V . I . P (Bio)

GEAR

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#21
Eliza gave a drawn out sigh, though whether it was through exasperation or relief, none could say, as Anas lumbering form made itself known. Giving a shrug, she called out to her mockingly:

"Words are hard, I know. Let's go."



Tick... tock...
Tick... tock...

An old fashioned analog clock clicked away on a dusty wall covered with faded drywall. In the dim moonlight, a pair of gloved hands came up to remove a helmet, shaking free long, platinum tresses. Her thin fingertips came up to undo the clasps along the outside of the containment suit, until it too was sloughed from her form, exposing bare shoulders beneath. Clad in little more than a white tank top and a pair of dark gym shorts, she kicked away the rest into a corner as she reached up, pulling her hair back into a comfortable ponytail after its time under wraps.

The small woman had led the two of them to a smaller, secondary elevator and decontamination zone, saying little as she did so - one that led up into this, what appeared to be an older, disused part of the complex. A layer of dust covered everything, and it seemed to be presently used as storage of some kind. Stacked desks and tables indicated it had been a lecture room of some fashion, with a scratched, veteran chalkboard located at the front of the room... and faded windows that peered out onto the Jeddah skyline.

But most importantly, it seemed... There were no security cameras.

Not here, nor on the route there for that matter - it seemed as if DEI's prodigy had memorized it down to the last turn, leading them down only faintly lit ancient tunnels, ones that hadn't been used in quite some time, before they reached their "destination".

"So." ...She said at length as she produced something from within one of the desks with a small gasp - a compact first aid kit, it looked like, asking casually as she did so:

"...Who are you really with?"
 
Jun 14, 2018
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#22
Well. Wasn't this just delightfully awkward?

Anastasiya was left with little choice but to follow the diminutive scientist, the woman harboring no doubts that she was being lead to her doom. Her fate was already sealed, really; there was no way that Hyperion would allow such a gross breach of operational security to go uncorrected. And that meant...well, that Ana was just another loose end to be cleaned up. She grimaced at the thought. There was no hiding from the long, shadowy arm of Terra Sentinel.

Much to her surprise however, Eliza led them not back the way the pair had entered, but through what seemed to be an auxiliary decontamination chamber and elevator which led to a distinctly disused portion of the complex. None of her intelligence had indicated that a significant amount of real estate was going unused like this...but whatever the reason for its abandonment, it seemed to be to their benefit. Ana, as well, noted the lack of the closed-circuit system that pervaded every corner of the structure she'd been in at the start of this little expedition.

Taking a cue from her erstwhile 'captor', the big woman shucked off her bulky hazmat suit as well, taking a moment to rub a little feeling back into her left arm where it had cramped up from being constrained for so long. Any desire to ogle the petite researcher as she disrobed was buried under a mountain of apprehension about the mess she'd seemingly gotten herself into.

"So...who are you really with?"
A long, defeated sigh escaped Ana, dust-coated table groaning beneath her weight as she leaned against it, eyes fixed on the floor between them. Eliza really had her by the figurative balls. She was certain that the other woman was sharp enough to pick up on any falsehoods she attempted to spin on the fly. And while the other woman had offered her this reprieve to come clean unobserved, being caught in a lie would no doubt result in much harsher treatment. Subduing her was also out of the question; it left too much evidence. And frankly, Anastasiya wasn't sure she could follow through with such a plan. Honesty, and hoping to sway the scientist to her side, was the best course of action.

"...Terra Sentinel." Her gaze rose to meet Eliza's, and now there was a quiet fire behind her eyes. "I'm here to make sure that the Directory isn't on the path to another atrocity." Her expression hardened, jaw tightening. "Another Omsk."
 

GEAR

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#23
"I see."

Not even the mention of Omsk caused the young woman's features to change. She opened the first aid kit between them, producing from it a small, mechanical device of sorts, tipped with the green crystal that seemed to be ever-present in the Institute's technology. Fidgeting with it, she paused momentarily, soaking in the expression on the woman's face. Whether she knew, or for that matter cared about Terra Sentinel or its troubled history... None could say, but her next works were a ray of light for Ana's desperate situation regardless.

