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

[WinterRat1]

10:24:15 Monday 08 January 2063 – Redmond - Touristville - The Respite Soup Kitchen – Roof

Gradually, Max is able to shake Trancer awake. As the kid groggily comes to, he suddenly sits upright and yells, "Look out!" Frantically Max whirls, ready to fight, when he realizes that the poor kid was just disoriented. There was no one on the roof but the three of them. "Oh my head..." suddenly slouching back, Trancer puts his hands to his head. Slowly raising it again, he looks at Max . " Max !!! They took her! They took Keira!!! How come I'm not dead? How come you aren't dead? Is my...is my mom dead?"

The barrage of questions comes rapid fire, and a quick glance at the other form on the roof reveals that Trancer's mom is alive as well, probably unconscious. Grabbing a hold of his arms, Trancer shakes Max hard. "What are we going to do Max ? Keira needs our help!"

[Bastard]

1002 Tuesday 09 January 2063 - Kaiser's shop, Downtown Seattle, UCAS

Marquis keeps himself occupied by playing with random things on the counter, while Kaiser has spent the past 10 minutes poking around the top shelf looking for some acid etch. "Dammit, know there is some up here!"

[SentineloftheMou...]

1300 Tuesday, January 9, 2063 - Land's End Magic Shop

What name will I call the new store? Andie thinks to himself as he watches Solomon leave and lock up the store. Hmm…..

He turns back to check on the circulation to make sure it’s progressing as planned. Andie then returns to the workbench and his floor plan sketch. He looks around the room to notice all the little things that Sara implemented in her shop and reflects on this information. Then it occurs to him. Hmm… How about the Reflection Pool magic shop? Water has always been a symbol for reflection and thoughts within its deeps and I do want the shop to be a haven for knowledge, both new and old; where people can come to exchange ideas and collaborate on magical works together.

Andie looks around the room again and considers this idea for awhile.

[Ecclesiastes]

15:04:15 Tuesday 09 January 2063 - Apartment 875, Parkewood Village Apartments, Tacoma

After nearly an hour of poking around at the cyberarm/deck, Todd's work is interupted by the red LED glowing in the corner of his vision, letting him know he has a waiting message.

Pulling it up, he gives the file Tony sent him a quick scan and shots back a quick reply.

[Sedna]

1950 Tuesday, January 9, 2063 - Land's End Magic Shop

-- He peruses the aisles a little to see if there is anything new or on sale, bargain hunter extraordinaire, and makes his way to the back counter looking for Sara. "Hello ... Sara ..." Andie calls out towards the back of the store.

Sara Lansing, human owner of the Land's End magic shop, was in her late thirties, about 6 ft tall, and mind like a steel trap. She didn't miss much. From the store room in the back she calls out, "Come on back, Andie."

Andie heads to back of the shop to the material preparation area and looks around. Sara turns back to Andie and says, "Time we settled this debt and talked about your future. To help pay for the magic training we have been doing over the years I have a proposal for you, a test of sorts. I feel you are ready for this test. I know it would help you, me, and your parents; a win-win situation for everyone. You've been talking about starting your own business. This will earn you the seeds of one."

Andie replies, "OK. I'm game. What did you have in mind?"

"Call it a graduation thesis. Over this lunar cycle you would be creating Orichalcum units. It's a long, tedious process and if you choose to do this, you will be here most the time monitoring the batch, so don't expect to do much of anything else until it's finished. I've had to set up the initial enchantments already -- new moon was yesterday -- but after this, if you're still interested, it's all yours: the responsibility, and the profits. You'll invest in the initial costs, and you'll reap the net rewards. The first unit you produce, ah, that will be a unique and precious thing, and you should build it into a focus equally unique as soon as you can. The second will cover the cost of your tuition. The third -- you were talking to me about acquiring your own libraries. Because you can't keep using mine, not after you graduate." She smiles wrily. "But what we can do: I can swap you a copy of what I have on chip in exchange for the third unit of orichalcum you create out of this batch. But getting the computer to run it: that's up to you." The smile becomes a teasing grin. "Think you're up for it?"

Andie replies, "Well, I'll have to let my folks know I will not be able to help them out at the bar for a month, but they should be OK with that once I explain why. Let's do it."

"That's responsible," says Sara. "That makes a good start. Call them now and explain everything while I finish getting together the rest of the components. The phone is on the wall over there" --


// Andie startles fully awake to the soft sound of the bells and a low voice in the shop and to a warm, close dimness lit only by the flickering flame of the Bunsen burner. It takes a moment to register that the electricity must be out. Good day to stay inside. That storm must have been worse than I thought. Untangling himself from the sweater he'd at some point pulled around himself, he checks the circulation carefully, but it seems not to have suffered from the lack of light and electrical heat.

