In The Rough

[Reeves]

The mention of an enterprising Hacker or executive seemed to resonate with him, bringing forth a degree of distaste and hatred from just hearing their names. Needless to say his eventual response to all that wisdom was at first sidetracked for a short while. "Sides of a coin, those two. Simultaneously gifted with smarts and stupidity. One of them too blinded by the pursuit of pleasure for their fragile vanity through vice and the other hellbent on controlling the game and minting credits. Even if it means stealing credit from somebody else. No, neither of them deserve the honor of being able to out me like that." Morreti evidently wasn't the sort to take his authority very seriously. He always assumed the person he was talking to knew something that he didn't. And in this case, that was doing him a favor and offering him a valid solution, to what might otherwise become a flash point where there needn't be one.

"I'll put out a notice asking for all the Luminaries of our Alliance to convene here, once they're all gathered in one place then I'll tell them what I told you. I've not had the luxury of a consistent or reliable right hand since I assumed this post, I'm feeling that it may as well be you who takes on that role. If the way this meeting's gone is any indicator of the fact that I can trust you." While Morreti could either watch out for himself or watch out for the Alliance, he couldn't do both. And at some point, there would be a dilemma where one would have to take priority over the other. A situation which could very much be avoided if somebody else could watch out for him, freeing him up to focus on the mission.

"Just one thing, before I forget again." Quite swiftly, Morreti retreated from her side and paced directly towards a large armory which sat behind his fairly industrial desk. He presented a small console mounted on the exterior shutters with the imprint of his right hand, disengaging all the locks through a confirmation of identity. The interior revealed a diverse and expansive collection of firearms. But below the main racks of weapons sat two, pristine and handcrafted helmets. The one sporting his own markings, being the Cobra, was left behind. Instead he retrieved the second, the appearance of which was obscured partially by his hands, even as he turned around to bring it towards Siobhan. Once directly in front of her again, he presented her with the item, which made most of its design apparent.

Well-crafted wasn't the word, an enormous investment of time for one person would go into the creation of something like this. A mixture of absolute black, shades of brown and yellow were distributed across the shell of the helmet, like the scales of a grand and wise serpent. Despite its fairly rugged and angular appearance, the interior seemed to bear a layer of memory foam to accommodate Siobhan's head perfectly even if an exact set of measurements were not available to its maker at the time of producing it. The visor which was angled upward with two thick black and non-reflective portions of reinforced glass were fashioned to seem like eyes. But the most striking feature was just above it, in the middle of where Siobhan's eyes would be located, as if it were a third eye. Resting there was a deliberately cut diamond, though somewhat humble in its size, it did little to detract from how striking the polished gem was. Given the financial situation of the movement, the materials were most likely procured, with the stone stolen from a Rogue convoy inbound from Hudson. Wherein diamond business with the Unioners was typically conducted.

Given the circumstances of their meeting, it seemed like both a gift and a token of gratitude. But in either case, a great deal of thought and attention to detail went into its creation. "When I heard you were still with us, I assumed you'd eventually be here now. I figured you deserved something that was more personal, considering the quartermaster will only provide you with the standard-issue suit and uniform. I made this for you." From this distance and angle, Siobhan would only just barely be able to make out the finer details of the helmet. Things such as her name, rank and call sign etched neatly and evenly into a part of the cheek. Morreti looked on intently, quietly hoping she would both accept the token and try it on, just so that he knew there were no defects that he'd overlooked.

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On indefinite hiatus because the current state of gameplay sucks - ping me over discord if replies are needed