Sr. Fernandez/Tey: "The Mission"

[aztechnologist]

Aztechnology had a... problem. A significant one, one that was a thorn in their side for some time now. It was the Yucatan Peninsula, a constant drain on the company's resources and manpower for years now. They were hoping to cut some of it down now, but... Sr. Fernandez had no illusions about how much he'd be able to do. The best he could do was to staunch some of the bleeding. Tend some of the wounds. Perhaps make a few inroads. Otherwise? There wasn't much two Awakened people could do.

That was why he led Tey through one of the Aztechnology base camps. The people they walked by were wounded, exhausted, and some were showing the signs of strain. They were isolated in a jungle that was full of nature spirits and other things that wanted to kill them, and there was only so much strain they could take before it got to them.

As Fernandez escorted Tey into one of the hospital bays, he offered a weak smile. "So... this is why I asked you to come work for me on such short notice. I'll be needing you to help me with... a lot of healing. For a little while, anyway."

Comments

[andimabear]

The sudden invitation had come as a surprise to Tey--mostly because while she'd heard of Aztechnology, she hadn't imagined Aztechnology had heard of her. And considering her line of work, it could have been an extremely bad thing that Aztechnology had heard of her. But loads of healing? That was kind of a new one on her. She'd been surprised initially, but then rationalized that there weren't a lot of shamans with her totem (mostly because they had an unfortunate tendency to get hurt, berzerk, and get themselves killed). Her skills would make this job easier for everyone involved, true enough, but it didn't make Tey feel any less strange just waltzing into a corporate camp next to one of its top people. Tey wasn't that sort of girl.

"Yeah, sure..." she said, looking around at the injured. Tey wet her lips and proceeded immediately to the bed closest to her. As much as she wanted to stop and talk about what had happened, why there were so many injured parties, and how he'd found her, the pull to aid the injured all but prevented her from thinking about her own curiosities.

"It doesn't look like the majority have the sorts of injuries I'm used to healing," she said, dropping her leather jacket on a nearby chair and extending her hands over someone with what appeared to be extensive burns. A few moments later, the patient's skin started to heal and Tey's face was looking both furrier and slightly misshapen. She shook her head and stretched her jaw and nose as the spell finished and her muzzle retreated.

"Not that that's a problem," she grinned and carried her jacket over to the next bed. "But y'know, I like to figure out what kinds of injuries I can expect to heal before they happen. This doesn't look like a normal corp takeover."

[aztechnologist]

Just as he thought. She really was a bear shaman- both the minor shapeshifting and her initial devotion to the wounded pointed toward that. Good, he'd need to rely on that in the days ahead. He let her do her job, noting how quickly she did her healing magic. Not perfect, but certainly adequate for the job.

Indeed, a lot of the men seemed burned... but it wasn't a burn. Not from heat, anyway. On closer examination, it seemed more like a chemical reaction of some sort, though there was no telling what it had been, at least at the start.

As Tey walked on, Fernandez followed, hands resting in well-tailored, breathable pockets. "Hah... I wish there was such a thing as a 'normal' corporate take-over."

He knew what it looked like to the Runners. One company wanted to take over another, hits were ordered, counter-attacks were staged, and in the end, a lot of people got shot with a lot of very expensive weaponry. But that was just from their perspective. From his? Each one was different, each one was unique. Frustratingly so, sometimes.

"That being said... how much do you know about what's happened, here in the Yucatan?"

[andimabear]

"They're all pretty much the same," Tey said shrugging and rotating her shoulders as the fur receded and her bones slid back into place. That one had needed a little extra kick. "Some corp wants something, they charge right in like they own it already. Then when things get dicey, people like me slide in under the fence while everybody argues. It's formulaic to a fault y'know."

She laughed again and took a few dance-like strides over to the next bed. "This looks to me like you're fighting a losing battle against the nasty stuff that's in this area.

"I don't know details--" she winced and physically shook herself. That last one smarted a bit. Too much in a row, maybe, but she couldn't stop now. "--'cause they've really never interested me. But I sorta know that this area is just bad news in general." This was where some of the kids who never heard their totem said they were going. Some never came back, others did and Tey only heard about them peripherally.

"I gotta tell you, man. I've heard it's bad enough when Awakened people come in here. A corp comin' in is just... It's gotta be like..." she shook her head. "'S like throwing a bag of cats into a bag of dogs. Why are you in here?"

[aztechnologist]

"Hah... when you put it that way, it does sound a bit formulaic, I grant." He laughed good-naturedly, not overly concerned with trying to convince her otherwise. Runners saw the seedy underside of the megacorporations, and it was entirely possible that she'd been involved in- or knew someone who had been involved in- such takeovers. It certainly left an impression on all parties involved, to say nothing of bitter tastes in the mouth and regret. In that regard, it wasn't much nicer being on the top of that arrangement.

