Marta
GM VOICE: [The woman in this room is lovely. Full lips contrast artfully with her fine elvish features, and a tumble of fire-red hair spills down over her shoulders.
Beyond her physical beauty, there’s something inherently approachable about her. She exudes an almost palpable aura of kindness and warmth.
Marta. Glory’s old lover. The lure that Harrow used to draw her, and so many others, to Feuerstelle.]
GM VOICE: [She looks up with a start at the sound of your approach. Her eyes go wide at the sight of Glory; as she takes in her cyberware, her mouth falls open in horror.]
MARTA: …Glory?
GLORY: Yes, Marta. It’s me.
[Glory’s voice is cold.]
It’s been a long time.
MARTA: It has.
[Marta swallows. The horrified look hasn’t left her face.]
Glory, what have you *done* to yourself?
GLORY: What I had to do. I got *out,* Marta.
This was the only way.
MARTA: Oh, Glory.
[All at once, the horror on Marta’s face is replaced with an expression of profound sorrow.]
I am so, so *sorry!*
GM VOICE: [Marta steps forward, her arms extended to wrap Glory in a hug.
Something in Glory’s face changes. Her skin goes from pale to pallid, and her breath becomes ragged. She takes a step back and raises her claws into a defensive posture.]
GLORY: [Her voice frosts over with cold rage.]
Don’t. You. Touch. Me.
You’re one of Harrow’s creatures. You always were.
MARTA: [Marta stops short.]
One of his “creatures”? Glory, what are you *talking* about?
PLAYER: [Say nothing.]
GLORY: You know as well as I do. You worship that monster. You seduced me into coming here so that *I* would worship him.
If you hadn’t found me… if you hadn’t *baited* me… none of this would have happened.
MARTA: None of *what?* I haven’t *done* anything!
GLORY: If you’d just left me where you found me, I never would have hurt anybody. My *mother* would still be alive. I never would’ve sold my soul to that abomination that you all worship, and I wouldn’t have had to sacrifice my own body to escape from it.
This place took everything from me. And it all started with *you.*
MARTA: [She looks genuinely hurt.]
Harrow and I rescued you from a life on the street!
A beautiful girl, homeless, penniless, living in a gutter… I pulled you *away* from all of that! I *saved* you!
GLORY: [There is a long pause. Glory stares into Marta’s eyes, her expression unreadable.]
I don’t feel much any more, Marta. Most of the time, I’m completely numb. But for you, I can make an exception.
I *hate* you.
MARTA: I’m sorry you feel that way, Glory.
For my part, I still love you.
GLORY: [The razors flick out of her fingertips. Her lip curls into a snarl.]
Another lie. The last one you’ll ever tell.
PLAYER: I don’t think that she’s lying… or at least, she doesn’t think so. She believes what she’s saying.
MARTA: That’s because it’s true! …I’ll prove it to you!
[The words come stammering out of her. Her eyes are fixed on Glory’s razors.]
Ask me anything you want—I’ll show you that I’m telling the truth. I never wanted anything bad to happen to you, Glory—not ever.
GLORY: [She wheels to face you.]
Why are you listening to her? She’s just telling you what you want to hear. That’s her whole purpose here, remember? She’s *bait!*
Why should we listen to to *anything* that she has to say?
PLAYER: The cultists aren’t responsible for their actions, remember? That’s as true for Marta as it is for anyone else.
GLORY: She was here long before I was. Before Harrow started using the shrine. She made her own decisions, just like I did.
No excuses. She’s here because she wants to be. She brought me here because she *wanted* to. *Her* choice.
PLAYER: You did a lot of terrible things here, too. If you can change, so can she.
GLORY: Yeah, but she *hasn’t.* She’s still luring kids here, all these years later. That has to stop.
[She fidgets in agitation.]
We’re wasting time, and we *need* that key. If Harrow gets back here before we’ve dealt with that shrine, we’re fucked.
PLAYER: I didn’t turn my back on you, Glory. You shouldn’t turn your back on her.
GLORY: [Glory stares at you for a moment, naked hostility on her face. Then the razors slide back into their housings with a click.]
All right, Marta.
Convince me.
—“Marta,” Shadowrun: Dragonfall – Director’s Cut
