Flashback Circuit Breaker

Sune

Sune

Grumpy Badger
Moderator
Benefactor
Developer
Location
Dev's apartment
Music blared loudly from the speakers as the man worked, the lights dim in the room except for the bench light that shown over multiple bits and bops spread across the table. Dev was hunkered over his desk with the drones he'd snitched from some boxes he'd seen being moved around earlier by some of the pack. They'd more than likely never use them. It seemed more than half the pack was more rush in and bust down the door first, ask questions later sorts anyway.

Drones were for intel, getting eyes in the area without making yourself known. They could be weapons, many drones were modified to carry small weapons or laser pointers for other things. They were great tools net hacking too, if modified correctly. You could use it to pull information, or use it as an interference and jam a small area while being mobile. It ate the battery though.

Dev could use these better than anyone else in the pack would have, if they even took them out of the pack.

He sighed and leaned back as he finished soldering on the modifications on, and turned to his computer to start inputting code for the jammer.
 
"Y'know, I kind of miss rappelling down from the roof and kicking the windows in. Baron used to do that, back when we did fun stuff together." Rheta calmly pushed the button for the elevator, leaning back against the wall beside the doors and waiting patiently for the ding. "They had to be pretty cheap ass windows for me to kick them in, but he was good at it. I bet this place has cheap ass windows."

The elevator, unbothered by this line of conversation, met them with a pleasant ding and an opening of doors. Rhetta gave Ziessel the nod to go ahead in, keeping watch over the area outside the doors. There wasn't a lot of competition for the elevator, but that was either the cut or the hour, or some combination of those things. She and Ziessel had been dispatched on Baron's orders to not kick the window in, unfortunately, but to go have a chat with one Devon Lecroix, who either had no idea what he was messing with, or was prone to very bad decisions. Given that it was possible that he was just a fucking idiot, Baron had sent Ziessel along to talk some sense into him - and given that it was possible that he was a different sort of fucking idiot, Rhetta was along for... not a lot of talking, probably.

That might have been why she was doing so much of it on the way - though Sel knew her well enough to know that Rhetta rarely had just one reason for anything. They'd parked their bikes a couple blocks away and walked from there. It was a nice night for it - cool, crisp, and just right for kicking in windows. Kind of a shame.

She nudged the button for the 4th floor, which was where his apartment was, and then all the buttons for every floor above that, so that if there was anyone else who wanted to have a go, they could sit around waiting for the elevator for a long while, or take the stairs, or kick in the windows.

"Don't get me wrong, I think he has some really interesting ideas. Kinda makes you curious where we'll be in five years, you know? But, on the other hand, you leave too many windows unkicked and you start getting property values going up and gentrification and all that and then no one can afford an apartment, even one that's as much of a shithole as this. I kinda like it, actually. It's got that urban desperation vibe."

The elevator announced the fourth floor, and Rhetta moved out into the hallway, bracing the door from closing for long enough to get a look around, then let Sel out as well. The walls weren't that thick, and the music blaring through the hallways undoubtedly pissing off the neighbors was coming from the apartment they were heading towards. Of course it was. It would keep them from knowing if someone else was about to sneak up on them, unfortunately.

Rhetta didn't bother knocking, just stared at the door for a moment, then pulled out a knife and jammed it in, giving it a little wiggle that ruined the cheap lock and let her push the door open to whatever was inside, leaning back against the frame.

"All yours," she said cheerfully. At least, Devon could hope he was all Ziessel's - because if part of him was gonna be Rhetta's, she'd have to decide which part, and there were just so many to choose from.
 
As (not) fun as it sounded, Ziessel was pretty sure she had never rapelled from a roof to kick in subpar windows. It was fun to imagine Baron doing it, though. But not enough to improve her mood. She was what she'd describe as severely annoyed by having to come find Devon and what he had stolen from the pack. It was disappointing that he had even tried. And she would rather be back with them, continueing to do inventory of their available resources instead of visiting an unruly not-quite-teenager with bad taste in music.

On their way there she let Rhetta take charge of the conversation, partaking with little noises. She was interested, and she was listening. But why chip in when her friend was perfectly capable of keeping it up by herself?.

