(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.

Comments

[duplicitoussight]

Kano stuck close to Kanaya, trusting her eyes better than his to see through the darkness. They ran into little trouble while breaking in--to be honest, getting out was his worry. They had the advantage with Kanaya: being undead and endowed with outstanding speed, Kano was sure that they could handle any guards that come their way.

Well. At least until that alarm kicks in.

He doesn't know what happened. His eyes, which had been burning moments before, suddenly felt as though they'd been snuffed out. Confused, he stops.

"Ah, Kanaya...? You didn't step on anything, did you?"

[speakveryclearly]

Her head shakes of its own accord, while she's not sure he can even see it. Her hands are moving towards the gun, turning off the safety. With her skeleton naturally animated her body parts don't feel like they belong to Kanaya.

"No. I think this is the power alarm." She's pulling the words out of a barely understood memory, the retroactively acquired explanation for what they don't talk about in September.

In addition to the siren she can hear footsteps. How many she can't make out; five pairs of feet is her most optimistic estimate. That, too, warranted exposition: "In which case those people are probably Masked."

[duplicitoussight]

Despite the danger of the mission, Kano only brought along a single gun. He'd hoped for this to be a quick infiltration, without any fuss. A rueful smile spread across his face at her response.

"How troublesome," he murmured to himself. Without his eyes, he was a sitting duck. "We gotta find cover."