[The small, sleepy town of Sweetwater would never be anyone's idea of a tropical paradise. Too arid, too close to the desert. The sprawling acres of semi-arable scrubland were better used for raising livestock instead: cattle, sheep, lambs and pigs. Alfalfa hay was the main cash crop for farmers of means, who turned around and sold it to wealthy ranchers for a tidy profit while ordinary folks got by with whatever they could grow in a garden or field. And the town, in its own modest way, prospered.
Or had, until two weeks ago.
Behind the saloon along the main square, fenced in by half-rusted barbed wire and a gate that creaked in the wind, Lys knelt down to examine the limp and yellowed offerings of her own garden with a worried frown. The tell-tale signs of plants in crisis were everywhere, readily identifiable, and yet neither Lys nor anyone else in town seemed able to diagnose the actual problem. Was it the soil? The water supply itself? Or maybe something had gone wrong with the irrigation equipment...
Whatever the cause, it was making the whole town increasingly anxious. Rich as they might be, no big-name rancher or alfalfa baron wanted the cost of imported water cutting into their profits. For citizens living closer to the margins, the consequences of a drought were infinitely more threatening; already there was talk of packing up and risking the long trek to greener pastures, worries and fears and half-formed plans swapped uneasily over tankards of beer in her very own saloon. Lys turns a wilted leaf over and over again, studying it from under the brim of her rawhide hat. Rumor had it that Mayor Tennyson had connections to some fancy school in the capital city and was petitioning them to send one of their eggheads to town and brainstorm a solution. Reassuring if true...and yet, the thought doesn't exactly fill her with confidence. Crooked dealings had gone on in this town before. What were the odds that everyone got to reap the benefits of said "solution"?
[ Whether a solution would manifest or not, the fancy school in question did at least send something to help with the research necessary to assess the matter. The carriage rolled in that very day, in fact, sleek and obsidian black, emblazoned with strangely ominous mark of the Yorha Institute, and their famous slogan...
"Glory to Mankind"
Despite the aesthetics of it all, folks who knew why they were there were still relieved to see that carriage. What that carriage held was no doubt an answer to their prayers; someone with the knowledge to actually push back the strange drought that was threatening to run them all out of their homes.
They probably hadn't expected what stepped out of the carriage itself.
The saloon doors swung open, and in stepped the most peculiar looking girl... Garbed all in black, as if for a funeral, even wearing a veil that covered most of her face, she looked about the room with a strange wonder...
Eventually, she lifted her hand, as if to further call attention to herself. ]
Salutations, citizens! I was informed I could obtain a glass of um...
[One could only wallow in anxious doubt while staring at dying plants for so long. Sighing once, Lys retreats back into the saloon and submerges herself in the familiar routine of various chores: tending the bar, cleaning glasses, sweeping the floor, and so forth. The saloon itself is nearly empty when 6O eventually pushes through the batwing doors and announces herself so...grandly, minimizing the number of eyes now riveted upon the oddly-dressed stranger in their midst. Over the faint murmuring that immediately fills the air, Lys speaks up, voice cutting through the chatter with a calm she doesn't completely feel.]
...sure? Depends on what kind you're in the mood for, though.
[She props her elbows on the bar, chin in hand, gaze narrowing slightly as she studies 6O. Blue, blue eyes that sweep over 6O from head to toe and back again, missing little. She consciously forces herself to remain tensed and ready, alert to any hint of a threat even as she pulls down a sparkling-clean glass.]
[ She wasn't... being very specific, was she? She moved towards the bar, at least, though her eyes never seemed to stop just looking at everything, the sparkle of wonder never dimming as they darted about. ]
[ The girl made her way to a stool, but didn't really move to sit in it, instead using it as a place to set down her bag, humming as she pulled from it a document. She made certain it was all in order before passing it to Lys. ]
I am Operator Zechs, of the Yorha Institute, and I'm here to solve that very problem!
[Bold of this android...person...woman to assume that Lys can read. Which she can, but not without difficulty, thus the small grimace and resigned air with which she accepts the document. She could handle the threat of a gun or knife; at least the danger they posed was straightforward and blessedly simple.]
That so?
[She doesn't sound particularly optimistic, one eyebrow cocked archly as her gaze flickers intermittently from the paper to the stranger's veiled face. Her other hand draws apple juice from one of the shining silver taps behind the bar, filling the glass to the foaming brim without needing to look.]
