londoncallingrpg

Entry tags:

OTA

Q had managed to remain out of the field for a bit now, confined to his lab and Q branch, quite happily. In fact his world, as a whole, had been delightfully calm. He and Bond had spent the holiday abroad, doing things the office didn't need to know about... And he'd returned to London uncharacteristically chipper.

Today he was at a cafe not far from the office, hiding behind his laptop as usual- However, he seemed slightly less closed off than usual. Where he usually blended into the background, or made a point of not engaging with the world, today.... Today, however, he seemed interested, watching people pass by out the window, and even occasionally glancing up to see who was coming and going in the cafe.

In fact, he was so engaged with the world, that he didn't notice his laptop screen flicker strangely before returning to normal.

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About two minutes after that flicker he had not noticed, Dutch slid into the seat across from him, putting down her bag and wrinkling her nose at him, a new mug in hand. "What's up with you? I've just got past your firewalls and you haven't even noticed."

"What?" Q asked, looking at his laptop, then tapping away and frowning deeply as he set about removing any trace of Dutch from his system.

"Rude," he muttered, glancing at her again, then hesitating as he showed the very thin and dainty, silver band of a wedding ring he now wore- Before holding it up to his lips.

It had happened, yes, but they weren't advertising that fact.

"Oh, wow," Dutch stated, surprised. She took a sip from her coffee, kept the mug in both hands. (It helped to hide the slight tremor in them from her hangover.) "I didn't think you'd buy into the whole marriage institution."

Q shrugged one shoulder, then closed his laptop.

"It wasn't something I ever thought I'd do," he confessed.

"But you're happy," Dutch checked, although it wasn't intoned like a question.

"More than," Q said softly. "I didn't know how I would feel after- If I'd feel trapped or overwhelmed, but- It's good. Really good."

"Congratulations, then," Dutch stated, genuinely. She didn't get it, but she'd never had a healthy, lasting relationship in her life. "How's things at work?"

If he didn't want to talk about it here, she trusted him to evade answering.

"Miserable," Q replied honestly. "To describe my budget as shoestring would be an understatement. The fact that Bond still has a job at all is nothing short of a miracle."

"Well, you know what they say," Dutch stated philosophically. "Lucky in love..."

"I refuse to believe I can't be lucky all around," Q replied, picking up his tea. "I just think it will take something huge to put things back the way they were."

"Or make them even better than they were," Dutch suggested offhandedly.

"What do you mean?" Q asked, tilting his head and studying her curiously.

"You ever met a hacker who liked entropy?" Dutch replied with a shrug, and took another sip of coffee. "You're in a position to put things back the way they were, you're in a position to improve them. Are you working on anything or just hoping to hell something big enough happens?"

Q was silent a moment, clearly debating how much he should share.

"...There is a new system set to be put in place. A system that would allow certain intelligence agencies to see everything they want to see at any given moment- That's not an exaggeration, every company that produces surveillance capable devices, every country in the UN... We would have their cooperation. There are only a few minor barriers left preventing it from going online- My boss, my immediate boss at least, is quite against it, but that's not enough. So I've been quietly poking around in the code, looking for ways to take it down if it goes live. ...It would be treason, but- Only if they caught me. ...That said, they'd have a very limited pool of suspects, and I'd be top of the list.That is plan b, of course. Plan a is to uncover something about the men who stand behind it and created it. To prove that it's actually a security risk, rather than a method of protection."

"Say you go with plan a," Dutch replied thoughtfully, tapping a finger on the side of the mug she was holding. Her mind was still hangover-foggy, but she went on anyway. "What's to stop them from dealing with those men and going ahead with the system launch, only with other people in charge? People they think they can trust?"

You couldn't trust anyone with something like this.

"Then plan b remains," Q replied simply. "Though I'd like to believe that given time our government, at the very least, might reconsider."

Dutch chuckled wryly at that. "Faith in the government. Cute."

"Not our government as a whole, no, just- Certain figures," Q replied, shaking his head a bit. "I know you're very Anarchy in The UK and all, but, they're not all bad, Dutch. Some of them are better than the public will ever know."

"Sure, let's say there's a handful of nice blokes out there," Dutch allowed. And, hopefully, some women too. "Doesn't make the system they're a part of any less shite."

"No, but they are our best hope to improve the system," Q countered.

Dutch huffed out a breath. "Let's agree to disagree."

Q nodded in agreement, not hoping to sway her opinion, only stating his hopes.

Dutch rubbed at her eyes, stifling a yawn. Her hangover was riding her hard. "Anyway, if you want help digging up shit about the men behind that system..."

"Not the men, but... I might have some locations you could look into. If I sent you some coordinates, do you think you could poke around in the local cctv?" Q asked.

"What would I be looking for?" Dutch asked, leaning her forearms on the edge of the table.

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