as written by Lialore and Saarai
Freja’s arms were folded, her head tilted back some; a picture of relaxation. She picked up on snippets of conversation as her eyes flickered between her highers, as though calculating lazily. She wasn’t much of a debater; at least not externally. The same definitely didn’t go for the couple conversing – or nearly shouting, rather – beside her. Her position shifted into a more alert one as their rising voices began to irritate her. They were throwing a lot of ‘rights’ and ‘wrongs’ about.
“Oh, please” her accented voice which was rarely heard in such situations broke clearly through their argument. “If you want to be a knight of ethics you should’ve signed up for the police. Or something else where you lick the government’s arse since they shit the moral code.”
She didn’t make eye contact with any of them as she spoke, still scanning the ranks as if she would make out the threads of tension which weaved through the room to create a tangled web of motives, schemes and underlying loyalties.
____
"Enough!" Stryfe said loudly to quiet down the room. She wasn't there personally but her holographic face was enough. They just needed to see their commander-in-chief, to hear her speak.
"Over time we have changed, we've changed a lot. We went from freedom fighters to social climbers. From warriors to mercenaries. Slaves to masters. But, one thing we've always maintained was our moral high ground." The Invictus leader told her subordinates.
"We can make the changes necessary to get ourselves back on our fight, and we are not knights of ethics as, uh..." Stryfe paused, looking towards Freja. "Freja, sir." Goodnight informed Stryfe.
"As Freja said." Stryfe finished, "We have to be better than the others, we have to be a symbol for the strong and outnumbered. When I return, in a week's time, we'll have a vote and a ruling. Not just us, but everyone. We'll decide our fate together, if you are all willing to leave our fate with the majority."
Ariadne shrugged, "It works, for now." She said, eyeballing Lucian. He was the last founding member of the original Invictus, so he had an older vision of what they should be. Warrior preachers, civil rights leaders with guns, men and women with sharp tongues and sharper swords.
Ariadne's side were students of the Wu-Tang Clan.
Cash ruled everything around them.
____
Her lips pursed at the attention. She quite liked sitting on the back burner.
Nevertheless, thoughts were quickly cast elsewhere, and interest seemed to reach its peak at the mention of a vote.
How many people of the company really cared for climbing back on ‘their’ fight, for becoming the symbol that Stryfe spoke of? Freja was sure the statistics would shock. Not her, for starters. She’d label herself as many things, mostly things other people would consider derogative, a knight of ethics – never. One who cared for a spot on the moral high ground – even less. Unless that high ground was mounds of actual worth, she cared little for making the climb. The entanglements of late had made her weary.
Freja’s eyes narrowed, coming to a rest upon Ariadne. Her expression – barely readable – was slightly amused.
- - -
Beyond the meeting room, Abigail moved swiftly, physically enhanced as she strode down corridor after corridor. A little late, having been held up by some of the security who, luckily, had wanted nothing more than a catch up. Although she'd made sure she wasn't being followed or watched to the best of her ability, her heart was still slowing from the apprehension.
From her pocket she’d withdrawn a tiny wireless bud from the small collection she carried and had pressed it into her ear. It’d have to be retrieved carefully.
She listened as she stalked. Cringing some at both the loudness and etiquette of her sister when she’d spoken up.
Or perhaps it was more to do with the raw wrongness she felt at what she was doing.
Bugging, to her, seemed a cowardly game. But when you’d rigged your own sister, she’d found it took quite a bit of bravery.
Upon spotting Chemo ahead, she took out another bud and tossed it in his direction, hoping his reflexes were adequate enough.
The gnarled woman was doing what she had to. Or so she told herself.
____
Chemo was juggling the bud in his attempt to catch it, finally getting a firm grasp on it after a few slapstick seconds. He put it in his ear, gesturing Nina and Taco over to himself and Abigail. If they were going to break the rules, they might as well have done it as best they could. With science.
"What are they saying?" Nina asked, "Hold on. Let us listen." Chemo said to the woman.
In the room the meeting was wrapping up, the ranking members of the Invictus and anyone they had brought along getting ready to depart. Some of them even getting ready to lobby for their side of the issue. Lucian and Ariadne especially, the faces of change and tradition for the Invictus.
"Mary, Freja, Tyler, can you stay a moment?" Ariadne asked, "There's something I'd like to discuss with you." She told them. Phinx nodded, remaining in her seat. The holographic image of Tyler Goodnight staying where it was as well.
When the door to the meeting room began to open, Taco, Chemo and Nina were quick to act casual. Chemo even saying random things to Abigail in an attempt to make it seem they were having conversation.
"I also enjoy chickens..." The Canadian said.
____
Abigail waited for them all to hush before distributing the remaining buds, finding some comfort in the fact that she was sharing the experience.
They listened in quiet until the meeting was drawn to a close. She propped herself up against the wall, thick arms entwined across her chest in her attempt to appear casual.
As the gathering began to file out, she listened to Chemo completely straight faced, hoping the rush would be over soon so that they could hear better.
“That is nice” she replied thickly. “I prefer them dead and grilled and in my mouth. Yes?”
Inside, Freja had already been half-way out of her chair. She stopped, hovered, then sank back into it, draping her arms over the sides carelessly. On realising that she probably looked bored to death, she rearranged herself into a more upright position.
