#percht

Despite your name, you were hardly as threatening. You hid in the dark room for your own benefit, your eyes often freaking people out when you left the room from your pupils being so contricted in the daylight. If you ever stepped out of the room, you did it at night. The few instances that people have seen you as well. If it weren't for a Kortac hoodie, and your laniard, holding you badge, there was a chance someone might try to confront you, thinking you're sneaking around.

People did try to be friendly with you, but you just wanted to escape back to the coziness of your dark room and tech. Seriously, you hated when you were asked to attend briefings. More often than not you got stared at, or saw people whispering about you. Yeah cause that didn't set off your flight reflexes like a spark near propane. Once, your superiors tried to get you to explain how your program would work to everyone present and you just feverishly shook your head, trying to make yourself as small as possible. Luckily someone stepped in to shut down the idea, taking notice of your discomfort. They walked away before you could thank them, feeling obligated to express some gratitude.

On one such meeting you were early, and able to set up your computer and work before someone tried to make you present again. There were a few more attempts before you were given a presenter to assist and even then they would ask if you could try to present. You did practice in your room, but you didn't have an audience to help you build your confidence. You didn't record your voice either, not wanting anyone to make comments. It didn't stop people from making comments about you though. You overheard some regular human mercs coming into the room, but kept your head down. Maybe they thought you had headphones on because they started to make some comments about you, not bothering to whisper. As if you hadn't been called a freak before, yeah your ears were weird, you had a tail, and your eyes were big. Like you didn't know!

"Hey!" one of them called. You tensed, trying to ignore him. No good, he was coming over. Now he saw your name on your laniard. "Hey Void, is the program I requested done yet?"

You looked up at him with your eyes before going back to your current task, shaking your head slightly, and mumbling.

"What?" The merc asked, getting in closer. Personal space much?! You tried to shrink into the chair, wanting to run away.

"N-no... I haven't." You told him. You hoped that would be the end of it. Of course it wasn't. Before he could ask further, the door to the meeting room opened and you saw a familiar face. Okay, familiar face may not be the most accurate, becuase the two of you hadn't talked aside from the normal work exchange and you'd never seen his face with how he always had this hood that made him pretty intimidating. The merc left your personal space, backing off when Konig paused to glare at him. You just tugged further on your hood. Right behind him came Horangi, who'd interacted with you a bit more. Actually he'd been the one to get you out of presenting your work.

"There a problem gents?" Horangi asked. The merc cleared his throat and backed off even more, hiding in the corner. Konig kept looking at you, while you kept hiding behind your computer screen. Once more people arrived, you were able to hide in your seat near the back of the room. The merc kept looking over at you, seemingly annoyed. You knew what was on his laptop and what he was requesting. You should be going to the higher ups to report it, but you don't.

As you stayed in your seat, your knees to your chest on the chair, you watched as your work was dsiplayed for everyone to see. You ignored rhe merc, knowing he would probably ask about it again later. Out of the corner of your eye, a large shape came over to you. You looked up and saw Konig, arms folded and focused on presentation. The merc seemed to avoid looking at you once Konig stood next to you. There had been plenty of rumours about Konig and his hybrid abilities, but you'd never witnessed it yourself. You looked up at him, and could see him look down at you, giving you a nod. You looked away, swallowing. Holy hell, he was tall.

As expected the merc didn't leave you alone, making the request that you help him fix his laptop. Apparently he'd been watching something that had a virus. He wanted you to remove the virus and put in some protective hardware for him. You didn't want to for a couple of reasons. First off, it was a kortac laptop, a work one, so he'd been using it inappropriately. Second, if you do work on a work laptop, you're supposed to log it as it is additonal work and your contract requires direct payment for it. Third, the merc wanted it all done under the table and doing that could get you into a lot of shit if you're found out. The merc wasn't known for discretion, and if he started spreading word that you were doing work on the side and charging them for it outside your contract, you would lose your job. Finding an opportunity like this one where you had your own accommodations wasn't easy to come by. Reporting the request meant you getting pulled into a full discussion, and the merc could easily point fingers.

