A STYGIAN RECKONING.

ANGEL. the MERC. head of ROBIN CO. " what is your grief but rage? what is your rage but a ghost? you haunt yourself, but that was always going to be a given, wasn't it? "

[nconangel]

@eriksawei​

Angel knows thieves, and while he wasn’t subtle enough for the job in mind, he had someone that had the exact skillset that he lacked. “Eri, I need you to case a place. No one sees you, no one knows we had this conversation.” He shows her a pamphlet from a casino, gaudy in his eyes, but at least of some interest to the powers that be. “Magic 8-ball. District eight. I think there’s something cooking up there, but I’m not sure.”

[nconangel]

「 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙎𝙊𝙇𝘿𝙄𝙀𝙍. 」​

𝐖𝐇𝐘 𝐃𝐎𝐄𝐒 𝐇𝐄 𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐈𝐒𝐓 𝐎𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐒𝐄 𝐃𝐀𝐌𝐍 𝐍𝐈𝐂𝐊𝐍𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐒 ?  the question is one jace doesn’t have long to dwell on, even as the errant thought crosses his mind. but he shakes his head, blond strands swaying with the movement as if a dog shaking water from its coat. the gesture comes with immediate regret as a hand shoots up to press a gloved palm to his temple as he grimaces, head still aching. letting out a breath on a sigh, he looks at angel through narrowed eyes. he’d beckoned him into the office at such an early hour for a reason, after all.    ❛ it’s the bullet found on the body, ❜    he explains, without any preamble. no time to waste ––– he wants this conversation to be as private as possible, at least for a time.    ❛ i recognize it. it was made by a SOLDIER weapon smith.  ❜

There is a shift in his face, by inches at first, and as the information sinks in, by bounds. Angel doesn’t like dealing with the government. Corporations he dislikes, but the government, especially the people who were in charge of the 𝚂𝙾𝙻𝙳𝙸𝙴𝚁 program, he knew well enough to steer clear of. He took on jobs against ex- 𝚂𝙾𝙻𝙳𝙸𝙴𝚁𝚂 in the past, and even they were a pain in the ass, but if they were involved with the corpse? Well, things were about to get even more complicated quickly.

“Sit down.” Finesse, dexterity. The only two things he was known for were in full play as every curtain was drawn and the door was shut in the span of five seconds by the blades’ flurry of metal. “Do you have any details, anything to go off of?”

[nconangel]

「 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝘾𝙊𝙍𝙋𝙊. 」​

               Jetta’s eyes linger on the blades for a pause,   her body still before she carries on with deliberate movements–    she looks away,   sits,   sets the folder on the desk.   She returns Angel’s smile with one of her own,   and the air hangs tensely around them.   

       ❛   I am grateful for your time,   ❜    Jetta sighs,    like she’s relaxing into the seat.   Still,   though,   her shoulders remain stiff.   Almost as if she has never relaxed a day in her life,   and this is as far as she can do it.   ❛   I promise I’m not trying to hound you,   ❜    her lips press together,   ❛   even though it seems a lot like it.   I’m just trying to follow through with the job I have,   Angel.   I’m happy to wait while you read through the offer and answer any questions you have.   ❜

"Let me do the math here.” A finger points out the lump sum they’re giving, a bare five percent increase, one that makes his insides roil with indignant anger. Marginal increases, a half-promise to give him what was a good sum that would dry up within a year, not accounting for emergencies and expenses. A lesser person would have said yes two offers ago. Angel just smiles, sharp and horrid.

“Your company is giving me this offer, and they assume it’s enough for me to uproot my business and home for? I know that property value is hardly their game, and I just am very curious why you want me to sell my...” He looks around and sighs, no need to put any candy on it, “My humble shit pile?” 

[nconangel]

「 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙁𝙄𝙂𝙃𝙏𝙀𝙍. 」 ​

                          Something’s off — Fox just cannot pinpoint exactly what it is. His greetings had only barely been answered, and if he hadn’t known any better, he would have guessed it an absolutely reasonable consequence of their failed canvassing prior to it. They’d already been over that, however, and Angel had not at all been as bothered as he’d initially feared ( which had only caused Fox’s desire to succeed next time grow even stronger ).

