the_last_resort | Agent K

I see. Very well then. [He doesn't like it, isn't used to being denied information, but he can't force Kay to share his theory. But it doesn't stop him from asking questions.]

I wonder if the associated caninoid agitation is an unintentional side effect of either the method of explosion or the species who set the bomb, or if it was an anti-dog whistle of some sort to keep guard dogs away.

[Just going to talk about that like he's not included in this category of caninoids.]

Ever heard of something called the "Infrasonic 17 Hz tone experiment"? It's a test humans did on infrasound based on our own range of audible sound wavelengths.

[There's no harm in making conversation, and while it seems a little like a deviation from topic he does plan to bring it around.]

No, I haven't. I'm aware that humans have fairly keen hearing as far as intelligent species goes, but my knowledge of Terran science on the matter is limited.

What is it?

[Relevant or not, now Narvin's curious.]

More keen than we let on. The experiment suggested that infrasound can fill us with fear, anxiety, make us imagine pressure on our chest.

Similarly you have some species that will flee any sort of electromagnetic pulse, immediately registering it as a threat. Birds of my word migrate based on the direction of the poles. So it makes you wonder.

Maybe convergent evolution has given you guys some traits that keys you in on something that you can't consciously detect. The sense is there, but only there enough for you to be on guard or to know not to approach. I just have no clue what that something would be. [Unfortunately he's not excluding Narvin from that evolutionary line, because it's useful.]

[Narvin supposed that it could be worse. At least it's practical, instead of inciting something like territorial aggression. Still, he's a proper Time Lord and proper Time Lords do hate to admit that beneath the robes and extensive genetic tinkering they're just mammals.]

It's lovely being a living bomb detector.

Ah well, I suppose this means that I least I won't need to worry about being a victim of these bombs. I'll probably be mindlessly running away before they go off.

You got a bomb problem?

[This promises to be a pretty good story. He's glad to enter the fence again, though. He's not so much of a bomb magnet, but today isn't a good day to start.]

A run of ill luck with them.

[He has to pause for half a nanospan to think of how to explain while still pretending that he was in no way ever a professional intelligence operative back on his home planet.]

The first was at a diplomatic conference, much like this one now. I was there as...a servitor tech, to make sure that the robot servitors were operating according to specs. The ambassador from Unvoss was assassinated by means of an explosive in his drink. I happened to be right next to him at the time and was lucky not to have been injured. It was a near thing.

The second time I wasn't so lucky. There had been a string of terrorist attacks on Gallifrey, explosions much like this. I was a technical consultant for the investigation and determined that the bombs were being sneaked into high secure areas hidden within the mechanisms of newscast camera drones. When I made this discovery, I realized that the members of government were potentially in grave danger of mass assassination. There were all in the Panopticon holding a debate surrounded by these camera drones. I ran to them, opened the casing on one to offer proof of the threat, and triggered an early detonation sequence. The bomb went off right in my face.

And the third time...[The third time was the worst. But at least he could be completely honest about what happened.]...the third time was during the civil war. Romana had assigned me and her body guard, Leela, to plants explosives along the artron forum, to destroy it while it was deserted. I was selected for the job because I best knew the mechanics of the bomb. And Leela is a hunter, a human, and an expert at stealth. Plus she carried the bombs for me. The first few were planted and set without incident, but the bombs were old, corrupted. The timer was faulty on one, and it went off in my face. If it weren't for Leela, I wouldn't have survived. Finding medical care wasn't easy with the war on and Pandora hot on our heels.

Well, look at it this way. You got a streak of survival in you.

I was lucky enough not to have an intergalactic war on my planet, but as you probably know our domestic ones are bad enough. Messy stuff. Most of the exoplanetary community, while appreciating the service of use providing neutral ground, also are pretty wary of how primitive and violent they can be. That's why my organization has to be filled with humans that are about as advanced as they get.

[He nods in a direction.] I'm gonna get some pie. You want some pie?

[He's guessing no, but it seems polite to ask.]

[He stands up just a little bit taller at that. He's rather proud of his ability to survive and is glad that someone else has noticed and appreciates the talent, too.]

How do you screen your applicants? Have there ever been any errors?

[He blinks at pie suddenly entering the conversation.]

Pie?

Well, if they have tafelshrew pasties I might get one, although I generally favour simple synthetic nutritional disks.

What's a tafelshrew?

[He has to get that out of the way before he starts any comparisons. But he has a guess.]

It's a delicacy. A small rodent native to southern Gallifrey.

[Totally normal to eat rodents, right?]

We don't often eat non-synthetic foods, but when we do tafelshrew is a common item. Also dactyl eggs and seerlak.

I'm rather grateful that food is produced by spawners here. If they actually grew or raised the food here, I'm not sure I would trust it. With spawner produced food, I know where it's been, where it came from--electrons in the power system.

