Minerva peered around Alex at Chrys. Her eyes scanned over the extremely tall woman before she answered, with a hint of excitement in her tone, "Lexi and I grew up together. We even shared a room with his brother at one point, when the orphanage was really crowded."
After a moment's more hug, Minerva seperated herself from Alex and stuck out a hand to Chrys. "Minnie Ipps, Owner and operator!" She proclaimed.
"Oh great! PLeased to meet you." Chrys said and smiled. She noticed the mention of Orphanage and looked at Alex, seeking how he react to some of his past being revealed. "Well we came to shop, but we can of course talk while we do that." Chrys said with cheerful smile.
Alex lifted up his hands to dust the Minerva off of his coat. He was only a few strokes into this act when Minerva crushed him in another powerful hug. The mathematician grunted in frustration and asked, "Minerva, where is Tillman? Why do you own this place now?"
"Tillman died last year, Alex." She said, backing up just enough to meet his gaze, "Left the store to me, since I've been working here since you went off to fight in the war all those years ago."
Alex frowned. "So the old man is dead, now. I had estimated another five years for him."
Lucas chimed in with, "So what about the stuff, then?"
"Ah yes," Alex said, "Minerva, do you have any fertilizer here?"
Minerva frowned. "No one really does any gardening around here... So, no."
"How about explosvies." Chrys asked aloud. She did not really care much about secrecy and all that. That girl is from around, if she did not own any of the black market things, which she most likely did, she knew where to get it.
"Miss Chronus!" Alex snapped back, "Do you care nothing for secrecy?! Ugh. Yes, we are trying to make explosives."
Minerva frowned deeper. "For what, Lexi?"
"It'S Chronis," Chrys jumped in. "I thought you know this woman and even if you could not trust her ti changes nothing. We don't have much time. So yeah I care nothing for secrecry. Are you going to tell her what we will blow up or should I?" She said with frown in her face.
"We keep our actions a secret not just for our safety. At this rate, we're going to have to take both her and the street vendor woman back to the ship with us, lest they be taken in the night." Alex explained. "We can't just bring the entire city aboard the submarine, can we?"
"That would happen anyway Stalker and you know it." Chrys said. "If we are followed, they would take them just for spending time with us. Her-" she pointed to Minerva. "Just for hugging you. It is clear she knows you, which means Misshu bastars will want her. Thought of that Calculator head?"
"She's right, Alex." Lucas agreed, nodding his head in a sagely manner with his eyes narrowed. "We have to take her back now, by your rules."
Nika watched the display of friendship with disinterest, only discerning that things were not as the travelers originally thought. Still hidden, it became apparent that this Alex intended to make a bang given the fertilizer and what that tall girl said . Nika pondered whether to make money off of this or return home. Feeling that the opportunity was ripe for being made awkward Nika stepped into view. "Well maybe not whole city, but leave my room open as I will be joining." Nika said with a grin.
"You guys are fighting the Mishu?" Minerva said, clutching at Alex's arm, "You should take her with you then. That lady was selling some weapons the other day just down the street from here."
"It's not like that, Minerva." Alex said, "We don't just take gun vendors off the street and-"
"What about Alexis?" Lucas interrupted.
"Shut up. Damnit. Okay, I need to think." Alex straightened his lapel. "Can I go look at the ocular implants, Minerva? While you stay here? I need to be alone."
Without waiting for an answer, Alex roughly seperated himself from Minerva and moved towards the back. Lucas sighed and shook his head. "Poor Alex. He thinks everyone is gonna be like him."
Nika lit a cigarette in the store while everyone bickered.
Chrys looked a vendor that came in with them. THat woman agreed all too happily. SHe might be a misshu spy really. That woman approached them, got them into talking. She might be playing them. Or. Or Chryst just might be awfully paranoid. Every Nepleslian should jump happily at the cause of killing MIsshu.
"I am sorry we dragged you two into this." She told , truning her head to Minerva.
Minerva shook her head sharply. "It's great! I'll get to live with Alex again?"
Lucas groaned, "Yeah, but it's more than that, lady."
"By the way Eyepatch... I am not simple gun vendor... I sell trinkets too." Nika said in cold seriousness.
"Well Welcome aboard you two. But be prepared for live on a Submarine. It can get little crowded." Chrys said, but then she looks at Lucas adn said. "Unless you have place where you can escape too."
"I tend to be able to find small places of escaping, anyway. Besides, I have had to deal with far worse." Nika shrugged.
"What all exactly is it that you do?" Lucas asked. He leaned forward enough to not be towering high over Nika as he waited for her answer. In the back, Alex could be heard shuffling through the piles of implants that were under the counter.
"Why, I sell toys and the like, my boy... what does look like?" Nika replied.
"Uh..." Lucas squinted at the response. "Yeah, I get that. Um... But why do you want to join the resistance? To sell toys?"
"Well now think about it. If the Squids destroy business, then no one buys toys anymore... better for business that they go." Nika said.
"Well, can you fight?" Lucas asked.
"So you know Alex?" Chrys asked Minerva while her boyfriend tlaked with the vendor-girl. "Was he always such a cold calculating b-... man?"
