Change in management {Hive}

((OOC: Two (Three?) versus Four. The ayes have it.))

The put-downs flew thick and fast. Pix sweat-dropped at Blake's directness, "Well said Blake. I am careful and level-headed." Next Quinn, as ever, tormented him over his attentive nature. Pix bit back with evident irritation. "Kind of threw you off his lap there, didn't I." Nevertheless she continued unabashed. He fully expected others to follow but to his surprise they backed him up. He strongly suspected Gilda's opinion was self-motivated but was still moved by their support.

"Three against two. My vote's not even necessary." Pix turned to Twisted, "Ooo, sorry. Only members who have actually done anything get a vote." The sprite may recognise their newest addition's skill set, but that didn't excuse Twisted for being a relative outsider. For this Pix could and would readily mock him.

At any rate, Pix would now assume leadership. They had already established that a back and forth of differing opinions would cause chaos. What was needed, and what had happened, was a simple yes or no vote. Irrevocable and simplistic. An end to their squabbles. Gilda took glee in pointing out to Kris what Hugh's sudden rise in status meant.

"It does mean that." Pix matched Gilda's peremptory tone, but then faltered, pursing his lips and sighing to himself, "Speak to your contacts Zero. Do what you can in terms of a safehouse." There was merit in being careful, "I'd rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it. Doesn't mean we're abandoning ship."

Pix next took his own communicator and threw it to Twisted Fate, "We have a name as mercenaries now. Find us some jobs. And see what you can do about replacing our line of communication. Maybe next time you can vote."

"Nina. Take Blake back to yours. Give her a room. She's no use to me until she deals with her anxiety. Oh. Speaking of which. Keep off the rooftops, Zero." It may have been insensitive to approve Kris for active service and not Blake. Especially since she didn't suffer an episode nearly as bad as his. Pix had his reasons. He was just far more interested in seeing how they reacted to a lack of them. "Meanwhile. Blake keep an eye on Nina. Until she remembers to have an anxiety issue, she's no use to me." Pix still wasn't happy with how Nina had dealt with Ixen's death. Only now he had the authority to reinforce his opinions.

"I need a private word with Gilda and Quinn. Everyone else dimissed. If you have a complaint, wait until tomorrow, else mail me a copy."

((OOC: Current Posting Order: Faye, Izzy, Amag, St, Muse, Emmz, DD. Queue Cuts still available.))

(Sorry. My computer is awful)

Remy wasn't particularly thrilled at the thought of taking orders from a kid. One who had no idea what he was doing. Who was evidently terrified out of his mind of his own shadow. One who undermined authority, neglected experience and turned down resources in an assassin and a morph, but hey. Whatever. It wasn't his problem.

"Let me explain something to you, boy." He looked Pix directly in the eye. "You can play commander all you please. Have no worries, I'll listen. But next time you want to send someone on a suicide mission into space or need to bring an entire criminal underworld to its knees, I'll remember that I don't do anything." He chuckled and walked out the door. The illegal gambling dens of the city and half of the things happening in them belonged to Twisted Fate. He could dig up merc work by lunch.

Blake wasn't sure how to react. SHE was unfit for duty? Moreso than Kris? He had just had a complete mental breakdown! She just felt...lost right now honestly. Rather than leaving, she crawled between Quinn and Gilda. Gilda was her new friend, and she'd known Quinn since they were babies. "Anything you have to say to my...friends...I wanna be here for." She said, much more sure of herself now. The guild didn't matter anymore. She was with the hive now.

If the Guild had truly abandoned them for good, then. That perhaps makes Blake the closest thing to family that Quinn has left - interesting turn of events. "Go with Nina, Blake. We could all probably do with some time away from this place". Even five minutes away would do them all a world of good. A chance to regroup, refresh and think things through. To some, Quinn included, the news was all a bit sudden, and a little unbelievable as well. The Guild was family, and to be cut off so suddenly... Quinn wasn't at all too convinced by it. But then, she has one Guild link left. If that's severed, then Quinn can fully believe what has transpired. "I'll catch you up later". Quinn would say, some reassurance before glancing back towards Pix. What they didn't need right now was to be keeping secrets from one another, Blake will surely find out what Pix says some other time. But for now, following orders was best.

