001 . voice

[biotictouch]

[ There's a dull noise in the background, one might be able to discern it as music being played off of an impossibly outdated device; perhaps just a low quality pair of headphones, or speaker. Either way, it's just enough in reach of the microphone on this...other device, that it picks up the last few verses. Above that sound though, clear as a bell and soft as velvet, is a slightly accented woman's voice. ]

I don't supposed I'm the only one about looking for a bit of work, so all things aside.

If anyone knows where someone with a...medical engineering set of skills could put their skills to use other than that of this Lunar Scientia...

I'd appreciate a few pointers. I'm willing to take on private expenditures as well.

Serious inquiries only. [ She remarks flatly before terminating the message.

Someone's a bit tired of being stalked. ]

Comments

voice.

[profanation]

[ Alas, it's audio! Ardyn couldn't use any of his ever so charming and cheerful (read: irritating) smileys. But it was a pleasant sounding audio, because he remembered that voice. ]

Why, Doctor O'Deorain. It's been a moment or two!

[ He wondered if she'd recognize him by sound alone, or if she'd snoop, or even just flat out ask. Or ignore him entirely if he didn't have anything useful to say.

Ardyn tapped his thumbs together as he pretended to think, tutting quietly so that it wasn't just dead air from his end of the communication. ]

There are a few hospitals on the second level of the city. Have you had a peek there to see if your skillset could be of use? I do realise that medical engineering runs a whole gamut of skills, and that yours might not be best suited for that environment!

But it is an option, isn't it?

voice until otherwise!

[biotictouch]

[ That voice is indeed recognizable, and a tone of amusement is heard in her reply. ]

They’ve been accounted for in my possibilities. I’m looking for more...how do I say this delicately?

More lucrative options. If that makes sense.

[ Money? Opportunity? She doesn’t say. ]

I appreciate your interest. I do hope you’ve been settling in well?

[voice]

[spah]

The hospitals around here could probably use somebody like you, ma'am.

I'm with the Lunar Scientia myself, though, so my ideas might be a mite unoriginal.

[And, after a pause:]

What's playin' back there?

[biotictouch]

I’m considering them, though I do so prefer contract work.

[ She hums with thought, probably writing something. ]

You said you were in R&D there, correct?

[ His last question almost goes unnoticed, but her voice softens, and she replies. ]

I luckily, had a communications device with my belongings. I stored a few songs on it just in case. Being stuck in an elevator is sometimes so terribly boring.

It’s David Bowie. Roughly nineteen eighty...five. No. Three. Eighty three.

[ She catches herself. ]

...Why?

voice;

[tekhartha]

[Zenyatta's question could sound accusatory were it not for the calm, unruffled surface of his voice, pond-flat and, if anything, gently curious.]

What sort of work do you suppose you might find in medical engineering, if not among the Lunatian scientists?

voice;

[biotictouch]

[ This voice is...familiar, to say the least, but less so more than some. Placing it is impossible. But still...it irks not to remember. ]

Why, any work required. I have proficiency in several areas rather than just one.

[ Oh, but she'd love to take a crack at this places litany of different genomes. ]

Perhaps among our fellow Moonblessed?

I would certainly hope not all of us are in dire straits at present, or do I misunderstand?

[profanation]

[ Of course that was her response. Ardyn smiled to himself. Ah, scientists. ]

Oh, perfect sense. Still, I'd not rule them out. An inroad is an inroad, and a good reputation does wonders for one's options!

[ He hadn't offered the hospitals assuming she'd go for them. It didn't really matter. ]

And yes, I have! Thank you for asking, doctor. And yourself?

voice

[cadeuces]

( There's no mistaking the sound of an ex-agent's voice, even over the dulcet croon of David Bowie singing of swaying under the serious moonlight. She listens to it again before deciding to reply, because surely if she'd heard of Moira's presence, the reverse was true.

They held opposing morals, opinions, and just about all other aspects life could pitch their way, but Angela doesn't know of her shadier affiliations; she just knows of her involvement with the Oasis developments, fingers on more than just human pulses. Especially when the other woman's technology had had a loose influence from Angela's own work and still kept her on edge every time she remembered the deeply purple veins of her arm.

That happens to be often, by the way. A part of her worries for what's become of her. Another part was forbidden contact from all ex-agents, officially mandated by the UN, and it was all too easy to allow one with grace where the others ached. They do have a mutual respect of one another despite it all. )

Moira, it's Angela. I hope you've been well.

( It's an easy start, voice a bit more tired than it used to be, but as calm as ever, accent curling the ends of her syllables into something cheerier. )

I wish I had a better answer for you, but if none of the hospitals here are interested, I'm afraid the Scientia is about the only option on hand. I'm working on a small clinic right now, myself, but— it is basic, in the end. Nothing grand, and nothing lofty.

