Living in the Shadows: IC, your run might be over... Options

[Morgannah]

02:17:48 Thursday 04 January 2063 - Camino Del Sur Condominium Homes, Los Angeles, CFS

Cosmo's eyes squeezed tightly shut for a second as she tried to put those hideous images in the back of her mind. She couldn't stand not seeing, though, and those dim shapes seemed to stalk her no matter what she did. She was barely able to breathe as she carefully opened her eyes, scanning the room for a few awful moments, completely unaware of how badly her body trembled.

Am I all right?

The question was simple enough, and after a few more seconds Cosmo was able to manage a slight nod. Her eyes, wide and unblinking, were focused on some faraway place now that the immediate threat was gone and Caska had set his weapons aside. Her pulse had yet to slow. She was still unable to breathe.

My old Shadow .. my favorite dress .. that bitch.

Swallowing convulsively, her free hand raised to the side of her neck, feeling along that smooth column for any indication of past or present injury. That was Seattle, wasn't it, but .. when? She played the scene over and over in her mind, straining to learn something, even a sliver of a memory she could use but always coming up short. Bright spots began to swim across her vision; shadows grew longer; those shapes drew nearer .. were they men?

NO!

Cosmo gasped for air, her throat finally opening enough to allow a weak breath. Shadows receded. Her pulse, still hammering wildly against the base of her throat, slowed to a tolerable level. Forcing herself to look at Caska and releasing the hand she hadn't known she'd been squeezing, she rolled out of bed and raked both hands through her hair.

"I'll be all right."

[grendel]

02:19:24 Thursday 04 January 2063 - Camino Del Sur Condominium Homes, Los Angeles, CFS

Caska slid out of bed, silent in the chill air. He was back a minute later with a half liter bottle of water, which he offered to Cosmo.

"Want to talk about it?"

[Morgannah]

02:22:41 Thursday 04 January 2063 - Camino Del Sur Condominium Homes, Los Angeles, CFS

Cosmo accepted the bottled water gratefully, twisting the top of with violently shaking hands. She raised the bottle to her lips, paused, and instead poured a measure of cool water over her head, shuddering as it trickled over her skin.

"You called me Sleeping Beauty once. Why?"

She appraised him as calmly as she could manage, her chest heaving painfully with each and every breath, her eyes (still wide with barely disguised fear) shooting green fire. Spirits, she was angry, though not at Caska .. her bearing would indicate that.

[Moirdryd]

16:10 Saturday January 6th, 2063 - Redmond Barrens, Cao Jaan's halfway house

Knight smiles and rises from his formal greeting.

"It shall be a pleasure to work alongside you, Jennifer."

He turns back to Cao.

"I shall return tomorrow, I have a little business to attend tonight. A few loose ends to tie up and some items to collect. " he smiles and nods to them both "Have a good evening Mr Jaan, Jennifer"

Knight continues to discuss small points and details with Cao as he is escorted out to the main door.

17:25 Saturday January 6th, 2063 - Redmond Barrens, The Streets

Knight pulls the collar of his coat up about his neck as he walks back through the barrens. He lets his weapons ride openly as a warning to would be muggers or the local gangers that crossing his path was a bad idea.

He had walked for some time, little over an hour and the chill was taking ahold. Checking about the area he was in and deciding it was satisfactory enough Knight made his way across the sleet covered street, kicking aside the refuse of NukeEm burger cartons and other trash so curteously provided by the StufferShack some hundred yards behind him, no doubt.

His nose wrinkled at the appaling scent that reached him as he stepped into the small cubicle of the public Matrix Terminal. Knight casually slots the credstick given him by Mr Jackson and dials up Portia's LTG number optioning straight to messaging services. He speaks smoothly in sperethial.

"Mine Lady Portia, precious, it does seem that whilst i have found myself with new duty to attend my commitment does not interfere with our plans for this evening. I shall await your arrival at the same place we parted. As ever I am in your debt to transport as I still lack mine own. Send word to me if you need to, your security is resoundedly superior to mine own in such things. Till our paths cross anon."

He signs off the terminal and checks the cred reading. The call had cost him 2 :nuyen: not a bad deal.

Knight turns back to the streets and starts walking in the direction of Leathernecks.

[grendel]

02:24:08 Thursday 04 January 2063 - Camino Del Sur Condominium Homes, Los Angeles, CFS

Caska sighs, drinking from his own bottle of water. He sits next to Cosmo on the edge of the bed.

