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

[Scrapheap]

01:00:03 Wednesday, 10 January, 2063 – A Warehouse in the Barrens

John lowered his arm, glaring towards the skylight and the descending assault with something like resignation. Yeah, that fraggin' figures. Just when I find Nora... Fraggin' right on cue.

The old runner knew that he had to act, fast, and he knew that his first action had to be to protect his niece. He didn't have time to wait to see who these new players were after. They could be the proverbial cavalry for all he knew, but he couldn't take that chance.

Dropping his Manhunters to the catwalk, Scrapheap stepped forward and grabbed Lady Dove by the arm with his left hand. Reaching past the railing he grabbed Nora with his right. He spun quickly, using his momentum, weight, and cyber-enhanced strength to throw the two females to the catwalk. Nora hit first, quickly followed by Lady Dove. He threw himself across them both, hoping to protect them if they were indeed the target.

[WinterRat1]

01:00:03 Wednesday, 10 January, 2063 – A Warehouse in the Barrens

Whether through luck or intention on the part of the new arrivals, none of their bullets hit John, Nora, or Lady Dove. With the moon obscured by dark clouds drifting angrily through the sky and the rain still driven into the warehouse by a relentless wind, making anything out clearly was a difficult task at best.

What was clear was that the new arrivals were on their own side, as their bullets cut into attackers and defenders of the warehouse alike. With the addition of the new arrivals into the middle of the warehouse, and the fact that most of them had achieved higher ground by landing on the catwalk, the complexion of the fight changed quickly.

The attacking force had already spread out, attempting to encircle and sweep the warehouse, so they were relatively unfazed by the new arrivals. But for the defenders trying to escape, the fact that they were clustered together made an easy point for the attackers to focus their fire on. One thing was clear. Getting out had just gotten a lot harder...

[Vegas]

23:27:31 Wednesday, 10 January 2063 – Metropolitan Park Apartments, 601 S. Washington St., Seattle

“Shit!”

Aidan had barely pulled the car to a stop before Lana was flinging the back door open and jumping out running as fast as her small frame could carry her, past the barricades and some angry emergency workers, calling out for Niki as she moved through the growing crowds of displaced residents. Her panic was growing as the more she searched and couldn’t find her sister. She was stopped by an LS officer when she apparently got too close to the building and was forced to show ID to prove she lived in the building. When the officer was finally satisfied with her documentation she looked back and could see Aidan standing at the police barricade and all she could do was shake her head.

She looked up the building’s façade, slowly steeling herself for what she already expected to see. The smoke was thickening even while the fire was dissipating. A familiar window with what would have been a familiar view had she been up on the 13th floor. She squeezed her eyes shut to try to block out the image as she hoped that for whatever reason Niki hadn’t been home tonight.

She felt numb as she started back towards the police barricade and her friends. Along the way she stopped a paramedic who was moving about and inquired if she had seen her sister, giving a fairly vivid description of Niki.

[WinterRat1]

01:00:03 Wednesday, 10 January, 2063 – A Warehouse in the Barrens

Carefully raising his head, John uses the myraid cyber-enhancements in his cold metal eyes to assess the situation. The 'allies' as he had dubbed them, were gradually retreating towards the NE corner of the warehouse, where ETG and Blaze were laying down a withering barrage of magic and machine gun fire on anyone who wasn't friendly. By their definition, it seemed that was just about everyone.

Knight had made his way over to Cao Jaan and was helping his employer half run, half stagger over the stair way. Max was almost directly beneath him on the first floor, about at the midpoint of the eastern wall, trying to crawl to the NE corner now that John had saved Nora.

The guys who had busted in through the wall, dubbed 'Enemies A' had paused in their advance, spreading out throughout the warehouse to both surround the allied position and also to better counteract the new arrivals, which he dubbed 'Enemies B'.

Enemies B were gathered on the middle catwalk of the warehouse and were spreading out along it to make themselves less of a target and to move to a less exposed position. Several of them were making their way towards him, trying to get to the second floor and off the catwalk. So far, they hadn't seen him, which gave him maybe one chance to act before they overran his position.

