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[The screen displays black for several seconds before flickering into scrolling, illegible symbols-- unless you can read Reach, of course. They begin slowly at first, but at the fifteen second mark they've filled the screen: the text speeds across the display in multiple directions in blurry blue lines.]

[requested entries no longer in database. attempt system override?]

[There's a moment or two where the text continues-- but then, abruptly, the strange alien lettering freezes. There's a harsh whirring, like a CD's gotten stuck in its player.

It's not a good sound, in any case.]

[ABORT ABORT ABORT--] [blares a voice, and there's about half a second of a partially-transformed Blue Beetle shielding his face and stumbling backward in a hurry. The screen's filled with a bright blue light, and then the feed cuts out completely once more.

Someone's gonna need a new console.]

(ooc: Jaime's just tried to hack into the console searching for the source of old Malicant posts! clearly it did not go as planned. feel free to have heard the ruckus if you're in the Wood sector; any network replies will come from a cafe console later on.)

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[First this mysterious fog, and then strange writing on the console? Never mind that it's different from the previous instances Malicant was around - anything strange on the network is worth investigation, especially if it's technological in nature. More weapons for the enemy.]

[The glimpse of the face on the other end is brief, and even with Monet's sharp eyes she misses that - instead looks at the console ID, and goes to track down this potential threat. She lands in Wood Sector, and determinedly walks the rest of the way to the source.]

[To his defense, he was only trying to help! Which doesn't really change the fact that he completely blew up his console, but roads to hell and good intentions and so on.

Jaime's in WO-1B. Just outside WO-1B, rather. As Monet approaches he's just bolted out his door, looking obviously frazzled and with a bit of gross console-goo stuck to his shirt.

Being inconspicuous isn't one of his strong points.]

You there!

[She strides towards him, not furious, precisely, but radiating irritation.]

What do you think you're doing?

[Subtlety isn't one of her strong points...]

Nothing! I just--

[Oh god he's just noticed the console gloop on him. He flashes a grin that's too freaked to be entirely innocent, and leans against the doorframe with his arms crossed to cover the stain as much as possible.]

--I wanted some fresh air? Still really gross and foggy out, though. Weird, right? Ha, ha. Ha.

Edited 2014-02-11 05:06 (UTC)

And someone let you outside looking like — [she frowns, she's in telepathic range and there's something seriously weird about this kid.]

Who else is here?

[Crap.]

I-- I don't have any roommates. Nothing to see here. Ma'am.

[At some point, he'll stop valuing the sanctity of the secret identity around other capes, but today is very much not that day.]

[Clearly, the best course of action here is to stride over purposefully, grab him by the collar (or its nearest equivalent on the Beetlesuit), and batglare at him. He looks and sounds like a kid, and while she's aware appearances can be deceiving, she's not out to actively hurt children.]

Don't lie.

Who else is here?

Edited 2014-02-11 05:32 (UTC)

I'm not lying, I swear!

[He doesn't squirm or try to escape-- that'll make him look even more suspicious, he figures-- but he is, admittedly, looking more than a little nervous.

Crap. Crapcrapcrap. She's gonna check the suite and his cover's going to get completely blown.]

[He's right about that particular statement, but she drags him in to the room and the first thing she sees is the exploded console. Well done, Jaime.]

[She lets him go and puts her arms akimbo.]

Why are you trying to hack the console?

Oh, okay, we're moving! Yeah, I'm totally cool with being dragged around like a--

[Annnd he's promptly deposited on his own floor. Steadying his footing, he scowls at Monet.]

Maybe I wanted to find out more about the enemy that way. Nobody ever said that it'd blow up on me.

Does school teach you nothing these days?

[Face, meet your old friend Palm.]

You have a scanner? It's biotech. Hacking it isn't going to work - and you'd only be specifically accessing it if you were trying to contact the enemy.

[Welcome to Monet logic, Jaime.]

...Oops.

[Why didn't he think of that? Scarab must've been a little too confident in its hacking abilities.]

But-- the broadcasts, they've all got something stored on the network, don't they? I wanted to see if there was anything left from, you know, the Big Bad. I wasn't trying to contact anyone-- just to find a source.

[A beat.]

Also, I don't know anything about biotech.

[The fact that he actually explains himself without her threatening to take his head off or something equally gruesome catches her off-guard, and she almost steps back from him.]

No, there isn't. [She surprises herself with how even and calm her voice is, saying this.] It's some kind of technopath, the message is there for a while and then it's gone; there's no way to replay it.

So I just blew my console up for no reason?

[Uuuuuuuggggh. Jaime groans and drags his hands down his face.]

And if you've seen, then the entire network must have-- urgh. Dammit.

Essentially.

[She folds her arms, but looks much more bemused.]

Awesome. That went exactly how I wanted it to, then, if I wanted it to fail catastrophically.

[He casts a skeptical glance Monet's way.]

Please tell me this isn't an arrestable offense in Keeliai? My mom'll kill me if she figures out I went to jail.

[She doesn't even have to think of witty comebacks he's doing it for her. Monet smiles.]

At the moment? No. I was only interested in finding out if you were trying to bring our shadowy friend down on us. [A shrug] What you do in your suite with the goo is your problem, not mine.

[Beat.]

... Is your mother here?

[Such is Jaime's life.]

Mal-whatever is not my shadowy friend! I don't even know the guy-- er, actually, I don't think it's a guy so much as a weird evil presence, but you get the point, right?

[...Oh, no.]

I can't pick who the Emperor brings in.

An evil presence that can take the form of a guy.

[She sighs, she's not going to offer sympathy.]

The good news is - there's no good news here. Your mother? Seriously?

Okay. I'm sticking with 'guy' then. And, yeah, my mother. [huff.] She's a completely normal mom. I don't know how picking her happened, unless the Emperor wants her to ground the big bad to death.

[a beat]

Ssssooo, we're cool now, right? Big misunderstanding?

Edited (WOW I DID NOT MEAN TO PICK THE SAD ICON) 2014-02-17 03:54 (UTC)

There's children here.

[As far as she's concerned that's in the same general category of "Eshai why".]

... "Cool". [She seems more amused that she should be by the comment, strictly.] Fine. As long as you tell me who you were talking to.

I never claimed the Emperor was good at picking up recruits.

["Eshai why" encompasses a lot of things to be fair.

And FINALLY, he notes that she must also be a cape. Either that or a serious costume enthusiast.] It's... superhero related. As in I am one. [smooth.] I've got a very cranky alien computer in my head right now, if we're being up front here.

That doesn't seem to have changed with the leadership.

[She raises an eyebrow. Very smooth, Jaime.]

That explains it... [absently, as she looks at the top of his head. That hair could use some styling, maybe. Then, as a postscript, she adds:] Telepath.

Oh.

[Yeah, that makes way more sense than her simply being very good at guessing. ~~And hush, his hair is fine.~~]

Wait, if you're a telepath, how come you didn't already know I wasn't planning on anything evil?

[She glares at him.]

You want to ask that again, dear?

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