When in Doubt, Talk Your Way Out

November 4, 2023

Lochlan groans as she wakes up. She fails to lift her arm as she looks down at herself. She's tied to a metal chair. Across from her is Viper who has her phone in her hand while waiting.

Viper looks up from her phone with a bored expression, "Huh....he wasn't lying about it working incredibly well." She pockets her phone and folds her hands on the metal desk between them.

Lochlan looks up at her and then around the room. The room has brick walls with a steel door behind Viper with no door handle or lock. There's a mirror adjacent to the table with fluorescent lighting above both of them.

Lochlan sounds a bit worried, "Where am I?"

Viper smiles as she stares into Lochlan's eyes, "You are in an interrogation room because you were caught infiltrating the building and using our chemicals in an supposed attempt to poison our workers."

Lochlan glares back, seeming offended, "Poison workers??? No, that was supposed to be a prank. I didn't think it was going to dissolve the whole darn thing! Why in the funk was that stuff even left out like that!?!"

Viper sighs, "One deadly prank, and I don't have to answer you." she leans forward slightly with a groan, "Now why were you in our building in the first place? Hmm? Did you wanna steal our weapons and use them for your own benefit?"

Lochlan furrows her brow, "Weapons? I thought this was a call center."

Viper rolls her eyes, "Right a" she does air quotes, "Call center." she chuckles and shakes her head, "Answer the question, why were you in our building?"

Lochlan sighs while still staring back, "I wanted to play an office prank. I used to work at one and after being fired it gets kind of lonely during the holidays. Thought if I pulled one at an office I didn't work at they would all have fun not knowing who did it. Like a big mystery party with a wild goose chase."

Viper shakes her head, "You broke into a weapons manufacturing company building to play a prank, not only is that illegal but you also attempted to block the camera with this," Viper slams Lock's missing arm onto the table then the mop, which promptly breaks a little bit.

Lochlan flinches, "Geezums. Don't break that thing please. It's kind of important." Lochlan's second arm detaches from her as she scratches the back of her ear with her amputated limb. She then slips the arm back on. Not attempting to get untied, "But illegal or not it would ruin the surprise if they knew who did the prank."

Viper folds her arms, "Well that's too damn bad, now why in the FUCK did you break into the building and don't give me none of that prank bullshit," she seems to be getting annoyed with Lochlan.

Lochlan looks away from her as her tone changes, "Ok look. Maybe I had a relative who was going through a hard time here and I wanted to brighten up their day a bit."

Viper stares at Lochlan as she slowly raises her eyebrow.

Lochlan nods while still looking away, "So uh. Happy holidays!"

Viper glares at Lochlan, "Look me in my eyes and repeat the relative part."

Lochlan looks her in the eyes. But instead of being more nervous, she seems more worried, "I have a relative that I wanted to brighten up their day so I tried to play a prank."

Viper shakes her head, "You looove lying don't you? See if you had a relative here you would have an approved name on the list, and you wouldn't have been snooping around and going onto various computers.''

She rolls her eyes and looks away again, "It wasn't VARIOUS computers it was one computer mind you." She starts bouncing her leg some.

Viper smiles, "So you admit you snooped on a computer"

She slowly nods, "...for my relative."

Viper shakes her head, "And what about the small boom that happened in the pipes just after you left the bathroom?"

Lochlan suddenly looks embarrassed as she frowns, "...Uhm... Thanksgiving caught up with me?"

Viper stares blankly at Lochlan. She looks over at Viper with a bit of puppy eyes, "...Can I have my snack now?"

Viper shakes her head, "No, now can you explain to me why you poured chemicals into a water cooler?"

She looks away again but stands her ground, "It was a prank."

Viper narrows her eyes at her, "Say that while looking at me."

She stays looking away as her fur starts to raise some, "I don't think I want to."

Viper raises an eyebrow, "And why is that?"

She speaks quieter, "No reason."

Viper leans forward more, "Yeah? No reason?"

Lochlan leans back and speaks quickly, "None. Nonewhatsoever."