"Don't worry. I'm not going to turn you in." She sighed quietly, as she sat across from her. Even seated, the difference in height between the two of them was like David and Goliath. She put down the object, and let her head drop into her hands, closing her eyes wearily as she whispered:

"It was only a matter of time."
 
Jun 14, 2018
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#24
Though the intensity of her expression did not waver, inwardly Anastasiya waited with bated breath. Her gaze flicked momentarily down at the object in the scientist's grasp as the other woman fiddled with it - a reaction that was part her own curiosity, part Terra Sentinel training to identify potential weapons. But the short glance was insufficient to deduce the thing's function.

The relief that washed over her face at Eliza's statement of her safety was obvious, a great deal of tension visibly leaving her posture as her shoulders slumped slightly. Thank god. But the researcher seemed just as troubled as her operative friend - if not moreso - by this turn of events, cradling her head in her hands with a distinct weariness. The gesture, and her quiet words, sent a pang of concern coursing through Ana.

She hesitated for a moment before extending a hand, wide palm not so much resting on the smaller woman's shoulder as enveloping it, but with the lightest, reassuring touch all the same. Ana's tone was by far the quietest and softest the scientist had heard it until this point, prompting her to continue.

"Until...?"
 

GEAR

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#25
There was a long silence before Eliza spoke once more. As she looked downward, her eyes narrowed, as a harsh edge entered her voice.

"...Everything..." She almost spat;

"Everything changed."

...at length, her voice softened once more. She reached up and took Ana's hand, bringing it before her, to be held in both hands. She seemed almost... fascinated by its scale, its hardened callouses that contrasted with her own soft, unvarnished fingers - as if it were a comparison between their two lives. When she spoke again... it was in the same timid tone as before, as though she were fighting to hold back a dam, for fear that it might break, and she be awash in a sea she couldn't control.

"My teacher and I, Doctor Griswold... We... we wanted to help people. We never wanted to make weapons...!"

Plip, plip...

There was a burning wetness on the back of Ana's palm, as drops fell gently from Eliza's bowed head.

"It wasn't supposed to be like this."

Her shoulders shook terribly, as she gave a deep shudder, emotion choking her voice as she continued her confession, even as it felt like regurgitating red-hot blades with every word, ones that dragged their way up through her chest with the effort of expelling them from her soul.

"It's all my fault, Ana."
 

XekuZwei

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#26
Whatever exaltation may have yet lingered in Ana's feelings from a moment ago promptly evaporated, only to be replaced by a dull ache that seemed to stem from somewhere deep in her breast. There was little she could do but listen with a suddenly heavy heart as Eliza recited her woes; the hot tears that struck her skin pained her more than any wound she had received in recent memory. For the first time in a long time - perhaps too long - the protective barrier of her professionalism was abandoned and this exchange of emotions struck at her with their full intensity.

For Ana's part, she may have understood miss Kruger's feelings more acutely than the researcher could know. Their situations were ultimately not so different: two entities who intended only to do good in this crumbling world, but whose efforts served only to further degrade the foundations of humanity. Some may have disagreed with the methods of Terra Sentinel, and while even its own members would have been hard-pressed to argue away every admonishment leveled at the organization, their goal of rooting out corruption in the Directory had been generally an altruistic one. But the same ambition taken too far had placed them on the wrong side of the powers that be, and the result had been the tragedy at Omsk.

It seemed as though both of their actions had inadvertently led to a terrible, bloodstained endgame.

She rose, gently extricating her hand from Eliza's grip as she did so. Moving forward to stoop level with the smaller woman, she swiftly slipped one arm around the scientist's back while looping the other into the crook of her knee. Carefully scooping up the petite figure with so little effort she may as well have been a feather, Anastasiya held the weeping scientist to herself with a ginger firmness, head level with the larger woman's shoulder.

"It's not your fault, Eliza." In truth it was impossible for Ana to know how accurate the statement was, regardless of the words' soothing tone...but neither was that among her immediate concerns at this point.

"I promise."
 

GEAR

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#27
No resistance was forthcoming from the smaller woman, who allowed herself to be scooped up with contemptuous ease. She was so light, it must have felt like cradling a child, and she offered no resistance as Ana held her close.

