(3:06:43 PM) Reise: With the trip to War taken care of, and her trio of new bits of "property" stowed, for now, at least (she'd taken the time to try to let at least Soldier 93 in on her plan, though with orders to not tell the other two, not yet), Reise is back in the workshop on the Serpent, tinkering with her armor again.
(3:09:05 PM) Ikiryo: Soldier 93 is confused but willing to do anything for Reise! Reise is amazing!
(3:09:28 PM) Ikiryo: As she's working on her armour she hears the faint sound of someone talking nearby in the cargo bay...
(3:10:30 PM) Reise: Curiosity gets the better of her after a few moments, and she puts in a request to have the ship pipe a camera feed for the cargo bay to an AR window nearby.
(3:11:24 PM) Ikiryo: ...the cameras show nothing, the bay seemingly empty. Which is weird, as she can hear it just on the other side of the wall between the workshop and the cargo bay.
(3:14:11 PM) Reise: She sighs loudly. Great, more ghost or spirit bullshit. She puts down her tools and removes the face mask, brushing sweat off her forehead with a work glove before shucking those, too, and lightly stepping for the door permitting entry to the bay.
(3:16:23 PM) Ikiryo: She catches the slightest glimpse of a a green flash as she turns the corner, spotting Eloise sitting up on a cargo crate and leaning back against the wall. "Heya."
(3:19:18 PM) Ikiryo: The Adepta Sororitas is dressed in short shorts, a tank top and her jacket. She looks like she just finished some exercise as she plays with her hair.
(3:21:55 PM) Reise: She waves at the sister. "Talking to a friend of yours? I heard voices."
(3:22:56 PM) Ikiryo: "Oh...not much." She shakes her head. According to the local systems, no one was using the communications of the ship...
(3:24:29 PM) Reise: "Alright. Well, let me know if you're gonna try to summon demons here on the ship, or if any of the toys you found are taking over your mind. I'd appreciate the advance warning."
(3:26:14 PM) Ikiryo: "I wouldn't do anything like that. I'm Adepta Sororitas and Chosen." She shakes her head, frowning slightly. "I'm well protected from such things."
(3:28:52 PM) Reise: "Maybe, but we all get weird things happening that shouldn't, like Khaira being sorta but not really a ghost and Q--North--having those weird files in her head and like I thought my career was safe and then I got sent to Sigil to have people take pictures of me in my underwear. Did you ever have that happen? I mean, at least I get paid..."
(3:30:19 PM) Ikiryo: She blinks a few times, her confusion letting Reise notice two things. One, there is a faint green being concealed by her fringe and that she's clearly trying to hide it. "I'm pretty good at staying out of photos if I don't want to be..."
(3:36:44 PM) Reise: "Well, it's not TOO bad, it kinda grows on you after a while, even if it's still hard work and stuff. Gets you all used to people being in your face and messing with you a lot, too. Like when I have to sit down for makeup and it takes them like an hour and they're messing with my face all the time. It's like having flies buzz right around your eyelashes so you try to flinch but then they grab you like this"
(3:36:44 PM) Reise: --She reaches up and grabs Eloise's cheeks with one hand, using the Sororitas' confusion to hold her head steady while the other hand reaches up to brush her hair back...
(3:37:27 PM) Ikiryo: ...there is an odd symbol on her forehead, glowing faintly. A complex rune.
(3:37:44 PM) Ikiryo: "Wait...ah...dammit."
(3:39:20 PM) Ikiryo: She gives an uneven smile. "...I never said what I was chosen OF."
(3:44:13 PM) Reise: She stares at the symbol for, frankly, a long, increasingly uncomfortable time. Her own expression shifts to confused. "...Okay," she says finally, "how the *fuck* does that work?"
(3:44:45 PM) Ikiryo: "...umm...officially it doesn't. I wasn't supposed to let that get found out." She sighs again.
(3:46:10 PM) Reise: "Huh." She lets go of Eloise's face. "Uh. Sorry for grabbing your face."
