#technically im overhauling everything but i didn't explain much pre-overhaul over here soo

[obscuremechala]

aight so im actively chipping at overhauling my whole story for TRaToR and being a bit more loose with the whole thing. this is a bit of a snippet of an interaction between two of the major characters, Enceladus and Virion.

There's a lot of things that they talk about that aren't explained bc im building off of knowledge that's just in my brain right now. also nothing is final and canon is a sandcastle that's being destroyed by the waves. i don't know man. i don't know how to explain stuff yet. i'll get there. (planning a post about the overhaul soon kinda just want this to be out there)

this is riffed off of an interaction ive had in mind for a while but im revamping it (no one knows what im talking about bc i haven't talked about anything anywhere).

enjoy (writing under the cut) vvvvv

Virion’s shoulders sagged as he examined Celi’s tablet. The biomech’s obnoxiously cocky eyebrows couldn’t be mistaken for anyone other than the bot who’d led the Armada’s–no, Unilacht’s now–assassin right to him. Meo, he introduced himself as? “Him?” he questioned.

Celi leaned back in her seat and tapped her fingers together. “Yeah, him. We worked together back on Melien for a bit, back in the rebellion days. Back when things were simpler…”

“You worked with him?” Virion tapped the screen, pointing out the guy’s absurd eyebrows.

Celi nodded. “Yeah. He’s quite the chatterbox, but I like listening.”

Oh. They were friends. Virion examined the photo, brow creasing under his helm. “You remember the other day, when Spectral finally tracked me down and chased me out of a contract?”

She gave him the barest of nods. “I remember.”

“He showed up and had a chat just a few hours just before she approached me.”

Enceladus raised her visor and looked at the photo. She processed the intel for a millisecond. “He’s under contract by the Unilacht, correct? Reaching him will be harder.”

Virion draped an arm over the table while supporting his head with his other hand, all to scrutinize the biomech’s large optics. “You’re absolutely certain about him, specifically?”

“Meo’s in communications tech, which gives him access to a lot of systems. With his maintenance certification, he can get into pretty much any system he wants, up to a certain clearance.” She adjusted her position with her cane, leaning on it more.

“Is that his current contract? Dhoxus would know about his spying habit, right? Maybe the Unilacht reassigned him. Surely he wouldn’t have accidentally led Spectral right to me.” Though, better she met him than Enceladus; only one of them would have survived that encounter at the warehouse.

Celi tapped a finger against her cane’s handle. “Good point. Dhoxus probably would have planned a reassignment. The only reason the Armada didn’t assign him to the Comms Department is because of his atrocious processing of written material. There’s a name for it, but he didn’t remember it. Would the Unilacht put up with that or rather stick him with his beloved radios?” Her optics gazed upwards as she considered this.

Virion squinted at the bigger bot, leaning against the table. By Melasi, she was still gonna go for it. She had that much faith in that slippery little biomech? “I never took you for an optimist, to be transparent,” he remarked, not expecting much in return. Celi gave him a shrug and took her tablet back.

Dampener mentioned that he and Celi were friends at some point, long before Virion was in the picture. He’d lamented their distancing relationship, though Virion didn’t remember the specifics as he had tuned him out most of the time. With other people, Spectral had a habit of lurking and talking about folks, Dampener especially, behind their backs. And Meo… Meo talked fast. The bugmech tried to flatter him before asking his questions.

All three of them had somewhat similar habits; all of them wanted to tell people what they wanted to hear, and once they were in their good graces, they could do whatever they wanted. The power of charisma and interpersonal analysis, Auchtor called it. Manipulation was a shorter word in comparison.

“Enceladus?”

“Yeah?” She lowered her tablet.

Virion glanced down at his hands, pondering his phrasing. “Do you take constructive criticism? I’ve noticed a pattern.”

“Alright, shoot.”

“I think you have a type.”