Viper stands up and smiles, "Now why don't you tell me why in god's name you were in the building or you'll find out just how effective our weapons are."

Lochlan's expression changes entirely again as she stares at Viper blankly, "What."

Viper walks closer to Lochlan, "I said, tell me why you were in the building or i'm gonna use some of our weapons on you"

Lochlan quickly looks away again and the nervous expression returns. Her fur fully stands on end now as she leans away from Viper, "L-like I uh- Like I said! It was a prank- a simple little gag!"

Viper leans forward, "ANSWER the QUESTION."

Lochlan panics as she nervously laughs, "-You're hot." The laugh suddenly stops as she stares at the floor while her face turns red.

Viper pauses as she stares at Lochlan, she looks stunned as she whispers, "What?"

Lochlan sounds flustered as she shakes her head, "Sorry, I uh. I uh just panicked and it slipped out- I shouldn't have uh. Sorry. I - I get it, its not the right time or place exactly."

Viper stands up straight and blinks as she starts seems to be processing what she just said.

Lochlan hangs her head, "Sorry."

Viper seems to fully process it and seems to get slightly flustered but clears her throat and attempts to hide it, "It's fine, I...get that a lot soooo why were you in the building?"

She keeps her head down and now sounds a hint upset, "I already said. It was a prank."

Viper clears her throat while still struggling to hide her fluster, "Right but I don't think that pouring chemicals into a water tank is a prank, that container had some incredibly toxic material in it and could've killed someone"

Lochlan continues, "I didn't know it was that toxic. I thought it was like orange oil or some sheet that would just make them spit it out or have a bad aftertaste..."

Viper seems mostly unflustered at this point, "It had a skull on it, that said danger."

Lochlan shrugs, "I thought it was a deadly amount of fun?"

Viper shakes her head and sighs. Lochlan stays quiet.

Viper takes a breath, "Right....i don't think i'm gonna get anything out of this." Viper snaps her fingers at the mirror as the door opens and Viper starts untying Lochlan.

Lochlan watches. When her arm is free she reaches for the arm sitting on the table.

Viper finishes untying Lochlan and lets her grab the arm, "Do you know anyone that can pick you up? There wasn't a car outside that seemed to belong to you."

She puts the arm back on and thinks while standing up, "Uhhhmmm..." An idea pops into her head. She hesitates but responds, "Uh yeah. They go by Max and Andrew."

Viper stares at Lochlan for several seconds, "...I'll be right back-" Viper quickly dashes out of the room as the door shuts behind her.

Lochlan stuffs her hands in her pockets and sighs as she glances around at the room idly. She looks at her reflection in the mirror and makes a mildly disgusted face before looking away from it.

Lochlan can hear muffled talking behind the mirror, she can make out a few words "Are...do we...him? Positive? Right...go" Soon after Viper walks back into the room and glares at Lochlan.

Lochlan looks back up with an attempt at a polite smile, "Welcome back."

Viper shakes her head, "Now's not the time for that shit, do you even know who those people are?!"

She squints at Viper curiously, "Yeah? Do YOU know who they are?"

Viper rolls her eyes, "Yeah i do, main threat to Cole's existence? Constant security threat to everyone that works for him? Ya'know fucking evil robot assholes?"

Lochlan nods her head side to side, "Wellll yeah sure but I feel like they are just misunderstood. You know? Like they know what lightbulbs are I'm pretty sure."

Viper throws her hands up in the air, "THEY KNOW WHAT A LIGHTBULB IS BECAUSE THEY MADE A FUCKING SKELETON MECH THAT SCARED COLE HALF TO HIS FATHER."

Lochlan folds her arms, "You bringing him here or not?"

Viper shakes her head, "No i'm not fucking bringing them in here" she walks back over to the table and slams her hands down on it, "They want Cole dead and captured, you wanna know whyyy?"

Lochlan gives a sly smile as all nervousness fades away, "I already know why, but go on if it makes ya happy bud."

