|
  |
Favorite quote from scene. No quote? Just delete this line.
* OOC Time: Tue Mar 19 17:02:51 2019 *
* * *
- * *
* * *
The noodle restaurant is pretty dead. The chairs at the small tables are mostly empty. People seem to be running in, grabbing their meals and rushing out. Sitting at one of the back tables is Kagami. There is a whole bottle of saki which is half empty and a big bowl of noodles which is almost done in front of him. He's wearing a thick hoodie and jeans and bright red sneakers.
* * *
The note said not to peacock, but Royal hasn't been especially peacock-y lately. He approaches, wearing dark wash jeans, a blue v-neck cashmere sweater and the 3/4 length jacket he was wearing at Club Charon. His hair has a little bit of curl to it, which suggests he either didn't tame it completely, or he didn't fix it when it got a little unruly on its own. He spots Kagami and walks up. "Got your appetite back?"
* * *
The tech lifts his eyes and watches Royal carefully. He nods at the question and gestures to the chair on the other end of the table. He takes a little more soup into his lips and at closer look his eyes are blood shot and tired looking. He seems rather exhausted. He waits until Royal has sat down before quietly asking. "Do you understand why I'm upset?"
* * *
Royal sits on the stool, but he doesn't do so very comfortably. He sort of perches. "Why don't you tell me? Because I seem to be rather bad at the guessing." He smiles awkwardly.
* * *
The tech takes another shot of saki which is clearly not his first. He takes a deep breath and looks at Royal. "I promised to you that ending any touching would not end our friendship." He clarifies. "I said if it was what -you- wanted just tell me and I will do what you request as it's a two way street. If I wanted to end it I would have expected the same from you." He points chopsticks at Royal. "That's not what you did. You said… You don't and you can't and you deserve." He points out. "While on the flip side saying that you don't want to be taken care of or taking care of someone else but …also telling that someone else how you are caring for them by doing what's best for them. Do you see the hypocritical nature to that?"
* * *
"So you're saying you're not upset at what I did, but how I did it?" Royal inhales. "I suppose that's fair. But I did mention that I'm absolute shit at this kind of thing, didn't I? Mentioned how I'm trash with human interactions of this nature?" He looks away. "I am sorry I hurt you. Do you believe that I am?"
* * *
Kagami grumbles. "Had you been honest with me and said 'I don't want to continue this because I'm afraid of blah blah or whatever. I would have been more understanding." He points out. "You threw me in front of the proverbial bus." He grumbles. "Look me in the eyes and say it."
* * *
"Ah, but admitting you're afraid is one of the hardest things one can do," says Royal. There's a little grin, but it's not a very happy thing. He looks up, looks at Kagami and says, "I'm sorry. I truly am. Hurting you was the last thing I wanted."
* * *
Kag nods his head. "I've had to admit to fear as I learn to fight." He grumbles out. He looks right into Royal's eyes and takes a deep breath. "All four of your eyes show you are sorry. So…" He slides a small saki cup over. "Well you did hurt me but you also did a lot for me so… even."
* * *
"Four…?" Royal blinks. "How much have you had to drink?" He looks at the sake cup and turns a little green. "I've…overdone the alcohol a bit too much lately. I'm swearing off it for a bit. How about I salute with a cup of green tea?" He signals to the server.
* * *
He nods his head slowly. He points at the bottle and frowns. "A few." He tilts his head and nods his head. "I agree. I will have one too." He grins slowly and takes a deep breath.
* * *
Royal changes the order of a cup of green tea to a pot. "Aside from being drunk on sake, are you feeling better?" When the tea arrives, he pours one for Kagami first, before pouring one for himself.
* * *
The tech watches Royal and nods his head. "I am. I've started fight training." He grumbles. "The guy is super… you think you are cocky and full of yourself. God he's worse." He rubs his forehead. He watches his cup being poured and takes some and sips his tea rather fast. He winces.
* * *
"Well, fighters are supposed to be. They need to be full of confidence to psych out their opponents and win over the crowd. Me, well, I'm just a product of privilege and good genes," Royal grins and motions to his face.
* * *
He grumbles quietly. "Good genes? Aren't most of you guys inbred?" He shakes his head. "It's in history books." He sips a little more tea. "Oh man he's… he calls me Wallflower and sometimes string bean. I did show him though that I'm all brains." He taps his head. "I dazzled him with my brilliant BS."
* * *
Royal makes a face. "What? No. You're thinking of a very few dynasties that went extinct a long time ago. Besides, royalty has been able to marry commoners since the late twentieth century." He doesn't often get defensive, but there's a hint of it there. "And no doubt wore him down with your persistence."
* * *
He stares at Royal and grumbles. "Okay." He sips more of his tea and shakes his head. "No. I paid him for fighting lessons and I have to eat three meals a day and have protein two hours before I go see him." He makes his own urg face. "He's super sexual but I put that down. I don't need that in my life right now. I just want… to punch someone in the face and not break my hand."
