poly_chromatic | one fallen star

[action]

MREAAAOW!

[Splash! That, my friends, is the sound of one unhappy cat landing in the fountain.

Mao claws his way out, looking drenched and miserable. He shakes himself off and looks around, the fur on his back sticking out like porcupine needles. It's clear that this is no ordinary cat, even before you see his purple eyes.]

Hei?

[His voice is soft. There are too many people around for him to risk speaking louder, but if the other Contractor is around, Mao is certain he will hear.

Nothing.]

Damn it.

[some time later]

[voice]

[Wherever he is, he's cut off from the Syndicate's network. Not a good sign. Even worse, he can't find a way into whatever network exists here, except through this extremely cat-unfriendly device. He's going to have to do reconnaissance the inefficient way…once he figures out how. Keyboards weren't designed for cat paws in mind. Sigh.

But eventually he figures out how to turn on the audio function.]

Where is this place?

[Not very smooth. He's spent so long pretending to be a cat, he's no longer sure how to pretend to be human. But it's a start.]

[ooc: Action for anyone near the fountain! Keep in mind that he will pretend to be an ordinary cat, except over the network where people can't see him.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Interesting. [Mao's tail swishes as he considers this. A world without death. He can't imagine it ending well for the world as a whole, but it makes his life considerably easier.

And it's a piss-poor excuse. There's more than one way to skin a cat, after all.

Not that he wants you to.]

But there are other options.

There are. [ This is neither an easy talk nor a logical one. Hei sighs. His life has devolved into nothing more than a series of difficult options. It's what he gets for being so damn discreet. ] So far, I've used her friends as bargaining chips. For her silence. If they leave the City, I'll resort to a full memory-wipe. [ One that erases practically everything she knows about the City. It's a lethal but effective solution. Damaging for Korra's mind but perfect for Hei's problem. ]

[ That's all he should be concerned with. ]

[ He's not. ]

[Mao doesn't understand why Hei won't do the memory wipe now. Relying on her to both remain fond of her friends and to have perfect control over her tongue is an absurd risk.

If you're sure.

[Obviously this is another one of Hei's emotional decisions. The foolish choices that make him so interesting to be around. Mao doesn't push the issue; the security of Hei's cover has very little impact on his own. Best to let Hei be Hei. If he watched carefully enough, he might even figure out what about this arbitrary gir could be causing this.

But first, he has more pressing concerns. Namely, dealing with the server issue. It will require some thought and reconnaissance. He yawns and stretches in preparation.]

Is there anything else I should know?

[You may not have seen him in months, Hei, but he just saw you a few hours ago. Y'ain't that close.]

[ Why not now? It's a question Hei is asking himself. Leverage can turn against you. Ultimatums are useless unless you hold all the aces. To play the situation as it is, is an umbilic torus. Round and round with no end in sight. He suspects, secretly (so secret he won't admit it, even to himself), that this owes largely to those faultlines that begin and end with Pai. ]

[ He puts that aside. ]

Just one. [ A tidbit. ] To avoid curses, the best option is to disappear Underground. [ Hei's set up two safe-houses there. The location of one, he'll share with Mao. The second, he'll keep to himself, as he always does. His primary lookout is his own well-being. ]

[Of course. Mao himself will establish his own safe-houses.

He nods to Hei; they'll meet up again later.

And then he's off.]

one fallen star

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