notrosecolored | Duplicity Contact Post

Great.

If you do end up shooting him, think you could send me a message so I can collect his corpse?

Of course.

[A beat of silence then:]

Does his teleportation work based on known coordinates or some other means?

[Like the teleportation cubes they used on Chorus, programmed on the fly by their armor's neural link connection when activated. Locus didn't plan on letting anyone know where he stayed so that, at least, wouldn't change. The amount of effort he put into it, however, might have to.]

Are you asking for a mechanical and technical breakdown of the ability, or whether he's going to turn up while you're in the shower?

[ Look. He has not been a tactical lead for the majority of his life - as well as literal lead - for nothing. ]

[Mostly the former to derive the threat level but now he's a little concerned with the latter...more than before anyway.]

...Both as of now.

He has a lot of augmentation, physically and in his mind, that's basically turned him into a weapon. I think his ability to 'teleport' is part of that.

[ But. ]

As far as I know, he has to know where he's going - not just to who or what.

[Locus's mind goes towards Spartan experimentation with a side of cybernetics when the word "augmentation" came into play. He wasn't sure which type of science was at play--if, indeed, it was science--and perhaps it was a bit of both, but the familiar was what came to mind first. It made it easier to think in terms that he understood at any rate.

Consider him relieved as Scott says the last part, not that it shows visibly or audibly.]

Good. I can deal with that.

[He knew how to not be followed, or to lose a tail if he ended up with one. His secret place would be easy enough to keep that way--even if he had to wear his damn armor and go invisible to do it.

But that all was a moot point if the guy never bothered him. Then again, people around here did almost nothing but bother him. Nature of the place likely. And the people it brought in maybe.]

Yeah, yeah you can.

Let me know if he gets too out of hand anyway, would you?

[ Like ideally before Mid shows up half dead or skinless or something. ]

You're not allergic to dogs are you?

Of course.

[Locus frowned at the additional question.]

No. And unless you bring it to the gym, I doubt I'll ever meet it if you're worried about one that you own.

[He's not planning on going to Scott's place unless absolutely necessary due to the city. He wonders if Scott really knows what he's getting into with this contract. Locus really didn't plan on playing by the rules.]

[ Yeah, what Scott's expects is that 'absolutely necessary' will happen - but it will happen in an absolutely god awful, non-sexy, way.

NOTHING ever goes according to plan 1, or the ideal. He won't even use an alphabet to name his plans, because it's too limited, but above all else:

Something will find a way to fuck up his plans and his life and the more prepared he is for it, the better.]

He sheds. A lot.

I'm not worried about it.

[ He's zero attracted, to Locus, but is now mildly concerned about how absolutely rigid his 'plan' is and how much it isn't one. ]

How long were you military, again?

[Locus raised an eyebrow but left the dog part of the conversation alone. He sincerely was not concerned about such trivial things.

As for the next question, Locus shifted and attempted not to frown again. Attempted being the keyword here.]

Ten years.

[All spent in the most god awful war one could imagine. And it had started another decade before Ortez had even been recruited. Long ass fucking war.]

[ Scott's glasses hide a lot of his expressions, in general so at least things like 'narrowed eyes' don't convey. ]

And how old are you now?

[Locus crossed his arms over his chest. This line of questioning was beginning to get on his nerves. He answered anyway.]

Thirty-three.

[ Well, that's a good thing. Also he is immune to things like irritation and anger.]

So you understand the benefit of a backup plan and adequate information in case of all of the shit hitting the fan.

Yes.

[No one actually thinks Felix plans any of their jobs and mission parameters, do they. Because it's ~~mostly~~ all Locus.

He likes a good strategy. One day maybe he'll discover strategy video games exist and get hooked on them.]

Great.

[ There's actually a (brief) smile at that.]

Then do us both the favor of considering that some of these questions aren't about my intentions, but about the inevitability of the city pulling some stunt and wanting to be as prepared as I can be.

Keep being suspicious, but I don't have any interest in controlling you or having any kind of... sexual contact with you

But I'm going to have contingency plans as best I can to both aid in avoiding both of those and dealing with things I can't predict.

[Locus tilted his head to one side slightly.]

I didn't imply anything of the sort. You can do whatever you like.

I merely have no intention on relying on anyone else.

[He had his own plans, and unfortunately for Scott, the mutant wasn't any part of them. At least not yet.

Time. It would take time and effort to get to know him. To earn trust. Good luck with that.]

[ Scott isn't... actually likely to make Locus into some kind of project. He's just very aware that his luck is shit and Duplicity is what it is.

In short 'not rely on anyone else' is the plan. The contingency is 'make sure he's not allergic to dogs' level of information gathering so he knows which way to jump when the plan inevitably fails.

But meanwhile. ]

I'm not sure what 'you didn't imply' is in response to. I'm terrible at people, and communication that's not a barked set of orders, though. I'm just trying to explain why 'are you allergic to dogs' is a thing that's coming up.

[Locus snorted in what was probably agreement with the line "terrible with people." The irony was not lost on him but the reaction was genuine nonetheless.]

Obviously. I've been told the same but I think you're winning this time. [And that's a lot coming from Locus of all people. Not that he cares.] Fine. If you want to play twenty questions, then keep going. It's pointless but if it makes you feel better... you can pretend to be a leader.

[That would make this easier, wouldn't it? Locus knew how to obey orders from a CO. That was what he was made for.]

It's a brick wall, trying to converse with a concrete one. I don't know what else anyone would expect.

f[ Dry humor, but definitely humor. ]

But I've actively been a leader for more than twenty years. It translates like shit here, but the pretend is usually 'to be a person', thanks.

[He snorted in the closest reaction to amusement of the dry humor as he was like to ever give. Then, quietly to the last part:]

...that was more for me than you.

[If Scott was a leader back home for real then...Locus wasn't certain what he thought yet. Maybe they were both bad at it.]

[ He considers that for about a half second and then actually gives a tired kind of half-smile. ]

Okay.

[ He isn't going to dig into that too hard. He gets it though and that okay kind of comes with some more gentleness than he's been using in his tone. ]

Look, long story short - you've got a key. I'm going to throw some basic supplies in one of the two empty rooms. I'm not going to chase you down but if shit hits the fan, you know it's there. Fair?

[If anything the gentleness irks him but beyond a surpressed shifting and working of his jaw as he looks anywhere other than at Scott--he keeps the reaction to himself.]

Acknowledged.

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