Twists of Fate [Part 3]
Nov. 3rd, 2014 11:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
esp_dragonFandom: Noblesse
Summary: Nakida’s a hacker in the middle of a job to find some information. Except they’re not the only one breaking into the building that night - there’s a silver-haired guy walking around like cameras don’t exist. If he wants to get caught, it’s not their problem.
Huian’s on guard duty to protect the information they’re after. Usually it’s quiet - all she has to do is enter the system, keep an eye on the camera feeds and patrol around the clusters of data to make sure no-one gets to them.
Their pasts connect them, even if they don’t remember. And the past does tend to come back.
Rating: PG-13
Notes: Reincarnation fic! :D Written for nano! So expect some weirdness as I churn this out, haha.
Genre: General.
Word count: 1,731
Total word count: 6,733
Status: Work in progress
Except Nakida already knew that from how he'd reacted before. Their avatar had been someone he knew. Or there was a copycat about. They should look into that; Tao was theirs and they'd taken a lot of time in making their reputation.
Kang-dae worked his mouth, but ended up not saying anything, his gaze sliding away.
"I get information," Nakida said, settling back against the wall. Maybe they could get Kang-dae to tell them more if they seemed more open. "Expose it to the public." Sometimes it worked; sometimes it didn't. Sometimes it drove the people further underground but Nakida hoped it made a good different to some people.
His attention snapped back to her, his gaze sharp. "Leave that building alone."
The tone was all order and it got Nakida's back up. Someone telling them what to do, expecting to be listened to? That was why they worked alone; they'd had enough of that when they were younger.
"It's dangerous."
"Oooh?" Kang-dae sucked in a breath at that, his eyes flicking to their raised eyebrows. "I've done dangerous things before." And they'd always gotten out of it.
"This isn't the same! They could-" He cut himself off with a hiss, his jaw clenched.
Damn, Nakida hoped he would have let more slip. "Don't worry," they said with a wave, "they won't."
"Ta-"
Nakida hung up before he could finish, removing their communicator before the screen had cleared. Really, he was annoying, assuming they didn't know what they were doing.
Using one of their cables, they overloaded the communicator so it wasn't useable anymore and replaced it with the communicator they'd bought alongside their dye.
When that was done, the smoking husk in the bin, Nakida checked where Kang-dae's communicator came from.
[
...Interesting. He didn't seem like he hacked, didn't know who they were, but his communicator was upgraded to block a casual tracker.
Who was he connected to that would do that? Or had he been working with someone but left or got kicked out? What did he know about the security company that they didn't?
Hmm. They hadn't gotten the answer they wanted, only more questions, but it was something they could mull over while they searched for another inn to stay in. Then, they could sleep.
* * *
Fucking dammit! M-21 thunked his head back on the headboard, his communicator saying Tao -or whoever it was- had hung up.
He had been reckless, hoping when he knew he shouldn't, letting his words tumble out before thinking. Because - fuck. It was Tao.
It was Tao but it wasn't. He'd seen Takeo and Tao die in front of him, their blood running over the rooftops, the life fading from their eyes. It couldn't be the Tao he knew.
But…
That had been over a hundred years ago. It wasn't like the situation with Mark, someone pretending to be someone he knew to gain access to their home.
This Tao didn't know who he was.
Could it happen? Someone being born who looked like Tao, even having the same name? Down to the white stripe and black suit?
It could still be a Union trick, which was why he'd left the building instead of dealing with the guards and trying to find the entrance manually. If the Union knew who he was and used that against him to spook him… And it had worked. It had been far too long since M-21 had seen either of the faces that it was a shock to see Tao responding to him.
The Union could have saved Take and Tao's DNA from that fight, keeping it to use for later. But this Tao didn't move or talk the same way as the Tao he knew, though he still had the habit of doing what he wanted if someone told him not to.
Argh! M-21 scrubbed his hair with a hand, swiping his hair out of his eyes. That was if this Tao knew him. And he didn't. Who would trust the word of a stranger?
If that was someone who wasn't connected to the Union, M-21 could have sent him to be picked up at experimental material.
But so far, that Tao was dealing with the front of the Union, and if he was caught, he would just be arrested.
M-21 sighed, rubbing the sides of his forehead, trying to stay his building headache. There were too many questions he couldn't answer, too many thing he didn't know, and a couple of those had been his own fault since he'd reacted first rather than think.
He switched windows on his communicator, speed dialling Frankenstein; he could help settle his mind.
