[GRO] Chiara Moteku - Adult

[Hivestuck]

New Hemisect had been quiet in the weeks following the events of Superstar Authority. At least, it was quieter than before. Without a unifying event, urban trolls returned to their individual affairs. The urgency of competition evaporated into the familiar buzz of constant activity.

For many trolls, the familiar was safety and drudgery. Others were the sorts to whom illegal documents were delivered to their hives on the regular.

The documents themselves were never illegal. Whether or not they were meant to be shared with one Chiara Moteku, was another matter entirely. Tax documents for a seemingly random smattering of local businesses. Blueprints for supposedly vacated hives. Lists of names accompanied by blurry Trollaroid pictures. Thick envelopes were delivered unceremoniously to Chiara's doorstep. One detail at a time, the pieces overlapped. The image crystallized.

The most recent envelope was considerably thinner than those previous. It was almost laughable. The contents could have just as easily been written on a sticky note. The coordinates were for a pawn shop that looked like it hadn't seen foot traffic in sweeps. The simple string of numbers was signed off with a yellow symbol.

The troll wearing that very symbol stood outside the nearly abandoned pawn shop. They thumbed lazily through a battered paperback. They looked unconcerned their ragged sweater was developing smudges of dust from the window they leaned against.


Only Micillia can post in this thread. Quote the mule when you're ready for the next post.

Micillia

 

[Micillia]

The weeks after the Superstar Authority had been, well, rocky. Chiara still had dreams of the incident with Elidae, and she could not look Zindel in the eyes without grinding her teeth at all. Needless to say, she needed something to distract herself with, and what was a better distraction then a heist of sorts. It was time to double down on her career. There was information to analyze, trolls to fallow obsessively, and plots to be made, prefect for a troll to distract herself from all the weird, angry feelings inside!

Just such a thing presented itself one day, after lots of investigation, hard work, and beetles in the pockets of corner kids, Chiara saw an opportunity. She had fallowed this guy before, the one with the yellow symbol, she knew his daily routine by heart. His favorite drink, the way he talked, what he knew about the other trolls in the loop, everything, even down to the small scar over his knee. Now it was time to set things in motion. Chiara's latent powers were getting a work out, and she was enjoying it. At the moment the blueblood was dressed in a baggy t-shirt and sweat pants just like her target's, her appearance transformed into that of a local lowblood beggar, whom often bummed a smoke off her target troll. Said beggar was currently drinking their fill of cheep spritz, on Chiara, at a bar a few blocks away.

Chiara took a second to compose herself in the alleyway next to the pawn shop. She took a deep breath, her plumpbiscuit going a mile a minute in the excitement, and stepped out of the alleyway. "Yo, grelow." Chiara slurred, mimicking the beggar's slang for a greenish yellowblood. "Show ya something crazy for a smoke. Back in da ally. Cant believe ya didn't see it yer-self, really."

Hivestuck

 

[Hivestuck]

The "grelowblood" rolled their eyes. They lazily dogeared their novel--a seemingly futile gesture for how worn the book was--before bothering to look up at not-Chiara. "Any wonder you got any pulmonary tissue left," the troll grumbled with an ironic rasp to their own voice. They straightened to their full height, revealing a smudge of slightly-cleaner window where they'd been leaning. They addressed Chiara directly with a sneer that was more tired than accusatory. "You're lucky I'm havin' a slow night. If this is just another dead body I'm gonna make you pay up for all the smokes you owe me." They pocketed their book in the folds of their sweater and meandered after their supposed acquaintance with a grunt.

Micillia

 

[Micillia]

"Chiara" let out a raspy laugh. "No no! I swear ya! Its better than another corpse!" The hobo hobbled around the corner and down the alleyway a little. "Right here, i swear ya!" She said, pointing to a spot hidden by the dumpster. She waited for the guy to get close, making sure to stay behind him. She had a cloth, soaked in knockout slime, ready and waiting. As soon as the other troll bent down to look at her fake distraction, (a hand that twitched and glowed a radioactive color. If she was gonna go hard on this job, she might as well go all the way, and really give the guy something to see!) she whipped out the rag, and pressed it against the other troll's mouth. Just in case, she had transformed into the yellowblood's own body, for if he struggled. One could never be too cautious!