"...There was an accident." She whispered.

The wetness of her face, her cheeks, could be felt through Ana's shoulder, where she had buried herself.

"An experiment... I-I was in charge... Doctor Griswold... He..."

Her fingers buried even tighter into the woman's back as she trailed off. How long had she held this in? How many years? No trace of such an incident had been recorded, even in Terra Sentinel's extensive reporting on the Institute... but the very memory of it was enough to make Eliza Kruger shudder terribly, like a leaf in the wind.

"Bertram covered it up... Kept it quiet, but... In exchange, I had to continue his research."
 

XekuZwei

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#28
There seemed to be little that Anastasiya could do to console the scientist beyond providing an ear for Eliza to air her confessions, and her grievances. Almost instinctually, she gave the smaller woman a reassuring squeeze at the implication of Griswold's fate. Omsk had resulted in tremendous loss of life, and for that she - and her comrades, to the last - had grieved, certainly. But to lose a friend and a mentor under such circumstances was another type of tragedy altogether.

She gave the smaller woman a hopefully reassuring squeeze (taking even greater care than usual not to squash her) before lowering Eliza, putting the researcher down on her own two feet. One hand steadied her to ensured she wouldn't take a tumble before getting her footing sorted; with the other she gently wiped away the remnants of her friend's tears. Ana smiled down at her, though the melancholy that tried to hide behind the falsely optimistic expression shone clearly through.

"Sounds like the best way to accomplish my mission is take out the Institute's brainpower. How do you feel about being kidnapped?"
 

GEAR

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#29
"...I can't."

Eliza seemed to search for the words to continue... but, as easily as it had opened, the shell closed up once more. Ana squeezed her tight, and she returned the gesture as best as she could... by extending a small hand to give her an awkward pat. It was the sign of someone so neglected that they barely even knew how to respond to such a display of affection, and as she was lowered to the ground, her face had turned a bright crimson.

"If I leave, they'll stop at nothing to get me back." - She shook her head, slowly, "I can't put you in that kind of danger. And... besides..."

She reached up, wiping away her tears with the back of her hand as her voice hardened considerably.

"...There's still something I have to do here."

At length, she picked up the small device from earlier, holding it like a pen. Depressing a button set into its surface, the small chip of DEC on its tip lit up, emitting a ray of flickering, incandescent light that traveled down Ana's hands, like a scanner of some sorts. As it passed over her fingers... she slowed, turning the larger woman's hands over. There, on Ana's fingertips was a neon green indentation, like broken glass, as the light passed over it - one that appeared only visible under the aforementioned scanner... that caused Eliza to pause, lowering the device.

"...Did you touch it?" She asked, quietly.
 

XekuZwei

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#30
Had the situation been more light-hearted, the scientist's sentiments would have put a hearty laugh in Anastasiya's belly. As if she was not already a wanted woman by nature of association with Terra Sentinel; more skilled and vicious headhunters than the Institute had done their best to track down she and her fellows. A few had managed to catch up to them, true enough, but none yet had succeeded.

She waited patiently as Eliza scanned her digits, head cocked slightly in curiosity. What was she...? Ah. There, where she had touched the Sphere, was...well, she wasn't quite sure what she was seeing. Ana felt her face flush slightly at the other woman's query - she was hit with that same sort of sharp, distinct embarrassment a child getting caught with their hand in the cookie jar might feel.

"I, uh...", she began sheepishly, pointedly looking anywhere but Eliza's face, "I don't know how to describe it...I didn't even mean to. It was like it called to me." She wrung her hands, uncharacteristically fidgety. "I didn't even realize what I was doing until I was touching it. I saw...other worlds. And I heard things...like it was speaking to me." The next few words were barely above a whisper, reciting them to herself as much as recounting for Eliza, as though she needed to reassert the phrase that was still fresh in her mind. "Origin Law..."
 

GEAR

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#31
"You... heard..."

There was a clatter as the device fell from Eliza's fingertips to the floor. The platinum-blonde haired scientist was staring at her, Eliza' response one of outright shock, as if she had been slapped across the face. In her mind, she could barely even comprehend it - this stranger from nowhere, this.... this... freakish Amazon of of a woman-

She took an unsteady, stumbling step back - one hand lashing out to grab hold of a desk corner for support, causing it to utter a short, sharp screech on the dusty linoleum as she shook her head back and forth, awash in denial and disbelief.

