maskormenacelogs | openish ø one day you'll call me, and tell me that you're sorry too

( Beth is as much in Heropa to shop as she is poke around the neighbourhood, honestly. Once a cop always a cop, or some excuse like that. Point is, she's doing more looking around than anything else as she walks down the street. So focused on being nosy, it takes a good few streets before she even thinks she might be being followed, and another two to confirm that yes, that is an apparent stranger tailing a few metres or so behind her.

It isn't until she walks into a store that she gets a close enough look to see who it might be -- and surprise surprise, it's a familiar face. Younger than all of them, but still a spitting image of herself. More than that, it's not just a familiar face but a friendly one. She might be younger than when Beth knew her, but those scars - that's MK. )

Hey--

( She ducks around some shelves quickly in an attempt to catch the girl off guard, but she's apparently too skittish and immediately bolts. It's not Beth's first on foot chase though, and she quickly drops her shopping bags on the floor and sets off after her. It might have been a while since she was on active duty, but Beth has certainly kept herself fit. She's not far behind the girl, close enough to be in ear shot when she shouts. )

Wait, hang on. I need to talk to you!

( And since that doesn't work, maybe this will: )

Mika!

( Hell!

She swears quietly in Finnish as soon as she realise the other woman has seen her, and runs deliberately pulling over a display of cans as she goes to try and slow the woman down. "Beth," she had said in the comments on the network, and MK had remembered Sarah speaking of her, the first person who called her "Mika." That was not her name, though, she was MK - 3MK29A. She had to run, to hide.

The problem with Florida in midday light was the overwhelming lack of long shadows, shadows heavy enough for her to hide in, and the woman isn't far enough behind her. Athletics has never been her area of expertise.

She skids around a corner, and effectively slams into a trash can she hadn't expected, so it jars her leg and makes her stumble, staggering when she tries to put weight in it again. Run run run, come on-- )

( If she's honest, it's actually a little thrilling. Not to be chasing after some teenage version of her ( kind of only ) friend, but the chase itself. She does nothing but run, Beth, but it's been so long since she was chasing after something. Running with a purpose.

It's almost a little exciting.

Beth very nearly makes the same mistake as MK, swerving aggressively to avoid it and almost losing her footing in the process, but she can see the girl in front of her hasn't been so lucky. She pushes off again, faster, and between Beth's extensive cardio practice and MK's injury, it's not hard to close the distance between them. )

Mika, please.

( And she's just going to reach out to try and grab hold of her arm, because exciting or not Beth doesn't really want to run all day.

( The sleeves of her worn, faded purple hoody are stretched out, so she has the cuffs balled into her fists as she runs. There's a tear in her jeans now, leg grazed and a little bloody, though the bulk of the injury will manifest as extensive bruising.

When the woman grabs her wrist, she makes a quiet, pained sort of sound - a shape, panicked exhale of breath, and as she twists to get away, desperately grasps at one of the trash cans. She just barely gets a hold on the metal lid of a cab, and swings it to try and catch her pursuer, but her grip is barely-there and at an awkward angle, so she doesn't have much strength to the blow when the lid aims for the woman's shoulder. )

That's not my name!

( It connects, mostly because Beth is more focused on keeping MK put than dodging her blows, but the damage done is....minimal at best. Most of the pain comes from the fact that she got lucky and clipped a weak point in the socket, but there wasn't enough force to do any real harm. That said, it's always painful when you come forcefully into contact with a metal lid, regardless of how much power was behind it. )

Shit, okay!

( She doesn't let go, but she does hold her free hand up, palm out, universal peace sign. )

Just hang on, alright? I need to talk to you.

Edited (phrasing) 2017-07-11 05:30 (UTC)

( MK is torn. Her gaze is caught on Elizabeth Childs, and she wants desperately to look anywhere else for shadows she can step into and cloak herself in. It's too scary, though, to look away. She's a deer, a rabbit - prey, either way.

She's still holding her trash can lid. )

I don't speak in person. We-- I contact other people. That's how this works, I can't--

( She can't talk in person. They can't be seen together. It's too risky, too dangerous, everything is always too dangerous, and she knows she's getting caught on that and fixating on it even as she knows she needs to stop and breathe. )

Calm down, listen to me.

