"Darlene, we are not going to attempt to access their databases right now." Mr. Robot's voice was steady, with a trace of contempt.
"Jesus fucking Christ. We finally get an opening and this is your idea of a plan?"
Their voices had grown loud enough to be noticed by the rest of the team. The older man turned around and walked back into his makeshift office, implying that the conversation was over. Everyone knew by now how much this action infuriated Darlene; that is why no one was really surprised to see her loudly call the hacker an asshole and rapidly exit the arcade.
Trenton had watched the interaction closely. A few minutes later, when the rest of the team had gone back to their jobs, she silently got up and walked towards the door.
Darlene was leaning against the front wall of the building, smoking twitchingly. Mr Robot and her got into arguments nearly every time they were situated in the same room, but this time felt different. The hacker had not only disagreed with her in a uncompromising manner; he had also treated her in a way that made her feel less in control, less of a second-in-command. She hated feeling like shit because honestly, she didn't know how to deal with her emotions.
"Fucking wreck", she whispered, just before the loud creak of the door could be heard.
Darlene half-expected the old man to come out. Yet, she wasn't exactly surprised when the young woman appeared, shuffled a bit, then decided to lean against the wall, imitating her own position.
"If you're expecting a pity party, that shit is not happening." The taller woman almost winced at her own words. She needed to externalize her anger and wanted solitude but at the same time, she didn't mind the company. What is more, Trenton didn't deserve any of the treatment she had been giving her these troublesome past few weeks.
The younger woman didn't react; she just looked at the floor briefly, then resumed gazing up at the stars. This is one of those nights, huh, Darlene thought to herself. After a prolonged silence, she let out a theatrical sigh, and started talking.
"You know, I kind of have lots of respect for you or whatever. You're like, super young but really good at what you do, and somehow manage to remain calm when that assface orders all of us around. I wish I was that good at handling myself, but I guess I've always been a fighter. A stupid one, to be honest. I never know how to pick my battles."
When the other woman failed to respond, Darlene turned her head and eyed her nervously. Say something, you dum dum.
Trenton didn't peel her eyes off of the sky when she spoke.
"I do sometimes wish I was more like you, you know. I never take my chances because I'm too afraid of getting everything awfully wrong. The only place where I allow myself to experiment and go for it is when I'm hacking; I feel in control. Meanwhile, you're always trying. You've got... balls."
Darlene laughed at Trenton's hesitation when she used that expression. Who was this girl even.
"You should have seen me when I joined the team. I broke Badlands on the first week."
The game machine was the only one in the whole arcade to have a completely smashed screen. When she was small, the soon-to-be hacker's dad brought her with him to a small pub. He would drink with his work buddies, and she would get a few quarters to occupy herself at the arcade. It was a small one, but it had her favourite game. She would always beat all the boys and even made one cry once. She didn't tell Trenton any of that. Memories that were too close to her, that she kept to herself out of habit. Darlene couldn't help but feel like she could somehow trust this weirdo, and this only made matters worse.
A comfortable silence followed. The younger woman was still a bit flushed due to Darlene's reaction to what she had said. The taller hacker finished her cigarette, smothered it and moved towards the door. Right before opening it, she paused. Then, Trenton looked at her, and when she looked back, Darlene couldn't help but feel like she had more to say.
"I see the way you look at me, Trenton." Her voice was neutral, without a trace of mockery. Her eyes, on the other hand, had always been too admitting.
Before the younger hacker could react, Darlene went in.