diamondhack | INBOX

FROM: varr.noh@cdc.org

Same number as last time, then.

[She doesn't bother to respond, because she's already making her way over there now.]

[ The door will admit her without fuss. She'll find him on the floor of his room, cross-legged with the teeth scattered on the floor and a pelkin sitting in his lap. The creature is shockingly docile, and is watching him work with vague interest, doubtlessly drawn by the warmth at his pulse-points. ]

Hello again, Isha.

[She's hardly surprised to find him like this.

Well, the pelkin is a surprise.

She skirts around the pair and takes a seat next to him.]

You seem busy.

[She's going to just reach over to gather up a few of the teeth, thank you.]

[ All of Orange is getting pelkins today, and Noh-Varr's no exception. Hinata sold him on it, and truth be told he doesn't mind...when the little critter behaves. When it doesn't, he contemplates snapping its neck, snapping Hinata's neck, and feeds it until it becomes calm again. ]

I try to stay that way. [ He's already begun carving one with a metal knife of his own; another is being tended to by the helicoptera, which make noises like buzzsaws when they cut into the tooth. Next to him are some discarded moose antlers and cord, presumably to make handles out of. ] This is for Erin, the other one for for Itachi. Did you have a preference?

[ As to who she works for. He doesn't know how many of the new recruits Isha has met. ]

[Her own pelkin had been far too bitey to deal with, so she left it in some place in her rover with blood bags. Hopefully it wouldn't wake up again by the time she got back...]

No, I don't mind. Did either of them make any particular requests or is this dealer's choice?

The second. No time to mess around with preferences; I read their files and tried to find something suitable. Met most of them yesterday, in any case.

[ So he feels that gives him enough of an overview of their personality to get started. Erin is pretty straightforward: something small and sharp will please her. For Itachi, something in the traditional lines of his world, which Noh-Varr can only surmise is similar to Japan; he draws inspiration from samurai films. The rest he isn't sure of, yet. He'll have to improvise. ]

I've spoken to Erin, she is... singular to say the least.

[But that, for the moment, is neither here nor there. She takes one of the teeth and one of the spare tools and sets them before herself.

She doesn't like to charge into this sort of thing. She crosses her arms now, deep in thought. Knives are a tricky business. Besides, she doesn't have Noh-Varr's helicoptera. She only has her brain and her hands.]

[ Amused, he smiles. ] She is, but I like it. Singularities are interesting.

[ She could have Noh-Varr's helicoptera. He won't begrudge her, especially not on a tight deadline. ]

Baqer told me you said we'd get along. [ Still amused. ] You were right.

[She glances over to him and raises a brow.]

How unfortunate.

[Can you hear the distaste dripping in her voice?]

[ He smiles at her expression. ]

What? He made a good first impression.

Call it the honeymoon stage, he's lazy, entitled, and feels himself excused from any mission.

[ He shrugs and waves her concern away, not interrupting his work. ]

Then he'll die soon enough on whatever rock we land on next, at no loss to us.

Assuming he's not clever enough to find himself dead.

[She finally reaches for the bone and a knife to begin carving.]

Warriorhead will not abandon his own unless he is given reason. he is here for a reason and while he remains alive he is a threat by virtue of his ineptitude.

[She has no time for bullshit.]

[ He watches her speak out of the corner of his eye, and smiles lightly. ]

It's cute that you're so protective. [ He turns the bone knife in his hand, admiring the edge. The pelkin in his lap wiggles a bit and tries to reach for it, only to get gently slapped back down. ]

If his action, or lack thereof, poses an actual threat--I'll kill him myself.

[She shoots him a glare.] It compromises all of us and I'd rather not have excess bloodshed because of one moron. And, personally, I like being alive.

[She focuses again on the bone.]

As touched as I am by your willingness to dispose of the trash, I'm on orders to monitor him and report to Warriorhead.

[ He nods. ]

Then I suspect our fearless leader will do it himself, if it comes to that.

[ Though in an ideal world, Warriorhead wouldn't have to step in; they both know being proactive isn't his forte. He is a last resort. ]

[She already knows he'll send him elsewhere and make him someone else's problem, but she keeps that note to herself.]

So it will. But, for now, I'm his eyes and ears and I have my impeccable judgement and wisdom to impart particular pains upon him.

Of course. You do have big ears, after all.

[ His tone is teasing. Rabbit. ]

Never underestimate the rabbit, love.

I try not to. I know it's a bad idea.

[ He turns back to his work, and for a while the only sound is the gentle scrape of metal against bone, and the chirps of his pelkin. ]

Can I ask you something?

[ Not all quiet. ]

[Her eyes briefly narrow, but that's the extent of any facial expression she makes.]

Ask away.

Our work here. [ Not this work, the knives. The bigger work. The difficult work. ] Does it bother you?

[ Isha is a criminal; he wonders if her perspective will be different than what he's heard: some frustration, outrage. Acceptance is rare. Parker's words left a mark. ]

[She stops, briefly. She's a thief, a criminal, a hacker, many things that are illegal and potentially on par with murder, paired with the wrong mind.

But even she had standards. Blood for the sake of blood did little for her. She was no murderer, no executioner. As she told Athos, there is more use in a living person than in a dead person, but the truth was she couldn't have that guilt on her head. It would paint her as someone worse than she really is. Her reputation is solid, if only because none other had tarnished it.

Blood had been spilt in front of her for no reason. It turned her against the life of heroism. She sought out to live and survive, not die for stupidity.

Until now.

The murders pinned on her loomed like a menacing shadow. She had to get her name cleared. Isha is many things, but again, again a murderer she is not. Had she played party to Seth's contract? Yes. Of course. But she didn't pull the trigger, she only loaded the gun and offered the weapon. After that, it was out of her hands.

And yet... Did it bother her?]

Does it matter? Whatever we want, whatever we may think, our opinions mean nothing. [She glances to him now, eyes sharp.] Does it bother me? More than you know. I am not a murderer. I am a thief, all I want is money and pride, not blood. But my life and my name is on the line. I know how these instructors think. I'll play their game, for now. The CDC wants us to be useful, so be it. I'll be useful. It doesn't mean I have to agree with their rules.

INBOX | CDC

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