Somewhere Someplace

The chamber's doors came rumbling closed behind. And almost as soon as Hathway's illuminating lamplight had ceased casting its glow inwards, an immediate problem introduced itself.

"Oh, wow… I cannot see anything." Indeed, Novea had perhaps miscalculated the returning of Hathway's lamp; for although this chamber had been retrofitted with its own set of wall-affixed lamps, in order for such to be ignited, one must first be able to…see.

"Here, let me to help." However, Antica stepped forth and promptly pressed a switch of sorts on her communicator-scanner, which began to emit a wide beam of light; white though with a tint of pale cyan, it illuminated enough in the direction directly faced.

"Oh…" Novea just stared… "Huh… So, that thing in your ear can… Huh." Out of all her guesses, the notion that Antica's weird ear-thingy could project out a sort of light had never crossed her mind. "This is awfully confident of you, though…" Indeed, Antica had shown zero hesitancy in doing that, and she was usually standoffish when it came to the secrecy of her doodads.

"Eh…" Antica…carefully glanced as to not beam Novea's eyes. "What difference would it make for me? When you have already witnessed too much…" Indeed, this sidelight could not possibly be any stranger than her terminal device's screen.

"Yeah…" Novea ahemed; "Anyway, let me fire the…proper lamps, and then you can… Uhm… Your thing… You can, you know… Extinguish it?" She did not have a proper means to phrase 'turn that off'. "You know what I mean…"

"Hm. Do I, though?" Antica was being sarcastic, it seemed.

"Ugh…" Novea just ughed. She proceeded to go to each wall-affixed lamp and ignite them, albeit some were not working anymore—out of oil. There was an uneven distribution of light, however it was sufficient enough.

Antica deactivated her communicator's sidelight function, her mask-obscured cyanic eyes scanning… This chamber was not too different from the one in Strawberry, conceptually at least. It was evidently…aged and of dubious integrity, but at least it was more spacious, even if…empty.

It was obvious that it was not used for habitation.

Novea meanwhile plopped her ammunition bag against a wall, leaning the revolving rifle upright near it before plopping her larger carry bag onto the ground, whereafter she promptly sat herself and opened it. "Alrightly, uhm… So, I'll take out your…things and ready them for you." She thus proceeded to do precisely that.

Novea's large carry bag was, indeed, a large and tall bag… It was designed to carry her entire Raven form and associated equipment; it helped that she did not typically keep too much in there when she was in that form.

Belt, garment dress, and such… It also helped that Antica herself did not have too many things either.

Although, speaking of things that alien did not have…

Indeed, Novea momentarily glanced behind, eyeing Antica's…black leather-looking-but-absolutely-not-leather boots. "Uhm…" Her sight returned to her bag… "So… Rightly, I have something for you."

"Hm?" Antica tilted her head as she saw Novea take out…a pair of shoes.

"So, uhm…" Novea became a little more timid as she thus showed this…pair of shoes; "These are the…previous shoes I…wore, uhm… And, you know, since you do not have another…proper pair of shoes to…match your…other form, so…"

"So, you are providing me with your own?" Antica replied, unaffected.

Novea exhaled… "Yeah, I am…" This really should not be such an awkward exchange for her, yet it was. "Because of… You know… What happened in Strawberry, when I…changed my…outfit, I… well, did the whole thing, and you probably did not notice when we had our—"

"You had changed the shoes also. I remember seeing." Antica had actually noted that detail during their so-called 'outing'.

"Huh… Alrightly, so you did…notice…that, I guess…" Novea did not know whether to be surprised or not; Antica tended to swing between being ridiculously unmindful or terrifyingly observant. "But I hope you don't…mind, you know, since…they're used, and…I didn't clean or…"

"Why would I mind?" Antica naturally replied, flat. "It is an effective use of…the things…that are no longer in use; I give thanks."

"Glad you think so…" Novea sighed, not knowing why she felt relief when there was no issue… "Anyway, all of your things are sorted right…there."—she pointed—"Sorry, they're kind of on the ground, but…" She ahemed, standing up to prepare for departure. "Anyway, so you get yourself all ready, and I'll go wait for you outside—"

"No." Antica, however, stated. "You must remain here."

