2022-08-08: The Captain's fiancee mystery
- Cutscene: The Captain's fiancée mystery
- Cast: Yuliana Dispersal, Parminder Chaudhri, Cascade Wattana
- Where: Colombo, Sri Lanka
- Date: 2022-08-08
- Summary: Parminder congratulates Yuliana on her engagement, and doesn't pry about the details -- because he's already figured them out. Cascade has another bad day.
Captain Yuliana Dispersal enters the break room of her Sri Lankan office without ceremony; in many ways, she owns the place. (When the Major isn't roaming about the building, at least -- and he rarely does.) She saunters over to the fridge, and takes out a container clearly labelled with Cascade's name. Grab a fork, and -- voilà! Lunch.
She leans against the counter as she eats the pasta, and reflects, not without satisfaction, that an officer cadet's stipends are remarkably sad. Oh, nutritionally complete, obviously, but... is this meat ox cheek? Yuliana is used to much finer tastes. She has the bribes in place to support a more lavish lifestyle than her current allocation ought to grant her, after all. Eating Cascade's lunch has nothing to do with need, and everything to do with deprivation.
Parminder Chaudhri, Yuliana's orange-haired second lieutenant, walks in on her smiling -- and doesn't even blink at the snack she's obviously stolen. (Bad things happen to Cascade all the time, around here; he doesn't care to intervene.) He slips his own complicated container into the microwave, and turns to her, eyes on the fork in her hand. No -- on her hand -- on the ring adorning her finger, diamonds flanking an emerald centre.
"Congratulations, Captain," he remarks, casual and collected. He's not nearly as unemotional as Major Pham, but he does trend more towards sarcasm than shouting.
"Oh? Why, thank you," Yuliana's smile grows warmer, seeing where his attention falls. "I hope you won't join Lettu in asking a dozen incessant questions as to the details." Wen Yuan, her first lieutenant, has been utterly fascinated by the concept of her superior's personal life. She's told her little.
Parminder shrugs, leaning against his own counter. "Nah. I already know. Surprised you went with a Meltrandi, though," he adds, lightly. "Thought you didn't much care for space, Captain."
"You --" the smile falls from Yuliana's face, and for a moment she's incensed. "Tell me what you think you know, Lieutenant!"
Parminder shrugs; he's used to the mood swings. "You remember the Chinese base we were called in to defend a few months back? We had a civilian attaché helping there -- she was in none of our records, but you knew her, Captain. And Queadlunns have particular standards for operation."
"Circumstancial," Yuliana dismisses him, with a deep frown. She stabs the pasta with her fork, takes a bite, swallows. "What else you got?"
"Do you remember when you gave us postings around the Orbital Tower -- and made sure to keep me busy? It's very interesting that you had an individual task that day, Captain. Particularly given how you never filed any reports..." Parminder inclines his head, leaving the trailing sentence to speak for itself.
"A dead end," Yuliana flicks her fork, with irritation; a piece of pasta affixes to the opposite wall. "They happen to even the most experienced operatives."
"In easy travel distance to space, yes," Parminder agrees in the most superficial manner, raising a brow in his sardony. "But I notice you've been going easier on Zentradi recently, too. It used to be you'd make life difficult on everyone from space. It's interesting that you're moderating your grudge from that angle, Captain."
"Clearly I've just resolved to be a better person, unfettered by the crimes of the past!" Yuliana huffs -- clearly unsettled, if she's making a joke to cover herself.
Parminder snorts, with a savage grin -- not quite the same speed as hers, but impressive in its own right. "With all due respect, Captain, we both know that's bullshit."
"All right, too unbelievable, I hear you," Yuliana cedes the point, waving her fork about. "But none of your evidence holds up. I'm disappointed in you for using such a tired interrogation tactic on--"
Parminder holds up his own hand. "One more thing, Captain."
"Oh, very well," Yuliana sighs, "what is it?"
"Street footage," Parminder gestures, with a spread palm. "I pulled the records after you disappeared for a while in the middle of your last episode. Cameras show you being escorted from the Institute by an unknown Meltrandi -- and staying at a hotel with her for some time."
The sound of Yuliana's fork clattering to the floor is the only sound in the break room, for five satisfying seconds. "So you're saying that the cameras we --"
"Yes, the surveillance you helped encourage the state to adopt." Parminder laughs, fingers dropping to drum on his elbow. "Heheheh... did you somehow think you weren't being watched like everyone else, Captain?"
