ScoundrelQueen

A Truly "Gifted" Life (Ignore post count)

Ranch House, Location Unknown

Mina sighed, pausing by her room to grab her backpack out from under the bed. "I don't think he's gonna join us," she said, shouldering it and leading Drake toward the trap door in the ceiling.

"The old Larke" was a considerably tougher pill for her to swallow than the lozenge she had passed to Drake.

There was Larke as a child, who had made her help him bring back a sparrow who had snapped its neck against the glass window of his parents house; the Larke who had called them a team, who was sure that there was no problem they could not solve together. And a slightly older Larke, who had taken her to their final school dance. Then Larke the Medic came, and he learned that some things could not be fixed, even with the both of them.

Her last memory of Larke was his lifeless face staring up at the ceiling. A nearly week-long binge had outpaced even his healing factor, and she found him on the couch with blue lips. She had shocked his heart back to life again and again, sitting over him for half an hour, waiting for his body to fix itself.

She left, after that: Into the military, into the Ash. The further she could go, the smaller her chances of ever seeing him die again.

Fate was a real bitch.

"You can talk to him," she said, puling down the trap door so that a ladder descended from the ceiling. The smell of blood and bile was strong upstairs. "I uh- I generally try not to."

She ascended the steps to find Larke just where they had left him, slumped against a wall, his hands and feet tightly bound. She did not look him in the face as she moved in to patch his wounds, and he offered little response save for a muffled grunt as she cut away the dirtied bandages around his torso. His eyes were half-shut, his head lulled back against the wall- his skin was warm enough to indicate that his fever had not broken. The wounds had closed almost completely, though, and she started to wipe down the gore with a wipe.

"You got a visitor," she said, nodding for Drake to come in.

A Truly "Gifted" Life (Ignore post count)

Ranch House, Unknown Location

Mina lowered her hand from the door frame and fished in another pocket for a small, white box that rattled when she withdrew it. She moved to stand near Drake and offered a thin green tablet. It was a common pill- The Erubescan equivalent of an aspirin, intended as a sublingual for quicker results. It was also worth almost as much as petrol, out here. "It'll help with the pain. Pop it under your tongue," Mina explained, and placed it on the table beside him. "It won't make you groggy," she added as an afterthought, aware of how the boy had previously reacted to being offered strong painkillers.

After tucking the box safely back in her pocket, she placed a hand on Drake's shoulder. "He showed up a few weeks ago, looking for Helena. Wearing a uniform- Toby and Dawn sensed him pretty far out, and we um..." She shook her head, and gave Drake's shoulder a soft squeeze. Drake's recollection of meeting Larke made her chest ache- That was the Larke she had known; all stupid and heroic and taking on more than he could handle like an idiot. That wasn't whoever was in the attic.

"We didn't know who he was, that far out. But we knew he was coming to hurt us, and that he wouldn't die, so... We had to shoot him down. And after he woke up, he put up a helluva... He came to before we had a chance to finish searching him, and he had a knife on him we'd missed. I was resetting a broken bone on him, and he just turned on me like that- So I shocked him, and now..."

Her gut tightened up, and she stepped back toward the door. "We can't let him go, because he knows too much. And we can't kill him- I can't. But Montana shattered one of his wings so he couldn't make a break for it. And Spire... Spire got out of line a few days ago..." She cringed at the mention of the incident, but it needed to be clear that the condition Larke was in was not the result of a group decision. There was probably some answer to all of this, but all of them seemed to end with somebody dying.

"It's a bad spot, Sugar." She nodded down the hall, inviting him to follow with a wave. "Because I don't wanna see him a prisoner. And it would kill me to see him dead. But... We can't release him. It's him, or Helena and everyone else here. And I- I'll just let you look at him for yourself. I have to change his bandages."

A Truly "Gifted" Life (Ignore post count)

The Citadel, Erubesco

This was why they needed "wash your hands" signs, Lulu thought. If members of management could not wait their god damn turn in an official meeting, then how was anyone supposed to do anything? Lulu exhaled silently, making an extra effort to keep herself from visibly tensing as Aran carried the group away on a side tangent. She opted to smile instead, only turning her head to the side slightly as she tried to figure why what he was saying needed to be said right this second.

It did not.

In fact, she had written an entire agenda of when things needed to be said, and "other speakers" was right at the end.

But this was a meeting. With a visitor. And that called for decorum.

"I understand your frustration, Alchemist Sairan," Lulu replied, making note of the complaint on her tablet, "And we will definitely take that into consideration. In fact, we'll be taking several things from unshceduled speakers into consideration during the open forum section of this meeting."

She looked toward Lovette and placed a gentle hand on his wrist, leaning back in her chair a bit to reach. "It's a pleasure to have you, Commander Lovette. And yes, it was..." Still with the same friendly smile, she glared at Aran with the look of someone in the best possible position to place a choke on his budget "It was an unfortunate phrasing. I assure you that all practices in our research department are ethically considered prior to their start, as well as periodically reviewed."

