Caittie
Wednesday 8/13/70 02:18:25
Caittie's form was still as bits and pieces of rubble smoldered all around her. She let out a soft groan as she lifted her head off the ground. Opening her eyes, her vision was a dark blur with specks of moving light. All she heard was the sound of being underwater. As she tried to push herself off the ground with her arms, her body gave way to the strain and she fell back to the cold stone.
Her rapid breath broke down into coughs as she lay in the dirt and dust. Putting her hand over her mouth in a vain attempt to filter out the dust, she tried to regulate her breathing. Seconds passed and she finally got used to the dust and calmed down.
Openning her eyes again, she saw the alleyway infront of her easily with her elven eyes. The light from behind her caused shadows to flicker and dance along the right wall as the smoldering rubble pushed back the darkness in small orange patches. As she slowly pushed herself into a sitting postion, she wondered why the light behind her was moving around so much.
"Oh my God...", was all Caittie said as she put a hand to her mouth and staired with wide eyes. Turning around, she was able to see the smoldering ruins of what used to be her house. The second floor had all but been blown away, pieces of it scattered to who knows where. There were a few beams and walls standing but nothing reminded her of the place she grew up in.
She sat there a second untill something clicked in her mind. 'I need to get out of here! They might come back!', she thought as she scrambled to her feet. Pausing only long enough to pick up her backpack and glasses, she ran away from the burning wreck of a house.
Wednesday 8/13/70 02:34:10
Tires gripped the road and screeched as the vehicle made a fast turn down the road. The red and blue lights danced on the buildings as it passed, while the siren wailed its shrill cry. As it drove down the empty street towards a faint smoky glow, the sounds and lights dimmed untill it turned down another street.
A figure stepped out of the shadows of an alleyway and looked down the road towards the direction the car went. Caittie couldn't hear it anymore, but her hearing wasn't fully back. As she started to walk down the still road, she kept hearing a dull ringing in her ears, but thankfully it was fading over time.
She kept walking untill an ARO caught her attention in her peripheral vision. Looking to her right she saw a virtual neon sign that brought her some small bit of relief this taxing night, "Six Feet Under - Coffin Hotel". She might have even thought the name was funny if the times were different, right now though she only felt tired.
As she walked into the big door on the side of the building, she looked around at her surroundings. She saw rows of bland, but hulking metal doors all lined up on the wall around one meter wide. When she looked at one of the doors, it broadcasted the price for a 12 hour stay.
"Ten credits...", Caittie said outloud as she tried to mentally command the money over to open the door. After a second she realised that she didnt have her commlink with her. Sighing, she dropped her head in defeat before searching her pockets and then her backpack.
"22... 38... 43... 50... That's it?", she asked no one in perticular. Grumbling to herself, she reluctantly put in the required ammount into a conventional coinslot in the door. As she put in the ten nuyen coin, a AR timer and virtual 'Yes/No' appeared just as a timer and buttons lit up on the door. Pressing the glowing 'Yes' button, Caittie saw the timer start to tick down as the door unlocked and swung open on its hinges.
As she looked inside, she let out sigh of relief to see an empty bed with what looked like clean sheets. She didnt even care that the room was cramped with only enough room for the bed and a small shelf. As she stepped inside, she started to pull the door closed but it closed on its own. As it closed, the room pressureised a bit and she could hear a slight clunk from the door as it locked.
Figuring this was how it was supposed to work, Caittie dropped her bag and set her glasses on the shelf. In the dim light that a lamp on the shelf gave off, she shed her cloths and climbed onto the bed. After a few minutes of just lying there staring at the very bland ceiling, turned off the light and rolled over. In the darkness, she just lay there untill a dreamless sleep took her from the waking world.
Wednesday 8/13/70 12:34:10
*Beep-Beep-Beep*
"Mmm... Huh...? Where am I!?", a young woman yells as she bolts up in bed, holding the sheets up infront of her. Looking around in the darkness, Caittie's eyes slowly make out the inside of the coffin room. Turning her head towards the door, she sees the AR clock ticking down from the two hour left mark.
'Oh... Yeah... I'm in a coffin motel thing.', she thinks to herself as she pulls the sheets closer to herself in a failing attempt to block the memories of what happened last night. Thoughts and feelings raced through her as she pulled the sheets tighter and tighter, untill a loud rumbling emitted from her midsection.
"And now I have to find food too. Why is this happening to me?!", Caittie yells at the top of her lungs. The vibrations echo a little in the closed space, but nothing replies with an answer.
Groaning a bit, Caittie turned on the light on the shelf and slid off the matress. She stretched a bit, then started putting on her cloths. After tieing back her hair, she reached over and put on her glasses. It was more of a habit than accually needing them to see. She smiled a bit at remembering how she bought them with the money she saved up by working with ther father in the store... And then her eyes went misty as the memory played through.
Wiping her eyes, she picked up her backpack and turned towards the door. Pressing the 'Open' button, she was presented with an AR warning window to remember to take everything with her. Checking herself again, she watched as the door opened on its own and then walked through it. As she walked away, she jumped a bit when it slammed shut and clunked as it locked.
Walking towards the exit, she thought of what she should do. 'I guess i should really get some food first.', she decided while she unconsiously rubbed her stomach. Walking out the door, she took her first few steps into a new way of life, whether she liked it or not...
Full Version: Hitting Bottom - Third Wave
Adam
Wednesday 5/14/70 19:05:40
Franco Balducci's calm veneer exploded. He erupted like a geyser of muscle from his chair, knocking it backwards and slamming his meaty hands on the table top hard enough that Adam felt the vibrations shiver across the wide mahogany surface. Balducci cut the college student off with a red-faced roar - "Don't you talk to ME about the way I am capable of communicating!!! YOU come into MY place of business and want to take away a hundred large in cash income and all you can pony up is to fucking threaten my family, and then you talk to ME about fucking violence?!"
Freddie the ork skirted carefully around the giant human and set the chair back up. As if on cue, Balducci regains his compusure and slowly sat back down, his eyes never leaving Adam's. Behind him, Adam could literally feel the presence of the troll and hear his wheezing breath.
Franco's face was a war of emotions, taut with the tension between his gut and his brains.
Wednesday 5/14/70 19:05:40
Franco Balducci's calm veneer exploded. He erupted like a geyser of muscle from his chair, knocking it backwards and slamming his meaty hands on the table top hard enough that Adam felt the vibrations shiver across the wide mahogany surface. Balducci cut the college student off with a red-faced roar - "Don't you talk to ME about the way I am capable of communicating!!! YOU come into MY place of business and want to take away a hundred large in cash income and all you can pony up is to fucking threaten my family, and then you talk to ME about fucking violence?!"
Freddie the ork skirted carefully around the giant human and set the chair back up. As if on cue, Balducci regains his compusure and slowly sat back down, his eyes never leaving Adam's. Behind him, Adam could literally feel the presence of the troll and hear his wheezing breath.
Franco's face was a war of emotions, taut with the tension between his gut and his brains.
Caittie
Wednesday 8/13/70 12:37:46
Caittie winced as her eyes adjusted to the mid-day sunlight. After a few seconds, she wondered why her commlink wasn't automaticly changing the shade setting on her glasses, when she remembered she didnt have one anymore. Mentally sighing, she willed her glasses to up the shade level untill it was comfortable for her to see without squinting.
Looking around the surrounding area, she saw some vending machines along a wall of the coffin motel, and felt her stomach growl. Putting a hand over her begging belly, Caittie walked over towards the machines in search of one with some food.
"Cloths... Toiletries... Er...", she said outloud, blushing as she registered what was in the last one. "I guess they sell everything in these things... everything accept for food.", she mumbled.
'Maybe I can find a store around here...', she thought as she headed out to the street. Looking up and down it, she saw a resturaunt in the distance and started wandering towards it.
As she got closer, the smell of real steak waifed into her nose and she closed her eyes as she imagined the taste. Unconsiously, she started walking faster towards it, and before she knew it, she was standing inside the doors reveling in the smells while watching waiters walk past with platers of steaming meat and greens.
Looking over at the front of the waiting line, she saw a ARO and her jaw almost dropped. 'Twenty-five credit table fee!? Thats more than half what I have!', she cried out in her mind.
As Caittie slowly turned around and walked out in defeat, her stomach growled in protest. Her gait down the street was slower than ever as she continued to smell the resturaunt behind her. It was like the wind had changed direction to taunt her and her situation. This continued for a few blocks untill it finally changed direction again, and she wasnt bombarded with the smells of things above her current station.
After a few more blocks, Caittie sat down on a bench at a corner of an intersection. Looking at the ground, she continued to think about her situation and what she could do. Before she could come to any decisions, a doorchime behind her broke her concentration.
Looking over her shoulder, she saw a massive troll stepping out of the building idlely tearing off hunks of a burrito in its grip. As the hulking she-troll looked down at Caittie, she heard it say, "What yous lookin' at?"
Quickly looking down at the ground, Caittie shook her head and very quietly replied, "Nothing..."
Hearing nothing more than a derisive snort and the sound of heavy footsteps heading away from her, she looked up to see the giant walking across the street. Cars skid to a halt lest they ram into it and damage thier vehicle, cause the light was clearly against the troll's direction.
Looking back towards the building the troll came out of, she saw the sign that everyone almost always knew. At least I can finally get some food...', she thought to herself as she got up and walked in the door.
As the door closed behind her, an idle voice droned, "Welcome to Stuffer Shack..." as a young human read a magazine behind the counter. He was dressed in a standard uniform and obviously didnt care about welcoming people.
Ignoring him, Caittie walked down the isles that filled the store. Passing knick knacks and asorted junk, she finally made it back to the food section. Looking over the selection, she finally decided on a Soy-burger. Taking it out of the cooler, she walked a few steps over and pulled out a bottle of water too.
As she wandered back towards the front of the store, she passed the microwave set out to heat any food customers bought. Reading the directions on the package she set the timer and waited. After what seemed like forever, she heard a chime and pulled out a warm meal.
The guy behind the counter didnt even register her when Caittie walked up. He kept reading his magaizine oblivious to reality and the fact he had a waiting customer. Used to the fact that almost everyone had an auto-debit feature on thier commlinks, he didnt really have much to do other than restock the shelves.
"I'd like to buy these...", he heard someone say. Not even looking up past the items on the counter, he said, "3 nuyen", and went back to reading.
Reaching into her pocket, Caittie grabbed three coins and dropped them on the counter. Without saying anything else, she walked out the door and started eating her food. It didnt taste all that great, but when you are hungry you might eat almost anything.
Wednesday 8/13/70 14:21:26
Sitting down on a bench in a park she found, Caittie was relaxing in the shade of a large birch tree. Idlely peering into cyberspace through her augmented reality, she wandered from site to site. Thinking it would be smart to look into the weather for the next few days, she wandered onto a local news site. The front page was filled with politics and sports numbers as she scrolled through it. Before she got to the weather area, her vision narrowed and then widened as she opened up a side story link.
"Early this morning, a rash outbreaks of gasline explosions has caused the city's natural gas company, Clear Burn Co., to lose three percent of its stock value in the first few seconds of trading. When questioned about the safety of the gas lines to resedential areas, the spokesman replied, 'We are looking into the matter, but stress that we follow all safety codes up till the lines are installed onto the houses. After that, the owner is responsible for the pipes inside.'
The last explosion occured at around 0200 this morning. The victoms, the Natome family, were said to have no survivors from the blast. LoneStar investigators have deemed it an accidental mishap due to leaking pipes and a sparking relay. As such, they have left the site of the explosion, leaving danger tape untill city contractors can clear the lot."
After hearing the news blurb, Caittie just sat there dumbfounded. 'LoneStar said it was an accident?! Accident?!', she thought, rage building up in her. 'Alex was right all along! The Star is just as bad as the scum they pull off the streets!'
Caittie just sat there on the bench, venting and steaming about what she learned. She stayed like that for a while...
Wednesday 8/13/70 12:37:46
Caittie winced as her eyes adjusted to the mid-day sunlight. After a few seconds, she wondered why her commlink wasn't automaticly changing the shade setting on her glasses, when she remembered she didnt have one anymore. Mentally sighing, she willed her glasses to up the shade level untill it was comfortable for her to see without squinting.
Looking around the surrounding area, she saw some vending machines along a wall of the coffin motel, and felt her stomach growl. Putting a hand over her begging belly, Caittie walked over towards the machines in search of one with some food.
"Cloths... Toiletries... Er...", she said outloud, blushing as she registered what was in the last one. "I guess they sell everything in these things... everything accept for food.", she mumbled.
'Maybe I can find a store around here...', she thought as she headed out to the street. Looking up and down it, she saw a resturaunt in the distance and started wandering towards it.
As she got closer, the smell of real steak waifed into her nose and she closed her eyes as she imagined the taste. Unconsiously, she started walking faster towards it, and before she knew it, she was standing inside the doors reveling in the smells while watching waiters walk past with platers of steaming meat and greens.
Looking over at the front of the waiting line, she saw a ARO and her jaw almost dropped. 'Twenty-five credit table fee!? Thats more than half what I have!', she cried out in her mind.
As Caittie slowly turned around and walked out in defeat, her stomach growled in protest. Her gait down the street was slower than ever as she continued to smell the resturaunt behind her. It was like the wind had changed direction to taunt her and her situation. This continued for a few blocks untill it finally changed direction again, and she wasnt bombarded with the smells of things above her current station.
After a few more blocks, Caittie sat down on a bench at a corner of an intersection. Looking at the ground, she continued to think about her situation and what she could do. Before she could come to any decisions, a doorchime behind her broke her concentration.
Looking over her shoulder, she saw a massive troll stepping out of the building idlely tearing off hunks of a burrito in its grip. As the hulking she-troll looked down at Caittie, she heard it say, "What yous lookin' at?"
Quickly looking down at the ground, Caittie shook her head and very quietly replied, "Nothing..."
Hearing nothing more than a derisive snort and the sound of heavy footsteps heading away from her, she looked up to see the giant walking across the street. Cars skid to a halt lest they ram into it and damage thier vehicle, cause the light was clearly against the troll's direction.
Looking back towards the building the troll came out of, she saw the sign that everyone almost always knew. At least I can finally get some food...', she thought to herself as she got up and walked in the door.
As the door closed behind her, an idle voice droned, "Welcome to Stuffer Shack..." as a young human read a magazine behind the counter. He was dressed in a standard uniform and obviously didnt care about welcoming people.
Ignoring him, Caittie walked down the isles that filled the store. Passing knick knacks and asorted junk, she finally made it back to the food section. Looking over the selection, she finally decided on a Soy-burger. Taking it out of the cooler, she walked a few steps over and pulled out a bottle of water too.
As she wandered back towards the front of the store, she passed the microwave set out to heat any food customers bought. Reading the directions on the package she set the timer and waited. After what seemed like forever, she heard a chime and pulled out a warm meal.
The guy behind the counter didnt even register her when Caittie walked up. He kept reading his magaizine oblivious to reality and the fact he had a waiting customer. Used to the fact that almost everyone had an auto-debit feature on thier commlinks, he didnt really have much to do other than restock the shelves.
"I'd like to buy these...", he heard someone say. Not even looking up past the items on the counter, he said, "3 nuyen", and went back to reading.
Reaching into her pocket, Caittie grabbed three coins and dropped them on the counter. Without saying anything else, she walked out the door and started eating her food. It didnt taste all that great, but when you are hungry you might eat almost anything.
Wednesday 8/13/70 14:21:26
Sitting down on a bench in a park she found, Caittie was relaxing in the shade of a large birch tree. Idlely peering into cyberspace through her augmented reality, she wandered from site to site. Thinking it would be smart to look into the weather for the next few days, she wandered onto a local news site. The front page was filled with politics and sports numbers as she scrolled through it. Before she got to the weather area, her vision narrowed and then widened as she opened up a side story link.
"Early this morning, a rash outbreaks of gasline explosions has caused the city's natural gas company, Clear Burn Co., to lose three percent of its stock value in the first few seconds of trading. When questioned about the safety of the gas lines to resedential areas, the spokesman replied, 'We are looking into the matter, but stress that we follow all safety codes up till the lines are installed onto the houses. After that, the owner is responsible for the pipes inside.'
The last explosion occured at around 0200 this morning. The victoms, the Natome family, were said to have no survivors from the blast. LoneStar investigators have deemed it an accidental mishap due to leaking pipes and a sparking relay. As such, they have left the site of the explosion, leaving danger tape untill city contractors can clear the lot."
After hearing the news blurb, Caittie just sat there dumbfounded. 'LoneStar said it was an accident?! Accident?!', she thought, rage building up in her. 'Alex was right all along! The Star is just as bad as the scum they pull off the streets!'
Caittie just sat there on the bench, venting and steaming about what she learned. She stayed like that for a while...
Jonathan
7/7/70 19:15:02 - Dante's
Jonathan moved through the layers of Hell, pausing for a moment to enjoy the offerings of Gluttony, and eager to get down to Lust, like a fish thru water. Dante's was the place to be and he felt the energy of the throbbing music and gyrating bodies flowing over his skin like warm ocean water. It took him a few minutes to find Jason and Guile sitting close in a booth, their heads close together, whispering sweet nothings at one another.
"HEY!" Jonathan shouted as he threw himself into the seat across from his friends who jumped at his boisterous appearance. Savoring the moment he pulled his newly aquired thong from inside his jacket and flipped it over at Guile, relishing the surprised look on her face.
"Jason left this at my place a couple days ago. Since it didn't look like his size I figured it belonged to you. Nice." Jonathan gave Guile plenty of leer along with the speech and had to supress a laugh as Jason blushed redder than a sunburnt Elf and Guile's face went through a rainbow of emotions before settling on the color of unhappy.
"Cute, big guy, real cute." Her tone was cold enough to leave a skim of ice on Jonathan's non-existent drink and Jason's blush was now looking positively pissed.
It's going to be a GOOD night!
Jonathan roared out a laugh and waved for one of the waitresses to bring another round of drinks. There were a lot of hours still to go.
7/7/70 19:15:02 - Dante's
Jonathan moved through the layers of Hell, pausing for a moment to enjoy the offerings of Gluttony, and eager to get down to Lust, like a fish thru water. Dante's was the place to be and he felt the energy of the throbbing music and gyrating bodies flowing over his skin like warm ocean water. It took him a few minutes to find Jason and Guile sitting close in a booth, their heads close together, whispering sweet nothings at one another.
"HEY!" Jonathan shouted as he threw himself into the seat across from his friends who jumped at his boisterous appearance. Savoring the moment he pulled his newly aquired thong from inside his jacket and flipped it over at Guile, relishing the surprised look on her face.
"Jason left this at my place a couple days ago. Since it didn't look like his size I figured it belonged to you. Nice." Jonathan gave Guile plenty of leer along with the speech and had to supress a laugh as Jason blushed redder than a sunburnt Elf and Guile's face went through a rainbow of emotions before settling on the color of unhappy.
"Cute, big guy, real cute." Her tone was cold enough to leave a skim of ice on Jonathan's non-existent drink and Jason's blush was now looking positively pissed.
It's going to be a GOOD night!
Jonathan roared out a laugh and waved for one of the waitresses to bring another round of drinks. There were a lot of hours still to go.
Caittie
Wednesday 8/13/70 14:29:08
After a while, Caittie started to calm down from finding the news article. Looking up she could see flashes of the sun through the tree leaves as a slight wind moved them around. 'I wont get anything done by just getting angry. I need to figure out what to do next...', she told herself.
Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she tried to think of her next move. As she sat there, her posture changed slightly over time as her arms crossed in front of her and then she lowered her head with a stern look on it. Eventually, she let out a small groan of defeat, It’s no good, I cant think of anything. I’ve never had to deal with anything like this before. I need help, but everyone I know is...’
Caittie’s face softened as her eyes started to well up with tears, but before she started crying, she wiped her eyes with her right hand. Quickly shaking her head, she chided herself, No! I cant do that all the time... I need to move on...’ She sighed a bit as she looked up at the sky again, seeing the skyscrapers in the distance reaching up almost to the clouds. ’I still need help though...’
Feeling the sun against her face, she just sat there with her eyes closed and relaxed for a bit. A few minutes later she slowly opened her eyes again as she whispered, “That’s it...” Relaxing her body even farther, she felt the ebb and flow of the Matrix and drifted into it. Searching for a specific node, she moved through the sea of information on a mission. Finally finding the node she was looking for, she accessed it with ease.
It was a nighttime scene in the virtual world. Pale moonlight reviled rolling hills in the background as a campfire danced a few meters away with a few logs around it. As Caittie walked towards it, she saw a small dust devil form by the fire and then dissipate, leaving a lone figure in it’s wake. Walking closer to the campfire, Caittie was relived to see who it was, for she knew that avatar well.
Standing around six inches taller and that many years older, the lone female was a sight for sore eyes. Shoulder length brown hair complimented the tanned skinned brown eyed woman and the traditional Native cloths fit her well. As Caittie finished walking up to the woman, she immediately grabbed the woman in a hug as her eyes overflowed with tears.
Stunned, the avatar just stood there a second before hugging the crying girl back and getting them both to sit down on one of the logs around the campfire. They sat there for a while, until the young girl had calmed down enough to push herself back into a sitting position. Looking her over, the human broke the silence first, “What’s wrong, Caittie?”
Sniffing and wiping her eyes Caittie tried to reply with a coherent answer. “Rebecca, you don’t know how good it is to see you. If I had lost you, I wouldn’t have anyone.”
“Wouldn’t have what? What are you talking about?” Rebecca replied with a confused look on her face, though she sensed it must be serious.
“Well… It started yesterday when…” Caittie started as she told her mentor what had come to pass.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“And that’s when I came to see you…” Caittie finished, wiping away the last of her tears and trying to strengthen her resolve. Then, reaching behind her, she pulls out a scroll and hands it to Rebecca. “Right now they think I’m dead cause of this, but if they find out that I’m not, they might come after me again!”
Rebecca’s face grows stern as she looks over the scroll Caittie handed her. Closing her eyes, she sits there and thinks for a while before saying anything. She then opened her eyes and flashed a reassuring smile to her once pupil. “I think I might know some people who can help, but it will take me a while to get anything done. Just hang tight and I should contact you back later tonight.”
Caittie took a deep breath and smiled back, comforted that her friend could help. As her avatar started to say something, all Rebecca heard was, “ThaKRRsshks… Whahahahat was that?!” as Caittie’s avatar glitched and stuttered in her movements. The older woman recognized the effect of someone reconnecting through multiple nodes when she saw it.
“Caittie, are you outside right now?”, the older woman asked. “Yes… How did you know?” the young girl replied.
Smiling a smile that teachers have over students, Rebecca calmly replied, “Well, looking at some sites real quick, we just had a solar flare hit the Earth. They sometimes cause a disruption with communications but there are ways to stop it from doing so. As a technomancer, you can learn how to do so from other technomancers like myself, or sprites, like this one, which you form and register with your gifts.”
As Caittie watched another dust devil appeared back behind Rebecca and reviled a man in a Native dancing outfit and bird mask. Looking into the eyes, she didn’t see the eyes of a normal avatar, but something different in an amazing way, though indescribable through any words.
“At the moment, I can’t train you because I’m too busy with classes and Falcor, here, is going to be contacting the people we talked about earlier. Even so, I know you have it in you to make a sprite of your own, just remember that they aren’t mindless. They have feelings of their own and if made mad, can do just as much harm as they can be helpful.”
Caittie just nodded as she looked back to Rebecca, who continued after receiving a response. “Just form a sprite and then use your mind to link with it. Once you start, you will instinctively know what to do, that’s how I found out. Just try and start small… Oh I have to go now; class is starting in five minutes. You going to be ok?” She finished off as she put her hand on Caittie’s shoulder.
Caittie reached up and held onto it as she nodded again. “Yeah, I think so. Thanks for all the help.” Rebecca just smiled in reply. “I’ll talk to you later, Caittie.”
Back in the real world, Caittie sat up straight and stretched her arms above her head. Only four minutes had passed but it seemed like forever in the virtual world. Standing up, she walked around until she found a public water fountain and paused to take a drink.
She continued to walk with no real destination in mind as she mulled over what she should do. ’I need to go somewhere where I’ll be safe while I try this sprite thing, Rebecca was talking about…’, she thought. Not long after she suddenly stopped and then changed directions, this time with a pace that had purpose.
On her AR display, a map pointed towards her destination. ‘Geo Spaz’, a VR friendly café that catered to people around her age. It was around three kilometers away, but Caittie figured that was the best place to try. A determined look crossed her face as she psyched herself up…
Wednesday 8/13/70 14:29:08
After a while, Caittie started to calm down from finding the news article. Looking up she could see flashes of the sun through the tree leaves as a slight wind moved them around. 'I wont get anything done by just getting angry. I need to figure out what to do next...', she told herself.
Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she tried to think of her next move. As she sat there, her posture changed slightly over time as her arms crossed in front of her and then she lowered her head with a stern look on it. Eventually, she let out a small groan of defeat, It’s no good, I cant think of anything. I’ve never had to deal with anything like this before. I need help, but everyone I know is...’
Caittie’s face softened as her eyes started to well up with tears, but before she started crying, she wiped her eyes with her right hand. Quickly shaking her head, she chided herself, No! I cant do that all the time... I need to move on...’ She sighed a bit as she looked up at the sky again, seeing the skyscrapers in the distance reaching up almost to the clouds. ’I still need help though...’
Feeling the sun against her face, she just sat there with her eyes closed and relaxed for a bit. A few minutes later she slowly opened her eyes again as she whispered, “That’s it...” Relaxing her body even farther, she felt the ebb and flow of the Matrix and drifted into it. Searching for a specific node, she moved through the sea of information on a mission. Finally finding the node she was looking for, she accessed it with ease.
It was a nighttime scene in the virtual world. Pale moonlight reviled rolling hills in the background as a campfire danced a few meters away with a few logs around it. As Caittie walked towards it, she saw a small dust devil form by the fire and then dissipate, leaving a lone figure in it’s wake. Walking closer to the campfire, Caittie was relived to see who it was, for she knew that avatar well.
Standing around six inches taller and that many years older, the lone female was a sight for sore eyes. Shoulder length brown hair complimented the tanned skinned brown eyed woman and the traditional Native cloths fit her well. As Caittie finished walking up to the woman, she immediately grabbed the woman in a hug as her eyes overflowed with tears.
Stunned, the avatar just stood there a second before hugging the crying girl back and getting them both to sit down on one of the logs around the campfire. They sat there for a while, until the young girl had calmed down enough to push herself back into a sitting position. Looking her over, the human broke the silence first, “What’s wrong, Caittie?”
Sniffing and wiping her eyes Caittie tried to reply with a coherent answer. “Rebecca, you don’t know how good it is to see you. If I had lost you, I wouldn’t have anyone.”
“Wouldn’t have what? What are you talking about?” Rebecca replied with a confused look on her face, though she sensed it must be serious.
