Author's Notes: Yet another chapter that parallels Behind Blue Lies. But Sollux has a far more interesting take on the conversations, I believe, than Vriska does. Let's find out.
Behind Blue Lies – Part 25
technicallyUninspired [TU] began trolling twinArmageddons [TA]
TU: i know i'm not supposed to cont^ct you without something useful or stuff like th^t but we've got ^ bit of ^ problem
TA: what kiind of problem?
TU: you've got to underst^nd th^t i don't do this lightly
TU: especi^lly since i'm on ^n unsecured termin^l
TA: woah waiit youre on an un2ecured termiinal? what the fuck are you thiinkiing douchebag? or ii2 nothiing goiing on iin your pan?
TU: this is ^ very highly seriously serious situ^tion
TU: the heiress's consort z^hh^k ^rrived ^nd w^s dem^nding inform^tion on some troll c^lled t^vris or something ^nd then he went storming out of here shouting ^bout vrisk^ h^ving ^ knife on him
TA: 2hiit 2he2 got no 2en2e of dii2cretiion doe2 2he never miind that ju2t get back two work iill deal wiith all thii2
TU: wh^t should i do in the me^ntime?
TA: go back two your work and keep your ear2 open
TA: iill handle everythiing from here or at lea2t everythiing ii can
TA: and keep watchiing becau2e the only way we can protect her from her own 2tupiidiity ii2 two make 2ure we know when 2he2 beiing an iidiiot
TU: ok^y if you s^y so but i will be looking for you l^ter tonight
TA: ii know good huntiing remiium
technicallyUninspired [TU] ceased trolling twinArmageddons [TA]
Sollux found himself cursing as he closed out the Trollian window and redirected his attention to a smaller husktop on his desk. Things were, quite clearly, getting far more complicated now. Clearly, from what he'd learned from Vriska and more importantly from Tavros, there hadn't been much of a choice but to turn to someone about the injuries Tavros had sustained. Why, he almost found himself screaming in frustration, did she have to pick her ever suspicious kismesis for the job? Yes, Zahhak was the best there was on this sort of work, but he loathed Vriska in a way that Cyclos would highlight as a pinnacle of pitch romance, and was always eager to lay the ills of the world at Vriska's—admittedly capable—feet. Giving him the blank check of Tavros was only making things worse. Which meant, as much as he hated it, Sollux had to go into damage control mode. His current attempts to cut through an encryption for an Enforcers case was going to have to be outsourced. And that meant making use of the recently rededicated and secured We8-business-only husktop that he didn't like even having to turn on. He only did so when things had a chance of hitting the bladed whirling device.
twinArmageddons [TA] began trolling sapphiricDreaming_xX
TA: need a favor
SD: wow where ɖiɖ you come fromϗϗ
SD: not to §ay that i'm not happy to hear from you but if what i'm §eeing i§ right you're on re§erveϗϗ
TA: ii am but that ii2nt the ii22ue now 2ome 2eriiou2 2hiit ii2 goiing on wiith 8o22 and ii need two deal wiith iit
SD: let me gue§§ the job ha§ got §ome project for you that i§ utterly below our §kill level but §till require§ §ome level of time anɖ attention to ɖeal withϗϗ
TA: got iit iin one iit2 a miid level encryptiion on a hu2ktop u2ed by 2omeone 2u2pected of embezzliing
TA: not the mo2t glamorou2 or riivetiing of work but iit need2 done
SD: anɖ you neeɖ to be §omewhere el§e helping 8o§§ϗϗ
SD: i get your concern anɖ lucky you i'm back up to full function anɖ utterly boreɖ while i'm looking for new line§ of workϗϗ
SD: woulɖ you throw up a connection between our §y§tem§ anɖ i'll run the thing to the grounɖ for youϗϗ
TA: thank2 2aph youre pretty much a liife 2aver
SD: you §ay that now but i'm not §ure you're going to feel that way in a weekϗϗ
TA: 2hiit 2aph ii am not iin the kiind of place two deal wiith thiing2 liike thii2 now 2o what the fuck do you mean?
