Page 51 of Tyton: The Spider and the Dragonfly
A mix of incongruous feelings washed over Callie.Relief, but also rejection.She didn’t expect that answer from Talia.She seemed a lot more possessive of her than her response would indicate.Callie had been known to misread people before, though.
It was nice that Talia had agreed to bring her back home and watch over her for the night, but it was Sesi that had asked her to do it.What would Talia have decided to do on her own?
She could be an adult about this.“So, we’re not exclusive then.”Callie raked her fingernail across her teeth.“I just want to make sure because someone asked me out and I don’t want you to murder them.”Technically that was true.Akna had asked her out, even though Callie had no intention of dating her.
Talia’s heart skipped a beat, but she held her composure.She stared at her empty Koffi mug and huffed with a distraught smile, hoping that would cover any panic on her face.“I promise, I won’t murder her.Or him.”
Callie made a face.
Talia laughed “her then.”She was grateful the tension had broken, but the panic still lingered in her stomach.
“Have you ever murdered anyone?”If Sesi murdered people, other gang members must have as well, right?
Talia refilled her mug.She took a long sip before answering.“Yeah,” she stared into the black liquid.“Is this about the thing that happened on the mission?”
Callie nodded.
Talia took a deep breath.This must be why Callie was acting weird.She hadn’tthoughtthat she was being possessive.But yeah, your first time with a gang member was probably quite the mindfuck, no matter how long you had been in the kink scene.
“It’s not often and most of us use guns, but I guess it’s different seeing it happen up close like that.”
“Do you carry a gun?”Callie felt her eyebrows pinch together.She hadn’t meant to.She wanted to appear as ifmurderwouldn’t faze her.Even though obviously it did since she was asking about it.
“I haven’t needed to in a while.I’ll bring a RAM case if I need enough processing power to disable people.It’s quicker and leaves less of a mess.”
“Siku said something about hacking the strength amplifier patches.”
Talia nodded.“That’ll last until they figure it out.I have these as backup.”She pulled a wicked looking knife from behind her back.Where she kept it, Callie couldn’t guess.She wore only a loose top and panties.Unlike the ulu she had seen Sesi use, Talia’s had only one purpose.
Callie’s pulse sped up as her body relived the experience with Sesi.She took a calming breath, as shallow as she could manage, hoping Talia wouldn’t notice.“Have you ever had to use them?”
Talia thought.How prudent would it be to tell her everything?That she excelled at tech, but she felt a special kind of glee in using her knives.Tech could be innocuous or threatening, but pulling a knife had only one message.And she loved being the messenger.Death was coming for you.
Talia nodded slowly, refusing to meet her eyes.“Does that bother you?”
Callie looked up at the ceiling.It did bother her.And yet, the other woman she wanted also murdered people.What was wrong with her?“It’s a lot.”
Talia sipped her Koffi.She could accept that.
“Sesi said she was expecting our mission to fail.Does she have to kill very often?”Maybe a comparison of kill counts would help ease her mind that she was choosing the lesser of two evils?
“Sesi has contingencies upon contingencies.There’s always a back-up plan.And a back-up-back up plan.It’s why she’s in charge.”Talia couldn’t help the hint of admiration that had crept into her voice.“Killing corp employees is rare.It tends to complicate things.Most of the actual violence is spent defending turf.”
Callie frowned.Violence over who got to be in control of a few city blocks seemed petty.This time, Talia caught her look.She pawed at the back of her neck, pre-empting the question.“Like I said the other day, if some other gang got their hands on this turf, you’d see way more harassment.If you don’t believe me, go check out Tethys.Or Leto.Leto has a full-blown human trafficking problem.”
“So, you all believe you’re the good guys?”Callie raised an eyebrow.She wasn’t sure why she was acting so confrontational, especially first thing in the morning.”
Talia just shrugged and laughed.“Are you trying to talk me out of being an Adlet?”
Callie shook her head.“No, I don’t know why I asked.You already explained everything at Mike’s.”
“Would it make you feel better if I told you there were nogood guys?Just bad guys and less bad guys?”
Callie stared at her knees as if they would give her the right answer.She knew what her body would say and that was half of her problem.“Not really,” she muttered.“I guess I just want to still believe that most people want to do the right thing.”
“Most people just want to feed themselves.The good ones also want to feed their families.The really good ones, their communities.All of it involves doing bad things.At least, that’s how I see it.”
“And which one are you?”The question simply appeared.Callie wasn’t sure which answer she wanted Talia to pick.
