2022-01-17 - One is One Too Many

(TXT to Perdita) Ravn : Did you read the Gazette today? The so-called HOPE success story turning less than successful? I need to spar with someone with half a brain and an understanding of what it means to be on the run. Are you up?

(TXT to Ravn) Perdita : Spar meaning verbal or spar meaning beat the shit out of each other? And yes, I'm up and about.

(TXT to Perdita) Ravn : Mental spar. I'm not exactly the Karate Kid. That woman the Gazette talks about -- Violeta Borojević -- should not be here. She was one of a number of women that we helped disappear, some time back. They'd been trafficked and got intercepted in Gray Harbor. To be a little blunt, our local mob doesn't like others using the harbour for similar things.

(TXT to Ravn) Perdita : I saw that. I'm very sorry it happened and it wasn't your fault, but I'm free to verbally spar any time you need.

(TXT to Perdita) Ravn : I'm worried about the others. I had a Dream experience last night -- she died in it. The Dream was set around getting on a train to Belgrade. The people who trafficked her were Serbian as well. Maybe it means something. What really matters, though, is that we didn't do our job of getting her out well enough. So next time, if there is a next time, we have to do better. And this is where you come in. I want you to help, if there is a next time.

(TXT to Ravn) Perdita : When it happens again, because it will, I'll be there. The only reason I escaped any kind of trafficking as a teen was, as fucked up as it is, Eddie. So if I can help someone else avoid that, it's my responsibility to try. If worse comes to absolute worst, I have a ton of empty rooms and a few good men willing to stand guard and protect people. There's a tunnel system to get people out of I need to. I think that's why I bought this place, because there's a dozen exits that can't be covered, especially for someone who can just fly away.

(TXT to Perdita) Ravn : And you just answered the question of why I want you on board. I've been on the run -- but I have not been a woman on that kind of run. I am in a very carefully balanced position here, toeing the line. I'm not a criminal. I don't want to be involved with organised crime. But when outside gangsters try to ship girls through here, and our own gangsters drop them off on me, I will sure as hell help them get back to wherever they want to go. So that's what I did -- and obviously I didn't do it well enough, when one of those girls turn up here half a year later, only to die in a shine explosion in a Dream.

(TXT to Perdita) Ravn : The dream was about trains. Is there a more obvious metaphor possible for trafficking?

(TXT to Ravn) Perdita : No, there isn't. I'm so sorry. Did Violeta have family, someone we can contact? She deserves a proper burial... put me in touch with the guys who've been handing this to you, next time you talk to them. I'm not willing to get involved in any shady shit they're doing, but I'm always down to help anyone being trafficked get the fuck out.

(TXT to Perdita) Ravn : That's pretty much where I am. The neutral zone, so to speak. And so far, well -- the mob and the police both seem to feel that having a neutral zone might not be a bad idea. Or maybe we just don't matter enough -- either works for me, tbh. I'm done with organised crime, but I'll help a girl get out.

(TXT to Perdita) Ravn : Unfortunately, I know nothing about Violeta. I pointedly didn't ask questions because part of keeping the trust of -- well, some less than law abiding people -- is to not ask any questions you don't need to ask. There were five of them. I wonder if the other four are going to turn up as well.

(TXT to Ravn) Perdita : Any way to have someone find them before they turn up dead? I'll reach out to the police and let them know I'd like to cover Violeta's burial expenses if her family can't be located. She deserves a gravestone at least.

(TXT to Perdita) Ravn : Well, I can get in touch with my Seattle paralegal who helped me make them disappear in the first place. But we kind of very pointedly did not keep information on them. After all, when someone turns up with a search warrant, you can't hand over information that you don't have. If I want to stay on the good side of some not so great people here in Gray Harbor, I need to keep them confident that there is no such thing as finding a treasure trove of evidence by cornering my lawyer.

(TXT to Perdita) Ravn : There's another thing. I'm thinking aloud here, kind of, bear with me. None of those five girls had any shine that I noticed, back then. And last night, this girl, Violeta -- she was a bomb. And I mean that so literally that I woke up wtih second degree burns from the explosion.

(TXT to Ravn) Perdita : Good point, and holy shit. Can... someone force it INTO someone? Like charge them up like a soda bottle given too much carbonation?

(TXT to Perdita) Ravn : That's a pretty fucking terrifying thought. I'm going to have to plant that idea on both sides, too -- police and mob alike. That this is now a thing. Glimmer bombs.

(TXT to Perdita) Ravn : At least de la Vega will believe me. Cavanaugh must have come home with second degree burns too.

(TXT to Ravn) Perdita : I mean... if you can use it to heal people, and move things, and push your thoughts at someone, what else can we do that we don't know about yet? Any energy source, put under enough pressure, will explode.

(TXT to Perdita) Ravn : Wherever this girl was going last night, she wanted to go there. She waltzed right up to the train with a smile, looking on top of the world, until we tried to stop her, and she -- exploded. Makes me wonder if she was used as some kind of ... cannister? Battery? Charged up with shine, somehow, and being delivered somewhere. I'd buy that theory, sure, the dolorphages feed on us, why not. But why her? There was nothing Veil about that ship's fire on the harbour. It was all gang A takes out gang B, girls are freed in the process.

(TXT to Ravn) Perdita : You've made it pretty clear to me that They do whatever They want, and something like that leaves a pretty deep mark on a person. Maybe there was something about her history that led to her being a perfect vessel for their plans?

(TXT to Perdita) Ravn : It's entirely possible. And it's all speculation -- and hopefully it stays speculation, because the only way to know for sure is if another of those five girls turn up dead. But to plan ahead -- next time something like this happens, we get those trafficked people out.

(TXT to Ravn) Perdita : No more shiny bombs.

(TXT to Perdita) Ravn : Right. I'll come over sometime this week, we can start talking shelter business on a more serious level? I don't want to be caught pants down next time.

(TXT to Ravn) Perdita : Sounds like a plan. I'll get Mr. Martin's crew working on things in earnest in the next few days. I'll want to go over security precautions with you to make sure it's safe for people sheltering.

(TXT to Perdita) Ravn : I'll get my paralegal on anything paperwork we need to know. I need to talk to a few people in the neutral zone, then we focus on this. I really, really don't want to have more women turn up dead.

(TXT to Ravn) Perdita : Sounds like a plan. And neither do I. One is too many.

(TXT to Perdita) Ravn : One is indeed one too many.