[Lance is always a little hesitant to message people he doesn't know, and that's no different now that he's in Hadriel; in fact, it's just more so, because he's so out of his element. And considering he not only has never met Nick but knows exactly nothing about him except that he's in the Guard, and Lance has not at all been getting along with Maketh, he's cautious about how he approaches this message.]
Hello; my name is Dr. Lance Sweets. I was told by Maketh that you were one of the people to contact for information regarding an incident involving an attack on the Guard headquarters. Would you be willing to speak with me about that?
[Off to a good start here, and he means that only semi-sarcastically. Also that's a good question; he'd much rather meet in person normally, because it's easier for him to get a sense of people that way, but he's both been pushing it on the bed rest thing and isn't sure about meeting with anyone from the Guard.]
[Give his bare, metal hand doesn't work so well with the touch screen of the communicator, he's doesn't mind swapping to video. He just has to remeber that not everyone is ready for a face like his.]
[Sorry, give him a second; he's... Not sure what he's looking at. Don't mind those expressions of surprise and brief alarm; he realizes after a moment that he's already had a discussion about napping and muffins with a talking skeleton, so he really shouldn't be shocked at this point.
And once he gets past the initial surprise, Nick actually looks... Pretty cool, really. He has so many questions--
No. He's a professional, and he has a point to this call, and he's not going to ask questions that would no doubt be really rude. At least not yet. Right now, he'll focus.]
Um, yes, thank you.
[Be professional.]
I was hoping you could tell me what happened when the Guard post was attacked; I've heard the story from Maketh, but the more perspectives the better in these situations.
[If the way Nick politely waits for Lance to finish with those expressions says anything, it's that this isn't he first time he's been met with such a reaction. He expects it more often than not these days.]
You mind telling me why it is you're asking about it?
[Answering a question with a question isn't usually his style, but he just wants to make sure this guy isn't actually gathering information for Sato or something.]
[That he seems used to it makes him feel a bit guilty, but he's still trying to focus on on the point of the conversation and so ignores it for now. Nick's question is a good one, and he doesn't hesitate in answering.]
Of course. Maketh came to me about what happened and asked for opinions on what to do about the person who attacked the Guard headquarters. I can't give any advice without a better understanding of exactly what occurred, and so Maketh told me to ask you, Henry Percy, and Glacius for your insights.
[And that's all true, even if he's downplaying a bit how suspicious he is of Maketh's take on things and how much he disagrees with what she'd done at the time.]
[He knew Maketh was bothered by the attack, but that she saw a psychologist over it sure is something.]
A fella by the name of Sato put out a call on the network, trying to get folks to rise up against us. The 'beleaguered masses' and what have you. Thing was that almost no one was biting. Most of the people around here know we're the type of group that tries to do good, even if we don't have a lot of real authority. I guess he was bored enough he took it upon himself to stage that attack anyway, because sure as sunrise, he showed up at the headquarters the next morning, ready to fight.
[Guess that answers Lance's uncertainty. Nick continues.]
The man has some kind of invisible force he's able to control that can do a hell of a lot of damage. On top of that, he's about as immortal as you can get, coming back to life from fatal wounds as right as rain.
[Him too, Lance. Magic isn't exactly a thing where he comes from.]
I don't know exactly what it is, but it's something that has to be handled on its own, like some kind of separate entity. Needless to say, he's a dangerous character.
We found a way, but I'm not at liberty to discuss the details.
[Because that would mean outing Rey as capable of dealing with such a menace, and given she's mostly undercover when it comes to keeping an eye on Sato, Nick would rather not put her in any kind of danger, especially given he doesn't really know this Lance guy.]
[Although he knows Maketh's 'solution' he's also aware that the others didn't agree with it, so he presumes Nick is talking about something else and he can definitely understand wanting to keep some advantages to oneself.]
So you were able to stop him from attacking the Guard post, correct? Did he say anything to you about being stopped, or why he did it to begin with?
Not to me. I was tied up after he went down. Had a few things to take care of and left the actual handling of him to Henry and Maketh.
[Which is usually best, considering he doesn't always approve of Maketh's methods.]
What I got from the reports is that he's just the kind of man who wants to watch the world burn. Given the way he was trying to start trouble with us for no damn reason, I don't doubt it.