* * *
"Well, you did say it was your ambition to get toned," says Royal as he sips the rest of the small cup of tea, then refills it. "And it's a good channel for excess energy."
* * *
He nods his head and grumbles. "Ambition is too strong a word. Goal. That's better." He goes back to his soup and eats a lot of it. "It is. And I can hit him and punch him because he pisses me off. Or at least try too." He chuckles. "He almost dislocated my shoulder the first time I met him. It was nice."
* * *
"Mhmm. That's an unusual thing to say about a dislocated shoulder. I've had that happen to me. It stings rather a lot." Royal relaxes a little more onto the stool. "Are you still insisting on working on the case by yourself, or will you come back to the fold on that? You don't have to work with me, but you shouldn't go it alone."
* * *
He lifts his hand and grumbles about taking his soup home. "I… seem to like pain." He points out. "Never used to but I do now." He turns his eyes to Royal and sighs. "Before … I answer I should show you." His soup gets wrapped up and a special take lid gets put on his sake. He pays and stands up, grabbing his bag and bottle. "Come with me… if you dare." He oh hahahs like the fish on Finding Nemo.
* * *
Royal doesn't comment on the pain question. Instead, he just finishes the tea and closes his tab with a press of his thumb. He side-eyes Kagami. "Well, that's not particularly reassuring."
* * *
He spins a little and grabs a chair. "If I was going to break that face, I would have high fived you…with a chair…to the face. But I showed great restraint." He turns and walks in not a straight line towards his house.
* * *
"It did occur to me that you invited me here to break my nose," says Royal dryly. As they walk, he buttons up his coat. The clothing beneath might not be impeccably tailored, but the coat certainly is.
* * *
Kag grumbles. "I was torn between screaming obscenities at you, educating you on how you hurt me or physically hurting you until you felt a shred of pain that I do. Assume the eight ball rolled in your favor." He points out as they walk to his place. He carefully makes his way up the stairs and opens the door. A tortie kitten is sitting waiting for them. "Oh yeah. Royal meet Lucifurr. Spelled L-u-c-i-f-u-r-r." He grins happily before he puts his soup in the fidge and then the sake gets put on the counter. He gives the kitten more water and pats him on the head. "Defend us with your life Lucifurr." He walks into the office and flops into the chair, strapping himself in. There is now a second chair in the room side by side with the other.
* * *
"Hello small animal," says Royal with a bit of a wave to the cat. No pets, nothing like that. He doesn't seem charmed. Then again, he is a cat, so it makes a certain amount of sense that he wouldn't pet a cat. He eyes the chair. "If you're meaning for me to get into Virtual, well, I'm not comfortable with it for anything other than shopping or talking to my family. And speaking of, my family would have a fit if I used anything other than my own chair. Can't you just tell me what this is about?"
* * *
He grumbles and sits up in his chair and stops the program. "I was going to show you my progress but I guess not." It takes him a moment to get out of the chair before walking out of the room and flopping on the couch. The kitten joins him and sits on his back.
* * *
"If you mean on the virus code, well, it's not too likely that I would understand it in any case." Royal stands there a bit awkwardly, hands in the pockets of his jacket. "I should…probably be going. But I have a meeting with the police soon. Hopefully that means I'll be able to get their data from the larger sample of the virus."
* * *
He grumbles something out and shakes his head. "If you can't get it Royal… I am going to take it." He points out grumpily. He sits up and the kitten leaps off him. "I need that virus to create the anti-virus. If they are at all…smart… they would know that I… a programmer with a minor in bio-engineering would be their best best best bet to fix this." He turns those glassy eyes to Royal. "Friendships change and we are just a little colder."
* * *
"It's more complicated than that. There's politics involved, and you and I both know that the BCPD aren't entirely above board. Certain people are in the pockets of certain other people. I think that's what's holding up any progress. Either that or my association with the Longbow family is giving them pause, but that's a more charitable explanation." Royal exhales a breath at the last bit. "These things take time."
* * *
He shakes his head. "Here is the thing Royal. I will have that virus. One way or another. BCPD can help or they can hinder. I know where a possible other sample is. So…they can right fuck off." He rubs his forehead. "As for you… I still want to break your freakin nose and kick you in the balls. I think that urge will die over time. I know the desire not to be arrested is higher than my need to make you feel pain so that's a bonus."
* * *
"Well, if I'm making you that angry, I should…take my leave. I'll let you know if the police cooperate." Royal looks like he's about to say something else, but decides against it. He looks awkward in a way he doesn't normally. "But I'm glad you messaged. Baby steps, yes?" He turns and heads for the door.
* * *
<FS3> Kagami rolls Perception: Good Success. (8 8 2 4)
* * *
He keeps staring at Royal. "I'm drunk. I'm not blind." He points at the other man.. "What were you going to say? Be honest with me, dude. I'm sick of people pussy footing around me. I'm not glass. I won't break. Freaking say it." He stays seated.