Frankenstein's face flicked into view. "Pap-" Frankenstein's hair was mussed and spread over the pillow he was resting on. Shit. He'd woken him up. "Never mind," he said, reaching for the end call button. "It doesn't-"
"21," Frankenstein said, covering a yawn. "If you felt the need to call me in the middle of the night, something's clearly troubling you." He pulled himself upright, the blanket falling away. "What's wrong?"
"It's…" M-21 sighed, closing his eyes. He wanted to say 'nothing' and let Frankenstein sleep. "I think I found Tao." But he couldn't let the topic drop either.
Frankenstein didn't say anything, letting him get the words out.
"It's not like Mark's situation – he wasn't pretending to know me and he didn't act exactly like him. But it was close enough." Like someone had been given a basic idea of who Tao was and then asked to remake that without checking back.
"Is reincarnation possible?" M-21 asked, fiddling with a sleeve. That was the only other option M-21 could think of that didn't involve the Union or some kind of trickery.
Frankenstein hummed. "Noble clan leaders are able to pass their soul on to their soul weapon, but he already knew that." He shook his head, sweeping his hair away from his face. "Master and I haven't known for it to happen – that doesn't negate the possibility that it could."
So it could be Tao.
"Are you sure it could be him?" Frankenstein asked after a pause.
"I'll find out." He had to know what was going on before trying to find the Union entrance again.
"Ah, 21," Frankenstein said just as he was reaching to end the call.
"Yeah?"
"Have you been eating well?" Frankenstein peered at him.
A small weight in M-21's heart lifted at the question and he smiled. "Yeah." He should catch up with him anyway; it had been a while since he'd called home.
* * *
The bruises wrapped around Huian's arm and waist was dark next day, though there was barely any swelling. She'd had lunch after sleeping through breakfast and the weather was matching her mood with dark skies and non-stop rain. Which meant she was trapped inside her house because trying to slog through the rain would only make her feel worse. It would distract her from her thoughts, but not in a way she wanted.
The moments were still repeating in her head, of what else she could have done. It would have been different if she'd held back for that one second, if she hadn't rushed forward, if she'd waited for Abi to tell her where the intruder was. Then the intruder would have been caught by her hand.
Then the intruder would have been caught by her hand.
She rested her forehead on her hands. Urgh, how was this going to look to - wait, wasn't she supposed to fill in an incident report or something? Huian frowned and reached for her communicator, dialing work. None of the night shift would be on, but the day shift would know about break in.
The face that picked up was someone Huian recognised but couldn't place the name. They'd met at one of the holiday parties, but that was all Huian could get from her face.
She braced herself for any questions and said, "Can you send me the incident report sheet?" before the other could say anything.
The other woman nodded. "For last night?" She glanced away and Huian could hear the chime of her tapping out commands.
Obviously. Why else would she ask? "Yeah. Just send it to my communicator."
"One second and… Done!"
"Okay, thanks." She hung up as soon as she got it.
Now she could actually do something with that repeated loop in her head and at least fill the sheet out while it was fresh in her head.
* * *
M-21's search for information about Tao had turned up a number of results, of varying detail. He was some sort of vigilante who snuck into places and exposed the underhand workings going on there. Which was what this Tao had told him. And it was something the Tao M-21 knew would do if he was feeling vindictive enough, but not attach his name to.
A few times, this Tao left a message and he changed if he sent the information to the police or the journalists, but that was probably because they might have had their own hand in the dealings.
It explained why Tao seemed confident dealing with this, but he didn't know the Union.
What was left of it, anyway. They'd been gaining power again over the last few years and the household had kept an ear out on any labs that popped up, the security company being one of the latest ones they had found out about.
He eyed his communicator and then shook his head, getting to his feet. He'd have lunch and then think about what to do next. Tao's number had been private when he'd called, so the only way he could get in touch was if Tao contacted him first.
* * *
So far, Nakida hadn't seen Kang-dae on the feeds, and neither had the guard stationed specifically to watch the feeds. The guards were more vigilant this time, Nakida having to keep their distance, but all in all, it was mostly the same. The system hadn't been upgraded yet, the team unable to implement whatever they were doing to 'fix' the weakness in time, which was why Nakida had chosen to go the night after. It was a small window, but still useable.
________________________
Yes, M-21 calls Frankenstein 'papa'. X3 He calls Rai 'dad' as well as calling him 'Rai' in his head. It was Tao's idea, and it stuck.
