Post by Executus Gira on Sept 30, 2019 20:55:46 GMT
"SHE'S NOT HERE?!"
Victor shook his head. "The room is empty, and no one is here. They checked out last night, while you were dozing off on the laptop."
Barina's eyes were wide with disbelief, and she stamped her foot down on the floor. "During the middle of a demon invasion? Who... Who the fuck even does that?! Did that adorable little girl really have a death wish?!"
Victor sighed. Wasn't one of the perks of being an augmented Holy Knight pilot the need to rest less? Ontop of a sturdier and stronger body and greater reflexes, all pilots also had better metabolic control and could theoretically not get tired even after a full week of nonstop work. Sure, this came at the expense of rampant BO, but it was well worth the trouble, yet every other time he looked over at Barina, she was either napping or full blown asleep, if she wasn't engaged in behavior he was embarrassed to even be around. Truly, some things never changed on the inside even with external differences.
"I watched the footage while you were eating. She and the others left, and I doubt they're coming back."
Barina gritted her teeth and grabbed at her hair. "I'm glad the damn monkey is gone, but that adorable doll as well. I needed her, I need her. She's too cute to not have here, Victor! I need her for my collection!I really do!"
"No, you do not." Victor stepped back. Just hearing about her "collection" made him want to vomit. "Please don't mention your collection, please. I cannot."
"Hey, I can't just report every cute face I see to the boss. I need some for myself. It's only fair."
"Shut up, just shut up. That kind of behavior is why we're even here in the first place, you sick muppet."
Barina sat down in the chair and flipped the laptop back open. "No respect for your older sister. For shame, Victor. For shame."
Victor was about to retort back, when he noticed a notification flashing on the bottom of the screen. "Uh, Barina... we have an audience."
Barina's eyes snapped down to the notification, and she groaned. There was only one person it could have been, and it sure wasn't their boss. He was rather lax and left them to do their own stuff while he covered for them, but his usual habit of never being around meant they were the ones who had to deal with the higher ups back at home.She pressed the notification, and watched as a screen opened up, and two brown eyes glared right into her own. "Oh, it's just you." Barina sighed. "I was scared it was the big man or his pampered brat princess, not the lost accountant bot. Where is Jiver? Isn't he supposed to be the usual chat box to report to?"
"Inaccurate, and rich coming from you." The girl on the other end said, her voice low and emotionless. Her pale skin and black hair stood in stark contrast to each other and to the darkness behind her. "Since we last met, I have risen from accountant to overseer of foreign operations, which includes your exile in Mival. Jiver Vacc was unfit for the position, and was caught lying about results from this corner of the continent."
Barina's face began to twitch. Jiver had been a close friend of their boss, and had made it an effort to make it seem like their exile had been profitable in more ways than one. If he was no longer in charge... "Things are going smoothly here, I promise. We have half a shipment of specimens here, and will have them shipped back tomorrow morning as a full package."
The girl on the other end kept her stare locked onto Barina, and the Holy Knight pilot felt herself begin to wither beneath it. One eye shifted slightly to the side, over to the silent Victor. "How are things going, Victor?" She asked. "I know your sibling is lying through her teeth, and you've always been honest while you were with us."
If Barina had any hope of her brother coming through for her, it was shattered when she saw how pale his face was, and the sweat dripping down. "We have nothing. Absolutely nothing here. I'm sorry, but no one has stayed here longer than a day, and Barina would rather entertain herself than make sure to secure shipments."
"YOU LYING INGRATE!" Barina snapped. "Don't throw me under the-"
"As expected." The girl's voice cut off Barina, and the pilot swerved back to face her. "Jettro has become annoyed by the lack of tangible results coming from your overseer, and this justifies it. Tonight, not tomorrow, but tonight, a full shipment of specimens is expected to be in the hotel awaiting my arrival. Otherwise, the consequences you face will make your existing punishment and banishment seem light. When the sun sets, I will be where you are at, and everyone will have to answer to me and the Emperor. He and Prateria have more important matters to settle, but he has given me his full blessing to carry out this lack of respect and violation of conduct as I see fit. And Victor... maybe we'll have a play date or two together before I punish you and your sibling."
The screen closed, and Barina collapsed out of her chair and onto the ground. "A full shipment... A fucking full shipment by tonight. How are we supposed to get a hundred people into this hotel by dusk?!"
Victor was frozen in place. He just kept staring at the black screen, and his lips felt drier than they had before. "We need to tell the boss. He's the only one that can get us out of this hole you've dug us into."
"I DID NO-" Barina began to shout, but she silenced herself. This WAS her fault. She has used this exile dead end assignment to just kick back and relax, and now she was reaping what she had sowed. No, you're right. M-maybe I can hand over my colle-"
"That's not a full shipment, and... it wouldn't work for other reasons." Victor turned away, and grabbed at the desk. He breathed in deeply. "We need quality, not quantity. If the boss doesn't have an answer, then we need to find specimens, people, that are perfect enough to warrant not having a full shipment."
Barina staggered back to her feet, an effort that took every bit of her energy to accomplish. "The monkey. I know for a fucking fact they've never seen a monkey like that before. We send that primate and whatever friends she has over to them, that might be our best ticket out of this hellhole, but first, contact the boss. We need his suggestion first and foremost."
Victor was already on it. He stumbled for the phone and began to dial in, and as he did, Barina collapsed back into the chair. No, it wasn't just going to be the monkey who was going to suffer. That cutie pie, Vesyka was it? That girl was going to be hers, and she was going to run off with her, as far away as possible, where no one could find them! Just the two of them and her collection. Her happiness had already been robbed once by the Emperor, and she wasn't going to let it be robbed again, this time permanently.