Chiara let out a sigh of relief. The yelloblood's was the hard part, and the most annoying part. Being that hobo felt disgusting. Some trolls, really. She collected a few important items from the yellowblood. Mainly his book, his wallets, and the contents of his pockets. She heaved the large troll into the dumpster, grinning at the large "thump" he made. Yeah, between the slime and the thump, this guy was definitely looking to loose a few thinkpan cells. She might have overdosed the guy a little, can never be too cautious!

Chiara grumbled as she went inside the building. This guy's clothes were definitely not up to her standards. She made sure to mimic the guy's slouch as she entered the building. The door led to the garage, where a few trolls were milling about. She approached the one that she knew was essentially the manager, working underneath the yellowblood, aka her. "Whats our time estimate here?" She said, angerly. "I wanna get this thing ready to go!"

Hivestuck

 

[Hivestuck]

The garage looked just like that--a garage. Most of a scuttlebuggy was suspended from a lift at the center of the operation. Tools lay scattered about in a manner that likely wasn't up to what few safety standards existed. The trolls present were wearing jumpsuits emblazoned with the appropriate logo for their place of business.

There didn't seem to be a lot of actual mechanic work happening, however. The space appeared to be in use as a glorified break block before anything else. At most, a couple trolls seemed engrossed in their respective husktops amidst a mess of papers. The troll Chiara approached loomed over the small table imposingly.

He turned to Chiara upon being addressed. He were perhaps a few degrees greener than Chiara's disguise, pushing him firmly into the midblood caste. He were many degrees larger, though. Certainly more built than the skeleton of the scuttlebuggy, and at least twice the size of Chiara in either form. He looked tired, but unfazed by Chiara's question.

"Joke wasn't funny the last time you asked, Thomim," the greenblood replied in a voice fitting his stature. "You want a shake a reaction out of someone, go blow yer hot air at the buggers downstairs." The larger troll thrust a thumb over his shoulder at a row of lockers. Several of them were visibly displaced from the rest of the set.

"Speaking of... How goes talks with that new highblood friend of yours? Whassername. They picking up what you're laying down?" The greenblood crossed his arms over his chest and twisted his face questioningly. He seemed concerned. "I know you ain't exactly one for making friends easy-like, but I still gotta wonder if it's worth the risk. Those kinds got a lot more to lose than you or me. You sure they're gonna cash in with us?" The greenblood leveled his gaze at "Thomim."

Micillia

 

[Micillia]

Chiara was a little surprised by the other troll's size. Sure, she had met Ganima, and even Leeroi was pretty big, but this guy was massive. Must have had growth hormones in his sopor slime or something. She had info on the greenblood, but info and actually, in person knowledge were pretty different. She turned the second of surprise into snort of laughter, and crossed her own arms over her chest, her... oddly muscular chest. Shape-shifting was still a little odd. Sure, she had had fun with it, turning into Lorata and doing petty, silly stuff, or using it just enough to give her attacks that extra "umph". But using it like this? This was new, different. This was a whole new world her shape-shifting had opened the door to.

"Yeah well," Chiara started, running a large, beefy hand through her short, crew cut hair. "Considerin the circumstances, things are going pretty well!" "Thomim" said, hint of surprise in his voice. "I think we are actually gonna get somewhere with this brod." Chiara knew who Thomim was supposed to have met with, and to tell the truth, she was leagues above that highblood "whassername". She was doing these lowlifes a favor. "Ide like ta say things went so well i think shes sweet on me." The yellowblood said. Workplace humor, yep.

Back to business, "Got a lot o security tho. Says shes only gonna meet with me, and then it wont really even be her meetin with me. Got a real system, this lady does." Thomim shrugged beefy shoulders. "Aslo, no paperwork, but you already know that, right?"

