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[Somewhere there's a dispassionate flicker - it's no bright hot spark of emotion of adrenaline, but Cathaway is keen on the girl. Finds her small and charming. So she notices-- something. Can't quite put her finger on it.
A moment's deliberation - a thoughtful hum crowding along to link between herself and the last of her brood by default rather than design. Then she turns her thoughts to him more directly:]
( See to Ilde. Something has happened. )
A moment's deliberation - a thoughtful hum crowding along to link between herself and the last of her brood by default rather than design. Then she turns her thoughts to him more directly:]
( See to Ilde. Something has happened. )
[Cathaway was always there, even with her relative respect for the distance he preferred, so he feels her interest go keen first at a distance, enough to serve as some kind f a warning for her address. His walk slows, head tipping slightly towards her, despite the distance.
He is quiet, his slight confusion muffled but not hidden. He hand't felt anything of note, despite being relatively open to the new Hosts (for him, at least), and Cathaway did not tend to speak vaguely at times of urgency. Still, he has no doubt there is something important in her direction, that she would send him.]
Very well. You anticipate trouble?
He is quiet, his slight confusion muffled but not hidden. He hand't felt anything of note, despite being relatively open to the new Hosts (for him, at least), and Cathaway did not tend to speak vaguely at times of urgency. Still, he has no doubt there is something important in her direction, that she would send him.]
Very well. You anticipate trouble?
( Perhaps. We are... ) [A rolling, twisting gap - frustration and curiosity and interest like copper tang in the mouth, like a gauzy curtain drawn back by the curve of a wrist, something wet and warm pulsing out across stone.] ( Uncertain. )
[He makes a low sound, a serious, thoughtful hum impossible to hear but very easy to sense. And then he tips his face up, gaze settling again on the present as he turns himself subtly in the girl's direction. The connection narrowed.]
I see. I will let you know what has transpired.
[And with that he pulls his attention fully away from her and back to his task. Ilde, then.]
I see. I will let you know what has transpired.
[And with that he pulls his attention fully away from her and back to his task. Ilde, then.]
[And then, some time later, the connection widens again, he settles into her mind, words and emotions he fails to rein in in any significant way, slipping too far into the connection. Attentions split. Unusually careless but typically guilty.]
She has killed someone.
[The picture is incomplete and ill-formed. She seemed so quiet. The brood would be ruinous. He had failed to properly assess the danger found in it. Tension blossoming open and being pulled back in petal by petal as, in less than a second, he finds control of his emotions again. Aware he had opened the connection too soon. More folly, where was his patience?]
She has killed someone.
[The picture is incomplete and ill-formed. She seemed so quiet. The brood would be ruinous. He had failed to properly assess the danger found in it. Tension blossoming open and being pulled back in petal by petal as, in less than a second, he finds control of his emotions again. Aware he had opened the connection too soon. More folly, where was his patience?]
Edited 2016-04-04 05:37 (UTC)
[The wash of it is sharp, as sweet as it is bitter. What follows it in response is drier, brittler, more vague - something that is at once dismissive and it is attentive. Ah. So she has. Fascinating - that the reverberation of it hadn't been immediately evident to Cathaway's mind. It makes Ilde more callous than expected. Good. Sometimes that is necessary.
A complication here, though. The world is very small and they have many days left on it. Will someone come for retribution? What use will the girl be in the civilized parts of this world? The muddled stray thoughts coalesce into:]
( Do you believe there is any further danger? )
A complication here, though. The world is very small and they have many days left on it. Will someone come for retribution? What use will the girl be in the civilized parts of this world? The muddled stray thoughts coalesce into:]
( Do you believe there is any further danger? )
I do not believe she sees issue in her actions. I believe she would do the same again without compunction.
[Despite the careful way he contains his thoughts they are not nearly so sterile as Cathaway's. Her mind was too vast now, and he didn't want do know whether she saw any value in any individual life outside of the Nest now. If she could care about a single death when weighed against the greater good. So he doesn't look. If you do not look, you will not see.]
