| abstract
| - Kastaprulyi slips out of a store on the parkway into the light of the afternoon sun. The young Centauran shifts off to the side of the doorway to pause, floating so as to have a total height of five feet. A young girl sits by herself, on a bench not far from the store that the Cenaturan has just left. A retangular box sits next to her. The girl's pale green eyes shift up to Kas, and she tilts her head to the side as she watches him. Kastaprulyi replies to the glance with a feeling of greeting and starts in Whisper's direction. "Hello..." Kas also offers aloud as it comes near enough, bringing a faint aura of curiosity with it. "Are you playing music here too?" Whisper shakes her head quickly, a bit of hair falling across her face. "No," she replies to Kas, giving a sad smile. "I'm not playing music here today. Waiting for my father... And he's been gone an awfully long time." Whisper's on a bench in front of one of the stores, talking with Kas. "I'm just watching people around here, talking with somebody from my ship," Kas relates. "Is your father too busy for you to call?" "So, you'll sign to be shtup too, will you?" Dement asks idly as he exits the inuration corridor with Rathenhope. "Shutup?" asks Rathenhope curiously. "...I'm obviously missing something." "I don't know," Whisper replies to Kas, shaking her head. "He was doing something at that place down near the water front, and he's been gone an awfully long time." Her lower lip comes out in a pout, and it looks like tears are starting to well up in her eyes. "Quiet! Silent!" Dement explains with a chuckle, they're walking prett fast towards Plaindid Street. "About what?" Rathenhope queries, looking even more confused. "...Oh don't tell me there's secrecy attached to this...." Kastaprulyi suggests a bit of concern at the feeling from Whisper. "Why worry about your father?" Kas asks. "Should we go talk with somebody?" "Well, he shouldn't be long," Whisper replies to Kas, shaking her head. "And he's my father, so I should worry about him." Her shoulders slump slightly in defeat. "Can you come with me to that research place to see if he's there?" Dement nods, "You have to sign to make sure you don't tell anyone. Else something happens or something." Rathenhope raises an eyebrow. "..I need to check with Ruin before i sign anything," he says with a slight sigh, pulling out his PDA. As he does, he catches a whisp of the conversation, and a look of concern comes over his face. "Hang on Dem..." he says, wandering over to Kas and Whisper. "..Hey," he says kindly. "..You say you've lost someone?" Those green eyes on the young girl look up to the man, and she nods. "My daddy," Whisper tells Rathenhope, as her bottom lip starts to tremble. "He should have been here an hour ago." "Probably you should only worry if your father does dangerous stuff. Greenville seems mostly safe to me," Kas offers. It suggests some curiosity at Whisper's question and reaches an arm under its bell for something. "I can probably come..." Kas sends Rathenhope a silent greeting as he approaches. Dement hangs on, at least, he hangs onto Rathenhope, trailing him closely as they make their way over to the others. Rathenhope crouches a little so as to bring himself to eye-level with Whisper. "What's he look like?" he asks, still kindly. "And what's his name? Maybe I know him." "Andrew Thompson," Whisper replies to Rathenhope, giving a nod. "And he's tall, wears a gray suit." A nod follows to her words, before she looks back to Kas with a grin. "Thank you... It's only a few minute walk. But thank you Mister... Miss... Centauran!" "You can call me Kas," the young Centauran supplies helpfully. "Do you work with the Greenville Research Center people too?" Kas asks. Dement looks past Rathenhope and waves at Kas and Newt rather distantly, a smile pulling to his features. Rathenhope nods slightly to Whisper. "..And what's your name?" he asks quietly. A look goes over his shoulder to Dement. "Sorry," he mouths. "Rachelle," Whisper replies to Rathenhope, her green eyes looking up to him. She slowly moves off the chair, taking the case with her flute with her. She offers a faint smile to the man. "People call me Whisper..." A head shake follows, and her voice grows quieter, living up to her nickname. "But I don't know why." Then across to Kas, her attention goes, and the Centuran gets a head