Harriet says, "Zach! MeiQin needs to get in touch with Jarod like emergency-now. Do
you know any way?"


Zach blinks and then frowns with sudden worry. "No, not besides going to the Tether
and look for him there. What's up?"

Harriet says, frowning deeply, "What's going on, you know? What happened to make you
not okay?" She pauses. "I'm asking Zach about the contact thing, but he says that
other than going to the Tether and looking for him, there's not." She swings out of
bed, and starts pacing, lifting her empty hand in an 'I don't know' gesture.

Harriet stops breathing, then lets it out in a rush. "What the /fuck/ do you mean?
If you're going to throw around words like 'dead', then you'd better tell me, you
know? Can you come over to the apartment? Need guys with guns? I'm sure we can find
some...MeiQin, what's going on?"

Zach hovers and looks troubled.

Zach hover hover hover.

Harriet paces around the hovering Zach as if he were a barrel in a rodeo. "Tranqed?
Kidnapped? Yeah, sure...see you here, then, you know? Take a cab, I'll pay the tab,
but you don't sound like you should be driving, and it might be best if they can't
track your car, whoever they are."

Zach blink at Harriet's side of the conversation, and is now thoroughly frowny.

Harriet says, her frown as deep as ever, but her voice gentling, "We'll be fine. And
when you get here, we'll protect you, you know? Be careful on your way over,
dearheart.

Harriet hangs up, and stares at the phone in thorough bewilderment. "MeiQin's coming
over, you know? It seems something Bad has happened."

You say, "Yeah, that part was kind of evident from your end of the conversation.
What the hell did she say?"

Harriet tosses the phone onto the tangled bedclothes, and runs a hand through her
hair. "Nothing specific, except that being dead might be preferable, and apparently
she was tranqued and kidnapped by 'them', and that we're not to tell Cosmo, you
know?" She paces again.

You say, "Did she say where she was?"

Zach looks ready to charge out and to the rescue or defense or whatever is needed.

Harriet just shakes her head. "But if she could leave to come over here, then she
must have gotten free, somehow, you know?"

*knock knock*

Zach nods and paces over to the door, and vibrates like an Ofanite in frustration.
"Yes, and that's why I'd havelikied to know, so... Huh?" He yanks the door open, and
peers at...

Harriet goes to hover behind Zach, peering under his arm at whoever's at the door.

MeiQin stands in the doorway, eyes red and puffy. Her clothing looks like it's been
both slept in and exercized in. "Hi," she says weakly. "It's only fair to warn you
that you may get in trouble over me again."

Zach reaches out and drags MeiQin inside, and shovs her into Harriet's care, while
he steps outside quickly. He scouts for Bad Guys. "I'll be back inside in a few
moments, I'm just going to have a quick look around."

Zach .oO( Paranoia rules. )

MeiQin sighs and says, "Don't bother. They didn't caution me against associating
with /you/, although that was doubtless a careless omission."

Harriet wraps MeiQin in her arms, and hugs her fiercely. "Dearheart, there's no one
I'd rather get in trouble over, you know? Now, c'mon in, and spill. Would you like
some tea? Coffee? Juice? Chocolate milk?" She blinks. "Who didn't do this?"

AutoJudge:  Zach rolls: 3 + 6 = 9 . Check die: 3

AutoJudge:  Zach rolls: 2 + 6 = 8 . Check die: 2

Zach slips back inside, after having spotted the grand total of zero baddies. He
arranges curtains so that it's impossible to look into the tiny apartment from
anywhere. "What on God's green earth is going on?" he wants to know.

MeiQin hugs Harriet back as the tears start spilling from her eyes again. "They said
that I have to join Stone instead because two Archangels said so, and that I have
about three days to come back and they're going to do some ritual that's supposed to
awaken me except I'll most likely die instead because I don't have faith. And that I
probably shouldn't associate with my boys anymore." She sniffles.

Harriet steers MeiQin to the bed, and sits her down, still hugging and cuddling in
best Harriet-style. "Who said this? Please, MeiQin, start from the beginning, you
know? And go slowly."

MeiQin is steered to the bed and sits down. "Um, the paintball man said. Mr. Dexter.
And the beginning is when Roger talked me into going paintballing with him about a
week and a half ago."

Harriet listens, her expression momentarily darkening at the mention of the names,
but she just continues to project soothing vibes, and doesn't interrupt.

MeiQin sighs and slumpssideways onto the bed. "So he called up this afternoon and
said it was a good time, so we went paintballing. Once we were off in the caves, Mr.
Dexter shot me with a tranq dart. I didn't know it was him at the time, of course,
but he explained it later."

