Living in the Shadows: IC, Jan 8th-14th Options

[grendel]

00:21:46 Saturday January 13, 2063 - Greyhound Bus Depot #202, 811 Stewart St, Seattle, UCAS

The trip across town to the depot where Byte hid the code was one of the most uncomfortable trips Ludi remembered taking. The adrenaline raging through her system gave her perceptions razor edges, and it did nothing to ease her anger towards the slim woman sitting next to her. Ms. Johnson doesn't say a word during the entire fifteen minute ride, merely sitting quietly, her hands resting easily on the case in her lap. By the time she slams the vehicle into park, Ludi is ready to do something, anything, to release some of the tension pulling her shoulders into knots. Ms. Johnson exits the vehicle at the same time as Ludi, waiting to follow her lead. The black corporate Nightsky pulls to a stop across the street, idling in the chill darkness. Ludi glanced up and down the street, her eyes travelling across the empty entrances and alleyways of the block. The ways in which this meeting had gone wrong were exceeded only in the ways it could still end in disaster. She made a noise in the back of her throat, half growl, and stalked through the double doors leading into the depot.

The dingy linoleum floor and industrial gray walls combined to give the building the appearance that it was stamped whole from an assembly line. Automated ticket kiosks clustered against the left wall, while the right was dominated by five ranks of lockers. Ludi's practiced eye scanned the interior, cataloguing additional exits, surveillance cameras, and any (meta)human threats. Almost, she wished for someone to say something, to provide some excuse for action. The empty expanse of the depot mocked her, though, leaving her no recourse but to retrieve the key to locker 914 from the planter in between the bathrooms. Or what passed for a planter, in reality both the short cylinder and the plant it sprouted were made from cheap extruded plastic. Ms. Johnson waited silently as Ludi located the appropriate locker and retrieved the OMC bearing the encryption key. Resisting the urge to flip it at her like a throwing knife, Ludi simply offered it in her open palm. Ms. Johnson retrieved it, slotting it into one of the interface jacks on her commlink. Minutes passed in silence. Finally, Ms. Johnson looks back at Ludi with a smile.

"The data is here and is complete. I appreciate your flexibility in this matter. This concludes our business. Your friend is being released as we speak."

Opening her attache case, she withdrew a slim certified credstick.

"Our agreed upon fee."

Ludi snatches the slim cylinder from her hand, barely preventing her lips from curling in a snarl. Later, when she would have time to think about it, she would realize that she could already hear the high pitch whine of counter-rotating rotors. But now, in the heat of the moment, anger boiling through her system, all she could think about was controlling the almost irresistable urge to socket her weapon in this woman's eye and pull the trigger until the slide locked back.

"You can go now," she hissed. Ms. Johnson's smile never wavered. Closing her attache case, she turned and took three steps towards the door. A shadowed movement outside finally raised all of the warning flags in Ludi's mind to conscious level, but it was too late. The double glass doors disintegrated beneath the fire of the Ingram White Knight. The 8mm steel jacketed rounds whipsawed through the empty depot, sparking from the floor. Six rounds from the ten round burst caught Ms. Johnson center of mass. Ludi spun away into cover, her face moist. The image of splintered bone and ruptured organs was a comfort, albeit cold and distant at this time. Downwash from the rotodrone hovering in the street outside punched through the open doors, sending fragments of glass skittering across the floor. Ludi risked a glance around the heavy bank of lockers she covered behind, pistol in hand.

The drone danced in ground effect, wind and rotor wash reflected from the buildings and street complicating its flight algorithms. Across the street the doors of the Nightsky opened as Ms. Johnson's team rolled out into the street. Assault rifle fire stabbed through the darkness, short bursts as the team moved into cover. The drone's weapon swiveled on magnetic bearings, ripping out another long burst of automatic fire.

[grendel]

00:21:49 Saturday January 13, 2063 - Greyhound Bus Depot #202, 811 Stewart St, Seattle, UCAS

The rotodrone swayed to the side, deftly avoiding a pair of bursts from one of Ms. Johnson's surviving security team. Round sparked from its armor, though, drawing smoke instead of blood. The light machinegun on its underbelly turret, though, still tracked with murderous precision. The Mitsubishi Nightsky came apart beneath the hammer of its rounds, windows shattering and body panels bent inwards around heavy caliber entrance wounds.

[Mister Juan]

00:21:49 Saturday January 13, 2063 - Greyhound Bus Depot #202, 811 Stewart St, Seattle, UCAS

She heard the whine of the drone engine.
She heard the Ingram chamber it's first round.

And just when things were going so well.

