IC Contact Post [Hadriel]

[mismanagement]

This is Maketh Tua. State your business.

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[mismanagement]

[Maketh exhales slowly.] It matters not. I am alive and I will do my duty. We have to remain...objective, else mistakes will be made.

[synthedick]

[That concerned look is still there, his eyes still on his superior.]

You're only human, Maketh. It's okay to feel frustrated, especially when you've been here as long as we have. Seen the things we've seen.

[mismanagement]

I am a soldier of the Imperial Court, I will...

[Maketh starts, slapping a hand over her mouth. No. None of that. Never do that in front of other people.] I am sorry. I did not mean that.

[synthedick]

[Nick lets out a quiet sigh. Even death can't break some habits.]

I know you didn't. This place is getting the better of all of us, especially in the last month or so.

[He pauses, adding:]

If you ever need someone to talk to, you know you can call me. I know I'm just an old bot on the Guard, but you work yourself too hard sometimes.

[mismanagement]

Yes.

[It's too easy to fall back into old habits. Maketh takes a slow breath, then lets it out.] You've been kind to me, Nick. I--appreciate that.

[synthedick]

[He offers her a reassuring smile.]

You've never given me a reason to be anything else. It's not easy, doing all that you do for the city, but it makes a hell of a difference for the people living here, whether they know it or not. Maybe they'll see it if we manage to get enough information out of these gods to get us home.

[Those who want to go home, anyway.]

[mismanagement]

[Maketh nods. She has a duty here. People like Nick make it easier to remember that.] That would help, certainly.

[She pauses.] Do you...wish to go back?

[synthedick]

[This smile fades just a little, his eyes flicking away from Maketh for a moment, landing on the mug he's holding with his bare, metal hand.]

I should.

[mismanagement]

[Oh.]

Something has changed?

[A guess.]

[synthedick]

There are people here who need me.

[And by "people," he might mean one person in particular.]

People who need me back home, too, but they'll be all right. Those here... I'm not so sure.

[mismanagement]

[Maketh retrieves her coffee, focusing on the feel of it in her hands. The warmth of it.] Rey?

[synthedick]

[His mouth tightens along with his brow.]

I don't want to leave her alone here. We've been through a lot, and she's about as close to family as someone like me can get.

[He means his synthetic nature. He has other reasons for wanting to stay, at least for a time -- memories he can't access, cases that need solving -- but his roommate is undeniably the primary cause for his hesitation when it comes to the discussion of going home. Is it weakness to let someone be so close? Does having someone he'd risk anything for cloud his judgment?

He pushes a sigh through him, not sure he wants to know the answers to those questions.]

[mismanagement]

[Maketh nods, a somber expression on her face. The people here matter in ways she never could have anticipated. It's kept her going, but it's also changed her in ways that she doubts can be undone.] I have family here too.

[synthedick]

You know how I feel, then.

[Or at least some inkling of it. He hopes those Maketh cares for aren't as potentially volatile as Rey.]

That's one reason this place needs to be better than it is. There are some folks who can't go back. Either it's not an option, or it's worse than things are here, even with the gods and the monsters.

[mismanagement]

Yes.

[Sometimes it scares her, how completely she needs these people. It would break her to lose them. And he's right about one thing. Not everyone can go back. Not everyone would wish to, either.]

We could make a home here. We have allies and enough skills to...well. Maybe it's only a dream now. But we could try.

[synthedick]

It might just be a dream for now, but at least it's something to hold onto. Something to keep us moving.

[And in his case with Rey, literally. He's not sure anyone else in the city has the technical know-how to put him back together again, should something happen to him.]

[mismanagement]

I think we need that. Or at least I do, sometimes.

[Motivation to keep on going after each disaster. And maker, there have been so many. Maketh sighs, drinking her coffee.] Making this place livable won't be easy.

[synthedick]

Nothing that's worth doing ever is.

[Nick just looks into his mug for the moment, mulling things over in his mind.]

Where I come from isn't perfect, but Rey can't go back. Not to what's waiting for her. I've got to do what I can to make this place home not just for everyone, but for her.

[mismanagement]

[Maketh huffs.] No, I suppose not.

[Everything must be a fight in its own way.]

Does she want to go home? I--she never spoke kindly of it. Only as a place to be endured.

[synthedick]

[He shakes his head.]

I don't think so, but it's not like we have much of a choice in whether or not we go back. Not yet. The Door took her back once already. Who's to say it won't do it again. Or take you, or me, or someone else who'll be missed.

[mismanagement]

But that could change. Potentially.

[Not anytime soon. But it remains a possibility. Even a hope for some.]

If we could get control of the Door, then perhaps...we could go anywhere we wish.

[synthedick]

My thoughts exactly. The trick is figuring out how to do that without letting the gods know we're sniffing around. They say they have no control over it, but I'm betting the minute someone gets too close, they'll end up 'going home.' Keep the trouble-makers to a minimum.

[mismanagement]

Of course. [It's only logical. Maketh rubs her forehead briefly.] Or one of them will challenge Fear. He how to active it at the very least, perhaps even control it. But they'll keep us weak as long as they can.

[Their war must be quieter, as a result. Maketh exhales.]

I would suggest playing them against each other, but I fear we would only become pawns in that game - one more violent than what we already face.

[synthedick]

Yeah. Whatever war they had before took out both them and the previous tenants of this place. We've got both an advantage and disadvantage in that they aren't familiar with how most of us work, human or not. That girl and her powers showed us that much.

[mismanagement]

[Maketh hums in agreement.] I think we ought to know our neighbors better. That was the Empire's mistake, back home. Assuming that because a group appeared weaker that they could not be clever. And I think we can be clever, Nick.