That being said, when Tey started moving on to the next person, clearly starting to suffer some draining, Fernandez stepped behind her and gently arrested her with a hand on her shoulder. "That's enough for now. The rest aren't in any danger, and they'll be better after a day or two of rest."

The one thing he couldn't afford right now was to have Tey worn out. Especially since she'd told him enough about how little she knew about what was going on. A bit of a long shot, but he was running out of options.

At the question, he massaged his temples. That was the million-nuyen-question, wasn't it? "Firstly, we didn't 'come in' here. This was our territory, until the Yucatan Rebellion. Still is, despite what the rebels might say to the contrary. I imagine that they've gotten desperate, drawing on anything they could to fight us. As for me..."

He shrugged his shoulders. "I'm Awakened, and I want this problem solved so we stop losing talented people. Right now, that means patching up the wounds. Later... well, that's not up to me." It was, to an extent. But he wasn't going to discuss that particular with a Runner- not unless she joined on more permanently.

[andimabear]

Tey looked back at Fernandez, surprised. No one really touched her, in general, and no one tried to stop her from healing people. Even if the rest just needed time to recuperate, it was still a niggling thought at the back of her head.

"Y... yeah okay," she said, turning away from the injured in an attempt to get that niggling feeling out of her brain. It didn't really work, but Fernandez was attempting to answer the biggest question mark in this whole crazy thing. Really, even Tey didn't know why she was out in the Yucatan.

"Look, all I know is that this place is bad mojo, bad karma, bad juju, whatever you want to call it. If the rebels are starting to harness the elementals that live here, they're only drawing themselves into it. It's like a black hole, y'know? I dunno what good this place can do for anybody, but it'll come at a cost. Probably higher than what you're already facing.

"The sort of magic that's here... well I don't need to tell you, you can probably feel it already. I can patch and patch until I'm shedding for winter, but I'm one magician against a damn huge black hole. You sure you want to keep throwing people into that black hole?"

[aztechnologist]

"That isn't what we're doing." Fernandez steered Tey firmly but not harshly away from the wounded. Of course, he let her get her jacket and everything, but he wasn't going to let her words demoralize the soldiers. "We're not that far away from a solution. Just a little bit longer, and all will be fine again."

It wasn't until they were outside again that Fernandez let go of her shoulder, putting his hands in his pockets as he started leading the way toward the headquarters building. They'd need to get situated before too much more happened, and besides, it'd be better to get Tey away from the wounded, at least for now.

Now that they were more alone, however, Fernandez's voice fell a little, so as to not be overheard. "In a way, of course, you're right. As things are going now, whatever's going on here will only continue to take more lives on both sides. What you may not know is that we don't have the luxury of withdrawing. Whatever the rebels awoke is not unlike Amazonia or the Tir Tairngair- it won't stop until it has turned its entire sphere of influence into what it sees as 'right.' My guess is that it might go for the entirety of the peninsula... or perhaps even further. Causing at best a mass exodus from the majority of Aztlan, and at worse a massacre the likes of which neither of us can imagine. Over ten billion people live in Aztlan, Tey- they can't all find asylum somewhere else, and by sheer numbers, they can't live in whatever world that thing or things wishes to make."

He gave a wry frown at that. That was the situation he was confronted with- he couldn't advance, retreating wasn't an option, and to stay where he was would only cause even worse problems. But... after a few steps further, he added, "So, tell me... knowing now what we're faced with, what price would you be willing to pay to keep that nightmare from happening?"

Her answer would determine what he'd do going forward. There was a way to solve this problem, but it'd require someone who wouldn't falter at the crucial moment...

[andimabear]

There was no getting around it: Tey had always been a little oblivious when it came to talking. She could say some of the bluntest, most uncomfortable things in front of the wrong people, and not realize she was saying something unwelcome. From her point of view, there was no point in sliding around the truth or trying to spin it--it was what it was. No amount of fancy talking would change the facts. But when Fernandez started steering her out of the tent, allowing her only to pause to get her jacket, Tey realized that maybe she'd painted things in a more dire light than was necessary in front of injured people. But really, what was she supposed to say?

Frowning slightly back at the tent, she hesitantly followed Fernandez--she was supposed to follow, right?--and listened to his explanation. At least he knew things looked bad, and that Tey had an actual point. It surprised her a little to hear that he did think she had a point. Most business types had their heads shoved so far up their asses, they didn't hear anybody else save for their fellow head-assians. It was satisfying enough, if not a little grim to hear why they couldn't just leave. Apparently, things were way bigger than Tey had initially realized.