Summary: Nakida’s a hacker in the middle of a job to find some information. Except they’re not the only one breaking into the building that night - there’s a silver-haired guy walking around like cameras don’t exist. If he wants to get caught, it’s not their problem.
Huian’s on guard duty to protect the information they’re after. Usually it’s quiet - all she has to do is enter the system, keep an eye on the camera feeds and patrol around the clusters of data to make sure no-one gets to them.
Their pasts connect them, even if they don’t remember. And the past does tend to come back.
Rating: PG-13
Notes: Reincarnation fic! :D Written for nano! So expect some weirdness as I churn this out, haha.
Genre: General.
Word count: 1,731
Total word count: 6,733
Status: Work in progress
Except Nakida already knew that from how he'd reacted before. Their avatar had been someone he knew. Or there was a copycat about. They should look into that; Tao was theirs and they'd taken a lot of time in making their reputation.
Kang-dae worked his mouth, but ended up not saying anything, his gaze sliding away.
"I get information," Nakida said, settling back against the wall. Maybe they could get Kang-dae to tell them more if they seemed more open. "Expose it to the public." Sometimes it worked; sometimes it didn't. Sometimes it drove the people further underground but Nakida hoped it made a good different to some people.
His attention snapped back to her, his gaze sharp. "Leave that building alone."
The tone was all order and it got Nakida's back up. Someone telling them what to do, expecting to be listened to? That was why they worked alone; they'd had enough of that when they were younger.
"It's dangerous."
"Oooh?" Kang-dae sucked in a breath at that, his eyes flicking to their raised eyebrows. "I've done dangerous things before." And they'd always gotten out of it.
"This isn't the same! They could-" He cut himself off with a hiss, his jaw clenched.
Damn, Nakida hoped he would have let more slip. "Don't worry," they said with a wave, "they won't."
"Ta-"
Nakida hung up before he could finish, removing their communicator before the screen had cleared. Really, he was annoying, assuming they didn't know what they were doing.
Using one of their cables, they overloaded the communicator so it wasn't useable anymore and replaced it with the communicator they'd bought alongside their dye.
When that was done, the smoking husk in the bin, Nakida checked where Kang-dae's communicator came from.
[
UNABLE TO FIND] flashed in a slow beat on their screen in red. ...Interesting. He didn't seem like he hacked, didn't know who they were, but his communicator was upgraded to block a casual tracker.
Who was he connected to that would do that? Or had he been working with someone but left or got kicked out? What did he know about the security company that they didn't?
Hmm. They hadn't gotten the answer they wanted, only more questions, but it was something they could mull over while they searched for another inn to stay in. Then, they could sleep.
Fucking dammit! M-21 thunked his head back on the headboard, his communicator saying Tao -or whoever it was- had hung up.
He had been reckless, hoping when he knew he shouldn't, letting his words tumble out before thinking. Because - fuck. It was Tao.
It was Tao but it wasn't. He'd seen Takeo and Tao die in front of him, their blood running over the rooftops, the life fading from their eyes. It couldn't be the Tao he knew.
But…
That had been over a hundred years ago. It wasn't like the situation with Mark, someone pretending to be someone he knew to gain access to their home.
This Tao didn't know who he was.
Could it happen? Someone being born who looked like Tao, even having the same name? Down to the white stripe and black suit?
It could still be a Union trick, which was why he'd left the building instead of dealing with the guards and trying to find the entrance manually. If the Union knew who he was and used that against him to spook him… And it had worked. It had been far too long since M-21 had seen either of the faces that it was a shock to see Tao responding to him.
The Union could have saved Take and Tao's DNA from that fight, keeping it to use for later. But this Tao didn't move or talk the same way as the Tao he knew, though he still had the habit of doing what he wanted if someone told him not to.
Argh! M-21 scrubbed his hair with a hand, swiping his hair out of his eyes. That was if this Tao knew him. And he didn't. Who would trust the word of a stranger?
If that was someone who wasn't connected to the Union, M-21 could have sent him to be picked up at experimental material.
But so far, that Tao was dealing with the front of the Union, and if he was caught, he would just be arrested.
M-21 sighed, rubbing the sides of his forehead, trying to stay his building headache. There were too many questions he couldn't answer, too many thing he didn't know, and a couple of those had been his own fault since he'd reacted first rather than think.
He switched windows on his communicator, speed dialling Frankenstein; he could help settle his mind.
