Musings [Escher]

[Thexare]

Deep Cove, New Westminster. Planetary defense installation, under construction. Early spring.

Escher was angry. Visibly angry, which was a rare sight indeed. Even the tell-tale click of someone entering the room didn't slow down his ranting.

"Useless, the whole lot of them. Goddamn useless."

"Esch-"

"Never should've even tried to work with those worthless f-"

"Victor." His ranting stopped immediately. "I already heard. Kane's dealing with it from here."

"Shouldn't bother. They're not going to do a damn thing."

"So, this is how you react when a plan falls apart?" Complete silence. "Fine. The Hackers are useless, Ageira's just as bad, the Rogues are as far as I can tell actively trying to screw us, and the Liberty government is a bureaucratic morass that takes months to get anything done." She paused, waiting for any objection to her summary; there was none. "Some people have been helpflul. Focus on them."

'I... don't think Eris's bunch is going to be particularly helpful for what we need."

"Bretonia. Look, they may not be the greatest technicians, maybe their technology's a few years out of date, but they're quick and they're not going to turn on us like some people would. We just need to start doing something in the area. Give them a reason to help us. Which, incidentally, we should've done with the Hackers."

"Wouldn't have mattered anyway. Can't trust anyone at Mactan."

"In case you hadn't noticed, Victor, Phate and Moriarty aren't there anymore. Haven't been for a while. You need to drop this grudge." She turned to leave, but stopped at the door. "Now, are you going to be alright here? Or am I going to come back in twenty minutes and find you passed out on the floor surrounded by beer bottles?"

"I'll be... actually, I think I'll go with you."

"Good. You're not normally like this..."