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Post by demikara on Jun 8, 2020 14:09:20 GMT -6
"Not bad. Still some pain every now and then, but the dosage of the pain meds has been lowered." It was still a large dosage but that was more because she was a rather large cat. "It still feel weird, having my fur shorter where it was shaved for the surgery, but its growing back." And that was part of what felt so weird. It was still short and easily seen through though. The surgery scar was completely closed, but still a strong red. She was meant to be taking it easy while that healed completely and while her brain healed from the trauma. She had no clue how much longer she could take it easy for.
"Jo keeps on insisting on cuddling at weird times but I think that may just be a Jo thing. I've almost gotten used to it." And it wasn't like she could do too much to stop the other, given her current shape. Not without inflicting serious harm. It was probably better to just put up with it.
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Post by Ylanne on Jun 8, 2020 14:18:03 GMT -6
"Well, you're probably going to be sitting tight for a while," said Qahtani. "The Empire's noticed your absence. There's more chatter each passing day." Some of the analysts seemed quite worried, but most of the Bureau hadn't yet learned what all had transpired at Têmardo. The old woman still kept her secrets close. "Some think it's the Aschen that did it. Others are convinced it's a Belkan splinter faction. Of course, most of the chatter is speculating about the TNG, since, well, you were last known to be here on Terra." Qahtani could only wonder how exactly Varona, Dvořák, and Khayyam would respond once the accusation became formally known. Let alone what they'd think once they learned it was their own former spymaster who was responsible. They'd learn eventually. Once Wiryaman found out, Qahtani figured it would only be a matter of time before Wiryaman would have to brief Khayyam, at the very least. "We're in a very interesting situation now, I guess."
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Post by demikara on Jun 8, 2020 14:33:56 GMT -6
"Damn. Try and influence the Belkan splinter faction angle." Hope advised. "It's believable enough and could sow a little bit of trouble in the empire." And it kept the eyes off Terra. "Though I suppose most of the chatter is right. It was the TNG. It's a matter of what the TNG did that they're probably wondering." And that was the question wasn't it?
Hope hoped they'd never find out. She shifted so she was lying on her side now. "Does the actual director of TIB even know?" She purred, amused with the thought that the actual director had no clue what her people did. "If not, you won't get in trouble right?" Given what she was bringing to the table, Hope suspected that no, the other wasn't going to get in trouble for it.
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Post by Ylanne on Jun 8, 2020 14:59:24 GMT -6
"Kidnapping is the number one speculation," Qahtani confirmed. "It makes sense. Assassination would be better saved for Wing herself, if someone was going to assassinate someone from the Empire. But you ... well, there are a lot of rogue actors out there that would want to make a fortune off of you. Or at least, attempt to blackmail the Empire into doing something they wanted, using you as hostage. Of course, most of the empires out there think of Terra as a dinky backwater world, so, who knows. Belkans it is." Qahtani shrugged. "As for Director Wiryaman? Well, I haven't asked her. And she hasn't asked me about my whereabouts or activities for a couple of weeks, so I'm not all that sure. I'll bet if Director Drulović wanted Director Wiryaman to know, then she knows. But it's not my department, I guess." Qahtani leaned back in her seat, crossing her legs one over the other. "I'm sure I'll be fine. Everyone knows we do ... well, things that most ordinary people would dismiss as suspicious and disturbing. It's part of the job."
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Post by demikara on Jun 8, 2020 15:47:11 GMT -6
"Willing kidnapping." Hope rolled he eyes. "Though they aren't looking too tight at the evidence then. I suppose I do have a reputation for storing everything in my goggles so it might muddy the waters." It wasn't unheard of for her to be ready to run at any moment. It was a product of the rebellion. "And people try to assassinate Wing all the damn time. It doesn't work out well for them." She had intercepted more than one attempt on the empress and stopped plans before they were even made before.
"It's nice to be out of the business. The only head I need to keep an eye on now is my own." And that was a relieve in more than one way. She was glad she only had to watch out for herself. "Though your director wasn't too impressed. Made me promise to spend time with the kids who don't even know I gave birth to them. Or who won't talk to me at all."