As Ms. Johnson exploded in gory fireworks of bones and entrails, Ludmilla didn't stand to watch it all unfold very long. Part instincts, part training, the russian woman simply dove to the side, taking cover behind a row of lockers.

Sitting on the floor, her back flat agaisnt the cold locker, the Predator literally materialized in her hand. The smartlink interface kicked into gear, brighting up her vision, showing weapon status, ammo count and line of fire.

In the big empty depot the Ingram's fire sounded twice as loud, it's echo bouncing back and forth between the narrow rows of lockers. Ludmilla cursed her amplified hearing. If she got out of here alive, she was going to have one damn fine headache. Quickly leaning out of cover, for a split second, she peaked out into the street. The drone was a good distance away... but the shot wasn't impossible to make... From the looks of things, Ludmilla could easily tell she wasn't the target of this ambush... Johnson was. No matter, she wasn't going to stick around to find out. She had the cred in her pocket. There was nothing holding her back from just bolting out.

Standing halfway up, Ludmilla was about to take a step in the opposite direction, away from the drone, when she realized one thing.

Scratch.

Frag.

Ludmilla barely knew the kid. Actually, she didn't know him at all. But he trusted her. He had put his life into her hands. By the sound of the Ingram in the street, odds were the young decker was already dead meat.

The young woman had already left comrades behind. She had sworn never to do it again. Cursing out loud, Ludmilla crouched back down ejecting the gel clip from her Predator and swapping it with live ammo.

[Vegas]

22:25:08 Wednesday, 10 January 2063 - Klassy Kat, Second and Virginia, Downtown Seattle

Lana’s breath caught in her throat as she saw the evil gleam in O’Halloran’s eye as he advanced, and time seemed to shift to slow motion. Too many thoughts tumbled through her mind all at once. She wanted to yell for help, but she knew she wouldn’t be heard over the music. She wanted to fight back, but she knew from the way he grabbed her she wouldn’t be able to do much damage without a weapon. It left her two viable options, she could try to run, or she could try to talk her way out of it. Perhaps a combination of both was the best course of action.

She pressed herself against the back of the booth for leverage as she drew her knees up to either aid in an escape move if he grabbed for her, or to kick him in the balls. Inside she was a world of chaos and panic but her face still managed to hold some semblance of a seductive glance.

“I heard you liked it rough baby, I just wanted to give you what you liked.”

[grendel]

00:21:50 Saturday January 13, 2063 - Greyhound Bus Depot #202, 811 Stewart St, Seattle, UCAS

Ludi growled curses beneath her breath, swapping clips with smooth efficiency. She paused momentarily to wipe her face with her sleeve, annoyed that it came away stained red. Automatic gunfire sounded loud in the street again, but her enhanced hearing told her that the firefight was moving away from her position. The downwash from the rotodrone was less intense now, adding fuel to the suspicion that it was moving off, having completed its mission. Ludi let her Predator lead her around the corner just in case, though. Her suspicions were correct: the drone had moved off down the street, pursued or pursuing the remaining guards of Ms. Johnson's retinue. The sight of the broken and burning Nightsky sent a tendril of ice coiling about the base of her spine. Until she spotted Scratch, alive and apparently unhurt, scrambling backwards away from the vehicle. His Viper Slivergun was clutched, forgotten, in his right hand, while his eyes stared in terrified surprise at the vicious gunbattle taking place less than a block away.

[Mister Juan]

00:21:50 Saturday January 13, 2063 - Greyhound Bus Depot #202, 811 Stewart St, Seattle, UCAS

Holding her weapon in both hands, scanning left and right ahead of her, Ludmilla made for the depot's door. She literaly threw herself at the side of the wall with enough strength to bruise her upper arm. But at this point, Ludmilla cared very little.

She could tell the drone was moving away... but there was no telling if it was coming back to finish the job.

Even from across the street, the russian woman could easily feel the burning heat from the wreck Nightsky. Nevertheless, she ignore it. Her whole entire being was contained in one little slow-motion bubble. She felt nothing; thought nothing. Ludi simply acted.

Holding a crouched position near the doorway for a few seconds, she breathed in and out a few times. Bringing her weapon back up, she launched herself into the street in a low crouch, her weapon low but still ready. A few steps later, she caught up to Scratch, grabbing him firmly by the collar of his beaten jacket.

“Come on kid. Let's get the frag out of here” she simply said in her thick russian accent, her tone making it sound like everything except a suggestion.

Without waiting for an answer, she pulled the decker towards her own car.

