Week 16, Saturday Night: Trip Home Through the WF

Open endless ocean at sunset, with nothing but traffic and the skyway in sight. It was beautiful, in a way, but Sosie was just happy to be outside and moving. And oh, they were moving as fast as Sosie could manage on the highway.. safely. She ran her fingers down her chest absent-mindedly. Those claws had torn right through the toughskin, and parts of the naninium plate. Fucking nanites. Well, now I have even more reason to research. Her eyes looked over at Pinkie, and then drifted over to the slightly.. under-the-weather Darya. After a quiet moment, she raised her voice, "There's a few bottles of Agent Smork in the back there. It'll help with the general weakness. You're dehydrated." She gave a smile to the rear-view mirror. "There's some nutribars there too, and we'll come to a rest stop in.. .. a few hours. And then a drive through the WF. I hear parts of it are beautiful but.. ah.." She gave another look to Pinkie. "I don't think we'll be stopping much."

She turned her gaze back to the road, taking in the gentle waves and gray-purple clouds.. She was more worried about the pink and turning-green things in the car.

Agent's reactions to alcohol are strange. Firstly, alcohol in small quantities doesn't effect them, and while alcohol in large amounts can, particularly without a toxin filter, send them on strange rampages. In Darya's case, she was talking to Pinkie very quickly about morality and ethics, when she suddenly stopped and clutched her head.

These rampages are very short, due to the speed of agent digestition and the ICE system, but this makes the resultant hangover that much worse. It isn't painful, but it can roughly be compared to being hit by a truck...driven by a Kalari agent...with a personal grudge against you.

Darya moaned into the Smork. "Why do people do this for fun?" She asked.

*Pinkie had been casting brief glances at Sosie the entire drive, worrying over what had happened. She had been given the weapon, the entirely new weapon, by Positron, that she had requested just for this. I cannot believe that we had to resort to grabbing another monkey... and how terribly mine and Xu's theft went. Pinkie pinched the bridge of her nose and slowly dragged the hand down her face. She breathed in and counted to ten as Darya once again ignored a level one warning glare, instead mumbling something Pinkie blocked out about... lies that Darya believed. And what are you even talking to me about this for; no one died, no one. I endangered SOSIE to make sure no one died! What part of that do you not understand!? Pinkie looked aside from Darya and could not bring herself to say anything, the cult hunter was simply too terrifying. Pinkie would have to... make Darya either trust her and her methods or.... change Darya's. She cast Darya a completely unforgiving glance as the other agent clutched her head in a show of weakness.*

I do not agree with you Darya. And, and I am angry at you. Incredibly. It is not okay to... to try and impose your world view on others. You are like the UIG and Comoros. Learn to appreciate that other people have codes as well Darya, and that your own is no more valid than anothers!

*Pinkie cut herself off, casting her head to stare out of the window. She was not comfortable driving through this place, was still on high alert from the mission and what it had cost her. And for failing once again. Pinkie spoke again only a few seconds later and her voice was lower, quieter, very fast and the hiss was less.... present. Almost like her throat was constricted.*

I have taken my frustrations from the mission.... and other things out on you Darya. And for that I am sorry. The point nonetheless, still stands. And I am still angry at you for treating me as though I do not have any.... *and here Pinkie reached into her jacket, which she did not seem comforted to be back in, and withdrew her knife, flick, twirl, flick* anything that I keep to. I do.

*Pinkie's gaze returned to Sosie and her expression darkened ever so slightly more, before she once again turned her face to the window and collapsed her knife, returning it to her coat. Pinkie hung her head, her hair falling across it and forming a barrier through which Darya could not see her snarling*

"Pinkie...I don't think I was ranting at you about your morals...I think I was comparing the works of Layto to the view point put down by Descolia...and I don't think I actually got either of them correct. It wasn't a comment on you...you did well today." She looked up and smiled weakly.

"What do you follow, may I ask?"

