Origins

She came up through the Baxter Society, a company of people who hunt monsters and ask nothing in return, and she was a decorated member of it. She left in the end, yet the Society is forever on her lips. The Baxter Society, she says, has given her many gifts; and when she brought down Drifter, she mocked herself, half in jest and half in earnest: well, look at her, living up to the Society’s ideals.

“The Baxter Society has given me many gifts.”

“拜克斯特协会给了我很多礼物”

As for why she left, she has a different story for everyone. When Abrams brought up what was going around, she said only that she had left of her own accord, and needled him for not letting the truth get in the way of a good story. To Apollo she said that idealism didn’t suit her; to Mirage, that she had left a job that wasn’t paying her what she was worth.

“No, I left a job that wasn't paying me what I was worth.”

“不，我只是离开了一份给不起我应得报酬的工作。”TL

Those who knew her are not so ready to let it go. Mirage says she used to save people and now kills them for money. She answered with a laugh that she also used to not have a yacht, and now she does — what’s his point? — and in the end offered only a “Cheers.” Ivy’s words are gentler, and cut deeper: they’re not mad at you for quitting, they’re mad at you for choosing to kill people.

“I also used to not have a yacht and now I do, what's your point?”

“我过去也没有游艇，现在有了，你到底想说什么？”TL

“Judas” is the name others like to pin on her. Trading barbs with Seven, she got there first, laughing that the two of them made a splendid pair of Judases; Venator, having struck her down, sneered that he hoped her thirty pieces of silver were worth it.

“Don't we make for a splendid pair of Judas's”

“我们俩可真是绝配的一对犹大啊。”TL

“I hope your 30 pieces of silver was worth it, Calico.”

“卡厉可，希望你那30块银子物有所值”

Her reputation is built on the lives of important people. To Silver she put it plainly: you track down delinquents, I kill heads of state. When Mirage, over the matter of the Cologne Summit, named her as the one who assassinated Sigfreid, she would allow only that Sigfreid was allegedly assassinated, and that there were no witnesses.

“You track down delinquents, I kill heads of state. The venn diagram isn't exactly a circle.”

“你追捕的是不法之徒，我杀的是国家元首。文氏图可不是一个圆圈。”TL

What money buys, she chooses with great care. When she finished her first contract, she celebrated by buying a painting by Lady Geist’s late husband, Die Zitadelle. For fun, she says, it is wine tasting — she is working on her sommelier certification; for work, contract killing. With time on her hands, she might as well catalogue the items for next week’s auction.

“You know, after I finished my first contract killing, I celebrated by buying one of your late husband's paintings.”

“你知道吗，我完成第一单杀人委托后，买了一幅你亡夫的画来庆祝。”TL

Toward money she is all but devout. She never says no to it; when she shops, she says she deserves the best — and then, on second thought, reckons that she can’t spend it when she’s dead.

Old Friends and Foes

Grey Talon: The Old Man of a Bygone Era

Grey Talon she calls Wesley, and “old man” too. When he lands a fine shot at her side, she laughs that his arthritis hasn’t kicked in yet, and says he hasn’t lost a step. She once apologized to him for not coming to a funeral — it didn’t seem appropriate for her to go, she said — and he answered: you being here now means more.

“I see that arthritis hasn’t kicked in yet.”

“看来关节炎还没发作呢”

When they stand on opposite sides, she still strikes. You forced my hand, she says; the Baxter Society will mourn him, and so will she. Bringing him down, she calls him a relic of a bygone era. When he is the one who brings her down, his words weigh more: he was content to leave her alone, and cannot understand why she had to come here; she gave up on her ideals for something as pointless as money.

“The Baxter Society will morn him. As will I.”

“拜克斯特协会会为他哀悼。我也会”

Venator: Before She Became a Monster

She says that she and Venator worked well together; that, he answers, was before you became a monster. He has no illusions that his own hands are clean, yet he does not kill to make a dollar; seeing her dote on that cat, he says, is nauseating, and for the right price she would slit Ava’s throat. She only told Ava to cover her ears.

“Oh come on, we worked well together.”

“哎呀，别这样，我们合作得挺好的。”TL

The Doorman: The One She Would Trust With Ava

The Doorman calls her “Miss Calico.” She asked him whether, if something happened to her, he could take care of Ava, and he promised that Ava would be treated like a queen at the Baroness Hotel. Even after she had killed him, she still said it was the best hotel in Manhattan.

“If something happens to me can you take care of Ava?”

“要是我出了什么事，你能照顾艾娃吗？”TL

He sees her more clearly than she sees herself: her heart is cold, he says, but it is not dead, and it is not too late to rethink her choices. Then, in the next breath, he jokes that when her body rots, he will take care of her cat.

Vindicta: A Familiar and Talk of Old Times

She asked Vindicta to stop killing the Friends of Humanity for free, so that the rest of the assassins might have some business left. Vindicta passed on that Wesley spoke highly of her; she said that she and Wesley had been colleagues, and that somehow she doubted it. You can be disappointed in someone, Vindicta answered, and still hold them in esteem.

After bringing Vindicta down, she reached for a comparison from the wine list: snipers, she said with open contempt, are the “wine coolers” of assassins. Yet when Vindicta asked how long she had had her familiar, her tone softened: she and Ava go back a long way.

“Snipers are the wine coolers of assassins.”

“狙击手是刺客中的酒保”

“We go back a long ways, don't we Ava.”

“我们相伴很多年了，对吧，艾娃。”TL

Drifter, Seven and Shiv: Old Debts From the Society

Drifter sneered that the Society was sending its B team; she said she wasn’t with the Society anymore, and reminded him that his torment of the Jeffries family has gone on for three generations. Bringing him down, she said she had succeeded where Wesley failed.