"…uh?" Novea froze, processing that… "W-why?"

"…I must…do something to you." Antica…slightly awkwardly stated, not specifying.

"Uh???" Novea promptly fell into a blistering fluster, her back straightening upright; her brain…immediately misconcluded and misconstrued. "W-w-w-w-what?" Indeed, she was becoming very blushy. "W-w-w-what do you w-w-want to do?" Her heartbeat felt considerably hotter.

"…" Antica did not immediately reply, which only added to Novea's…highly presumptive spiral. "…just wait until…after…I am done, then I shall…specify." In reality, she was still deliberating on necessity. Regardless, she would prefer if Novea simply remained here.

Novea's blushing head bobbed up and down, processing… Slowly, her steaming breaths began to cool… Right. She had to remind herself that Antica was, indeed, Antica. Obviously, whatever she 'wanted to do' to her…in this private sound-proof space in the context of her remaining here whilst she stripped naked…was absolutely not whatever her brain was so heatingly presupposing.

Indeed, there was nothing wrong with another lady remaining with and witnessing another lady strip and dress herself—they were ladies, after all. Albeit, for Novea such did not necessarily alleviate the problems, most especially with this being Antica in particular.

Nevertheless… "Alrightly, sure, then… I guess I'll…stay here, uhm…" Aheming, Novea proceeded to eye around. "I'll… Uhm… I'll wait…" She quickly selected. "Right there"—she pointed—"in that corner. I'll keep myself faced away for your…privacy, so uhm… And I won't peek or anything! I won't!" She was becoming fluttery again. "So, d-don't…worry about that—ahem…"

"I see…" Antica was able to tell that Novea was being, well, Novea. "That is not necessary. Whether you are looking or not, it matters little to me." she surprisingly stated; "By now, you have seen most of what I have been hiding underneath, no?" Despite everything before, Antica was unable to feel as compelled to retain secrecy or hide things anymore, considering what she had done… The line she had already crossed.

"Oh, trust me…" Yet Novea turned away, her mask hiding the vapory blush… "I have not…seen everything underneath, haha…heh… Nope." Her brain was malfunctioning. "Just tell me when you are done, alrightly?" Indeed, retreating to that designated corner, she faced firmly away and made sure to not think about it.

-||-

Novea was thinking about it.

She had been thinking about it.

In fact, it was the only cognition in her mind.

So many sounds, she had heard… The sounds of things and doings; the sounds of pressing and organizing… Things being taken off and…

This was taking too long. She knew it would, since Antica usually took her time… But it had been more than fifteen minutes.

Fifteen minutes of these thoughts.

Fifteen minutes of constant wondering…

What was happening behind her?

For her job, this would be a perfect opportunity to happen a covert snoop at the depth of Antica's strange and bizarre…things; an understanding of their operations and procedures of removal and equipping, since even her 'clothing'—if such could even be called that—seemed more complex than met the eye.

However, such were merely excuses. Novea deep down within knew, despite her suppressions and rejections, exactly what she wanted to know—what she wanted to…see.

Granted, she already kind of knew and had already kind of seen… After all, she was the one who had so dragged a half-naked and fainted Antica out from the burning streets of Coastfield… Yet she had not really looked, and even if she had, well…

A second gander for confirmation would nevertheless be warranted.

After all, Antica was surprisingly strong despite seeming girlishly petite and weakish looking when covered, but when uncovered it was much clearer that she was visibly athletic… Especially her…

"Heh…" Truly, Novea's mind was devolving. It was difficult for her to control mounting desire with what she wanted to be in this situation—mature, collected, and not charged. Yet this speculation, recalling and…interpretative imagining, escalated this chain of cognition by exciting which only made her speculate further… A self-reinforcing loop.

A single glance would do no harm, and in fact Antica herself said there would be no problem…

But indeed…

The motivations: they were highly disrespectful. She believed herself to be not that type of person, but…the burning feeling within was becoming extreme, her borderline intrusive thoughts chewing at her. Indeed, it was difficult to keep still, her legs jittering, breaths heavying…

"I am done." Antica announced.

