2483/Covert Communications

Covert Communications
Date of Scene:	21 April 2025
Location:	Plot Room 2
Synopsis:	Rashmi gets another call from Molly, in the early hours of the morning. This one lasts a bit longer than the previous one, but still ends abruptly on a deeply unsatisfying note.
Cast of Characters:	Molly Skyline, Rashmi Terios

---

Molly Skyline has posed:
Tokyo, late at night -- or rather, very early in the morning. it's around 4am, that magical hour when the night owls have gone to bed and only the earliest of early risers are up. For teenagers, this hour is a sacred time of deep unconsciousness, the territory of dreams unknowable mixed with the sublime joy of simply not being awake.

Unless you're Rashmi Terios, of course; then you're getting an urgent alert that there is an incoming call.

Nobody else notices, of course. The dorms remain more or less silent, with the only noise being an mp3 player that someone accidentally left with a playlist on repeat down the hall somewhere, and an entire governing body of assorted birds having a rigorous debate outside the window.

But the alert is insistent. And it's a recognized number; the same as a few weeks ago. Molly's burner phone.

Rashmi Terios has posed:
When you're a mahou, you find yourself short on sleep a lot more than most. Dark Creatures most often do their dirty deeds under the neon fire of Tokyo's night-time skyline, after all, and it's common to only drag yourself into bed around 2, still aching from the bruises and scorches of a pitched battle not an hour beforehand.

But when Nicomachea spots *that* number, there's no help for it; until Rashmi spends enough time with Emi, and figures out a way to communicate from dream to phone to caller, she's just gonna have to be woken up.

<< Zvrbl? >> comes Rashmi's voice over the line, and it's clear that she's been patched in through her Device; even just waking up, she can talk more clearly than that. << ...Molly-chan? >>

Molly Skyline has posed:
<< RASHMI IT'S ME IT-- >>

Molly pauses, and takes a deep breath. She established that last time she called, that it was her. It almost palpably occurs to her that she doesn't have to make the point a second time. << Rashmi-chan, >> she whispers, into the phone after a lengthy pause. << Sorry. Thought I heard someone outside. ...I managed to... do it again. Wake up without waking HER up. I still don't know how I did it. >>

There's a faint sound of rustling on the other end; probably Molly moving around in Seriss' bed, probably an effect of nerves making it impossible to sit still.

<< I'm... sorry I hung up like that lst time, I just... I had to go, she was waking up, I'll probably have to do it again this time. >>

Rashmi Terios has posed:
<< ...No it's fine I'm awake, I'm awake, >> Rashmi answers, pushing herself to something resembling partially upright in her bed. << ...And... I understood. Still do. You have to take what time you can and it's *okay,* I don't mind because you're *still alive.* But don't you *ever* tell me you're not good enough ever again, okay? Okay?! >>

From half-asleep to half-panicked over the course of the message, Rashmi's brain is doing what it often does; the moment it gets traction it threatens to burn rubber.

Digging the heel of her hand into a sleep-crusted eye, she heaves a deep sigh. << Sorry, just... Molly-chan. You *beat death* to talk to me. *You.* You didn't need help, you didn't need an artifact and a desperate wish in a French catacomb, *you did that.* >>

Molly Skyline has posed:
<< I'm sorry, >> Molly whispers. << I just... >> She sighs, taking a moment to search for words.

<< Rashmi-chan, there's... something inside me. Someone. And she's a monster, Rashmi-chan, she's just, she's evil. Like I didn't know it was even possible to be evil. And I'm stuck with her using my body and there's nothing I can do about it, and she's absolutely filling me with dark energy which makes me feel sick, and I'm trying, I'm struggling to not feel despair. >>

There's a pause, and a barely heard sound of padding feet on a hardwood floor.

<< I dunno if I beat death. I was dead. They brought me back, but I don't think they meant to bring me back, just make my body available. But... >> She sighs softly. << I'm here. I'm still here. >>

Rashmi Terios has posed:
<< You *are* here, >> Rashmi says. << And as long as you're here there's hope. We're gonna kick her rotten ass out of that body-- >>

When has Rashmi sworn like that before?!

