[b]Bode![/b]

"I need you to do something."

Something is wrong with this situation, but you're not sure quite what.

Well, I mean, obviously, something's wrong. Victoria's satellite is launching, the Gears foundation is under attack, muffled explosions and screeches of tortured metal are coming from downstairs, and Victor's just sitting there, staring at you over the Blacksun drone on the table. Things to do, places to be, people to defend, and he's...

Well, relaxing isn't the right word. If he'd had Errant's implants, you're pretty sure his grip on the table would leave imprints. And those shoulders look like they have more tension in them than bridge cables.

"...Is what the old me would say." 

And now, it's like he can't bear to look at you. Floor, ceiling, table, drone, back to the floor. Heavy intake, pause, deep breath, back to you.

"Honestly, there is something that I would [i]like[/i] you to do. I have a plan right now to help save everyone, and you have an incredibly important part in that plan. We need something with the firepower to strip Victoria out of her suit for this to work, and someone with the ability to manipulate a thousand drones at once. That's you. But..."

[i]That's it![/i] Right now, the Victor you knew would be going ham on his own fist: smooshing, moulding, shaping, forming and reforming. Once, you speculated that it was to have something to control in a conversation, or perhaps idle boredom in a room of no peers. But right now, his hands are almost aggressively still.

That's... Is that a bad thing or not?

"But I don't want to try to force you to do something you don't want to do. I've done enough of that for one lifetime. Done enough bossing and controlling and manipulating, and you know what I haven't been doing? Is nearly enough asking."

He chuckles, and there's less mirth than... self deprecation? Despair?

"Bode, what do [i]you[/i] want to do? If you're willing, I'd love your help. If you're not, I'm entirely at your disposal. You, right now, are the most important thing in the world to me.

"You should have been that long ago."

What do you do?