Walking With A Ghost

Participants:

aislinn2_icon.gif elisabeth_icon.gif

Scene Title Walking With A Ghost
Synopsis Elisabeth encounters a ghost from the past.
Date June 20, 2019

Raytech NYCSZ Branch Office


Despite the fact that she lives in the building and the rumor mill churns as it always does, Elisabeth Harrison is still not necessarily a common sight down in the main working areas of Raytech. Occasionally she's in and out of Alia's or Devi's labs, but other than those particular stops and Richard's office, she's rarely got reason to be in the more secure business areas. In this case today, she does have a simple reason — she has a note from the priest at Our Lady of Fatima for someone related to the garden building. And so she's seeking out the agricultural labs to drop it off there.

She looks… mostly like an exec, actually. Dark slacks and blazer coupled with a silky-looking lavender blouse, black tie-up shoes with a low stacked heel, blonde hair caught back in a twist to keep it off her collar. Elisabeth's badge and holster are comfortably familiar to her and she doesn't flash them as she moves but those who know what it looks like when someone is carrying won't miss it either.

As she pushes the glass door open into the office spaces for this wing, her blue eyes seek out a human body to hand off this note to.

Most in the agricultural labs look too busy to pay Elisabeth much mind at first - maybe they don't realise who she is, or maybe they're too focused to care. It's not until one woman, sleeves rolled up halfway and with her hair swept over half of her face takes notice of that she seems to get any attention.

Seeing someone who appears to be a bit loss, the woman quickly turns away from the counter she was leaning against and starts in Elisabeht's direction, hazel eyes focused on her. She doesn't seem to think much of seeing Elisabeth her, head cocked slightly to the side as she approaches.

"Are y'looking for someone?"

And just like that, Elisabeth finds herself face to face with Aislinn Graves.

The last time Elisabeth laid eyes on Aislinn, it was in a quarantine room that Elisabeth herself was released from… and Aislinn was not. The blonde visibly pales, Elspeth's grief and rage flashing through her mind.

"I'm… Mr. Garza sent this from the church," she chokes out, proffering the note. "I think it's a request for someone to guest speak to a botany class or something." Her blue eyes don't leave Aislinn's face and she swallows hard. What do you say to someone who has the face of someone you left behind?

An eyebrow quirks up as Elisabeth speaks, Aislinn looking down at the note before she reaches out to take it. "Are you okay, Miss…?" She studies the other woman for a moment, before grinning. "I hope you haven't been standing here too long. We have a habit of being a bit single minded around here."

The note is taken, turned over in her hands, and read. "Is that all? I'll see if I can do that then. I'm not a great teacher, but I can talk like nobody's business." No, the teacher of the two was Elspeth, as Elisabeth remembers it. Looking back up, Aislinn proffers a hand to Elisabeth, smiling. "I don't think I've seen you down here before. Aislinn Graves," which is on her nametag anyway, "thanks for bringing this to my attention."

When she reaches out to take the hand, Elisabeth's reply is quiet. "It's nice to meet you, Miss Graves. Liz Harrison." Clearing her throat, she smiles a little. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to stare. I just… you reminded me of someone I met a long time ago." Tipping her head, she asks, "Do you… are you enjoying the work here?" Are you happy? Has your life here been good? Is your sister still alive? So many things she'd like to ask that would make no sense and sound like she's stalking this woman. "I've heard wonderful things from the priest at the church over there — they seem thrilled with the partnership."

"Well, I promise you'll never find another like me. No one that looks it, at least," Aislinn offers with a small chuckle. "Working here has been wonderful so far. Good, honest work." A glance is offered down to the note for a moment. "Better than being back in the UK, at least." Where no one seemed to appreciate her work, her thoughts, or her.

"I can't take responsibility for the partnership, but I'll absolutely take the praise." Her grin wavers a bit though, holding up the note. "And I'll be sure to pass it onto the people who actually deserve it."

That she likes the work brings a somewhat unexpected bout of the Feels for Elisabeth. Aislinn's skills were perhaps one of the only reasons the ConEd group survived as long as they did, if she remembers right. There is a bittersweet feel to that thought. She nods and looks toward the work areas for a long moment to get control of the emotions. "I'm sure every one of you plays a part in what's happening over there," she replies around the lump lodged somewhere between her chest and her throat. "You all deserve a great deal of credit for the garden project. I can see why my father thinks so highly of your whole division."

