Spinning Wheel Got To Go 'Round

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WHO: Echo, OTA
WHERE: Various
WHAT: Soul-searching Something to keep him occupied
WHEN: Latter half of April
WARNINGS: N/A


> Option B (For Cayde)

Echo meant to go to the meeting.

Meetings are important. Like mission briefings, it catches everyone up on the intel they need to know and brings up new information if several of them have been unaware of such developments.

Currently it's another bullet point on his growing mental list; while he has every intention of listening and participating with others in their collective, this particular bullet point decides to stack sideways instead of from top to bottom, creating a more complicated web of thoughts that constantly shift on the way toward the amphitheater.

He barely gets to it when Cayde-6 interrupts, almost taking a step back with the Exo suddenly there. "–What, is it over already?"


> Run It Off

Restless wasn't a word the ARC Trooper uses frequently – maybe in describing other clones whenever they were in that state of mind before and during missions, but never really for himself. Not until that nervous energy slowly built up long after the return from Coruscant.

So he ran.

It was one of the quickest ways to burn it off. It also killed two birds with one stone, keeping him on track with his training. And it worked...for the most part. His mind continued at a clip, never stopping when he did along the available routes, never resting whenever he tried to distract himself with other things that needed to be done.

Which led to the third metaphorical bird: he could still check in with everyone on the way around. See if they needed any help.

If all else failed, he'd try target practice near the outskirts as a means to keep his skills sharp. And to blow off steam.

Comments

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She kind of catches Echo off-guard, forcing him to look over his shoulder as he gets back into stride. But he's fine with having more running buddies.

"Oh, y'know," he says casually between controlled breaths. "The usual."

[hooliganstatus]

She thinks about what he'd shared with her in the hospital, knowing he means his usual, not hers - clearly, because there's no gunfire or bomb countdown.

"Boredom, then. I'm good at outrunning that."

[on_repeat]

It's basically that. Plus it never hurts to stay on track with his training.

"What, nothing else keeping you busy lately?"

[hooliganstatus]

"Plenty. I'm still exploring. I met a blue woman, the other day." She flashes him a smile and clears a piece of rubble without breaking stride. "She wasn't big on words, but I like her."

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The ARC Trooper glances Aeon's way to arch a brow at that smile, simultaneously stepping off of another uneven surface to keep up with her. "I've seen her around," he replies, looking forward again. "Always nice to make new acquaintances."

The path that really isn't a path gets worse, making the jog all the more interesting the longer they go on. "You ever explore this side of the city?" he asks, faltering a bit when overgrown tree roots complicate matters.

[hooliganstatus]

She keeps up with him well enough, used to navigating the turret-blasted alleys and abandoned streets near the wall that separates Monica and Bregna. After a little deliberation, she climbs a wall to a ledge and runs along that like a human spider monkey instead, continuing their conversation by calling down from above.

"Yes," she says, still grinning. "I'm exploring it now. With a friend! Right?"

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The move surprises him, the visor following her chosen path since the helmet limits his peripheral vision. "Heh! Yeah, I guess this does count," Echo replies, tripping over another root before grabbing hold of the wall to keep himself upright.

He shakes it off, a little behind now that he's picking jump points for better footing.

[hooliganstatus]

"Careful, there," she says, amusement in her voice as she moves to a lower ledge so that she can move toward him if he happens to lose his footing again.

"Where are we going? Anywhere in particular?"

Bwah, this one is way late

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Echo grins, plotting and timing the next few jumps as she does this. "I'll be honest, I have nothing planned. Although this does help me scope out areas faster for an outpost."

we have no concept of time anymore, I blinked and it's June, you're fine

[hooliganstatus]

"An outpost? Not a bad idea. How much of this place has been explored, anyway? There could be just as many resources out there as dangerous things..."

She catches up with him, continuing to navigate the high ground for as far as the landscape and ruins allow, so that they have a larger field of vision between the two of them.

"Then again, the only outpost I ever visited was overtaken by hallucinogens from a containment breach, so... I'm not the greatest expert on them."

Why is it Junnnne uhuhu T_T

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"That's the thing. I don't think anyone's ventured out too far." Echo inclines his head. "Unless Cayde has. I wouldn't be surprised if he did."

He jumps over another gap, this time prepared as he catches onto the ledge and pulls himself up with little effort. Aeon gets a look once he straightens back up. "Ah...well." What can he say to that? "All the more reason to play it by ear."

/gross sobbing

[hooliganstatus]

"I am pretty good at improvising," she replied, either not noticing or not caring that he seemed a bit awkward about that last revelation.

"I don't know Cayde, not yet. I did talk to a boy at the meeting who said he can run all the way out to an island. Over the water. But I think that's not quite the best place for an outpost. He likes having it to himself."

[on_repeat]

"Wears a hood, has metallic features. Unusually giddy. You'll know him when you meet him." That was about all he had to say about Cayde.

He had a vague idea of who Aeon meant with the clue of running over water, but it was still hard to believe. But he agreed. "The potential is there, but it would be difficult to come and go as we please. Much like sitting on a moon. Plus I wouldn't try to take away someone else's spot if they've already claimed it."

[hooliganstatus]

"You say that as though you have sat on a moon," she observed, raising an eyebrow. "Have you?"

[on_repeat]

Echo chuckled. "My very first assignment when I was fresh from training. My brothers and I were excited to be off-planet for the first time in our lives, only to end up in a surveillance base that had a giant eel for a neighbor."

[hooliganstatus]

"Slippery situation," she quipped, amused. At this point the patrol and where they were going on it didn't matter half as much to her as the conversation. "So you and your brothers all went into service together?"

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"That's what we were trained for," he said, the matter-of-fact tone brief as he continued. "It was tough, but it paid off."

[hooliganstatus]

"Well, I'm glad it did. Were you still in the middle of what you were doing with them, when the Agrii brought you here? As one of their He Rows?" She enunciates it to emphasize their spelling choice, smirking a little.

[on_repeat]

The ARC Trooper chuckled under a breath, amused by her enunciation despite its halfheartedness. "It's been some time since then, promotions an' all, but I've been working with one brother more often than not. Last thing I remember before all of this, Fives and I doing was completing our last mission."

[hooliganstatus]

"So close to the finish line." She paused, perching on a half-broken column to survey the horizon ahead of them, and glanced down at him. It wasn't the first occasion she wished she could see his expression under the helmet.

"How frustrating for you."

[on_repeat]

The ARC Trooper caught up, slowing to a walk near the base of where Aeon perched. "Yeah," he sighed, turning his featureless visor to look back at where they had been. "Getting pulled from an active warfront to this place was jarring."

He then looked up at her. "Couldn't have been any easier for you, either."

[hooliganstatus]

"I was -" She paused, then decided that if he was being honest, she had no reason to hold back, either. "I'd just been shot. By one of my own clones."

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Although she couldn't see it, his eyes widened behind the visor, the subtle shift of his chin the visual substitution of the shock.

"You're a clone?" He shook his head. "Why would they shoot you?"

[hooliganstatus]

"Our missions were at cross-purposes," she said. "It was complicated, but ... I don't blame them. If the shoe had been on the other foot, I would have shot me, too."

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He frowned – not at her, but at the circumstances connected to the matter she was involved in. Even if she said it was complicated, what the clone chose to do wasn't right.

"No clone that I know of would've done anything of the sort. We're supposed to look out for each other."