“Well… It started yesterday when…” Caittie started as she told her mentor what had come to pass.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“And that’s when I came to see you…” Caittie finished, wiping away the last of her tears and trying to strengthen her resolve. Then, reaching behind her, she pulls out a scroll and hands it to Rebecca. “Right now they think I’m dead cause of this, but if they find out that I’m not, they might come after me again!”
Rebecca’s face grows stern as she looks over the scroll Caittie handed her. Closing her eyes, she sits there and thinks for a while before saying anything. She then opened her eyes and flashed a reassuring smile to her once pupil. “I think I might know some people who can help, but it will take me a while to get anything done. Just hang tight and I should contact you back later tonight.”
Caittie took a deep breath and smiled back, comforted that her friend could help. As her avatar started to say something, all Rebecca heard was, “ThaKRRsshks… Whahahahat was that?!” as Caittie’s avatar glitched and stuttered in her movements. The older woman recognized the effect of someone reconnecting through multiple nodes when she saw it.
“Caittie, are you outside right now?”, the older woman asked. “Yes… How did you know?” the young girl replied.
Smiling a smile that teachers have over students, Rebecca calmly replied, “Well, looking at some sites real quick, we just had a solar flare hit the Earth. They sometimes cause a disruption with communications but there are ways to stop it from doing so. As a technomancer, you can learn how to do so from other technomancers like myself, or sprites, like this one, which you form and register with your gifts.”
As Caittie watched another dust devil appeared back behind Rebecca and reviled a man in a Native dancing outfit and bird mask. Looking into the eyes, she didn’t see the eyes of a normal avatar, but something different in an amazing way, though indescribable through any words.
“At the moment, I can’t train you because I’m too busy with classes and Falcor, here, is going to be contacting the people we talked about earlier. Even so, I know you have it in you to make a sprite of your own, just remember that they aren’t mindless. They have feelings of their own and if made mad, can do just as much harm as they can be helpful.”
Caittie just nodded as she looked back to Rebecca, who continued after receiving a response. “Just form a sprite and then use your mind to link with it. Once you start, you will instinctively know what to do, that’s how I found out. Just try and start small… Oh I have to go now; class is starting in five minutes. You going to be ok?” She finished off as she put her hand on Caittie’s shoulder.
Caittie reached up and held onto it as she nodded again. “Yeah, I think so. Thanks for all the help.” Rebecca just smiled in reply. “I’ll talk to you later, Caittie.”
Back in the real world, Caittie sat up straight and stretched her arms above her head. Only four minutes had passed but it seemed like forever in the virtual world. Standing up, she walked around until she found a public water fountain and paused to take a drink.
She continued to walk with no real destination in mind as she mulled over what she should do. ’I need to go somewhere where I’ll be safe while I try this sprite thing, Rebecca was talking about…’, she thought. Not long after she suddenly stopped and then changed directions, this time with a pace that had purpose.
On her AR display, a map pointed towards her destination. ‘Geo Spaz’, a VR friendly café that catered to people around her age. It was around three kilometers away, but Caittie figured that was the best place to try. A determined look crossed her face as she psyched herself up…
Harriet
Wednesday 7/2/70 04:12:12
Only one cop remaining - the female officer continued to slash and thrust at Harriet with her stun baton, but she was obviously walking a thin line between fight and flight. Harriet just wanted the woman gone, so she bared her tusks and - and the woman's eyes went wide and she bolted - before Harriet even got her roar out. Then something clicked in her mind and she turned around and there was another Lone Star cruiser running dark running straight for her running would do no good too late and then she flew - not up and back, but to the side. Her big ass on the asphalt she watched Morris fly <<He'd pushed her out of the way!>> over the car's hood and into its windshield - blood spraying everywhere. The car spun out of control and slammed into a wall, throwing Morris free and bursting into flames.
Ignoring the heat, Harriet rushed to her brother's side. He was alive, but blood poured from the stump that was all that remained of his right leg from the knee down. The left leg was still there, but didn't look it could possibly be saved.
Wednesday 7/2/70 04:12:12
Only one cop remaining - the female officer continued to slash and thrust at Harriet with her stun baton, but she was obviously walking a thin line between fight and flight. Harriet just wanted the woman gone, so she bared her tusks and - and the woman's eyes went wide and she bolted - before Harriet even got her roar out. Then something clicked in her mind and she turned around and there was another Lone Star cruiser running dark running straight for her running would do no good too late and then she flew - not up and back, but to the side. Her big ass on the asphalt she watched Morris fly <<He'd pushed her out of the way!>> over the car's hood and into its windshield - blood spraying everywhere. The car spun out of control and slammed into a wall, throwing Morris free and bursting into flames.
Ignoring the heat, Harriet rushed to her brother's side. He was alive, but blood poured from the stump that was all that remained of his right leg from the knee down. The left leg was still there, but didn't look it could possibly be saved.
Adam
Wednesday 5/14/70 19:05:50
Lips pursed, Balducci took huge deep breaths through his big nostrils - in and out - in and out - slowly in and out - and slowly the breaths got shallower, slowly his face returned to a normal color, there under the orange light of the strip club.
Then he broke out laughing. "Bruno, would ya look at the balls on this one! Man, I bet you got some big old fucking elephant balls under that there suit."
"FUCKING BEHEMOTH BAWLS," bellowed Bruno.
"Hez, boss, kid's got hez," came the sycophantic echo from Freddie.
Franco leveled a finger at Adam. "Ya know, some guys take the dive. And I respect them for that. Some guys, they fucking KNOW it's gonna be worse if they don't, but they still gotta lean on Bruno, make him do all the work. And even though it's not really his job, he's a sport about it, ain'tcha Bruno? But those guys is pussies. Fu-cking pussies. But you, now you are the first one I seen that knew Bruno's way was worse but risked it for a bigger payoff. All or nothing, huh? Well all right then, let's get down to brass tacks.
"As I said before, Miss Shwow is worth a couple hundred grand to me, after overhead. Now, I appreciate your employer's concern - his very personal concern. But in the interests of fairness, I have the compellation to ask you - and thereby by commutation inquire of himself - where was this patronistic concern when she was sucking cock in the corner over there - yeah, that's the one - right the fuck over there behind the shower stage..."
"But only the good-looking ones, boss," chimed in Freddie.
"Yeah," Franco winced in annoyed disgust, "only the real pretty-boys - where was I, oh yeah - where was the paternalization when she was doin' that for a few c-notes a shot - or worse - in my place of proprietorship - right under my nose and not a dime did I fucking see. Where was he then? We are not talking a virgin from St. Mary's Finishing School for Catholic Cockteasers here. I give her a pass, next thing I know, all these broads is trying for a free ride. My word won't mean shit. And that's on TOP of the lost income. So what I want to know is - I do this thing for your boss - which I am more than ebullient to do in the interests of good and peaceful relations - I do this thing - what is my end?"
Wednesday 5/14/70 19:05:50
Lips pursed, Balducci took huge deep breaths through his big nostrils - in and out - in and out - slowly in and out - and slowly the breaths got shallower, slowly his face returned to a normal color, there under the orange light of the strip club.
Then he broke out laughing. "Bruno, would ya look at the balls on this one! Man, I bet you got some big old fucking elephant balls under that there suit."
"FUCKING BEHEMOTH BAWLS," bellowed Bruno.
"Hez, boss, kid's got hez," came the sycophantic echo from Freddie.
Franco leveled a finger at Adam. "Ya know, some guys take the dive. And I respect them for that. Some guys, they fucking KNOW it's gonna be worse if they don't, but they still gotta lean on Bruno, make him do all the work. And even though it's not really his job, he's a sport about it, ain'tcha Bruno? But those guys is pussies. Fu-cking pussies. But you, now you are the first one I seen that knew Bruno's way was worse but risked it for a bigger payoff. All or nothing, huh? Well all right then, let's get down to brass tacks.
"As I said before, Miss Shwow is worth a couple hundred grand to me, after overhead. Now, I appreciate your employer's concern - his very personal concern. But in the interests of fairness, I have the compellation to ask you - and thereby by commutation inquire of himself - where was this patronistic concern when she was sucking cock in the corner over there - yeah, that's the one - right the fuck over there behind the shower stage..."
"But only the good-looking ones, boss," chimed in Freddie.
"Yeah," Franco winced in annoyed disgust, "only the real pretty-boys - where was I, oh yeah - where was the paternalization when she was doin' that for a few c-notes a shot - or worse - in my place of proprietorship - right under my nose and not a dime did I fucking see. Where was he then? We are not talking a virgin from St. Mary's Finishing School for Catholic Cockteasers here. I give her a pass, next thing I know, all these broads is trying for a free ride. My word won't mean shit. And that's on TOP of the lost income. So what I want to know is - I do this thing for your boss - which I am more than ebullient to do in the interests of good and peaceful relations - I do this thing - what is my end?"
Jonathan
Monday 7/7/70 21:45:43
Jonathan was just starting to get a buzz on, and not just from the tequila shooters. He had been dropping his little bombs on Guile all through the evening. It had taken her a minute to deduce that she hadn't actually forgotten the thong - once she figured out he must have hacked her purchase records, her mind was ripe to receive all the other hints he dropped, showing her just how much he'd dug up.
The only problem was, although he could tell she was annoyed that he'd found out some things about her that she'd obviously have rather kept secret - and although she had grabbed him by the collar and dragged him into the unisex at the first hint he knew about the bridal periodical, and sworn him to secrecy - for all that, she never gave him what he wanted, which was some sign of having been bested in this round.
So when he'd finally said something along the lines of - come on, I really got ya this time - she just gave him a sly look, almost a worrying look. Jon had looked at Jason, but his friend had only shrugged in a studied display of innocence that had left Jon convinced his friend had had some hand in whatever mayhem the elven hacker was up to.
And now she was spinning it out for him -
"Tell you what, big guy - if by tomorrow morning you are not hands down convinced that I am the hacker supreme in this little trio - and I'll let you make the call - if you are not totally convinced that I am your mistress of the matrix - then I will do anything" - and here she carefully enunciated each syllable - "you want for one precious day of your life."
Jon glanced at Jason, and then he was REALLY scared, because Jason didn't look the least bit concerned. Sounded like she knew she had him, especially since he'd already shown his hand - but he couldn't back down, even though he knew the second half of her proposal - "And if you are convinced of my matchless prowess, then you, my favorite ork in the world, shall be mine for a day - and I assure you, my bedroom is the one part of my incredibly-dirty-and-in-desperate-need-of-a-deep-thorough-painstaking-cleaning apartment you will not be seeing. My terms are clear. Do you dare accept them?"
Monday 7/7/70 21:45:43
Jonathan was just starting to get a buzz on, and not just from the tequila shooters. He had been dropping his little bombs on Guile all through the evening. It had taken her a minute to deduce that she hadn't actually forgotten the thong - once she figured out he must have hacked her purchase records, her mind was ripe to receive all the other hints he dropped, showing her just how much he'd dug up.
The only problem was, although he could tell she was annoyed that he'd found out some things about her that she'd obviously have rather kept secret - and although she had grabbed him by the collar and dragged him into the unisex at the first hint he knew about the bridal periodical, and sworn him to secrecy - for all that, she never gave him what he wanted, which was some sign of having been bested in this round.
So when he'd finally said something along the lines of - come on, I really got ya this time - she just gave him a sly look, almost a worrying look. Jon had looked at Jason, but his friend had only shrugged in a studied display of innocence that had left Jon convinced his friend had had some hand in whatever mayhem the elven hacker was up to.
And now she was spinning it out for him -
"Tell you what, big guy - if by tomorrow morning you are not hands down convinced that I am the hacker supreme in this little trio - and I'll let you make the call - if you are not totally convinced that I am your mistress of the matrix - then I will do anything" - and here she carefully enunciated each syllable - "you want for one precious day of your life."
Jon glanced at Jason, and then he was REALLY scared, because Jason didn't look the least bit concerned. Sounded like she knew she had him, especially since he'd already shown his hand - but he couldn't back down, even though he knew the second half of her proposal - "And if you are convinced of my matchless prowess, then you, my favorite ork in the world, shall be mine for a day - and I assure you, my bedroom is the one part of my incredibly-dirty-and-in-desperate-need-of-a-deep-thorough-painstaking-cleaning apartment you will not be seeing. My terms are clear. Do you dare accept them?"
Caittie
Wednesday 8/13/70 15:12:48
Walking up to the café, Caittie could see it earned its name. The only normal thing on the outside 'Geo Spaz' was the neon sign that slowly changed colors in the earthen range. Through an augmented reality filter, instead of seeing walls, there were morphing images that randomly went through the different forms of landscapes. Miniature snow covered mountains, rolling hills with sloping tree lines, waving grass covered plains, raging volcanos: it ran through them all and more, like watching a miniature world on the side of the wall.
Caittie stopped just before going inside the door, out of the flow of sidewalk traffic, and just watched it flow and change. She saw a lot of things like this, it was nothing new to her, but she liked to watch the animation. It was amazing what people could make using their imagination and the skillful use of code. As she watched, she imagined little people living on the pristine landscape and what it would be like to be out there on those mountains or plains.
She leaned in closer to the wall to look closer at the realistic landscape as it changed from flat grass plains to dark green covered hills. She could swear that, if she looked close enough, she could see the individual leaves on the trees swaying in an imaginary wind. Leaning in even closer, she was around one inch from the virtual landscape when the hill exploded into an active volcano, spewing virtual ash and spraying red hot lava into the air.
Caittie immediately jumped back a few feet with a small yelp of surprise. To the unaugmented eye, it would look like she was staring at a blank brown wall and then jumped back after seeing nothing, but such wasn’t the case to many of the people passing by. Her reaction received a few chuckles and a couple of quick laughs from the people who saw what really went on.
Face flush beet red, Caittie quickly ducked inside the doors and soon forgot what just happened after seeing the inside of the café. The inside was just as earthen oriented as the outside, except completely opposite. Lining the walls were natural stone formations unnaturally clustered together in a way that would never had happened in real life. Formations of bland metal like iron and copper were scattered amongst the walls covered with crystals, gold, and silver veins. A few gems, scattered here and there, sparkled in the virtual light given off from a couple of magma flows. It all magically came together to give the room a life of its own.
Caittie would have stood there for a while just looking at the intricate designs of formations if it hadn’t been for someone coming through the doors behind her and tapping her on the shoulder. Shaken out of her trance, she quickly looked over her shoulder, then up a bit as she saw a tall orc standing behind her. He wore a red basketball shirt with a black 88 on the front and a blue baseball cap pulled backwards. “Excuse me, but could you please move? I need to get by.”
“Uh... Yeah, sure. Sorry” she replied as she stepped aside to let him pass. He walked pasted her, she watch him go up to the counter to talk to a female human on the other side. She nodded to him after they talked a bit and he then went over to one of the tables that were scattered around the floor and started typing on an AR keyboard.
Just as she saw that, someone shoved she from behind and she stumbled a few steps forward. “Move it. Your in my way.” a female voice from behind commanded as Caittie tried to catch herself. Turning around she saw a trio of chic humans in designer cloths. A little annoyed at them pushing her and talking that way, she reluctantly started to move into the room since that’s what she was going to do anyways.
Walking towards the counter she saw a sign behind the girl manning it. Quickly reading it, she understood they served food and drinks , but if you were going full VR you had to rent a chair or rack. The rates for the chair were cheaper and since Caittie was running low on funds she chose that option. “Hi, I’d like a chair for around four hours.”
“Sure thing, that will be four nuyen.” the girl replied. Reaching into her pocket, Caittie produced a five nuyen coin and watched the girl’s eyebrows furrowed as she unlocked a lockbox built into the counter to make her change. “Ok, you can use that one over there.” the girl finished, pointing to an empty chair near a corner filled with crystal quarts and a gold vein.
“Thank you.” Caittie said as she started walking towards the chair the girl indicated. Sitting down in it, it changed its form automatically to provide a pretty comfortable fit. Mentally going over what Rebecca had talked about one last time, she settled down and tried to relax. After a few deep breaths, she closed her eyes and felt the familiar shift of her consciousness into the realm of data and flow of information...
Wednesday 8/13/70 15:12:48
Walking up to the café, Caittie could see it earned its name. The only normal thing on the outside 'Geo Spaz' was the neon sign that slowly changed colors in the earthen range. Through an augmented reality filter, instead of seeing walls, there were morphing images that randomly went through the different forms of landscapes. Miniature snow covered mountains, rolling hills with sloping tree lines, waving grass covered plains, raging volcanos: it ran through them all and more, like watching a miniature world on the side of the wall.
Caittie stopped just before going inside the door, out of the flow of sidewalk traffic, and just watched it flow and change. She saw a lot of things like this, it was nothing new to her, but she liked to watch the animation. It was amazing what people could make using their imagination and the skillful use of code. As she watched, she imagined little people living on the pristine landscape and what it would be like to be out there on those mountains or plains.
She leaned in closer to the wall to look closer at the realistic landscape as it changed from flat grass plains to dark green covered hills. She could swear that, if she looked close enough, she could see the individual leaves on the trees swaying in an imaginary wind. Leaning in even closer, she was around one inch from the virtual landscape when the hill exploded into an active volcano, spewing virtual ash and spraying red hot lava into the air.
Caittie immediately jumped back a few feet with a small yelp of surprise. To the unaugmented eye, it would look like she was staring at a blank brown wall and then jumped back after seeing nothing, but such wasn’t the case to many of the people passing by. Her reaction received a few chuckles and a couple of quick laughs from the people who saw what really went on.
Face flush beet red, Caittie quickly ducked inside the doors and soon forgot what just happened after seeing the inside of the café. The inside was just as earthen oriented as the outside, except completely opposite. Lining the walls were natural stone formations unnaturally clustered together in a way that would never had happened in real life. Formations of bland metal like iron and copper were scattered amongst the walls covered with crystals, gold, and silver veins. A few gems, scattered here and there, sparkled in the virtual light given off from a couple of magma flows. It all magically came together to give the room a life of its own.
Caittie would have stood there for a while just looking at the intricate designs of formations if it hadn’t been for someone coming through the doors behind her and tapping her on the shoulder. Shaken out of her trance, she quickly looked over her shoulder, then up a bit as she saw a tall orc standing behind her. He wore a red basketball shirt with a black 88 on the front and a blue baseball cap pulled backwards. “Excuse me, but could you please move? I need to get by.”
“Uh... Yeah, sure. Sorry” she replied as she stepped aside to let him pass. He walked pasted her, she watch him go up to the counter to talk to a female human on the other side. She nodded to him after they talked a bit and he then went over to one of the tables that were scattered around the floor and started typing on an AR keyboard.
Just as she saw that, someone shoved she from behind and she stumbled a few steps forward. “Move it. Your in my way.” a female voice from behind commanded as Caittie tried to catch herself. Turning around she saw a trio of chic humans in designer cloths. A little annoyed at them pushing her and talking that way, she reluctantly started to move into the room since that’s what she was going to do anyways.
Walking towards the counter she saw a sign behind the girl manning it. Quickly reading it, she understood they served food and drinks , but if you were going full VR you had to rent a chair or rack. The rates for the chair were cheaper and since Caittie was running low on funds she chose that option. “Hi, I’d like a chair for around four hours.”
“Sure thing, that will be four nuyen.” the girl replied. Reaching into her pocket, Caittie produced a five nuyen coin and watched the girl’s eyebrows furrowed as she unlocked a lockbox built into the counter to make her change. “Ok, you can use that one over there.” the girl finished, pointing to an empty chair near a corner filled with crystal quarts and a gold vein.
“Thank you.” Caittie said as she started walking towards the chair the girl indicated. Sitting down in it, it changed its form automatically to provide a pretty comfortable fit. Mentally going over what Rebecca had talked about one last time, she settled down and tried to relax. After a few deep breaths, she closed her eyes and felt the familiar shift of her consciousness into the realm of data and flow of information...
Monday 7/7/70 21:46:01
That kind of challenge? It took only a couple of seconds to decide.
"Oh ya baby, I'm totally into it. Bring out your hottest code and your nastiest hacks Guile cause I'm the Matrix Master. Let's see what you got."
The thrill of the challenge, the ease of his boss's hack, the quantity of alcohol he'd consumed all combined into a throbbing drumbeat in the back of his head. It was the feeling he craved about all others, absolute assurance that he was alive.
With a shout and a shot he bounced from the booth and grabbed Guile's hand, inviting Jason with a look, to drag her onto the dance floor. The trio began thrashing and moving to the club re-mix of Maria Mercurial's Puta an old time dance club favorite, mixed with PrimeTime's latest number one.
That kind of challenge? It took only a couple of seconds to decide.
"Oh ya baby, I'm totally into it. Bring out your hottest code and your nastiest hacks Guile cause I'm the Matrix Master. Let's see what you got."
The thrill of the challenge, the ease of his boss's hack, the quantity of alcohol he'd consumed all combined into a throbbing drumbeat in the back of his head. It was the feeling he craved about all others, absolute assurance that he was alive.
With a shout and a shot he bounced from the booth and grabbed Guile's hand, inviting Jason with a look, to drag her onto the dance floor. The trio began thrashing and moving to the club re-mix of Maria Mercurial's Puta an old time dance club favorite, mixed with PrimeTime's latest number one.
Adam
Wednesday 5/14/70 19:10:04
Adam felt a cold chill rush over his body as Franco spoke. As he stopped bracing himself for sudden facial impact, he took a moment to appreciate the rush. This was, by far, one of the most dangerous things Adam had ever done - certainly the scariest thing he had ever willingly gotten himself into - and by all rights, he should have been shaking and looking for a way out of it.
But he couldn't. No matter how scared he started to get, he reminded himself that Shwen needed him, or needed someone, to stand up for her. Like Tyisha had said earlier, he wouldn't be able to live with himself if he walked away from this, to save his own hide, and let these horrible things happen to Shwen. He was doing this for Shwen, but he had to admit, when he could literally see the conversation shift on Franco's face, he felt a rush that he just didn't feel when socially manipulating sorostitutes, freshmen, or professors. Even though he was just pretending - Adam felt like a big time criminal negotiator guy.
"To answer your first question," Adam began, finding that when he spoke, he felt more confidant than he did when he was quietly listening to Franco speak. However, he reminded himself that he needed to be more poilite. Even veiled threats or insults were probably going to put Franco over the edge, at this point. And if that happens, Adam won't have made life any easier for Shwen - probably worse. "...which was why you are just now hearing from me." Adam decided to risk falling back on his previous tactic of relating this situation to Franco's own - hoping, once again, to evade further questioning by making it seem as though Franco should completely understand. Or, at the very least, Adam hoped to alleviate his suspisions and doubts by making the situation more familiar to him. "The simple answer is that my employer was only recently made aware of the situation. Like yourself, he is a man who's position demands a great deal of his attention - a man who generally depends upon subordinates to keep things running smoothly. As one such subordinate, I am not in a position to speak to the other demands on his attention, but I can express that, now that he is aware of the situation, he is giving it very personal attention."
"Those responsible for overseeing his interests here in Seattle have proven themselves less-than-vigilant, and, I assume, are being dealt with accordingly." Adam purposely made it sound as though his employer operated at a higher level than Franco. While Franco might be a "big fish" in the "little pond" of Seattle, Adam wanted him to believe that his employer generally operated in a much larger "pond". Not only would this help the intimidation factor, but Adam believed it would give Franco hope that after this "issue" is resolved, he can go back to be beneith the radar of Adam's employer. Also, it might provide Adam and Shwen with a plausable explaination for why, after Franco (hopefully) stands aside, in a show of good-will - he will never hear from this "employer" again. Of course, it was a double-edged sword. A globe-spanning man of such power would be used to spending a lot of money to get what he wants, and although Adam might be able to make Franco believe it - he wouldn't be able to make it happen. "You have mentioned, several times, that Shwen has been misbehaving right under your nose - I think, in that respect, you will understand how the occational thing can get by one's notice until it begins to become a problem." Adam opened his hands again, as if to show that he also possessed an incomplete grasp on the situation. In truth, Adam was working out, in his mind, just how much a powerful 'employer' would let his negotiator know about why he hadn't acted sooner. "Whatever his reasons for not moving to protect her then, the important thing is that he is doing so now. He expressed to me little desire to undo her past, you see. I was hired to undo her future. Whatever Shwen chose to do with her body before, it was what you propose to do with it tonight that got my employer's attention. So, I suppose the long answer to your question is that this situation had not gotten out of hand until very recently."
"Now, to address your second concearn - your end." Adam attempted to look solemn. Once again, he was knowingly walking into danger by speaking about a topic that Franco wished him to address. If he danced around the topic any longer, Adam felt that his ruse was going to come falling down on his head, but the fact remained - Adam was pretty broke.
Even if he hadn't emptied his bank account last year, getting his hands on a state-of-the-art commlink, he wouldn't have a couple hundred thousand nuyen with which to buy back his friend. Shwen dug herself a deep hole apparantly, and Adam certainly hadn't expected her price tag to be that high - but even if Franco was asking for something more reasonable, Adam only had a few thousand in his bank account, and only had a few hours to raise any more. It just wasn't going to happen.
Of course, Adam wasn't about to tell Franco that he had no money - nor that his "employer" couldn't pay whatever price the mobster felt he was due. Instead, he realized he was going to have to convince Franco that he was actually due something far more obtainable... and then buy himself some time to obtain it.
"If I understand your position, and correct me if I am missing anything, your concearns are threefold. First," Adam counted the points out on his right hand, tapping his fingers with his left. "you are understandably upset at Shwen for going behind your back, and trying to cut you out of the buisness you introduced her to." Selling her own body, thought Adam. "I think that is fair, and I can speak for my employer when I say that your concearn is well understood. It would not be in the 'interest of good and peaceful relations' for him to claim that you were not entitled to compensation for that lost buisness."
"Secondly," Adam extended another finger. "You're understandably concearned about your reputation. You wouldn't want to give the other girls, around here, the idea that they could show you similar disrespect, and not have to face the consequences. I think its safe to say, without offending anyone, that you feel Shwen should become an example to the others - and that if you were to, as you said, 'give her a pass', that it would make you appear soft. Believe me, nobody here believes that, nor would they want you to earn such a reputation."
"Lastly," a third finger extendes, "and this would be the point where I believe we do not yet see eye to eye, you estimate Shwen's value to you, financially, at several hundred thousand nuyen. Now, I would like to come to some agreement as to just what you are owed, but first I would like to lay out the factors that I believe contributed to your estimation - so that we are both clear on them - and then I would like to lay out the factors that I believe might mitigate that evaluation to something my employer might find more reasonable - as well as propose a solution that will allow both sides to end this delicate situation without causing offense, disrespect, or loss of face to the other."
