♪ EXEC_07/. ♫

[fallbythesword]

[There's a short little reyvateil chilling on the beach, sitting up under a palm tree. There is a box of cookies sitting beside her, and a data pad (that any Freelancers may recognize) in her lap.

She looks... a very forced sort of blank, right now.

She scrolls through the info on the data pad, frowning thoughtfully through most of her time spent looking down, but every so often that frown turns a little dark - moments when she can no longer read something she could before, when data seems to be missing, when she spots an inconsistency that wasn't there before... She's pretty sure she knows what this means, as it relates to this place and its... machinations.

And she doesn't like it. At all. ... How dare they. How dare he? No. Not him. Just... them.

That forced stoicism remains as she reaches for one of those cookies, unwraps it and gently nibbles at it, still flipping through the data pad. Some might call it obsessive, the way she's going through it over and over and over. She wouldn't care.]

Comments

[pocketspace]

[ As soon as Clear spots Jacqli, two things come to mind. The first being that wow, that data tablet feels so... outdated? In Clear's world, everyone uses holographs over screens, so he hasn't actually seen a screen in... ever, actually. He's never seen a piece of technology looking so outdated.

His second thought is that she looks so lonely and that she could use a friend. So Clear takes it upon himself to stand behind her chair and lean over to see what she's up to. ]

[fallbythesword]

[She knows he's behind her, but he isn't saying anything so she doesn't particularly feel like looking up. ... ... ... but when he leans forward to read over her shoulder like that, she sits a little straighter, rolls her eyes before closing them, putting on an air of annoyance.]

Reading from behind someone like that is pretty rude, especially when you don't know them personally.

[pocketspace]

I apologize, Miss! I just wanted to see your antique!

[ Yes he... called the data slate an antique. ]

[fallbythesword]

[She blinks at the "antique" bit - but honestly, after the initial "buh?" reaction, it doesn't surprise her. The data pad is certainly not antique to her, just different. Not at all from her world. Their technology pretty much went in an entirely different direction. priorities!! But that doesn't matter. Clearly this person is from some sort of high-tech reality. ... Maybe he might be interesting after all.

Though she does wonder what's up with the mask. Hmm.

She closes any files she's been thumbing through before shifting her position to actually face him.]

So, this isn't like what they have in your world?

[vengeance_driven]

[Niko sees her from behind at first, and can sense stoicism from a mile away. But he's curious, and he comes over to say hello and to be baffled at the beach at a time when he's not about to be bumrushed by closetmonsters (thanks for that, Plane).

He starts to ask her what's wrong, but... then he's distracted by the front of her outfit.

Huh.

Okay! Moving on.] Hello. [In his odd, stilted accent because even on the Plane he's trying to stick to English and it shines through.] You look uh... Are you alright? You look very serious for someone basking on... strange random beach in the middle of nowhere. [He clears his throat. Yeah, perhaps that's not the best reason to be checking.]

[fallbythesword]

[It's a pretty distracting outfit, lbr.

She looks up when he speaks, head tilted slightly to one side as he goes about trying to choose his words. Hmm...]

It's a nice place. Better than other things on the Plane, don't you think?

[Maybe if she avoids the inquiries concerning her, they'll go away.]

[vengeance_driven]

[Maybe, as Niko is strange about prying too deeply.]

The bar isn't bad. [That's almost a joke.] I could do without the surprise creepy monsters, whatever those were.

[He's trying not look at said outfit, because she hasn't really done anything worth staring.] What is that you're holding? [He's going to look at that instead. He's still baffled about the tech.]

[fallbythesword]

[She even cracks the teeniest of smirks at that almost-joke. But it's incredibly fleeting.]

I never got the chance to catch one. They made it back to the water too quickly. [Sigh.] Well, there's no sign of them for now.

[She looks down at the data pad, then back up at him. Then she holds it up a bit, facing him, so he can see a little bit better.] It's a data pad. Information storage, mostly text and image format. Is there nothing like this in your world?

[vengeance_driven]

They came from the water? [He sits down in the sand, not expecting to hear that.]

We just have cell phones. [He pulls his out. There's a picture of Liberty City as the background image, and a list of apps across the screen including eyefind email, lifeinvader, a map program, something like angry birds, and FLEECA account app.

Standard stuff from his world.] I think it does most of the same things as that.

[fallbythesword]

[She nods.] If you mean the creatures that appeared when the stars went dark, then yes. I chased one until it retreated beneath the surface.

[Oh, that looks like a telemo, sort of. It's got a little more going on than a telemo, but it's probably the same idea. She considers it for a second, then nods.] It seems that way. [She's curious about his background image, though.] Is that a generic picture, or did you take it yourself?

[dododo]

[ So. That thing about reading over people's shoulders being rude.

This one's doing it too.

Only it's not just for reading. He's interested in that pad of hers, too. ]

[fallbythesword]

[Oh my goddess you rude, rude people!

No, actually, she doesn't actually care... so much as she finds it amusing to see how people react to being called out on "rudeness". So, that's what she'll be doing.

With exasperation, she sighs, looks over her shoulder and back to him.]

If there's a reason you're standing there and staring at it, maybe you should tell me. If I can help you, you could be on your way sooner.

