* / aspiring;

The retort was fair, maybe even correct, but it felt different because he knew what to expect on any regular day. He knew what the missions had in store, he could do a risk assessment. If he didn’t know what was happening now, he wouldn’t be able to. He swallowed. “I trust you, Meg,” he said. though perhaps that wasn’t completely true. He wanted to trust her, he didn’t actually trust her. “I don’t trust Bashi.” 

Cian couldn’t let her go. He couldn’t. He grabbed for her arm, hoping to keep her from walking away. “Doesn’t it?” he asked, swallowing. His body felt tense, fear crippling for a moment and dictating his actions. “Meg, please. Tell me he didn’t ask you anything that is going to get us in trouble,” he pleaded. 

Cian didn’t know what to expect of Meg in this situation, didn’t know how she would react. All he simply knew was that he needed to protect his crew, even from members of his crew. He swallowed, watched her face change and almost had the right idea to step aside, to let her leave. But the situation was terrifying, always, every moment of it. Whenever he wasn’t in Dust he felt much more secure, as soon as he was back, he was once again swept away in politics. 

Still, once she delivered his threat, he did step aside. He stepped aside because he knew he wasn’t going to get the right answer if he cornered her like a dangerous animal. “Whatever Bashi promised you, it isn’t going to do anyone any good.” 

Her eyes were on zhi, clearly. Zi wondered what she was thinking, what she was hoping to get out of it. And most importantly: how she would try to double cross zhi. That was a huge possibility, especially in the desert, especially among the pirates, and even more so when a magical artefact was in play. They rarely were. Bashi knew the chances of hearing about another one ever, at least in the coming decade, was impossible. They needed this opportunity to fight off the other cities. Under zhi leadership. Because neither Jae or Sam were going to do what it took. 

Zi smiled, a human reaction, one zi had to force instead of it coming naturally. Naturally nothing would follow, zhi code was different from other androids, from entertainment ones, from soldiers. “Dawnlight is one of Jae’s, but he’s the only Ironer we have entrusted in a higher position, aside from Chan that is.” Samual Chan however was barely recognisable as an Ironer. “He will simply deal with the outcome of the situation same as us.” Zi didn’t meant to be as vague, but the outcome depended on Cian’s own decisions, zi could not change much about that. 

Slowly, Meg found herself nodding along; not necessarily out of agreement -- Bashi’s words didn’t necessarily give a lot of information anyone could agree or disagree with -- but to indicate that she understood their meeting was coming to a close. “Alright,” she stated blankly, her mind already spinning out all the details that needed taken care of, “I’ll report back when I got it.” With that, she waited to see if Bashi had any further instructions for her, and rose from her chair as it didn’t seem to be the case. She gave zhi another quick nod, before she finally closed the door to the back room of Lord’s of the Dust Bar behind her.

There was a long silence between them. In which Cian wasn’t sure if he was doing the right thing or not, driving her into a corner. But there was a difficulty to their relationship as well, when push came to shove: they were colleagues. Thrown together by three leaders who really didn’t care all that much about what happened to the crew as long as the missions were successful. Even if Cian was responsible for bringing in some, Jae was responsible for the rest. Bashi was always meddling, same went for Samual. He blocked her way out. “About what?” he asked, his voice was also sharper. Bashi meddling could only mean zi needed Meg for something important. 

“Cian.” Her voice went quiet, could almost be mistaken for a plea, were it not for the subtle threat resonating in her tone. A one-worded warning, one last chance for him to stand down.

He didn’t take it.

He drove her backwards, into a corner, and in a moment of indecisiveness, she let it happen. All light had left her eyes as she tilted her head up to meet his gaze again; her irides, once lit up with sparkles of amusement and passion, were now almost completely black, without a trace of compassion or fondness to be found.

Cian liked Meg, more han most of the members on his team. More than most people in the city. A reason why seeing her exit the place was so jarring. Her reaction was quick, harsh. And very much verified the feeling of fear. He couldn’t help to not be direct, there simply wasn’t a better way to do this, and to talk in vagueness now. Their situation was already questionable. “Who did you talk to at the Lord’s of Dust Bar?” he asked, swallowing. 

