snowblindrpg | [network] @ADMIN; Arrival [open]

And you really lead a gang? What kind of gang? Are you a thief, or something worse?

You wanna deal, right? Let's deal. You tell me Winter's story about losing memories, and I'll tell you about my gang. Trade.

[Kesara thinks about this - or gives the impression of it at least - but not for too long.]

That's fair. [Don't sound too well-pleased, now.] Winter says that she used to be something called a strong AI. She had a body. At some point she died - that is - her body must've died, and now there's only a, a copy of her, a weak AI. She says the copy is missing memories.

I'm the leader of the Jewish gang; we run out of Camden Town. Not much thievery - we do illegal betting and rum-running, and protection. It's a nasty business - we have wars, we have disagreements, sometimes people die.

Does she know what the missing memories are?

Jews have gangs? [Well, she's learned something new today.]

She doesn't remember how she died - that's the queerest part. And she doesn't know what happened here. Or at least she says so.

Sure, most groups have gangs.

Do you believe her?

What other gangs are there? Which ones do you fight?

[She has to ponder this for a moment, and ponder whether she wants to give a straight answer.] Why ask me? I told you the tablet-computers were tricky for me to work.

Because I'm dealing with you right now, eh? You had an opinion before; I'm sure you still have one now.

Tell me, and I'll tell you about the best woman-only gang in London.

[Oh, bugger. He's caught her twice now. She wants him to want her opinion, and she really wants to hear about a woman-only gang.]

I think it's too convenient. It's just too convenient. I have information that you need, but oah, the best of it I don't remember! Perhaps if you do this thing or that for me? That's how it always goes. And she is Russian, though she says there's a truce now... [There he has it. But she has something extra yet.] But I'm the wrong one to ask. I know who knows about AIs.

[Damn, is he impressed with this girl. He won't assume she's right just because of that, but unless she's just parroting the adults around her - and he has a strong suspicion that she isn't - she's clearly thought this through. And the way she's playing this out to get more information from him, trading and dealing as if it's as natural as breathing... that's definitely not something that can be mindlessly imitated.]

The Forty Elephants are thieves. People are gonna underestimate a lady, yeah? So they go into crowded shops and steal things, and nobody's gonna want to search under a woman's clothes for stolen goods, even one they have good reason to suspect. They fake working papers, references, job histories, and get themselves hired as servants by the rich so they can steal what they can and take off. They are infamous, fearless, and shameless. If a shopkeeper spots an Elephant girl hanging about, there's widespread panic. Sometimes they'll all mob a store at once because they know the police can't catch them all. And don't think about trying to target the shops they've claimed if you aren't one of them - other thieves have got to pay them a tax for it, or they will be punished.

They've been around a very, very, very long time. They're smart and crafty about it. Organized. For every one that gets caught and thrown in prison, yeah, there's five more out on the streets. Police have been trying to stamp them out for fifty, sixty years, but it never works.

[He's not forgetting that he wants to ask who knows about AIs, but that can wait for a moment. He'll give her this one for free.]

[Kesara listens with rapt fascination - a good thing he can't see how her mouth falls open, though perhaps he could hear it in her breathing. This is more than just a good story. It's a glimpse into a world as wild and fanciful as Kabul or the Karakum Desert - a world of untold freedom and opportunity, from which she will always be very strictly forbidden.]

Women in London do that? [For herself, she may well have forgotten about the AI question, and her slippery position with this slippery, fascinating man. 1922, he said, fifty, sixty years... these Forty Elephants might already exist in her London, far beyond the sea.] And they fight the other gangs, like yours, the men's gangs? British ladies, white ladies - memsahibs - and everyone knows, and can't do a thing?

My people have never fought 'em, because we run in different circles, yeah? We deal with the pubs and warehouses, not clothing and jewelry shops. But they work with men, and they fight men. I once sat down at a table with a man whose brother they had kidnapped and held for ransom, years back.

It's about power. It's harder for women to get, but if they claw their way to it, they try that much harder to keep it. More at stake for them, if they lose it.

[This rings profoundly true. Kesara cannot conquer her amazement. She forgets herself and mumbles.] I thought London women were all ladies, all well-born and delicate and beautiful, I thought the women of white folk couldn't - that's why Dr. Stein had to come to India - no one ever told me! [She sounds a little outraged at this. For giving her this new insight, he has earned a few more answers at least.]

The person who I think knows the most about AIs is Ms. Angel. She's kind, but you mustn't cross her - she has a lot of friends, and some of them will gladly beat a man senseless for her.

Ms. Angel. All right.

[It's not a name he's heard come up yet, but he'll keep an eye out for her. And he also appreciates the warning - if he ever does decide to cross her for some reason, now he'll know what he'll be getting into.]

And you, what's your name?

Her name on the tablets is @guardian. I thought perhaps it was a joke, but it's hard to tell.

[Idle speculation as she ponders. Well, she has his name, and hers is not really a secret worth bargaining with. It hardly means anything to anyone.] Freamon. My name is Kesara Freamon.

Kesara Freamon, you are better at this than many grown men I have met. That takes talent. And if I should ever meet you in person, yeah, I would like to shake your hand.

Edited 2016-05-14 15:15 (UTC)

[Were it not much too ladylike a thing, Kesara could swoon. He'd like to shake her hand. A gangster from London would like to shake her hand. If Lao Dian could see her now!

Of course, if Dame Ariel saw her now, she's probably throw her out of the house.

She's sufficiently euphoric to shrug off that distressing thought. And, quite suddenly, enticed by a new idea.] Thank you, Mr. Solomons. I've had good teachers. I'm studying, see, to play the Game when I'm grown.

[That capital g in Game is almost audible. He thinks he has at least some idea of what she means by it, but he'll still ask:]

Is that what you call this, where you come from?

[It's a very capital g, and now she's decided she is going to go through with talking to him. Not trading information, but trailing it like a lure. He said she had talent after all.]

Oh, no. The Great Game is something else again. I won't steal money, no, or goods. I'm training to steal secrets.

A spy.

And I bet everybody underestimates you, don't they.

[It's the first time that someone has voiced that secret hope of hers - even Kain hadn't guessed it - and it sets her heart pounding. She is very focused now.]

You would too, sahib, if I hadn't let you see. [Calculated mischief in her voice.] Or wouldn't you? There is a lot I'm still learning.

I would have, yes.

[He has no problem admitting that.]

But you left a little clue, yeah? Right at the beginning.

[He's not really sure if she'd done it on purpose or not.]

A little. I was curious. I've - I've met people from London, but, all of them were officers and ladies. All well-born. I think... [She hesitates briefly.] I think I don't know London truly. I should like to know.

I should like to tell you. You should know more than just what goes on on the surface. Cities' underbellies are just as important, yeah, or more important.

More important. [This with intent. She knows what she wants, and she almost has it.] But stories aren't ever for free, yeah? Not even the stories you like telling.

[network] @ADMIN; Arrival [open]

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