Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Koreshi Chronicles - Chapter V : Making sense

No matter how he replayed the conversation in his mind, Lukas couldn't change the outcome.

He had been surprised by the empty warehouse, shocked by Ti's decision, and disappointed in his own ability to make things happen differently.  Lukas had failed, and, worse, he wasn't sure about how or why.

Ti had given some clues; he'd said something about "side activities", being "gullible", and, of course, "trust".  Ti had found something, or put something together, that had shaken his faith in the siblings in a way that Lukas' insubordination and their outside missions never had.  Even accusing Ti of holding out on them had not produced the expected result.

Ti was behaving very irrationally, and not in the usually predictable way he tended to act irrationally.

Lukas shook his head.  No, not even the romance with Lyta could account for this situation.  Something had changed.

---

It felt weird to be acting as if Ti might attack their accounts, but Lukas had learned long ago that it was better to be safe than sorry.  Closing the deposit account and manually carrying the money to new banks over the next few days was a low tech solution that ensured anonymity.

It had crossed his mind to shoot Ti in the warehouse.  He would keep that to himself, though Todd would probably understand.  Detachment was necessary in this business, and Lukas had kept his eye on the goal from the every beginning of their association with Ti Corovan.

Lukas was confident that even with his shaken trust, Ti would not have seen it coming, and Lukas knew he was faster on the draw.  Ti had ended their formal contract, after all, and, given the kind of work they did, and how dangerous Ti and his Kin were, it would have been prudent.

But, on the other hand, Ti had not tried to shoot him, and his Kin had not been lying in wait to ambush him.  That seemed foolish on Ti's part, given his apparent suspicions.  Lukas knew that Ti respected, perhaps even feared, his own capabilities.  So why hadn't Ti killed him?

And why had Lukas not killed Ti?

Curious.

---

Lyta was part of it, Lukas decided.  She might have found out, and explaining what actually had happened was going to be hard enough, let alone accounting for some sort of shoot-out.  And Ti could obviously never advance a romantic agenda if he killed Lukas or Todd, or, obviously, Lyta, so he must still be planning something there.  That brightened the picture considerably.

Ti would come back, Lukas decided, nodding at the infallibility of his logic.

And Lukas found that made him happy.  He liked and respected Ti, despite his obvious, ideologically driven shortcomings.  Seeing him some time in the future would be good.  Lukas knew he'd be able to figure out a way to explain whatever Ti had found, provided they didn't end up shooting at each other in the meantime.

That settled, Lukas began preparing for the imminent conversation with Lyta.  He would have to frame Ti's dismissal just the right way, taking care to omit his own failure to explain the siblings' situation.  There was nothing to be done now about the past, but the future--that could still be rewritten.


Heavy Gear Roleplaying Game

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