hadriel | 001 [text]

That's what I like to hear. I'll wait around the spires-- meet me there and we'll head out.

[Sure enough, Maketh will find Lilith sitting on a crumbled bit of wall in front of the third spire, cleaning one of her guns while she waits.]

[Maketh shows up promptly, dressed in clothes she's found scavenging and no longer favoring her ribs. It's not her uniform, but she's ironed everything so viciously you could probably cut yourself on the edges. If that's what you're into.] How much ammunition do you have left?

[Ironing. In an underground cave from some alternate universe. Lilith, still in her wrinkled and occasionally blood-spotted bounty hunter's clothes, is more dumbfounded that she'd have time for that than impressed.]

Enough to last. I'm not running out anytime soon.

[She gets to her feet, stuffing the cloth scrap she'd been using into a back pocket.]

So, where're we headed?

[Maketh is serious about protocol. Even when it comes from the Empire, which blew her up and probably wouldn't appreciate the thought she's given it here. If it helps, she's paid the same amount of attention to the sword hooked to her belt.]

Good. I haven't found any ammo caches yet.

[It's strange to even be thinking about ammunition. The technology where Maketh is from has moved past that, for the most part.]

To the caves. There are incomplete sections.

[She unrolls the map she's been working on. There are a bunch of incomplete sections, actually, but most of them are in areas that probably - hopefully - won't require an escort. Maketh intends to make the most of Lilith's help while she's got it.] Here, and here. Are you familiar with these locations?

Judging from what we found the other day, I don't think there's gonna be much, but still. Good looking out.

[Of course, if she does find anything, Lilith's not going to share too readily. Rechargeable Eridian tech's as rare as it gets where Lilith's from.

In any case, she walks around to Maketh's side and peers over her shoulder at the map. It's far better than anything she could've made herself, spoiled as she is with constant ECHOnet-based maps everywhere in Pandora.]

I'll manage. I haven't been everywhere yet, but I know how to get there well enough. [She squints at the map again, and continues--] How much are you planning on mapping, exactly? All of it?

From what I understand, the terrain and the things inside it have a tendency to change.

[Which is going to make mapping the place a bitch and a half if it's true. Maketh huffs.]

As much as I can. I don't like working with incomplete intelligence.

They change. How annoying can these gods get? [Uuuuuggggghhhh. Lilith casts Maketh a look of incredulity, but it's not like there's much of an alternative.]

Well, guess we should get at it. [She brings her gun up to the ready.] I'm ready to go when you are, so lead the way.

I'm not looking forward to testing that.

[But she has a feeling there will be a time for it, eventually. Anyone with that much power will eventually flex. To prove a point or just to make the people underneath them squirm. Maketh has been helping a dictatorship for most of her life. She knows how this goes.

Maketh nods, squaring her shoulders. She gives Lilith's gun a suspicious look.] That thing isn't going to ricochet, is it?

[Guess who isn't a fan of bullets.]

If you stay out of the way it won't.

[She grins rakishly, but it falters a little. Right. Inappropriate jokes. Less cool around folks who aren't mercs. Her expression sobers.]

Seriously, though. I'm not exactly the sharpshooter of my crew, but if stray bullets were an issue I'd be in less than one piece. All four limbs and twenty digits, present and accounted for. Stick close, like I said.

[Yeah that's not comforting at all. Maketh just gives Lilith a look, far from amused. Though not intimidated, for whatever that's worth.] I appreciate the fact that your profession is dangerous and that you are still alive despite it.

[Maketh huffs.] Forgive me. I dislike these sorts of weapons. I'm used to blasters.

[Which don't run out of ammo. She's not used to this concept just yet.]

[At least she seems, uh. Placated? Good enough.] Relax. Neither of us are gonna die out there. I still have to keep an eye on my ammo, so there won't be much to bounce back at you in the first place.

And I've got more up my sleeves than bullets. If it gets that bad, my powers'll get us out. [She half hopes it does. Lilith's not above showing off her siren status to a new person.]

Lucky you. I've gotten to use a few of those, but they cost an arm and a leg on the black market unless you're lucky enough to stumble across one yourself. [she shrugs.] The corporations haven't been able to reverse engineer the alien tech perfectly. Would've come in real handy here.

[Powers? Maketh pauses, giving Lilith a curious look. Well, that's new. Welcome, though.] What sort of powers, if I may ask? I'm not unused to the idea, you see, but I like to know what I'm dealing with.

[Especially if she'll need to duck and cover to avoid the backlash. Maketh appreciates power, but she knows there's always a cost. Usually to the bystanders.