shake. "Nah, he doesn't do anything dangerous." Arizhel saunters in from the decon corridor, the case from an acoustic guitar slung over one of her shoulders. She's whistling softly to herself as she walks along, headed generally toward Plaindid Street. She pauses and blinks as she notices the gathering of people, though, changing direction so she's headed their way. "Maybe you should call the office for saying if you're going over there," Kas observes encouragingly. Dement stands still, looking down to the little girl with a happy smile. Rathenhope blinks as Whisper reveals her name. A light frown crosses his features. "...Whisper eh? ..I'm sure I've heard that name before," he muses, standing up slowly. "Anyway, me and my friend here have some work to be doing, so we'd better be going. I hope you find your father." He begins typing on his PDA as he turns to go, still frowning somewhat. Newt comes out of the DIC and looks around. Spotting Kas he begins to head over. "We have time, if you want to help, Rath?" Dement looks up to the Martian with a smile, "It's only 3pm here, after all." Whisper gives Dement a strange look, and then takes a couple of steps away from his smiling. Rathenhope gets another strange look when he says that he's heard of her. But, the girl's attention soon comes to rest on Arizhel, and she rises up on her toes slightly, appearing excited. Her father forgotten about for the time being. "You're her!" she declares, a finger pointing towards Rish. "Hey Dee," Rish greets, sidling up next to the engineer with a smile. "Long time no see, yeah?" She pauses then, blinking at Whisper in bewilderment, one hand pointing at herself. "Er... I'm who?" Kastaprulyi suggests a touch of puzzlement at the changes in mood, but continues looking on attentively. Kas shifts slightly to watch Newt approach, sending a silent greeting to him. Rathenhope's PDA beeps almost instantly and a heavy frown comes over his features as he reads it quickly. Almost instinctively his hand goes towards his stun gun, but he restrains it, shooting an urgent glance towards Whisper as he quickly types into his PDA again. "You're that singer from the Drunken Ferretmonkeys," Whisper tells Rish, giving a nod. "I soooo want to play with them one day. I play the flute." Then back to Kas, with a grin. "I don't have a commlink to ring up, Kas. Could I borrow yours, pleeease?" Newt, however, he gets a rather competative look. "Mister Meany Greenpants.... Something, something, something." "Well, looks like you have a fan." Dement turns around and gives Rish a broad smile, "How are you?" Newt stops near Kas and Whisper, "Heyas." Arizhel blushes slightly and chuckles, shifting the guitar case a bit on her shoulder. "I'm one of em, yeah," she says, nodding to Whisper and smiling. "Didn't know we were -that- well known outside of the Dead Fish, but it's always fun to meet other musicians. My name's Arizhel. What's yours?" She grins and shifts her eyes to Dement, winking. "It comes with the territory, I guess. I'm doing good, actually, and yourself?" Kastaprulyi takes out its PDA, pulling out the ceramic and plastic device in the end of one arm. Kas fishes under its bell again at Whisper's request. "You can use it..." Kas agrees helpfully, though the emotion trails off into confusion as it holds out the comm. "Coming down to inquire about future jobs. Seen the news? They had our logo and everything in one of the articles." Dement gushes, "I'm so proud!" a silly grin pulls across his features, "Maybe we can hire you guys out when we've finished our first job, da?" Rathenhope looks carefully at his PDA, frowning somewhat, his arms crossing across his chest. "...Whisper?" he begins, trying to keep his voice level. "Did you dad say what he was doing at the research facility?" "Thank you," Whisper politely replies to Kas, as she takes the commlink. She presses in the number, before holding the device to her ear. "Hello... I'm wondering if my daddy's still at the research center." She shakes her head and frowns. "He hasn't turned up." The colour flows out of her face and she looks rather worried, before she looks towards Rathenhope. She gives a shrug and a rather blank expression resides on her face. "No, my daddy didn't say what he does. He never does." There comes the indignant stamp of her foot, before she passes the commlink back to the Centauran. "It's /not/ fair." Newt isn't worried about this time, as he attention goes back to Arizhel. "I've played a couple of times in there, but I'm usually ushered out. The owner's a meanie." "I saw that!" Rish says, nodding at Dement. "Congratulations, man, that's just plain cool. Finding a new sentient species and all that, I mean. I'm proud of you too." She grins and winks. "And hey, if you want some good solid rock and roll for a party, you know where to look, right?" Her attention shifts to Whisper then, head tilting slightly to the side. "He ushered you out? Hmph. That's not nice at all. I'll have to have a talk with him. Maybe you can go in there with us sometime, then he couldn't kick ya out so easy, yeah?" "Consider it a deal!" Dement grins, "I'm not much of a music person, but that just means I'm not picky. Do you plan to release some albums or something?" "..I'm sorry to hear that," Rathenhope says to Whisper, his expression remaining guardedly neutral, though his tone slipping in and out of icy cold. "So where do you live? Maybe you should go wait for your dad there?" he suggests. Kastaprulyi suggests some concern at Whisper's reaction. "Are you okay, Rathenhope?" Kas queries. It takes back the commlink and adds, "Should we call your mother, neighbors instead?" "You're creepy... I'm not telling you where I live," Whisper tells Rathenhope, moving a bit closer to Kas. "Daddy said that he'd be at the research station, so I'm going to the research station." She doesn't give Rish a reply, raising an arm up to wipe at her eyes with the back of it. Newt just looks from one person to the other, seeming to be a tad on the confused side. Arizhel's brow furrows in a frown as she looks down at Whisper. "Hey, you okay, hon? Don't cry. I don't think he meant anything by it." She eyes Rathenhope for a moment, biting at her lip a bit. "Though it would be a little silly of her to just up and tell you where she lived, yeah? I dunno, just an observation." After a moment, she blinks and looks over to Dement, shrugging. "Mostly we just play locally. Haven't had any offers for off-planet gigs or albums or anything like that as of yet, but you never know, right?" Rathenhope frowns, biting his own lip now. "...Mm," he says quietly. "You said your father wears a grey suit?" he asks. his tone becoming more interrogative by the second. He looks over at Kas and nods. "I'm fine." "Well there's mine!" Dement says, "So that's one. You don't even have to count me as a friend, I'm a businessman now." he turns around, looking to Whisper with a frown, then back up to Rathenhope. Whisper backs away from Rathenhope, looking concerned, even trying to hid behind Kas for protection. She doesn't say answer him, her bottom lip trembling. Kastaprulyi rubs uncertaintly at a few arms, though continues floating where it was. "Maybe you should write a letter to Andrew Thompson instead..." Kas ventures. Newt leans over to Kas and asks him quietly, "She still looking for her dad?" "I still count ya as a friend," Rish says, smiling at Dement. "But I'll count ya as a business contact too. See how that works? Two in one." She trails off there, frowning as her eyes return to Rathenhope. "Man, what's your problem? She's just a kid. Can't you see that you're scaring the bejeezus out of her?" "Rathenhope. What are you trying to do?" Dement looks a bit worried, having to pass on replying to Rish for the moment. Rathenhope shakes his head. "..Damnit, I can't do this. Ruin's going to kill me," he mutters to himself. "Whisper? You're not fooling me. I know who you are and what you did. The question I'm interested in, is why are you back?" Whisper just Rathenhope a rather strange look and shakes her head. "What are you talking about, mister?" she asks, taking another nervous step away from the group. "You are... You're sick. A stalker. I'm going to tell the police on you." Her green eyes drift across to Rish, as if pleading for some help. Arizhel sighs and steps closer to Whisper. "Cmon, if your dad's at the research facility or whatever, shouldn't you just go there if you wanna find him? I'll take you if you want. Staying here doesn't seem like such a good idea right now, hon." Her eyes wander to Rathenhope, and she shakes her head. "She's just a kid, man. Just wants to find her dad. Seriously, what's with you?" Norton is smoking a cigarette as he steps out of the tavern. Kastaprulyi