Discuss Vaarvel's hidden past... (Time -1)

You'd managed to learn a lot about each of the Girls by this point. You'd collected info by spying, by interrogation, and even by word of mouth from other agents. However, with how close you'd managed to get to your agent, you wondered if you might be able to hear something new from the horse's mouth. Namaste had told you that you'd need to learn each agent's history if you wanted to really understand the danger you were in. She'd also told you not to trust in other people's testimony... but you really had hope that your fellow agents were people you could trust. You decided to take the risk and attempt to extract some sensitive info straight from the source.

Vaarvel actually scoffed when you came to directly question her about her past, although she remained smiling. "Oh, Nathaniel... I wouldn't be much of a master of deception if I simply came out and told you my mysterious past, would I? This air of mystery is what makes me me! You can't expect me to give that up on a whim, darling, no matter how cutely you ask me..."

You had hoped that you were close enough to her now that she might entertain the query. With earnestness that didn't match her own conniving nature, you pleaded with her again: you wanted to trust her and she, in spite of it all, wanted to be relied upon. You recognized that she probably had a reason for her duplicative behavior, but you simply couldn't trust her if she wasn't willing to open up to you at all. She'd probably left the other Ciaos in the dark and they'd died in the dark...

The woman seemed to pout uncharacteristically for a moment, then readopted her smile. "Okay. I'll feed you a couple of hints." The dark-skinned agent gestured to her sitting area, then leaned over as you sat to begin pouring tea into two matching, shallow cups. "What are you interested in? My time before CEDIT?"

You nodded, keeping your eyes on her attractive, skin-suit clad body as she slowly filled each cup.

"I'd like to say there is no such time. Vaarvel didn't exist anywhere on the earth before she existed as a Goodbye Girl." The woman's white teeth showed in a grin through her mask's lower slit. "However, if you want a clue as to what birthed her, look back to the Adder raid of CEDIT South Africa. A certain scientist went missing in that incident... I won't say she's unrelated to me."

It was good to finally hear her admit something. {if Vaarvel's History = 1}You'd heard a bit about this from Doctor Nora Goldstein before, in Europe. Of course, you didn't tell Vaarvel that.{endif}

The woman's smile held your eyes. "You won't find any record of that scientist if you look now... Sorry if you were hoping to finally join me in speaking with first names, Nathaniel." With a chuckle, she placed the teapot on the table, then took her seat across from you, crossing one leg over the other and retrieving her cup. "Mmm... The scientist was working on something called 'dermal camouflage.' Do you know about that?"

You told her it was the first you'd heard of it.

"It's the kind of thing that would come in very useful for me... A special, high-tech skin graft that allows one to completely change their age, pigmentation, and physical blemishes over a short period of time, mere minutes. When I say skin graft, of course... I mean a full skin replacement." The woman's eerie smile stayed on as she watched your reaction. She hesitated to drink her tea, as though she felt she might laugh at any moment.

You didn't have to ask... She must be referring to a procedure that had been performed on her. You asked if it was with or without her consent.

Her smile widened even further, seeming to fill the hole of her mask. "Ha ha ha ha! How caring of you to ask. Oh, darling... You understand how useful such technology would be to a person like myself, don't you? No price would be too high. Even being flayed alive. That same technology that makes dermal camouflage possible makes surviving the procedure possible. It can't fully numb the pain, though. Nothing could."

It felt suddenly as though you were drinking with someone supernatural... Someone who'd been killed and then resurrected. You felt overwhelmed by the pressure of the topic and Vaarvel's smirking attitude towards it. Losing your taste for tea, you had to excuse yourself.

"Of course. We'll pick up the topic another time."

You left for mission control, with the image of Vaarvel's grin still pasted in your mind's eye.