* * *
"No, because it's not my place. How you conduct yourself in this investigation is your own business, Kagami. You're a grown adult. You can make your own choices. And you've made it quite clear that you dislike people telling you what you should do or how you should feel. I'm just trying to respect that." Royal straightens his lapels a little.
* * *
He grumbles. "You are right. Telling me how I should feel is off limits. Giving me advice about what I should do about something that's not us related, that's okay. If it's just advice…Just like I advise you to wear a more diverse range of colors." He grumbles as he pushes himself up. He turns and moves around his couch wobbly and gets himself some water. "Or you know….." He drinks back the water and groans.
* * *
"All I was going to suggest is that you tread carefully. This virus is incredibly dangerous and it's very likely there are several parties who would not want to see it reconstructed. In the hands of the wrong people, it could be extremely devastating." Royal sighs and shakes his head. "And I would also argue that figuring out how it works is less critical to the investigation than sorting out how and why it was used."
* * *
He nods his head and turns to Royal. "Perhaps. That being said lets say another clone shows up. If I have the anti-virus, I can deploy it before the stack is useless and we can pull the person into virtual to question them about how and why. To know how it's transmitted or if the stacks are already infected within the clones… also…anyone who makes a virus like that signs their name in the code." He points at Royal. "If I had the full code I could probably tell you who."
* * *
"Perhaps true. And were this an ordinary computer virus, I would be supportive. But there is something about this virus that acts in a way that we've never seen. The closest is Rawling's. And everyone knows how absolutely devastating that is. That's a virus that causes people to destroy their sleeves and permanently damages their DHF. A virus that can survive needlecasting, no doubt engineered from alien technology. The danger can't be overstated." Royal doesn't often sound incredibly serious, but he does now.
* * *
Kagami nods his head. "I know." He speaks softly. "I told Galen how dangerous it was when I scanned him for any corrosion. With Rawlings we have an idea. Just an idea of it's potential devastation. With this one, we have no idea. That's more frightening to me than clones being taken or whatever. A virus where we don't have a clue of it's origins, contagions, reach, or abilities, curable or not." He shakes his head. "This is dangerous and so far two of Ariana Longbows clones had this virus. Are they being produced with it and DHF is being loaded into the already corrupted stacks? We don't know. The more we know about this virus the more we can push towards those curating it. Do you see my point of view?"
* * *
"I absolutely do, but I'm just saying, you piecing it together in your flat is very dangerous. Because if you do manage to crack it, there's no shortage of people who would either kill to get their hands on it, or kill to make sure no one gets their hands on it. And if you told Galen you were working on this, you're not being careful enough. He works for Carnage, and Carnage is not exactly a man on the right side of the law." Royal's ONI flickers. "I'm sorry, I really do have to go. I've a call with the protocol officer. There's some incredibly boring people coming by the consulate tomorrow."
* * *
He shakes his head. "Neither are you though." He points out. "You are royalty with the Longbows in your pocket. You have a stake in this going a certain way." He frowns. "There is no where else for me to piece it together. If you would prefer I stop working on this I will stop. Though at that point I don't know what I'd have to do with the case." He shrugs his shoulders before waving his hand. "Alright. Good luck dealin with them."
* * *
"My only stake in this is self-preservation, and doing enough that the Longbows are satisfied. I had no choice but to take the case." Royal takes a breath. "The safest thing for you to do would be to work with the police. Then the investigation is on-record, and hopefully too public for them to cover anything up. Plus the have facilities you don't that can contain your work in case you do crack it, or crack it imperfectly to the point of it being dangerous." He glances over his shoulder towards the door, then back to Kagami. "My point is, this isn't an investigation any of us can afford to work away on our piece in isolation. There's safety in numbers, and we've got to pool our resources as much as we can and remain safe." His ONI flickers again. He frowns. "Sorry to dash off. Be safe, please?"
* * *
He rubs his forehead. "Yeah let me work with the crooked cops. That's more safe than the criminals." He puts his hands on his hips. "Between a rock and a hard place here, man." He moves over to the door and opens it. "Then get going. Jesus." He stands there and nods to Royal. "For now I'll be safe. When I want danger I'll streak through the Flesh district."
* * *
"At least the cops have to go through the motions of being accountable. And the corrupt ones are taking payoffs to look the other way on gang drug busts. They're going to take a virus like this a lot more seriously, even if they are on the take." Royal's ONI flickers again and his jaw grits. "I don't recommend having three separate jobs, I really don't." A sigh. He rubs his forehead. "Good. I really think I'm getting somewhere with the police." He steps out into the hallway. "I'll touch base as soon as I know more."
* * *
He frowns and nods his head. "Tell them your programmer will work with them free of charge in their office if that helps." He points out. "Get going before they blast you. I will talk to you later, idjet." He shakes his head and closes the door.
* * *
Royal leaves, heading towards the RP Room Lobby O.