floats near a storefront with Newt beside it and Rathenhope and Whisper on opposite sides. "A police station might be a good place for waiting for your father if the work's supposed to be secret," Kas offers uncertainly as it opens a channel on its commlink. "..What's with me?" Rathenhope asks, his voice steely. "What's with me is the kind of people she's involved with. I've seen the results of the torture they inflict. If she's going back to the research facility, let her go alone," he says, his voice dripping ice. "Because she is /not/ to be trusted." He steps backwards slowly, until he's standing beside Dement. Whisper flashes a confused look towards Rathenhope, before moving closer to Rish. "Thank you miss," she says to the older woman, her shoulders slumping slightly. "I think he needs help. Like, professional help." She pretty much appears ready to go when Rish is ready, though, she does appear rather scared and nervous. Dee, however, takes a step to one side, to make it clear he's not taking any sides. "What the hell are you talking about Rathenhope?" "Whoa, whoa, buddy," says a grinning Norton as he catches Rathenhope's steely comment. "You can't just go around tossing that sort of accusation around. If you have reason to believe such and haven't reported it to local authorities, you've got the chance you'll get in trouble as an accessory. If you're just talking out of your fourth point of contact, you ought to button it. If you have a legit gripe, though, please feel free to enlighten the proper authorities. IE me. Somewhere else." "She's like eleven years old," Rish retorts to Rathenhope, shaking her head. "And you'd let her walk around alone without even bothering to help. That's -so- nice of you." Her voice carries just as much ice as his formerly did, and her dark eyes are narrowed. "Jesus." She trails off as Norton shows up, giving a somewhat satisfied smirk before turning back to Whisper. "Cmon, hon, let's go find your dad then. Whoever that guy is, he's a weirdo anyway..." Rathenhope blinks at Dement, then frowns at Norton. "...This wasn't here. This didn't /happen/ here. So I don't believe it's a New Luna matter." His voice raises suddenly. "Whisper... you remember Raisa? You remember what the Suits did to her? With you around, helping them?" Dement remains quiet, looking back between Rish, Norton, Whisper and Rathenhope. Whisper doesn't give a reply to Rathenhope, starting to cry as she starts to walk towards the decon corridor. It's a rather slow walk, most likely so that Rish can keep up, if she decides to follow. "Some people at the Greenville Research Center were doing bad stuff to the Thole that sounded really unscientific to me," Kas remarks uncomfortably. "But I didn't hear Whisper trying to trick anybody just now..." "If the people that did the crime are on New Luna, New Luna would like to know about it, friend," says Norton as he continues to grin. Gesturing with his cigarette, he continues to expound on the topic."We don't want us no reputation as harborers of interplanetary criminals. And, how do I know where it happened? You ain't told me nothing, compadre. This may comes as something of a surprising feature about me but despite my fan network, I am not all knowing. Leave the kid alone. Jeeze, man, ain't not call to be cruel. It's like kicking a puppy or something." He nods to Kas, "There we go, my floating school child buddy. That's the sort of thing that is productive." "Geez. Now you went and made her cry. Good job. Bravo." Rish sighs and starts after Whisper, pausing only to wave back at Dement. "I'll drop you a message soon, hon," she promises, then keeps walking after the child, catching up after a few moments, guitar still slung over her shoulder. "Hey, kid, don't worry. Some people are just jerks. We'll find your dad, okay?" Rathenhope sighs, watching Whisper go. "...I'll see what I can do then," he says to Norton, pulling out his PDA and typing on it quickly. A couple of snotty sniffs comes from Whisper, and she just gives a nod to Rish, but nothing is said. The land and sea meet uncertainly, salty blue ocean water giving way to thick hummocky estuary mud in a whisper of spent waves. The silt-laden waters of the Washington River snake out of the muck, pouring a fertile brown stain across the ocean. Sea birds with enormous wingspans wheel and cry like calligraphy against