Difference between revisions of "Introducing the Lock-Humpers"

It's late morning -- which, given how late Aster was up last night, is functionally an early wakeup. She yawns as she stumbles out of the kitchenette with some buttered toast, wearing a tight shirt and loose, drawstring pants -- one of her usual pyjama options. She blearily goes through her phone, and notices the text about five minutes before the knock. Eh, not like she tells Shadi to go. When the knock comes, she calls out, "It's open."

The door opens and Shadi strolls in, looking as well put together as she always does. Pink everything, purse over her shoulder and neatly pinned hijab.

"HI ASTER," she says sunnily.

Aster gives Shadi a bright, if tired smile. Huh, she seems already all freshened up, but the shower's still running. Don't tell me Aster's wasting water; it's getting close to miraculous to even /have/ running water. "Shadi." She goes for the hug, knowing it's inevitable anyway. "So, you wanted to talk about 'things'?"

The shower stops running, about then.

"Yeah! About the drones. You see, thre are some folks out there fighting MDCI, and they want to arrange some manner in whch they can access the drone feeds you set up, but they wanna do so in a way that protects their identities if things ever get compromised and such. I suspect they may want to talk to you at some point too. " Shadi bounces on the balls of her fet.

Aster purses her lips, thoughtful. She leans back against the table and picks up her coffee. "That's... pretty vague. Can you tell me more about them?"

And Maya comes out of the bathroom, flushed and wrapped in a white robe that only makes the red look redder... "Umn," she says awkwardly, and then she summons up a quick smile. Nope, nothing out of the ordinary here! "Hey, Shadi, what's up?"

When Maya emerges, Shadi pauses and looks at Maya. Then at Aster. Then she rolls her eyes. "Hi, Maya," she offers, still bouncing.

"Yeah, I know it's a little vague. It's sort of necessary, in this case, but I promise you it'll go towards saving lives if you agree to meet with them. Those sites that you're seeing the drones pick are the sites where MDCI sometimes murders people, and they want to try to save them. So it'll be about saving lives in the long run."

Aster looks between Maya and Shadi... and then flashes a quick grin. "You know, if I have my dates right, Shadi's birthday was like half a week ago. She's not underage anymore." She says it in a cheerful, sing-song tease, before she turns back to Shadi. "Mmn. I'll think about it, but... can you tell me /anything/ about them beyond 'they fight MDCI'? This is my work that got us connected to the network, and my neck on the line if they get us traced. I'd like an olive branch beyond 'trust me, it's for the greater good'. I'm allergic to secrecy. It makes me break out in new passwords."

Maya's brow furrows, her expression darkening to something uneasy and doubtful. "Um, Shadi... are we talking about who I think we're talking about?"

"Yeah, Maya, yeah. Probably. But I'd rather let them speak for themselves?" Shadi thgen eyes Aster. Just eyes her before smiling and adding, "Yeah! But my party is TOMORROW and you are so invited. Both of you. My friend Kamianri is doing something AMAZING, I am sure." She then adds, "And yeah, I understand that. That's WHY they want to meet. Build some trust and a relationship, and work up together on this kinda stuff. I need to let them speak for themselves. If you want, I have some burner phones. I can pass one to you and one to them and you can talk that way first?"

Aster wrinkles her nose, leaning more heavily on the table. "Shit just like that," she says, gesturing to Maya. "'Are you thinking what I'm thinking, B1?' Talking over my head, like the /entire conversation/ when all the drones were live. I'll talk with them. But they'd have an uphill battle on their hands, if they want me to start trusting them, and thus start sharing sensitive stuff like this."

Maya almost starts to smile at Shadi's birthday-party ebullience... until Kaminari's name comes up, and then she glances elsewhere, the smile gone. Then Aster's words being on an even redder flush. "I'm sorry," she murmurs. "It's one of those... life and death things. They *kill* people for knowing too much." She wets her lips nervously, looking across to Aster with contrition in her eyes. "But at least if you meet them and they know you, it means... we can be open about that side of things. We could all be... less like that."

