Week 68: A romantic trip on Varstaag

The weather in Jictar, one of Varstaag's larger landmasses, was warm. It usually was, at least in this part, which was around the centre of the continent. Warm, humid and generally difficult to keep moving in. It reminded Silvia of South America. Parts of it, anyway. Still, that was the idea behind coming here.

She was currently pressed flat in a bush, keeping her eyes, ears and all other senses open for anyone who might have been following them. A few moments were enough to determine that it was clear enough for now, so she stood, still keeping her head low, and made her way over to Hugo, who was keeping an eye out in another direction, crouched amidst another group of foliage.

"All seems clear," she murmured, quietly. "I think we lost them."

The massive agent became visible, unceremoniously turning his stealth skin off. He was hungry, confused, and something with thorns had attached itself to his hair and appeared to be content to stay there for the duration. And yet... He was having fun. He ran his fingers over Una's hilt absentmindedly, smiling at Silvia before taking another glance around the trees. She was confident here, (here, where all the leaves were moving and the wind made it sound as if there were enemies everywhere)... And that was all kinds of fun in itself.

He crouched a little lower, and moved his hand from his gun to the tangled branch in his hair. "I get a feeling we're not going to sleep tonight, picara." His voice was just as quiet as hers, though it was a good deal less serious.

"Sleep?" Silvia's voice was edged with surprise. "Uh...I hope you weren't planning on any of that. I mean, we might be able to snatch a few moments if one of us keeps watch, but that's about it." She fell silent for a moment, keeping up her continual scanning of the landscape, and her hands clawed at the dirt for a moment before yanking on a root and pulling it up. It looked pale and fleshy, and she studied it critically for a moment before brushing the soil off.

"This should be safe to eat," she said, matter-of-factly. "The pamphlets for Jictar said this kind of thing was generally fine, and we have toxin filters, after all." With that, she bit off a small part of the end and chewed cautiously, before nodding and swallowing. "Yeah, seems fine. Keep an eye out for them, they'll make a handy snack. So long as they're this colour, anyway."

Hugo pursed his lips as Silvia continued being both confident and so, so serious. He didn't saying anything, though, just watched her with growing amusement. After a second, he gave a small triumphant grunt and removed half of whatever the hell was in his hair and flicked it to the ground. He raised his eyebrows and watched her chew on the root. "Are you saying you didn't sleep for ten years? More and more of you is making sense."

He still sounded amused, and he dug his hands into the dirt at a likely looking lump. He didn't know if this root was part of the plant that was next to him, or the tree he was leaning on, or something unrelated. Plants weren't his thing... Even at home he just did the heavy lifting. His brows furrowed as he removed something lumpy and light colored.. under all the dirt, anyway. Maybe he should have paid more attention. In a much less mirthful voice he asked, "This look right?"

"Not for ten years," Silvia replied with what seemed to be a genuine smile, "But there were times where I had to go without sleep for something close to a week. It's trickier here, though," she added, voice shifting to slightly more serious and holding up her arm, "since they're tracking us. We can't afford to stay still too long, or I'd try and find a hideout, somewhere they couldn't easily find us."

She narrowed her eyes at the root in Hugo's hand and then nodded. "Should be safe. Looks a little past its best, but shouldn't hurt. You'll have to get used to the taste, though," she continued, almost as an afterthought. "Seriously, it's not good." With that, she bit another chunk out of her own root and chewed enthusiastically.

Hugo gave Silvia a suspicious look, took a bite of the root... And then shuddered, holding it off his tongue in between his teeth. Despite the relative toughness of it, he bit through it as easily as if it were warm butter. "Okay, yeah, this is gross." But cybernetics were always hungry, and even despite the taste of the root, his augments' demands had to be met.