I am still looking into the matter to see if retaliation is likely. If she was recognized it is likely she will be connected to the rest of the Hosts.
[There was a chance that it would have minimum significance even to wherever friends, allies, and family he had. The evacuation was most people's primary concern. But that was no guarantee.] I have barred her from this area for now.
[And they may be forced to bar the rest if necessary. There was a logical, rational reason to avoid killing that went beyond even the simple (vital) moral objections.]
[Despite the careful way he contains his thoughts they are not nearly so sterile as Cathaway's. Her mind was too vast now, and he didn't want do know whether she saw any value in any individual life outside of the Nest now. If she could care about a single death when weighed against the greater good. So he doesn't look. If you do not look, you will not see.]
I am still looking into the matter to see if retaliation is likely. If she was recognized it is likely she will be connected to the rest of the Hosts.
[There was a chance that it would have minimum significance even to wherever friends, allies, and family he had. The evacuation was most people's primary concern. But that was no guarantee.] I have barred her from this area for now.
[And they may be forced to bar the rest if necessary. There was a logical, rational reason to avoid killing that went beyond even the simple (vital) moral objections.]
Edited 2016-04-07 18:41 (UTC)
[A humming, considering vibration, thoughts like the crackle of electricity spreading across a metal plate: flicking here, then out-- farther, farther, farther--]
( You were good to send her away. ) [A visceral pause. A calculation.] ( Say nothing of this to the younger hosts. We will do our part to minimize the damage, but if this makes things more difficult it's important that they come to know of it on their own. )
[A training exercise; they could be shielded, but not protected. Better to let them taste the sting of what trouble another's mistake could make for the rest.]
( You were good to send her away. ) [A visceral pause. A calculation.] ( Say nothing of this to the younger hosts. We will do our part to minimize the damage, but if this makes things more difficult it's important that they come to know of it on their own. )
[A training exercise; they could be shielded, but not protected. Better to let them taste the sting of what trouble another's mistake could make for the rest.]
[Her praise, if you could call it that, fails to land. He knew he had been right to send her away. Her presence there had been a liability.
He doesn't like the rest. Not at all. He would rather deliver a lecture, to tell then of the danger their actions could bring upon their fellows, and upon them again. He would rather learning for themselves not be a necessity. But it likely was. He could not insulate them forever, and while Cathaway had no control over him she had his ear.]
Very well. But if she harms another without due cause I will take action.
He doesn't like the rest. Not at all. He would rather deliver a lecture, to tell then of the danger their actions could bring upon their fellows, and upon them again. He would rather learning for themselves not be a necessity. But it likely was. He could not insulate them forever, and while Cathaway had no control over him she had his ear.]
Very well. But if she harms another without due cause I will take action.
Edited 2016-04-07 20:16 (UTC)
( Of course. )
[There is a hum of attention on him, momentarily acute as if to underline her agreement - to give some weight to the value she places on his decision - and then it begins to slip accordingly: water resolutely streaming between fingers stubbornly pressed together. Inevitable.
She turns her attention elsewhere, the matter having been sufficiently resolved for the time being.]
[There is a hum of attention on him, momentarily acute as if to underline her agreement - to give some weight to the value she places on his decision - and then it begins to slip accordingly: water resolutely streaming between fingers stubbornly pressed together. Inevitable.
She turns her attention elsewhere, the matter having been sufficiently resolved for the time being.]
Edited 2016-04-12 16:20 (UTC)
[ Sometime after this conversation. Steve reaches across a thin connecting line to the Prince, gives a the mental equivalent of knocking on a door. ]
[There is a moment- the obvious sensation of being heard, or felt, or understood, not quite an acknowledgement and not quite the guarantee of an answer, but it is clear enough that Prince is aware of him.
It lasts long enough to border on refusal, but he does respond, eventually, with words so clear and concise not a single emotion or sensation colors them.]
Do you require aid?