Kris walked out without hesitation, heading for the kitchen, he needed a beer. Kris thought of possible hide outs, "How do you guys feel about a night club?" Kris knew someone who owed him a lot, and he never paid up. Maybe that would be a good change in pace, some where to legitimately relax.

"Do whatever you want Blake, but if you leave, don't worry. I'll keep you filled in." she said, staring Pix in the eyes, a challenge to defy her. She DID stick around though, usually she would leave and go off to waste her day away in the sky, regardless of what Pix said, but thanks to this day's specific events she was curious. What could Pix possibly have to say to her and Quinn? They had nothing in common! She was insane, a living weapon. Gilda was a warrior, one who used weapons. They were fundamentally different.

"Spit it out Pix."

Nina gave a sigh and rolled her eyes "I appreciate the concern Pix but I assure you, I've been crying myself to sleep at night just like any normal person" she told him "it's just I'd really rather not be down and depressed and make everyone else down and depressed when I'm with them" she added as she folded her arms before she looked to Blake "let's go, we can pick up some sushi on the way home if you like" she said as she began to walk out of the room and towards the elevator.

Pix chose to take Twisted Fate's chuckle as a positive sign, despite his vengeful promises. The newbie had been shown that criticism could come hard on the wing of compliment. Just because Hugh mocked someone, it didn't mean he didn't respect them. Understand that, and they would get along just fine. The gambler left with Kris hard on his heels. Blake was understandably irascible and remained, perhaps to spite Pix, disobey his first command. Fortunately both Gilda and Quinn stepped in and got the assassin to comply. Exactly to plan.

"Like they said. My active personnel have this covered." Pix was deliberately patronising, hoping to get a rise. At length the cat-girl left with Nina. Promptly Pix's cocky demeanour faltered. The smile became a frown. What was to happen next did not come easily to him. He turned to the two remaining HIVE members and spoke candidly, "I'm not in charge. We are." Despite his words, it was a command. His rotating hand encircled all three in gesture.

"Everyone who voted for me is an idiot. Except for myself, that's just biasness. We seem to forget that, during my stint as second-in-command, I almost killed four members." It weighed heavily on his conscience. He'd had trouble sleeping since rescuing a comatose Ethan, "I stopped Kris from slaying Ekmed because I thought I was right. I wasn't. I know that now. But I just did it again. I called a gathering under the assumption I was right about TIBERIUS. If I'd been wrong, we'd be..." A tremble began in Pix's hands, he balled them into fists, "I'll always think I'm right. Therein lies the problem. So this is what we're doing. The three of us take command. If one of us has an idea and the other two disagree, we ditch it. Meanwhile, we will continue to let the others believe I am sole leader. Yeah. That part is not up for debate. If you can't keep this a secret, I withdraw my offer." Pix turned purposely towards Gilda, recalling what the Thanagarian had promised Blake earlier, "We almost had mass hysteria just now. They don't want a council. They want a leader. Until that changes, we should allow them to assume they have one."

"Whatever you want, Pix". Bit of a defeatist statement? Not entirely. Quinn had no intentions of leading the group, at all. She wasn't qualified to do so, at all. Most of her teammates appear to believe that she is insane. Wrong, she's not insane, simply a killing enthusiast. A weapon, another cog in the machine. Pix probably doesn't, and shouldn't be worried about mutiny or anything like that. Really, Quinn can't understand why Pix would want her in this role - but I guess she knows something about surviving, eh?

Gilda actually hadn't been expecting that. It didn't really make a difference to her though. It just meant that now when she made snarky remarks he would have to listen to her. She was his 10th man, the devils advocate, she had to be sure to do a great job. She knew Quinn sure as hell wasn't going to do it, even if she did, Quinn was insane. She'd end up getting more people killed than Pix could in his wildest dreams. Of course, there would be a problem if Quinn always agreed with Pix, but Gilda could fix that....though she wasn't sure other members would like her method of doing so.

"Bout time you recognized my superiority, Pix." Gilda said with a smirk. "And I'll keep a secret, probably, as long as you don't screw up too bad, totally possibility of course. Hell, it's probably even likely...either way, your secret is safe for now....was that all you had to say?"