[Cthulhu449]

19:32:19 Wednesday, 10 January 2063 – Pasha’s, 3900 Bryn Mawr Road, S Downtown Seattle, UCAS

"Yeah, I'm a bit south of the metroplex, but I'm in the area. What do you want to do?" Leo asked.

[Konsaki]

19:02:21 Thursday, 11 January 2063 – McHugh’s #1739, 19 West Galer St, Downtown Seattle, UCAS

“Not too bad, all things considered…”, Leon replied to his sister’s inquiry, before taking another bite of his burger. The time it took to chew and swallow allowed him to quickly run his mind over the week’s experiences before he continued. "This weather is different, but it’s keeping me from riding my bike and other than the few troublemakers n' drunks down at Luna’s club, it’s been pretty boring.", he complained to his younger sibling while motioning with the burger he still held in his hand.
"Course, there were some good ones, like this one girl who caused a ruckus a couple of nights ago. What made it interesting was the fact she had SURGE'ed with some claws similar to mine.”, the changeling said with a grin as he set down his drink and put his other hand to his chin. “When this girl was dancing on the floor, she must have caught someone's eye who was already taken because some other girl in an expensive looking dress came to start something. When it ended, the clawed chick had shredded the other girl's dress but didn't leave a mark on her. We all had a good look though as it fell to to the floor in peices, though.", Leon continued on with a chuckle.

When he finished his tale, the feline changeling took another drink and let out a quick sigh. “So, enough about what’s been going on with me; how have you been this last week?”, he asked with a smile.

[grendel]

00:21:47 Saturday January 13, 2063 - Greyhound Bus Depot #202, 811 Stewart St, Seattle, UCAS

Scratch is unresisting as Ludmilla yanks him towards her car, but the young hacker doesn't quite have the motor control to help her. To Ludi's adrenaline charged muscles, though, he seems a barely consequential weight. Pushing him towards the passenger side, she hustles around to the driver's side, never taking her eyes off the direction the drone disappeared. The Comet's engine catches the first time the starter turns over, and she slams the little vehicle into reverse, slotting the cable into the jack behind her ear only after she's moving away from the scene of violence.

"Did you see the fraggin' size of that gun?" whispered Scratch, his eyes fixed on a point a thousand meters beyond the dirty windshield of the sedan.

[grendel]

11:50:17 Thursday, 11 January 2063 - ABC Convenience Store #2071, 6350 Woodridge Road, Renton, Seattle UCAS

The middle-aged Korean woman manning the checkout counter glanced up at Litany with suspicious eyes over her bifocals. Not missing a beat in sliding her purchases through the laser scanner, the woman nods her head in a sharp, bird-like motion.

"Yah, yah. Big magic. Always smell bad. Not good for business. Not good for pretty girl to get messed up in. That seven nuyen, please."

[WinterRat1]

22:25:10 Wednesday, 10 January 2063 - Klassy Kat, Second and Virginia, Downtown Seattle

O'Halloran's smile gets darker as he positions himself to block the way out of the booth. "Oh I like it rough baby. I like it real rough. The only thing is, I'd rather give than receive, you know what I mean? You're such a bad girl, why don't you let me show you? I promise, you'll love it!" His words trail off as he lunges for her, his hands reaching out to grab her.

[Vegas]

22:25:12 Wednesday, 10 January 2063 - Klassy Kat, Second and Virginia, Downtown Seattle

Lana’s fingers clutched hard on the edge of the cheap velvet booth’s seat and just before the sleaze’s hands could tighten a grip on her upper arms she kicked both her legs forward at the same time. She watched his face contort in the strobe light flashes, his eyes going wide with both surprise and what she thought was pain as she heard him make an attempt to draw back in the breath she knocked from him as he stumbled backwards.

Seizing the moment, she let go of the booth and launched herself upwards, twisting just slightly to clear his bulk and she hopped up on the cushion of the booth and the end just to give her a little more room to get away. She was so focused on putting as much distance between O’Halloran and herself while getting to Aidan’s side that she didn’t look back over her shoulder to see what the creep was going to do next.

[Mister Juan]

00:21:56 Saturday January 13, 2063 - Stewart St, Seattle, UCAS

Ludmilla didn't answer Scratch's question. She didn't quite need to. She had not only seen and heard the Ingram... She had felt it's effect on Johnson and on herself. Something hot and humid was still sliding down her face and neck.

After reversing up the deserted night street for a few more meters, Ludmilla gave the wheel a sharp jolt to the side. Using her direct neural interface to lock the back wheels of the small seden, she sent it into a spin; switching front and back end in a few seconds.

For what seemed to her like eternity, the Comet stood idling in the middle of the street. The gear shifted down in a hurry, gearing back up as the wheel started to spin on place, burning rubber and filling the air with that stingy smell.

