Vol.4 Ch.5 – The Price Of A Name V
Chapter 5: The Price Of A Name V
Jeanne was shocked. Elaine wanted to talk to her. After everything that had happened, Elaine had still decided to extend an olive branch.
The gesture humbled Jeanne in a way she hadn't felt since her early days as part of the heavenly host. Not only had she shown a terrible side of herself to Elaine in their duel, she'd also shown an unprofessional and unbecoming side of herself right then. And even so Elaine, who should have her hands full with four lovers, with Abigail and especially with Aurora, had decided to come talk to her. It betrayed a strength of character that Jeanne herself was beginning to feel she lacked.
She had simply hidden away from Elaine like a coward, first by sending Prudence to the Siege of Ohio instead of going herself after performing the Oath of Crystal Tears with Elaine and Rachel and then by avoiding Elaine like the plague after the duel.
At the same time, Rachel had only just stopped wearing her pussy like a hand puppet so Jeanne truly did not feel up to the task of having a serious heart-to-heart with Elaine right then. So what she told the brunette was:
“If memory serves then room 14 in the west wing of the compound is still free. It's a bit out of the way from your other Shard Bearers but it's the closest that's still free.” She reached into her desk and fished out a key, though that was entirely unnecessary. The doors were electronic and unlocked themselves through the wearer's CARD so Aurora could just... Jeanne paused as she looked at the girl and noticed a distinct lack of CARD on her neck. “Oh, you don't even have a CARD yet.”
“CARD?” the girl asked, confused.
In response Jeanne, Rachel and Elaine all pulled their collars down and showed off the device they were wearing.
“Um, what does that do?” the girl asked uncertainly as she saw the devices. She seemed uncomfortable.
In response Rachel rushed to get out from behind the desk, loosening the top two buttons of her scrubs to better show off the device. “Don't worry, sweetheart, this is nothing like the choker Caulder made you wear. Here, you can even take it off whenever you don't want to wear it.” To demonstrate Rachel pulled the CARD off of her neck and let the girl examine it, which she did, tentatively. “It allows you to message your teammates and everyone else at the compound, lets you access both the internet and our intranet and it's basically required to access anything at the compound. Your room opens with it, the vending machines interface with it, the armor we'll give you interfaces with it. It's indispensable. But it doesn't restrict you in any way, doesn't tell you what to do.”
The girl seemed to relax at that last part.
“If you're uncomfortable with wearing it on your neck then there are other models, though we'd have to request them from Heaven. They can't simply be replicated as they need to be calibrated before use.”
“No, that's alright,” Aurora said. “So long as I know I can take it off I can wear one.”
Jeanne nodded, then went over to the rack that held the CARDs and picked out an appropriate size for the girl's slender throat. “Here you go. Elaine, can you help her get used to it later?”
“Absolutely,” Elaine said. From her expression and the tone of her voice Jeanne could tell that she hadn't missed the fact that Jeanne hadn't responded to her request yet.
“I think you'll be busy with Aurora and Mariana for the rest of the day so how about we have that talk tomorrow. I would very much like to talk to you as well.”
Elaine nodded at that. “That sounds good. I'll text you later then?”
“Please do,” Jeanne said.
**
“Did something happen between you two?” Aurora asked gently.
“A lot of stuff,” Elaine said. “She did something dumb, I did something dumb. I'm glad she wants to talk it out, too.”
“Ah,” Aurora said. She walked in silence for a while before she asked: “Are those two often like that...?”
Elaine chuckled. “This is the first time I've caught them doing that but yes, they are involved with each other in some way, but I don't know how exactly.”
“And you?” Aurora asked. “I don't mean to pry, but...”
“No, you absolutely should, or things'll get awkward real soon,” Elaine said. “I slept with both of them, at the same time, as part of a ritual called the Oath of Crystal Tears. That is part of why I'm so strong. And it's also part of the reason things are awkward between us.”
“Was it unpleasant?” Aurora asked. “Do you prefer being with men?”
Elaine laughed, long and hard, then hurried to reply before the girl could think she was laughing at her. “No, I almost exclusively sleep with girls. The issue is that... I don't know... It seemed like there was some real chemistry between the three of us but then Jeanne went and did something really stupid that really upset me. I reacted by doing something even stupider but... yeah...”
The girl nodded wisely, which looked incredibly cute on her.
“And, just so it doesn't cause misunderstandings later,” Elaine said, “I am dating Alexis, Ophelia, Evelyn and Cassie.”
