savetheearth | (no subject)

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Who: Melissa, Eugen, and eventually Karl.
When: Saturday, March 15, afternoon
Where: A cafe
What: Melissa and Eugen meet up, and he's got some serious stuff to talk about. And then Karl shows up and it takes a turn for the ridiculous.

Melissa isn't usually the first one to show up to her and Eugen's infrequent meetups. She's punctual, sure, but Eugen can take it to a kind of neurotic level. So if she's there first, he must be distracted by something. Not that she's terribly surprised by that. Especially since he's apparently got a robot now... she can only imagine how much time he's sending on that.

And here is today, picking a good out of the way spot for them to chat, and waiting for her friend to show up. She wasn't actually mad at him for being late. There was plenty for them all to be distracted by. But that doesn't mean she's not going to give him shit for it anyway.

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"You're not allowed to yell at me." Yeah, that's a sure sign that it's option number 3. Whoops. Melissa sighs, reaching to mess with her hair and not even thinking about touching her food until she's done explaining. "So, uh. Basically because I'm pretty good at my job, I got approached about six months ago and was asked to be a part of a 'special assignment.' Which basically is that I'm supposed to be hunting down numbers, but I obviously wasn't told that."

And before Eugen can ignore her and yell at her anyway, she'll continue to the main point. "Some people who wind up working with them get offered 'modifications' by the alien. From what I understand of it, they basically put animal genes in people. I... may have gotten modified with cheetah genes." By which she obviously means that that's what happened. "I literally got my number right as I woke up from that."

That's not an ominous start at all, Melissa. His eyes narrow at her, bemusement already settling in him before she starts. He couldn't even be surprised by her screws up any longer. With a huff, he waves a hand nonchalantly for her to start.

By the time she's done, he's feels so done himself. He's so close to reaching out right from where he's seated to choke her with his bare hands. It's a good thing he's not the reckless one between them, so the only thing he does is to glare at her angrily for a good minute before he starts berating her complete lack of sense and horrible call of judgement. "Are you stupid?! How can you possibly think such special assignment is not questionable?! Why the hell did you even let anyone modified your body in the first place?! Have you got no sense in your mind at all?!"

She told him not to yell at her! Already breaking rules, wow Eugen.

No, but really, Melissa expected this. "I know, I know!" she groans, messing with her hair, "I get that now, ok? At the time, I just... I don't know, Eugen, they were cops. And I trusted that. I had no reason not to." Now, unfortunately, it appears she has plenty of reasons not to. But they were people she'd put her trust in, who she'd worked beside for years. Melissa doesn't give out trust easily, and it doesn't break that simply either.

He's just going to stare at her with an incredulous expression because he can't believe what he's hearing. "They were humans!" Which means they should be subjected to the same amount of scrutiny everyone else receive if not more because of their position. Slumping back into his seat, he lets out a heavy sigh before bringing a hand up to his face momentarily.

"...Just, tell me you're okay. Does the modification harms or endangers you in any way?" He's going to focus on the important thing because he doubts yelling at her is going to be any help. "Next time you have to make important decisions, you will call me and talk to me first. I don't want to wake up to phone calls from the morgue or crime lab, ever."

"I said I know that now, ok?" Ugh. She really doesn't like being lectured like this, even if she knows Eugen's only doing it because he's worried about her. And luckily he drops back to that in just a moment's time.

"I've fine, don't worry." It was stupid dangerous going into it, but he doesn't need to know that. But the second part gets a bit of a deadpan look from her. "I can't call you every time something comes up." She knows she makes bad decisions sometimes, but at least they're hers. She just has to own up to them, and she's fine with that. Maybe she'll figure out how to do this decently well eventually.

Even if she said so, Eugen observes her a while before finally accepting her answer since she doesn't seem any worse for wear.

"Whenever you can then. I know you don't like how it sounds but at this point, I'll rather be a bother and have you be safe than otherwise." With another sigh, he picks up his cutlery to start digging in. He wasn't kidding when he said he was starving. "They're going to get cold if we wait any longer."

Oh right. Food. She'd nearly forgotten about that. She'll start on eating her meal then, too. And hopefully the topic will be changing too, since she's pretty sure the initial plan was not to yell at her for her poor decision making. "So. FBI and robots. How's that going?"

He takes a few bites before answering her. The concern from their earlier talk disappears from his face, promptly replaced with a much more serious expression. "They are investigating the robots and what we know about them. There's no progress so far since we knew nothing and the technology used to build the robots are too advanced for us to comprehend. They have a research team put together for it, I'm in it as well."

"I bet you're having a blast with that." Maybe not from working with the FBI, but being on a research team for giant robots. It doesn't take a lot of stretching to picture how excited he probably gets, even if no progress has been made. "Nobody who was piloting them knows anything about how they work?" Though, if they didn't, she wouldn't blame them for not sharing.

Smirking knowingly, he nods, the enthusiasm clear behind his glasses. "I am." Picking at his lunch a little, the smirk turns downward into a frown. "We can pilot them but we don't remember how they work. It doesn't help that they are not fully functional." With a soft sigh, he eats again.

Even if they are talking about robots now, Eugen is still worrying about Melissa in the back of his head. So, when he abruptly switches back again, it shouldn't surprise her since he has always been the one to worry about her. "Have you thought about changing job? I can help you find something less dangerous."

Even if the subject switch isn't a surprise, the content is. "Switching jobs?" That would be your answer, Eugen- no, she hasn't really thought about it. And not because of poor decision making this time. She enjoyed a police officer, when everything wasn't corrupted to all hell anyway. It was a good balance of her skill set. Getting into it involved her poor decision making process, but she's glad it happened.