Hivestuck

Chiara crazy redblood Thomim  

[Hivestuck]

The greenblood, Phenid, raised an eyebrow in mild, but visible intrigue upon "Thomim's" report.
"That so..." he replied. He seemed cautiously optimistic. "As long as we're progressing. This ain't exactly the kind of thing we can afford to rush." He snorted with more frustration than amusement. "Besides. All things go according to plan, her security will become our security."

"That said, you'd better come take a look at the basement dwellers. We had a near incident the other night when one of 'em got a little too ambitious. Took care of it before we had a problem, though. Silence on all surveillance channels."

Phenid rolled his shoulders and looked down at Thomim. "The employee has since been put on 'probation.' Call is yours on how you want to deal with it."

Micillia

 

[Micillia]

Thomim was grinning, of course he did well, he was the craftiest, most amazing blueblood in disguise. His smug smile fell tho, and the troll frowned. The yellowblood cursed at the floor, "God, how many of those are we going to have to go through to get things drilled into their nubskulls." The yellowblood growled.

Thomim sighed. "Ill deal with it myself..." the troll said, annoyance evident in his voice. "Well, ya wanna take me to the problem guy? Or should i just go down myself? She did want to get an up close look at things. How convenient that an opportunity just happened to be there, as if waiting just for her.

Hivestuck

Chiara crazy redblood Thomim  

[Hivestuck]

Phenid nodded in agreement. He turned from Thomim and walked towards the displaced set of lockers. He hauled them aside easily. It was difficult to tell whether there was a switch of some kind, or if Phenid was simply that strong. Beneath the lockers was a metal hatch painted the same dull gray as the concrete floor. Phenid unlocked it and lifted it open, but made no further move to continue.

"I trust you to handle it. I'd rather not squeeze myself down there anymore often than I've got to." He stood to the side, muttering something about sweat.

Down the hatch was a ladder. It was difficult to tell exactly how far down the shaft went. The lighting was minimal at best--distant and flickering. It seemed to stem from whatever room existed at the bottom.

"You'll know exactly who the problem is when you see 'em," Phenid added.

Micillia

 

[Micillia]

Thomim raised eyes at the other troll. "Hey it surprises me every time that your able ta fit down there. No matter how many time i see it." The yellowblood looked down at the hatch himself. Chiara was a mixture of eager and apprehensive. This was unknown territory. It was pretty hard to get detailed info on a secret basement and all.

The yellowblood heaved himself down the ladder, into the depths of the basement. Well, here we go, into the lion's den.

Hivestuck

Chiara crazy redblood Thomim  

[Hivestuck]

At the base of the shaft wasn't a door, but a curtain. Several layers of thick fabric, in fact, that muffled the light and sound coming from further within the basement. Both increased as Chiara proceeded into the space.

It was much larger than the entrance would imply. However, most of that space was densely occupied by trolls, desks, and... beehives. The room was a veritable maze of netting and tall towers of hive, dripping gold with honey. The sound of buzzing was overwhelming. Clouds of purple bees rattled the nets. Trolls too, scuttled between desks and computer monitors, seemingly oblivious to the oppressively cramped, noisy, sticky atmosphere.

A short woman spotted Thomim through the haze and trotted over from her workstation. She dodged her coworkers expertly and lifted one of the veils to join Thomim on their side of the room. She seemed to be wearing some kind of jumpsuit, though the apiary hat and pollen staining her person made it difficult to place her blood color. It appeared to be somewhere between red and yellow. "Boss," she greeted in a flat tone. "If you're down here, I assume it's because Phenid told you about Tanyel." The appraising stare was palpable through the mesh headgear.

Micillia

 

[Micillia]

Thomim folded his arms and nodded. "You got anymore details for me?" The yellowblood asked. Chiara scoped the room, making sure to note the layout, the number of trolls, and the beehives. She couldn't inspect it too much, for fear of looking suspicious, but an inside view was defiantly helpful. Thomim made no move to approach the curtain further. "Bring um here."