"You're invited," repeats Shadi to Maya after she looks away. Then to Aster, she looks sympatehtic, "Hey, I understand. Just that this is a biiiig first step. They want to establish contact with you and see what you're comfortable with and get to know you. They know it's your jam and your work they're talking about, so they know they need you to do the things they want to do. Anyway, PARTY. So cool. You better both come!" She jabs fingers in their directions.

Aster nods to Maya. "Exactly my point. 'Oh, we're soooo into protecting innocents. Unless they're guilty of /knowing things/. Then we'll kill 'em harder than MDCI even knows how, ELF or no ELF.'" This would likely be the first time they've heard that acronym from her. She wrinkles her nose to Shadi. "Big from their perspective. We'll have to see if it's big enough. It's like, I'd have to have them at least at Trust Level 3 to consider this, and they're at Negative 8." She nods firmly. "Party. Sounds good."

Maya looks over to Aster, her expression shadowed and sober. "They're not about protecting anything except the earth and their own," she says quietly. She turns her attention to Shadi, then, worry in her eyes. "I want to be there," she says quietly. "In case things go south." To Aster, she adds, "I'm not letting anything happen to you."

"Maya, no one is going to hurt anyone for knowing things. They're more upset by the telling other people without their consent. This is about the right to control their own information rather than letting someone else do it for them," explains Shadi, quietly. "They want the ability to be able to say these things themselves, and no, you don't get to go because they didn't ask for you and that'd scuttle the whole thing. They asked for Aster." She lets out a breath. "You have to understand, not even *I've* met these people. They're security conscious, but they're /not/ the bad guys. They're security conscious because their lives depend on it. One wrong step, you die, we die, everybody dies. You knmow?" She just semi-quoted Heavy Metal.

"Right now, MDCI is routinely executing people who show up to try to help. We've got witnesses to that effect. They're trying to stop them and they /need your help/. So you see, the leverage here is all your's and they know it." She shakes her head, adjusts her purse, and pulls out her pink smart phone.

Aster gives Maya a grave look and a nod. "And they're trying to claim 'it's to protect innocents in the long run' to get me on their side." She purses her lips as she turns to Shadi, breathing slowly as she thinks. "First, Maya, it's just a phone call to start with. There'll be no physical location for us to go, no physical danger. I appreciate it, but a bodyguard wouldn't be necessary. A second ear on that phone call, though..." She grimaces, looking to Shadi. "Don't try to feed me that doubletalk bull. Or if it's straight from them, tell /them/ not to. If I was halfway to dumb enough to fall for it, then I wouldn't have accomplished what they need from me. If the leverage is mine, then I decide if it's 'scuttled' by inviting someone I trust."

Maya's jaw sets when Shadi's first sentence contradicts her, and she *almost* speaks. Almost. Then her eyes narrow, and she takes a slow breath. "Either of you can tell *them* anything you want to, about me," she says quietly. Her gaze settles on the hijabi, then. "I have the alpha's support, Shadi. That ought to fucking count for *something*, with whoever it is."

The profanity says something about the tension around this whole subject, for Maya.

Shadi listens to this, giving both Maya and Aster, hurt, aggrieved looks.

"Okay," she says. "First of all? No one is double talking here, so I'd like to kindly ask you to both stop accusing me of that. I've been nothing but truthful witrh both of you since I walked in the door. This is about saving lives, yes, both innocent lives and the lives of people who are coming to help. Every time one of those lives is snuffed out, work that could be getting done against Shaw and MDCI is being stopped. And then they go on to destroy more innocent lives because that's what they do." She bites her lip. "Second..."

