~ Part Five here: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/176812765 ~ - Part Six - "[i]In the deep dark hills... mmm mmm,[/i]" Cayde-6 was half singing, half mumbling. He was adjusting his pitch when Ikora Rey came in, still half asleep. "[i]Read on a hillside gravestone,[/i]" the Exo was hitting all the notes now. He turned to Ikora with a menacing grimace, flailing his arms and then pointing at her, singing the outro "[i]You'll never leave Harlan alive![/i]" "[i]That's breaking the first law,[/i]" replied Ikora, "[i]at least it should be considered as such.[/i]" "[i]Waving hundred dollar bil-[/i]" Cayde's singing stopped and he put on a straight face, "[i]dontcha think that's a little low? Even for your standards?[/i]" Ikora bought it - she really thought the Hunter, who was leaning against the table, took offence. She looked at him in disarray and swallowed her guilt, unsure what to say. Cayde-6's face did not move - his eyes met hers, unflinching. However, in his enjoyment of having snared the Warlock Vanguard, he forgot to silence his dopamine simulation's reaction, and a slight wheeze could be heard coming from him. The rasp's pitch seemed to cough, and soon Cayde-6 looked like he was coughing too, his chest moving up and down. Throaty hisses could be heard, as if the Exo was a heavy smoker and was gasping for air. Then the wheeze broke into a high pitched laughter, with slow and spaced chortles. Cayde-6's blue eyes were now smiling too. Ikora's grimacing faded into confusion, and soon she was laughing too, blushing and covering her mouth with her hand. When they finally stopped, Ikora made situational Vanguard talk, asking for news. Cayde-6 replied the usual stuff. Someone owed him money, someone had disappeared, and someone who owed him money had disappeared. In the meantime Zavala came in. Seldom times he was the last to arrive, but recently he had been meeting with Lord Shaxx before coming in to fulfil his Vanguard duties. Sometimes they would both look at Cayde-6 while they talked. The Exo feigned his usual naiveté and shrugged or waved at them. The day was as boring as every other day, until Cayde-6's Ghost nudged him discretely. His comms filled with static which then died out to emit a seemingly chaotic digital noise, beeping and screeching on all channels. After some seconds he recognized the sequence. A sequence he knew all too well and yet hoped to never hear again. He lifted two fingers and held them against his left ear, "[i]Mom? I can't hear you. Mom?[/i]" he spoke into the air, while Ikora and Zavala looked at him in astonishment. "[i]Ghost, clean this up for me, will ya?[/i]" said the Exo, "[i]Mom? Can you hear me?[/i]" he continued as he trailed off the room. "[i]Who's that?[/i]" Ikora Rey said as she crossed her arms. "[i]Uh, just my mother.[/i]" "[i]Oh really?[/i]" Ikora rolled her eyes, "[i]what does she look like?[/i]" "[i]Like a Vex Hydra but with my face on it,[/i]" replied Cayde-6 as he strolled off towards the Tower Watch, "[i]now give a gentleman some privacy to talk to his old lady.[/i]" As he came behind the vaults, the Hunter cloaked and started dashing towards Master Rahool. Invisible and noiseless, the Vangard slid right between the Cryptarch's legs and rolled under the counter. No one saw or heard a thing. There, in the darkness save for the light emitted by a few Engrams, Cayde-6 switched his voice renderer to internal mode. Even though no one could hear him, he whispered into the comms: "[i]Still there?[/i]" The noise returned. A random beeping and booping in fast sequence. "[i]You look tired,[/i]" Cayde-6 told the beep. It was the signal. All Hunters in the Frontier knew that looking tired was synonyms with having a secure, untapped channel. "[i]Death in cloaks, you old f*ck,[/i]" Bardo-105's voice resonated in Cayde-6's ears, "[i]am I happy to hear your sorry chirping![/i]" "[i]Holy sh*t, you,[/i]" Cayde-6 did not expect a call from a derelict, especially not this one, [i]"you didn't even read your orders, did you?[/i]" "[i]Orders?[/i]" Bardo-105 scoffed, "[i]from Lord Sag?[/i]" "[i]How come everyone knew that name but me?[/i]" Cayde-6 felt lonely, lit in the purple of an Engram, "[i]but yeah, did you even decrypt them?[/i]" "[i]There are no Signed Orders in dereliction protocol[/i]," said Bardo-105, "[i]only Tactical Advice that I'm free to ignore. And by the way, you owe me a new cloak.[/i]" "[i]You don't mean-[/i]" Cayde-6 almost forgot himself, "[i]ahem, uh, what exactly do you mean?[/i]" "[i]Remember your theory about electrospinnable cloaks under acid stress?[/i]" asked Bardo-105. "[i]That... yeah.[/i]" "[i]It works[/i]," and as soon as Bardo-105 said that, his Ghost could be heard screaming at him, "[i]you mean this was untested!?[/i]" Cayde-6 felt the need to intervene: "[i]calm down, little thing, the math all adds up. I just suck at chemistry, is all. What's the metal?[/i]" "[i]Copper and post-Collapse carbon alloy.[/i]" "[i]How'd you melt it?[/i]" "[i]Fusion rifle. Murmur set to burn[/i]." "[i]Oh?[/i]" Cayde-6 was impressed, "[i]how'd you bind the plasma?[/i]" "[i]Bladedancing. We source enough current to bring a mammoth to plasmastasis. But you knew that already.[/i]" "[i]Uh, sure.[/i]" Cayde lied, and tried changing the subject, "[i]that's my boy! I wish I could see it. So, anyway, enough chit-chat. Gimme a sitrep.[/i]" Bardo-105 sighed and took a moment to think, "[i]Whoever has my revolver just got inside a post-Collapse bunker. They opened the door, got inside and closed it back. I have some good news and bad news.[/i]" "[i]What's the bad?[/i]" Cayde-6 always heard the bad news first. "[i]That.. [b]thing[/b], they're something dark. They completely eluded my tracker, even with the enhancements on. They brought my shields down and survived a whole cylinder of 8 shots. Point blank.[/i]" "[i]And they took your gun?[/i]" "[i]And they took my gun. It looked personal.[/i]" "[i]Look, I didn't tell you this,[/i]" Cayde began, "[i]In fact, this conversation never happened, but I think Shaxx and Zavala have something to do with this.[/i]" "[i]My thoughts exactly, boss. You thinking what I'm thinking?[/i]" "[i]Yes, but you'll be standalone.[/i]" "[i]I see. Any advice before I blow this up?[/i]" "[i]Cover your tracks, as always, and don't bring too much stuff back. I'll get you into that bunker. Our Ghosts can tap into shared state after the conduit is done for.[/i]" "[i]We'll link again when we're near the blast-door,[/i]" Bardo-105's Ghost said, as Cayde's blinked at him. "[i]I almost forgot,[/i]" said Cayde-6, "[i]what about the good news?[/i]" "[i]The good news is...[/i]" said Bardolos-105 with a lust in his voice, "[i]that [b]thing [/b]bleeds.[/i]" ~ Feedback appreciated. Hope you like it. ~ ~ Table of Contents : https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/175908765/0/0 ~ ~ [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/179994147]Part Seven here![/url] ~