anothercontinuity | Red vs Blue pt 2

"The investigation by Chairman Hargrove brought the project to my attention. As keen as he was to unearth the Director's sins, he was less than discreet in the documentation he pulled. It was easy to find you. To seek out what remained to see what would become of you."

Luckily, he'd happened across the right place at the right time, to save at least one of them.

So, not during. A knot of tension in his shoulders eases somewhat- not that any one person swinging in to put a stop to it would've worked. Hell. It didn't really work when someone from inside the house was trying to change shit. He puts the list of names and sins he could (should) but won't hold against the remaining scragglers away for the moment.

"So how does a vampire ex soldier get into the mailing list of super secret military projects to poke around in the first place?"

"The Chairman wanted to hire me. I don't enter contracts lightly, so I researched the man and the projects he was entertaining at the time." One eyebrows arches ever so slightly. "You may be the best at what you do, but I've been able to manage through the years."

He's had to make do, to survive.

"Hire you?" That's- concerning. His attention flicks up from round two of 'digital lock testing module' and sharpens. "What the hell was he doing that he'd need to hire you? What's a businessman need with a merc?"

Nothing good, but- running the numbers on that has Delta combing through what few communications they picked up while on the run.

"He was hoping I would assist him in the acquisition of a planet on the far edge of the system. I was...deeply uninterested in doing so."

His mouth thins. There's more than one reason he's avoiding that planet, so let it be someone else's problem.

"...you don't just. Aquire planets-" Delta flicks from one process to another as quick as thought- they can't dig through Charon's business details yet but combing through backlogs of chatter? Doable.

"No. You do not. Particularly when they are inhabited."

And Chorus is inhabited. The population is locked in the midst of a civil war, however, and likely to doom itself in short order. The Chairman, so far as he can see, is simply being impatient on the matter.

"...that doesn't exactly sound good for the people living there." Not his problem, he shouldn't poke at it.

And yet, this is the same fuck that had the Director so paranoid in the past few months. The same guy poking at the corpse of the Project. There may or may not be a connection worth investigating. Maybe.

"They are currently concerned with killing one another, and little will deter them from that endeavor."

But now his attention is honed in on his fledgling once more. He's concerned for them. He may want to investigate further, or intervene.

That will be...unfortunate.

"He wanted you to nudge that shit along, didn't he?" One side or the other would leave survivors. Poking both ends would have them wiping themselves out, plausible enough deniability, leaving an empty planet to claim afterward. Some of what he'd picked up before makes sense now.

Locus's eyes narrow slightly, watching as York pieced it together. Naturally. Puzzles were his specialty, were they not? "He did. It would have provided a great deal of money, as well as an abundance of hunting. But I wanted no part in it."

And without someone by his side to convince him otherwise, he turned his back on what could have been a very lucrative contract.

"Doesn't mean he didn't find someone with fewer scruples to get the job done." The goal had been fuck with accounts- but it'd been a nebulous grouping of corporations. Having one in particular to aim at? Works a little better.

"...I believe he might have done so, yes. It would have been more beneficial to have two working in tandem, but he took what he could get."

Locus's eyes shift away as he straightens, moving towards the other end of the room to pour himself a drink. It won't do anything for the hunger, but sometimes old habits worked to some benefit.

"I'm gonna need to get my armor patched up sooner rather than later, I think. And get those network modules." See if he can't stop that shit before it wipes out a whole goddamn planet because-

Seriously, did they not get enough of that shit with the Covenant?

There's a faint tink, and the sound of pouring liquid from the other side of the room, the smell of whiskey hitting the air as it fell into a glass provided to them by the staff. He pauses for a moment, considering his words.

"If you can avoid personally going to Chorus, do so."

"I'm not about to make myself a one man army." As easy as that might be, honestly, he knows better. That's how you get killed. "But it's kinda hard to fund that sort of operation if you're broke."

And he can make Hargrove bankrupt in a fucking hurry with proper incentive.

That, he has no issue with. There a faint nod of understanding before he tips the glass back.

No nourishment at all, but reflexive all the same. The glass turns slowly in his hands.

"Keep off the ground, if it can be helped. If you attack his accounts, doubtlessly it will prove more effective in crippling him than attempting to root out his shill."

"I don't even have to be near the planet in question, or him, to get this done. You know that, right?" He tips his head in Locus' direction, brows lifted. "It's all lines of code and network access. I just need somewhere to jack in that won't set off alarmbells and a few hours."

Then, bye bye trust fund. Or. Whatever the fuck all Charon's got going. Probably a few shell companies but hey, he did give himself a few hours. "...Wait we can actually drink booze? How about coffee?"

Ah good. A distraction from the subject matter at hand. The corner of Locus's mouth raises slightly as he returns to York's side, watching his work a little more closely. "If you like. It's for the taste more than anything."

"We can't get drunk anymore, can we?" Just to clarify. Not that he'll need that social lubrication anymore now that he's apparently the hottest shit ever- still. Good to know if he's ever feeling particularly prone to maudlin behaviour.

"No. We can get a sense of it, if our meal for the evening has had a great deal to drink. But it wouldn't be quite the same."

And he offers the glass, tipping it in York's direction briefly. Go on. Try it and see for yourself. No better way to feel out all the new nuances of their condition.

York accepts it without further question, taking a light sip. Every little oaken, smokey detail he'd been able to vaguely grasp as a human? Magnified tenfold now that everything was that much sharper. Another one of those roughly indecent moans twists out of him as he licks his lips, offering it back.

"That's good whiskey, goddamn."

"When you taste every detail, you become a little more selective. I did say it was the taste," he reminds him, mouth curling even further upwards.

The glass is retrieved, with a brief brush of his fingers in the process.

"I would suggest investing in good coffee."

"Noted. I'm gonna have to get good at making it. spend enough time on the front and any coffee becomes good coffee." But this? This is...a little closer to luxury than he'd ever thought to get. And here he is with someone that's got good reason to stick around and is stupidly attractive-

Stupidly smart. Right. Smart, not. Attractive. Not looking at his lips while he smiles at all, nope. Back to the puzzles.

There's little point in denying the obvious when they've already had an encounter together, tonight. Obviously there's some attraction there. But if York's turning a blind eye to the matter, he won't press.

Instead, he finds his seat once more, there to drink and observe as York goes about solving his puzzles.

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