She's curious, too, about Lilith's world and its weapons. Though that isn't the reason they're here right now.] Strange. The technology is commonplace in my world. You're one of the few who even recognizes the terminology, though.

A world with no hope of firing lasers at crap isn't one I want to be on, honestly. But more importantly: you might wanna stand back for this one.

[Her tone's light, even eager-- clearly, she's excited to showboat some-- and as soon as the words have left her, she speeds from a stroll to a sprint until she's just out of range. If Maketh's eyes are sharp enough she'll see Lilith's entire shape, gun and clothes and all, fade to a translucent blue before simply popping out of existence... to the tune of a resounding boom that creates a small radius of searing heat and billowing flame.

A few seconds pass. As suddenly as she'd disappeared, Lilith reappears, several yards to the east, promptly followed by a small explosion much the same as the first. Not only is she unharmed-- she's laughing to herself, apparently very carefree about having made a short jaunt between dimensions.]

Pretty sick, right?! [she calls back at Maketh before jogging right back.] I can go further, but I'd've totally lost you!!

[Oh. Oh that's wonderful. Maketh jumps a little at the suddenness of the change, but she's smiling, clearly intrigued. It's not just increasing her speed and jumping like the Inquisitor does. No, this is something else entirely.] That--that's fascinating! Do you need to see where you're going? What is your maximum distance?

[With power like that, Lilith could snap right past a defensive position and hit the enemy from their blind spot. Incredibly useful for a bounty hunter, or whatever term people from Lilith's home use for their profession. And possibly very relevant here. Therefore she's taking notes, writing furiously into her notebook.]

It's the best.

[Careful, the compliments'll go to her head. Lilith is practically glowing with pride as she returns to Maketh's side-- she inclines her head a little to absently watch the woman scribble away (only not at all, she's quite eager to know what's being written about her).] I'm a siren. I don't know if all of us are human, or if we all have the same abilities, but there can only ever be six of us in existence at one time. Or so they say. So it's a pretty big deal. [She puffs out her chest. Just a little.]

As for your questions-- [Lilith holds up fingers to go along with her explanation.] One, not an issue. I'm not teleporting, I'm technically moving really, really fast just past what you can perceive: I always see everything I'm doing, except I'm invisible to you. I can't go under to that plane forever, though. After a few moments I'll get pushed back out, which.... covers question number two, I guess. As long as I can stay phased, and as fast as I can run.

[She chuckles.] Just now? I walked.

[Oh, this is wonderful, Maketh feels herself grinning as she considers all the possibilities. She's always wondered about the possibilities of Force powers, but the Inquisitor always - rather politely, she has to admit - found ways to avoid the questions. Only it doesn't seem to be a ability that Lilith has, per say, but perhaps a...state of existence? And there can only be six at a time? But does that mean in all the worlds, or just the one Lilith happens to reside in? The galaxy is very big. Or at least Maketh's is. She writes a question mark next to that.] You--not even the Inquisitor was that fast...

[Maketh shakes her head, still grinning like an idiot.] There were individuals in my world who could do similar things, though none so quickly...can you interact with objects or people when you are phased, as you put it?

[If so, forget about setting up ambushes - Lilith could stop attacks before they happened. Oh, this is promising! And even better, Lilith seems cordial enough, and willing to share information instead of looking down her nose at Maketh's ignorance. This is a very good day.]

[She notes the question mark. To be honest, she’s not completely certain herself, but from what she’s heard—]

I’m one of six in the galaxy, by the way. Maybe the universe. It’s kinda hard to doublecheck. [Regardless of the casual affect to her words, Lilith knows very well how rare her status is. Galaxies do tend to be on the bigger end, after all.

Her face falls, but only just.] Well, yes? To a point? I’m completely intangible, but I can still reach out and touch things. It’ll pull me right back into the normal plane as soon as I do it, though.

[It sure isn’t for any lack of trying. The extent of her abilities has grown substantially since their first awakening all those years ago—and even since she arrived on Pandora. The potential’s in her, somewhere; she can do more. She just… has to get there, is all.]

It’s a work in progress.

[Maketh pauses, surprised by that. How strange. These abilities are incredibly rare, then.] Are you self-taught, then?

[It seems likely. Only six in the entire universe. That seems nearly impossible to Maketh - even the Jedi were legion in their heyday. Something this rare must be incredibly valuable.

And very dangerous for whoever happened to be stuck with it. Those will power must swear to a cause or be forever running from one.