Edited 2014-03-26 12:44 (UTC)

Why is he not surprised with her answer? Because it's Melissa. He should have known better. Shaking his head lightly, he sits back and wipes his lips before taking a sip from the glass. "You have to realize how dangerous your job is becoming. Wouldn't it be better to leave when you can than to become entangled in all the mess it's bound to attract?" If the LCPD aren't so corrupted, Eugen wouldn't have mind her occupation but after learning about the murders and her body modification, he wants her as far away as possible from the source of conflict.

Melissa quiets, thinking. It's not like going into law enforcement she didn't think he job would be dangerous... but this is a different kind of dangerous, and she knows it. Dangerous is fine, though. She can handle danger. What she's not sure she can handle is the fact that she's working within such a corrupt environment. She doesn't want to be a part of that. "...I'll think about it," she consents, going back to her food. This is not a topic she's making hasty decisions on.

He observes quietly, but resume eating when he's sure she would really consider his suggestion. It bothers him that she is working in the face of danger all these months and he has no idea at all. Granted they are both adults and aren't the sort to call all the time, he still feels as if he failed her for not knowing. Even so, watching her eats quietly is rather disconcerting. "It's not like you to be so quiet. Did you bit your tongue?" Pulling a smile, he kicks her gently under the table to distract her.

"Very funny." Still, she smirks a little, kicking carefully right back. (Though hers is very gentle, seeing as she's pretty sure even a mild hit from her could bruise him.) But hey, might as well get away from the serious mood. They hadn't seen each other in forever, having everything be so serious doesn't suit them.

Funnier still is the fact that a certain officer happens to be walking by this very same restaurant, nose buried in some book on recent chemistry findings. Fairly fascinating of a read and his luck with not running into people has been surprisingly high today. Good day starting out really good. Upon turning a page, his eyes dart up briefly just to make sure no innocent person happens to be in his path. Nope, still good! Back to re--

Wait a moment. He looks back up to double check if he'd seen correctly. It seems as though he did! That's definitely Melissa over there. Amusing how he runs into her even outside work and planned stuff after work. Should Melissa notice him, a smile and a small wave will get sent her way.

Melissa sees him, smiling a little and waving him over. She doesn't yet now how terrible of an idea this is, but these are two of her best friends. She'd like to them to know who each other are. (Though she won't like it for long.)

"Karl, this is Eugen. Eugen, Karl." They can handle the introductions beyond that.

He snorts at her reply, glad for the lift in mood around them. Going back to his food, he didn't notice Karl until Melissa waived him over. Putting down his cutleries again, he quickly wipes his lips before nodding to the man he's being introduced to.

"Nice to meet you, Karl." He looks back at Melissa, eyebrows slightly raised with a silent "Who exactly is this?".

Upon being waved over, Karl raises an eyebrow before complying. Why beckon him over when she's in the company of someone else? Really, he's good in bed, but not that much outside it. Conversations and small talk were definitely not his strong points. Ah well, if Melissa wants it then why not.

The nod gets returned by Karl once near the table. "You as well, Eugen. You're a friend of Melissa's, I take it?" Eugen seems about as unsure about Karl as Karl is about being pulled into their conversation. Mutual unsureness is common ground, if nothing else. A good start? Maybe?

Because you're her friend, you dumbass. She might not be the academically smart one, but god does she have way more social skills. "I've known Eugen since we were really young," she says, reaching for her drink, "And I work with Karl." And, well. Some other things that aren't completely crucial for Eugen to know in this conversation.

Though it occurs to her after a second that considering the conversation they just had, this could be a problem so she gives Eugen a look. "And you're both network, so don't be an ass."

"Yes." He gestures to the empty seat to be polite, not that he really cares if Karl joins them or not. I work with Karl is certainly pinging Eugen's interest because that tells him Karl's occupation. A policeman.

So when she reveals his affiliation to the network without warning, he immediately kicks her under the table, shooting a glare her way. It's his decision to make, not hers and he certainly has no intention of telling a cop he doesn't know about it. Even if he is Melissa's friends but especially because he is her friend after finding out about her situation with the police force.

At the offer, Karl decides to take a seat. The mention of both being a Numbered and childhood friends with Melissa may have helped the decision. Not much talk had taken place about her childhood before so meeting someone who goes that far back has the potential to not only be interesting, but also informative.

That kick, something that brings a small bit of amusement to Karl's face, solidifies just how far they have to go back. You don't do under the table kicks to just anyone from experience. "I see. How long have you known of it?"

Melissa just shrugs at Eugen's kick, not really caring that much about it. Hey, Eugen needs more network people to talk to, especially if he's going to keep up his anonymity without getting himself in a position where he needs help and can't get it. Sure, she could have been more tactful, but she mostly just didn't want to.

She'll back out of the conversation for the moment, waiting to see how this goes.

Not bothering to hide his annoyance with Melissa, he sips his drink before responding to Karl. While he doesn't think Melissa would befriend anyone bad, questionable ones are absolutely possible. The fact that he's a policeman is certainly not helping his first impression despite how casual he seems to be with Melissa's tactless introduction.

"A while." Which barely count as an answer but that's the point. His tone isn't impolite but it certainly isn't friendly either. He doesn't have any reason to trust a stranger and he'll rather not talk about something that could potentially land him in prison or something worse. One cheetah hybrid among them is plentiful enough. Turning to Melissa, "Are you in the same division?"

The icy tone doesn't get lost on Karl, gaining a momentary eyebrow raise. Ah well, it's not as though he minds this sort of behavior. All things considered, it's only to be expected. A random cop who happens to be a numbered? Anyone with common sense would be weary.

Knowing this, Karl says nothing at the question and waits for Melissa to provide the reply as Eugen seems to want. No point in ruffling the guy's feathers by giving an unwanted answer.