Frankenstein's face flicked into view. "Pap-" Frankenstein's hair was mussed and spread over the pillow he was resting on. Shit. He'd woken him up. "Never mind," he said, reaching for the end call button. "It doesn't-"
"21," Frankenstein said, covering a yawn. "If you felt the need to call me in the middle of the night, something's clearly troubling you." He pulled himself upright, the blanket falling away. "What's wrong?"
"It's…" M-21 sighed, closing his eyes. He wanted to say 'nothing' and let Frankenstein sleep. "I think I found Tao." But he couldn't let the topic drop either.
Frankenstein didn't say anything, letting him get the words out.
"It's not like Mark's situation – he wasn't pretending to know me and he didn't act exactly like him. But it was close enough." Like someone had been given a basic idea of who Tao was and then asked to remake that without checking back.
"Is reincarnation possible?" M-21 asked, fiddling with a sleeve. That was the only other option M-21 could think of that didn't involve the Union or some kind of trickery.
Frankenstein hummed. "Noble clan leaders are able to pass their soul on to their soul weapon, but he already knew that." He shook his head, sweeping his hair away from his face. "Master and I haven't known for it to happen – that doesn't negate the possibility that it could."
So it could be Tao.
"Are you sure it could be him?" Frankenstein asked after a pause.
"I'll find out." He had to know what was going on before trying to find the Union entrance again.
"Ah, 21," Frankenstein said just as he was reaching to end the call.
"Yeah?"
"Have you been eating well?" Frankenstein peered at him.
A small weight in M-21's heart lifted at the question and he smiled. "Yeah." He should catch up with him anyway; it had been a while since he'd called home.
The bruises wrapped around Huian's arm and waist was dark next day, though there was barely any swelling. She'd had lunch after sleeping through breakfast and the weather was matching her mood with dark skies and non-stop rain. Which meant she was trapped inside her house because trying to slog through the rain would only make her feel worse. It would distract her from her thoughts, but not in a way she wanted.
The moments were still repeating in her head, of what else she could have done. It would have been different if she'd held back for that one second, if she hadn't rushed forward, if she'd waited for Abi to tell her where the intruder was. Then the intruder would have been caught by her hand.
Then the intruder would have been caught by her hand.
She rested her forehead on her hands. Urgh, how was this going to look to - wait, wasn't she supposed to fill in an incident report or something? Huian frowned and reached for her communicator, dialing work. None of the night shift would be on, but the day shift would know about break in.
The face that picked up was someone Huian recognised but couldn't place the name. They'd met at one of the holiday parties, but that was all Huian could get from her face.
She braced herself for any questions and said, "Can you send me the incident report sheet?" before the other could say anything.
The other woman nodded. "For last night?" She glanced away and Huian could hear the chime of her tapping out commands.
Obviously. Why else would she ask? "Yeah. Just send it to my communicator."
"One second and… Done!"
"Okay, thanks." She hung up as soon as she got it.
Now she could actually do something with that repeated loop in her head and at least fill the sheet out while it was fresh in her head.
M-21's search for information about Tao had turned up a number of results, of varying detail. He was some sort of vigilante who snuck into places and exposed the underhand workings going on there. Which was what this Tao had told him. And it was something the Tao M-21 knew would do if he was feeling vindictive enough, but not attach his name to.
A few times, this Tao left a message and he changed if he sent the information to the police or the journalists, but that was probably because they might have had their own hand in the dealings.
It explained why Tao seemed confident dealing with this, but he didn't know the Union.
What was left of it, anyway. They'd been gaining power again over the last few years and the household had kept an ear out on any labs that popped up, the security company being one of the latest ones they had found out about.
He eyed his communicator and then shook his head, getting to his feet. He'd have lunch and then think about what to do next. Tao's number had been private when he'd called, so the only way he could get in touch was if Tao contacted him first.
So far, Nakida hadn't seen Kang-dae on the feeds, and neither had the guard stationed specifically to watch the feeds. The guards were more vigilant this time, Nakida having to keep their distance, but all in all, it was mostly the same. The system hadn't been upgraded yet, the team unable to implement whatever they were doing to 'fix' the weakness in time, which was why Nakida had chosen to go the night after. It was a small window, but still useable.
Yes, M-21 calls Frankenstein 'papa'. X3 He calls Rai 'dad' as well as calling him 'Rai' in his head. It was Tao's idea, and it stuck.