If there was one thing S hated more than anything, it was idiots.
Not that he was the brightest star in the sky. He had often been called a moron, an idiot, a fool. But if there was one thing he knew, it was crowd control.
He had landed in Georgia. He had been whisked away in a car to the factor in question. And he saw the massive crowd of protesters before the car was even near the gate.
"Let me out."
"Sir, I highly advise, for your own safety-"
"You advise, what, exactly? For my own safety, of course."
The security head for the plant swallowed. He was on thin ice just now, and he knew it. You did not tell the head of security for the whole company what he did for his own safety.
Oops.
"Yes sir, of course sir. Just here, sir?"
"Yes." The car stopped on a dime, and S exited the car. He left his bigger weapons and his bag in the car, where they would meet him inside. He did take his pistols, though. They hid well under his coat. His optics adjusted to the light through his goggles, and without even bothering to adjust his hat, he strolled right through the group of protesters.
The car went around the back, the safe way. S didn't even have to pus through the people, they made their own way. He may be short, he may look ridiculous in that ill-fitting hat. But they knew to stay out of his way.
He reached the fence, and was inside. The shouting people behind him were now dead silent.
----------
"So tell me, what is the issue here."
"It's all in the packet we sent you sir."
"I didn't read it. Your packets are so full of bureaucratic crap I developed a rash. So cut to the part where I'm supposed to care. Because right now, after spending a good portion of my year away from home, I'm brought back. And then sent right back out to handle YOUR mess. So. One more time. What's the issue here."
There was a collective shuffle from everyone else in the room as S kicked his heels up onto the table, mechanical arms crossed over his chest as he waited.
"Um. There have been some incidents. The local fish and birds have been dying. It's been around our factory, so the locals have been pinning it on us."
"And you've assured them that it is not our fault?"
"Yes. We told them there was no Green Matter in the birds and fish that were dissected."
S stared at T. T shrank under the goggles. He couldn't see S's eyes through the dark green glass, but he knew the optics that replaced his human eyes years ago were staring him down.
"You told them, what?" S's voice was low, and quiet. Dangerous.
Oh shit.
"That, that there was no Gree-"
"You, outright, idiot!"
S's voice was so low the windows vibrated. He stood, palms flat on the table, fingers splayed. The fact that T could see the green growing up S's chest and onto his neck in swirls just frightened him and the staff behind him even more.
"You do no, I repeat. Do NOT, mention the words 'green' and 'matter' in the same press statement. And you do NOT do so right next to each other! You learned that day one in your training."
"Yes, sir. But-"
"There. Is. No. But. Green Matter is illegal. It can shut down all of Becile Industries. It can have all of us arrested, not just the big wigs at the top. Do you understand what I am saying? You put not just our jobs, but our lives in danger. No wonder everyone outside is so angry."
No one could meet his goggled eyes. As they shouldn't. He stood straight, finger tips clacked together as he thought in complete silence. The sound was unnerving.
"Consider yourself lucky today, T. I have been told to let you live. You are to report to R." T stopped breathing. He'd rather S just killed him right then. "So you are returning with me. In the mean time, I am going to fix your mistake."
----------
"He has been removed. The stress of the job has put horrific ideas into the mind of our representative, and he has unfortunately come to the public with them. All of his statements are now being officially retracted, and replaced with this one." S hated making public statements. He knew he didn't look the part. But it was this, or nothing.
And nothing, was just unacceptable.
"Becile Industries is a very green minded company. We strive to be as environmentally friendly as any company can be, and has made leaps and bounds in this field over our competition. We have created new and greener methods of production in the past, and will continue to do so in the future, and continue to set industry standards across the globe. The reports of the pollution and it's harm on local wildlife has been looked into, personally, by myself. I have found that they had been harmed by oil. It would appear that the refinery two counties over has experienced a spill that went unreported, and has found its way into the local water ways."
A good lie, but not a total lie. The birds and fish were being killed by oil, and not Green Matter. But as for where the oil came from, well. It wasn't exactly two counties over. But he would not admit that it was coming from their own production lines.
Nothing a little bribery money couldn't fix.
"We at Becile Industries would like to thank the community for alerting us to this environmental concern, so that action could be taken. Becile Industries is here to help small communities grow, and make our planet greener, one product at a time. Are there any questions?"
There were not. The protesters, and the reporters, had never seen the likes of the be-goggled man before. And, quite frankly, never wanted to again. S thanked them for their time, and returned to the factory. The people disbursed, feeling ill, and unsure of themselves.
