o2; Discovery [Closed]

[dataset]

Who: Ariadne (demonicbeauty) and Connor (dataset)
What: Talking about mission stuff
When: April 2
Where: Ariadne's Garden
Warnings: Tiniest bit of blood, Potential Game Spoilers.


It was natural for him to look into strange matters and investigate them.  In this case, he had been given something new to investigate involving a strange occurrence with the local lake. The details were sparse. He only knew that the lake exhibited some type of ...abnormality.

The best approach was to interview the witness who initially reported the incident before looking into matters further. In this case, the witness happened to be someone he was casually familiar with: Ariadne.  Ariadne said that she could usually be found in her garden, so Connor headed there first to see if she was available for a few questions.

He ducked under a branch and stepped into the garden he had been to a few times before, careful to avoid any of the newly budding strawberry plants. "Ariadne?" It had become a habit to look up into the tree branches overhead first in case she was perched up there.

Comments

[dataset]

“I needed to replicate the circumstances to make sure. It helps rule out what it isn’t.” A control, so to speak.

It seemed to have started occurring between the cave and the present, so it made sense to ask “Was there anyone with you in the cave that have had similar experiences?”

[demonicbeauty]

"I...don't know."

But that made a lot of sense, didn't it? There was no reason to think she was the only one who'd been...what? Cursed?

Cursed.

"I suppose one could ask. On the bracelets." She raised her arm. "Or would that be too personal of a question, do you think?"

[dataset]

"I'm not sure. That would depend on your relationship with them." Whether or not something was too personal generally relied on several subtle social cues. He wasn't certain how well Ariadne knew the others that she had been with, their mannerisms, or if it was something she would even feel like asking. 

"If we don't know, that still leaves the possibility that it could be related to that illness." Connor put a hand to his chin. "And whatever you experienced as a result, seems to be triggered by pain." It had to be. It wasn't the plants, she hadn't used any strange ability while talking with him or while she was still experiencing stress, and she emphasized it was when she pricked her finger. The only rational conclusion was that it was pain-related.

[demonicbeauty]

"I was in pain in the cave," she said. "Nothing on fire then. So whatever it was, it didn't start until after..."

She trailed off intentionally, more than anything else. To avoid conversations about life and death. It was easier that way. For both of them.

Well, if Connor wanted to approach it in a scientific manner...

"Pinch me," she said. She squared her shoulders and turned to face him. "Really hard. On the arm."

[dataset]

Pinch her?

The look Connor gave her was uncertain. What she proposed was a logical way to test that theory, sure, but he would have to inflict pain on purpose. That didn't feel right. It felt coldly objective to do that to... a person he cared about more than an acquaintance.

"I-I can't do that." He put a hand up in mild protest. 

[demonicbeauty]

"Why not?" She tilted her head to one side, like a bird. "It's easy. You just have to grab some arm and go..." She demonstrated, albeit in a weak imitation of what she wanted him to do.

Of course, it immediately occurred to her that when he said he couldn't, that wasn't necessarily a lack of familiarity with how to pinch someone.

She frowned. "Do you mean that Androids aren't allowed to pinch someone?" she asked.

See? She was starting to get it.

Sort of...

[dataset]

Connor listened patiently through the demonstration even if it was information he already knew. 

Afterward, he shook his head. “It’s not that.” 

He proceeded to elaborate. “What you’re suggesting makes objective sense. However, I would be causing you physical harm to get that information.” Perhaps it didn’t seem like a big deal given it was a minor amount of pain and she was the one requesting it, but as someone who struggled with making calculated choices in the past to get what he wanted, he was more than aware when choices like that were presented. 

So he could be sincere when he said, “I would rather not harm you in any way, even if that would mean sacrificing the information I want.” 

[demonicbeauty]

She smiled a little bit. He had some funny ways of showing that he cared. But they showed it, all the same. And who was she to turn down any scrap of affection? It was a valuable commodity. Precious and rare.