With a reassuring nod, she pulled out the chair to her left, labeled with Madison's name card. "But thank you for your concern, and such a lovely introduction. We look forward to working with you in the coming months. Now..." The screen changed to a slide labeled "Medical Research." "Commander Green has requested to share some information regarding the Medical branch."

A Truly "Gifted" Life (Ignore post count)

Ranch House, Location Unknown

Mina wanted to tell him to sit down.

She wanted to wipe that moral-superior, judgmental attitude off of his face with the back of her hand, and scream, "Do you think I like this?" He had some nerve for someone who had been dragged across the Ash and looked after for weeks, to wake up and start making demands; as if some boy too young to even legally buy spray-paint back in Erubesco would have the right to "assess" anything.

And Larke was his "good friend."

That hurt; a distinct, bitter surprise that stuck in her throat. She did not know how he knew Larke, but Drake did not know the man like she did. Arguably, nobody living knew the man like she did. And here he stood, presuming to be the only one with a stake in the matter. "You cannot fathom what I let that man drag me through," she wanted to say, and pull out the laundry list of every damn time she had pulled him out of the fire in his life.

But she took a deep breath. Because "Do no harm" included not screaming at recently ressurected minors.

"I dunno how you know Larke," she said, moving in between Drake and the office door. "But I do know that he's... He's different than he used to be, okay? I know him too. Known him for a long long time... But he, ah... He showed up, armed to the teeth, meaning to do us all harm. Tried to take Hel away. He's not who he- Well, who he's been."

It probably was not her call to make, at this point, but Drake was a stubborn ass. He'd get up there sooner or later, and the last thing Dutch needed was another hole in the roof to patch.

"I'll take you up, but there's one condition, alright? You won't like what's up there, but you will not do anything about it until you've come back down and talked to the lot of us about it. It's easy to call 'wrong is wrong' when you weren't the one he tried to to knife. So you're gonna hear us out, and we're gonna make choices as a group. We clear?"

A Truly "Gifted" Life (Ignore post count)

Ranch House, Unknown Location

Mina was about to suggest an aspirin for Drake when Dawn took off in a hurry. A moment after, there was a knock on the door. Drake took hold of Mina's busy hands while she had slowed to better listen down the hall, and now– Well, it hardly took long for her to place the look of concern on his face. He said he wanted to go into attic.

When it rained, it certainly poured.

She pursed her lips, and her gaze wandered upwards. There was an elephant in the room, or perhaps more accurately, a songbird in the crawlspace, but there were times and ways to address such careful matters. "Drake," she said, tucking her pen back into a cargo pocket. She looked him in the eyes, this time looking for more than irregular pupil action. "I won't lie, alright? I'll promise that. There's been a... a situation that came about while you were down. But I don't think now's a good time to just run up without information, okay? I know he's-"

Mina swallowed.

"He's not a bad man. But... I don't think that's a good idea just now. You've missed a lot, and I'm gonna need you to hear me out before you go acting all brash."

A Truly "Gifted" Life (Ignore post count)

@LorelleQuips Approved. What a good chicken nugget.

A Truly "Gifted" Life (Ignore post count)

Capital Base, Liberty

Everything in Erubesco glittered, Beretta thought. The women, the dresses- Even the candies she had sampled as part of her "cultural crash course" training were flecked with edible shimmers. The music was rich and came in so many kinds, and the clothing was made of materials so grand that even touching the smuggled swatches had felt indulgent. It was a horrific waste of resources, all in all.

But as toyed with her hair in the bathroom mirror, she could not swallow down the small, evil part of her that wanted a piece of it. Liberty was nice, but it did not shine. Her room was shared with her partner, Mayday, and consisted of a pulldown bed, some drawers, and a bathroom. The kitchen was shared with others in the building, just down the hall, and all of it was just... there.

Her life was lived in shades of black and white and grey and metal or plastic or glass.

She stood by he drawers as she donned her dull black suit- her practical black suit, she reminded herself: A suit that looked sleek, was easy to move in, and that had been made for a member of Liberty by a member of Liberty. It was a part of a beautiful machine; a sense of togetherness far more endearing than any amount of gems or golden dust. Beretta nodded to herself as she fixed her sleeves. Yes. This was good- This was who she was.

Agent Beretta, assassin and defender of the communal good.

She plunked on to put on the awkward, stupid shoes she was supposed to be practicing in- Black, as well, but with tall heels that elevated her to several inches beyond her height. While she had not been given any specifics regarding the mission, she had been assigned the unfortunate footwear. They were no good to run in.

Finally ready, she took the stairs down alongside a few of her neighbors to catch the shuttle toward the city center. She would be getting off a bit before her usual stop for a meeting in the Espionage Headquarters today, but it would take her close enough. The surface shuttle, a sleek, matte metallic creature with standing room only by the time it passed her stop, came to a silent halt outside. She and the others lined up beside the door, pausing to allow an older woman to enter first. "Good morning, Agent," said the operator, and Beretta returned the greeting with a smile and a nod before taking her place down the aisle, holding onto a beam overhead for the short ride.

