Who: Zophie Brightstar and Lina Okeanós What: Decisions had to be made When: Wednesday, May 8 | morning Where: Rental house Warnings: Heavy topics, but otherwise tame.
To say that Zophie was still reeling from the last couple of days was an understatement. The situation had been bad when she'd known that Lina changed Tony's memories, but it had become infinitely worse when she learned the full extent of what her friend and co-worker had done in a jealous rage. It had been before they'd even known each other, but it still felt like a slap in the face of the trust they'd built over the years...and Zophie honestly wasn't sure if and how she'd get past that.
Right now, though? She had a job to do, and professional was something she could manage.
"I think it's the right decision," she said over her coffee cup. It was her third already that morning. Not a good sign for how the day was going. "Regardless of the lack of statutory necessity, it will be the best thing for the investigation from a goodwill perspective."
Lina had determined that the only time she was leaving the house was to head back to NYC and BACO head office. Yet she'd finally gotten word from them that they wouldn't be taking action. Not that it gave her any sense of relief in the slightest. It only felt like she'd gotten away with a terrible thing, and she didn't like that at all.
"It's the only decision, right or wrong," she pointed out. It might be akin to running away but fact of the matter was that there was no way anyone would be wanting to be interviewed by her now. Not that she had any idea how much, if any, of the story was out since she'd holed herself up in the rented house since she'd arrived home yesterday. "I doubt that'll be a perspective anyone has right now but at least my not being here might allow you and the others to carry on the investigation without too much trouble."
She stared at the coffee cup sat between her hands. It had cooled down considerably, and yet was still mostly full since she'd barely drank a drop of it. "I don't get why BACO won't take any action at all though. I know the laws in place are a bit skewed towards being versus human action but... still you'd think they'd have done something," she commented. "You know it's not going to make... them happy that the department's not going to do anything."
"No, it's not," Zophie agreed, trying and probably failing to soften her tone, because she wasn't happy with it. It wasn't a desire to see Lina punished—she still cared too much for that—but more the inherent flaw in the system. For someone whose entire life was making sure groups followed regulations concerning the well-being of the creatures they were helping, it seemed ludicrous that RICE wouldn't do the same where Beings were concerned. What she was learning was that the statutes that were in place were either horrendously outdated or entirely non-existent.
Maybe that was the disadvantage of attempting to make special laws around a group that was sentient, as opposed to the creatures that were Zophie's concern.
"If I had to guess, there's two potential reasons for it. First, they don't want to put the staff behind it, so they aren't bothering. Or second, they're trying to make a statement. If there's anything I've learned since coming into this position, it's that no matter how much power I seem to have, there's always someone who has more. Often someone with an agenda. If someone has a reason to make sure that the reserve feels the hammer coming down, that's one way to do it."
If it wasn't so early in the day she'd be delving into whatever wine they had left—not that drinking at any time right now would actually help anyone least of all herself. While she certainly didn't relish the thought of being punished there was no doubt in her mind it was what she deserved. Her only punishment right now was that she couldn't get the way Tony looked at her out of her head.
There was maybe one or two suspicions she had as to maybe why BACO wasn't taking action but whether she was right or wrong she couldn't share them with Zophie yet. "The first does seem likely but... agenda or not, what kind of statement would they even be trying to make?" she asked. "I mean, aside from the obvious show of authority they have in the matter? It's not exactly going to make the reserve or rather certain employees any more compliant or willing to toe the line."
With a sigh Lina set her cold coffee down on the table in front of her. "Well, whatever their reasoning I should probably shoot them an email now about my intention to leave before I start packing up," she announced. "Then they can send someone else out, and hopefully the investigation won't hit any more bumps."
Zophie shrugged, though it belied a level of relaxation that she didn't actually feel. "Show of authority is about as far as I've tracked it, but think about it. If the reserve doesn't comply, our power to force the issue only grows. It puts them in a catch-22, because compliance makes it look like they're accepting your continued involvement, but non-compliance could also make their reported incidents seem that much more suspicious." It was all conjecture that had little to do with how she'd conduct her investigation, but she did find it curious.
"Leave the email to me. If I'm not going to have you here, I'm damn well going to have a say in who I do have." All of this didn't change the fact that Lina was the best at what she did, and that not having her was going to leave the team lacking her expertise. It was what it was, but Zophie would try to mitigate it as best she could.
It was definitely a shitty situation whichever way you looked at it. With her leaving she just hoped no one gave Zophie or the rest of the BACO group any trouble for just trying to do their jobs.
"Yeah, okay," she said with a nod as she got up from her chair. "Y'know as bad as this is at least we know the reserve isn't inherently against beings or cross-beings. Anyway, I should... I'm going to go start on packing."
Part of her had contemplated just completely packing up and going back to Ogygia before she'd quickly shook the idea clear. It would be easy enough to. Yet she couldn't completely give up her friendship with Zophie, and there was the fact she hadn't yet gotten to the bottom of the not-so-little mystery she'd been tracking for a while. "I know you won't be able to tell me anything once I'm gone but... let me know how things go when you can, yeah?"
Zophie looked at Lina for a long moment without saying anything. There was definitely a part of her that was ready to turn her back on the other witch, to cut her losses while she could and move on. But what would that make her, if she let one mistake—a fucking huge one, but one all the same—redefine the entirety of this relationship? It would take awhile, if it was even possible, but she had to believe that it was possible to come back from rock bottom.