Adam paused for a moment, realizing he had no idea what such a solution might be, but decided to keep talking while he thought of one. He retracted his three fingers, and then continued speaking. "If I am not mistaken, your appraisal is not based upon her debt to you for moonlighting in the corner over there." Adam nodded back at the corner by the shower-stage without taking his eyes from Franco, "which, you said yourself, amounts to only a few hundred per 'violation'. Instead, because she was caught moonlighting, and disrespecting you, you believe that she needs to be punished - or made an example of. You decided that, since she was whoring herself anyway, that you would inform her that she would now be doing it for you, when and wherever you told her to. Clearly, you are in a position of power over this girl, as you are with most people, I would imagine." Adam gestured to Bruno and Freddie, "So, despite the fact that Shwen didn't agree to this, you knew you would be able to insure that she went through with it - through various means which we have already discussed, in detail."
"That was when you noticed the utter desperation in her eyes, and your perception of her value skyrocketed." Adam tried to keep his cool, but he had been talking with a mob boss for over ten minutes, and still felt like he was at a stale-mate. The mob boss hadn't buckled under Adam's faceless intimidation, but Adam hadn't cowed to the Italian man's brutal threats, either. He felt he had already performed a handful of miracles, but was no closer to convincing Franco to give Shwen her freedom. "You knew men that would pay real money, hundreds of thousands of nuyen in your estimation, to completely destroy and desecrate a girl as attractive and hopeless as Shwen - and you knew you could make her go through with it. Afterwards, you would throw her away like a used condom. She has no value to you past tonight."
"Have I missed anything so far?"
Wednesday 5/14/70 19:10:04
Adam felt a cold chill rush over his body as Franco spoke. As he stopped bracing himself for sudden facial impact, he took a moment to appreciate the rush. This was, by far, one of the most dangerous things Adam had ever done - certainly the scariest thing he had ever willingly gotten himself into - and by all rights, he should have been shaking and looking for a way out of it.
But he couldn't. No matter how scared he started to get, he reminded himself that Shwen needed him, or needed someone, to stand up for her. Like Tyisha had said earlier, he wouldn't be able to live with himself if he walked away from this, to save his own hide, and let these horrible things happen to Shwen. He was doing this for Shwen, but he had to admit, when he could literally see the conversation shift on Franco's face, he felt a rush that he just didn't feel when socially manipulating sorostitutes, freshmen, or professors. Even though he was just pretending - Adam felt like a big time criminal negotiator guy.
"To answer your first question," Adam began, finding that when he spoke, he felt more confidant than he did when he was quietly listening to Franco speak. However, he reminded himself that he needed to be more poilite. Even veiled threats or insults were probably going to put Franco over the edge, at this point. And if that happens, Adam won't have made life any easier for Shwen - probably worse. "...which was why you are just now hearing from me." Adam decided to risk falling back on his previous tactic of relating this situation to Franco's own - hoping, once again, to evade further questioning by making it seem as though Franco should completely understand. Or, at the very least, Adam hoped to alleviate his suspisions and doubts by making the situation more familiar to him. "The simple answer is that my employer was only recently made aware of the situation. Like yourself, he is a man who's position demands a great deal of his attention - a man who generally depends upon subordinates to keep things running smoothly. As one such subordinate, I am not in a position to speak to the other demands on his attention, but I can express that, now that he is aware of the situation, he is giving it very personal attention."
"Those responsible for overseeing his interests here in Seattle have proven themselves less-than-vigilant, and, I assume, are being dealt with accordingly." Adam purposely made it sound as though his employer operated at a higher level than Franco. While Franco might be a "big fish" in the "little pond" of Seattle, Adam wanted him to believe that his employer generally operated in a much larger "pond". Not only would this help the intimidation factor, but Adam believed it would give Franco hope that after this "issue" is resolved, he can go back to be beneith the radar of Adam's employer. Also, it might provide Adam and Shwen with a plausable explaination for why, after Franco (hopefully) stands aside, in a show of good-will - he will never hear from this "employer" again. Of course, it was a double-edged sword. A globe-spanning man of such power would be used to spending a lot of money to get what he wants, and although Adam might be able to make Franco believe it - he wouldn't be able to make it happen. "You have mentioned, several times, that Shwen has been misbehaving right under your nose - I think, in that respect, you will understand how the occational thing can get by one's notice until it begins to become a problem." Adam opened his hands again, as if to show that he also possessed an incomplete grasp on the situation. In truth, Adam was working out, in his mind, just how much a powerful 'employer' would let his negotiator know about why he hadn't acted sooner. "Whatever his reasons for not moving to protect her then, the important thing is that he is doing so now. He expressed to me little desire to undo her past, you see. I was hired to undo her future. Whatever Shwen chose to do with her body before, it was what you propose to do with it tonight that got my employer's attention. So, I suppose the long answer to your question is that this situation had not gotten out of hand until very recently."
"Now, to address your second concearn - your end." Adam attempted to look solemn. Once again, he was knowingly walking into danger by speaking about a topic that Franco wished him to address. If he danced around the topic any longer, Adam felt that his ruse was going to come falling down on his head, but the fact remained - Adam was pretty broke.
Even if he hadn't emptied his bank account last year, getting his hands on a state-of-the-art commlink, he wouldn't have a couple hundred thousand nuyen with which to buy back his friend. Shwen dug herself a deep hole apparantly, and Adam certainly hadn't expected her price tag to be that high - but even if Franco was asking for something more reasonable, Adam only had a few thousand in his bank account, and only had a few hours to raise any more. It just wasn't going to happen.
Of course, Adam wasn't about to tell Franco that he had no money - nor that his "employer" couldn't pay whatever price the mobster felt he was due. Instead, he realized he was going to have to convince Franco that he was actually due something far more obtainable... and then buy himself some time to obtain it.
"If I understand your position, and correct me if I am missing anything, your concearns are threefold. First," Adam counted the points out on his right hand, tapping his fingers with his left. "you are understandably upset at Shwen for going behind your back, and trying to cut you out of the buisness you introduced her to." Selling her own body, thought Adam. "I think that is fair, and I can speak for my employer when I say that your concearn is well understood. It would not be in the 'interest of good and peaceful relations' for him to claim that you were not entitled to compensation for that lost buisness."
"Secondly," Adam extended another finger. "You're understandably concearned about your reputation. You wouldn't want to give the other girls, around here, the idea that they could show you similar disrespect, and not have to face the consequences. I think its safe to say, without offending anyone, that you feel Shwen should become an example to the others - and that if you were to, as you said, 'give her a pass', that it would make you appear soft. Believe me, nobody here believes that, nor would they want you to earn such a reputation."
"Lastly," a third finger extendes, "and this would be the point where I believe we do not yet see eye to eye, you estimate Shwen's value to you, financially, at several hundred thousand nuyen. Now, I would like to come to some agreement as to just what you are owed, but first I would like to lay out the factors that I believe contributed to your estimation - so that we are both clear on them - and then I would like to lay out the factors that I believe might mitigate that evaluation to something my employer might find more reasonable - as well as propose a solution that will allow both sides to end this delicate situation without causing offense, disrespect, or loss of face to the other."
Adam paused for a moment, realizing he had no idea what such a solution might be, but decided to keep talking while he thought of one. He retracted his three fingers, and then continued speaking. "If I am not mistaken, your appraisal is not based upon her debt to you for moonlighting in the corner over there." Adam nodded back at the corner by the shower-stage without taking his eyes from Franco, "which, you said yourself, amounts to only a few hundred per 'violation'. Instead, because she was caught moonlighting, and disrespecting you, you believe that she needs to be punished - or made an example of. You decided that, since she was whoring herself anyway, that you would inform her that she would now be doing it for you, when and wherever you told her to. Clearly, you are in a position of power over this girl, as you are with most people, I would imagine." Adam gestured to Bruno and Freddie, "So, despite the fact that Shwen didn't agree to this, you knew you would be able to insure that she went through with it - through various means which we have already discussed, in detail."
"That was when you noticed the utter desperation in her eyes, and your perception of her value skyrocketed." Adam tried to keep his cool, but he had been talking with a mob boss for over ten minutes, and still felt like he was at a stale-mate. The mob boss hadn't buckled under Adam's faceless intimidation, but Adam hadn't cowed to the Italian man's brutal threats, either. He felt he had already performed a handful of miracles, but was no closer to convincing Franco to give Shwen her freedom. "You knew men that would pay real money, hundreds of thousands of nuyen in your estimation, to completely destroy and desecrate a girl as attractive and hopeless as Shwen - and you knew you could make her go through with it. Afterwards, you would throw her away like a used condom. She has no value to you past tonight."
"Have I missed anything so far?"
Caittie
Wednesday 8/13/70 15:19:24
It was a sunny day with a few clouds lazily drifting through the light blue sky. The breeze cause the long fallow grass to move in waves as it danced amongst the tips. The valley continued longways as far as the eye could see and the sides you could see had a span of a few hours walk. The walls of the valley slowly raised with a tree line starting a few hundred meters up all the way into snow covered caps.
The area was completely clear of any people up until a figure eased herself out of the shadows of the tree line. The afternoon sun reflected off her chest and shoulder plate as Caittie slowly walked down the hill, all the while looking around at the beautifully crafted valley. After looking around a bit, she felt something was off. ’I know the café wasn’t empty, there was a good amount of people in there... There should be at least a few other people on this node...’
Closing her eyes, she reached out and concentrated for a second. “Ah, each chair has its own personal node for some privacy. That’s good. I can try this out without distractions then.” she said to herself as she flexed her hands. “So... Once I start instinct will take over, huh? How do I start out then...” she asked herself, remembering what Rebecca had told her.
Holding her right hand out in front of her, palm up, she strained her muscles trying to figure out how it worked. She grunted as she flexed her mental muscles, trying desperately to complete what she set out to do. After a bit, she dropped her arm and head in defeat. Sighing deeply, she slowly sat on the cool grass and raised her head to the sky to look at the clouds drift slowly through it.
’Ok, what am I doing wrong here? What’s the thing I’m not doing right?’ she mentally asked herself. Watching the clouds, she thought about what she was trying to do. Caittie sat there for a while until she finally put a hand to her chin and furrowed her brow. ’I wonder... maybe that’s what I’m doing wrong...’ she pondered as she stood up once again. Raising her hand again in front of her, she had a face of someone concentrating on the task they set out to do.
Taking deep breath, Caittie set out on her task, but this time went from a different angle. As she concentrated on the palm of her hand, nothing happened at first. Then the faintest of wavering appeared in the virtual landscape around her as she tried not to form the sprite by flexing her own form, but warping and flexing the surrounding landscape into the form she wanted it to be. The wavering got more pronounced as tiny motes of light drifted into the palm of Caittie’s hand, forming an ever growing ball of condensed light.
Starting out as a faint flicker of light, it slowly grew to a brightness not unlike a small star. Feeling that she had gathered enough to do what she wanted, she closed her hand into a tight fist, and pulled it in towards her.
For a split second she thought of what she wanted to do in her mind and then thrust her right arm out straight with her palm facing away from her. Feeling the quick buildup of power at the end of her hand, she grabbed her forearm with her left hand for support as a beam of bluish-white light shot out of her palm. A few meters away, the beam gathered again as a great glowing ball of light before it changed shape into a more humanoid form. Caittie shielded her eyes as a great flash went off in front of her and the surrounding landscape brightened due to the light. Just as it happened, it was like it never did, and in its place was a man equipped for battle.
He looked to be around what her uncle was in build and height, but he had long black hair that was pulled back into a braid down his back. His face was slightly tanned and he had look to him that said he had been in a few battles. He wore bright chain mail armor that covered his entire body accept for a small shoulder plate on his right shoulder. Across his back was a giant great sword made of some dark metal interlaced with golden seals and symbols.
His eyes, those different eyes, scanned the area as he turned his head in different directions. After he looked around his gaze fell on Caittie’s smaller avatar and he reached for his sword. As he grabbed the hilt, his eyes never left her even as he said, “Who are ye, and what are ye about?”
Hearing him speak in a rough deep tone, her eyes changed from ones of awe to piercing orb of determination. “I am the one that summoned you here, and I wish for you to work for me. I hope it to be on good terms, but you will work for me. Now please drop your hand.”
Eyeing the woman in leathers that stood in front of him and the look on her face, he slowly let go of his sword and dropped his arm to his side. Relaxing at this sight a bit, she smiled a little bit as she continued, “Tell me, warrior, what would you have me do to earn your pledge?”
The warrior reached up and stroked the stubble on his face for a minute as he though of what she could do. Looking around with the area again, he pointed at a set of three rocks in the distance. “There.” was all he said as he suddenly appeared right beside it. Caittie willed herself over to where he was and, a second later, found herself sitting down looking across a boulder at the sprite who was sitting on his own rock.
“As a fighter, I value strength and endurance over anything. This will be a battle that will pit yer strength against mine. If ye beat me, I will pledge my service to ye until I believe I’ve done enough.” he told Caittie as he put his right elbow on the relatively flat stone surface and held his hand out at a forty-five degree angle. Getting the idea, Caittie followed his movements, putting her right arm out the same way.
“Fair is fair. We start on the count of three and the first one to push the other to the stone wins. Ready?” the sprite asked. All she responded with was a nod of her head and a determined look in her eye. “Ok... 1, 2, 3!”
The first few seconds of the battle were raging, with each of them giving it their all to try and pin the other. After a while though, it went from a straight strength battle to one of endurance, as both of them trying their best to keep it up. For the most part, neither one had an advantage or gained much ground without losing it to the other. This fight went on for some time...
Wednesday 8/13/70 17:43:09
Sweat was pouring down both the warrior’s and Caittie’s face as they did their best to beat the other. Neither had budged in their strength but it was wearing them both down. Getting tired of the constant stalemate Caittie looked over at him and said, “I’m not going to lose!”
The sprite’s face turned to of mirth as he replied, “So ye say.” Both of them knew they couldn’t keep this up for much longer as they poured everything they had into it. At first it looked like another stalemate until Caittie started pushing the big warriors hand towards his defeat. Once it started moving in that direction, he tried his best to counter it, but it was too much for him to handle and it fell slowly towards the table until it hit the breaking point.
*Wham*
Their arms just lay there for a few seconds until Caittie let go. Working the kinks out of her arm, she smiled a bit. ’I did it... I really did it!’ she congratulated herself as she looked over at the defeated sprite. He looked angry for a second but it went away almost as fast as it appeared. Looking at the victor, he bowed his head and said, “Fair is fair.”
Standing up, he reached over the boulder to Caittie with an open hand. “Ye showed me yer strength and beat me fair n’ square. I follow yer command.”
Standing up herself, she reached over and grabbed his hand. “I accept. Thank you.” she replied with a genuine smile. “Hmm... How do I call on you when I need your help?”
Smiling, the big sprite calmly answered, “Just yell me name, Wedge, and will me there.”
“Thank you. Um... You can take your leave if you wish. I need to rest.” Caittie said indeed looking tired. Without saying a word, the sprite saluted, putting his arm across his chest, and faded in a quick flash of light. She smiled a bit at finally being able to relax some as she then willed herself to leave the virtual world....
Wednesday 8/13/70 15:19:24
It was a sunny day with a few clouds lazily drifting through the light blue sky. The breeze cause the long fallow grass to move in waves as it danced amongst the tips. The valley continued longways as far as the eye could see and the sides you could see had a span of a few hours walk. The walls of the valley slowly raised with a tree line starting a few hundred meters up all the way into snow covered caps.
The area was completely clear of any people up until a figure eased herself out of the shadows of the tree line. The afternoon sun reflected off her chest and shoulder plate as Caittie slowly walked down the hill, all the while looking around at the beautifully crafted valley. After looking around a bit, she felt something was off. ’I know the café wasn’t empty, there was a good amount of people in there... There should be at least a few other people on this node...’
Closing her eyes, she reached out and concentrated for a second. “Ah, each chair has its own personal node for some privacy. That’s good. I can try this out without distractions then.” she said to herself as she flexed her hands. “So... Once I start instinct will take over, huh? How do I start out then...” she asked herself, remembering what Rebecca had told her.
Holding her right hand out in front of her, palm up, she strained her muscles trying to figure out how it worked. She grunted as she flexed her mental muscles, trying desperately to complete what she set out to do. After a bit, she dropped her arm and head in defeat. Sighing deeply, she slowly sat on the cool grass and raised her head to the sky to look at the clouds drift slowly through it.
’Ok, what am I doing wrong here? What’s the thing I’m not doing right?’ she mentally asked herself. Watching the clouds, she thought about what she was trying to do. Caittie sat there for a while until she finally put a hand to her chin and furrowed her brow. ’I wonder... maybe that’s what I’m doing wrong...’ she pondered as she stood up once again. Raising her hand again in front of her, she had a face of someone concentrating on the task they set out to do.
Taking deep breath, Caittie set out on her task, but this time went from a different angle. As she concentrated on the palm of her hand, nothing happened at first. Then the faintest of wavering appeared in the virtual landscape around her as she tried not to form the sprite by flexing her own form, but warping and flexing the surrounding landscape into the form she wanted it to be. The wavering got more pronounced as tiny motes of light drifted into the palm of Caittie’s hand, forming an ever growing ball of condensed light.
Starting out as a faint flicker of light, it slowly grew to a brightness not unlike a small star. Feeling that she had gathered enough to do what she wanted, she closed her hand into a tight fist, and pulled it in towards her.
For a split second she thought of what she wanted to do in her mind and then thrust her right arm out straight with her palm facing away from her. Feeling the quick buildup of power at the end of her hand, she grabbed her forearm with her left hand for support as a beam of bluish-white light shot out of her palm. A few meters away, the beam gathered again as a great glowing ball of light before it changed shape into a more humanoid form. Caittie shielded her eyes as a great flash went off in front of her and the surrounding landscape brightened due to the light. Just as it happened, it was like it never did, and in its place was a man equipped for battle.
He looked to be around what her uncle was in build and height, but he had long black hair that was pulled back into a braid down his back. His face was slightly tanned and he had look to him that said he had been in a few battles. He wore bright chain mail armor that covered his entire body accept for a small shoulder plate on his right shoulder. Across his back was a giant great sword made of some dark metal interlaced with golden seals and symbols.
His eyes, those different eyes, scanned the area as he turned his head in different directions. After he looked around his gaze fell on Caittie’s smaller avatar and he reached for his sword. As he grabbed the hilt, his eyes never left her even as he said, “Who are ye, and what are ye about?”
Hearing him speak in a rough deep tone, her eyes changed from ones of awe to piercing orb of determination. “I am the one that summoned you here, and I wish for you to work for me. I hope it to be on good terms, but you will work for me. Now please drop your hand.”
Eyeing the woman in leathers that stood in front of him and the look on her face, he slowly let go of his sword and dropped his arm to his side. Relaxing at this sight a bit, she smiled a little bit as she continued, “Tell me, warrior, what would you have me do to earn your pledge?”
The warrior reached up and stroked the stubble on his face for a minute as he though of what she could do. Looking around with the area again, he pointed at a set of three rocks in the distance. “There.” was all he said as he suddenly appeared right beside it. Caittie willed herself over to where he was and, a second later, found herself sitting down looking across a boulder at the sprite who was sitting on his own rock.
“As a fighter, I value strength and endurance over anything. This will be a battle that will pit yer strength against mine. If ye beat me, I will pledge my service to ye until I believe I’ve done enough.” he told Caittie as he put his right elbow on the relatively flat stone surface and held his hand out at a forty-five degree angle. Getting the idea, Caittie followed his movements, putting her right arm out the same way.
“Fair is fair. We start on the count of three and the first one to push the other to the stone wins. Ready?” the sprite asked. All she responded with was a nod of her head and a determined look in her eye. “Ok... 1, 2, 3!”
The first few seconds of the battle were raging, with each of them giving it their all to try and pin the other. After a while though, it went from a straight strength battle to one of endurance, as both of them trying their best to keep it up. For the most part, neither one had an advantage or gained much ground without losing it to the other. This fight went on for some time...
Wednesday 8/13/70 17:43:09
Sweat was pouring down both the warrior’s and Caittie’s face as they did their best to beat the other. Neither had budged in their strength but it was wearing them both down. Getting tired of the constant stalemate Caittie looked over at him and said, “I’m not going to lose!”
The sprite’s face turned to of mirth as he replied, “So ye say.” Both of them knew they couldn’t keep this up for much longer as they poured everything they had into it. At first it looked like another stalemate until Caittie started pushing the big warriors hand towards his defeat. Once it started moving in that direction, he tried his best to counter it, but it was too much for him to handle and it fell slowly towards the table until it hit the breaking point.
*Wham*
Their arms just lay there for a few seconds until Caittie let go. Working the kinks out of her arm, she smiled a bit. ’I did it... I really did it!’ she congratulated herself as she looked over at the defeated sprite. He looked angry for a second but it went away almost as fast as it appeared. Looking at the victor, he bowed his head and said, “Fair is fair.”
Standing up, he reached over the boulder to Caittie with an open hand. “Ye showed me yer strength and beat me fair n’ square. I follow yer command.”
Standing up herself, she reached over and grabbed his hand. “I accept. Thank you.” she replied with a genuine smile. “Hmm... How do I call on you when I need your help?”
Smiling, the big sprite calmly answered, “Just yell me name, Wedge, and will me there.”
“Thank you. Um... You can take your leave if you wish. I need to rest.” Caittie said indeed looking tired. Without saying a word, the sprite saluted, putting his arm across his chest, and faded in a quick flash of light. She smiled a bit at finally being able to relax some as she then willed herself to leave the virtual world....
Caittie
Wednesday 8/13/70 17:51:43
Moaning a bit like someone waking up from a long nap, Caittie slowly moved her hands up to rub her eyes. Feeling her face she realized that it had a sheen of sweat on it. After she finished rubbing her eyes, she opened them to the earthen walls of ‘Geo Spaz’. Putting the recliner into a sitting position, she got up and walked into the girl’s restroom.
Walking in, she moved towards the sinks and mirror, and sighed at what she saw. Sweat from her exertions in the Matrix and dirt from her past night mixed on her face. Sighing again, she turned on the tap and started washing herself as best she could.
A few minutes later she walked out cleaner and a little more relaxed. Feeling better about herself due to being cleaner and forming her first sprite, she had a nice spring to her step. As she walked back to her chair, she looked around the walls at the different minerals and formations that decorated the café. Though she knew it was just something someone programmed to look like real formations, she admired the artistic work of the scene, just like the node she was just in. Someone spent a lot of time setting each bit and piece of code to make it look just like it does.
‘Maybe I can do things like that to make a living once things settle down. I think I’d like to make beautiful works of art like that.’ she dreamed as she watched the formations and gems reflect using the flowing magma’s glow. Smiling, she just sat there for a while until she noticed the clock in the lower left of her glasses. ‘Its almost six already? I better get some food while I’m still here.” she decided as she felt a small pang of hunger.
Pulling a menu up in her glasses, she looked over it and decided on having some soy-ghetii since it was one of the cheaper meals they had. Ordering it up and selecting the cash option, she leaned back and just relaxed.
“Miss? Your order’s ready.” someone said they stood by the resting girl. Caittie opened her eyes and looked up to see to see the girl that was behind the counter. Sitting up, Caittie pulled out a side tray built into the seat and set it up in front of her. The human placed down a plate of steaming noodles, a bottle of water and a fork on the tray and said, “There you go. That will be five nuyen please.”
Reaching into her pocket, Caittie produced the requested amount and handed it over. “Thank you for the food”, she told the girl as she turned to walk away. As she looked at the food in front of her, Caittie wondered how long she could keep this up. ‘I’m running low on money... I need to figure out how to make some or I wont have any to buy food’, she pondered as she picked up the fork and started eating.
It was a mediocre meal, but was still better than the cheap soy-burger she had for lunch. All things considered, she was better off after she ate it than before. It also gave her some time just to think, which she really had a lot of but not the right conditions to do so. By the time she had finished eating her fill, she had decided on her next action. ‘I need to do that to move on... If I don’t...’, she told herself as she moved the tray and stood up.
As she stepped outside, the sky was turning from its normal blue hew to one that meant evening was approaching. Turning away from the setting sun, Caittie set off with a purpose, to the only place she could think of... To were her old life ended and the new one started, she was headed home.
Wednesday 8/13/70 20:13:09
By the time Caittie arrived back at her old neighborhood, the street lights were on and it was clearly dusk, heading into full night. Moving through the alleyways, she wasn’t making that great of time in her progress compared to just walking the streets. If anything from watching those old sneaky trid movies with her father, she remembered that the bad guys that walked the street got caught, and most often killed, while the ones in the alleys got away...
‘Err... thinking about it, those silly trid movies Dad and I watched never really made sense... and I’m not the bad guy here, I just don’t want to be caught by the bad guys’ she corrected herself. ‘If I could, I’d like to sit down and watch another one with him though’ she continued as she walked even farther into the neighborhood.
Looking both ways at the next street crossing, she ran across to the next alley, and just stood there. She knew where she was and that around the next corner would be the one place that she wanted to be with everything back the way it was. As she walked closer, she could see the ruble still scattered throughout the alley, and knew what she would find as she finally arrived.
There before her stood the ruins of her old house, with not much changed accept for the lack of fire and smoke and the addition of yellow warning tape around the area. A quick search showed up no active comm in the area, and Caittie calmed down a bit. Moving under the danger tape, she had to pick and choose where she placed her feet, lest she twist her ankle or break something in a fall.
Wandering through the ruble she noticed bits and pieces of equipment that she and her father used in their day to day business. Moving pieces of rubble, she found a mostly intact toolkit of many they kept in the workshop area. Picking it up, she started picking up some of the other tools lying around to make a full kit. After she had finished, she closed the case and put it in her backpack.
As she moved in deeper into the ruins, she looked at the scorched framework that hadn’t fallen in the blast. She was amazed at how little there was left and terrified of what would have happened to her if she was still in here when it happened. “I would have gotten blown up like my uncle. That’s what would have haahhh!”, she cried as she slipped on a loose piece.
Laying on the ground where she fell, Caittie started to lift herself but stopped when something in front of her lit up. She closed her eyes and grit her teeth expecting someone heard her cry out when she fell, but after a few seconds of silence, she opened them and saw something that made her eyes well up with tears. Right in front of her was a holo-picture of a young man and his elven wife. Both of them were facing a baby the woman was holding, both with faces of sheer joy. “Dad... Mom...” she whispered as she wiped her eyes.
Picking up the holo-pic, she looked at it for a bit, turned it off and placed it in her backpack. ‘I cant just stand around right now, if I’m seen I could get into real trouble.’, she told herself as she started to look through the rubble again. As she got closer to where her fathers room was on the second floor, she saw a slab of wall that caught her eye for some reason. Pushing on it with all her might, it slowly gave way and moved just enough that she could see underneath it after moving a few other small pieces.
Underneath Caittie saw a wrecked metal cabinet, but what she saw inside one of the doors was more interesting to her. Carefully reaching in, she grabbed the two things she saw in there and pulled them out. Looking at the things she found she grinned a bit. In one hand she had a commlink that looked a little beat up, but it worked, and on the ground in front of her was a container that looked like it had seen better days. Slowly reaching towards the box, Caittie carefully lifted the lid.