"Woah, wait--" Tey stopped walking, looking like Fernandez had just suggested she put a gun to her head and pull the trigger. "I just came on to heal some people, now you want me to like... go in there with just one other magician and save the whole friggin' peninsula or something?"

This was so not in her contract. And she had so not packed for something like that.

[aztechnologist]

There really wasn't a lot she could have done different, given her upbringing, but that just meant that Fernandez needed to get her moving before she said anything else detrimental. And thankfully she listened well enough when he explained the situation more thoroughly, so there was that as well.

That being said, when Tey started overreacting, Fernandez just shook his head, a faintly amused yet grim smile crossing his face. "No, nothing that sort of mission would have extremely small chances of success. No, your role would be roughly the same as your own, just... slightly different."

A pause. He couldn't go too far, but... "Essentially, I'd be asking for you to use your magic to... cover up certain things. And, naturally, for you to never speak about what you see or what you might think."

[andimabear]

"You're talking corp to me. 'No, this isn't a suicide mission.' 'No, this is the same--but different.'" Tey crossed her arms in front of her chest, looking as unimpressed as she had since arriving. Her father had a saying: 'Never trust anyone without trying to throw them', or something like that. Tey was fairly certain she could throw a lot of people at least six feet, but she couldn't toss a corporation very far now could she?

"But let's suspend my extreme misgivings about just being here for a second and ask two very important things. One: what things am I covering; two: how much are you gonna pay me to do it?" The fact that she was a runner meant that she didn't talk. That was just asking to get blacklisted. Anybody who couldn't keep their mouths shut about the stuff they did was just asking to starve to death or get a bullet to the brain. Tey wanted neither, so she maintained her discretion.

[aztechnologist]

For a runner, Tey was being quite... obtuse. Definitely not what Fernandez liked- he knew that the 'Azzies' were disliked in the shadows, and they suffered from severe image problems, but he wasn't prepared to sell a Runner on the idea. Not too much, anyway.

"In the first question, the answer is 'weakness.' I have a solution in mind, but it's going to leave me, and some other individuals, weakened and possibly in a life-threatening situation. we would need, then, for you to provide healing. Particularly for the most visible of the results."

"For the second, we would be looking at..." He leaned back, glancing up at the sky as he ran some quick calculations. "...about ten thousand nuyen, assuming the plan is successful."

It was a little expensive, but when there were desperate times, desperate measures had to be taken. Besides, Tey would be earning every last nuyen of it, if she did all of the healing and kept her mouth shut. It was the best option he had, at the moment.

[andimabear]

"What's the 'solution' you have in mind?" Tey pressed on. Of course, she was well aware of these 'image troubles' and whatnot, however Tey never looked ten thousand nuyen in the mouth. That would set everyone on the reserve up for a while indeed. It took a lot of her willpower not to just jump at it.

"I mean, y'gotta tell me if I'm gonna gauge how much help I can actually be. And I don't wanna end up a grease spot either, no offense."

[aztechnologist]

"I can't tell you the specifics," he answered with a shake of his head. Both because there were aspects of it he didn't know, and because he didn't want to risk this runner telling other... interested parties.

Then again, if he said nothing, she likely wouldn't go for it, or she'd up her asking price. Neither of which was something Fernandez particularly cared to see. So, after a moment, he sighed. "...what I can tell you is that it will involve ritual magic targeting the source of the problems here in the Yucatan. There will be no risk to anyone else, but... I'll likely nearly kill myself in the process. That's why I need someone like you to be there, to do significant magical healing, for myself and potentially for the other participants."

[andimabear]

Ick, ritual magic. Yeah, Fernandez was a hermetic, he would like stuff like that. Measurements and ritual and all that... stuff. Well, Tey didn't have a specific problem with hermetic magicians, but it did seem kind of pointless to try to science-ify something that really didn't have a solid explanation. Why could she leave her body and hang with a kodiak bear? Meh, 'cause she can.

"Well at least you don't want me in your ritual--that'd just be dumb," Tey laughed. "Yeah I can do three at once. Smarts, but I can do it. And I guess as long as you aren't... y'know, setting the whole jungle on fire, I'm down."

[aztechnologist]

"I don't think it would end well, no," he answered with a quiet laugh. Not that he had any problems with shamanic magic per se, since he was a bit of a syncretist, but it just wasn't his thing. He didn't like the idea of anything being greater than himself, something that he could neither understand nor control.

Besides, his mind worked in such a logical manner that shamanic magic wouldn't work so well for him.

"It won't involve anything like that," he answered with a quiet laugh, "and that should be enough. I'm glad we could come to an agreement, Tey. Do you think you can be ready tomorrow at sunset?"