the sky. The long light wooden finger of the Independence Docks stretches out through a clear stretch of ocean with several small boats tied along it. It leads to a broad wooden platform of roughly split logs that's set on a patch of relatively dry ground and tethered against the lift of the tide. Upon this are some few wooden sheds and coils of rope, half-repaired boats and sailcloth. Crisp ocean scents struggle for dominance with brown organic decay and the smell of fresh wood. A rather expensive black car sits by the boardwalk, the driver currently waiting for someone. Out on the harbour, it's just another average day out there. Birds flapping around looking for fish and chips, or people to use as bombing targets. Boats sailing, hopefully avoiding any hazards. It doesn't take long for Whisper to lead Rish down, now having got her crying under control. "That's his car," she tells the older woman. There's something out on the harbour, it's just a brief glint of something reflective, coming from an anchored yahct." "Well hey, that was easy enough," Rish says, nodding. "I'm really sorry about that guy, by the way. I don't even know who he was, but geez, he seemed like a jerk to me. Got up on the wrong side of the bed or something. Hopefully Captain Norton straightens him out." She nods toward the car. "Looks like the driver's waiting for someone, yeah?" Her eyes wander out over the harbor, and she bites at her lip a bit. "Hm..." Rish would recognise the man walking down, impecable gray suit, dark shades. The offical secret agent look, but he looks towards Whisper and Arizhel, his face hardening. "That's daddy!" Whisper declares, motioning at him with a hand. "That's him... C'mon, I'll introduce you to him." Arizhel bites at her lip, blinking in disbelief at the all-too-familiar gray-suited figure. "That... that's your dad?" she inquires, frowning a bit. "O... okay, but... I think he sorta knows me already, though... Um... he doesn't look like he's very happy. You're not in trouble, are you, missy?" She gives a nervous bark of laugher as she trails uncertainly after the child. "Mizz Velasquez," Andrew says, offering the woman a smile. "I see that you've met my daughter." His smiles rather friendly and easy. A sigh follows. "Now, I don't suppose she's told any strange stories or anything?" Whisper's rather excitable about now, looking between Andrew and Rish. "Dad... This is my new friend, she protected me from a strange man who I think was one of those sick people who prey on children," she tells her father, at a machine gun like pass. "She's called... She's that ferretmonkey lady." "Naw, but some guy in town was all on about her," Rish replies, shifting the guitar on her shoulder a bit uncomfortably. "Saying all kinds of stupid things. Dunno what his problem was." She shrugs vaguely. "Some people're just jerks, I guess." She chuckles a bit nervously at Whisper's continuing tirade before shifting her eyes back to Andrew, watching him somewhat warily. Andrew gives a long look to Whisper, shaking his head. "Now, what did I tell you about interacting with those of lesser stock?" he childes his daughter. That smile goes tight and reserved, before he looks back to Rish again. "Well, thank you for returning my truent daughter. It is appreciate, ja?" Whisper head hangs as her father's remark, but it's at this point where something moves on the back of her neck. Something that shouldn't be there. It appears to be something simular to a datajack, but bigger, and it's staring Rish straight in the face. Arizhel nods at Andrew, offering a faint smile. "No problem. Couldn't let her stay there and have that weirdo saying all kinds of stuff about her. Captain Norton's gonna straighten em out, I bet." She frowns a bit, her eyes shifting down to Whisper, blinking blankly. For the moment, however, she doesn't comment further. "Good," Andrew replies to Rish, giving a faint nod of approval, before slipping into the car. "Get into the car, Whisper." Whisper doesn't seem to worry about that thing being displayed to the world, suggesting that she thinks it's normal. This is about when things start to get wierd. When Andrew's half way into the car, the driver slumps forward, his foot going down hard on the accelerator. A moment later, a singing rifle shot can be heard, echoing in from the distances. Andrew's head goes back, striking the rear