Mask or Menance IC Contact Post

[failureisntachoice]

[ An automated voice speaks because someone hasn't bothered to set up a proper voicemail. The only part in her voice is her name. ] You have reached Agent Texas. Leave a message at the tone.

Comments

[dendarii]

[ He nods for a moment, considering. ]

Seeing as how you were part of a military operation.

[failureisntachoice]

Yeah. [ She swirls her wine glass for a moment before reaching to poke at some of the food he's laid out. ] You know I technically don't need any of this, right?

[ He clearly remembers she's an AI. Yet he brought a nice spread of food and wine. ]

[dendarii]

[ Very simply: ]

Do you enjoy it?

[failureisntachoice]

[ That's... Not the response she was expecting and she gives him an odd look. ]

I brought a bottle of whiskey with me, didn't I?

[dendarii]

You did. So, I presume the answer to that question is yes.

[ He arches his brows a bit, as if to say, "well is it?" ]

[failureisntachoice]

[ She snorts and focuses her gaze on the slow-moving tides. ] Yeah, it is. Just... Unexpected.

[dendarii]

[ A faint shrug in return. He takes a larger swig of wine himself, swirling it around in the glass afterwards. ]

If food were purely for nutrition, we'd all eat rat bars morning, noon, and night. You're just lucky enough to have one fewer physical requirement.

[failureisntachoice]

[ She nudges him lightly with her elbow. Lighter than she normally would given how fragile he is. ]

Rat bars? Do I want to know how terrible food has gotten six hundred years in the future? And I thought our MREs were bad.

[dendarii]

[ He grins in response. Doesn't even wince. ]

Imagine an MRE stripped down to just the meat, packed with all the nutrition of the rest of the meal. And tasting faintly of the rest of it all in one hideous package.

[failureisntachoice]

[ She wrinkles her nose in disgust. ]

Remind me of that if I ever bitch about the food here. That doesn't ruin troop morale?

[dendarii]

Oh, probably. But there's few other options in space, and everyone prefers them to starving. Once you get used to them they're just ... fuel.

[failureisntachoice]

[ A small nod. That's a mentality she can understand and really, when on the job in space your last concern is how good your food tastes. ] I only remember having to deal with that crap. My body back home couldn't even pretend to eat.

[dendarii]

The one in the armor, yes? ... Which do you prefer?

[failureisntachoice]

Since I have my armor with me? This, hands down. [ She hasn't had to deal wit the alternative, thankfully. ]

[dendarii]

[ He nods a bit and takes another long sip of wine. ]

Ah, but not as much if you didn't have your armor?

[failureisntachoice]

Used to it. It was what I used for years. [ She snorts as she glances over at him. ] Does it matter?

[dendarii]

[ He's mostly just genuinely interested, having had combat armor himself. ]

In the sense that I find the topic fascinating? Yes.

[failureisntachoice]

What about you? Would you rather be in a robot body? Or one that can actually simulate feeling things and doesn't have everyone staring at you?

[ Staring here at least. At home it wasn't much of an issue. ]

[dendarii]

[ He considers her question rather seriously. ]

I would miss eating. And wine. But not my bone structure. And what I wouldn't give to be tall ...

[failureisntachoice]

The bone structure part, I can see. [ She looks over his form and shrugs. ] Why do you care about being tall?

[dendarii]

[ He shifts a bit, uncomfortable, though he forces his tone to stay light.]

Cuts a more impressive figure, for one.

[failureisntachoice]

[ She's watching him out of the corner of her eyes now, noticing his shifting. She didn't think his height would be this sensitive a topic. ]

There's perks to being the underdog. For one, no one expects you to take them out. Somehow you made it to the head of a mercenary fleet, or were you making that up?

[dendarii]

[ Physicality always is, with Miles. Whether he's stubbornly ignoring it or at the mercy of its rules ... Miles can never forget the body he's in. ]

Ha ... you are correct, at that. For both. I am truly a mercenary fleet admiral.

[failureisntachoice]

Think you would have done that if you were in a hulking suit of armor?

[dendarii]

Probably not. But then again, I wouldn't even have been in that situation to begin with.

[ He'd have passed his entrance exam, for starters. ]