( Beth doesn't let MK go, convinced that the girl will squirrel away the moment she even loosens her grip. She does move her hand though, free hand moving to touch her upper arm as the other goes lax around her wrist. She could still bearhug the younger girl if she tries to make another break for it, but it's meant to be less intimidating. )

Let's find somewhere quiet, okay? I'm a cop, I won't let anything happen to you.

( Was a cop, that's a distinction she really should be making, but it's a weirdly grey line. Grey enough that she doesn't feel guilty, anyway, so it's fine. )

Cop?

( She chokes on a sound that is almost, but not quite, a laugh and a scoff. It's too small and nervous to be either. ) That means nothing. They own people.

( MK is shivering a little, while wearing a hoodie in Florida summer - like the nervous shiver of a chihuahua, or something equally tremulous and borderline pathetic. )

Public. With witnesses.

Little harsh there, kid.

( Now is not a joking time, but it wouldn't be Beth if there wasn't inappropriately timed humour. She doesn't wait for MK to realise that she's joking though, moving on quickly. If the girl has given her even an inch, Beth has to grab it with everything she's got. )

Public, got it. Cafe? I'll buy.

( Even as she speaks she's looking around, trying to find somewhere that might suit a skittish little MK's tastes. )

I'm eighteen.

( how dare ) -- I think. My birthday passed here but a full year had not passed since my birthday at home at that time.

( The point is that she's not a kid, obviously, and she scuffs the heel of her battered sneakers against the ground in a less than adult expression of protest. )

Fine. ( Maybe she can use this to her advantage. Maybe there's a way. Maybe she can bolt again, who knows, but for now she reluctantly eases off her roadrunner tension. )

Sorry, yeah, you’re very grown up.

( She does work very hard to not sound like the most patronising human alive, but it’s damn hard. MK’s not the first shitty teenager Beth has had to deal with, but she’s the first that reminds her so damn much of herself.

She’s still not going to let go of the young girl, but Beth does loop her elbow through MK’s instead, still holding her sleeve for a little more security. Whatever she can do to repeat the trash can incident — although, and she’ll never admit it out loud, she’s already wondering if it’s enough to get a prescription for something. )

Here look good? ( She asks, nicely, but she’s not really waiting for an answer when she basically all but starts frog marching MK towards the shop front. ) What are you drinking these days, iced tea still?

( MK had been considering unzipping her hoodie and bolting, leaving Elizabeth Childs holding it by the sleeve, but her leg stings and now Beth had her around the arm. She frowns, surly, and it's as much her flight response as being sulky that has her dragging her feet and making it as hard for Beth to lead her as possible without blatantly digging her heels into the ground.

She looks at Beth sharply. )

That seems grammatically incorrect. You're talking to someone from the past, in your world. English isn't my first language, but at least I understand tenses.

( And then, she tried to tug a bit away from Beth. ) But I do like iced tea, yes.

Edited 2017-07-14 05:43 (UTC)

( Bitch. )

Look this stuff is confusing, cut me some slack would you?

( She can already feel her patience wearing thin - hardly a surprise - but she consciously takes a slow, slow breath in and out. And another, for good measure. Was she ever this irritating at eighteen?

( yes, but that’s beside the point )

At any rate, MK is one of the few tangible links she has to her life prior to…whatever exactly it is happening here. So she doesn’t remember any of their relationship, that absolutely is a blow to the chest, but she’s willing to swallow that to have some time with her. )

I’ll get you your drink, and you give me ten minutes. How does that sound? Just ten minutes.

We don't get cut slack.

( Still; Sarah said this woman had a special name for her, and they are sisters. There are things MK is still trying to learn. This could be useful.

And sometimes she misses speaking to her sisters. She misses Niki. )

Ten minutes. ( Look, she's even starting to type it into her watch. ) What do you want to talk about?

( What does she want to talk about? The list is endless and completely empty at the same time, and to prevent having to actually answer she just turns the two of them into the doors of the cafe and steps inside. It's a lot easier to avoid having to answer something if you're ordering drinks, after all.