"...Why...?" She stammered, as she pulled her hands close to her chest, biting her lip so hard that droplets of crimson ran down her chin. Bitter memories choked her mind - no matter how hard she studied, no matter how deep she delved into her research, working endless hours away from all human contact, subsisting on only the smallest scraps of sleep and sustenance, running countless simulations, test after test after test...

And yet...

Not once had the Sphere ever reacted to her.​

...Envy, green eyed beast that it was, regarded Ana in the form of Eliza Krueger.

"How could someone like you...!?"
 
Jun 14, 2018
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#32
"Eli - !" Forgetting her shame, Anastasiya's gaze snapped up as the scientist staggered back in shock. Her hand darted out to steady the other woman - but stopped, awkwardly half-extended, as Ana's other senses caught up with her reflexes and the expression Eliza wore brought her screeching to a halt. This was...a wholly different sort of personal crisis than her diminutive friend had experienced just moments prior.

And one that she felt far less prepared to deal with.

"Someone like..." The words stung more than Ana would have cared to admit, but that pain was masked somewhat by confusion. It was a given thing that the platinum-haired woman knew far more than she about the artificial Sphere, but to be so personally affronted by the fact that it had reacted to Anastasiya brought on only more questions about their relationship. "Eliza, please...I don't understand. What's going on?"
 

GEAR

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#33
"You..."

Eliza's composure began to return, solidifying like cooling chocolate. Her eyes closed tight for a moment, as though she were steeling herself. Part of her cried out - the lonely, bookish woman who had only ever been alone, and had never known a kindness quite like what Ana had lavished upon her - but she smothered it with pride and bitter jealousy, forcing it back under.

"You should go."

She raised a hand, pointing to what appeared to be a darkened door, set into the far wall. To Ana's surprise, if she were to exit - she would find herself approximately one city block's worth of underground tunnel's travel to the hangar, and with it the Tripoli.

"Leave." Instructed Eliza, her voice trembling. "Forget about me. About what you saw."

The diminuitive researcher tried to harden her tone, tried to look her in the eye - but at the last moment, flicked her gaze away, her words quiet... and tinged with shame, as she drew her arms in close to her chest.

"You and I... aren't friends."
 
Jun 14, 2018
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#34
"You and I... aren't friends."
For a long moment Anastasiya seemed almost frozen in place by the statement, still hunched forward with one hand awkwardly extended. Only her lips moved as she opened her mouth to respond only to think better of it and clam right back up. At length she drew back, posture straightening as she crossed her arms...and turned her back to Eliza. It might have seemed as though she would depart through the shadowed portal after all - but no, the researcher would find her more difficult to be rid of than that.

"Let me tell you a story, Eliza." There was an odd inflection to the words' tone, something distinctly opposed to Ana's usual enthusiasm. Like she was wrestling with herself in order to spit out such an unassuming sentence. "There was a young girl, once. She lived in a Directory territory...not that you had much choice back then. And back then...that wasn't so bad. The Directory wasn't so bad." Having passed that first hurdle, her words seemed to flow more easily, but they were still twinged with emotion, somewhere between melancholic and wistful. "This girl had a dream. Something she wanted desperately, something she wanted more than anything."

"She wanted to be a pilot. Not to ride to war, and not for her own glory. She wanted to protect people." She shook her head in bemusement at the thought. "Not exactly an original dream for a kid, is it? Didn't matter to her, though. It was the only ambition she had. But..." Ana trailed off, pausing for a moment before continuing, "They told her how incredible she was. A prodigy. An ideal specimen. And...whatever other tripe they came up with." A distinct bitterness crept into her words. "None of that mattered to her. All it meant...all it meant was that her dream was impossible. That she would never be a pilot. But she never gave up, you know? Kept fighting. Kept trying. Always kept that ambition close to her heart."

