If anyone were standing outside the elevator when it finally reached the seventy-ninth floor, they would have been confused at the sight of two grown women with tears of mirth streaming down their cheeks. Luckily, when the doors opened, they were alone.
Daiya stepped out, a grin still etched on her face. Her eyes glanced down the empty corridor, and then they flashed as she turned back to Ivory. The teen pulled the satchel from her shoulder, and opened the main compartment to show off the rows of ammunition she carried. She hefted one of the cans of glitter spray paint in her hand, looking down to check it. "
Here's as good a place as any to start." Daiya gave it a shake, then pulled her arm back a few times, winding up as if to toss it over to Ivory. "
You want green?"
Ivory held out her hand, as-if to catch the incoming can of spray-paint, when suddenly she altered direction and slapped the can out of the air as Daiya threw it toward her. As it landed on the floor of the elevator, Ivory stepped out, a smug smile on her face as she quoted a line (with her own flavor) from a comedy holo-flick she’d once watched:
"Spray paint? We don’t need no stinkin’ spray paint."
With that, she began to pull two cans of her own from the deep pockets of her coat - these cans, however, appeared to be of an industrial variety, and were marked in bold red words:
"Caution. Explosive Hydrogel. Keep Away From Electrical Currents".
Then, she began to spray a thin line of off-white foamy substance around the frame of the elevator.
"
Are you fething with me?" The teen was incredulous, screeching as she ran past to grab the can of paint from inside the lift. She replaced it in her satchel, and took out one of the glitter bombs instead. Twisting it to set, she dropped it to the ground before stepping out so the doors could close. Daiya got out of the woman's way, avoiding the spray-linen of foam while still staying in Ivory's field of vision as best she could. Her arms flung wide, the teen's head bobbed forward accusationally, spitting her words out. "
So if this is your bright idea, how are we s'posed to get down again, hmm?"
Without answering, Ivory finished the single U-shaped line at the opposite corner from whence she’d started. Then, she reached into another pocket and produced a thin metallic needle with a large circular head; an electronic blasting cap, designed to discharge after a given time or signal. She said nothing as she gave the cap a twist - four lights beginning to dance, alternating in a pattern - before fixing the needle inside the gel at the base of the floor.
"Did you bring those parachutes I asked for?" She asked, turning to look at Daiya with an unreadable expression, before walking further down the hallway. She stopped when she reached a point in the tiled wall which appeared to be line any other… but the center panel lifted free, exposing a junction box. A number of wires and electronic readouts were visible, blinking away in dutiful silence.
Ivory laid a small dollop of hydrogel on one of the larger readouts, then affixed another detonator.
Daiya watched with horror as the woman didn't just brush aside her worries, but turned them right back on the teen. She closed her mouth, giving the blasting cap a hard stare. With more time, the young shadowrunner could have done to these what
Yula taught her to do. Her palm itched to reach out and touch it, but instead she turned to follow Ivory down the hallway. She passed empty apartments beyond open doors, soon to be remodeled into something distinctly more sterile and Corpo.
"
What are you talking about? You're the one who brought all this explosive chit!" This time she did reach out, smacking the detonator out of the junction box just after Ivory's hands had cleared it. She had another can of spray paint in her hand a moment later, red this time. Carving a glittery Xesh into the middle of the wires with her paint, more wary this time of Ivory's attempt to knock it away. Her foot came down and she glared up at the woman, "
We're not blowing it up."
Ivory’s tone & demeanor had changed, as it sometimes did when she was doing something particularly criminal. She seemed… calmer - almost robotic. When she spoke this time, it was with an air of cybernetic simplicity:
"Daiya. They’ll have spray paint and glitter cleaned out of this building within a week. They’ll strip this place to the bone like they do with everything they touch, gut it, then replace what was with clean, white walls. A fresh coat of paint. New wires. New lights. A new roof. By this time next month, they will have forgotten whatever damage a little graffiti might have done."