Peering inside, she saw a lot of mismatched junk that looked to be pretty old. Looking through it, it all looked to be worth no more than the rubble around her. That was up until she found something that might just save her life. Looking at it, it looked more like a pen than anything else, but when she pressed some buttons on it, a LCD showing 1175
on it. “Thank’s Dad...” she whispered as she hugged the credstick to her chest. A few minutes later she put it in her pocket and stood up.
She continued to search for a while, but nothing came out of it. Most everything else she found was too badly damaged to use or sell. As she packed up the stuff she found, Caittie thought of all the good times she had living in this house, but more than that, the people she no longer had. She had to struggle to pick up her things as she prepared to leave it all behind. “Well... maybe not everything”, she told herself as she though of the holo-pic she had in her backpack.
After attaching the commlink to her belt, she picked up her backpack and put it on. Making her way out of the ruins, she wondered what the fates would bring her way now. As she was about to turn out of sight of the ruins she stopped for a minute, looking behind her. This pile of rubble was no longer her home... She knew it in her heart as she turned away and continued to walk. She had no home...
Wednesday 8/13/70 17:51:43
Moaning a bit like someone waking up from a long nap, Caittie slowly moved her hands up to rub her eyes. Feeling her face she realized that it had a sheen of sweat on it. After she finished rubbing her eyes, she opened them to the earthen walls of ‘Geo Spaz’. Putting the recliner into a sitting position, she got up and walked into the girl’s restroom.
Walking in, she moved towards the sinks and mirror, and sighed at what she saw. Sweat from her exertions in the Matrix and dirt from her past night mixed on her face. Sighing again, she turned on the tap and started washing herself as best she could.
A few minutes later she walked out cleaner and a little more relaxed. Feeling better about herself due to being cleaner and forming her first sprite, she had a nice spring to her step. As she walked back to her chair, she looked around the walls at the different minerals and formations that decorated the café. Though she knew it was just something someone programmed to look like real formations, she admired the artistic work of the scene, just like the node she was just in. Someone spent a lot of time setting each bit and piece of code to make it look just like it does.
‘Maybe I can do things like that to make a living once things settle down. I think I’d like to make beautiful works of art like that.’ she dreamed as she watched the formations and gems reflect using the flowing magma’s glow. Smiling, she just sat there for a while until she noticed the clock in the lower left of her glasses. ‘Its almost six already? I better get some food while I’m still here.” she decided as she felt a small pang of hunger.
Pulling a menu up in her glasses, she looked over it and decided on having some soy-ghetii since it was one of the cheaper meals they had. Ordering it up and selecting the cash option, she leaned back and just relaxed.
“Miss? Your order’s ready.” someone said they stood by the resting girl. Caittie opened her eyes and looked up to see to see the girl that was behind the counter. Sitting up, Caittie pulled out a side tray built into the seat and set it up in front of her. The human placed down a plate of steaming noodles, a bottle of water and a fork on the tray and said, “There you go. That will be five nuyen please.”
Reaching into her pocket, Caittie produced the requested amount and handed it over. “Thank you for the food”, she told the girl as she turned to walk away. As she looked at the food in front of her, Caittie wondered how long she could keep this up. ‘I’m running low on money... I need to figure out how to make some or I wont have any to buy food’, she pondered as she picked up the fork and started eating.
It was a mediocre meal, but was still better than the cheap soy-burger she had for lunch. All things considered, she was better off after she ate it than before. It also gave her some time just to think, which she really had a lot of but not the right conditions to do so. By the time she had finished eating her fill, she had decided on her next action. ‘I need to do that to move on... If I don’t...’, she told herself as she moved the tray and stood up.
As she stepped outside, the sky was turning from its normal blue hew to one that meant evening was approaching. Turning away from the setting sun, Caittie set off with a purpose, to the only place she could think of... To were her old life ended and the new one started, she was headed home.
Wednesday 8/13/70 20:13:09
By the time Caittie arrived back at her old neighborhood, the street lights were on and it was clearly dusk, heading into full night. Moving through the alleyways, she wasn’t making that great of time in her progress compared to just walking the streets. If anything from watching those old sneaky trid movies with her father, she remembered that the bad guys that walked the street got caught, and most often killed, while the ones in the alleys got away...
‘Err... thinking about it, those silly trid movies Dad and I watched never really made sense... and I’m not the bad guy here, I just don’t want to be caught by the bad guys’ she corrected herself. ‘If I could, I’d like to sit down and watch another one with him though’ she continued as she walked even farther into the neighborhood.
Looking both ways at the next street crossing, she ran across to the next alley, and just stood there. She knew where she was and that around the next corner would be the one place that she wanted to be with everything back the way it was. As she walked closer, she could see the ruble still scattered throughout the alley, and knew what she would find as she finally arrived.
There before her stood the ruins of her old house, with not much changed accept for the lack of fire and smoke and the addition of yellow warning tape around the area. A quick search showed up no active comm in the area, and Caittie calmed down a bit. Moving under the danger tape, she had to pick and choose where she placed her feet, lest she twist her ankle or break something in a fall.
Wandering through the ruble she noticed bits and pieces of equipment that she and her father used in their day to day business. Moving pieces of rubble, she found a mostly intact toolkit of many they kept in the workshop area. Picking it up, she started picking up some of the other tools lying around to make a full kit. After she had finished, she closed the case and put it in her backpack.
As she moved in deeper into the ruins, she looked at the scorched framework that hadn’t fallen in the blast. She was amazed at how little there was left and terrified of what would have happened to her if she was still in here when it happened. “I would have gotten blown up like my uncle. That’s what would have haahhh!”, she cried as she slipped on a loose piece.
Laying on the ground where she fell, Caittie started to lift herself but stopped when something in front of her lit up. She closed her eyes and grit her teeth expecting someone heard her cry out when she fell, but after a few seconds of silence, she opened them and saw something that made her eyes well up with tears. Right in front of her was a holo-picture of a young man and his elven wife. Both of them were facing a baby the woman was holding, both with faces of sheer joy. “Dad... Mom...” she whispered as she wiped her eyes.
Picking up the holo-pic, she looked at it for a bit, turned it off and placed it in her backpack. ‘I cant just stand around right now, if I’m seen I could get into real trouble.’, she told herself as she started to look through the rubble again. As she got closer to where her fathers room was on the second floor, she saw a slab of wall that caught her eye for some reason. Pushing on it with all her might, it slowly gave way and moved just enough that she could see underneath it after moving a few other small pieces.
Underneath Caittie saw a wrecked metal cabinet, but what she saw inside one of the doors was more interesting to her. Carefully reaching in, she grabbed the two things she saw in there and pulled them out. Looking at the things she found she grinned a bit. In one hand she had a commlink that looked a little beat up, but it worked, and on the ground in front of her was a container that looked like it had seen better days. Slowly reaching towards the box, Caittie carefully lifted the lid.
Peering inside, she saw a lot of mismatched junk that looked to be pretty old. Looking through it, it all looked to be worth no more than the rubble around her. That was up until she found something that might just save her life. Looking at it, it looked more like a pen than anything else, but when she pressed some buttons on it, a LCD showing 1175
on it. “Thank’s Dad...” she whispered as she hugged the credstick to her chest. A few minutes later she put it in her pocket and stood up.She continued to search for a while, but nothing came out of it. Most everything else she found was too badly damaged to use or sell. As she packed up the stuff she found, Caittie thought of all the good times she had living in this house, but more than that, the people she no longer had. She had to struggle to pick up her things as she prepared to leave it all behind. “Well... maybe not everything”, she told herself as she though of the holo-pic she had in her backpack.
After attaching the commlink to her belt, she picked up her backpack and put it on. Making her way out of the ruins, she wondered what the fates would bring her way now. As she was about to turn out of sight of the ruins she stopped for a minute, looking behind her. This pile of rubble was no longer her home... She knew it in her heart as she turned away and continued to walk. She had no home...
Caittie
Thursday 8/14/70 19:43:22
Warm water ran through her long red hair and over her skin as she stood there in the walled off shower stall. Caittie was grateful that, even though they were public showers, they had a few walls for modesty, but right now she was just relaxing. It had been a hard day of training her mind and listening to an annoying warrior sprite who really shouldn’t be teaching.
The constant barrage of ‘That’s not right! I told ye a while back it goes something like this!’ or ‘No, no, no! First here then this, not what yer doing!’ had worn her down more than the actual training itself. Though she was pleased when Wedge started telling her she was getting the hang of it. She smiled a bit as she remembered what he said at the end of the entire thing.=
‘Listen here girl. Ye started off rough, but ye did a good job. Look here at this pattern, it’s complete, but it’s just the basic one. Yer gonna have to add onto it if ye wish to be better, but it requires a personal touch from yerself. Now ye need to finish this and make it a part of ye’, the sprite had told her as she finished up her form. After it was all done, it became a silver circlet that went around her avatar’s head.
After she had finished her training, she got up to find herself covered in sweat and dirt from searching through the rubble the night before. When she had gotten back to the coffin motel, she had found an empty room and crashed hard. When she had woken up this morning, she went straight into training after getting some food. Remembering how sweaty she got just creating the sprite, she didn’t want to shower beforehand, but now that it was over, she was happy to actually get fully clean.
Turning off the tap, she shook herself a bit and ran her fingers through her hair a bit to keep it from tangling up. Grabbing the towel she had ‘bought’ for this shower, she started drying off and then wrapped it around her hair. Putting on her underwear, she peeked around the corner to see if anyone else was in the bathroom. Not seeing anyone, she walked out towards the washing machines that were in the same room and pulled out her now dry and clean cloths.
A few minutes later, she walked out of the bathrooms feeling refreshed as she walked back towards her rented ‘room’. Accessing her new commlink, she commanded the door to open and then walked inside as it closed behind her. She had learned last night that this particular motel allowed you to register a commlink to your room, as long as there was time left on the timer, to open it back up.
Looking at the dirty sheets and the timer ticking down, she decided it was probably better to change rooms. Picking up her things, she left the room and moved down the hallway to another room. Pulling out the change in her pocket, she tallied it up and groaned. ‘Only four in coins left... I guess I need to use the this credstick I found.’ she though as she pulled the pen-like object out of her cargo pocket. Pressing the display button, the LCD flashed 1175 again.
‘Hmm... figuring in how much I’ve spent in the past couple of days... I need around five hundred just to have a place to sleep and food to eat for a month.’ she calculated as she set up two numbers to display in her AR.
Paying the required amount for the new room, the 500 figure in her vision went down appropriately as her commlink registered what was bought. As the door opened to another room just like the last, she noticed the only difference was clean sheets. As she walked in and set down her stuff, she registered the room to her commlink so she could enter and leave as she wished till the timer ran down.
Saturday 8/16/70 14:23:05
A breeze swept through the mid day heat, moving the leaves on the maple tree Caittie was sitting under. Looking up, she saw the sun flashing through the leaves as they swayed back and forth. All she had been doing for the past two days was sleeping, eating and tweaking on her new formula. She believed that she made it better, but even if she didn’t, she was more comfortable exploring her inner talents.
As she just sat there looking at the leaves, she was surprised to feel a something enter her node. Closing her eyes, she felt a faint presence of Rebecca and knew it was one of her sprites. Accessing it, she saw a message open up in her AR vision.
‘Hey, Caittie. Sorry about taking so long to respond back, but there were a few complications. I tried to contact you through your commlink, but I cant find it for some reason. Please contact me when you can, I have some stuff to talk to you about. Rebecca.’
Caittie just sat there under the park tree and took a deep breath. Picking up her commlink, she dialed up familiar numbers and waited as a window in her AR showed ‘Dialing’. After a few seconds the window flashed ‘Connected’ and changed to a voice line that wavered when a female voice spoke up with a questioning, “Hello?”
“Hiya, Rebecca. It’s me... Caittie.” she said into the commlink.
“Oh, hi. Guess you got my message then, right? Well, like I said, there were a few complications from the people I talked about. The good news is, you shouldn’t have to worry about anyone coming after you.” Rebecca’s voice carried over the connection.
“I’m guessing there’s bad news then too?” Caittie replied with a little apprehension.
“Um... yeah... about that. You don’t exist any more as far as any databases are concerned. The only way to make sure no one figured out where you were was to make you disappear and that means no old SIN. There is an upside to this though, I was able to get you a new SIN. I’m transferring it over to your commlink now.”
As she heard that, a window popped up in her glasses with a lot of text in it. Reading it over she took note of a few things that raised her eyebrows. After she finished reading it, she just looked through it at the tree leaves again.
“Caittie Dreamer, huh?” she asked.
“Yeah, we couldn’t keep your last name because of the chance someone would connect the dots. You are also, technically, 21, now. I cant really go into it, but remember you are still seventeen and shouldn’t really be drinking. Also, if questioned about your age, just say you look young due to your elven blood, it might keep too many questions from being asked. Anyways, you might want to read over your new “past” so you don’t get blind sided by anything.”
“Oh... Um... Ok...” Caittie replied. She was a little overwhelmed about all of this and was having a hard time sorting through her feelings.
“Caittie, its going to be ok. Just relax and concentrate on getting adjusted to your new life. I’ll keep in touch, and you know how to contact me if you need to. Ok?”
“Yeah... I’ll do that. Thanks. I’ll talk to you later.” Caittie said as she finished up her conversation and closed the connection. ‘Get adjusted to your new life... yeah, that’s easier said than done...’ she told herself as she continued to look up into the endless blue sky...
Thursday 8/14/70 19:43:22
Warm water ran through her long red hair and over her skin as she stood there in the walled off shower stall. Caittie was grateful that, even though they were public showers, they had a few walls for modesty, but right now she was just relaxing. It had been a hard day of training her mind and listening to an annoying warrior sprite who really shouldn’t be teaching.
The constant barrage of ‘That’s not right! I told ye a while back it goes something like this!’ or ‘No, no, no! First here then this, not what yer doing!’ had worn her down more than the actual training itself. Though she was pleased when Wedge started telling her she was getting the hang of it. She smiled a bit as she remembered what he said at the end of the entire thing.=
‘Listen here girl. Ye started off rough, but ye did a good job. Look here at this pattern, it’s complete, but it’s just the basic one. Yer gonna have to add onto it if ye wish to be better, but it requires a personal touch from yerself. Now ye need to finish this and make it a part of ye’, the sprite had told her as she finished up her form. After it was all done, it became a silver circlet that went around her avatar’s head.
After she had finished her training, she got up to find herself covered in sweat and dirt from searching through the rubble the night before. When she had gotten back to the coffin motel, she had found an empty room and crashed hard. When she had woken up this morning, she went straight into training after getting some food. Remembering how sweaty she got just creating the sprite, she didn’t want to shower beforehand, but now that it was over, she was happy to actually get fully clean.
Turning off the tap, she shook herself a bit and ran her fingers through her hair a bit to keep it from tangling up. Grabbing the towel she had ‘bought’ for this shower, she started drying off and then wrapped it around her hair. Putting on her underwear, she peeked around the corner to see if anyone else was in the bathroom. Not seeing anyone, she walked out towards the washing machines that were in the same room and pulled out her now dry and clean cloths.
A few minutes later, she walked out of the bathrooms feeling refreshed as she walked back towards her rented ‘room’. Accessing her new commlink, she commanded the door to open and then walked inside as it closed behind her. She had learned last night that this particular motel allowed you to register a commlink to your room, as long as there was time left on the timer, to open it back up.
Looking at the dirty sheets and the timer ticking down, she decided it was probably better to change rooms. Picking up her things, she left the room and moved down the hallway to another room. Pulling out the change in her pocket, she tallied it up and groaned. ‘Only four in coins left... I guess I need to use the this credstick I found.’ she though as she pulled the pen-like object out of her cargo pocket. Pressing the display button, the LCD flashed 1175 again.
‘Hmm... figuring in how much I’ve spent in the past couple of days... I need around five hundred just to have a place to sleep and food to eat for a month.’ she calculated as she set up two numbers to display in her AR.
Paying the required amount for the new room, the 500 figure in her vision went down appropriately as her commlink registered what was bought. As the door opened to another room just like the last, she noticed the only difference was clean sheets. As she walked in and set down her stuff, she registered the room to her commlink so she could enter and leave as she wished till the timer ran down.
Saturday 8/16/70 14:23:05
A breeze swept through the mid day heat, moving the leaves on the maple tree Caittie was sitting under. Looking up, she saw the sun flashing through the leaves as they swayed back and forth. All she had been doing for the past two days was sleeping, eating and tweaking on her new formula. She believed that she made it better, but even if she didn’t, she was more comfortable exploring her inner talents.
As she just sat there looking at the leaves, she was surprised to feel a something enter her node. Closing her eyes, she felt a faint presence of Rebecca and knew it was one of her sprites. Accessing it, she saw a message open up in her AR vision.
‘Hey, Caittie. Sorry about taking so long to respond back, but there were a few complications. I tried to contact you through your commlink, but I cant find it for some reason. Please contact me when you can, I have some stuff to talk to you about. Rebecca.’
Caittie just sat there under the park tree and took a deep breath. Picking up her commlink, she dialed up familiar numbers and waited as a window in her AR showed ‘Dialing’. After a few seconds the window flashed ‘Connected’ and changed to a voice line that wavered when a female voice spoke up with a questioning, “Hello?”
“Hiya, Rebecca. It’s me... Caittie.” she said into the commlink.
“Oh, hi. Guess you got my message then, right? Well, like I said, there were a few complications from the people I talked about. The good news is, you shouldn’t have to worry about anyone coming after you.” Rebecca’s voice carried over the connection.
“I’m guessing there’s bad news then too?” Caittie replied with a little apprehension.
“Um... yeah... about that. You don’t exist any more as far as any databases are concerned. The only way to make sure no one figured out where you were was to make you disappear and that means no old SIN. There is an upside to this though, I was able to get you a new SIN. I’m transferring it over to your commlink now.”
As she heard that, a window popped up in her glasses with a lot of text in it. Reading it over she took note of a few things that raised her eyebrows. After she finished reading it, she just looked through it at the tree leaves again.
“Caittie Dreamer, huh?” she asked.
“Yeah, we couldn’t keep your last name because of the chance someone would connect the dots. You are also, technically, 21, now. I cant really go into it, but remember you are still seventeen and shouldn’t really be drinking. Also, if questioned about your age, just say you look young due to your elven blood, it might keep too many questions from being asked. Anyways, you might want to read over your new “past” so you don’t get blind sided by anything.”
“Oh... Um... Ok...” Caittie replied. She was a little overwhelmed about all of this and was having a hard time sorting through her feelings.
“Caittie, its going to be ok. Just relax and concentrate on getting adjusted to your new life. I’ll keep in touch, and you know how to contact me if you need to. Ok?”
“Yeah... I’ll do that. Thanks. I’ll talk to you later.” Caittie said as she finished up her conversation and closed the connection. ‘Get adjusted to your new life... yeah, that’s easier said than done...’ she told herself as she continued to look up into the endless blue sky...
Adam
Wednesday 5/14/70 19:13:03
"Yeah, gotta say, you summated it up pretty good, except I wish she was gonna earn me the 200K all tonight - like a said a few minutes ago, that's her potential value over the next year or so. And I'm still waitin' to hear how you propose I recoup that."
Wednesday 5/14/70 19:13:03
"Yeah, gotta say, you summated it up pretty good, except I wish she was gonna earn me the 200K all tonight - like a said a few minutes ago, that's her potential value over the next year or so. And I'm still waitin' to hear how you propose I recoup that."
Jonathan
Monday 7/7/70 21:50:45
Once they were on the dance floor, Guile shouted in Jonathan's ear, "All right, bad boy, I'll be waiting for your verdict tomorrow morning," at which point she melted herself into Jason from mouth to crotch, as if to show him what she was confident he would not be getting.
Two hours later, Jonathan was pretty beat. Not that he would have laid off the fun on account of a little thing like tomorrow being a work day, but he had already worked today, while Jason had had the day off, and who knew what Guile did with herself all day. So with them still partying strong, and having failed to get any hint of what she had planned, he said his goodbyes while he still felt like he had enough energy to go home and make another foray after her nodes - he'd already had R2D2 and C-3PO redouble their defenses, contacting them from a landline terminal in the club.
23:54:08
Staggering down the hall to his place, he saw a package leaning neatly against his door. He didn't see anyone around, so took it inside and looked at it. Nothing at written on the outside. He opened it and inside found a chip and a handwritten note -
Don't worry, I didn't really peek, at least no more than I had to to add the evidentiary edits - why mix business with pleasure? Probably terribly boring anyway. I'm thinking Saturday morning, bright and early.
Love, Guile.
PS - I've got all the supplies you'll need, but if you have sensitive hands, you'll want your own rubber gloves. Knee pads wouldn't hurt either - floor very dirty, and all I have here is a toothbrush.
Jonathan, fearing some sort of trojan horse ploy, slotted the chip in a old wifi-disabled CMT Clip he had lying around. And there it was - a copy of the very file he'd stolen from Matsuki Precision Instruments this morning while in his office, still undecrypted, but peppered with time/datestamps, cookies, and node transfer signatures proving the file had been hacked from his own comm seconds after he himself had stolen the thing!
Monday 7/7/70 21:50:45
Once they were on the dance floor, Guile shouted in Jonathan's ear, "All right, bad boy, I'll be waiting for your verdict tomorrow morning," at which point she melted herself into Jason from mouth to crotch, as if to show him what she was confident he would not be getting.
Two hours later, Jonathan was pretty beat. Not that he would have laid off the fun on account of a little thing like tomorrow being a work day, but he had already worked today, while Jason had had the day off, and who knew what Guile did with herself all day. So with them still partying strong, and having failed to get any hint of what she had planned, he said his goodbyes while he still felt like he had enough energy to go home and make another foray after her nodes - he'd already had R2D2 and C-3PO redouble their defenses, contacting them from a landline terminal in the club.
23:54:08
Staggering down the hall to his place, he saw a package leaning neatly against his door. He didn't see anyone around, so took it inside and looked at it. Nothing at written on the outside. He opened it and inside found a chip and a handwritten note -
Don't worry, I didn't really peek, at least no more than I had to to add the evidentiary edits - why mix business with pleasure? Probably terribly boring anyway. I'm thinking Saturday morning, bright and early.
Love, Guile.
PS - I've got all the supplies you'll need, but if you have sensitive hands, you'll want your own rubber gloves. Knee pads wouldn't hurt either - floor very dirty, and all I have here is a toothbrush.
Jonathan, fearing some sort of trojan horse ploy, slotted the chip in a old wifi-disabled CMT Clip he had lying around. And there it was - a copy of the very file he'd stolen from Matsuki Precision Instruments this morning while in his office, still undecrypted, but peppered with time/datestamps, cookies, and node transfer signatures proving the file had been hacked from his own comm seconds after he himself had stolen the thing!
Harriet
Wednesday 7/2/70 04:12:20
Doris just wanted to go home. Where she was safe. At least she was alive, no brains spilt on the pavement, and the monster had gone. Being alive was good. Being alive meant she hadn't screwed up, didn't it? It didn't feel that way no matter how hard she tried to make herself feel it. Living didn't feel good at all. The monster was still out there.
-----------------------------
Everything was blurry.
Mostly by feel Harriet smashed the rest of the side window through the burning car. Ignoring the heat and scraping and cutting sensations as her arms reached into the car, she gripped one head with one hand and shoved the baton into a slack neck. Jerking her hand back as it discharged she knocked loose something on the dashboard. Groping further along, her side searing from some of the nearby heat, one of her fingers hooked on a mouth, wet and warm saliva making it slick. Or possibly blood. Wrenching the head around she punched the activation buttons on the baton again, removing her hand before the discharge.
She kicked something under the car, she didn't realize what it must have been till later. The bright orange blue tinged flames were like a beacon. She reached towards it, ripping something off with effort. Burning her hands, she gritted her teeth and changed her grip as she fell to her knees beside her brother. He felt cool to her touch, she despaired till she realized her burnt hands had fooled her. Everything was dark or bright shapes, flickering madly as she applied the burning piece of metal to her the wet parts of her brothers legs. Someone screamed.
Not Morris.
The heat became too much. Dragging her brother few meters away from the heat, she glared around. Everything was still blurry. Harriet was beginning to think she'd been knocked in the head without realizing it. It didn't matter, she went to work, she had a job to do, a deadline to make, the final push to make bonus. In her mental layout she knew where everything was, and she coulds see enough outlines to get it done.
Within seconds she'd found another steel bar, and she ran to the other cars, driving the bar like a spear into the low rear side panels behind the rear wheel wells. Straining she lifted up, tearing cheap body work and reinforced steel, working it loose. The sounds of liquids splashing loose was her cue. She moved to the next one, moving through the same routine. It was easy, she was all warmed up, muscles working smoothly, it was simple enough for her to make out the blurry circle of the rear tires for targeting.
She took a breath, coughed, then stumbled over someone on her way back to the burning car. She snarled, reaching down and dragging the unconscious officer by his belt. She needed something to burn. When she smelt the burning flesh, she lifted officer off the burning wreck and lifted him overhead. Several strained steps later, she tossed him down onto the pool of liquid by the other vehicle. It didn't go up immediately, but she knew it wouldn't. She waited a moment for the orange glow to appear, then ripped a piece of burning uniform tunic and tossed it on the last car.
Only a couple more steps to go. Then the job was done. Everything was an orange and black blur, but she'd worked in the dark by feel before. Everything was hot and slick. But the shape of her hog was familiar, by touch she reached into the control section between the handlebars. Not having time to be delicate, she ripped the entire module off, then hurled it at the nearest orange glow. Sliding the motorcycle along she went back to Morris. There was the horrible awkward moment while Harriet worked out how to carry him on board without him sliding off.
She motored it slowly up the stairs and through the building out the back through the garbage strewn alley.
Even the wind in her face as she rode away didn't wipe away the tears that had been streaming down her face the whole time.
Everything was blurry.
-----------------------------
Weasel watched the whole thing, he could see it quite clearly from where he was perched. His mates had joined in and watched for a while too, at least till the black noxious smoke had driven them back inside. He climbed back in too. This was a story he was going to be able to tell for ages. How the Star had been burned. This was going be worth quite a few brews over the next few weeks.
Of course, Weasel was going to have to end the tale with everything going up in black smoke and a blaze of glory. Especially when the Star came asking, but on special nights, when he feeling in the mood, he might tell the tale with the ending he liked best. Where with everything burning and pitch black, you could still hear the sound of a motorcycle riding away.
Wednesday 7/2/70 04:12:20
Doris just wanted to go home. Where she was safe. At least she was alive, no brains spilt on the pavement, and the monster had gone. Being alive was good. Being alive meant she hadn't screwed up, didn't it? It didn't feel that way no matter how hard she tried to make herself feel it. Living didn't feel good at all. The monster was still out there.
-----------------------------
Everything was blurry.
