INBOX | CDC

[diamondhack]

devan.isha@cdc.org
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[plex]

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. ]

[diamondhack]

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

Ask away.

[plex]

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. ]

[diamondhack]

[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.