Board Thread:Role Plays/@comment-5999656-20190205035159/@comment-26571677-20190806103412

The talk had gone about as well as she’d expected; maybe even a bit better than what she was hoping for; at least now she knew that Diaboli would be ill advised to start a battle in a space where he was so hopelessly outnumbered.

She could have called him many things; but ‘idiot’ would certainly not have been at the tip of her mind; an idiot did not, after all, contend with masterminds of a criminal underworld. How ironic it was to her that he was just as cunning, vengeful and treacherous as those he professed hate for; a spitting image of what he despised, just as rotten as he would call them too.

Now, with the backing of knowledge, she was at least confident of maintaining some level of resistance without having to resort to threats of sinking the ship and dooming all to a watery grave. Such little acts would be crucial to their survival, she knew that much; she had no idea on how to steer a ship, much less one damaged by what would likely be a hard and prolonged battle.

It was a tightrope they walked, she knew; a tightrope suspended high above an abyss from which they would be unable to climb out of if they fell in.

And as she spied the robot approaching the group of three, and watched the unfamiliar stand in rising, the shrill voice carrying out even amongst the mist of open sea; open defiance.

''Plucky and young. What a refresher.''

Her own hands, meanwhile, split a pouch beneath her coat, feeling the smooth rectangle of a small magazine in her hands whilst the other experienced the grip of worn rubber; waiting in anticipation of what might come next.

---

Dust looked up with tired eyes at his nemesis; the robot’s vision of unblinking, menacing red orbs meeting his own and showing that they were yet without compromise.

The man had been undercover for two months, investigating the underworld and preparing for the legalities that would follow. He was good at his job; excelled at it, even. His ability with words and lighthearted nature not oft seen in the underbelly had made him fast contacts and quick friends; friends that he used to learn little snippets here and there. Snippets of information; photographs of small deals, the faintest of whispers from quick conversation and images of dirty hands washing money clean…he’d seen plenty enough to incriminate those they’d managed to secure in any court of law; even one as morally and technically corrupt as Mistral’s.

And there; on his person, was a scroll than held it all. Not just that, but all the things a spy would ever need; bugout radio, communicative device, high powered camera...all legally sourced, yet modified by illegal hands.

And now this iron hulk was telling him to let go; to let go of it all.

The coldness by which it delivered its orders made him laugh; in so many ways, it resembled humanity; but to look deeper as he did, one could only see its mockery.

But when Lustra raised herself; voice in open defiance and cold fury, Dust's smile faded, and his mind ran quickly; aiming to prevent a fight that he would not have the barest chance of winning from breaking out.

“Come on copper, stand down. No need for violence…at least not from you. Right now, he only wants me; there’s no sense getting the young tossed overboard before the old. Hunters don’t live too long anyway.”

And despite his words, he remained seated, propping up Jett on his shoulder as he fished inside his tattered trenchcoat for the device; when one hand failed to find the object, his other reached in; shuffling around before enclosing around weathered plastic and chipped glass.

Resting his other hand down at his side, he raised the wearied object to the robot’s full view.

“I’m the only person you need worrying about on this boat; standard police issue is a radio, yeah, but short range so it doesn’t interfere with the dozens other radios being used. This very threatening and frankly, very scary young lady here was a part of home squad; that’s all she’ll have on here, if anything at all.”

He met its eyes, grin still present on his face.

“Nah…I’m the one you gotta worry about. Thing about being undercover is that you need a lil thing to call when shit hits the fan…this here’s a long range, CCTS connected beacon…if I wanted to, I could call it right now and we’d have people comin on our arses immediately…it’s the only threat here, not her, not me, not the mess I’ve got next to me.”

He paused, looking at the robot.

“Ah for Christ’s sake, you’re not gonna budge are ya? Y’know, for a discount AI, you’re not really the brightest ‘I want to learn things and exterminate the human race’ type, are ya? Mind bringing your boss down here to me? I’m a bit tired after my scuffle on the shores.”