But if the proverbial thunderclouds chasing after their boss are not a result of that, something worse must be troubling him. After a while of studying the man in silence; trying to piece the puzzle together, Fox finally surrenders to his curiosity — and his need to make up for previous mistakes. “ If it’s anything I can be of assistance with, you know you need only say the words, and I’ll gladly take care of it. ” 

@nconangel​

In the long term, Angel is lucky to have Fox on his side; he’s seen the destruction some 𝚂𝙾𝙻𝙳𝙸𝙴𝚁𝚂 can do, and even experienced it on his end for a few jobs he’d been assigned to back when Robin held the band of mercs. But now, the coin rests on its edge, as what he’d learned only a few hours ago started to sink in. The dead man was linked to the 𝚂𝙾𝙻𝙳𝙸𝙴𝚁 program, and he had no intention of letting this investigation sour. Not with that much money on the line.

“Do you still have any ties to 𝚂𝙾𝙻𝙳𝙸𝙴𝚁, Fox?” The words come out as steel and bone, not with the usual amusement he would drag into conversation. Angel sits back and waves at an empty chair in front of him. “Skeletons in your closet. Contacts. I don’t need public knowledge, and no half-drunk washouts. We have a lead, and I’m not going into this half-cocked.”

[nconangel]

「 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙎𝙐𝙈𝙈𝙊𝙉. 」​

         Beeds. The nicknames continue to get worse.

        “If that is what you wish of me.” Belladonna’s tone gives no indication on his thoughts on the matter, merely accepting. Truly, he has no particular thoughts on eating Jetta other than that it would certainly prove advantageous in the short-term. No doubt the company would send another agent soon enough, though. “Perhaps the next agent they send would be less… tenacious.”

The flat tone of acceptance makes Angel pause, before shaking his head, wondering how far he would go for ROBIN CO. It’s a flattering remark, to know that Angel has the allegiance of what he would consider a nuclear weapon with a penchant for gambling, but anger-filled violent fantasies aside, it was a good thing to keep in his back pocket.

“Corporations are nothing, if not either persistent, or vicious.” There’s a hint of poison in his voice, subtle and caustic in the undertone. “Maybe hiding from her would prove useful next time. I know we could all use the exercise.”

[nconangel]

「 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙃𝙀𝘼𝙍𝙏.​​ 」

               ❛   Oh,    Angel !   ❜    Rosette’s rosy cheeks become rosier upon Angel’s entrance.    As always,   her smile is wide and bright when she greets him from behind the counter.    ❛   How are you,   honey ?   ❜   The words are spoken with all of the endearment a mother would have for her child.   ❛   Should I get your usual going ?   ❜    @nconangel​.

A good person around these parts were rare, and anyone that Angel liked with all his heart was rarer. Rosette knew him at the start, and by all accounts, was the one that knew Angel the longest, with Robin gone.  In the beginning, he dreamed, but now, he has no time for it, so he settles on an order; better than dwelling on fantasies in his spare time. “Tune-ups, repairs, you know how it is,” Angel replies, grumbling for mock effect, “The arm’s still sore, but at least it isn’t scrap metal, right?”

[nconangel]

@jupitersummon​​​

“I don’t suppose I can convince you to eat Jetta, Beeds?” After their negotiation, Angel wants something to sink into, and since offing someone in the middle of a busy street was unlawful, and more importantly, bad for business, he settles for thinking nasty thoughts. Less cathartic, but at least it was more acceptable outlet. “She’d give you indigestion, but I’m sure that I can get you something for that,” he comments offhandedly, “Or at least double your pay.”

[nconangel]

「 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙈𝙀𝘾𝙃𝘼𝙉𝙄𝘾.​ 」

               ❛   So much for rest,  ❜   Nerv plops down at her desk,   but she’s quick to roll her chair over to Angel’s desk and lean her elbows on it with no regard for any of the paperwork on it.   ❛   I mean,   Evo in his system ?   ❜   She frowns deeply,   ❛   It’s kind of obvious what his previous profession was,    right ?   ❜     @nconangel​.

A dead 𝚂𝙾𝙻𝙳𝙸𝙴𝚁. The thought makes him uneasy, as if muck ran through his veins, rather than blood. Money, a dead 𝚂𝙾𝙻𝙳𝙸𝙴𝚁 and the hounds of corporations lapping at his heels felt as if death itself was going to come for them, karma and the unseen hand of the free market. “You don’t have to tell me twice,” he replies, frowning back at her. “Do we have security? Cameras? Backups? I’m not keen on following the dead guy before my expiration date.”

[nconangel]

@jupitermerc​

"And here I thought our relationship only went past you breaking my arm after sparring, and giving you checks, Jaybird.” He leans back in his chair, the grin on his face easy and welcoming. “Is there anything you want to share with me, or is this a game of twenty questions, because I don’t guess well and I’m shit at detective work.”

