FFFF

(you get some bonus lore because we wrote some before double-checking the votes)

[X] Give her the footage (edited to hide your capacities and Alex)
[X] Ask about Chalita's activities on Hera
([X] Ask about Mara herself [runner up])

You're probably not going to get out of here without giving her the footage. Moreover, Mara and Grey Shift could be a powerful, if untrustworthy, ally. You remember never really trusting the Liaison… or maybe you just don't trust her now. The main thing is not to give her an excuse to do a really detailed scan. Alex has presumably been able to beat whatever covert scans they've aimed at you but you don't want a full medical examination here.

"Go to bfb5:1889:534e:2815:164d:f3c5:943a:3a31, login guest/••••••••. You'll find the archive there."

"And the decryption key?"

"I'll send you that when-"

"-you're safely out of my clutches." Mara winks. "Your MO is so familiar."

"It's a little awkward having this conversation when you know me and I don't know you."

"I know, right? This is the most fun I've had with you in years." Mara rolls over again and sits back. "I'm afraid you'll need to wait till I can arrange a flight back to the mainland though. Let's have some drinks while we wait."

"You won't be able to crack the file." Reizay is neurotic but you have a lot of faith in her skills.

A woman dressed in a little white dress comes in with drinks on a silver tray. You've never had whatever she offers you. It's an amber liquid in spun sapphire highball glass that smells not quite like brandy, but as you take the first sip you known that its your favourite. Juketta accepts a multi-coloured cocktail in a thin stalked, wide mouthed glass, while Mara's drink comes in a delicate crystal flute.

"Oh, I believe you. Can't a girl just want to catch up with an old friend? Do you really think I'm so suspect?"

Juketta gives a pointed look at her concubines. "Yes. I think so."

Mara's concubines giggle a little. The dark haired girl on her left snuggles up to her, while the other, who has light hair and dark skin feeds more grapes. You realise that several of Mara's retinue look quite a lot like you, and wonder how recently she had them do that.

You can see by their motion they're wired by close combat implants. How typical of a Liaison to have her squeezes also be bodyguards. The practice of 'concubines, which really just means the closely-attached women-without-formal-role that Liaisons often accumulate, is not particularly uncommon but is somewhat disreputable. It's a flex for her to show it off here. Some people say it's really just another form of polyamory for powerful women, which Liaisons, dangerous, luxurious and descended from reprehensible mercantilism definitely count as. The issue, of course, is the power dynamic. The agreement to be a kept woman to power is not something anyone is supposed to desire.

"Some people like hierarchy. It's part of our basic cognitive toolset, you know? For social processing." She plays with a long lock of dark hair, as its owner keeps her head silently resting on Mara's thigh. "Hierarchy, aggression… hatred. However dangerous they are in excess, all these things will be an inevitable part of any human world. And it is our mission and duty to make a human world."

You wonder how much of having them draped over her like this is a power move aimed not at you but at Juketta. You know she has a Rose background, like her faith in general. But she seems to take it in stride. "You're in good historical company," she says. "That's a sentiment well-explored by those who have benefited from those things."

"Not the only one. Many River princes and their children benefit from the sage counsel of your sisters, don't they? One of our great cultural exports."

Juketta is almost unflappable but you can see Mara is getting a little under her skin., You'd better interject to cut off the argument. "It's a little unsettling how much you know about me when I know so little about you, or our relationship."

"Oh, I'm nobody too special." Mara grins, tapping the dark haired concubine on the head and then lying forward. The two concubines begin to massage her back.. "Just a Liaison who has covert operations experience and a good relationship with the Interfacate. I work to protect the Chrysanthemum and its allies from those threats best dealt with from the shadows." She pauses to let out a pleased sigh. "We've always had the greatest advantage in such operations over our the River and other such enemies. Alas I am increasingly forced to deal with threats from within as well as without. It's so difficult."

"You're a spy," says Juketta.

"Not at all. I'm someone who runs spies." Mara smiles up at her. "And once, long ago, your companion was one of the best of them. I hope that Stella proves to be as good as Chalita was."

