(no subject)

[speakveryclearly]

Here they were in the pig iron complex to end all complexes. They all started to look the same after a while, doing this so many times before: Cultural differences melted away, and the entire operation appeared to Kanaya as an interconnected webwork of data. Just as a predator in any environment could eventually sense the interactions that governed the heartbeats of prey, she could hone in on the locations of files in each room they entered, an almost effortless appearance of routine maintenance. The mission was going almost too smoothly, as the soldier young woman felt like a little girl in a candy shop. It would have been nice if she could have taken advantage of her supernatural speed to get this done even more efficiently...

And at a particular juncture the Jenga tower collapsed. She reached for her gun as the sparkles stole away from her skin, in the split second before the blocks all hit the table and the floor. Her cool grip told her that the weapon's extension of herself was only psychological now. Alive again. Alien. Powerless. There was her heartbeat, awfully pounding in her ears. Could he feel this too? She had not asked him, about the holding facility - doubted he wanted to talk about it any more than she did - and did not know if he could feel the same pervasive sense of loss, if he felt blinded.

So she called his name, just once, not allowing fear to raise her voice so much they would attract even more attention:

"Kano."

That was when the alarm became audible.