It lasts long enough to border on refusal, but he does respond, eventually, with words so clear and concise not a single emotion or sensation colors them.]
Do you require aid?
[ Cathaway isn't answering him. She's too far, and his voice is faint and strained too thin to reach her. He hasn't yet reached out to Prince, and now he's struggling to from the darkness of a small rented room in Minte.
It's the last day of the Avera 9 mission, and Aoba is out of the synthesized pain medication Cathaway sent with him. Swallowed it down without regard for what could happen in the final days spent planet-side, and now he's regretting it deeply. Curled up on a cheap inn pod, blanket tangled around him, head held tightly in his hands.
It feels like it will break apart if he doesn't keep holding it together.
With every throb the pain grows more difficult to keep from spreading over the connection, and flecks of it flow outwards like drops spilled from an overflowing cup, with no regard for where they land. He's clumsy as he reaches for Prince, brushing against others, fumbling blindly. Finally his thoughts brush against what feels like cool metal, and he presses into it. ]
( Help... )
[ Faint, pained, and far from where he is. ]
It's the last day of the Avera 9 mission, and Aoba is out of the synthesized pain medication Cathaway sent with him. Swallowed it down without regard for what could happen in the final days spent planet-side, and now he's regretting it deeply. Curled up on a cheap inn pod, blanket tangled around him, head held tightly in his hands.
It feels like it will break apart if he doesn't keep holding it together.
With every throb the pain grows more difficult to keep from spreading over the connection, and flecks of it flow outwards like drops spilled from an overflowing cup, with no regard for where they land. He's clumsy as he reaches for Prince, brushing against others, fumbling blindly. Finally his thoughts brush against what feels like cool metal, and he presses into it. ]
( Help... )
[ Faint, pained, and far from where he is. ]
[The flickers of pain across the connection have been almost regular since they had left the new Hosts to their own devices on the planet. They had been- foolish, careless, irresponsible and arrogant in their power and their position.
And so the spattering hissing flickers of it don't draw his immediate attention. The prodding at his mental link does, and his attention opens the connection further, allows Aoba to find purchase.
The plea is enough to have him breach the barriers he usually put up, pressing down the line in turn, ghosting over the corners of Aoba's mind, pain and need and helplessness. Prince leaves little in return, the slightest brush of something- a concern tempered responsibility. It lasts only the shortest time before he pulls away, although he doesn't close the connection entirely.]
Stay, I will fetch you.
[It doesn't invite conversation. It is a statement of fact, with the certainty of intent. His word was as good as any other part of him.]
And so the spattering hissing flickers of it don't draw his immediate attention. The prodding at his mental link does, and his attention opens the connection further, allows Aoba to find purchase.
The plea is enough to have him breach the barriers he usually put up, pressing down the line in turn, ghosting over the corners of Aoba's mind, pain and need and helplessness. Prince leaves little in return, the slightest brush of something- a concern tempered responsibility. It lasts only the shortest time before he pulls away, although he doesn't close the connection entirely.]
Stay, I will fetch you.
[It doesn't invite conversation. It is a statement of fact, with the certainty of intent. His word was as good as any other part of him.]
[ There's little delay in his own response. ]
( Hello. Yes. I'm looking for someone who didn't come with us. ) [ A blurry image of Anakin Skywalker accompanies this, coming more naturally than the stilted way he 'speaks', like someone reading off of a telegram. ] ( We need hands for hauling and repairing a ship. )
[ A beat, then: ] ( Could use your help, too. )
[ Ignoring that this isn't exactly their mission. ]
( Hello. Yes. I'm looking for someone who didn't come with us. ) [ A blurry image of Anakin Skywalker accompanies this, coming more naturally than the stilted way he 'speaks', like someone reading off of a telegram. ] ( We need hands for hauling and repairing a ship. )
[ A beat, then: ] ( Could use your help, too. )
[ Ignoring that this isn't exactly their mission. ]
Edited (missing brackets) 2016-04-24 01:17 (UTC)
He is yet aboard the station.
