TLV IC Inbox

[inthebiblicalsense]

[In a very serious, business tone, Abel's answering machine sounds after any attempted calls that aren't responded to right away.]

You've reached Abel. I am not available at the moment, but I'll get back to you as soon as I can. If this is urgent, leave the line open.

And if this is Fitz I hope you're having a good day.

Comments

[reargunner]

At least it isn't 'we need to talk'.

He shows up shortly after, walking in after knocking as a courtesy and looking a little... on edge.

"So. Don't shout."

Because... well. What he has in his hand, held up between his first two fingers as he raises his arm, is a certain chip that Abel would no doubt recognise in an instant.

"I found this."

[inthebiblicalsense]

Abel wouldn't have shouted but his reaction is clear from his spot on the couch. As calmly as he can, he stands, staring at the thing with his heart suddenly going a mile a minute.

He'd thought it had been destroyed in the crash. All their evidence, gone in an instant. And yet? Here it was.

He swallows, trying to figure out what he should say as he holds out his hand for it, ignoring the fact that it might be shaking.

"May I? I...I should make sure it isn't corrupted."

[reargunner]

He had thought, for a while, over what he'd do with this. Having told no one else what he'd found because no one else would understand he'd had to make the decision on his own.

Hopefully giving the thing back over to Abel would be the right one.

He places the chip carefully into the other man's palm.

"I was cleaning up." Cain frowns. "It was in the bottom of the box I had my flight suit in until I fixed it up. Must have been in my pocket when I got here."

[inthebiblicalsense]

He had given it to him, so that all makes sense. And he can't exactly keep the frustration out of his tone when he says, "god, and it's just been in your room this entire time..." Though he isn't exactly blaming him for misplacing it since he obviously didn't realize it was there in the first place.

Months ago he might have thought he'd been hiding it from him, but the thought doesn't even cross his mind. "Do you...want to look at it with me? You never actually got to see what was on here, and you deserve to."

[reargunner]

Though the tone isn't accusing he still loosely folds his arms, like a reflex, ready to defend himself. Months ago he might have been hiding it. Might have tossed it over the side of the Barge even, but not now.

"... Yeah."

Even if he feels a little sick to his stomach over what might be on it, he nods.

"But I think 'deserve' is kinda strong."

[inthebiblicalsense]

Abel shakes his head, "You're in here, and so am I. Along with every other pair that is apart of the project. You deserve to know, regardless of what you were told to do, because you should have been informed from the start."

He'll walk over to his computer, thankful of the two chairs and insert the chip in, waiting for Cain to settle next to him. "I've seen this already, so if anything catches your eye...just, let me know and we'll look at that first."

[reargunner]

Cain does not sit down. He leans against the back of the chair that Abel doesn't sit in and just makes a small motion for him to start looking through the information on the chip however he wants.

He knows why it was put together. To tell Abel everything - to ruin everything - and he hasn't thought of Phobos in months but he hates him all over again so strongly that it almost hurts.

When information about himself starts to come up, he doesn't want to look at it. He turns his back to the screen and folds his arms again with a frown. Criminal record, psych profile, exactly why he was brought on to the project...

"Fucking asshole."

[inthebiblicalsense]

Abel is only half paying attention to his surroundings, trying his best not to be pulled back to the moment he first found out. This is just information, it can't hurt him, it's only going to help.

Scrolling through, he starts to read a more indepth break down on the Jump Drive, what they'd learned about it before the project started with the original pair. He almost misses what Cain says, making a soft noise before forcing himself to look away from the screen and up at Alexei.

"Which one?"

[reargunner]

There's a long beat of a pause.

"Never mind."

He just shakes his head and moves away, electing to sit on the couch instead. It isn't that he doesn't want to know. More that he doesn't trust his own reactions with Ethan sitting right there.

[inthebiblicalsense]

He does glance back at the screen a second before pushing himself away from the desk and turning around in his chair.

"It's not never mind. This is...uncomfortable, but you gave it to me anyway." And he just opened it like opening a can of worms. "Talk to me, I- I want to listen, please?"

[reargunner]

At first he just shakes his head slightly.

"Nothing to talk about."

Except... obviously there is, and he's uncomfortable, and it isn't even that the other man just went right ahead and opened the thing up. Cain knows he's already seen what's on it.

"I just—" Another frown. He shakes his head and doesn't meet Abel's eyes as he forces out another sharp breath.

"How much time did you spend looking at the shit he put on there about me."

[inthebiblicalsense]

How long? He isn't sure why it matters, but that isn't the point, he understands that much.

"Specifically on your file? Not much. I didn't have a long time to look at it in the first place, and I wanted to fact check what Phobos had said about the project itself. Your Evals, those...That was extra. It wasn't facts, it was subjective. I read my own and it was enough to make me sick, knowing what they thought of me, why I was a candidate." That's why he'd wanted to hear it straight from him, confirm for himself that what he'd been told wasn't some kind of cruel joke being pulled by Phobos. He wouldn't have put it past him.

[reargunner]

"Hmm."

He rubs his face briefly and then stands up, moving slowly back to where Abel had been looking through the chip. For a long, silent moment he simply stares at the last piece of information the other man had been reading, then he presses his lips together and loosely folds his arms.

"Read it."

