08-03-2015, 08:08 PM
Athena called up the exit screen and felt her body melt rapidly into light. The sensation was slightly disconcerting, but it only lasted a few seconds, and then she found herself back in her physical form. She took a moment to readjust to her usual lack of eyesight. Being in the Databanks had reminded her how much easier life was with eyes, even when in possession of a mental sixth sense. Once again, everything in her field of vision was blackness, nothingness. She stepped back away from the uplink station and brushed her fingers lightly across the scars protruding slightly from under her blindfold. The empty cavities in her face and mangled tissue from the dagger cuts had long since ceased to repulse her, but she kept the piece of cloth on out of consideration for others - and because she tended to draw less attention this way.
Her first action was to seek out Kopaka. He had linked into the Databanks at a booth relatively near hers, which was fortunate, as more people were steadily filtering into the hub. Athena wondered if perhaps the workday had just ended. It was hard to tell when one couldn't see the sky out the windows, and the God-Soul had been temporally disoriented to begin with. She approached Kopaka, quickly noticing first the layer of ice over everything in his immediate area and then the apparent lack of damage to the biomech. Maybe all the damage was virtual? That would be convenient, unless it would automatically return as soon as he re-entered the Dataverse. Well, it was a relief regardless.
She tapped him on the shoulder and was relieved to note that he stood up with minimal difficulty. His comment confirmed her suspicions - nothing in the Dataverse physically affected those in the outside world, at least the way the two library-goers had been using it. She followed him to the elevator, and Kopaka punched in the buttons for the director's office. Hopefully soon this ordeal would be over so Athena could get back to...
To what, exactly? She had done enough reading to answer the pressing questions that she had arrived with, and she couldn't spend her whole existence poring over every book in the library. It wasn't that important just to satisfy her eternal curiosity. She had to get back to her own world, as steep as the odds seemed against her. Just because no one ever had escaped didn't mean that no one ever would. But she still had no leads - no clues as to Omni's whereabouts, no grand exit gate surrounded by impossibly difficult obstacles, nothing. What she really needed to do was contact someone more experienced, who had been making progress in finding an exit already. Her next step should be to figure out how. That is, after Kopaka has his mask, she reminded herself as the lift's doors slid open. She still needed teammates, and compromises would always have to be made in exchange for protection.
She could sense the director sitting in his study before the door was even open. She was curious to find what types of people ran this establishment, and whether she would dislike them as much as the other Coruscant natives she had encountered in her time in the city. In fact, thinking back, the only person she could actually put up with so far in this universe was Kopaka. Although the humans were more pleasant on the surface, they... bothered her. It seemed like they were either trying to cover up fear and animosity, or manipulate her in some way. Athena wondered if this was the natural divide between those labeled "Primes" and "Secondaries" (if so, she didn't like it), or if it was just bad luck. Or there was a chance she was just fabricating such suspicions as a result of her initial distrust of this world.
That last thought evaporated as soon as the librarian greeted them. Athena shifted her jaw in annoyance. More unnecessary enthusiasm. Still, she didn't think it warranted Kopaka's open hostility. Maybe previous dealings with the human before had soured the Toa's opinion of the man... or he was just irritated after all the trouble he'd had to endure. Either way, Athena would assume it was justified.
She calmed as the director relayed the good news - the infestation was gone entirely, so there was no need to go back and finish the job. However, her relief turned to dismay as soon as the dreaded conjunction escaped the man's lips. Although... ?
"Although what?" Athena did not need any further complications to this already-distasteful task...
"The damage that was done to the file structure...it will take some time to repair. I'm afraid I can't let you have the mask until it is fixed..."
...especially when her teammate seemed even more angry about it than she did. She wasn't sure what the icy sheen that covered the Toa's mechanical body signaled, but it couldn't be a good sign. She bit her lip and stayed silent for a while as the argument unfolded. Finally, the two opponents found themselves at an impasse, and Athena thought it was best to step in at this point. She had no inclination to attempt to resolve the negative feelings between the library official and Kopaka, nor did she think she could if she tried, but she could at least try to reason them all out of the current situation.
"'Justice without reward' is hardly relevant to the basic agreement. You gave your word, I presume. 'Justice' would dictate that the agreement is honored regardless of any other factors, wouldn't it? And, as a matter of fact, you knew the nature of the "pest" problem, unless you're very poorly informed of the matters of your own library. Wasn't it a reasonable assumption that there would be some collateral damage? Those bug creatures were huge and deadly, and obviously strong enough to knock over whole shelves of data. It would have been a very lucky break if we had expelled all of them without any complications. You couldn't have expected it from us, especially if I hadn't been there. Kopaka nearly got killed!" she finished emphatically. The director seemed quite taken aback by her rapid reasoning; Athena hoped that at least some of it had sunk in. She stepped back again slowly, but never turned away. It couldn't quite pass for holding his gaze, but it was as close as she could come. After that, she awaited his response quietly, almost passively. Please let this be over with soon.
