[text/encrypted to Carolina]

[too_high]

[Given how poorly she'd reacted to him earlier, and the bits of information he'd gotten from Washington and York, Maine still wondered if this was the best idea. Whatever he'd done in his future, however, whatever they associate between him and the Nightmare they'd recently faced, he wasn't too concerned how others perceived him. He'd set them straight where it came up but he wasn't going to bother with an excuse or explanation. They could either see he could be trusted, or not.]

[Except where Carolina stood. The dull ache in his chest from the sniper bullet he'd taken seemed to be a mockery of what she'd meant to him, as a leader, as a colleague, and it was one relationship he wasn't willing to brush off.]

[So it's with a few days in between and some careful deliberation before he sends his message. It's not much, just the intention to offer open communication without making her feel pressured into it.]

[He'd consider no reply to be a clear order to stand back, and if silence is what he got, he's willing to do just that.]

boss

[Perhaps on a more subconscious level he crafts the tiny details of one, small word, the shape and presentation of it meaning more, to him at least, than the sound it makes, or any official translation. No punctuation. A question mark was too forward, a period too final. Lowercase. Informal. Her title, not her name, because he saw her as his superior.]

[And now, to wait - for a reply, a lecture, or silence - and steel himself for anything.]

Comments

[guerriera]

[ The text goes unanswered for two days. ]

[ Her reaction on receiving it wasn't unlike that of a scalded cat. She'd practically dropped her communicator and gave it a baleful stare for over an hour, hissing in quiet fury. Dax had been nonplussed and Lela had refused to come out from under the bed until the coast was clear and her Person had finally collapsed for sleep. ]

[ But when the text had not been followed by an in-person appearance by Maine (or anyone else, for that matter: she had left the hotel in the scant hour after the uncomfortable meeting in the First District's square and pointedly avoided talking to anyone), she had relaxed minutely. Not by much, of course. She'd lived too long past when she should have rightly died to lower her guard any further. ]

[ Dull green eyes stared at the screen of her communicator, teeth worrying her lower lip as her left hand traced fingers along the scarred marks etched into the flesh of her neck. She'd spent much of the last day considering her options. Carolina knew she couldn't avoid Maine forever - for all this place spanned several worlds now, the dreamscape wasn't that big - and more than anything, she had no desire to run from her past. Especially when her failures weren't even his present yet.. ]

[ Sigma would never have allowed him the free rein to answer for himself anymore. Sigma would never have called her 'boss'. ]

[ When she replies, finally, the word is short, clipped. As much of an opening as she will allow, given circumstances. ]


Maine.

[too_high]

[That was a surprise. After the first day had gone by he'd considered that his answer, the second had seemed to clarify, but then this reply. He stared at it for a long while before even starting to think about a reply. He didn't know all the answers, because neither Wash or York were very forthcoming, but he knew what he wanted Carolina to know; that whatever happened to him in the future hadn't - wouldn't - and she'd always have his loyalty, whatever she chose to do with it.]

Orders?

[Mace worried at his side, sensing tension, and alternately ran in tight little circles, or batted at his Person's foot.]

[guerriera]

[ It took her an hour to respond, which was still a marked improvement. ]

[ A woman who'd spent the past handful of months prior to the dream barking orders that had been obeyed through sheer force of terror personality, Carolina was now uncertain how to respond. Just how much information had he been provided already, beyond the basics? ]

[ The cursor backspaced over several key responses she could have sent him, including but not limited to "don't shoot the moogles" "or the ponies". Eventually, she settled on an topic relevant to more than the immediate situation. ]

What is your ammo situation?

[too_high]

Brute shot. Two full clips. One Partial.

[Only an hour? He's surprised by that turnaround. He replies, shortly but not instantly. The details he'd been told were few and far between, and he didn't feel he understood the full weight of the situation.]

[guerriera]

[ Keep it simple, keep it quick. ]

Won't be enough. You'll use up a lot of ammo here.

The moogles sell it. It's not cheap.

[ Her finger taps the device irritably. She ignored the mincing forwards of her frootz cat as the pink spirit crawled close to her person. ]

Did Wash or York explain about the currency here?

[too_high]

[Okay, so this is how it's going to be? Go with the simple, the mundane?]

[Maine can roll with that.]

No. They didn't.

[guerriera]

[ Set a goal, eyes on the target. Do not allow emotions to distract you. Explaining things was a simple, straightforward objective to focus on. ]

The darker spirits with red eyes are called Nightmares. You won't have an issue with the ones in Traverse Town. You want to keep anything they drop: the spheres are called munny, and are the main currency here.

And no, that's not a typo.

[too_high]

[Munny? He feels the slightest bit emasculated by the term. He grumbles to himself, but then again, it could be worse. At least Carolina was talking to him.]

Got it.

[And he'll just be seeking out Nightmares whenever he gets bored.]