After a few more bites he shook his head, eyeing Silvia up and down. He seemed to be collecting his thoughts. "I lived next to a fair part of untamed land. It was too polluted really for anything useful. I played there as a kid a few times..." He trailed off, and then looked back down at the rapidly disappearing root. He had a big mouth, impressive teeth, and plenty of hunger. He took another large bite and kept talking while chewing, "And I never thought it would play into life as an agent. Maybe I should have listened to my aunt more. Actually cared about plants and stuff. Maybe I could find something better than this." He gestured with the root before putting the rest in his mouth, chewing more as he looked through the rich dirt under his hands.

"It all depends what you do as an Agent," Silvia said, turning back to scanning the landscape for any potential threats. "I mean, most Agents never need to know about plants in their life. And there's plenty of better stuff, but it mostly grows on the plants, as far as I can gather. Fruit and berries and that kind of thing. And we'll need to catch some game as well," she added. "Bring down a couple of the deer-analogues a day or something - Una can probably help with that. Oh, and if you see a root with a yellow tinge, don't eat it. The toxin filter can probably handle it, but it might just give you diarrhoea, and we wouldn't want that. Would slow us down too much."

She bent down and pulled another root out of the ground, pocketing it. "Speaking of which, we should get a move on. Come on."

Hugo looked up from hit fruitless search for food and nodded. There were enough brightly colored things hanging off of plants that could be eaten later. He had a good deal more faith in his toxin filter than Silvia seemed to, but the idea of eating anything poisonous made him feel.. anxious. Too much poison and pollution in his old town. He cloaked before standing, looking around for potential foes. "Do we get to cook the meat, or eat it raw? Maybe I should have taken some salt in my sock or something."

"Depends if we can risk a fire," Silvia replied, activating her own stealthskin. "We might be able to on occasion, but you'll probably have to get used to raw. It's not that bad, really. Now, let's go." With that, she began to move off, quickly blending seamlessly into the undergrowth around her (Agility+Stealth is a pass by 8 ).

Did you ever go into the wilds much? she asked as they moved, switching to smeaker. I mean...you were right next to them. Surely you must have ventured in once or twice.

Hug followed much less gracefully, but hidden nonetheless. (Pass by 4.) He thought for a second, shrugging with a shoulder... Not that he was visible for anyone to see it. "A few times, yeah. In secondary school... With friends. Just a night or a few nights." His voice was warm. It was only a few years ago, for him. "It was contested like everything else, so it was dangerous, but you could go out there with some booze and guns and do things without having to worry about being interrupted by your family or.. whatever." He ducked under a branch, and when he smeakered again he sounded much less nostalgic. "We never stayed out for long, though. There was school and jobs and training. Always more training."

Really? Hugo could practically see the puzzled frown on Hugo's face, just from her smeakered voice. That...seems dangerous. Just...going out into a place like that to mess around. I mean, I know you don't mean the worst parts, but still. None of it was exactly nice. I...know the feeling, though, she continued, her voice growing significantly warmer. It's nice to go and do things away from people.

There was silence for a moment as she bent her attention to the landscape again, and then her voice came across the smeaker again. So...exactly what training did the WF make you guys do? I mean, I know they're big on it, but...I never got much of a chance to watch. The SY was always a lot more...self-motivated. At least in theory.

"Oh, you know... Guns, basic classwork, math, tactics, corp history." He repressed a little laugh, and she could here his snort too loud for smeakers. "I don't remember it now. It was just stuff you did. Well, I mean, I remember the close combat training and the gun stuff, but... Who knows about who did what in the battle of whatever, you know?" Hugo moved through the leaves and branches quietly, but Silvia could tell he was thinking.

"..When we first moved from Mexico City, that summer, some kids got killed in a battle skirmish. Our town was always safe, you know, heavy Fed presence, but the only place rebels could get major supplies. It was a big deal. ..But later, I mean.. Where else would you go? What else would you do? Official Fed control left when I was in high school, and with the boarders pushed back, it seemed safe again. The kids dying was a long time ago. And..." There was another slow moment while he moved around a tree. "The fires kept away most animals and... Well, we were more stupid and dangerous than anything else there."