"Oh, thank…" Such expunging relief escaped Novea's breaths as…all those intrusive thoughts and feelings so swiftly…evaporated, serenity returning. She flipped herself around, yet only to freeze in a stare… "Oh…" A sense of butterfly tingles and warmth filled within. "…Nilia, hi." She smiled behind her Raven mask.

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"…hello?" Antica, or thus now 'Nilia', greeted back, confused. Standing in place, behind her was thus that cloak-obscured pile of things and stuffs atop which were her two butterfly automatons

Casual, feminine, and inconspicuous besides her Company armband denoting affiliation. Indeed, once again she was within her other 'form', now more aesthetically realized from the pair of shoes which befitted. Of course, her black 'legwear' was in fact a severed component of her Remnant body-glove, and she had both her primitive satchel and holstered revolver—loaded and primed—strapped to their respective thighs, hidden beneath her dress; Fly was also hiding somewhere underneath her skirt, likewise.

Nevertheless, this change of form from alien to familiar was not the cause for Novea's stun. "Wow…" She exhaled softly, approaching slowly; "You really know how to surprise… Not too often I get treated to a rare sight…" And a treat such was indeed, for her at least.

"Hm?" Nilia tilted her head… "Oh, rightly." Her cyanic eyes shifted to her backpack. "The mask is in there. I will put that on before the departure." Indeed, maskless… Her full and whole face was exposed. "Right now, it does not matter, no?"

"Not at all…" Not at all, indeed.

For Novea, it was like a completely different way of seeing her… To be able to see her eye gestures and little facial expressions—often flat, but expressions nevertheless. In a way, it made understanding Nilia somewhat easier; never mind that she simply liked looking at that face.

"Your eyes really are something…" she gently remarked. "I know spell-caster eyes aren't really novel, but yours are just so…different and…" She found it hard not to stare.

On one side, there was something captivating about those perpetually ignited eyes; yet on the other, there was also something…unsettling, in a way. The signa of the arcane was so deeply apparent that it almost seemed to be engrained inseparably from Nilia's ordinary eyes, assuming there even was an 'ordinary'.

"I can see why you prefer to hide them…" she mellowly added, sighing… "Your face is really pretty though, so that's the shame…" Perhaps too caught in the moment, she did not even feel flustered despite having said that.

"Uhuh…" Nilia tilted her head, not necessarily comprehending. "My face is just a face? There is nothing to see."

"…do you like mine?" Novea more blurted than intentionally asked.

"Your face is…also a face?" Nilia replied. "It is a face."

She asked the wrong question.

"…" What was that supposed to mean? Novea, however, shook her head, having realized… "Ahem—sorry." Right, this was terribly off topic. "Anyway, so… What did you…'want to do to me'?"

"Oh… Rightly…" Nilia's cyanic eyes tacitly evaded down to the side. She was cogitating and contemplating, considering and reconsidering… "You told me earlier…about that 'incident'; that you do not trust those soldiers' intentions; that you believed that…something could happen to you…"

"…yeah, I did…" Novea…cautiously replied, now feeling a little nervous… She was hoping this was not going to be another…moment. "And I still…do feel that, although… I'll say, that Hathway guy doesn't actually seem too nefarious… But I still wouldn't want to be left alone."

"Hm…" Nilia's eyes were still more downwards, reflecting. "Well, I have been thinking since that talk…"

"Alrightly…" Novea began to tense, worried… Good thinking or bad thinking?

"Let me first make this…clear to you," Nilia thus began to make clear, "The Company, or I suppose the…ehm, 'Thirteenth'… They want to utilize me for this 'campaign', and it seems to me that there is clarity regarding how…" Unlike the Bureau, which seemed to not want to utilize her for anything besides keeping her around. "I prefer to be utilized in the most optimal way, and I do not want you to stand in the way of that… And if we must separate, then let it be so."

Novea's mask-obscured eyes fell away… So, bad, then… "Look, Nil… I have my job and my own…instructions. You know…I can't promis—"

"That being said," yet Nilia persisted, "What you told me… It makes sense."

"…huh?" Now Novea was confused.