Viper leans closer to Lochlan, "They wanna use him as a fucking living breathing battery for some kinda fucking bullshit ass thing." Lochlan can probably smell Viper, she smells like pomegranates.

Lochlan maintains the smile, "Man you smell sweeter when you're angry. Is that like a fruit?"

Viper pauses as her face turns slightly red as she whispers, "I'll have you know it's pomegranates..."

Her eyebrows raise, "REALLY? It smells good!" She takes a seat again and props her feet up on the side of the table, "It really suits you. Haven't met many people who can quite pull it off like that."

Viper shakes her head as she stands up, "Stop trying to distract me, WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU KNOW ABOUT MAX AND ANDREW" Viper slams her hands on the table again.

She puts her legs back down and leans on the table. She props her chin on her folded hands, "Anything you need me to know babe."

Viper stares at Lochlan and exhales heavily, "You...fuck you" Viper starts walking towards the door

Lochlan winks as she leaves, "You too"

She turns around and glares at Lochlan, "WHY ARE YOU FLIRTING WITH ME?! DID THEY PUT YOU UP TO THIS?" She starts walking back to the table.

Lochlan tilts her head, "And why do you keep coming back? Looking for something?"

Viper groans as she sits back down, "I'm looking for information on why the fuck you were in the building."

"To play a little prank on ya."

Viper slams her fists on the table, "IT CLEARLY WASN'T A PRANK, STOP FLIRTING WITH ME TO GET OUT OF THIS."

"You're just mad that you're enjoying it. Aren't you?"

Viper stares at Lochlan, "No..."

"Oh yeah? I doubt your makeup is naturally that red."

Viper turns slightly more red as she gets up and turns towards the door, "It's not like it fucking matters, you just flirt with me so I don't interrogate you more"

"And part of you wonders if this could be real for once?"

Viper goes quiet and folds her arms

"Like someone could actually care. And actually appreciate you for how hard you try?" Her tone shifted to more serious.

Viper's arms start to slip down to her sides but she refolds them and stands up as straight as she can, "You can't trick me, I'm not gonna give you information."

"That wasn't me trying to trick you and you know it."

Viper glances at Lochlan from the corner of her eye, "....Do i?"

"Considering you've been trying to get out that door three times now and still can't seem to do it, I'd say so."

Viper goes back to staring at the wall then sighs as she snaps her fingers at the mirror but this time there seems to be a small delay before the door opens, "Fuck this, clearly your just fucking with me" she gestures for Lochlan to follow as she starts walking out the door.

Lochlan gets up to follow. She puts her hands in her pockets. Viper leads her out into the hallway. It has a red stripe in the middle of the gray walls, Viper continues walking to a door marked, "STAFF ONLY."

Lochlan raises an eyebrow as she follows.

Viper grabs a badge from her tuxedo pocket and scans it on the door and holds it open for Lochlan. Lochlan steps through with Viper behind her, she sees the elevator that needs a card shortly ahead of her, the red line splits into a blue and gold line.

Lochlan walks. Viper reaches over Lochlan to scan her badge on the elevator, she can hear the elevator slowly coming down. Lochlan steps back slightly at the sound. She steps back into Viper who steps back a little then she clears her throat quietly, "Sorry the elevators a little slow."

She takes another step away from Viper, "Oh uh sorry... What's a-" She cuts herself off and looks at the elevator awkwardly as she waits.

Viper looks down at Lochlan with a raised eyebrow, "What were you gonna say?"

Lochlan keeps her eyes glued to the door, "No, it's a stupid question."

Viper rolls her eyes, "I've heard a lot of dumb questions, specifically from Cole and various other workers. There's no possible way you could ask something dumber than what they've asked me."

"Ok... well uh... what's an elevator?" Lochlan looks over at her. The question seems genuine.

Viper seems slightly shocked at the question but sighs, "An elevator is a room that goes up and down on a cable and rail system to transport people to different floors." there's a distinct ding as the doors to the elevator open. Lochlan's ears perk up as she instantly looks towards the sound.

Viper gestures to the elevator, "It's perfectly safe, Cole overengineers the shit out of everything."

