This logfile is imported from aitelogs2 and may contain errors or wrong timestamps.
#RedrockAgency – September 26, 2016
Ilyna steps out of a taxi by the gate outside Redrock's Agency's office, and pockets and OSD given to her by the taxi driver. She then steps aside and opens the door for Li to exit. The driver, a neighbor and acquintance of her sister's, claims Ehanis was supposed to bring it to the agency before departing. While Ilyna had enough questions for her to occupy the rest of the day, she didn't want to speak about this while Li was in
earshot. She was also eager to speak with Vasquez, to finally let out the bitter feelings she had for the agency breaking their promise to her. It was Jason's promise to her, but he must have known about this in advance. The asari is wearing a simple blue winter coat over her plain black casual modest dress.
Li hops out of the car, immediately starting to kick up snow in the parking lot. The novelty of her first proper winter hasn't worn out yet, and sitting in a car is oh so dull. She giggles as she runs off, arms flailing in the oversized jacket. She throws herself face-first in a pile of snow. Not the smartest of moves, perhaps, but fun. The weather is clear at the moment, the sun shining down, causing the snow that covers all
Ilyna closes the doors of the car and takes a step away. She watches Li run off, and a smile shows up as it pushes the more serious things out of her mind. Taking her back with her to Aite was the best decision she has made, despite how many changes she has had to make to her life. "Let's go-..." she then sees her fall face first into a pile of snow and and hurries over to her. Even if she didn't suspect anything was wrong, she
Li rolls over, sitting in the snow-pile now. Her face is flushed red from the cold and the hair that sticks out from under her beanie is covered in snow. "...cold." she says before climbing back on her feet and shaking her head in an ineffectual attempt at getting the snow out of her hair. She mostly ends up causing some to go down her neck instead, and she squirms from the cold.
Ilyna crouches down and pats her shoulder. "Snow is always cold," she says with a chuckle. "It's warm inside, though." The asari stands up and casts a glance towards the entrance. She doesn't help her remove the snow from her hair, some lessons have to be learned the hard way, as long as it's safe. She'd rather not leave her outside unsupervised, though, despite how much the fun the snow can be. Maybe if T'Iavay was here, she
could count on her to check on her every now and then, for she has alerted Ilyna in the past when there's something she should attend to.
Li reaches for Ilyna's hand as they head towards the entrance to the Redrock building, trying to blow some rogue strands of hair out of her face as they walk.
Ilyna takes her hand and starts walking, satisfied that her negotiations worked. She glances down at her attempts to push aside the rogue strands of hair. She should really ask someone about that, someone that knows her and Li. The doctor maybe, because she wasn't sure how approachable Vasquez would be after this meeting. Anyway, she enters the office building and crouches down to help Li out of her jacket. "I think Va'ynna is in
Fergus bows in greeting as the two of them enter. "Ah, greetings! My sensors indicate quite the winter's chill outside! Not to worry, come in, and warm yourselves by the hearth!" His holographic representation has been altered to wear a heavy fur cape, and his armor is fur-lined as well.
Li fidgets as Ilyna removes her jacket, and then furrows her eyebrows at the question, but nods. "Ok!" she says before running off down the corridor, not before shouting "Hi Fergus!"
Ilyna watches Li run off before she hangs up the jacket and takes hers off, not hurrying so she can be sure Li upstairs before the meeting starts. "Thank you," she says to the VI. She was puzzled by the agency's choice of personality for it at first, but she has taken a linking to it over time. As long as it doesn't turn away clients, she has no problems with it. "Your sensors are right, it's very cold outside." After hanging up
her coat, she walks down the hallway and stops outside of Vasquez' office. She stands there for a moment, mentally rehersing what she's going to say. Even if it was Jason's promise, the chief must have known about this. At least that's how she justifies taking it out on her. She takes a deep breath and taps on the 'doorbell'.