Zach darkens visibly as the tale moves on, but keeps quiet and listens. And takes a
few mental notes.

"He..." Harriet's expression hardens, and her eyes flicker with something
unpleasant, quickly covered with an apologetic smile. "Sorry. Didn't mean to
interrupt, you know? Please go on."

MeiQin continues, "When I woke I was in a different cave, and there was a big statue
there, and Roger and Mr. Dexter were there too. That was when he explained that he
had shot me, and he snapped at Roger for having asked me politely instead of
abducting me properly."

Zach's jaw tightens, and he listens very, very intently to MeiQin.

<OOC> Zach also resonates MeiQin.

AutoJudge:  Zach rolls: 4 + 2 = 6 . Check die: 5

<OOC> Zach says, "Can I have the CD2 result, please?"

Harriet pets MeiQin, finding the motion soothing for herself, as well. And listens,
of course.

MeiQin pages: Hmmn... most noble, agreeing to an open relationship in spite of
personal discomfort. most ignoble, permitting the fear of death (and a promise to
fight for her life) sway her into making an illogical decision with insufficient
data an a really stupid setup.

MeiQin says quietly. "Then Mr. Dexter said he was testing me, and that he wanted me
to pick one of my students to die. When I demurred on the grounds that it was
illogical to leave a life or death decision in the hands of someone with inadequate
data, he said he would kill me if I didn't. So I did. Afterwards, he said it was
supposed to be a test on if I could follow orders, and that I did very poorly."

Zach sighs and facepalms. "Sweet Jesus... I can't believe those guys..."

MeiQin looks back and forth between Harriet and Zach. And takes a deep breath. "So
then he explained that everything was a mess, and so to clean up the mess he was
going to have to do this Ritual to awaken me, except that it kills people who don't
believe in God. And I asked if taking other people's word for it was good enough,
and he said no, you have to have faith, so I'm going to die."

"Mr. Dexter is clearly a raving lunatic. Perhaps he's been down in those caves too
long, and picked up some sort of degenerating brain mold, you know?" Harriet frowns.
"And he's lying. I've never made any secret of my lack of Faith with a capital F,
and the Awakening wasn't at all unpleasant. Other than demons with guns and stuff."

Zach snorts. "That's bullshit. It helps to believe in God, but it's not a
requirement."

MeiQin sniffles. "And then he said he was giving me a couple of days to seek
spiritual guidance to improve my chances. And, um, we talked for a long time about
faith, and I asked if he was doing this on his own or on orders and he said that two
Archangels had said that I have to work for Stone instead and that Cosmo's Boss had
been pressured into giving me up and then he said that I'm not allowed to go to the
Bluebird of Divine Comedy at all, and that I really ought to stop associating with
Traders."

Harriet purses her lips, and looks at Zach for guidance. "So. Is there anyway to
derail this clusterfuck before it gets any worse, you know? There has to be someone
we can scream at."

Zach hms. "So, you only have this from -him-. I'd like to hear it from Bazil and
Cosmo too. Because I sincerely doubt that Marc hasn't informed Cos and Jarod if this
is really true. Also, did he tell you why you weren't 'allowed' to go to those cluba
anymore?"

Harriet hmms. "The Stonies, none of them, are allowed to go to the Divine Comedy. I
know that from way back, you know? I didn't realize that the Bluebird had made the
list, however."

MeiQin says, "And then he blindfolded me and brought me back to the paintball area,
and told me that if I told Jarod and Cosmo and if they tried to interfere forcibly,
Very Unpleasant Things would happen to them, with overtones of grievous bodily harm.
So I went home and cried a lot, and called once it was a decent hour." MeiQin pauses
for breath and nods to Zach. "And that's why I want to ask Jarod. I'm afraid to ask
Cosmo because he /will/ go flying off the handle and get himself hurt, you know? But
Jarod should be able to confirm or deny.""

Zach blinks in surprise at Harriet. Clearly, he's never heard about this before and
he looks puzzled. "Weirdos," he mutters ungraciously, before looking up at MeiQin.
"So, he didn't say a word about Creationers then?"

Zach does a doubletake. "Wait. So, you're supposed to seek spiritual guidance where?
And not tell the Traders about this?"

Harriet shrugs back at Zach. "Henry and Sam couldn't, at least. I assumed it was a
Stone thing," she says, then looks back at MeiQin. "For the record, I think this is
fucked up, you know? And I'm perfectly willing to hide you from Stone, whether
anyone else will or not. They have /no/ right to trample all over you like this;
certainly not for some damned, petty political infighting."

