RE: Incident [TEXT]
05-13-2013, 10:04 PM
“Why don't you tell me?”
“You want me to guess?”
“Mm, no. No, not at all. I just want your suspicions.”
She's silent for a moment. Whatever she was expecting to be demanded from her at gunpoint, it probably wasn't this.
“We came here for Number 6. I suppose... it's possible that's who you are. I've never seen him. He could look like anyone under the mask. But this... doesn't seem quite his style.” She tilts her head slightly, as if imagining someone with Six's reputation perched on a windowsill with an unlit cigarette.
“Not Number 6, then. Go on.”
“He probably didn't come alone. You could be one of his sparkers. There are plenty of abilities that are useful to have around but aren't any good for threatening people.” She shrugs. “Hence the gun. But that does beg the question of what you're doing alone.”
“I'm not a sparker,” you volunteer, and hope that at least one person will believe it.
She shrugs again. “Neither is Kierkgaard. Sometimes people like you are useful to keep around.”
“I don't know if you noticed, but Number 6 is less than keen on normals.”
“You mean those assassinations?”
“That's what I was thinking of. It's enough to make a non-sparker a little nervous.”
That's a point, isn't it? You're almost certain somebody said Dupont was a sparker. Possibly the same person who told you his first name, because you can't remember that either. It wouldn't look good if Number 6 was seen to have started going after sparkers too – is it possible that he doesn't intend to claim responsibility for Dupont's murder, as he did with the assassinations of the normals?
You find yourself starting to wonder just how badly Number 6 wants this cube of his.
It also occurs to you that if you're right about this, he was taking a risk in admitting his part in the death to you. Not that anyone would believe you without proof, but it still seems... odd.
Your attention slips for a moment and the woman starts to move forward again, hands aglow -
You snap the gun back into place and she comes to a halt.
“Please, continue. With a little less posturing and pondering, if you please.”
She raises her eyebrows, but resumes talking anyway.
“If you're not Number 6 or working for him, then you're one of us. But I have my reasons for doubting that.”
“The lack of the coat and red scarf being one of them, I suppose. But perhaps I lost them, rather unfortunately, and finding myself in a building full of hostile sparkers decided that walking back to where we've set up base was a less than brilliant idea.”
You rather like that. The idea about losing your uniform could do some work, but its possible to spin something out of that.
“So you decided to hold two of us at gunpoint?” She's raising her eyebrows at you again.
“I haven't been electrocuted yet. I think I'm doing okay.”
She snickers.
“Are you done guessing?” You shift your crouching position slightly. Being perched on the sill isn't all that comfortable.
“I can't think of anyone else who would be in here with us.”
Interesting. She didn't mention the hostage situation. Perhaps she's setting up a trap – if you claim that you're with the Red Queen's sparkers, you would certainly know about the kidnapping. But since you do know, brandishing said knowledge might be enough to convince her that you're on her side. That would require you to explain how you lost your coat and scarf, but might be your best bet for getting out of here otherwise unquestioned.
On the other hand, you could also claim to be someone else... someone who would also know about the hostage taking, perhaps. If you claimed to have useful information you might be able to buy your way out of here.
Either way, you risk running into Kierkgaard, who apparently can identify you. It doesn't sound like your mother, the so-called Red Queen, is in the building, but Kierkgaard is her second in command and almost definitely would be handling any developments on the hostage situation.
Or could refrain from claiming to be anyone, and string the sparkers along a little more until you figure out how to get hold of a coat and scarf or otherwise.
What do you do?
“You want me to guess?”
“Mm, no. No, not at all. I just want your suspicions.”
She's silent for a moment. Whatever she was expecting to be demanded from her at gunpoint, it probably wasn't this.
“We came here for Number 6. I suppose... it's possible that's who you are. I've never seen him. He could look like anyone under the mask. But this... doesn't seem quite his style.” She tilts her head slightly, as if imagining someone with Six's reputation perched on a windowsill with an unlit cigarette.
“Not Number 6, then. Go on.”
“He probably didn't come alone. You could be one of his sparkers. There are plenty of abilities that are useful to have around but aren't any good for threatening people.” She shrugs. “Hence the gun. But that does beg the question of what you're doing alone.”
“I'm not a sparker,” you volunteer, and hope that at least one person will believe it.
She shrugs again. “Neither is Kierkgaard. Sometimes people like you are useful to keep around.”
“I don't know if you noticed, but Number 6 is less than keen on normals.”
“You mean those assassinations?”
“That's what I was thinking of. It's enough to make a non-sparker a little nervous.”
That's a point, isn't it? You're almost certain somebody said Dupont was a sparker. Possibly the same person who told you his first name, because you can't remember that either. It wouldn't look good if Number 6 was seen to have started going after sparkers too – is it possible that he doesn't intend to claim responsibility for Dupont's murder, as he did with the assassinations of the normals?
You find yourself starting to wonder just how badly Number 6 wants this cube of his.
It also occurs to you that if you're right about this, he was taking a risk in admitting his part in the death to you. Not that anyone would believe you without proof, but it still seems... odd.
Your attention slips for a moment and the woman starts to move forward again, hands aglow -
You snap the gun back into place and she comes to a halt.
“Please, continue. With a little less posturing and pondering, if you please.”
She raises her eyebrows, but resumes talking anyway.
“If you're not Number 6 or working for him, then you're one of us. But I have my reasons for doubting that.”
“The lack of the coat and red scarf being one of them, I suppose. But perhaps I lost them, rather unfortunately, and finding myself in a building full of hostile sparkers decided that walking back to where we've set up base was a less than brilliant idea.”
You rather like that. The idea about losing your uniform could do some work, but its possible to spin something out of that.
“So you decided to hold two of us at gunpoint?” She's raising her eyebrows at you again.
“I haven't been electrocuted yet. I think I'm doing okay.”
She snickers.
“Are you done guessing?” You shift your crouching position slightly. Being perched on the sill isn't all that comfortable.
“I can't think of anyone else who would be in here with us.”
Interesting. She didn't mention the hostage situation. Perhaps she's setting up a trap – if you claim that you're with the Red Queen's sparkers, you would certainly know about the kidnapping. But since you do know, brandishing said knowledge might be enough to convince her that you're on her side. That would require you to explain how you lost your coat and scarf, but might be your best bet for getting out of here otherwise unquestioned.
On the other hand, you could also claim to be someone else... someone who would also know about the hostage taking, perhaps. If you claimed to have useful information you might be able to buy your way out of here.
Either way, you risk running into Kierkgaard, who apparently can identify you. It doesn't sound like your mother, the so-called Red Queen, is in the building, but Kierkgaard is her second in command and almost definitely would be handling any developments on the hostage situation.
Or could refrain from claiming to be anyone, and string the sparkers along a little more until you figure out how to get hold of a coat and scarf or otherwise.
What do you do?
Spoiler