[inthebiblicalsense]

Abel hesitates a moment, watching him cross the room again, unsure.

"I don't have to. It's not exactly relevant to building a case against the Alliance." He offers softly, slowly turning his chair, but still looking at Cain.

"Do...you want to read mine first?"

[reargunner]

"Would you just-!"

He cuts himself off, pressing his hands together and then pressing his forefingers against his lips, closing his eyes for a moment as he takes a breath.

Then, more calmly-

"Just read it, please. Before I change my mind."

[inthebiblicalsense]

Abel stares at him, quiet and now doubly unsure, but he will turn, opening the folder labeled Code name: Cain. He isn't sure how he feels about doing something that he has dubious permission for, but questioning more at the moment is obviously not the right move.

As he opens the first file and starts to read his hand comes up, blindly reaching behind him and to the left to find Cain's shirt, patting his chest a moment to verify that's actually where his hand was before gripping the fabric gently. It might irritate him, but there has to be some thing he can do that can prove to him they're both here in the future, far past when these evals were taken, and he's not about to go anywhere because of it.

[reargunner]

It is a little annoying, though only in the way it rankles over suddenly frayed nerves to be touched at all. He doesn't twitch his body away and instead plucks Abel's hand off his shirt, holding it in his as he steps forwards.

There's an almost unreadable look on his face. Dark and distant as the file is opened.

Everything is in there, of course. His arrest record, the time still to serve (no wonder he was desperate), the records of his actions while incarcerated - rioting, fighting, one count of attempted murder. There's the details of why they chose him for the project. His behavioural issues and bold, blatant promiscuity made him a favourite, though there is a note that his lack of respect for authority might cause issues if he isn't properly motivated.

Well. They had made sure of that.

And Alexei? He won't deny a word of what's written. It's all true.

[inthebiblicalsense]

And yet, as Abel reads and scrolls, he's putting it into context with what he'd seen, what he see's now.

To be completely honest, he isn't all that surprised, though the beginning of it, the sentencing grates at him. Of course if it were him in that position, on Earth, he can't see the same thing happening.

He's a fast reader, scrolling down to the end in a few minutes, using his free hand to pinch the bridge of his nose, rub at his eyes before resting his forehead on a fist, deep breath in, out.

"You know... This information is just a desperate attempt to justify what they did. But it doesn't, it doesn't even come close. You know that, right?"

[reargunner]

"That information is cold facts, Ethan," he replies, far too easily. "Dates, times, records, that's who I was when they took hooked me out of New Volga."

He glances down at Abel then, and shrugs.

"But before you get to thinking I feel bad about it, I don't. I know who I was before I was arrested, and I know what prison turned me into. What I did in there was necessary for my survival. Just like everything else I ever did." His eyes lower to the file. The words would be pretty damning without context. They're damning enough with context.

"Until you showed up, anyway."

[inthebiblicalsense]

"You misunderstand me." He turns in his chair, still holding onto his hand. "What you did, who you were, that has no bearing on whether or not what happened was ethical. It just wasn't, and that is also a fact, Alexei. You're a person, even in prison you have rights, and obviously they never afforded you those, or anyone else in New Volga." Given what he's heard and read of their force, the sentencing, it's all fucking corrupt anyways, but that isn't how it's supposed to be.

[reargunner]

Alexei pauses, then lets out a soft breath through his nose.

"Whether or not how New Volga operates is ethical doesn't change what's already happened." He shrugs one shoulder. "That damage? That's done. And I think I've got more right to be angry about it than anyone."

Even Ethan. Especially Ethan.

"I didn't ask you to read my file so we could talk about Martian judicial corruption. We both know it exists, and I've lived it."

[inthebiblicalsense]

"I never said you don't have a right to be angry, just... I sincerely doubt this is permissible in court at all." If it was, it would only be proof of corruption, in his mind. It sounds terrible, honestly, when he reads it, but when you start to add context, what happened, any of it, even if the board wouldn't see it for what it really is, the media sure would.

"I think I'm- We're not on the same page again." Because honestly, as much as the information is cold, he still see's it as an asset. "Why did you ask me to read it?"

[reargunner]

"Because I wanted you to know what it said."

No more or less than that. Alexei shrugs a little and retreats away from the computer to sit down again, sinking down and resting his head against the back of the couch.

"That's all."

Maybe Abel would have read it without him here, but at least now it's out of the way.

[inthebiblicalsense]

He's trying to talk himself out of believing it has to be more than that. Cain isn't him though, and maybe it's as simple as that.

"Alright...I read it." He affirms, frowning over at Cain as he makes his way over to the couch again. He glances back at the computer a moment, closing out of the file.

"I'm going to encrypt this, if you don't mind. I'll give you the passkey, but I don't think it's smart, leaving this on a thumb drive like this, even if I lock it in the safe."

[reargunner]

From Cain's side, it really is just as simple as that. He wanted Abel to read it, to be able to study his reaction when he did, and nothing bad happened. All good for him as far as he's concerned.

"Yeah, good idea." He rubs his hand over his face for a moment. "And—... let me know if you're gonna show it to anyone else, yeah? Got enough people here that I barely know knowing too much about me as it is."

He doesn't think that's going to be a problem, but it doesn't hurt to straight up ask either.