She had made an attempt though, to see her kids one last time. One last bit of time with the twins, with Henry and Rachel.
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Post by Ylanne on Jun 8, 2020 16:24:38 GMT -6
"Director Drulović has a complex about family," Qahtani said. "At least, that's what I can assume. I decided it was probably not better to risk it. I don't have any of my own. I can't imagine what it would feel like to be responsible for children, not doing this." She remembered the fights she'd had with Shira about it though. As recently as last month. The house felt so goddamned empty, Shira was always saying. But Qahtani imagined a different reality - one where children became liabilities, their own lives at risk through no fault of their own. "You're doing the best you can. I'm sure they have to know that."
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Post by demikara on Jun 8, 2020 17:09:29 GMT -6
"I ended up giving them up. The Redwings took them in. The matriarch of the family has a weakness for children and came to love them quickly." Hope shrugged. "By all accounts, she was an excellent mother. She didn't bring her work home, which is good, because she is entirely too skilled a torturer." Not that you'd ever know it to look at her. She looked stern as hell, but not like she'd be good at torture.
Hope wondered what it would be like, to look good at such a horrific thing. "She could never get me to shift back to my natural form. She kept threatening to chop off my tail if I ever did, and I need that for balance." Being tailless was not something she ever wanted to experience. The tip of her tail flicked in remembrance and she considered things. "An amazing mom though. I kept close eyes on her. Her kids never had any idea the full extent of what she did at work." They had viewed her as very loving and kind.
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Post by Ylanne on Jun 8, 2020 17:58:56 GMT -6
"That's horrifying," said Qahtani. "I'm sorry." She fell silent a moment, saying nothing, then looked wryly to Hope again. "When you're in this line of work, you have to learn that people are complicated. They can hold many things at the same time." Hell, she knew that if she had her way, Shira would never know the half of what she did. And for all that Terra seemed to know now about the old woman, Qahtani was willing to bet most of the planet would never know exactly what Drulović was capable of either. What she'd done that would never come to light of day, or at least, the attention of Parliamentary committees and special prosecutors. "I'm glad the children only knew her better half. It's not something I'd want for myself. So I ... minimize the kinds of relationships I have with others. Most of us do. The old woman, she's been an exception to that, except that she has very few family who actually talk to her. Something happened, obviously. But it's part of the price you pay."
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Post by demikara on Jun 9, 2020 8:30:47 GMT -6
"Every relationship I've had either fell apart or they were...Norry understood best. He was an assassin. He was also from a shortlived species. I loved him dearly. But the life span difference was so much." She shrugged. "Every other relationship just sort of fell apart. Too many secrets and my work came home with me. There's not a lot I could do about that. I'm literally a cyborg. The work was in a computer chip attached to me." So long as she had service of some sort, she had access to work and was expected to be working.
It was nice to be free of that. "Norry and I used to get high on catnip together. That stuff is great, as far as I'm concerned. Definitely a drug of choice." It was fairly mild, all things told, but it was great for relaxing. It just made you a little silly.
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Post by Ylanne on Jun 9, 2020 9:55:41 GMT -6
"It had never once occurred to me that Erutin would actually be affected by catnip," said Qahtani, smiling a little. "I guess your anatomy really must be quite similar to those of Terran house cats after all, in some way or another." She had grown accustomed, at least somewhat, to the bizarre reality of speaking to a large cat on a daily basis now, albeit a large cat that could shapeshift her mouth into one capable of producing human-like speech. Qahtani didn't understand the mechanics of this; that was better left to Jo Proctor, but she was willing to accept it all the same. "Why do you say that Director Drulović wasn't all that impressed with you? Was it because of your relationship with your children?" Qahtani had been to the old woman's house - the one she'd lived in before the Aschen destroyed it - and remembered seeing not even a single picture of Drulović's children or grandchildren there. Only the dead. The ghosts.