Forgetting that Hugo couldn't see her, Silvia nodded. It seems...odd, she said, after a moment. The idea of just...dealing with rebels. I mean...up until I came back, if I had seen a rebel against the SY, I'd have turned them in without a second thought. It was just...what you did. Her voice was...subdued, even over smeaker. And now...suddenly I'm a rebel myself, and so is all my family. I keep half-expecting to find Ken'ichi and Akemi working for Comoros or something. Everything's just...so different.

Hugo felt a pang of sympathy, but realized that he couldn't embrace Silvia for comfort even if he wanted. She was somewhere.. over to the left, in front of him, but damn she was good at hiding. Instead he settled for a soothing noise over smeaker and adding, "There's nothing wrong with being a.. rebel. Everyone at Oracle is... Maybe you would have felt differently if you knew them. I mean, we all did. By sight, even as friends. Even Tio Peter, and he used to be a Fed agent..." He trailed off, aware he wasn't helping, not really. He scanned around for anything out of place, but it was all shifting leaves. The Shi Yukiro was so alien to him. Alien and suffocating. He couldn't imagine liking it, but maybe that was because the only aggressive supporter he had ever heard personal stories of was the aforementioned Ken'ichi. He couldn't imagine just turning someone in to the Feds. Oh, maybe if he was on a mission, but he was always told he wasn't really fit for that fieldwork. Now he was starting to see why.

"Sometimes stuff just changes.And even if it hadn't, you'd be rich now and far from home, and everything would be different besides. It seems like something that grown ups jsut have to deal with."

If things hadn't changed, I'd be off mapping Siberia or somewhere, Silvia replied, with an invisible mirthless grin. And probably really enjoying it, too. But I'd probably still believe my family were all dead from some accident, so maybe not. There was another moment of silence, and when she spoke again, her voice was bitter.

I still can't really believe what they did to me, she said. I mean, they lied to me. They could even have told me the truth, and I would probably have come down on their side. If they'd actually bothered to pay me. I mean, Shinjitsu might not have been able to afford it, but the SY certainly could, and they pretty much own them, after all. It couldn't have cost them that much, overall. Certainly not as much as I've cost them since, she added, rather guiltily.

"Nah, picarita. They couldn't tell you. Not unless they knew you loved the corp more than your family." Hugo took a moment to reflect on this, and what Silvia had just said, and hurriedly-but-not-hurriedly-enough continued, "Maybe not love, I mean. That's the wrong word. Loyalty, maybe. Uh, but, either way... ...It was their mistake to underestimate you. They should have known you would have gotten your money back somehow." He rallied well toward the end of this little speech, voice growing amused and almost.. proud... And he only got more encouraging as he continued. "It's what they get for trying to screw you over."

It's not like I joined Oracle for the money, Silvia replied, shaking her head. I mean...really, I didn't care. It's useful for upgrades, but beyond that...I mean I've got more money than I ever dreamed of just...sitting in my accounts now, and no idea what to do with it. There was a slight tinge of wryness, there - she recognised the irony of what she was saying.

I was just...running. I did love them, I guess, in a way. I mean, they kind of brought me up. And then to suddenly have them cast me aside like that...it hurt, and I wanted to run. If they had trusted me... she tailed off, suddenly uncomfortable with where her train of thought was going. I could have been one of the ones enforcing order in the Underspires. I...wouldn't have been happy, but not because of the job. Just because I'd have been missing out on the wider world.

This was a bit of a shock to Hugo, who had rebelled against that kind of train of thought. He gave a curious glance to where he could feel Silvia walking. He didn't know he he could be in an underspire... He hadn't seen much of it, besides some news footage, but forcing people to do things they didn't want to do seemed.. Like a boring job, and a terrible job, but also a lot like a Fed job. Things he knew he didn't like.

He shook his head, knowing she couldn't see, and thought about these things in silence for a few moments. Eventually, he added in an affable but distant way, "It's a good thing you ran, then." He didn't also add what he was thinking, that it was a good thing they had hurt and betrayed her, as well.