"Hey, Pinkie, why don't you drive?" Sosie interrupted quietly, in an unsubtle attempt at derailing the conversation. "I would like to.. look at our patient." She looked at Pinkie via the mirror, brows knitting slightly in worry, though her voice was calm and amused. "C'mere and take the wheel." The doctor moved a little to let Pinkie slide into the driver's seat and take the wheel. As Pinkie passed her, Sosie reached out and gently squeezed Pinkie's arm. She said loud enough for Darya to hear, "You did do well. We all did." Her smile was genuine as she climbed into the seats in the back. "Lots of information, screwing over Gemini, making friends with an AI.." She laughed, looking around the back of the car for another bottle of Agent Smork. "And the amphetamines in this will make you feel better. Help hydrate you and take the edge off."

Sosie got another bottle for herself, and one for Pinkie. She passed it over in the front seat, and made a cursory attempt at checking Darya's pupils and other miscellaneous vitals. "Normally, people aren't driven to drink when they witness their team mates doing a good job." Sosie smiled and took a long slug of the smoothie, smacking her lips afterward as she savored it. "Alcohol is.. nice. Freely available. It can make you feel more relaxed and help dissolve some of your worries. It's social, and makes things.. easier. It can give you courage, or make things funnier.. Make you less, mm, anxious. Or angry." Her eyes checked Pinkie at this point, though she was still smiling. "Most people don't drink like a fish because they are bored while their team does crazy shit." She laughed at this.

"Intially...it was me staying in character. You know, can't get out of the area, invisible thing running around knocking people out...I thought people might want a drink after that." She giggled slightly. "Then I saw that second monkey being chased by robots...and I realised I was sitting in a Spire City watching a monkey injected with scout powder run around being chased by security robots, so that they'd kill it any everyone would think that it was the monkey that escaped so you guys would be let out...and I think I decided that this would make more sense drunk...and then I think I overestimated my alcohol tolerance and underestimated EI liquor...

It was an observation on your nature in general, Darya, not just this conversation. And no, I did not do well today. Today, to cover my own errors I... incompetently stole a simian and, and injected it with nanites. *Pinkie has once again turned to face the others and looks disgusted with herself* Threw it down a corridor and ran in the other direction. That.... should not have worked.

*Pinkie looked at Darya, her eyes searching Darya's face for any hint of... any sign that Darya was mocking her. Pinkie's thoughts burned fiercely with disregard for following anyone. Then her face cleared as she looked over to Sosie and thought of Xu and the CEO. She sighed deeply and looked at Darya dispassionately.*

No, not really. But I don't follow. Not someone out of a book anyway.

*Pinkie tried to twist as Sosie made her request, bringing her enhanced reflexes to the fore. But it wouldn't work, not even when she tried to force it. Pinkie's eyes widened slightly with the realisation she had spent her telepathic energy entirely, without realising. As Pinkie passed Sosie she nodded her appreciation at being saved from Darya but knew that Sosie was trying to make her feel better with the rest. I just have to be careful and calm while driving and I'll have be better at it in a sufficiently short time. Pinkie nodded once again as Sosie passed her the agent smork and realised that even with all she had eaten today she was still... hungry enough to need the smork. Pinkie allowed herself to half listen to Sosie's explanation of alcohol as she drove, and even allowed a slight smile as Sosie mentioned anger. Though it did not quite reach her eyes. I doubt Darya was bored so much as... mortified at my antics. Pinkie took care with her driving staying below the speed limit, as a safe and rational river. There would be no leeway here and considering what they had hidden in the back they could not afford to be stopped and searched. Pinkie was pleased with Positron, Darya and Ace's work. Though much less so with having had to take apart Morpheus. Idly she considered what she would name the... freeze thrower. Her freeze thrower.*

I imagine the E.I. do from what we observed of them.... Though now that I think of it, Ida did bring back that alcohol from Shanghai....

Sosie watched Pinkie carefully as she talked. Too hard on yourself, Miss Pinkie Diana. The doctor wasn't bothered by sloppy plans; they left the spire safely and Pinkie's fast thinking had allowed Sosie to get out of being trapped n a room with Positron. Though, that seemed to happen a lot, the two of them in enclosed spaces together. Oh well, at least reception had been bigger than a metal cart..

