The question defines the response

Operative Query Cerberus Project Clarent Cell ((Independent RP blog for a Mass Effect OC. All interaction is welcome. Face claim is Cillian Murphy.))

[ourobori]

“It’s from a weapon’s research lab. They won’t need it anymore,” Leng said as he released the OSD to Query. It had already been scrubbed by Cerberus technicians, nothing malicious lurked within the OSD. Nonessential data that didn’t pertain to the schematics had been removed. All that was left was for Query to look over them.

He leans back against the bench, giving the illusion of casual indifference. “You’ll find a use for it.”

[agentquery]

There's a small chuckle as Query pockets the OSD. "I imagine they don't."

A weapons research lab? He doesn't need to ask much more than that. He knows what to do what that sort of hardware.

"Something for the reserves with any luck." What sort of use will depend on what the OSD has.

[pyskhai-blog-deactivated2019051]

Clara nods once before settling down next to Query. “Thank you.”

She is careful to smooth her skirt and cross her heels, her smile fading while she does so. There’s no shame in asking for help or enlisting in known resources for assistance, but still Clara feels as though she’s done something wrong to expose herself. If it is, in fact, an information leak at all. The smallest mistake sent the perfectionist in her spiraling.

She decides to take the plunge. The worst he could suggest to her is to contact someone else.

"How do you feel about favors between colleagues?" Clara pauses, considering her next works carefully. "Not a personal favor, mind you. It’s… work related."

[agentquery]

It's business, then, as he first thinks it will be. That's one less shift to anticipate, at least.

"I feel the same way I feel about most assignments," he says with a vague and light enough tone, "and that would be that they're my professional duty. What do you require?"

Query doesn't attempt to mention specifics. It could be that it's best discussed elsewhere. The Citadel is a rather busy establishment.

[ourobori]

I won’t keep you waiting.

[agentquery]

Good, good. I'll see you then, Operative Leng.

[pyskhai-blog-deactivated2019051]

Clara holds her chin high. Her heels click on the smooth ground, accompanied by a whisper of fabric with each step she takes. If she had wanted, she could have easily moved in utter silence. As it were, she isn’t in her armor, nor was she after a target that needed to be eliminated. Today, she was nothing more than a colleague.

She is a colleague who needs a favor, nonetheless, which is why she had left the relative comfort of her office for the streets below. Her underlings all assumed it was a business meeting, and they wouldn’t be far off the mark. It isn’t, however, the kind of meeting she would want them to be a part of.

Her identity as Cerberus was a precarious situation. She is always balanced on the knife’s edge, expertly managing to keep from cutting herself. The danger was there all the same, which is why she kept both her eyes and ears open to signs of danger. Something had caught her eye; something that Clara doesn’t have the resources to take care of by herself.

She stops short of the bench, a pleasant, disarming smile sliding across her face. “Would you like some company?”

[agentquery]

Noise is a small factor on the Citadel. The voices and clatter of motion blur. There's nothing to set this particular set of footsteps apart, a chorus with the rest of them, until she comes to stop near him.

Query gives a polite incline of the head, recognizing Rissman as one of the operatives he had worked with in the past. A hand indicates the vacant space on the bench. "By all means. It's an open seat."

Though he is eager to bombard her with conversation and get to the heart of the matter, he has the sense to allow her to sit first and offer what she will without his prying. No doubt there will be some tidbit to expand upon with enough patience. That is the simple part.

[ourobori]

Good. And you’re correct, it’s a combination.

[agentquery]

I'll make a note of that during the next testing session.

You can stop by at your earliest convenience. I have replacements available while repairs are in effect.

[ourobori]

“You would be right,” Leng said. He gives a cursory glance to their surroundings, making sure that no one lingered to listen. It wouldn’t do to have eavesdroppers for such important business. “But I doubt you’d want to hear it.”

The ongoing war wasn’t exactly a pleasant topic of conversation. Not that Kai Leng cared whether or not what he chose to say made people squirm. Often times it was deliberately done to do just that. He had no reason to terrorize Query, however, not unless he somehow gave him one.

Thoughts like that had no bearing on the present. Leng slips a hand into his jacket pocket, removing an OSD. He holds it up for Query to take.

“This might interest you.”

[agentquery]

Query is willing to leave it at that. He has no interest in pressing his luck, and his relationship to Operative Leng can be described only as professional at best. That's really how it best serves for them both, a personal preference of Query's own.

The OSD, however, is accompanied by a curious flicker of his eyes. While he wants to ask about the contents before taking it up himself, the gesture is too obvious for an open place.

Careful to keep his movements casual, he reaches for the OSD.

"What about it in particular, if I may ask? Or is this a fun puzzle I'm best left to discover on my own?" Either will do.

[agentquery]

ourobori replied to your post:Query. Your services are needed.

The power cells need repairing. Again.

Intriguing. I do wonder at your talent for putting the fuel cells through their paces so quickly, but I'm eager for the chance to examine the issue.