"Thanks dear." She whispered, a term she used casually and often for pretty much anyone in the pack. They made their way into Devon's apartment, Ziessel disapproved of it in general. From the music to his taste in other things they could see. But that was mostly personal preference. She noted that the windows they saw on their way to the origin of the music, did look -cheap ass-. He wasn't hard to locate, and Rhetta and herself were quiet enough to catch him in the act. So Ziessel snapped a picture with her phone on silent before anything else.

What he lacked in taste for decor and music, he seemed to have in ability to tinker and code though. What made a little twinkle lit up in her eyes. She knocked twice, sharply, on the doorframe before speaking.

"Devon dear, can you turn down the music a bit?" She said, standing at the door with Rhetta and purposefully blocking his way out. Other than the cheap ass window.
 
Despite some unpopular opinion of the older population in the room, Dev's taste in music was peak metal techno.

Still, he had not heard them enter his room. He jumped about two feet, spinning to face them both with amber eyes as he growled threateningly at the intruders. Not that he was threatening. Or able to defend himself more than just cover his head from punches. Still, he was ready to fight-

Until he realized who it was, and he very quickly felt the growl catch behind the lump in his throat. Very carefully he reached one finger towards his computer and pressed a single button, which stopped his music altogether.

He stared between Ziessel and Rhetta, eyes wide and unwilling to move. Ziessel was known for her intel and usefulness in the pack. Rhetta? Dev knew better to make a single solitary move against either of them while Rhetta was there.

He swallowed hard before raising a single hand to wave at the pair.

"Hi." He squeaked, his voice immediately cracking. Smooth.
 
"Hi." Rhetta waved back, or at least made a motion with her hand. Somehow, it never went anywhere that would have left an opening. Her tone was pleasant, though, almost cheerful.

"You're kinda jumpy for someone who's been watching us on the camera since we got in the building." He knew who they were, too, which either meant he'd done his homework already or he'd taken the time to look them up in the last few minutes. He'd had time. She'd made sure of it, and she'd made sure to give him enough to go on, just in case.

She supposed it was remotely possible that he didn't actually have a camera setup, but that would have been disappointing, and Sel was already disappointed in his taste in music, so there was a question of how many people he could really afford to disappoint in one night. Her guesses might have been purely conjecture, but sometimes it was just a matter of throwing shit at a wall to see what stuck. Besides... if you'd gone through all the trouble of setting things up, it'd be a shame not to have people realize that was what you'd been doing.

She gave him a smile, and tiny little tilt of her head for just an instant that somehow managed to put people in the mind of a wink, though she'd never actually taken her eyes off anything.

"How's the audio feed from the elevator?"
 
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What was Rhetta talking about? Dev had clearly had no idea they were coming. Or they wouldn't have caught him right in the act... Unless she had seen something that escaped Ziessel's perception in the elevator and chosen not to mention it?, which was unlikely. She didn't let the uncertainty show on her face. And also didn't bother with pointless greetings. She frowned at Dev. Giving him a very Disappointed mother look. A well known ability mastered by parents and guardians everywhere that they never forgot how to use.

"Go on then, explain yourself. Use your words." She said. Because at least until now she had thought him smart enough not to pull shit like this for -shits and giggles-. He was clearly doing something with the drones. The question was, was is for himself? a personal pet project? was it supposed to be for the pack but he got too excited and forgot basic manners aka asking first?, or was it for someone else, a betrayal?. The last option meant Rhetta would be taking over the questioning, with her preferred methods. Ziessel could, however, work with the first two.
 
Dev's espession fell, his bewildered expression turning to one of annoyed boredom. He locked his gaze with Rhetta for an uncomfortable amount of time in silence. "You could have at least pretended. God, make it like this big reveal that I'm some evil genius or something." He sighed dramatically before pulling one of the two monitors that were on arms forward and turned down the volume on the speakers.

A minute later, the pair would be watching themselves from the time they entered the building, until they entered his room, Rhetta hearing herself repeat the about missing breaking windows.

"I appreciate you left my windows unbashed." He said, folding his arms across his chest. "I'm afraid your drones aren't ready yet though. I've only got two of the 5 modified. One is programmed to be a surveillance drone, and will follow at a distance specified. Within its receiver though. I've not figured out how to get it to accept commands from your phone yet.." He muttered.
 
