Silence, mainly - though it was underlined by the sound of music, the masculine tones of a lounge singer from the distant past rolling through the room.

  Two pairs of eyes flitted from one another away to the doorframe, and the intruders therein. One pair was a beautiful sapphire blue, irises lit from within by miniature LEDs; the other pair was golden, with pupils like those of goats, oblong and ovoid. Crimson flecks adorned the golden pair, like shards of shattered ruby; the sapphire set was comparatively immaculate, free of any blemish.

  Laughter.

  Khetnep leaned back further in her chair as she let mirth spring free, rocking her seat back as both hands went to her midriff to stabilize against her own amusement. Purity, smile on her face yet lingering from whatever she and Khetnep had been discussing, allowed said smile to widen like a slash of moonlight calling Vitus's nocturnal animals - EJ, in this case - out to play.

  "EJ! Hey, EJ! Oh, Est, you're here, too - hey, loves, I'm... right here! Nothing to worry about! Come in, come in; we were just talking about you!"

  Purity was seated on the outer edge of Khetnep's desk, kicking her feet, and by all accounts looking unharmed and unbothered. Esper James felt the tension in her body drain away like a battery having its energy sapped, every scathing accusation and impulse for violence flowing out of her with the coolness and fluidity of melt-water. Her stance, once ready to pounce into action should the need arise, drooped into a relaxed slouch - behind her, Esthrielle's own body had a similar reaction.

  As Khetnep finished laughing, silence took hold once more. There was an awkward stillness in the air for a handful of moments far longer and more oppressive than felt like relief; rather, EJ could have imagined herself painting her face with greasepaint and donning a red nose, for how she now felt. She did not resist as Esthrielle urged her forward into the office, the Easterner then shutting the door behind them.

  "Purity... Okay. You're okay? Good, good. We, uh..." Est trailed off for a few seconds; the needles of expectant gazes spurred her back into action quickly, however, and she continued. "...We thought maybe you were in trouble. You've been away for a while, and we... We're still settling in, you know? Not sure of how things... work around here, haha."

  Purity merely smiled in response, hopping off the desk and approaching the pair. As she reached them, she lowered herself enough so that she could wrap them both in a warm embrace, shutting her eyes and drawing in a deep breath so it might be released in an affectionate sigh.

  "Ahhh... Fuck, sorry, girls. Khetnep and I got to talking, and... Well, as I've said, she and I used to work together. Well, I used to work for her, specifically, but... We're friends. I lost track of time while we were catching up, yeah? She and I had a lot to discuss, aha..." It was Purity's turn to trail off. She gave EJ and Est a firm squeeze to cap off her sentence in lieu of speech - a squeeze that was, after a moment for the shorter women to process the situation, returned emphatically.

  Esper James was happy, of course, that Purity was safe - however, there was another emotion dominating the forefront of her mind: self-admonishment. She chastised herself for overreacting to Purity's absence... for starting this whole little escapade, which had led to her run-in with the Tsang executive... for getting Est worried, too... and most of all? She chastised herself for feeling so pathetic about it all.

  She'd finally felt like she'd grown a backbone, getting ready to confront Khetnep regardless of what the bigger, more imposing ghoul could or would do - and yet now, seeing Purity safe and sound? That strength felt like a facade, dripping away from her as Purity took her in her arms. Khetnep's barking voice punched through her fugue, though, and EJ's gaze rose to meet her patron's.

  "Well done, little ghoul! Well-fucking-done! And no, I'm not being sarcastic - I know your type, I know you need me to tell you that for it to be understood. Genuinely, I'm impressed!" Khetnep's Cheshire grin was like the mouth of some all-devouring beast as she beamed at EJ, leaning back forward in her seat, putting her elbows on her desk and propping her chin up with folded hands. Her laughter had ceased, though those ivories seemed far from being put away - however, she seemed not to be lying. EJ felt her doubt being washed away with the tide of new emotion: surprise and pride in turn, the former more so than the latter.

  "You seemed so soft when we met, you know - and Purity spoke kindly of you, I promise, but implied you were a gentle sort. Kicked around by Vitus... by Tsang... by everyone you've ever known, it sounded like. And yet here you are, bursting in ready to - what, fight me? All to save your woman? You risked being seen by strangers out of love?" Khetnep shut her eyes, nodding to herself as if answering her own question. EJ's eyes had grown wide now, that pride welling up with further and further intensity; Purity and Est, too, looked now to Khetnep with surprise etched on their features.

  Khetnep continued without needing an answer; she seemed the type who knew how to monologue, and also, the type used to being allowed to monologue by her employees. "Good, good. Good to know you're able to put it all on the line for what you value, and believe in. It's something fewer and fewer people in Vitus can manage nowadays... Everyone's so scared of getting squashed down, getting rubbed out, that they keep to themselves. They lose themselves in pleasure, because the only alternative is to wallow in pain."