[rude yourself, Jacqli!]

[dododo]

[ Little bit. But he can let it slide. ]

What is it?

[fallbythesword]

It's a data pad. It's from Earth, the 26th century, according to their own timeline.

[She shrugs a shoulder, still thumbing her way through files and folders with easy swipes of her fingers across the screen.]

It's simple enough to figure out. Pretty user-friendly.

[dododo]

And what does one use it for, exactly?

[grip_on_reality]

Interesting book, Miwa? [while Menzies does come up behind her, she only gives the datapad a curious look, rather than attempting to read over Jacqli's shoulder. as she sits down next to her and sees Jacqli's face, however, she frowns] Something going on?

[fallbythesword]

Detective.

[She doesn't even look up from that data pad. Her expression does not change, neither do her actions. She's continuing to read, continuing to sift through its contents. She is very pointedly determined, it seems. She isn't bothered by Menzies choosing to sit right beside her, but she also isn't sure she wants to acknowledge her further, considering that means answering the question and... well.

If it were anyone else, she'd have insulted them by now and marched off to continue her frantic reading elsewhere. But damned if she doesn't find herself wanting to stay near to someone who might be the closest thing might possibly have to a friend. Damn it all.

But she still doesn't look up, even if her stonewall expression cracks a little.]

You asked me if I knew Agent North Dakota. It's my turn. Did you ever meet ["James"] Agent York?

[grip_on_reality]

[Menzies is surprised by that question, mainly because she can guess the significance behind how Jacqli put it. it's not something she was expecting, but it would have been good news--under different circumstances]

Ah, yeah. Tan armour, interesting idea of humour. [there's fondness in her tone] We met up during a couple of the messes 'round 'ere. And he met an alien from my world, once. [her lip quirks at the amusing memory] But...it's been ages since I've seen 'im. [she says it quietly, her tone unexpressive, though she can guess what they're both thinking. she nods at the datapad, recognising technology similar to what she saw in North's world] That his?

[fallbythesword]

[When Menzies shares her memories of him, Jacqli actually cracks a little bit of a smile - because she can definitely picture the two of them getting on. And yes, he does have an interesting idea of humor. And meeting an alien from another world? She can just imagine how well that would go (and by "well" we of course mean "not well at all")--

-- ugh. Just... more to remind her of...

That smile drops, just as quickly as it showed up in the first place. She closes her eyes. Yes, it has been a while since they've seen him. And now... Well.

She hands the pad over to Menzies, to let her have a look. If she's ever picked up a data pad from the boys' world, she will note that this one feels lighter, even though it looks exactly the same weight, make, model... everything.]

Yes, it is. We had a merger, and we apparently exchanged some texts for our trouble. That has all of is personal files on it. [She pauses for a second. Her head lowers a bit.] Before, I could read it with no trouble at all. Now, with each passing minute, I can read less and less. There are inconsistencies that weren't there before. Some files are missing, others are devolving into incomprehensible gibberish.

[... She doesn't want to say her conclusion out loud. Come on, Menzies, you're a smart woman, put it all together. It's incredibly easy to do so.]

[grip_on_reality]

[Menzies looks over some of the text as Jacqli explains. she hasn't held one of the datapads from that world before, so the weight just seems like future technology. however, the gaps and the lines of gibberish are quite obvious, and she frowns down at it as she scrolls through some of the information]

[while she already suspected the conclusion they're both thinking of, this has confirmed it. she was hoping Jacqli would say it herself, but since it seems that's not going to happen, she sighs. watching Jacqli, she asks gently:] The connection is fading, isn't it? Because he's not here anymore. [after a pause, she adds:] I'm sorry.

[betrayedtwin]

[North is pretty much all smiles as he walks about the Plane. Things have felt pretty good lately, and he's had more reasons to come visit this place. He's out of his armor today, dressed in a simple t-shirt and green khakis, but has a pair of boots tied together and slung over his shoulder. His bare feet dig slightly into the sand as he walks over to Jacqli.]

Hey, long time no see! [He waves at her, then adds:] It's North, if you don't remember.

[fallbythesword]

[She doesn't recognize him as he approaches, and is about to blow him off completely because memorization is far more important than small talk with some Plane stranger, but she hears his voice and remembers. She's a little less defensive now, at least.

She nods at him, once, firmly.]

Yes. Agent North. Hello again.

[Her tone is pretty expressionless, though.]

My Jacqli-bot is still functioning. The improvements have been a great help.

[betrayedtwin]

That's great to hear! I'd been thinking about that thing lately. [His eyes can't help drifting downward, his expression changing to one of slightly confused curiosity.]

Wait a second, I recognize that. That's one of our datapads. Did you get that from someone here? [There's only so many other Freelancers here, so the options are pretty limited.]

[fallbythesword]

[She nods.]

It's Agent York's.

[... Is she going to have to elaborate. because she doesn't know if she really wants to elaborate right now. ngh. her tone is still very, very carefully kept as absolutely neutral as she can manage.]

[betrayedtwin]

[Softly.] I'm surprised that's still here and works... I didn't know you knew York.

Did you want any help keeping that thing charged? Or any help at all with it?