piper90 | [New Hire Encryption] Judgment Call

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[New Hire Encryption] Judgment Call

This is encrypted new hires only. If that still works. I have a feeling it's not going to matter for too much longer.

[ Carolina looks focused. She has a mission. She's about as close as she gets to happy around here, and depending on who you are and how much you've seen of her? That might be sort of concerning. ]

In case you missed the confrontation I just had with Washburn: He's invited me to talk with him in person.

I'm going.

[ No hesitation. She doesn't appear to be looking for advice. ]

In the meantime, the rest of you need to start making some real decisions about what we're about to do. I don't think things can get much worse. We're at a breaking point with management. We're at a breaking point with this mission. Brainy left us with data on the collars. I'm not a tech person. I can't help you guys figure out if we have enough to break loose and fight.

But I can see if this buys us another chance.

[ She squares up. ]

If I don't come back or the next time you see me is on another broadcast...

[ She shrugs. It's a stunningly casual motion for someone who knows she's possibly facing her death. Stunningly casual considering how tense her shoulders are.]

[ Carolina will be available to talk back for a bit before her encounter, but she's already made her choice. ]

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[Oh he sure got his brain rewired back to the way it was at an excellent time. Just in time for the shit to hit the fan, for someone to fucking die, and for his best friend to run off and possibly also fucking die!]

[Story of his life.]

[That said, he expected nothing less of her.]

Carolina! You can't just run off like this, it's probably some kind of trap.

[Where is she? He's moving, hoping to intercept.]

Edited 2021-08-24 07:40 (UTC)

[ Carolina's shifted to audio only. ]

It wouldn't be my first.

[ She can take care of herself, she's insisting even as she's bracing for the possibility she can't. ]

And if it's not a trap, I think we need to know what it is.

[ She's not in her quarters, she didn't wait around. She probably expected him to do this and got a head start to prevent it. ]

[ The absolute tragedy of being friends with somebody. On a related note, her tone softens just slightly. There's an apology here: ]

I have to do this alone.

Except for the fact you don't have to do this at all.

I'm the only one who can.

[ A pause. ]

Don't pretend you wouldn't. I know you.

[ Which is why they're friends. Which is why she can't let him stop her, can't let him involve himself. ]

[He lets out a frustrated groan because she's 100% right, he'd look into it, too, on the off chance Washburn would drop something useful out of guilt.]

[Sometimes he hates her!]

[For not letting him do something that would usually make her hate him!]

It's supposed to be the other way around!

[She'll know what he means. He's the team leader.]

Not this time. I like my odds better than I've liked yours.

[ Goddammit Wash. He's willing to risk everything for her sake. Not just her: Tucker, Caboose, the Reds... the rest of this crew too, she doesn't doubt. He's brave, not just brave but noble in a way she's not sure she truly is herself. ]

[ And that's why it shouldn't have to be him. ]

I'm prepared if I'm wrong. But I don't think I am.

[ Locked to just Wash: ]

If I am wrong, I need you to be there for everyone. You can help them more than I ever could, Wash.

Or you could just not do this.

Could I?

[ And still be her? ]

Fine! Then just tell me where he wants to meet. I can hang nearby.

If it becomes a fight, I'll hear it and can step in.

[ Her footsteps pause. She could keep shutting him out, but she doesn't want to. ]

Okay, Wash. Okay.

[ It's an answer she can take. It's not "don't go." It's not "let me go in with you." She breathes out heavily. ]

The library.

I'm going in now.

Don't make anyone nervous.

[ Her life could hang on that. Once again, she trusts him with it. She's lost count of how many times this is. ]

I'll find a place to hang nearby.

If it goes bad, I have no doubts that it'll get loud enough for me to know when to step in.

Good.

If it doesn't, you'll be the first to know what I find out.

Promise.

If you don't come back, come to get you and yell at you for pulling a fucking crazy stunt without us. You got it.

[ Tragic yet respectable. Carolina is using her special different brain cells. Tucker will be miffed anyway. What if his competent found family members didn't do these things. ]

Gimme the details. If I can get line of sight, that's all we need for emergency extraction, dude. I'll teleport you out-- like a badass-- if it gets hairy. We can have a signal and everything.

