Shadowrun General > Fan fiction
Pananagutan -- A Limited-Ongoing Tale
The Wyrm Ouroboros:
---
"Honest, I don't know anything about you people!!"
The plump homemaker gave a cynical smile, tapping a couple more keys on the console seated on the kitchen counter. "Another thing a Japanese spy would say."
"So me being an elf doesn't do anything either?"
"Just makes you a traitor as well as a spy, dear. Lift your chin a little, this thing's a bit glitchy when it comes to targeting for the retinal scan." She caught Talim's glance towards the pistol, and twitched it slightly. "No sense in that, dear. My reflex boosters may be a few generations old, but we've kept them in top condition, and I'll put them against any shop-new wires you have. Now sit still, and we can find out who you really are."
Talim's face set as the thread-thin low-level lasers flitted their way over her eyes. She knew with a sinking in her stomach that the moment the woman connected to the SIN database, it would be all over. Shiawase would be alerted to her location and send another kill-squad; maybe two this time, since she'd taken one out already. And as soon as her identity as a born Shiawase citizen popped up on her console, this Maria woman would open fire. Sending a silent prayer to the kami of luck, Talim tensed her body, ready to move as soon as the console chirped 'identity found'.
"Maria? Talim? Where are you?" Aswang's combat boots clomped against the tile floor of the living room next door, then moved towards the kitchen in which the two faced each other.
"It's all right, Javier," Maria told the young ork as he appeared behind Talim. "Retinal scan is in and running, we'll find out in a moment where our little spy is really from."
"Maria, come on, you don't really think Mahirap -"
"Has been known to have a soft spot from time to time. DON'T," the pistol rose with cybernetically-enhanced speed to full extension, into the direct line between a pair of human eyes and a pair of elven, "try to get in the way, Javier."
"Honest, Maria. It's okay. She's been vouched for." Aswang brought his hand up to Talim's shoulder, slowly gripping.
"Mmm-hmm. That's what they say." The console chirped, but Talim's pre-planned surge was halted by Aswang's grip. "Javier, move away from her. She's a Shiawase plant."
"She's a Shiawase escapee, Maria. They're gunning for her."
"So she says, Javier. Now move, or you're going to get dirty."
"So Uri says, Maria."
The increase in pressure the housewife had been applying to the trigger halted, though her concentration never wavered from her target. "She tell you that?"
"No, Mahirap told me that." His grip eased Talim back from the kitchen counter, enabling him to move between her and the gun. "Do you really think Mahirap got blinkered by someone claiming Uri told them to tell him something?"
"Well ... " Maria trailed off, her concentration wavering, then decided, "there's always a first time." The muzzle shifted for a shot past the solid ork.
"That's my wife," came David's amused voice as he stepped in behind Aswang. "Paranoia is her middle name."
"David ..." Maria's voice held warning.
"Relax, Maria. I contacted Uri; she's good. Or do you want to talk to him yourself??"
The matron held the pistol in a shooter's grip for a moment more, then sighed, lowering the weapon. "No, I suppose not. Sorry - Talim, was it? David is a valuable resource, and we'd hate to lose him."
"So I gathered," responded the elf, still sheltered by Aswang's mass and looking back at the man - ork - in question, her hands close in against her body. "Is she always like this?"
"And I wouldn't ever want her to change," replied David stoutly. "Saved my life more than a few times. Maria, is that marranitos I smell?"
"Yes, dear." The pistol vanished into whatever belly holster she kept it in and Maria became the busy housewife once more, moving to the oven to peek through the window. "They'll be ready in a few minutes."
"Wonderful. Shall we adjourn to the living room?"
"Not yet, dear." The razorgirl-turned-housewife straightened. "Talim and I have a few things to talk over."
"What, right now?"
Maria eyed him from her spot by the oven. "You're picking up back habits. Go away, dear. Both of you."
Aswang and David exchanged baffled glances, then David withdrew; Aswang shifted and looked down at Talim, his eyebrows raised. "You okay with this?"
She gave him a brief smile, lifting a hand to his shoulder while under the cover of his body drew her own weapon from her shoulder holster before moving it behind her back. "Yeah. I'm good with it."
He gave a snort of laughter. "Play nice, Talim."
"I will if she will. You go have a talk, and I'll see what Paranoia Lady has to say."
He shook his head, and headed back out the way he came, and Talim shifted her gaze back to Maria, who was cleaning up the last of her baking mess. "So?"
"Your profile said you recently bore a child?"
Talim blinked. What was this about? "That is correct."
The woman glanced up from the dishes she was filling the sink for. "Only a couple months ago?"
"Seven weeks, yes." She shifted slightly, her hand flexing slightly on the grip of her weapon.
"Still nursing?" Maria turned off the water, then moved to check the breadlike cookies in the oven.
Talim blinked. Where was she going with this? "I ... was, yes."
"But you left the babe behind, of course. Who's caring for it?"
She hesitated for a moment, then figured that Maria probably wouldn't try to use Tamako against her; she'd kill the woman if she tried, though. "Nadia, Suno and Yelo's sister."
"How are you handling the pressure? Hand-milking?"
"I'm sorry?"
Maria beamed, her face transformed into a plump Filipino Madonna by it. "You must still be producing milk," she said, taking the soft pig-shaped molasses gingerbread treats out of the oven and moving over to the counter, transferring them from baking pan to cooling rack. "How are you giving it? Do you even have a pump?"
Talim blinked again, surprised by the change in the woman's attitude. "I ... no, I don't."
"Mmm, so by hand. If you like, I can give you a breast pump - and pouches, if you want to save it, but without refrigeration that won't do you much good. Hmm ... if you're okay with it, I know a few women along the way who could use a wet nurse for a day or so. It would keep you giving until you get back to your own baby."
"I ... that's ... very kind of you."
"Well, maybe it helps make it up to you for the little scene earlier ... Suki."
Talim's face blanched. The report. Shiawase. "I have to go. Shiawase -"
"Doesn't know you're here, dear. Give the Huk some credit for competence; the address for this comm gets generated every hour. Right now, if they tracked that inquiry, they'll be looking for you in ..." She paused to look at the Matrix addres. "Hah. Xinhua, right now. Back to the topic, though. There's another method available too, though. Have you thought about, mmm, the pleasures of mature companionship?"
Her head spinning, Talim reached out for a stool and sat down hard. "What??"
Maria smiled sideways at her. "Aswang likes you. And believe me, girl, orks obsess over a good pair of tits ..."
Thanael:
*slow clap* That was an awesome read.
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