Maybe you can tell me a bit more about the circumstances that finally pushed them beyond their capacity. No mission specifics required aside from the sort of tasks under which they displayed duress. Shielding a shot? An attack maneuver of your own? It could ultimately be cumulative. Nonetheless, better models are built on these factors.

I believe I've gotten ahead of myself. That is to say, I can help, of course.

[ourobori]

He steps out of a crowd as if he’s meant to be there. His steps are measured evenly to appear unhurried, despite the fact that he has a very important meeting. With gray and black clothing meant to blend in, he stops some feet away from his destination. Kai Leng adjusts the collar of his dark jacket.

But here he is not Kai Leng. His ID and documents tell another tale of a business manager on an emergency holiday. It was unsurprising, given the current state of affairs. It was a wonder that anyone could carry on with a normal life during the war. He is just another person searching for refugees he might recognize. Or perhaps protecting his interests. Both were plausible scenarios.

When he seats himself beside of Query, he leaves a good deal of space between them. They will look to simply be waiting on a cab. Kai Leng looks to him, his cybernetic eyes scrutinizing.

“Query. I trust your mission went well,” he said.

[agentquery]

Leng appears as a force of nature, there one moment and gone the next. If there is anything unsettling about it -- and there is but not quite fear -- Query does not hurry the slow adjusting of his cuff, sliding it back into place. They're two strangers, speaking while picking out their next destination.

"Quite," he agrees, sharing a polite glance of his own. "Routine, really." From him, it's no complaint. That enables them all to return to business as usual.

"I suppose a show of politeness about your own affairs would be moot. I think it's well above my pay grade." As Query understands it, it's better that way. Few things good come from poking around above one's clearance. He sticks to his own projects when he's able.

[agentquery]

Query. Your services are needed.

As my schedule would have it, they are available. What seems to be the problem, Operative Leng?

[agentquery]

The suit could be worn by anyone, nondescript in its fine lines and basic cut. The details alone give it polish, the silver pin on the lapel and the matching links at the jacket cuffs -- the overall scheme that Query prefers, simple and unobtrusive, its potential its best kept design.

He is only another face here, and he needs and wants to be nothing else. The delivery is deposited, and he takes practiced steps back the way he first came, a man with no definable hurry. The weight that seems to bow the shoulders of so many is absent in him.

It takes no war for him to process the exact meaning of his own mortality. It takes no fear to spur him. It only shifts into sharper clarity; he has always worked as if each completion might be his last.

As he sits on the bench, contemplating a taxi he has yet to hail, Query pauses to check his watch. He'll be back long before the next project is in progress. He takes a moment to breathe.

[esthernorth-deactivated20130601]

Thank you, Query. You are too kind.

[agentquery]

That depends on who you ask! But thank you as well, Ms. Esther.

[ourobori]

[ENCRYPTED TRANSMISSION]

Standard public servant? I think my team and I are more than that. Send the shipment over. I’m sure we can put it to good use.

—KL

[agentquery]

[ENCRYPTED TRANSMISSION]

Precisely why a gun of this caliber is better off in your hands. Wasted on street commoners. The shipment will be on the next transport out.

Query

[agentquery]

amortised started following you

[amortised-deactivated20121219]

Given name. Well, a shortening of it. I take it yours is not.

[agentquery]

Shortening? If you don't mind my asking, what's the full variation?

Correct you are. It isn't. Though my parents might have saved me time if it was.

[agentquery]

[ENCRYPTED TRANSMISSION]

Operative Leng,

Several new prototypes of a highly powerful weapon are fresh out of a battery of clinical trials and ready to see the light of day. I thought the members of your cell and yourself would be the prime choice for fielding our stock and reporting in any technical issues.

The model I'm offering is the M-77 Paladin. Highly favored by the standard public servant as a reliable sidearm, the pistol is widely known for its long range fire power, surpassing its forerunner, the M-6 Carnifex, with little to no effort. Its small size and ease of disassemble without sacrificing lethal potency make the Paladin the perfect weapon to conceal. Or not conceal. It's my personal belief that in the right hands, this gun can serve as a primary or secondary weapon. The right modifications to it make that almost a guarantee.

Should you find yourself interested, the shipment is yours. I look forward to seeing what you'll make of this.

Query

[agentquery]

amortised started following you

[amortised-deactivated20121219]

A chance meeting. I like that. [She smirks.] My name is Rori - it’s a pleasure to meet you, Query.

[agentquery]

Rori. Given or preferred name? I can never tell. [The return smile is small, tight-lipped, but polite. Curious about people. He always is.] A mutual sentiment.

[esthernorth-deactivated20130601]

We would get nothing done otherwise. Ah, well. I’m sure you don’t wish to hear any more of my whining.

[agentquery]

If I thought it was whining, that might be the case, but I don’t. Don’t fret over it.

[agentquery]

amortised started following you

Ah, no. Not business. I'd recognize you if that were the case. I guess we'll just call it a chance meeting.

Query, at your service.