  Something about the way Khetnep had said it, all of it, felt... pointed, though not at EJ. The ghoulette briefly wondered if her kindred was speaking from experience; she figured Khetnep had to have been, given her choice of profession. It was easy to see the way vice held Vitus in its grip, when one lived in a temple to said vice.

  EJ took the opening to reply, feeling her earlier strength and conviction returning moment by moment, syllable by syllable. It felt good.

  "I used to be like that, you know. I know what you mean - afraid to die, or get sent to IRE, or to get put in stasis. Terrified by Tsang's goons, and what they might do to me if I stepped out of line." She gathered herself up, now, straightening her back and solidifying her stance. The warmth in her chest was both familiar and alien all at once, reminding her of those moments in recent months that had felt... strong. Moments she had felt strong.

  Snapping at Est, on their first meeting. Finding the strength to hunt her down in the snow, in that darkened, derelict factory. Standing up for herself - flashing a gun, even - in the Jezze. Shooting the Product Reclamation officer, back in Kehler Complex. Ripping that officer to shreds when he had tried to apprehend her and Est, when they were fleeing Judas's.

  As she made a mental trek through her moments of strength, she found new confidence blooming within mind and heart. The warmth within her grew, and as she remembered the taste of living flesh on her tongue and between her teeth, she couldn't keep down her smile.

  "I don't want to be that little girl anymore. I'm d-done being scared, being weak, being... being a burden on the ones I care for. I'm done being a coward, and a pushover, and a weakling, a-and a... a..." She had run out of things to say.

  That was okay, though, because Khetnep was more than happy to have a chance to jump in. She chuckled to herself, nodding emphatically at Esper James's proclamation, pride of her own now evident on the domineering dame's face. "Yes, EJ! Yes! That's what I want to hear - what I love to hear! I don't hire weak boys and girls, you know - and this strength? This conviction you're showing me? It's exactly what I need in my repertoire! Come here, come here - come shake my hand, miss Price-Wynnfield. I have a feeling you and I are going to be fast friends~"

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  Purity and Esthrielle released Esper James without delay or protest; Purity, however, cast a look to Khetnep that was absolutely indecipherable. EJ was caught up in her own feelings, however - she was riding the high of a level of self-esteem she had almost never felt, and she wasn't about to let herself crash. Her feet felt like they were moving on their own as she approached Khetnep, putting out her hand to be shaken.

  Khetnep took it in an instant; her grip was powerful, and dominant, and possessed of a heat that the second-living rarely exuded. Must be leftover blood-warmth from her dinner... At least, that's what EJ decided to write it off as. They shook hands heartily, zealously, and once Khetnep released EJ she stayed leaned forth.

  "So! Purity and I were discussing work for you ladies, you know - I remember when we first met, just the other day, you all told me you wanted to work. Told me you wanted to help out; that you weren't just gonna shelter beneath my roof and hide away like frightened prey animals. So... we've been discussing just how you can help out." Khetnep was practically licking her lips at the prospects now laid out before her, leaning back once more in her seat to steeple her fingers over her chest.

  She was a bit like a see-saw, EJ thought; animated, though confined to what movement her throne would allow.

  "We had been discussing... Well, we'll call it 'operational security'. The three Easterners are all highly suited for it... Combat trained and ready, durable, experienced... but, well, the issue that I can't get around? Repairs." Khetnep un-steepled her hands for a moment, opening a drawer on her desk and reaching in. She drew out a fat brown cigar and a gold-plated lighter, popping the former into her mouth to bite off the un-clipped tip, which she spat on the floor.

  As she lit the stogie she continued, placing it between her fangs and speaking through a propped-open mouth. "If they get hurt, I'll need to source parts for their mechanical bits - not impossible, but time consuming. I'm not worried about the cost - they'll be worth every fucking penny, I'm sure - but Vitus isn't exactly rife with the advanced alloys and polymers they use in the East."

  A few more puffs, drawing her cigar from her fangs for a moment so she may extend her thought unhindered. EJ waited patiently, though in her mind, she imagined Lulu and Zofia on the streets of Vitus, killing at Khetnep's beck and call. Lulu, she could totally see it; hell, Lulu had probably put down more than a few second-living in her time. Esper James didn't even need to consider if Est had what it took - she'd seen it in person.

  Zofia, though...

  "You, though, EJ - you're second-living, like us. Like the rest of my people. And you're unassuming... but, well, aha. Is it racist of me to say I think we ghouls have a leg up in this department? Does one's type of second-life count as a race?" The rhetorical question drifted in the air along with fragrant smoke, eventually swatted away by Khetnep's words.

  "I think you would be ideal. We can train you, get you to at least a passable state... and then you could get back at Tsang. Make them pay for what they've done to us, to this city, to the fucking UNAC in its entirety. We can bring down Tsang, together." The stogie was held aside so Khetnep could offer Esper James a winning smile, giving the blonde time for the proposition to sink in.

