The dinner announcement came as something utterly unexpected. Rather than Harrington's excited tones, the calm accented voice of the General drifted through the intercom speakers
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The page she'd been writing on was full of strikeouts, looping cursive, additional adjectives crammed in between words, taken out, and replaced by entirely new verbal flourishes.
And that was just the notes on what she'd observed. The completely non-existent wizard fanfiction was completely not in the sheaf of parchments she slipped into the bottom of the box in her closet under the guise of retrieving her knitting needles.
Beside the needles was a small plastic pouch, with a post-it note reading "Rewards". Inside were two metal sticks, with blades at the end. Knives, to be blunt, though that was a distinctly inapt thing to say about fresh blades. Besides, while her sylladex required none of the usual coaxing of, say, Dave's, which she sometimes suspected he kept around only for ironic purposes, she knew a trick or two. Bladewands it was. She held one up; the light flashed off the surface.
Seeing Rose was always relieving, especially after what had happened last night, but after the previous shift, Lily felt especially eager to be in the other girl's company. It wasn't like she expected Rose to explain anything--she seemed just as ignorant about the secret workings of the facility as Lily herself, though last night might have changed that--but just being there was a comfort. Something was wrong with Heine. She knew it. Something was wrong and there was no one to turn to
( ... )
"Well," she began, in preparation to nimbly evade Lily's actual question. "A great number of things happened. None of which appear to have effected impending doom upon myself or anyone else. That is to say, everything is fine."
It was less fun talking to someone who might not latch onto every detail that Rose said and twist it into something completely different. Whether that was by cluelessness, irony, or whatever cryptic nonsense came from Jade's poorly-hidden prescience. Rose kept talking. There was something in the story that would be a better distraction than the usual conversational approach.
"We had a job to do, and we did it." She raised a hand to her throat. "If we didn't, there would be consequences. They put collars on us, and if we tried to take them off or run away, they'd kill us." Lily hadn't exactly explained her experience with collars, but it was possibly similar. "Could we be on your planet?"
Any relief Rose's presence had brought to Lily went glassy and cold at her words. A collar? It wasn't possible. Not now, not after Rose had a life before such a thing, not after she'd had freedom. For the time being, Lily's fears of revealing her true nature vanished and she jumped up, nearly upsetting the bowl of pink ooze
( ... )
She'd expected Lily's reaction to be dramatic, although kindness had been second on the list of possibilities. It seemed fear for someone else was a greater motivator than fear for herself, or even fear of herself, both of which she'd already demonstrated. In this case, allaying her fears was a simple task.
They hadn't seen fit to equip her with a hairband, so Rose lifted her hair off her neck with her hands, and turned around. Her neck was exactly the same as it had always been; smooth and bare.
"They asked us to kill someone." Threatened, blackmailed, coercively cajoled, whatever one wanted to call it. They hadn't had a good choice, but there had been one. "His name was Giuseppe, and he was supplying parts to Marc. The guy on the radio."
"No," Lily said, audibly relieved. No scar, no surgery, only the same unblemished skin that, on others, had made her feel so alone in the showers. This time, however, the sense of shame didn't even cross the threshold of consciousness. "Where I'm from, it's
( ... )
ack sorry I forgot I owed this onelovecraftySeptember 17 2011, 01:57:50 UTC
"Yes. But I'm not upset. It's okay if you are." Psychological deflection. Avoid a painful topic by placing the expectation of the emotional state on the other person. As mental gambits went, it was a beginner's move.
Lily had probably been sincere, though, which made the sequence of followup moves entirely theoretical.
"I'll introduce you to Ilia. She was with me last night. She's...sweet." At least for a grumpy, grown-up soldier who didn't hesitate to snap a man's neck. Rose still wasn't sure she agreed that they'd gotten as much information from Giuseppe as they could have, but the die was cast.
And that was just the notes on what she'd observed. The completely non-existent wizard fanfiction was completely not in the sheaf of parchments she slipped into the bottom of the box in her closet under the guise of retrieving her knitting needles.
Beside the needles was a small plastic pouch, with a post-it note reading "Rewards". Inside were two metal sticks, with blades at the end. Knives, to be blunt, though that was a distinctly inapt thing to say about fresh blades. Besides, while her sylladex required none of the usual coaxing of, say, Dave's, which she sometimes suspected he kept around only for ironic purposes, she knew a trick or two. Bladewands it was. She held one up; the light flashed off the surface.
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It was less fun talking to someone who might not latch onto every detail that Rose said and twist it into something completely different. Whether that was by cluelessness, irony, or whatever cryptic nonsense came from Jade's poorly-hidden prescience. Rose kept talking. There was something in the story that would be a better distraction than the usual conversational approach.
"We had a job to do, and we did it." She raised a hand to her throat. "If we didn't, there would be consequences. They put collars on us, and if we tried to take them off or run away, they'd kill us." Lily hadn't exactly explained her experience with collars, but it was possibly similar. "Could we be on your planet?"
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They hadn't seen fit to equip her with a hairband, so Rose lifted her hair off her neck with her hands, and turned around. Her neck was exactly the same as it had always been; smooth and bare.
"They asked us to kill someone." Threatened, blackmailed, coercively cajoled, whatever one wanted to call it. They hadn't had a good choice, but there had been one. "His name was Giuseppe, and he was supplying parts to Marc. The guy on the radio."
Reply
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Lily had probably been sincere, though, which made the sequence of followup moves entirely theoretical.
"I'll introduce you to Ilia. She was with me last night. She's...sweet." At least for a grumpy, grown-up soldier who didn't hesitate to snap a man's neck. Rose still wasn't sure she agreed that they'd gotten as much information from Giuseppe as they could have, but the die was cast.
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