052: A Comet Appears

[contract_star]

[Hei isn't hurt this time! ...Okay, fine, if you look closely enough you might see some new bruises, but that's all. He's out away from most of the Plane traffic with his scope set up, trying out the new eyepieces that Diva got him for his birthday. There's a small table covered with food nearby that Hei has been picking at, and a new comet in the Astral Sky. It's a bright blue and yellow streak with a long tail, rolling across the sky like the ball of ice and gas that it is. Hei has no idea which one it is, and there's really no hope of identifying it since the Sky changes all the time, but hey, it's a comet. Comets are important.]

[Hei looks preoccupied with something other than the comet, though. After awhile he plunks down on the Plane floor with a sigh and scoops up a potsticker from his mini-buffet.]

[He mutters to himself,] Sam would never let me hear the end of it, of course...

Comments

[didorothy]

Hei. What is it?

[contract_star]

[Picks at his food.] What you said before. About building an army. [He pauses.] That's not quite what seems to be happening. I don't really know. But it feels like the start of something.

[didorothy]

[Sam's response is a frown, not a smirk, and he sits, now, perhaps to help him get a better angle for seeing Hei's eyes]

You sure you want to?

[contract_star]

I'm not sure. That's what I'm...I don't know.

One war should be enough.

[didorothy]

I'd be happy with none, myself.

[contract_star]

[He pauses and looks over at Sam. His voice is slightly subdued when he speaks.] I take orders from you now, Sam. If you order me not to get involved, I won't.

[didorothy]

[Sam looks up at Hei in surprise, and then gives him a great big 'are you stupid?' look]

It might be a fight, but it isn't a war. You do what you think is best, is the right thing. Because you were right; I don't know what's best for you.

[contract_star]

[Stares at Sam a moment and then sighs rather tiredly.] You're the leader or something, aren't you? That's not really how this is supposed to work.

[didorothy]

[Sam lets out a little laugh]

Hei, my own subconscious demoted me to DI. I don't know that I'm cut out to be a leader. I don't have the charisma that Hunt has, or whatever it is that Misaki has that makes her team follow her. I'm good at what I do, but I'm not a commander, and none of the people here are going to listen to a weak, breakable human.

[in an effort to sound less pathetic, Sam changes gears] In a situation like this, where we don't know what we're dealing with, Misaki and I both agreed that a more flexible system would be best. So we're using information network where we can direct our resources where they're needed.

[he looks at Hei] That means we're relying on everyone to give what they can. Not more, not less. I'm not the Syndicate or anything.

[contract_star]

[Hei...has no idea what to say to that. He's used to a certain kind of fighting, a certain method of doing things, and he fully expected it to be the same this time around. He expected to be taking orders and going out and fighting people and being a tool and a weapon like always, despite what Sam and Misaki have said to the contrary. But Sam is giving him freedom. It makes Hei feel rather small, since freedom is always weird and scary, but it's also exactly what he wants and needs right now.]

[His face blossoms into a smile. Quietly,] You're a good person, Sam.

[didorothy]

[Sam doesn't know what to say to that - he has no idea what it was that made Hei so happy.]

I don't... thank you?

[contract_star]

[That's okay, Sam, Hei probably wouldn't be able to explain it anyway.]

No, thank you. Really.

[didorothy]

Right...

[Sam will now awkwardly look down. Awkwardly!]

[contract_star]

[He leans back a little and looks up at the comet.]

So, in terms of this...not-war, what's the first order of business? How are we going to go about this?

[didorothy]

Misaki and I have been trying to hand out the mobiles so we can get a network put together. That's more difficult than it sounds. It's hard to catch everyone we need.

[contract_star]

Mobiles? Can we even get service here? [Thoughtfully,] It would be good to have everyone on a network...it'd be even better if they worked across realities. If something were happening on the Plane and you could call people in...

[didorothy]

Fumie and her friends set something up for me. I haven't actually thought to test if the signal can go from home to the Plane, but it can go between realities and it can get anyone on the Plane.

[contract_star]

Excellent. Trust Fumie to pull through on something like that.

[didorothy]

[smiles] Yeah. I'm... worried about involving them. But I don't want her running off to help without me knowing what she's doing.

[contract_star]

Good plan. [Ponders for a moment.] It would be good to have a way to keep an eye on the more vulnerable people here.

[didorothy]

I was thinking of setting a few people to keeping an eye on them... one thing is that Fumie and her friends have the quickest route out of everyone to get help, but if the network is taken out... my glasses work, but I don't know that the mobiles do as well as they ought. And I don't know how to protect newcomers who haven't any clue as to stay away or go near.

[contract_star]

I generally tell new people I meet to stay away from the Masters. But having some sort of...I don't know, pamphlet or information desk...it sounds ridiculous, but something like that might be useful.

[didorothy]

It does sound ridiculous, but it isn't a bad idea. Would spare me saying 'Welcome to Plane, no it's not Insert Terrible Threat Here, it's actually an experiment. Which is a terrible threat, but that's not any reason to point a gun at me.'

[contract_star]

[Rather mirthless smirk.] You must get that a lot.

But you're right. Just something to help people get settled here...

[didorothy]

I'm sure the Twins have a magical endless photocopy machine we could use.