[WinterRat1]

23:33:14 Wednesday, 10 January 2063 – Metropolitan Park Apartments, 601 S. Washington St., Seattle

The paramedic mulls it over for a second then shakes his head. "Sorry lady, I haven't seen anyone resembling that description yet, maybe you should go talk to the firefighters or the cops. They're still pulling bodies out of the building, some of them are badly burned and haven't been identified yet. If you live here, maybe you should check in with the Star, let them know so they can keep you in the loop, ok? I gotta go, it's been crazy here tonight."

With that, he excuses himself and quickly shuffles off to continue his work. Apparently the cop who'd stopped Lana from going in before noticed she was questioning the paramedic, because he walks over to her. "Excuse me young lady, do you live here? If so, let's get you over to the other residents, we'd like to ask you some questions about what happened here tonight."

[Vegas]

23:35:53 Wednesday, 10 January 2063 – Metropolitan Park Apartments, 601 S. Washington St., Seattle

She felt a little bile rise up in her throat when the medic mentioned pulling badly burned bodies from the building. She quietly prayed that Niki wasn't one of the ones still inside.

She felt lost. Small. Alone.

She turned in a slow circle just trying to take everything in when the cop from before had reappeared and with his arm gently on her bicep guided her over to a group of tenants.

"But I wasn't even here tonight....my sister... "

Her words fell on deaf ears however as the cop deposited her in the group and continued on his way rounding up any other residents that he could find. She didn't want to be just standing around waiting on the LS cops to get their shit together. She wanted to be looking for Niki, or to be standing on the other side of the barricade with Aidan, Kat and Razor just observing the chaos happening to someone else.

She wasn't recognizing anyone in the small but growing cluster of people around her, obviously they were from other floors of the building and few of them actually spoke English well enough to have a conversation. Trying to pull her shit together she pulled her thin cellphone from her pocket and attempted to dial her sister's phone in hopes that she'd get an answer...

[WinterRat1]

23:37:42 Wednesday, 10 January 2063 – Metropolitan Park Apartments, 601 S. Washington St., Seattle

The phone rang once, twice, three times, and Lana found herself holding her breath, praying that her sister would pick up.

"The number you called has been disconnected. Please hang up the phone and dial again."

Cursing loudly, Lana hung up her phone, confirmed that she'd selected Nikol's number, and hit 'redial'. After several more rings...

"The number you called has been disconnected. Please hang up the phone and dial again."

Furiously cursing in Russian now, she double-checked once more, making sure the number in her phone was actually her sister's number. She pressed 'redial' again.

"The number you called has been disconnected. Please hang up the phone and dial again."

[WinterRat1]

06:12:46 Monday, January 8, 2063 - Hideout - Redmond Seattle UCAS

Walking into the foyer where Virgil was laying on the couch, Dragon pulled up a chair and sat backwards in it. "Time to go Virgil."

"Ugh...go where? Leave me alone. My head is killing me," the almost dozing shaman moaned.

"Come on Virg, we gotta get back to all that other wonderful business we still have on our plates," Dragon answered in an overly cheerful tone.

"You mean the business with all the people trying to kill us who aren't related to organized crime?"Virgil answered sarcastically.

"At least not in any way that we're aware of," Dragon answered, maintaining the annoyingly upbeat tone.

"Yay. Good news. I could use some of that."

The mercenary shifted back to his usual dark and cynical manner of speaking. "Yet."

"Dammit, I knew you were holding out on the bad news. Where are we going?"

"I don't know. Everywhere we've been in the last couple of days we've been jumped. Astral, matrix, physical, doesn't fragging matter, we may as well hang out bright glowing neon signs telling everyone where we are. Let's get moving and we can reassess while we drive. May as well stay a moving target."

Grumbling to himself, the shaman rolled off the couch and gathered their stuff as Dragon said their good byes to Erebus.

"It was good working with you. If we hear anything, we'll let you know. Hopefully this whole thing blows over, but if not, we'll get back together and handle it."

"Right. Same here. Stay safe out there," the young elf offers as he shoulders his pack.

"You too. If we ever need another gun, we'll keep you in mind," the mercenary returns.

Virgil comes out with their stuff and says his goodbyes to the elf as well, then the two of them climb into the car, staying well within the speed limit as they work their way out of Redmond and onto the highway.

06:30:12 Monday, January 8, 2063 - Cruising along Seattle's highways (under the speed limit, of course)

Sipping at the soykaf he'd picked up at a local drive-thru, Dragon drove carefully and legally along Seattle's highways, sticking to the safe areas of the city and avoiding any potential trouble, either from the law or from one of their many assailants that had been crawling out of the woodwork the last few days.

