11-27-2022, 05:31 PM
Rune had grown less and less interested in her "exterminator" job and instead began to wander around Moscow collecting signs that her uncle was alive. That meant she had a big box of nothing in her collection. They were separated in the undercity, so she assumed that he had wandered out alone and simply didnt’ know how to contact her. Maybe he’d lost all of his tech. The Atharim safe houses were differnet now and he’d not built a lot of russian alliances among the atharim. Or like a little kid lost in the mall, she had to assume he was searching for her too, so she tried to leave clues that he might collect with hopes that he would find her. But it didnt work. Time passed and nothing.
The next stage of finding something that was lost was the pessimistic idea that maybe the lost thing didn't want to be found. Rune knew that if her uncle wanted to disappear, he could do it in a heartbeat. But why would he abandon her without saying goodbye? It was cruel to imagine. So she figured that wasn't what happened.
Which took her to one inevitable conclusion. Seth must have been taken prisoner, or have amnesia, or being blackmailed or something awful like that. Only Rune could save him. So she returned to the undercity to sniff out the power players that had the capacity to hold Seth (literally or figuratively) against his will. But it was like searching for a needle in a haystack. A haystack that hd recently been smoked out. Meanwhile, she kept eyes out for anyone who looked suspiciously like an empty shell of a man who didn’t know his own identity.
So Rune explored the homeless camps, but she blended in just fine. She wore her usual hunting gear, and was clad in all shades of dark colors. She had abandoned the hair dyes and makeup she favored from when they first arrived in Moscow. Her knives and gun was hidden away, nestled close to the planes and muscles of her body. No need to scare anyone, she thought, peering around a wall of barrels that served like a barricade.
"Whatcha doin?" a voice grumbled. A second later, a piece of trash was kicked at her. "Get away from our shit," another added. She turned and found four guys standing up to her. Apparently she'd been poking around someone's home and the owner was territorial.
"Sorry," she mumbled and tried to get away, but they had that look of wanting to teach a lesson. And then a few more heads joined the group. Annoyed, Rune tried apologizing again and was eager to move on. She didn't want to cause a scene, but neither did she want to get her ass beat up just for exploring.
The next stage of finding something that was lost was the pessimistic idea that maybe the lost thing didn't want to be found. Rune knew that if her uncle wanted to disappear, he could do it in a heartbeat. But why would he abandon her without saying goodbye? It was cruel to imagine. So she figured that wasn't what happened.
Which took her to one inevitable conclusion. Seth must have been taken prisoner, or have amnesia, or being blackmailed or something awful like that. Only Rune could save him. So she returned to the undercity to sniff out the power players that had the capacity to hold Seth (literally or figuratively) against his will. But it was like searching for a needle in a haystack. A haystack that hd recently been smoked out. Meanwhile, she kept eyes out for anyone who looked suspiciously like an empty shell of a man who didn’t know his own identity.
So Rune explored the homeless camps, but she blended in just fine. She wore her usual hunting gear, and was clad in all shades of dark colors. She had abandoned the hair dyes and makeup she favored from when they first arrived in Moscow. Her knives and gun was hidden away, nestled close to the planes and muscles of her body. No need to scare anyone, she thought, peering around a wall of barrels that served like a barricade.
"Whatcha doin?" a voice grumbled. A second later, a piece of trash was kicked at her. "Get away from our shit," another added. She turned and found four guys standing up to her. Apparently she'd been poking around someone's home and the owner was territorial.
"Sorry," she mumbled and tried to get away, but they had that look of wanting to teach a lesson. And then a few more heads joined the group. Annoyed, Rune tried apologizing again and was eager to move on. She didn't want to cause a scene, but neither did she want to get her ass beat up just for exploring.