random loose threads

[driftsintobuffetline]

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2016
January 29 - Returning from Submarining
February 13 - What are you thoughts on MARRIAGE?
February 16 - Day 1, Soviet Occupied Import Cities
March 12 - They were supposed to talk about Miles and Greg, but talked about themselves instead
April 14th - Kinks, Tatts, and Power Suppression
June - Admiring the Ring
July 27 - Hermann's New Car
After the Kaiju Test - Need a New Apartment

Comments

late Nov?

[mathemagier]

The world had shifted.

Never before had Hermann ever considered himself any sort of criminal- and still didn't really- but nor had he ever considered associating closely with known criminals. The offer had shaken him a bit- not because it had happened, but because he was actually starting to think it sounded like a halfway decent idea. Worse, it wasn't even Newton's influence.

The Drift was muddled with conflicting thoughts, emotions, worries, and confusion. Raina would want an answer before too long however, so it was time to talk about it. And with Sophie hanging out with a friend for the afternoon, there was no better time.

Hermann took a seat next to Newton on the couch, waiting until the next commercial break to mute the television.

"Newton.. we need to make a decision."

[driftsintobuffetline]

Newt reached for the remote automatically, to take it back, ready to turn the sound back on, attributing Hermann's nerves to a number of other things.

"I'm telling you, man: Kang has like, zero interest in being best man. But if Qubit doesn't come back, we can make him and Miles flip a coin."

[mathemagier]

Hermann held the remote out of Newton's reach, unimpressed by his attempt at redirection. Right now, he wasn't interested in talking about their wedding, and placed the remote on the side table out of immediate reach for both of them.

"I'm talking about the discussion we had with Ms. Raina."

[driftsintobuffetline]

"Alright," he dragged the word out cautiously, glaring at the game of keep-away. Newt tucked a leg up and turned halfway to face Hermann on the couch. "What about it?"

[mathemagier]

Frustration welled up, and if he hadn't just put the remote out of easy reach, he would've switched the television off entirely.

"Are you being purposely dense? I told you we need to make a decision. She won't wait weeks more."

[driftsintobuffetline]

"Yes, Hermann, I'm being intentionally dense because my fiancé promised me we could at least be married before we went about doing anything stupidly criminal that could get us killed," he snapped. "And we are NOT married. And, that same fiancé of mine took in a thirteen? Fourteen? year old girl who now we have some responsibility for, and if you remember my argument against your remote attack ability for Super Squad months ago, it was that you were endangering this household. So, yes, Hermann, I'm being dense because I'm waiting for you to talk to me, argue, sell me on this plan of yours."

[mathemagier]

"We'll be married on the first!" And really, he wished that was all they had to worry about now.

But they did have Sophie to consider, so it was more than just that. Hermann sighed and rubbed at his forehead.

"I don't have a plan this time, Newton. That's what this is about. Of course, I understand there are dangers. But we're also unemployed at the moment, and don't have any research prospectives. We've agreed we need information, and that we're willing to go to lengths for it. But how far is that, and how can we still protect Sophie?"

[driftsintobuffetline]

"How can we protect Sophie when I doubt we can even protect ourselves? Do you even think we can keep this a secret from her? Because I think she's going to find out, and from there, she either will want in, or she'll want to tell someone."

How far ARE they willing to go, though? How far could this end up going? He hadn't fully understood Qubit's need for the rules for the Super Squad, but he was considering them now. Working for Qubit had been like working for the Marshall--a little illegal, but with regulations and good intent. Working with Raina wouldn't necessarily be like working for Chau--which, had its appeal, but really...--but it was still criminal and it could decalibrate Newt's already wonky moral compass. The extent one could be asked to go to for information...

"I don't want to kill anyone, Hermann. At least not if there's other ways. Beyond that, I'm probably willing to explore our options, but I don't want to kill or torture people--or experiment on them without full consent. I'm here for science, but I know how science can be abused."

[mathemagier]

Hermann shuddered. "No Newton, we will not be killing or tormenting anyone. They're willing to fund us in exchange for access to whatever we uncover. I'm sure information about the Porter is part of that agenda."

And really it was unbelievable that he was arguing on the side of this where Newton was cautious, but it had to be debated.

"..We're strong, Newton. They don't need to know how much."

[driftsintobuffetline]

They were strong, yes, but their greatest strength was each other...and that was well documented. They could be used against each other. They needed something to protect against that, they needed a plan. Had their roles become so reversed that Newt needed the plan and Hermann did not?

"What IS their agenda, though? We don't know, really. We lack information and neither of us read people well enough to go on theory and instinct. We're helping them get information...to what end? We know what we want this information for...but are they looking at some sort of government upheaval? Cross-dimension travel? What if we're helping fuel a bigger problem than the Porter or the Cold War? Hermann, we have to think about what's in it for them, because I don't know Raina, not like I knew Qubit or some of the Nanite team."

[mathemagier]

"Yes, we lack information," he repeated, testy. "That seems to be in awful short supply these days."

He couldn't do much of anything without information- without data, and it was driving him mad.

"And I'm not suggesting we go into this blind, Newton. Of course we'll ask more questions before committing to anything. We'll make a list of them if we have to, and note our boundaries and conditions- establish emergency procedures and such.

Our main stumbling block is Sophie, however. I doubt she'd consent to a tracker device and I'd prefer not to ask. Perhaps if we can distance ourselves from the organization a bit, we can simply do our work and send along our information, or store it on a specific server. We'll need to sort out how that works.."

[driftsintobuffetline]

"We are NOT tracking Sophie. We will not be that kind of paranoid parent and we are not invading her privacy or trying to make her paranoid with us. But yes, we ARE going to start a list of questions and I want answers to them all, nothing fishy, nothing too open ended. We've gotten complacent, Hermann. We've worked for guys that want the best out of us and that want the best for us...or for the greater good, anyway, because I'm not saying Pentecost had MY best interests in mind when he sent me to meet with Chau or ordered me to Drift again with the Kaiju, but anyway. Qubit is a good guy, dude. For all his faults, I don't know. I honestly think he was a bit messed up and Joaquin was a bit messed up, but they're both good guys. Good guys make selfish choices and their friends get hurt, but the intent... My point is... I'm losing my point. My point is, I have always valued you to set me right, Hermann, when I get a little off...and I trust you. And you generally trust leadership. But I don't know that I trust these guys or trust their yet undisclosed, untested methods...not just for the safety or legality, but whether they can get valid results...no, that's still not quite what I want to say."

He fumbled his words and took Hermann's hand, looking up at him earnestly.

"Take it from a guy who tried REALLY hard to be bad and cool: be careful what crowd you join, because peer pressure is real and I don't want you to be led astray because you get in with the wrong crowd. I mean, I'll be with you the whole way, but don't...ah. I don't know."