[With luck he would awaken soon. Without any he would never open his eyes again. It is not a possibility that Prince is currently dwelling on. At the moment he is more preoccupied with the Hosts who were currently on Avera 9, as troublesome as they had been.
And were still being, most likely.]
What ship is this?
[While he still maintains a distance, there is an edge to the tone of his thoughts, as if he suspects there are admissions to be made. Secrets being kept.]
[With luck he would awaken soon. Without any he would never open his eyes again. It is not a possibility that Prince is currently dwelling on. At the moment he is more preoccupied with the Hosts who were currently on Avera 9, as troublesome as they had been.
And were still being, most likely.]
What ship is this?
[While he still maintains a distance, there is an edge to the tone of his thoughts, as if he suspects there are admissions to be made. Secrets being kept.]
( Is he OK? ) [ He thinks of Ilde. ]
( It's not for us. ) [ There's a solidness behind his response. If he thinks it was a mistake to bring this up, he doesn't give any indication of it. ] ( Families were given a bad deal to leave before the meteor shower. No other options. Unless we can haul their ship out of a big ditch. )
( It's not for us. ) [ There's a solidness behind his response. If he thinks it was a mistake to bring this up, he doesn't give any indication of it. ] ( Families were given a bad deal to leave before the meteor shower. No other options. Unless we can haul their ship out of a big ditch. )
[ Aoba makes no effort to reply with words formed in the mind, the strain of it too much against the throbbing beats of migraine. There's gratitude though, and it washes over him when the Prince replies. The growing anxiety of not making it to the docks in time is lifted. That much is a relief.
It's a short-lived relief. Hearing another voice in his head, however brief, only adds to the pain. It draws a gasp from his lips, and his spine curls in tighter. Yet some part of him he can't understand wants to hear it again, not for the security or comfort of it, but for the pain intensified. He can't stand it, can barely open his eyes because it, and somehow he wants more.
The connection between them opens, then narrows, and Aoba knows the Prince is on his way. The one craving his voice knows too. ]
It's a short-lived relief. Hearing another voice in his head, however brief, only adds to the pain. It draws a gasp from his lips, and his spine curls in tighter. Yet some part of him he can't understand wants to hear it again, not for the security or comfort of it, but for the pain intensified. He can't stand it, can barely open his eyes because it, and somehow he wants more.
The connection between them opens, then narrows, and Aoba knows the Prince is on his way. The one craving his voice knows too. ]
He is unharmed.
[It is not entirely intentional- the lack of complete clarity. But to explain would take time and he would prefer, as always, to say the words in person as opposed to this.
Besides, he finds Steve's answer far more important than his own. There is some satisfaction in his words- the ones he takes for true. A suggestion of selflessness he didn't think the boy would be able to fake. But if fails to overwhelm his natural suspicions.]
And you believe your solution will have no repercussions for these families?
[It is not entirely intentional- the lack of complete clarity. But to explain would take time and he would prefer, as always, to say the words in person as opposed to this.
Besides, he finds Steve's answer far more important than his own. There is some satisfaction in his words- the ones he takes for true. A suggestion of selflessness he didn't think the boy would be able to fake. But if fails to overwhelm his natural suspicions.]
And you believe your solution will have no repercussions for these families?
[ There's a slight flicker of uncertainty at the short answer. It's brief, accepting the assurances for the moment - he choose this method of contact with a need for saving time. ]
( None worse than selling themselves into slavery. They agreed to let us try. )
( None worse than selling themselves into slavery. They agreed to let us try. )
[There is a long, long pause.]
Be sure the one who thinks to own them does not discover what you are attempting to do. If not for the safety of your fellows than for the safety of these families.
[It is very nearly approval, even if it is nothing of the sort.]
I cannot assist you. I must remain available should the situation on this planet become worse than it already is.
Be sure the one who thinks to own them does not discover what you are attempting to do. If not for the safety of your fellows than for the safety of these families.
[It is very nearly approval, even if it is nothing of the sort.]
