[center][color=9e0b0f][h2]8[/h2][/color][/center][sup][b]Morning[/b][/sup]
[sup][center][u]The Rookery, Lobby[/u][/center][/sup]
[sup][right][Everyone][/right][/sup]
[hr]
The other handlers, and by extension their numbers - they all arrived in [i]style[/i]. Fancy cars, chauffers, body guards, even the dignity to walk to the meeting place of their own volition, all status symbols of those under the influence of the Church. They had to flaunt a little for the masses.

Unfortunately for that ever-important image, one handler was very, [i]very[/i] insistent on doing things themselves, and their charge really, [i]really[/i] did not have much say in it.

The last to arrive was no car but a scooter of sorts, one with a large cargo box attached at the back, thin windows on its side. It puttered past the assembled mob and parked with all the proper cars. The driver ignored whatever praise or vitriol the gathered mob spat at them as they opened the back compartment's door.

This handler, known only as [i]Pequod [/i]by all but the highest of Church intelligence, was an oddity. Painstaking lengths had been taken to keep their identity hidden, from burnt fingerprints to redacted credentials, stuff you could only manage knowing the right strings to pull. Pequod never held themselves with much reverence, and all their antics with autonomy still rubbed the brass the wrong way, so it's not like they were anyone special to get away with it.

Maybe being a mystery was just a game to them.

[color=d8a530]"Time to get going,"[/color] Pequod said, voice tinny and muffled through their gasmask. They reached into the container and led their assigned number out into the open by the hand. [b]Number 8[/b]. She was dressed down, counter to the professional importance of this meeting, in little more than a form-fit halter and sweatpants.

This was also Pequod's doing.

8 took a deep, shaky breath, her hair still covering her face. She wasn't used to city air. [sub]"......sulphur dioxide...CO.."[/sub]

[color=d8a530]"Let's get inside before you start [i]breathing fire[/i], huh?"[/color] Between Pequod's petite build and 8's lanky height, you could almost see them as mother and child crossing the street while holding hands. If you squinted hard enough. But, no, it would be more accurate to call them a kid and their balloon. Pequod strode with purpose, practically pulling 8 behind them. Her arm was limp in their grasp, the other folded beneath her chest, her legs moving only to keep herself upright.

[color=d8a530]"Well? What do you think?"[/color] Pequod asked as they entered the lobby. It was more familiar for 8 in there, at least with the chill, the stark whiteness, the relative quiet. Not that it made her seem any more... [i]present.[/i] She was muttering under her breath the entire walk up. And now she brought her free hand up to her face, idly chewing on two of her own fingers as she stared at the walls, biblical texts and stained glass, with wide eyes through the strands of her hair.

8 swallowed a glob of saliva, and replied, "...linalyl acetate..?"

[color=d8a530]"Lavender, is it? I never liked that stuff."[/color] Despite the casualness of the conversation, Pequod never took their sight away from their front, and to any trained ears it was clear that the friendliness in their tone was almost forced. Or, no, not [i]forced[/i]. Exaggerated. Cutesy. [color=d8a530]"You want some?"[/color] 8's response came in the form of a deep, loud rumbling of her stomach, followed by a low groan as she continued to gnaw at her fingertips. [color=d8a530]"Oh sure, I'll get you some to try. If you're nice and friendly!"[/color]

Once they were past security and began to gather with the rest, Pequod released 8's hand and wandered off to meet their fellow handlers. All 8 did with this newfound freedom was to start chewing on her that hand as well, front teeth scratching her fingernails while her molars gnawed at her other pair.

[color=d8a530]"No need to worry about her,"[/color] Pequod said in way of greeting, [color=d8a530]"she just hasn't had breakfast since... [i]snrk[/i], forever, I guess."[/color]