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Post by Ylanne on Aug 16, 2020 12:05:41 GMT -6
"I can't say I'd hoped to see my dotage in prison, but, well, we all must serve in our own ways," said Drulović. She dipped another piece of the bread into the soup and chewed idly, ignoring the dull pain in her teeth and jaw with each bite, even from the soggy, drooping bread. She sighed, mulling the bread before reaching for another piece of it. "I'm sorry to hear of Ms. Anona's disappearance," she said. "She'd hoped to convince me to help your empire in some way, hardly a surprise from one spy to another, of course. I'm afraid I couldn't offer my help - my loyalties lie with my homeworld. I'm sure you understand." The old woman watched idly as others moved about, hardly anyone paying attention to this odd conversation. The guards were fully occupied with a hushed conversation punctuated by loud guffaws between them, and the other prisoners in her unit were finishing their meals one by one, returning their trays and disappearing either back into their cells or out to the yard. The old woman was always last.
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Post by demikara on Aug 16, 2020 12:37:33 GMT -6
"I see. You realize I don't believe you of course." Wing said simply and delicately nibbled at the bread. It was bread, and slightly stale, somehow. That was almost impressive given how quickly a place this large much go through bread. "You see, despite your lack of official power, you and my dear friend have something in common. Your people are incredibly loyal to you. I am not unaware of the power you still hold." Regardless of official position, this woman was one of the most dangerous people on Terra right now. Feeble, imprisoned, and still able to call the shots. It was almost admirable.
"I am also not unaware of how much of a pest my dear friend can make of herself. So I must know. What did she do to upset you so much you would do away with her entirely?"
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Post by Ylanne on Aug 16, 2020 12:55:17 GMT -6
"I'm afraid I wouldn't know," said Drulović, shrugging. She dipped each piece of the bread into the soup until there was almost no bread left, nor thin broth in the bowl. The authorities unofficially expected prisoners to arrange for friends or family to supplement their diet. Of course, that expectation assumed that each prisoner had friends or family willing and able to bring food. "I'm old and in prison, forcibly retired you know, and tragically, with fewer and fewer friends of which to speak." Of course, the official visitation logs hadn't recorded Hope's visit, nor for that matter, would they record the Empress Wing's either. It was simply the way these things worked. "I'd hoped Ms. Anona might return. It's nice to be around others, even if only temporarily and under pretense. It can be quite lonely here, you know, with little opportunity for diversion or respite. Of course, it could also be much worse." And well she knew it. She had the scars to show for it.
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Post by demikara on Aug 16, 2020 19:08:04 GMT -6
"Her notes indicated she anticipated seeing more of you." Wing said simply. "And that she left behind a gift. "But what I want to know is why leave anything behind? What did you say to her? What did you do to my dear friend Hope? Defanged or not, I have no doubt you could still catch a mouse if you wanted to." You hardly needed fangs to catch a mouse after all. Just enough skill to find one.
"We're quite convinced she was kidnapped you know, and by Terrans as well. So why kidnap Hope? She'd die before betraying the empire, of course." She was programmed to.
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Post by Ylanne on Aug 16, 2020 19:35:09 GMT -6
"And what, pray tell, do you think that Terra would have to gain from kidnapping Hope Anona?" said Drulović, turning her hand palm up toward Wing. "You've said yourself just now that she'd die before betraying you. And certainly, Parliament has no need of war; we've seen far more than enough of that to last for many lifetimes - even Erutin ones, long as they are." The old woman grouped the two thin bread crusts next to each other beside her bowl, sad and wilting. "Besides, what use would I have for a kidnapping? Where exactly do you believe I'd hide a body in the confines of a cramped prison cell, or on the premises of a military installation to which I no longer have access, and which, frankly, would be a terrible place to keep a captive. I quite enjoy a hot cup of tea and a good conversation, and believe me, there are far more interesting and less violent ways to invite a colleague to enjoy a conversation than to kidnap them." Drulović eyed the tiny mouse, nearly undetectable and unnoticeable, hovering just behind the Empress's affected human feet. She stooped, scooping the mouse up in her one functional hand, and deftly arranged the other one to form the other half of a cup around it, hands resting on the table. "I don't suppose your aide-de-camp has a name? I'm afraid we haven't been properly introduced."
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Post by demikara on Aug 16, 2020 19:43:44 GMT -6
"Thorn, I believe." Wing looked the mouse over and shrugged. "Unless they switched on me at the last minute, of course. And no aide de camp. Merely a guard there to get me out in a hurry, if its needed. It's a Terran prison. There could be a riot, or something similar." Prisons could be dangerous places. This one seemed tame, but that could always change. She shrugged. "And there's no telling what Terra could gain. She would certainly die before willingly betraying me. But you have magic and the only magic we have is in our shifting." Magic here could be used for coercing she was quite certain.
