The Pixadi Job had gone off so by the book that Viola had gone so far as to call it boring; they had gotten in and out undetected, deposited Taroh's drives in the computers, and all around seemed like a professional crew to an extent Rune got the sense was unusual. At the very least, they seemed unused to sitting around waiting for Taroh's malware to crack the Pixadi security, visibly anxious that it had all been for nothing (except Taroh, who never doubted for a second his tech would succeed) whereas Rune had been on so many raids to secure intel for other members of the rebellion to look at and use that not having an immediate payout was completely normal to her. But in this place, she had to find new ways to occupy her time, and get to know her new hosts as they waited.
Viola was impatient and plotting, constantly suggesting schemes they could do in the meantime (which Geode shot down) or suggesting plans that could work for the mansion heist (if there just so happened to be a pool, or a vent system they could exploit, or a dozen other things they wouldn't know until they got blueprints). She made a list of the people they knew would be present in the mansion, spent time going over interviews with them, compiling profiles, figuring out angles. And occasionally, she would try to wring some information out of Rune about the rebellion, something that she was capable of doing quite elegantly in a conversation, but she was unable to hide her excitement to learn enough to make it look truly natural.
"The Magistrate's son is a Lightbringer, you know," Viola had said at one point, "gets tutored by some old master. Likes to show off his powers for the cameras. You think you could take him?" Rune grinned, looking at the photo in the news article Viola was looking at.
"This little runt? No problem," she bragged. There was something extremely satisfying about getting to be the big fish in a small pond; none of what was happening compared in danger or complexity to the fleet assault on the research station, so Rune could just play the cool laid back tough girl without any problem, since nothing was a real threat to her. "Fighting Lightbringers without my psyblade could be a problem, but he doesn't look like the real thing. These rich kids who get tutored part time never amount to as much as the real disciples in the monasteries. It's about prestige for them, not anything real."
"You sound like you're speaking from experience." Viola noted, "was it a Lightbringer that cut your arm off?" Rune laughed, thinking back to that fight.
"No. Something much worse," she replied coldly. Viola frowned at the cryptic words, but had gotten the hint that this was a touchy subject and left it alone from there.
Geode, on the other hand, wanted to focus on anything other than the danger they were in, and was extremely good at finding other things to do. It seemed they were the primary cook of the group (though Taroh baked), and spent a good deal of effort trying to turn what looked like the cabinet of a bomb shelter into a somewhat appealing meal. To keep everyone occupied, they set up a movie night, going through a hard drive full of movies Taroh had pirated, an eclectic mix that ranged from major blockbusters, local art films, to old war era propaganda films from both sides. The group settled on watching Romance of the Titans VIII: The Man Who Sat on The Throne of God, the latest in a long line of adaptations of the most famous historical epic of the Hegemony. Rune hadn't had a chance to see it yet, as she had been involved in rebel action consistently since it's release a year and a half ago, so it was fun to finally see how the Ministry of the Past handled telling the story of the brief reign of the Tyrant Ryoxo Eclipse. Rune was fascinated by this period of history, and had all matter of tidbits to share, to the point where Geode had needed to tell her to shut up because she was talking over one of the best moments (the duel between Ryoxo and Magnus Hyperion, the founder of the modern Hegemony). It was a good movie, and a fairly faithful adaptation of the source novel, though both had taken severe artistic liberties with the history in order to valorize the Hyperion Dynasty. After watching it, Taroh suggested marathoning the first seven, but Viola had vetoed that.
YOU ARE READING
Outer Olympus
Fiksi IlmiahIt is ten years since the rebellion in Outer Olympus was put down by the forces of the Hyperion Hegemony. As orphans living under this cruel empire, Viola, Taroh, and Geode have had to beg, steal, and lie to make a living on board Maintenance Six, a...
