Emissions & Omission

by Che Biko

Ché placed his attention on the area around the wormhole near his ship and checked the scanners.

All clear.

He looked through the wormhole at the black beyond the horizon and listened to the emissions being picked up by the sensors.
I am pathetic.
...
I am not my thoughts.

"Good evening." Jennifer greeted those connected to The Good Word. Ché considered his response. He thought he might have angered her during a conversation last night, on the same channel. He was not certain if she still considered him a friend, or if she ever did. Also, he had recently observed that even friends did not refer to eachother by their first names in channels such as this one. It had confused him when people stopped calling him Ché. He thought this changed because the relationship between them had changed, but he had now come to realize that it was more likely caused by a change of the environment. So, he would not use her first name.

Che Biko > Hello Ms. Starfall.

"Ah, Mr. Biko, exactly the person I wanted to speak with."

Oh dear...is she still angry with me?

Ché waited for a bit to see if she would mention what it was that she wanted to speak about, but she did not. He wondered if she expected a response from him, then decided not to give one, hoping to delay or even avoid what could be an unpleasant conversation, and started looking at the black beyond the horizon again.

She should be.
...
Does she know?
She could. She knows the Black.
She should.
...
I better see what this is about.

Che Biko > Well, I am available.

Jennifer opened a private channel, and when she greeted with "Hello, Che." after this change of environment, he felt a bit of relief and responded with confidence in his response.

Che Biko > Hey Jennifer.

"You mentioned last night that you had the urge to kill someone earlier that day."

She does know.

Che Biko > Hmm, not an urge, just a thought.

I am not my thoughts.

"I'd like to ask who that was."

Please don't. I can't tell you that. I...don't dare to.
And you call yourself a friend? At least ask her why.

Che Biko > Why?
"I have a suspicion as to who it was, and if I'm correct, I feel obliged to say a few things to you. Nothing in anger or threatening. Just a matter of doing my job."

She knows.
But I don't have to confirm that. She can say those things without me doing that.
She knows the Black. Maybe she has advice, maybe she can help me.

Che Biko > Well, you'll have to say those things without me confirming nor denying your suspicions.
"If that's the case, I'd have to go with my conclusions and consider you to be uncooperative in the matter."

Uncooperative. She'll call you Mr. Biko when this conversation ends, you'll see. You deserve worse.

"If your concern is that I would feel that I have a need to warn the person, I don't. If it is who I think, they are quite capable of defending themselves."

They? Hmm, I never thought about killing him as well.

"Were you in The Elysion when you had this thought?"

She knows. Gods, she knows.

Che Biko > Why?
"I know about the conversation that you had with Aurora in the Guest Quarters."

She thinks it's Vince?

"And no, I do not think that you had the thought about Aurora."

Why would I think that she would think that?

Che Biko > It's not Vince.
"Was it Anyanka?" she said, looking concerned.

She's playing with you. Good thing she can't see you.
...Maybe she really does not know. Maybe she underestimates how disturbing a thought it was.

Find out what she does know, misdirect.

Che Biko > What makes you think it was someone you know?
"Human nature. When left to our own devices, we think the universe turns about ourselves."

You would not be entirely wrong in this case.

"I thought you had maybe thought about killing Vince. And I was going to ask you to keep any kind of notion to act on such a thought outside of The Elysion."

She thinks I'm that stupid?
Is that all she cares about? She does not care if I become a murderer again? She does not care if I'm taken by the black? She just wants to keep her own place clean?
She does not know. She would care if she knew. Misdirect.

Che Biko > Well, I would not have done it myself, but I'll do my best to keep The Elysion out of such matters, if they occur.

I would not have killed Vince myself. That's not a lie.

"Thank you." she nodded. "That's all I wanted."

See? She does not care.

Ché looked at the black again.

Why should she?

"Oh, one more thing. My apologies for my... strident tone last night. The subject matter was striking fairly close to some personal issues."
Che Biko > I understand.
"Thank you for your time, Che. Fair skies."
Che Biko > Same to you, Jennifer.

Jennifer disconnected from the channel, and Ché replayed the conversation, much like he had done with the conversation with Vincent earlier that night, in order to determine if Vince was hiding the truth in plain sight, playing with him. He examined his own words to Jennifer, he did not lie. He also did not hide the truth in plain sight. Not the truth that mattered, anyway. He would not risk doing that, not intentionally. He felt reasonably confident that he had misdirected her. If she would have been able to see him, if he had spoken the words, she eventually might have gathered enough pieces of the puzzel to find the truth. It's the reason why he wants to have his talk with Vince in person, and why he was relieved that his conversation with Jennifer was not. Ché focused on the black again.

...
All clear?