Of course. She wanted the artefact badly, badly enough to pretend a lot of emotions, conveying to zhi that while zi couldn’t trust her completely, zi could expect her to play right into zhi lap. “I do not wish for the artefact itself, not for its power, you retrieve it, it is yours. I do not have the power to note the object itself, to see that it is Magical, you do. For me it would only be a piece of junk, something worthless, to you it will be power, correct?” 

Zi gave no more smiles, zhi facial appearance neutral, the face of an android. Business, win, power. Zi had a plan, and zi would make sure this plan came to fruition. “The artefact is in the mines. I have no business there, if I show my face I will be escorted out of there. Cian Dawnlight however, he shows his face, he’ll be expected to set things right, I am counting on that. I will send you the location as soon as you have made it to the mines. You return to me, with the artefact, and we’ll discuss its powers,” zi explained. 

For a long moment, Meg quietly studied Bashi’s face. The stillness of it unsettled her. Usually, she found comfort in reading her opponent, in studying the slightest changes in their facial expressions that marked desire, annoyance, nervousness, anything. With most people she could see exactly what they were thinking; it gave her confidence, reassured her. But with androids she could never be sure. Were they displaying emotions and thoughts like everyone else, or were they just coded to mimic human nature? What did it mean if their faces, like Bashi’s, remained completely neutral and didn’t display any feeling whatsoever?

Eventually, Meg nodded for the lack of a better option. “Alright, I’ll do it.” She paused once more, carefully preparing her next words. “How exactly does the captain feature into your plans, then?” Perhaps he was to function as their scapegoat should anything go wrong? For a second, Meg wondered if she was worried about such a possibility -- but her mind couldn’t focus on much else than the prospect of finally holding an artefact in her hands once more.

Location: City of Dust Time: pre-mission 2 @justmeg

Cian watched as Meg exited the Lord’s of Dust bar, one eyebrow cocked. He couldn’t ignore his own anxiety over the situation, because he knew there was only person of stature in the bar at the moment. And he couldn’t imagine Meg going there to drink. He followed her for a bit, before closing in and tapping her on the shoulder. “Hey, Meg, como estas?” 

who: @soldieshir

Back in Dust, there was a number of items on Meg’s to-do-list, though most out of necessity or because social courtesy demanded at least the sentiment. So as she stood in front of Eshir’s trailer, the door left slightly ajar as though to taunt her, Meg found herself hesitating. It wasn’t as though there was much history between the two of them, in fact they had barely spoken more than a sentence to each other since Eshir had joined the crew and only ever treated each other with professional politeness, yet every interaction with her left Meg somewhat unsettled.

Usually, she found reassurance in reading her conversational partner; a small twitch of an eyebrow, a tuck on the corners of their mouth, what their eyes were focusing on -- it all offered so much more information than words ever could with genuine honesty being the rarest trait of all.

Eshir, however, was a lot less, if at all, readable.

Meg often agonised over questions about her intentions; to what extent were they just part of a programme, technology somehow brought to life through a seemingly random assortment of numbers, and was her understanding of human emotions at all applicable? There was so much she could never hope to understand about Eshir, yet it changed nothing about the fact that she saved her life.

Thus, eyes fixed on the trailer, she inhaled deeply once more before climbing the small set of stairs. Knocking on the door frame before entering, she glanced about the space and found Eshir propped on a piece of furniture, a tablet on her lap.

“Eshir, hi.” And what was about the other way around, could the android tell that her smile was a nervous one, even though to outsiders it would look exactly the same as her polite one? “I just came to ... I wanted to say that your help back during the ambush in Crash is deeply appreciated.”

Bashi offered a smile, android features slipping in and out of place as zi did so, not for zhi but for the good of others. Zi didn’t need the movement, others needed the reassurance. Zi had hoped Meg would come straight to business, that a large part of her eagerly awaited information that Bashi was able to deliver. A smirk and a coy smile, then two arms offered out in front of zhi. “Where? I had hoped to at least turn around the tables for a bit. Maybe some questions to come to the imagination, but I enjoy your straightforwardness. However, I cannot offer such information without a plan, I need something from you in return. I need us to come to an arrangement. I know you want the artefact as badly as I do, but we need to ensure we both get what we want, no?”