Mostly by feel Harriet smashed the rest of the side window through the burning car. Ignoring the heat and scraping and cutting sensations as her arms reached into the car, she gripped one head with one hand and shoved the baton into a slack neck. Jerking her hand back as it discharged she knocked loose something on the dashboard. Groping further along, her side searing from some of the nearby heat, one of her fingers hooked on a mouth, wet and warm saliva making it slick. Or possibly blood. Wrenching the head around she punched the activation buttons on the baton again, removing her hand before the discharge.
She kicked something under the car, she didn't realize what it must have been till later. The bright orange blue tinged flames were like a beacon. She reached towards it, ripping something off with effort. Burning her hands, she gritted her teeth and changed her grip as she fell to her knees beside her brother. He felt cool to her touch, she despaired till she realized her burnt hands had fooled her. Everything was dark or bright shapes, flickering madly as she applied the burning piece of metal to her the wet parts of her brothers legs. Someone screamed.
Not Morris.
The heat became too much. Dragging her brother few meters away from the heat, she glared around. Everything was still blurry. Harriet was beginning to think she'd been knocked in the head without realizing it. It didn't matter, she went to work, she had a job to do, a deadline to make, the final push to make bonus. In her mental layout she knew where everything was, and she coulds see enough outlines to get it done.
Within seconds she'd found another steel bar, and she ran to the other cars, driving the bar like a spear into the low rear side panels behind the rear wheel wells. Straining she lifted up, tearing cheap body work and reinforced steel, working it loose. The sounds of liquids splashing loose was her cue. She moved to the next one, moving through the same routine. It was easy, she was all warmed up, muscles working smoothly, it was simple enough for her to make out the blurry circle of the rear tires for targeting.
She took a breath, coughed, then stumbled over someone on her way back to the burning car. She snarled, reaching down and dragging the unconscious officer by his belt. She needed something to burn. When she smelt the burning flesh, she lifted officer off the burning wreck and lifted him overhead. Several strained steps later, she tossed him down onto the pool of liquid by the other vehicle. It didn't go up immediately, but she knew it wouldn't. She waited a moment for the orange glow to appear, then ripped a piece of burning uniform tunic and tossed it on the last car.
Only a couple more steps to go. Then the job was done. Everything was an orange and black blur, but she'd worked in the dark by feel before. Everything was hot and slick. But the shape of her hog was familiar, by touch she reached into the control section between the handlebars. Not having time to be delicate, she ripped the entire module off, then hurled it at the nearest orange glow. Sliding the motorcycle along she went back to Morris. There was the horrible awkward moment while Harriet worked out how to carry him on board without him sliding off.
She motored it slowly up the stairs and through the building out the back through the garbage strewn alley.
Even the wind in her face as she rode away didn't wipe away the tears that had been streaming down her face the whole time.
Everything was blurry.
-----------------------------
Weasel watched the whole thing, he could see it quite clearly from where he was perched. His mates had joined in and watched for a while too, at least till the black noxious smoke had driven them back inside. He climbed back in too. This was a story he was going to be able to tell for ages. How the Star had been burned. This was going be worth quite a few brews over the next few weeks.
Of course, Weasel was going to have to end the tale with everything going up in black smoke and a blaze of glory. Especially when the Star came asking, but on special nights, when he feeling in the mood, he might tell the tale with the ending he liked best. Where with everything burning and pitch black, you could still hear the sound of a motorcycle riding away.
Jonathan
Tuesday 7/8/70 00:01:01
Holy fragging drek! How the hell did she accomplish this!
Jonathan sat on his couch staring at the screen of the obsolete old chip player, and felt as though his Guru had just dumped him on hard concrete. His head was swirling and he couldn't find his breath.
He reviewed his actions today, when and were he'd been, everything he could think of that might have given her a opening. He had his Padawan running diagnostics and analyze utilities on his implanted commlink, trying to see if there'd been some kind of virus planted in its onboard memory. Something that allowed Guile to hack into his commlink without even tickling his defenses.
Obviously she knew a hell of a lot more about him than he did about her. That one stupid little file told him that she'd figured out where he worked, who he worked for, and what exactly he did for that person. Somehow she'd connected into his systems, sliced through his node defenses like they were gossamer spider webs and lifted a secure file that he'd just lifted from another corp.
This was too much, it went way beyond the silly little competition he had going with her, it could cost him his job. That one file implicated him, and by extension his boss, in an illegal hack into another corp. The whole reason Alister paid him the generous salary and put up with him dragging his hoop in to work two hours late, was the simple fact that Jonathan didn't get caught!
He stared at the chip, now in his hand and couldn't figure out what to do with it. He wanted to throw it in the recycler but he was afraid it could possibly get out into the open somehow and word would get back to his boss. He needed to destroy it completely then get rid of it, but his head felt packed with sand today and he just couldn't figure out how. Not having a better answer he slotted the chip into his datajack, figuring that was as safe as he could make it for now.
Leaving Padawan parsing through his commlink's systems he had 3PO and R2 monitoring the cameras and comm and headed to his bed for a few hours of uneasy sleep. He felt tired enough to drop right off, but the clenched fist his stomach had become told him sleep wouldn't come easy tonight, and if he dreamed they wouldn't be pleasant.
Tuesday 7/8/70 00:01:01
Holy fragging drek! How the hell did she accomplish this!
Jonathan sat on his couch staring at the screen of the obsolete old chip player, and felt as though his Guru had just dumped him on hard concrete. His head was swirling and he couldn't find his breath.
He reviewed his actions today, when and were he'd been, everything he could think of that might have given her a opening. He had his Padawan running diagnostics and analyze utilities on his implanted commlink, trying to see if there'd been some kind of virus planted in its onboard memory. Something that allowed Guile to hack into his commlink without even tickling his defenses.
Obviously she knew a hell of a lot more about him than he did about her. That one stupid little file told him that she'd figured out where he worked, who he worked for, and what exactly he did for that person. Somehow she'd connected into his systems, sliced through his node defenses like they were gossamer spider webs and lifted a secure file that he'd just lifted from another corp.
This was too much, it went way beyond the silly little competition he had going with her, it could cost him his job. That one file implicated him, and by extension his boss, in an illegal hack into another corp. The whole reason Alister paid him the generous salary and put up with him dragging his hoop in to work two hours late, was the simple fact that Jonathan didn't get caught!
He stared at the chip, now in his hand and couldn't figure out what to do with it. He wanted to throw it in the recycler but he was afraid it could possibly get out into the open somehow and word would get back to his boss. He needed to destroy it completely then get rid of it, but his head felt packed with sand today and he just couldn't figure out how. Not having a better answer he slotted the chip into his datajack, figuring that was as safe as he could make it for now.
Leaving Padawan parsing through his commlink's systems he had 3PO and R2 monitoring the cameras and comm and headed to his bed for a few hours of uneasy sleep. He felt tired enough to drop right off, but the clenched fist his stomach had become told him sleep wouldn't come easy tonight, and if he dreamed they wouldn't be pleasant.
Adam
Wednesday 5/14/70 19:13:33
"Oh, I appologise for my misunderstanding." Adam held back the urge to smile. In addition to being a little embarrased for honestly thinking that this guy knew people who would spend 200K for an hour or two with a helpless girl, he was also a little bit releaved. If Franco wasn't planning on having 200K in his hand tomarrow morning, that might might negotiation a little easier.
"And I intend to get to how I propose you recoup your potential losses - however, first allow me to elaborate on some of the finer points of this situation. Points that I believe you have overlooked in your estimate, and which it would be in my best interest to remind you of." Adam wasn't sure where to start. All he knew was that he needed to bring down that number. "My points are also threefold."
"First, as you just pointed out, you estimate that she would bring in two hundred thousand over the next year - at which point, you assume she'll be burnt out and worthless to you. Now, this estimation, while far more reasonable than the one I mistakenly thought you were making, is assuming that she will last that long." Adam paused, he hadn't made his point yet, but wanted to let the idea simmer for a moment. "Assume, for a moment, that the unthinkable were to happen. That, blinded by dispair and hopelessness, at some point in the next year, Shwen losses sight of the threats you are planning to use to keep her complient... and takes her own life. Or, worse yet, in a misguided attempt to save her from the agony you are subjecting her to, someone else does it for her."
"Where does this leave us? You would be well within your power to follow through with the threats you have proposed - but doing so wouldn't recover any of this money that you already believe you possess. Similarly, the proposed 'punishment' wouldn't mean a whole lot to a dead girl. So, aside from wasting your valuable time causing grief to a couple of people in China, the only thing you would have gained would be the enmity of my employer - both for the loss of one of his own, and for bringing dishonor and shame to Shwen and her family." Adam paused again. "Now, neither of us wants this outcome - since it would ensure mutual loss. But I think that you would agree that Shwen is unlikely to survive a year of this treatment." Adam raised an eyebrow, hoping his implication clicked without him having to cross anymore lines. "Which means that you are just as unlikely to see the two-hundred thousand nuyen that you are currently quoting. You would be, however, quite likely to have made an enemy - which is neither advantagous, nor desirable by either party. So, let me move on to my second point."
"I would like to draw your attention to something you mentioned earlier about your reputation. As I have said, it would be counter-productive to both of our interests if this situation were to cause you any loss of face. However, I am concearned that you are not looking at the whole picture. You only showed concearn over how your underlings saw you - that the other girls wouldn't try to get a free ride, too. I would like to take this opportunity to gently remind you that there are people way more powerful than those strippers whose opinion of you affects you in a more immediate and personal way." Adam turned his head ever so subtly towards the nearest goon, pausing as though unsure if the next topic should be discussed in front of them. Of course, Adam was sure they already knew about it, and was very sure that Franco wasn't going to be sending them away anytime soon, so he quickly resumed. "For example, your brother Alfonse, the other families you have been carefully avoiding conflict with, or, if I am not mistaken about who runs the show around here, Rowena O'Malley." Adam paused for effect again, after dropping his brother and O'Malley's names. He had played almost all of his cards now - he was quickly running out of curve-balls to throw Franco, so he continued, hoping to make his points, and see if Franco could be at all swayed by them.
"Whether they sympathize with the position you are putting my employer in, because they also have a daughter about Shwen's age, or because this would give them the excuse they are looking for to move against you, I would be remiss if this negotiation were to go poorly and whatever would follow would be misconstrued as signs of weakness, or carelessness, on your part." There, by mentioning Franco's neice, and playing on the fact that Franco and Alfonse have been trying to avoid conflict with the other mafia families, Adam had played all but one of his cards. "My employer and I are concearned about what would happen to your reputation among that crowd if you were percieved to be overly worried about your reputation among your harem. If your priorities were in to become 'in question', or if you were to somehow lose face with your peers...from being more concearned with brutally punishing one of your girls, to keep the others in check, or with making a little bit of fast cash for yourself, than in recognising that such actions would lead you into an easily avoidable conflict (which would draw attention away from your real duties). Again, as I am sure you can see, I am pointing out that proceeding forward with this plan would lead us into a lose-lose situation, and, as I have said before - nobody here wants that."
"Lastly, I would like to draw your attention to the reason why you believe you are entitled to this money. Quite simply, you are forcing her into this situation for two reasons - 'vengence', and 'opportunity'. The first reason is somewhat understandable, if regretable. She wronged you, and so now you wish for her to suffer. However, I believe that the punishment you are proposing, is not in proportion to her crime. As you said earlier, her moonlighting literally took money from your pocket - but only a few hundred nuyen worth. I concede to possible wounds to your pride and reputation, should she get away with it - but she has already been discovered, and I assure you that the money due to you from those 'violations' will be returned to you in full. However, your current plan, involving punishment that outweighs her crimes, is unacceptable to my employer, who maintains a very traditional stance on punishment. 'An eye for an eye,' so to speak." Another pause for effect. "Which, interestingly enough, requires me to point out the fallacy in the second reason that I believe you are considering forcing her into this situation - 'opportunity'. You saw two hundred thousand nuyen on the table, and didn't see any reason not to take it. Like a good buisnessman, you saw opportunity, and your instinct was to reach out for it."
"An hour ago, you believed that whatever you did, or did not do, with Shwen, there would be absolutely no repercusions for your actions. As far as you were concearned, she was yours to do with as you wished. This was a completely understandable view of the situation - and one that Shwen probably shares with you. However, in the last fifteen minutes that you and I have been introducing ourselves to one another, I hope that the concearn and distress that I have unintentionally caused you has not all been in vain." Adam tried to look concerned, as though not sure how to chose his words for a moment. "Believe me, I mean no disrespect to you, Mr. Balducci..." Adam didn't want him to blow up in anger again, if Franco was even clever enough to get what he was going to be eluding to, "... but in order for you to completely understand the situation, I have no choice but to remind you that my presence here is meant to bring to your attention the fact that your actions, where they concearn Shwen, will no longer go unnoticed and, if there is such a thing as 'karma' in this world, will come back to you." An eye for an eye - oh God, don't kill me.
"Can you make 200K over the next year by forcing her into what amounts to slavery? Perhaps, you certainly seem to think so. Whether you should or not is a completely different question - and one that I leave entirely up to your judgement." Adam began to get a little nervous, but tried not to let it show. "My point is, in light of a number of possible repercussions - economically, socially, and perhaps domestically - it might be wise to reconsider if two hundred thousand nuyen is really worth it. Rather than thinking of this plan as a source of potential income - I would consider thinking of it as a source of potential, almost certain, loss."
"Now, I'm sure you've noticed a theme here. You wouldn't any of these things to happen, and neither would we. I can only hope that at this point, you can agree that, after taking a more 'holistic' view of the situation, it has become apparant that proceeding forward with your plan, as it stands, would make for terrible buisness sense. That's why I am here - to facilitate the exchange of viewpoints, to help you see other angles that you might have otherwise overlooked, and, ultimately, to help find a solution that everyone finds agreeable."
"If we are now in agreement on the finer nuances of this situation, and of the unrealistic projection of two-hundred-thousand nuyen, I would like to proceed to that last part - the part where you and I work together to get ourselves out of this mutually unpleasent situation, in a manner that minimizes concessions on both sides." Adam folded his hands on the table, waiting for Franco's response to continue - and half-expecting to be staring down the barrel of a gun at any second.
If he was lucky, one of those points will have struck home, and Franco would now have reason to reconsider his plan, and possibly to work with Adam to get himself out of it - if not... well, Adam wasn't going to think about what would happen to him if he was that unlucky.
Wednesday 5/14/70 19:13:33
"Oh, I appologise for my misunderstanding." Adam held back the urge to smile. In addition to being a little embarrased for honestly thinking that this guy knew people who would spend 200K for an hour or two with a helpless girl, he was also a little bit releaved. If Franco wasn't planning on having 200K in his hand tomarrow morning, that might might negotiation a little easier.
"And I intend to get to how I propose you recoup your potential losses - however, first allow me to elaborate on some of the finer points of this situation. Points that I believe you have overlooked in your estimate, and which it would be in my best interest to remind you of." Adam wasn't sure where to start. All he knew was that he needed to bring down that number. "My points are also threefold."
"First, as you just pointed out, you estimate that she would bring in two hundred thousand over the next year - at which point, you assume she'll be burnt out and worthless to you. Now, this estimation, while far more reasonable than the one I mistakenly thought you were making, is assuming that she will last that long." Adam paused, he hadn't made his point yet, but wanted to let the idea simmer for a moment. "Assume, for a moment, that the unthinkable were to happen. That, blinded by dispair and hopelessness, at some point in the next year, Shwen losses sight of the threats you are planning to use to keep her complient... and takes her own life. Or, worse yet, in a misguided attempt to save her from the agony you are subjecting her to, someone else does it for her."
"Where does this leave us? You would be well within your power to follow through with the threats you have proposed - but doing so wouldn't recover any of this money that you already believe you possess. Similarly, the proposed 'punishment' wouldn't mean a whole lot to a dead girl. So, aside from wasting your valuable time causing grief to a couple of people in China, the only thing you would have gained would be the enmity of my employer - both for the loss of one of his own, and for bringing dishonor and shame to Shwen and her family." Adam paused again. "Now, neither of us wants this outcome - since it would ensure mutual loss. But I think that you would agree that Shwen is unlikely to survive a year of this treatment." Adam raised an eyebrow, hoping his implication clicked without him having to cross anymore lines. "Which means that you are just as unlikely to see the two-hundred thousand nuyen that you are currently quoting. You would be, however, quite likely to have made an enemy - which is neither advantagous, nor desirable by either party. So, let me move on to my second point."
"I would like to draw your attention to something you mentioned earlier about your reputation. As I have said, it would be counter-productive to both of our interests if this situation were to cause you any loss of face. However, I am concearned that you are not looking at the whole picture. You only showed concearn over how your underlings saw you - that the other girls wouldn't try to get a free ride, too. I would like to take this opportunity to gently remind you that there are people way more powerful than those strippers whose opinion of you affects you in a more immediate and personal way." Adam turned his head ever so subtly towards the nearest goon, pausing as though unsure if the next topic should be discussed in front of them. Of course, Adam was sure they already knew about it, and was very sure that Franco wasn't going to be sending them away anytime soon, so he quickly resumed. "For example, your brother Alfonse, the other families you have been carefully avoiding conflict with, or, if I am not mistaken about who runs the show around here, Rowena O'Malley." Adam paused for effect again, after dropping his brother and O'Malley's names. He had played almost all of his cards now - he was quickly running out of curve-balls to throw Franco, so he continued, hoping to make his points, and see if Franco could be at all swayed by them.
"Whether they sympathize with the position you are putting my employer in, because they also have a daughter about Shwen's age, or because this would give them the excuse they are looking for to move against you, I would be remiss if this negotiation were to go poorly and whatever would follow would be misconstrued as signs of weakness, or carelessness, on your part." There, by mentioning Franco's neice, and playing on the fact that Franco and Alfonse have been trying to avoid conflict with the other mafia families, Adam had played all but one of his cards. "My employer and I are concearned about what would happen to your reputation among that crowd if you were percieved to be overly worried about your reputation among your harem. If your priorities were in to become 'in question', or if you were to somehow lose face with your peers...from being more concearned with brutally punishing one of your girls, to keep the others in check, or with making a little bit of fast cash for yourself, than in recognising that such actions would lead you into an easily avoidable conflict (which would draw attention away from your real duties). Again, as I am sure you can see, I am pointing out that proceeding forward with this plan would lead us into a lose-lose situation, and, as I have said before - nobody here wants that."
"Lastly, I would like to draw your attention to the reason why you believe you are entitled to this money. Quite simply, you are forcing her into this situation for two reasons - 'vengence', and 'opportunity'. The first reason is somewhat understandable, if regretable. She wronged you, and so now you wish for her to suffer. However, I believe that the punishment you are proposing, is not in proportion to her crime. As you said earlier, her moonlighting literally took money from your pocket - but only a few hundred nuyen worth. I concede to possible wounds to your pride and reputation, should she get away with it - but she has already been discovered, and I assure you that the money due to you from those 'violations' will be returned to you in full. However, your current plan, involving punishment that outweighs her crimes, is unacceptable to my employer, who maintains a very traditional stance on punishment. 'An eye for an eye,' so to speak." Another pause for effect. "Which, interestingly enough, requires me to point out the fallacy in the second reason that I believe you are considering forcing her into this situation - 'opportunity'. You saw two hundred thousand nuyen on the table, and didn't see any reason not to take it. Like a good buisnessman, you saw opportunity, and your instinct was to reach out for it."
"An hour ago, you believed that whatever you did, or did not do, with Shwen, there would be absolutely no repercusions for your actions. As far as you were concearned, she was yours to do with as you wished. This was a completely understandable view of the situation - and one that Shwen probably shares with you. However, in the last fifteen minutes that you and I have been introducing ourselves to one another, I hope that the concearn and distress that I have unintentionally caused you has not all been in vain." Adam tried to look concerned, as though not sure how to chose his words for a moment. "Believe me, I mean no disrespect to you, Mr. Balducci..." Adam didn't want him to blow up in anger again, if Franco was even clever enough to get what he was going to be eluding to, "... but in order for you to completely understand the situation, I have no choice but to remind you that my presence here is meant to bring to your attention the fact that your actions, where they concearn Shwen, will no longer go unnoticed and, if there is such a thing as 'karma' in this world, will come back to you." An eye for an eye - oh God, don't kill me.
"Can you make 200K over the next year by forcing her into what amounts to slavery? Perhaps, you certainly seem to think so. Whether you should or not is a completely different question - and one that I leave entirely up to your judgement." Adam began to get a little nervous, but tried not to let it show. "My point is, in light of a number of possible repercussions - economically, socially, and perhaps domestically - it might be wise to reconsider if two hundred thousand nuyen is really worth it. Rather than thinking of this plan as a source of potential income - I would consider thinking of it as a source of potential, almost certain, loss."
"Now, I'm sure you've noticed a theme here. You wouldn't any of these things to happen, and neither would we. I can only hope that at this point, you can agree that, after taking a more 'holistic' view of the situation, it has become apparant that proceeding forward with your plan, as it stands, would make for terrible buisness sense. That's why I am here - to facilitate the exchange of viewpoints, to help you see other angles that you might have otherwise overlooked, and, ultimately, to help find a solution that everyone finds agreeable."
"If we are now in agreement on the finer nuances of this situation, and of the unrealistic projection of two-hundred-thousand nuyen, I would like to proceed to that last part - the part where you and I work together to get ourselves out of this mutually unpleasent situation, in a manner that minimizes concessions on both sides." Adam folded his hands on the table, waiting for Franco's response to continue - and half-expecting to be staring down the barrel of a gun at any second.
If he was lucky, one of those points will have struck home, and Franco would now have reason to reconsider his plan, and possibly to work with Adam to get himself out of it - if not... well, Adam wasn't going to think about what would happen to him if he was that unlucky.
Adam
Wednesday 5/14/70 19:17:00
Balducci looked straight at Adam. The huge man seemed pretty calm now, though he had started to tense up again when Adam had started talking about family things. Adam could tell he'd made a wise choice by using that most vague of pronouns - 'they' - when discussing the fact that 'they' had family members Shwen's age - but even so, he could see he was losing rather than gaining points whenever he broached that topic.
"Well, I agree we want to minimize concessions - at least on my side. Can't say I agree with everything you said. But let's cut to the chase. You are one hell of a smooth talker," Balducci commented in a mix of admiration and scorn, "but you can take a good thing too far. All this talk about compensation, and all this talk about 'someone' that might could be happy or unhappy with me. None of it ain' gettin' us nowhere without a number or a name."
Wednesday 5/14/70 19:17:00
Balducci looked straight at Adam. The huge man seemed pretty calm now, though he had started to tense up again when Adam had started talking about family things. Adam could tell he'd made a wise choice by using that most vague of pronouns - 'they' - when discussing the fact that 'they' had family members Shwen's age - but even so, he could see he was losing rather than gaining points whenever he broached that topic.
"Well, I agree we want to minimize concessions - at least on my side. Can't say I agree with everything you said. But let's cut to the chase. You are one hell of a smooth talker," Balducci commented in a mix of admiration and scorn, "but you can take a good thing too far. All this talk about compensation, and all this talk about 'someone' that might could be happy or unhappy with me. None of it ain' gettin' us nowhere without a number or a name."
Jonathan
Tuesday 7/8/70 07:46:00
Jonathan went into work relatively early - much earlier than usual after a hard night out - he knew Guile would be waiting for his call, and he had a million things he wanted to check out on his comm there at the office.
He was just settling into his ergonomically designed chair when the office comm on his desk chirped. Damn it, couldn't she wait! He was tempted not to answer it, but then it chirped again and the caller ID said Melanie Seward. One of Guile's aliases? He answered.
"Mr. Frost?" inquired the middle-aged caucasian human dripping with Native American jewelry and a close-cropped 'serious' coif. "My name is Melanie. I am a grief counselor here at Harborview Medical Center. I very much regret to inform you that there has been a personal tragedy. My client, Mr. Bell, is quite shaken up right now, and asked that I call you and ask on his behalf if you wouldn't mind coming down here. He's in real need of some emotional support from someone he can trust right now."
Jon barely heard the woman as he received the specifics. He wasted no time getting there, his mind swimming with horrible possibilities - he'd been pissed and annoyed with their hacker friend, but he hadn't wanted anything to happen to her. Besides, Jason Bell was his best friend, and he'd take it real hard.
But when he got to the hospital lobby and spotted Melanie Seward, it was not Jason Bell standing with her, but Howard Bell, Jason's father. "Oh, Jon," the middle-aged engineer sobbed, and rushed forward to embrace Jon's big ork body in a desperate, pain-wracked hug.
Tuesday 7/8/70 07:46:00
Jonathan went into work relatively early - much earlier than usual after a hard night out - he knew Guile would be waiting for his call, and he had a million things he wanted to check out on his comm there at the office.
He was just settling into his ergonomically designed chair when the office comm on his desk chirped. Damn it, couldn't she wait! He was tempted not to answer it, but then it chirped again and the caller ID said Melanie Seward. One of Guile's aliases? He answered.
"Mr. Frost?" inquired the middle-aged caucasian human dripping with Native American jewelry and a close-cropped 'serious' coif. "My name is Melanie. I am a grief counselor here at Harborview Medical Center. I very much regret to inform you that there has been a personal tragedy. My client, Mr. Bell, is quite shaken up right now, and asked that I call you and ask on his behalf if you wouldn't mind coming down here. He's in real need of some emotional support from someone he can trust right now."
Jon barely heard the woman as he received the specifics. He wasted no time getting there, his mind swimming with horrible possibilities - he'd been pissed and annoyed with their hacker friend, but he hadn't wanted anything to happen to her. Besides, Jason Bell was his best friend, and he'd take it real hard.
But when he got to the hospital lobby and spotted Melanie Seward, it was not Jason Bell standing with her, but Howard Bell, Jason's father. "Oh, Jon," the middle-aged engineer sobbed, and rushed forward to embrace Jon's big ork body in a desperate, pain-wracked hug.
Jonathan
Tuesday 7/8/70 08:38:23
"Howard? What's going on? What's happening?"
Jonathan akwardly patted the older man on the back, not really sure how to respond to this kind of emotional display. Emotional display directed at Jonathan usually involved all sorts of anger, hostility, or jealousy not grief. He stood strong while Mr. Bell sobbed, trying to piece together the story.
Tuesday 7/8/70 08:38:23
"Howard? What's going on? What's happening?"
Jonathan akwardly patted the older man on the back, not really sure how to respond to this kind of emotional display. Emotional display directed at Jonathan usually involved all sorts of anger, hostility, or jealousy not grief. He stood strong while Mr. Bell sobbed, trying to piece together the story.
