IC Contact Post [Hadriel]

[mismanagement]

This is Maketh Tua. State your business.

Comments

[synthedick]

I'll take a cup, sure.

[He doesn't need it -- or need to drink at all -- but if she's going to make it, he might as well.]

We got a list of potential questions ready yet? Or are we still brainstorming those?

[mismanagement]

Still figuring that out. I wondered if you had any ideas?

[Maketh has a few, but worries that her approach is too blunt. The gods don't seem to like her.]

[synthedick]

[Nick glances back toward his notes on the coffee table.]

A few. I've been keeping an eye on the network, especially when the gods show up. Being aggressive with them doesn't do much, so I think playing up our curiosity is the best way to go about things. Delight seemed willing to talk until we started touching on uncomfortable subjects, but Sorrow seems pretty straightforward.

[mismanagement]

[Maketh pours the coffee, arranging the mugs in a straight line.] Do you want cream or sugar?

[She doesn't know if he can taste it or not.]

Indeed. I've put myself in their bad graces, but others seem willing to answer questions.

[synthedick]

Cream, please.

[He can, and with cream being far rarer than sugar back home, he'll take what he can get here.]

You might be in their bad graces, but at least you're alive. Guess we can trust Hope will keep his word on bringing folks back from the dead. [For now.]

[mismanagement]

[Cream it is, then. She adds some to both mugs, pausing to add a pinch of sugar for her own. Maketh has a very particular way of making her own coffee. Everything must be done just so.]

That's true. And he did leave me his blessing, for whatever good it did.

[It caused her pain in the end, but it had been intended for other purposes.]

[synthedick]

Did he?

[That's news to Nick. He's heard about the blessings -- Rey had received one, one that probably saved her life when she returned to Hadriel with a piece of rebar shoved through her middle.]

Guess he can't hate you that much, then. Either that, or he's more impartial than we thought.

[mismanagement]

I don't think they're capable of being impartial. We exist to feed them, so much as they're concerned, and we ought to be grateful.

[Maketh swallows down her bitterness and hands Nick his mug. Enough. Your pain is meaningless here. Ignore it.]

My apologies. That was improper.

[synthedick]

[He takes his mug, and offers her a concerned look in return.]

It's all right, Maketh. You've been through a lot lately. We all have, but you and Henry...

[He trails off, knowing he doesn't need to finish that thought.]

[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.]