Killing Me Softly
"I'm not sure," Tao says softly, looking away.
Beka shoots to her feet, stalks over, and rips the paper out of your hands. She scans it before throwing it back in your face. "'We'?" she snaps. "There is no 'we' here. WE-" She points to Tao and herself, "-barely know you, and you want us to, what? Let you stick around? How can we trust you at all? You can't even talk!"
"Wait, Beka, maybe they just-"
"Shut up, Tao." She snaps her GameGirl shut and jabs it at him like a weapon. "Maybe you think it's fun to pick up every dumb charity case who climbs in your window, but I'M not about to stick my neck out for some stranger!"
"Beka-"
"Shut UP!" With some effort, she shoves the filing cabinet to the side and stomps up the flight of stairs.
"Sorry about her," Tao says after a minute of silence. He leans back against the wall and runs one hand through his hair. "I was babysitting her when it happened. She's probably just worried about her family. Y'know?"
You don't know. You don't even know if you have a family at all.
Tao pushes out a deep breath. "I really don't know what we're gonna do," he says. "I never did. I pretended to, for Beka, but all we did was hide. I... I'm not cut out for this. I was a performer. I dance. I sing. I work a crowd. I don't..." He sighs. "I don't do survival stuff. I don't fight people. I..."
He trails off.
"I wish I could make some sort of plan for her," he says at last. "But I don't know how."
An idea sings through your head, then another, then another. You grab the pencil again.
Tao looks up after a few minutes. "What're you doing?"
You stop writing and examine your handiwork. Every inch of the stack of sticky notes is covered in neat handwriting: lists, addresses, bullet points, makes and models...
How the fuck do you know all this...?!
You hold out the accordion-like thing to him and watch his eyes bug out of his head.
"Holy shit-" He flips the thing over and squints at the underside. "This is..." He squints at you. "Are you a cop? Or in the CIA? Something like that?"
You shrug, spreading your hands hopelessly.
"But this, it's... Well, it's not cohesive, but you put... Armories, cars to hot-wire, military bases, subway tunnels, all kinds of crazy shit!" Tao's face is slowly lighting up. "This is insane! You're, like, a supersoldier or something! A supercomputer in a human body!"
...??
"Sorry, that was too much," he says, scratching the side of his neck. "Too many sci-fi movies. But this is really something! We can find one of these armories, and if we can get our hands on a car..."
He trails off.
"We've got to go find Beka," Tao says at last. "She'll be so excited! Well, maybe more freaked out. But... wow. Holy shit... Thank you so much!"
He grins at you, and it's like a ray of sunlight straight to the eyes.
"C'mon! We should go find her." He practically skips to the staircase.
Beka shoots to her feet, stalks over, and rips the paper out of your hands. She scans it before throwing it back in your face. "'We'?" she snaps. "There is no 'we' here. WE-" She points to Tao and herself, "-barely know you, and you want us to, what? Let you stick around? How can we trust you at all? You can't even talk!"
"Wait, Beka, maybe they just-"
"Shut up, Tao." She snaps her GameGirl shut and jabs it at him like a weapon. "Maybe you think it's fun to pick up every dumb charity case who climbs in your window, but I'M not about to stick my neck out for some stranger!"
"Beka-"
"Shut UP!" With some effort, she shoves the filing cabinet to the side and stomps up the flight of stairs.
"Sorry about her," Tao says after a minute of silence. He leans back against the wall and runs one hand through his hair. "I was babysitting her when it happened. She's probably just worried about her family. Y'know?"
You don't know. You don't even know if you have a family at all.
Tao pushes out a deep breath. "I really don't know what we're gonna do," he says. "I never did. I pretended to, for Beka, but all we did was hide. I... I'm not cut out for this. I was a performer. I dance. I sing. I work a crowd. I don't..." He sighs. "I don't do survival stuff. I don't fight people. I..."
He trails off.
"I wish I could make some sort of plan for her," he says at last. "But I don't know how."
An idea sings through your head, then another, then another. You grab the pencil again.
Tao looks up after a few minutes. "What're you doing?"
You stop writing and examine your handiwork. Every inch of the stack of sticky notes is covered in neat handwriting: lists, addresses, bullet points, makes and models...
How the fuck do you know all this...?!
You hold out the accordion-like thing to him and watch his eyes bug out of his head.
"Holy shit-" He flips the thing over and squints at the underside. "This is..." He squints at you. "Are you a cop? Or in the CIA? Something like that?"
You shrug, spreading your hands hopelessly.
"But this, it's... Well, it's not cohesive, but you put... Armories, cars to hot-wire, military bases, subway tunnels, all kinds of crazy shit!" Tao's face is slowly lighting up. "This is insane! You're, like, a supersoldier or something! A supercomputer in a human body!"
...??
"Sorry, that was too much," he says, scratching the side of his neck. "Too many sci-fi movies. But this is really something! We can find one of these armories, and if we can get our hands on a car..."
He trails off.
"We've got to go find Beka," Tao says at last. "She'll be so excited! Well, maybe more freaked out. But... wow. Holy shit... Thank you so much!"
He grins at you, and it's like a ray of sunlight straight to the eyes.
"C'mon! We should go find her." He practically skips to the staircase.