Lochlan nods as she walks in. She looks around as if expecting another door.

Viper steps in after, the elevator looks pretty standard and Viper pushes the button labeled, "One" as the door shut and the elevator starts going up.

Lochlan turns around and faces the door. She looks over at Viper awkwardly as if trying to make sure she's not doing anything too strange.

Viper is just standing there with her hands in her pants pockets as she glances at Lochlan, "Were you serious about uh... that thing?"

Lochlan looks over, "The prank thing?" she looks ahead again, "Pfff nah. I just thought it would be funny."

Viper shakes her head and clears her throat, "No I uh...the other thing."

Lochlan sounds confused, "Other thing?...Like the mop?"

Viper exhales sharply and groans as she mutters, "The flirting with me..."

Lochlan nods, "Oh no, that was legit. I'm not THAT good of a liar."

Viper seems to get slightly more flustered as she goes smiles and nods, "Right, I uh...thank you"

Lochlan is acting relaxed, "You're welcome."

Viper clears her throat as she grabs a card from her pant pocket and offers it to Lochlan, "I've been uhm...saving this card incase someone was finally serious."

Lochlan looks over and takes it, "What is it?"

It seems to have a phone number on it and Viper looks away as she clears her throat, "It's uhm... my phone number feel free to call me if you wanna set up a date or something."

She nods and puts the card away in her pocket, "Yeah that sounds fun."

Viper looks incredibly happy, the elevator doors open up again with another ding as Lochlan is met with the lobby area, "You're free to go, I could uh...give you a ride if you want? It's fine if you say no, just offering."

Lochlan jolts slightly at the ding, "I uh. No, I wouldn't want to be anymore of a hassle. I can just ask Cole to pick me up. -Er uhhh Max. Max yeah definitely Max."

Viper looks slightly suspicious, "It's not a hassle but it's fine.....wait how do you know Cole?"

Lochlan starts to look nervous, "Well uhh eheh. No, I don't know who you're talking about. Never heard of someone named Cole! Anyways I gotta go now! Bye!" Lochlan starts briskly walking out of the building.

Viper sighs and walks through the stairwell door that Lochlan took as she can hear the clack of her high heels going up the stairs.

Lochlan takes a deep breath as she waits patiently outside.

Soon enough, Cole pulls up in a black 1975 dodge charger with a blower supercharger sticking out of the hood. He opens the passenger door for Lochlan and now she can see that it has a red leather interior.

Lochlan gets in, making sure to not get her tail caught in the door. She doesn't put on her seat belt.

Cole has his seatbelt on and looks over at Lochlan, "...Put your goddamn seatbelt on."

"My what?" She looks over nervously.

Cole raises an eyebrow at Lochlan, "Why do you look nervous?" Cole reaches over Lochlan and taps on the seatbelt, "That's the seatbelt by the way."

Lochlan glances at Cole's seatbelt to see how it works before putting hers on, "I don't want to talk about it." She sits with her hands in her lap and looking ahead. She is growing more uncomfortable.

Cole sighs and puts the car in gear, "Just tell me what's wrong." Cole starts driving away.

She speaks a bit more quietly, "I just don't like cars."

Cole is driving incredibly fast, since he's taking back roads, "Why don't you like cars?"

Lochlan doesn't respond. Cole shakes his head, "Look I just wanna know why you were at CGI, I'm not gonna be mad I promise."

Her tone is shifting to a bit more flat, "I remembered you mentioning a guy named Max and Andrew. You seemed to be scared of them so I wanted to get more information."

Cole sighs and shakes his head, "Don't, just don't" Cole seems to drive slightly faster, "It's not worth digging into them, all you'll do is put yourself in danger and that's not exactly what I want."

"If they're that much of an issue then I'd rather know what to expect than be blissfully unaware if anything happens."

Cole groans in annoyance, "Look all you need to know is that they don't like me because of how I used to act, they want me dead or tortured for the rest of my life."

Lochlan stays quiet. Cole goes quiet as well, they quickly make it back to the house.