“I succeeded where Wesley failed.”

“我做到了韦斯利没做到的事。”TL

Shiv branded her a traitor; she reminded him that he wasn’t even in the Society before she left, and that he will never be one of them. Another time she asked him who had him pay “The Price” — was it Wesley? Mira, he answered. To that she said only that Mira Al-din might have to have an accident soon; he shot back at once that if anything happened to her, he would be coming for Calico.

“"our name"? Shiv, pretend all you like but you'll never be one of them.”

““我们的”名声？希弗，你想装就装吧，但你永远成不了他们的一员。”TL

Seven asked her how it feels to be the black sheep of the Society; she laughed that they made a pair of Judases, but he answered: I was the one betrayed. When he struck her down, he said the black sheep was dead; when she brought him down, she said only that he was brilliant, but he was not her.

“I was the one betrayed.”

“被背叛的人是我。”TL

Vyper and Silver: The Ones She Looks Down On

Vyper said they were a couple of tough broads who kill people for money; she answered that she is nothing like her, and owned that she was sounding a lot classist.

“I kill people for money. You kill people for a pack of cigarettes and a hot meal, we're not the same.”

“我追猎是为了钱，你干扰是为了包烟和一顿热饭，我们不一样”

Silver called her snooty, and having struck her down, told her she is not a predator but a parasite. She, in turn, told Silver: if you thought you could collect the bounty on me, you are sorely mistaken.

Lady Geist: The One Who Calls Her New Money

Lady Geist invited her to a wine tasting, and she gladly accepted; they agreed to schedule a time after they kill some people. The lady, too, says she is grateful to be paired with a woman of quality. Yet once the lady had struck her down, she sneered that Calico reeked of new money; Calico, for her part, says that given the lady’s condition she did her a favor, and that only a fool would make a deal with Oathkeeper.

“I was wondering if you'd like to go to a wine tasting.”

“我想问问你愿不愿意去品酒会。”TL

“Only a fool would make a deal with Oathkeeper.”

“只有傻瓜才会和守誓者做交易”

Pocket and Dynamo: The Ones She Has Studied

Vyper once offered three bucks for her cat; she answered that Ava is not for sale, and laid down ground rules: touch her cat, and she’ll take your hand; hurt her cat, and she’ll kill you. When Venator implied she had no business keeping a cat, she only told Ava to cover her ears — the bad man has no idea what he’s talking about.

“She's not for sale.”

“她是非卖品”

Pocket still remembers that shot of hers. I shot you, she says, I didn’t try to kill you; a quarter inch to the right, he says, and it would have been square in his heart. She answered that she is not that good — he is just that lucky; and when she struck him down, she remarked that Maximilian will surely have questions.

“I shot you, I didn't try to kill you.”

“我是开枪打你，可没想杀你。”TL

She gave Dynamo quite a start: she asked whether he had spent time at the Black Chateau, called his wife Marla by name, and told him to trust her — Marla is safe.

“Professor, you've spent time at the Black Chateau correct?”

“教授，您在黑色城堡待过一段时间，对吧？”TL

“She's safe, Professor. Trust me.”

“她很安全，教授。相信我。”TL

Wraith: The One Who Might Have Been a Friend

Having struck her down, Wraith said she thought the two of them had an arrangement — so much for professional courtesy. Yet when Calico herself brought Wraith down, she said she had hoped they could be friends.

“I thought we had an arrangement, Calico.”

“我以为我们之间有约定，卡厉可”

Anecdotes

Ava. Her cat is called Ava. I love you, Ava, she says, and thanks for joining mommy at her job; she can always rely on Ava, she says too. Others often react more strongly to the cat than to her: Paige says she can’t stay mad at her, because she’s got a cat. Violet has painted her portrait, saying that one errant lock of hair says something about her, and that she captured the most dangerous woman alive; when Ava’s turn came, the painter called her a good-looking cat, said Ava was perfect, and wondered what it’s like to be an assassin’s pet.

“I love you, Ava.”

“我爱你，艾娃”

“I can't stay mad at her, she's got a cat.”

“我无法对她生气，她养了一只猫”

Shadows and Bounties. The shadows, she says, are her sword and shield; she will weaponize the dark. She boasts that even Interpol hasn’t caught her, and scoffs at what Scotland Yard has been trying to do for years. Of the Troubadour she says only that she knows enough to stay away from it.

“The shadows are my sword and shield.”

“阴影是我的剑和盾”

The Social Circuit. Last year, at the Christmas party of Whiteside and Graves, she killed one of the firm’s clients before dessert. Graves still remembered her afterward.

“That’s right, I killed one of their clients before dessert. Small world.”

“没错，我在上甜点前宰了他们一个客户。世界真小。”TL

Fashion. She admires Mina’s designs, and would like a dress of her making.

On Craft. She has told McGinnis she will break all of her machines, and that she isn’t worried about Fairfax Industries’ little toys. Bebop she urged to become an assassin; his line, he said, is arbitrary, yet distinct.

“I'll break all of your machines, McGinnis.”

“我要砸烂你所有的机器，麦金妮。”TL

Haze and Strange Tales. Haze told her to her face that she would kill her before the day is out; Calico called it that classic sandman charm, and hoped Haze would put up more of a fight than the last Sandman she met on the job. After bringing Haze down, she said the OSIC needs to stay out of her affairs.

“I'm going to kill you before the day is out, so making small talk seems a little pointless.”

“天黑之前我就会杀了你，所以闲聊似乎没什么意义。”TL

Yamato. She has pitched her rates to Yamato; striking Yamato down, she said the 7th Moon’s time is coming to an end.

Baba. When Baba struck her down, she said: you’ve become such a disappointment, Calico.

Open Questions