forum ENCOM OS-12 | OxO | Closed unless you're a fellow Program/User/ISO | Stalkers get a free Light Runner

Started March 25, 2021 by @murphysgirl

tune

“Oh.” Cor nodded, understanding her annoyance. “She must really enjoy her work then. … I’m sorry, by the way, if that was awkward. If I had the right skills I would be glad to work here.” he admitted.

"It's all right," Nora said softly. "I think I've got all the staff I need." A tiny smile lit her lips for a half second. "Although if I fire Astra, I'll let you know."

Cor chuckled a little and gave a small nod. “Thanks for the offer. But I really have no experience working in a bar.” he said. The most he’d be able to do is security work but that would give him away as a vigilante. “And honestly, I’m not interested in being repurposed. I know it works for some but…” he shrugged.

"I didn't expect you to accept the offer. Hardly anyone does." She looked him over coolly. "I couldn't see you working in a bar anyway. You're not built like that."

“I’m going to take that as a compliment.” Cor quipped lightly before giving a shy chuckle and taking a longer sip of his drink. “Just out of curiosity, how do you think I’m built?”

She looked him over. "Nicely. Lithe. You seem suited to your sort of work. Not standing in a bar being eye candy for customers."

_{(I got my major paper turned in for English and it has Tron things in it let's gooooo)}

“Another compliment. If you're not careful, I might start to think you might like me.” Cor laughed good naturedly and smiled genuinely, though it was still soft. “Though… It's nice that you don't see me as that.”

_(Cool!!!)

Nora didn't know what to say to that, and she could feel her inner walls going up. Connection. What was wrong with her? She usually veered as far away as possible from that.
Fortunately, Bit intervened, zooming around Cor's drink like it wanted some.
"Bit, you are a maniac on energy," Nora said, batting it away. "No."
No, Bit replied, though if it was a mimic or a cheeky response, Nora wasn't sure.

Cor felt a little awkward after he realized what he said and how it may have sounded. As much as he thought he… Well, he appreciated her company and the conversation was nice but, it wasn't safe. For either of them.
“Hey.” he chuckled at the Bit, guarding his drink. “As mischievous as you already are, energy is the last thing you need.” he said in agreement with Nora.

Yes, yes, yes. Bit bobbed up and down above Cor's drink like it intended to dip into the energy, but fortunately, the glass was too narrow, as was Nora's. Disappointed, Bit floated off, obviously in search of energy.
"Bit," Nora said warningly, but it ignored her, zooming off in pursuit of a program carrying a nearly-full, wider glass of energy. With an exasperated sigh, Nora set her glass down on the counter and stood up. "Excuse me for a moment."

“Well, that looks like trouble in the making. Go ahead. Chances are I’ll still be here for a while longer.” Cor nodded, waving her on to try to catch the wayward Bit. Last thing she needed on opening night was for her little companion to cause a problem and get wired.

Nora allowed a smile to brush her lips before rushing off after Bit, who had reached the program with the energy and was just about to dip into it. Fortunately, the program turned away from Bit before anything happened; Bit, with an indignant No, whizzed around the program. Nora got there just in time, snatching the drink from the program's hand and trying to catch Bit, who merely zoomed off in another direction. With an apology, Nora handed the drink back to the program and hurried off after Bit, who had found another drink. It happened several times: Bit was just about to touch the energy when Nora appeared and chased it off, forcing Bit to pursue its next target. Soon, most eyes in the club were turned to Nora, who was chasing Bit with the same kind of determination she usually only used when she was doing vigilante work.
At last, Nora caught up with Bit, swiping for the pulsating white polyhedron and catching it. Bit, with a series of No's, attempted to escape Nora's iron grip, but failed miserably. Nora, panting, angry and humiliated, clutched Bit in one hand and grabbed a small cube from her belt; it erupted into a light cage, and Nora stuffed Bit in it.
There was silence save the talk of a few programs who hadn't been watching, and then a voice broke out over the crowd.
"Nora, your host!"
Everyone turned to see Skye, who was standing a few stairs up on the stairs leading to Castor's old office. She was, surprisingly, wearing a big smile. "Provider of entertainments and diversions. End of Line's owner may have changed, but End of Line hasn't! Take it away, DJ's!"
A wave of pounding dance music broke out over the club; pretty soon, programs continued chattering, laughing, and dancing, just like normal. Nora sent Skye a rare, and genuine, smile, which Skye enthusiastically returned. With a grateful sigh, Nora slipped through the crowd and made her way back to Cor, plunking Bit's cage down on the counter and picking up her drink again.
"Now do you believe that the stories about this one are true?" she asked, with a wry smile.

