IC Inbox

[retested]

WELCOME TO YOUR PRIVATE CHANNEL, AMANDA. FOR SECURE COMMUNICATION, USE 102.92.004.06 *** gameover has joined 102.92.004.06 <gameover> This is Amanda. <gameover> If you need to contact me, do so here. <gameover> DO NOT waste my time with stupid shit.

Comments

<saturnschild>

[marcato]

Hello Priestess.

Are you well?

<gameover>

[retested]

As well as I'm going to get. Why?

<saturnschild>

[marcato]

Do you remember the death arena last year? How you killed all those people so spectacularly?

I acquired a souvenir of sorts.

<gameover>

[retested]

As if I'd ever forget it. Best vacation of my fucking life.

Go ahead, share with the class. What did you manage to get?

<saturnschild>

[marcato]

The gun you were so fond of. The one that dissolves bone.

Would you like to see it?

<gameover>

[retested]

[B L E S S E D]

You bet your ass I would.

<saturnschild>

[marcato]

Meet me outside my Dyster mansion. We'll take it for a trial run.

[retested]

Amanda is there in three minutes flat, having dropped everything and used her key on the closest door. Her voice is filled with gleeful anticipation.]

So...?

[marcato]

[He smiles inwardly and removes the weapon from his coat pocket. In some instances, he might've added a small flourish to the reveal, but he suspects Amanda wouldn't appreciate it. She strikes him as someone who likes to get straight to the point.]

Here it is.

[He offers it forward. The design is strikingly similar to the Fairwell weapon, if not identical.]

It feels good in your hand, doesn't it?

[retested]

[She accepts the gun with a certain degree of reverence, turning it this way and that, hefting its weight.]

Of course. Like shaking hands with an old friend.

[marcato]

This one works a little differently than the gun in the arena.

[Without missing a beat, he snaps off his own pinky. There's a wave of nausea that nearly knocks him off his feet, but he remains steady. In control.

He hands it up Amanda. ]

It requires ammunition.

[If she holds the bone close to the gun, it'll turn into a fine mist and disappear inside the cylinder. An electronic screen on the side of the gun slides from 0 to 1. ]

There's a comforting symmetry to it, don't you think?

[retested]

[That's absolutely ghastly, and Amanda sideeyes Aunamee intensely as he passes her the detached finger. Really, man? Really?]

"Comforting." Sure. [Symmetrical, yes, but that's the most she'd agree with. She doesn't need to look very long for a chamber to hold the severed digit; it simply melts into a mist and loads itself once close to the weapon. She taps the screen just to see what it's made of.]

So...you gotta do that every time you need a bullet?

[marcato]

[His jaw tenses at the sarcasm, and for a moment, he pictures using the gun on Amanda. But the anger disappears as quickly as it arrived.]

Yes.

[He sounds as calm and pleasant as ever.]

If you wish to borrow it, I'll lend you the ammunition. Of course. It's majestic in your hands.

[retested]

[Not even Amanda's mood swings are quite so rapidly changing as his; she's just much worse at hiding hers, leaving Aunamee looking entirely calm and collected in comparison. If she could get a peek inside his head even she would feel slightly unsettled, and she's the queen of sudden lapses into rage.]

I'll hold you to that. [With a little grin. But...she gestures with the gun at empty air.] What or whom should I test this on?

[marcato]

I was hoping we could find a test subject together.

[Casual, like they're discussing dining options. He doesn't seem to notice his missing pinky. No fidgeting. No pawing at the empty space. For a man who likes feeling whole, it's been quite the adjustment. ]

You'd pull the trigger, of course. Or force them to pull it, if you'd prefer.

[retested]

[She scoffs at that last idea.]

Like I'd give one of those worthless fucks the pleasure of firing this thing.

[No fucking way. This is HER moment.]

Wanna see what I did to Fiddleford in that simulation town? I'm sure you'd appreciate it.

[She still doesn't know that Aunamee helped create that event, that he's already seen everything she did within it.]

[marcato]

Oh yes.

[He did see it -- in fact, he felt it in his mind. But much like a good book, some things are worth revisiting.

He produces his Dyster key and inserts it into the door behind him.]

How many bullets do you need to recreate the tableau?

[retested]

[It doesn't take long to tally the count in her head.]

Four, unless you'd rather I save you some fingers by skipping to the grand finale.

[marcato]

[He breathes a laugh]

No. I want to see the whole thing.

[He opens the door, revealing an alleyway in Bavan. He gestures for Amanda to go first, smooth and practiced like a courtier.]

Besides, I've saved six of the bones in my ear for this very occasion.

[retested]

[She passes him into the alley with a genuinely amused grin. His little affectations can be fun to witness.]

That's not gonna fuck up your hearing?

[marcato]

No more than not having a tongue ruins my speech.

[He removes the key from the door before sliding it back into his secret pocket. The door to his Dyster mansion closes behind him.]

I'm nothing but bones, Amanda. [It's not obvious, given the way he pads his clothes, how he hides himself in masks and white fabric.] With Her help, I defy biology.

[retested]

Just making sure. It pays to know beforehand.

[It's the principle around which she's rearranged her entire way of being: learn to anticipate everything and you leave nothing to chance.

Coming out on the street at the mouth of the alley, she begins to people-watch.]

Pick one. Your gun, your choice.