MeiQin shakes her head. "Nope, nothing said against Creationers in general. One bit
about him feeling sorry for Harriet. And a lot of disparaging remarks about Cosmo
and Jarod." She looks at Harriet bleakly. "But I /have/ to go back, if it's true
that it was arranged at the Archangelic level. I promised Cosmo that I would help,
and if his Boss won't take me because of some sort of deal, then I'm stuck." She
frowns. "I'm trying not to let myself feel actively betrayed by this situation."

Zach looks confused and deeply unamused. "I think that the boulderheads have shown a
remarkable lack of skill here. Quite incredibly lousy. I know their philosophy, and
while a lot of it is sound, I do not agree with how some of them treat people." He
scowls. "Man, I hate politics. I really, really hate politics... But before we do
anything too rash, I'd like to know more. They gave you three days?"

MeiQin waves her hand in a mezza-mezza gesture. "A few days. Not a specific number,
just that if it took too long they'd come after me again."

Harriet looks stubborn. "Personally, I don't care if every Archangel in the book had
a toe in on this. It's /stupid/ and it's cruel, and no one who has been as willing
and patient as you have should be subjected to such a violent trespass of person and
authority, you know? There has to be a way around it."

MeiQin sighs. "I wish I knew what was going on with Cosmo's Boss..." She looks at
Zach, her brow furrowed. "Zach? /Would/ they be willing to lie to me over something
like that?"

Zach rubs his face. "Who and about what?"

Harriet eyes MeiQin, then Zach. "I think she means Dexter and Roger lying about
what's going on, you know? Or something?" Her brow furrows.

MeiQin nods to Harriet. "It is stupid and cruel, and an inefficient distribution of
personnel. I mean, really? Even if they decided that I couldn't be with Trade for
some reason, why Stone?" She looks at Zach and clarifies, "Would Mr. Dexter really
lie to me about the Archangels agreeing to this? Including Cosmo's Boss?"

Zach sighs. "I have no idea. I don't know Dexter at all, I've only met him two or
three times. I fear that it might be at least some truth to this; but I'd like to
hear it all. Dex is a fanatic, that much I'm pretty certain of. Stone works well
with the Sword and Judgment. If they went to them and said, 'look, the mess was ours
and now we want to clean it up and claim the Soldier', then it would have been
granted."

Harriet raises an eyebrow at Zach. "And I don't suppose that it ever occurred to
them to simply explain to or ask the Soldier in question." She grits her teeth. "We
are not objects to be claimed or traded as Archangels please, Zach."

MeiQin glares, at nothing in particular. "And I don't get any say in it, is that
it?" She sighs, for neither the first nor the last time. "Well, I just bloody well
hope that if it's true, that Trade squeezed some good concessions out of them in
return." She smiles harshly at this.

Zach nods. "I completely agree, Harriet. But the Commander, the Judge and Stone are
all about obedience and Following Orders. If you agree to side with Heaven, your
life belongs to Heaven, and ultimately the Commander has full jurisdiction over you
and your life. Normally, Soldiers are placed where they best fit though. The
Archangels I work for are more fond of free will, and such. Which makes it more or
less unheard of that a Soldier is ever placed with Creation or Wind. We recruit our
own, and like as not, the Commander never learns about them. As Harriet found out."

Harriet crosses her arms over her chest. "In absence of an actual /reason/ behind
this unsolicited attack on one of my friends and allies, I can only assume that the
Commander, the Judge, and Stone have gone messily insane, you know? This is not
right. It is...it's dishonorable, is what it is."

MeiQin laughs hollowly. "Following orders? They want me to follow orders, so they
tear me away from the people whom I'd willingly obey and place me in the hands of
people I distrust, and do so in a manner calculated to make me hate them the more?"

Zach nods and pinches the bridge of his nose, looking exasperated. "I'm not arguing
with you, I heartily disapprove of the way they've handled this. However, consider
this: It's a war. It's a brutal war where people get tortured, mindfucked an killed.
Where people see their loved ones become targets. Stone's philosophy is to prepare
people to endure that kind of badness. Some of them cultivate anger in people, anger
that's supposed to carry them through no matter what. I don't like it, but that's
how they, or many of them, think. Kind of like the most brutal drill sargents you
can find."

Harriet doesn't look significantly mollified. "Be that as it may, to abuse a willing
heart is not simply cruel, but stupid. It is one thing to put people through tests,
or even ordeals, when they're /attempting/ to become Soliders of Stone, you know? It
is another to take a Soldier who was perfectly happy elsewhere, and terrorize them.
That is what I'd expect from Demons, not Angels." Her voice is flat.