Yeah, it probably is. Silvia fell silent again, her mind slowly examining the potential future path for her that might have happened if she hadn't. It looked...unpleasant. And yet, there was a part of her that knew she would have carried it out without even questioning it. Just accepted that it was necessary.

Ken'ichi would have hated me for it, she said, after a moment, her voice still thoughtful. Running away, I mean. Turning against the SY. Dishonouring myself. He would have said that I should think of the Corp. Put their welfare above ordinary citizens - even above myself. He dedicated himself so fully to them, you know, she added, pride for her old friend and lover colouring her voice. Made them his highest cause. Never had any doubts or questions or fear. Not like me. He was...strong. Where I'm weak.

Hugo growled audibly, and stood stock-still for a moment. Part of it was out of anger. Even HEARING about this guy was.. sign-swearingly frustrating. But even more importantly... Despite the movement around them, he could pin where she was. He crossed the distance between them quickly. He mumbled her name loud enough to hear without smeaker before wrapping his arms around her, one around her waist and the other loosely across her neck and collarbones. He pulled her close to him. He didn't use his extra-human muscles to hold her tight, but there was a firmness in his arms that suggested he wouldn't let her move away from him.

"Silvia, no. No." He was whispering, speaking quietly by her ear to maintain the illusion of stealth. "The 'strength' you're talking about is a loyalty to a corporation that killed your parents. That imprisoned most of your countrymen. That refused to pay you after years of work. His 'highest cause' didn't trust you, or respect you." His voice was bitter, and.. furious in a way Silvia hadn't heard before, and it seemed like some of it, if only a small part, was directed at her.

He pulled her closer and sighed onto her neck, taking a moment to relax. "There is nothing weak about not.. dedicating yourself to a corporation that much, okay? You're not weak. You're strong and smart and good, good at what you do. Ken'ichi is an asshole if he could hate you." There was a fair amount of venom in the word 'asshole' and her late lover's name, but the rest of it was insistent and sincere.

"He was still...strong," Silvia said, quietly, leaning into Hugo but not moving her arms around him. "I mean...misguided, yeah. Now I've seen what they are...I'm glad I never loved the SY like he did. But...he was still the strongest man I ever met. He always had...purpose, belief." Her voice was starting to get a little defensive, in reaction to Hugo's venom. "And I've got nothing like that. I'm...good, yeah, good at what I do. But...I don't do it for anything, really. I don't even do it for the money. Just...because I was drifting and this is where I washed up. Whereas he always had something else to live for. Beyond himself."

Silvia felt Hugo's body tighten as she spoke, tensing as if struck. As she finished talking he stiffly pulled away, letting her go with a small push. He took a step to the side, moving out of her reach. Even his breathing was kind of stilted. When he spoke, it was obvious he was trying to hide his emotions--annoyance, yes, but also a tangible amount of hurt--and he was doing a terrible job. (Fail L&A by 6.) "Good to know you have no others reasons to live besides yourself."

She could feel through her feet, and almost certainly see, Hugo moving away, off to the side. "We've been still too long. We should move."

Had Silvia's face been properly visible, it would have been easy to see the sudden mixture of shock and hurt that etched itself across her features. After a moment, she just about pulled herself together and managed to smeaker a reply. I...yes. We have. You're right, we...we ought to move. Her voice was a little steadier than Hugo's, but the hurt was clearly audible in her words, too (Fail L&A by 3). With that, she fell silent, moving off after Hugo and trying to keep her concentration on staying unobserved, rather than processing what Hugo had said to her.

After fifteen or so minutes, Hugo was back to himself. Not touching her--though he'd only done that the once--but making jokes and seeming fine. Of course, later things would go horribly downhill, but insofar as seeming angry and hurt went, the massive agent was fine.

Silvia seemed mostly okay, although it was hard to tell, since it was very difficult to see her and she was very much focused on staying alive, rather than talking. But even allowing for that, she seemed quieter than usual, and less at ease than she had been before their conversation. But, in general, she appeared fine.