Week 87, Just before the Trial: Necessary Preparations

Hours ago Hugo was speeding away from Frieburg, and now he was clean and in the process of dressing in his hotel room just outside The Hague Court Complex. In a few more hours, he'd be in the court room. On the drive back, he spent a while taking to Leto, and some of the uneasiness of the past few weeks was evaporating. He knew nothing about computers, but copy and pasting parts of brains sounded really illegal, even if they were non-meat people. Now the lawyers could figure out how to use him in the case, though Hugo made it clear he'd love to take the little guy. Yeah. So why did he not feel better yet? A thought occurred to him. "You here yet, picara? I only have a little time before I need to meet with my team." Even over smeaker he sounded.. not exactly like himself.

I'll be there in a moment, came the reply, almost instantly. Just need to check in.


About ten minutes later, Silvia knocked on the door to Hugo's room and pushed it open. She looked totally out of place in the hotel, still wearing the clothes she had worn on the mission, although she had at least left her armour elsewhere. Her expression was troubled, and only grew more so as her gaze alighted on her boyfriend.

"Hi," she said, not moving from the doorway. "How...how are you?" It wasn't a simple pleasantry, but a real question, her concern for Hugo showing in her face and voice.

Hugo was completely dressed by the time Silvia arrived, and he looked.. utterly lovely in his black Capelli suit and white shirt. Simple. Elegant. And not very concerned. He smiled when he saw her, and embraced her quietly. "We didn't get to talk at all before the mission. You must be exhausted." He sounded much more like himself, though he was more quiet, more gentle than normal. "And I'm fine, picara."

Silvia returned the embrace, her grip tight as though seeking reassurance. "I'm...I'm fairly tired, yes. It's been a...a busy week." That statement obviously hid a number of factors, but she didn't elaborate. "I'm glad you're okay," she continued. "It...it looks...like it's going to be an interesting trial." She lapsed into silence again, staring at Hugo with an expression that couldn't hide her concern.

"I think we got enough stuff. It should be a straightforward case." He smiled down at her, brushing some hair from her face. "Leto should prove they were doing crazy things with computers. Mind stapling can't be good for AIs. But it's not important. Tell me about Taiwan. How is your brother? You niece?" As always, he was excited to hear about family, and gave her a final squeeze before pulling her inside, shutting the door, and moving to suggest they sit on the bed.

Silvia sighed, allowing Hugo to guide her to the bed. "It's...it's bad out there. The Resistance...they just don't have the manpower they need. They're doing all they can, but...it's not going well. Yuki, he's...he's not doing very well." She sat and shook her head. "And I...I met the man in charge. He...doesn't really like us," she said, with the glance downwards that indicated she was underplaying something rather significant. "Apparently...apparently Oracle killed his eldest son. If it weren't for Yuki, he would have had any Oracle Agent that set foot in Taiwan killed." She smiled a small, somewhat sickly smile. "And now he's the closest thing I have to a father. Funny how things work out."

Hugo rubbed her back and held one of her hands, listening intently. "And they won't leave, I bet. It's their home." He realized how true the word were as he said them, and he frowned. "It's the same at home. Though I don't... I don't think we killed much Resistance when we were there?" He shook his head, and squeezed her fingers in his. He smelled good; maybe the suit came with its own fresh suit smell. He shook his head. "And you will always have family with us, and we don't care if you're in Oracle. So, what are w--you going to do?" There was only the tiniest bit of backtracking. Silvia hadn't involved him so far, but it was obvious he cared.

Silvia shook her head. "Not us. I mean, Oracle, but...not us. It was over a year ago, he said. Didn't say anything more, though." She leant into Hugo, but didn't relax - he could feel the tension in her body. "As for what to do next...I need to go looking for Cult. And I imagine that's something not many people can probably help with. Going to be tricky, though, I've no idea where to start." A frown appeared on her face and she straightened slightly. "Actually...maybe that new girl can help. Amets. She seems like a good source of information. And once I've got some of them on side, maybe Sun Yat will open up a bit about the Genyosha."

Hugo could feel Silvia far away, already solving this riddle by herself. He sighed softly, and began gently and rhythmically squeezing her fingers. "To find the cult, to earn the trust of these.. Genyosha.. You should find their enemies, and weaken them. Break them. Not for Oracle money or revenge, but to prove yourself as a friend. Do things to be... nice. People don't tell secrets to people who seem weak or scared or not confident." It was obvious halfway through that he was talking about something else, or maybe everything else, in general. He shook his head a little and kissed Silvia's brow. "Amets is good. She seems.. good at information. And they will trust you when you give them tactical advantages. You will do it." He smiled at her a little, gently.

"I hope so," Silvia replied. She was relaxing slightly, evidently somewhat reassured by Hugo's words, and smiled back at him. "And...if I find anything you can help with, I'll let you know. I'm...I'm sorry I've not been around much recently. It's just...this is stuff I have to do." She shrugged, helplessly. "I just...feel bad I haven't been here. With the trial and everything."

Hugo looked away for a second, just a mere tiny moment, before replying. "I did miss you. It wouldn't have been so bad if we could have talked." He frowned then, and shook his head. "But there was Jun-seo and Shinobu and a lot of research, and Coraline the last couple of weeks, too. She's been around a lot, and she's leaving Oracle with me." He didn't seem to think this would be stressful information to impart. "But it worked out well. The mission, and all. Except the for the nuclear explosion."