MeiQin hmphs at Zach's point, although she nods to acknowledge it. She just doen't
/like/ it. "Anger can carry people, all right. To all sorts of places that are bad
places to go to. Anger makes people do stupid things. I'd rather just get my axioms
straightened out, and then not let anger sway me into acting wrongly." She sighs and
says, "If they can get away with it, do you think that Stone would ever try to use
me against my boys? Other than the current slap in the face. I mean, would they
order me to do actual damage?"

Zach stalks over to the window, then back to the door. "I don't want to believe they
would. It would be against their very ethos to do so actively, because it would only
serve Factions. But, Stone is hostile to Trade, and I know that the Sword is
conserned about that. I'm worried... Bazil has seemed to be willing to reach out,
and cooperate. If there are forces at work trying to stop that, then.." He pauses.
"I don't relish the thought of you getting trapped in Stone's own infighting. But
I'm theorizing here. We need to know more."

Harriet sighs, and flops back on the bed, throwing her arms over her head. "How?
And, MeiQin...what do /you/ want to do, you know? I mean, seriously."

MeiQin looks at Harriet quizzically. "I thought you knew, Harriet. I want to help my
boys. What else is there? Or do you mean more specifically?"

Zach is quiet, thinking troubled thoughts.

Harriet nods. "I meant more specifically, yes. I mean...look. I don't support you
being forced into serving someone who would treat you like that, you know?
So...well. Whatever /you/ decide, I'll support."

MeiQin rolls onto her back and stares up at the ceiling. "I want to go to grad
school. I want to do reseach. I want to teach at the college level. I want to have
many happy conversations with you guys and Cosmo and Jarod. I want to learn to
dance. I want to help people in general. I want to help my friends in specific. I
want to spend lots of time in as close proximity to Cosmo as he will let me get away
with. I want to improve my technical skills. I want to strategize. I want to learn.
I want to blow that fucking paintball arena to kingdom come, and Mr. Dexter with it.
I want to do mindful, joyous work all the days of my life. Is that specific enough?"

Zach looks up. "Good wants, but that's not what Stone and the Sword want to know.
They want to know if you can be used to hurt the enemy in ways they can't, or have
difficulty unnoticed."

You say, "Or if you have skills and/or a position where you can gather
intelligence."

MeiQin says in an flat voice, "I'm useless for direct damage. I would be very good
at electronic intelligence gathering and analysis, but Stone isn't the right place
for that, either. If they want to ship me out of town to Lightning, I could at least
see the logic in that."

Harriet smiles. "Mostly, I was wanting to know what you wanted to do about this
situation, in specific, MeiQin. If you want to go to ground, I'll help you," she
shoots a look at Zach about this, equal parts regretful and defiant.

MeiQin sighs. "I don't think I can, honorably. Dexter released me on the
understanding that I'd be back in a few days. Otherwise I'd still be in that cave.
The only way I can think of to honorably not go back is to be incapacitated." She
grins wryly. "Whatever knocked out Cristobal ought to do the trick if need be."

Zach shakes his head. "No, you do not want that. It messes up your mind and damages
it more or less permanently." He frowns and sighs. "They seem to be hell-bent on
awakening you. Hm. The ritual itself won't kill you. Depending on how it goes, your
awakening can be painful and leave you reeling for days and even weeks, but it won't
kill you unless God or Lucifer intervenes and strike you down. That is highly
unlikely to happen. But -- the Stone version of the rite may be some kind of
physically hellish ordeal that could very well be dangerous." A slighs smile form on
his lips. "There was no ordeal when I awakened Roger..."

Harriet blinks, and lifts her head to look at Zach. "You awakened Roger?" She
glances at MeiQin, then back at the Angel, one eyebrow rising.

MeiQin shrugs. "From what Mr. Dexter said, the danger was from being weak of faith,
not of body. Er... could you perhaps clarify what exactly happens to people when
they die? I'm wondering if I might not be better off just accepting my death as a
given at this point and taking whatever comes.

Zach blinks at Harriet. "Yes? I have told you all so, several times. Anyway. Death.
Right. Four things can happen: One, you go to Heaven. Two, you go to Hell. Three,
you get recycled and do the rebirth thing. And no, you won't remember your former
life. Four, your soul disbands into the Symphony and is lost forever. The three
first ones are the most common. Soldiers are guaranteed to go to the realm they
served in life, as far as I know."

MeiQin sighs. "But what determines who gets recycled versus disbanded?"

Harriet frowns at Zach. "I actually heard that you only went to Heaven or Hell if
you fufilled your Destiny or Fate...but that most Soldiers' Destinies or Fates were
to be, well, Soldiers, you know?" She glances at MeiQin. "You're not dying, by the
way. Even if I have to knock you out and drag you out of the city, myself."