"OK Virg, before we get into details, let's recap the general nature of things we need to deal with right now.

1. We need to find Julia, and we might have to find Jonah and/or the Jedi before we can do that.

2. We need to deal with this latest evil scheme Aztechnology's cooked up involving the plague.

3. We need to deal with your buddy at the Draco Foundation to try and get Julia somewhere safe when we do find her.

4. We need to help Sybersnake out of this mess and deal with potential Saeder-Krupp involvement in the process.

5. We need to find Roberto and get him back from whoever's got him.

6. We need to help Tiffany clear her name.

7. In our free time, we'd like to avoid getting wacked by the Mafia and the Yakuza and maybe even clear our names.

8. Where possible, we need to help Daedalus get his stuff back.

I think I covered all the major things on our 'To Do' list, but I could be missing something. Was there anything else, or did I list them all?"

[Vegas]

23:22:31 Wednesday, 10 January 2063 Metropolitan Park Apartments, 601 S. Washington St., Seattle

A sense of panic was taking over the numbness that had previously filled her while trying to take in all that was happening. There wasn’t any reason for Niki’s phone to be disconnected. It wasn’t like they were hurting to pay the bills and she highly doubted that her sister could have just forgotten to pay it. Besides it would have shut off her phone as well wouldn’t it?

She had to remind herself to take a breath as she was already feeling light headed and a little wobbly as she stood there dumbfounded and lost. Soon her ears were filled with the Russian clucking of Mrs. Chernov, the old mother hen who lived down the hall from them and often was tasked with checking in on Lana when Niki was away on business.

God I need a drink.

“Svetlana! Oh my dear Svetlana, just awful isn’t it? I’m just glad to see you are safe girl.”

She was soon engulfed in a bear hug from the woman who seemed unlikely to let go anytime soon as she rocked Lana back and forth like a grandmother. It wasn’t until b]Mrs. Chernov[/b] spotted Aidan and Kat standing behind Lana expectantly that she let go but kept a protective arm around her as she sized up the bruiser and the leggy blonde.

“Friends of yours Svetlana?”

“Da Mrs. Chernov, they are friends of mine.”

Nodding but not entirely approving the old woman moved away from the trio and watched them from afar. Lana rubbed at her temples for a moment as Aidan pulled her close. Both her friends had been over enough to know that her apartment was one of the many involved in the fire. She just started talking stream-of-consciousness as her friends tried to console her.

“This is a fucking disaster. I want a damn do-over for today. First the creep at school, then the guy at the mall, the disaster at the club and now this?!? The cops and medics don’t know their heads from their asses saying they’re still pulling bodies from inside and no one’s seen Niki at all and I can’t reach her by phone because it’s fucking suddenly disconnected and all my shit is probably ruined and where the fuck is Razor?”

[WinterRat1]

23:28:29 Wednesday, 10 January 2063 Metropolitan Park Apartments, 601 S. Washington St., Seattle

"Right here chica," he answers calmly behind her. She turns to see him standing quietly, observing the scene.

Thoughtfully taking in everything around him, he asks, "Just now, you mentioned a guy at the mall on your list of things that went wrong today. What guy at the mall? Do you think he's connected with this, or is he another element of this O'Halloran problem neither of you has mentioned yet? Or is he an entirely separate problem that has yet to be addressed?"

[Morgannah]

23:52:17 Wednesday 10 January 2063 - 862 Lucile Ave, Apt. 2C, Los Angeles, CFS

With the exception of months spent in stasis, this was quite possibly the longest time she'd spent in one place since in years.

"Twenty one hours," Cosmo breathed, staring at her freshly-scrubbed living room ceiling, forcing herself to lie still in spite of the twitch of her fingers. Worse still was the urge to be up and about, doing something .. anything .. to end the day's tedium, even if that meant breaking into Elite Limousines when she knew there was probably a better way. The Kalds were playing a near flawless Game with her, the best she'd ever encountered, and experience told her that she could afford one more mistake, maybe two, before things got especially messy. Whatever she'd learned about the strange group raised more questions than it answered and so far the larger picture was nothing but an unsettlingly mysterious blur.

