milliways_bar | (no subject)

'They're incarnations of pure evil, according to some.'

Jim is sitting cross-legged in a booth close by, his attention on a motherboard he's playing with. The table is strewn with electronics and wires, and he has an audience. Of elf dolls. He's lined a bunch of them up on the other side of the booth.

Well. He started with two and now there's about twenty. Possibly because at least one has been pulled apart and has bits of wire sticking out of it now.

'Or just toys. Whichever you prefer to believe.'

"Oh good. This year's Christmas disaster. This is why I usually leave around now and come back in time for the New Years party."

'Oooh, is there going to be a party?'

Yay!

Not that Jim looks in a party-like mood. He's got a laser focus going on, with an air of being far away in his head even while being present.

'I liked your Halloween one, even if it wasn't naughty enough. But there's no evidence these elves do anything but multiply. Perhaps they're planning to drown us.'

"Generally." Jay shrugs, "I usually end up DJing."

"And Halloween was plenty naughty. You just have to be in with the right people."

He puts the bucket down and picks one up, examining it. "Right."

Jim snorts at that.

'Of course. I'm too lily-white for any of your crowd.'

They're probably not talking about the same sort of naughtiness, but that's fine.

'Haven't you figured it out yet?'

He picks up a small screwdriver, and drives it into the body of one of the elves. By the time he's blinked, another four have appeared.

Jay shrugs. "No, not really. You're just too much of a prick to be invited to play." He answers offhandedly.

"I'm guessing they react to naughtiness, given the bar's thing for weird Christmas traditions."

That earns a cackle. Because right, like he wants to, or needs to be invited, or in fact wants anything to do with whoever Jay hangs out with.

'Ding ding ding, we have a winner.'

Well done, Jay.

'I imagine they might well react to niceness too, but have no inclination to test the theory. I do, however, have an unrelated question for you.'

Jay hums a thought and goes to the bar, having a quiet conversation with Bar. A moment later, the bucket contains a couple fewer elves. "Yeah, so that works."

He raises an eyebrow. "Ask away. Not promises I'll answer but ask anyway."

'Oh, goody,' he deadpans, because yeah, he's not planning to do anything to reduce the infestation. Not on purpose, at least.

He's quiet, soldering a chip in place while Jay's at the bar, working with quick, sure fingers that never hesitate. When Jay comes back, he says, 'have your drones ever got sick?'

Jay considers for a moment before answering. "Not so far. They've been injured but not sick as far as I know." He looks straight out Jim. "Do I want to know what makes you ask?"

'The fact that you'd need to ask says a lot.'

He's bored. And curious. And looking for fun new projects once his current one is out of the way.

'I'm only curious. You don't need to worry.'

He looks at Jay for the first time, his eyes dark, and lazily amused.

'I imagine someone would need to understand their workings to make it happen. I was just wondering if you've protected them. Hive, you know. It'd only take one part being infected to damage all of them.'

Damage. Control? He was looking over their schematics the other day. It seems a shame to have them, and not use them.

'But you must have considered that.'

"That. And about a dozen ways to keep you away from them." He answers wryly. "I know you got into my storage."

'Oh, really?'

He grins, and goes back to working.

'Well, that only took you about a year. Your security is laughable, darling. You should let me design you a system that could keep even me out.'

A dozen ways, eh? Sounds like a challenge if ever he heard one.