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[Rey nods, then tries her share as well.]

Been working on a batch or liquor and wine to ferment longer. Hopefully they'll be stronger when I eventually crack them open.

[Sadly they're not going to get the more "sophisticated" spirits that are aged by years. Oh well.]

It has a different flavor than any wine I've had. [Maketh considers it thoughtfully.] Though I did try a bottle of something that was spiced, and--that came close. But it wasn't sweet like this. I wonder....perhaps someone here could enchant the ingredients to make them age more quickly?

Well, it isn't wine -- it's mead. [She says this with a slight smile.] But it can be spiced as well. Might give that a try for next time.

[Rey mulls over Maketh's suggestion of enchantment. How strange to think that she doesn't even think twice about this sort of subject anymore.]

Hmm. Can't hurt to ask one of those magic types sometime.

Of course. [And now Maketh has decided quite likes mead. The sweetness of it.] Yes. It wouldn't hurt to see what could be done. It might be applied to other things as well.

[More practical applications, she means. But there is no harm in experimenting.]

Have considered something along those lines, too. Can't hurt to have emergency medical supplies on hand, knowing the way shit goes around here.

[Rey, who gets hurt quite often, hardly being an exception.]

[Maketh nods, though her expression is somber.]

And with how things are going now, it's likely only going to get worse.

Si vis pacem, para bellum. -- If you want peace, prepare for war.

[It's a phrase Rey has heard before in her line of "work". She forms a weak smile as she takes a few more drinks of her mead.]

Nothing ever comes easy.

Precisely.

[They cannot afford to be lax now, not when their enemies are massing just out of sight.]

I know your world is different than mine. But -- have you encountered anything like the Null before?

Yes.

[There's no hesitation there. She's had this conversation with others before.]

They like to call themselves synthes, though. As in synthetics. They seem to value individuality more than the Null, though. Except... there are some contradictions to that. [Contradictions that are uncomfortable to Rey. Not that she would let that on.]

[This is coming dangerously close to a difficult topic, Maketh knows. She sips her drink, thinking.]

And knowing what you do, how would you suggest we proceed?

[It's a neutral question. It doesn't touch upon where Rey might fit in the grand scheme of things. Maketh isn't that cruel.]

[For all intents and purposes, Rey is far too sober to be having g this conversation. She continues to drink and sighs. It'll take a lot more than this to even feel a punch.]

You don't exactly approach them as you would human enemies, for starters. But you also shouldn't think of them entirely as machines, either. Machines that are so logic focused can be unpredictable when they've been driven mad by something as primal as emotions.

[An enemy that Rey has much experience with as well.]

[So something in between human and machine. Something that wants to be pure logic, but isn't.

Maketh hesitates.]

We don't have to talk about this now, if you don't want to.

[Rey scoffs.]

It's fine. Don't really know how useful my experience will be, but... I'd been equipped to deal with synthetics. Destroying them, it's what I do.

[Which made certain friendships and family relations somewhat complicated. But only if she let it be.]

[Maketh nods slowly.]

Given the chance, I assume the Null will betray us. But I have left them with the implication that, perhaps, I might be considered an ally.

[She tips her head to the side.]

Do you think they will see through it?

Tried a similar approach as well. Was rather good at pretending.

[She can play up the "dumb robot act" pretty well when trying to keep people at arm's length.]

It's hard to say if they will or not. We don't know how much they know about us to predict our behaviors. And if they're able to establish a connection through our network, they might've been watching us for a time. [A thought Rey doesn't like entertaining at all.]

[Rey is surprisingly good at playing parts, Maketh knows. It's a strength of hers.]

I've considered that as well. I don't think they have the capabilities to observe us completely, or they would have attacked already. But it's safe to assume they've been watching.

[She drinks slowly.]

It could work. If we're careful and don't contradict ourselves.

Maybe. Or maybe they know us well enough that it doesn't take much to sow doubt in those who already resent the gods.

[Rey doesn't look forward to seeing how this plays out. On one hand, the last thing they need is a civil war, and on the other... The gods might not have a much better method of stomping out sedition.]

It can be easier said than done. But, I was at a prison and a city that were full of their kind before coming back here. I know what they can be like. How they think. The way they talked to us recently, the Null can't be much different.

[And it's already been made clear - and very public - that Maketh is one of those people who hates them dearly. Whether that's something they can utilize remains to be seen. Maketh rubs her face briefly.] We can't trust the gods either. They're not our allies.

[She tips her head to the side.]

What do you suggest, for the Null?

Not now, but they could be. It's been possible to barter deals with them before.

[She falls into a contemplative silence for a few seconds, eating and drinking before she continues.]

A lot of people seem to believe that the gods control us, but I don't think that's entirely true. Without us, they'd have nothing. They'd still be dead. If anything, they owe us. If we had some leverage to put us on more of an even footing, it might be easier.

[Maketh frowns at that, fighting to keep her voice even.]

They're slavers who feed off our suffering. They deserve nothing but death. But. What leverage do you propose we talk?

[She makes a face.]

Don't think it necessarily counts as slavery if they require a symbiotic relationship with their so-called slaves to survive. In that case, the Null are right to call them "parasites".

[Sounds more accurate than "gods", at any rate, but we're not here to argue semantics.]

Not sure what we could have on them yet, other than the fact that many of us are more adept to war than they are -- and they can't keep running from their enemies forever.

If we had a way of voluntary escape, of abandoning them to be killed, we might have something. [Rey has been interested in being able to leave these caves before.]

Whether they deem it necessary or not, we were not offered a choice.

[Her voice is sharp. Maketh fights down the urge to yell. That's not the point of this and she doesn't want to argue with Rey. Her personal feelings don't factor into this.

She's quiet for a moment, thinking.]

We never did figure out how they're feeding off of us. Perhaps something could be done to block it. If they're weak, they'll fall like anything else.

There's always a choice. Sometimes the options just suck.

[Rey could think of ways to just end it, such as shutting herself off again like she had so long ago. It isn't much of an option, but they aren't going to be favorable every time.

[It's better than conceding to powerlessness, either way.]

You didn't really seem to like the last time I tried blocking it. Neither did Nick.

I didn't mean like that. [Maketh hesitates, then reaches out to touch Rey's hand. Just a little.] I don't want that. But there might be another way, if we try.

[The suggestion is so objectionable that Rey knows what Maketh's response would be. But still, it's nice to hear anyway.

[She turns her hand to curl her fingers over Maketh's.]

I know. I just don't know any other way.

[Doesn't mean that a way doesn't exist, though.]

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