isaysimplewords | (Eventually) OOM: bird song

"Okay."

Cal is unsure of whether that's strange or not. On the one hand, this is just an office in an ordinary animal shelter, so why have extra security? On the other hand, if the bird is unusual, why not have extra security?

Either way, he lets Bela go through the door first. It kind of flies in the face of his protective instincts, but she is the professional here. It's kind of why he brought her.

Bela is not alone in the office.

Bela expects even run of the mill offices to be locked. If they aren't, then it's more suspicious. She steps through the door and-

Demon.

There's a demon.

No, it's not her world.

Bela's eyes widen as she takes in the creature - alien? - and she steps back, pulling the door shut. She's never been the type to scream in the face of surprise monsters.

She turns to Cal, to tell him to run, but the thoughts fade away like-

Wait... what just happened? Puzzlement crosses her face.

Was there something in there?

. . . Cal blinks at her.

"Is something wrong?" he asks. "Is Elaine in there?"

That would be a little awkward.

She blinks back.

"I don't-"

There's nothing she can hold onto but the instinctual feeling of something not being right. She unholsters the gun she keeps concealed at the small of her back.

"I don't know whether I saw anything or not. I can't remember. I'm going to open the door again. You stay behind me, but try to look in."

She can't remember something that happened ten seconds ago?

That - is very worrying.

"All right."

(By the time the door opens, the office will be empty.

The Silence may be arrogant, but they're not stupid. This one isn't giving Bela a second chance to try to kill it on sight.)

The office is empty. Bela checks behind the desk and in the corners.

"It's fine. Only I thought..."

She shakes her head. She's not sure what she thought.

"Okay. Bird investigation time."

Odd. It's not like Bela to . . .

Anyway. Cal turns his attention back to the matter at hand.

The birdcage is in the corner of the room. It holds a small scarlet bird, which is watching them with its head cocked intently to one side.

Bela walks over to the cage. She's not a bird expert by any means, although she did run a couple of cons in which she impersonated a zoologist.

"It doesn't act like a bird."

The birds watchful silence coupled by the strangeness she can't remember keeps the warning bells ringing.

A woman appears behind them. Surely she walked through the door, right?

In actuality, she stepped from behind a perception filter. She'd been waiting for this moment. She figured Cal would be showing up here sooner or later. She wonders who his friend is and where they're both from.

"The poor thing. He used to be much livelier. I think he's worn down."

Cal turns, startled. His expression says oh shit for a second before he manages to smooth it away into something more relaxed.

"Hi, Elaine," he says. "My friend here knows something about birds, I thought it might be helpful for her to take a look."

Yeah, he knows they're fucked, but he has to at least try. Elaine doesn't look angry, or even all that put out, but he's not sure that's such a good sign. If this is a totally innocent situation, then she should be pissed that he brought a stranger into her office after hours.

"Oh?"

Wariness crosses her face, but she has no reason to believe Cal is a threat. His friend, on the other, hand, is an unknown quantity with a gun. This leads her to believe she's human, but you never know.

"I wish you'd consulted me first, Cal."

She does not step in between Bela and the bird. That would give too much away.

"It's all my fault, I'm afraid," says Bela, turning on the charm.

"Isabella Talbot," she says, reaching out her right hand. "I was intrigued and I'm going out of town tomorrow, so I insisted on coming with Cal tonight."

Cal chuckles, the rueful sound of a politician trying to put someone at ease.

"There's no arguing with Isabella once she's made up her mind," he says. "I'm sorry, Elaine. It won't happen again."

"Cut the crap, Cal. What's going on here?"

Elaine has learned that sometimes, being blunt gets you results. It could also lead to danger, but the perception filter is still up. She need only step backwards to disappear again.

That's pretty much what he expected. Actually, no, it's a lot milder than what he expected. He lets the studiedly relaxed expression drop. (The wary and slightly sheepish one that takes its place is completely authentic.)

"I thought the bird was - weird. I wanted to get a closer look. Isabella's the one who knows how to pick locks. That's all."

More or less. For a given value of "all."

"You have to admit, anyone with eyes would notice it's not quite right. What is it?"

"A bird, of course. An ill bird, but nothing more."

Cal glances at the bird. It's still holding the same position, head cocked, staring at them.

He shakes his own head and looks back at Elaine.

"That's not a bird," he says. "That's not even alive."

Elaine presses her lips together into a straight line. She still doesn't think Cal is a threat, but what if he's been caught up with UNIT? This Isabella seems the type to be an agent.

"What's it to you, Cal Chandler? Even if it's not what it seems, what's it to you?"

If this gets unpleasant, Elaine will be terribly sad.

Bela takes this opportunity to get a closer look.

"It's a robot. Isn't it?"

Okay, that's pretty impressive.

Cal exhales, running a hand through his hair as he thinks about Bela's observation and how to frame his answer to Elaine.

"Things can get pretty strange on this planet sometimes, Elaine," he says. "You'd have to be blind not to see it. A robot bird . . . seems like the kind of thing that should be someone's business."

That's all he's got, when you get right down to it. It should be someone's business, in case it turns out to be something that becomes everyone's business.

"UNIT's business?"

Bela gives Elaine a blank look and glances at Cal. What's UNIT?

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