Starring:
Summary: Aileen explains the nature of her abduction.
Dark Future Date: August 3, 2009
How Little They Seem to Care
Once he reaches street level, the first thing George does is turn and throw his arms around Aileen. Dark Future is Cold, but it's not that cold— or he wouldn't have risked all this in the first place.
The second thing he does is look back toward the ladder, rolling his eyes. "I kind of figured they wouldn't talk. Still searching for someone who will… Anyway, why did they nab you? Just retaliating against anyone with official sanction?" Exactly the sort of brute-force approach he tries to discourage on his own side.
"The project was leaked." Aileen shuts her eyes, wrapping her arms back around George in response. "Thought it would have something to do with you, or the President or something like that, but they had a whole file on it. They didn't know exactly the details, but.. they'd gotten word I was working on something. Appearantly it was enough to make them curious."
"How much did they know?" He starts in at a fast walk, now, aiming to get lost in the crowd before the gunman down below has a chance to change his mind. "Did they believe you, or did they just assume it was an airborne poison or something?"
"No. They didn't know much. They believed me enough, but I don't think they took it too seriously. I think they didn't believe it was going anywhere because it wasn't funded by the President." Aileen glances behind them to double check, a frown still on her features. "I'm still not entirely sure why me.. they obviously must have thought something of the project or they wouldn't have grabbed me in the first place.
George shrugs. "Well, it could have been worse— that one could have hurt you just as easily." Or worse. "They keep him around long enough, one of these days he will. That one guy's too much in love with his own voice to pay enough attention to the leash."
"He was more than willing to before." Aileen murmurs, keeping a tight grip on his hand. "Was going to break my fingers, really, and tried to. I'm kind of amazed at how little they seem to care for people at all.."
"The problem," muses George, "I'd guess, is that they've been opposed to those in the government for so long and so vehemently that they've stopped thinking of them as being people in the first place. Which, ironically, is exactly what they accuse us of doing… correctly in some cases, I'm afraid."
"I know." Aileen murmurs, a distant look in her eyes. "But we can't just give up." She lets out a breath. "If we can get this to work, there'll be a lot less of a reason to fight."