voice, un: x crow x

[unpromising]

Hey. My name's Qrow.

[ A familiar greeting, not that anybody is familiar with him! His voice is gruff and tired, but that's his everyday voice. ]

That guy everyone's been chasing after is dead. [ A slight pause, and in a softer tone: ] Killed himself.

He gave some details to the cure, though. Said that we need a plant called the Oshai Leaf for it, and it can only be found in Wyver.

Wyver's been hit with the same disease, too. No idea what the situation's like there, but they can't find the cure for it either. Another ingredient for the cure can only be found here.

That's all I know. If you've got questions, ask. I'll try to answer 'em.

[ The sound of liquid hitting metal can be heard, but that's just him moving his flask closer to his mouth. ]

Comments

text | un: carter

[revlon]

You found him? You were there when he said all this?

[unpromising]

I was there. He was talking to me.

[revlon]

Is he from Wyver, then? Did he say why they attacked the city at all?

[unpromising]

Didn't seem like it, unless spreading a disease in one's hometown is a normal thing here.

And he didn't say why the cities were attacked. He made it sound like both deserved it, though. For the greater good blah blah blah, they're not the bad guys blah blah blah.

[revlon]

Right, because we haven't heard that rhetoric a dozen times over every time something like this happens. Nice to know some things never change.

[ It always starts with "the greater good." And they'll keep on insisting it until everyone is dead. Or maybe that's just because she survived WWII when many others didn't. ]

I don't know enough about Wyver or Olympia to even hazard a guess as to why an epidemic was deserved. Do you have any suspicions based on what he said to you?

[unpromising]

Nope. That's just the crazy way of thinking.

[ At least, in his opinion. ]

Suspicion is too strong of a word. It's a wild guess, but he must've been an experiment or something. You know—specimens being experimented on, then they gain enough power to revolt against the ones who put them in their in the first place, and now they're out for blood.

[ That truly sounds like a wild guess! ]

Still need some more info to back it up, though.

[revlon]

[ That... really is one hell of a guess. ]

You think this group is entirely independent of Olympia and Wyver. [ It does happen. Rebellions start that way. ] It's a good theory, especially if this man was to be believed and the other city's stricken the same way this one is. But we can't know that for certain.

[ Unless a recon mission is sent out to seek out that alleged cure and sees the city for itself. But sending an Olympian party over on the word of a fugitive could be risky. ]

Sounds like he was especially chatty before he died. Why offer his help at all? It could be a trick.

[unpromising]

He said he'd talk if I let him leave.

[ But, seeing how things went, the man obviously was not able to leave. ]

Could be a trick, could be a trap, could just be some BS he pulled just to get me off his hair. Still, he's dead now. Guess it's up to us to find out if his death means more to us than to his friends.

[revlon]

It is. Although I can't help but wonder why he chose to take his own life after all that.

[unpromising]

He didn't want to get sent to the royal guards.

[revlon]

What makes you say that?

[unpromising]

Gut feeling. He didn't exactly call the one in charge something nice.

[revlon]

You mean Ashti.

[ She's with the Royal Guard. It's a job and one the most familiar to her in this unfamiliar place. But even if she'd been pleased to see a woman in charge of the military, the Guard doesn't own her loyalty. How can it, after just a few months? ]

[unpromising]

Yeah, her.

[ Not that he's spoken with her or anything. He's heard the name before, that's all. ]

I was gonna bring him to her, but THAT had to happen.

[revlon]

I take it his opinion of her was less than kind.

[unpromising]

He called her a beast of a woman. And by the sound of it, it wasn't a compliment.

[revlon]

[ Something to look out for, then. It wouldn't have been said without reason, however small or untrue it might turn out to be (or very true, as the case may be). ]

No, certainly not.

I appreciate you answering my questions, Qrow. I'm Peggy, by the way. After all the rumours that have been flying around the city, this might be the first real lead anyone's had.

[unpromising]

Don't sweat it.

The rumours were good - it got people thinking, at least. But I'm hoping what I know can help more than harm.

[revlon]

I hope so, too. I've run into far too many dead ends since this all happened and this might be the break we need. I suppose the hard part is finding out how much of it is true.

Is there anything else you think we ought to know?

[unpromising]

The man's name was S-8. Weird name, I know. Nobody names their kid something like that. It has a number on it.

[ Nobody should be naming their kid "Crow", either. Crow with a Q is even worse. ]

He's got an associate named Chadsef.

That's all for now, though. It's probably just me, but too much info on this thing could get us compromised.

[revlon]

I understand. Thank you.

encrypted;

[ So she puts a few tricks she's learned into place. ]

I should have done this sooner but we should be able to speak freely now. Do you know anything about this Chadsef character?

[unpromising]

Impressive. And I thought I had to start speaking in code.

[ Mostly... because he didn't know the phones could do that. The Scrolls in Remnant didn't have this feature either, so he actually is really impressed! He had been sending intel through text for quite some time a year or so ago, and it was all dumb code related to chess, alcohol— mostly alcohol. ]

Looks like he frequents Shades Darker. I'm here right now to get a feel of the place.

Unrelated to Chadsef, but S-8 was an Android. Beep boop.

[ Maybe now the specimen comment he made makes more sense! :) ]

[revlon]

[ Peggy is well-versed in code, although doublespeak when there's a simpler way around it is often tedious. Secure lines on this level are beyond her time (1947) but she's made friends with people from her future, here. And what they put down, she picks up in a trice. ]

1) Any descriptors or is that "M" tattoo all we have to go on? I may have a contact there. Two sets of eyes are better than one.

2) An android?

[unpromising]

1) That's the only lead I got. I don't even know how this Chadsef looks like.

2) You know, robots. They either:
a) are easily hacked, or
b) learn too much that they want to be human, or
c) were created by some mad scientist, or
d) honestly I can keep going

[revlon]

Then the tattoo is our best bet.

The technology here is different from what I'm familiar with, but I get the gist. A machine that appears human. There's the context your earlier theory was missing.