Her first action was to seek out Kopaka. He had linked into the Databanks at a booth relatively near hers, which was fortunate, as more people were steadily filtering into the hub. Athena wondered if perhaps the workday had just ended. It was hard to tell when one couldn't see the sky out the windows, and the God-Soul had been temporally disoriented to begin with. She approached Kopaka, quickly noticing first the layer of ice over everything in his immediate area and then the apparent lack of damage to the biomech. Maybe all the damage was virtual? That would be convenient, unless it would automatically return as soon as he re-entered the Dataverse. Well, it was a relief regardless.
She tapped him on the shoulder and was relieved to note that he stood up with minimal difficulty. His comment confirmed her suspicions - nothing in the Dataverse physically affected those in the outside world, at least the way the two library-goers had been using it. She followed him to the elevator, and Kopaka punched in the buttons for the director's office. Hopefully soon this ordeal would be over so Athena could get back to...
To what, exactly? She had done enough reading to answer the pressing questions that she had arrived with, and she couldn't spend her whole existence poring over every book in the library. It wasn't that important just to satisfy her eternal curiosity. She had to get back to her own world, as steep as the odds seemed against her. Just because no one ever had escaped didn't mean that no one ever would. But she still had no leads - no clues as to Omni's whereabouts, no grand exit gate surrounded by impossibly difficult obstacles, nothing. What she really needed to do was contact someone more experienced, who had been making progress in finding an exit already. Her next step should be to figure out how. That is, after Kopaka has his mask, she reminded herself as the lift's doors slid open. She still needed teammates, and compromises would always have to be made in exchange for protection.
She could sense the director sitting in his study before the door was even open. She was curious to find what types of people ran this establishment, and whether she would dislike them as much as the other Coruscant natives she had encountered in her time in the city. In fact, thinking back, the only person she could actually put up with so far in this universe was Kopaka. Although the humans were more pleasant on the surface, they... bothered her. It seemed like they were either trying to cover up fear and animosity, or manipulate her in some way. Athena wondered if this was the natural divide between those labeled "Primes" and "Secondaries" (if so, she didn't like it), or if it was just bad luck. Or there was a chance she was just fabricating such suspicions as a result of her initial distrust of this world.
That last thought evaporated as soon as the librarian greeted them. Athena shifted her jaw in annoyance. More unnecessary enthusiasm. Still, she didn't think it warranted Kopaka's open hostility. Maybe previous dealings with the human before had soured the Toa's opinion of the man... or he was just irritated after all the trouble he'd had to endure. Either way, Athena would assume it was justified.
She calmed as the director relayed the good news - the infestation was gone entirely, so there was no need to go back and finish the job. However, her relief turned to dismay as soon as the dreaded conjunction escaped the man's lips. Although... ?
"Although what?" Athena did not need any further complications to this already-distasteful task...
"The damage that was done to the file structure...it will take some time to repair. I'm afraid I can't let you have the mask until it is fixed..."
...especially when her teammate seemed even more angry about it than she did. She wasn't sure what the icy sheen that covered the Toa's mechanical body signaled, but it couldn't be a good sign. She bit her lip and stayed silent for a while as the argument unfolded. Finally, the two opponents found themselves at an impasse, and Athena thought it was best to step in at this point. She had no inclination to attempt to resolve the negative feelings between the library official and Kopaka, nor did she think she could if she tried, but she could at least try to reason them all out of the current situation.
"'Justice without reward' is hardly relevant to the basic agreement. You gave your word, I presume. 'Justice' would dictate that the agreement is honored regardless of any other factors, wouldn't it? And, as a matter of fact, you knew the nature of the "pest" problem, unless you're very poorly informed of the matters of your own library. Wasn't it a reasonable assumption that there would be some collateral damage? Those bug creatures were huge and deadly, and obviously strong enough to knock over whole shelves of data. It would have been a very lucky break if we had expelled all of them without any complications. You couldn't have expected it from us, especially if I hadn't been there. Kopaka nearly got killed!" she finished emphatically. The director seemed quite taken aback by her rapid reasoning; Athena hoped that at least some of it had sunk in. She stepped back again slowly, but never turned away. It couldn't quite pass for holding his gaze, but it was as close as she could come. After that, she awaited his response quietly, almost passively. Please let this be over with soon.
![[Image: 2WaRJHm.png]](http://i.imgur.com/2WaRJHm.png)