— you've got a lot of 𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙫. @ncrv - Tumblr Blog

jupitersummon·:

“I have tried both chocolate and blueberry, yes,” Belladonna answers, a long-suffering sigh rumbling underneath his tone. He has lost count of the different kinds of food that Eriksa has had him try. Yesterday it was pudding, and under her enthusiastically watchful eye, he’d tried banana pudding and chocolate pudding and mango pudding. All of it had tasted foul.

He glances down at the menu the waitress put in his hands, and lays it down on the table. Apparently the food here is widely beloved. He sincerely hopes Nerv will not also think it’s hilarious to make him try human food. “I may have tried pancakes before. I cannot remember. Do you really find them so enthralling?”

❛ Sure ! ❜ Nerv nods with an air of enthusiasm about her, ❛ They’re not too expensive to make, and even if you don’t add things like blueberries or chocolate-- they’re still good with just honey and butter. There’s also so many variations, you can make them to suit your tastes. Speaking of, ❜ Nerv puts the menu down and leans her elbows on the table, ❛ what are your tastes ? ❜

She had asked Belladonna if he’d be willing to eat the dead man, and while she’d been joking, Belladonna said it’d be tasty. ❛ Do you, like, ❜ Nerv takes a glance around, and because it’s not nice to talk about eating humans in public, she leans closer and lowers her voice, ❛ seriously eat human ? ❜

#𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 — belladonna.

nconangel·:

A dead 𝚂𝙾𝙻𝙳𝙸𝙴𝚁. The thought makes him uneasy, as if muck ran through his veins, rather than blood. Money, a dead𝚂𝙾𝙻𝙳𝙸𝙴𝚁 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.”

❛ We have ours, ❜ Nerv responds, ❛ it was working fine last night. It caught the guy walking up to our door, but not much beyond that. I can check if any of the other shops have working cameras. I don’t think we should go knocking on our neighbor’s doors asking for tapes, though, ❜ Nerv nervously bites her bottom lip, ❛ because if they check, they’d know we had an odd client last night. They’d probably start asking questions... ❜ she leans back then, spinning around in her chair for the second time and pushing her weight back to her own desk.

❛ I’ll see if I can access any of their footage remotely-- something tells me security won’t be too tight that I can’t at least get into their online storage, ❜ she sighs, ❛ let’s just hope it is online. ❜

#𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 — angel.

❛ So, chocolate or blueberry ? ❜ Nerv looks at Belladonna from behind the menu she currently holds in front of her, raising a questioning brow at him. ❛ You’ve tried both of those things individually before, right ? ❜ @jupitersummon.

#𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 — belladonna.

❛ 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.

#𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 — angel.

jupitersummon·:

Belladonna grumbles out a vexed little noise; he doubts it was random choice, and he does not like the idea that Angel’s business is more well-known than anticipated. While his fake identification and fake work papers may hold up to brief examination, they would likely be exposed as forgeries if subject to more intense scrutiny, and they are the only things keeping him off the military’s radar. He could easily go into hiding in his orb, but that would be– boring, and would leave Eriksa without his protection.

On Nerv’s screen, faces flash past, and though Belladonna watches them, he doubts he will be of use here. Most humans look alike to him.

“And what if he has family? Friends? What then will you do?”

It’s a question that he genuinely has no idea of the answer to. The group had so quickly sprung to volunteer themselves for various roles in this investigation, Belladonna doubts they’d hand both it and the money over so easily.

Nerv tilts her head at the question, keeping a finger on the scrollbar. She’d wondered about the possibility of finding family connections, but only because it’d make identifiying the man so much easier.

❛ It would be Angel’s call, I think, ❜ Nerv purses her lips, ❛ It’s hard to tell if the family would understand the situation. At least, I think if we handed the body over, ❜ which would reasonably be the most moral thing to do, ❛ it’s hard to tell if they’d follow his wishes and not turn his body in. But maybe they’d be able to help us in the investigation, ❜ she shrugs. They’re already paid, the family wouldn’t have to pay another private company or depend on an over-burdened criminal justice system.

❛ But I don’t know whether to hope that we do find familial connections or we don’t. Imagine having to tell someone their husband, or dad, or son wound up mysteriously dead on our doorstep. ❜

#𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 — belladonna.

nconangel·:

“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.”

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. ❜

#𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 — angel.#minnie is so cute... bye

jupitersummon·:

.