"I never want to do that again. T, get in the car. We are leaving. Now."
A nod and to his side, rubbing her striped sleeves with a sigh and looking about.
“I promise I wont come back after this, alright?” She muttered, refusing to go on about the paranormal. People would think she was insane at that rate. Not like having scars of crossed through circles hidden under makeup was any proof. ‘self mutilation’ Yeah, right.
No one would get that close to their eye with a knife on purpose.
“I wont be long, promise, so you can get ready to go again.”
"You can come by whenever you want. Just make sure I'm here first. Another hour or two and you'd be here without anyone." He shrugged, popping a door open and leading them outside. Through a fence, a gate, and they were in the public section of the compound.
"I don't mind you being here. And I certainly don't mind having food here at home."
“I would love to, do we get to talk about anything generally? Or..
”
She didn’t really know how it’d go, honestly. Not really one to spend time with those in green, soon becoming more of a just polar color than an enemy.
Well, when it came to S at least.
“One of our Walter Girls is missing an eye from it. I’ve yet to get any major scars from anything but that godforsaken slender—”
He wouldn’t understand, would he. Looking away and then perking up.
[[ OOC: I know I have bad spelling. But if I misspell in dialogue, it's S playing with words. It's something I do in real life. Some word will stand out and I'll play with it. Like fork, I'll call it a flork. So yeah. I do that bit on purpose. ]]
“Murdering someone for what they’ve done is different than shed of innocent blood.”
Looking at her own hands, flexing the as striped sleeves covered most of it.
Bite of lip.
She heard his words, his warning. A frown.
”.. Even when you’re on the job and we cross on accident,…
“Just got lost, yeah.. I tend to get stuck in the worst of places.”
What a terrible liar she was, hugging her knees to her chest and looking up at him with bright eyes.
“I’m still not going to hurt a friend.”
Slip of the “f” word.
Cringing a bit and instantly huddling away.
“I mean..
Well..”
Looking away and rubbing her neck.
“You guys having a flamingo infestation too?”
S smiled. Friend? Well, what do you know. He gave her a light chuckle, refastening the goggles to his face.
"Flamingoes? No, I don't think we do. All we make, computers. You Walters are the ones with the portals and the Blue and the robots. The name Becile is loaded with hate, but we don't mess with the reality bending Blue Matter. Sorry, we like our faces. I think I'm pretty well packed, don't own much in the first place. The cafeteria might still be open on the public grounds. Want to catch a bite?"
"Murdering someone for what they've done is different than shed of innocent blood."
Looking at her own hands, flexing the as striped sleeves covered most of it.
Bite of lip.
She heard his words, his warning. A frown.
".. Even when you're on the job and we cross on accident, I'm not going to be the one taking the first shot.
Or any at all."
Concerned hug, quick, but emotional. Brushing her hair out of her face and then looking at his robotic wrists again.
"I'm sorry for what they did to you..
And..
I understand you need to go."
Rub of her arm, looking out the window hesitantly.
"..I'll...
Miss you."
Not one to make many friends, especially ones in green, just fights and enemies, everyone had their clicks and she had none.
Nobody likes the newbie.
Pigeon toed, swallowing to wetten a dry throat.
".. Do you want me to leave now..?"
"You say that now. Give it a few years. When your life is on the line, you don't see the 'who' that's behind the gun. You just see the gun. It happens. And I don't hold it against anyone." He returned her hug, and offered her a small smile. Such a sweet thing.
"Nah, you can stay. Like I said, I have a few hours. And thanks, I'll miss you too. I'll be back in a few days. Tell me, what's got your petticoats in such a bunch hmm? No one comes to me for advice that isn't how to clean gunk out of a firing pin."
Fights with the paranormal? S smirked a bit, almost laughing. That honestly sounded like fun.
"I'm not sweet. I might be nice when I'm off the clock, but I'm far from sweet. Pray you never meet me when I'm on a job. I'm not smart enough to be a teacher, or an engineer, or a scientist. I'm not smart. And I'm not a nice person."
He rolled up the left sleeve of his shirt, and with a thought, the tip of his right index finger flipped open to reveal a screwdriver. With practiced ease, he undid one of the plates on his left forearm.
"You know how I got these?" He asked, meaning his arms and his eyes. "I made a mistake. I was stupid, as always. And let someone that shouldn't have been in a factory, into the factory. And they made it explode. And I lost everything. My arms, my eyes, my..."