pillar and falls into the car proper. The car? Que dramatic out of control car scene, with it actually missing a fruit stand and plunging into the harbour, bottom side up. "Oh my GOD," Arizhel cries out, pausing for a moment as if unsure what to do. In fact, that's exactly what it is. After only that moment's pause, she goes with her first instinct - diving for the nearest cover, a nearby stack of crates. She reaches out to grab Whisper by the arm. "Kid, let's get behind something..." Whisper goes to move as she's tugged to the side by Arizhel, a stunned look on her face. Well, she's more knocked in sideways, than actually pulling in. She's silent, she's bleeding from a wound on her right shoulder. But little girls don't usually have a strange silver colour mixed in with thier blood. The rifle resounds a couple of moments later, giving an idea how far away the shooter is. "Oh God, oh God, oh God," Rish mutters to herself, some kind of strange mantra to keep herself going as she frantically attempts to drag the little girl along behind those crates. Once safe, she fumbles in her pocket for her commlink, nearly dropping it as she attempts to activate it. "Damn it... Hello? Anyone? I need help. Someone's just been shot down at the harbor..." Whisper whimpers, her hand going up to her injury. She's in a state of shock, but nothing else sings out from the White yacht on the harbour. "Someone's been shot down at the harbour?" the voice on the other end of the commlink replies. "Okay, sending police and medical units to your location. Can you give us anymore details? What is your name?" "Arizhel Velasquez," Rish says into the comm, apparently gaining some measure of relief from the reply. "I... I was just bringing a girl to meet her dad, and when he got into the car, someone shot his driver, and his car went off into the harbor... then someone tried to shoot the girl..." She stops to take a couple of deep breaths, staving off tears. "She's been hit, but she's still alive..." An arm goes around Whisper. "Hey, kid, it'll be okay, they're gonna send doctors, okay? They'll make sure you're okay..." That's all well and good, but her voice quavers noticeably. Judging by the off coloured blood coming from Whisper's back, the round passed straight through. She gives a nod, her whole body shaking through the pain. That wound on the front of her shoulder appears to be healing up abnormally fast. "I... Why?" Arizhel frowns and bites her lip, shaking her head. "I... I dunno, hon. I really don't. God, what kind of a place is this?" Another shaky breath, the woman still fighting against tears. "I... hrm..." She eyes the healing wound with a growing amount of disbelief. "What the...?" The faint wailing of sirens can be heard from Greenville itself. Gawkers, by now, have started to come in for a closer look. "W...What's wrong?" Whisper asks in a weak voice, shaking her head as she looks up to Arizhel. The front of the wound has actually slowed up bleeding. "Miss Velasquez, please remain calm. Medical will be there in a couple of minutes. We've just redirected the closest unit to you, too. How is the girl?" "Thank you so much. She... She seems okay," Rish says into her comm, blinking at Whisper and biting her lip. She points at Whisper's shoulder then. "You... you're healing up, kid... Geez, wish I coulda done that when I was shot..." A nervous chuckle, another shaky breath or two. "Nope, I got stuck in a G'ahnli hospital for a week." Whisper arches a brow at Rish, shaking her head. "This... This is normal," she replies, her voice still shakey and stressed. Several of the gawkers are staring in disbelief. But it appears that the wound has also got to a certain point of rapid healing, and is slowing down significantly. "Isn't it?" The sirens draw closer, placing them at the edge of the landing pad and heading down the road. "I... don't think so..." Rish says, shaking her head. "I can't do that, and I'm about as normal as they come." She bites her lip and meets the girl's eyes, her expression worried. "But that's okay, right? Healing up fast is good. It means you won't have to spend all kinds of time with doctors poking at you, yeah? That's the worst part." Yep, keep talking, and maybe you won't cry. That's right. Whisper slowly nods, her eyes growing slightly dim. She's laying on the ground, behind some crates, with Rish looking over