( The meaning is clear enough; it's of simple means and for simple purposes, and she wouldn't be able to pay her anyway. Another volunteer venture, as it were. )

Many of the other like minds that have arrived here are at the Lunar Scientia, however. They've been quite welcoming to those with other areas of expertise and other levels of skill.

[spah]

Yup, R&D. I like it, taught me a lot when I started out here... but I've been thinkin' of strikin' out on my own myself. Contract work, like you said.

[He misses the freedom his last job offered him, really. Back when, he could come up with whatever the hell he wanted.]

You have music just for bein' stuck in an elevator? [Snrk.] I'm just curious. I remember Man Who Sold the World back a couple years ago... guessin' that makes you ahead of me, too.

[Don't worry, he's used to this weird time screw by now.]

Good to hear he made new stuff. Kinda like that fella.

[tekhartha]

[Familiar perhaps in the cadence, in which lingers just the faintest traces of Mondatta's voice- a living ghost of sorts. At the very least, he quite obviously sounds like an omnic.]

Oh, certainly!

[That laugh, meanwhile, is entirely his own, light and tripping.]

I am sure many of us are quite wealthy through moonlacing alone. I am simply interested in what sort of private enterprises might benefit from your particular expertise.

[biotictouch]

[ Bills to pay Concepts to fund, man. ]

Oh, they're definitely not ruled out. I tend to get, ah. Antsy, when not busy.

[ She could say several things about having a good reputation, and there's a momentary pause; she chooses her next words carefully. ]

I've found that this planet isn't entirely unlike home. Though the moons and dragons and whatnot will still take some getting used to.

[biotictouch]

It's always better when you can be your own boss.

[ There's an underlying sound of fondness there; someone's a big deal at home, huh? ]

I have a colleague who's fond of playing pranks, making life incredibly hard for the sake of her entertainment. I have a questionable amount of things planned for in case she really can't recover from her own screwing around.

[ If the fondness wasn't apparent in her voice before, it is now. ]

He did. For nearly forty long years afterwards.

[ She does the mental math, recalling odd years and time frames he could possibly be from. ]

2076. Am I roughly a hundred years ahead of you? I'm almost envious.

[biotictouch]

I suppose the realm of possibility is too large to address, due to my various practices. Medical, mostly.

I've done private contract work for several clients. I'm unfortunately, not at lieu to share.

[ Classified. Even here? Not really, only because she doesn't know who she's talking to. ]

I'm much too involved in my own passions to entertain those of others; so. Freelancing it is.

[biotictouch]

[ The response is....dry, to say the least. Moira hadn't heard of Angela's presence; merely McCree's. So as far as surprises go, this is just another one.

She'd bitten the inside of her lip impossibly hard at the message, unsure of how to respond, other than professionally. ]

And I, you.

I've not put out any feelers as of yet, but hospital service isn't outside of my purview, at the very least, for Moonblessed.

[ She responds in kind, to the point but still cordial. Mutual respect was a good way to put it; Moira's resentment truly lied with Overwatch as a whole. ]

I appreciate it. I do hope your newest project treats you well.

[ How like her, Moira thought. Well, at the very least, Angela stuck to her ideals, and again, that's a trait she could admire in anyone. ]

...Have they?

[ That's the first time her tone dips into something other than cordial. Insinuating that not just anyone was welcoming to her, much less about anything career related. ]

I suppose I'll find out, one way or the other.

[profanation]

Perfectly understandable! Idle hands make mischief, after all!

[ Her hands would likely make mischief when not idle. The rig she'd been sporting when they first met might not have been wholly a weapon, but it certainly had those capabilities. Imagine how much damage that genetic breakdown could speed up the sublimation process of the Starscourge! They'd have had more MTs than could have been cloned with it.

But it didn't do to be off in one's own fantasies. Ardyn gave a hum of understanding over her latter statement. ]

In a place with such surprising similarities, the differences can be all the more jarring -- especially as the moons are meant to addle how we feel and perceive the world around us.

Such a shame there's yet no in depth analysis of what's changed between the Moonblessed during and outside of their moon phase.

[tekhartha]

[She is being cagey, yes, but for now Zenyatta is content to accept that she must have her own reasons; there seems little point to prying her secrets from her.]

That is quite understandable. Each of our paths is unique, and often appears to unravel only before the individual who seeks enlightenment along it. [brightly] Although I am sure you and I have our own opinions on what "enlightenment" might be. I confess, I am not so well-versed in scientific practises as I perhaps ought to be.

[biotictouch]

[ Her amusement grows; it seemed every time they spoke, Moira found they’d had a lot of similar ideas, similar plans, even similar colloquialisms. It would be unsettling for most anyone else, but she found it endearing given their previous banter. ]

One might think you’re a reader of minds Ardyn, as you’ve certainly read mine.