The love of his life.
"But I was given a second chance. It came with a stipulation. I had to kill the person that did this." He got the panel off, reveling the wires and steel bones inside. He wiggled his finger, showing her how everything inside moved when he did so. He dug into it, tightening a few loose connections that had been bothering him.
"They gave me these metal arms. They gave me these metal eyes. I found the person that had set the machines to explode. And I separated his head from his body with these very hands. It's not something I'm proud of. But it's not something I'm ashamed of either."
He replaced the plate, and started to screw it back into place.
"It was my job. He killed a lot of people for no reason. He was going to hurt more people, hurt the company. I'm a gun. It's what I was hired for. And it's what I'm good at. There is no one that can fill in for me. If I'm being sent somewhere, it means we're at our last option."
Not totally true. But she didn't need to know that. What she did need to know, though, was that S meant business. And he wasn't someone to cross when he was working. He hoped it would save her someday in the future, without giving away too much about Becile Tech.
Quiver, rubbing her arm and sitting on the side of his bed with a frown.
Dry voice.
“Please don’t go..” Fingers wrapping around her dress, needing someone to talk to, clear her mind. Ofcourse she wasn’t skilled in the arts of war, but nonetheless. Curiosity did kill the cat.
“I don’t like talking to the other girs. You intruigue me, I’d rather talk to you all day than them, even if you are someone I’m not supposed to talk to.
I never exactly was known for following rules. “
S stopped short, turning back around to give her a long look. After a moment he carefully took the strap of his goggles and loosened them until they fell around his neck. Then he sat next to her, frowning lightly.
"I'm sorry M. But I do have to go. It's my job. I'm good at my job, and I enjoy my job. It's, something I do. I am sorry. But we can talk while I get ready. What's on your mind?"
“Always taking all my fun.” S gave a toothy grin. Though, if he was going to have to kick in some heads on his trip, he wouldn’t really be having any sort of “want” for causing pain.
“Yeah, they do keep me moving. Probably why I’m in my tiny room still after almost twenty...
“Yes, she’ll do nicely for this, I’m sure.” She smirks as she leans back in her chair. “Holding? S, if she gets out of line, she won’t last long enough to go into holding, and you know it.”
“So soon? I’ll be sad to see you go. We need more like you, able and willing to work. I’m hoping to get at least one good one out of the latest bunch, but I’m not going to hold my breath.”
"Always taking all my fun." S gave a toothy grin. Though, if he was going to have to kick in some heads on his trip, he wouldn't really be having any sort of "want" for causing pain.
"Yeah, they do keep me moving. Probably why I'm in my tiny room still after almost twenty years. Not that I mind, I don't spend much time in it. Don't be too sad, I'll be back in two shakes of a lamb's tail."
He thought back to the list of names he had been sent for the new recruits. He was supposed to give them a once over later. Probably when he came back.
"I haven't seen 'em yet. But I wouldn't be too hard on them. No one thought I was going to be any good either, now look where I am."
“I, uhh.. Got lost again?”
You intruigued me, I had to come back.
Running away from the monsters back home.
Eyebrow raise, looking over and seeing— underwear? Flushed, looking away.
“Where are you going, do you need an escort? I-I mean like someone to help you, not like a.. ‘escort’”
"Lost?" He closed the door behind her and went back to "packing." Mostly it was now checking how many shells he had for his various guns and carefully wrapping them in cloth and packing them in the center of his clothing.
"You sure get lost a lot. Somehow managed to find my room though, lucky you. I'm going on an assignment. Nah, you don't want to go where I'm going. It's not going to be safe for many people. Namely, anyone that's not on my side. I leave in a few hours. Thanks for the concern, but if anything, I'm the one doing the escorting."
He tossed an extra pair of lenses into his bag. He'd cracked one in his goggles last time he was in Georgia.
He lives in a world where portals exist and a world that only can be reached through magical holes in walls is real.
What do you think?
38: Do they express their thoughts through words or deeds?
Bit of both. He'll tell you straight up what he thinks. But if you piss him off, he won't bother telling you. He'll just shoot you in the face.
39: If they were to fall in love, who (or what) is their ideal?
He already fell in love. It probably won't happen again. They'd have to try REALLY hard. But it would be someone sweet, someone smart, and someone who doesn't mind that he's a bit weird.
vaporwave
germansingergirl
romaincrisis
tangentwithtanner
janainaart
gummygunk
turnnoffyourmind
