Voicemail

[goddamngrenades]

You have reached the voice mail system of FOXTROT 12.

When you are finished recording, just hang up or press pound for more options.

To request a locksmith, press one.

To hear these options in Spanish, press dos.

To send a verbal confirmation of a written command, press three.

To send a written confirmation of a verbal command, press four.

For delivery options, press five.

To page this person, press six.

To locate your nearest operator, press seven.

To leave a call back number, press eight.

To repeat this message, press nine.

Press zero for other options.

To mark this message as urgent, press eleven.

Thank you for calling, have a nice day.

BEEP


Comments

[bothbarrels]

No. They don't. Someone hacked into the security camera footage and they had taken you away. Four guards with masks, and you looked like you had been tranqued. So I got pissed. Started making plans to break in and find you.

[petitions]

[She frowns. That she didn't remember. Hazy, maybe? She tries to think back on it. She didn't want to let on, though, and give North any more reason to doubt her legitimacy.]

Yeah, it was ... awful.

[bothbarrels]

[ Like he doesn't know when she's lying. He glances over at her but doesn't say anything about it. ]

It didn't help that around that time there was a port virus. You know how they can reprogram people through their ports? It was like that but it was a mistake. They didn't make it on purpose and everyone got it.

It made people angry and irritable and impulsive. So I got together with some people and we stormed the Hub. We all wanted answers.

[petitions]

[She appreciates the silence on that matter. She's still struggling with it.]

What did you find?

[bothbarrels]

Nothing useful. We fought to get in and most of us failed, but Shepard got in and found only an empty office.

[petitions]

Figures.

[Nothing ever came easy, and nothing ever resolved.]

So, what do you do now? [It's hard not saying we, but she's growing more and more aware how much she doesn't fit in. It settles like molten lead in her gut.]

[bothbarrels]

[ Now here's the trick—he can't speak freely about the plans he's involved with because of the probability there is surveillance out here on this street. If there's one thing he'd like to give this clone it would be some knowledge that what he's doing is making a difference, but he can't say anything about it.

So he'll have to tell her what Bifrons knows, the way things appear to be. ]

It's funny how things work out. The militia got a new commander after the fight we had in the tower and she recruited me.

That's how I met Wrath too, actually. She kicked my ass right before she got injured.

[petitions]

[Okay, she has to snort despite herself. That was more the kind of girl she'd hoped North would find; someone to keep up with him. Still, she's got a worse expiration date than a carton of eggs.]

Sounds like everything is coming up roses.

[bothbarrels]

For the most part. You know how life is, there's good and bad.

[ And once again, most of the bad are things he needs to spare this clone from. He gives her hand a little squeeze. ]

I guess you found somewhere to stay last night?

[petitions]

[She doesn't answer for a moment, then shrugs.]

Found a bar open until four am, does that count?

[bothbarrels]

Mm, no, not really. Where did you sleep?

[petitions]

I don't.

[She realizes there's no lying to him at this point. The only reason she has any staying power right now is York assured to get some food in her.]

[bothbarrels]

[ He gets that stern, concerned look on his face—the one people are increasingly referring to as his Dad Look. ]

You need to sleep. You may feel like it doesn't matter since you don't have that much time but you're going to crash sooner or later and it's better if that happens somewhere where you can relax.

[ He turns partway, still holding South's hand, and gestures for York to come over to where they are. ]

[goddamngrenades]

[ York peels himself off the wall where he'd been ignoring- all of this, really, and slings his hands into his pockets. ]

Got a couple of safehouses she could use.

[petitions]

[South sighs heavily and leans into North. She hadn't wanted to admit it, but sleep sounded really nice right now. But it did feel a bit like wasting time; she had so little of it yet.]

Alright. Guess I could do that.

[bothbarrels]

[ He pats her shoulder and looks to York. ]

Is there one nearby, York? I'll give her a lift if you let me know where it is.

[goddamngrenades]

One just a few blocks from here, yeah. Take the third left while heading south, flip the nameplate counterclockwise and the door will open. It’ll be cozy.

[petitions]

[South nods. Yeah, cozy sounds good. Didn't sound too far. She's starting to realize just how tired she is, now that she's giving everything a chance to process and settle.]

[bothbarrels]

All right, Sis. I'll get you over there.

[ He leads her to the hover cycle and waits for her to climb on behind him. From there he made quick work of pulling up the correct address and helped her settle in, letting her know any further conversation would have to wait until he was off work for the day.

And he returns later that evening, still in his uniform. ]

[goddamngrenades]

...how'd it go?

[ It's a mess- he knows this is temporary- that he'll have to find her and put her down when it gets bad- but that's less important to him than Andrew's current wellbeing. It'll happen later. This is now. ]