"The right combination could have her convinced she was reporting to me instead of to you. And she hides nothing from me." It wasn't allowed.
Thorn patiently allowed himself to be picked up. The mouse scurried out of Arianne's hand the moment it was safe and settled down next to Wing's hand, close enough to get her to safety if need be.
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Post by Ylanne on Aug 16, 2020 19:56:37 GMT -6
"I suppose that's true," said Drulović, her tone idle and expressing little other than thorough lack of interest. She had released Thorn immediately, had only stroked her side gently and briefly. "I don't particularly care much for magic or technology - I've had some rather unfortunate experiences with both of them in my day. I much prefer more old fashioned tradecraft, of a kind many people these days seem to have forgotten entirely. It's shameful and disappointing, I think." The old woman poked a single finger at the thin, brittle cookie at the edge of the plate. She sighed, and broke off a small piece of it, letting it rest in her mouth to soften before breaking it up further. "I've tasted better food in boot camp during a famine," she said, almost chuckling to herself. Drulović fixed her gaze directly at Wing for the first time, meeting the eyes that belonged to Amanda. Her own betrayed nothing. "I'm terribly sorry to be wasting your time so. I'm afraid you've come looking in the wrong place - though I do hope to see Ms. Anona again, alive and well. I should hope your own Belkan malcontents and the Aschen knocking at the door would be so wise as to leave her such."
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Post by demikara on Aug 16, 2020 20:04:28 GMT -6
"The Aschen don't have her. And my Vicky is dealing with any Belkan malcontents personally. She takes umbrage to those who would use her heritage to try and split the nation, after all." Princess Victoria, despite a moderate ability to shapeshift, was every inch her father's daughter. Total control was a simple necessity, along with a cult of personality that was unrivaled. There were dolls that bore both of their likeness for the little girls of the empire to play house with. Vicky's was sold out often and near impossible to get ahold of the higher end dolls. Wing had thought the entire situation ridiculous, but Josef had the right of it.
Cradle to the grave, they should seek to please their rulers and to be like their rulers. The dolls were just one way of ensuring that happened. "And I can't push the details here myself. But I will have someone else come deal with you some more. If you did not take her, then some other Terran did. Perhaps your replacement is sharper than she first seems." That they had been Terran, she was quite certain of.
Terra was just a pain to go to war over, and it wasn't something she'd push for right now. Though she would act to destabilize it further, if they truly had anything to do with Hope's disappearance.
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Post by Ylanne on Aug 16, 2020 20:15:16 GMT -6
"You're welcome to believe whatever you'd like," said Drulović, "though I'm afraid it'll do nothing to change the truth of the matter." She frowned at the corners of her lips, breaking off another piece of the cookie, but did not eat it. "Besides," said the old woman, offering the Erutin Empress a bland and emotionless smile that belied exactly how far she'd be willing to go to protect this secret, "if I had taken Ms. Anona, which I assure you neither I nor any of my former compatriots on Terra have, why do you believe I'd simply tell you, of all people, what I'd done and where I'd taken her? I should hope you'd harbor more respect than that, of our base instinct for mere self-preservation if for nothing else." She knew well how many of the empires believed Terra a backwater, uncivilized world, lacking in the same graces and advances. She was content to allow them to continue harboring this belief. The old woman waved her hand dismissively. "She is not in Terran custody, Empress. You're right, of course, that I'd know if she were, official positions be damned. I'm sure you've already inquired of my recent conversations and correspondence. It's all trite and hardly interesting." She shook her head. "Though surely you must also know the duplicity of such magical trickery of which you speculate would demean us both. I prefer my interrogations in a rather direct and conversational manner. I find it far more effective than the available alternatives, and the results accordingly more trustworthy, for what they are at least. I'm sorry to say I can offer nothing else." The old woman pointed at Wing's plate. "Your soup's like to be cold now."
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Post by demikara on Aug 17, 2020 16:57:36 GMT -6
"I prefer my interrogations to be a good deal more bloody. I find pain is an excellent tongue loosener." And there was more pain if you lied and she made that perfectly clear. "And this is hardly soup. I've had soup. It was better than this slop." Soup wasn't a dish the erutin had. But erutin were mostly carnivorous and lacked hands in their natural form. Soup could be made, if clumsily so, but it was a borrowed dish. They tended to prefer their meat at least a little bloody, and didn't have much of a need to cook it, though some people preferred cooked meat of all things.
Wing finished off everything but the pitiful soup. "My agents will continue to be in touch with you. When we you finally decide you want to die free fo the walls, let one know. I'm sure you can figure out the fee. Thorn, come. We're done here." She picked up the mouse and headed towards the 'cell' that the prisoner she was imitating so she could be taken back to her ship. There was little she could to to properly interrogate Drulovic here. The prison walls and the need for subterfuge limited the actions she could take.