SD: tygre§ anɖ i are having a celebration of the fifth §weep §ince our pale ɖeclaration§ anɖ we'ɖ like you to be thereϗϗ
TA: what?
TA: you two are comiing up on your fiir2t palen2ary? congratulatiion2 uh the fiir2t ii2 wood ba2ed giift2 riight?
SD: yeah wooɖ but we're not exactly traɖitionali§t§ϗϗ
SD: gift or not we really want you to be there in fact we want 8o§§ there a§ well but we realize how unlikely that i§ anɖ aren't even going to a§kϗϗ
TA: 2he cant go for the 2ame rea2on2 ii cant neiither of u2 ha2 an outward excu2e two know you well enough two be here for that 2ort of thiing but ii do promii2e giift2
SD: i §uppo§e i §houlɖ have expecteɖ thatϗϗ
SD: fine ju§t open up a connection between our §y§tem§ anɖ i'll ɖo that work you neeɖ ɖoneϗϗ
TA: 2aph
SD: ju§t open the connection i have work to ɖoϗϗ
sapphiricDreaming_xX [SD] ceased trolling twinArmageddons [TA]
TA: 2hiit
twinArmageddons [TA] ceased trolling sapphiricDreaming_xX
With a sigh Sollux turned his attention to opening a connection between Saph's system and his own so that she could continue and monitor the encryption his main system was working on. It was easier than thinking about what he'd been forced to do. The truth was that it hadn't taken long working with some of the other members of the We8 to come to genuinely care about them. They were friends as much as they were allies, and that in a life that hadn't exactly been suffering from a profusion—or even traditionally held opinion on a reasonable number—of friends. He'd come to know their names, their faces, and their hopes and dreams for themselves and their quads and others they loved. There was an old maroon who had given her life to schoolfeeding, who had raised three different young trolls of her own blood. One of those wards had been killed by a suspected hemohierarchist for refusing to accept black advances, which she 'should have considered an honor.' Another had been crippled trying to protect his young wardmate. The third child was an active member of the group, serving as a healthtender in a small seaside town who had yet to prove afraid to point out hierarchists that attempted to terrorize the town of mostly green and warmer bloods. He knew the old maroon's name, her matesprit's name, and that her favorite treat was fresh sourfruit cut in half and eaten raw save for a sprinkling of sugar.
There was a young violet who was a part of the group because he had made the mistake of flushing, and flushing hard, for what was apparently the most wonderful and even tempered brownblood in the world. His matesprit had a slight talent for manipulating the water. It wasn't enough to cause anyone any kind of trouble, but had made the brown love the ocean and make his life upon it. He had been a catcher and seller of fish on the shore of one of the large freshwater lakes far inland, and when he wasn't fishing he was prone to spending nights on the waters in his boat, just reveling in the feeling of the wave rocking the boat. The violet We8spinner had taken a trip inland to explore dry land, and most specifically slake curiosity that seadwellers apparently had about swimming in waters untouched by the salt of the sea. The silly violet hadn't realized that the lake wouldn't be deep enough to protect him fully from the sun as the ocean would, and as panic had set in he had come upon the ship and sheltered through the day by the sweet brown. Their love and pity had been simple, pure, and undeniably true. Over the years his trips to the lake had become more frequent, until he had almost been living there with his declared matesprit. Then, one night after he had gone out to the far edge of the lake to search for the skuttlebeasts his matesprit so loved to dine upon, he had returned to find the boat ravaged. To find a spattering of brown blood on the wood. And far too soon into his search he'd found the bloating body of his matesprit. When he'd returned to the ocean a few perigees later his violetblooded friends had welcomed him back with open arms and spoke poorly of 'shitbloods' who couldn't swim, who thought the waters of the world were theirs to play with, and whose face would have been hilarious to see while drowning. It had been then that the violet had his worst fears—that his matesprit's death had been no accident—had changed his life. He'd moved to the city, where he'd more than once gotten hurt trying to protect trolls of any bloodcolor from violence, which was how Sollux had finally found him.
