Ffnet didn't screw anything up. I took out the whiny read me ch.
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Meryl tried to come to the rescue. "So, Mark, what do you do for a living?"
"I'm in charge of security logistics at the plant," he said quietly. At some point he had backed up enough to put his back to the wall, and was now lounging against it, arms folded over his chest. He looked mildly uncomfortable, but that could be ascribed to getting to watch someone else's domestic squabble.
"So, that means you do what?"
He shrugged. "I'm in charge of scheduling and looking over the plans for various events and making sure that they won't compromise security."
Ace looked at him, eyes narrowed as recognition dawned. "I know you," she said flatly. "I know you." She stood up and looked at Anne. "He's one of the ones who tried to take me back."
Anne shrugged.
"Why does it not surprise me that your friend turns out to be one of the enemy." She stalked over to Mark. "Get out. You aren't ever getting me back there," she growled as she poked a finger in his chest. "You and all your cronies can go bugger yourselves."
Anne caught up with her and pulled her back a step. "Excuse me," she said to Mark, who was beginning to look a bit bemused at the short threat. "You. Girl. Go sit back down. This is my house, and Mark is staying."
Ace looked at her, tears threatening to fall as she was marched back to the couch. "Why? Why do you insist that he can stay, and you are so quick to tell me that I can leave?"
"Because Mark is here to watch us and see just how dangerous we really aren't. He doesn't really want to be here, and much as I like him, I don't think I'd be inviting him over right now if I had a choice. He either stays or we get to fight for our lives. Again."
"But why him?" Ace glared at Mark over Anne's shoulder. "Couldn't you have brought someone who hadn't already tried to kill me?" she asked with a slight shudder that Anne didn't believe was as false as the tears had been.
Anne sighed and her voice softened a bit as she explained. "Because I didn't make so many friends that we get much of a choice. At least I know Mark, and know that he's basically a good guy, for a racist bigot. But how many people can I say that about in this room, anyway?" she asked calmly, looking Ace directly in the eyes.
The girl flushed, betrayed by her pale skin. "I'm not a bigot," she protested.
Anne arched an eyebrow, but left it alone.
"I'm not!" Ace repeated as Anne stood and turned again.
"So. Is anyone else curious about the situation we're in at the moment? I've not spent my time in December completely idle."
A chorus of assent from her family urged her along. Anne leaned against the wall by the door to the kitchen, and began.
"Here's the quick synopsis. In the December plant, there is a group of people who believe that plants are evil and need to be killed." She nodded to Mark. "These are the people who held Ace, and took her back at the first opportunity. I assume that they took Meryl to have a hold on you, Vash. They know that you two are married. They didn't know about Alex. They are led by the president of the bulb, happily enough, which means that all key positions in the plant are run by people who want to see us dead."
"Mind you, this is where I've been working the past few years, because aside from a rampant hotbed of racism, this is also one of the last bastions of technology on the planet, and we've been working on developing an alternate source of power. They, because they want to eliminate all plants, and me, because I want to eliminate the dependency on plant power."
"We're getting close to starting a new testing facility, to see if we can collect enough solar power to at least decrease the drain on the plants. Because if we can't, if things keep going as they are, this planet has maybe another fifty years before it collapses and everyone dies. Plant or human."
"So kill the humans," said Knives, bored.
Everyone turned to look at him and glare. He looked back, unperturbed. "It's a solution."
"Thanks, Knives," said Meryl sarcastically.
"Oh, I didn't mean you," he sighed. "You can live."
"That's your solution," Anne said. "Do you see anyone else clamoring to join you? Hmm. Nope."
She continued with her narrative. "When the SEEDS project was started, it was intended that plants power the ships and provide energy for the first stage of development, after which environmentally friendly generators would be designed and manufactured. Hydrothermal, geothermal, wind, solar… Of course, it was thought back on earth that the ships would land, and would do so on a planet of their choosing. No one suspected sabotage placing the future of humanity on a dustbowl."
Knives smiled.
"To make things more interesting, the ship equipped with the materials needed for generators of any type was one of the ones that exploded before even reaching the atmosphere. So now we're scrambling to adapt old technology to new needs. And since this is a mildly important venture with a time horizon that is quite close, I thought it would be remiss for me to go back and visit you guys for a month or two."
"Trust me. There have been times where all I wanted to do was leave off work and go visiting. Unfortunately, that not very mature behavior, and my secondary goal is the attempt to convince my coworkers that I'm not a monster in need of imminent death."