Imposter [Part 39]
Apr. 6th, 2021 08:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
esp_dragonv2Fandom: Noblesse
Summary: Tao waits.
Notes: Among Us AU! :D
Rating: G
Genre: Sci-fi
Word count: 1,166
Total word count: 36,573
Status: Work in progress
Tao hummed, watching the security cameras. Yeah, he could multitask and he could both watch the feeds and work on the trackers, but for this, he wanted to make sure he was concentrating fully on the trackers, and right now, he wasn't. His eyes kept getting drawn to any movement, trying to see if it was Em.
He'd seen Em a couple times, before he walked off screen, and then he was somewhere else.
More things Tao had seen before, but never fully put together.
There was no way Tao would be able to catch up with Em like that, even if he did have the feed on hand while he walked around. The only way he'd find Em was if he accidentally stumbled across him like he had in the first place, and Tao had a feeling that wasn't going to happen again any time soon.
He could hook his pad up to the security feeds. It would be a good warm-up for when he started poking at the trackers.
Tao saw Frankenstein leave the specimen room and head straight for the meeting room. When Frankenstein grabbed a chair, Tao hummed.
Em must have told him where he was. Not that surprising - Frankenstein would be way more trustworthy to Em than Tao was.
The two chatted for a few minutes, and Em slipped out of the vent. At the camera's angle, Tao had a better view to see the snout in Em's transformation. Em seemed more like a stretched out dog than a humanoid, with long limbs and claws.
Okay. He knew where Em was, at least for the moment, and that Frankenstein had talked to him, so hopefully if it all went well (and it seemed like it, since Em hadn't dashed off, and his body language wasn't aggressive), then all Tao had to do was wait.
*
M-21 wandered through the corridors, keeping an eye out on his surroundings.
The office, Weapons, Storage... Tao wasn't in any of them.
Not that much of a surprise. Tao was most likely to be in Security.
M-21 knew that.
He just. Didn't want to go right now. Maybe Tao was still trying to find him elsewhere.
If it was a trap...
Frankenstein believed Tao. That had to mean something, right?
And Tao hadn't tried to trap Frankenstein either...
M-21 stilled, hearing someone else coming close to him, and ducked into the shadows to hide.
*
Tao watched Em take a very meandering path around the base. Every nook and cranny was checked, and Em was avoiding being seen by anyone.
Em was still making his way closer. He'd get to Tao eventually.
Tao turned his attention back to his pad. All electronics were connected to the same system, so it should be easy to connect directly to the security system.
Should be. The security feeds weren't intended to be read elsewhere, so hadn't been programmed to be accessible. More tinkering to do while Tao waited.
*
"Yesss," Tao said under his breath, his pad finally showing the feeds. And right there, Takeo was walking up the corridor towards Security. Awesome.
He glanced up, checking the delay between them. They seemed about equal, with no lag. Great!
Tao scanned the rest of the feeds, but couldn't see Em. Hm.
"Heeey!" Tao said, waving back when Takeo entered the room. He waited for the door to close, in case Em was closer than he thought. "Did ya see Em out there?"
"Mm?" Takeo said as he walked over. "I didn't. Is he hovering again?"
"More like trying his best to come here in the slowest way possible, heh." Tao set his pad down, rolling his shoulders. Aaaah, that felt good.
"What happened?"
Tao grinned. "I saw Em's true form!" It was strange that he was giddy at seeing it, and not scared for his life, but being at the base was definitely changing how he used to think of things.
Takeo peered at him, and then glanced at the door. "He didn't mind?"
"He did," Tao said, nodding. "He pretty much disappeared as soon as he realised I'd seen 'im. I figured I'd just wait here rather than tryna find him - don't wanna spook him, ya know?"
Tao saw the corner of Takeo's lips twitch up. "Spook an imposter?"
Tao swatted Takeo's arm. "You didn't see him! He was terrified! Frankenstein's had a chat with him, and he's been slooowly been making his way over since."