It seems his ideas have merit, so as Nerv starts searching into various databases, Belladonna looks down at his phone once more, and carefully hunts-and-pecks ‘wanted criminals’ into the search bar. It comes up with a dictionary definition, a local band, an old TV show– no an actual list of Jupiter’s wanted criminals. He hisses out an aggrieved noise, and decides to leave the search to Nerv.

Technology. He doesn’t trust it. But Nerv seems to be excellent at it. No doubt she’ll know exactly how to find that information.

“I do not likethat this unknown man chose to lay this… ill-advised treasure hunt at this company’s doorstep,” he grumbles. From here, he can see the monitor Nerv is working on, and even as he complains, he watches her work in silent curiosity. “It means Angel’s company has a reputation. One that, perhaps, has spread wider than we know. Many eyes make for many dangers.”

Her fingers tap away, keeping a mental tab open for Belladonna as he voices his concerns and she silently agrees with them. It’s not rare that they get jobs on the shaddier side-- Nerv assumes that part of the reason people seek out ROBIN CO. is because the company advertises itself so vaguely: odd jobs. The list of services becomes infinite, all dependent on the needs of an individual client. The only similarity between their customers is coin, and really, that’s the only thing in common they need to have.

❛ I also wonder if this was a random choice, if he just stumbled to the first off-the-official-grid place he could find, or if it was more than that, ❜ Nerv chews on her lower lip, ❛ could be as you say... that we were on the radar for a long time, that this job was planned for us to take. ❜

Again, she sighs. Her monitor now shows various pictures of missing people, and she narrows the search by gender and general age group. Nerv leans back while she begins to scroll, knowing Belladonna is looking over her shoulder.

#𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 — belladonna.

kieranfox·:

Once, soldier boy would have been a compliment of the highest order — he knows that it currently is far from that. Meant to insult rather than flatter; but Fox still fails to see it as such, especially when the words are spoken by Nerv. There’s no malice to be found in her voice, thus he doesn’t need to hesitate to take the seat next to hers, pretending to understand whatever it is he is currently asked to analyse.

Ten seconds, and then he opts to take the easy way out.

“ …What exactly am I looking at? Did you find anything suspicious? ”

❛ What, they don’t teach accounting during trooper training ? ❜ Nerv tilts her head, but she’s just as quick to comfortingly slap Fox’s arm and smile. She titls the monitor towards him, pointing to the right corner of the screen.

❛ This is advance shit anyways, look, ❜ there’s a line of meaningless code to anyone who doesn’t know what they’re looking for, but Nerv is familiar with encryption shorthand, and she hopes Fox recognizes the same thing she does.

❛ Don’t read symbols or the zero’s, just read the number sign as tag. That’s as much as I’ve figured out, but anything else could be read or lose too. It just reminded me... ❜ Nerv glances at him, ❛ I mean, you get assigned identification tags at the CORPS, right ? Do they look anything like this ? ❜

#𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 — fox.

jupitersummon·:

.

It’s an odd and existential question that Belladonna doesn’t quite know how to answer – I don’t know why I do anything anymore – nor does he know if she’s being serious or not. Humans are so given to exaggeration or nonsense phrases, and yet, they are also prone to exposing their own truths at highly awkward moments.

“If he carried no personal identification, perhaps he was evading the authorities,” he suggests thoughtfully instead of addressing the comment, his gaze following hers to the smears and pools of blood. The sight doesn’t bother him; he wonders if it bothers Nerv. If it does, she’s not showing it much. “Or perhaps it was stolen. Taken by whomever killed him in an attempt to prevent him from being identified.”

Murder mysteries may not be where his talents lay either, but Belladonna has to admit, there is something intriguing about all of this.

His phone beeps again. The corner of Belladonna’s lips twitch downward. He would throw this thing out the window, if it had not been a gift from Eriksa. “Do the authorities keep a list of those reported missing? Perhaps someone is missing our mystery man.”

Nerv nods her way along Belladonna’s line of reason, taking a moment with each possibility he mentions and still having the overall feeling of helplessness. It’s impossible to escape crime and death when you’ve lived your whole life in the slums, but it’s never happened so close to her. She holds on to duty in an attempt to not dwell on it, only knowing how to cope with a difficult situation by keeping herself too occupied to succumb to anxiety.