Well, I'm goin' to the diner where they do use picked and hunted food. So you might not like it so much. [The shrug is almost apologetic.]

Sorry about that, slick. On top of that, I'm goin' for a fruit pie, too. They have somethin' like an apple here.

Oh that establishment. [He says it like, by serving up picked and hunted food they might as well be bringing out plates with live cockroaches on them.]

No, I cannot eat there. I wouldn't mind asking you a few more questions, however, so I may join you for the company rather than the food.

[Kay, for the most part, seems completely unapologetic for his taste in food. Though he's polite enough to warn Narvin that is what he intends to eat.] Questions about what?

[He quirks one of his thick brows at Narvin. He already mentioned he couldn't say more about the case, and Kay doesn't think he's all that interesting.]

Oh, I was curious about your work. You seem to have dealt with this sort of thing before, I was wondering if you've had to investigate terrorists attacks in your line of work before.

[Maybe if they talk about terrorist attacks in general, Kay might let slip something about this particular case. Maybe. And in any case, he is curious about Kay's background as well.]

Oh. Yeah. Well. It's not a big deal. It happens a lot. People of any species can be idiots. [He'll stick to that story, though he quietly can admit humans were as bad for it as any other violent race, and there were many species that weren't susceptible to terror tactics.]

You're real interested in terrorism, aren't you?

Well...

[He thinks fast.]

There was a rash of attacks leading up to the civil war. I was in close proximity when they occurred. It left a lasting impression, as I'm sure the terrorist intended them to.

[It's not a lie, just not the whole truth.]

How long have you been in the business of stopping alien ne'er do wells?

Helpin' out a lot of good aliens, too. Sorta works both ways. Most of the people I have to protect are guests, when I'm not watchin' the whole of the planet.

[He checks his odd watch as they get near the diner, nothing like Miss Persson's but it has plenty of dials on it. He's got about a half hour. He can finish pie and coffee in that time.]

What did they do about the terrorists after the war was over?

[Narvin leeeeans slowly over Kay's arm to get a closer peek at his watch. He wishes he were taller; it's hard to look over someone's shoulder when said shoulder is roughly forehead height.]

That's a complicated question. My understanding is that an exiled former Chancellor dealt with the terrorist organization, probably using underhanded means. He's always been a schemer. I don't know how he did it, and we have only his word that he did it at all, but this is one thing that I don't think he'd lie about.

As for the specific terrorist who bombed the Academy and the Scaphe Port, he was killed by the President's bodyguard.

So, these alien guests you protect back on your Earth, are they important? Are you Terran Secret Service or the like, protecting foreign dignitaries?

Not all of them. Some of them just families trying to get away from bad worlds, and needed a place to stay.

Said chancellor taking advantage of invalidated political affiliation to act independently?

[He asks that question, moving on quickly from the ones about his job. He's happy to talk about it somewhat freely, but he begins to worry that he'll betray someone's confidence accidentally if he doesn't moderate himself as he should.]

Refugees from failed planets. [Odd to think that he's technically a refugee from his world himself. It makes him wonder if something similar to the Dogma Virus ever ravaged other worlds in the multiverse.]

The ex-chancellor had a habit of acting a little too independently even before he was exiled.

Bad habit or did it work out in the end most of the time? [Kay himself has problems with authority when authority doesn't go his way, but he's not so much one to manipulate it as Braxiatel does. He mostly ignores it.]

[He enters the diner, nods to the old mixed couple at their booth as they share their polite conversation, and heads for the bar.]

You know, I'm really not sure. [Where Brax was concerned, he wasn't sure of anything any more. Especially not when there was a chance that even if it didn't work out in the end initially, Brax might have changed the time lines to make sure it did.]

Thoroughly illegal, though, I can say that.

[As per ritual he picks up the menu and stares at it. It would be strange if he didn't think really hard about what he was going to get, even if he got the same thing he always did.]

Not always a bad thing. Sometimes it's better lettin' someone else take the heat for something that's outside of your boundaries to change.

[He order his coffee, though. He knows how he'll want that.] I figure they know the consequences of gettin' caught when they do it.

Perhaps. [Narvin isn't wholly against a little bit of rule breaking. But only when breaking the rules is permitted within the rules. The CIA can legally break the law, but he gets huffy when anyone else does it.]

There's something to be said for plausible deniability when something needs to be done and the people in official authority can't be seen to do it. But there's a difference between that and vigilantism. And I'm not entirely sure where Cardinal Braxiatel fell on that divide. Or whether his agenda was really to benefit Gallifrey or his own ambition. He was a difficult man to understand.

[Narvin would have had harsher words for Brax in the past, but now? Now he thinks that Brax is dead, fallen into the void between universes. It has taken all the joy out of the rivalry.]

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