<< --and we're gonna make everything right so *hold on, Molly-chan.* As long as you're alive there's hope. As long as *I breathe* there's hope. And I can promise you this; whatever she's doing, she is *not ready* for what's coming for her. We have Alo-chan back, and I just finished her new weapons. That *creature* has no chance, I promise, however hard a fight it's gonna be. >>

Molly Skyline has posed:
<< It's going to be a hard fight, >> Molly answers, sounding... exhausted. Rashmi can almost hear her rubbing her eyes. << Rashmi-chan, you need to get as many people as you can. I couldn't warn you before, but Dr Tomoe did something to upgrade her. I don't understand it, but she's strong now. You would have seen more of it when you stopped Mistress 9, but Ser-- >> She takes a deep breath, << She just wanted to make sure Sailor Saturn didn't destroy the Tau Dimension. And then she wanted to hurt you, because she knew I was happy that Mistess 9 failed and she wanted to punish me. >>

Molly sucks in a deep breath, and lets it out slowly. << She's waking something up. Something she's been working on, it's what all her experiments were for, and it's much, much more powerful than Achilles. I-- I don't know if you can beat it. I'm scared, Rashmi-chan. I'm terrified. For all of you. I'm so scared. >>

Rashmi Terios has posed:
<< Molly-chan I *expect* it to be a hard fight, >> Rashmi sighs. << But she's forgetting something important. Something I need *you* to remember. I'm gonna get as many people as I can, because I know she's *dangerous,* and we wanna be sure we *stop* her, but... She is *way* far from the biggest fish in the pond. Even now. Even after her upgrades and her experiments. She's not Beryl, she's not Walpurgisnacht, she's not even *Mistress 9.* But if I were her, I'd take a look at those names, and what they *were...* and I'd ask myself what happened to *them.* >>

Rashmi closes her eyes, and draws in a deep breath. When she lets it out again, there is *steel* in her voice. << Because then maybe she'll have an idea what's coming for *her.* So I gotta ask; is it another creature like the rest, or is it for herself? She took Achilles with her, so I assume she's gonna be, like, stuffing all the useful bits of the old experiments into him? >>

Molly Skyline has posed:
<< No, she just disected what was left of Achilles. >> Molly sighs softly. << I think she just didn't want you to have him. I don't know. It's not like she fills me in on her plans, I just have to try and figure out what I can from watching what she does, and it's not always easy to stay focused. >>

Molly's feet are audible on the hardwood floor; perhaps it's good just to move around on her own power for a moment.

<< I hate the way my body feels, I'm not supposed to be a late-twenties adult yet. Anyway. She's making these big, I dunno, sarcophaguses or something, to hold things. Monsters. Horrible monsters. If she gets them all woken up, I... honestly don't know if they even can be defeated, she was so close to making Achilles straight up invincible. >>

The purplenette sighs; she's been sighing a lot, and it becomes apparent she's doing her best to hold back from bawling. << She's bad, Rashmi-chan, please don't underestimate her. >>

Rashmi Terios has posed:
<< I don't, >> Rashmi says softly. << And I *won't.* But I *want* her to underestimate *us.* Because she thinks she's got all the cards, because she's terrifying you. But *believe in us,* Molly-chan. Believe that we'll get you back the way you *should* be. ...And if she thinks it'll hurt us more to make her body look more like yours... that'll be something we won't have to figure out later. So maybe that's something you can do, if you think you can? If not, then just keep believing in us, okay? >>

Even as she's talking, she's making notes: Seriss -- Pods, multiple, more super-youma, don't let them all wake up.

<< Nobody's invincible, Molly-chan... *Nobody.* She's not gonna get that power from us, she *won't* make us think fighting her is pointless. >>

Molly Skyline has posed:
<< Please me right, Rashmi-chan, >> she whispers. << Please. I need you to be right. Desperately. Because I'm scared and I'm exhausted and I have to fight every day, just to exist, and I'm scared that if I stop struggling even for a second that I'll just... slip away, and I'll stop existing like she wants me to and it'll be just her, and, and, and I don't know what'll happen to me, I don't... >>

Molly trails off, and there's a loud sniffle. Maybe she just can't say the rest.