Just relax. We'll turn things around before it's 'game over.'

So she "relaxed," taking slow, deep breaths, her body perfectly immobile against the cool tile floor with the oddly soothing scent of industrial strength cleaner and the rush of air from a nearby fan playing across her skin. The space was immaculate, of course, without a hint of clutter to distract, much less a speck of dirt left to attack. Cosmo could close her eyes and point to any space in the spotless apartment, find cover in a heartbeat, list the entire contents of the new SaviorSix Advanced Medkit she'd indexed that afternoon, and reach any of her newly acquired and freshly cleaned weapons in three seconds flat.

Blindfolded.

It was part of "laying low" and "hiding out," she knew, but that didn't mean she had to like it.

[Vegas]

23:28:59 Wednesday, 10 January 2063 Metropolitan Park Apartments, 601 S. Washington St., Seattle

Lana dismissed Razor’s suggestion that she was keeping anything from him with a slight wave of her hand.

“The guy’s a family problem, shouldn’t have anything to do with O’Halloran and his goons. Besides, you really think that creep had enough time to get from the club to here right after we left and pull this off?” She gestured at the scene around them and sighed.

“I don’t know what anything has to do with anything else. I know that I’m not one to believe in multiple coincidences like this. I mean something doesn’t make sense here. Too much happening all at once and now Niki’s missing and…”

She started to look around as she was speaking, wondering if the ThinMan or even O’Halloran was somewhere in the crowds, behind the barricades watching her right then. She stopped her train of thought as the emergency workers carried out body bags that had definite weight to them out the front doors of the apartment building.

She felt lightheaded and a bit unstable as the thought of her sister being in one of those body bags hit her full force. She reached out for someone to steady her as her voice got soft and very distant.

“Maybe I shouldn’t be here right now…”

[bclements]

19:36:18 Thursday, 11 January 2063 – Tooth and Nail, West Galer St, Downtown Seattle, UCAS

The stout steel door’s speakeasy like hatch slid open with a rasp, and a pair of pink eyes looked out from the hatch. Just as quick as it opened, it slid shut with a clang, and both Leon and Freya heard the locks disengage, and a large, pale and much tattooed figure opened the door into a small hallway/landing where he’d been smoking a cigarette in between sets. Stairs leading up and down floated off into the darkness, and pounding bass from two separate beats announced themselves in nothing approaching harmony.

“Sup Leon” Dro said. Leon recognized him as one of the part time DJ’s, and a prima donna to boot. He’d probably been an ork, before the Comet decided to pass by again. Now, he pale as a sheet of new (real) paper, with large, hard ridges under his very tattooed skin, and striped to the waist skin. His tusks had grown to come almost past his nose, and a couple of extra had sprouted from his chin, decorated with a chain and a small lantern that he lit when he was ‘on duty’, spinning and synthing up in the booth on one of the floors of the place.

Another thing Leon knew was that Dro didn’t have a great view of ‘breeders’, and Leon could see his jaw tightening. ‘Nu huh man. You can come in, but she’s going back out in the line,” he said in surprisingly clear english, almost blocking the doorway. Large, elaborate, illuminated tats scored across his upper body as he stood to block the doorway upon seeing Freya.

[grendel]

00:18:52 Thursday 11 January 2063 - 862 Lucile Ave, Apt. 2C, Los Angeles, CFS

Cosmo rolled to her feet in a fluid motion as the first of HardBitten's electronic knocks was still sounding from the speakers of her trid unit. It wasn't so much that she was desperate for the information, or even desperate for the interaction, just that she was going quietly, utterly insane while waiting. She slapped the 'accept' button on the console, making a conscious effort to control her breathing as the screen rezzed in with HB's icon.

"Okay, here's what we've got. Surveillance is up and running, but it's a three hour time delay. I won't bore you with the specifics but it's the best you're going to get. Death Valley isn't like your neighborhood Stuffer Shack, you know. Files for the limos are being downloaded now, I've got a dozen different appointments for the vehicles each, most of them being runs to various airports, hotels, and restaurants throughout the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area. The only thing they have in common is they're all reserved for some party on Tuesday at the Millenium Marriot."