You moved quietly through the dark halls of the base, having a night shift. Work tasks were put in the mailbox of your office door during the day, and you returned to your room in the evening. Just in case, you had a small cot in your office space that you could sit on to be more comfortable, or to sleep on if you had more work to do in one shift. You could get up, make yourself food during the day. It was a good set up. As you went back and forth, you started to notice Konig more often. He started to give you acknowledgements if you ever passed him in the hall. Then Konig would ask how your sleep was, if you had a lot of work to do. Next thing you knew, Konig would come into the recroom while you were getting yourself some tea, asking if you wanted him to come back later. You were getting used to his presence, and even taking comfort in it.

During your breaks, if he was up late you started to approach him. He often looked tired when you saw him. Training was the only explanation you got. One night you decided to ask him more.

"What kind of training?" You asked, in a small voice.

"Work out." He answered. "What kind of training do you do?"

"Not much. Um... mostly typing exercises." You said, trying to hold your eye contact. Big deep breaths, this was going well. You were okay. This was a conversation, which wasn't easy for you.

"May I ask a question?" Konig requested. No, because the fact he asked if he could ask, meant the question might be personal or maybe awkward, or maybe it was something super intimate. With the warm mug of tea in your hands you took a deep breath before nodding. "What hybrid are you? Your eyes very big."

He didn't know? Really? Then again, you didn't interact with a lot of hyrbids yourself, so maybe it wasn't that weird of a question. Still, you kept tugging at your hood. You're not exactly attractive, and you used to be bullied a lot for it. Stuck with you throughout childhood to adulthood. "Um... tarsier."

"Interesting." Konig said. Something told you he didn;t know what a tarsier was, your tail and eyes could belong to another creature for all he knew. Instead of inquiring further, he stood up and said good night. You wished him a good sleep before heading back to your office. That interaction went better than you expected.

Horangi was waiting by Konig's room smiling at him. KOnig didn't pay him much mind until he said something. "You like em?"

"So far." Konig said, fiddling with the door knob.

"Good, you need more friends." Horangi commented before heading to his own room.

You tried to leave your office again, but the merc was coming down the hall so you ducked back in. He was knocking on your door asking to be let in. The morning was young, barely anyone else would be awake. He was keeping his voice firm, but low enough that no one would wake up. You kept the door locked, and put your headphones on. He can't come in, he won't break down the door, you're safe, safe in your office. The same things run through your head like a program, a firewall to keep you safe.

"I have other work." You finally told him, wanting the knocking and words to stop. You heard a bit more, before it finally stopped.

"I need it done today." He told you before walking away. You knew that already, but you were trying to avoid him, let the pieces fall where they may. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to fix his laptop, and just keep everything quiet. It wouldn't be the first time you did favours to avoid confrontation. If you did, he might get his buddies to ask you for free work. The laptop was sitting at your desk next to your monitors. You let out a breath, and then got to work on it, sitting down and opening it.

When he gave you the work order - if you could even call it that since it was written on a sticky note - he explained he had some important documents on there that had gotten hit by a virus after watching some adult content. Honestly how he was able to do that on a work computer with the restrictions you'd programmed in place you weren't sure... wait. If he could figure out how to access restricted sites then why couldn't he fix the issue himself?

You took some time poking around, knowing full well you were gooing into over time. You'd worry about that later, as you started to look around. First was a browser history check, not just the surface. You honestly didn't care what content it was, everyone had their preferences. You found nothing, completely nothing. You were able to uncover his incognito history, and it was blank, not even deleted. Next was his corrupted files. You noticed they'd been renamed, and access had been denied to them. They weren't corrupted though, they were locked. It was a failsafe you'd made yourself, that anyone accessing the files without the proper authority would have them appear as corrupted, but in reality they were just locked, and you cut the key yourself. If anyone stole the files, they would be able to access them, and if they tried to delete them from the system you could recover them.

