Mask of Humanity

271: Contentions


Kleos and Maric were swiftly led through the town, to the larger building Kleos had noticed upon first arrival. He didn't recognise the assault-rifle bearing guards either side of the entrance, but they recognised John, Jo, and the others, nodding and exchanging greetings.

The building inside was all narrow hallways peppered with open doorways, the rooms within full of busy people. They moved down one and entered a large room.

It was some kind of command centre, full of radio equipment. Numerous people were sat at desks, listening to radios. In the midst of it all stood Maxine, talking to a tall, beautiful man who, the more he looked, the more he realised was made more of metal and artificial pieces than flesh. He and Maric exchanged a thought. Vikrum.

There was a slender, dark haired woman leaning against the wall near to the man, whose eyes were on Kleos and the others as they entered.

'—ore later,' said Maxine to Vikrum, and turned to eye those approaching. She was a small, brown haired woman, who he'd last seen wearing a blue bodysuit. Now she wore more warlike gear, similar as Jo and Beth but with a more officious look.

Standing stiffly, attentively to her side was Perro. His outfit was almost a clone of Maxine's, and he seemed slightly older. At least in overall shape. He stared at Kleos in confusion for a moment, before looking to Azure. Kleos heard a snort, and saw the girl was crossing her arms, head tilted up, as she refused to meet Perro's gaze. The youth flushed an angry red, scowling, and crossed his own arms.

Vikrum turned away from Maxine, a thoughtful look on his face, and moved to settle in beside the dark haired woman. Meanwhile Maxine's eyes had found Beth. 'There you are,' she said, and took a few rapid steps forward, scowling, until she was right up in front of Beth and glaring up at the other woman.

'What's up?' said Beth, seeming unable to uncaring to restrain her shit eating grin.

'I know you stole those guns. And tried to pin it on Alisa! Except what you clearly weren't aware of is, is the time she supposedly stole 'em, was when she was having tea with me! Plus, they were all your guns. Not only that, but my assistant saws you and Azure hustlin' into the store room.' She pointed a thumb at Perro, who stood straighter.

'And you told her?' Azure hissed at him.

'I was doing my duty!' he retorted, voice cracking.

'You're such a—' she began, only for John to clip her gently on the head, puffing her hair.

'Quiet, you,' he said, frowning down. He glanced to Maxine. 'Don't worry, I'll have a talk with her later.'

Azure let out a high-pitched 'Tch!' and glared at Perro.

'It's alright John,' said Maxine, flapping a hand, 'kids do silly things. That's part of growin' up. It's the adults I'm worried about.' She continued to stare straight at Beth while she said this.

Beth snorted, almost a laugh. She saw Jo was also glaring at her from the side. She spread her arms. 'So you found out. Big fuckin' whoop.'

'You know,' said Maxine, sighing, 'it's not even that you took them that annoys me. It's that you did it so badly. Were you even trying? It makes me doubt the position I've put you in, makes me wonder if I should trust you as a captain.'

'Maybe I wasn't trying,' said Beth, shrugging. 'Maybe I just made it seem like she did it to piss you off, like you pissed me off by taking my shit! Why the fuck you taking my guns to give to some dickheads who will probably blow their own heads off the first time they try to shoot someone?'

Maxine scoffed, taking a few steps away. Beside her, Perro shook his head, mimicking Maxine's frustrated expression. 'Alright gang. Let me explain somethin' that should be obvious, to anyone payin' attention. I did that to garner good will, and in fact, I did it to help you.' She pointed at Beth. 'People saw you giving up your guns, contributin' to the cause. Remember how public it was, how it was a big show? That's 'cuz people don't like you darlin', you—'

'Just those fat old women!' seethed Beth. 'Who cares about what they think!

Maxine gazed at her, managing to express vast disappointment with a faint rise of her eyebrow. 'People listen to them,' she said, pronouncing the words slowly. Then she sighed. 'But here's the thing. Now we've done that, and your image is improved, and people are generally happier… I'll tell 'em we have a surplus of guns. We have more than we need!' She threw her arms in the air, grinning. 'And because of that, I've decided all active fighters are allowed to have more than two personal weapons—to ensure the brave people out there, fightin' and protectin' us, have all they need to do their jobs. So I'm not even gonna take the guns back. You keep 'em. And by the way, I was always going to do this, you just had to trust me a little.'

At last Maxine turned from Beth, to Jo, whom she gave a radiant smile. 'I know you would've told me, given a little time,' she said. 'I appreciate that.'

'Uh, yeah, 'course,' said Jo uncertainly, while Beth scoffed.

Maxine then considered Kleos and Maric with a wide smile and hands on her hips.

'So, here they are! Kleos and Maric, right? I remember y'all well. Must say, you look a lot better now than you did back then. How's life as walkin', talkin' people? Better than bein' table ornaments?'

'Very much so,' said Maric, nodding fervently.