Thought so. The Bloodstones didn't put people in for Enforcer unless they were able to be pretty good at assessing a situation with minimal information provided. For some of them, that meant being really fucking good at cold reads. For others, it was about getting that information as quickly as possible, in one of a myriad of ways. For Rhetta, it had usually been about taking what little information she did have about the situation and using all those tiny, easy-to-overlook details to give her a better picture of things than people expected her to have.

Details, in this case, like that Dev was a computer geek, and one who was good enough at it to be of interest to the Pack in the first place. Details like that he'd swiped drones and not some other computer bit. Peripherals were the easiest to sell off, hardware could have meant anything, but drones meant he had a plan for them, and that usually went hand-in-hand with surveillance. You didn't start doing that if you weren't already a paranoid fucker watching everything around you.

Rhetta checked the hallway again, then the expanse beyond the window, trusting Ziessel to have an eye on their guest.

Technically, they were his guests, since it was his apartment and all, but somehow it always felt like the other way around. She'd noticed he'd already backed down to your drones as if he had definitely been planning on handing them over all along. Five, hm? Her gaze shifted through the parts on his desk, tallying to see if the numbers added up.

Well, she'd let Sel handle him, since he was being so polite now and everything. Like a kid who'd got caught being a stupid little shit - maybe he'd be in the right frame of mind to cooperate, and Ziessel was good with stupid little shits; experience garnered from the fact that she'd gone and had three of them.

Kid had kind of a ways to go if he wanted to get to evil genius, though. She'd put him at 'mildly rebellious and smarter than most but too used to being the smart one,' at best. That was probably better, though. Baron could use that sort of thing. She didn't know if he had any slots open for 'evil genius.' Maybe she'd ask him.
 
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While her expression continued to be unreadable, Ziessel felt hot, hellish anger inside. It didn't get past her throat, it didn't blaze into her eyes. Maybe Rhetta could tell how angry she really was, because she had to take a minute to calm down before she answered. Part of it was towards herself, for underestimating Devon. Most of it was towards him though. For skipping protocols and steps, for being young and reckless, and for using his abilities for bullshit. If he was doing this, what could he be doing instead? if only he had FUCKING. ASKED. FIRST. So she took a minute, didn't grit her teeth and just sighed.

"I don't care what your intentions were. To return them, or to get away with it and tweak them to sell them online. You've chosen to steal from the pack, so your words mean less than shit. And because you have, in fact, stolen from the pack... I should just leave you here with Rhetta, test how many kicks your knees can take. Or something else, a lot more creative than anything I could come up with." She growled softly and took a couple of steps forwards before she continued her sort of speech.

"I also don't care for your teenage antics and delusions of grandeur. Right now you are acting like a ratty thief instead of a wolf. We're taking the drones, as they are. You can hand them over as a show of good faith, or we can take them by force. Then you'll deal with the consequences... And when you're ready to act like a grown up wolf, you can come to me, or to Salem, or to Baron himself if you prefer. We will figure out the best use for your ideas and skills, so they match the current needs of the pack. And we will put you to work. Trust me when I say you will have plenty to do." She tilted her head lightly to the side, looking at him in the eye. "So... what is it going to be?"
 
Sel may be able to hide her anger, but the teenager wasn't as practiced. He picked up a box of 3 still in their boxes drones, and one completely modified drone and slammed it down on the desk. He then picked up the parts for the other one, shoving them into its box rather aggressively and haphazardly, and then half tossed it on the desk too. He shoved the monitor back against the wall, grabbed his headset.

"You act as though I went sneaking through the fucking store house and snitched them. No one fucking cares what I can do. They only fucking care on what I can't do. " He growled back before flopping aggressively on his bed. "Dev can't lift a box without getting winded. Dev can't fucking shoot a target to save his life. Dev can't do what he's actually fucking good at." He half shouted.

"So yes, when I was told to move boxes for the literal millionth time, I came across those drones. I didn't fucking steal them. I decided to do something I'm fucking good at, something that might actually be of fucking use to the pack instead of me being a pack mule. I didn't ask because the last twenty times I've tried I get fucking box duty because obviously I'm not busy enough if I've got time to 'twiddle my dick' with my toys. Instead, I get fucking acused of being a rat and a thief!"

By the time he was done, he was fully shouting. He glared at the pair of them for a moment before flipping over to his side and shoving his headphones on, the music immediately blaring in his ears.
 
