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 Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2011 11:16 pm
It was almost like looking through a scrapbook - that scar must have been from the discussion they'd had about what would happen if she caught him diluting the fuel mixture for the mechs a second time, and that one had been over the loosened joints on the Scizor. Surprising he had a mark; she must have hit him harder than she'd thought..
"Yes. And the result?" Tethys prompted after a second's pause.
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Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2011 11:26 pm
Star considered lying. He could just tell Tethys that she'd admitted to everything and that she'd punched him when he tried to drag her out of the room to turn her in. His mind drifted back to the camera mounted on the balcony. Tethys had eyes and ears everywhere. If it was discovered that he'd lied, the punishment would be worse than just admitting to failure now.
He sighed, setting aside the ice pack he'd been cradling in favor of picking up his shirt. "She refused to crack. Insisted she's going to stay here. Her failure to confess was by no fault of mine... I did everything I could in the time I had. She's quite resolute."
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Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2011 11:38 pm
"Yes," said Tethys. "She's an elite." This fact did not seem to lessen her tone of disapproval; in fact, it had connotations of 'you expected something easy?' Her dark-eyed stare moved to Star's face when he covered himself, then flicked pointedly to the ice pack.
"Everything you could included provoking her to hit you."
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Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2011 11:46 pm
Star was having a hard time maintaining eye contact with Tethys. Every time he focused on her dark eyes he felt compelled to look away. "Well.. I understand the urgency of our success. When it became clear that deception wasn't working I chose to exhaust all options and tried force." He willed himself to meet her eyes again, "I was being thorough, Commander. For the Boss's sake."
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Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2011 11:51 pm
As she listened, Tethys' expression darkened and her lips thinned. "You got mad and yelled at her," she said, plucking out the truth of his statement.
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Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2011 11:57 pm
Star winced and assumed incorrectly, "There was surveillance in that room?" He shook his head and spoke quickly, "It may have looked like mindless shouting, Commander, but I can assure you it was a well-orchestrated plan. It should have worked."
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Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2011 12:16 am
Tethys didn't bother to disabuse him of the notion. Instead, her rebuff came fast and hard on the heels of his last sentence, spoken with deliberation. "And yet it didn't."
She looked down at the battered man on the exam table. "You had the advantage of being innocuous and you forsook it." It was a reprimand. "And now, if I am to infer anything from the pointed way she replied when Deimos asked if you took her anywhere interesting, she plans to use your actions to her advantage. Blackmail, I'm assuming, possibly to have you at her beck and call or aid her plot lest she report your aggression to Deimos. She thinks she has you in her thrall, to use at cross purposes to the Team."
To me.
The commander paused a moment. She could have, for emphasis, leaned closer to Star to intimidate him, but she didn't - only kept her gaze steady and voice level. She was being quite calm, really. She hadn't even hit him yet.
"Tell me what you think of this idea."
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Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2011 12:24 am
Star sank down on the table several inches as Tethys spoke. When she'd finished his eyes darted around. He looked unsure of what he was supposed to say, but desperate to find the right answer before she hurt him.
"I think... that.. her blackmail attempts will prove fruitless.." He hoped he'd gotten it right.
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Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2011 12:39 am
"That is reassuring," the pale woman murmured, sounding completely convinced. "Your sensibilities are at least somewhat intact."
Tethys' long ponytail swayed as she cocked her head to the side. "And so to you, a master of deceit, she revealed absolutely nothing of interest." It was a question, as if a second probe might uncover an untapped deposit of shame.
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Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2011 12:46 am
"Well.." Star cleared his throat, "She claimed that she plans on staying here. She said Team Rocket treats her poorly. I find it hard to believe she's turned a new leaf quite this rapidly.. but I'm afraid she didn't say anything particularly useful.."
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Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2011 12:52 am
Tethys let out a sigh that made it clearly exactly what she thought of Star's espionage results. "All right." Her eyes flicked to the ceiling, then down to the man on the table. Her next statement words were vaguely annoyed, as if she'd been asked to perform a task more time-consuming than it was arduous.
"I suppose we'll just have to kill her."
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Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2011 12:57 am
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