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Post by demikara on Jun 9, 2020 10:32:42 GMT -6
"It has to be a pretty big dose." Hope admitted. "But it's like marijuana for us. Marijuana has no effect though." It was an interesting trade off. "And probably because of that. She seemed big on that, at least." And Hope could understand why. Children were considered precious on Terra. "Most erutin see kids very differently than terrans do. Most of our kids are raised in creches. I never knew my own parents and that's the norm."
The kids lived together and had caretakers. But other than twins always being together, there was really no rule on that. In general, lost or abandoned kids were taken to the nearest creche where they'd be cared for. "They stay there until they're about...the same as a ten year old. Then they're off to a boarding school to learn a trade or go into academics. Only nobles keep their children close." And even then, titles didn't pass down more than a generation. Titles were earned in the empire, not part of birth. The belkans had been very shocked by this and hadn't adapted to the change just yet.
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Post by Ylanne on Jun 9, 2020 11:57:27 GMT -6
"That's certainly different from how most people I know raise children, but it's not unheard of here," said Qahtani. "People from wealthier families send their children to boarding school here too. And they'll often have nannies or au pairs to essentially raise their children instead of doing it themselves. That's not unique to the Erutin Empire. Though the creche bit, now that is something that rarely happens here, except in orphanages or sometimes in hyper-militarized societies where children are raised to be soldiers from birth. But we also usually consider that a crime against humanity." Similar to what they'd originally tried to charge the old woman for, except it ultimately never stuck. Qahtani could believe it though. They'd all seen far too much. "I don't know my own parents, either, actually. I don't think the old woman really did either. She had pictures of them in her house, but she said they'd died when she was still a baby. My partner's parents, now, they're a regular part of our lives. And I have my grandparents, both sets of them. None of them really know what I do, and it's best we keep it that way."
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Post by demikara on Jun 9, 2020 13:42:11 GMT -6
"I don't even know their names. Sometimes I wonder what they think of me, if they're still alive. Other times, I'm glad not to know." Her tail flicked and and she ran a paw over her face. "Enough of this sadness though. This field doesn't attract people who had a happy life." That was the simple truth. You had three types who became spies: those who wanted to feel powerful, those who wanted revenge on their home nation, and those who were too scarred to live a normal life.
Hope knew which one she was.
She rolled so she was on her back now, paws curled in the air. "Think Jo would rub my belly? It itches some."
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Post by Ylanne on Jun 9, 2020 14:39:41 GMT -6
"Ha. I'm sure she would." Qahtani rose, bent, and gave Hope a few awkward scritches, and then collected her things to leave the room. She had emails and memos to catch up on - that tended to happen when you were out of the office for too long. This had been an odd sort of assignment, but exactly the kind of thing she'd come to expect every once in a while. In the business of cultivating assets, nothing was ever predictable or ordinary, whether the asset in question was the janitor of a major military base or a grand admiral in a hostile army. She'd learned that early.
The days passed with similar routines. Taylor grew increasingly irate with each passing day, while Jo spent as much time as she possible could curled up with Hope in her natural form. Jahan kept to himself, the others only hearing occasional muted voices from the workspace when Jahan occupied it with the door shut, no doubt managing some unsavory business of his. Qahtani suspected that Taylor wasn't even conscious half the time, but never inquired. It would have been intrusive, and also possibly risked a highly unpleasant confrontation. The daily hunts were Qahtani's only real respite, for even Wardah rarely ventured to the guest quarters, occupied as she was with managing the waystation on her own. It was an odd mission, but one that Qahtani could only hope would provide their Erutin guest with some chance at a different future.
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Post by demikara on Jun 11, 2020 7:52:58 GMT -6
It hadn't been long since she was able to shift into a terran human shape, but it was time to leave. Hope had chosen a rather nondescript form for her new life. Different features than she used to use of course, with darker skin than she was used to. She was mostly hoping that it would serve as a better deterrent against finding out who she was. To that end, she was dressed in some clothes that rarely saw use, a good deal sharper than what she was used to. Once on her new ship she'd be able to relax again, though she'd probably keep the form.
It was going to be interesting, starting a brand new life. "I guess this is it. You're probably glad to get out of here Meri." She knew Jo and Taylor were.
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