[nconangel]

「 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝘾𝙊𝙍𝙋𝙊.  」 ​

               ❛   I was told to wait,   ❜    Jetta greets Angel with a perfectly pleasant smile,   ❛   however I was not given a place to wait at,   so excuse the sweat on my person.    I have been standing outside the office while I waited for you to return from breakfast,   ❜    her words and her tone of voice contradict each other;   one is polite and friendly,   the other is passive-aggressive and clearly peeved.   

       ❛   I hope it was to your liking.   ❜    She gives a final polite smile before she’s already pulling a folder from under her shoulder,   ❛   I was hoping to present you with a new deal regarding the purchase of the land,   ❜   she says,   ❛   I know there were certain clauses in the previous offer that you didn’t agree with,   so I revised with corporate and this is the new offer.   ❜      @nconangel​.

Hate is hardly a word that Angel ever uses; it’s singular in its resolve and purposeful in a way that he hardly ever was, but it’s that which runs through his mind before he takes a good, long look at Jetta. He sits, in clothes that fit an assassination better than a business deal, before appraising her. It’s a shame he hadn’t made Minnie apply the assessment orb onto his existing software, but Angel could do this without that.

“Well, I suppose I’ll have to look it over then, seeing as how an adjacent department did so much trouble for our humble little spot.” Angel clicks his tongue, a humorless smile plastered across his face. “And I hardly ever offered you a seat. How inconsiderate of me.” In a flash, two of his blades were on a desk, allowing a seat to be pushed gently behind her. “Sit,” he continues, poison in his grin. “I insist.”

[nconangel]

「 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙈𝙀𝘾𝙃𝘼𝙉𝙄𝘾. 」

            That makes sense,   Nerv thinks.   She nods and feels silly for asking.   Even when it was just the two of them in the company during the months in-between Robin’s death and Sai’s employement,   Angel would always take the hack and slash jobs.   She’d thought that was because she was in a wheelchair and had limited mobility,    but it appears Angel has a preference for jobs after all.   

       ❛   Nothing wrong with a little tapioca,   ❜   Nerv snorts,   the image of Angel’s internal system failing hanging in her head.   She would love it if he grew old,   but the atmosphere is already too tense;   adding in that conversation would only make things heavier.   

       ❛   Well,   here you go,   ❜    Nerv takes the code and hands it to Angel with a defeated smile.   ❛   I couldn’t get much out of tracking it besides a potential connection to the military– slight,   might just be a dud–   so I guess all that’s left is to transfer the coin out.   ❜

The military. Of course it had to be the military. Weapons manufacturers, he could deal with, corporations, he could do, but with two 𝚂𝙾𝙻𝙳𝙸𝙴𝚁𝚂, a summon and several people that would immediately raise suspicion, the military was hardly the place he wanted to get money from. Problems upon problems, that’s just great.

“This feels a sting op, Minnie.” Angel crosses his arms and grimaces, running through every possible scenario of this turning out well for them. Not much, but he wasn’t good with probability, anyway. “If this coin comes from a corpse, I don’t want any ghosts attached.”

His voice cuts into an edge, the oddity of the mission and the circumstances of it all not sitting right with him. “We’re not touching the money yet, not until it gets a clean bill of health from my favorite hacker,” he continues, a smile as sharp as his tone framing his face. “I hope that this mission ends in a week. All of us know that we could use the rest.”

[nconangel]

「 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙎𝙐𝙈𝙈𝙊𝙉. 」

         The second that nickname drops from Angel’s lips, Belladonna pulls a face like a man who has just bitten into something nasty but is desperately trying to hide his horrified grimace. Silently, he mouths it, Beedee, rolling it over and finding it wanting. He does not understand the need to nickname things.

Apparently he is getting roped into helping. He does not know how he feels about this.

“That is acceptable. I will be… your extra muscle,” he says, reluctant. He supposes it would make this venture far easier if they simply caught the killer immediately, but Belladonna doubts it will be that simple. It never is. Humans do so like to make everything over-complicated. “Shall I bring a weapon? Or do you anticipate this to be a more peaceful operation?”

A peaceful operation? From anyone else, Angel would have figured that the comment was a bad joke, but with Belladonna, he could hardly be as glib as he wanted. Nothing went peacefully in this city, within the walls, not things, not events, and certainly not people. If this person was eavesdropping, they were going to need to find out why.

“If you want to, Dee! I think you can manage pretty damn fine without one, though.” The last rung of remembrances and implant checks go through his mind again, as he rolls his back to get some of the tension off his shoulders. Cybernetics or not, he really needed a massage, and if he got the cash, he could go from stressed to highly blessed in one point now seconds.

“You ready to go, big guy? I can wait, but I’d rather not let him get away,” he continues, his hands growing hot. “I mean, wouldn’t you get back to the party rather than do work on our one day off?”