Especially so far from home.

"Well," she said. "Maybe there's another way. But I'm not sure you're going to like it any better."

[dataset]

She had some other idea? Though if he wasn't going to like it any better, Connor wasn't sure how welcome of a suggestion that would be. He inquired anyway, if only because curiosity got the better of him. "What do you suggest?"

[demonicbeauty]

Ariadne nodded to a pair of gardening shears, lying abandoned by one of her strawberry patches. She didn't much care for the idea of poking herself with sharp metal, but if pain was the variable, she didn't know what else to do.

Connor wouldn't pinch her. And she really didn't think she could pinch herself hard enough to cause any considerable pain.

And none of it would feel like being back in the cave. She knew that.

[dataset]

He glanced at what she had indicated. A pair of gardening shears. It didn't take much conjecture to put together what was intending to do with those. 

Connor looked back to her with a wary expression, "Ariadne," If she was willing to press the issue she must have wanted results to what had happened quite badly. "I wasn't implying that I wanted you to hurt yourself." 

[demonicbeauty]

"Of course not," she said. She could never believe that of Connor. Ever. But what she did believe was that he wanted answers. And they shared that in common right now.

Still. She sighed.

"It's not exactly my idea of a good time," she admitted. "But I'm not sure what else we can do."

[dataset]

“What we know is when it began and what could potentially trigger it.” Not that pain made a logical trigger for a fire... but that aside. Unfortunately, those were precious few details that didn’t amount to much as far as fixing the problem. 

"Everything points to that illness being the culprit. We need to know more about it and its side effects." He waved a hand. "Maybe the townspeople or..." He didn't like using the word 'gods'. It felt wrong to refer to them with such absolute authority. "... Odin would have further insight."

But all in all, it seemed that there was nothing that could be done at the moment.

[demonicbeauty]

Honestly, she was a little relieved. For Connor and his pursuit of the truth, she would have spilled some blood.

But it would have been uncomfortable. To put it lightly.

"All right," she said, exhaling slowly. "Perhaps you should take it to the skalds, then? I'm happy to answer questions but...there's only so much I know."

[dataset]

“I can, I suppose.” Connor didn’t sound entirely convinced. The concept of having to work as a team with strangers who had unknown qualifications was... odd. He had worked with an assigned partner before but Hank was, on paper at least, a professional. Connor didn’t have any information about the others.

But he tried for optimism anyway. “Maybe having another point of view could be helpful.”

[demonicbeauty]

"It often is," she replied.

And by 'often,' she mostly meant 'always.' Which was kind of funny, considering how much she was accustomed to working alone.

Then again, you didn't need as much of a point of view, when you were stealing a ruby the size of your fist.

This was different.

[dataset]

It was something to consider for later. 

For now, there was the matter of what to do. He didn't have anything else to ask and his leads were at an end. There was no reason to stay around any longer. But leaving seemed wrong considering what had transpired when he'd arrived. He couldn't just leave. Even if they weren't chatting about anything, he wanted to stay around to make sure nothing happened.

But he couldn't just... ask to stay without some sort of task. He needed a reason.

"Would you mind if I stayed for a while and wrote down the information I've gathered?  So I can have it compiled prior to consulting the Skalds." That would be useful and accomplish what he needed to.
 
Maybe it was still a little obvious...

[demonicbeauty]

It was very obvious, but Ariadne didn't mind. She spent most of her time taking care of others. It was kind of nice to have someone trying to take care of her.

Even if his attempt was clumsy and awkward.

Who was she to talk about clumsy and awkward?

"Stay as long as you wish," she told him. "The garden is a great place to think. You're welcome to use it any time you wish."

[dataset]

“Thanks.” Connor walked to the base of a nicely shaded tree and sat down. He took the book from the inside pocket of his coat and started to busy himself with writing down notes. in reality, it was nothing he couldn’t remember later, but she didn’t know that. At least he had something to keep busy while kept watch.