"I saw you while you were in the stasis chamber. I was the one who setup the equipment for you in the antechamber. You looked so peaceful, so beautiful."

[Morgannah]

02:24:08 Thursday 04 January 2063 - Camino Del Sur Condominium Homes, Los Angeles, CFS

She nodded, looking at him for a long while before speaking again, her voice hoarse, ragged with emotion.

"Can you tell me anything about where I was?" Instead of sitting beside him, she sinks to her knees, gripping both his hands and holding them to her chest.

"I won't ask who sent you to .. help me. I don't want to put you in that position, not when we're still so new to one another but I have to know something, anything. Caska .. please?"

[grendel]

02:26:55 Thursday 04 January 2063 - Camino Del Sur Condominium Homes, Los Angeles, CFS

"Whoever set you up there, it had to have been corporate or government. The stuff was high-end, and anonymous. Trademarks and serial numbers were all removed. I was given all of your equipment, I didn't purchase any of it. I was paid to wait until you woke up and make sure you had all of your gear. Then I destroyed the room."

Caska spoke quietly, his eyes holding Cosmo's.

[Morgannah]

02:28:17 Thursday 04 January 2063 - Camino Del Sur Condominium Homes, Los Angeles, CFS

Closing her eyes and letting out a long, slow breath, Cosmo felt her shoulders sag and hated that she couldn't appear as weak as she felt. It was more than the fact that her adrenaline was beginning to wear out, more than the traumatic memories she didn't even know existed. The men in the vision, the woman that all but sneered at her as she was put under; it all made sense but the implications were enormous. How could she defend herself against an entire organization? Why would someone bring her back to steal server components when they must have known who put her in stasis?

She nodded again, her jaw twitching once, twice, and finally setting itself in a rigid line. At least she'd gone down fighting the first time; she could do no less now.

"Thank you," a bitter half-smile played about her lips as she looked up at Caska. Rising to her feet was difficult, made even more so by the fact that her knees were still liquid. She sunk down onto the mattress beside him, her forehead resting heavily against his shoulder.

"At least I know who it is now." When he didn't say anything about the brief wetness on his arm, she laughed and wrapped her arms around him again, unsure whether she should be laughing or crying.

"I've seen the bitch that kissed me goodnight."

[grendel]

02:28:52 Thursday 04 January 2063 - Camino Del Sur Condominium Homes, Los Angeles, CFS

Caska snaked his arm around Cosmo, holding her close. Leaning back, he drew her down with him, tilting her face up so he could kiss her. He ran his fingers through her damp hair, tracing a droplet of water down the back of her neck and across her shoulderblade. Cosmo shivered, simultaneously chill and warm. He nuzzled her neck, offering the only way he knew to cure nightmares.

[Morgannah]

07:58:29 Thursday 04 January 2063 - Camino Del Sur Condominium Homes, Los Angeles, CFS

Cosmo's smile was a bit lopsided as she stretched out across Caska's bed, moving only slightly so as not to wake him yet. The last few hours' rest had been wholly uneventful and had afforded her the sort of quiet time she needed to plan ahead. There was no choice but to assume that whoever had put her in stasis knew that she was out by now; as nice as the last couple of days had been, security would have to be her new priority.

She sighed softly, studying Caska as he slept, wishing she'd been able to sleep as he was, no matter how lightly, and wake up beside a warm body. Well, as long as I'm here.... A playful twinkle crept into her eyes as she shifted a bit closer to him, gently brushing her lips across his. It was nearly time to wake up.

[grendel]

08:01:14 Thursday 04 January 2063 - Camino Del Sur Condominium Homes, Los Angeles, CFS

Caska reached out for her, awake but lazy and warm. The softness of Cosmo's body did nothing to encourage him to rise, either. But the day would not wait. Gently he extricated himself from the tangle of her arms, stretching in the cool air. The wickedly playful smile was back on his face as he glanced back at her.

"My shower isn't quite as large as the mansion's, but you're welcome to join me."

[Morgannah]

08:02:04 Thursday 04 January 2063 - Camino Del Sur Condominium Homes, Los Angeles, CFS

One eyebrow arched eloquently as she watched him roll out of bed. Cosmo made a show of stretching even when she knew it would avail her nothing.

"Have it your way," she dimpled, winking up at him from over her shoulder as she rolled out of bed and sauntered toward the washroom. Considering you already have....

[Tiredronin]

18:01:21 Saturday, 6 January, 2063 - The Fox and the Hound

"Well well well, we shall have to peruse this menu carefully then eh? to maximize the bang for our benefactor's buck" Daedalus cheerfully replies as he takes his seat and scans the menu.