Aster reaches out with an arm, wrapping about Maya's shoulders and pulling her in close. "Whether it's from you or them, Shadi, there /is/ double-talk. You can't say 'Aster, you have the leverage' after saying 'they'll absolutely refuse anything more than one-on-one'. So I'm sorry I accused you, but... well, if you're quoting them, then /they/ are double-talking."

Maya's expression just darkens a little at the word "accusing," and for a moment it looks like she's going to jump in defensively. But then she listens, and lets Aster pull her in, and she finally gives Shadi a nod. "Valid," she says quietly. "Go on, but I want to ask you about the casualties."

"No, no. You misunderstand," says Shadi to Aster, "They want the one on one meeting but YOU have the leverage because you have the drone network. That's not from them. That part is from me. Everybody has to have terms they can live by and all they want to know is that they can trust you with their secrets in the lkong run. They're security conscious, but once you get the door open in negotiations, the value of what you have to them is extremely high, and they get nothing by walking away. All YOU need to do is open the door, Aster, and get them to trust you ehnough to start negotiating on how it'll work. I think they'll be reasonable with you because the value of your information and the drone network is so high to them. But you have to open the door. So, phones." She reaches into her purse again and produces a small flip phone. "I'll make sure the other phone paired to this gets to them and we'll get you guys in touch."

Aster tousles Maya's hair while holding her there. "Actually, hold on, I misspoke. It's not one on one. It's one, me, on however many people they're bringing, about whom I know nothing other than 'they're security-conscious'. I know nothing about what they can and will do if they don't like what I'm saying. For all I know, they have those phones traced and will happily drop a spirit-nuke on me if they don't like my wording. The question isn't whether they trust me, but whether I trust them. So, my first request, and their first chance to show they're dealing in good faith: when that phone rings, I want Maya in on the conversation. Do you think they'd be agreeable?"

Maya reddens, but doesn't speak.

Shadi looks at Maya for a moment. There's a flicker of something behind her eyes, but its muted. She studies her for a long moment before she looks back to Aster with renewed sadness.

"That... isn't within my ability to grant. All I'm doing here is trying to help set this up, okay? Look, I know you trust Maya. I trust Maya. But she already stepped in it once in this very conversation by invoking the authority and protection of someone who is in no way connected to these people. They're outside her authority. That's the /exact/ kind of thing that they're worried about happening to them. Maya, I adore you, but you know you're not great with other people's secrets sometimes. Now, here's what I can say: If Maya wants to be in the room, listening, and you can keep her from tipping them off, /that's/ fine by me. Then you both can arrange good faith gestures from there, because I'm not here to play a telephone game when there's an /actual telephone/." She holds it out towards Aster.

"Just talk to them. I think you'll find you don't have a lot to be scared of. Their interests are narrow and, to be honest, I imagine they'll be fine with knowing as little about you as possible."

Maya gives Shadi a look of total incredulity, then--and just stares at her, as if she's speaking some entirely different language.

Aster shakes her head. "I'm not asking you to make that guarantee. I'm asking you to take it back to them, and let them decide whether they're actually willing to play ball. And, you know, act like they're trustworthy. That'd be the last bit of 'telephone' you need to play. Lying to them about Maya being present, concealing the truth about myself... that's the opposite of what I want. I want open honesty between us, /going both ways/. If they're too security-conscious to deal, then they don't get what they're asking, done." She sighs, looking at the phone. "...but if you don't want to telephone anymore... then I'll take a phone, and I'll make that negotiation myself. Maya, you know much about fighting a tr-- er, about keeping people from scrying on us?"

Maya glances to Aster. "I can't do it, but I have a friend who can," she says quietly. Then she looks across to Shadi and says, "Tell h-- *them*, that they can ask Sky or the Alpha *about* me. Do you understand? If they want to know about me, the lou-garou have plenty of information on who I am and what I do. And it's about time, anyway. Gaia knows I--" She shakes her head sharply, looking away.

Shadi purses her lips and lets Aster take the phone.

