"I can't stand her either," Nora said with a mirthless smile. "She was one of Castor's favourites. She can sweet-talk almost anyone." In truth, she was amazed Astra hadn't tried harder to bewitch Cor. Astra was probably off seducing another poor program somewhere else now, and Nora couldn't say she missed the company.
“I thought that Gem was his favorite…” Cor admitted, though that was based on rumors. “Well, whoever was his favorite, I’m glad Astra’s gone.”
"Oh, Gem was his favourite," Nora said, and Bit concurred. "I was next in line, and then Astra."
Cor nodded slightly. “I just heard the two spent a lot of time together… But, in my opinion, you got the prize.” he said, looking around the club. He did feel what happened to Gem and Castor was sad… Even though Castor was still a conman. “And Astra can kiss Clu’s disc.” he snickered.
Nora allowed a smile to graze her face and sipped her drink. "She can. Skye can too."
Cor chuckled softly and gently clinked his glass against hers. “I don't know Skye, but I’ll take your word for it.”
"Skye's another worker." Nora sipped her drink and looked around, scanning the surrounding programs for the tall blonde, but fortunately, there was no sign of her. "She's one of the few workers that isn't a former Siren." With a slightly bitter smirk, she added, "Castor liked to describe her as 'bubbly'."
Cor gave a small nod, having suspected the first part since Nora didn't seem to be a very social person… Though he knew he wasn't one to judge. “Bubbly? … That almost makes her sound cute, but I'll be careful if I run into her.” he smiled softly.
"She's a lot like Astra," Nora said bluntly, "but in a different way." In truth, she hated Skye as much as Astra. Both of them seemed to be going out with a different boy every week, both of them were stunningly beautiful, and both of them had been favourites of Castor. The only thing about them that was different, Nora thought dryly, was the way they operated: Astra was cool, calm, and somewhat seductive, while Skye was bright, loud, and energetic.
In other words, dangerous… he realized in the back of his mind, though he wasn't going to say it. Especially not to Nora. She may have already known that anyway but if she didn't he didn't want to insult her by pointing it out. “And they both brought in plenty of customers for him, no doubt.” he said as his reasoning for why those two were Castor’s favorites. Though that brought up the question; how did Nora become his second favorite after Gem?
Nora nodded. "There's definitely a reason why they're some of Castor's favourites." Then her eyelashes dipped. "Were, I mean."
It was odd, this. She had heard the rumours that Castor had some sort of deal with Clu, but had ignored them; she'd fought alongside him in the Purge. He had been a good program then, sincere and warm-hearted. And then… he turned into whatever he had been. She missed him; she had always missed his good side, but now the chance of that returning was less than zero.
“I’m sorry.” Cor said gently. “May I ask… How long did you know him?” he wondered, knowing that was probably a sensitive topic but he was too curious not to ask. It didn't take him long to find out that Castor had once been Zuse, a very influential program who helped ISO's escape Clu's tyranny. But what had happened to make him so… different? Plus there was that one rumor that was not talked about; that Gem had been an ISO herself and was only disguised as a Siren. It was an interesting angle but he wasn't sure how much sense that made and now there was no way to prove or deny it.
"When the Purge started," Nora said, swirling her drink absentmindedly. "He and Gem… they started a program of smuggling ISO's from the Games. He was Zuse then."
She hadn't talked about this in what felt like thousands of cycles; she didn't like talking about it. It must have been the drink that was freeing her mind, freeing her lips.
"Gem said she could see the fire in me." In her mind's eye, she could see the tall, white-haired Siren approaching her after a long Games shift, saw the barely-there smile on those full, pale lips. "Said I was no use being stuck underGrid all the time. She asked me if I'd… like to take a second job."
With a heavy sigh, she sipped her drink and set it back down on the counter, continuing her story, about how she'd joined Zuse's resistance movement, about how she had turned out to be better than they'd thought. About how they'd repurposed her. How she had started work here.
"I guess everything just… fell into place," she finished. What she wasn't telling him was the vigilante work, the moniker she'd taken up when Zuse had become Castor. How her repurposing had proved far more valuable than she had ever anticipated.
Cor nodded occasionally as she told him the story. It was very moving to hear and he couldn't help but give a small soft smiled at her. “That’s… a very impressive story. A little sad too but I can't think of too many stories from the Purge that aren't.” he admitted. “At least yours had a better ending… and second start.” he said softly before sighing slightly. “I… didn't know Zuse, just of him. But I told you about my friend; Tetra, the artist, and how she wanted to help too.” he sympathized, before ordering another round of drinks for the two of them, though he asked for his to be a little stronger. “She… She used a nickname when she did. Athena.” he chuckled, thinking of the name he had considered using if he had decided to help in time. “She thought it made her safer.”
"I don't think you told me about her, no," Nora said, eyeing the crowd, which seemed to grow thicker with every minute. "But she seems interesting."
“Really? Well, I remember mentioning her when we were dancing the last time we saw each other.” Cor said softly.
Nora nodded. "Now I remember."
There were a few minutes of silence in which Nora sipped her drink and observed the surrounding programs, and then Skye suddenly appeared out of nowhere. With a loud cry of "Nora!", she draped her arms around Nora's shoulders like a black-and-white fur stole.
"Nora, it's so good to be back!" Skye said energetically, apparently not noticing that Nora had become statue-stiff. "Isn't this just incredible?" Then she noticed Cor. "Oh, hi! Are you Nora's friend? What's your name?"
“Yeah… I just didn't mention her name before because I didn't know you.” Cor nodded solemnly as he watched Nora play with her drink. “I guess this means that I…” the rest of his words were cut off when the same Siren-lookalike that had called Nora up to make her speech. He couldn't help but chuckle at the other woman's energy and gave a small friendly smile when she spoke to him. “Cor. Nice to meet you, miss…” he said politely, liking her more subtle approach compared to Astra’s overly confident personality.
"I'm Skye! Hi! I'm Nora's friend!" She gave him a big grin. "Nice to meet you too! I work here, isn't that great?" Then she gasped and gripped Nora's shoulders. "Nora, I had the best idea! Cor, you should come work here! It's so fun!"
Nora smiled painfully. "If Cor wants to, then he can."
“Ah.” Cor smiled back, though it was a little more strained after she introduced herself. Perhaps she did have a little too much energy but she was still better than Astra in his opinion. “Thank you for the offer, ladies, but I don't think this place would be a good position for me.” he explained. “I’m just a basic search program… though I double as a messenger at times. So I don't really have time to pick up another job, especially one I have no experience with. But I do hope to be a regular customer.”
Nora nodded, letting her smile evaporate; Skye looked disappointed, and then her smile appeared again. "Oh! Well, okay! I guess I'll see you around, then! I gotta go, Nora, there was this really cute guy over by the DJ booth and he totally kept winking at me. See ya!"
With that, she disappeared into the crowd.
Cor let out a soft breath of relief when Skye left them alone and took another sip of his drink. “At least she knows how to take a hint when someone isn't interested.” he commented dryly.
Nora shrugged. "She wasn't interested. You would have known if she was interested." She sighed. "The whole club would have known she was interested."
Cor chuckled softly again. “Good to know. So that was her being genuinely friendly… Wonder why she asked me if I wanted to work here then.” he questioned.
Nora wanted to roll her eyes, but refrained. "Skye thinks everyone should work here."