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The outburst immediately reminded Ziessel of her three human pups, at the same time. Sonia and Keith had been particularly fond of moody outbursts like these. They had frequented therapy, all of them separately and sometimes together, to figure out how to handle it as best as they could. At Gabriel's insistence mostly. Seeing him screaming and suffering... She frowned, expressing for the first time since they arrived, the smallest bit of emotion. He didn't see it though. And he also wasn't her son to educate. But he was a pup, part of the pack. So she sighed softly, debating internally how to proceed.

It wasn't good to be reactionary and shout back. They weren't going to solve anything that way. But ignoring it would only let the frustration grow and fester. Slowly, she came closer and tapped on his headphone twice with her finger. Her nails were long enough to make a bit of noise against it. Then she pushed it the smallest bit to uncover part of his ear. This was likely to be either surprising enough to get a response of stunned silence or... The Ultimate Offense.

"...Are you done? Did you get It all out of your system or do you need to shout some more?" She said softly, in a practiced, gentle tone. But not enough to make him feel babied or mocked. It was meant as a serious question.
 
Dev was pissed off. That wasn't surprising. Rhetta dealt with a lot of pissed off people. Of course, he was also young. Passionate, desperate to prove himself, tired of being held back or feeling held back, angry at everything and mostly himself, probably. She'd been a teenager. She remembered. That didn't mean she had any fucking clue what to do about it. Rhetta wasn't a kids person. Fortunately, her mother's version of The Talk had included a lot of personalized practical advice, like 'Your regeneration is strong enough that if you just cut everything out within forty-eight hours and shift to repair the damage, you'll be fine.'

Fortunately Ziessel hadn't gotten the same talk.

No, that was amusing but inaccurate. Ziessel had actually wanted kids. And, for some reason, people thought Rhetta was the crazy one.

Or maybe it would be different, with the right person. Fuck if she knew anything about that. For now she just stayed where she was, giving Ziessel the space to go ahead and do whatever it was she was going to do to talk some sense into the kid. Hopefully he was listening. She scanned the hallway again, just to make sure.

"Just because you're good at something doesn't mean it's what the Pack needs right now," she offered, quietly. This was either conciliatory, because it noted the fact that Dev really did have some useful skills, but sometimes the Pack just needed people to move some boxes - or it was terrifying, because it brought to mind the things that Rhetta was good at, and wasn't doing right now, so to speak. Which one Dev thought she'd meant was entirely up to him, though.

Ziessel knew her well enough to know it was both.
 
Dev didn't immediately respond, but looked terribly offended she pulled his headphone off his ear. She got the most intense stare down the teen could muster before he sat back up and sat on the edge of the bed. "What's the point of it anyway. No matter what, I don't get listened to." He grumped.

He eyed Rhetta in the doorway. He knew her and what history he could find on her anyway. Not that Sel couldn't just turn him over her knee if she wanted to, but Rhetta in particular was... Fightening.

"I just want to be useful. I'm not useful falling down the stairs because I struggle to move boxes of booze down the stairs at the Den." He looked to Sel. "I just want to help. But I guess if they sent the pair of you, I'm basically kicked out of the pack?" He said, sounding actually disheartened. "Or what's the standard protocol of being labelled a thief in pack rules?"
 
"If you were getting kicked out of the Pack, it'd be Baron here, not us." He wasn't the sort to leave that job to others. If someone had done something that warranted getting kicked out of the Bloodstones, Baron would have been there personally to see it through. Probably with backup, sure - he wasn't a fucking moron - but he'd have been here.

Baron also believed in the idea of giving shit-for-brains teenagers second chances, though, which was why they were having this conversation.

"Moving boxes strengthens your arms and back and legs," Rhetta added, explaining the basics. "That sort of strength is important to everyone in the Pack, because if something happens, you've got to be able to do something about it - even if that something is surviving long enough to get to someone else. It's also a job that people do together, for the Pack, which strengthens reliance on each other and interpersonal relationships."

It seemed obvious, but she'd also had psychology drilled into her from the earliest days, just as much as she'd had fighting. Pack loyalty was important, and finding ways to foster that was part of what made it work.

"I guess the protocol depends entirely on whether you want to be a thief, or whether you want to be an overzealous moron who thinks he knows better than Baron, doesn't it?"
 