[Although he doesn't like to just write people off there are definitely some individuals beyond help, and despite that he doesn't know enough about Sato just yet to include him among them he's getting the impression he's probably one of them.]
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[text]
Hello; my name is Dr. Lance Sweets. I was told by Maketh that you were one of the people to contact for information regarding an incident involving an attack on the Guard headquarters. Would you be willing to speak with me about that?
[text]
You're the shrink from the network, right? You want to talk about it over the phone, or in person?
[text]
I am, yes. Could we use the video chat?
[It's a good compromise option.]
[text] → [video]
[Give his bare, metal hand doesn't work so well with the touch screen of the communicator, he's doesn't mind swapping to video. He just has to remeber that not everyone is ready for a face like his.]
That better?
[video]
And once he gets past the initial surprise, Nick actually looks... Pretty cool, really. He has so many questions--
No. He's a professional, and he has a point to this call, and he's not going to ask questions that would no doubt be really rude. At least not yet. Right now, he'll focus.]
Um, yes, thank you.
[Be professional.]
I was hoping you could tell me what happened when the Guard post was attacked; I've heard the story from Maketh, but the more perspectives the better in these situations.
[video]
You mind telling me why it is you're asking about it?
[Answering a question with a question isn't usually his style, but he just wants to make sure this guy isn't actually gathering information for Sato or something.]
[video]
Of course. Maketh came to me about what happened and asked for opinions on what to do about the person who attacked the Guard headquarters. I can't give any advice without a better understanding of exactly what occurred, and so Maketh told me to ask you, Henry Percy, and Glacius for your insights.
[And that's all true, even if he's downplaying a bit how suspicious he is of Maketh's take on things and how much he disagrees with what she'd done at the time.]
[video]
[He knew Maketh was bothered by the attack, but that she saw a psychologist over it sure is something.]
A fella by the name of Sato put out a call on the network, trying to get folks to rise up against us. The 'beleaguered masses' and what have you. Thing was that almost no one was biting. Most of the people around here know we're the type of group that tries to do good, even if we don't have a lot of real authority. I guess he was bored enough he took it upon himself to stage that attack anyway, because sure as sunrise, he showed up at the headquarters the next morning, ready to fight.
[video]
[He isn't sure if maybe Sato had been able to convince a person or two, even if he couldn't get together any sort of real mob.]
[video]
[Guess that answers Lance's uncertainty. Nick continues.]
The man has some kind of invisible force he's able to control that can do a hell of a lot of damage. On top of that, he's about as immortal as you can get, coming back to life from fatal wounds as right as rain.
[video]
What do you mean by invisible force?
[He's still getting used to the magic idea.]
[video]
I don't know exactly what it is, but it's something that has to be handled on its own, like some kind of separate entity. Needless to say, he's a dangerous character.
[video]
That's good to know. Were you able to find some way to counteract it?
[Because how unchallenged Sato thinks he is will factor into any predictions about his behavior that Lance can make.]
[video]
[Because that would mean outing Rey as capable of dealing with such a menace, and given she's mostly undercover when it comes to keeping an eye on Sato, Nick would rather not put her in any kind of danger, especially given he doesn't really know this Lance guy.]
[video]
[Although he knows Maketh's 'solution' he's also aware that the others didn't agree with it, so he presumes Nick is talking about something else and he can definitely understand wanting to keep some advantages to oneself.]
So you were able to stop him from attacking the Guard post, correct? Did he say anything to you about being stopped, or why he did it to begin with?
[video]
[Which is usually best, considering he doesn't always approve of Maketh's methods.]
What I got from the reports is that he's just the kind of man who wants to watch the world burn. Given the way he was trying to start trouble with us for no damn reason, I don't doubt it.
[video]
That's entirely likely, although I admit I hope he had a more specific reason.
[Because that'd be a lot easier to work with.]
[video]
[Given his profession, chances are he's seen his fair share of terrible people -- maybe not immortals, but people nonetheless.]
[video]
[Although he doesn't like to just write people off there are definitely some individuals beyond help, and despite that he doesn't know enough about Sato just yet to include him among them he's getting the impression he's probably one of them.]
Thank you for answering my questions.
[video]
Anytime. There anything else I can help you with?
[video]
[Just in case.]
[video]
[video]
Thanks again.
[He nods farewell, then ends the connection.]