"The EI do drink a lot, and higher, stiffer quality stuff. Though, it's not really an issue if you're used to it." She smiled softly, remembering happy moments of her EI living. "..And the alcohol isn't half of it." She laughed a little. Her life in research had been hard work and hard play, with just enough time in between to figure out what it was that she really wanted. She was fond of Eden Spire, but it had never felt like home. Ah well. She tossed the empty Smork bottle under the large double seat. She patted the cushion next to her. "Darya, come here. I have a theory as to why you don't feel so great."

"Pinkie...since I joined Oracle, I've fired a crossbow at a helicopter from a moving vehicle, broken into an illegal operation in a Spire Underswell and then gone and gotten myself debriefed by the Spire owners, and lied to the face of a UIG ranger. None of those should have worked, yet they did, and I'm still here. The monkey gambit...was perfectly fine, it worked well, and we all got out okay." As Darya was talking, she was moving next to Sosie, and by the end, had sat down next to her.

*Pinkie concentrated on overtaking as much traffic as possible without breaking any regulations or driving over the speed limit. Compared to the freeform flow of traffic in Shanghai, where the goal was simply to get everyone where they were going as soon as possible and the traffic flowed like a tide, Pinkie found it incredibly restricting. Sosie's words brought floaty space times to the fore of Pinkie's mind and while she was very grateful for all that Sosie had done for her on that day it was still..... awkward, even to think about. The thought of having even just a little Brain juice sunrise hit Pinkie like a blow to the head, so long as it gave her just a little juice back she could more than improve her driving enough to negate any negative effects from the alcoholic part of the cocktail. Pinkie's brow raised slightly as Sosie moved to treat Darya, Well, I have no idea why Darya would be out of it so. Pinkie had to serve to avoid hitting the vehicle in front, as five ideas as to why Darya could be out of it simultaneously manifested in her fore brain.*

....My apologies. I did not mean to have to do that.

*Pinkie considered Darya's words. And yet it still made you drink. Which is not something I have observed you doing before, so that is not very convincing. She would have been much less impressed if anyone had died. It met the needs of the situation, that is enough. Pinkie glanced in the rear view mirror to see her friend and her co-worker and stiffened slightly at the sight, but could not put her finger on why. Pinkie shook her head almost imperceptibility and got back to concentrating on driving. The added focus meant the rest of her driving shift went off without incident. It was, as one might say, a smooth ride. After about a minute Pinkie's expression mouth formed a small "o" of surprise.*

....It wasn't Warrick, was it?

Darya shook her head slightly. "No. Don't know who it was. It was on the mission in Shanghai, the one where we found all of those cult underneath that Tracer Li factory and you and Sosie exploded them and I stayed behind and got grabbed by twenty Malenbrach."

Sosie let Darya and Pinkie talk, momentarily satisfied they wouldn't attack each other... Though she frowned at the memory of Darya being left behind during that mission. Still, there weren't a lot of other options, and she had had her hands full with that Money Plum, the poor guy. She moved Darya a little bit, indicating that she should put her back to Sosie, and then the doctor began to rub the bounty hunter's shoulders. Sure, agents didn't feel pain, but a constricted and knotted muscle still felt tight and unpleasant. Add dehydration there and well.. touching always felt good, and Sosie did have some training in making muscles feel better. Cybernetics especially interrupted the natural movement of muscles. Sosie's frown deepened as she remembered this; being an agent was painful, without ICE.. And yet she still missed the feeling... Feeling hurt, feeling sore, feeling human.

With clinical precision and slightly warm hands, Sosie continued giving her unasked for but skilled massage, lost in her own thoughts.

*At Darya's words Pinkie bit down hard on her lower lip and began tapping the steering wheel with the fingers of her right hand. Her words where not exactly harsh but were distinctly unkind and her usually low an constricted voice carried a greater weight than usual, almost as if Pinkie was tired.*

Yes, I remember that..... I remember telling you that you had better come back in one piece. I also remember that I have not forgiven you for that yet, Darya Demeter. I hope I do not need to ask you not to do that to us again.

