(no subject)

[outstandingbalance]

Who: Natasha Romanoff + you?
Broadcast: Fleetwide, text
Action: upon request
When: now

[If Natasha thought she escaped the rumors, she's going to be disabused of the notion. The notes start appearing here and there—short and anonymous. Things like:]

Natasha has a cat named Boris.

Natasha Romanoff once killed a man in Vegas just to watch him die.

Romanoff has been lying about about her age.

[And—]

Nataasha is a lingerie model.

[That last one, it seems, comes with some evidence. Sponsor drop? Either way, a few files seem to have been uploaded to support the case.

file1
file2
file3
file4

She shouldn't be surprised those came back to haunt her, should she? The real question is if anyone will dare to comment on them.]

Comments

[ video ]

[revengeofthemordsith]

[ Well. ]

Did you lose your actual clothes?

[ video ]

[outstandingbalance]

[Well.]

You could put it that way. There was a situation.

Re: [ video ]

[revengeofthemordsith]

. . . Someone stole your clothes in an attempt to weaken you?

[ Makes perfect sense. ]

[outstandingbalance]

More like I took off some clothes to seem weaker to someone who'd fall for that kind of a thing.

[Is it one hundred percent accurate? Not exactly. But as spin goes, it's close enough.]

[revengeofthemordsith]

[ Ah. That she understands. ]

Men fall easily for these tricks.

[outstandingbalance]

You're not wrong about that. Some easier than others.

[Sorry, Tony.]

This one was particularly susceptible. At least at first.

[revengeofthemordsith]

[ She nods. ]

Though how the Atroma found these pictures . . . does that mean they followed us even in our own worlds?

[outstandingbalance]

Your guess is as good as mine. They brought us here, though...

[She shrugs at that.]

And they bring books, movies, music. Seems like they must be able to do something like that.

[revengeofthemordsith]

[ Cara feels tense. The idea of being watched the whole time has her on edge. ]

Do you recognize these photos?

[outstandingbalance]

At least some of them.

[So there is that.]

[revengeofthemordsith]

So it wasn't all the Atroma's doing.

[ Not much of a mercy, but it's something. ]

[outstandingbalance]

Not all of it. Some of it—some of it's definitely all them. The rumors.

The pictures... either they exist, or they're close to ones that exist.

[revengeofthemordsith]

[ Cara snorts lightly. ]

They put a lot of effort into something this pointless. All that power and they play these children's games.

[outstandingbalance]

So it seems. Makes you wonder what they're doing when they're not watching us.

[revengeofthemordsith]

Some plot, no doubt. After all, the locations they pick for us must have more to do with their other agendas.

[outstandingbalance]

That's a possibility. If they're all playing the same game, which is hard to say for sure.

But they have a lot of power to expect people to believe they're just using it for entertainment.

[revengeofthemordsith]

[ She nods slowly. ]

I certainly don't believe that any longer.

[outstandingbalance]

Anything in particular that's convinced you? Or didn't believe it to start with.

[revengeofthemordsith]

I suppose it is . . . just a feeling.

I've worked under a man who had us under his thumb all our lives. There wasn't anything in us he did not dictate.

[outstandingbalance]

And being here reminds you of that.

[revengeofthemordsith]

At times. After all, we cannot choose where we go.

[ Mord'Sith don't have free reign. And even with Darken Rahl gone, Cara had nowhere to go but Richard. ]

[outstandingbalance]

One of a long list of freedoms we don't have.

[A list Natasha tries not to think about too much.]

Right at the top of the list, though.

[revengeofthemordsith]

I do not know about lists, but I trust my instincts.

[outstandingbalance]

Your instincts and mine say similar things.

[revengeofthemordsith]

We are of similar make after all.