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It had been some time since Lucky had last set foot in Sam's office.

"They are back."

Funny, it had been for pretty much the same reason then too.

"This much everyone knows now." Lucky absentmindedly brushed some of his unkempt hair out of his eyes, trying to make himself look as much like an immovable object as was possible for a shortish, scrawny life hunter. At the very least, he was significantly less agitated this time, no nervous smiles, no shaky voice. A lot had happened in the six or so months since they'd first crossed paths. Not to mention that without power, there wasn't a whole lot to do but let his imagination-slash-paranoia run wild when the gossip came around.

"But I prefer to be better informed than this, considering... the last time." The scorched circle on the back of his right hand was no longer kept hidden. If anything, its prominence, especially at a time like this, could almost have been perceived as pride. Or maybe it was just a little reminder of his previous involvement in related events, as he set down a sizable wad of cash on her desk. Good old-fashioned bribery. He'd learned from last time.

"So tell me something I do not know."

"Of course." Lucky tried to hide his jealousy, which was mainly of her working computer. He began to relax, just slightly, as she turned away. That could have gone much worse. When Sam moved, his eyes followed, and when she toggled with the remote there was a brief flicker of confusion in his eyes when absolutely nothing happened.

Probably just more of her expensive electronics...

It wouldn't help him to get paranoid now of all times. If Sam had wanted him dead she had had much better opportunities. Absently, Lucky reached out to one of the nearby folding chairs that comprised the visitors' arrangement for Sam's desk, and took a seat across from her. He glanced down at his hand and back up to same mark on Sam, looking thoughtful.

"I do not think I can have one vithout the other," he admitted. The life hunter leaned in a bit, clearly interested. "But I think I vould like to hear the story first."

Lucky proceeded to play a nervous game of finding somewhere suitably nonchalant-looking to put his hands every sixty seconds while he waited for Sam to ever so slowly burn her cigarette down to nothing. After experimenting with a few options and shifting posture in his seat a few times, he settled for crossing his arms.

"I cannot say I expected othervise." The 'story', if Lucky could call it that, was believable in its vagueness. Of course everyone was a murdering psychopath. Was there any other kind of psychopath in the general vicinity? Highly unlikely. Maybe it was something in the water. Or maybe it just always sort of spontaneously came about the moment a sane, well-adjusted person got handed a weapon. He gave Sam a grim sort of smile. "Who started it?"

"Eh..." He reached up one hand to adjust his glasses, glancing down at the floor for a moment before returning his gaze to Sam. All this time, and somehow his mind had completely avoided giving much meaning to the symbol, a defense mechanism. It was what it was... but what was a circle meant to represent for them? One finger slowly traced the perimeter of the circle on the back of his hand as he puzzled it out. "Equality, maybe, as they said. Or eyes..."

He gave her a quizzical look as if hoping maybe she'd answer her own question. New knowledge always put him in a terrible habit of forgetting he was supposed to be trying to look vaguely intimidating here.

Lucky looked moderately annoyed at how Sam could say so little in so many words, but it was too late not to think of a million more questions spawned by a single non-answer. She had him, hook, line, and sinker, at even her insinuations.

He studied the presented photo as carefully as someone could without knowing the full story, glancing back up to Sam periodically as she explained. At the mention of puzzles and brains over brawn, and being able to impress someone with them, his expression noticeably lit up. Now Sam was finally speaking his language. One of them, anyway.

And then she snatched the photo back.

"Ah-" he made a weak noise of protest, hands half-trailing behind the folder before he slowly curled his fingers inward. His arms returned to folding across his chest as if to hide his unease, which it absolutely did not. He had let his guard down.

"This is not out. This is in. This is to find the truth." Lucky tried to sound incredulous, but he couldn't quite manage to pull off affronted given he had begun to unconsciously bare his teeth in an uneasy combination of nervous smile and grimace. Sam was leaning toward him almost accusingly. "Out vould be to never think, never ask, never look. You say before that, ah, knowledge is power - you are right. The people vith most knowledge, have most power. Our divisions are more similar than you think."

"So," he continued after a pause, spreading his palms, "do you... vant this code broken or no?"

Weak statements made a weak defense against someone as sharp as Sam. She broke through his noncommittal words like scissors through paper, and he weathered it all looking less confident than ever, though he couldn't shake a spark of hope that there was a double meaning to Sam's words as well, the truth of it just out of reach. But at this point, he either had to play his hand, or fold and leave the game.

And leaving now wasn't really an option.

Her question was left hanging for several seconds in silence. He knotted his hands over his knees. To admit the truth was to tell her he had come here, not for the good of Deus Ex at all, but for his own curiosity. For answers. And, maybe, a twisted sort of hope. "For myself."

"But I think you already knew that," he added wistfully. Anyone with real, unshakable loyalty to the cause wouldn't have come inquiring here of all places even once, let alone twice.

Humiliated once again by the insinuation he was little more than a dog, the card may have been accepted with slightly less enthusiasm than he'd had a moment before, but it was still accepted - it was far too late now to turn back. This was what he had wanted - a chance to prove himself. It was almost too good to be true. Lucky turned the card about a few times between his fingers, as if searching for any sort of secrets that could catch the light at just the right angle. It appeared for all intents and purposes to be a simple card though, with simple numbers. A puzzle to solve - later.

He looked up from it at long last, pocketing it himself in the process, and listened to Sam's instructions with a few nods. His eyes widened a little at her warnings. In his haste to discover more information, he had written off the danger inherent - a stupid mistake. He was fortunate Sam was on his side. He dreaded to imagine what could have happened if he'd confronted a less sympathetic individual about this...

"Yes. Regular chats..." Lucky sounded a little unsure, but he couldn't help but place some trust in Sam, as dangerous as that also seemed. Or maybe because he didn't have a choice. At least he could reassure himself that, despite her abrasive demeanor, she'd helped him out more than once. His wandering, thoughtful gaze finally returned to her, and he nodded again. "I can do this."

But it was her casual warning at the end that really threw him off. "Others? Vhat - uh - vhat happened to them?"