By the time her blue eyes come back to Aislinn, she mostly has the reaction under control. "It's a real pleasure to come back to the city and see good people making a real difference, Miss Graves. The UK doesn't know what they've given up in you and your talents, but I'm glad Raytech isn't wasting the opportunity to have you on board."

Aislinn lets out a "pffft" sound, rolling her eyes. "Whatever. They're th' ones who don't anything t'do with our kind. They're missing out on a lot, an' it serves them right. Don't you think so, Liz?" It seems the conversation has taken a sudden dip towards the extremely more casual. "The Safe Zone needs people like me. You. Us. To show our value so that we don't end up like the UK, and so we can do the good work necessary to make people take notice. To realise they need us."

She nods enthusiastically at this, offering the other woman a small grin. "The Garden project has been a joy to work on. Beyond being in my wheelhouse, it's just…" She looks back over her shoulder, towards the hall deeper into the lab. "People don't realise how vital research like this is. Yes, it's food, but you can discover so much about the world around us. New methods of cultivation, synthesised proteins and seeds, hybridisations that provide new avenues of nourishment, and… new insights into toxicology, when warranted."

Her smile beams as she looks back to Liz. "But really? It's fun." And that's what matters.

The slip to casual makes Liz relax more and even smile. A chuckle erupts. "Well, I hope people realize that a power isn't any better or worse than the person wielding it, but… I understand the wariness too," she admits. "It only takes one bad apple, right? So now we're stuck trying to fix what a few bad apples screwed up." With a shrug, she tips her head thoughtfully.

"You know, I don't think I ever thought of what this division does in that light. I mean… well, when people are hungry, food's always the first priority. But you're right. There's so much more that comes from botanical information." She purses her lips and then adds lightly, "Just don't ask me to sing to your plants, please? Richard enshrined my ability in a friggin' weaponized form, I don't want to give him other ideas."

Aislinn waves a hand dismissively, smirking a bit at the idea. "I tried that. Most of what we've got growing here doesn't like being sung to, actually. Or music, even. It's not actually as common as popular culture would have your believe." She looks up for a moment, thoughtfully, and then her smirk widens. "Except the one that responded to pop music, so unless you plan on singing any Rihanna or Taylor Swift, I think it'll be fine."

The idea of weaponised sound is clearly one that intrigues her from the look on her face, but she doesn't ask for more details despite that clear show of interest. "It's amazin', really, what we can learn from plants when people just take the time to talk to them. I wish we could digitise the sensory input plants receive… could you imagine an entirely organic surveillance system?" And without acknowledging how horrifying that idea could be, Aislinn nods to show that she certainly has.

That is an utterly horrifying idea! Elisabeth grimaces and then laughs. "Please never say that to him. I can not even," she admits, a bubble of laughter erupting out of her. "He might tell you to talk to Alia and try it." She rolls her blue eyes theatrically.

"No promises," at least seems like a joke, Aislinn laughing as Elisabeth rolls her eyes.v "I don't get to talk to Richard often, so you're probably safe anyway," she adds with a smile. There's a moment of silence between the two, before Aislinn looks back over her shoulder for a moment, and then back to Elisabeth.

"It was a pleasure speaking with you, Ms. Harrison, but I should probably deliver this note to the person it's actually meant for." A thoughtful look for a moment, and she nods again. "An' let them know I'll fall on that sword, for whatever that matters.

Elisabeth's smile eases to a gentler one and she studies Aislinn's features slowly, as if memorizing the woman's appearance. Falling on a sword? Bah! "It's been wonderful to meet you," she says quietly. "I hope I'll see you around a bit." The sincerity is unmistakable, though perhaps a little strange. "Have a good day, Aislinn."

She turns to leave but can't help one last look back over her shoulder. She's struggling with the desire to apologize, to ask for forgiveness, to confess that she got another Aislinn killed. But it's not like the other woman will likely have a clue, so she keeps her silence and simply makes a note to keep checking in once in a while.

When Elisabeth looks back over her shoulder, Aislinn offers her a smile, before turning herself and setting off to return to whatever she had been reading against the counter earlier. A hand runs through her hair, adjusting the way it swoops over her face. As she looks down at the note, she frowns and looks back over her shoulder at the woman she had been talking to moments before. Her gaze lingers for just a moment before she looks back ahead and scoff, crumpling the piece of paper in her hand reflexively.

"Th' pleasure was all mine, Liz."


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