mismanagement | IC Contact Post [Hadriel]

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.

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.

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.]

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.

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.

[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.

[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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

[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.

I know we can be. The real trick is going to be getting people to work together and not jump the gun. We've got a good start with the Guard.

[There's a spark of something there that heartens her, despite the tenor of their conversation. Maketh nods, sipping her coffee.] Yes. I can organize soldiers, but it's become clear to me that this...whatever we make of this place, it will never be an army. Not as I understood it. Do you...know how to organize people?

[It's asked hesitantly. Maketh understands how the Empire would have done things, but her knowledge is incomplete. She's afraid to make worse mistakes.]

[Nick raises an eyebrow to her question, taking a sip of his own drink. Not bad at all.]

Can't say I do. I've mostly worked on my own. A lot of folks weren't interested in working with a private eye, much less a synthetic one.

[Maketh nods, resisting the urge to ask if he likes the coffee.] But you had to interact with others, in order to do your work -- at least, if I understand it correctly. Getting information and what have you from a variety of sources, not all of them cooperative.

[The Empire preferred beating prisoners unconscious or spying on civilians to get their information.]

Getting information out of folks is all a part of the detective gig.

[If Nick's general temperament is any indication, he prefers a non-violent option if there is one.]

[Maketh nods.] And you had to do that even with people not inclined to cooperate.

[Either out of prejudice or personality.]

I think...I think we ought to think along similar lines. If people believe working with us serves their best interest, then they will.

[Nick nods in turn.]

True, though there are always going to be people who won't work with us no matter what we do, just because they see us as some kind of symbol of authority.

[Even if they really aren't.]

[That's true as well. They've seen it already. Maketh exhales slowly.] Then we'll need some way to keep an eye on them. We can't force them to help, but perhaps they can be kept out of the way.

I'll be canvasing the network, as usual.

[That does bring something to mind, though.]

Any word on the guy who shot Sharon? It seems he's been laying low.

As will I.

[It would be better to do something more proactive, but Maketh worries about what would happen if the guard oversteps its bounds. What respect they have now was carefully won and cannot be squandered.]

His name is Mello, I believe. I believe he expects retaliation and is hiding himself. Not that it's difficult in this place.

Yeah. Lots of nooks and crannies and caves to hide in. [Nick's expression hardens.] I wouldn't doubt there are folks out there who want him taken care of for what he did. As for us, I at least want answers.

Mhmm. [Killing him would be tactically inadvisable, not to mention prolonging the issue rather than solving anything.] In the Empire, he would have been shot. But that will do nothing here that we would want.

I think it'd undermine what we're trying to accomplish, too. We want people to work with us because they trust us, not because they fear us.

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