"You said I was from a shamanic family. What about you?"

"Oh, I'm nobody special. My parents build space colonies. I wasn't really into engineering though, so I got recruited into this." She smiles a little. "I guess you could say I'm a true believer though. A total fanatic." She gives Juketta a look. "But then you've always been drawn to that, haven't you Ch– Stella?"

You decide to change the subject again. "My alpha then, she's on Hera?"

"Yes. She's working with another faction within the General Council, possibly with Viola Marin." You consult your network. Marin is a young and up and coming member of the Chrysanthemum's expansionist faction, and was narrowly defeated by the Promethean candidate to become the interfacer in the last election. "She certainly has powerful backing. It's likely that her trip to Hera was an attempt to arrange additional resources. Perhaps to resuscitate her operations after the loss of the Deep Ship."

"Do you think she's still there?"

"That's the question isn't it?" Mara smiles. "We should meet up again. Somewhere you're less in my power. I'll want to review the footage and see what I can scare up about ECHO CHAMBER, and I'm sure you'll have some fruits of your own research by then. We can develop a joint plan of action."

"When and where?"

"There's a very nice restaurant in the city I've been wanting to try." Mara basks in her Concubine's hands. "We'll meet there again tomorrow, at the twentieth hour. Don't keep me waiting."


A few minutes later, the flight is announced and you're taken back to the city. The storm is getting even heavier. "This rain." You mutter, depressed at once again being under the overcast. "Can you drop us somewhere else than the enclave? I don't want to get hit."

"Sure." Medea says. "We'll put you down near the docks, there's plenty of private areas there. Hey, Dusty, turn on the disguise."

The aircraft shimmers as its countermeasures ripples around it, providing the illusion it's no more than a small passenger lifter, perhaps come in from one of the offshore platforms. It touches down in the docks and you disembark.

A change in your gait and facial masks and another few streets of anti-tail precautions and you feel a little safer. You doubt you're totally free of Mara, but given your other enemies at large that's not necessarily a bad thing.

"Why don't we get some coffee on the way back?" Juketta asks. "I think we could both use a meal."

"Sure. Let me just update people on what happened." You quickly explain what happened on the squad link and, after giving you time to get clear, Reizay sends the encryption key. Juketta is looking around for a while and then finds a small backstreet coffee house and subsequently a table in the back. It's tall, raised high off the floor, and with high chairs which stretch you comfortably when you balance on them. The proprietress, a Communionist with dark highlights in her blonde hair brings you thick chocolate coffee and a selection of cakes. Juketta carefully shakes her raincoat out and sets it on a hook before sitting.

You drink in silence for a while, then pass judgement on the cakes and coffee. They're actually not great; either it's an off day or you just don't really care for how they're done here.

"If you'll forgive me. We've been on a few missions together now," Juketta says. "You and we. We're thankful for your trust in that." She pauses. "You're very skilled, and are carrying a heavy weight in your head, with not a lot of continuous life to do it with. We thought you'd need our counsel but so far you've held it together quite admirably. But I know there's a lot of incentive in your position as, more or less, the leader, to put a brave face on things. I want you to know that we are here if you want to talk. In full confessional confidence."

You look at her, across the small table from you. Beautiful. Containing multitudinous infinity behind her serene face.

"Thank you," you end up saying, after sorting though options. "I should say the same. Though I don't have your confessional training. And you have each other."

"Any system sometimes needs reference from something outside it," she says. "And the training isn't required. Minetta is here to hear your confessions, but I like to think I can hear you as a… friend."

"And Alietta?"

"This is but one of the curls in the manifold of the world." She smiles, a little sadly.

"Maybe we shouldn't get involved. What if I drag you back down to earth?"

"We're very good at compartmentalising. You might not be, though."

"It's true. I think…"

[ ] "...right now I need your professional counsel more than anything else. We're all in a difficult situation and we need you to help keep everyone, including us, on an even keel."
[ ] "...I like the three of you. Not just as colleagues with useful skills, even psychological ones."
[ ] "...that's a tricky decision and not one I can just make here."