Chapter Thirty: Talks

Struggling with two bags and three rather large cans of paint, I manage to get the hangar car open and stumble into my workshop. As I place my load onto the worktable, Brion’s hologram projector unfolds from the ceiling, flickering on and projecting three separate orbs of light, one red, one gold, and one gray. I raise an eyebrow, considering I only expected two, but don’t comment on it yet.

{“Well,”} Maribelle giggles as the golden orb shakes, {“Look what the cat dragged in.”}

{“Welcome back, Minea.”} The gray orb, Brion, stays quite stable and still. {“Was your shopping trip fruitful?”}

I shrug as I pull out all but one of the boxes of ammo I found, then walk over and place them into a previously empty drawer. “You could say that, though Mari bugged me the entire time to hurry up.”

With a huff, my friend declares, {“You’re grounded and the longer you’re out, the longer you have to cause issues.”}

With a smile, I roll my eyes. “You gave me permission!”

{“That isn’t mutually exclusive, Minea!”}

Before I can quip back, Brion interrupts us with a chuckle.

{“Honestly,”} he slowly says, {“it’s nice to see that you two were telling the truth about being close.”}

Proudly, Mari floats over to hover above me. {“Of course! Minea is the biological little sister that I could never have had!”}

Opening the box of ammo I left out, I mutter, “Sometimes you treat me more like a daughter though…”

Mari snorts. {“It comes with the territory, baby sister.”}

{“From my experience Minea,”} Brion chimes in, {“She’s not wrong.”}

With a sigh, I pull the revolver out of my jacket, putting it on the table in front of me. “I suppose, but sometimes I’d like to be treated like an adult.”

Mari’s response is singsongy. {“You’ll earn that when you complete your first mission.~”}

I anxiously steal a glance at the red orb. “Is that uh, something we can talk about now?”

Mari giggles. {“Yeah, everyone is in on it here.”}

There’s a second or two of silence, before I groan and ask, “Okay, I’ll bite, who is the third SAI?”

The red orb laughs dryly, {“Oh, don’t mind me too much, I’m just here to listen after what they explained to me.}

I blink. “I wasn’t aware you could leave the confines of the Doberman’s computer, Reau.”

{“Oh, I haven’t,”} Reau explains, {“The Mecha is currently plugged into the Hangar so I can talk to you all.”}

Mari floats over to the red orb, doing a small spin around them. {“Reau is going to be there, after all!”}

“Wait, what?” I look between all of the orbs, finding their attention firmly on me. “Can I even use corporate property for something like that?”

{“If I was acting in NAER’s interests I would say absolutely not.”} Brion sighs. {“However, since I’m participating in this situation as part of Fuschia’s squad I can give an actual answer. To make a long story short, if something goes wrong and you’re identified, the company would likely discard all involved assets immediately rather than face the social pressure you would put upon them.”}

My mind almost whirs as it does its best to parse what Brion just said. “So you’re saying that by signing a contract before I do something this radical, I essentially got myself a free mecha?”

{“Nah, not exactly.”} Mari floats over to the Doberman, flittering around like she’s examining it. {“This thing is separate from you, so they’d probably just put it up for scrapping after firing you.”}

Reau freezes. {“Wait, what?”}

Reassuringly, Mari floats back over and taps Reau. {“Don’t worry kiddo, we wouldn’t let that happen. They can’t scrap you if they don’t know where you are.~”}

“So what I’m understanding is,” I put a hand on my hip as I state, “if everything goes wrong, I’m the one taking the blame and also probably get a reputation of being a Mecha thief?”

The three orbs go silent for a moment, before Brion states:

{“Well, I suppose that’s the simple way to put it?”}

I giggle, shaking my head. “Yeah sure, I’m in. I’m probably going to be labeled with worse the longer that the conspiracy goes, so that’s not a huge deal.”

All three SAI continue their silence until Mari droops a bit.

{“Sorry, Minea…”} My friend’s tone is despondent. {“I know you’ve stated you’re okay with being seen as a villain in the public eye, but… it might end up being more than just that.”}

For a moment I stare at her as I think, then take off my mask and hold it up to her. “What do you see here, Mari?”

My friend pauses, then with obvious confusion in her tone answers, {“Your new mask?”}

With a nod I explain, “Out of everything that happened yesterday, it’s the only thing that I can most certainly claim was a positive result. It opens up so many different opportunities for me it’s crazy.”

As none of them respond, I continue:

“It’s almost too good to be true, I’m kind of wary that I might get addicted to it.” I sigh, turning the mask around to look at the front of it. “Restricting my ability for other’s safety and comfort, helping me learn how to better control my DE, letting me become someone else…”

{“Oh, I get it I think.”} Reau brightens a little bit. {“You want to create a disconnect between who you are with and without it.”}

I nod. “It’s what Melody had planned for me anyways, I don’t see why I don’t just use their idea even if it’s more than what they likely meant for it.”

{“I hate to rain on your parade,”} Brion mutters, {“But the issue with pulling a Dolly Parton is that with or without the mask, everyone is going to feel your fear.”}

I hum to myself, “I don’t know who that is, but I don’t think it’s going to be an issue. People respond differently to my fear when I have the mask on versus when I don’t.”

“Ah!” Mari almost rings with excitement. “You can use the Engine intimidation thing!”

Grinning, I respond, “Yup! That stupid urban myth will come in handy.”

