can't imagine the pain that you feel when I kiss his face (part X)

(Roleplay entry. Continued from part IX.)

"Hold on," she heard Justine say as she walked into the fringe lab once more. She grinned. "Yeah, I was trying to find the cloning lab earlier."



Justine just stared at the replicant. "Gloves off, please."

Hiro Secundus rubbed his eyes, then removed his gloves, blinking. Justine took them and walked off. "Thank you."

She tilted her head, looking from Justine across the room, to Hiro Secundus, sitting in the chair again. "So, how do you feel?"

She heard Justine typing some sequence into the panel. "Who are you asking?" She looked over. "Hiro, of course."



Hiro shrugged. "I'm fine...just kind of...brain foggy." She nodded, she hoped reassuringly. "Of course."

Hiro looked up. "How are you?" She smiled, warmer now. "Doing a weirdly huge amount of socializing this week. Beyond that, fine." She watched him smile, trying to see if there were any noticeable differences. "I got friended by a demon!"



Hiro's eyebrows rose as he touched a panel in the floor and a large jar rose up, containing an oversized brain and eyes. She blinked at it, before turning her attention back to Hiro Secundus. "I don't know why I say it like that, it would hardly be the first time." Not even the second, even.
Hiro just nodded absently, leaning towards the jar. "Hello," he said in a distinct voice.

"Hello," came the machine-assisted voice from the jar. Her eyebrows rose.

"I guess I'm still trying to puzzle out what the hell I did that made him say, okay, yes, this person, today, I shall friend her."

There was a click. "I say it like that, would hardly be the first time. D." She grinned wryly. "I bet you do, Brain." Another click, then the mechanical voice. "Hello."

"Hi there!"

Another click. "I did that, would hardly be the hell I guess I'm still trying to puzzle out. What the first time D."



She blinked. "Damn, we got it to curse in under a minute."

A soft whir. "I don't know why, I guess, I'm still trying to puzzle out what the hell I did that. Yes, yes, I did, that made him say it like that, that made him say, this person, this person, this person, yes, yes. Brain."

She tilted her head. "Sure."

"Damn, we got it like that, this person, brain." She frowned, hearing the voice. "The brain is supposed to learn, yes? Assisted neural network?"

Hiro leaned in, whispering. "Why is Justine so stressed?" She stepped closer, carding her fingers through his hair. She loved the texture, she always had. "It's okay," she said softly. "She's...adjusting. She's never settled when you've been ill."

"Brain..." Hiro looked over to the jar. "Brain!" She looked over. There was a glug sound, but that was all. She sighed. "It's gone non-responsive."

"Justine?" Hiro stood. "Why did you want me to take my gloves off?" Justine laughed again, that edged sound. "Needed your DNA." Hiro laughed too, but more unsteadily. "...Why?"

The Duchess made flailing motions with her hands. "Oh, you know her, always working..."

"To get control of the Command Centre," Justine said. "Right now it's locked to you. And apparently, I have witch bombs and eldritch rockets to disable."

Hiro blinked. "Wait...Who told you that?" She looked up from the panel. "STAN, unless I misunderstood." Hiro blinked. "Oh...Did you get control of the station?"

Justine shook her head. "No." Emilly stepped closer, placing a hand on Hiro's arm. "No, you didn't misunderstand," she said to Justine. "We would rather Stormhold doesn't blow up."

Another click, an even softer whir, and the large reader screen began to dim. "Powering down," said the soft, feminine voice, and then the screen went dark.

"There are a lot of things I would rather not be blown up," Justine said, "Starting with the station we're standing on right now." Emilly nodded. "That too, yes. I mean, we can just go to ground level, but there's no guarantee there won't be fallou--"

Hiro stepped to the panel in front of the screen while she was still occupied watching what Justine was doing on the other side of the room. "Activate Security Override," she heard Hiro say behind her, and whirled. "Oh, no..."



Hiro quietly intoned "Ai-neko-orr..." She drew closer. "Are you--sure you should do that?" she asked quietly. Justine flicked her eyes over. "I'd also like to find out what 'Weaponized Magic Anti-Kidnapping Response' consists of, and if it's able to find Hiro Prime and get him back."

She looked at Justine behind Hiro's back, making chopping motions across her throat. Justine just narrowed her eyes.

"If I can get control of the station, I can find out. Because right now, STAN is being pretty damned stingy with information."

The screen lit again, pulling her attention back.

STAN: DNA CONFIRMED AUTHENTICATE WITH PASSCODES..
STAN: DNA CONFIRMED AUTHENTICATE WITH PASSCODES..

Hiro laughed, that sound now tinged with something else. His was definitely hysteria. "Hiro Prime?" he asked, looking at Justine. She crossed her arms. "Emilly, if you have any better suggestions, I'm listening." She followed his hand motions, worrying. "I'm...I'm not sure."

"Begin Passcode authentication," Hiro said. "Uh-oh," Justine said quietly.

She just buried her muzzle in her hands, breathing, before looking at the screen again.

STAN: Question 1: Who Killed the Widow's Son?

Justine whispered, but she felt if she could clearly hear it, so could Hiro. "Does he know the passcodes?" Hiro's eyes darted between them rapidly. She shrugged, confounded. "Uh..." Hiro said, looking at her, then at the screen. "Widow's son?"

"Really, it's all right. You can track this down later. You should probably rest now." She opened her mouth to say more and blinked at the line flashing on the screen.

STAN: You have failed. You have five more tries.

She looked over at Justine. Whispering back. "What happens if he fails four more times?" Justine's eyes widened. "[F*ck]," she said. "This is bad."

On the screen, the line changed.

STAN: Who is the Consort of the Queen of Heaven?

"Adonai," Justine said. Hiro staggered back to the chair. "Adonai," he murmured. Justine inhaled and froze, watching. And...nothing happened, except...



"The screen shut off again," she murmured, staring at the wide expanse of black glass. Justine stepped away from the panel. "Is that good or bad?" She looked at the other woman. "That was only two tries."

A masculine mechanical voice came from somewhere near the dark screen. "STAN," it said. "You have failed." Justine's mouth dropped open. "It was...god damn it!" Hiro looked between the two of them. Justine just shrugged. "What do we do now?" Hiro put his head in his hands.

(Continued in part XI.)