"Coraline's leaving?" Silvia sounded somewhat surprised. "I...I guess she might have problems with going up against the UIG," she said, in a tone that said quite clearly that she didn't know why anyone would have problems with that. "That'll be a shame. Any idea what she plans to do?" she asked, apparently totally unaware that Hugo had already told her.

"And it did go well, yes. We got the evidence you needed, so I think it was definitely a success. The explosion was..." she hesitated, looking for the right word. "Unexpected. But we all made it out, and it should cause Orion some...trouble."

"Oh yeah, I mean, Orion's gonna be screwed even if I lose, which is nice, them doing to all those AIs and people what they did. So, yeah. I'm not worried like I was. And the lawyers have been really nice too, so I think it's gonna be fine." He pulled back a little, smiling, leaving his hand still in Silvia's, though he stopped rubbing her back to gesture around. "And Coraline's gonna hang out with me, I think. I mean, she has the fashion stuff, but after this, and the book, if I win, there's going to be a lot of people who want to talk to me. Parties and people who can help me make other businesses, and who knows what Stephen wants, he had this GREAT idea while drunk..." He trailed off a little, then shrugged. "So we'll be busy and leave the corporation."

Silvia's expression grew a little more worried as Hugo mentioned the lawyers - it took more than just being nice to win a court case - but another detail caught her attention in what Hugo was saying. "Uh...yes, I wanted to ask...about this book...what exactly are you planning to put in it?"

"..Uh." All out on the table.. "Well, it's supposed to be a tell all book about Oracle, but I can't mention most of the actual details about stuff we stole. But there's a ton of stuff about other things I did, like the car chases, or the stuff I stole on my own, and the stuff for this case, and all the stuff.. between people. Politics and why people joined but, while leaving it kind of.. Anonymous. I have a writer, and I'm gonna write about my time in Oracle." He winced just a tiny bit, but then smiled hopefully. "And about us, too."

There was an awkward silence for a few moments while Silvia tried to digest this new information. "Uh...right. Um...what exactly about...us are you going to put in there?" Her voice was slow and careful, as if she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to hear the answer.

Hugo narrowed his eyes a little, a grimace still on his face. He tried to turn it into a smile. "..Eeeverything?" He seemed to know this probably wasn't a good answer, but he was going with the truth, anyway.

Silvia closed her eyes, trying to take this latest information in. The names of Oracle Agents were public record, in theory at least, so once Hugo started writing...everything down, it probably wouldn't take too long for people to start working out who his mystery girlfriend was. "Uh...right," she said, her voice only wavering a little at the prospect, by dint of great effort.

"Maybe...uh...exactly how much...how much attention do you think this is gonna get, exactly?"

Hugo was coming to similar conclusions, but he couldn't help but be a little proud. "Well, Keota signed Gabriel Ottomar Leverenz up as my uh, writer. Ghost writer? You know, he's going to make everything sound nice, and he's a pretty popular journalist..." He continued on, excitement creeping into his voice. "Well, the book rights are being sold during the jury figuring out if I'm guilty, so if I lose there is more incentive for me to be bought by B&S or someone, plus my estate would get a ton of money. And uh, after the nuclear explosion..." He frowned then, looking at his girlfriend with a mix of trepidation and joy.

"Oh...fuck," Silvia whispered, briefly remembering her moment of fame as an artist and the sudden influx of EI fans. The she seemed to visibly draw herself together. "Um..okay. Right. Could you...uh...try not to write anything too...uh...sensational?" Her voice didn't sound too optimistic - she knew Hugo, and his tendency towards enthusiastic expression.

Life would be easier without a translator, sometimes, but well, Fenrir only really spoke German. His face fell a little, and he took Silvia's hand very gently in his, taking care so that she could pull it away if she wished. "Well, I think the.. audience is gonna be people in the EI, but I can.. Not mention any details." His brow furrowed deeper. "But it'll be hard... Meeting you, us, that's a big part of... Oracle to me. From the first few days, till today, my trial..." He looked like he wanted to say more, but stopped there, still slightly apprehensive.

"Hugo, I..." Silvia closed her eyes for a moment and placed her free hand on top of Hugo's. When she opened them again, her face had assumed a look of what might be described as terrified determination.

"Look, Hugo, if...if you think that this won't hurt Oracle in any way and if...if it means that much to you, I'll...I'll manage. I can deal with...a bit of publicity." She didn't sound altogether sure of that, but hurried on. "And this is...is something you want to do. So that's fine."

Hugo's brows furrowed more as Silvia kept talking, and he squeezed her fingers a little. He sighed and din't look comforted by her words. "Oracle is fine by me, but... I mean, I don't think there is anything I can do to hurt it. I mean, I got charged with murder and Impossi-Brew sales have only gone up." There was a small bit of warmth in his voice, though he was still looking at Silvia's face with a rather... unHugoian intensity. "...But if you don't want me to mention you, I won't. You need to tell me, picara. I need you to let me know what you want and don't want. It is very important."

Silvia looked down, breaking Hugo's gaze. "I...I..." She was obviously trying to work out what to say and deal with conflicting emotions. After a few moments, she sighed.

"It...it's not what I would do, what...what I would choose. But...if it's not going to hurt Oracle, then...then I want your book to be the best it can be. For...for you. So...put it in. I'll be fine." She didn't look up, seeming to talk to the floor.

Hugo continued looking at Silvia while she spoke, and then continued on looking after she finished. His gaze was just as intense as before, but it was obvious some calculation was happening behind his eyes. After a second he pulled his hands and body away from hers. "But you don't actually want it, do you." It wasn't a question. He took a breath.

"I can't date you anymore."