"It's really more important that you talk to them yourself, Aster. Really. They won't track you down based on it, or do anything to you. You're the /last/ person they want to hurt. You can help them. I want you to help them. And they need your help. People otu there need your help. I suspect a lot of your concerns about all this will evaporate when you actually have the chacne to talk to them. I'm worried I may've given the wrong impression. They ARE reasonable. They just prefer to be able to explain themselves...themselves. That's all. And it's complicated by me needing to watch my words carefully because there's limits to how far I can go without violating the trust placed in me to be asking you this in the first place. We're building a bridge here, so please, just talk to them. Do whatever... protections you need, but I really strongly advise just adhering to the phone call and negotiating from there, yeah. No one is goign to hurt anyone. They may not even WANT a face to face. They're pretty comfortable with tech from what I understand."

Aster wrinkles her nose and shakes her head to Maya. "Better do it myself, then. I trust you, but I'd rather play a 'the buck stops here' kind of thing. Not involve more people than necessary, you know?" She purses her lips, looking to Shadi. "It's not that /you/ gave them a bad impression, Shadi. It's that /everything else/ has given them a bad impression. Secrecy, talking about shit right in front of me without giving me any background -- fuck, you two act like I should already know what's meant by 'alpha' and 'garou', and my only experience with those terms is a lifetime of wolfman movies. I would be /fucking ecstatic/--" She glances across to Maya. "--not like that, though some of them are cute--" Back to Shadi. "--if they actually /did/ explain themselves. But again, I still have nothing about them other than 'they are security-conscious'. If they're comfortable with technology, they could have used, you know, 'the written word' and given you a letter to give me, that would contain exactly what they were comfortable sharing, and given them considerable freedom to explain themselves. They didn't. Did they just... not think of it?" She shakes her head. "I'll give the phone call a try. And I honestly /don't want/ face-to-face with people who make such a threat of themselves." She glances across to Maya. "...any good at protections against mind-control? I'm a little suspicious about evaporating concerns."

Maya's brow furrows. "Evaporating concerns?" she asks.

Aster coughs. "What she said about my concerns evaporating if I actually talked to them. Could be they're reasonable; could be they hypnotise me."

Maya reddens, the color flooding her face. "Oh. Um. Yeah, I... I can help you."

Shadi sags.

She finds herself sitting down on somewhere, be it a chair or somewhere else. She buries her face in her hands.

"Okay, okay. Nobody was trying to talk over you, Aster. I'm sorry. It's just that day, there was SO much going on and so many things to contend with, and they had no idea who you were, and they weren't sure how much they could talk in front of you. But rest assured that nobody in that conversation was in any way a threat to you, wants to hurt you, or do anything. In fact, they all think you're fabulous. Also, totally not involved in this. Totally seperate group of people. All these folks know is that you have the drone networks hacked. /That's it/. And so they want to establish contact, cautiously, because people want them dead." She turns towards Maya. Clearly, she's intent on having words with her.

Aster scowls, looking away from Shadi. "And I /still/ haven't been told just what the fuck the 'no-go zone' is, or what makes the spirit world /here/ so damn special and different. I figured he wasn't involved, because you said you've never personally met this group -- which, and I'm sorry to be so blunt here, rather minimises the credibility of any assurances you can give me. How cautious is cautious? Cautious enough to decide 'oh hey, we've got the passwords now, let's kill her before she can reveal what our voices sound like'? Security and caution can go incredibly, /bloodily/ far in this world, Shadi. So I'll talk with them, on the phone, but it's up to them to make up for the ground they've lost in seeming trustworthy."

Maya's increasingly worried as Shadi moves, speaks--she watches the girl closely, concern in her eyes. Then she seems almost relieved by Aster's words. "I can tell you a lot of *those* things," she says. "About who the enemy is. And what's happening in the spirit world. I don't know *why* it's happening, but that's -- it's all my fault, not telling you that, I mean." She disentangles herself and gives Aster's hand a squeeze, before going over to where Shadi sits and dropping smoothly to a knee. "Hey," she says gently. "It's hard, being stuck in the middle. I understand it. And if you need to, you can pass some of that on to me. Anything you don't want to deal with. Because I *know* it's hard. It's not that far from the line I'm walking. And I *get* that."