her. There's blood, but it has strange silver colour mingled through it, the blood that is on the ground has already congealed into masses. Whisper appears to have suffered a shoulder wound, which passed straight through, and has healed up at a strange rate. A car is currently in the harbour, on its roof. No one has got out of it. "God, the car," Rish murmurs, biting her lip and looking toward the harbor, craning her neck to try to see around the crates. But damn, did she pick a good piece of cover, and can't get a glimpse of things without moving away from Whisper. "Hey, kid, stay with me, okay? Stay awake till the doctors get here." Sidearm drawn and charged, Taeren comes running in from the direction of the boardwalk. Sirens are not far behind him in the distance. "New Luna Militia!" The uniformed man identifies himself in the dim light. "What's going on here?" "Wella," says one man close to Tay. "Wella, she's got herself shot," he helpfully says, pointing towards Whisper. "I thinkin' that she's, uh, like one of those Kamiriod things... Ain't no natural for a girlie to be like that." He then vaguely points towards the not so floating hovercar. "Wella, they kinda crashed into the harbour... All g'd and propa like. Sounded kinda like someone was takin' shots with a three oh eight from that there boat..." He waits for a moment, looking out. "Well, uh, yeah. That there boat that ain't there anymore." Whisper remains where she is, looking up to Rish and nodding. "I... I'll try," she says, as her pale green eyes drift towards the flute case. Arizhel looks up, blinking at Tay. "I brought her down to meet her dad," she says, biting at her lip and brushing a lock of Whisper's hair off of her forehead. "Then when they went to get into the car... someone shot the driver, I think. That's how the car got into the harbor..." She swallows deliberately, shaking her head and gesturing to Whisper. "Then they shot at her, but... I dunno, they didn't have such good aim that time, I guess. I didn't check on the car cause I didn't want to get shot too, yeah?" "And her father?" Taeren asks, looking nervously at the water. "Still in the car?" "Dad," comes from Whisper as she tries to sit up. A wince and a wimper stop her going from any further, before a faint whimper happens. That bullet wound, both entry and exit, have completely stopped bleeding now, though the fleshy stuff underneath is still seen. "Daaaddy!" The sirens draw closer, divers suiting up and getting ready to go into the car. The medical services arrive next, with medical crews getting their equipment ready, one rushing across to Whisper and taking note of the congealed blood from the young girl. "Yuup," Tays' new found friend goes. "I reckons that they still in that there car," he says, giving a nod. "Ain't seens me no one getting in or outta it." "No, kid, no," Rish says, trying her best to keep Whisper from moving. She blinks and looks up as the medics arrive, taking a shaky breath and exhaling a relieved sigh. "It's okay, hon, the doctors're here, okay? They're gonna take care of you..." Her eyes track over to Tay then, and she nods, paling slightly. "Yeah... I was just... like I said, didn't wanna get shot up myself, you know? And the kid..." A sigh, and she rests her forehead on a hand, biting hard at her lip. Taeren stands back a step, allowing the EMTs room to work. "Hang on, presh," he says to Whisper. "My friends are going to go see about your dad right now. Lie back." The Timonae's eyes are on Whisper's rapidly recovering wound even as he absentmindedly replies to Rish and holsters his sidearm. "It's okay, I don't know how to swim either ..." By the change of tone, he apparently begins speaking to Whisper again. "What's your name, little sister?" "Rachelle Thompson," the girl replies to Taeren, giving a slow nod. "But people.... People call me Whisper." She leans back as instructed, as two EMTs come up beside her, taking vitals and checking the injury. They both share strange looks between each other, before looking up to the Timonae. And the divers, now suited up, do that goofy little walk they have to do to make it to the pier, so they can enter the water safety. Bubbles track their path towards the car. Arizhel bites her lip and shakes her head. "I can swim just fine. Just... dunno. Mucking about with a car belly up in the harbor seems like something I oughta leave