Escape Velocity // The Flash

Chapter Five: Taken

At the Monastery they had stressed the importance of success, and if that meant compromising then they had to be willing to do so. The monks always told her that she struggled with that aspect - that she was so rooted to the ground that she became a part of the Earth, both unmovable and unforgiving. This was one of the few times that she'd had to reconsider her approaches to a partnership.

It wasn't that Mineko was overly fond of Barry, in fact she harboured no particular feelings towards him at all neither positive or negative, but it was apparent that he was struggling to trust her. That had the potential to ruin their entire goal in the long run, and so she forced herself to alter her own mindset.

"Ser Barry." She forced herself to speak with some remnants of clarity. "You mentioned earlier that revealing more personal details outside of the task at hand would encourage further cooperation, is that correct?"

Barry shivered. He'd never get use to hearing his name said with a 'ser' before it, and he'd definitely never get accustomed to her strange patterns in speech. It sounded so professional whenever she talked, like she had never heard an actual casual conversation in her life. Still, he nodded his response with the hope that he'd finally get some answers. "It'd certainly help."

"Then you may state your enquiries, however I make no promises to answer them all."

To say that he was shocked wouldn't exactly cover it. Barry had assumed that their relationship as comrades would stay fairly tense until he left, but knowing that she had actually listened to his complaint brought a little more respect from him.

"Fair enough." Barry finally responded, unsure of what exactly he wanted to ask her. Honestly, he didn't expect her to comply so he hadn't organised his curiosities in order of importance. He knew that he'd have to ask soon though, or she might change her mind. "What do you do as part of the monastery?"

Mineko immediately grimaced. "That is confidential. Ask another."

Barry's expression quickly fell to resemble hers. He should have seen this coming... "Fine, how long have you been with them then?"

"That is also a topic I wish to avoid." She said sternly.

Barry gave an exasperated sigh and shook his head. "What was the point if you weren't going to answer any of my questions in the first place?... Just forget about it. I don't care anymore."

"I was under the impression that you would have more necessary questions, these will not aid in the missions success."

Barry's steps grew heavier, more in a reluctant march than a champion of the people. "Maybe I wouldn't feel the need to know this stuff if you didn't walk, talk, and act like some high tech robot."

"...Excuse me?" Mineko said in an uncertain tone, brows furrowing and nose crinkling.

At first, Barry didn't understand why she seemed so confused. He thought he'd made himself quite clear... Then his surroundings came back into focus and he remembered what century he was in.

He huffed in slight frustration as Mineko's eyes remained affixed on him. Barry pondered how else to explain it but nothing else came to mind. The use of the term 'robot' to describe man-made automatons hadn't been coined until the 1920s... And the root word, 'robota', meant something along the lines of peasant labour, Barry remembered. Saying a Czech word to a Japanese woman was probably the stupidest thing he could do right about now. He shook his head and threw up his hands in annoyance. "Ugh forget it... Let's just keep going."