There were so many of them now, each with their own stories and reasons for being in the We8. They had people they wanted to protect, that they wanted to remember, that they wished they could have done more for. There were those who didn't really fathom just how insanely organized and powerful the forces Veruna commanded were, and there were those who suspected them far too well. And Sollux, he was the connection between them all. Each and every story was engrained in his pan, more than Vriska would ever know or face. All of their skills, reasons, and means of supporting the rest were at his fingertips. Over the whole of them they had the ability to help an injured person who couldn't openly go to the healthtenders, to new owners of businesses truly operated by the We8 that were meant to finance helping others get back on their feet. There were coders like himself, people in places to hear things like Remium, and people still finding their footing like Tavros. They ranged from active infiltrators like Vriska, to those poised on the cusp of smaller cells, to those who only knew of the pains done to them. They were a web of resources to Vriska, a means to fight the evil that was corrupting the roots of their world. To Sollux they were names and faces and stories and unbelievable pains that none of them had ever deserved.
The hardest part of it all was that he knew about them all so intimately, and yet never could show it. They were his friends, his allies, and the people relied upon, and while he knew their faces few of them would ever know his. The high points of their lives gave him hope. The lows made him mourn for them. And when there were events like the coming palensary for Sapire and Tygres, both early and highly active members of the We8, he found himself almost tempted to break his rule of distance from the real lives of his fellows. It was times like this, work like this, that made him long to be part of the happier times of lives.
As it was Sollux turned his attention to his husktop and the mission at hand. He had to check in with Tavros to find out just what had happened during his appointment with Zahhak. Then he had to make sure there was no way that Zahhak could connect Vriska with Tavros that he could use to bring the Enforcers in to make a muck out of things. Then he was going to have to deal with Vriska. That was going to take a while too. From the look of the clock on his husktop he'd be lucky to see any sleep, especially since it was sneaking up on sunrise already.
arachnidsGrip [AG] began trolling twinArmageddons [TA]
AG: Have you ever h8d someone so much you almost thought killing them was a good idea?
There she was, right on time, Sollux sighed as his husktop pinged and the message popped up. He'd only just finished clearing any scrap of connection he could find between Vriska and Tavros, not to mention resecuring their systems just in case it was needed. In the process, though, he'd found another few unsent pale letters from Vriska to Tavros, and the implications of that had been almost more than he was ready to deal with. It was true, as he'd guessed, that there was more going on between those two than he rightly wanted to know, and it was going to be up to him to make sure they both stayed sane enough to be useful before something bad happened to either one. A brief glance toward the covered window by his slab was more than enough to tell Sollux that, as predicted, Vriska had chosen the worst possible time for this shit. Sunlight peaked sinisterly around the edges of his curtains.
TA: fiir2t of all, you 2ound liike a bad piitch 2ong
TA: 2econd, have you even met kk?
AG: Come on, no need to joke like that.
TA: who2 jokiing? the a22hole biit me for iin2ultiing hii2 damn faygo berry piie
AG: Pie is all sorts of serious 8usiness, Sollux, Didn't you know?
TA: iit2 dii2gu2tiingly 2weet
TA: wor2e when you put that 2wiill iin iit
He couldn't help but smile a bit at the memory as well. Aradia had been there for the sampling, which made sense seeing as Karkat had made the damn thing for her. Sollux had been the taste testing minioinkbeast for the recipe that Karkat had gotten from his matesprit, and he'd been left to wonder just how Makara had gotten himself a matesprit—even one as abrasive and unsuited to pitying as Karkat—with the disgusting flavor of the food. The only upside had been the sound of Aradia's laughter and her teasing comment that there were apparently things too sweet even for Sollux to enjoy. She, for reasons he couldn't process, had enjoyed the abomination posing as food, and he had left it to her without regret.
AG: I kind of like it. Listen, it's cause he's lonely I think.
AG: That's the kind of cooking that his m8sprit does. He hasn't seen Gamzee in a while. Give him a 8reak.
TA: ii don't tell you how two handle your quad2 don't tell me how two handle miine
TA: anyway what brought up your black lament?
As if Sollux didn't know. But it was better, in the long run, if Vriska underestimated his information gathering ability. Surprising her meant he was better at surprising everyone else. Plus she would likely give Remium grief if she knew he was reporting to Sollux.