'Now, I recall how helpful you fellas were back then,' she continued more seriously. 'I must say, I'm hopin' you're still willin' to help out? Of course, you'd be considered full members of our little group here, accorded whatever you want. You wanna fight? You'll get weapons, any training you need, supplies, a place with one of the teams. Rather stay safe? Fine with me! No need to leave the tower—plenty don't. You'll get room, food, good company.'

'I'm interesting in fighting, and especially this training and weaponry you speak of,' said Kleos. The sooner he could get to grips with human technology, the better.

Maric looked at him askance. 'That's a little… risky isn't it, my friend?' said the man meaningfully. 'I intend to stay up here, nice and safe. After all,' he added with a look at those around, 'my expertise is too important to risk fighting random monsters in the jungle.'

Along with these spoken words, came the mental. If you get yourself killed, we'll both die! hissed Maric in Kleos' mind. We don't even know if we can go so far from one another!

You may be content to loaf around up here, but no matter what "expertise" one holds, there comes a point where true power and even true safety can only be earned through combat. You would be wise not to forget how effortlessly Nicolai removed your head from your shoulders, the moment you tried to seize what you wanted at his expense. In their time sitting side-by-side on the table together as heads, Maric had recollection that particular moment quite a few times and with significant bitterness.

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Maric frowned, and he felt the man's inner turmoil, knew that his words had touched a mark.

The pair were so focused on one another, they barely heard Maxine asking—in an eager tone—about this "expertise" Maric mentioned. But they heard Jo speak up, when Maric was silent.

'He says he can fix the elevator, and create rituals so we can get spirit energy for Seeds from jungle monsters,' she explained.

'Really?' breathed Maxine, eyes positively glowing as she gazed at Maric. 'You're entirely right, friend! We certainly can't risk expertise like that out in the jungle! Be assured you will be staying right up here, nice and safe with me!'

'Ah, thank you,' said Maric, but now his tone was more uncertain than eager. 'Actually, I may want to do some training,' he muttered.

'Whatever you want!' said Maxine, smiling widely. 'But training can be done up here, too, no need to go down there! Though tell me, how confident are you of these claims?'

Kleos snorted. Training in safety can only prepare one for so much. You will never learn to stand on your own two feet if you remain coddled.

Maric gave him a brief, narrow-eyed look before answering Maxine. 'The rituals for the jungle beasts, mmm, that is well within my capabilities. Just an alteration to some standard rituals, I know the necessary bindings for living beings. The elevator… perhaps seventy percent sure I can fix it?'

Maxine clapped her hands, grinning. 'Well! This is good news! I was planning a little speech just now anyways, I don't suppose y'all would mind me adding in this, about you joining us, the elevator and so on? It'd be good to do the introductions and get it all squared away, wouldn't it?'

'Uh, sure,' said Maric.

Kleos shrugged. 'Fine with me.'

'Oh, and Jo, we've somethin' to talk about. Later, though. I'll find you! And John, just come over here a minute, we need to discuss that thing…'

John and Maxine moved quickly over to a corner where they engaged in a hurried talk. While this was happening, Kleos saw Perro and Azure standing to one side of the room, having their own heated discussion.

###

'I can't believe you told her, you're such a little bitch,' Azure sneered at him.

'I can't believe you helped Beth steal from the store room!' he hissed back. 'You ought to be with me and Maxine, not Beth! Maxine is the one who's actually making this place run, without her we would all be… be… things wouldn't be good!'

She scoffed, rolling her eyes. 'She's alright but she oversteps sometimes. People gotta push back when they have to. That's all it was. Man, I don't know what your deal is these days.'

'I've got an important job to do, that's all,' he said. 'It's stressful!' Why couldn't she understand that?

'What, running around spying on people for her?'

'I do lots of things! I keep everything organised, I check up on stuff!'

He saw someone pass by, and realised it was Jekop. The other youth smirked at him.

'Hey Azure,' the boy said, waving.

'Heya!' she said, smiling back.

Perro's eyes bulged. 'What? What? You're talking with Jerkoff? You're friends with Jerkoff?'

'Don't call him that,' she snapped at him. 'He's not so bad.'

'He's awful!' Perro hissed, hardly able to believe it.

Azure tch'd. 'What do you even know. You spend all your time here with Maxine, anyway. You don't even have time to hang out with me anymore!'

'I've got a lot to do,' he said. 'And anyway, I didn't think you wanted me to hang out with you anymore. After… after all that, that stuff that you said!'

'You're an idiot!' she cried, flung herself about and stomped away.

'W-what?' he croaked at her back.

###

Kleos saw Maxine clap John the shoulder, ending their talk, and he headed over to Cait, giving her a nod, before looking around for Azure. She was currently flouncing angrily away from Perro, who stared at her back, mouth open. Maxine meanwhile moved off, barking orders to some of her seated aids, and the room turned into a flurry of activity.

Kleos and Maric had ended up to one side, observing, Jo and Beth beside them.

