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[color=f7941d][i]Inevitable under the circumstances,[/i][/color] Callie thought to the other presence just outside her mind.  [color=f7941d][i]It’s a war of Arm against Arm now.  PRC’s going to escalate and we[/i] have [i]to respond if we don’t want to cede the theatre – plus, always more politically palatable to send hundreds of AMs than thousands of regular soldiers off to die.[/i][/color]

[color=6ecff6][i]Ideally they won’t,[/i][/color] Spindle answered flatly.  [color=6ecff6][i]And your task force will likely form a core for the new detachments to anchor themselves around, so I don’t need to tell you how important you’ll be to preventing that.  You’re fully ingratiated by this point?[/i][/color]

[color=f7941d][i]Funny you ask that now…[/i][/color]  Callie placed her focus inward for a moment, offering the thread of memory for Spindle to examine.  Taking the opportunity and eyeing Benjamin, she pretended to muse a moment.  [color=f7941d]“Like the initiative – I’d like to pick your brain on that more fully.   Myron would too, no doubt – we can get a conversation going later.”[/color]  She offered a smile to a group that would have seen her blinking a couple of times as the only thing to give away a private conversation occurring at the speed of thought. [color=f7941d]“For now, though, while we wait…  Bet more than one of us could use a bite after all that.  Let me find us somewhere…  Gotcha,”[/color] she said, peering through Charter, through a miniature portal, staring down at the city.  For effect, of course – Spindle had been helpful in that regard.

And so, by the joining of distant space through a soul-driven conduit drawn forth by indomitable will and an eldritch working of universe-shaking puissance, Task Force Obsidian found themselves pushing open the doors of a semi-upscale Mexican fusion restaurant halfway across town.  [color=f7941d]“Hope this suits!”[/color] Callie offered, grinning.

[color=6ecff6][i]You’ve got good at that,[/i][/color] came the sudden thought.

[color=f7941d][i]?[/i][/color] Callie offered.

The mental impression of a sigh was the answer given in turn.  [color=6ecff6][i]Don’t worry about it.  I’ll let you focus – over and out, Augur.[/i][/color]

Callie pursed her lips but did not answer as the opening in her mind closed.  She let herself relax, breathing in a pleasantly nostalgic smell of spices and frying vegetables with a smile as she led the rest of them to a table.  Noting Nil’s discomfort – a [i]stark[/i] thing, given the setting and her known proclivities – she gently laid a hand on her shoulder and leant down to murmur: [color=f7941d]“Any idea what you’d like here?  We can get anything you want, I’m sure – let me know if there’s something on the menu you don’t understand, too, and I’ll help you out.”[/color]

Drawing back, she swung herself down into a chair and –

[quote=@Paths of Parity]
“So, Callie, you told me my power reminded you of a fellow Arms Master. Qingshe, right? You said she was a defector. What was she like?”
[/quote]
– did her level best to avoid showing any of the tempest of emotion that her teammate had just summoned within her.  [color=f7941d]“Right.  Qingshe.  She’s…  Intelligent, in calculation and in cunning, with a love of learning to match.  Proud, not undeservedly.  So obviously put together and self-possessed that it’s intimidating.”[/color]

Almost reflexively she summoned Charter, laying it on the table to roll back and forth, letting the low, familiar rumble soothe her soul.  [color=f7941d]“Above all…  She’s devoted.  She doesn’t take half-measures when she has the chance not to – and between her knowledge, her power and her influence, that’s often.”[/color]  She let out a laugh, and with it a small measure of that emotion – of the yearning and the grief.  [color=f7941d]“I mean, putting this in context: given the task of establishing a military base on an island, she designed an urban utopia from scratch because she [i]could[/i].  Get in the way of that, or end up the means to an end, and it’s the most terrifying thing you’ve ever experienced – but if she decides you or your cause is worth that devotion…  She’s about the best thing that can happen to you.  There’s a reason we want her back.”[/color]

Callie drummed her fingers on Charter decisively.  [color=f7941d]“But we can honour her in the meantime.”[/color]  She smiled at Peony apologetically.  [color=f7941d]“Sorry, that was a lot, I know.  No need for you to try to emulate all of [i]that[/i].  What you have to care about is her Arm, which created an expanding fluid mass under her control that she used as a creation medium and to absorb targets.  Yours and hers won’t function the same but I figure that we can show you a few of the techniques she used and see if you can adapt them.”[/color]

She glanced at Cristina.  [color=f7941d]“Same with you and me – got [i]plenty[/i] of ideas about how we can abuse the properties of your sword-capture trick, depending on what those properties are.”  [i]She’d want her student to keep moving forward too, after all.  Can’t help in the same way as she could – but how I can, I will.[/i][/color]

[@Lloki][@Gerlando][@Paths of Parity][@Digmata]