings. Emotions that often got in the way of her goals, and made those that she dealt with be much more troublesome than it was worth.
Sure she had a fondness for certain people, but they provided her with useful knowledge, tools or entertainment and had a value attached to them. A value that she set upon each and every person she ever met, it only took her a short time of evaluating before she labeled someone. Most of it was for her own personal enjoyment, and so far out of the espers she had come across only two had drawn serious interest and intrigue. Puddy and that Clockwork boy, which Himiko had noticed Oros also seemed to have some sort of interest with as well. A coincidence that Himiko knew had meaning, which only made her more interested in the both of them.
Especially Puddy, Himiko wanted to pull out the darkness within her, something buried deep within that tormented girl's heart and soul. To free her from her shackles, and let her experience the true greatness of life without the machinations of GEMINI looming over her.
"To believe anything about your ‘golden heart’ would require me to dedicate headspace to it first. I’m not even willing to untangle half the things you say. But your actions? I’ll be keeping a close eye on those." Oros turned around and dismissed Himiko with a wave.
"You know what I want. Up to you if you go through with it. We’ll talk again, either after you cuffed yourself to someone or on a future battlefield." She walked away. Her hair swung behind her like a massive pendulum.
“I’m sure we will see each other sooner rather than later…”Watching Oros leave, Himiko let out a sigh and gave a shake of her head. Dealing with her was always a hassle, but she at least gained something from each encounter. As far as going through with what she wanted, now that was a whole different situation. Himiko doubted she could ever truly have feelings of that level of intensity. It would always be a farce, an illusion to progress her ambitions further. Regardless of whether or not she went through with it would remain to be seen. But the one truth she did know, they would cross paths again. It was inevitable after all, especially with the current world events.
Himiko had some other business to take care of, turning to take her own leave. Mulling over the conversation and request that had been made to her.
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