Cor was torn between laughing in genuine amusement at the sight of poor Nora chasing her Bit around the club and wanting to join the chase to help spare her some embarrassment. Though he wasn't sure how much help he could be unless Bit flew towards him. Fortunately, Nora was able to finally capture the little troublemaker and Skye was very helpful in redirecting the crowd's attention away from her. Cor was one of the few programs that applauded Nora's success as she walked back over to the bar.
“Nicely handled.” he said with a small friendly smirk. “I never said that I didn't believe those stories. I just thought they were exaggerated. Though now I'm not so sure that they were.”

"When Bit's around," Nora said, "anything can happen." She looked over to where Skye was, but Skye had disappeared. "Skye saved my cubes there."

Cor chuckled lightly at that and nodded. “Certainly seems like it is.” he agreed, taking another sip of his drink. “Well, I don't know her like you do so that makes me think it means one of two things. One being, she genuinely enjoys working here and wants everything to go well… Or she's just trying to get on your good side.” he said, offering his opinion.

"I think it's a mix of both," Nora said delicately, eyeing Bit with some amusement. The white polyhedron had given up trying to get out of the light box and was sulking morosely on the bottom, pulsing at a rather slower speed. "But you can see why Castor hired her."

“Fair enough. Like I said, you know her better than I do.” Cor agreed, finding her answer understandable. He chuckled softly and nodded. “She has skills. And can come off as friendly so… Yeah, I can.” he smiled a little.

Nora nodded. She privately thought that Skye was a little too friendly, but she at least balanced out Astra's coolheaded seductiveness and Nora's resistance to attachment.
"Well, she was programmed to work here, rather than being repurposed," she said, sipping her drink. And it was true; in fact, out of the End of Line staff, less than half of them were former Sirens. Castor had liked to surround himself with beauty and power, that much was obvious.

Cor hummed softly at that and swirled his cup slightly, as he didn't have a comment to add. There was something of a debate on being programmed for something versus being repurposed… and he didn't want to bring that up or accidentally insult Nora especially. “Well… Castor certainly had a preference for pretty faces.” he said instead, thinking about how many Sirens worked at the club before.

Nora nodded and looked around, ignoring Bit, who was trying to escape from its cage again.

Cor sighed slightly and took another sip as he looked around at the popularity of the club back in full swing, though he chuckled a little when he noticed Bit's failing escape attempt.

A pounding dance beat swept through the club, and Nora perked up slightly. She loved this song, and she wanted to dance… and Bit was safe in its cage where it couldn't wreak havoc.
"Shall we dance?" she said smoothly, setting her drink down.

Cor looked up at her in mild surprise, not having expected the question or a second chance to dance with her, but gave a small smile and nodded. “Sure.” he replied as he set down his drink and stood up.

Maybe it was the drink that was making her so… loose, Nora thought, picking up Bit's cage and slipping behind the bar, setting it down in a cupboard where the bartender could watch it. "Stay there."
Bit said nothing, now resigned to its fate; with a small chuckle, Nora came back out from behind the bar and led the way onto the dance floor.

Cor waited patiently, taking one last drink before following her onto the dance floor. It felt like a privilege to dance with the club owner in her own club after she asked you to.