MeiQin shakes her head at Harriet. "Look, there's some level of danger in the Ritual
itself. There's also a good chance that Stone will find it necessary to kill me if I
refuse to serve. Third, if I can get in touch with Jarod, I plan to pull Stone's
teeth in a way that may be the death of me as well. That's a lot of chances to die,
before you factor in that I'm a lot frailer than the Stone ideal, and their training
program probably simply isn't calibrated for the likes of me."

Zach nods to Harriet. "Yeah, that's about the gist of it." Turning back to MeiQin,
he spreads his hands, "Buggered if I know. I've heard that if a person meets both
Fate and Destiny, then they go poof at death. But besides that... Mostly, if you
haven't reached one of your potencials in life, you get another go. I never worked
with Destiny, so I don't know all that much about it."

Harriet nods serenely at MeiQin. "Which is why, if we haven't found a solution to
this before the deadline, I'm perfectly willing to knock you over the head, and rent
a cabin somewhere out in the middle of nowhere until the Angels come to their
senses, you know? It won't be your choice, so I'll be the one tried, not you."

MeiQin shakes her head at Harriet, smiling in spite of herself. "Harriet, you are a
dear, you know? I'm not afraid of standing trial. I don't think it's possible for
the to come up with something worse than this. It's a matter of honor, of keeping
one's promises even when it's inconvenient."

Zach runs his fingers through his hair. "This is a fucking mess, and the Stonies
have apparantly decided to not only cook an omelet, but to break the needed eggs
with a sledgehammer. Great. I could offer to Awaken you, MeiQin, but I will not do
it without knowing more. So far we have only Dexter's word, and I'm not prepared to
trust it right now."

MeiQin nods. "That seems entirely reasonable. We need to get more information. I'll
be trying to get in touch with Jarod. If you could ask along whatever channels you
have access to?"

Harriet gives MeiQin a quick, unreadable look. She nods, briefly, then turns to
Zach. "Okay. So. We need information; who do we turn to, you know? Dexter probably
won't tell us anything...Roger might. Or Bazil or one of the Stone Angels? Surely
one of them should know something."

You say, "I'll try getting in touch with Bazil, and I want to talk to Trade as well.
If I can find Marmesh, I'll talk to him too. Depending on what we learn, I may or
may not nip upstairs.""

MeiQin just listens, tired.

Harriet reaches up to ruffle her own hair. "Sounds like a plan. Um, MeiQin? If
you're going to try and keep this secret from Cosmo, you'll need a place to stay,
you know? There's always my apartment...now that I'm gone, it should be safe enough.
I got rid of the bed, though."

MeiQin shakes her head at Harriet. "I don't need that; it's okay if he knows that
I'm upset, as long as I don't aim him at Stone. I can always say that I prefer not
to tell him at this point in time."

You say, "Cosmo can also visit your dreams, just like I can. We'll work something
out of this chaos, but first we collect info! And now I have to leave for work, but
I'll weasel out early."

Harriet swings up from the bed to give Zach a warm hug and cuddle.

MeiQin waves Zach goodbye from the bed. "Although it couldn't hurt if I took a tiny
nap here, right? Goodbye, Zach."

You say, "Sleep all you want, hon. We'll see you through this." Zach hugs Harriet,
and offers one to MeiQin too before leaving.

Harriet nods. "Absolutely. We're your friends, you know?" She smiles warmly at
MeiQin, then says softly to Zach, "Be safe out there, love."


----Later that day-----


MeiQin is napping. On the bed. In her clothes.

Harriet is sitting at the table, writing in a notebook. She occassionally glances
over at MeiQin with worried eyes, but most of her attention appears to be bound up
in whatever she's scribbling.

MeiQin, as has been recorded elsewhere, does not snore. Those cute little whuffling
noises are most definitely not snores. And only a cad would imply otherwise.

A rustle of keys is heard from the door, and with a minimum of noise, Zach slips
into the apartment. He glances at MeiQin, then raises his eyebrows at Harriet in a
?.

Harriet smiles warmly at Zach, and gestures in MeiQin's direction, then moves her
arms to do the 'out for the count' thing from boxing movies the world over. She
grins slightly, but the concern is still apparent.

MeiQin... ROLLS OVER!! But hasn't woken yet, so carry on with the sweet nothings.

Zach takes his shoes off, and tiptoes over to kiss Harriet. "I tried calling Baz,
but I only got his answering machine," he murmurs softly. "I left a message.
Hopefully he'll get back to me soon."

Harriet nods, and sees his kiss, and raises him a hug. In a quiet voice, she
replies, "She's been sacked out since you left, you know? She seemed to need it, so
I just let her sleep."