*Pinkie glanced down at the fuel gauge having briefly glanced Darya with a warning stare in the rear view mirror. She spotted four indents in the wheel where she had been drumming and hastily moved her hand around the wheel without moving it unintentionally. One eyebrow still raised from her unintentional vandalism, Pinkie focused on the road which was not made.... any easier by Sosie giving out backrubs in the back. Where I was not long ago. Pinkie blinked as she realised that she was annoyed at Sosie's choice for treating a friend in need of some form of medical assistance and that she herself had already taken part of that out on their live in cult hunter. Pinkie could not however, seem to keep herself from shooting glances in the view mirror disconsolately every so often.*

Pinkie's words brought Sosie brought back to the present. Her brow raised quizzically, though her lips were down-turned. Still, she leaned forward and said in a soft voice, "I think that means she still likes you." The words would be barely audible from the front seat, and Sosie knew and didn't mind. Pinkie had been in an increasingly glum mood. She knew that the heavy weapons user didn't feel comfortable around Darya, but this was a level above. She found herself vaguely worried, but she tried to focus on the task at hand.. Hands, really.

But what's wrong with you, Pinkie? The doctor, hands still on Darya's back, looked into the rear view mirror until she caught Pinkie's eye, giving her a Warning Glare. There was no need to be so harsh.

Darya nodded, and leaned back slightly. "Thanks, Pinkie. Don't worry, I'll try not to be an idiot again."

She breathed out and put her hands on the van floor to support herself, looking at the ceiling of the van. After a while, still looking up, she said "You know...that was the first time I'd actually gone into a university before?" she blinked. "No, wait...he" the bitterness in her voice making it obvious who she was refering to. "brought me to one once for a bit. I sat outside an office for an hour and then we left."

She paused for a bit, then continued. "I...kinda always thought that I was just gonna to university, you know? Sis and Bro were going off and becoming agents, and I was gonna be the normal one of the family. Just go to uni, get a degree in, I dunno, robotics or something, maybe marry someone, have a few kids..." She paused again. "I...kinda thought a lot of things were just gonna happen. I was kind of a sheltered kid." Her voice was calm, and although she seemed slightly wistful, it didn't have the same sadness as when the topic normally arises.

"How about you two? Did you do anything like uni?" She asked, looking into the mirror at Pinkie.

I have received formal education twice. Once from a very old man covered in scars and stitches.... and the second and final time was last week. So no, not so much.

*Pinkie avoided Darya's gaze, glancing at the rear mirror once, realising and then using the wing mirrors to see what was behind her. Pinkie had frowned throughout Darya's musings, especially so at the mention of him, listening with one ear, she had wondered if Darya was being sarcastic when she had thanked Pinkie for rebuking her. Pinkie's ponderings were accompanied by an itching sensation in her mind, but between the diligence of the other drivers and Pinkie's own careful driving it did not have noticeable impact on the smoothness of the ride. Well not to anyone that wasn't paying particular attention to their car at any rate. She already knew that Darya had had a sister and brother like her and that as with her family only one still lived but it was still felt strange to hear. The difference was which one. You expected to simply have a life once, and you learn better. That it wouldn't come that freely. Does that mean she would fight harder than I would? Of course it does, you don'[t have the courage to even pick up a plasma weapon. Courage? Foolishness maybe.... Darya was just another person once and look at her now. Pinkie started to drum a rhythm into the indents she had made in the wheel. There is something there, something to that. Is it the reason, is that what is important?*

Sosie divided the next few moments looking at Pinkie and creating a list in her head. It felt easy to tick off the boxes, though not once did she ever expect to go to any type of formal schooling. Now, Violet on the other hand.. At least she's happy now. The doctor sighed once as she continued to work on Darya's shoulders--though mostly she just rested her hands on them at this point--feeling sympathetic to the poor Russian woman's.. family troubles.

"Elementary school still I was 8.. The agent academy, med school, and cyberneticist and surgeon residencies. I never thought I would have any type of schooling after Vi and I moved on the streets, but it worked out that way." Sosie shrugged once, and moved her hands to her lap. "I don't even think my parents had dreams that big for us. I never did, not until I was.. much, much older, anyway." Sosie's voice was level and calm, unbothered by the fact that her life had been so empty of privilege or life plans. "I didn't even think about starting a family until I was assigned to Muse, and even then it was an idle dream. It wasn't until a few years ago that I even did anything to.. make it happen.'