You connected the laptop to your computer and started to chip away at the files. These were your files, or rather Kortac's files. Highly classified files. Files that shouldn't be leaving Kortac's system, and could compromise a lot of soldiers. You didn't bother reading any of them too closely, you weren't supposed to without being monitored. You wrapped everything up quickly, closing the windows, getting copies of the files on to a fresh new flash drive just in case, and then putting everything back to how it was on the laptop. Unfortunately, this had taken you some hours to do. The sun was up by now. People would be in the halls, and you had to get to your superiors quickly. You texted your superior that you needed to have a meeting with him, saying you'd found something important.

You gather some papers and notes to hide the laptop, and the flashdrive was shoved into your pocket. Once your hand was on the door knob you took a deep breath. Just look at the floor, keep walking, you know where their office is, you could do it. You got this.

You opened the door, and marched down the halls, your legs almost sprinting. You didn't want to run, you had to stay calm in situations like this. Keep walking, ignore everyone, shoot one of them waved at you. Okay just ignore her too, don't let her suspect anything. Keep your head down, keep going. Turn here, or wait...yeah no that was the right way. Almost ther- phone buzzed. Shoot, he's not in his office, you had to go to the briefing room. Damn it that was the other turn, okay, just a 180 and a walk. Your boss will take you aside before he tells the others.

Then you heard the merc calling after you. Your pace picked up as you tried to make yourself as small as possible. There were others in the hall, but they were focused on their own destinations. Focus on yours, maybe he'll leave you alone. Come on, come on, just breath. Why did everything seem so loud? Dang it you were getting stopped by people, nearly running into them. The merc was getting closer you could hear his footsteps. Almost there, keep going, come on, why were there so many people? You psuhed through, but got a little careless, stumbling. You ran into someone large, who only reminded you to watch where you were going. you fell to the floor and everything in your arms fell to the floor, the papers scattering and the laptop doing a bounce before sliding. The chatter of the hall was too loud, it was too full, it was suffocating, you swear you felt everyone was looking at you. Stop it needed to stop, it was too much. The merc was coming, you were screwed!

"Hey! Geht es dir gut?" You heard a familiar voice say, breaking through the noise, and your sleeve covered hands over your ears. When did you sit up? When did Konig get here? It didn't matter as he held your head, adding his own hands to muffle the noise. You were shaking, and your breathing was erratic. Too much it was too much. Konig got you to focus on his veil, his eyes specifically. You needed to focus, but the noise was too much. You kept trying to look to the side, check if the merc was still there, trying to find the laptop. Konig kept calling your attention back to him.

"You're safe." He told you. "Breath in, hold it... breath out, hold it."

You did as he instructed, recognizing the exercise. It was hard to be distracted by anything else around you when Konig's massive form was crouched in front of you. You did feel safe around him. He was a big shield against everything else. He breathed with you, needing to calm himself as well. The noise was pretty bad, and Horangi acting as an attack cat wasn't exactly calming. A welcome assistance but not a calming one.

You finally got your heart to stop beating so manically, and your breathing even. The light headed feeling had gone, but Konig didn't help you up yet, instead, he adjusted his position to sit with you more comfortably on the hard floor. After a little while longer you felt back to normal. As normal as you could be. People had left by now, and Horangi was standing nearby with the laptop and papers. The way he was looking up and down the halls, it was as if he were standing guard, ready to drive off anyone that posed a threat to break your calm state.

"Gut?" Konig asked you, as you slowly lowered your hands from your ears. You gave a nod. "Hand up?"

Another nod and Konig gave you a hand to stand. You clasped it with your smaller one. "Where are you headed?"

"Briefing." You breathed. Konig gestured for you to lead on. Horangi stood with the items, ready to go. You reached out for the items, and before you could request them, Horangi offered them to you.

"Salamat." You said. Horangi waited for you to start walking, his tail swishing expectantly. You started moving, your hunched posture and quick scurry resuming. The two men followed behind you, keeping an eye out. You didn't bother to ask where the merc was. You knocked on the door to the briefing room and your boss let you in.

"Sorry gentlemen, but this is a private meeting." Your boss told Konig and Horangi. You looked back at them. No, you needed someone else.

"Let them in." You asked. "Please?"