<OOC> MeiQin says, "Oh, heck. Just pose around me. I'll wake up at some amusing
moment."

Zach nods and hugs Harriet a bit. "Good. Rest is a good thing. I'll start cooking up
some dinner soon. She should be fed as well as rested." He sighs frustratedly. "No
word from Jarod either. If I don't hear from any of 'em soon, or if I hear stupid
stuff, I'm gonna go upstairs and talk to the same guy I spoke to about Roger."

Harriet leans into Zach, and nods. "That's a good idea. I've been thinking about
sending another report type thingy to the Sword, myself, you know?" She sighs. "I
really don't like the...disrespect this shows MeiQin, and by association, all of us.
A willing heart shouldn't need to be broken."

You say, "You've sent reports to the Sword?"

Harriet holds up a finger. "Just one. Back when I was trying to get /someone/ to
help us get that damned notebook translated, you know? I sent a request, and a
little mini-report about the circumstances of acquring it. Jarod let me use the
Tether's connection. I never heard anything back about it, though, so I figured
further contact was not required."

Harriet sounds a tiny bit miffed about that.

Zach snorts and shakes his head. "I'm not -even- going to comment. Anyway. I still
can't believe this is happening."

MeiQin yawns and stretches, eyes still closed.

Harriet sighs. "Tell me about it. Of all the utterly bone-headed moves that they
could possibly pull..." she glances over towards the stirring MeiQin.

Zach peers over at the sleeping beauty, and smiles wryly. "It's a mess, and we'll
have to sort it out. It's unbecoming."

MeiQin's eyes flutter open. She blinks, and rubs her eyes with her fists.

Harriet nods to Zach, then smiles in MeiQin's direction. Gently, she raises her
voice to say, "Good afternoon. How are you feeling, you know? A little better, I
hope?"

MeiQin sighs. "Sleepy. And still tired. How long did I sleep?" She sits up in the
bed and rolls her shoulders.

Zach smiles and rises. "Hey there. You've been out for nearly five hours, hon. Stiff
neck? Need a shoulderrub?"

Harriet doesn't rise, but smiles as Zach does. "Zach gives good rub, I have reason
to assure you, you know?"

MeiQin shrugs and says, "Sure, why not. Oh!" She put a hand up to her earlobe.
"Harriet, before you forget, I want you to have these." She takes off her earrings,
two tiny gold hoops, and holds them out to Harriet. "Here. They're for you."

Zach sits down next to MeiQin, and waits for her to be ready for ze Secret Malakite
Shoulderrrub. (Which Cosmo skipped class for. Just like Zaco skipped class for
economics.)

Harriet blinks, and goes over to take the earrings, her brow furrowing. "Thank you,
they're lovely, you know? But, ah, why the sudden gifts of earrings? You always wear
these..."

MeiQin says flatly, "I don't want them aymore. I don't won't to support those
bastards in any way beyond following orders if we can't find a way out. I'll find
myself something else -- maybe pearl studs on plastic posts or something."

Roger climbs up the stair and knocks.

Zach places his hands on MeiQin's shoulders, starting to massage carefully. "We'll
find a way, MeiQin. We'll find a way, or go down fighting."

Harriet curls her hand around the earrings and hmms. "Well, I'll keep these for you
for a little while, you know?" she says, slowly, then looks over at the door. Her
attention turns to Zach, and she raises an eyebrow. "Expecting anyone?"

MeiQin sighs. "What we need to find is information, not a way. Once we know what on
Earth happened, then we can worry about finding the optimal way. By the way, where
does Lightning hang, if not around here?"

Zach shakes his head and rises to go check out the door. "I think Jean's guys have a
place in Chicago. I know there's a Tether in DC, too.." He opends the door and peers
out. With a frown, he then greets, "Roger. Hello."

Roger smiles "Hey, Zach how goes?"

Harriet hmphs. "There's plenty of occassions where action is more vital than
info-gathering, you know?" She turns to Roger, and sighs. "Hello, Roger. We're
trying to figure out why a willing, potential Soldier was kidnapped and
psychologically tortured. Wanna help?"

MeiQin looks at Roger blankly. "Hello, Officer," she says. "I'm not going
paintballing with you anymore."

Zach is standing in Roger's way, and looks back at MeiQin. "Would you rather not see
him, or can I let him in?"

Roger peers over Zach's shoulder, noticing Harriet and MeiQin for the first time and
says quietly to MeiQin "No, I wouldn't expect that you would."