"By the way, you guys are going to have catch me up to speed. I just made an anonymous phone call to give a warning against a rigger, whom I consider to be quite dangerous and is probably miffed at Icarus and me, to a clinic full of people that I don't know nor necessairly care about, all for apparently no concrete benefit? I've got enough enemies crawling around than to go picking fights with some guy (or girl) who has the chutzpah to stick a..."

he drops his voice to a conspiratorial whisper, "...fragging missile launcher onto a blimp drone!"
the tone of excitement in his voice combined with the big smile on his face show that for all his ranting, Daedalus is quite pleased to have seen a new innovation and is already figuring out how to replicate such a feat.

"Seriously, who did you screw/cheat/beat or kill to get into this situation? And I hope this is not some idealistic crusades of yours Virgil... not that I'm against being the good guys... but... my babies gotta eat, and you can't just milk rocket fuel from a... ah.. lets not go there. So... the steak looks good."

[grendel]

08:26:33 Thursday 04 January 2063 - Camino Del Sur Condominium Homes, Los Angeles, CFS

Wearing the black 5.11 pants of his Actioneer over the lower half of a full body suit of form fitting body armor, Caska leaned against the counter, shaving. A Browning heavy pistol already rode in a cutaway holster just behind his right hip. A pair of clips balanced the weight on his left hip. Cosmo had watched as he completed half his gear up, pulling equipment from the closet with quick, assured motions. It was vaguely ritualistic, and she didn't doubt that he went through the same checklist every morning. He caught her watching him in the mirror.

"I have appointments to take care of today. Can I drop you at your apartment?"

[Morgannah]

08:26:33 Thursday 04 January 2063 - Camino Del Sur Condominium Homes, Los Angeles, CFS

Cosmo nodded, slightly envious of the functionality of mens' clothing as they compared to her own. She supposed it wouldn't kill her to wear a suit now and then but still....

"I'd appreciate it if you could, yes," she began, the clipped businesslike tone of her daytime voice already asserting itself as she leaned against the bathroom wall, arms crossed over her chest to keep her clothing in place. The curve of her mouth was decidedly petulant as she watched him go through this sacred morning ritual when she would have quite happily spent a few more hours "resting."

[grendel]

08:55:17 Thursday 04 January 2063 - Riverwalk Apartment Complex, Los Angeles, CFS

Caska held the door for Cosmo as she slipped into her apartment. His eyes scanned over her shoulder for signs of trouble, then up and down the hall.

"Call you tonight?"

[Morgannah]

08:55:35 Thursday 04 January 2063 - Riverwalk Apartment Complex, Los Angeles, CFS

She chuckled, nodded, and placed a light, sweet kiss on each corner of his mouth, whispering a soft "goodbye" against his lips before she turned back into her apartment and shut the door behind her. Cosmo grinned as she heard his footfalls leave her doorway only after the lock had engaged itself.

Her morning ritual was somewhat different from Caska's and involved at least another two hours' worth of sleep. Her smile faded with each step toward her own empty bedroom. It was going to be a long day.

[Sedna]

23:29:59 Saturday, 6 January, 2063 - the Puyallup doss

This place is neither so foreign nor impossible to who you are and who you may yet be that you can afford to simply write it off. Riiight ...

In that long, prolonged moment before the alarm would have gone off, deeply entrenched instinct snaps Alleycat awake. Awareness of time is once again an intuitive part of her. She stretches a little, relieved, pleased to discover that she's not yet gone stiff. She determinedly doesn't think about what had just transpired.

A long road ...

In that same instant of coming to full consciousness she's already assessed that she's alone in the tiny doss, at least among the larger members of class Mammalia. None of the small markers of another's breathing, heartbeat, essence. Getting up from the floor and sweeping away the ants with another small stretch, she determines that none of her telltales have been disturbed, but in the process discovers in herself an unconscious reaction of sheath-release. With a slight effort she stills it, wills her mind not to think of the large elephant that isn't in the room.

It is whether we define those instincts or they define us that matters.

A soft snarl, forcing her body into the pattern of sun descending until that instinct can take her over: but she's off her pattern and the forms don't come of themselves. She'll have to wait until the sunrise to restore this balance. In the meantime ...

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single hop.

She hasn't bothered to turn on the lights, so she doesn't bother to turn them off as she heads out the door. She has an extended date with a few boxes of ammo and a Predator at the Teaser's.