Your boss glanced at you, and you gave him a single nod. Then he turned and gave a nod to the two men before letting them in. Konig stood by you immediately while Horangi hung back watching everything unfold. You revealed the tampered documents and files to the others, exposing the merc's attempts to get you to give up information. You went as far as to hand over the flashdrive containing the files incase there needed to be a full sweep of every kortac member's computer or laptop to ensure no one could force themselves through.

The whole time, your breathing was uneven and you spoke quickly, sometimes needing to repeat yourself. During that whole time, Konig stuck close to you, leaning down to ask if you needed a moment. Then the merc was brought it. No cuffs or zip ties, just brought in and sat down in a chair, with all eyes on him. When he looked at you, seeing your big eyes under your hood, he flinched. Then again he might have been more nervous to see Konig, who was still leaning down and wearing his veil. With the illuminated screen behind you, casting both of you in shadow, it was certainly a creepy sight.

Horangi had to admit, the two of you made an intimidating pair in the right circumstance. He would tell Leo about it later. For now he got to sit back and relax, as the merc was questioned. Every answer left the merc with another bead of sweat dripping down, as you brought everything to light.

"I'm not proud of it, but I had a virus from watching adult content. It was stupid to do that on a work computer, it won't happen again." The merc said. Your boss looked at you, and gave you a nod.

"Then why did you download it instead of deleting the content?" You asked.

"I was hoping to get it fixed and view it but clearly that was a mistake. Like I said, I won't do it again. If the issue is fixed then-"

"There is no access to adult content through the laptop." You said.

"Well... yeah I deleted the browser history." He said shrugging. Gotcha. Even your boss had a smile, catching the lie. Perfect strike.

"I checked your browser history, even going further to recover the history previously deleted, and there is no access to adult sites. Also, there wouldn't be any to begin with, because like I said, there's no access to adult content on the laptops. There are site blockers built into the search browser, specifically designed to prevent something like a virus from a sketchy ad on one of those sites from spreading to the system. Even if you brought the content in from somewhere else and downloaded it, the files would not come up as corrupted."

"But if the files have a virus..." The merc said, clinging to the last straw he had. It wasn't even a straw, more like a wet straw wrapper.

"Then the system would have noticed it and prevented downloading or accessing it. The only time a file comes up corrupted is if it's protected by my program." You told him, not smugly but rather calm and informative. Your superiors stared down the merc, who was sweating through his shirt. You were dismissed with Konig and Horangi, so the merc could be dealt with. Good, you were hungry anyways. Could use some air too.

You were forced to work a little extra because of the rogue mercenary, going through laptops to ensure no one else had taken anything, or had something taken from them. Right now you were just glad to not have someone trying to hound you. You ventured out into the dark halls again to get yourself a snack and a drink.

When you got there you found Konig. You almost didn't recognize him because he had his hood off. It took you aback until you recognized his size. You greeted him, and got to chatting a little before the two fo you sat down. It had been a couple of days since the merc was exposed, and you'd been so caught up with work you hadn't gotten out as much as you should have.

"Thank you, by the way." You said, focusing on the table in front of you, instead of the large mercenary in front of you. "For in the hall. I... I think I would have passed out."

"Kein problem." Konig said. Then he waited a moment. "You have social anxiety too?"

"Y-yeah. I uh... I used to get picked on a lot for how I look, some times people uh... they would pull my tail...make fun of my ears or..." You gestured to your large eyes, that were bigger than any human eyes. The same eyes that seemed to avoid Konig throughout your explanation.

"People made fun of my height." Konig told you. "I was bullied a lot too."

The two of your sat there with your reasons hanging in the air. You didn't need to say much more about your past. That could come in time. You had to admit, you did like having Konig around for your conversations. It was helping you feel comfortable around people, and you hoped it did the same for Konig.

As time went on, you spent more and more time with him, and eventually other members of Kortac. It was thanks to you none of them ended up on a hit list and their lives weren't revealed to the wrong people. Eventually Konig had to leave with Horangi to a SpecGru base. By that point though you had other's that you were getting comfortable around, and still had plenty of work to do trhoughout the night. Konig said his good byes to you. Wishing you and Leo well before boarding the air craft.

The first night you got to talk to Konig over a video call, you took your mask off. Progress, you thought.