MeiQin sighs and says to Zach. "I suppose you might as well. He did get yelled at
for being too nice to me, after all. Besides, I don't have my gun here, and harriet
would object anyway. Just don't let him touch me, okay?"

Harriet winces. "Yes, I would object. Roger doesn't deserve to be shot, you know?"
She tucks MeiQin's earrings into a pocket, and watches the police officer. "Perhaps
you could help fill in a couple of the gaps in this incident, Roger?"

Zach nods, and steps aside to let Roger in. "Touch her, and you'll find yourself
down on the sidewalk so quick it ain't funny, ok?" he tells Roger and closes the
door. "Coffee or tea anyone?"

Roger runs his hands though his hair as he sits down "Tea would be nice" Then he
nods at Harriet "I can try."

MeiQin says quietly, "Do you have green tea?"

Harriet shakes her head at Zach. "None for me, thanks." She takes a deep breath, and
nods at Roger as she lets it out. "Thank you. Care to explain why in God's name
anyone thought it was a good idea to do this, you know?"

Zach nods. "I have all kinds of teas and stuff. Especially since Harriet moved in."
He starts doing tea-rites and rituals.

Roger leans back on the couch "Because, according to Dexter people were sloppy. They
let MeiQin here in on the secret of the War without making her a Solider."

MeiQin sighs exasperatedly. "Doesn't anyone understand the meaning of the phrase,
'Working on it'? We all knew it was in the works, it was just a matter of getting
the okay from upstairs." Her eyes narrow. "And you knew that, Officer Freeman."

Roger shakes his head "No, I didn't" As far I knew you were just hanging around
Cosmo and stuff, This has been going on for weeks now. I know Marc, unlike Stone is
a fairly active guy, why didn't he and Cosmo open MeiQin here up to the Symphony
already?

Harriet sighs. "It would have been nice if he could have, yes. But we were trying to
deal with that Jack thing, and I believe that Jarod and Cosmo have been /trying/ to
get ahold of him, you know? At any rate, this was a damned stupid idea. You don't
treat your allies like they're your enemies. Otherwise you make them into enemies."

MeiQin sighs. "Last I heard from Cosmo, he had submitted a request to do just that,
but included some reservations about my mental health. And, as we all know, the best
way to deal with shaky mental health is by deliberate psychological torture." Her
voice is more than a little acid.

Roger raises an eyebrow "What reservations about your mental health. You seem fine
to me."

MeiQin says, casually enough, "Oh, I'm a bit too dependent on Cosmo. We were trying
to figure out ways to work on that."

Roger tilts his head "To dependent on Cosmo? In what way?" He looks rather
confused."

Zach shakes his head to himself, and eyes the kettle. "We -need- to get this sorted
out, or Factions will be the one and only winner here. We have no less than two
Elohim in town, one is a trained therapist and pshycologist, and she happens to work
for Judgment. That -might- be a place to start."

MeiQin raises her eyebrows at Roger. "Forgive me if I'm not in the habit of
detailing my weaknesses in front of my enemies."

<OOC> Roger says, "assumimg you can get her to rp."

Harriet nods in agreement with Zach. "And we probably should have asked her to talk
to MeiQin before this, you know?" She stands up and starts to pace, rubbing the back
of her neck. "Roger, does Stone intend to go through with this insanity, do you
know?"

Roger shrugs "As far as I know yes."

Zach keeps quiet.

MeiQin glances at Zach. "How's the tea coming?" she asks quietly.

Harriet shakes her head. "This is /stupid/. Potentially killing a good woman just
because we're not moving fast enough for...for /Stone/, of all the words?" She paces
more. "It makes no sense, and it's disrespectful to MeiQin, and to all of the rest
of us, too."

Roger adds "And, as MeiQin pointed out, apparently what I was supposed to do was
kidnap her and drag her to the tether, rather then what I did and simply trick her
to get her there.

MeiQin adds sardonically, "And it's an inefficient use of resouces, not that Mr.
Dexter gives a damn about logic. Indeed, he seems to think my rationality and my
loyalty are the two weak spots he has to break down to turn me into a perfect
cookie-cutter drone."

Zach finishes the tea-arranging, and brings a cup of lovely green tea over to
MeiQin. "Here you go, hon." Then he serves one up for Roger and for himself.

Roger sounds just a tad annoyed at that "Odd, he didn't seem to do that me."

Harriet gives Roger a sympathetic look, then turns to MeiQin to listen to her. Then
looks back to Roger. "Why don't you explain things the way that they seemed to you,
you know? I'd like to hear this from as many angles as possible. Because right now,
it makes zero sense."

MeiQin nods her thanks to Zach and sips at her tea.

Zach lets Roger speak.