[ He won't not offer a harebrained teleport emergency gamble with little to no long term consequence considered. Duh. ]

[ She smiles, the expression is thin but sincere. ]

Find Wash, he knows. [ Wash is Back™, so she can freely deputize the cat wrangling. ]

It's good to have a team.

You never could stay out of the spotlight, huh?

[ There’s no venom in it. It’s not even a genuine barb. South just hates letting serious moments just sit. ]

Look. We all know none of us are gonna convince you not to pull this shit, but seriously, I can be in the room with you without him knowing. I can stand right fucking next to you without him even looking at me once. Bullshit powers, remember?

[ In other words: for the love of god, Carolina, stop being dramatic and trying to do shit alone if you don’t have to.

They’re not close. She doesn’t even know what to call the other Freelancers, anymore, after everything that’s happened. But apparently, this new her she’s becoming won’t sit by without at least offering to be back up when Carolina’s being a self-sacrificial fuck, even if she’s not expecting Carolina to take it. Believe her, she’s surprised too. ]

[ This relationship has come so far and it strikes Carolina here. She didn't actually expect this from South, of all people. Tucker has been through ridiculous bullshit with her, and Wash has been through hell with her. That's not the kind of rapport they have here, and it means more. ]

I'm not dragging anyone in with me, but I can't stop Wash from waiting at the door. He knows where I am.

[ That's an offer, a way in. She's shamelessly forcing Wash to gate knowledge of the location so she doesn't have to deal with it. ]

[ How does she address that she recognizes this is important? ]

Some bullshit could bring me out in fewer pieces.

[ Nailed it. ]

[ South lets out an almost amused snort. That's more of a concession than she expected, actually, but... ]

'Course you don't make helping your ass simple. Alright, alright, I can work with that.

[ She needs to talk to Wash anyway. They should probably figure out how they're gonna play this shit.

This is... weird, all of it. Doing the non-selfish thing. But for once she can't imagine making any other choice. ]

Just— try not to do anything stupid.

[ Aka: don't go getting yourself killed before we can step in, for fuck's sake. ]

I trust your strategic abilities, Agent Carolina, but please be careful. Like Agent Washington said, this might be a trap. Would you benefit from someone causing a distraction?

[Not that he's not gonna tear the Rig apart anyway.]

I would prefer if nobody tips any hands until I find out what's going to happen.

[ Price, if you ruin this for her she swears to god- ]

Understood.

[Understanding doesn't necessarily mean agreeing. He'll see if he can do something.]

Before we start making plans, and before anyone does something crazy, I have a personal request to make. If it's an option, Celeste, Wasburn, everyone who was on that roof and let this happen? I want them alive. Because I am personally going to drag every last godsdamned one of them to the United Planets to stand trial.

This isn't for morality reasons. They murdered a Legionnaire. The UP is going to tear them apart.

[Stacia's eyes a red-rimmed from crying -- from trying to experience her pain rather than let it transform into fuel for her Rage like her body and soul want it to -- but that has only taken the edge off. Fury rolls off of her in waves, and her voice is tight and controlled.]

I hear and acknowledge what you're saying, but I can't in good conscience make any promises right now.

No promises if anyone forces my hand. But I'll try.

[Wash looks like a jittery mess when he gets on the comm. He's still shaking. It's not because of what happened to Brainy but that certainly didn't help. Still being trapped in their current situation doesn't help ]

[When Carolina ran off he'd managed to hold this in but now that he's trying to talk about what happened to him...]

[His voice trembles with barely contained emotion as he talks.]

I...don't know how to explain all this. What they did to me. I was...recovering and still trying to find the words, to tell you all, but what they just did changes everything.

My friends and Stacia just found a way to fix me.

Because Jorgmund broke me when I first got here. In secret. I came in with brain damage I'd sustained back home. They realized from something I said that there was a time that I'd been a horrible person, a time before I met my friends. A few years back, my friends pulled me in and changed me. They gave me a chance I didn't deserve and changed me for the better.

