Conversation · Ruby, the Instigator

"No, he didn't. I found my own way in."

"Okay, great, you got into my lorry on your own. What now? You're going to arrest me for drug trafficking?" A bitter smile.

Beneath it, she's relieved Tommy didn't betray her.

"You're a... criminal. I can't trust anything you say."

She scoffs. "That's your prerogative."

"You had... a financial incentive to kill the merc." (Move on.)

"Man, it's to get away from all that murderous shit that I left the Madre for the Union."

"Hnghh..." The lieutenant is unable to articulate his question.

"I got lucky being a dispatcher -- never had to do any of the really dirty work myself. This gun," she glances at it, "has only been used for self-defence against serious scum." She turns the knob down just a millimetre.

"I wish... I could use my gun right now."

"You won't get to. Your dirty little tricks won't work with me," she responds, holding your gaze.

There's a sinister note in her voice. Even with the gun and the compressor, she's afraid of you.

"But... you're threatening us with it!"

"Based on what I've heard about you -- you are serious scum," she responds, holding your gaze.

"I wish I... had my gun right now..."

"Not for a moment do I believe that you came here unarmed."

There's a sinister note in her voice. Even with the gun and the compressor, she's afraid of you.

She's not letting her guard down.

There. It's going to be easier to reach the machine now.

She deliberately avoided naming the mob she worked for. You might be able to find this out later.

"Man, it's to get away from all that murderous shit that I left Jamrock -- my previous employer -- for the Union."

"This means you're... already a known killer. Because drugs kill people!"

"Drugs don't make people abuse them; hopelessness does. As for the drug trade -- it would continue with or without me. I like to think that my efficiency as an organizer has at least prevented some internal conflicts."

She's proud of her organizational abilities even now -- and trying to raise that pride as a bulwark against the desperation.

"No, he didn't. I found my own way in." (Lie.)

"Yeah, I made him talk."

"Yeah, that figures." She shrugs. "What now? You're going to arrest me for drug trafficking?"

She's more upset than she lets on.

"Yeah, I made him talk." (Lie.)

"Do you like to... hang out on rooftops?"

"Who doesn't? Oh, you probably mean Klaasje's rooftop. Sure, I've hung out there. She's got this great antenna..."

"Is that the only reason you... hung out on the roof?"

"The view's pretty bomb too, but you might say the antenna was the main attraction there, yeah. Along with Klaasje."

"What's... so great about her antenna?"

"It's very powerful. I used it to tune into RCM frequencies. That's how I knew to be prepared for your arrival."

"851023933... Come in..."

"So you're... sure you didn't shoot the merc... from the roof?" (Move on.)

"Yes, I'm sure." She pauses. "In fact, the shot couldn't have possibly come from the roof -- otherwise we would have heard it downstairs."

"Hmh... No one mentioned hearing any shots. And a rifle like the one used would have been loud. She's right... I don't think the shot came from... the roof."

"Yes, I'm sure. And, anyway, as I said before, the shot had to have come from afar."

"You... liked Klaasje a lot."

"I considered her a good friend, yeah."

"But you wanted to be more than just friends."

"Oh, so that's where you were going with this."

"She said you wanted to run... away with her."

"That's a very sentimental way of putting it. We both had pasts we didn't want to catch up with us. And we enjoyed listening to music together. Why not go on a road trip?"

The lieutenant watches her expectantly, occasionally shaking from the pain.

"Okay, fine." She rolls her eyes. "I was into her. Klaasje was into me too, for a time, I know it -- we even fooled around once. And, yeah, after that I thought maybe we could make a go of it."

Klaasje only said they "maybe kissed". Someone is lying here.

She touched that radiant beauty, that silver wellspring of desire?

"Wait -- Klaasje said you only kissed..."

She rolls her eyes again. "If that's what she wants on the record, so be it. I'm not about to go into details for you to jerk off to later."

Seriously, just move on.

"Then what happened?"

"She rejected me with some wishy-washy bullshit about how she was confused because she felt so close to me and valued my friendship so much, and how guilty she felt for leading me on..."

"I knew that wasn't the whole story, but thought, fine, I'll take it and move on."

No ill will there. It wasn't a problem for her.

"But I do want... details, actually..." (Cringe from the head-splitting torment.)

"...Really?"

Is that blood on the ground before you? Are your ears bleeding?