Taiga had set a brisk pace across the desert, hoping that it would prove exhausting enough for Lu to render her speechless. But either he had underestimated her fitness or she simply didn't care about things like catching her breath--she had scarcely stopped complaining since they had left the criminal camp. He had been tempted more than once to tie her up, beat her senseless, and leave her--but he couldn't stand the thought of having her wake up and be even more convinced that he was some kind of killing machine. So, although it pained him to do so, he let morality trump comfort and endured the abuse in stony silence.

Anyway, he needed the time to think--Hawk's Pass was just over the next couple dunes, and it was routinely guarded by a small deployment of soldiers. This, of course, meant that he would either have to circumvent it--going through the mountains on either side--or find some way through without being detained. And that option--although theoretically preferable, given the rough terrain the Pass cut through--would almost undoubtedly lead to violence.

Of course, the issue wasn't that he might have to fight--he had never been concerned about that, not even in regular army. It was hard to be uncomfortable with the thought of killing when the average cyborg had three to six years of emotional reprogramming, and after service in the Sorceress War it seemed unlikely that he would ever run into anything that wouldn't pale in comparison to the sights he had been exposed to on an almost daily basis. What he was concerned about was that he would leave another marker on the trail he had already begun--a trail that authorities were certain to be following already.

...and, of course, there was the ever-present annoyance provided by Hali Lu.

He had been industriously ignoring her for quite a while now, and it seemed to be having about as much effect on him as it was on her--in other words, it wasn't being particularly helpful. After all, she didn't take it as incentive to stop bitching, and he certainly wasn't less affected by hearing it. If anything, it was making him feel worse--without the option to lash back at her, he felt trapped, boxed into a place from which there was no possible escape.

And she was pushing every iota of his frustration to her fullest advantage.

As they crested the last dune, Taiga dropped into a crouch and gave an imperious motion for her to be silent--which she, of course, ignored. "Look," he said, interrupting her mid-rant. "Hawk's Pass. Gateway to the west."

Lu snorted. "Yeah? So what?"

"We're going through there," Taiga informed her tersely. "They'll ask questions about me, so it's your job to get us through."

"And why would I want to do that?"

"Because if you don't, I'll have to. And my way will probably call for a lot of needless violence."

Lu rolled her eyes. "I should have seen that coming," she drawled.

Taiga hunched slightly. "If you're so convinced that I'm going to go on a murderous rampage if you do anything I don't like, then why do you insist on doing things that I don't like?"

"Huh." Lu tossed her head, starting down the dune toward the Pass.

"Yeah, don't answer that," Taiga griped loudly as he stood to follow her. "No, really, don't."

Lu approached the guard, nodding to him and fishing out an ID card. "Hali Lu, fifth level Biomechanics," she said. "I have some business in Western Centra, so if you would be kind enough to let my partner and I through...?"

The guard checked something against a database, and turned to Taiga. "Name and identification?" he asked.

"Seiken C4452610," Taiga lied fluidly. "Extended registry 438-775-816-924, activated June third--"

The guard waved him off. "It checks," he said. "You get in a fight? You're missing a helmet and shotel."

Taiga opened his mouth to say that he didn't need one, but then thought better of it. "Yeah. Both got compromised somewhere back there, but I didn't have time to backtrack and requisition supplies."

"Well, we can requisition them right here," the guard offered. "Should only take a few days to get them."

"Not enough time, sorry," Taiga said. "Thanks for the offer. We have to be leaving, Lu has to get out to the research site as fast as I can get her there."

The guard shrugged, utterly oblivious to the fact that Taiga was trying as hard as he could to rush the conversation. "If you come into contact with a cyborg designated Taiga C1128513, do your best to detain him," the guard advised. "I don't have a picture to show you, but he's reputed to be armed and extremely dangerous. He's--"

"I'm familiar with him," Taiga said. "Worked together and all. Shame, what's going on. Have to go. Bye!" giving Lu a push, he started through the Pass.

"You owe me, 'borg," Lu snarled beneath her breath. Taiga gave her another small shove.

"Save it."

-


The Ferry was late.

Fujin looked decidedly irked at that, even given that it was only late by about three minutes or so. As soon as it had docked and moored she was at the boarding ramp, waiting impatiently for the man there to receive permission to begin boarding. Raijin--surprisingly--was there on time, as well; he stood carefully so that he was next to Fujin in the line, but not too close as that might prompt something unpleasant.

Besides, Fujin looked like she would grab the ticket checker and shake him to bits if she thought it might mean that the ferry would board and leave any faster.

Fortunately, such actions proved to be unnecessary as someone appeared on deck, waving at the ticket man and then disappearing back into the main cabin. He had hardly opened his mouth before Fujin shoved her fare at him and stepped past him, heading up the ramp largely before he had time to react.

He blinked a bit at that, shrugged to himself, and turned to Raijin. "One person, passenger cabin, no baggage?"

Raijin nodded.

"Four thousand," the man said.

Raijin handed over the money. "That's more expensive than the trains, ya know?" he asked.

The man rolled his eyes slightly, and turned to the next person. Raijin glanced back at the three or so people waiting with their goods, and hurried up the ramp.

By the time he had found the room he was fairly sure was Fujin's, it was already locked and the lights were off inside--a sure indication that Fujin didn't want anyone to bother her at the moment. Mildly disheartened, Raijin turned and found another room for himself.

It was going to be a long, long ride down to Centra.