[nconangel]

@jupitermerc​

𝚂𝙾𝙻𝙳𝙸𝙴𝚁𝚂 aren’t something one exactly comes across, but in his experience with the two in his employment, they’re something you’re glad to have in your back pocket. Especially with the current turn of events. A dead body at a party—it was almost something out of a crime serial; the next thing you know, Angel would say that the butler did it, if they had enough discretionary funds to have one.

“No rest for the wicked, I suppose,” he replies, looking at the dead man being fussed over by Hiromi. He doesn’t have the capability, nor the desire to understand what they were doing, cutting open someone to gain clues, but it seems better than standing around doing nothing. At least he had a drink in hand. “Do you think this’ll be over by next week, or do I need to clear out half the calendar for this, J? In your... professional opinion.”

[nconangel]

「 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙈𝙀𝘾𝙃𝘼𝙉𝙄𝘾.​​ 」

               ❛   No, no !   ❜    Nerv shakes her head firmly,    then smiles at Angel in spite of the morbid situation.    ❛   You know I’m always with you,   I wouldn’t opt out of a difficult job for anything in the world !   ❜   But instead of proving her loyalty,   she’s defending her paycheck.   ❛   Come sit down.   You’ve worked here longer than anyone,   ever received a job like this ?   ❜

“I was mostly on the jobs where they needed to do some hacking and slashing,” Angel replies, smiling back. And that my head really wasn’t fit for anything else, goes unsaid. The memories ebb and flow, tides on the bank of his brain, and at least now, he has enough cognitive function to do a job needed. “God, I sound old. Next thing you know, I’m hanging up my blades and eating tapioca—gives me shivers, Minnie.”

[nconangel]

「  𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙎𝙐𝙈𝙈𝙊𝙉. 」

         As far as human experiences go, murder investigations aren’t exactly something that Belladonna is practiced at, let alone investigations begun by the plea of a dead man. So as the various members of Robin Co. volunteer themselves for roles to track the trail of blood, conduct studies on the corpse, and hunt for clues, Belladonna is content to stick to the sidelines and watch.

         But after a conversation about whether or not he is compensated for his occasional work, he’s left wondering if he’s expected to help here. Surely not. He is not one of them, he’s never tried to be. It’s still surprising to him that Angel insists on paying him, like he’s… some kind of person.

         And yet. They involve him in the conversation like he is part of the group. It’s perplexing. And it leads to Belladonna seeking Angel out, eyes narrowed, a thin slice of gold and pure vexation. “Am I to be assigned a role in this job?” he asks, a shallow veneer of politeness only barely covering… everything else. “It seems all other members have so eagerly jumped upon it.”

@nconangel

A system diagnostic flashes in front of Angel’s eyes, determining if his implants were working at their fullest capacity, a reflex held over from multiple jobs done for Robin. It’s never fun, the bright words simply blurring his vision and the sense that he just woke up after it’s done. He catalogs the experience in his mind, to turn over and deal with at some future point in time, but now, they’re going to have to work.

“You’re coming with me, Beedee.” Angel replies, a smile on his face and in his words as the metal inside him whirs. Considering the fact that a corpse just dropped in front of them, he should be worried, or at the very least disturbed, but he’d lived a life, however short, full of worse things. A dead man is hardly something that he should blink at.

“Eyes caught something off to the side, possibly someone who did it, or a witness, but I’d rather catch them sooner rather than later, if you catch my drift. Who knows? If it was the killer, that’d be an easy way to get the money, right?” Now that he said it, it would probably be more trouble than it’s worth, but he won’t think about that for now. “Do you mind tagging along? It’d be helpful to have some extra muscle on the job.”

[nconangel]

「   𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙈𝙀𝘾𝙃𝘼𝙉𝙄𝘾.​  」

                  ❛   It’s a lot of money,   ❜    Nerv blinks at the numbers displayed on the monitor,    ❛   we don’t even make this much in a month–   hell,   in three months !   We’re taking the job,   aren’t we ?   ❜    She turns to get a good look at Angel,    ❛    Aren’t we ?   ❜    @nconangel​.

He puts a hand on his chest, looking at her as if she had just told him to kick a sleeping dog. The money they were going to make on this job was a godsend, if you believed that sort of thing; he wasn’t going to pass that up. “We definitely are, and anyone who tells you is a liar.” Angel raises an eyebrow sharply, as if to pin Nerv down. “Why? You want to opt out of your share? I mean—that’s fine with me! More to go around.”

[soracities]

Natalie Wee, from ‘Least of All’, Our Bodies & Other Fine Machines