(3:47:14 PM) Ikiryo: "...I was supposed to pull some strings to get things going the right way...but I'm not very good at that. I'm an archeologist, not a manipulator."
(3:47:44 PM) Reise: "Well doesn't THAT just spawn all kinds of questions. You as new to the job as I am?"
(3:49:08 PM) Ikiryo: She shakes her head. "Doesn't work like that with us. I've had the job since I was four years old...I'm just normally assigned to things that I don't suck at. Rather than 'Pretend to not know about these people and get onto the ship at the station so you can pull strings'"
(3:49:47 PM) Reise: "Pretend not to know? Who, us?"
(3:53:04 PM) Ikiryo: "About this ship or any of you. I was sort of given a dossier before I was sent to the medical station." She rubs the back of her head, looking a tad guilty.
(3:55:11 PM) Reise: "Alright, first thing's first. I'm not mad." She shrugs. "You already know, then, just how much undercover shit I do. And while the cover's fun times and can really be a needed distraction from the real job..." she finishes with a leading tone. "I'm saying I get it. Your secret's safe with me, by the way."
(3:56:06 PM) Ikiryo: "I figured it would be." She nods. "If this was Khaira I might have needed to apply the Amnesia Mallet a few times to keep it secret."She gives a hint of a smile.
(3:58:10 PM) ***Reise chuckles. "Maybe. But then, she does usually kind of have that one oracle chick's thing going on, where you can never tell if what she's saying is bullshit or just crazy talk, or if it's real."
(3:59:32 PM) Ikiryo: "I mean, regulations say I should apply the amnesia mallet to you...but I'd rather not start a fight and I don't like doing so."
(4:02:48 PM) Reise: "Regs are meant to be broken anyway." She shrugs. "Or do you think my armor's still standard issue?"
(4:03:59 PM) Ikiryo: "The jacket isn't for me. Not supposed to keep stuff job to job." She smirks. "I was just supposed to turn up in the regulation short shorts and size too small tank top. I am not even kidding. Fucking department of Serenity."
(4:04:47 PM) ***Reise imagines that for a minute. "So...somewhere between Dryad, Satyxis, and Department of Excess. Got it."
(4:08:47 PM) Ikiryo: "...sorta. Imagine the Department of Excess if it was run by Angels rather than Demons. I'm...not part of it but my superior for this operation is."
(10:53:02 PM) Reise: "Huh. So you get to have different bosses? Lucky."
(10:55:35 PM) Ikiryo: "You'd think so but that means they want different things for each mission." She gestures to her short shorts. "Case in point."
(10:56:02 PM) Reise: She smirks. "I feel sooooo bad for you~"
(10:58:45 PM) Ikiryo: She rolls her eyes. "This is dignified for Serenity."
(11:00:30 PM) Reise: "Meanwhile, I, with my one boss, am half a step away from a porn star," she deadpans. "Anyway...I gotta ask. Feel free not to answer. What sort of manipulation were you tasked with pulling off?"
(11:01:09 PM) Ikiryo: "...method or goal?" She sighs. "And if I worked for Serenity full time I wouldn't even be half a step away."
(11:02:03 PM) Reise: "Goal."
(11:03:38 PM) Ikiryo: "Preventing this place becoming a Daemon World."
(11:05:50 PM) Reise: "Bit late, huh?" She shrugs. "Though with the Big Nerd of Despair on the throne, I guess not."
(11:08:11 PM) Ikiryo: "It's not there yet." She shakes her head. "The sphere hasn't cracked open like an egg and let the warp flow in...which would be bad." She sticks out her tongue.
(11:11:11 PM) Reise: "Really? I never would have guessed that breaking the crystal barrier and flooding the place with the same nutso gunk that Khaira and Annandra know would be a bad plan." Her tone is witheringly sarcastic.
(11:15:08 PM) Ikiryo: "Well, I can't expect better. We in the Bureau of Destiny are wise beyond all knowing, so we are always happy to help our lessers~" Her tone matches Reise's.