[Sedna]

01:14:38 Saturday, 7 January, 2063 - Teaser Rat's

Three boxes of ammo later, her arms and hands starting to tremble with fatigue, Alleycat finally manages to place herself in that useful blankness of body and mind which allows her muscles and tendons to place the shots of their own accord, a rapidly fired half-dozen shots grouped tightly despite the lack of aiming pauses. No burst fire or automatic settings, a part of her mind notes absently, independent of the movement of sinews and bone. But it's a Predator, she's betting that the Teaser can remedy at least part of that. If she even bothers to hang onto this weapon for any longer than this run.

Then Sivalius flashes through her mind and the last shot goes into the target of the next booth over.

"Whoa, girl. With shooting like that, you oughta be a corp mage."

The Teaser hadn't been there, which in one way was good, and in another not. It's Tarq that's in charge this night and the only other sentient being in this place at this time, and Tarq she's not yet met. Among other things, apparently this means that that the small supervision booth which had been so workshop-neat on her previous visits is rapidly being transformed into a self-contained combination ant refuge and compost heap-to-be. He's leaning back now in the small office chair, feet on the desk beside the ledger, picking his teeth. "Like the hair," he adds casually, abandoning the artifically exaggerated Texan lilt.

Alleycat freezes, every muscle in her gone absolutely rigid. Frag it, she had come straight from The Last Drop, last time she had been here, she'd been "Anne" for frag's sake! What's she got now? She runs quickly through her mnemonic inventory of recent changes and what she comes up with leaves her absolutely cold: mid-olive skin suggesting a light built-in tan, silvery-platinum hair. She'd felt the shift in her during -- whatever had happened, back there -- and she hadn't thought to check before heading out the door. At least it's Anne-length, with the curls. And it's getting into deep night, when all reasonable folks are asleep ... Another tangential possibility of Melissa-pursuit suddenly catches her. Even through her shock, it's a matter of instinct to focus, hold the thought long enough to ensure she'll remember it later -- which cross-links with a sudden realisation that there'd been no further messages yet from Grail, she'd half been expecting one when she woke -- then release it for later examination. And at least I grabbed Anne's glasses. But if I slip up like this again ... At last she forces herself to the minimal acknowledging nod, only a few fractions of a second off-beat; and with the nod comes a shy smile, and that finally unlocks the rest of the Anne-Alleycat merger that she'd defaulted to here, the last (and only other) time. She's settled. Finally.

Another biting ant she'd missed earlier works its way out of her sleeve. Absently, she flicks it into a corner, where it begins to busy itself on an abandoned take-out box half full of something sticky.

"You got some serious frustration going there," notes the Rat shaman. Doesn't matter that he'd never introduced himself as such, everything about what he is would scream it out to her, even if she hadn't already seen it in his aura, even if she hadn't caught the hint of shamanic mask during the small casting earlier, when he'd been confirming her right of access to this place.

The thought itself stops her, brings her to consider it more carefully. Something about her had shifted, something simultaneously utterly familiar and utterly foreign. The change penetrated to every part of her: body, mind, spirit, perception. She'd pierced Tarq's masking before she'd even quite realised it existed.

"Know a better way to get rid of it?" she asks, matching his light sarcasm almost perfectly as she rubs her aching wrists to disguise the disturbance shuddering through her, then deliberately turns back to the target and empties out another clip. The first three hit more or less as she had intended, but the rest stitch a line up and left, the last one missing the target altogether.

"Maybe. If you're interested and you got the nuyen."

The first in itself definitely piques her interest; the second deflates possibility almost as quickly even as part of her's trying to decipher the sources of that singularly melanged accent. "How much nuyen we talking about?"

"You keep coming back. You won my bet for me, girl. And you're running an account through Hobbes, for now. That'll do. That changes, we'll renegotiate."

Another might have closed her eyes, understanding that she was slipping even deeper into debt. She understands it all right, but she merely empties out the clip per the Teaser's strict range rules and hangs the weapon on the booth's hook before pulling the target toward her, crumpling it with one hand and tossing it onto the growing scrapheap. "So we're talking about me learning some kind of self-defense sparring, ka?"