[bclements]

20:52:57 Wednesday, 10 January 2063- The Sundowner Tavern, 14640 58th Ave S. Seattle, UCAS

Leo waited, way past the time that Roderick mentioned. The college girls had left, the cold man had ordered a refill of soycaf, and the cop had gone back on duty. Tea cold and down to the dregs, Leo was on the verge of walking out to find a telecom when a short human walked though the door. Warmly dressed in an expensive looking overcoat and shiny synthleather gloves, the short, slightly pudgy man, with a pale complexion crowned by a shock of bright red hair that receded a bit from the temples moved in a few steps in front of the doorway.

Directly behind, another human entered, but built more like Leo than like the man preceding him. Not as well dressed in a short, stiff (and probably armored, Leo thought) coat, his practiced scanning of the room as well as his off axis position just inside the doorway gave him away as a bodyguard. The redhead scanned the room as well, making it as far as Leo before blinking abruptly and walking over to where Leo sat.

“You’re who called, right?” the man said haughtily, in the same high-pitched nasal twang as Roderick used on the phone. He didn’t sit.

[bclements]

10:33:02 Sunday 14 January 2063 - The Green Papaya, 600 East Pine St, Seattle, UCAS

“I take your word bor it,” Roscoe said, finding it on the menu and apparently content to non know what tom rang me was. “You orderin’ ?“ he asked, as the waitress circled back to check on the table.

“We clear, by da way,” he drawled, much lower in tone, looking out over the already quarter-filled restaurant. Clanging from the kitchen, spicy and exotic drifting smells, low murmured conversation, all drifted together around the patrons.

[WinterRat1]

23:32:31 Wednesday, 10 January 2063 Metropolitan Park Apartments, 601 S. Washington St., Seattle

A light beep grabs her attention, and Lana looks down at her phone to see an incoming text message. Automatically, she pulls up the message and her heart skips a beat.

Svetlana, at exactly 00:00:00 call LTG# 5431-1865-7235. You will have until 00:01:00 to make this call. The number will only exist until 00:05:00, then it will be gone. Your phone will no longer have service at exactly 00:05:01. Don't tell anyone about this call, it will be safer for everyone if they don't know.

There is no sender record.

Seeing Lana checking her phone, Aidan asks, "Did someone call you babe?"

[Vegas]

23:33:57 Wednesday, 10 January 2063 Metropolitan Park Apartments, 601 S. Washington St., Seattle

The message was cryptic yet clear. Noting the timestamp on the message she had about 26 minutes to kill before she’d have to make the call. She wanted to believe it was from her sister, but the unsigned message with no generating number bothered her. Besides, why would Niki need to disconnect her phone and be all secretive about any contact. Her thoughts were interrupted by Aidan’s voice.

“No babe, just hoping Niki had called or sent me a text. Wishful thinking I guess.”

She slipped her phone back into her pocket and thumbed the switch to set it to vibrate only in case of any additional messages coming through before she wrapped her arms around herself and watched the firefighters finish putting out the flames in the apartment building many meters above her.

“I wonder when they’ll let everyone back inside. Or when I might be able to pick through what’s left of my things.”

The more she watched, the more detached she became from the scene, her attitude changed as well as her voice, growing more and more distant and quiet as the impending realities of the situation weighed on her shoulders.

[grendel]

10:34:15 Sunday 14 January 2063 - The Green Papaya, 600 East Pine St, Seattle, UCAS

Vedic ignored Roscoe's tone with deliberate casualness, turning instead to the waitress who stood impatiently next to the table.

"Chicken xao gung, please. Tea." He held the girl's eyes to ensure she understood before turning back to his companion.

"I know we're clear. We need to begin surveillance of our target as soon as possible. How long can you be away from your shop?"

[Morgannah]

00:20:47 Thursday 11 January 2063 - 862 Lucile Ave, Apt. 2C, Los Angeles, CFS

"Right."

Cosmo wasn't quite jumping up and down for joy as she pulled the limousine schedules, scanning date, time, and location in rapid succession; it was more of a faint shift from one foot to the other that she didn't bother suppressing. Most routes wouldn't be any good at all, but there were a few spots in less secure neighborhoods that were worth scouting. She breathed a bit easier knowing that there was some solid recon work in her future. And a guaranteed trip away from HERE. For a while.

"Thanks, HB, this is perfect." There was a second's pause before she continued, not really expecting an answer in the affirmative.

"Did you have any thoughts on that file I sent your way this morning?"