Takeo glanced at the feeds, his smile widening slightly and Tao whipped his head around, just in time to see a silver 'suit outside their door at the same time he heard a 'psss' of the door opening.
"Yo!" Tao said, grinning at Em, who was still at the door, looking between him and Takeo. "How you doin'?"
Em didn't reply, the scar across his lips twisting. He still looked like he was one sharp movement away from bolting.
"I was just worried when you ran off like that!" Tao continued on, when it was clear Em wasn't going to say anything.
"I thought..." Em frowned, not looking at him or Takeo. "I thought you were going to space me."
"Nope!" Tao said. "No reason to."
Em stared at him.
"Weeell, you aren't trying to kill us anymore-" That much was very clear after everything that had happened. "-so we don't have any other reason to space you either."
Em kept staring at him, like he was waiting for Tao to say anything else.
"Welp!" Tao said, clapping his hands once. "That was all I wanted to talk to ya about."
Em nodded once and then ducked out immediately.
"Whew." Tao relaxed back into his chair, seeing Em just standing outside their door. "I don't think it's just he doesn't talk much, but he's shy?" Em tended to be pretty brusque whenever he had to talk (and usually that was in meetings) and sure, Tao hadn't talked to him that much before, but the few times he had, yeah. Em said what he needed to in the least amount he could.
Em seemed to have made his decision, and Tao watched him head for the boiler room. Okay. At least he wasn't running through all the vents anymore. Was that tiring for him? Or was changing forms just like...stretching out and that was it? Could he ask? Was that weird?
Tao exhaled, rubbing at his arm as it started to ache. It was...interesting to see Em as an actual person, and not just someone whose only goal was to kill him. And that was just what the Union wanted, wasn't it? Keep them separated and fighting each other.
"Okay, I think it's time for another walk," Tao said, slipping out of the chair. "What do you say?"
Takeo was smiling again. "That's why I came in the first place."
Tao laughed sheepishly. "Oh, right. Okay then, let's go!" Hopefully this time there wouldn't be any surprises.
Summary: Tao waits.
Notes: Among Us AU! :D
Rating: G
Genre: Sci-fi
Word count: 1,166
Total word count: 36,573
Status: Work in progress
Tao hummed, watching the security cameras. Yeah, he could multitask and he could both watch the feeds and work on the trackers, but for this, he wanted to make sure he was concentrating fully on the trackers, and right now, he wasn't. His eyes kept getting drawn to any movement, trying to see if it was Em.
He'd seen Em a couple times, before he walked off screen, and then he was somewhere else.
More things Tao had seen before, but never fully put together.
There was no way Tao would be able to catch up with Em like that, even if he did have the feed on hand while he walked around. The only way he'd find Em was if he accidentally stumbled across him like he had in the first place, and Tao had a feeling that wasn't going to happen again any time soon.
He could hook his pad up to the security feeds. It would be a good warm-up for when he started poking at the trackers.
Tao saw Frankenstein leave the specimen room and head straight for the meeting room. When Frankenstein grabbed a chair, Tao hummed.
Em must have told him where he was. Not that surprising - Frankenstein would be way more trustworthy to Em than Tao was.
The two chatted for a few minutes, and Em slipped out of the vent. At the camera's angle, Tao had a better view to see the snout in Em's transformation. Em seemed more like a stretched out dog than a humanoid, with long limbs and claws.
Okay. He knew where Em was, at least for the moment, and that Frankenstein had talked to him, so hopefully if it all went well (and it seemed like it, since Em hadn't dashed off, and his body language wasn't aggressive), then all Tao had to do was wait.
M-21 wandered through the corridors, keeping an eye out on his surroundings.
The office, Weapons, Storage... Tao wasn't in any of them.
Not that much of a surprise. Tao was most likely to be in Security.
M-21 knew that.
He just. Didn't want to go right now. Maybe Tao was still trying to find him elsewhere.
If it was a trap...
