>>5895831>>5896116>>5896295Glancing at its arms, you see they have been given a new casing; one that covers the slot where blades are drawn. It is not – er, less capable of violence. You don't know why you noticed it, but it calms you to notice they put a muzzle on it.
The engineers who have worked with this thing for far longer than anybody in Helsinki has think that it should be rehabilitated to this role by more casual interactions with human beings. It is a little worrying to be in its presence, but now you feel compelled to sit down for fear of what you might teach it by making your first action to get the hell away.
Reassuring yourself that it <span class="mu-i">did</span> stand down when ordered, even by you, a low ranking rookie of the Stormwatch, you sit down in the exceedingly lush armchair by a crystalline coffee table and think for a moment.
"Whisky, neat." Your father had very singular taste. Before you got that kind of freedom to go and drink with your friends, you snuck some from his stash. You got used to it.
"YES MADAM."
You looked away, almost terrified of the all but certain cacophony it would cause at the wet bar, and let your mind wander for a moment.
This building is quite tall. From where you are, peering out the window, you can see the web-like ball that is the Stormwatch HQ. How its comms and surveillance cables spread out to each building around it, and most certainly below. You're at least partially aware that most surveillance cameras are passively watched in real time in one of the office buildings nearby. You're not sure which. People watch the cameras and if something happens, they send a clip to police or Stormwatch to handle. So there's a lot more put into the security of Helsinki, and the world over, than simply the operational enforcing of the law that you presently do. Up here, you feel like you're looking down at a massive spiderweb.
A clink comes from the coffee table. Looking over, the dark amber drink has been poured. The machine, raising itself gently back, presents its empty hands gesturing to the glass. "MADAM."
Taking the glass and staring out the twentieth story window over the central foot-plaza of Helsinki's downtown, you find comfort in knowing that you are not a bug trapped in its web.
... That's not a good thought to think.