Shadi leans up to give Maya a hug and kiss her on the forehead.

"My assurances come from second hand knowledge, yes, but it's /strong/ second hand knowledge. SOme of that stuff is okay for you to know. These people, even if you may know, let them proceed at their own comfort just like you'd proceed for your own. That's how things get done." She rets her head on Maya, then, and adds, "Maya, I adore you, really, but has anyone ever told you that sometimes you're /really bad at this/?" Her tone is amused, teasing, but there's a trace of seriousness in it.

"You just say things from the heart in the heat of the moment and that can get you in trouble. A lot of it. I adore you, but you're too invested sometimes, and then you make a mistake or blab things and I want to shake you because you're going to get, not just yourself, but other people potentially hurt. I know you're doing your best. We ALL are. Just /be more careful/, because I shouldn't have to be worried about you. And I am." She looks back at Aster, adding, "None of that is going to happen unless things somehow go catastrophically wrong. They shouldn't, because you're not stupid enough to do the kind of things that could cause it go that wrong. They'll understand caution on your part. I think it'll make them feel better about working with you if you've shown due dilligence in protecting yourself anyway. You want to know the person you're going into work with is capable of due dilligence anyway."

Aster briefly squeezes Maya's hand, and smiles as the woman steps away to offer that comfort to the girl. "Yeah, well. What a tangled web we weave, blah blah blah. /I/ know I'm smart enough to avoid that, but that doesn't mean /they/ will believe it and act on such belief. They could forget that I'm smart enough to, you know, hack a drone network and think of things like 'letters of introduction' and so on." She holds up a finger. "Which brings me to another point. Shadi, is there a name I can use for these guys? Because if they're going to leave us calling them 'they', then I'm going to call them The Lock-Humpers, since they like security so much." She smiles over to Maya. "I'll pick your brain about that a bit later, then. Oh, and uh." She makes gestures at chest height. "You're kind of... slipping open, there. Might want to hold that hug a bit longer, 'til you can get adjusted." Is she serious, or just teasing?

It *almost* looks like Maya's going to object to *something* in Shadi's words, but then she's listening, and then Aster makes her blush *bright* red and clutch the robe around herself with both hands. She twists to her feet and stalks away from both of them. "I'm not making any more fucking mistakes, okay? And I'm bad at *lying*, yeah. It's a flaw." She turns, heat still flooding her face as she looks at Shadi. "Is it somehow *wrong* to offer to help you? They know me. They know who I *am*. Some hate me, some don't. What did I say *this* time, that's so wrong? You think the spirit world is some kind of big secret? It's not. Not to anyone who *knows* me, who knows *who I am*. The *spirits* don't *belong* to anyone. Shaw isn't some big secret. He's fucking evil. So *what* *offense* earned your moral condemnation *today*?"

Well. Apparently *that* was a long time coming, because whatever was holding all of that just... broke. There's a little more hurt than anger in the brief, mild tirade. For Maya it might be the equivalent of a rant, though.

"Did that sounds like /moral/ condemnation, Maya? It wasn't. It was 'I love you but sometimes you talk too much. YOU brought up Loup-Garou, not me. YOU brought up Alphas, not me. YOU told me about Rei when she didn't want you to. YOU told Aster about Rei when she didn't wnt you to. You're not just bad at lying. You just say too much of what's in your heart at the wrong times, too. You mean well, I don't think you don't, but you don't always grok where what's your right to share and what's someone else's begins and ends, okay? That's just in evidence from this conversation alone. I don't hate you. I don't judge you. Judgment is Allah's alone. I just want you to understand why I didn't want you involved. If I had a problem with you, I wouln't be telling you to come to my birthday party and also to help me with Asha." Maya's stalking away earned a sigh from her and she glances at Aster, plaintively, eyes wide with sympathy. "It's not moral. It's just...caution. We've all got our weaknesses. Allah knows I have a great many, but every day I thank him for giving me another chance to sparkle and shine. I don't have a name for them, myself. I know it's a big ask, but I think they'll understand. This isn't anybody's 'first rodeo', after all. Establishing contact, trust, introductions... it's a slow process, anyway." She starts to stand up.