For a moment, Meg closed her eyes and took a deep breath; her method of allowing herself a bit of a reset, to suppress the urge to roll her eyes in annoyment and to retain her professional contenance. She even managed to conjure a weak smile in return, the kind that would never reach her eyes, let alone look genuine, but the kind that was the bare minimum for any sort of business negotiation.

“Of course,” honey dripped from her lips like a sugary decoy, “what is it you need from me then? Aside, obviously, from retrieving the item, correct? It must be somewhere out of your reach, either physically or politically, or you would have gathered it yourself.” Meg paused there for just a split second to observe shi reaction. “Or am I mistaken?”

Neela had spent so much time growing up running back and forth between the Green army and the army of Iron that she’d come to learn a lot about what both Cities stood for and valued, and though she didn’t ‘pick a side’ per say, she couldn’t understand why the City of Wheat didn’t use machines to make things easier for themselves, but there was that small part of her that respected their attitude.

Perched on the edge of her workbench in a position that one can only describe as painfully uncomfortable to any normal person, the kind of position that once you’ve sat in it for so long, you can’t move, laid out before her was every precisely placed part of a large weapon that had been stripped down to replace parts.

Jumping at the unexpected noise she looked up with a scowl, only softening when she saw Meg drop into what had become her chair. “Again? What are you doing to these poor things Meg?” Reaching across she went to grab the tablet only to jump in surprise as it was slammed on the table, a small grin parting her lips as she tried to make Meg feel better. “Oi, how would you like it if I banged you against the table….” Picking up the blue screened device she rubbed the back of it as though it were a living breathing thing, whispering sarcastically, “don’t worry, i’ll save you from her.”

For a solid five seconds or even longer, Meg could do nothing but stare at Neela, without blinking or showing any other kind of reaction. She just watched as the other lovingly picked up the piece of technology that still displayed a blank, blue screen, very much the same expression that was mirrored on Meg’s face.

“How would I like ...”, she repeated, her voice barely more than a coarse mutter as she found herself taken by surprise by Neela’s unexpectedly straightforward advance -- only to realise what the other had probably meant with her statement moments before a smug grin would begin to form on her lips. Blinking rapidly, she snapped out of that shocked state, clearing her throat and letting out a sound that lay somewhere between a scoff and an awkward laugh. “I considered myself quite gentle with it, really, way more gentle that it deserved.”

lick: cyrus

suck: neela

pinch: neela

slap: eshir

fuck: althea

marry: cian

Location: Lord’s of Dust Bar @justmeg·

Bashi had watched the crew return with a steely gaze, zhi program tuned into the images from the base. Zi had left clear instructions for Meg once she landed, not sure if she was going to answer zhi directly, or if she was going to wait. Zi could wait though, it was Bashi’s one strength, the one thing that was great about being an Android. Zi didn’t need sleep, zi could work while charging, zi was always awake. Zi was going through other channels as zi waited. There was a lot to discuss, but most if it in secret. The back rooms of the Lord’s of Dust Bar were always at zhi disposal. 

Ever since Bashi’s message had reached her, it had been the only thing on Meg’s mind -- distracted her from her mission, left her sleepless, made her reckless. Perhaps took down her guard enough to make her run straight through a heavy crossfire. So when the crew was forced to terminate their stay in Crash early, she didn’t mind in the slightest; though being shot proved to be a bit of an inconvenience. She heard their medic shout after her -- something about being ridiculously irresponsible and that they won’t move a finger should she collapse from exhaustion or blood loss -- while she stormed out of their truck as soon as she was able to stand upright again, and made her way straight to where she knew Bashi would be waiting for her.

The guards posted in front of the back rooms of the bar didn’t even dare to stop her as Meg barged through the doors and immediately dropped into the chair opposite her leader. Not even allowing herself to catch her breath, she simply asked, “where?”