❛ Sure, it seems he didn’t want the authorities to even have his body, it’s a good possibility that he was evading them. It’s also a good possibility that he was robbed during his... murder, I guess. ❜ Nerv shrugs and continues to stares at the floor, eyes moving with each thought that crosses her mind; she’s always had the mentality of a problem solver. Though she’s not working over a broken piece of hardware right now, there is something to figure out.

❛ Great idea, let’s check ! ❜ And just like that, she spins around in her chair again, thankful for Belladonna’s genuine objective stance whereareas Nerv is only pretending. ❛ It might be too early for him to be reported missing, but I think it’ll be worth checking if his face is on a wanted criminal’s list too. ❜

#𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 — belladonna.

oftaran·:

Taran’s eyes soften, taking in the familiar sight of Nerv, though perhaps unfamiliar at the same time. He’s used to seeing her draped in finery, pretending to belong where they both knew she didn’t. “I’m finding there isn’t truly a paradise, Nerv.” He reassures. He knows he has much to be grateful for, particularly to Nerv. Without her assistance, he’d still be entirely lost. At least now he has some footing. “You did help me, even despite all this. Thank you.” He adds, too seriously, gesturing to the body.

.

❛ There may be no paradise, but it was really nice in Halo, ❜ comes Nerv’s reply, her eyes distant as she remembers the fields and lakes and farms-- none of which she’d ever seen in Gossamer Wall. Honestly, she’d been half convinced that what she heard about Wall Halo were just rumors spun by the lower class, either to inspire hate during political campaigns-- always pointing out the difference in quality of life-- or simply by folk with dreams of living there some day. It turns out, it was all true.

❛ You’re half welcome, ❜ Nerv says, ❛ the other half of me doesn’t think I did you any favors by bringing you out here. But if you struggle with any of this, I can take up some of the load, ❜ she lightly bumps Taran’s arm with her knuckles, ❛ I won’t tell Angel to cut me part of your check. ❜

#𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 — taran.

jupitersummon·:

.

Belladonna’s response is a slow, placid blink from where he sits rigidly on a nearby couch, phone in his hands.

“I may have many talents, but… technology is not yet one them,” he says, disdain catching behind his teeth, even as his phone beeps at him to inform him of more incoming messages from the group chat. He hasn’t figured out how to shut the accursed thing up, and it continues to make noise even when he isn’t involved in the conversation. If it is so smart, why does it not understand when he wants it to be quiet?

He has only the barest idea of what a cryptocurrency is – as far as he can gather, it’s a monetary system made needlessly complicated – but he is aware that it’s difficult to track. Nerv has her work cut out for her. “For what purpose do you need to track the payment?”

Nerv heaves a second sigh at the arrival of the question, applying too much force when she presses ❛ enter ❜ and waits to be led down another meaningless chain. ❛ I don’t know, ❜ she frowns, ❛ I don’t know why I do anything anymore. ❜ This, of course, is the stress speaking. But Nerv takes a moment to compose herself and rid of her dramatics, spinning in her chair to look at Belladonna.

❛ It could lead us to a name, ❜ she explains, ❛ the name of the person who made the deposit. Anyway, it’s no guarantee that our guy would’ve even used his real name if he really wanted to be careful about it. I just don’t understand why he has no identification on him, ❜ Nerv glances at the spot the man was lying in before Jace took off with the corpse. She still needs to clean up the blood. ❛ It would’ve been a lot easier to investigate his death if we knew who he was, you know ? It makes no sense. ❜

#𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 — belladonna.

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.”

❛ 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 ? ❜

#𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 — angel.

❛ Hey, soldier boy, ❜ Nerv glances up from her monitor, ❛ before you go talk to a bunch of drunks, mind taking a look at this ? ❜ @kieranfox.

#𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 — kieran.

In a quiet moment, Nerv finds Taran’s side, ❛ It probably feels like I dragged you into hell instead of helping, huh ? ❜ A humorless scoff escapes her lips, and her eyes linger on the dead man. @oftaran.

#𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 — taran.

❛ Harp uses unregulated banks, right ? ❜ Nerv raises a brow in quesiton, ❛ Do you recognize the Bank of Ven ? ❜ @eriksawei.

#𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 — eriksa.

❛ 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.

#𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 — angel.

❛ Cryptography is all fun and games until you’re the third party adversary, ❜ Nerv sighs from her spot behind the monitor, ❛ I can’t track this payment at all. ❜ @jupitersummon.

#𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 — belladonna.

Trending Blogs

Recently Viewed Blogs

— you've got a lot of 𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙫.