“It should be around here somewhere...” Muttered Jackie pensively as she tried to figure out which one of the identical looking slum-houses was supposed to be the ridiculously named 'The Hide, The Hog and The Herring', a pub that one of Jackie's so-so colleagues highly recommended she'd check out in case of emergencies. Poking her head around on of the many corners in the lower town district, Jackie came to an abrupt halt.
“Oi!” She shouted, finding her path blocked by a flock of people. “What's going on here?” With a growl, Jackie tried to find higher ground to see what this ruckus was about. Not too far past the crowd, Jackie spotted a single man standing atop a make-shift podium shouting a bunch of baloney about rising up and making a stand. “Hey, Nora!” She turned her head and beckoned for her companion to come closer. “Lookie here!”
Nora moved closer to Jackie so as to get a better view of the man. It was hard not to notice him, especially at that volume. It seemed he was trying to rally the people against the queen. A commendable goal, however... marching over to the queen's castle gates to protest would result in nothing at best, and getting filled full of arrows at worst. Much to her horror, it seemed that the man had managed to convey that this was a good idea, and the crowd was preparing to march to the castle. Without even bothering to convene with Jackie on the matter, the woman simply marched out into the middle of the street in the way of the crowd and held out both arms, barring their passage.
"Wait! If you go up to the queen's gates like this then she would simply send her guards out. You would either be imprisoned or executed to a man. Do you really think that would accomplish anything?" That last question was directed at the self-appointed leader of the protest group, in which some worried chatter could be heard as doubt started to sink in.
And of course Mother Teresa had to go and spoil everything. Squirming through the audience witnessing the march of war, Jackie caught up with Nora and her pesky conscience. How many times did she need to remind her client to lay low? These heroic actions only raised the chances of getting caught.
“Ahem...” Nora's head was met with a firm slap from Jackie's palm.
“Don't be silly. They're only protesting. Surely our beloved queen isn't stupid enough to act rashly on such a thing?” A forced smile accompanied the sugar-coated words as hands nudged the woman away from an attempt to make a fool out of herself. “Give 'em Hell, mate. We'll be rooting for ya!” She hastily spoke to the wannabe rebel idiot, giving him a two-fingered salute before pulling Nora away from the much too revealing situation and into a less rowdy section of the district.
“Mind telling me what you were doing?” Her grip loosened, and eventually Jackie let go of Nora's arm. “Do you want to end up like captain McPinhead over there?” Jackie folded her arms across her chest, raising a single disbelieving eyebrow at Nora.
The ex-artificer heaved a sigh. "No, I don't... but I don't want all those people ending up like him either. You might be able to live with letting them walk off to their deaths, but I certainly wouldn't." Looking back at the group of protesters, quite a few of their number could be seen preparing to leave. Despite the majority staying, Nora was heartened to see that her actions had managed to potentially save at least some lives.
“Listen here, sweetie. I get that you're trying to be all noble and benevolent, and I respect that, but we can't save every poor sod from ending up with their skull in a glockenspiel.” Jackie turned her head to see Nora's words having persuaded some of these people to leave well enough alone. It was a relief to know not everyone in this run-down place had the self-awareness of a baked potato. Not that Jackie would ever voice such thoughts.
Reverting to her usual, blank stare, Jackie turned to face Nora once more, prodding the engineer's shoulder with her finger. “Remember, I'm responsible for getting you somewhere safe and toasty. That's my job, and I intend to finish it.” That went without saying. “After that's done and over with, I'll be off your back and you can play saviour of the people all you want.” Having shared her two cents, Jackie resumed their little walk through the slums, hoping to eventually stumble into their set destination.
“Oi!” She shouted, finding her path blocked by a flock of people. “What's going on here?” With a growl, Jackie tried to find higher ground to see what this ruckus was about. Not too far past the crowd, Jackie spotted a single man standing atop a make-shift podium shouting a bunch of baloney about rising up and making a stand. “Hey, Nora!” She turned her head and beckoned for her companion to come closer. “Lookie here!”
Nora moved closer to Jackie so as to get a better view of the man. It was hard not to notice him, especially at that volume. It seemed he was trying to rally the people against the queen. A commendable goal, however... marching over to the queen's castle gates to protest would result in nothing at best, and getting filled full of arrows at worst. Much to her horror, it seemed that the man had managed to convey that this was a good idea, and the crowd was preparing to march to the castle. Without even bothering to convene with Jackie on the matter, the woman simply marched out into the middle of the street in the way of the crowd and held out both arms, barring their passage.
"Wait! If you go up to the queen's gates like this then she would simply send her guards out. You would either be imprisoned or executed to a man. Do you really think that would accomplish anything?" That last question was directed at the self-appointed leader of the protest group, in which some worried chatter could be heard as doubt started to sink in.
And of course Mother Teresa had to go and spoil everything. Squirming through the audience witnessing the march of war, Jackie caught up with Nora and her pesky conscience. How many times did she need to remind her client to lay low? These heroic actions only raised the chances of getting caught.
“Ahem...” Nora's head was met with a firm slap from Jackie's palm.
“Don't be silly. They're only protesting. Surely our beloved queen isn't stupid enough to act rashly on such a thing?” A forced smile accompanied the sugar-coated words as hands nudged the woman away from an attempt to make a fool out of herself. “Give 'em Hell, mate. We'll be rooting for ya!” She hastily spoke to the wannabe rebel idiot, giving him a two-fingered salute before pulling Nora away from the much too revealing situation and into a less rowdy section of the district.
“Mind telling me what you were doing?” Her grip loosened, and eventually Jackie let go of Nora's arm. “Do you want to end up like captain McPinhead over there?” Jackie folded her arms across her chest, raising a single disbelieving eyebrow at Nora.
The ex-artificer heaved a sigh. "No, I don't... but I don't want all those people ending up like him either. You might be able to live with letting them walk off to their deaths, but I certainly wouldn't." Looking back at the group of protesters, quite a few of their number could be seen preparing to leave. Despite the majority staying, Nora was heartened to see that her actions had managed to potentially save at least some lives.
“Listen here, sweetie. I get that you're trying to be all noble and benevolent, and I respect that, but we can't save every poor sod from ending up with their skull in a glockenspiel.” Jackie turned her head to see Nora's words having persuaded some of these people to leave well enough alone. It was a relief to know not everyone in this run-down place had the self-awareness of a baked potato. Not that Jackie would ever voice such thoughts.
Reverting to her usual, blank stare, Jackie turned to face Nora once more, prodding the engineer's shoulder with her finger. “Remember, I'm responsible for getting you somewhere safe and toasty. That's my job, and I intend to finish it.” That went without saying. “After that's done and over with, I'll be off your back and you can play saviour of the people all you want.” Having shared her two cents, Jackie resumed their little walk through the slums, hoping to eventually stumble into their set destination.