[SentineloftheMou...]

1950 Tuesday, January 9, 2063 - Land's End Magic Shop

Andie shakes himself awake. Woolgathering again. He gets up and checks the circulation again; stoking the fire in the furnace and adjusting the pressure of the crucible a little. I can't remember if Sara has a backup generator in the shop or not in case I need one.

Andie checks the shop and its security system to see if it's affected and takes precautions. He looks out the window to see if other buildings electric was out as well or if it's just Sara's shop.

[Sedna]

1955 Tuesday, January 9, 2063 - Land's End Magic Shop

Before Andie opens the curtain separating storefront from the back area, he hears Solomon's voice, replying to the other person, too low for him to make out the words.

[bclements]

15:08:48 Tuesday 09 January 2063 - Capitol Hill Terrace, Capitol Hill, Seattle, UCAS

Tony wakes up, after a vivid dream of hamburgers, coolers of beer, disembodied diners, and, finally, a loud beeping sound that penetrated the racket of the dream. Waking, he realized that he didn't turn off his psec's sound notification. Upon waking, he realizies that the rest of the apartment doesn't have power; his trideo/computer setup would have been a lot louder than the simple beeping emitting from his psec. Looking out the window at the howling snow and wind outside, Tony thinks to himself It's the fragging North Pole out there. Power's out as well.

Replying to the email

[The_Eyes]

19:47:02 Tuesday 09 January 2063 - Schrodinger's Chess and Coffee Shop, Downtown Seattle, UCAS

Peter scratched his head in confusion. "Wait a minute, how does that actually help? Wouldn't it just add a lot of random noise to have things cross over like that?" He moved a pawn forward in a brilliant flanking maneuver, but noone at the table was actually paying much attention to the chessboard.

Eyes tapped at a piece of the arcane-looking scrawl. "Normally you'd be right; this would be a terrible source of error. Remember, though, that we're trying to create as 'human' an intelligence as possible. People can't actually concentrate on two things at once; 'multi-tasking' for a person is really just switching your focus rapidly from one thing to another." He moved a knight in a lame-duck gambit, trying to draw attention away from his vulnerable queen. "It was determined early this century that one of the main sources of 'inspiration' in the biological mind is this cross-over between 'simultaneus' thoughts, memories, etc. If you control your interferences correctly you can simulate this effect to a small degree, with small crossovers between parallel thoughts. You'll see this again when it gets applied to semi-evocative memory too; same general principle but the equations end up all different."

Carlie looked over the equations, muttering to herself. Meanwhile Peter took the bait, but in an unexpected way that didn't actually open him up to attack at all: he moved a rook to cut the knight off from the rest of Eyes's pieces. "Huh. The prof never really went into the theory like this," Carlie said, "All our test questions are stuff like, 'What is the quantum adjustment factor for a 5-tiered MPCP with 50Mp of secondary tunneling?'"

"The practical type? I'm sure he at least assigned Sussman & Holtz at an optional book; it's pretty much the definitive work on the frame programming these days. Or you can go back to the first real publication on the subject: Machine Mind: Go and the game of Intelligence by Casimir. The examples there are actually better than Sussman; her writing tends to be a bit dense, sorta by tradition." Eyes glanced at the board, realized that it was mate in three moves, and tipped his king over, conceding defeat. "Not that any of this 'inspiration' seems to be coming to me," he said with an ironic smile.

Katie interjected, "You just forgot to multiply by 2 pi." Everyone chuckled at the bit of nerd humor. Peter started resetting the pieces. "If I promise not to beat you too badly next game, you promise to stick around a bit longer and help us out with process overlap manifolds?" Peter asked with a smirk.

Eyes grinned, remembering his own days struggling in the same class. "You're on, brother."

[SentineloftheMou...]

1955 Tuesday, January 9, 2063 - Land's End Magic Shop

Odd. He has been been rather secretive as of late. Andie peeks through the side of the curtain to see who Solomon is talking with.

[Sedna]

1956 Tuesday, January 9, 2063 - Land's End Magic Shop

It's three someones, and they're all dripping snow from their longcoats and scarves and balaclavas. One of them blows on his? her? gloved hands, visibly shivering. "Not yet?" Andie hears one of the others ask, and Solomon answers without any sharpness, "She already agreed, and I am here. What more do you need?"

[SentineloftheMou...]