Well, I'm sure the rancher barons and alfalfa farmers will be happy to see you, Miss Zechs. Hopefully you'll find time to check out some of the local farms before you leave town. [She slides the glass across the bar, but not the document, still laboriously poring over its contents.] Did your fancy college arrange a place for you to stay?
[ The girl blinked for a moment, tilting her head at the other woman's choice of words. The class dynamics of the town were pretty much alien to her, but more than that... ]
My imperative is to help anyone that needs it, ma'am. Whether they're one of the rancher barons or the local farmers, my aid is extended to all. I am a servant of this public.
[ Oh, but the other thing too... ]
As for lodging, I was told I would be able to procure some at this establishment? That this public house was connected with the inn.
[She glances at 6O, the brilliant blue of her eyes narrowing in sharp focus. Clearly expecting to catch 6O laughing at her after saying something so nice and helpful despite only showing up thanks to a well-connected politician's influence...and looking faintly confused when she doesn't.]
Guess we'll see about that.
[There's a beat of uncomfortable silence, but then her gaze drops back down to the document, the thin press of her lips relaxing into a more neutral expression. She goes back to reading, her halting progress made all the more obvious by the calloused finger gliding slowly over the paper and hovering for long seconds over words and phrases she doesn't immediately understand.]
The hotel across the street has more rooms, but mine are cheaper. [The possessive sounds strange to her own ears, still not wholly confident in her ownership even after five years, but somehow she keeps her voice from wavering on the word mine...at least to any degree within the range of normal human perception.] Meals are served three times a day, every day, with twenty percent off for lodgers. You'll get a key and have to pay for any damages. Still interested?
[ Nothing about 6O's tone or expression beneath her veil suggested she was joking. Something about her whole presence seemed distinctly alien to everything around her, and not just down to being a researcher from the YoRHa Institute. She didn't even really seem to get why that was a strange thing to ask, socially. ]
[It's almost funny, the way a perfectly normal, perfectly reasonable question could sound odd when spoken by someone already submerged in a miasma of strangeness. From her clothes to the way she carried herself, even the lilt of her voice and how she pronounced certain words, 6O's presence was totally discordant to the dusty desert town enfolding them.]
Unless they decide to eat in their rooms, I do. If they want.
[Finally she pushes the letter back across the counter for 6O to take, struck all over again by the unfamiliarity of those clothes and that veil. Just another bit of strangeness, something else to parse and dissect and file away...and with so much strangeness to mentally wrestle with, it only made sense for her to pay attention all the more closely. Right?]
[ She took the letter, folding it neatly and placing it back from which it came. If Lys was coming off as staring, the girl didn't really seem to... mind? Or perhaps she didn't notice? It was very difficult to tell. What's more... ]
I would like to have every meal with you as possible, as I plan to ask you many questions about this town, its culture, its people, and the current ecological concerns!
I shall consider you my liaison from here on, Ms....
[ It was then, she actually floundered a little, realizing something as she spoke. ]
[Despite nearly five years of living under a false name, of learning to mask her true feelings when survival demanded it, her eyes widen in a flash of startled surprise that shows openly on her plain, narrow face. Foolish, maybe, but she can't seem to help it; to be so freely offered that kind of trust and goodwill is so unexpected as to be disarming, mollifying the worst of her frustration like a gentle hand smoothing down ruffled feathers.
As 6O flounders, Lys finds herself speaking all the more steadily, relaxing just a little.]
Elisabeth Monet. But you can call me Lisbeth, if you want.
[Privately, she wonders about the logic behind 6O's choice...but why speak up and risk 6O changing her mind? If anyone was to be given this kind of privilege, allowed to bend the ear of an agent from the esteemed YoRHa institute, better it not be a big-time rancher or alfalfa baron, or anyone else who cared nothing for the town except where it affected their bottom line.
Reaching out across the bar counter, she offers her hand for 6O to shake.]
I'll do my best to answer all your questions. So...let's work hard together, okay? Miss Zechs.
Lisbeth, then! [ She could forgo formality, it seemed, when someone implied they had a preferred name.
She took the hand in hers to shake, her grip perhaps a bit too strong, her movement well too stiff and awkward. But the sincerity of her enthusiasm didn't seem to wane. ]
I look forward to learning all I can! About you, this town, and what I can do to help!