I cannot assist you. I must remain available should the situation on this planet become worse than it already is.
Edited 2016-04-24 02:33 (UTC)
[ ahahaha worse
Not the answer he was hoping for, but at least the guardian's not trying to stop them. ]
( Understood. Thanks. ) [ The warning is taken. ]
Not the answer he was hoping for, but at least the guardian's not trying to stop them. ]
( Understood. Thanks. ) [ The warning is taken. ]
[For all his attitude, this one's managed (somehow) not to start trouble-- kept to himself, kept his head down. Avoidance is something he's grown very good at in his lifetime, and after being severely weirded out by the connections a couple times... well, he figured he'd do better alone, here. For now. If his presence has been marked by anything, it was probably a faint sense of something almost lonely-- he feels the pull, wants to follow it, but he's still unsettled.
That's a large part of why, in the aftermath of Parker's death, he doesn't reach out earlier. The pain hits too close to wounds that are too easy to open and it hurts, it hurts in ways it shouldn't for someone he didn't know at all, it hurts and he hates it--
When Ares does reach out, it's in near desperation, lost as to what to do about this. His emotions are volatile, caught between anger and sadness and that sharp, keen sense of loss-- between wanting to do something about it and wanting everything to just stop.
It's hard for him to wring words out of it all, and the ones that manage to form as he fumbles to reach the person he's looking for are-]
Why is it like this? [Not quite what he wanted. There's more right on the heels of that thought, frustrated.] --I want to talk for real. Not this way.
That's a large part of why, in the aftermath of Parker's death, he doesn't reach out earlier. The pain hits too close to wounds that are too easy to open and it hurts, it hurts in ways it shouldn't for someone he didn't know at all, it hurts and he hates it--
When Ares does reach out, it's in near desperation, lost as to what to do about this. His emotions are volatile, caught between anger and sadness and that sharp, keen sense of loss-- between wanting to do something about it and wanting everything to just stop.
It's hard for him to wring words out of it all, and the ones that manage to form as he fumbles to reach the person he's looking for are-]
Why is it like this? [Not quite what he wanted. There's more right on the heels of that thought, frustrated.] --I want to talk for real. Not this way.
[There would be words about what occurred on Avera. About the utter failure the play-mission had been, enough to surprise even him with his carefully tempered expectations.
But for all that it is both his responsibility and something he firmly believed was required in order to prevent further loss, he was not without compassion. Or perhaps merely practicality. He knew what it was to lose a member of your brood. He knew very well. He does not expect his words to reach them so soon afterward. So he intends to give it time, something they had less of than he would like, and perhaps they would come to understand among each other what he would spell out for them soon.
He did not expect to be called on by any of them before then. Cathaway was a far more common source of comfort, as ironic as that may seem to him at times. Nevertheless the boy's grab for his attention is easy to notice, for all it does not come naturally to him. He doesn't bristle from it, although there is no attempt on his part to strengthen the connection, to invite him further, to answer Ares emotions with any of his own.]
I will meet you in the training hall.
[It is an attempt at understanding, on his part, even if the words are seemingly unaffected. He seemed like he would be most comfortable there.]
But for all that it is both his responsibility and something he firmly believed was required in order to prevent further loss, he was not without compassion. Or perhaps merely practicality. He knew what it was to lose a member of your brood. He knew very well. He does not expect his words to reach them so soon afterward. So he intends to give it time, something they had less of than he would like, and perhaps they would come to understand among each other what he would spell out for them soon.
He did not expect to be called on by any of them before then. Cathaway was a far more common source of comfort, as ironic as that may seem to him at times. Nevertheless the boy's grab for his attention is easy to notice, for all it does not come naturally to him. He doesn't bristle from it, although there is no attempt on his part to strengthen the connection, to invite him further, to answer Ares emotions with any of his own.]
I will meet you in the training hall.
[It is an attempt at understanding, on his part, even if the words are seemingly unaffected. He seemed like he would be most comfortable there.]
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