UN: SV | VOICE

[ascarylady]

[ Thanks to this conversation, Sevika is now here to remind everyone, ]

You all remember we had that big, ominous sign outside Etraya's bubble telling us we weren't alone, right?

[ Please. She cannot be the only one concerned about this. ]

Well, those tallies are done tallying, and we were out of days on that thing a while ago. Has anyone noticed anything strange? Anything different? Because that message wasn't friendly-sounding, and I don't feel like being surprised by a pack of hostile unknowns.

Comments

[wolfish]

I'd say the entity doing the damage intended it.

[ Some dark, ominous business. Horror from the stars. Yuri didn't know what to make of it, save that the universe isn't necessarily a friendly place. ]

Which goes to your point. We could all do with better defenses.

[ He continues to follow along, glancing about with a more cursory interest. The hospital is familiar by now, but as with Etraya itself, change wouldn't be terribly surprising. ]

[ascarylady]

Yeah. If she doesn't want to see her own people as a threat, she's less liable to defend against us...

[ Which leaves Sevika in a bind. She doesn't want Aurora to have some ironclad defense against them if they ever need to take her out, but as long as she errs to the side of thinking the best of them, that also remains a danger.

But if nothing else, it'll turn out that there is no threat lying in wait in the hospital. Everything remains the same, apart from Aurora locking herself down for the moment.

The search inevitably brings them back to the lobby. ]

[wolfish]

And if she did decide we were hostile, that'd hardly be conducive to a working relationship.

[ His tone lacks the appropriate weight for all that would imply, but he has no doubt that Aurora has ways of listening in even now.

Surely they've both considered as much, though. ]

Which is worse depends on who one asks, but I don't like the idea of being vulnerable to subterfuge either way.

[ascarylady]

[ Perhaps, but Sevika already knew Aurora had no idea about the intruders. If she was always listening, how would that be possible? Although here in the hospital, on high alert, the chances were greater. ]

I wonder if she's even capable of subterfuge. She's an automaton or... what is it? AI? An artificial intelligence. I'm not sure if we should even be treating her like a real person.

[wolfish]

Best way to find out would be to chat her up, yeah? See if she has preferences, or— say, do you suppose she'd play a game if someone offered?

[ Plenty of them could be used to gauge one's capacity for either ferreting out deceit or employing it themselves. ]

[ascarylady]

I've been talking to her about fixing the damn trolleys... and about this, obviously, but a few more chats wouldn't hurt.

[ Sevika likes to think she's good at reading intentions from people, but that isn't something you say out loud. That's too arrogant. It left you open to being proven wrong and undermining your reliability.

But would Aurora play a game? Hm. ]

A game. I don't see why not. You'd have to teach her the rules, I figure. Think she'd be interested in learning to play cards?

[wolfish]

So we've got you to thank for that transport, I see. [ A little acknowledgement before he returns to the matter at hand. ] Who doesn't fancy a card game or two? She might find any tricks novel, as well.

[ Yuri's gotten through quite a number of difficult points in his life with little more than a familiar deck and (loaded) dice. He'd wager Aurora would at least be curious, and overseeing the lot of them can't be the most diverting of activities day in and day out. ]

No doubt different worlds have different games, or some version of the same basic ones.

[ascarylady]

[ All she offers in return for the acknowledgment is a shrug. Like, whatever. The fewer people who knew that, the better, as far as she was concerned. ]

Hmm, a card night for AIs. I'll be honest here. The last few I've set up have ended in disaster. You might want to do it if only to avoid whatever fucking curse is following me there.

[wolfish]

That bad, huh?

[ He won't question her. He's got a few identities' worth of things he'd much prefer to keep to himself. ]

I could give it a go, I suppose. Sometimes cards are all you've got between one skirmish and the next, so I might know a game that'd strike her fancy.

[ His turn to shrug. ]

[ascarylady]

Yeah, that bad. Don't invite anyone from Runeterra; it'll probably turn out fine.

[ Or do and watch the chaos unfold. Don't say she didn't warn him, though. ]

But yeah. Start with something simple and fun. Kid's game, maybe. You'd be right that every world likely has something like that.

[ But they've officially finished checking the hospital. With Aurora having locked up the rest below the building, there's not much else left to do. She'll take one final look around the lobby. ]

I think that's all we can do tonight. Short of hunting that Hank guy down...

[wolfish]

I'll see what she has to say about it, as mission duties allow.

[ Goddess knows they're due to be tossed at some challenge or another, not that the purpose behind them is always clear. ]

You know what this Hank looks like?

[ He asks, casual strides carrying him toward the door. Absent new arrivals, it seems there aren't refreshments to pilfer pick up today. ]

[ascarylady]

No. That's the biggest problem right now. No idea what he looks like, where he lives, none of it.

[ So, they have to wait. Annoying. ]

[wolfish]

That is a touch inconvenient... But I'll let you know if I hear anything.

[ He doesn't have a network of eyes and ears in this place, but the population is only so large. ]