Ricki Tarr (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rickitikitarr) wrote2015-05-01 03:10 pm
rickitikitarr) wrote2015-05-01 03:10 pm
4. voice
All right, this is all good fun and games, kids, but I'm going to be the one who spoils it by asking the question.
What the hell is going on?
And, for that matter, if we're the ones apparently running the show now, is anyone steering the boat?
[Ricki does not want the barge to smash into a sun and everyone to burn up, even though he's currently in the inmate-reclaimed bar and part of him is rather enjoying the fiddling.]
What the hell is going on?
And, for that matter, if we're the ones apparently running the show now, is anyone steering the boat?
[Ricki does not want the barge to smash into a sun and everyone to burn up, even though he's currently in the inmate-reclaimed bar and part of him is rather enjoying the fiddling.]
[ Private : Voice ]
[ Private : Voice ]
[He says, with perfect sincerity. Normally when he and Dean talk, there's something they can come up with that at least feels productive. This time, however, he's at a complete and utter loss.]
[ Private : Voice ]
His voice is muffled on his end a moment later as he rubs the corners of his eyes, tries to think.]
There's too much here that doesn't add up. Too much I don't know.
But I do know this: the other shoe on this will drop sooner or later.
[ Private : Voice ]
Listen, I haven't been hit with any of this power, but if you know anyone flexible who is, we were tossing around trying to break into the normally restricted parts of the boat. Steering, offices, see if we can find his quarters.
[ Private : Voice ]
Okay, he is because he doesn't think that far ahead sometimes, but right now his paranoia is in high gear.]
Who's "we?"
[ Private : Voice ]
[ Private : Voice ]
Bold as brass to fuck with things they don't understand until they get here, then suddenly it's "maybe we shouldn't mess with that."
[ Private : Voice ]
Don't get me wrong, doesn't mean I'm not going to do it, but it's a lot of fear to swallow if you've never risked a horrible and ugly death before.
[ Private : Voice ]
[This is matter-of-fact, as though commenting on an item on a menu that wasn't exactly to his taste, but wasn't the worst thing he ever put in his mouth. He doesn't linger, though.]
Maybe we should try reminding them of what they already have swallowed, then. That if this ship goes down, none of them get their precious deals.
[ Private : Voice ]
No one's more singleminded and destructive than an altruist with a noble cause.
[ Private : Voice ]
[He won't, obviously, but it's a good strategy; he shakes his head.]
Arthas is talking to me now. I'll see if I can get him to give me a few narrower places to start looking for access points.
[ Private : Voice ]
[You can hear him lean in, curiously.]
I don't know anything about him, except that he's a bit of a live wire.
[ Private : Voice ]
He's been here longer than anyone. That's what I know, and that's what we need.
[ Private : Voice ]
[He sees the necessity. But fuck, does that ever sit poorly with him.]
Makes sense to work him as a resource, then, but you're going to have to be diligent about keeping that line up. I know you know this, but I think nonetheless it's worth saying out loud.
[ Private : Voice ]
He expects everyone to turn on him. So do I. No use lying about it or to ourselves about exactly how long this alliance is likely to last.
[ Private : Voice ]
[ Private : Voice ]
[ Private : Voice ]
[He starts to say, then decides, no, that isn't what he means.]
I've listened to his inmate-directed posts. Never spoken to him. It's just- I don't mind the ones who do what need to be done. I've got a respect for that. It's the glee that's indecent. Sadists. I have no respect for that, and no patience left in my life for pretending otherwise.
[ Private : Voice ]
[This is a rhetorical question; Dean barely pauses, despite not sounding remotely amused.]
That's the part that makes me most sure of him. Not because I approve, but because that's what insanity does to you. You stop asking why you're laughing, and you just do it as often as you can.
[ Private : Voice ]
[Because it makes one of them.]
I'll support you how I can.
[ Private : Voice ]
[This is grim fact, not something he's proud of, not a brag. He nods.]
I'll get back to you when I know something.