There was another long pause. "Heh," she chuckled, conspicuously covering a slight sniffle and surreptitiously swiping the back of one hand across her face to wipe away the pinpricks of moisture that threatened to grow, "Too bad that life doesn't always give us happy endings no matter how hard we wish. She never did become a pilot, not as such. And the government she wanted to defend is rotten to the core now. But fighting to protect the people...even if that makes her a terrorist and public enemy number one, she'll never give up that ideal."

Finally turning back toward Eliza, Ana favored the smaller woman with a light smile - perhaps still colored slightly by melancholy, but undoubtedly genuine. "Only a friend would have gone this far to protect my secrets, Eliza. You've already risked yourself to protect me." She once more extended a hand, palm-up, offering it to the scientist to take. "I don't know what it is you still need to do...but let me help you."
 

GEAR

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#35
Eliza, still withdrawn, listened in silence with rapt attention, her golden-hued eyes like dainty saucers in the faint light.

She could barely imagine it - what it must be like, she thought, to be told you were exceptional. All her life, she had to fight for every scrap of recognition - because she was small, because she was seen as timid, a withdrawn little bookworm that had been regarded as antisocial at best, and the kind of girl who would have gladly fed her classmates to DAMON at worst. Memories of being picked on, of being ostracized for her intelligence, her achievements, bubbled to the surface - scars that had never managed to truly heal, no matter how much time passed.

So many times she had told herself that she didn't need anyone's approval, that she didn't want it

...But that wasn't true, was it? Even now, here she was - pushing away someone else out of spite, out of bitter, petty jealousy. Most people would have taken the hint, she thought - they would have walked away right then and there, silently agreeing to be nothing more than another bad memory to be recalled on murky, moonless nights. She had invested in nobody, believed in nobody... Not since Dr. Griswold, the only other man to ever show her kindness, had lost his life-

Because... He had trusted her.

Ever since that day, she had cut herself off from everyone at DEI, reclusive to an even greater extent than before. When Bert had sent her to retrieve the two women, to guard the Artificial Sphere, she had fought it with all her might out of fear - fear that the world would find another way to hurt her, to punish her, to dangle comfort just out of her reach only to cruelly snatch it away once more. Even as she found herself growing attached to the muscle-bound amazon, and their platinum-haired charmless companion, she struggled to hold herself back, to keep the desperation, the weakness from showing.

Yet... here Ana was, baring her soul instead, pleading with her for trust.

Nobody had ever spoken to her like that.

Quiet hung in the air between the two women.

"You..." - Said Eliza, at length. She gave a short, suppressed laugh, albeit one that was choked by tears.

"You're really... serious, aren't you?"

Slowly, shakily, a small hand extended itself.

"To want a friend... like me..."

She just shook her head, bowing it as small tears plopped against the room's floor - but, her fingers closed about the woman's own - weakly at first, but then closed tightly, as her shoulders shuddered under the weight of curdling, conflicting emotion.
 

XekuZwei

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#36
"Would I still be here if I wasn't serious?"

Eliza's delicate grip would disappear as Ana lay her own free hand atop it, giving it a reassuring pat. She'd really stuck her foot in it with this one, hadn't she? The twinned sensations of relief and joy that miss Kruger had accepted her assistance were more than adequate proof that the agent had strayed precisely into the sort of territory she'd been trained to sidestep. The woman had more than likely saved her life from that...thing; for that she was owed at least a degree of leniency, wasn't she? And absconding with one of the Institute's key minds would hamper their ability to supply the Directory! Perfectly in line with her mission, of course.

But Anastasiya knew - from the deep-seated desire that tugged at her chest, the one begging her to help the scientist - that she wouldn't be able to fool herself with such a flimsy justification. Better to abandon such pretenses and admit that, yes, even in this short time she had become rather attached to Eliza.

That she really did consider her a friend, orders be damned. And she'd do whatever she could to make this woman's lot in life just a little better.

She gave her companion a long moment to compose herself before continuing. Ana was loathe to hurry her along, but the larger woman's absence could only go unnoticed for so long - and she'd been separated from the general populace for quite some time by this point. She was difficult to hide, and whatever they needed to do would likely be far more difficult if the facility was on alert with her as priority #1.

"I may not be so great at sneaking," one side of Ana's smile hitched up into more of a grin, "but I do have some other tricks up my sleeve." Literally, as it so happened...