Yuliana promptly flings the entire container to the opposite wall, in a single irate motion. Parminder blinks; he knows better than to flinch so obviously. "Well, fuck," she sighs, leaning against the counter. "You really are good, huh..? Oh, I could argue you still have no conclusive proof, but I know very well what you'd say to that. All right, all right! You win, Letda," slang for second lieutenant, because Yuliana so rarely uses their names. "She is half-Meltrandi, yes. Go on, laugh it up!"
Parminder does, in fact, laugh. "You know, this wouldn't be half as fun for me if you weren't such a steel trap, Captain. Wen tells me all about her weekends, and I don't even bother looking at her browsing history!"
"That's a shame," Yuliana remarks. "I bet it's very funny."
"Not nearly as funny as Cascade thinking incognito browsing actually does anything," Parminder shrugs, as he brings up the officer cadet who makes up the final part of their team. "You know, they're quite dissatisfied with their posting here."
Yuliana drapes back on the counter, elbows against the countertop. "Does that bother you, Letda?" She asks, casually, and not without interest in the answer. Parminder isn't one of them -- so she is a little concerned with his job satisfaction. Enough to send him away if he has qualms, anyway.
"Not really. To be honest, I don't really care about any of you. I just like figuring things out. And there's a lot to figure out about you, Captain." Parminder lifts a hand, gesturing to her. "For instance, I've noticed a sharp increase in your operational aggression over the past year. Seems like you've found something to fire you up... so I'm going to presume this relationship hasn't been going on for too long. Unless there's something else in your life which has changed recently?"
"Neither of us would find any fun in me telling you about my life, I assure you," Yuliana says, and it isn't even a lie. Her fingers drum on the wood of the counter, as she looks over to him, with a sly grin. "But you've got a sharp eye. Yes... perhaps I have found renewed vigour for my passions, Letda. Things will get much, much more exciting..."
"So long as it's exciting, I'm all for it," Parminder replies, entirely unfazed by the ominous light across her eyes. "I can't stand being bored, Captain. You'd better have something interesting for me."
"Hmhmhm..." Yuliana laughs, as she straightens, fingers brushing through her teal bangs. "Oh, count on it." She starts walking from the break room, regardless of her lack of lunch.
She brushes past Cadet Wattana on the way, as she ventures in to take her break; Cascade's having a femme day right now, judging by the ribbons tying her hair back.
"Clean that up," Yuliana asides to her, callous, as she leaves. Her expression, falling on Cascade, shares everything with the regard she holds for worms. No, worse than a worm -- she's Awakened. "Your pasta's gotten everywhere. I can't believe you'd be so careless, Canary."
"But you--!" Cascade exclaims, before she scowls, turning to the far wall. "... yes, ma'am."
Parminder watches Yuliana go, and zeroes his attention in on Cascade, instead. "You know they're not going to approve your transfer," he points out, seeing the way she chokes back tears. "You're not the first Cyber-Newtype on the team. The standard procedure is to push you to medical discharge."
"Why?!" Cascade demands, as she storms over to get a sponge. She doesn't expect help from anyone -- but hearing it laid out so plainly, right after such a brazen command...
"I'm still figuring that part out," Parminder shrugs, "but it is pretty interesting." He's not just toying with her; Parminder is quite interested in the classified portions of his assignment. His spying hasn't sated his curiosity yet, but he thinks he has plenty of time.
"Oh, great! Yeah! I know my pain is sooo funny! Don't you give me that shit, too!" Cascade yells, as she slops everything back into the container. "Sir," she remembers, a beat later, and does her level best not to betray the tremble in her throat. (Every day is exactly the same, even if what happens is always different.)
"I'm just interested to see whether you end up trying to stab her, too," Parminder points out, with a sly grin. "I really wouldn't blame you."
"Tch... stabbing her? I dunno... I mean, if it'd work..." Cascade frowns, as she turns it over in her head.
Parminder laughs, waving a hand. "Oh, it didn't the last time. Anyway --" ding! "-- my food's about done. Good luck with that," he offers, and doesn't offer to share.
He eats in silence. She cleans that way, too.
Both Cascade and Yuliana end up getting their lunch from the vending machine.