she’d lurked in the corner of the room,    feeling the clean light of her five-star surroundings clarifying the angles of her face     (   &   she suddenly wished it were much darker in here  —- despite always being perfectly comfortable working in broad daylight,  in plain sight.  )Â
she’d slipped inside the hotel room with the master key card she had stolen from the front desk on her way in,    shaw already two floors down by the time she set foot inside.      she’d made nice with some CEO downstairs for plausible deniability later while shaw was busy gift wrapping her new friend,      her slowly edging smile sorely mistaken for something flirtatious as he eyed the expanse of skin along her bare shoulders.    lucky for him he wasn’t worth her time let alone a drop of the chemical arsenal she’d brought along with her tonight.
she’d been staring ahead at nothing when she suddenly heard shaw’s voice filter in through her right ear instead of Hers,    she tried to douse the sudden rise of devotion coming up her throat like an sickness.       she unfurled her crossed arms,      “ you shouldn’t have,  ”     she murmured as she finally looked over the woman whose skin she was supposed to slip into—-   she felt a new life calling to her like a deprived breath of air    &    then she was taking up space in front of the bound woman.    but instead of paying her a second glance she simply pressed a smile onto her mouth as she carefully lifted her purse into her hands,      nudging through all of the puzzle pieces of her life she would take for herself.   Â
a sheen of concentration washed over her features as she continued to peruse her new props,   “    i hope you don’t mind,   i just need to borrow a few things so i can start to undo this mess you helped create.  —   including your name.  ”    was she just oblivious or perfectly aware about the part she was playing  ?    it didn’t really matter.     &   she didn’t give the life she was stealing a second thought as she begun digitally assigning the woman a new identity using her own phone that she’d pulled from her purse,    standing not two feet from her as she sounded against the gag.    Â
“  &  since I can’t have you interfering,  i’ve booked you in for a nice break at the nearest hospital.   nine-one-one are going to come pick you up in the morning,  ”   still,   barely a glance was given her way as she embedded the syringe into her neck,   her less than comforting smile the last thing she would see before her month long coma    (  —  not that she’d remember any of this,    the concoction she’d brewed up especially for her would make sure of that.  )   but it could be worse—- she’d get her identity back once she was finished with it.    Â
she took that moment to finally respond back to the woman waiting on a reply,   breathing out as she took her time capping her needle  &  lifting her new purse,  leaving her own behind,     “  not yet,  but I’m on my way down.   we should leave so I can start erasing the feeds.  ”   s he’d rather spend half a day cracking this encryption in some dingy diner than spend more than five minutes pulling it from the source itself,   dirtying her hands with the spill fragile parts that made up a life.     the heat that would sing through her when it was just her  &   human mind   &  a body to manipulate had been absent as of late—-   maybe she was just getting bored.
The skin at the back of your neck prickles. Something’s- off, you just can’t put your finger on what.Â
❝—Already? Wasn’t the whole point of this —❞ farce of a romantic encounter âťť-thing to get intel from our guy?âťžÂ
Even you know that these kinds of systems need keys to be able to get past. It’s the type of thing you tie up your target and settle in for the night to question them for, because it’s a lot less work than sitting in front of a screen playing code breaker— ...or maybe you shouldn’t have believed her too much when she’s that high from listening to someone else’s screams.Â
Either way, it’s not adding up. She doesn’t tend to hurry about these things, and you don’t see a pressing reason to rush. Plus, if you had known how quick this was going to be, you probably wouldn’t have spent so much time making sure everyone around you knew that the two of you were going to be busy for a long time. It’s not like you find it fun to work while she’s giving you... actually, you don’t even want to know what that look means. And also-- not your fault. She should take it up with the machine if she doesn’t want to be there to see you do what it told you to do.
If you didn’t know better, you’d say this was all on purpose. But you’re not sure even it knows how she’d react to- you being provoked on any given day.Â
❝I’ll meet you at the security office.❞
Must be something else you’re here to help her with.Â
You’re still not seeing the full picture here. Now might a good time for her to read you in.Â
( You don’t usually need to prompt conversation. -—You didn’t. )
âťťWhat about our tango?âťž