Trying to put as much distance between herself and the ambush, the russian woman kept one eye on the road, and one on the virtual rear view mirror in the upper right corner of her field of view. At first glance, no a soul was following them. But Ludi wasn't especially afraid of souls... more of drones with heavy machine guns.

“Are you hurt?” she said in the calmest tone she could muster at the moment.

She took a sharp turn on a random side street.

[grendel]

00:22:09 Saturday January 13, 2063 - Stewart St, Seattle, UCAS

The young hacker didn't respond to her question, his eyes remaining fixed on some distant point.

"Whole car just came apart..." he mumbled. Ludi swerved left through traffic onto Messner Ave, a snarl curling her lips. Tucking the Predator beneath her right thigh, she reached over and ran her hand over Scratch's chest before pushing him forward and feeling across his back. She didn't feel the tell-tale warm tackiness of blood anywhere. She pushed him back into his seat and returned her focus to the road and the vehicles on it. Scratch continued to squeeze the grip of his Slivergun, though, with a kind of fixed intensity which suggested that he was in pain.

[Vegas]

22:25:18 Wednesday, 10 January 2063 - Klassy Kat, Second and Virginia, Downtown Seattle

As the strobe lights continued to flash, it turned Lana’s attempted escape from O’Halloran into a series of still images. Jerky movements visible to other patrons as she hauled ass across the distance between her and the booth that Aidan was waiting in. She grabbed his hand and pulled with all the strength she could muster, the action accentuating her few words.

“I fucked it up. Time to go. NOW.”

She barely paused at the booth as she kept her eyes on the doorway, to where she’d be able to breathe a little again. When the deck wasn’t stacked as high in O’Halloran’s favour.

[Mister Juan]

00:22:28 Saturday January 13, 2063 - Messner Ave, Seattle, UCAS

Ludmilla eased her foot off the gas, slowly the sedan down to a more convenient and legal speed. The very last thing she need at the moment was to get pulled over for speeding... covered in blood with a freaked out 16 year old decker.

She peered in the rear view mirror again, making sure no one was following them.

"Trust me... there are worst things than what you saw tonight."

As the car ate more and more of the street, Ludi's survival instincts were starting to ease off their grip. Her mind and body were starting to be her own again. Using the back of her sleeve, she wipe her face clean as best as she could. A few more miles and she'd find herself a Stuffer Shack.

Now... what just the hell happened back there...

Ludi was more than glad she was still alive... but she kept wondering why she was. The drone that had opened fire on Johnson could have easily gotten her also. If it had entered the confine of the depot, she would have been no match... It had also left Scratch apparently completely unscathed. Odds were, whom ever had crashed the exchange wasn't there for Ludi or Scratch. Maybe it was something personal against Ms. Johnson? Maybe it was who ever Scratch and Byte had stolen from. Odds were, they had been followed from the yard to the depot.... Unless the drone was already waiting for them there... Unless Byte had sold them off...

Setting the car's autonav on, Ludmilla unhooked herself from the dashboard and turned to Scratch.

“Relax kid. Breath easy. In and out.” she said in a calm tone, reaching over and patting him in the back.

“You're in one piece. It's all that matters.” she added after a few seconds.

Holstering her Predator, she pulled herself a smoke and lit it inside the small car. Tipping her seat slightly backward, she exhaled deeply, letting out a sigh of relief.

A freaking drone.... I have to start packing heavier rounds...

As she went to put her pack away, he hand found the credstick Ms. Johnson had given her. With a smirk of satisfaction, she handed it to Scratch.

“There you go. I didn't get the chance to verify it yet...”

She took another drag, cracking her window slightly open to air the car.

“Your friend.... Byte.... how much do you trust him?”

[grendel]

00:23:05 Saturday January 13, 2063 - Messner Ave, Seattle, UCAS

Scratch coughs suddenly, blinking his eyes in response to the cigarette smoke and glancing over at Ludmilla. He shivers, looking at his hands. Realizing that he still has his pistol out, he reholsters it with an awkward motion. Taking the offered credstick, he slots it into his commlink to verify the amount.

"Byte? He and I have worked together for three years now, there's nothing that I wouldn't trust him with. Well, except a good bottle of rum, but that's besides the point. The pay's all here, I'm pulling ours out, you can take the credstick."

The young hacker seems more relaxed now that he's back on familiar ground dealing with familiar tasks, but that image passes quickly.

"Wait, worse things out there?"

