[ Wash is running through the risks in his mind, or he's trying to, but not knowing the realistic capabilities of the Cetagandans and their genetic engineering means dwelling on it too long is only going to turn into paranoid fears. York's eye suits him well, looks entirely damn natural in his face and if it weren't for the scarring it might be possible to think that he'd never gone blind in one eye at all. That's what they can create, from scratch, on fairly limited time. What could they modify? All sorts of things, kitten trees and whatever the hell else they'd made for the purposes of art and aesthetics. But what could they modify in a person, for the sake of a purpose?
When he'd asked Miles about the ba, about the experiments Natasha had told him about, Miles had said he had heard of genetically engineered superpowers. Done over years. He'd been surprised at how quickly the empathetic ability Natasha had talked about could've been expressed in the ba, referred to it with disbelief, called it magic. But clearly that's something the Cetagandans are capable of, through technology they've already gained from other worlds or otherwise . . . God, what could they do to a person.
A breath. He'll need to keep an eye on her, somehow. Make sure she isn't being too affected. Obviously if she's part of some experiment they'll be keeping their own data on her, but he doesn't trust that for obvious reasons, though his means of making sure she's okay are -- limited, here. ]
That's why Sei came here, then. To supervise the project herself. [ The Handmaiden herself . . . Miles had emphasized, repeatedly, how important that is. Second only to the Empress. ] Then I suppose the exotics' genes, your genes, might be part of the genetic direction of the Empire.
You'd know if it started affecting you, but I feel like they're good enough with their -- craft -- that if they didn't want you to feel it, you wouldn't. I don't know what they could be doing with you or with any of the others, but --
[ And that's when he moves. He'd been running through it in the back of his mind even as he talked, what would be a good way to gauge Natasha's well-being, what would be something that the Cetagandans are most likely to try and affect? Her ability to fight. To make her less of a threat to them. If Wash knows anything about her, it's the way she fights, and what's the best way to gauge that?
It's lightning quick, and his expression doesn't even shift, conversational and concerned and then suddenly he's twisting around with a knife in his hand ( where did he get that from, might've almost been too fast to tell, but he has that one hidden at his waist for easy reach ). They never really did sparring with knives on the base, mostly hand to hand, but Natasha might be able to see fairly quickly that a knife is something he's more than comfortable with, quickly closing the distance between them, reversing the knife's grip in his palm and bringing it down straight towards her shoulder.
Wash has more than enough control that if she doesn't respond, somehow, the blade would stop an inch from her skin. It's obvious what he's doing from context of the conversation, from how he aims at something like her shoulder rather at somewhere that would actually incapacitate or kill her, and with anyone else Wash might've hesitated a bit longer to do this but this. Reminds him of Maine, in a way, and how they'd challenged each other. Natasha would understand immediately, too.
And despite everything, well, he'd be damned if there wasn't a thrill to this. A touch of fond familiarity. ]
no subject
When he'd asked Miles about the ba, about the experiments Natasha had told him about, Miles had said he had heard of genetically engineered superpowers. Done over years. He'd been surprised at how quickly the empathetic ability Natasha had talked about could've been expressed in the ba, referred to it with disbelief, called it magic. But clearly that's something the Cetagandans are capable of, through technology they've already gained from other worlds or otherwise . . . God, what could they do to a person.
A breath. He'll need to keep an eye on her, somehow. Make sure she isn't being too affected. Obviously if she's part of some experiment they'll be keeping their own data on her, but he doesn't trust that for obvious reasons, though his means of making sure she's okay are -- limited, here. ]
That's why Sei came here, then. To supervise the project herself. [ The Handmaiden herself . . . Miles had emphasized, repeatedly, how important that is. Second only to the Empress. ] Then I suppose the exotics' genes, your genes, might be part of the genetic direction of the Empire.
You'd know if it started affecting you, but I feel like they're good enough with their -- craft -- that if they didn't want you to feel it, you wouldn't. I don't know what they could be doing with you or with any of the others, but --
[ And that's when he moves. He'd been running through it in the back of his mind even as he talked, what would be a good way to gauge Natasha's well-being, what would be something that the Cetagandans are most likely to try and affect? Her ability to fight. To make her less of a threat to them. If Wash knows anything about her, it's the way she fights, and what's the best way to gauge that?
It's lightning quick, and his expression doesn't even shift, conversational and concerned and then suddenly he's twisting around with a knife in his hand ( where did he get that from, might've almost been too fast to tell, but he has that one hidden at his waist for easy reach ). They never really did sparring with knives on the base, mostly hand to hand, but Natasha might be able to see fairly quickly that a knife is something he's more than comfortable with, quickly closing the distance between them, reversing the knife's grip in his palm and bringing it down straight towards her shoulder.
Wash has more than enough control that if she doesn't respond, somehow, the blade would stop an inch from her skin. It's obvious what he's doing from context of the conversation, from how he aims at something like her shoulder rather at somewhere that would actually incapacitate or kill her, and with anyone else Wash might've hesitated a bit longer to do this but this. Reminds him of Maine, in a way, and how they'd challenged each other. Natasha would understand immediately, too.
And despite everything, well, he'd be damned if there wasn't a thrill to this. A touch of fond familiarity. ]