[guerriera]

[ No credit chips here, Maine. Gotta make do with the weird little gold and blue balls just like everyone else. ]

Good.

[Because she's not repeating any of this. Repeat questions can be redirected to someone else.]

Other things that get left behind are candy pieces that your spirits will eat, and solid fragments called dream pieces, which make more spirits. You won't have trouble with the ones in Traverse Town, but ones on other worlds are stronger.

[too_high]

Training excursions?

[She said stuff like that, it made it sound like a fun challenge to Maine.]

[guerriera]

[ Well, you know (knew) Carolina, Maine. She's always liked a challenge. ]

With your spirit? Sure. It helps. They're good fighters, and you'll want to learn what they can do. [Yes, even the psychadelic fruit salad cat.] Doesn't seem likely we'll run out of nightmares any time soon. Just don't pick any fights with the SPARTAN and you'll be fine.

[too_high]

Got it.

[Wait. Wait, what did she just say?] SPARTAN?

[guerriera]

[ Didn't she just say that? ]

SPARTAN. Noble-Four. Apparently, he was on Reach.

There used to be two around, but seems like the other one disappeared, or woke up.

[Or whatever. She'd really like to wake up some time, herself.]

[too_high]

[Maine rumbles to himself. A Spartan. This was going to be interesting.]

Ally? [Or should he just ignore the Spartan outright?]

[guerriera]

[ It's a good question. She's still not entirely certain. ]

Ally. For now. We're all stuck here either way.

No one knows who's responsible that and no one can leave here and go back home by their own free will. So getting familiar with the places we have access to should be a priority.

Though you know one of the worlds well enough already.

[too_high]

[Be nice to the SPARTAN, explore places, fight spirits for .... income. Maine could so do this. Well, the first one would depend on the SPARTAN, of course.]

Which one?

[guerriera]

[ Noble-Four seemed a decent sort. For a SPARTAN. If their reputation was anything to go by. Carolina certainly liked him more than certain ponies she could name. ]

[ There's a bit of a pause before he gets an answer to that one. She's actually spent a good few minutes cursing. Did no one think to give Maine an overview? Christ. ]

[ The fact she's still talking to him at all, even by text, is surprise enough. When Lela bumps her head beneath her chin, the frootz cat is shifted on her lap before she finally hits send on her reply. ]

Ours.

To be specific, the Mother of Invention.

[too_high]

[Nope. They were all too busy with secret conversations, virgin!Wash and the Mainicorn being what it was.]

[The news that the MoI was a world here was welcome to Maine, considering he hadn't yet had the experience that would make it a seething hellhole of painful memories.]

Good. Get my old locker back.

[guerriera]

[ Well. There is that. ]

Barracks are there, too. FILSS might be. Depends on if she's awake in the dream world or not.

Equestria's the newest world, place the ponies here come from. It's|

[ ..Hmm. How much to say about that one. ]

Bright.

Can't fight nwith guns there. I haven't run into nightmares there yet, but North has.

[too_high]

[Oh Barracks, cool. Maybe he'll just move in there.]

Not interested.

[He's had some introduction to the ponies and, frankly, it's not his thing. Obviously someone needs to force him to check it out]

[guerriera]

[Tsk.]

Already told you. Need to be familiar with each world here. So far, each one leads to a new one, and supposedly additional clues to the way out of here.

[Since that anonymous post, however, Carolina's begun to have her doubts..]

You don't have to stay long - one of the few good things about the dream worlds is that they aren't populated.

[too_high]

[Ah crap. Well, if you say so Boss, Maine will check it out.]

Got it. Will check it out.

[The things he does for you, Carolina.]

[guerriera]

[ The things you've done for her...or, rather, will do? Yeah, let's just not mention it. At all. ]

[ ..She should probably warn him about Ponyville's little quirk. It would be the kindly, leaderly thing to do. Such a pity she isn't really either anymore. ]

It's an unusual world. Just watch that first step.

Might want to ask someone to be around as backup until you get your bearings.

[too_high]

[He looks at the response or a few moments. Ask someone ... as backup which meant she wasn't suggesting herself. He could ask Wash or York. Or even North. Or, he could just show up on his own and request backup on the rare case he'd actually need it.]

[Yeah that sounded good.]

Got it.

[guerriera]

[ This conversation has so far been about as much as she can tolerate right now. For Maine's sake, if not Carolina's own. ]

[ That's why she does not volunteer. He didn't deserve her overreacting on account of a past that hadn't been full shared yet. ]

Anything else?

[too_high]

[He'll take what he can get, but he can tell when he's being dismissed, and given everything he'd been told so far he's not willing to push the matter with her.]

No. Enough to work with.

[guerriera]

Acknowledged.

[ And that, as they say, is that. ...Except ten minutes later, a last message pops up. ]

Keep out of trouble.