[Mister Juan]

00:23:15 Saturday January 13, 2063 - Messner Ave, Seattle, UCAS

The cigarette dangling to the corner of her mouth, Ludmilla cocked her head to the side, giving Scratch one long good look. She felt like telling the hacker that things would be fine. That tonight was an exception. But that would have been a lie. One big fat lie. This... This was business as usual.

All she could muster out after some time of silence was.

"Yea."

She took another long drag, trying to breath the fire out of her lungs.

"We're going to stop by the Stuffer. I want you to run in and get me a few bottles of water, and paper towels, ok?"

She looked at her blood covered sleeve, frowning as she blew smoke out of her nose.

[grendel]

00:23:42 Saturday January 13, 2063 - Messner Ave, Seattle, UCAS

"Sure, whatever." Scratch nods, once again calming from an agitated state. Disconnecting the credstick from his commlink, he passes it back over to Ludi. The digital readout indicates 1500 :nuyen:. She barely glances at it before slipping it into her jacket pocket. Bright neon on the corner ahead advertises just what she was looking for, and she brakes the car to a halt in the parking lot of the Stuffer Shack. Scratch slips out of the car and makes his way inside, hands stuffed into the pockets of his jacket and his eyes jumping left and right in an attempt to scour the entire scene. Minutes later he returns with a two liter bottle of water and a small pack of paper towel.

[Mister Juan]

00:26:37 Saturday January 13, 2063 - Messner Ave, Seattle, UCAS

Taking the water bottle from Scratch, Ludmilla opened her door, stuck her head out, leaning foward and popped the cap of the bottle open.

Tipping it over, she poured some of its content in her hair and on her face, trying to clean herself up. In the cold winter air, the water felt almost painful; little stings of ice stabbing at her face. Grabbing a handful of paper towels, she wiped herself clean.

It was far from being the first time Ludmilla had found herself with someone else's blood on herself... and not just in a figurative way. The very first time, it had profoundedly affected her... With the years, it had, however, passed. Ludi had grown thick skined. She had built up an emotionless shell to protect herself.

He short hair still wet, she closed the door of the Comet back, shivering as cold water trickled down her neckline and into her shirt.

The car's engine roared to life.

"Do you need me to drop you somewhere?" she said in her thick russian accent.

[grendel]

00:26:37 Saturday January 13, 2063 - Messner Ave, Seattle, UCAS

"Yeah, Byte says he's back at The Funhouse. You can drop me off there." Scratch's nervousness returned as he glanced at the pink sodden mass of paper towel Ludi dropped on the floor of her car. The young hacker swallows convulsively twice before he gets his stomach back under control.

[Mister Juan]

00:26:44 Saturday January 13, 2063 - Messner Ave, Seattle, UCAS

Ludmilla nodded once in silence before pushing the Comet out of the parking lot.

The whole trip was spent in silence; Ludi's eyes simply watching the city's light go by under the blanket of winter. Beside being covered with Ms. Johnson's inside, the whole night itself hadn't been the worst. Things could have gone sourer. With the cred she had gotten tonight, she would be able to pay part of the rent.

As they started approaching the Funhouse, the russian woman decided to at least bestow one advice on Scratch before they parted ways.

"If I was you" she started, turning to look at the young ork "I would lay low for some time. This might not be over yet... people might come looking for you."

She pulled up to the curb.

"If you need to reach something, you can go through our common friend. He will know how to get in touch with me."

[DireRadiant]

11:50:35 Thursday, 11 January 2063 - ABC Convenience Store #2071, 6350 Woodridge Road, Renton, Seattle UCAS

"Aww, it smells? Too bad, cause I heard that a man with the right magic can do absolutely wicked things to make a woman feel good."

Thumbing confirmation of the payment through her credstick, Litany smiled conspiratorially broadly as she reached for her sandwhich, "You sure you aren't just keeping a treasure trove of magical young men for yourself?"

[grendel]

00:41:08 Saturday January 13, 2063 - The Funhouse, 206 5th Ave N, Seattle, UCAS

Scratch nodded in agreement, his hand on the car door.

"Oh don't worry, I'll be scarce. I should have known better than to think there was such a thing as easy cred. I wish I'd never heard of Oracle or Epoch."

The young hacker closes the door firmly and heads into the club, sparing a glance up and down the block. Chill air licks around the interior of the vehicle before the Comet's environmental control system overcomes it.

[grendel]

11:51:02 Thursday, 11 January 2063 - ABC Convenience Store #2071, 6350 Woodridge Road, Renton, Seattle UCAS

"CHEAYYH!" The old woman makes an unintelligible noise of offense, her hands making a warding gesture against Litany.

"You no good! You leave now!"