Hivestuck

Chiara crazy redblood Thomim  

[Hivestuck]

The beekeeper tilted her head so she was pointedly staring up at Thomim from beneath the brim of her hat. After an awkward pause she turned and waved at another troll. They turned and scurried further back into the maze. As the pair waited, the woman made no further attempt to converse. She seemed perfectly content to keep glaring at Thomim through her veil.

Eventually the other troll returned. They were a gangly individual, also dressed in apiary gear and pollen. The person they brought with them was similarly dressed, however, they were missing their uniform hat, exposing a face covered in teal bruises. One horn was chipped and her hair was matted over with honey. The yellow of the pollen was turning the blood stains on her jumpsuit a sickly green color.

"Thomim, meet Tanyel. Tanyel, you remember our supervisor, don't you?" The woman indicated with a curt, but sarcastic hand gesture. Tanyel gurgled a response. "Tanyel thinks that because she's not a psionic, that she doesn't have to take proper precautions when handling beehive mainframes. Tanyel thinks stockpiling mind honey runoff is safe and reasonable and not at all a risk factor in blowing us all to some circus freak's paradise planet. Isn't that right, Tanyel?"

Tanyel groaned again. It sounded a little like "funds." The woman scoffed.

"Funds we don't need if we succeed in our work. Funds that will lead the drones right to us if we get pinned for drug trafficking. Funds we can't use if we die in an explosion."

"And YOU ALL! Listen up!" The woman flicked a finger back in the direction of the other workers. Most of them slowed their work as attention turned to the four trolls at the front of the room. "I have a block-full of a DOZEN psychics of various disciplines running these mainframes and not a one of you had the presence of mind to notice someone was stealing from the damn things!"

The woman took a breath to turn on Thomim. "This is your problem, Thomim. I'm a programmer, not a mafioso. You want to hire dullards with no respect for the work--for the art of what we're doing down here in your little hovel, you will be the one to deal with the results. Now deal. With. It." The irate woman took Tanyel's arm from the other employee and all but threw her into Thomim's torso. From there she gestured sharply to her left. She indicated a door at the end of the hall where Thomim could "deal with it."

Micillia

 

[Micillia]

Thomim kept his eyes on the presumably lead scientist girl, as well. Making sure to not be the first to look away. Jeez, this lady was serious. Chiara felt a little annoyed, obviously this girl thought she was better than Thomim, and, although the blueblood agreed 100%, it could lead to bad things having an uppity subordinate. Then the lead scientist girl in charge of this part of the plan showed some leadership that even made Chiara impressed. Chiara was happily proven wrong. The blueblood would need to keep tabs on that one.

The blueblood thought over how to go about this. Chiara put her choices on the scales, balance out the odds. There were consequences no matter what she did. Public execution; Pros; would make a big impact; she would get that giddy feeling she got when enforcing her power on those around her; it would ingrain Thomim's power into these trolls' minds; would show that loyalty to the business was important; might impress that hot lead scientist girl. Cons; a mess could hamper the machines and the work they were doing; would scare the wiggling slime out of these guys; might lead to resentment if this idiot was anyone's friend; would also show that there was not so much loyalty from the operation to each of its subordinates. That last one was actually a pro, stealing from the operation was a big no go. She couldn't just let the guy go, or try and make him shape up. She had to kill this guy, there was no way around it. He knew too much, he had to go. So, then there was private execution; Pros; Cleaner, at least for Thomim; would let everyone's imaginations run wild with what she could be doing to this idiot; would give the impression that Thomim was a sneaky and smart, note, impression. Cons; Lead scientist lady would not have the opportunity to be impressed; dense trolls might not get the hint or they might think he wimped out. Well, either way, it was a performance, time to act!

Thomim took a hold of the traitorous troll, gripping them a little harder than he probably needed to. He lifted the skinny, beat up troll by his shirt so the tealblood was level with Thomim's eyes, making sure this was all done center stage, where everyone could see. "So," Thomim said, glaring at the tealblood, shaking his skinny body harshly. "You want to put all of us at risk. You want to essentially turn us all in, to get culled, or at least have a run through four fronds, huh?" Thomim dropped the tealblood, so their body crumpled to the floor. "Around here, we take care of our own. If you cant do that... well, maybe yours need to go along with you." Chiara didn't know if the thief had any morail or whatnot, but they probably had a lusus. Killing lusi was always something Chiara was up for. Less trolls poisoned by the beasts, the better, in this blueblood's opinion.