“O-oh,” Aurora said timidly and Elaine wanted to cringe. Her tone wasn't judgmental, exactly, but it was perturbed. And then Elaine did cringe when Aurora asked: “Is this kind of relationship normal now?”
“No, it isn't,” Elaine admitted. “It works out for us, though.”
“Will you want me as part of this relationship as well?” Aurora asked, her tone neutral, giving Elaine nothing to work with.
Elaine considered her words carefully, then finally said: “You are gorgeous, Aurora, and I would be lying if I said I didn't find you attractive.” She paused to let the words sink in, then continued: “If you find yourself interested in me, then we can see if we work out. But I do not expect anything of you.”
Aurora gave her a soft nod and smiled. “Okay. I like you, Elaine. And I am more grateful to you than I could ever express. Now, even more so.”
Elaine gave her a soft smile back, then abruptly stopped. “Room 14,” she said.
Aurora came to a halt and stared at the door, then pulled out the little key Jeanne had given her and opened the door.
The room was bare, as all of them were by default. A bed, a desk, an office chair, an armchair and a little connected bathroom, with no decorations or anything else to break up the monotone gray. Aurora stepped into the room and it was as if her sheer presence infused the place with light and color, her butterfly wings and her turquoise hair breaking the light just right. In this nearly monochrome space the girl looked more gorgeous than she ever had.
“You're so beautiful,” Elaine muttered and she only realized that she'd spoken aloud when the girl started blushing, adding yet another color to the kaleidoscope.
“Th-thank you,” Aurora said quietly.
Elaine smiled, then pointed at the little box containing the CARD. “Should I help you with that?”
“Yes please.”
**
Helping Aurora get used to her CARD took Elaine the better part of an hour and by the end the girl not only understood how to use it, she had also visibly gotten used to the feeling of having it around her neck. She didn't really want to leave the girl alone yet but there was other stuff she had to do.
“Are you going to text Mariana later?” Aurora asked.
“That's the plan,” Elaine said.
“Then I don't want to keep you any longer.”
“You're not being a bother,” Elaine said. “And, while we're on the subject...”
The girl perked up.
“Don't hesitate to text or call me, okay?” Elaine said. “You can come over whenever you want, too. I'm in room 4 of the west wing, super close to the intersection.” The Awakeners had all been placed close to the center of the residential area, so that their Shard Bearers would have an easier time finding them.
Aurora raised an eyebrow. “If you have four girlfriends then I don't think coming over whenever I want is such a good idea.”
Elaine paused. Good point. But nothing that couldn't be fixed. A couple of times she'd seen that trick from girls she'd been with and what worked for college students in dorms would work for her. “Okay, then how about this: You can come into my room whenever you want, so long as there aren't any panties on the doorknob.”
“Okay,” Aurora said dubiously.
“I mean it,” Elaine said. “I want you to feel as comfortable as possible.”
The girl paused at that.
“Something wrong?” Elaine asked instantly.
“I... maybe,” Aurora admitted. “When you were talking about the CARD interfacing with Project Divinity's vehicles I remembered something.”
Elaine looked at her.
“When 202 and I lured you to that abandoned building you took care of the other cyborgs, right?”
“Right,” Elaine said, not sure if she should be proud of that. The cyborg dog, 202, had apparently been a real person rather than a lobotomized vat-grown clone before, so maybe the others had...
“Good,” Aurora said with genuine relief in her voice, calming Elaine down. “Did you take out our vehicle, too?”
“Vehicle?” Elaine asked.
“We arrived in a vehicle,” Aurora explained. “It's camouflaged so I'm not surprised you didn't notice it.”
“We used an EMP blast to shut down your implant so that camouflage should have broken,” Elaine said dubiously.
“It's not the kind of vehicle that runs on electronics...” Aurora said quietly.
Elaine scrunched up her face. She'd seen Caulder's more visceral creations firsthand.
“If it isn't too much work,” Aurora said hesitantly, “would you accompany me tomorrow, so that we can put it out of its misery?”
“Of course,” Elaine said instantly, then considered. “Would you be alright with taking Jeanne along?”
“Absolutely.”
**
And so Elaine left Aurora's room, already sending a message to Jeanne.
The reply came almost instantly.
Elaine nodded, glad to have gotten that out of the way, then sent another message to Mariana.
It took a moment for the message to get marked as read, then a couple more for it to show the “Replying...” text, and then, almost instantly, the message appeared.