When I first got here Jorgmund tortured me. [He's practically vibrating with pain. A few tears drop and he quickly wipes them away.] Until they managed to isolate what had made me change as a person.

Thanks to the brain damage, I had trouble keeping the events of my life in order. [His voice briefly goes a little more distant and toneless.] They took their time. They pulled me apart.

And when they found the moment they were looking for they put in an implant that fixed the brain damage, but it also blocked my memories from just before I met my friends onward. They reverted me back to my worst self. Then they threatened me, told me I had to work for them or they would blow the implant, making me brain damaged again.

Possibly even worse than before.

I was planning on working against the group in the beginning. Not...revealing any of our rebel activities because I knew that was an angle home. But on missions. Keeping them on track if they veered off from Jorgmund objectives. I planned on playing both sides to save myself.

But as I got to know you all, and reconnect with my friends, I decided to use the position Jorgmund had put me in to work against them. I didn't plan on telling you what I was doing because I was afraid someone would blow my cover. I was still trying to prevent them from destroying my brain. But I was at least going to start slipping you all information. See if I could get into high security spaces.

If I'd still been myself - my real self - I never would have kept that secret from you. I would have just worked with you all from the beginning. If I'd been myself, I never would have considered working against you like I had in the beginning either. But that was the man I used to be. It took time for people to realize something was wrong - that I wasn't just from a different place in the timeline like some of my friends - and help me change back to the man I was.

And the whole time, a part of me also remembered. I was fighting myself. Trying to resist myself. Trying to communicate with people outside. When they fixed me, both halves...blended. But for the most part I was able to change back to who I really am.

Jorgmund messed with my mind. [He says it more emphatically.] My mind. They cut open my brain to change my personality and make me more obedient to them. And it's only a matter of time before they potentially find a way to do that to the rest of you.

If you don't trust me because of what I was originally doing under their influence I understand. But at the very least I needed to tell you that I'm done with the secrets.

And that we need to act now.

[The shakiness stills a little bit. His chin raises, and uses the voice he often uses when leading his friends. It is solid. Steely. Unshakeable.]

They killed one of our own. They have to be stopped. Before more of us die. Before they kill us if we resist committing atrocities in their name. Before they change who we are and find ways to ruin us completely.

[ Once Carolina has done what she can to help Cammie crack the shock collar system, there's nothing left but to wait for it to happen. Helpfully, Carolina isn't just struggling to cool her heels: She's looking for Wash. ]

[ He hasn't publicly addressed the brain surgery situation before now, and it was visibly hard for him. This adventure, like every one they've survived before, feels like it's reaching the last critical peak and there's no knowing how they'll be when they come down the other side. ]

[ Those two things mean she really wants to go touch base with her best friend right now. ]

[ Astartes appreciate self sacrifice, even if it is over the top. They can't exactly throw stones there. ]

Good luck. The... [ He was going to say something like the Emperor protects, but that would mean nothing. ]

You have an angle here. Something you can use to maybe make some progress. It is worth trying.

That's what I thought.

I haven't seen one of them vulnerable like this. There's... a chance.

[ A chance she's willing to take a fall if she's wrong on. ]

best luck. shoot straight, conserve ammo, and never cut a deal with a dragon

[ The image breaks through the seriousness and tension enough that she actually replies with: ]

I sincerely hope that none of this involves a dragon.

[ Carolina would not even be surprised at this point, but Jesus. ]

it's an old runner's blessing. dragons are a thing where im from, and they're all cunning, ruthless bastards. well except the one i know personally she's pretty chill.

I don't know about cunning, but Dickwash has been pretty ruthless.

[ It's a bad joke, but that's the kind of jokes Carolina makes. ]

Thanks for the luck, Saturday.

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[New Hire Encryption] Judgment Call

video, locked to new hires

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also audio as he tries to find her

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locked to carolina

locked back

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also new hires encrypted

Locked to Tucker

audio, locked to carolina

locked back

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text, while he's with Robbie

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set after he no longer has to chill in the wings near Carolina

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video

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