There was a man standing in front of Jess’s door, one that she remembered from the communications hall.
“Hey Jason.” Jess greeted him. “Reports not ready yet.”
“I guessed.” He held his hand up, with had a small, gun like device in it. “Ready for this?”
Jess stopped, and looked at him. Dev thought she might be angry, and she wasn’t sure what was going on. But after a minute, the tall woman relaxed, and waved a hand at the plate on her door for it to open.
Dev started to walk around her, to go to the other side of the hall around the corner where her own door was.
“Wait.”
Dev turned, to find both of them looking at her. “I was going to work on some sims.” She said. “I found some in the catalog in that room.”
“You can come in this way.” Jess indicated her quarters. “I wanted to introduce you to Jason here anyway.”
The man didn’t like her. Dev could tell. But she nodded in agreement and followed them inside, standing quietly as Jess walked over to her workspace chair and then turned, releasing the catches on her jumpsuit and pulling it half down to expose her upper body before she sat down.
Dev blinked a few times as she found herself handling a slew of inputs all at once, some really unexpected. Jess’s body was a rich, golden color and she could see a few faint scars, which answered her earlier question. But the most striking thing was the intricate designs on her arms, start at the tips of her shoulders and going down. There were black lines and color, and small dots in an uneven pattern between them, and she realized one whole limb was complete down to the wrist, and the other halfway.
Wow. She had nothing at all in programming for this. What was going on? She knew no one in the crèche had markings like that.
“Jason, this is Dev.” Jess said, putting her forearms down on the chair and leaning back. “She’s going to drive my bus for me.”
The man looked at Dev. “Yeah?”
“Dev, this is Jason. He’s also an agent.” Jess said. “He’s about to carve me for my last gig.”
‘Hello. It’s nice to meet you.” Dev addressed the man politely.
He stared at her. “Charmed.” He said briefly, then turned his attention back to the gun like device, which he triggered, producing a vivid blue light at the tip. “Don’t you have some cleaning to do or something?”
Jess abruptly lashed out with one leg, slamming her booted foot against the man’s knee and sending him careening to the floor, juggling the gun frantically as he fell. “Don’t be a jackass, Jason.” She warned. “It’s not her fault she’s here. “
“Son of a bitch are you crazy!” Jason managed to get hold of the device and rolled over. “I could have shot the whole fucking room out!”
“We have plenty.” Jess didn’t look either alarmed or sorry. “Bain wants this project to succeed. I’m not going to be the one who prevents that, and if you have a brain cell left in your head you won’t either.”
Jason paused in the midst of getting to his knees and stared at her, his eyes narrowing as Jess’s brows hiked meaningfully. “Oh”
“Sit.” Jess waved Dev to one of the chairs near the workspace. “Not many people get to see one of us get marked.”
Dev had absolutely no idea what was going on. “Okay.” She managed to answer. “What does that mean?” She sat down and tried to assimilate everything that had just happened, but her thoughts wouldn’t settle properly and she gave it up after a minute.
Jason got up and pulled a chair over, settling himself next to where Jess was. “I get you.” He said, making some adjustments. “It’s just really damn hard.” He looked over at Dev. “No offense meant, kid.” He said. “I’ve just been at this a long time, and I’ve seen a lot of people kicked downstairs for your kind.”
Dev still had no idea what was going on, or what downstairs was. “I’m sorry.” She replied. “I can tell you none of us wants to harm anyone.”
“Of course they don’t. They’ve got no more choice about being here than you and I did, Jase.” Jess said. “If you want to be mad, be mad at the bastards at the top. They made the decision.” She flexed her arm and turned it slightly. “Put it there.”
Jason grunted.
“Being marked.” Jess turned to Dev. “They don’t let us put patches on these suits anymore like in the old days. You could get a patch or a mark for all your achievements. We can’t do that now so we do this.” She pointed at her arm. “For every gig, for every mission, we tell the story here.”
Dev stared in fascination at the designs.
“Where it was, what it did… “ A high pitched buzz sounded and Jess licked her lips, setting her feet squarely on the floor as Jason leaned close with the device in his hand. “Who we lost.” She took a breath. “Who we killed.”
“Ready.” Jason braced the hand holding the gun with his other hand. He waited for Jess to nod, then he carefully pulled the trigger, and the blue light jumped from the gun to Jess’s skin, with a high keening sound and a faint sizzle.
Dev felt a shiver go down her spine. She could see Jess’s body stiffen and her eyes closed, though her breathing remained steady.
“Didn’t think I was going to get this mark.” Jess said after a minute or two.
“Yeah.” Jason murmured softly. “Lot of dots for this one.”
“Thirteen black. Don’t short em.” Jess said, in a clipped tone. “Twelve of them there and Joshua.”
“Hm.” Jason grunted.
Dev felt very out of depth. She could smell the faint scent of burned flesh, and she could see the muscles in Jess’s legs jumping and she realized whatever this was probably hurt a lot. There were a lot of marks on her arms, and the whole thing seemed just a little insane to her.
“Green or no?”
Jess was silent for a while. “ Can a complete failure be a green?” She asked. “No. Leave it clear.”
“Okay.” Jason made another adjustment. “Color.” He warned, leaning close again, and the high buzz returned.
“Joshua’s the reason you’re here. “ Jess looked over at Dev. “He was my partner. My tech.” She said. “The other side bought him and he led us into a trap and knifed me in the gut.”
Dev’s eyes widened.
“Bastard.” Jason muttered.
“So you’re going to be my bus driver.” Jess said. “You’re never going to be my partner. You understand? No offense.”
Dev lifted her head a little and their eyes met. “I do understand.” She said. “Doctor Dan told me what happened. I’m really sorry for you. It must have been terrible.” Her eyes never left Jess’s and as the silence lengthened, the buzz faded.
Finally Jason cleared his throat. “Sucks it took one of them to say that.” He said. “None of us did.”
Jess’s gaze dropped, and she sat there just breathing for a minute. “You done?” She said. “I’ve got weather to look at.”
Jason decommissioned the gun and clipped it to his jumpsuit, getting up from his chair and dusting his hands off. “Yeah.” He said. “Put some rub on it when you get a chance. I’m going to get some grub.” He turned and left, and the door slid shut behind him with a faint thump.
It was awkwardly quiet for a minute. “May I look at it?” Dev asked.
“Sure.” Jess murmured.
Dev got up and went to the chair Jason had used, settling down on it and studying the red raw design now carved in Jess’s skin. “Wow.”
“Stupid tradition.” Jess sighed. “But once you start you can’t stop it.” She looked at her arm, then at Dev past it. “I always promised myself I’d retire out before I got both sleeves.” She pushed herself to her feet. “Now I really do have weather to study. “ She indicated the inner door between their quarters. “Get some rest. I’ll call you in when it’s time to talk about the mission.”