[The tight grip should have felt like a threat, but it didn't. Hypervigilance meant looking for the faintest hints of danger in another's face and posture, but she can't find a trace of either in 6O's — just more of that sunny enthusiasm. So Lys simply opens her hand rather than yanking it free, ending the handshake with a polite nod and the first hint of her own smile.]
Well, first things first... [Behind her, a row of keys hang from their wall-hooks in a neat line. Turning around, Lys scans through them at a glance and picks one up, coming around the counter with it in hand.] ...I'll show you to your room. We can get all the boring questions out of the way before I show you the town.
[Indicating for 6O to follow, she starts toward the open stairway leading up to the second floor, then pauses as if suddenly remembering something.]
You brought more luggage than that, right?
[6O was only carrying the one bag, but maybe she'd set the rest on the front porch before coming inside? Surely even one of the reclusive YoRHa androids from the capital city needed a change of clothes.]
This will be all I require. [ The strange girl answered, chipper. Whether or not that included a change of clothes was left unsaid, or even what was actually in the bag. It was probably something that would be answered soon enough, one could suppose.
Either way, she fell in step behind Lys, her boots once more hitting the wood floor a bit heavier than anyone else her size probably should be... ]
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no subject
Or had, until two weeks ago.
Behind the saloon along the main square, fenced in by half-rusted barbed wire and a gate that creaked in the wind, Lys knelt down to examine the limp and yellowed offerings of her own garden with a worried frown. The tell-tale signs of plants in crisis were everywhere, readily identifiable, and yet neither Lys nor anyone else in town seemed able to diagnose the actual problem. Was it the soil? The water supply itself? Or maybe something had gone wrong with the irrigation equipment...
Whatever the cause, it was making the whole town increasingly anxious. Rich as they might be, no big-name rancher or alfalfa baron wanted the cost of imported water cutting into their profits. For citizens living closer to the margins, the consequences of a drought were infinitely more threatening; already there was talk of packing up and risking the long trek to greener pastures, worries and fears and half-formed plans swapped uneasily over tankards of beer in her very own saloon. Lys turns a wilted leaf over and over again, studying it from under the brim of her rawhide hat. Rumor had it that Mayor Tennyson had connections to some fancy school in the capital city and was petitioning them to send one of their eggheads to town and brainstorm a solution. Reassuring if true...and yet, the thought doesn't exactly fill her with confidence. Crooked dealings had gone on in this town before. What were the odds that everyone got to reap the benefits of said "solution"?
Assuming one ever did materialize...]
no subject
"Glory to Mankind"
Despite the aesthetics of it all, folks who knew why they were there were still relieved to see that carriage. What that carriage held was no doubt an answer to their prayers; someone with the knowledge to actually push back the strange drought that was threatening to run them all out of their homes.
They probably hadn't expected what stepped out of the carriage itself.
The saloon doors swung open, and in stepped the most peculiar looking girl... Garbed all in black, as if for a funeral, even wearing a veil that covered most of her face, she looked about the room with a strange wonder...
Eventually, she lifted her hand, as if to further call attention to herself. ]
Salutations, citizens! I was informed I could obtain a glass of um...
Juice? In this facility!
[ Just who... was this? ]
no subject
...sure? Depends on what kind you're in the mood for, though.
[She props her elbows on the bar, chin in hand, gaze narrowing slightly as she studies 6O. Blue, blue eyes that sweep over 6O from head to toe and back again, missing little. She consciously forces herself to remain tensed and ready, alert to any hint of a threat even as she pulls down a sparkling-clean glass.]
What'll it be, stranger?
no subject
[ She wasn't... being very specific, was she? She moved towards the bar, at least, though her eyes never seemed to stop just looking at everything, the sparkle of wonder never dimming as they darted about. ]
Remarkable...
no subject
Like I said, we have juice. But you gotta be more specific.
[She sighs softly under her breath; it seems like this might go more smoothly if she does the legwork of listing some options.]
There's apple juice, peach juice, tomato juice....we've got all kinds on tap.
[A beat of silence. Then, with just the slightest edge of alien bitterness:]
For now, anyway. Don't know how much longer the orchards are gonna last.
no subject
[ The girl made her way to a stool, but didn't really move to sit in it, instead using it as a place to set down her bag, humming as she pulled from it a document. She made certain it was all in order before passing it to Lys. ]
I am Operator Zechs, of the Yorha Institute, and I'm here to solve that very problem!
