Quietly, she removed a piece of what appeared a data-pad, covered in blood. Removing the outer layers of material she pulled what seemed to be a memory chip. She then started to scan it with her own wrist-pad.
Wake had been quiet, he'd expected to hear something about the inspection she just did but perhaps she wasn't finished just yet. "So, what did Mister small, flat and pancake-y have hidden away on his PDA?" It was an idle bit of humor regarding the bodily status of the agent's corpse, perhaps a bit morbid for the average person's tastes but Keller was slightly amused by it himself.
"Knowing Humanity - We will be duty, bloody and unavoidable."
Rising an eyebrow on the 'Mister Pancake' remark, she replied as several pictures were downloaded to her wrist-pad. "You, you, you, you and you and me." Throwing the chip at Lukas, who quickly grabbed it with one hand, she continued. "No records of an outgoing message five minutes before his untimely demise. SIS will perform an inquiry as they are keeping you in their sights, it seems." Leaning back into her seat, she looked at Keller. "Fifteen minutes ago, I was just looking at that horrid statue. Was not expecting you. Or him."
At least until now Keller had presumed that his friend was dead. He had mourned them, paid his respects, made decisions in her honor. Wake, even if she possessed all the memories wasn't the person he remembered so fondly. No, there was no need to exact dilemmas and sentiments on what might as well have been a billion credit investment for a science project. "I don't think anybody expected me to be doing what I'm doing. But who am I to question what feels natural? Especially when my comrades, as they love to call themselves, sought to betray or control me. In the end it drove me here, into service of a new master. And here's where I'll stay." The humor from before was undeniably from Redmond's influence. For a drunk he was high functioning and had been an uncle of sorts despite all the justified suspicion and disdain. He seemed angry after having said all that, but it seemed quite common with him. Anger was often his default behavior, fitting for a dog at the door.
"Knowing Humanity - We will be duty, bloody and unavoidable."
Smiling sadly, she remembered what changed in the past months. Almost a year. All of it while she was under. "Yes. Natural is something subjected to the beholder. In my case, I should have learned the truth years ago." Playing with the nanites in her hand, she produced geometric shapes that seemingly magically floated. An animated flame made with metal gave way to a dancing figure that disappeared back into the skin of her hand. "Anyhow, we are not waiting for Godot, you and I. No. Our fates are our own." Leaning forward towards him, she spoke. "Cannot say that I am not glad you are here. However.. How did you find Ms. Bom-Sol? Last we spoke, you told me to send her off to a place you would not find out. And then in New London.." Her eyes focused angrily. "I was forced to chose." Sighing, she leaned back. "I should have had prepared a significantly better protocol.. But there was no time. They were at the door. Kicking it down."
He shook his head for a moment, not saying no to what she'd said but brushing off her insinuations about her untimely death locking him off from Kira, it was obvious he had an explanation. "Knowing Humanity - we will be duty, bloody and unavoidable." Keller felt that sufficed and that he needn't say anything further, his late friend seemed to know Eugene and his agency well enough to have a file with them, and for the pass-code to be extremely specific words from communications between them.
"Knowing Humanity - We will be duty, bloody and unavoidable."
The sentence brought a smirk in the middle of the sadness. How quaint the universe could be. "Tetra. They normally do not contact people directly. And for you to have that.." Her eyes narrowed. "Shifty weasel face? Named Eugene?" She leaned back in her seat, thinking about the possibilities. Tetrahedron was still active, and that brought forth doors she did not to open herself again.
She already knew who the benefactor must have been, so she really did have some form of ties with the organization, he smiled softly just as he'd been doing so often now and shook his head yet again. "I won't reveal my sources, especially not when they've served me so well." It was already fairly obvious who had helped him so he saw no reason not to be cheeky in response to it. This wasn't his usual self, he seemed more at ease and comfortable with life and interactions in general. Perhaps this was the real Keller underneath all the conditioning and manipulation.
"Knowing Humanity - We will be duty, bloody and unavoidable."
Nodding in acceptance, she crossed her hands. "Very well. I will find out, without a doubt. Their very existence was initially anchored on that necessity." Bending her head ever so slightly, she continued. "Marriage. You are braver than me, Lukas. You are fighting for your own kin and family now. Me? I am restarting my path. Ever in service. So, where do we go from here?" She asked.
His head tilted to a side, unsure of how to exactly answer her question. "Not sure about you, but I have a wedding to attend tomorrow. You're free to go wherever it is you need to go. Maybe you could find out why I'm being spied on when I've been nothing but loyal and enthusiastic to serve and kill anything remotely branded under a red star these days." He gestured toward the exit and it seemed as if somebody else was navigating the ship to the nearby Freeport, a fairly symbolic location.
"Knowing Humanity - We will be duty, bloody and unavoidable."
![[Image: 1KdqLN0.png]](https://i.imgur.com/1KdqLN0.png)