voice | ❝ all the bad you've got ❞

[avicula]

( this isn’t subtle, exactly, but sometimes the direct approach is the most effective. her tone, when dutch addresses the network at large, is crisp, pointed. ) I got the welcome speech loud and clear, but here's two questions for you anyway:

One, who here has heard of the J, the Quad, the Company, or Reclamation Agents? ( if they were telling the truth, the answer should be no one, or hardly anyone. dutch isn’t sure what outcome she’s hoping for: that they were telling the truth, or that this is a slaver ship or one of khlyen’s schemes. no, that’s a lie. she knows exactly which outcome she’s hoping for, but it’s a grim kind of hope. ) Two, I’m going to assume some of you know how to fight. I’m looking for sparring partners, so who’s ready to get their arse kicked?

( dutch has some frustration to work off, and there’s only so much a punching bag can do. )

Oh, and lastly? ( it’s a long shot, but still her tone shifts, something chiding that can’t hide the affection underlying her words. ) Johnnyboy, if you’re here, stop drooling over new tech and find me.

Comments

[deconstruct]

ooh, yeah, bounty hunter i know. you ever look into what people did, before you take them in? or just do the job?

[avicula]

What's it to you?

[deconstruct]

just wondering. never met a bounty hunter.

[ well, not in the strictest sense... ] we had some people back home who hunted down people with a certain gene for cash. then turned them over to corporations to fuck with.

[avicula]

So what, you're worried?

( it's just a hunch, but, well. it's right there, isn't it? of course, dutch could be wrong. people aren't necessarily easy to read over text. )

Don't be. They gave me a different job here.

( not that dutch doesn't consider herself a killjoy first still -- but the rac isn't what she'd once thought it was, either...)

[deconstruct]

not worried. pretty sure i can beat most people here, and you can't exactly ship me back.

just wanted to figure what kind of person you are.

[avicula]

And now you know me?

[deconstruct]

no. you never answered the question. do you care what they did or not?

[avicula]

( she thinks about lying. she doesn't, in the end - maybe because it matters to him, maybe, probably, because it matters to her, more often than not. )

Sometimes.

[deconstruct]

[ it's honest, at least. he might have been suspicious if it was a caring all the time thing. then again, andyr assumes basically everyone is some kind of asshole, so it's not saying much. ]

what's the qualifier

[avicula]

Not sure.

( that's honest, too, but more than that, this is t anything dutch wants to talk through with a total stranger. )

How about instead of interrogating me, you tell me something about yourself instead?

[deconstruct]

fine.

i dont like sparring, it makes bad habits. and trains out good ones.

[avicula]

What kinds of habits are you talking?

[deconstruct]

the kind that don't immediately make people dead

is your job arresting or killing?

[avicula]

Arresting.

[deconstruct]

then sparring's probably fine for you

[avicula]

( dutch has too many years of training homing her instincts to kill. blunting them wouldn't be so bad. )

Probably.
But not you?

[deconstruct]

not me.

[ whether his day's going to be hell or not, whether he'll get to hold onto his dignity a little longer, depends on if he can kill fast and move on to the next. he needs those reflexes. he'll need them when he eventually goes back home. ]

[avicula]

Then I won't ask you to spar with me.

[deconstruct]

there's training sims if you want the alternative.

[avicula]

Plenty other people who don't share your opinion about instincts, too.

[deconstruct]

that's fine. just saying, in case you didn't know they were there.

[avicula]

Got a name?

[deconstruct]

andyr. you?

[avicula]

I'm Dutch.

[deconstruct]

are you actually dutch like the nationality or is it just a name?