No harm in asking, right?

[Konsaki]

19:36:53 Thursday, 11 January 2063 – Tooth and Nail, West Galer St, Downtown Seattle, UCAS
Leon Mordred

Hearing that coming from Dro caused Leon’s face to flash a visage of annoyance for a split second before it went back to a grin. “No way, man. It’s all cool.”, he said to the tusked DJ. “This here,”, the feline changeling continued as he put a hand on one of the scantly clad girl’s shoulders, “is my sister, Freya. Freya, this cheery guy is Dro, one of the DJ’s on the synth floor.”
“See, Dro, my sis wanted to get inside out of the cold and get to the kicking beats that you DJs pump out. I’m not going to leave her out front alone to wait on Jack and Marie to let her in, but I’m also not going to stand out in the cold when I know I can use this door. Since she’s family, there should be no problems… Right?”, he calmly explained to the pink eyed ex-ork with a slight gesture towards the open door he was standing in.

[WinterRat1]

00:00:00 Thursday, 11 January 2063 Metropolitan Park Apartments, 601 S. Washington St., Seattle

Standing in a nearby alleyway, away from the slowly subsiding chaos in front of her apartment building, Lana's fingers almost trembled as she inputted the LTG number given to her. She'd asked Mrs. Chernov if she knew anything about when the residents would be let back in, but the old woman hadn't known anything.

Rather than risk talking to the cops and being detained, possibly missing this call, Lana had opted to make the call first. With her friends standing watch a respectful distance away, she finished entering the code and punched the 'send' button to finish the call.

The phone rang once, then twice.

"Svetlana."

A lump forms in her throat, and Lana almost slumps to the floor in relief at hearing her sister's voice.

"It is me, Nikol. Are you ok? Are you somewhere we can talk privately?"

[Vegas]

00:00:24 Thursday, 11 January 2063 Metropolitan Park Apartments, 601 S. Washington St., Seattle

Lana felt the relief wash over her but still found it hard to speak as she turned her back slightly away from her friends and faced further into the alley as she leaned against a wall for support with her phone pressed tightly against her ear. Not needing anyone to overhear any more of the conversation than necessary since Niki had made it clear to keep things a secret she cleared her throat and spoke in Russian to her sister.

“Yes, I’m ok. I’m near the apartment. Do you know what happened here tonight? Where are you?”

[WinterRat1]

00:00:32 Thursday, 11 January 2063 Metropolitan Park Apartments, 601 S. Washington St., Seattle

"It's better for us both if you don't know where I am. Listen to me Lana. I need you to make a very important decision, and I need you to make it now.

I have arranged a place for you to stay. A good place, a safe place, and most important, a secret place. But if you go there, you will not be able to leave until I send for you. You cannot leave it at all, for any reason. No one can come with you, and no one should know where you are.

I am sure this does not sound appealing to you. I know you teenagers love your freedom. I was the same way when I was your age."

Even though the vid-display is off, Lana can hear the smile in her sister's voice.

"It is unlikely the people looking for me will look for you, so if you want to hide out, lay low on your own, I won't stop you. But I must know now to arrange for your safety, if you are leaving it in my hands. Which will it be Lana, safety in isolation, or freedom with risk? Decide."

[Vegas]

00:00:45 Thursday, 11 January 2063 Metropolitan Park Apartments, 601 S. Washington St., Seattle

The thought of being sequestered for who knew how long definitely didn't appeal to Lana in the slightest and the fact that Niki felt it was necessary enough to make the arrangements didn't help it sit well with her either. She couldn't imagine not seeing Aidan or Kat for days on end. She also knew after tonight and everything that went down with O'Halloran it was unlikely Aidan would just sit idly by if she "disappeared" without a trace. She was pretty resolved to say no to Niki's planning but then she mentioned the part about the people not likely coming after Lana and she instantly flashed back to the creepy ThinMan at the mall earlier in the day and his warning.

"They're not likely to come after me? I never got a chance to talk to you but there was this guy... at the mall earlier when Kat and I were there... he knew my name and he wanted me to give you a message. Then as I'm coming home tonight there's the fire and all that mess... What is going on here?!"

The panic is evident in her voice as her teenage mind quickly is convinced now that all these things are definitely connected and not just a concidence that she could brush aside any longer.