No objections. The hawk and the snake had been appeased. Pix couldn't read Quinn's expression, and was unenlightened by her simple reply. Meanwhile Gilda made it absolutely clear her thoughts on the matter. A mixture of pride and reservation disguised as mock ridicule. Still, Pix had gotten her to hold her tongue for now. That was a far better position than a few minutes ago, when Harpy would have freely disregarded his wishes. Like her namesake, she was a predator, a tormentor. The best course of action was to  keep her preening.

Undeserving though they may feel, this decision did have merit. No one in HIVE had thinking as disciplined as Hugh's. If his advisors couldn't match his thinking then they would instead need to compliment it. In the course of this meeting Quinn had brought up the issue of TIBERIUS' possible retribution and caused an entire room to think critically. Gilda, on the other hand, had stood against that crowd opinion and given her own like theirs meant nothing. Opposite forces used to good effect. If he was going to listen to anyone in HIVE, it would be them.

This was perhaps unfair to Kris. In Pix's prior example, it had been Zero who was right over him. But the sprite knew he still did not value Zero's opinion and thus did not want it here. Granted it was a bitter pill for him to swallow advice from anybody, but recent events had forced Pix to try to change himself. For the good of the HIVE.

"One last thing. This... power suppressor. I know Quinn wants to leave, but I recommend that she be the one to look into the matter. After all, you told me once that you know this base better than most." Pix folded his arms. They needed to find the device, work out how to turn it off, and then discover everything else about it. TIBERIUS had left them a valuable piece of equipment.

"Mmhm". Quinn was the very first arrival of the HIVE when it began. Here, on the oil rig before any of the others - the welcoming party that Tiberius sent out to greet them all. Quinn was a curious gal', and over time had explored the base to its fullest extent. She may not be aware of an exact location, but she certainly has a hunch - which is the best thing they have to go along with. "I've got a fairly good idea of where it's hiding. Buuuut, how about you two look into finding us a new way to communicate or somethin'? ...or are we going to laugh off the possibility that our communications have been tapped?". She would say with a wide smile, a sarcastic tone to her voice. Some may say insane, others may say ahead of the curve. Quinn had smashed her ear piece earlier, leading by example as others had done away with their communicators as well. It was a shame really, you can never be too careful with who may be listening in, and thus now they needed a new way of getting a hold of one another. What about those who left already? How will we contact them now? Madness!

"We could just get phones like normal people. Gilda said bluntly. She actually hadn't ever had a phone and would have loved to to have one. The touch screens seemed like a lot of fun. "Just tell each other where to meet up...or where to get letters or something, I could fly them around...I guess." she still didn't seem too eager though. That was on purpose. She didn't like people to know she actually wanted anything. She liked to seem rather uncaring for anything but herself. It was difficult sometime, but it usually worked out pretty well. It definitely worked on Pix. She had no idea what Quinn ever thought though, so she supposed being crazy was an even better strategy...but that wasn't really something that could be turned on or off.

"Just a thought. It's not like anyone's hunting us down as criminals...yet, right now everyone probably think's we're more like the A-team...except not military fugitives."

"TIBERIUS did us one favour, at least. He made us everybody's friend." Pix mused, striding for the door, "To the good guys, we saved the world. To the bad guys, we aren't afraid to get our hands dirty. Perfectly balanced on a precipice. We can go either way. Imagine that. HIVE turning good." The sprite chuckled to himself and was interrupted by the abrupt ringing of his phone.

"By the way. Consider the no-kill rule lifted. Find an orphanage and celebrate." Pix took his leave, flipping open his phone in the process. "Hi dad... Other calls? No I didn't... I'm not lying... Okay, I'm lying. I was in a meeting. I thought you would get the hint... Please do tell... Eh? A new job? But TIBERIUS made it clear that politicians are no use to... I see... The Registration Department... Congratulations... I did mean it... I did... Okay, I didn't. You promised mum you would retire... Well what does that have to do with anything? I... And I'm sure she's just thrilled for you... Wait. What?! Say again... But I never- erm, yeah. Of course I registered... The alternative is someone stole my DNA. *cough* But I swear I never use my powers. So no one would know... Wow. Never heard you use 'proud' before. Are you sure you know what it means?... Love to visit. But this semester is crazy... And if that was true, you still wouldn't believe me... Dad? Hello? Dad? I think you're breaking up. Which is a shame, because I was about to hang up on you." The phone slammed shut. Pix hated his father. The smug git always landed on his feet.