Frankenstein believed Tao. That had to mean something, right?
And Tao hadn't tried to trap Frankenstein either...
M-21 stilled, hearing someone else coming close to him, and ducked into the shadows to hide.
Tao watched Em take a very meandering path around the base. Every nook and cranny was checked, and Em was avoiding being seen by anyone.
Em was still making his way closer. He'd get to Tao eventually.
Tao turned his attention back to his pad. All electronics were connected to the same system, so it should be easy to connect directly to the security system.
Should be. The security feeds weren't intended to be read elsewhere, so hadn't been programmed to be accessible. More tinkering to do while Tao waited.
"Yesss," Tao said under his breath, his pad finally showing the feeds. And right there, Takeo was walking up the corridor towards Security. Awesome.
He glanced up, checking the delay between them. They seemed about equal, with no lag. Great!
Tao scanned the rest of the feeds, but couldn't see Em. Hm.
"Heeey!" Tao said, waving back when Takeo entered the room. He waited for the door to close, in case Em was closer than he thought. "Did ya see Em out there?"
"Mm?" Takeo said as he walked over. "I didn't. Is he hovering again?"
"More like trying his best to come here in the slowest way possible, heh." Tao set his pad down, rolling his shoulders. Aaaah, that felt good.
"What happened?"
Tao grinned. "I saw Em's true form!" It was strange that he was giddy at seeing it, and not scared for his life, but being at the base was definitely changing how he used to think of things.
Takeo peered at him, and then glanced at the door. "He didn't mind?"
"He did," Tao said, nodding. "He pretty much disappeared as soon as he realised I'd seen 'im. I figured I'd just wait here rather than tryna find him - don't wanna spook him, ya know?"
Tao saw the corner of Takeo's lips twitch up. "Spook an imposter?"
Tao swatted Takeo's arm. "You didn't see him! He was terrified! Frankenstein's had a chat with him, and he's been slooowly been making his way over since."
Takeo glanced at the feeds, his smile widening slightly and Tao whipped his head around, just in time to see a silver 'suit outside their door at the same time he heard a 'psss' of the door opening.
"Yo!" Tao said, grinning at Em, who was still at the door, looking between him and Takeo. "How you doin'?"
Em didn't reply, the scar across his lips twisting. He still looked like he was one sharp movement away from bolting.
"I was just worried when you ran off like that!" Tao continued on, when it was clear Em wasn't going to say anything.
"I thought..." Em frowned, not looking at him or Takeo. "I thought you were going to space me."
"Nope!" Tao said. "No reason to."
Em stared at him.
"Weeell, you aren't trying to kill us anymore-" That much was very clear after everything that had happened. "-so we don't have any other reason to space you either."
Em kept staring at him, like he was waiting for Tao to say anything else.
"Welp!" Tao said, clapping his hands once. "That was all I wanted to talk to ya about."
Em nodded once and then ducked out immediately.
"Whew." Tao relaxed back into his chair, seeing Em just standing outside their door. "I don't think it's just he doesn't talk much, but he's shy?" Em tended to be pretty brusque whenever he had to talk (and usually that was in meetings) and sure, Tao hadn't talked to him that much before, but the few times he had, yeah. Em said what he needed to in the least amount he could.
Em seemed to have made his decision, and Tao watched him head for the boiler room. Okay. At least he wasn't running through all the vents anymore. Was that tiring for him? Or was changing forms just like...stretching out and that was it? Could he ask? Was that weird?
Tao exhaled, rubbing at his arm as it started to ache. It was...interesting to see Em as an actual person, and not just someone whose only goal was to kill him. And that was just what the Union wanted, wasn't it? Keep them separated and fighting each other.
"Okay, I think it's time for another walk," Tao said, slipping out of the chair. "What do you say?"
Takeo was smiling again. "That's why I came in the first place."
Tao laughed sheepishly. "Oh, right. Okay then, let's go!" Hopefully this time there wouldn't be any surprises.