(no subject)

[socrowdedinhere]

 

Ziomi: *she's easily drawn to her feet and into the hug, hugging back. The kiss has tears slipping down her cheeks. She'll reach both hands up to... to really explore his face again, just taking it in one more time before he leaves.* I'll still worry... brother. Come home safely.

Connor: *confident in his abilities, concerned he /could/ be deactivated if only because everyone else is, but not afraid, just determined to do what must be done* I will be as careful and efficient as I can, sister. I will do everything I can to return to you in one piece.

Ziomi: *hearing him call her sister makes her smile grow... and more tears fall. She finally huffs something she isn't sure is a laugh or a sob.* G-go. *before she changes her mind, loses her nerve, and orders him to stay.*

Connor: Yes, Ziomi. *a last, quick hug, then will turn to leave*

*It won’t be until Connor needs to stop for some Thirium when he’ll find he’s got something unneeded and yet... precious in his pack. Sitting on top the Thirium bottles, but under the blankets (so he didn’t see it when he added the medical pack to the travel backpack earlier) he’ll find a carved bust the size of his palm. It’s... him. It’s very clearly him, with a smile on his face, and a smiling Ziomi with a hand on his cheek, face turned up to him. The figure only goes down to just below the shoulders and sits on a flat wood base. The top of the base has a mark on it that Connor has come to recognize as basically Ziomi’s signature on any pieces she makes.*

Sirrah: She named piece “Brother,” and wanted you to have it. She was going to give it to you this evening but after deciding to let you go she was afraid she would lose the nerve to allow it if she gave it to you in person. She wished for you to have it with you, as a constant reminder to be careful so you can come home to her when you’ve completed your mission.

Comments

[socrowdedinhere]

Sirriah: There is nothing to live up to, Connor. There is nothing you could to to make her love you less. *presses her back up into his hand and readily follows along again as they set out once more.*
*It will be going on night the following day whrn Connor reaches Brogan’s. The manor is set above and overlooking a massive mining complex, the house more a majestic fortress than a mansion.*

[cyberlifeslastchance]

*Connor will stay well hidden until full dark, then will spend the next few hours circling, switching between normal vision, night vision, and Mind Palace to study every inch of the place and observe the movements of guards and any others to be seen, planning the best way in, likely through the same door Talim escaped out of if he can find or guess it. He'll patiently wait till the wee hours of morning, around three or four, ensuring that even any night owls are in bed by then and he'll have the fewest people to contend with, before making his move.*

[socrowdedinhere]

*He’ll be able to locate the door he’s reasonably sure Talim came out through. One guard stands outside the door and confers with other guards that circle the property ever thirty minutes. That’s his best way in, really...*

[cyberlifeslastchance]

Connor: *that means he has less than thirty minutes (since he'll have to wait for the other guards to circle out of sight) to at least get deep enough into the keep to have a chance of locating Brogan's office before the alarm is sounded* Sirrah, can you teleport that guard here so I can knock him out? Or better yet, can you teleport me to just inside that door?

[socrowdedinhere]

Sirrah: Hmmm. *looks towards the door, eyes glowing* I can.

[cyberlifeslastchance]

Connor: Good. Please do so. *that bypasses the time constraint completely. He'll just have to worry about the interior guards*

[socrowdedinhere]

Sirrah: *smiles and turns to touch her nose to his leg. With a flash of light from her eyes they are just inside the door.*
*The gardens are quiet, but there are guards patrolling the tops of the walls and around the grounds in general that he will need to be careful of.*

[cyberlifeslastchance]

Connor: *blinking and disoriented, LED yellow beneath the headband as his scrambled systems resettle. He changed into all dark clothes before he left, with a dark cloth bag over his head, eye holes cut to keep from interfering with his vision and visual scanners. He'll study the guards' movements, perfectly still and patient for as long as he needs. If there's another likely door, he'll ask Sirrah to get him into it. If not, he'll start crossing the grounds once he's sure of guard movements.*

[socrowdedinhere]

*It’ll take a bit of time to get somewhere he can see a likely door with being spotted. Sirrah will jump him just inside that door and then he’ll have to navigate the halls to try to figure out where Brogan might be.*

[cyberlifeslastchance]

Connor: *knows he needs to go up, was even able to get out of Talim how many flights (if not by counting, then by him mentally going down them again and putting out another finger every time he got to a landing), so first order of business is to find the nearest stairwell*

[socrowdedinhere]

*He’ll make it up to the right floor before he runs into someone. The door of a room opens and a j’har woman with a tray of tea and small snacks is stepping out. He’ll need to act quickly to catch her and the tray to keep from making a crash of breaking glass, and he’ll need to make sure she doesn’t shout for guards.*

[cyberlifeslastchance]

Connor: *has been having Sirrah put out the torches lighting the corridor ahead of him if she can, so he's moving in darkness - if he can, he'll let the woman step all the way out of the room, enough that he can slip behind her, one hand over her mouth and one under the tray - softly* I won't hurt you if you don't make a sound.

[socrowdedinhere]

Woman: *sharps intake of breath through her nose, kind if leaning back into him, body stiff. She’s quickly shaking as she gazes down the darkened corridor. She’ll give a small nod, to indicate she intends to obey him.*

[cyberlifeslastchance]

Connor: Is there anyone else in the room you just came out of? *barely audible whisper in her ear*

[socrowdedinhere]

Woman: *very slight shake of her head.*

[cyberlifeslastchance]

Connor: Back inside, then. *will ease her with him into the room, toeing the door closed behind them, and will finally release the young woman* I'm not going to hurt you. I just need information. *all she'll see is someone dressed deep dark browns and blues (straight black makes for a suspiciously /too/ dark shape in the shadows)*

[socrowdedinhere]

Woman: *turna to face him once released, eyes going a bit wider.* P-please. He... master will hurt me if I don’t bring his tea. *voice weak. But... it likey says something that she’s more frightened of taking too long to bring her master tea than she is of this very tall, masked intruder...*

would help if I actually posted...

[cyberlifeslastchance]

Connor: *that it does* Can you be trusted not to say anything to him about me?

[socrowdedinhere]

Woman: *starts to nod, but hesitates.* ...Why are you here?

[cyberlifeslastchance]

Connor: Information. I mean no harm to anyone in the household below DuPrae. *DuPrae himself, however – definitely not counted*

[socrowdedinhere]

Woman: *glances at the door, glances at the tray, looks back up at Connor.* I won’t tell him about you. *truth. She doesn’t want to speak out of place, and if this man is here to... maybe hurt master...*

[cyberlifeslastchance]

Connor: *studies her – all she can see of him are his rich, brown eyes. He finally nods* Deliver your tray. *he'll watch where she goes and that'll tell him where Brogan is…though he wonders what the hell the man's still doing up??*

[socrowdedinhere]

Woman: *nods, takes a deep breath to compose herself, and will head back out. She’ll enter a room three doors down. Connor can come close enough to listen, if she says anything she whispers it, and quickly, since she sets the tray down and silently backs out of the room in a bow, carefully closing the door again.*

[cyberlifeslastchance]

Connor: *followed to listen, backs up as she comes back out – withdraws with her down the hall a bit* What room is that?

[socrowdedinhere]

Woman: *glances at the door.* Master’s study. His bedroom is the door across from it. *if he doesn’t go back into the room he first met her coming out of, she’ll try to head them in there.*

[cyberlifeslastchance]

Connor: *was going to let her go, but if she seems to want to talk more, he'll follow*