Victor shook his head. "The room is empty, and no one is here. They checked out last night, while you were dozing off on the laptop."
Barina's eyes were wide with disbelief, and she stamped her foot down on the floor. "During the middle of a demon invasion? Who... Who the fuck even does that?! Did that adorable little girl really have a death wish?!"
Victor sighed. Wasn't one of the perks of being an augmented Holy Knight pilot the need to rest less? Ontop of a sturdier and stronger body and greater reflexes, all pilots also had better metabolic control and could theoretically not get tired even after a full week of nonstop work. Sure, this came at the expense of rampant BO, but it was well worth the trouble, yet every other time he looked over at Barina, she was either napping or full blown asleep, if she wasn't engaged in behavior he was embarrassed to even be around. Truly, some things never changed on the inside even with external differences.
"I watched the footage while you were eating. She and the others left, and I doubt they're coming back."
Barina gritted her teeth and grabbed at her hair. "I'm glad the damn monkey is gone, but that adorable doll as well. I needed her, I need her. She's too cute to not have here, Victor! I need her for my collection!I really do!"
"No, you do not." Victor stepped back. Just hearing about her "collection" made him want to vomit. "Please don't mention your collection, please. I cannot."
"Hey, I can't just report every cute face I see to the boss. I need some for myself. It's only fair."
"Shut up, just shut up. That kind of behavior is why we're even here in the first place, you sick muppet."
Barina sat down in the chair and flipped the laptop back open. "No respect for your older sister. For shame, Victor. For shame."
Victor was about to retort back, when he noticed a notification flashing on the bottom of the screen. "Uh, Barina... we have an audience."
Barina's eyes snapped down to the notification, and she groaned. There was only one person it could have been, and it sure wasn't their boss. He was rather lax and left them to do their own stuff while he covered for them, but his usual habit of never being around meant they were the ones who had to deal with the higher ups back at home.She pressed the notification, and watched as a screen opened up, and two brown eyes glared right into her own. "Oh, it's just you." Barina sighed. "I was scared it was the big man or his pampered brat princess, not the lost accountant bot. Where is Jiver? Isn't he supposed to be the usual chat box to report to?"
"Inaccurate, and rich coming from you." The girl on the other end said, her voice low and emotionless. Her pale skin and black hair stood in stark contrast to each other and to the darkness behind her. "Since we last met, I have risen from accountant to overseer of foreign operations, which includes your exile in Mival. Jiver Vacc was unfit for the position, and was caught lying about results from this corner of the continent."
Barina's face began to twitch. Jiver had been a close friend of their boss, and had made it an effort to make it seem like their exile had been profitable in more ways than one. If he was no longer in charge... "Things are going smoothly here, I promise. We have half a shipment of specimens here, and will have them shipped back tomorrow morning as a full package."
The girl on the other end kept her stare locked onto Barina, and the Holy Knight pilot felt herself begin to wither beneath it. One eye shifted slightly to the side, over to the silent Victor. "How are things going, Victor?" She asked. "I know your sibling is lying through her teeth, and you've always been honest while you were with us."
If Barina had any hope of her brother coming through for her, it was shattered when she saw how pale his face was, and the sweat dripping down. "We have nothing. Absolutely nothing here. I'm sorry, but no one has stayed here longer than a day, and Barina would rather entertain herself than make sure to secure shipments."
"YOU LYING INGRATE!" Barina snapped. "Don't throw me under the-"
"As expected." The girl's voice cut off Barina, and the pilot swerved back to face her. "Jettro has become annoyed by the lack of tangible results coming from your overseer, and this justifies it. Tonight, not tomorrow, but tonight, a full shipment of specimens is expected to be in the hotel awaiting my arrival. Otherwise, the consequences you face will make your existing punishment and banishment seem light. When the sun sets, I will be where you are at, and everyone will have to answer to me and the Emperor. He and Prateria have more important matters to settle, but he has given me his full blessing to carry out this lack of respect and violation of conduct as I see fit. And Victor... maybe we'll have a play date or two together before I punish you and your sibling."
The screen closed, and Barina collapsed out of her chair and onto the ground. "A full shipment... A fucking full shipment by tonight. How are we supposed to get a hundred people into this hotel by dusk?!"
Victor was frozen in place. He just kept staring at the black screen, and his lips felt drier than they had before. "We need to tell the boss. He's the only one that can get us out of this hole you've dug us into."
"I DID NO-" Barina began to shout, but she silenced herself. This WAS her fault. She has used this exile dead end assignment to just kick back and relax, and now she was reaping what she had sowed. No, you're right. M-maybe I can hand over my colle-"
"That's not a full shipment, and... it wouldn't work for other reasons." Victor turned away, and grabbed at the desk. He breathed in deeply. "We need quality, not quantity. If the boss doesn't have an answer, then we need to find specimens, people, that are perfect enough to warrant not having a full shipment."
Barina staggered back to her feet, an effort that took every bit of her energy to accomplish. "The monkey. I know for a fucking fact they've never seen a monkey like that before. We send that primate and whatever friends she has over to them, that might be our best ticket out of this hellhole, but first, contact the boss. We need his suggestion first and foremost."
Victor was already on it. He stumbled for the phone and began to dial in, and as he did, Barina collapsed back into the chair. No, it wasn't just going to be the monkey who was going to suffer. That cutie pie, Vesyka was it? That girl was going to be hers, and she was going to run off with her, as far away as possible, where no one could find them! Just the two of them and her collection. Her happiness had already been robbed once by the Emperor, and she wasn't going to let it be robbed again, this time permanently.