[b]Isabelle[/b]

Here’s the thing. You’ve done an extremely good job at lying poorly. 

Vicky adjusts her glasses again, shifts her stance, stands up straighter. You can see she’s giving you a slightly wider personal space. And, well, all that training from your mother wasn’t entirely wasted. This is a sign of respect. You’re important now. 

And suddenly you know exactly where you stand. All that travel information, obviously true, you lied too poorly to have made it up. And so she knows that you’re someone with wealth, someone who would travel like that. Regular people don’t do that unless they’re ship crew on a freighter run, and even then, most freighters are going to run one route back and forth forever. Maybe a route with two stops, max. It’s boring, sure, but it’s also a safe and very simple profitable trade. You go to one planet, buy whatever’s cheapest and best at a value per weight and value per volume that works with your ship, and then you go to a second planet where you offload your goods, buy what the first planet needs to refill the hold and just go back and forth. Medical goods from Alcard sold on Terenius Prime then load up on luxuries from Terenius Prime and sell them on Alcard. 

Well, that was a tangent on interspatial shipping, but it’s all to say that when you told her that you’ve been doing business on at least four different, separated star systems, you told her that you were rich. And so now, whatever you’re doing, she’s not going to press about who you really are. Because pressing the rich in a weird dalliance like this is dangerous. You’re dangerous. 

“Well…that all make sense then” she eventually manages. “I can’t say that I have, of course. Intra-system, to be sure. The uh…sunsets on Akar II are lovely during its fall. But um…I should be on my way, I’m sure I’ve wasted enough of your time and your partner is obviously recently at having to do all the work giving away free baked goods while I bother you.”

So, that’s a problem solved, right? Maybe?

***

[b]Dolly[/b]

The smaller Terenian continues to sputter, blushing furiously as she tries to inspect your jumpsuit only to turn her head away.

The taller one, now, clears her throat though. “Listen, if you want her, her name’s Sam, and she’s a pushover.” This is followed by an indignant squeak from Sam, but not coherent words. The tall one continues. “Like, I tease her normally about her favorite pilots anyway, and you’re the spitting image of that Hybrasilian priestess that pilots the mecha that think it’s a goddess, so, like, congrats on that, I bet you get a lot of attention at parties.”

She chuckles, brushes her hair. “But, it’s going to have to wait until after the show’s over. This is only the most important broadcast of the season and you’ve basically disabled one of the two techs overseeing the master controls. So how about I give you her number and you scram? If that jumpsuit’s actually stuck, I’ll fix it for you.” Sam gives another indignant squeak that says that she’s perfectly capable of fixing the zipper herself and how dare her co-worker intervene like this. It’s a very communicative squeak.

What do you do?

***

[b]Jade[/b]

It’s twisting itself like a maze. This isn’t the absolute cutting edge of network security. You’ve actually seen that, back on Hybrasil, where the maze would be like trying to navigate the swirls and rings of a vast and ancient tree that would trap you within its sap. They know there how to keep out even a goddess. But this isn’t that good. It’s the cutting edge of ten years ago from a civilization that’s somewhat less good at computer programming than yours.

That said, it’s still secure. This is an important broadcast and they certainly don’t want anyone getting into it as a prank, so it’s at least fortified against script kiddies. And so it twists like a maze. Stone slabs angle and shoot out, risking a fall that would crush you if you don’t twist out of the way. The angle requires that you work with the gravity of the space and the shape of the walls to direct yourself, shifting your momentum. Carvings speak of chains and cages and the walls close, narrowing the space.

You’re getting a transmission from Matty, who’s getting a signal routed from your idol. “Be careful, Jade. None of the staff know there’s a network intrusion yet, but there’s some kind of automated program. If you hit anything too hard, it will trip and alert people that someone is trying to access it and they’ll start locking it down. You should have some freedom to manipulate it yourself though, since you’re in the actual console and they expect the attacks to be coming from outside. It’s kind of like being on the backside of a gun emplacement, so as long as you don’t hit it so hard it starts firing anyway, you can disable it.”

***

[b]Matty[/b]

This is frantic, you wish you had a break. You’re worried about Dolly, and about Isabelle, but they’re…well…they did their jobs technically and they’re kind of on their own. Since now you need to be watching Jade’s hacking attempt and monitoring her networking equipment until she’s properly in control and ready to act. And you need to be watching the fight with Mirror and Solarel so that you know when to act and can actually make sure that Mirror’s plan goes off. Especially since she doesn’t seem like she has a lot of spare room to pay attention to anything else right now. 

In fact, you take your eyes off Jade after your last transmission because you’re transfixed by the fight. The series of gold and silver blows is beautiful, and you squirm uncomfortably as you watch each one get closer and closer to cutting into the main body of the Whip. It will all be for nothing if Mirror loses here. If she…but she’s not. Why isn’t the blow landing? What are they both waiting for?!