"What do you mean?" Minerva cocked her head to one side, "Alex has always been really nice, and he likes to make jokes. Maybe you're thinking of Jake? Jake was always the serious one."
Nika smiled and said, "I do not care much for fighting anymore, but yes... I can. I have lived on the streets for some time, after all." Nika put out her cigarette on the floor and continued, "my more valuable skills are not of the combat variety, however... I can get things... get into place I do not belong... and walk away with more money... or things to make me more money."
"Right, right." Lucas eyed the stamped-out cigarette hungrily. "Things, places, walking, money, nice. Maybe it's a good thing we ran into you after all."
"Well Minerva, if I may call you that." Chrys said and smile left her face. "You can call me Chrys by the way. Well I think you fill find out a lot has changed. Though it is better if Alex will tell what went on." Chrys said, not noticing that she actually called that man by his name.
"They had it!" Alex emerged from the back, looking satisfied. His eyepatch was pushed up onto his forehead and in its place, shoved into the metal socket where his left eye used to be was a white metallic ball with a blue LED peering around the store while his normal eye glanced over the people assembled before him. "How much for this, Minerva?"
Minerva ignored the question, running up to Alex with a distressed look about her, "Your eye! Lexi, your pretty marble-y eye! You got it taken out! When did you do that? Did they make you do that during the war?"
"I actually had it done on my own, after the war. It is much more efficient this way, Minerva." Alex explained, still fiddling with the socket.
"No!" She protested, "You looked nice the other way! You did just fine before."
Chrys could not believe what she was looking at. That little woman seemed to get to Alex a little. To Mr. Stalker, Mr. Coldhearted, Mr. Cool as Cucumber. And they only met again now. What will Alex be like after few weeks? Will try to evade Minerva? Chrys could not help but to look at Lucas with wonder in her face. Lucas only looked back with a similar expression of amazement, before whispering, "You should've seen his nasty eye that he had before he got the implant, Chrys. It was nasty-looking."
"You mean like it was worse then that mechanical he had up to know? Hard to imagine that." She whispered back and then took her attention back to Minerva and Alex.
"Well, Minerva. The other one is still in a jar at my apartment if for some reason you'd like to observe it again." Alex said with a casual air, "And I've thought about it and... The two of you can come along. But you'll have to do some kind of work."
"Ariana said she could fight, and somethin' about guns and walkin' and money, Alex." Lucas reported, suddenly looking upbeat. "She is a thief and a rogue." Chrys plainly stated.
"Oh, good. We need a theif." Alex replied, then turned to Nika, "Do you have any military experience?"
"Experience, yes... military? Not exactly." she replied.
"You could always frisk her. See if she has guns and how she has them holstered." Chrys said and shrugged. "If their are just behind belt of her pant thne she just thinks she is trained, if they are in proper holster and easy to draw, she had some kinda of training. It is simple as that."
"Say what you will... lay a hand on me and I will remove it." Nika retorted.
"I doubt that." Alex muttered, "But I don't need to touch you, anyhow. Your word will suffice. Mainly because a lie will probably end in your death on the battlefield. I should think that is enough to coerce the truth."
Nika smiled.
"Anyhow. Lucas. Gather that welder over there and whatever other things we need." Alex dropped the issue of Nika's record and moved on to instructions. "Minerva, go gather whatever you need to sleep. We will find something for you to do in the vehicle bay."
Before Minerve could leave though, Chrys left Lucas and joined her. She put and arm around her shoulders. "I will help you out," she said and then whispered. "I also want you to ask about some of the stuff you have here, but not in front of Lucas. I can pay don't worry."
After everyone went their seperate ways, Alex was left alone with Nika. He glanced at her with both eyes and said, "Now that they've all left, I think it's time that you told me everything I need to know."
"Such as?" She inquired.
"For starters, your actual name, then you can tell me how you managed to get out of the IPG without a hefty retirement pension and a nice house on Nepleslia Prime."
"..." Nika looked blankly at Alex for a moment. "My name is Galina... you need not concern yourself with the rest of the details... let us just say I was not happy and left a bitter taste in the mouth of others."
"For aiding the enemy?"
"No... politics reflect selfishness and little concern for little people... I stood by and watched countless decisions made by those over me that were of no help to the most of people and great benefit to an elite handful... I left because I wanted to serve my people and protect them... not bullshit around helping those that had enough as it was... I am not the intrument of corrupt politician." Nika monologued.
"You should meet our corrupt politician. I have him serve our breakfast." Alex replied. "What is your name?"
Nika sighed, "Mr. Alex, was it? Do you really want to go through with this... you will keep not trusting my name and I will keep feeding you new one until you stop... a name is not important anyhow. Actions are. I will give you my name in time; this relationship could prove a good one, but for now... well... forgive me, but I intent to remain cautious for time being."
Alex sighed and nodded along with Nika's statement. "A prudent decision. I was merely trying to save myself the trouble of hacking into the IPG database. Perhaps, though, I will come to trust 'Galina' for the time-being. I always did have a fondness for the Kennewisian flower of the same name."
Lucas' voice rang out sharply from a nearby step-ladder, cutting the conversation short. "Hey, Alex! Stop hittin' on Ariana and come help me get this thing down!"
