ataraxion | fourth text message ✉ [ anonymous text ] ✉ i know what you're keeping

Such a secretive collection of people we find ourselves with on this ship. Has anyone ever thought about that? There's encryptions that prevent us from entering and seeing other people's secrets, of course, we all use them when we can, don't we? You can never be too careful with who finds out about the secrets you have. No one would look twice at some of you if they knew those dirty little skeletons hidden in there, isn't that right?

You don't answer that in front of everyone, they are hidden for a reason. But, personally I always found it less stressful to have someone know of at least one my secrets. Not a therapist because even they're not as confidential as you'd think they are but a person I know won't tell a soul about it.

I have an idea, Tranquility. Some of you might hate it, while others might love it. We have enough stress on this ship what with individuals appearing, disappearing, deaths, why add to it by having secrets hidden that you're holding all by yourself. If you want to let go of one or two or however many you need to for that tightness in your shoulders or your face go away. Tell me, either now or later by saying moretta, and I'll deanon and we can have a healthy sort of discussion and your secret will be so very safe with me.

Because unlike others, I know exactly how a secret, no matter how dirty, is supposed to be kept.

[ ooc | note about these, if you choose to have your charcter give irene a secret of theirs it will go here for my personal reference, but will still be said by your character in this post/their post. and irene is going to end up using these for a sort of "protection" where she'll threaten to expose the secret if your character crosses her/she needs them to do something very specific for her. ]

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Suspicious lot, aren't they?

[ well she did say she'd unanon. and man the annoyed face she's got on needs to be seen so video it is. ]

You'd think they've all been blackmailed before from the way they're acting. Honestly out of all the suspicious things on this ship, you mention spilling secrets and they all decide you're out to get them.

Might be able to play the long game though.

You should try hacking. It's amazing how flimsy some of their encryptions are. And most tell their secrets quite openly if you can wade through the inane chatter.

[But her way sounds much more efficient.]

I imagine some will get curious eventually.

You assume I don't. Though admittedly, a woman like me can only stand so much inane chatter before she shuts the source of it off and nurses a bit of a headache.

[ irene really. ]

One might already be. I'm not particularly fond of the one who doesn't have the fiery hair who accused me of blackmailing. Does it honestly sound so obvious?

I also trust Mr. Caffrey to pay attention. I do enjoy his insights. [Sometimes, anyway. Sark is many things, but Caffrey's level of hipster is not one of them.]

Only to the paranoid, but I work in espionage. [And Irene might be the first person he's flat out admitted that to. Level up.] Secrets are more valuable than gold and treated as such among my clients. [He sneers.] These people know nothing of secrets worth guarding.

They can be such interesting ones, can't they? [ She gets that feel, Sark. Sometimes you gotta just stare at the hipsterdom and shake your head. ]

And why am I not surprised you do? [ #winning ] There there, Mr. Sark. You should know that I treat them like the precious gold they are. Even if perhaps my secrets were taken from some of your clients in my world at home. They have such loose lips and regrettably someone has to learn to keep the secret close. It might as well be me.

[ She breathes out a laugh. ] Of course they don't. They think of nothing but their own pathetic lives at home, why should that change here?

[That only gets him to chuckle.] There's a reason why most spies make a mockery of your profession and its less than savory cousins to get what they want. It's always been an effective strategy. [Preying on lust is hardly a new concept. He'd be shocked to hear of someone in Irene's profession who didn't keep their secrets close... Especially if it meant she could sell them when it suited her.]

Pathetic lives that mean little in the grand scheme. I could pick them out now. A tawdry affair, maybe a hit and run that still haunts them. Perhaps they've even murdered someone. Everything they could lay out, I'm certain someone else here has either done or done far worse. Yet, they cling to those secrets, believing the turmoil of carrying them to be a burden they must bear alone, that it defines and shapes them and that for someone to know of it, it would be their undoing.

If I might be crude, poetry transcribed on a bathroom wall is hardly poetry.

[ actual things that happened just now. ]

Careful when it comes to how you talk about it, darling, I am rather fond of it. And I gained all those secrets and held onto them all by myself. Despite spies. [ The funny thing is that despite the fact that Irene had been at the centers of scandals before, she had kept most of her secrets to herself. ]

Even when it doesn't define or shape them, they seem to think they've learned a lesson and that if they give it to another it makes their lesson fly away with the wind. [ A smile, that seems almost lazy in its execution. ]

Even when that poetry is etched into those walls by a poet?

On the contrary, as I've said before, I'm a fan of your profession. [And that's all he has to say about that.]

Or they fear judgment. A sweet-faced innocent young woman who once kissed a married man would probably crumble if everyone believed her to be a common Jezebel. They have no perspective. Small towns judge quickly, but we're all trying to survive here. The point is, no one cares what you've done in your past. It's how useful you are to the future of this place.

[Which is the only reason he pays any attention at all. A smirk plays on his lips.] Well, it's a humble canvas and likely speaks to appearances being deceiving, but I prefer grander gestures. Spray-painted on an overpass, perhaps.

fourth text message ✉ [ anonymous text ] ✉ i know what you're keeping

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video » encryption 100% » ( 1.2 ) » i have misplaced my seriousness

video » encryption 100% » ( 2.2 ) » now i'm good

video » encryption 100% » gj ally