At the two subsequent stops, everyone shuffled to the sides to make room for new passengers. Everyone worked together to make it work. Everyone offered polite smiles.

The shuttle was crowded, but not cramped by the time it pulled up to Beretta's stop.

When the doors opened, the throngs of passengers parted away from the doors to allow those getting off to exit. The park where they had stopped was a pretty place, full of neat, practical groundskeeping and a few basic playground and exercise elements for citizens to use in their downtime. The Espionage Headquarters, about as nondescript as could be expected for a building filled with spies, was a short block's walk away.

Beretta walked in, cleared the security sensors around the doors, and was in with a quick flash of her credentials- Her fully-fledged Agent credentials. Someone looked at her a moment too long for comfort, perhaps because she was walking like an injured deer in her stupid shoes, but she was allowed to pass.

Because she was a Liberty Agent.

She proceeded to the elevator as per her instructions, and only when the doors had closed did her nerves settle in. She had been told there would be some kind of observation today- Would she be in trouble for not knowing how to walk? Or for still being frightened to drink the alcohol? The young Agent switched from foot to foot, and nearly twisted an ankle as she headed out into the short hall past several armed Agents.

She made out a familiar shape through the wall, however, and her discomfort was replaced with pleasant surprise. There was someone else there, too, but...

"Agent Kahn!" she exclaimed upon entering, only to snap into a stiff-armed solute when she realized whom the other woman was. "C-Councilor Laxton. Agent Beretta, reporting. I am.., apologizing for the outburst. Ma'am."

The Runes (In Need of Players!)

It's been fifteen minutes. Headcount: Who's still here?

The Runes (In Need of Players!)

*thrashes*

A Truly "Gifted" Life (Ignore post count)

“Knights Elcove,” Commander Botrelle greeted, returning Darrien’s gesture with a polite nod. A few others stumbled in before the scheduled start time- Saika, for once, arrived in a punctual manner. That was a shock, and she acknowledged it with an impressed quirk of one prim brow. “Knight Saika.”

The projector was on behind Lulu, with an opening screen announcing “Quarterly Research Discussion,” in bold font, followed by the date and start time. At this rate, the time was becoming irrelevant, and the sound of her red-lacquered nails tapping against the tabletop was doing little to assuage her annoyance. Despite having no realistic hope of punctuality from the majority of the representatives, she still managed to be let down. She frowned slightly in response to Cadriel’s apology, and gestured to the array of empty seats. “It’s alright, Cadriel. It seems like the majority of us are running a bit-”

Kora tromped in just before the clock passed into the definitive “late” zone, and that seemed like enough bodies to start the meeting. Simon took his seat just as Lulu was standing.

Those who trickled in later may have noticed a distinct lack of eye contact from the Commander.

“Well, good morning again, everyone. And thank you for making time to meet up today. As you all know, there are a few matters to discuss, including budget grants and recent assignment distribution- but first, some housekeeping.” She switched to a new slide with a tap against the screen of her tablet, this one reading “Notice Posters.” A stack of papers was pulled from her portfolio case in a variety of colors and handed to the first full seat to her right. “Take a few of these, and pass them down. Post them around your departments, please- We’re having some issues with health and safety. I know you’re all adults, but these issues have become quite serious:

“Please remind your staff that casual Friday does not apply to those working in radioactive or biohazardous environments. Moreover, sandals with socks do not qualify as close-toed shoes.

“Lunch fridges are for lunch and research coolers are for research. Egg salad does not belong in the morgue units, even if they are closer to your assigned lab than the breakroom. We’ve only had one case of adverse side effects from cross-contamination so far but…” Lulu grimaced, holding up one hand with a questioning gesture. “Really, people. It isn’t a complicated thing to ask.

“Finally- And I wish this didn’t need to be said, but according to the amount of bacteria going around unchecked, it does- wash your hands. We all have advanced degrees here, and this shouldn’t be something that has to come up every quarter.

“So, enough of that. Hang the posters, and demand a higher level of maturity from your people.”
She tapped her screen again, and a slide reading, “Upcoming tasks” popped onto the screen. “So, most of you should be receiving new or updated tasks in the next few days- There’s a commission for a new strain of gladiator cat being requested, an assignment regarding ballistics research for those of you in the explosives lab, but the rest are mostly continuations of things you’ve already got on your plates.

“And speaking of plates, there is another ball coming up in the next week. Everyone here should have received an invitation, as well as a few others to distribute to your department members as you see fit. As always, there’s going to be considerable media coverage, so choose people who represent you, and represent this department as a whole, in a positive light. And that’s all I’ll say regarding that matter.”

Before she could skip through the next slide, one Commander Madison Lovette entered in a tizzy. Lulu nodded to him with a warm(ish) smile and extended a hand to shake in the front of the room. “And here’s the guest of the hour- Please welcome Commander Madison Lovette to our base. He’s coming to learn about- Well.” She flicked the presentation to one that simply said, “Visiting Commander,” and stepped to take her seat. “I’ll let him have the floor. Commander Lovette?”