Fortunately the cafe Beth has dragged them into doesn't have an alcoholic menu because she sure as shit knows what she'd rather be drinking right now, but by the time they sit down MK has her iced tea and Beth has a ridiculously huge coffee, and she's put off answering long enough now that it's starting to get awkward. )

I know you don't know me, ( She starts, and she's momentarily caught off guard by how much this statement hits her in the chest. MK doesn't know her, she's just a teenager. This girl might have been Beth's only real friend, the only one that knew (most of) the truth, and now all of it has yet to come for her. The whole horrible story has yet to play out, practically.

The words catch in her throat and she has to stop, taking a sip of her drink to attempt at masking the real reason. She's not emotional,you're emotional. ) I know- it must be weird, but...we're friends, MK. Or we will be. You said you were seventeen, right? What was the last thing that happened to you, before here?

( MK is silent for a time - perhaps an awkwardly long time, she's never been very good at gauging, only st knowing when things have clearly gone wrong. Her hoody is holey at the cuffs, from wear and picking, and she thumbs at them more now. )

The Twin Towers fell a few months ago.

( Her voice isn't quite flat - there's an odd note to it, though. September 11th and all that it entailed was tragic, but her anger about it was for reasons largely unrelated to terrorism. )

I bought a sheep mask. ( Obviously that was important. She looks at Beth and looks away again, pulling her hair forward over her scars. ) In our world, I have been digging. Finding evidence. Helsinki was the day after Nine-Eleven.

You still wear it. ( She says, as if that has any importance whatsoever. To be fair, it might for MK, but still.

It's still so bizarre, looking at this girl and seeing Mika, seeing her friend. The way she tucks her face into her hair is so incredibly reminiscent of the woman Beth knows, loves even, but this isn't her. This is a child-- sorry, teenager, one hardened by circumstance but still so young. It's almost hard to look at her. )

And what have you found? What's Helsinki?

( That surprises her, and she tilts her head at Beth.

If Beth was her friend, why didn't she know about Helsinki? How did Sarah know about it, but not Beth? Her gaze turns a little suspicious, but there's a sort of furiousness in her as well, anger that the other clones don't all know, a sharp prickling up her back and in her hands, heat in her skin. She shouldn't have to explain. They should know.

And yet, she knows it's safer for them not to, that knowing and the sharing of knowledge is the very reason her sisters were murdered. It does nothing to soothe her anger, not now. )

How don't you know? ( Lashing out with her words, the tone venomous. ) Sarah knew. I thought you were meant to be my friend.

I can't exactly answer that, can I? ( That was a really nice 0.5 seconds of MK not being actively aggressive towards her. ) Ask your Ghost of FuturePast.

( It's probably shittier than she should be with MK, theoretically dealing with problem suspects and making them talk is supposed to be her thing, but she's tired and her soul hurts, and honestly Beth doesn't really know how good of a cop she really is any more. If she can't even get a damn eighteen year old to open up to her, maybe it's a good thing she got suspended.

But when you don't succeed, try try again, right? )

You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, MK. Whatever you're comfortable with.

Six of our sisters were murdered! Six of them, and I'm only alive because they think I am dead. Six seventeen year olds and thirty-two of their friends and loved ones. One of them, her body still hadn't been found, she just went missing. But I've looked, and I know she isn't alive. I tried to look.

( Her voice cracks, unhappy, and she pulled her hood forward, arms crossing over her face as she leans forward against the table. It's too much, and it's not fair, and sometimes it's like these bigger clones don't even care. They don't think about the world outside themselves. They don't know how lucky they were, to be adults first, to live. )

Don't tell me I can be comfortable. Being comfortable is impossible.( The words, not lacking in a certain teenage dramatic flair, are muffled by her arms. )

( Whatever Beth was expecting ‘Helsinki’ might be, it certainly isn’t this. She knew that there was someone killing them now, but this happened over a decade ago. Why hadn’t MK told her about this? If nothing else it could have been important to what was happening in Europe, it could be why more of them were dying.