Roger shrugs "Sure. I got a call from Dexter last week, tellimg me that it was time
for me to be tested, to see if I was worthy of work for Stone. So I went out to his
paintball place to talk with him and he told me that my test was to get MieQin here
to the tether. It was so he be sure that I could accept orders that were't
neccisarly 'nice'

MeiQin looks up at Roger. "Interesting. He told me that he needed me to accept
orders that weren't necessarily logical."

Roger says, "So that's what I did. He told me that Cosmo and Zach had messed up by
lettting MeiQin in in on the Way without making her a full fledged Solider and he
had been tasked to clean it up. He was to do this by making her a Solider."

Roger shrugs "That's all I know.

Zach mutters under his breath something about fucking idiots.

Harriet sighs. "Which are both good points, in that not all things are nice or
logical, but this is /damned/ stupid way of doing it. Turning ourselves against each
other, terrifying someone who is willing, and..." she throws her hands up at the
ceiling.

Roger says, "Well, go talk to Dexter about it.""

Zach shakes his head and looks less than amused. "Dex is just a drone. I want to
talk to his bosses about this. It's also real interesting that my name gets named in
there. But then I guess it's always convenient to point fingers at the Windy."

Roger peers at Zach "I thought you worked for Creation?"

MeiQin laughs bitterly. "Perhaps he had no doubts about my willingness to do things
that weren't nice, because I'm such a not-nice person." In a more serious tone, "Or
because I already /have/, although not to friends." She sighs and points out, "He
said nothing about Zach to me. But he was quite happy to point out the failings of
Misters Willingham and Zaire."

You say, "I believe I have told you that I also work for the Wind, haven't I.
Anyway, the same goes for Creationers. So I get the double-whammy, not that I'm
letting that cramp my style."

Harriet makes a disgusted noise. "It took more than two months for me to get all
formal and stuff, and it didn't kill me, you know?" She leans back against a wall
with a thump, and folds her arms over her chest. "And it was /Stone/ that let the
cat out of the bag in the first place. And that Trade/Stone political crap..."

Roger says, "Who's Zaire?""

Zach eyes the phone impatiently, willing it to ring, but no such success. "It also
took some two months before Roger got awakened, and THAT was the Sword's mess. Not
Creation or Trade, but the flipping Sword."

MeiQin rolls her eyes at Roger. "Zaire, as in Jarod Zaire?"

Roger shrugs "Hey, I didn't know his last name. No one told me."

Harriet purses her lips. "Are we looking at a grudge here? I mean, has Trade done
anything to Stone lately to piss them off, you know?"

Roger nods at both Harriet and Zach's words "That is true, it took both us a long
time to get awakened.

Zach shakes his head. "Not that I know of. And the Swords works well with most of
the other Words, by sheer necessity. Laurence tried his best to keep things working
as smooth as they can. Only ones he's got a beef with, are Flowers and Creation."

MeiQin says acidly, "The time from when I first found out about thing to when you
asked me to go paintballing, Officer Freeman, was approximately one month and one
week. I note with interest the comparisons with yourself and Harriet. I suppose I
should be flattered, that I am considered to be progressing slower than expected for
failing to move twice as quickly."

Roger sighs "But doesn't Stone and Trade have disagreements with eatch other?"

Harriet winces, and reaches up to rub at her temples. "Don't heap all the blame on
Roger, you know? We're Soldiers...it's generally expected that the orders we're
given can be followed in good faith." She nods to Roger. "But that doesn't excuse
using an innocent woman as rope to play tug of war with!"


Zach blinks and throws his hands up. "Yeah, this is true. And that's mostly David,
as it happens. He does not trust Trade one bit, and is rather hostile to word and
Archangel."

Roger leans back against the couch and sips his tea "Well, then I suppose you could
go talk with Stone to see what's up."

You say, "I've phoned Bazil and left a message for him. I'm hoping he'll call me
back today, and explain a few things."

Roger says, "Or call Dexter and see if he can shed some light.""

"Like what drugs the Stonies are taking?" Harriet quips, a bit sourly.

Zach raises his hands again, in a gesture of trying to calm people. "Hey now, it's
not helping us or anyone else to work up all this steam of helpless bile. We need to
keep our cool, and ...DAMMIT why can't he call me back?" Zach grouches.

Harriet makes a grumpy noise. "But I so rarely get to indulge in it, you know?" Then
she goes over and hugs Zach. "At any rate, you're right. We need to figure out how
to make this /right/, not pointing fingers. If Cristobal wasn't out cold, I'd swear
I could hear him laughing."

Roger chuckles dryly at that "True."

Zach hugs back, and nods firmly.