Once again, Ziessel was reminded that she should start a betting pool on how long it would take Rhetta to inevitable bring up Baron in conversation. This time it wasn't completely out of the blue however, so she didn't comment on it. She was glad that Dev was more calm after his little tantrum though, and that he seemed to really care about belonging to the pack. So she took a couple of steps back, leaving him his space. She brought her arms behind her back and held them there in a relaxed but firm posture.

"Box duty is inevitable, everyone gets it. Even Salem or Ragenard sometimes. You're going to get more of it though, until you can reliably move them by yourself. Precisely because you need to build strength like Rhetta said" She said, well aware It wasn't that he would want to hear. At all. It was fair though, she had also hated box duty until she could do it more easily. Now it was just crime podcast time.

"But like Rhetta said, you aren't out. You're still getting box duty, but we also hear you. And I can personally see you have the interest and the ability to pull forward amazing projects like this." She said, with a generic gesture in the direction of the drones. "So we'll keep the box duty, but also bring you into Salem and I's projects. And if you demonstrate enough discipline, eventually you'll be doing barely any box duty because we will make good use of your other skills. Understood, Devon?" She said, looking at him. She was no longer frowning, and her expression was as pleasant as it got when she wasn't in the exclusive company of her three or four close friends.
 
He listened to Rhetta, making a face. Strengthen him up, make him stronger. That's what they all said. Teamwork, fine. He agreed that it had helped some with his.. Social issues. But strength? It never seemed to get any better. He also wasn't sure how to answer her question at the end, it felt like a trap no matter what he answered.

He seemed to grow more discouraged when Ziessel confirmed that he'd still continue moving boxes around for the pack. He was beginning to question what was he even doing here when she brought up the possibility of joining her and Salem for stuff. "R-really..? You mean it?" He asked, seeming like there was some hope to be had. "Even if I can do stuff like this sometimes, you won't hear me complain about moving boxes again. I swear to the matrix you won't. Do you really promise?"

... He actually was giving her puppy-eyes.
 
His big, adorable expression somehow made her drop her eternal poker face. Ziessel's eyes widened and she frowned. For a fraction of a second she could have sworn... It was like superposing two identical images. Devon was here, now. Keith had looked exactly like this, more than twenty years ago. His pleading expression, the one he made when he wanted to bring the entire family along for a horror movie. Even though they scared Sonia and Gabriel, and Ziessel tended to fall asleep halfway through
When he wanted to be allowed out past their curfew, or to go to a particularly saucy party. When they let him go away to university. Ohhh fuck. She gulped, and looked away. She had to blink the tears away, but hopefully the others hadn't noticed. It happened very fast.

"O-of course dear. I promise. And Rhett's can tell you I never go back on my word." She said, softer than before. The entirety of her was softer, actually. Stripped of the armour she always wore, that she had to wear. She smiled softly down at him.

"You should come with us, help bring these back. They will value it a lot more, and, um, they will know you didn't just stay here sulking about getting caught." She didn't specify who they was. She would. Salem... Would, probably. Baron and Ragenard... We're likely to appreciate his sincerity. Deep down. Agh. She had to pull herself the fuck together.
 
He'd seen a way out, and gone for it. Smart little shitweasel. Rhetta respected that. He'd drawn Ziessel in to his escape plans, though, which was...

...Ziessel's decision.

"She won't go back on her word," Rhetta confirmed, very quietly. Her eyes had moved for a moment, now targeting her friend rather than the exterior. "And if that becomes a problem for the Pack, I will deal with it."

Her eyes moved again, without a single tremor of uncertainty, resting on Dev, as much a knife as any that she could have drawn.

"I hope you understand what that means, and what she's offering for you."
 
He was about to hug Ziessel, truly wanted to hug her in thanks. However, the look that Rhetta had given nailed him to where he stood. He could feel himself swallow hard, truly this time. "Understood." He answered Rhetta, no bones about it. Not even sass. He knew when he was toeing a line and when not to cross it.

He was pretty sure she'd end him faster than the span of his latency of his internet.

"Thank you for this opportunity. I won't let you down." He went to gather the boxes more carefully this time, keeping an eye over his shoulder at Rhetta the entire time. Seemed he was intent to carry those boxes back to where he found them.
 
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