<< How's everyone? How're you? How's... Did you... yeah you said you said Aloisia-chan, is she okay? >>

Heartbeat

<< How're... my Moms? >>

Rashmi Terios has posed:
<< I know Molly-chan, and I'm *so sorry* that we need you to fight more. But I promise you when all this is done, you can rest *properly* and you'll still be here the next morning. I *promise.* >>

...Because if that promise breaks, well... Molly might not be around to be shattered, but Rashmi will. So maybe, just this once, it'll be okay to make a promise she doesn't know she can keep.

<< Your moms... they haven't given up on you. They're sad, and they're scared, but they still have your posters up all over the city, new places every week. I... haven't been strong enough to talk to them very much, Molly-chan, I'm sorry... I keep thinking they'll ask me if I know where you were, and... I can't figure out how to lie to them right. >>

Her own mental voice gets quakey at the end of that sentence, but after a shuddery breath, she rallies. << Chibiusa, Usagi and Mamoru's girl from the future? She's got a Device now, and she's getting pretty good at it. Alo-chan's doing good... She sent Otto to the Phantom Zone or something, now she's Usa-chan and Mamo-kun's knight. She's... doing better, but the whole thing was really hard on her. So... when you get back, you won't be alone that way too. You and Alo-chan and Hotaru-chan, all of you have something you can share. >>

Molly Skyline has posed:
<< I wish my Moms were okay, >> Molly replies, << They've done so much for me, I wish I could tell them that I was okay. It'd be a lie, but I would tell that lie to them so maybe they wouldn't be in so much pain. Is that... horrible of me? >>

Rashmi can hear her getting back into bed. << I don't want to have company, >> Molly whispers. << Not with this. I wish nobody else had to go through this. I wish nobody else had to suffer like this. >> She sucks in a breath, << I... I want my body back and I want to be me again. >>

Molly is silent for ... not a long moment, but under her time constraints, a longer moment than she can probably afford. << I can't talk much longer. She'll wake up soon. But-- >>

She stops, and her breath catches. << Rashmi-chan I never asked, after that... night on the beach. >> She could only be referring to one particular night on the beach. << Did everyone make it? I haven't seen Veronica or Hinote since then, I-- Rashmi is Chrono okay? >>

Rashmi Terios has posed:
<< ...Molly-chan if any of this has taught me anything it's that stuff we thought was unconscionable... Maybe it's a little bit more natural than we'd like. But... no, it's not horrible. I want them to hurt less too... And I only know one way we're gonna be able to make that happen, and that's to *get* you your body back, factory-standard, the way it should be. >>

When Molly breaks the silence again, Rashmi's relieved sigh is *audible* through the connection. << Vero-chan and Hinote-kun are all right. And Chrono... *he* was the one who helped most to get *me* back to functional, Molly-chan... Because he's been doing this long enough... he's lost friends before, in battle. What messed him up most is, there's still that part of his TSAB-brain that says *none of us ought to be fighting,* because we didn't make the choice. But he mostly understands that now... he's okay. *We're* okay. You really did save us all. >>

Molly Skyline has posed:
No words immediately come from the other end of the phone, just a sense of relief; of a weight lifted.

<< Good, >> she whispers at last. << It was worth it, then. My life for all of yours is a fair trade and I'd do it all over again. >>

There's a pause; just a brief one, and it feels abruptly like something has changed.

<< Rashmi-chan tell Chrono I did have a choice and I made it and-- damnit I'm out of time I gotta go*click*

Rashmi Terios has posed:
At the *click* Rashmi jerks a bit, then closes her eyes, dropping her face into her hands. "...It wasn't fair to *me,*" she whispers into the still night air, tires eyes that have cried so, so much, prickling up anew.

Heaving a heavy sigh, she wriggles back under the covers, turning to face the open window, and the moon beyond.

Even if she can't depends on one person to bring a miracle, even if *wanting* to is cruelly unfair... She can hope that there'll be a miracle anyway. Even if it's a miracle they have to scratch out of the blood and ashes of victory.

Because all a miracle is, is things turning out okay even though they have no right to.