to... well, professionals. I just play in a band, you know?" Whether or not Tay is actually listening, she's talking, and watching the EMT's and the girl. "Probably a good idea," Tay respond to Rish, glancing at her sidelong before back down to Rachelle and the EMTs. "I'm guessing you're going to be just fine," he says to the girl, looking between her and the technicians as if for confirmation. "Why do they call you Whisper?" The tall, slim Timonae eases down into a squat near the girl. "I don't know," Whisper replies to Tay, shaking her head. "It's just something I've already been called. Daddy..." She starts to sniffle at this point. "Daddy said it meant something, but I don't know what it means." The divers, by now, have entered into the car, doing the checks of the two passengers inside of it. The driver, is dead as a dodo. And the OARAS director? He's currently in the process of being fished out and brought to shore. By now, Whisper being in the good hands of the EMT's and all, Rish seems to have gotten ahold of herself at least enough to peer up over the stack of crates. She watches silently as the divers pull the man from the water, still biting at her lip. "Who is your dad, by the way, little sister?" Taeren asks, tilting his head at the girl and then turning to Rish. "Hey presh -- what's your name? Do you know who her dad is?" He gestures towards Whisper. "Andrew Thompson," Whisper replies to Taeren, her lips starting to quiver again. "He's the CEO... of Orion Arm Security and Retrievals." Her head lulls back as pain killers are administered, a rather goofy smile playing on her lips. "And he's got pink bunny slippers... And we've got a dog who looks like that man." Her eyes roll back, and she's out of it. The medics continue with their work, one taking a swab of the wound, which comes back dry, but a little bit of silver comes along with it. They continue with their checks, seeing if it's alright to move her safetly, coming across a strange object on the side of her neck, that appears to be something simular to a datajack, but rather bigger. "That's strange," one of the men remark, shaking his head. "Why would a girl this age need a datajack?" The body of the CEO is just that, the back of his head having been split open to reveal the tasty stuff inside of it. Straight away they go into action, attempting to revive the man. Arizhel covers her mouth with one hand, ducking back behind the crates again, her skin taking on a bit of a greenish cast at what she saw, even at this distance. "Um..." she says, looking up at Tay. "A... Arizhel Velasquez," she says after a moment, eyes shifting away. "I only met her dad once before... didn't really know his name..." she trails off, giving a vague shrug. "What you're not asking is why does a girl of this age have silvery blood and a shoulder that healed itself completely inside a few minutes," Taeren replies to the EMTs. "Or do they teach that one in your first-semester classes?" He looks back at Rish, head tilting. "Or do you have an answer for that one?" He sees the body of Andrew Thompson and sucks air in through his teeth, but otherwise, does not respond. Whisper's placed onto the stretches. "Well, if you want to do our.... There goes my desire for dinner," comments on EMT, as he catches sight of the split of skull of Andrew Thompson. "We /have/ as much idea as you do, yeah?" They start to wheel Whisper towards the back of a waiting ambulance as a doctor heads across to the corpse of the CEO, checking it over and shaking his head sadly. Arizhel shakes her head at Taeren. "No clue, sir," she manages, looking away toward the ambulance as Whisper's taken in that direction. "Is... is she gonna be okay?" she calls, skin still a bit pale and greenish, and resolutely avoiding looking toward the CEO's body. "She'll be a bit fine, we'll get another ambulance to take you to the hospital so you can be treated for shock," the EMT tells Rish, as he closes up the doors. A blanket is drapped over the prone form of Thompson, meaning that he's bitten the big one. "But I didn't get hurt," Rish says, starting to get to her feet before swaying somewhat woozily and paling again. She steadies herself against the crates as she sinks down to a sitting position again, guitar at her side. "Then again... Erm. Yeah. I don't feel so hot..."
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