Adam
Wednesday 5/14/70 19:17:20
Adam smiled. He wasn't particularly pleased at the reaction he was getting, but he wasn't being rough-housed anymore either - and at least Franco was still willing to talk. And he had complimented him. That had to be a good sign. Of course, he had now been backed into a corner as well. A name or a number, huh? Adam couldn't give him a name. Quite simply, he didn't know the name of any big-time asian crimelords. He could probably make one up like "Chen" or "Li" or "Wang" or something equally common, but he knew what Franco really meant. Unless Adam could give him a name he recognised, as someone to fear and respect, they needed to start talking nuyen. Unfortunatly, Adam was at a loss in that department as well. What number should I give him? 200,000? Of course not, I already told him that was too much - though he'd certainly accept it. 20,000? More reasonable, but I don't actually have 20,000. 2,000? That's more in my price range, but he'll laugh in my face. After a moment of thought, an idea came to him, and Adam spoke up.
"Since I am not at liberty to give you a name, for reasons that I am sure you understand, I will oblige, and give you a number instead." Adam took a breath, and steeled himself for rejection. "Twenty-thousand." Better to low-ball this thing at first, we can always negotiate a little higher. "I think that more than covers the money she denied you while she worked here, as well as covering any distress she might have caused in leaving. However, the method by which you will be recieving this money is really the most interesting part of my offer - so before you make up your mind, allow me to explain."
"You see, my employer values his privacy, and his secrecy. Shwen is, at this moment, unaware of the 'guardian angel' that is currently looking over her shoulder, and I would like your cooperation in keeping it that way. So, if we were to settle this matter right here and now, and you told her that she was free to go - that would look suspisious, to say the least. Besdies drawing unwanted attention in our direction, it would create unwanted questions for you - and, as you pointed out earlier this evening, might give the other girls the idea that they could get a free ride, too." Adam folded his hands again, taking a relaxed posture, as if he were explaining some "master plan" when really the idea came to him just a few minutes ago. "After all, if Shwen is going to leave this sort of life behind, my employer wouldn't want her expecting hand outs every time she got herself into trouble - he would much prefer that she believed that she earned it - or got a lucky break."
"So, here is how I propose we have things play out." Adam paused for effect, and also, to gather his thoughts. He had the feeling that this was a good idea, but knew he would have to word it just right so that Franco would find it interesting enough to overlook the fact that Adam was putting absolutely nothing down on the table.
"You, being a man of notable generosity and wisdom, can offer Shwen a second chance. Inform her that, if she wants to avoid the kind of 'work' you have set up for her, you are not unreasonable. She is, of course, fired from this place - as you can no longer trust her to work under your roof, and she has said that she wants out. She is free to find a new job, of her liking, which my employer will arrange, without her knowledge. All you ask for, is a 'small' percentage of what she makes, over the next year. Something along the lines of $1,700 a month. However, she wants out - so after she has paid you twenty-thousand nuyen (the money she stole from you, with viscious interest), you inform her that she is now welcome to leave 'the buisness,' but that if she doesn't leave town you'll do something appropriately nasty. At which point, we will step in and insure that you never hear from any of us ever again."
"Now, allow me to highlight some of the benifits to you, specifically, Mr. Balducci, since I assume that is of principle concearn."
"First, you risk almost nothing. Should you fail to get your payments, Shwen is within reach, and you can always resort to your original plan, and the original risks. In this way, I suppose you could consider the girl to be collateral. However, mistreatment of her during this time will not be overlooked, unless, of course, she throws away this opportunity."
"Secondly, this money is in the bag - and you don't have to cross anyone, or do anything morally questionable to get it. For reasons we've already discussed, the money you were originally looking forward to receiving with little or no work on your part has recently become a much more risky investment. This is a solution that both parties can find agreeable, and you can also count on Shwen's support. Having her cooperation in either of these endevours is likely to make your job a lot easier, meaning you can focus on much more important matters - and less about keeping her in line. Not that her protests are the ones that should be distracting you."
"Lastly," I like making points in threes, apparantly. lets hope that's my lucky number tonight. "you're not loosing any long-term investment, by letting her go. After a year, you expected Shwen to be of no value to you anyway, and you didn't expect the money to roll in all at once, either. Granted, the amount of money we are now talking about is quite a bit less than what you had been hoping for - but I think that, given the new circumstances that I have brought to your attention, you will agree that the number I quoted is more than appropriate to cover her 'indiscression', and the amount of risk involved is considerably less."
Adam leaned forward slightly, wondering if Franco was even listening anymore. "So, does this sound interesting to you?"
Wednesday 5/14/70 19:17:20
Adam smiled. He wasn't particularly pleased at the reaction he was getting, but he wasn't being rough-housed anymore either - and at least Franco was still willing to talk. And he had complimented him. That had to be a good sign. Of course, he had now been backed into a corner as well. A name or a number, huh? Adam couldn't give him a name. Quite simply, he didn't know the name of any big-time asian crimelords. He could probably make one up like "Chen" or "Li" or "Wang" or something equally common, but he knew what Franco really meant. Unless Adam could give him a name he recognised, as someone to fear and respect, they needed to start talking nuyen. Unfortunatly, Adam was at a loss in that department as well. What number should I give him?
200,000? Of course not, I already told him that was too much - though he'd certainly accept it. 20,000? More reasonable, but I don't actually have 20,000. 2,000? That's more in my price range, but he'll laugh in my face. After a moment of thought, an idea came to him, and Adam spoke up."Since I am not at liberty to give you a name, for reasons that I am sure you understand, I will oblige, and give you a number instead." Adam took a breath, and steeled himself for rejection. "Twenty-thousand." Better to low-ball this thing at first, we can always negotiate a little higher. "I think that more than covers the money she denied you while she worked here, as well as covering any distress she might have caused in leaving. However, the method by which you will be recieving this money is really the most interesting part of my offer - so before you make up your mind, allow me to explain."
"You see, my employer values his privacy, and his secrecy. Shwen is, at this moment, unaware of the 'guardian angel' that is currently looking over her shoulder, and I would like your cooperation in keeping it that way. So, if we were to settle this matter right here and now, and you told her that she was free to go - that would look suspisious, to say the least. Besdies drawing unwanted attention in our direction, it would create unwanted questions for you - and, as you pointed out earlier this evening, might give the other girls the idea that they could get a free ride, too." Adam folded his hands again, taking a relaxed posture, as if he were explaining some "master plan" when really the idea came to him just a few minutes ago. "After all, if Shwen is going to leave this sort of life behind, my employer wouldn't want her expecting hand outs every time she got herself into trouble - he would much prefer that she believed that she earned it - or got a lucky break."
"So, here is how I propose we have things play out." Adam paused for effect, and also, to gather his thoughts. He had the feeling that this was a good idea, but knew he would have to word it just right so that Franco would find it interesting enough to overlook the fact that Adam was putting absolutely nothing down on the table.
"You, being a man of notable generosity and wisdom, can offer Shwen a second chance. Inform her that, if she wants to avoid the kind of 'work' you have set up for her, you are not unreasonable. She is, of course, fired from this place - as you can no longer trust her to work under your roof, and she has said that she wants out. She is free to find a new job, of her liking, which my employer will arrange, without her knowledge. All you ask for, is a 'small' percentage of what she makes, over the next year. Something along the lines of $1,700 a month. However, she wants out - so after she has paid you twenty-thousand nuyen (the money she stole from you, with viscious interest), you inform her that she is now welcome to leave 'the buisness,' but that if she doesn't leave town you'll do something appropriately nasty. At which point, we will step in and insure that you never hear from any of us ever again."
"Now, allow me to highlight some of the benifits to you, specifically, Mr. Balducci, since I assume that is of principle concearn."
"First, you risk almost nothing. Should you fail to get your payments, Shwen is within reach, and you can always resort to your original plan, and the original risks. In this way, I suppose you could consider the girl to be collateral. However, mistreatment of her during this time will not be overlooked, unless, of course, she throws away this opportunity."
"Secondly, this money is in the bag - and you don't have to cross anyone, or do anything morally questionable to get it. For reasons we've already discussed, the money you were originally looking forward to receiving with little or no work on your part has recently become a much more risky investment. This is a solution that both parties can find agreeable, and you can also count on Shwen's support. Having her cooperation in either of these endevours is likely to make your job a lot easier, meaning you can focus on much more important matters - and less about keeping her in line. Not that her protests are the ones that should be distracting you."
"Lastly," I like making points in threes, apparantly. lets hope that's my lucky number tonight. "you're not loosing any long-term investment, by letting her go. After a year, you expected Shwen to be of no value to you anyway, and you didn't expect the money to roll in all at once, either. Granted, the amount of money we are now talking about is quite a bit less than what you had been hoping for - but I think that, given the new circumstances that I have brought to your attention, you will agree that the number I quoted is more than appropriate to cover her 'indiscression', and the amount of risk involved is considerably less."
Adam leaned forward slightly, wondering if Franco was even listening anymore. "So, does this sound interesting to you?"
Jonathan
Tuesday 7/8/70 08:40:10
Eventually Mr. Bell calmed down enough to speak. "Let's sit down, Jon," he said, as Melanie Seward looked on from a polite distance.
"Jon, there was a horrible car crash this morning. And...and...Jason and Guile were both killed." He breaks into sobs again, leaning on Jon's shoulder. His wife had passed a few years ago, and with his son gone, he must not have anyone else but a hospital grief counselor and his only son's best friend. Jon did his best to comfort the man, and to be patient while the answers came.
"We don't know much. They won't let us see them. Said...said we...we shouldn't see them. The Star was here, for about two minutes. Said they were in her car, her driving, and for some reason they ran off the road and hit a tree. There was a fire. Oh Jon, pray with me that they didn't suffer, that they died when they hit the tree."
Jon let the man cry, though in his mind his shock and grief were swirling around amid a swarm of questions. But Mr. Bell really didn't seem to know any more than he'd said.
After an interminable hour, the man excused himself to take care of some things, leaving Jon monetarily alone with the grief counselor.
Tuesday 7/8/70 08:40:10
Eventually Mr. Bell calmed down enough to speak. "Let's sit down, Jon," he said, as Melanie Seward looked on from a polite distance.
"Jon, there was a horrible car crash this morning. And...and...Jason and Guile were both killed." He breaks into sobs again, leaning on Jon's shoulder. His wife had passed a few years ago, and with his son gone, he must not have anyone else but a hospital grief counselor and his only son's best friend. Jon did his best to comfort the man, and to be patient while the answers came.
"We don't know much. They won't let us see them. Said...said we...we shouldn't see them. The Star was here, for about two minutes. Said they were in her car, her driving, and for some reason they ran off the road and hit a tree. There was a fire. Oh Jon, pray with me that they didn't suffer, that they died when they hit the tree."
Jon let the man cry, though in his mind his shock and grief were swirling around amid a swarm of questions. But Mr. Bell really didn't seem to know any more than he'd said.
After an interminable hour, the man excused himself to take care of some things, leaving Jon monetarily alone with the grief counselor.
Harriet
Wednesday 7/2/70 04:15:00
Harriet had barely cleared the rear of the building when Morris slipped off the back of the hog again. Although she'd done of rough job of cauterizing the worst of the bleeding, the seat of her bike was covered in blood - even when she tried to use one hand to hold him onboard, his unbalanced and unconscious body kept sliding down onto the street.
After a few futile minutes, she loaded him on and walked the big chopper. It was slow and she knew she'd never make it out of the neighborhood in time. But she couldn't quit. She had to at least find some help for her brother before the Star came and scooped her up.
But with sirens steadily converging, the first vehicle to come up the street towards her was decidedly civilian - a big Evo Isengard - Two tons of rugged Uruk Hai rage powered by 10,000-wargpower toxic petroleum byproducts! - with the front end painted in a flying tigers motif. The big pickup with a double-bench chieftain cab screeched to a stop beside Harriet and four ork men hopped out, hands up in gestures of peace. "Skraa, Harriet, you sister sent us to find you." Said one, while another behind him spoke on a comm.
A third was looking at Morris, while the fourth proclaimed, "No time for chat, cerri, the ujnort quaalz is closin' in."
"He's right," the first continued, addressing Harriet directly. "You've gotta trust us now."
Harriet didn't have the strength to fight them, and they wasted no time in loading Morris and her bike into the back of the big truck. She insisted on staying in the back with her brother as the truck careened around a corner and into an alley. If the paint job had been any thicker they'd have scraped against the alley walls - as it was they tore through garbage cans and old plastiform pallets like some sort of nitrous-boosted snowplow from hell. Whoever was behind the wheel seemed to know just where to go to avoid the Chrysler-Nissans that were converging on the neighborhood, and then they drove into the entry to a basement loading dock and next thing she knew they were on some sort of underground thoroughfare. It only went a few blocks before resurfacing, but it was enough to clear the police perimeter, and they were off.
Morris was in terrible shape, barely clinging to life, when they pulled into a completely dark clinic parking lot. The place was obviously closed, but a car pulled in just as they did, disgorging more orks, while a troll in the gray coveralls of a janitor opened the front doors. They picked up Morris and rushed him into the building as the troll remotely activated all the equipment they asked him to.
Harriet collapsed into a corner of the surgery as they worked on Morris, and she didn't know how much time had passed before she reflexively cringed, recoiled and bared her fangs at the feel of a hand on her shoulder. It was Monica, squatting beside her, and she melted into her sister's embrace. But almost immediately Monica pulled away and took Harriet's face in both hands. "Cerri, I know you've been through a special kind of hell tonight, and soon I'll want you to tell me all about it. But what I do know is that those quaalz at Morris' place are full-on tharon, which is how the Star wants you. You are in the djoto now, my blood, and before we erase you we've got to use you. It won't be long before VB changes all its site sec codes, so we've got to act now. Harriet, we need the C12."
Wednesday 7/2/70 04:15:00
Harriet had barely cleared the rear of the building when Morris slipped off the back of the hog again. Although she'd done of rough job of cauterizing the worst of the bleeding, the seat of her bike was covered in blood - even when she tried to use one hand to hold him onboard, his unbalanced and unconscious body kept sliding down onto the street.
After a few futile minutes, she loaded him on and walked the big chopper. It was slow and she knew she'd never make it out of the neighborhood in time. But she couldn't quit. She had to at least find some help for her brother before the Star came and scooped her up.
But with sirens steadily converging, the first vehicle to come up the street towards her was decidedly civilian - a big Evo Isengard - Two tons of rugged Uruk Hai rage powered by 10,000-wargpower toxic petroleum byproducts! - with the front end painted in a flying tigers motif. The big pickup with a double-bench chieftain cab screeched to a stop beside Harriet and four ork men hopped out, hands up in gestures of peace. "Skraa, Harriet, you sister sent us to find you." Said one, while another behind him spoke on a comm.
A third was looking at Morris, while the fourth proclaimed, "No time for chat, cerri, the ujnort quaalz is closin' in."
"He's right," the first continued, addressing Harriet directly. "You've gotta trust us now."
Harriet didn't have the strength to fight them, and they wasted no time in loading Morris and her bike into the back of the big truck. She insisted on staying in the back with her brother as the truck careened around a corner and into an alley. If the paint job had been any thicker they'd have scraped against the alley walls - as it was they tore through garbage cans and old plastiform pallets like some sort of nitrous-boosted snowplow from hell. Whoever was behind the wheel seemed to know just where to go to avoid the Chrysler-Nissans that were converging on the neighborhood, and then they drove into the entry to a basement loading dock and next thing she knew they were on some sort of underground thoroughfare. It only went a few blocks before resurfacing, but it was enough to clear the police perimeter, and they were off.
Morris was in terrible shape, barely clinging to life, when they pulled into a completely dark clinic parking lot. The place was obviously closed, but a car pulled in just as they did, disgorging more orks, while a troll in the gray coveralls of a janitor opened the front doors. They picked up Morris and rushed him into the building as the troll remotely activated all the equipment they asked him to.
Harriet collapsed into a corner of the surgery as they worked on Morris, and she didn't know how much time had passed before she reflexively cringed, recoiled and bared her fangs at the feel of a hand on her shoulder. It was Monica, squatting beside her, and she melted into her sister's embrace. But almost immediately Monica pulled away and took Harriet's face in both hands. "Cerri, I know you've been through a special kind of hell tonight, and soon I'll want you to tell me all about it. But what I do know is that those quaalz at Morris' place are full-on tharon, which is how the Star wants you. You are in the djoto now, my blood, and before we erase you we've got to use you. It won't be long before VB changes all its site sec codes, so we've got to act now. Harriet, we need the C12."
Adam
Wednesday 5/14/70 19:20:00
"Y25,000, and she works where I say, and she knows the score. She's gotta know if she steps outta line one time, she is back on her back."
Wednesday 5/14/70 19:20:00
"Y25,000, and she works where I say, and she knows the score. She's gotta know if she steps outta line one time, she is back on her back."
Adam
Wednesday 5/14/70 19:20:00
"That sounds fair, but whether or not I can agree to that, depends on where you're going to say she works, and what you mean by 'knowing the score'." Adam couldn't quite tell if he was winning ground, or if Franco was just planning on selling her to different clients - and allowing her to pay him back with whatever measly cut she normally got. In any case, it sounded like his 'employer' might not have to worry about setting her up in some make-believe job, if Franco had something acceptable for her to do, and wanted to handle it himself (presumably, so he gets the profit, and not Adam's employer). Of course, in the few minutes Adam had spent with Franco, he knew enough about him to know that whatever he was planning on having Shwen do - it wasn't going to be good. Then again, whatever it was was probably better than being with the three guys he had lined up for her tonight.
"The intention of my original proposal was to allow my employer to arrange for her to get out of this lifestyle, as she desires, and to set her up with a decent job." Adam put emphasis on the word 'decent'. "He would also be able to insure that her wages adequately covered her living expenses, and provided her with enough leftover earnings to pay off her 'debt' to you. I'm sure you're familiar with the concept of funneling money from one person, to another, through such means."
"However, if you would like to arrange such a job, yourself - so that you can keep a better eye on her - I don't see anything wrong with that. Rather than it being a token position, you would be able to profit from whatever job she is given, in addition to being paid back with the same money that you're paying her with. Of course, it goes without saying that this new job would need to be a great deal more 'respectable' than her last one - and that her wages would necessarily be sufficient to cover the costs of a minimal lifestyle, in addition to meeting her payments. If the job you give her makes it impossible for her to pay you on time, we would have no choice but to believe that you set her up for failure so that you could default on our deal - and proceed with your original, unacceptable, plan."
"I also hope it goes without saying that further mistreatment of her while she is in your employ would be considered a similar 'breech of contract'. I understand your desire to have her realise what is at stake if she messes up this opportunity - so you have our blessing to scare her with the details of what you have planned - but we would like to see you treat her with a little bit more 'respect' this time around."
"That said, what are you proposing to have her do, and what would it leave her with at the end of the month?"
Wednesday 5/14/70 19:20:00
"That sounds fair, but whether or not I can agree to that, depends on where you're going to say she works, and what you mean by 'knowing the score'." Adam couldn't quite tell if he was winning ground, or if Franco was just planning on selling her to different clients - and allowing her to pay him back with whatever measly cut she normally got. In any case, it sounded like his 'employer' might not have to worry about setting her up in some make-believe job, if Franco had something acceptable for her to do, and wanted to handle it himself (presumably, so he gets the profit, and not Adam's employer). Of course, in the few minutes Adam had spent with Franco, he knew enough about him to know that whatever he was planning on having Shwen do - it wasn't going to be good. Then again, whatever it was was probably better than being with the three guys he had lined up for her tonight.
"The intention of my original proposal was to allow my employer to arrange for her to get out of this lifestyle, as she desires, and to set her up with a decent job." Adam put emphasis on the word 'decent'. "He would also be able to insure that her wages adequately covered her living expenses, and provided her with enough leftover earnings to pay off her 'debt' to you. I'm sure you're familiar with the concept of funneling money from one person, to another, through such means."
"However, if you would like to arrange such a job, yourself - so that you can keep a better eye on her - I don't see anything wrong with that. Rather than it being a token position, you would be able to profit from whatever job she is given, in addition to being paid back with the same money that you're paying her with. Of course, it goes without saying that this new job would need to be a great deal more 'respectable' than her last one - and that her wages would necessarily be sufficient to cover the costs of a minimal lifestyle, in addition to meeting her payments. If the job you give her makes it impossible for her to pay you on time, we would have no choice but to believe that you set her up for failure so that you could default on our deal - and proceed with your original, unacceptable, plan."
"I also hope it goes without saying that further mistreatment of her while she is in your employ would be considered a similar 'breech of contract'. I understand your desire to have her realise what is at stake if she messes up this opportunity - so you have our blessing to scare her with the details of what you have planned - but we would like to see you treat her with a little bit more 'respect' this time around."
"That said, what are you proposing to have her do, and what would it leave her with at the end of the month?"
Harriet
Wednesday 7/2/70 04:34:00
"...C12."
Harriet stared at Monica. It seemed an eternity, but barely a few seconds passed.
Numbly she nodded curtly and mentally rebooted her commlink while she pointed at her sisters commlink.
Monica shook her head and pointed at the troll in gray coveralls.
Glassily Harriet watched yet another artifact of her hard earned work and trust pour away in a brightly colored stream of blinking ARO icons. The stream of highly secure encrypted data codes blinked across the room, flashing over the gurney where a pair of orks were working on her brother...nothing left, nothing... except...
"Cerri..." carefully not looking directly at her sister, but at Morris, Harriet, "You never could have asked me for that before, before..."
In hushed tones, barely whispered, "Never. But we need help, and this is the way to repay it."
"They trusted me."
Monica stepped half a step back, letting her hands fall, "And what did the smoothies do?" Her voice sharp, she continues, "Look at you! Trust, Loyalty, guts, FEZZZZ, to the bone they work you. From -nothing- you've become the best."
"AND THEY THREW YOU AWAY!"
Harriet clenched her jaw and stubbornly kept herself half turned away, looking at the work on her brother.
Monica sighed inaudibly yet visibly, and moved to stand by Harriet's shoulder. "I know. I know. Only for Morris."My blood, why I fight this fight, the blood and guilt, because they are worthy and honorable and deserve far far better then this world offers. No one else takes care of us, so I must.
Grimly Harriet nods... for you too my sister, though you would never ask...
Holding hands they watched as their brothers leg is tossed into biological waste container.
Wednesday 7/2/70 04:34:00
"...C12."
Harriet stared at Monica. It seemed an eternity, but barely a few seconds passed.
Numbly she nodded curtly and mentally rebooted her commlink while she pointed at her sisters commlink.
Monica shook her head and pointed at the troll in gray coveralls.
Glassily Harriet watched yet another artifact of her hard earned work and trust pour away in a brightly colored stream of blinking ARO icons. The stream of highly secure encrypted data codes blinked across the room, flashing over the gurney where a pair of orks were working on her brother...nothing left, nothing... except...
"Cerri..." carefully not looking directly at her sister, but at Morris, Harriet, "You never could have asked me for that before, before..."
In hushed tones, barely whispered, "Never. But we need help, and this is the way to repay it."
"They trusted me."
Monica stepped half a step back, letting her hands fall, "And what did the smoothies do?" Her voice sharp, she continues, "Look at you! Trust, Loyalty, guts, FEZZZZ, to the bone they work you. From -nothing- you've become the best."
"AND THEY THREW YOU AWAY!"
Harriet clenched her jaw and stubbornly kept herself half turned away, looking at the work on her brother.
Monica sighed inaudibly yet visibly, and moved to stand by Harriet's shoulder. "I know. I know. Only for Morris."My blood, why I fight this fight, the blood and guilt, because they are worthy and honorable and deserve far far better then this world offers. No one else takes care of us, so I must.
Grimly Harriet nods... for you too my sister, though you would never ask...
Holding hands they watched as their brothers leg is tossed into biological waste container.
Adam
Wednesday 5/14/70 19:22:00
Franco listened politely to Adam's ultimatums and questions, but did not reply. Once Adam stopped talking he yelled to the ork - "Freddie, get her set up in the restaurant. She's suddenly too good for the life, she can find out what it's all of sudden like to stand around in four-inch heels twelve hours a day and smile at crappy tippers - just like all the nice girls she thinks she wants to be. Get her moved into that basement room they got there - she ain't gonna be able to keep those fancy digs of hers on what she'll be taking home from this gig. And let her know the deal - one fucking time she slips up, and she's back to square one, starting by being Bruno's Christmas bonus."
Freddie left.
And Franco turned to Adam, with a look that practically begged him to complain.
Wednesday 5/14/70 19:22:00
Franco listened politely to Adam's ultimatums and questions, but did not reply. Once Adam stopped talking he yelled to the ork - "Freddie, get her set up in the restaurant. She's suddenly too good for the life, she can find out what it's all of sudden like to stand around in four-inch heels twelve hours a day and smile at crappy tippers - just like all the nice girls she thinks she wants to be. Get her moved into that basement room they got there - she ain't gonna be able to keep those fancy digs of hers on what she'll be taking home from this gig. And let her know the deal - one fucking time she slips up, and she's back to square one, starting by being Bruno's Christmas bonus."
Freddie left.
And Franco turned to Adam, with a look that practically begged him to complain.
Harriet
Saturday 7/5/70 18:00:00
Harriet and Monica had stayed long enough to know that Morris was stable, and then some orks Harriet had never seen took her underground - literally. Monica explained that she had to establish her presence elsewhere, because the police would question her right away.
They'd taken her through one of the Downtown Underground's many secret entrances, and into a tiny mom and pop convenience store in an obsure corner of a fairly isolated pocket of residences. Through the back past the graying storekeepers and into a bustling office. Young orks and trolls, as well as a couple of dwarves and even a human, bustled around speaking into their comms and working on AR charts, shuffling hard copy materials and chatting, all with a determined sense of urgency and self-importance. Some looked as though they belonged in the Underground, but most wore corp garb or university jerseys. A few hippie types. All young, all educated-looking.
Her guides took her into a small apartment, showed her the fridge and the facilities, and told her Monica would be with her as soon as possible. The walls were adorned with three different Greg Jackson posters, and she was not at all surprised to see a few SOS banners on the bathroom door.
That had been three days ago, and she was getting stir crazy. For the first couple days she was happy to just sleep and cry and lick her burned hands. The room was painted to block comm signals, and the girls that restocked the fridge explained that they had to limit who she came in contact with - not about trust, but no one held up against a mind probe spell.
She was just about to say fuck it and just leave, when Monica walked into the room and gave her a hug. She wore a suitably sympathetic expression, but tried to be upbeat.
"Cerri, there's a lot of news you need to hear. It's pretty much all bad. Are you ready?
"The quaalz want you bad. They're coming after you like they only come after someone who flatlined one of their own. They're a tight bunch, and more than that, the examples they make of cop killers are generally better at keeping them alive than a fleet of armored vehicles.
"One got away, honey, and so there's an eyewitness to you killing five officers. Besides that, VB is convinced you stole a couple mil, and they've used that to establish motive in Andy's death. And they say they have hard evidence of that, but I haven't seen it.