"Eliminating you has some sensibility." Nilia stated. "Your constant presence is a limiting element and potential interference, being the Bureau's 'watcher'. Your elimination would temporarily remove the Bureau's presence or…'influence', and they would have to find the replacement. And assuming that this is the 'game' of trying to…'steal' or 'pull' me into your directions, you may be perceived as the stronger of the 'pulls'. Your replacement would not have the same…'pull', since they would not be you, if that has sense…"

"Uhuh…" Novea nodded her head, trying to follow along… "Sorry, I'm just… What…do you mean by…'stronger pull'? Wha-what are you…"

"Well, we have been these 'partners' for…" Nilia was trying to recall…

"Like, two-ish months now…" Novea had kept track—ish.

"Yes… And now that you say it, it has not truly been that long…" Most especially for her standards. "But we have been partners for long enough that… between us there is…" She did not really want to use the word 'trust' as much as…"…trust."

"Huh?" Novea was only further boggled. "But I thought you didn't trust me?"

"I do not." Nilia contradicted herself. "Or…I do not trust you in the…way that you are this…'bird' and spy, but I trust you in the way that you are…a you…"

"That…makes…very little sense…" Novea, nervous, was frank.

"Confidence." Nilia reworded; "I have confidence in you, and I distrust your…individual intentions the least, because I do not think that you are with the full understanding of your bureau's own intentions and plans."

"…I mean, you don't…really…know that…" Although, she was not necessarily wrong. "Sorry, I'm not sure if I'm… Just… Where are you…going with this?"

Nilia withdrew her exposed ignited eyes… She was struggling to properly convey what she wanted, and not even just because of language difficulties… This was something that was naturally difficult for her to explain or justify. There were feelings within, but none of them were apparent; there was a logic, yet its validity was dubious… However, there was a purpose and a decision that she had already made, and she had not spent the many extra minutes preparing for nil.

"Here." Deciding to skip the explanations, she simply tossed.

"Huh??" And Novea was naturally startled, although she quickly caught. Immediately, she could feel the weirdness of the object now in her grasps, being unlike anything ordinary in material. Opening her grip to inspect, she found herself even more bamboozled. "Huh??? W-what??" She knew what it was, having seen it before.

"My ear." Nilia pointed to her right ear. "It is the same as this."

Indeed… It was her second communicator-scanner device, the extra she had brought with her. Being one of the few Remnant technologies with more…open access, it was fairly easier to override restrictions and reconfigure it for denizen usage—in fact, to be usable by designated collaborators was precisely one of its design purposes. It was fully configured and readied, already paired with her terminal device and more particularly Bee, albeit she had disabled most non-relevant functions.

"Yeah, obviously—I can see that… But… Why??" Indeed, being given any of Nilia's things was something that Novea could have never predicted; this was almost overwhelming.

Nilia, however, simply took off her own communicator device and stepped closer. "You see this…press thing…right here?" She tried to show with her finger, however the uniformity of the silver-white device made it hard to discern. "Press it."

"Huh?" Novea, however, remained bemused, before realizing… "Oh, you want me to… Alrightly…" She thus…followed Nilia's instructions, finding and pressing that button. Immediately, a small cyanic light pulsed on from the side of both devices, although Nilia's began to…'blink' with a gentle 'buzzing'.

"The light means it is…active and functioning; the vibration means it is receiving." Nilia explained. "Now, watch." She proceeded to demonstrate the procedure of properly placing the device into the ear. "Now you."

"Uhuh…" Novea, timid, proceeded to copy the procedure, putting the thing on… It felt weird, very weird, but not necessarily uncomfortable—just different. Although, being both around and within her ear, she could not hear as efficiently from that ear anymore—something she did not necessarily like.

Nilia proceeded to step back, pressing her finger onto her own communicator's button, the blinking light freezing, the buzzing stopping.
« Salvé. Testa testants. »
« Salvé. Testa testants. »

Immediately, spoken words had projected themselves into that same ear. "Woah!" Novea's reaction was as expected. "What the fuck???" It was as if there were two Nilias; one standing in front and another now directly in her ear—much closer, much more intimate, and…louder.

"Yes." Nilia was bland. "I prefer mine to be held by my finger to talk, but with yours, it is a simple press. Press once, it will try to…communicate with me. Press again, it will stop." she instructed, voice both in front and in ear.