1956 Tuesday, January 9, 2063 - Land's End Magic Shop

Great. What has Sara gotten herself into this time? Andie will continue to eavesdrop on the conversation in the store front for more details about what Sara or Solomon may be involved in.

[Sedna]

1956 Tuesday, January 9, 2063 - Land's End Magic Shop

"Someone's listening," suddenly says one of the men --

[Bastard]

1022 Tuesday 09 January 2063 - Kaiser's shop, Downtown Seattle, UCAS

Kaiser has now dissappeared somewhere into the deep confines of the store. Now that Kaiser's counter is reorganized, cleaned and degreased, Marquis drags his feet along the small building, looking for something else to keep his mind occupied, while Kaiser continues his quest for the holy acid etch.

[grendel]

10:25:08 Tuesday 09 January 2063 - Kaiser's shop, Downtown Seattle, UCAS

"Aha!" Kaiser holds a can of Enumerol Acid Etch aloft in victory. "I knew it was around here somewhere."

He sets the liter cylinder down on the counter next to Marquis. "Anything else you need?"

[Bastard]

1025.12 Tuesday 09 January 2063 - Kaiser's shop, Downtown Seattle, UCAS

"Great! That will be it today. Next time I will call ahead," Marquis gives him a friendly, but sarcastic smile. He pays the man and heads back out.

[SentineloftheMou...]

deleted

[Slipshade]

10:26:32 Monday 08 January 2063 – Redmond - Touristville - The Respite Soup Kitchen – Roof

Max steadied the boy and gently removed his arm from Trancer’s hand.

“Your mother is ok, she will probably wake up feeling as bad as we do, but I don’t sense that she is in any immediate danger. Lets get her awake and get off this roof and then you can tell me what happened.” Trancer bit is lip, holding back the jumble of questions he wants to ask and just nods. Max understood Trancer’s urgency. Every ounce of him wants to go searching for Keira, but without a place to start Max knew it would be a waste of time and energy. Two things he had little of at the moment, besides these people needed him.

“Melina…” Max gently attempts to rouse the young mother, while Trancer kneels on the other side of her holding her hand. Her eyelids flutter once before she groans and looks around.

“James!” she looks around frantically, her vision still a bit blurry.

“I’m right her ma.” Trancer says clutching his mother’s hand.
“Oh thank God.” She grabs the young boy and holds him tight. Tears streaming down her face. “I thought I had lost you.”

“Um, no ma...could you loosen up, I can barely breath.” He sputters, just a little bit embarrassed.

Max moves away for a moment to give them a little privacy and looks down the roof access into the Respite's Kitchen. A few minutes later he hears Melina’s footsteps approach him from behind. He turns to look at the young woman still holding her son tight.

“Max…they took Keira. Why would anyone want to do this? Why would anyone want to hurt her?”

“I don’t know Melina, but I am going to find out. Lets get off this roof and then I want you to tell me everything that happened after you got up here.” Max leads the way down the ladder. It is slow going and Max’s body still screams at him with each movement, but eventually they make it down into the kitchen. He clears a place for them to sit and retrieves 3 glasses from one of the large dishwashers and fills them with water before handing them to Melina and Trancer.

“Ok, now tell me what you remember.”

[Ecclesiastes]

15:14:25 Tuesday 09 January 2063 - Apartment 875, Parkewood Village Apartments, Tacoma

Todd sits at his workbench, just looking at the cyberarm before him. Screw it. I'll get the search done now and deal with this later.

Minutes later he is seated in his favorite chair with a dataline jacked into his skull.

[The_Eyes]

20:10:03 Tuesday 09 January 2063 - Schrodinger's Chess and Coffee Shop, Downtown Seattle, UCAS

"...which is the great thing about HoloLISP and a few other modern languages; since there are no types and functions are easily made with lambda you can actually have your frame write its own code. You are a bit limited in improvisational ability, though, until you get up to SK-level territory." Eyes glances at the clock in surprise. "Oh, hey, I should be getting outta here. Peter, thanks for a good set of games; sorry I couldn't be more of a challenge. Nice to meet you guys."

Katie smiled. "Yeah, thanks for all the help, Chris," she said; Eyes nodded at the name, almost as innate to him after a year as his real one. "Hey, come back next week okay; some of us have a cyberterm architecture test and noone knows what the drek the prof is slotting most of the time."

Eyes laughed. "Oh you don't want my help with hardware. I know how to make most of it work, all right, but I got a D in the actual class." Finishing his goodbyes, Eyes makes his way out the door, much less nervous and jumpy than he was an hour ago.