[ That explained some things, at least. ]
Oh, and I'll try some apple juice! To start with.
no subject
That so?
[She doesn't sound particularly optimistic, one eyebrow cocked archly as her gaze flickers intermittently from the paper to the stranger's veiled face. Her other hand draws apple juice from one of the shining silver taps behind the bar, filling the glass to the foaming brim without needing to look.]
Well, I'm sure the rancher barons and alfalfa farmers will be happy to see you, Miss Zechs. Hopefully you'll find time to check out some of the local farms before you leave town. [She slides the glass across the bar, but not the document, still laboriously poring over its contents.] Did your fancy college arrange a place for you to stay?
no subject
My imperative is to help anyone that needs it, ma'am. Whether they're one of the rancher barons or the local farmers, my aid is extended to all. I am a servant of this public.
[ Oh, but the other thing too... ]
As for lodging, I was told I would be able to procure some at this establishment? That this public house was connected with the inn.
no subject
Guess we'll see about that.
[There's a beat of uncomfortable silence, but then her gaze drops back down to the document, the thin press of her lips relaxing into a more neutral expression. She goes back to reading, her halting progress made all the more obvious by the calloused finger gliding slowly over the paper and hovering for long seconds over words and phrases she doesn't immediately understand.]
The hotel across the street has more rooms, but mine are cheaper. [The possessive sounds strange to her own ears, still not wholly confident in her ownership even after five years, but somehow she keeps her voice from wavering on the word mine...at least to any degree within the range of normal human perception.] Meals are served three times a day, every day, with twenty percent off for lodgers. You'll get a key and have to pay for any damages. Still interested?
no subject
[ Nothing about 6O's tone or expression beneath her veil suggested she was joking. Something about her whole presence seemed distinctly alien to everything around her, and not just down to being a researcher from the YoRHa Institute. She didn't even really seem to get why that was a strange thing to ask, socially. ]
no subject
Unless they decide to eat in their rooms, I do. If they want.
[Finally she pushes the letter back across the counter for 6O to take, struck all over again by the unfamiliarity of those clothes and that veil. Just another bit of strangeness, something else to parse and dissect and file away...and with so much strangeness to mentally wrestle with, it only made sense for her to pay attention all the more closely. Right?]
All they have to do is ask.
no subject
[ She took the letter, folding it neatly and placing it back from which it came. If Lys was coming off as staring, the girl didn't really seem to... mind? Or perhaps she didn't notice? It was very difficult to tell. What's more... ]
I would like to have every meal with you as possible, as I plan to ask you many questions about this town, its culture, its people, and the current ecological concerns!
I shall consider you my liaison from here on, Ms....
[ It was then, she actually floundered a little, realizing something as she spoke. ]
Um... Actually, I didn't get your name, did I?
no subject
As 6O flounders, Lys finds herself speaking all the more steadily, relaxing just a little.]
Elisabeth Monet. But you can call me Lisbeth, if you want.
[Privately, she wonders about the logic behind 6O's choice...but why speak up and risk 6O changing her mind? If anyone was to be given this kind of privilege, allowed to bend the ear of an agent from the esteemed YoRHa institute, better it not be a big-time rancher or alfalfa baron, or anyone else who cared nothing for the town except where it affected their bottom line.
Reaching out across the bar counter, she offers her hand for 6O to shake.]
I'll do my best to answer all your questions. So...let's work hard together, okay? Miss Zechs.
no subject
She took the hand in hers to shake, her grip perhaps a bit too strong, her movement well too stiff and awkward. But the sincerity of her enthusiasm didn't seem to wane. ]
I look forward to learning all I can! About you, this town, and what I can do to help!
no subject
Well, first things first... [Behind her, a row of keys hang from their wall-hooks in a neat line. Turning around, Lys scans through them at a glance and picks one up, coming around the counter with it in hand.] ...I'll show you to your room. We can get all the boring questions out of the way before I show you the town.
[Indicating for 6O to follow, she starts toward the open stairway leading up to the second floor, then pauses as if suddenly remembering something.]
You brought more luggage than that, right?
[6O was only carrying the one bag, but maybe she'd set the rest on the front porch before coming inside? Surely even one of the reclusive YoRHa androids from the capital city needed a change of clothes.]
no subject
Either way, she fell in step behind Lys, her boots once more hitting the wood floor a bit heavier than anyone else her size probably should be... ]
I look forward to seeing the accommodations!