Maketh doesn't want to think about that very much. It doesn't matter here, anyway. She taps her pen against her notepad.] What if you were carrying something? For instance, could you phase while holding a grenade and then drop it?

[That would be useful.]

[Lilith nods.] I am.

I had to figure it out all on my own, and it’s taken about this long to learn how to do it this well. I’m in my twenties now: I was almost a teenager when I started showing signs of the powers. [And a newly minted siren, all raw power without an ounce of technique to show for it or a fellow siren to look to for guidance, is a dangerous thing to be indeed. The bounty on her head isn't for nothing.]

Yeah! I can totally do that. S'not like all the stuff on me disappears when I phase. I don't know if it'll show up until after I come back, though...

[She's evidently got a lot of messing around to do with her powers still, even now.]

[That seems late for such powers to appear. From what Maketh understands of the Jedi - which, admittedly, isn't very much - the Force manifested itself almost immediately. It's rumored that Force users could be identified by their very genetic makeup. Marked even before birth. Maketh considers Lilith curiously.] This sounds different from the sort of abilities that people have back home. Those were rare as well, but they don't manifest like yours did...

[The number of gifted individuals must be important as well. Only ever six. Fascinating. Maketh wonders if it's hereditary.]

Of course I don't have abilities myself, but I--served with a man who could do similar things. If you were willing, perhaps I could....run some ideas past you? It's possible you're much more powerful than you know.

I couldn't tell you. It's not like Sirens are especially well-documented. [It's half the reason she's risking her life as a Vault hunter at all: she'd do a whole host of crazy shit to figure out her powers-- their origin, the cause, what else she can do with them, if another one's in the same arm of the galaxy, even.] Even I'm surprised by myself sometimes.

[The man Maketh refers to can't be a Siren, but... who knows if the Eridians had a further reach than she'd thought. She doesn't hesitate to reply.]

Yeah, sure! Lay 'em on me.

Are the Sirens the only ones with powers, or the only ones with these specific abilities?

[Because that's an important distinction, if Lilith knows one way or another. Though it likely doesn't matter as much while they're stuck here. Maketh likes to have all the details she can get her hands on, though. She taps the pen against her notes, thinking.]

The Inquisitor didn't speak to me of his abilities, but he was open to discussing strategy. The trick was not to question what he could or couldn't do, but rather how his abilities might be twisted to fit whatever particular mess we found ourselves in.

[Maketh pauses.]

For instance, he built a weapon that could deflect blaster shots. I don't have the tools or the skill to make you a light saber, but...I think, if you could learn to...vibrate, if you will, or only move a few centimeters at a time, you could deflect blows. Even gunshots. Does that make sense?

[There will need to be tests, of course, but in theory it could work. But if Lilith can vibrate, or just move very fast in a small space, she could do a great many things. The possibilities are endless.]

[Lilith rubs her chin, thinking.]

It's a big universe. I dunno. But... they say that the Eridians-- the aliens who lived on the planet Pandora ages ago-- have some kind of connection to us. It's one of the reasons I shipped over there in the first place. [ . . . ] Well, that and money. But I'm not discounting the first reason 'cause of it.

[Deflecting, though. That sounds--] That sounds amazing. I-I mean, there's a big feedback when I enter or exit still. I'd need to work with my powers to get more precise, but it's not like there's any reason I can't try it!

[Lilith's beaming, and the longer she blathers on, the more excited she becomes.]

It might not matter here. [But it's still fascinating, either way. Maketh is writing furiously. It doesn't seem like Lilith's abilities work the same way that Force sensitivity does, which means there's probably more to it than simple genetic inheritance.

Maketh brightens.] I have a way we might test that, actually. By throwing rocks at you.

[Wait. Phrasing. Maketh clears her throat.] I mean, we should probably start with something less deadly than a gunshot.

[>Then they can move on to blasters and possibly some other, nastier things. There are so many possibilities.]

[Flatly:] What. [Rocks? Seriously, rocks. Lilith’s eyebrows immediately raise in confusion.] When I said I’d help you map out this place, I didn’t think I was agreeing to you stoning me.

[But… As strange of a suggestion as it is, she’s absolutely certain enough in her own abilities to know she wouldn’t get hit in the face with too many rocks. And perhaps she’d learn something more about her powers by playing along with the, er, “experiment”.

And she is as eager to prove herself as ever. Let it be known that she’d never turn down a challenge Lilith breathes, exhaling whatever’s left of her uncertainty out through her mouth.]

Ah, what the hell. Could be fun: let’s do it.

001 [text]

text -> action lmk if this works!

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