Rory Swann is a short, stocky white guy with the unusual feature of a clamp for a hand. “Nice to meetcha,” Lilly says, as he sits down at the bar on the stool his friend just vacated. Rory orders an Engine Grease, and he and Lilly talk some about work. Lilly tells him that she is starting at the refinery the next day and that it is mainly going to be manual labor.
Rory laughs knowingly at that. He is originally from Kel-Moria and used to do refinery work, but losing his hand made him change his career. He mainly does design and engineering work these days as an independent agent, scraping together materials, doing recycling, working on vulture-bikes. He rebuilds bikes rather than working at the factory proper. “Do you build stuff too?” he asks Lilly. “Or do you prefer just direct shooting things? Hitting things? Watching things? You looking to help out?”
Lilly is thrown by the final question, unsure of what he is asking. Is he offering me a job? “Yeah, I mean, I’m military-trained, and I don’t really like to think too much,” she says with a shrug.
“That’s good and bad. You think too much about stuff, and you go crazy,” Rory comments.
“If you spend too much time thinking about something, you’ll get killed,” Lilly insists.
“That’s a good point.”
“Have you heard about these Hydralisk Hunts?!” Lilly demands, incredulous. “It’s dumb!”
Rory agrees with her but suggests that it is one way to deal with your planet being infested with zerg. Lilly marvels that the spaceport is so uptight about its quarantine, while at the same time, people are coming to the planet specifically to rub shoulders with hydralisks. “That’s how you catch the virus!” she protests. Rory tells her that the Dominion does check the hunters when they come back in, that they check everyone coming and going from the planet.
Then he changes the topic. “So, cowboy, you said you’re working at the refinery. Would you be able to, oh, I don’t know, let us know how many Dominion guards are there? Like, do they have enough? Is it secure enough if it were attacked by zerg or raiders? Is it protected well enough at night when no one is working?”
“I don’t know about raiders, but if you have enough zerg there’s not a number of marines that can stop that. All they can do is slow it down,” Lilly insists.
“Oh, you’re right. You’ve been on the front lines once or twice, I can tell. But… if you happen to know how many marines hang out at the refinery, inquiring minds would want to know.”
“At night?”
“At night especially, yeah.”
“Good to know,” Lilly says.
“Just something simple. Just… we’re curious. We want to look out for everyone’s safety.”
“In case the zerg go straight for the refinery?” Lilly asks.
“Yes, in case the zerg go straight for the refinery,” Rory agrees. “You know, if you happen to map out their patrol shifts, where they go, that would be good to know. Yeah, we’re doing, like, an audit.”
Lilly laughs. So is she. “What did you hear?”
“Well, I heard those marines have been hassling the workers a little bit. There aren’t real good relations there. And that the refinery could be in danger of getting shut down from some sort of attack. That would really hit the quotas and it would be terrible if that vespene got diverted someplace else. Terrible.”
“Oh yeah? I’ve been hearing different things about these marines, what they’re here for and how much they could protect the city. Some people say they’re here to protect it from the zerg. Some people say they wouldn’t really be able to, that they don’t do much. What’s your take? You’ve been here a while, yeah?”
“Well, you know, I never stay in one place too long, but we’re hanging out here for now. Yeah, those marines are just here to make the Dominion look tough, I think. Reassure some settlers. Enforce draconian laws. You know, keep independent-minded individuals in line. That kind of thing.”
Lilly orders another round of Engine Greases, and Rory gets his with sugar around the rim, saying he is a big softy. They drink and then Lilly gets up to rejoin Imogen. As she does, Rory gives her his number. “You see something interesting, you know, let me know. It was nice to meet you. You have a good night, cowboy.”