"You're gonna need a lot of help, Harriet, and there are a lot of people around here that say you're too hot even for us to handle. Fortunately you gave me a nice little something to bargain with in your favor - it's amazing the kind of favors fifty kilos of C12 plastique can buy from a revolutionary group."
Saturday 7/5/70 18:00:00
Harriet and Monica had stayed long enough to know that Morris was stable, and then some orks Harriet had never seen took her underground - literally. Monica explained that she had to establish her presence elsewhere, because the police would question her right away.
They'd taken her through one of the Downtown Underground's many secret entrances, and into a tiny mom and pop convenience store in an obsure corner of a fairly isolated pocket of residences. Through the back past the graying storekeepers and into a bustling office. Young orks and trolls, as well as a couple of dwarves and even a human, bustled around speaking into their comms and working on AR charts, shuffling hard copy materials and chatting, all with a determined sense of urgency and self-importance. Some looked as though they belonged in the Underground, but most wore corp garb or university jerseys. A few hippie types. All young, all educated-looking.
Her guides took her into a small apartment, showed her the fridge and the facilities, and told her Monica would be with her as soon as possible. The walls were adorned with three different Greg Jackson posters, and she was not at all surprised to see a few SOS banners on the bathroom door.
That had been three days ago, and she was getting stir crazy. For the first couple days she was happy to just sleep and cry and lick her burned hands. The room was painted to block comm signals, and the girls that restocked the fridge explained that they had to limit who she came in contact with - not about trust, but no one held up against a mind probe spell.
She was just about to say fuck it and just leave, when Monica walked into the room and gave her a hug. She wore a suitably sympathetic expression, but tried to be upbeat.
"Cerri, there's a lot of news you need to hear. It's pretty much all bad. Are you ready?
"The quaalz want you bad. They're coming after you like they only come after someone who flatlined one of their own. They're a tight bunch, and more than that, the examples they make of cop killers are generally better at keeping them alive than a fleet of armored vehicles.
"One got away, honey, and so there's an eyewitness to you killing five officers. Besides that, VB is convinced you stole a couple mil, and they've used that to establish motive in Andy's death. And they say they have hard evidence of that, but I haven't seen it.
"You're gonna need a lot of help, Harriet, and there are a lot of people around here that say you're too hot even for us to handle. Fortunately you gave me a nice little something to bargain with in your favor - it's amazing the kind of favors fifty kilos of C12 plastique can buy from a revolutionary group."
Caittie
Saturday 8/16/70 14:26:42
‘Get used to my new life… how do I do that?’, Caittie asked herself as she sat there looking into the sky through waving leaves. The sun was flashing through leaves, causing a strobe like affect, making her squint a little. Turning up the shade on her glasses, they darkened enough to let her open her eyes while still letting her see through them.
She just sat there trying to enjoy the nice Saturday afternoon in the open park. The first time in a couple of days that she could actually relax and though it was nice out here, she had a lot on her mind. “Caittie Dreamer…”she repeated out loud to the wind as she started reading over her new SIN information.
Saturday 8/16/70 16:01:24
Closing the open window in her AR vision, Caittie got up from where she was sitting and walked around the tree to stretch her legs. She read over her “history”, but it still seemed like another person’s life, not hers. ‘I doubt it ever will…’, she though as she finished stretching her legs.
For a while she just wandered the immediate area, not wandering too far away from her backpack. It felt good to get up after sitting for that long. Feeling thirsty, she walked back to her backpack and picked it up as she then looked for a water fountain she saw earlier. Spotting it off in the distance, she headed that way with no real urgency.
Ever since talking with Rebecca, she had been wondering what she should be doing. She didn’t have any money to spare to go to a club, nor was she hungry at the moment. She couldn’t go back to school, and she didn’t have any friends to hang out with. She sorted through all the options that came to her mind and couldn’t find any that worked.
Upon reaching the fountain, she started drinking to relieve the thirst but halfway though an idea came to her. As she finished drinking, she though, ‘I could always practice on forming sprites. They seem useful and Rebecca has a few it seems.’
Deciding on that plan, she looked for a place she could go VR for a little bit to try out her plan. Finding an old oak tree with a bench under it, she sat down and set her things beside her. Trying to get comfortable, she relaxes and then wills herself into the world of data streams.
To an outward observer, Caittie was just resting her eyes while sitting on a shaded bench. To Caittie, she was now in a barren room, cause she had not changed any of the setting on her new commlink yet. Sighing, she put that on her something to do list as she prepared to create a new sprite.
Taking a deep breath, she held a hand up palm up like she did last time. Concentrating on the area around her, she started to warp the data into something she wanted it to be. Motes of light drifted slowly into her hand and gathered into the same sun-like ball of light as before. She let grow until it was the same size as before, but this time she pushed it a little farther. It grew quickly, almost too quickly and before she could clench her hand tight to stop it from growing, it was double the size.
She grabbed her arm to quell the shaking caused by her trying to hold in the energy as she brought it in towards her. She then thrust her fist out and opened it, palm facing away from her... Then time sort of stopped for a split second and Caittie swore she heard an etheral laughter. Then just as time stopped it sped up again, with an explosion of energy concentrated at her hand.
Her form was blown backwards by a great blastwave of energy and light. As her avatar few backwards, she jerked forward and grabbed her head in pain in the real world...
Saturday 8/16/70 14:26:42
‘Get used to my new life… how do I do that?’, Caittie asked herself as she sat there looking into the sky through waving leaves. The sun was flashing through leaves, causing a strobe like affect, making her squint a little. Turning up the shade on her glasses, they darkened enough to let her open her eyes while still letting her see through them.
She just sat there trying to enjoy the nice Saturday afternoon in the open park. The first time in a couple of days that she could actually relax and though it was nice out here, she had a lot on her mind. “Caittie Dreamer…”she repeated out loud to the wind as she started reading over her new SIN information.
Saturday 8/16/70 16:01:24
Closing the open window in her AR vision, Caittie got up from where she was sitting and walked around the tree to stretch her legs. She read over her “history”, but it still seemed like another person’s life, not hers. ‘I doubt it ever will…’, she though as she finished stretching her legs.
For a while she just wandered the immediate area, not wandering too far away from her backpack. It felt good to get up after sitting for that long. Feeling thirsty, she walked back to her backpack and picked it up as she then looked for a water fountain she saw earlier. Spotting it off in the distance, she headed that way with no real urgency.
Ever since talking with Rebecca, she had been wondering what she should be doing. She didn’t have any money to spare to go to a club, nor was she hungry at the moment. She couldn’t go back to school, and she didn’t have any friends to hang out with. She sorted through all the options that came to her mind and couldn’t find any that worked.
Upon reaching the fountain, she started drinking to relieve the thirst but halfway though an idea came to her. As she finished drinking, she though, ‘I could always practice on forming sprites. They seem useful and Rebecca has a few it seems.’
Deciding on that plan, she looked for a place she could go VR for a little bit to try out her plan. Finding an old oak tree with a bench under it, she sat down and set her things beside her. Trying to get comfortable, she relaxes and then wills herself into the world of data streams.
To an outward observer, Caittie was just resting her eyes while sitting on a shaded bench. To Caittie, she was now in a barren room, cause she had not changed any of the setting on her new commlink yet. Sighing, she put that on her something to do list as she prepared to create a new sprite.
Taking a deep breath, she held a hand up palm up like she did last time. Concentrating on the area around her, she started to warp the data into something she wanted it to be. Motes of light drifted slowly into her hand and gathered into the same sun-like ball of light as before. She let grow until it was the same size as before, but this time she pushed it a little farther. It grew quickly, almost too quickly and before she could clench her hand tight to stop it from growing, it was double the size.
She grabbed her arm to quell the shaking caused by her trying to hold in the energy as she brought it in towards her. She then thrust her fist out and opened it, palm facing away from her... Then time sort of stopped for a split second and Caittie swore she heard an etheral laughter. Then just as time stopped it sped up again, with an explosion of energy concentrated at her hand.
Her form was blown backwards by a great blastwave of energy and light. As her avatar few backwards, she jerked forward and grabbed her head in pain in the real world...
Adam
Wednesday 5/14/70 19:22:10
Despite Franco's expression, Adam was not about to argue. He simply smiled, and offered the mobster his gloved hand. "That sounds perfectly acceptable, Mr. Balducci." Inside, he felt like a bomb had gone off in his heart. Sure, it was going to be a crappy job, and she would be living a shitty lifestyle, but at least she wasn't going to be subjected to the torture Franco had planned for her - plus, he knew he would be able to help her out a little, and figured Tyisha might be able to help a little bit too. It wasn't a total victory, but he felt like he was getting most of what he wanted. He could only hope that, after pointing out a number of bad things that might come about because of the original plan, and offering him an alternative that still left him mostly in control, that Franco felt the same way.
"Unless we have anything else to discuss, I will let you get back to your buisness. My employer will be most pleased to hear that we have come to an understanding."
Wednesday 5/14/70 19:22:10
Despite Franco's expression, Adam was not about to argue. He simply smiled, and offered the mobster his gloved hand. "That sounds perfectly acceptable, Mr. Balducci." Inside, he felt like a bomb had gone off in his heart. Sure, it was going to be a crappy job, and she would be living a shitty lifestyle, but at least she wasn't going to be subjected to the torture Franco had planned for her - plus, he knew he would be able to help her out a little, and figured Tyisha might be able to help a little bit too. It wasn't a total victory, but he felt like he was getting most of what he wanted. He could only hope that, after pointing out a number of bad things that might come about because of the original plan, and offering him an alternative that still left him mostly in control, that Franco felt the same way.
"Unless we have anything else to discuss, I will let you get back to your buisness. My employer will be most pleased to hear that we have come to an understanding."
Adam
Wednesday 5/14/70 19:22:30
Franco stood up and leaned across the table to shake Adam's hand, then sat back down. "Actually, yeah, there are two more things. First, you go back and tell your 'employer' that if he ever sends a mouthpiece to me that even mentions my family, I am sending the mook's head back to him with a bomb in it. You'd do best to remember that yourself, 'cuz it ain't no idle threat."
Franco smiled, as if to hit a reset button on the conversation. "Second, I wanna ask you, now that our business is complete - you work for this mystery employer on exclusive contract, or you freelance?"
Wednesday 5/14/70 19:22:30
Franco stood up and leaned across the table to shake Adam's hand, then sat back down. "Actually, yeah, there are two more things. First, you go back and tell your 'employer' that if he ever sends a mouthpiece to me that even mentions my family, I am sending the mook's head back to him with a bomb in it. You'd do best to remember that yourself, 'cuz it ain't no idle threat."
Franco smiled, as if to hit a reset button on the conversation. "Second, I wanna ask you, now that our business is complete - you work for this mystery employer on exclusive contract, or you freelance?"
Adam
Wednesday 5/14/70 19:22:40
Adam nodded, "I assure you, I will pass the message along - and should he, in the future, decide to go against this advice - I will make sure to remember not to accept the job." He then paused for a moment before answering the second question.
He was torn. On one hand, he was counting on washing his hands of this thing (and these people) once he was out of this meeting. On the other, if he gave Franco the impression that he was loyal to his 'employer' there was a larger chance he would take actions to track Adam down in an attempt to get more information on this 'employer'. Of course, on a third hand, Adam had gotten quite a rush during this last negotiation - and the careless daredevil part of him was definatly curious about this potential opportunity.
Adam finally answered, "Our contract doesn't extend beyond this meeting - although, should he need my services here in the future, I would expect him to contact me. I'm confident in his pleasure with my service-record. As for my freelance status..." Adam looked across the table at the mobster. "Lets just say, I am not exactly advertising for new contracts - and my impression of your employee-morale could use some improvement - but I would definately be interested in hearing details if there is something you think I could help you with."
Adam started thinking about how he would keep in touch with Franco - he definatly wasn't going to give him his personal number... but maybe he could get himself a spare commlink to use for these sorts of communications - having one certainly would have made his life easier earlier today when he was cleaning up his data signature, and spoofing a new ID.
"As long as we're clear that I'm not really looking for an exclusive contract, either."
Wednesday 5/14/70 19:22:40
Adam nodded, "I assure you, I will pass the message along - and should he, in the future, decide to go against this advice - I will make sure to remember not to accept the job." He then paused for a moment before answering the second question.
He was torn. On one hand, he was counting on washing his hands of this thing (and these people) once he was out of this meeting. On the other, if he gave Franco the impression that he was loyal to his 'employer' there was a larger chance he would take actions to track Adam down in an attempt to get more information on this 'employer'. Of course, on a third hand, Adam had gotten quite a rush during this last negotiation - and the careless daredevil part of him was definatly curious about this potential opportunity.
Adam finally answered, "Our contract doesn't extend beyond this meeting - although, should he need my services here in the future, I would expect him to contact me. I'm confident in his pleasure with my service-record. As for my freelance status..." Adam looked across the table at the mobster. "Lets just say, I am not exactly advertising for new contracts - and my impression of your employee-morale could use some improvement - but I would definately be interested in hearing details if there is something you think I could help you with."
Adam started thinking about how he would keep in touch with Franco - he definatly wasn't going to give him his personal number... but maybe he could get himself a spare commlink to use for these sorts of communications - having one certainly would have made his life easier earlier today when he was cleaning up his data signature, and spoofing a new ID.
"As long as we're clear that I'm not really looking for an exclusive contract, either."
Adam
Wednesday 5/14/70 19:24:00
"Fair enough." Franco came around the table and offered his hand. "I won't say it was a pleasure, but you conducted yourself quite well. Stay as long as you like - drinks and dances on the house. On your way out, make sure and let the doorman know how I can reach you."
Wednesday 5/14/70 19:24:00
"Fair enough." Franco came around the table and offered his hand. "I won't say it was a pleasure, but you conducted yourself quite well. Stay as long as you like - drinks and dances on the house. On your way out, make sure and let the doorman know how I can reach you."
Adam
Wednesday 5/14/70 19:24:20
Adam shook Franco's hand to 'seal the deal' and said, "I won't be staying long."
He meant it too. Besides wanting to put some space between himself and the mob for a while, he wanted to maintain his 'professional' look - and a professional wouldn't sit around drinking booze and looking at boobies while his boss was waiting for his response. Well, they might, but Adam didn't want Franco thinking that that was how he behaves.
How was Franco going to contact him?
Assuming Franco was going to stay at his table, Adam turned to leave. On his way out, he retrieved his tazer from the doorman, and said, "Tell Franco that once I complete this contract, I will arrange a way for him to contact me."
And with that somewhat enigmatic statement, he left. He needed to touch bases with Tyisha, Shwen, and Sally tonight. His queue of jobs seemed to be filling up faster than he would like.
Wednesday 5/14/70 19:24:20
Adam shook Franco's hand to 'seal the deal' and said, "I won't be staying long."
He meant it too. Besides wanting to put some space between himself and the mob for a while, he wanted to maintain his 'professional' look - and a professional wouldn't sit around drinking booze and looking at boobies while his boss was waiting for his response. Well, they might, but Adam didn't want Franco thinking that that was how he behaves.
How was Franco going to contact him?
Assuming Franco was going to stay at his table, Adam turned to leave. On his way out, he retrieved his tazer from the doorman, and said, "Tell Franco that once I complete this contract, I will arrange a way for him to contact me."
And with that somewhat enigmatic statement, he left. He needed to touch bases with Tyisha, Shwen, and Sally tonight. His queue of jobs seemed to be filling up faster than he would like.
Caittie
Saturday 8/16/70 16:05:10
Caittie’s head throbbed with each pulse of her heart. She could feel the blood pumping through the veins in her brain, and each contraction of her heart caused more pain in her head. As she just sat there on the bench and held her aching head, she could feel the lightest pressure on her scalp and it felt like needles pricking her wherever her hands touched.
She just sat there for what seemed like forever with her eyes closed, trying to block out the pain. Slowly opening her eyes to the real world, her natural reflex caused her to flinch as the suns rays burned into her eyes, causing more pain. She wondered why she hurt so much, wanted to think about what went wrong, but thinking hurt too much right then. With that painful realization, she just sat there with her eyes closed for a while longer...
Monday 8/18/70 12:40:25
The clouds in the sky blocked out most of the sun, causing a graying effect to blanket the city of Seattle. As Caittie sat outside a local Stuffer nursing a hot cup of instant ramen, she was thankful she had a longsleeve shirt to use as a jacket, as a cool breeze caused by a incoming cold front swept past. Looking at the dingy grey sky, she thought back on the past two days and as she noted what she accomplished, she smiled at how well she was doing on her own.
Each morning, Caittie had started up a regimen of stretching out, working out her muscles some with some pushups and sit-ups, then running around the surrounding streets. Afterwards, she would look for some online textbooks and continue her studies like she never stopped going to school. Thinking back on it, while she never really disliked the classes, she got bored waiting for some of the other people to finish. Shrugging the last thought off, she opened the cup of ramen and started eating out of it, using the chopsticks provided.
Somewhere in each day, she continued to work on her innate abilities, usually by trying to create a new sprite. She thought about her failed attempt back at the park, and once the pain went away, how she had analyzed what had happened afterwards. She planned out her next try in her head later that day and on her next try, was successful. A woman dressed in black cloths, named Shadow, was the outcome of the event. She had been very irritated at Caittie for pulling her from her ‘there’, but wouldn’t say anything on what ‘there’ was. When Caittie tried to register the sprite, it was a long and painful struggle of power. Shadow did not want to serve her and though Caittie succeeded; her head throbbed with great pain.
*Ping* ‘Thunderstorms are expected to hit the Greater Seattle area around three o’clock PM today. It looks like it will be a heavy one with at least one inch of rain per hour and up to two inches. You might want to get indoors, chummers, cause it doesn’t look to be letting up for a while once it gets here.’
Caittie looked up into the grey sky and watched the clouds move in an eastern direction and sighed. As she heard the weather advisory in her mind finish up. ‘I’m glad I set up my new commlink. I would have been in a lot of trouble if I had been caught outside.’, she told herself as she started to wolf down her cooling ramen. She had just finished setting the commlink up this very morning, and it was already paying off.
Later on this same morning, Caittie had continued to train her ability and succeeded in creating another sprite who, while weaker than Shadow, was more cooperative. Cid, as he called himself, was willing to work for Caittie as it would allow him to examine and inhabit the machines of our world easier. Indeed, he looked like a engineer out for a good day of tinkering with his white smock, magnifying glasses, tool belt, and mischievous grin.
When she asked him about the ‘there’ that Shadow had let slip, he gave Caittie a knowing grin. “I can’t tell you anything other than you will find out on your own when ready.”, is all he would say to her on the matter. This annoyed Caittie a bit as she thought he was treating her like a child, but let the matter drop.
As she drank the last bit of broth in the bottom of the cup, she shook off the thoughts and chill that a fresh breeze blew in. Looking up a traffic guide online, she set a waypoint for the nearest mall and set out towards it after throwing away her trash. ‘It’s going to be the first rainy day since that happened... I need an umbrella or something. If anything, I’ll be out of the rain for a while in the mall.’, she decided as she walked. ‘Hopefully I can get there before the bottom drops out.’
Monday 8/18/70 14:57:16
The sky had turned a nasty black color that lit up in places as lightning flashed in the clouds. Caittie was getting nervous about the rain headed her way even though she could see the mall across the giant parking lot. Pulling up a live radar feed on the weather, she saw a massive red blob covering the west half of the city and slowly crawling it's way eastward.
'Oh shit, nonononono!', was all Caittie thought as she started running towards the mall. It seemed like it took forever and that she would never get inside before the rain caught up to her, but she finally made it under the overhang that protected the doors inside. Just as she reached out to open the door, a lightning bolt flashed and thunder ripped through the air. Looking behind her, she saw a pure wall of water moving across the parking lot as the rain moved towards the east. Thankfull she made it there in time, Caittle headed inside the multi-tier building...
Saturday 8/16/70 16:05:10
Caittie’s head throbbed with each pulse of her heart. She could feel the blood pumping through the veins in her brain, and each contraction of her heart caused more pain in her head. As she just sat there on the bench and held her aching head, she could feel the lightest pressure on her scalp and it felt like needles pricking her wherever her hands touched.
She just sat there for what seemed like forever with her eyes closed, trying to block out the pain. Slowly opening her eyes to the real world, her natural reflex caused her to flinch as the suns rays burned into her eyes, causing more pain. She wondered why she hurt so much, wanted to think about what went wrong, but thinking hurt too much right then. With that painful realization, she just sat there with her eyes closed for a while longer...
Monday 8/18/70 12:40:25
The clouds in the sky blocked out most of the sun, causing a graying effect to blanket the city of Seattle. As Caittie sat outside a local Stuffer nursing a hot cup of instant ramen, she was thankful she had a longsleeve shirt to use as a jacket, as a cool breeze caused by a incoming cold front swept past. Looking at the dingy grey sky, she thought back on the past two days and as she noted what she accomplished, she smiled at how well she was doing on her own.
Each morning, Caittie had started up a regimen of stretching out, working out her muscles some with some pushups and sit-ups, then running around the surrounding streets. Afterwards, she would look for some online textbooks and continue her studies like she never stopped going to school. Thinking back on it, while she never really disliked the classes, she got bored waiting for some of the other people to finish. Shrugging the last thought off, she opened the cup of ramen and started eating out of it, using the chopsticks provided.
Somewhere in each day, she continued to work on her innate abilities, usually by trying to create a new sprite. She thought about her failed attempt back at the park, and once the pain went away, how she had analyzed what had happened afterwards. She planned out her next try in her head later that day and on her next try, was successful. A woman dressed in black cloths, named Shadow, was the outcome of the event. She had been very irritated at Caittie for pulling her from her ‘there’, but wouldn’t say anything on what ‘there’ was. When Caittie tried to register the sprite, it was a long and painful struggle of power. Shadow did not want to serve her and though Caittie succeeded; her head throbbed with great pain.
*Ping* ‘Thunderstorms are expected to hit the Greater Seattle area around three o’clock PM today. It looks like it will be a heavy one with at least one inch of rain per hour and up to two inches. You might want to get indoors, chummers, cause it doesn’t look to be letting up for a while once it gets here.’
Caittie looked up into the grey sky and watched the clouds move in an eastern direction and sighed. As she heard the weather advisory in her mind finish up. ‘I’m glad I set up my new commlink. I would have been in a lot of trouble if I had been caught outside.’, she told herself as she started to wolf down her cooling ramen. She had just finished setting the commlink up this very morning, and it was already paying off.
Later on this same morning, Caittie had continued to train her ability and succeeded in creating another sprite who, while weaker than Shadow, was more cooperative. Cid, as he called himself, was willing to work for Caittie as it would allow him to examine and inhabit the machines of our world easier. Indeed, he looked like a engineer out for a good day of tinkering with his white smock, magnifying glasses, tool belt, and mischievous grin.
When she asked him about the ‘there’ that Shadow had let slip, he gave Caittie a knowing grin. “I can’t tell you anything other than you will find out on your own when ready.”, is all he would say to her on the matter. This annoyed Caittie a bit as she thought he was treating her like a child, but let the matter drop.
As she drank the last bit of broth in the bottom of the cup, she shook off the thoughts and chill that a fresh breeze blew in. Looking up a traffic guide online, she set a waypoint for the nearest mall and set out towards it after throwing away her trash. ‘It’s going to be the first rainy day since that happened... I need an umbrella or something. If anything, I’ll be out of the rain for a while in the mall.’, she decided as she walked. ‘Hopefully I can get there before the bottom drops out.’
Monday 8/18/70 14:57:16
The sky had turned a nasty black color that lit up in places as lightning flashed in the clouds. Caittie was getting nervous about the rain headed her way even though she could see the mall across the giant parking lot. Pulling up a live radar feed on the weather, she saw a massive red blob covering the west half of the city and slowly crawling it's way eastward.
'Oh shit, nonononono!', was all Caittie thought as she started running towards the mall. It seemed like it took forever and that she would never get inside before the rain caught up to her, but she finally made it under the overhang that protected the doors inside. Just as she reached out to open the door, a lightning bolt flashed and thunder ripped through the air. Looking behind her, she saw a pure wall of water moving across the parking lot as the rain moved towards the east. Thankfull she made it there in time, Caittle headed inside the multi-tier building...
Harriet
Saturday 7/12/70 14:16:34
...bargains...
Harriet didn't want to argue, just went with the flow. It had been a long time since she had let someone else handle anything for her, in fact, it was pretty much never. But Monica was the one in charge now, had the connections and friends to keep her safe while she sorted this out, if she ever could. There was very little to care about anymore. Andy was gone, and what was clear, but not spoken between the two sisters, Harriet wasn't going to get to see Morris anymore. Well, she'd seen him. But looking at a doped out skinny tusker on a recovery bed wasn't the same as seeing her brother smile when she visited. A smile she wasn't going to see again. It was obvious Monica wasn't quite saying she couldn't see him, but enough hints about whether it would be a good idea, and though she hadn't been shy about saying it before, the fact she was avoiding saying how unreliable a chiphead was, Harriet could draw her own conclusions. Someday Morris would be back on the street, out of his mind, wearing someone else's really, and the Star might pick him up. It was safer for everyone, especially Morris if he thought she was dead.
In the meantime there was a surgery scheduled for noon the next day, that being the slow time in the UG, and some work to do in the meantime. She'd gotten out of those rooms, and gotten a set of maintenance tasks that didn't involve running a crew. There was a lot environmental machinery behind maintenance schedules that were really important to the UG. Harriet could really help out with keeping them ship shape and diagnose some of the problems, and all she needed would be one guide to watch over her, simple enough. At first she thought Big Jimmy was just someone that Monica knew, but apparently he was much more then that. He was coming along on tonights little chat.
--------------
Saturday 7/12/70
Big Jimmy had been worried. He'd heard the stories about the tusker woman, but didn't believe it. He'd been watching her the past week, ever since she'd been assigned to his Facilities shift. She certainly knew her stuff, no problem there. Freight 3 had never worked before, but she'd gotten it going, which meant finally they could bring down the heavy duty forklifts in one piece instead of taking them up and down in several parts, which was really tedious. And Sump Station 38 was running again, which should keep the sewage out of the east chamber schoolyard. And Blower 6 wasn't making that noise anymore. He was going to get a lot of credit for all the repairs getting done. Which was kind of worrying, he might need to keep on making repairs.
He wasn't worried about whether she could do the work, and she'd been quiet. Even with the inevitable setbacks, she'd just shrugged and gone on to the next step. She was too cool about stuff that would make Big Jimmy break some of his tools. he wasn't sure she'd have what it would take to do the job.
Turned out he was wrong. That night he and the tusker woman had waited in the passageway for Torrence, the unfaithful snitch. It made Big Jimmy mad just thinking about one of his own being a stoolie, he'd been ready to work him over all by himself, but the cell leadership had told him to watch the tusker woman do it and report. He wasn't sure what she could do that he couldn't with his fists, but he did what he was told. He hadn't said anything when she had pulled out a 5 kilo hammer head and screwed it to the length of pipe she'd carried into the passageway. She'd knocked out the lights, then waited so quietly he hadn't been sure was still there till Torrence has showed up. At his double pat, the agreed upon signal, she stepped right up in front of him, and swung the hammer in a circle so quick he didn't even see it move. One moment it was loose behind her, the next it make a horrible sick crunch and was bouncing off of what was left of Torrence's left foot. Torrence didn't even make a sound as he bent over.