Whilst Freja wasn’t certain what was about to be said, she had an inkling that it was to do with the unresolved disagreement which still hung about the room.
“Am I getting a promotion?” she asked with a dry smile.
____
Ariadne shook her head, "In due time." She told Freja. "I wanted you all here because I'll need some campaign support." The woman said. "You want a change in leadership, with you being the new leadership?" Goodnight asked.
"Yes." Ariadne answered, "I like Fatin, but we need bigger change than hiring a few extra accountants. When I make my play for leadership, I want to know that I can look for you three to throw in with me." Ariadne told the group.
"I'll have to give it some thought." Phinx said, "I don't like everything she's done, but she knows how to keep us afloat." She continued.
"I run a business already. The war business is just another business. We need to make money. Not friends or enemies ." Ariadne retorted.
____
"I agree" she said, far slower than her usual snappy talk.
"But. Campaign support or not. I don't think a change in ideals in such a way that you present can possibly leave us intact. A whole... Not as long as Lucian is still around. Whilst tradition still exists with such a prominent presence, and Stryfe so seemingly acute at stopping us sinking, well... I can't imagine - no offence - you getting enough support to pull through legitimately. I think we'd just split."
Freja looked at them each in turn, eyes alight with a sudden shine of badly-hidden mischief.
"You'd need to blow some holes in the ship. Which, of course, is unacceptable."
The smile on Freja's face said otherwise.
Outside, Abigail's lips mashed together in a rather gruesome grimace at what she was listening to. She looked at the others hard. If any of them were going to insult her sister's suggestive, malicious scheming, she was going to be the one who initiated it.
"She won't do anything" Abigail muttered.
Indeed, she'd make sure of that.
____
"I heard it used to be real cutthroat back in the day." Phinx said, "Indeed. But, that was when horse were still the main mode of transportation." Ariadne told her. The aspiring Invictus leader gave Freja a quick look. Phinx was loyal to the fellowship encouraged by the organization.
Goodnight didn't care what happened as long as he had the money and resources to play cowboy in ICON space.
But Freja? She seemed to have an edge to herself that Ariadne saw as useful. She was probably one of many who thrived off of the promise of constructive violence.
"That's all for now." Ariadne said, brown eyes finding themselves on Freja once again. "I'll be in touch."
"Blowing holes in the ship?" Nina asked, looking to Abigail for insight. "Your sister seems fun." The Serbian soldier said sarcastically. "Kinda hot though." Taco mused, "I'd hit." Chemo added, "If I wasn't gay." He finished.
"You get used to these two." Nina told Abigail.
____
Freja seemed to blink as pointedly as possible once they’d finished. She let there be a short pause before speaking.
“Great” she said brightly with a grin, careless as to what any of them really thought of her.
And with that she briefly nodded in goodbye and got to her feet smoothly. She was meant to be meeting Abigail for lunch; which meant that it was most likely her mood would be plummeting soon. Their sisterly catch-ups usually just turned into public, judgemental scoffing at each other over the table.
Further down the corridor, Abigail had rolled her eyes. She’d feel sorry for anyone who tried to ‘hit’ on Freja - all definitions included.
“Sounds like she would quite like to sink Stryfe. But she also just likes blowing things up.”
She sighed heavily, shaking her head. She’d brought Freja in to help her better herself, but she seemed straight on her course of self-destruction, and skipped along with quite the smirk on her face.
“OK. I am meant to be here. Where are you meant to be? I think they’re done.”
____
"We should do this more often. Eavesdropping." Taco said, starting on his way down the hall. He didn't want to run into any of the three women leaving the temporary meeting room just yet. He wasn't ready to face any scary women like Freja.
Chemo jerked a thumb at Taco, "He's got the right idea. We should split before we get in trouble." He said to Nina, "In a second." Nina responded, "We're heading to a new cafe uptown, Cool Beans. It's very much a hipster cafe. Chemo hates it." She said to Abigail.
"Too many hipsters in Toronto for me growing up." The Canadian chimed in, gesturing Nina down the hall. "Come see us. We'll be there for a good minute." Nina said, following Taco's lead and heading down the hall with Chemo in tow.
"Cool Beans!" She called out before rounding a corner.
____
Abigail nodded in bothe thanks and goodbye, terse. It was unlikely she’d show. She’d have Freja in tow, and that surely wouldn’t be a pleasant experience for anyone involved. She still looked in the direction in which they’d gone, now finally feeling some amusement. They were a funny bunch. But, anyway. Cool Beans? With The Funny Bunch? Well, she’d feel like a babysitter, to say the least.
“Early as usual” a husky voice said from behind her.
Abigail jumped some, and twisted to see Freja shrugging on her jacket, a smirk on her face at having startled her sister. The elder sibling grumbled under her breath. Freja always had been scarily good at being quiet when she wanted to be.
“I’m starving” she continued, fiddling with a zip on her front. “You’re paying.” And with that, Freja took the lead, striding ahead a few paces before beginning some trivial babble about her day, which, of course, was more important than anything Abigail had done lately.
But Abigail wasn’t paying much notice. Hidden in the back of the collar of Freja’s uniform was the bug that she’d have to retrieve. Her eyes were fixed her sister’s head where the long blonde ponytail swung from side to side with each of her steps, the pendulum just another obstacle.
She sighed.