Reau tilts just a tad as they ask, {“Elaborate?”}

{“The urban myth is that higher ignition Engines can cause those with less to feel an instinctual fear,”} Brion explains, {“But from what I understand that’s just a natural response to encountering someone you can tell is stronger. Fight or flight.”}

I raise an eyebrow “Actually, it’s fight, flight, or freeze Brion.”

The orb pauses. {“Semantics.”}

Shaking my head, I refute, “It’s really relevant, especially for me. When I use my DE to increase my power, that is just how people respond.”

Mari claps despite having no hands. {“Okay, this tangent has gone on long enough to spawn a second, let’s get back to the main topic.”}

I put the mask down on the table. “Sorry, my fault.”

{“Nah, it was bound to happen but we need to get back on track.”} Mari clears her non-existent throat. {“Attention! Ensign Minea, I am here to present your first mission as a leader of the Ataphoi!”}

Going stiff as I learned at Trinity River, I grin. “Ensign Minea, ready to receive her mission!”

{“Beginning when you arrive in Chicago, hopefully next Thursday if Brion’s estimates are correct, you will be following a very specific set of instructions in order to make contact with a cell of anti-corporation insurgents called ‘The Fae Skulk.’”}

Mari continues despite me snorting at that name. {“Their leader, Fuschia Smith, is a firm ally of our group and is requesting the assistance of a skilled combatant for a rescue mission they wish to undertake. You are to serve this role, while doing everything you can to make yourself a nuisance for the upper class in the process. That is all!”}

“Mission heard and accepted!” Relaxing, I take a quick moment to decide which of my thoughts I want to voice first. “So, Ataphoi huh? What’s it mean?”

As if reading a definition, Reau states, {“Ataphoi are vengeful ghosts given an improper burial who seek to right that wrong.”}

With a nod at that, I move on. “Then next, what’s the details on the rescue mission?”

Brion is the one to answer this one. {“From what our partner told us, it’s essentially that one of their members was delivering something to an upper class lady and was taken prisoner. The Skulk doesn’t have any combatants other than Fuschia herself, and they need at least two for the plan they’ve devised. You’ll essentially be serving as a distraction while she gets in and rescues her people.”}

“Fair enough…” I tilt my head for a moment. “By nuisance, I’m assuming you generally mean collateral damage to corpo property, and not assassinating the rich fucks?”

{“In this case, you’re essentially serving as a extension of the Skulk so killing is heavily discouraged.”} Mari sighs. {“But if you want my opinion, if you see an opportunity to off someone important, don’t hold back.”}

I glance over at the Doberman. “I’m going to need some big guns. How much would it cost-”

{“Ah,”} Mari cuts me off, {“I forgot to say, the Skulk has offered to provide some weapons for you as part of their payment. They’ll take care of installing them and everything, all you have to do is choose. If you have any opinions now, I’ll send them so that they’ll be ready then.”}

“Sounds good to me.” Now my gaze shifts to Reau. “Any opinions on what we should get?”

The crimson orb freezes, then slowly asks, {“Why are you asking me? I’m just your assistant?”}

With a giggle, I shake my head. {“The Doberman might as well be you at this point, if I’m updating it I’d rather you be okay with it.”}

Reau stares at me for a moment, before slowly responding, {“I’m not sure, beyond knowing that I desire at least a single form of ranged weapon. Perhaps a railgun?”}

I blink. “That actually makes sense, considering how they aren’t super expensive due to how costly it can be on an Engine’s DE reserves to fire one of those. Good choice.”

Mari hums in agreement. {“Like she said Reau, good job! I’ll tell them to look into it.~”}

Darkening a bit, Reau quietly mutters in response, {“Er, okay.”}

After another quiet moment, Brion speaks. {“With that taken care of, do we have anything else left to discuss?”}

Mari immediately says, {“Yeah, how the fuck do you not know Dolly Parton, Minea?”}

I raise an eyebrow. “Should I?”

{“No wait…”} The golden orb narrows a bit. {“I know you have to know her music, you might just not recognize the name. You know that Jolene song?”}

“The one where the lady is singing her heart out to another woman to not get with a guy? The one where it could be read as the singer going for either person?”

{“Yup, that’s Dolly.”}

I sigh, memories flooding back. “Jane really liked that song…”

Mari gasps. {“Oh shit… Sorry.”}

{“Sorry to ask, but,”} Brion shifts a bit uncomfortably. {“Who is this Jane?”}

Mari starts to speak, but I cut her off before she can. “Someone I used to consider family. She’s gone, now.”

Brion legitimately sounds a bit taken aback as he says, {“Oh. Apologies, I just didn’t recognize that name from your file.”}

I nod. “Yeah, makes sense. She was from that time I was on the streets. Not much has survived from then, especially not anything that would be written down officially. Well, unless the Corpo-cops kept notes but somehow I doubt that.”

{“I can look if you’d like,”} Brion quietly says, {“I have access to that.”}

After a moment of hesitation, I nod. “If you would, I’d appreciate that.”

Reau floats over, moving down to hover closer to me. {“So she was like a sister to you? Like how Mari is?”}

My gaze shifts to the crimson orb as my mind swiftly sorts through the memories. “No, I wouldn’t say she was a sister… She was family, but not a sibling or parent if that makes sense. Not entirely sure how to describe it actually.”

Mari mutters, {“A guardian?”}

I snap, pointing at her. “That. That’s the best way to describe her.”

{“That’s sweet…”} I swear I can feel Reau’s gaze on me. {“I wish I could have met her.”}

A sorrow filled giggle escapes my chest. “Me too, Reau, me too.”

If you find any errors (non-standard content, ads redirect, broken links, etc..), Please let us know so we can fix it as soon as possible.