ArchivedLogs:Vignette - On Serenity

Vignette - On Serenity
Dramatis Personae Tatters, NPC-Lily
In Absentia	2013-07-25 Post Morlock raid.
Location Under NYC
Bare, taloned feet clack their way down the tunnel. After an indeterminate time, they are joined by another pair, a soft pad of sneakers on the concrete. "Jill, there are soldiers down here. I saw--" "I know. They're leaving." The footsteps carry on. Their owner doesn't have their shield anymore, the useless, splintered plinth discared somewhere behind her. "Nice. Did you drive them off?" "No." "...Jill?" "Go away." "No. Tell me what happened." Both pairs of footsteps stop. There's a shuffle as the larger pair turns. "Serenity didn't work. They took Nox." The next moment is just breathing. "Are you alright?" "Yeah, I'm fine. Just bullets." "You don't sound fine." There's a shifting noise as Jill turns and resumes walking. "Whatever." "Jill..." Footsteps continue, and then she starts talking, voice raspy and echoing in the dark. "What we learned here today, what we learned with Renard, is that I can't do shit. I can outfight fucking anyone I've ever met, but doesn't do shit unless I start killing people soon as I fucking see 'em. "Nox expects me to rescue her. There's no fucking way I can do that, I don't know where they're fucking going and if I couldn't fight off three fucking guys and a bunch of Osbots I can't bust down an entire fucking facility. I--" "We have friends." Lily's low, insistent voice cuts her off. "We know people who do this." "Yeah, and the last fucking raid killed like half of them. And the rest probably died while we were having our nice fucking road trip with Renard." "Jill. We can do this." "No we can't." "What will you do instead then?" Pause. "I don't fucking know, sit in a corner and turn into a lump. It doesn't fucking matter." Walk, walk, walk. They pass a junction; Lily stops, but Jill keeps walking. "Jill, home is that way--" "I know where fucking home is, Lily." "Where are you going, then?" "Somewhere else. Doesn't matter." Lily's footsteps start up again, and Jill's stop, and turn. "Lily. Go away." The pause is longer this time. "Call me in the morning. Promise me you'll call." "...sure." "Promise!" "I promise." "Okay." Jill turns away, and one set of footsteps continues down the tunnels.