'She's really got a good handle on all this,' mused Maric. 'I'm glad we're in competent hands.'

Beth grunted non-commitally. Jo was gazing at Maxine thoughtfully as the woman waved her arms and talked and talked, quickly getting through some more business and making preparations. Now people were speaking into radios, telling everyone to gather in the main area, or if they were down below to listen to the coming speech and news.

'What's with that accent?' asked Kleos. He'd noticed it before, but only in a surface manner. This was the first time he'd exchanged so many words with Maxine. 'Is she from a different place than the rest of you, back on your planet?'

'She's from New London too, I think,' said Jo. 'The accent is a purchased affectation, from a period of history. It's not that common but sometimes people buy accents.' She frowned. 'Normally, it's media personalities and sometimes corporate sales-people or deals-brokers.'

'Our dad had a few different accents he'd bring out depending, though much more subtle,' added Beth. 'He said the different sound can help influence people. A posh British accent to sound sophisticated, a German accent to sound smart.'

'British? German?' asked Maric.

'Old countries, from aaages ago,' explained Beth. 'I don't even know where they'd be on a map exactly, world looks very different now. But all those accents remained in classic movies, and nowadays there are loads of movies where people have the same, where it's set in those old periods.'

Kleos could sense Maric about to ask about movies, too, and had a feeling the line of questioning could go on forever. He spoke up quickly, for something he considered more important.

'What kind of purpose would her accent be bought for?' he asked of Jo.

'Deep South American… probably to put people at ease. Has a kind of grandmotherly sound to it, right? Suggests you're a kind person, but not in a floaty way. Down to earth.'

He nodded. That was actually the kind of vibe Maxine gave him.

'Makes me wonder what she did before all this,' said Jo, her eyes narrowing. 'I don't think I've ever heard her talk about her past.'

'And I doubt you ever will,' came a voice. Vikrum had sidled over and now stood before them, the dark haired woman at his side. He was smiling in a strange way, gazing at Jo.

Meanwhile, the dark haired woman was grinning at Beth, who grinned back. The pair exchanged fist bumps and peeled away, chatting.

'What do you want?' asked Jo, glaring at Vikrum.

'I saw your boyfriend,' he said. 'Want to know what he's up to?'

'He's not—it's not—' she trailed off, frustrated. 'I don't know what you're talking about. And I don't care about whatever you want to say.'

His smile widened into a grin. 'Well, I'll tell you anyway. He cheated his way into winning a tournament, made a bunch of new enemies, and caused a little girl to cry. Real stand up guy, as usual.'

'Did you talk to him?' she asked, face neutral in a way Kleos thought seemed very careful, very controlled.

'I did, actually.' His smile faded. 'He said…' He scoffed. 'I don't even know what to think about what he said. Acting friendly like that...' He trailed off into a mutter. 'Must have been some kind of trick.' He looked back up to Jo, narrowed his eyes. 'He's fucking crazy, obviously. You're from a nice family,' he added offhandedly. 'You're not like the rest of these… well, these people. What the hell did you see in someone like that?'

She spread her arms, scowling with tremendous annoyance, and announced, 'I don't care.' She turned on a heel, glanced at Kleos and Maric. 'You two want to come with me or stick around with this asshole?'

'Wait a second,' said Vikrum, frowning at her. 'I had something to ask you. Do you know if he left anything here? An old weapon, maybe? Some clothing?' He brightened. 'Or, better yet, maybe you kept a lock of his hair?'

'Oh, fuck off,' snapped Jo, and this time she did leave, stalking off.

'I wasn't even making a joke…' he muttered, staring after her. He glanced to Kleos and Maric, saw their suspicious gazes and laughed nervously. 'Women, right?'

'Why do you want someone's hair?' asked Maric, peering at him. 'There are some nasty things you could do with that.'

'Haha, is there really? Wild. That's, ah—'

'Vikrum! Vikrum!' cried Maxine from across the room, looking around for him. 'Come on, it's time!' She saw Perro, who was staring at the ground and stewing to one side of the room, and waved at him. 'And Perro, stay with those two!' She pointed to Kleos and Maric. 'Make sure no one gives 'em trouble, and you three come find me when I'm done up there!'

'Great to meet you guys,' muttered Vikrum vaguely, turning and moving quickly away.

'Suspicious,' murmured Kleos.

'Deeply. But not our problem, hmm?'

Kleos shrugged. 'I suppose not.'

'Hi,' said a downcast Perro, approaching. 'I guess we ought to go outside.'

Kleos and Maric had observed some of his talk with Azure. Mostly Maric. Kleos considered teenage drama beneath his notice. Maric however considered it fun to observe.

'Chin up, young fellow. Hmm?' said Maric, patting the youth on the back.

They filtered outside with the general mass, and found that Maxine had come out to stand on the large porch to the side of the main building. Vikrum stood beside her, his arms crossed. Settling in to the side of things, they observed.

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