"Wow, this is so fucking weird…" However, breathing in and out, Novea calmed. "Alrightly, so…" She pressed that button again, the second voice terminating. "So that's…how… Got it." While she could only guess what this thing was, she at least felt like she understood how it worked. "So, with this thing… It, like… We can talk…while not directly being present—like, from literally anywhere?" That was her only logical guess, since it would be redundant to have this thing face-to-face; the double voice would surely become annoying… Right, and she herself had witnessed Nilia pressing her ear-thing and mumbling.

Although, such then entered the question: to what or to whom had Nilia been talking?

"Largely. It can do other things, as you saw. But for you, it can only directly talk to me, so as long as it is in…range." Technically, it would connect to Bee which would relay transmission to her, but Nilia did not need to overexplain. "You do not need to be always wearing it, but always keep it with you. This is for if we are separated and there is…an urgency. Use it only for emergencies, such as…an attack."

"I… I see…" Novea did not know what or how to reply… "Got it…" she nevertheless acknowledged.

"With this, I am able to…trace your location and find you… I can also use it to…see and understand what is…happening to you." Indeed, that communicator had its own tracker designation that Bee could easily, well, keep track of compared to a tagged highlight, in addition to being capable of remote activation, reconfiguration, and control from either her terminal device or her sentinel.

She had also configured its…visual and audio recordation function to be active as a constant; its camera would always be on and recording in the background, essentially, even when the device was in 'rest' or not in use—the cyanic light being off. That way, she could directly tap into whatever it was observing or hearing in any immediate moment, in addition to being able to…recover…whatever was recorded…in the past.

She opted to not disclose this, obviously.

"So…" Novea, nodding her head, was finally starting to process… "You'll be spying on me with this thing?"

"No." Nilia shook her head. "That is not the intention… You told me that if something were to…happen to you, like the 'accident', that I would not be told the truth; that I should not trust anyone. This is the solution." she plainly explained; "With this, I will always know, and we may directly talk even if separated; you can inform me if something is happening…or…if you need my help." So as long as the device was in range—which was extensive—and had a connection without interferences.

"Hm…" Novea felt weird, a strange burning sensation within. "You…really care if I…die, huh?" she mumbled, mask-obscured eyes swaying down… "I appreciate your…stated intentions, but it's not like…if anything happens, I'll always be able to tell you—you know, if I suddenly get shot in the back of the head… And you said there's a 'range', so…a maximum distance? If outside of that, then what?"

Nilia did not immediately reply… "At the very least, I will always know what happened; I will always know the truth, and who did it…" Hence the recorder.

"But not…prevent it?" Novea lowly remarked… "What could you even do, far away…"

Hm… Maybe Nilia had not thoroughly thought this through as she would have preferred.

"I am not…expecting something to happen," she began to reply, "but there are ways I can respond if something does." At the absolute worst, she could use Bee; though, she would prefer to not resort to that… Depending on circumstances, she could also allocate a dedicated automaton defender; although, she did not want to do that just yet… "As I said… As much as I am collaborating with you, you are collaborating with me; I am obligated to protect you." And those two adventurers, although she was not extending equipment privileges to them.

"Hm…" Novea, still feeling so weird, carefully took off the communicator; she just looked at it, such a strange and bizarre thing, indeed… "…even if separated, huh?" she mumbled, reflecting… "In a way, it'll be like…we aren't truly separated…" She did like the sound of that.

"Yes." Nilia replied; "You may think of it like that."

"Ugh… If you were…anyone else, I'd never accept something like this…" Novea exhaled; "Alrightly… I'll keep this with me, in an…easily reachable spot… Or maybe just…always wear it like you do—can call it an alien fashion thing, hah…" Yet she was not laughing… Indeed, there persisted a sort of tension—a fear or…apprehension. "Uhm…" She looked at her… "Are you…sure you want to be giving me—"

"I would not be doing this if I did not believe that it was necessary." Nilia, however, stated. "What you tell your bureau does not matter to me. I accept the risks."

Truth be told, denizen-level threats were not her only concern… She could not help but anticipate that things were…going to escalate in the future—consequences coming to collect. It was perhaps better if her designated collaborators became familiarized with her true 'modus operandi' earlier than…too late, secrecy notwithstanding.