Fruit Loops are for Krogers (quadpower) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2012-05-30 04:05:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, alma wade, wrex |
There are people who mean me harm
Who: Alma, Wrex
What: Alma introduces herself.
When: Around noon, Tuesday
Where: Urdnot Ranch
Rating: PG-13 for various disturbing subject matter
Status: Complete.
If Alma knew what going to the principle office was like, this was it. She stood outside Wrex's door.
It really was it, since if anyone could be called the principle of this odd variation on a school, it was him.
Not that Wrex liked being called by that name. In his experience, principles were stuffy old men or women who didn't understand at all where troubled children were coming from. Worse, most of them didn't even want to, they just wanted their school to run smoothly. It probably wasn't the reality of the situation, but it's how he felt about it.
Right now, though, Wrex was sitting at his desk, staring at the paperwork and his ancient dinosaur computer, and trying not to pour whiskey in his coffee.
Alma took a breath, and knocked. She thought she should introduce herself to the owner of this establishment, and let him know just what sort of trouble to expect.
"Come in."
Wrex hadn't been expecting anyone this quickly into his return to the desk, but this ranch was always crazy and being a battlemasterguy in charge was pretty much a 24/7 thing. It had been nice to see that the kids had actually missed him. He hoped this visit wasn't because someone was in trouble.
"Hello. Mr. Wrex?" Alma peered in, trying to maintain a calm over her nerves. Her hair had been pulled back into braids, courtesy of some of the other girls.
He pushed aside the papers on his desk so that he could see her more clearly, and motioned to a chair.
"Are you in trouble?" He squinted at her, "You're new, aren't you?"
He vaguely remembered Roy mentioning something about a new girl.
"I am Alma Wade." She came in, shutting the door behind her, "I am new, yes. A Park Ranger brought me in. Roy referred me."
"Kids don't usually come and introduce themselves," Wrex mused, while trying to find the paperwork for one Alma Wade. No such paperwork existed, it seemed, but he was determined to find it, "Have a seat, Alma. Do you need some help with something?"
"I wanted to warn you." Alma took a seat, "There are people who mean me harm, and any who would aide me."
Wrex stopped looking around through the paperwork to look her in the eye, "Which people?"
"My former employers. I worked in a laboratory, as a scientist. I learned some things about the projects we worked on. About who I really was. So I ran." She fidgeted with her hands, but still looked him in the eye, "I have been attacked, accosted, and I think people have been hurt because of me."
None of this sounded like a good situation, to Wrex. Not that he blamed the girl for seeking shelter there. It was bad news for them, sure, but it was worse news for her. He'd barely known her more than a few seconds but he already wanted to protect her.
"If they were hurt while keeping you safe, then it was worth it, and they'll think so too." Wrex's tone was a rumble of anger, though not at her, "You won't be hurt HERE if I have anything to say about it."
You should be afraid of me She thought. But there was no point in voicing those thoughts, "I have information. I need to get it to the right people."
"That's going to be difficult. The wrong people are probably watching everything." Wrex was no stranger to how this worked. He'd spent enough time in various organizations to understand the threat Alma's presence posed. If she had information and people were already chasing her, then every single line into his ranch was probably already tapped.
He got up from his chair and paced a bit, while mentally slapping the part of him that reminded him that turtle men didn't pace - they just did something about it. He wasn't a turtle man. He needed to think, "You need to tell me everything, Kid. I need to know everything that I'm dealing with. This office isn't bugged, so it's safe to talk here."
"Animal experimentation. I believe they have performed human experimentation. Genetic alteration, eugenics programs run by my father. I was not even the first." She took out a knife, and cut into her forearm, pulling out a microSD card, "All the files I could recover are here." She had no idea that Tali had hacked into the system, but even if she knew, there were still damning files on that SD card that hadn't been as easily accessible, "There is more but nothing I can prove."
Without even blinking an eye, Wrex watched her pull the SD card out of her arm. He looked around in his drawers for some tissues and took the card from her, then pulled a few more and pressed them against the cut.
"Let me handle this from here. I have friends who I trust." He frowned, then checked the cut to see if it was bleeding badly enough to need a trip to the on-site medic, "You're going to need a name that isn't Alma Wade."
"Michelle Beckett. You should already have that file under that name," She replied, without pause.
"... That would be why I couldn't find it under your other name." Wrex nodded and held up the paperwork with the right name on it, "Michelle Beckett, welcome to Urdnot Ranch. You probably don't need any High School classes, do you?"
The girl seemed uptight and well-spoken, which smacked of home-tutelage to him. He figured she'd been taught more than she ever needed to know already, at that lab she'd escaped from.
"I have several degrees in advanced biology and genetics, as well as a minor in psychology." Not that the minor was proving as useful as she had hoped in understanding other people. She gave him a small smile, "I could stand to learn more....day to day things."
Wrex nodded his head, "Archery lessons with Roy, Boxing with Shepard, Painting, Wood Shop, and you'll help tend the farm."
"You have a farm?" She seemed to perk up at this, "I thought I smelled animal. Everything we had at the lab was organic and without additive. At least that I was aware of. I suspect they were dosing me with something, but the relevant files were above my clearance." She was really pleased about this. She had a very strong stomach and loved organic produce!
Also, more time with Roy? Hell yes.
"A lot of our produce and meat comes from the farm. As much as we can grow on our own, anyway. Keeps us all healthy and gives you kids something to nurture and respect." Wrex nodded, "Glad you like it. We've got some other stuff, but start with that. And I'll let you know what happens with this card."
"They put toxins in supermarket food," Alma replied, with a disgusted look on her face. "Please. And be careful." She hugged herself, "Really, Archery with Roy?" Obvious his rejection had done nothing to curb her crush. Which she knew was hopeless but knowing and having that affect how you feel were entirely different things.
Wrex squinted at her, "Really, Archery with Roy. He WILL be your teacher, mind you. Instead of the friend that brought you here." His tone was gruff, but he could smell teenage bullshit a mile away at this point.
Alma bit her lip and nodded. Wrex would kill Roy if he tried anything, and she didn't want that.
"See the nurse about that cut and go have some lunch."
"Yes, sir."
Wrex made a shooing motion at her with a kinder smile than most people thought he was capable of.
Alma was shoo'd!