2491/Partners in Employment

Partners in Employment
Date of Scene:	17 September 2017
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	Summary needed
Cast of Characters:	Voodoo, Taboo

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Voodoo has posed:
As her coworker, Taboo would be pretty aware that Voodoo has been a bit tense and cranky for about a week and a half, and increasingly so. She would also be aware that Voodoo is apparently spending a lot more time aboard the SWORD station than she has been off it. She has still taken time each day to go home, but she has tended to keep those visits brief. The benefit has been that Voodoo has willingly fronted for as many of the reports on their work as she can; she has figured out how to dictate for their reports, so her inability to type worth a dang, or read too well, has not been as much of a hindrance as once it would have been.

Tonight, however, Priscilla has had enough. She was desperate to get off the station, even though their shift isn't over yet. So she has asked Amanda to come with her, and they teleported down to a spot several blocks away in Brooklyn. Then she led the way across the rooftops to an old hotel, then down the fire escape and through a window into a modest suite. Then she finally peeled her mask up and off, revealing her face and letting her hair free again. "Make yourself at home on the sofa. You want anything to drink, anything to nibble on? I just had to get out of there for a while. Being cooped up on the station this much is driving me nuts right now."

Taboo has posed:
Taboo had noticed it and as the Flame-haird New Girl (... that's what the 'FNG' thing the others in SWORD were always throwing her way means. Right?) she was determined to get along and not make things worse. She kept her mouth shut, did what she was instructed to do asked as few questions as possible and simply let Voodoo do what she did so well. If more cranky for it.

When asked if she'd go along, she agreed because she's supposed to work with her partner and that meaks keeping her out of trouble or just being there either way. When it seems they're not on a mission and they're instead just... hanging out at the moment? Well, seeing Priss pull her mask off, Taboo shifts as well, the symbiotic armor essentially disappearing and Amanda being left in it's place. Clothed even. Thankfully. Nodding, the redhead went to sit on the sofa. "Just some water? I'm good otherwise." She watches Priss though. Silently. Considering.

Voodoo has posed:
The ebon-haired mocha-skinned not-so-ex-dancer stretches her arms over her head, rises up on her toes, and then arches backwards, groaning as she works out some tension along her spine. Then she opens the fridge, pulls out a jug of water, pulls down two clean glasses, fills them, and then walks over to the sofa and hands her partner a glass. "Here. Thanks for coming down with me. I've had to avoid going dirtside except on missions for a while, now, and it's wearing on me." She doesn't explain, but she at least acknowledges the problem.

Taboo has posed:
Amanda Reed doesn't ask for more. She just nods and then again as she takes the glass, sipping. "Thank you." She leans her head back, eyes closed. "I'm sorry you've got so much stress. I hope it will all work itself out for the best sooner than later."

Voodoo has posed:
Priscilla nods. "Yeah. Me too." She sits down, then sips her water, clearly with her mind occupied by something. It's a bit, though, before she speaks up. "Apparently the Cabal is back to its old tricks. They seem to have some way to track me, and they've now tried once to kill me - or so we think - and once to kidnap me. Everyone is really tense right now, because both attacks resulted in a lot of damage and risk to civilians." And they're supposed to avoid things like that.

Taboo has posed:
Amanda Reed's eyes remain closed. But her jaw clenches at the mention of the Cabal. It is with very careful effort she moves to set the glass down without shattering it in her hand as she would prefer to. Her voice is tight. "Cabal attacks. In public?" She lifts her head and looks at Priss. "That makes no sense. Unless they've got something or someone Helspont is confident will help him so publicity can be risked." Her voice quivers with a mixture of anger and fear.

Voodoo has posed:
Priscilla nods. "I'm reasonably certain this is the Cabal hiring mercenaries. A particular group or individual. Every attack has been similar: a single large exo-frame around some kind of genetically altered creature, used as a highly weaponized platform of attack. The first was an ape, or at least we think it started out that way. The second appears to have been something smaller, but with a proportionately larger brain. A monkey, maybe." She is well aware that the Cabal attacking like this is uncharacteristic.

Taboo has posed:
Amanda Reed's jaw remains clenched. She's pale and it isn't from her symbiotic armor going active. "What are you going to do?" It's all she can think to ask really. She sits there trying hard to not be scared, trying very hard to be angry instead. It's a more acceptable bad emotion to experience. She hates being scared or helpless. And that's what the Cabal did to her when they had her as their little lab rat.

Voodoo has posed:
Of course, Amanda is sitting beside an empath. And that empath reaches out and lays a hand, lightly, on one of Amanda's, gently making contact, initiating support without entrapping, capturing, or forcing anything.

Amanda has had more than enough of all that, already.

"Well, I'm trying to coordinate with Abby, to figure out who they have hired, so that we can try to figure out how they are tracking me. The idea being to block that, if we can." Priss offers, gently, being as calm as she can be. "Hopefully we can also figure out if this tracking is something the Cabal figured out, or something their hired minions figured out, and how far that knowledge has spread." Ideally, obviously, they can neutralize the minions, and the knowledge dies with them.

Taboo has posed:
Amanda Reed bristles at the touch. Defensive even toward someone she regards as a friend, an ally, and partner. But she slowly demands of herself to relax - with little success beyond the fact she's trying. She nods curtly. "Well for now there's nothing I can really do. Whenever there is, just let me know. I'll gladly assist in their take down."

Voodoo has posed:
Priscilla gives Amanda's hand a gentle squeeze and then lets go, realizing that's as accepting as she can get the other woman right now. "It's OK. I get it. But I wanted you here. If they track me this evening, my partner will be here with me. If not, then we'll try somewhere else, some other time. I want this threat over as much as you do. And I want you to help me. I believe in you." And she's hoping Amanda believes in her, too.

Taboo has posed:
Amanda Reed does try to squeeze the hand back. She's not trying to be a bitch about any of this. Just her own bad memories to deal with. She looks over. "If they somehow do track you, I'll gut every last one of them" she says coldly. Then she pauses, "You're... trying to lure them out." Finally realizing what this trip was for, or believing she does. She's quick to catch on sometimes.

Voodoo has posed:
Priscilla nods. "Yes, actually. I am trying to lure them out. I figured I was going stir-crazy up on the station, and not getting much done. This way, we're down here, as bait. If they come for me, then we have a chance to find some answers, and a chance to vent some frustrations. If not, I get a chance to stretch my legs off the station, and spend a little time out of the costume with my partner." And she got to brief her partner, tell her what was going on, without anyone else getting in the way. That too was important.

Taboo has posed:
Amanda Reed nods. "I understand." She is beginning to relax if slowy. "We'll be ready for them if they do show up. They won't know what hit them" she says with a growl. She then looks over and laughs for the first time since the conversation took this turn. "Hell of a thing, that. Time with your partner while not active duty. Seems like you could hae picked a better use of your free time!" she offers a wink as she teases.