The door remains closed, the interface orange. Fergus' voice sounds over the hallway speakers: "Lady Vasquez is in the training room, ser. Would you like me to alert her to your presence?"
Va'ynna is sitting in the couch up in the rec room, barely paying attention to some asari-human soap opera that's currently being broadcast during one of the less active hours of the Aitian channel. The volume is low enough to be barely audible in the quiet office building. The fact that everyone she felt comfortable talking with are either busy or absent has taken its toll on her, and she appears tired and overall unhappy. She's
wearing black jeans and a tall red shirt. Upon spotting Li, she forces a smile and straightens up. This was possibly the worst time she could have paid her a visit, even if she is glad to see her. "Hey," she says, her tone a bit flat. "I haven't seen you in a long time. How... have you been?"
Ilyna nods. "Please do," she says. "I'd like to speak with her privately. Tell her it's important." The training room is closer to Li, and there might be others there that shouldn't be around were this to escalate.
Li smiles upon spotting the asari, crawling up into the couch next to her. "Hi Vinna! Mom told me to find you. Did you know there's lots of snow outside?"
Vasquez descends the stairs not long after, still covered in sweat. Her hair is tied back in a ponytail as usual and she's wearing a white tanktop as well as gray trackpants. She has a small towel with her, which she uses to wipe her face as she approaches Ilyna, a hint of concern in her expression. "H-... Hey. What's up? Fergus said... it was important." she says, panting, and presses a hand against the door to her office
Va'ynna tilts her head. Vinna, now that's a new one. She could excuse Li, but humans of all ages seems to find new creative ways to say her name wrong. Even Victoria does it. "Oh, I know," she says, making an exaggerated shudder. "There's too much of it if you ask me. What do... you think about it?"
Li smiles brightly. "I like it! It's cool! I built a castle yesterday! Do you know what a castle is?"
Ilyna frowns. Her showing up makes her second guess her rehersed statements, but it does little to dissipate her bitter feelings of betrayal. "Ehanis is on the mission to Rakhana," she says. "I need an explanation as to why I wasn't asked to approve that." Her tone is mostly neutral, but some anger has managed to slip into it.
Vasquez enters her office, scrunching the towel up in her hand as she turns around to look at Ilyna. "Excuse me? You weren't 'asked to approve it' because you're not in charge of who goes on missions. I am." she says, immediately sounding a little frustrated that this is even a question.
Va'ynna hums thoughtfully. She does know what it is, but where's the fun in that. And there's always the chance it carries a different meaning that's lost in translation. "No, I don't," she says. "Why don't you tell me?"
Li nods. "Fergus showed me! They're big and made of stone with walls and towers and gates and stuff, and they're full of knights! Mine is small though... and there's just me in it."
Ilyna stares at the chief, as it was obviously not the answer she was hoping for. A misunderstanding would have been somewhat justified, but outright refusal to keep a promise? That's different. "That wasn't what Jason and I agreed on," she snaps. "She's not another merc for you to carelessly throw at a job. She's my sister!" Ilyna has long learned to keep her feelings about injustices and wrongdoings by her superiors to herself
Vasquez stares at Ilyna for a moment, clearly not having expected this kind of response from her. "Yeah, she's your sister. She's also an adult. With a job. Do you seriously expect her to work for the Agency without getting sent into the field?" She crosses her arms as she studies the asari with an annoyed frown. "This is ridiculous. She's not a child, and you're not her mother. She's an employee here just like you.
Va'ynna nods. So that's where Fergus' kind of warrior comes from. "How did you build it from snow?" she asks. "I... don't think I've ever done that." She was honest, as while she has been to snowy regions on vacation as a child, and have a rough idea on how it's done, she has never lived anywhere with consistent snow. So she has very little practical experience. And she wanted Li to explain, as this was a topic she seemed
Li tilts her head. "I shaped it into walls and stuff. When it's just right it's easy to shape, but when it's too warm it melts and when its' too cold it gets all runny..."