  EJ's head was spinning. In no uncertain terms, Khetnep was saying that she would train - and ideally equip - Esper James to be a professional killer, and then help her take out Tsang targets. What? What the fuck? That was an... Insane proposition, to say the least. Esper James had never been that sort of person in her life - she'd never been aggressive, much less violent, and even those moments of violence had been... well, impulsive. They'd been born of sudden, overwhelming emotion, not conscious thought.

  Could EJ take a life unbidden? Could she kill people willingly, of sound mind and heart?

  She thought, then, of the executive she and Est had met in the hallway, on their way up to Khetnep. She thought of the fury that had built in her heart even at seeing him, much less interacting with him. She thought of his words.

  Judas would... would burn her. Judas, the only constant in her life for three entire fucking decades of unlife, would burn her to death if she was caught. That was regardless of if she fought back, or if she came in willingly - EJ may as well have been dead already, truly dead. The entire entity of Tsang wanted her dead... and many of her civilian peers surely did, too. She was a wanted woman. She could live forever in fear... or, with Khetnep's help, she could at least die proud, fighting back against the city, and the corporation, who had disabused and dehumanized her.

  She would kill if she had to - anything else was delaying the inevitable. At least with this, she could make them pay for what they had done to her.

  "I accept." Her words practically echoed in the office as she spoke them, seeming to reverberate through the air like a shockwave. Her brow and jaw were set, her heart was firm, and her conviction was unwavering - she could allow herself to second-guess the decision.

  Esper James turned her head to look at Purity and Est, both of whom sat slack-jawed, mouths agape with utter shock and confusion. Purity held some fear in her expression, eyes wide as twin moons on her face; Esthrielle's brow was furrowed with concern, a thousand thoughts flashing behind her eyes so quickly none could truly influence her look.

  Khetnep did not laugh. She nodded, shutting her eyes to drink in the moment, stogie continuing to smoulder between her fingers. After a few more seconds of allowing EJ's decision to hang, she spoke up once more.

  "Good. I'll work out everything we'd need to get you ladies situated - you for sure, EJ, your lover and friends if they so choose. I would take no joy in forcing any of you to work for me; you all may refuse, or back out, at any time. We've signed no contract, and I won't hold it against you if you go back to your room, talk it out, and realize you aren't really keen on, aha, 'corporate excision'. Regardless of your choice..." She puffed now on her cigar, blowing a perfect ring out to gently impact against EJ's chest. Khetnep winked.

  "La Scission remains a home to you and yours. Tsang is trash, and if they're willing to cannibalize themselves for their own personal gain? They're weak. Afraid. Greedy. I don't know why they want you, EJ, and I don't care - whatever you did to them pales in comparison to what they did to you, I'm sure."

  Esper James had to hold back giddy laughter at Khetnep's words. This whole time, her whole life, she had seen Tsang as an impenetrable, unshakeable force of nature. Even when fleeing with Purity, and during their stay in both the factory and the convent, Tsang seemed... Dauntless. Seemed too big to fail. Everyone always spoke of them as a formidable opponent at worst, or a force of nature at best.

  Yet now, here was this... this criminal mastermind, beautiful and powerful and confident and smug, declaring that Tsang was ‘trash’. Calling them weak, saying they were afraid. Even the Knights had been cold and analytical in regards to Tsang, but Khetnep seemed to look down on them as insects to be stepped on.

  EJ repressed her laughter, but couldn't mute the smile. She turned back to Khetnep, nodding vehemently, fervently, swept up in the other woman's confidence and charisma. "Yeah! They're, uh..."

  She didn't have anything to pitch in that wasn't just a bold-faced lie, or assumption; she settled on simply agreeing, another 'yeah' capping off the sentiment. Khetnep snickered at that, nodding in response, before drawing in a deep breath and letting it roll from her in a heavy, contented sigh. "Good, then. We'll disassemble Tsang together. I'll work out something for January for you - training, not action. In the meantime? You ladies go have fun; relax, enjoy yourselves, so on and so forth. Purity? Just let me know if you all need anything; I'll make it happen. Promise."

  Purity was torn from her lingering shock by being addressed directly; she nodded curtly, remembering the list of demands Zofia and Lulu had put forth. The drugs, mostly; she remembered they wanted drugs, and honestly? Maybe they all needed a little something to take the edge off. Couldn't hurt, at least.

  However, a knock from the corridor broke her concentration; she whipped around, ready for the door to open and for strangers to see that she, Est, and Esper James fucking Price-Wynnfield were already here. Anyone seeing EJ always carried some risk nowadays.

  However, the door wasn't opened; at least, not unbidden. A voice came from the other side, instead - a male voice, though light and soft, like a vocal pillow. Purity knew she recognized the voice from somewhere...

  "Miss Khetnep? We've, ah... We've got a small problem. Cleanup needed. Purity's room. Just, err, requesting permission to flush the body... I b-brought his ID, so you can handle the coverup. Tsang dude, paid a lot..."

  Oh! That's right! Cinna, from the bathhouse! He works here now?

  Huh. Wait, did he just say 'flush the body' and 'Purity's room'?