"Maybe." After locking the door and setting the alarms Tarq leads her to a door, and behind it the second large room whose existence she'd suspected almost from the moment she'd been introduced to the building and been unable to reconcile the shooting range interior with the size of the boarded-up exterior. There would be at least two more: a proper pistol workshop, and probably a backroom office tucked into the design somewhere. "Okay, girl," he said easily. "Show me what you know." And then, in the moment when she's trying to figure out what exactly he wants from her -- kicks against a punching bag? forms? a bow? -- he's already rushing her. Even though sheer muscle memory allows her to deflect most of the force, his initial strike gets through, staggering her back with a newly purpling bruise across her ribs. He whirls easily back, stained longcoat whipping about him in a distracting spiral. "What're you waiting for? An invitation?"

By way of response, she spins into her own attack.

He's too experienced at this kind of sparring to be caught for long by surprise at her unorthodox patterns; and it's soon obvious that he knows far more dirty tricks of street scrapping than Alleycat's ever encountered, and hasn't forgotten any of them. The first bruises quickly acquire friends: deflecting arms, exposed shins, almost a black eye if she hadn't ducked her head with a speed beyond thinking, and only then thinks to wonder (in a part of her mind oddly separate from the rapid physical exchanges) whether the glasses are shatterproof. When they fog up, she closes her eyes and allows herself to slip into the half-sensed, half-empathised rhythms of the Rat shaman's movements, the motion itself almost -- almost -- another sense in her -- and then she's spitting out some odd mixture of honey and peanut butter (part of the coat had whipped across her face, explains that same detached part of her mind), falling back to clear her throat; and then she's gagging in sensory overload as something thick and cloying and retching settles about her, coughing, utterly deafened in the instant before --

Although she doesn't lose consciousness, she doesn't actually remember the boot making contact with the side of her head. Her next clear memory is of discovering she's not actually standing upright but rather lying on her back; and when she shoves herself up, all the bruises decide to bring themselves to her attention at once. Shaking her head, she makes it to her knees, and then to her feet.

"You know, that's not half bad." Through the ringing in her ears, she's slowly coming to realise that she hadn't managed to land even a single blow. "You've obviously had some training, though I'm fragged if I can guess where. You've also got enough familiarity with magic for it not to throw you completely."

"Fragging stinkbomb," she mutters through the dull pain, embracing it and letting it bring her fully to consciousness.

"Exactly," says Tarq, with a suspicious hint of a grin in his voice. "The rule is to win. Style is for salons. Are you up yet for another go?"

[WinterRat1]

18:03:03 Saturday, 6 January, 2063 - The Fox and the Hound

Somewhat grouchily, Dragon mutters, "Actually, we did get started on this whole mess because of one of Virgil's idealistic damn fool crusades."

A pointed look and a quick reply from the shaman are not far behind. "Maybe as far as Julia's concerned, but whose girlfriend was it that is responsible for the S-K hit team and the missile getting shot at us?"

"She's not my girlfriend. She's my contact." The mercenary snaps back testily.

"A contact that you sleep with." Virgil was grinning now, twisting the knife and enjoying it.

"So?" Rapidly being reduced to one word comebacks now, knowing that his...situation with Selina was one that was not exactly defensible as being completely free and clear of any romantic entanglements, Dragon racked his brain for a comeback.

"On a pretty regular basis, last time I checked." A sudden ambush from Daedalus, who was grinning that same stupid grin he had when he was enjoying himself way too much brought a retaliatory smoldering stare from Dragon.

"And?" Still backpedaling, still getting nowhere...

"You take care of her son." Virgil helpfully pointed out.

"Really? I didn't know about that one. Do tell," Daedalus quickly played along.

Glaring at both of them now, Dragon grumbled the only thing he could come up with in the face of their rapid, and unfortunately true, statements. "What's your point?"

"That makes her your girlfriend! Even if you aren't going to call it that." Looking over at Virgil, the rigger made a show of whispering consipratorily, "I think he's in denial."

"Hell, what else is new, remember how he had that thing for Susan's math teacher..."

"I did NOT have a thing for Susan's math teacher!"

"Right...right..."

"Sure, if you say so..."

"Bastards..." As much as he would have liked to start dragging up bits and rumors of the their history to sling back, the mercenary's mudslinging was interrupted as he was saved by the sudden arrival of the waitress.

The three of them placed their orders, and Dragon took advantage of the interruption to quickly bring the conversation to something, anything, other than himself.

"So, what should we fill Daedalus in on first Virg? Is there anything in particular you want to ask about D?"

[paul_HArkonen]

21:15:48 Saturday, January 6, 2063 - Home

After parking his bike back in the basement of his home Blaze began walking up the stairs to his apartment. Opening the door he opens himself to the astral, once again checking that his ward is still in place and that no Astral nastiness has come to visit him.

