anothercontinuity | Red vs Blue Voicetesting Thread

[ As good a way to spend their efforts as any.

There's a pause, before he regards Taylor very carefully, turning back towards him. ]

How...are you feeling?

[ With everything that's happened, a nap isn't going to magically settle everything down again. ]

A little weird.

[ He's gonna be honest- he has to. He owes that to Locus. ]

It's been years and- I got used to missing him. And it's good to have him back but I can't help feeling like- like it's a dream, or I'm losing my mind and he's not actually there and I'm just having another one of those episodes or-

[ Not trembling anymore, but unsteady are his hands as he scrubs them through his hair. ]

...shit's been going well. Going really well- the jobs, the missions, the armor- you. It doesn't seem real. But Delta was gone and that- that was proof enough that sure things are going well but this is actually happening because hey, glaring reminder of a past fuckup burned into my brain. Literally. And now he's back and...I dunno.

You're not losing your mind.

[ Those doubts were perfectly legitimate, given what he'd been through. Taylor doesn't need to start thinking he's broken because of something like that.

Then, after a moment's reflection, his eyebrow arches. ]

Me, huh?

It's that, a shitton of good luck that I don't buy, or this is an elaborate post-mortem hallucination and I'm still bleeding out slow as fuck in my armor.

[ He can't trust this. He can't- he wants to, he needs to but it's not- it doesn't fit the bend his life took since he joined the military. ]

Um, yeah? I take a well paying job, find someone that needs my skillset that happens to be stupid hot and has gone through shit I can relate to, that helps me with my issues while I help him with his, gives me a goddamn mission in life again, that I work together well with, that covers my blind side, humors my bullshit, yanks me back from being an idiot- and is kinky as fuck in all the right ways? You even have green eyes, man! It's like someone took a wet dream from when I was in basic and dropped you in my lap.

Those are your only options?

[ He hesitates. He had been willing to go check on the nav systems, but not if this is truly troubling him.

Though he manages that 'I'm not actually blushing' look as Taylor rattles off his attributes like he had a list ready. Knowing him? He probably did. ]

I see. You...I feel as if meeting you was fortunate, as well.

[ Look at all that sentiment there. ]

That or we're in the matrix.

[ Always an acceptable answer. It's not as bad as a vertigo tense moment of derealization- he hasn't had those since...

Well.

Since meeting Locus. ]

The phrase 'too good to be true' comes to mind. [ But he's smiling, pleased that he managed to drag that 'not blushing but totally blushing' look out again. ] Except you think my puns and pop culture references are lame. It's your saving grace right there.

[ Other things too but- it's dipping into serious, into things they don't talk about. But his own smile goes a little less smirky and a little more...sappy? Goobery. To hear Locus counts himself as fortunate. ]

Lucky break, huh?

You give me too much credit, I think. But yes. Lucky. I'd say that was the case, if I believed in it. Which I don't.

[ Locus arches an eyebrow, folding his arms over his chest. ]

But the opportunity arrived when we needed it. A series of opportunities. You could have avoided taking the job, or getting involved. I could have hired someone else. Our choices brought us here. That nothing has gone wrong yet doesn't signify anything, save that we don't make habit of wasting opportunities when they come.

Rather be lucky than good.

[ He snorts. God no, he'll take good first any day.

Still. Speaking of opportunities. Taylor unwinds from the bunk and stands, stretching and popping out the few knots in is spine, rolling out his shoulders as Delta does his usual test of the extent of the neural lace's influence.

Not much right now but- probably for the best. ]

So it all comes down to a mutual work ethic and hatred of Malcolm Hargrove. I'll take that.

What it comes down to is that this is real.

[ As Taylor stands, Locus takes a step closer, the knot in his brow lingering. ]

All of this. Delta. The mission. Us.

[ And he recalls what Delta said, that Taylor was still uncertain in that regard. Which seems ridiculous to him. Taylor knows what he's done, knows he's not a good person, that his past is far from uncheckered. He's the last person anyone should count as 'too good to be true'. ]

You're sure.

[ And what does it say that he sets his own concerns aside, that he ignores Delta's running calculations as to the validity of this moment of their shared existence in favor of Locus' certainty? ]

I doubted at first. Sometimes I still do. It doesn't seem possible.

[ More so towards the beginning. It seems like it should seem less possible the more ground they gain, but he's never looked towards a fight expecting defeat. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy. He'll have none of it.

His eyes stay stead on York. ]

But it doesn't matter if we're worthy of it or not. It doesn't matter what we've lost. What matters is that it is real. If I continue to doubt it, then what good has it done to come this far?

This is usually when I wake up, is all I'm saying.

[ in that infinite empty of After the project but Before Locus. Days filled with relatively easy and occasionally challenging jobs that aren't terribly fulfilling, the odd night in a bar and motel to sate skin hunger, pinging from port to port, colony to colony to keep his head down.