Ilyna grits her teeth while Vasquez speaks, resisting every urge to interrupt her. "Of course she did," she says. "That doesn't change my agreement with Jason!" Ilyna gives a heavy sigh, holding back tears. "I thought Redrock Agency was better than that," she continues flatly.
Vasquez is quite obviously offended, and takes a step towards Ilyna. "I think you should watch your tone, and don't you dare imply that I would 'carelessly throw' my employees at a job. You think I don't care about their safety? Jason is out there too for fuck's sake! Yeah, it's dangerous, but this is the business we're in! It's your sister's choice to work here! I know you don't like this line of work, and you don't
have to be here. You're free to fuck off and go do something else any day you want, but don't go telling me how to run this company, and don't try to tell me I did something wrong because I didn't ask my employee's sister for permission to send her on a mission! Don't waste my time with this bullshit!" she shouts, jabbing a finger at Ilyna's chest.
Va'ynna smiles. She made it sound easy, though the hardest part is probably realizing the mental image. "How is the snow outside now?" she asks. "Maybe I... should come visit one day and see your work." If she could bother one of the agency's employees or her mother to take her there and back. She felt pathetic whenever she did that, but it was the better option to walking alone.
Li nods, smiling brightly. "Yes! You can be a knight! You can help me build a big tower! I can't reach far enough..." She furrows her eyebrows as she hears a vague hint of someone shouting angrily, looking around a bit.
Ilyna pushes her back when Vasquez gets too close, her biotics flaring for a moment. "Don't touch me," she snaps. She fears this could end badly if she kept arguing, that the smarter option is walking away. And so she picks that option. "I think I'll do that," she says calmly before stepping out of the office. How could Jason break her promise so shortly after convincing her to stay with the agency? Maybe he has a better
Vasquez clenches her hand into a fist as she's pushed, but loosens it as Ilyna turns to leave. Once the door closes she lets out a heavy sigh, her shoulders slumping as she sits down on the edge of the desk, staring at the holo-interface.
Va'ynna nods. "I'd make a terrible knight," she says, "but... I'd love to help you build the tower anyway. Is that okay?" She's not very used to colder climates, so staying out in the cold winter snow for hours don't really sound all that tempting. But it does sound fun, and it will put her mind off of everything, so maybe she can look past those issues.
Ilyna walks along the hallway with brisk heavy steps, headed for her office. She doesn't want to be seen like this, as she is part of this company's managment for at least another day. She keys the code wrong twice in her hurry before the door finally opens. And it's closed just as fast once she's inside. She just stand there at first, taking deep breaths to try calm herself. It is to little avail as her racing mind does nothing
Va'ynna tilts her head. She appears puzzled, but the smile is still present. Her mood has progressively changed for the better during their conversation, but she's not sure how long that'll last once she's left alone with her thoughts again. "Um, yeah, that might work," she says. "Could you remind me what that is... again?"
Vasquez walks around her desk and then sinks into her chair with a deep frown, an exhausted look on her face. So much for asking Ilyna for advice. She knew Cynthia wouldn't be much help. She'd just have to suck it up and go right to Jason. Once they came back. Already a day late. If it turns into more, she'll know something has gone wrong on Rakhana. Time to start thinking about options.
Li looks up at Va'ynna. "A squirrel! They carry the knight's stuff and they have to do what the knight says! And then they get to be knights if they're good."
Va'ynna nods. "Ah, so almost like an apprentice, then," she says. "I... probably have much to learn." She did hear the shouting downstairs, but she made no reaction to it as that could spark concern. After all, she does remember the last time she was told to watch her.
Ilyna leaves twenty minutes later, asking Uvena (who has then just returned with groceries to make lunch) to take Li home to her place later. She left the OSD at the receptionist's desk without giving any instructions to the VI. The OSD contains the contact info for Wenera and a copy of the picture she had of Sala Piros. How that went via Ehanis is a story for another time.