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15. chasable
[Spam for Zane]
[Mira has had insomnia, off and on, for her entire stay on the barge. It's improved a bit since the mirror barge, but it is not at all strange to see her roaming the ship at odd hours. She avoids the patrols, creeps silently as a matter of habit. She peers at the stars and takes the occasional apple from the dining hall. Mostly, though, she winds her way up and down the stairs. Every murder so far has been in a stairwell. It makes sense - confined space, tight angles, good for concealment and sudden strikes. There is no tension of fear in her shoulders, no glancing back. She has her staser in her boot, but that, too, is not unusual.
It's not a trap, because her goal is not to stop whoever it is; her goal is not to survive or conquer. Only to see. The rest she leaves to skill and chance. And to that end, pins holding her unruly hair in place have been modified to carry some of Barbara's tiny bugs, hacked and modded with less skill but more advanced tech, transmitting to a screen where Mickey broods and watches and waits, and to Mira's neural Direct Interface. The culprit attacks from behind; but now Mira has eyes in the back of her head.]
[Mira has had insomnia, off and on, for her entire stay on the barge. It's improved a bit since the mirror barge, but it is not at all strange to see her roaming the ship at odd hours. She avoids the patrols, creeps silently as a matter of habit. She peers at the stars and takes the occasional apple from the dining hall. Mostly, though, she winds her way up and down the stairs. Every murder so far has been in a stairwell. It makes sense - confined space, tight angles, good for concealment and sudden strikes. There is no tension of fear in her shoulders, no glancing back. She has her staser in her boot, but that, too, is not unusual.
It's not a trap, because her goal is not to stop whoever it is; her goal is not to survive or conquer. Only to see. The rest she leaves to skill and chance. And to that end, pins holding her unruly hair in place have been modified to carry some of Barbara's tiny bugs, hacked and modded with less skill but more advanced tech, transmitting to a screen where Mickey broods and watches and waits, and to Mira's neural Direct Interface. The culprit attacks from behind; but now Mira has eyes in the back of her head.]
[spam]
[It's more desperate now, but even as he says it, he remembers how he felt smashing Dean's skull. Spilling his brains out onto the floor of the Mirror Barge. Wanting, just a little bit, to eat him alive. Some of that had been the vampire, but a lot of it hadn't, and even if he doesn't want to do it again...
No, it's not that hard to imagine. He looks from her to the book and back again, eyes wide.]
He's been-- I've seen him asking around about it. Trying to figure-- fuck.
[He cuts off and turns his head away, covering his mouth. He looks a little sick.]
[spam]
That's what I'd do, if I had to stay somewhere. Establish credentials, misdirect. I wonder if he has a scapegoat picked.
[spam]
[His voice is thick with resignation. Who would Zane pick that would hold up to any scrutiny? If there were anyone else, Mickey would have leapt on them without any help from Zane.]
[spam]
But it is a terrible complication, the constricted environment of the barge.]
No. I suppose not.
[spam]
I-- I don't...
[There's too much loss already, too much betrayal, and it's all too fresh. For a moment, he really thinks he might just lose it again -- he's managed not to start crying out of nowhere for, like, four whole days, so why not pick it back up now?
But he doesn't. He takes a deep breath and closes his eyes, rubbing his face.]
Can you just let me talk to him first? Please?
[spam]
We can play this any way you want to.
[She only wanted to catch him for herself.]
[spam]
If it really was him, we're gonna play it like I'm gonna knock his brain out of his skull, powers or no powers.
[spam]
Try not to die?
[She is aware of the irony. But she says it in earnest, a quiet sort of plea. He will like it less than she did.]
[spam]
Better go get this shit over with.
[spam]
Good luck.