He learned his lesson about shit going too well, things being too easy, too good. He got cocky and lost the eye. Adjusted. Got Delta-

And lost everything.

Survivor that he is, if this is real, he could probably take one more loss like that and still keep going- but people? A partner? It wouldn't happen. Not if this goes wrong. ]

If you're sure? I'm sure.

Good.

[ And before York can get out another word he's stepping in, cupping a hand to the back of his head, and pulling him into a kiss. Not the usual sharp hunger of a kiss after their missions, but warm, tinged with something heavier. Something that twists in the gut.

There's a small rumble of approval as he pulls back. ]

For the record? This is real, too.

[ He's about to make a smart comment- something offhand and ridiculous to cut down on the rather serious bent of the conversation, like he do-

And Locus bypasses all of that bullshit neatly with a kiss that has him blanking out for half a second before he presses back. Warm and weighty and. Real. Solid.

Taylor is, in fact, someone that blushes. So he's blushing a little at that declaration. ]

I- uh. [ Don't say anything stupid Taylor, come on. ] Wasn't worried?

[ He's still a shit liar- it comes out more a question than a statement and he can feel Delta rolling his eyes in the back of his head. ]

[ It takes him a moment to realize that he is, in fact, blushing. And then he chuckles quietly. Yes. Still a terrible liar.

But that's one of the things he...appreciates about him. ]

Fair enough. I'm going to go check in with FLISS on our ETA.

Yeah I'll. Um. Look through the stuff we got from the thing.

[ Smooth, York. So smooth.

He hooks a thumb over his shoulder and actually does manage to get to the data terminal without tripping over anything. Somehow. ]

[ He'll leave him to it, for the moment. Let things settle. He's got his own thoughts to ruminate on, and the silence of the cockpit is good for such things.

This is real. He needs the reminder sometimes as well, but it's somehow easier to reassure Taylor. He's not entirely sure why that is, or why Delta isn't able to. One would think with all that logic, it should come across more certain with the AI's advice than his own.

After all, this is fairly new to him. ]

[ For about half an hour- probably a little longer the back's quiet save for the odd bit of spoken commentary between York and Delta- D having popped up to hover green and glowing at York's shoulder so they could converse outloud if Locus wanted to poke is head back and catch what was happening.

Everything was pretty familiar, the suits, the modules, the data on the AI- until they hit a portion of possible 'future' projects and York lets out an unrepentant ]

Holy fuck. D could you- yeah. LOCUS!

[ The cry is loud enough that he bolts back in a hurry. Navigation's taking care of itself, FLISS isn't about to let them crash into anything.

That can't be anything good. ]

What is it?

Shit they never got around to doing but had planned.

[ York brings up schematics for a theoretical module, the little CG video along with it. Armored figure runs up, armored figure blinks from one side of the field to the other, armored figure shoots targets in the back. ]

You mentioned teleporting cubes and shit on Chorus, right?

Yes. Crafted from alien technology recovered during occupation. Everything we had on hand malfunctioned once the other temples were activated, however.

[ Had he found a way around it? Locus scowls at the schematics, as if they might have been Hargrove's face itself. ]

The sim trooper bases had stationary teleporters in a few of the facilities hardwired to other points on their respective maps for a few years. They were glitchy and unreliable so the Project quit employing them. The cubes you mentioned seem to be a step up but-

If he takes the basics of what we had and tries to throw in what he'd gotten from working with those cubes? This could be problem. Especially if he gets them working.

That could be enough for his scientists to get started with. Hard to say what level priority it would hold, but if they managed it, our missions could become significantly more difficult.

[ He grunts, propping his hands on his hips as he stares at the data. ]

We could step up our next target to one of his research facilities.

I can't imagine how they'd begin to test it without having an excess of bodies to risk on this shit. Volunteers don't just come out of the woodwork. You and Felix hijaked prison ships to bolster your numbers for Chorus, right? I'm gonna put a bead out for any more ships like that going missing in the past year or so.

[ Bumping up their time table to handle a lab- higher risk, higher potential reward. ]

We weren't that far off from hitting those anyway- there are two I've been looking at. One with low visible security but a high drain on the local power grid- and one with high security and a hell of an artillery range in the back. I figure the first is more research and development and the second is more practical testing.

[ Locus's eyebrows narrow in thought. He recalls the set up of such testing grounds. The research labs would be less known to him, but the information would undoubtedly be there. On the other hand, if they wanted to make use of the tech themselves, prototypes could possibly be housed at the second lab.

His gaze darts towards Taylor. ]

They're bound to be working in close communication, then. If we attack one, security at the other is bound to increase.

Red vs Blue Voicetesting Thread

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