“Mmm,” he murmured. He turned to his pet, stroked her head like one might with a dog or a cat.
Ugh.
She stared down at her dress, picked at a thread that was sticking out, stretching it out long. The thread snapped, and she let it drift from her hand to the ground. Then she started picking at another. Coil interrupted my observations, “So. You wished to discuss something?”
Yeah… that shit.
“Yeah. I’ve made a decision.”
“Do tell.”
“Before, back in the limousine, you asked me what I wanted out of all this, what I desired from my deal with you.”
…you’re not going to wish for Dinah’s freedom, are you? I know you care about that, but it seems like you should ask for something bigger than that, something that might protect others too.
“Yes.”
“I asked you to fix the city, you told me you planned on doing that anyways, that I should ask for something else.”
“And you’ve decided.”
“Yeah,” I took a deep breath. “Dinah. Your… pet.”
She’s doing it.
“You want me to release her. I’m afraid-“
I hurried to cut him off, “No.”
Hm?
He stopped, tilted his head slightly.
I swallowed, felt an ugly feeling in my gut, “I know she’s invaluable to you. I know how useful her talent is, and the lengths you went to in getting ahold of them. I don’t like it, but I get it.”
True.
Then what do you want? Dinah to be treated better?
He didn’t respond. He just stared at me, his mask lacking eye holes, just black cloth stretched over eye sockets.
“I… All I’m asking is that you let her go when you’ve done it. When you take this city, when you succeed in your plan, you release her to go home to her family. If you do that, I’ll work for you. I’ll try harder than anyone, to get this city under your control, and then I’ll work for you for as long as you’ll have me, afterward.”
Ahh, a delayed effect. “Release her when you no longer need her.”
Krixwell Liveblogs 