A measure of that nervousness came back when he remembered the gypsy woman's warning. 'You're a smart kid, but you're all alone in this.' Eyes shivered inwardly. The last time he had been spooked this badly he had joined a corp and moved to another country; now he just didn't have that option. His resources were much less than they were back in those days; he wasn't some bright-eyed naive little revolutionary anymore (though the naive part probably still applied). He just didn't have the ability to build an entirely new life for himself anymore.

More than that, though, this whole situation just screamed intrigue and importance, much more than that stupid half-botched supply run years ago. This whole setup may well turn into something worth the danger. Worth it how he couldn't tell yet; the whole thing just seemed bigger.

Shaking his head, Eyes got on his bike and programmed the route home. It's too bad this place is so far from my apartment, he thought, It'd be a neat place to spend some time; probably one reason why Casimir hung around here. At least I'll have plenty of time to think over my next moves.

[Bastard]

1032 Tuesday 09 January 2063 -Streets of Downtown Seattle, UCAS

Marquis rolls out of the parking lot, through the alleyway, and into midmorning traffic. He slowly moves across downtown, relaxing to the comedy talk radio show of Earnie and the Troll.

Normally Marquis hates traffic, but when the E&T show are on, he wants to delay having to exit his car. His trip across Downtown, well around Downtown, takes him much longer than it should, even with the hellish traffic of the megaplex.

[Sedna]

[Sedna]

1956 Tuesday, January 9, 2063 - Land's End Magic Shop

Almost, even off-balance as he is, Andie manages to hold off most of the sheer force of that casting -- more than one spell! -- but some of it still slips past him.

Solomon reaches a hand just in front of him, breaking the locked gaze, deflecting the last of the spell away from the young mage.

He's only now realising that he's beginning to hurt. His knees are skinned. His shoulder's being twisted so hard it feels like it's about to break. And his heart is hammering a mile a minute.

"He's not family," says the man with the gray eyes who'd spoken earlier -- the mage, Andie realises blurrily -- in a voice that offers no compromise. None of them have removed their balaclavas. Unlike Solomon's, their coats are dripping snow and water onto Sara's wooden floor.

"He is Sara's apprentice," says Solomon, not looking at Andie.

"Orders --"

"Your orders were to bring him here to recuperate. If you have done that, nothing else need concern you."

"Really," says a woman from just behind Andie, in a light, dead voice.

Solomon nods, acknowledging the naked threat in that voice, and turns to Andie. "Tell them that you will not speak of what passes here to anyone," he says levelly, urgently. "Tell them, and mean it."

[SentineloftheMou...]

1956 Tuesday, January 9, 2063 - Land's End Magic Shop


Andie takes stock of himself and the situation and slowly his thoughts begin to stream back to normal. His injuries start to register as he slowly gets to his feet; slowly shaking off the stun and fatigue.

"Fine. It will be our little secret." Andie pops several vertebra in his neck back into place. "No one will know what transpired here today from me." which wont be hard since I don't know what's going on in the first place other being attacked for no reason....

[Sedna]

1957 Tuesday, January 9, 2063 - Land's End Magic Shop

The fixer nods acknowledgement, his attention fully on the third, who has not spoken yet. After several seconds, a short, reluctant nod; and at once the pressure eases up on Andie, allowing him to get up onto his feet, this time. When he'd tried, before, the fingers had tightened perceptably until he was certain the bone couldn't be far from snapping.

It's a debatable benefit. The floor had felt rather more reliable.

"Now that you have vetted out this place" -- and something in Solomon's voice cautions against any further exploration by the trio should they disagree with his assessment -- "were you planning to bring him inside any time soon? Or will you be leaving him alone in the car all night?"

"Not alone," says the woman. "The kid's staying with him."

"Excuse me?" asks the fixer, his voice tinged with warning.

"Orders," says the mage. "She holds classes here, he can teach."

The woman had moved to cover the door while the third goes outside, opening the door to a bone-numbing blast of winter. She seems not to feel it. Solomon removes his spectacles, begins cleaning them. Finishing, he places them back on. "Sara --"

"You are currently in contact with her, yes?" The cold smile shows in the mage's voice, as if he already knows the answer. "Ask her. Or make the decision yourself."

Some decision, thinks Andie. It's not like the guy's going to accept any decision that isn't 'yes'. I don't know what's going on here, but I'm not sure how I feel about one of these guys staying here ...

"Yes," says Solomon, after an interval just long enough for the cold to settle into the room. The young mage shivers, partly because of the cold. Was Sara's heating electric or gas? Hopefully these guys stop leaving the door open. I'm freezing.