AG: Same as usual. Apparently the 8rown8lood said my name to him.
TA: the brown a2 iin tavro2 niitram, one bea2ttalker you wont talk about?
TA: the one you want me 2pyiing on
AG: Are we really doing this again? Is this going to 8e a thing that happens?
TA: you brought iit up not me
TA: why are you 2o touchy about thii2 2hiit?
AG: You wouldn't understand.
He wouldn't understand? How ridiculous. Alright then, it was time to play a card from his hand, and one of the throw-away ones at that.
TA: what ii2 iit that keep2 you around thii2 guy? and dont 2ay you arent
TA: iive got tracker2 iin your 2y2tem2 two iive 2een the letter2
AG: What? How could you?
Oh, this was going to be exceedingly fun.
TA: 2iimple ii ju2t open my program2 liike 2o and...
AG: Sollux, why the F8CK is my 8ackground displaying a picture of your dum8 smirking face?
AG: Arg! Why the F8CK is my text this garish shade of yellow?
AG: Dammit! F8X TH8S N8W!
TA: there, 2ee? all better
TA: liike ii 2aiid ii 2aw the letter2
TA: you there?
TA: takiing your tiime proce22iing?
TA: ii can under2tand that
AG: You agreed to help me, when you started to monitor my husktop to protect our We8, not to spy on me.
Well, he'd never exactly agreed to that, but pointing that fact out would do him no good in this situation, would it? Better to revert to lying once more. He was getting too good at it.
TA: chiill already geez
TA: ii diidnt read much what do you thiink ii am?
AG: Sometimes I wonder. Why are you even telling me this?
TA: ii know iim goiing two regret thii2 but... iif you need 2omeone two talk two ii am here
AG: Like you'd really want to listen.
TA: what do you thiink the web ii2 goiing two do iif you lo2e iit?
AG: Look to your scrawny ass?
TA: the empre22 doe2nt 2eem two care about fiightiing them and ii dont have your iin2iide iinfo two lead u2
TA: 2o we need you 2table and ready two put that conniing thiinkpan of your2 two u2e
AG: You mean cunning.
TA: ii dont youre a con plaiin and 2iimple
TA: at lea2t youre the kiind who u2e2 your eviil power2 for good liike iin that 2hiitty heii2t 2how kk watche2
No need to admit that he watched it too. And Terezi. And Cyclos. What was it about that show that was so riveting? Sollux had to think that it was, in no small part, the fact that the 'good' guys always seemed to win against the kinds of evil that society couldn't touch. It almost made Sollux wish he had a team of a hitter, a thief, and a better con than Vriska to take out the hierarchists with. He, of course, would be both hacker and mastermind.
AG: That show is ALL of the awesome. Don't insult Directed Application of Force. Oh, it's on this morning too. Can't miss it!
TA: ta2tele22 hethen2
TA: anyway what iim 2ayiing ii2 iif you need 2ome troll two talk two not a real 'raiil miind you ju2t tell me
TA: youre two iimportant two go mad iin your on damn pan becau2e you cant 2ee 2ome pathetiic bea2ttalker
AG: I'm not sure what's going on, 8ut I'm just going to file this away under confusing shit I will think a8out another time and for now pretend it makes sense.
TA: whatever ju2t dont complaiin that ii never told you
twinArmageddons [TA] ceased trolling arachnidsGrip [AG]
Oh well, that was all he was willing to deal with from her for now. There had to be a better way to deal with Vriska's need for emotional support. He was going to find it too, given the chance. All he had to do was figure out how to get Vriska to tie herself to Tavros.
"FUCKING HELL VRISKA!"
Karkat's outraged shout easily cut through he walls of the hive. So Vriska had already found another target to bother. Sollux smirked to himself and closed his husktop. He was going to give it about half an hour before he went to find out just what happened. If he was lucky Karkat would still be in quite a fuss over Vriska's poorly timed messages. She never remembered time differences, and it always pissed Karkat off. If Sollux played his cards right he'd have the chance to get some quality pitch time in with his kismesis. That new idea of clawing at Karkat through his thick sweaters and biting his neck through the shellbeast neck of said sweater was paying off wonderfully.