>>5344726You’re pondering whether or not to ask another question when something occurs to you, and you wonder just how you could’ve missed it, before. Ozmas’ posture and tone have betrayed her emotions, and you’re curious if it’s as much of a surprise to her as it was to you.
"You're enjoying this, aren't you?"
Her head snaps back in surprise, and she’s grasping for an answer between denials and indignation as you continue. "Being able to find a way to work around the system, rattling the Cage despite your position…it's quite satisfying, being defiant to an oppressive system isn't it?"
“I hope you don’t expect me to dignify that with an answer.” She snarls, though her baring of fangs doesn’t have quite as much bite as real anger does, in earnest. “I see what you’re doing ‘Defiant’.”
"Oh come on, don't tell me that there wasn't a time in your career as a consul where Hexane politics chafed against your morals like termites in your roots, and you went behind their backs to do what was right." You point out, adding introspection to injury by following that up with; "You wouldn't have hired Reyva otherwise when she got fired. Come on, Ozzy—(she recoils at that particular nickname)—there's bound to be a scandalous story worth telling. Something that'll make even a ghost in Almath roll in their graves in utter embarrassment."
“Aside from the Almath massacre that is..." You quickly add, and you almost jump when the void violently shakes, shuddering with a sudden bark of cruel laughter from the Hexane revenant floating before you.
“I’ll be the first to admit that Almath was…cathartic. I’d seen too much of their hypocrisy to make it anything but a justice that was a long time coming.” She confesses, chuckling all the while. “But I see what you’re doing. Trying to point out the similarities, even though you’re hardly who I’d identify myself with in this little narrative of yours…though, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t point it out…you may just have a point, considering recent events.”
She leans forward, with an almost conspiratorial whisper.
“After all—I gave Almath an ultimatum, too.”
It’s your turn to lean back, a little, and Ozmas tightens the fold of her arms in apparent triumph. “Come now, Defiant…what else? Surely you’ve not exhausted your vocabulary, yet?”
“Okay, I’ll bite. Does the master code leakage have any potential consequences other than empowering effects or enabling hacking the Cord?” You ask, deciding to push your and Ozmas’ luck just a bit further. “Is there anything potentially dangerous in the code leakage, such as the trigger sequence for the die-back procedure, specifically?”
(Continued)