This is…something else entirely though. Six clones, thirty two friends and relatives. That’s systematic in the way the recent string of murders isn’t at all. Beth might find the teenage melodramatics frustrating, but this she can’t hold against the girl. Surviving something like that…it’s almost impossible to comprehend.

It’s not the most natural gesture in the world, stilted by Beth’s own lack of comfort, but she reaches out to put a hand on MK’s arm, an awkward attempt at comfort. )

I didn’t know, Mika, I’m sorry. ( Her voice drops, soft and quiet. ) Do you know who killed them, have you found that out?

A man in a suit. ( A beat. ) With glasses.

( That feels like an important detail. The reality is that she doesn't know a lot. It's slow going, she's been trying to make things secure and safe and keep moving so she can never be pinned down (not caught, not again) and there's only so much a seventeen year old can do at a time with no network and no resources.

She bites the inside of her cheek, but doesn't move. There's a painful shame burning in her, and the hand on her arm is strange and reassuring at the same time. She makes no move to return the contact, but she doesn't pull away, either.

She misses Niki. Misses hugs, and the contact that came so much easier with her best friend. (Only friend.) )

They were systematic, working with the scientists who created us.

( Now she likes a bar with an actual, almost old school looking, wooden top bar, which is the reason she heads inside. Or, well, truth be told she's just looking for a drink in the absence of other vices, but the aesthetics definitely help in making her choice.

Shame she's the only one drinking alone on this particular day, because it's a lot easier to blend in when the place is full of souls as pathetic as she as. Still, she's here now. It's easy enough for Beth to ignore the fact that it's particularly quiet at this time of day, and she sits at the bar before grinning at the bartender. )

Uh, what've you got on tap?

( When in Rome, drink the local beers, right? )

[Daisy was just finishing up a drink for someone and starts listing off some of the names before she makes eye contact.

Annnnd a double take because the voice doesn't match the face. At least any of the faces she's seen of, you know, the clones that live here.]

Sorry. You look a lot like someone I know.

[A lot of someones actually.]

Yeah?

( It would be just her luck that she’s more recognisable here than ever before, but it’s hardly the worst thing in the world. At least, it doesn’t seem like people are headhunting the clones here, so that’s always a win. She gives a grin, only a touch wry as she tilts her head. ) That mean I get the ‘look like one of your pals’ discount then?

( Worth a shot. )

[Considering whoever this is doesn't recognize her, it's definitely someone new. Although her smile makes her assume this is definitely another clone and not just someone who eerily looks like them.]

And what kind of discount do you think that is?

[It's cute that she didn't waste anytime in trying to get a freebie. Honestly, it amused her.]

The ah...friend-slash-lookalike-slash-'feel sorry for me because I always get called the wrong name' discount?

( It sure is a long shot, but she matches it with a kind of cheesy smile and a head tilt. There's got to be points for trying, right? )

That discount will get you water and beer nuts.

[Listen, it was cute that she tried. Daisy didn't need this job, you know, since her boyfriend had way too much money that it was honestly scary. Still she enjoyed the job and she's not looking to screw Sam over, even if it's one beer.]

Beer nuts it is. ( Hey, beggars can't be choosers, right? ) And an actual beer, I'm not a total tight ass.

( She's obviously going to stick around. A drink is nice and all but more importantly, she wants to know how much people know about them here, what the threat level is like -- and, well honestly, she's just a little nosy, on top of the paranoid. It's a great combination. )

So which one do you know, then?

[Smiling in amusement, Daisy let out a chuckle as she slid over the beer nuts to her.]

Good to know.

[In reference to her not being a total tight ass. Getting that beer for her, Daisy placed the glass in front of her. Since she didn't ask for a specific one she just chose for her.]

Oh. Um, all of them.

[Little does she know there's a lot more clones that aren't here.]

I was roommates with Alison at one point.

[Her smile fades a little at mentioning that. Even if the two of them didn't always get along, Daisy had considered Alison a friend.]

openish ø one day you'll call me, and tell me that you're sorry too

» MK

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pls forgive default icon, my paid died and my wallet's at home

never forgiven goodbye forever

too bad so sad

omg u cursed me mine just expired too

HAHA SUCKAH

» daisy

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