As she spoke, she reached down and retrieved the small blasting cap Daiya had knocked out of the junction panel. She replaced it gingerly, her movements languid & precise.
"This way, they’ll have to spend more money. More time. More resources. They’ll get angry. Someone may lose their job. They’ll have to find a new contractor, because nobody will want to pay for a job that’ll just get destroyed again."
As she spoke, she began walking further down the hallway, walking into a small anteroom where she opened up a closet - searching for, and discovering, the floor’s emergency fire suppression system control panel. This, too, she applied a healthy dose of hydrogel and an armed primer.
For Daiya, the woman's calm was the opposite of cathartic. Ivory's smooth words were a fire to her simmering rage, turning it hotter. Her free hand flexed, clenching and relaxing just short of a fist. Following the woman again, this time she put herself squarely between Ivory and the panel, stopping her from affixing the detonator this time. "
And then you go home? Back to whatever fething planet you're from? Bomb a building, back on Nar Shaddaa for dinner, huh?"
Ivory stopped mid-motion, detonator held in her hand… which she slowly lowered. She regarded the blonde teenager for a moment longer with the measured concentration and silent efficiency of an Android, then warmth and humanity filtered back in. Ivory stepped back from the panel, removing herself from the proximity of both her intended target as well as Daiya; her hands up in the universal sign of surrender.
"I’m not from Nar Shaddaa. I’m from Coruscant... and no. This isn’t a weekend getaway. This is me helping a friend. I don’t understand why you’re so angry. This stuff isn’t powerful enough to bring the building down on everyone’s heads below. But it is powerful enough to cause enough damage to do exactly what you told me on the way here you wanted to do. So, which is it? Do you want to leave little scars, or lasting damage?"
She wasn’t being cruel or sarcastic, that much would be clear. It was a genuine question, begging an equally genuine response.
"
Ohhhh my stars. I don't fething know, okay?! Of course I want to leave the Corpos hurting, but you were talking about blowing up the whole fething building!" Daiya wanted desperately to swing, to connect her fist with Ivory's robotic face. The woman seemed normal again, and the teen was getting the distinct impression that she was being played. "
Oh, but I guess we're friends now? So that makes it all better! We'll just—" she ripped the detonator out of the woman's hand, whipping around to smack it in place against the explosive foams. "
—do it all your way, friend. Big scars, big boom, feth the stupid teenager and her small brain ideas."
Ivory regarded the young woman for a few heartbeats, her face impassive. Finally, when she spoke, it was after choosing her words with great care:
"If only the Corpos could see us fighting, as we’re about to deal them a blow. It would make any injury they suffer worth it to know it had separated us."
Daiya regarded the woman, rendered speechless for once. Her mouth still worked, but no sound came out of it. Her eyes dulled, glimmering with a sheen of dampness that made her turn away. A breath came ragged, caught in her throat as warmth crept up her cheeks. "
How do you do that?" she asked Ivory, still not looking at her. "
How do you just turn it off? Like some Iron Heart, so 'borged up that they don't even feel anymore?" The teen turned back, swallowing over a lump in her throat. "
You're so good at it, it's kinda scary, y'know?"
A warm, gentle hand suddenly reached out, comforting the teenage girl by gently laying to rest on her arm. Ivory looked at her, all semblance of the robotic, cold, unfeeling creature having given way to humanity and a moment of compassion.
"I… grew up on the streets… Kinda like you. Except I didn’t have friends, like Darkwire. I guess I just learned that, in order to survive, I couldn’t afford to feel.”
Daiya took a few more breaths, and tossed back the hair that had fallen in front of her face. She didn't feel better, just shifting her anger to disappointment. At herself, mostly, feeling stupid for arguing when they could have already been done sending their message. "Will you at least spread some glitter around with me?"
Ivory took a breath, then gave the young woman a smile.
"Of course I’ll spread some glitter with you. As much as you want."
(Written jointly with
Daiya
)