First off: Aster steps in close, wraps her arms around Maya's head, and pulls her in tightly and warmly. "Easy, easy. She's not condemning you. You know she cares. She's just concerned."

Maya spends all of that time... breathing. Calming the emotion, settling back into a more controlled place, until her expression is merely bleak. Her arms stay wrapped tight around her body, though it's perhaps more a defensive posture than a concealing one, at this point. And eventually, her shoulders seem to settle, and she relaxes briefly against Aster's neck.

Then she turns a little in Aster's embrace, enough to be less isolated by it... but her eyes stay averted. "You don't think I've learned from what happened, with Rei?" she asks. "Because people *can* learn. And I haven't said *anything* that betrays any secrets to Aster. I said there's a leader. That's all it means, and there are always leaders. And the name I use for them, it isn't even the one *they've* chosen to call themselves, it's just--" She presses her lips together for a moment, and then looks to Shadi. "Just a word to *call* them, because we have to call them *something*. Call them whatever you want to, and I'll abide by it among strangers."

Aster keeps her fingers running through Maya's hair as she turns to Shadi. "To be fair, she never told me Rei's name. Just that there was a robot. Rei and I are cool now regardless. Though man, poor girl has /no/ sex drive. I'm pretty sure she's not even anatomically correct. Just a big ol' plastic-skinned barbie doll." She kisses the top of Maya's head, then wrinkles her nose, looking towards Shadi. "Okay. The Lock-Humpers it is. I have the phone now; you have a good night, and make sure that party rocks." She kisses the top of Maya's head. "And... well, your tongue is a little freer than it could be, sometimes. 'Alpha' doesn't just mean 'leader', but has canine pack connotations; and 'lou-garou' may not be the name they use, but it /is/ a name for werewolf. So someone cannier and less nice than me could go from knowing nothing, to knowing 'oh hey, werewolves with pack structure'. You have to think not just of what you're saying, but how it could be elaborated." Pause. "I mean, even if most people aren't as smart to that as Shadi and I are." But then, most people aren't as smart as Shadi and Aster /in general/. Int 4 and 5, yo.

"Learned, sure, but the damage is done," says Shadi, "You've been careless and you have to to accept that this means people are going to exercise cautions with you, myself included." She points at Aster, fairly agreeing with her. "You have the right of it, you know? It's contextual. And, really, you should ALWAYS let someone explain themselves /first/." She wets her lips with her tongue. "People aren't stupid, especially not people who've survived long enough in this world. People keep telling me I should be dead and I'm noooot because I am smaaaaart," she sing-songs. "Anyway, I should be going and you two clearly want to have more sex."

Maya, flushed and slightly caved in, does not look like she wants to have more sex. She looks slightly ill, and pretty much has that "would the floor please crack open and swallow me up right now" expression on her face. There aren't any more *words*, at least, so... maybe that's good? Or maybe she's just trying not to die of guilt and shame. Or something.

Aster sighs, her brow furrowed. "It'd be nice if the Lock-Humpers /did/ explain themselves first." Yeah, that name is going to stick for a bit. She laughs at Shadi's suggestion, shaking her head. "As fun as it is, I don't think Maya and I are going to do more of /that/ today. You have a good night, though."

"Oh, relax Maya, I'm teasing," says Shadi to Maya, "See you soon, guys." And with that, she's going out the door.