goddamngrenades | Voicemail

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It's a little late to keep from being at least a potential problem.

[Hell, he could always get some electrical tape or something to put over the lenses. That's not even property damage in that case.]

I'm not going to actively attempt to put you both in danger. You know that.

How'd you find out anyway?

[ Someone that does not know of Malcolm's anon love affair: York. ]

I apparently annoyed who I assume to be the person in charge of these cameras, and they decided to prove a point.

When did you get involved with big brother?

[ Because that's not disconcerting at all. They're supposed to be in the clear, thanks Natalia, and now they might not be because- what? ]

What happened?

I thought I was having a very private conversation with a Callsign. Turns out someone up above is a very skilled hacker, which comes as no real surprise.

This particular big brother contacted me after the XXX debacle. Wanted to recruit me. Promised me goodies even if I refused, which I did. Nothing's come of it, so I don't know what they think they're so upset about.

Okay, doubling back here- why did they want to recruit you after the XXX debacle? Near as I could tell you spent almost all your time here watching Jim and the rest of us.

Probably because XXX tried to recruit me. More or less day one, in fact.

...Why?

[ It's not subtle, how flat and hard his voice goes, how still and tense he's become. Not subtle at all. ]

Because he had access to my information and thought I would be a suitable candidate given my background.

[He'll say it if he needs to. If York needs to hear it. It's just never come up before, and it's a part of his life he's always tried (and sometimes failed) to leave behind. But if he can't trust York with it at this point, who can he trust?]

...Mal you're going to have to give me a little more than that. XXX had a particularly vicious skillset.

And I had a particularly sneaky one. I wouldn't go so far as to label myself spy--that would be giving myself far too much credit. But before I served on Enterprise, I was part of an organization that did not officially exist, doing whatever was necessary to protect Earth and her interests. You understand. [Probably better than most.] It was not the proudest time in my life.

And he knew that and thought he could use you. Okay. [ Tension, gone. Alright. It's fine. Just- scary for a moment there. ] And this new guy wanted you to do the same?

I made...mistakes with XXX. [He's never admitted to that on anything but a secure channel before, either. But if he's going to be honest...] I participated in a few early activities. Nothing violent. It was blackmail, of sorts. Emotional blackmail. The kind that goes 'do this thing or people will get hurt'. We were in communication many times. They took a liking to me.

He called me kitten.

I was as much trying to understand what he was doing as I was trying to stop him; I was still new and didn't fully understand the situation. I suppose that was much to his advantage. Both pawn and accomplice. Things escalated. You know how that all ended. [It certainly ended up with him barging his way into the frat house worried half to death that XXX was targeting Jim.]

I think XXX and this new replacement--this Y--treats my reluctance as a game. It's not appreciated. Y suggested they might at least keep me in a bit of the loop, even after I declined joining properly. This is the first I've heard from them since.

Kitten?

[ Everything that was laid out and this is what he picks up on? Well. Details are usually indicative of- something. He picks at them until the lock pops open to give the rest of the answers. It's just how he is. ]

Why kitten?

Apparently he was fond of animal nicknames for everyone he interacted with. I was the little kitten that sometimes could use declawing.

[ A beat. ]

Did you scratch?

I-- [Hold on. Normally he would never feel like he has to ask this question, but:] Are we still speaking metaphorically?

I mean kitten is kind of- sort of an endearment, you know? How CLOSE were you two before everything went murdery?

...How close was I to the murdering psychopath mercenary operative who sent people body parts in boxes and called people by animal names. How close was I to someone who used their knowledge of me, knowledge known by very, very, very few people, as leverage.

How close were we.

Yes, Mal, how close. I think it's a fair question.

I really don't think that it is. Do you think I was going out for Sunday brunch with this guy?

I'm saying things get a little...intense on the espionage side of things and 'mistakes were made' and you're skirting something. I don't know what, but you are deflecting.

[ reading body language is life when everyone is in armor, out of it? Is like running those same problems on easy mode. ]

Sure, things got intense, a little. Some form or another of care seemed to develop. It was unfortunate. And he rather had a flirty thing for me. Which is easier to deal with when you have no idea who the person on the other end. Less so when you know that they're not someone you should be associating with. I don't know what you're fishing for.

...Okay I'll admit I didn't see the flirty and care thing coming, I thought maybe you knew the 'why' of it all. What set it off. Because aside from being really fucking creepy 'secret police' ish they didn't seem psychotic till, well. Just then.

[ Nope not going to be upset that mal can flirt and care about a raging serial murderer, nope, he is not going down that road that road leads to maddness. ]

So that was a thing, XXX got caught, and their replacement wanted a piece, you said no, you talked about said association and- proof of cameras, yeah?

I certainly didn't see them being flirty, either. They really took a shine to me. It became increasingly creepy. Don't--don't ever go talk to that guy in jail and get on the topic of me. The less he says, the better everyone will be off.

The what set them off was--well, there was someone in particular they needed to take down and was trying very hard to suss him out. I'll never be sure if that was the whole plan or if it all stemmed from the idea of trying to get caught after one last hurrah. They were done with what they were doing, but it's not a job you can quit. [He knows the feeling.]

And yes. That's basically what happened. They were watching recently, too, in their loving description of sleep routine.

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