The watcher I sent out should have been back long ago. I can't help the feeling that something's wrong.

Walking through his house Blaze slowly removes his coat and shirt, preparing himself to go to sleep.

I know she's in the Barrens somewhere. I wonder if I could find her...

Setting his meat body down on the bed he closes his eyes and pulls himself out of his body. It's not really sleep, because his mind is still awake, but it's better than nothing.

3 Hours, no more. I need to check over the Barrens looking for either her, my watcher, or that Elemental, if he's still out there.

Passing through the curtain of his ward Blaze's anthromorphic form heads out towards Redmond.

Be careful, you aren't gonna do her any good if you end up dead to a wiz kid mage.

[WinterRat1]

22:30:48 Saturday, January 6, 2063 - Home

Despite his best efforts, a little more than an hour later, the only thing Blaze can say for sure is that his watcher was definitely gone. Although he attempted to discern what it was that had done the deed, it had happened too long ago and the traces were too faint to gather many clues. What he could say was that his watcher wasn't too far from Touristville when it got dusted.

Unfortunately, what exactly that meant he did not know. The trail was frustratingly cold, and the knowledge that there were at least several other interested parties out there looking for her made it even worse.

Then out of the corner of his eye, he noticed another astral form, accompanied by a pair of watchers, speeding in his (extremely general) direction.

Friend, foe, or random passerby...?

[paul_HArkonen]

22:30:48 Saturday, January 6, 2063 - Home

Frag, I hope this guy isn't looking for trouble, but if he is I think I can handle him. I hope.

Focusing his astral senses on the Mage Blaze's astral form begins testing the "air" for the sent of anger or hatred from the other form. Blaze's form resembles that of a cat testing the wind. Preparing himself for combat Blaze hopes for the best.

If nothing else this may lead me to where Melissa is.

[Tiredronin]

18:05:03 Saturday, 6 January, 2063 - The Fox and the Hound

Daedalus pauses for a moment to collect his thoughts. And addresses his friends:

"Ok, first of all, we are here for a reason, we have our orders Dragon and I would like to formulate a plan on how to specificially accomplish our mission here in Seattle. Now it seems that we have gathered some opposition, think that the caliber of the enemies we have here is not going to make our cause any easier."

Pausing for a moment to take a sip of water and glancing around the room to insure that nobody was overhearing him, he leans in and continues:
"So, it appears to me that in order to accomplish our mission, we have to do something about all the heat we seem to have gathered."

Leaning back out he looks to the shamen, "Virgil, I assume that you're here to help us out, and I for one am very glad. This is a nice town you've got out here, nice scenery, decent skyline but some crazy wildlife."

"What I want to know is who is after us, and what have we done to incite this interest... and is it even possible to shake them and keep the cover we need to establish ourselves here."

"And by the way, who else is "us" anyway?"

[Morgannah]

15:17:08 Thursday 04 January 2063 - Riverwalk Apartment Complex, Los Angeles, CFS

The smile that swept across Cosmo's features was more satisfied than happy and in spite of the soft healthy glow of her skin, there was a slump to her shoulders now that she allowed herself a few moments' rest. Her eyes were glassy from exhaustion.

"Three hours is never enough," she sighed, leaning against her kitchen counter, an unopened bottle of spring water forgotten in her hand. She wasn't sure why something inside her forbade the extra hours of rest, but she figured there was a reason .. and hoped it was a good one.

Cosmo's spirits were barely brightened by the array of garments spread around her modest apartment. The rich fabrics and softly gleaming jewelry, curvaceous cosmetic bottles and supple leather shoes were more than simple feminine trophies, they were more weapons for her arsenal, their quality beyond compare. Who needs kevlar and a machine gun, she mused, when one can get so much farther with a full length Valentino gown and a bit of lipstick? Cosmo eyed the scarlet satin dress from across the room and shook her head. Who was she to resist something so decadent, even if it was technically out of her price range?

Her smile faded entirely, though, as her eyes came to rest on the phone she held, far from forgotten, in her other hand. It stood to reason, of course, that her contact's number had been disconnected sometime within the last two years. HardBitten had more than likely moved on. And still alive, I'll bet, knowing the careful bastard....

Making her way over to her telecom, Cosmo blinked at the text lining the screen and shuddered. She'd never been all that great with computer systems, but considering her current "taskings", she felt it prudent to start learning. Settling down for what would be hours of studying, she sniffed at the bottle of water and opened a can of cherry cola instead....

This post has been edited by Morgannah: Jun 7 2005, 06:48 AM