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Post by Ylanne on Aug 17, 2020 19:15:42 GMT -6
Drulović watched as Wing swept from the table and left. Had any of the guards here been paying attention - and she'd noted their slothfulness, and so doubted they had - they might have noticed how Amanda Jones suddenly moved as though she were a different person entirely. The old woman shook her head ruefully. She nibbled at the cookie until she decided no more of it would be edible, and then leaned over the bowl, the soup now cold, and tipped the rest of it into her mouth. Her stomach growled, but she ignored it as had become her usual practice. Drulović would pass a message to her friend Amira before the week was out, but she'd wait. She'd learned decades ago how to be patient. Rash moves, of which frantic messages were among the most common kind, could expose agents and end entire missions. And patience as a companion offered the old woman satisfaction. She'd yet to meet any enemy, rival, or church lady whose patience was capable of outlasting hers. Most of her victories had come after a long wait. She'd also learned through much experience that patience would keep her alive through even the worst possible pains and tortures. Eventually, they'd lose interest - or she'd die.
The old woman, once finished, carefully moved her tray to the other side of the table, closer to the cart for cleanup. She rose shakily, gripping the cane as tightly as her fingers would allow, and moved slowly along the table herself, until she could lean against it to set the tray on the cart. The day had already been too enervating. She suspected she wouldn't make it back out to the common room for dinner that night. It was just as well. Her mind was elsewhere, in the Terran mountains.
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Post by demikara on Aug 19, 2020 8:22:34 GMT -6
Two weeks later, a team of two arrived, one carrying a body that looked, for all intents and purposes, identical to Arianne Drulović. The body had died of heart failure, though that had been helped along. A prisoner who had been promised release if they assumed a certain form exactly as possible, down to the number of teeth remaining. They had been granted release, though one of death brought on by artificial heart failure. The one with his hands free reached out, and gently tried to pick up Arianne without disturbing her too much. Porting with someone else meant holding them close, and so this wouldn't be done as quickly as a simple touch.
It was 2 am, in between guard patrols, and they had enough time to do the switch over, so long as they remained quiet for the entire event, and moved quickly. It wouldn't be the first extraction this team had performed. The trick was in keeping the target quiet, and to that end, one hand covered Arianne's mouth, just in case she woke up.
It was possible. She was a spy after all, and spies slept lightly.
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Post by Ylanne on Aug 19, 2020 9:27:20 GMT -6
The old woman's eyes opened immediately, though it took a few seconds more for hazy shapes to resolve into human figures, one darker-skinned and one light. She did not recognize these two. That meant they were likely either Aschen or Erutin, and given her recent unwelcome encounter with the Erutin Empress, her money would have been on Erutin had she had any to bet. The old woman had been dreaming of faraway worlds with lush jungle, arching tree canopies in brilliant blues and greens, illuminated by scattered flashes of lightning, hiding something otherworldly and evil lurking beneath the trees. She could feel its presence looming, the echo of it still lingering in the air even now that she was awake.
The prison's hallway was shadowy, with some lights left on at all hours, but the cells themselves dark through the night. With the one arm that still had function, Drulović shoved up and outward at the operative who'd put hands on her, striking at his elbow - the joint often a weaker spot along the arm. Their shadows danced along the walls, jagged, long, and spindly. The old woman's motions were practiced and familiar, surprisingly fast, but lacking the same power behind them as she might have had in her youth.
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Post by demikara on Aug 19, 2020 9:32:35 GMT -6
There was a quiet hiss as the man pulled back away from her. "Stop that." He grumbled and reached for her again, moving faster this time, aiming to pull her to him, close enough to port them away. The other operative put down their burden, and kept an eye out along the hall. "We're not going to hurt you." The words were whispered, just loud enough she'd be able to catch them.
It wasn't a surprise that she was fighting back of course. They just needed to get a hold of her fast enough the guards were attracted to the noise the abduction would unfortunately make.
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Post by Ylanne on Aug 19, 2020 9:51:42 GMT -6
"Oh? Then what type of message, pray tell, do you intend to communicate by surprising an old woman in the dark?" Drulović's body was tense, but he was stronger and faster than she was, especially now that she had lost any possible edge gained from the element of surprise. Her eyes were bright and clear, and she could see both of them well. She caught a glimpse of the body the other held, and her features hardened. She knew then what they meant to do. They meant for her - or at least the illusion of her - to die.
At the far end of the corridor, the guards on night shift had not yet stirred toward the commotion in her cell. This was a specially segregated unit, and they perceived no particular danger, expecting that if and when it came, it would come with more firepower and significantly louder and brighter than the two Erutin operatives had. Besides, prisoners could be rowdy and disruptive. No use investigating what might just turn out to be a heated conversation, or simply something falling to the floor. The guards might have come running if Drulović had screamed. Of course, the old woman didn't.
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