It’s my first path of interest. Cataloguing, observing, documenting the Moonblessed and their many afflictions.

Maybe even find a way to assuage them. Little inconveniences as they are.

[profanation]

Ah! [ He sounded pleasantly delighted. There was the sound of his multiple layers shifting as he sat upright, more alert. ] Well, if that's the case, I'd be quite happy to let you observe me, when I find out what my cycle there is.

[ It sounded like a proposition for something much less benign, but Ardyn hadn't meant it that way. That it still had that effect was really just an added bonus. ]

I am ever a willing subject to the whims of scientific discovery!

[ Well, sort of. ]

[spah]

No argument there. [He nods to himself, not that Moira can see it. He doesn't miss out on her tone, though, especially when she goes on about her colleague, and chuckles quietly.] Sounds like a boy I knew on my old team. He's a loudmouth, obnoxious Boston kid, so his "pranks" usually involve buckets in doorways or drawing teammates gettin' hit by cars. Usually Spy.

[The Spy ones were pretty funny, though, not going to lie.

That year does sound familiar, though...]

You too, huh. [When he thinks about it, Angela or Genji must have mentioned it to him in passing.] Near enough. 1972 for me.

[biotictouch]

[ Mrs. Robinson, are you trying to seduce me? Moira would be more concerned over implications if she weren’t more interested in the potential for data analysis. Surely Lunar Scientia would have some documentation, but as for crowdsourcing, she was at the mercy of others goodwill and her own willingness to put up with..well. A bunch of uncomfortable stramgers.

She’s not going to turn down a willing subject. Ever. ]

Well here’s hoping that niether of us are indisposed once it arrives. That’s a generous offer; thank you.

Should I make for a short visit or an extended stay? I’d hate to inconvenience you.

[profanation]

Oh, that isn't the sort of thing I can suggest! We might find we need a longer stay to... ah, go over particulars? [ He chuckled, knowing now that it absolutely sounded like terrible code. ] My home is open to you for the duration of whichever moon phase affects me!

[ So three days, either way. He didn't know if she would take the offer or not -- might prefer her own, or somewhere more neutral. ]

How about I call you come the turn of the Sanguis moon, and if I'm a little furrier or scalier than normal, I can give you some co-ordinates?

[biotictouch]

I’d deeply appreciate it.

[ Oh well; context be damned. She can’t begin to care, she’ll have data to start working with. ]

Is there anything I could possibly hope to compensate you with? You’ll find I’m a terrible cook, so that’s out.

[ It’s out of reflexive politeness she offers; imposing in someone’s living space usually made them uncomfortable...the least she could think of was some kind of gift in exchange.

She also hated being indebted. ]

[profanation]

Oh, just keep me up to date on your findings, and if you jot any data down, let me read it? I'd like to keep abreast of what's being found out!

[ He really didn't need anything at present except the knowledge, after all. He didn't need to eat, so her cooking wouldn't have been in desperate demand even if it had been good. She was beautiful, but he didn't think of sex as much more than a sweetener, boosting the Chroma they could gain otherwise. And as for taking up his space... well, it wasn't like he used it much.

But people got so touchy about thinking there was nothing in it for them, as if the results of the favour were not useful enough on their own, half the time. So Ardyn audibly tutted as he thought, and then: ]

You can assist me with a Chroma boost when one is needed... and perhaps take me out for a nice glass of wine sometime.

Sounds fair?

[biotictouch]

[ Now she’s glad she settled for voice, a rusty red blush settling onto the tops of her ears, her cheeks. Intimacy has elluded her for literal years; even the briefest, casual amounts escaped her, she was married to her work. She put it out of her mind completely.

Well. As best she could. ]

Sounds entirely fair. I’m not certain I’ll publish anything, but any recorded journals are yours to review.

Thank you again, I’m sure that this will be an excellent foundation to a broader understanding of what exactly goes on here.

And a reasonable excuse to share wine and talk about work, but that’s niether here nor there.

[ Humor? From Moira? Get outta here. ]

[biotictouch]

[ She smirks, amusement obvious from the other side. ]

Hers are a little more elaborate. Like shutting down elevators, wiping backup drives, or locking doors from the outside.

[ There's not fondness there for Sombra, don't mistake that amusement for fondness or anything. Maybe a mote. ]

But she does her job incredibly well. So. She stays, despite her obsession with chaos.

My my. Over a hundred. How time is a fickle thing...[ A beat. ]

You know, now that I'm thinking about it. I thought your engineering expertise was impressive before; with context to technology in your era, it's more so.

You've not even breached the mobile phone yet, have you?