Well, private execution it was, she had preformed enough that a public execution would just be overkill at this point. She grabbed the leg of the troll who was still spayed out on the ground, and dragged him to the room, slamming the door behind herself. It was a scarcely furnished room, just concrete walls, one chair in the center, and a few chairs near the walls. Never know when you'll need another chair. The big yellowblood shoved the beaten troll into the chair and loomed over them. The blueblood had been in the habit of having weapons tucked here and there on her person, so obtaining a weapon was not really a problem. Thomim, Chiara, held the knife up to the other troll's neck. This was private now, there was no need to continue acting, but Chiara just had one more line she wanted to get out. "Will your lusus be heartbroken, or happy, to hear the news?" She whispered before enacting the punishment. Chiara felt the bloodlust rise up, and the beating of her plumpbiscuit speed up. It was a rush, it was a high, a high on power. She didn't let herself think of the sputtering troll as a person. They were an obstacle, one she had no time to get emotionally attached to.

The yellowblood exited the room, frowning at the spots on his already incredibly dirty clothes. No matter how you do it, there was always a mess. No way around it. The yellowblood moved back to the center of the room, not going past the curtain of course, and grabbed a rag. He wiped the teal liquid from his hands, and threw it onto the ground. "That all?" Thomim asked of the lead scientist girl.

The high was leaving, the fleeting feeling of power making her feel somewhat empty. Things were good tho, everything was going according to plan, she was going to get what she wanted now. It also made her think of things just a little differently. Before, this had been a plan, one of many of her plans, one of her games. Now it wasn't a game. Now it was a real plan, one in motion, with consequences and requirements. Her little social games with her "friends" seemed to pale in comparison to the feat she had accomplished here, now. Well, maybe it was time to turn up the heat on those games, make something real of them. How could she not, after this, want to turn up the heat? Having things this hot felt good.

Hivestuck

flails pronouns all over the place

Chiara crazy redblood Thomim  

[Hivestuck]

The lead apiarist watched Thomim heft Tanyel with a sharp mix of satisfaction with the act and disdain for the scenario as a whole. Tanyel blubbered unintelligibly through her missing fangs. The pair disappeared. Only Thomim returned. Hushed gasps rippled through the curtains as the teal stains became visible through the gauzy atmosphere.

The lead stood before Thomim, before Chiara, unflinching, wide-eyed, but serious. Her assistant had backed some distance away, putting her lead front and center. The short woman took notice of no one but the troll in front of her.

"You killed her," she said, not quite a question or a statement. The situation was obvious. "Hm. Come along then." She turned on her heel and walked back down the opposite hall. Her assistant ducked out of the way, giving the woman a wide berth, and Thomim even wider.

The woman entered an office at the end of the short hall. She locked it as soon as Thomim was in the room. The office was of average size, made significantly smaller by the number of computer towers lining the walls. The practical office space was masked off with further insect netting. The heat was nearly unbearable, but the woman showed no discomfort. She removed her netted hat as she sat opposite the desk at the center of the room. She gestured for Thomim to take a seat.

As the woman's size and voice indicated, she was by definition, cute. Her face and its features were round and so were her glasses. Her eyes were the only indication of her age, being a bright auburn. The sternness of her expression was lost somewhat in her appearance, but she continued to stare down Thomim as if she were His Honorable Tyrrany himself.

"So, Thomim. Tell me about this change of heart. It wasn't that long ago in my memory that you had Phenid of all people called in the last time one of your 'outings' went pear-shaped. By all accounts, this was... efficient of you." It was perhaps the most cordially she'd spoken thus far, though each word was sharp and pointed directly at Chiara. "Suspicious" wasn't quite the right word for the tone of her voice or the quirk of her mouth, though. It was more akin to... intrigued.

Micillia