Two smashed knees, a dislocated elbow, five pulverized fingers, and a separated shoulder later Torrence was moaning he would tell them everything before she finally said anything. She stood over him and told him that was the problem, that he was too willing to tell everyone anything, that she already knew everything he could say. Then she turned him over to Big Jimmy.
He didn't do anything except kneel down next to Torrence and tell it to him straight. If Torrence didn't keep his big mouth shut about whatever he might know was happening in the UG, then the tusker woman would be back. He told Torrence, cross his heart and hope to die, that the tusker woman liked to burn people alive, and Big Jimmy was just there to make sure it didn't happen this time. Torrence ought to consider himself lucky.
"Smash and burn... this the smash, next time it's the burn."
Big Jimmy believed the stories now, he was now worried about never making the tusker woman mad.
Saturday 7/12/70 14:16:34
...bargains...
Harriet didn't want to argue, just went with the flow. It had been a long time since she had let someone else handle anything for her, in fact, it was pretty much never. But Monica was the one in charge now, had the connections and friends to keep her safe while she sorted this out, if she ever could. There was very little to care about anymore. Andy was gone, and what was clear, but not spoken between the two sisters, Harriet wasn't going to get to see Morris anymore. Well, she'd seen him. But looking at a doped out skinny tusker on a recovery bed wasn't the same as seeing her brother smile when she visited. A smile she wasn't going to see again. It was obvious Monica wasn't quite saying she couldn't see him, but enough hints about whether it would be a good idea, and though she hadn't been shy about saying it before, the fact she was avoiding saying how unreliable a chiphead was, Harriet could draw her own conclusions. Someday Morris would be back on the street, out of his mind, wearing someone else's really, and the Star might pick him up. It was safer for everyone, especially Morris if he thought she was dead.
In the meantime there was a surgery scheduled for noon the next day, that being the slow time in the UG, and some work to do in the meantime. She'd gotten out of those rooms, and gotten a set of maintenance tasks that didn't involve running a crew. There was a lot environmental machinery behind maintenance schedules that were really important to the UG. Harriet could really help out with keeping them ship shape and diagnose some of the problems, and all she needed would be one guide to watch over her, simple enough. At first she thought Big Jimmy was just someone that Monica knew, but apparently he was much more then that. He was coming along on tonights little chat.
--------------
Saturday 7/12/70
Big Jimmy had been worried. He'd heard the stories about the tusker woman, but didn't believe it. He'd been watching her the past week, ever since she'd been assigned to his Facilities shift. She certainly knew her stuff, no problem there. Freight 3 had never worked before, but she'd gotten it going, which meant finally they could bring down the heavy duty forklifts in one piece instead of taking them up and down in several parts, which was really tedious. And Sump Station 38 was running again, which should keep the sewage out of the east chamber schoolyard. And Blower 6 wasn't making that noise anymore. He was going to get a lot of credit for all the repairs getting done. Which was kind of worrying, he might need to keep on making repairs.
He wasn't worried about whether she could do the work, and she'd been quiet. Even with the inevitable setbacks, she'd just shrugged and gone on to the next step. She was too cool about stuff that would make Big Jimmy break some of his tools. he wasn't sure she'd have what it would take to do the job.
Turned out he was wrong. That night he and the tusker woman had waited in the passageway for Torrence, the unfaithful snitch. It made Big Jimmy mad just thinking about one of his own being a stoolie, he'd been ready to work him over all by himself, but the cell leadership had told him to watch the tusker woman do it and report. He wasn't sure what she could do that he couldn't with his fists, but he did what he was told. He hadn't said anything when she had pulled out a 5 kilo hammer head and screwed it to the length of pipe she'd carried into the passageway. She'd knocked out the lights, then waited so quietly he hadn't been sure was still there till Torrence has showed up. At his double pat, the agreed upon signal, she stepped right up in front of him, and swung the hammer in a circle so quick he didn't even see it move. One moment it was loose behind her, the next it make a horrible sick crunch and was bouncing off of what was left of Torrence's left foot. Torrence didn't even make a sound as he bent over.
Two smashed knees, a dislocated elbow, five pulverized fingers, and a separated shoulder later Torrence was moaning he would tell them everything before she finally said anything. She stood over him and told him that was the problem, that he was too willing to tell everyone anything, that she already knew everything he could say. Then she turned him over to Big Jimmy.
He didn't do anything except kneel down next to Torrence and tell it to him straight. If Torrence didn't keep his big mouth shut about whatever he might know was happening in the UG, then the tusker woman would be back. He told Torrence, cross his heart and hope to die, that the tusker woman liked to burn people alive, and Big Jimmy was just there to make sure it didn't happen this time. Torrence ought to consider himself lucky.
"Smash and burn... this the smash, next time it's the burn."
Big Jimmy believed the stories now, he was now worried about never making the tusker woman mad.
Harriet
Monday 7/13/70 10:47:16
Transcript 90a72hf97dsdf87bb1234
T: The matter of our latest recruit, do we have a report?
S: She fit in well immediately in the work place.
T: And the mission?
S; Very impressive, her minder is worried for himself.
M: He's always worrying about something.
T: Any objection with proceeding the enhancements.
S: None.
M: I want this on the record.
T: You have an objection?
S; But she's your...
M: I know I know. But I want this understood by all. She is not dedicated to the cause.
T: I understand, this makes her more suitable for some tasks though.
S: But she did the mission?
M: As long as we all understand.
S: But why is she doing this then?
M: Because she has nothing else, and she's going to do her best for herself.
T: And for you.
M: Yes for me.
S: Personal loyalty is not allowed. It can be detrimental to us.
T: That has been factored in.
S; I don't like this then.
M: Neither do I.
M: But it is necessary, and will serve our purposes.
S: And your personal ones!
T: That is incorrect, I am certain both of them would prefer this is not necessary at all.
M: Sacrifices must be made.
S: But your own...!
T: That's not what's being sacrificed.
S; I don't understand.
T: It's a matter of principle.
S; I still don't understand.
M: Let's end this. As long as the situation is on record, and most of us understand that she is not dedicated to the cause and comprehend what that means. What's needed to be done will be done. The enhancement step has my approval. That should close this matter immediately.
S: It doesn't make sense to me.
of course not, you left behind your litter long ago, there's more to life then the cause, without life and love there would be no cause...
Monday 7/13/70 10:47:16
Transcript 90a72hf97dsdf87bb1234
T: The matter of our latest recruit, do we have a report?
S: She fit in well immediately in the work place.
T: And the mission?
S; Very impressive, her minder is worried for himself.
M: He's always worrying about something.
T: Any objection with proceeding the enhancements.
S: None.
M: I want this on the record.
T: You have an objection?
S; But she's your...
M: I know I know. But I want this understood by all. She is not dedicated to the cause.
T: I understand, this makes her more suitable for some tasks though.
S: But she did the mission?
M: As long as we all understand.
S: But why is she doing this then?
M: Because she has nothing else, and she's going to do her best for herself.
T: And for you.
M: Yes for me.
S: Personal loyalty is not allowed. It can be detrimental to us.
T: That has been factored in.
S; I don't like this then.
M: Neither do I.
M: But it is necessary, and will serve our purposes.
S: And your personal ones!
T: That is incorrect, I am certain both of them would prefer this is not necessary at all.
M: Sacrifices must be made.
S: But your own...!
T: That's not what's being sacrificed.
S; I don't understand.
T: It's a matter of principle.
S; I still don't understand.
M: Let's end this. As long as the situation is on record, and most of us understand that she is not dedicated to the cause and comprehend what that means. What's needed to be done will be done. The enhancement step has my approval. That should close this matter immediately.
S: It doesn't make sense to me.
of course not, you left behind your litter long ago, there's more to life then the cause, without life and love there would be no cause...
Adam
Wednesday 5/14/70 19:25:30
Adam stepped outside of the club and resisted the urge to call Tyisha or Shwen right away. He casually walked down the street, about a block ,before signalling a taxi over the matrix. While he waited, he had a lot of time to go over what had just gone down. Am I actually going to come back here and give Franco a contact number? Adam still wasn't convinced one way or the other. Tonight was exciting, and it was something new that he hadn't ever really tried out before - and it struck him that what everyone had been telling him all day might actually be true - that he was "charmed" and the kind of guy who can talk someone out of something crazy.
But Adam had felt this way about a lot of things in the past: his modeling career, his time spent working in retail, various girls he had dated. And, with all of these things, the excitment quickly faded, and Adam lost interest when something else came along. The only thing he had really stuck with for any length of time was college, and that was because it allowed him to experience new things, and meet new people, all the time.
Working for Franco to facilitate a few negotiations might be fun, but Adam wondered how long it would remain fun - and how Franco would react if he started turning down jobs. Another consideration was that this was dangerous work. That's what made it exciting, but what if the next guy Adam meets with doesn't have Franco's cheery outlook on life, and actually does smash Adam's nose into the table - or worse.
Adam didn't need the money that badly, and mostly agreed to keep Franco happy, and to keep him from following Adam home to learn more about this 'employer'.
At about that time, the cab pulled up, and Adam snapped back to the present. Yeah, I better make sure I'm not followed. Once in the cab, he started messing with his commlink again, spoofing a new ID in case Franco had anyone scanning for the last one he used. He entered in directions to the Ram's Head. It was about 7:30 and they should still be open. He just hoped Tyisha was still working.
As the cab pulled away, he tried calling Shwen from this new commcode - hoping it was secure enough that Franco wouldn't catch him doing it. It rang a few times before directing him to her voicemail. I had forgotten how great her voice is. He hung up, without leaving a message. Chances are she was either busy, not taking calls because she was still sulking, or didnt' recognise the number - in any case, Adam figured Franco had access to her comm - and might recognise Adam's voice.
Instead, he sent a text message to Tyisha, since calling her at work might be rude. "Meeting concluded. Good news is on its way. -A" He couldn't help but keep it cryptic and short. He was still a little worried that Franco might be watching his digital actions - plus the idea of Tyisha getting a random text message from an unknown person, with a cloak-and-dagger response was pretty cool.
Adam
Wednesday 5/14/70 19:37:45
As the cab dropped him off outside the Ram's Head and by now, Adam had reconfigured his commlink back to his old ID. He entered the bar, and grabbed a seat at an empty table, and looked around for Tyisha. It didn't take him long to spot her leaning over another table, taking orders. When she turned around, he waved and hoped she hadn't noticed him admiring the way her thong rode up in the back.
She had to look twice to make sure it was him - she wasn't used to seeing Adam in a suit and tie. She glanced around to make sure her manager wasn't watching, and then rushed over to his table and sat down. "What happened? What did he say?"
Adam held up a hand to calm her down, "We talked. I managed to convince him that Shwen had powerful people looking out for her well-being, and hinted that if he put her through all of that, these people could make his life very hard." He took in a deep breath, "You wern't kidding. That is one scarey dude."
"But, in the end, he bought it. He thought I was just a professional negotiator, and I got him to cancel his plans for Shwen, and offer her a way out of that lifestyle. He's going to charge her 25,000 for his trouble, but is giving her a new job - in one of his restaurants - so she can slowly pay it off. It won't be a good lifestyle, but I'm hoping she's happy with that over the alternatives. In a year, if she doesn't fuck up - he said he'd let her go."
"I also couldn't get a hold of her to prepare her for how its going to go down. So, if you talk to her soon, see if she's happy about it or not - but don't let on that you know anything... I'm expecting the mob to tap her commlink. This new life isn't going to be a vacation or anything, but its a hell of a lot better than what was waiting for her at 10 o'clock tonight."
The look in Tyisha's eyes said that she was happy with the news, at least, so Adam's confidence returned a little. "Thank you Adam. I owe you forever! I'm sorry I had to drag you into this...." She reached out and took his hand.
Adam cut her off before she went too much further. "Of course, if she fucks up, and pisses him off again, he's in a position to throw her back at the wolves... so I hardly saved her - I just bought her some more time, and an opportunity to dig her way out of this mess. If you and I help her out, too, I think she'll have no problem making her payments."
Adam's face got the biggest smile he'd had in days. "Acutally, I am kind of proud of it. I managed to convince him to handle getting her a new job, manage the payments, and make her think she was earning it all on her own, without showing my hand - which is good, because there is no way I could have paid what he was originally asking." He felt relief, and was glad to get a chance to sit down before taking off. "Oh yeah, that's the other thing. As far as they know, I don't know Shwen, and she doesn't know about her 'benefactor'... so let's see if we can keep this between us, okay?"
After spending a few minutes chatting with Tyisha and answering her questions about the details (carefull of the other patrons evesdropping), Adam shut his mouth just before her boss rounded the corner and politely asked her to get back to work. He sounded calm, but he looked pretty angry. Adam ordered a drink to help calm his nerves, and then said goodbye to Tyisha a few minutes later. "Give me a call if you hear anything - but be discrete. We don't want those guys changing their minds." He gave her a little wink before paying for his drink and heading out.
One last thing to take care of.... Adam wasn't really looking forward to meeting with Sally. He was excited earlier, but after all he had been through tonight - he kind of just wanted to go home and go to sleep. But this was a favor for Jeff, and Adam had already said he'd do it. Somehow, after playing chicken with a mob-boss, mediating the petty disputes between two frat houses didn't really seem as interesting. Better give her a call and see if she's still waiting for me.
Adam called her up, hoping she wouldn't answer - but she did. "Hey Ads! Take care of your stuff already?"
Adam winced. "Er, yeah. I can be there in like, an hour. I'm gonna change and get my bike." He wanted to get out of his suit, maybe grab another quick shower to get the smell of smoke, booze and sex off of him, and was tired of paying cab fare to get around town.
"Oh just come over. I don't care what you're wearing." She seemed anxious, and seemed to think he was planning on dressing up instead of dressing down.
"I'm warning you. I smell like a bar." Adam couldn't help but laugh. It was good to be among good people again.
She paused for a second as if slowly putting things into place in her head. "Where did you say you had to go earlier?"
"A friend of mine was in some trouble - I had to talk to her boss. His place reeks - besides, I'm like a half-hour walk from campus already." If she was going to be insistant on him coming, he was going to try to get her to offer him a ride.
"I'll come pick you up. We can talk along the way."
"Cool. I ended up back at the Ram's Head." That didn't take much work.
Adam
Wednesday 5/14/70 19:34:12
Adam paced up and down the street, waiting for his ride. He was running a few things through his mind - still trying to make up his mind about this new opportunity. Keeping close to Franco put him in a good position to keep an eye on the way he treated Shwen - but if she saw him before being informed of the plan, she might ruin things by giving away the fact that she knows him. He would have to find a descrete way of contacting her.
He was also going to need some gear. A new commlink at least - one not registered with his SIN, and that he could wipe clean at a moment's notice. And a gun. If he was going to be expected to go face to face with mobsters like Franco - he was going to want to be packing a little more than an off-the-shelf self-defense taser. Not too much more, though. He still wanted nothing to do with the violence and crime part of the mob - but he was interested in handling some of their negotiations. I wonder if I could get Franco to pay for some of this gear. Guess I won't know until I give him a way to contact me. I'm gonna have to do that first thing in the morning.
After about 10 minutes of waiting, a car pulled up alongside him. Adam could tell by the sorority letters in the back window, and the fact that few student could afford a car like this, that it was probably his ride. Luckily, Sally's parents treatet her like a princess.
He walked over and opened up the door. "Nice suit," Sally seemed amused.
"Thanks." Adam replied, as the car pulled away. "Its my job-interview suit.... It hasn't let me down yet."
Wednesday 5/14/70 19:25:30
Adam stepped outside of the club and resisted the urge to call Tyisha or Shwen right away. He casually walked down the street, about a block ,before signalling a taxi over the matrix. While he waited, he had a lot of time to go over what had just gone down. Am I actually going to come back here and give Franco a contact number? Adam still wasn't convinced one way or the other. Tonight was exciting, and it was something new that he hadn't ever really tried out before - and it struck him that what everyone had been telling him all day might actually be true - that he was "charmed" and the kind of guy who can talk someone out of something crazy.
But Adam had felt this way about a lot of things in the past: his modeling career, his time spent working in retail, various girls he had dated. And, with all of these things, the excitment quickly faded, and Adam lost interest when something else came along. The only thing he had really stuck with for any length of time was college, and that was because it allowed him to experience new things, and meet new people, all the time.
Working for Franco to facilitate a few negotiations might be fun, but Adam wondered how long it would remain fun - and how Franco would react if he started turning down jobs. Another consideration was that this was dangerous work. That's what made it exciting, but what if the next guy Adam meets with doesn't have Franco's cheery outlook on life, and actually does smash Adam's nose into the table - or worse.
Adam didn't need the money that badly, and mostly agreed to keep Franco happy, and to keep him from following Adam home to learn more about this 'employer'.
At about that time, the cab pulled up, and Adam snapped back to the present. Yeah, I better make sure I'm not followed. Once in the cab, he started messing with his commlink again, spoofing a new ID in case Franco had anyone scanning for the last one he used. He entered in directions to the Ram's Head. It was about 7:30 and they should still be open. He just hoped Tyisha was still working.
As the cab pulled away, he tried calling Shwen from this new commcode - hoping it was secure enough that Franco wouldn't catch him doing it. It rang a few times before directing him to her voicemail. I had forgotten how great her voice is. He hung up, without leaving a message. Chances are she was either busy, not taking calls because she was still sulking, or didnt' recognise the number - in any case, Adam figured Franco had access to her comm - and might recognise Adam's voice.
Instead, he sent a text message to Tyisha, since calling her at work might be rude. "Meeting concluded. Good news is on its way. -A" He couldn't help but keep it cryptic and short. He was still a little worried that Franco might be watching his digital actions - plus the idea of Tyisha getting a random text message from an unknown person, with a cloak-and-dagger response was pretty cool.
Adam
Wednesday 5/14/70 19:37:45
As the cab dropped him off outside the Ram's Head and by now, Adam had reconfigured his commlink back to his old ID. He entered the bar, and grabbed a seat at an empty table, and looked around for Tyisha. It didn't take him long to spot her leaning over another table, taking orders. When she turned around, he waved and hoped she hadn't noticed him admiring the way her thong rode up in the back.
She had to look twice to make sure it was him - she wasn't used to seeing Adam in a suit and tie. She glanced around to make sure her manager wasn't watching, and then rushed over to his table and sat down. "What happened? What did he say?"
Adam held up a hand to calm her down, "We talked. I managed to convince him that Shwen had powerful people looking out for her well-being, and hinted that if he put her through all of that, these people could make his life very hard." He took in a deep breath, "You wern't kidding. That is one scarey dude."
"But, in the end, he bought it. He thought I was just a professional negotiator, and I got him to cancel his plans for Shwen, and offer her a way out of that lifestyle. He's going to charge her
25,000 for his trouble, but is giving her a new job - in one of his restaurants - so she can slowly pay it off. It won't be a good lifestyle, but I'm hoping she's happy with that over the alternatives. In a year, if she doesn't fuck up - he said he'd let her go.""I also couldn't get a hold of her to prepare her for how its going to go down. So, if you talk to her soon, see if she's happy about it or not - but don't let on that you know anything... I'm expecting the mob to tap her commlink. This new life isn't going to be a vacation or anything, but its a hell of a lot better than what was waiting for her at 10 o'clock tonight."
The look in Tyisha's eyes said that she was happy with the news, at least, so Adam's confidence returned a little. "Thank you Adam. I owe you forever! I'm sorry I had to drag you into this...." She reached out and took his hand.
Adam cut her off before she went too much further. "Of course, if she fucks up, and pisses him off again, he's in a position to throw her back at the wolves... so I hardly saved her - I just bought her some more time, and an opportunity to dig her way out of this mess. If you and I help her out, too, I think she'll have no problem making her payments."
Adam's face got the biggest smile he'd had in days. "Acutally, I am kind of proud of it. I managed to convince him to handle getting her a new job, manage the payments, and make her think she was earning it all on her own, without showing my hand - which is good, because there is no way I could have paid what he was originally asking." He felt relief, and was glad to get a chance to sit down before taking off. "Oh yeah, that's the other thing. As far as they know, I don't know Shwen, and she doesn't know about her 'benefactor'... so let's see if we can keep this between us, okay?"
After spending a few minutes chatting with Tyisha and answering her questions about the details (carefull of the other patrons evesdropping), Adam shut his mouth just before her boss rounded the corner and politely asked her to get back to work. He sounded calm, but he looked pretty angry. Adam ordered a drink to help calm his nerves, and then said goodbye to Tyisha a few minutes later. "Give me a call if you hear anything - but be discrete. We don't want those guys changing their minds." He gave her a little wink before paying for his drink and heading out.
One last thing to take care of.... Adam wasn't really looking forward to meeting with Sally. He was excited earlier, but after all he had been through tonight - he kind of just wanted to go home and go to sleep. But this was a favor for Jeff, and Adam had already said he'd do it. Somehow, after playing chicken with a mob-boss, mediating the petty disputes between two frat houses didn't really seem as interesting. Better give her a call and see if she's still waiting for me.
Adam called her up, hoping she wouldn't answer - but she did. "Hey Ads! Take care of your stuff already?"
Adam winced. "Er, yeah. I can be there in like, an hour. I'm gonna change and get my bike." He wanted to get out of his suit, maybe grab another quick shower to get the smell of smoke, booze and sex off of him, and was tired of paying cab fare to get around town.
"Oh just come over. I don't care what you're wearing." She seemed anxious, and seemed to think he was planning on dressing up instead of dressing down.
"I'm warning you. I smell like a bar." Adam couldn't help but laugh. It was good to be among good people again.
She paused for a second as if slowly putting things into place in her head. "Where did you say you had to go earlier?"
"A friend of mine was in some trouble - I had to talk to her boss. His place reeks - besides, I'm like a half-hour walk from campus already." If she was going to be insistant on him coming, he was going to try to get her to offer him a ride.
"I'll come pick you up. We can talk along the way."
"Cool. I ended up back at the Ram's Head." That didn't take much work.
Adam
Wednesday 5/14/70 19:34:12
Adam paced up and down the street, waiting for his ride. He was running a few things through his mind - still trying to make up his mind about this new opportunity. Keeping close to Franco put him in a good position to keep an eye on the way he treated Shwen - but if she saw him before being informed of the plan, she might ruin things by giving away the fact that she knows him. He would have to find a descrete way of contacting her.
He was also going to need some gear. A new commlink at least - one not registered with his SIN, and that he could wipe clean at a moment's notice. And a gun. If he was going to be expected to go face to face with mobsters like Franco - he was going to want to be packing a little more than an off-the-shelf self-defense taser. Not too much more, though. He still wanted nothing to do with the violence and crime part of the mob - but he was interested in handling some of their negotiations. I wonder if I could get Franco to pay for some of this gear. Guess I won't know until I give him a way to contact me. I'm gonna have to do that first thing in the morning.
After about 10 minutes of waiting, a car pulled up alongside him. Adam could tell by the sorority letters in the back window, and the fact that few student could afford a car like this, that it was probably his ride. Luckily, Sally's parents treatet her like a princess.
He walked over and opened up the door. "Nice suit," Sally seemed amused.
"Thanks." Adam replied, as the car pulled away. "Its my job-interview suit.... It hasn't let me down yet."
Sledge
Wednesday 7/22/70 23:30:06
"WELCOME TO THE UNDERGROUND" proclaimed the banner, a real plastic sign, almost impossible to make out was the small text, "AFSCE Local 34578". The large hall was very spacious, filled with a few hundred metas all here as part of the traditional welcoming event offered for new residents. Along one side were a few tables where a 3 of the local political figures were shaking hands and passing out literature. On stage, which was actually a performance pit, lower then the rest of the room, a local cover band continued mangling most of last summer's top twenty Goblin Rock bombs.
On a unfinished rock ledge Harriet sat alone. The surgery had gone well, and the full body cosmetic changes that had been thrown in made her both feel and look entirely different. At least physically, inside she was still pretty numb and was drifting along. Monica had insisted she get out and come to the party. Both to test out her new looks, and to get her started with a new group of metas.
Monica walked up to Harriet and made a show of introducing herself. "Hi, I'm Monica one of the local counselors, welcome to the Underground."
"This isn't funny."
Monica sighed, "At least try."
"Right, well Monica I'm ... Mary Sue."
"Nice to meet you Mary Sue. I'm surprised none of the boys has asked you to dance yet."
"Could be the music. Or more likely, that hulking Big Jimmy standing over there trying to quietly shake his head every time someone comes up."
Monica glances over at the troll standing off to the side, slightly behind where Harriet is seated, then asks, "How can you tell?"
"He's got bells on his horns."
Monica sighs again, "I'll go talk to him. It's because he knows who you are."
"I could go talk to him?"
Monica shakes her head quickly, "No no. Let me handle it."
Harriet nods, then slides off of the ledge, and turns sideways, "Does this make me look fat?"
Monica sighs again, "Not anymore. Let me go get this party started."
Big Jimmy was worried. Normally he did in fact make sure to come to the dance and do a few rounds with all the eligible women. It was a long standing tradition. Most of the other regular guys always let him take the first shot. Especially after he had punched one or two of them into agreeing with him. So Monica was right in pointing out that him standing there not dancing with the tusker woman was a big signal, and if he wasn't going to dance with her, then none of the other guys would either. Problem for Big Jimmy was that he wasn't actually a very good dancer.
Big Jimmy made very very sure he didn't step on the tusker womans toes while they danced.
Wednesday 7/22/70 23:30:06
"WELCOME TO THE UNDERGROUND" proclaimed the banner, a real plastic sign, almost impossible to make out was the small text, "AFSCE Local 34578". The large hall was very spacious, filled with a few hundred metas all here as part of the traditional welcoming event offered for new residents. Along one side were a few tables where a 3 of the local political figures were shaking hands and passing out literature. On stage, which was actually a performance pit, lower then the rest of the room, a local cover band continued mangling most of last summer's top twenty Goblin Rock bombs.
On a unfinished rock ledge Harriet sat alone. The surgery had gone well, and the full body cosmetic changes that had been thrown in made her both feel and look entirely different. At least physically, inside she was still pretty numb and was drifting along. Monica had insisted she get out and come to the party. Both to test out her new looks, and to get her started with a new group of metas.
Monica walked up to Harriet and made a show of introducing herself. "Hi, I'm Monica one of the local counselors, welcome to the Underground."
"This isn't funny."
Monica sighed, "At least try."
"Right, well Monica I'm ... Mary Sue."
"Nice to meet you Mary Sue. I'm surprised none of the boys has asked you to dance yet."
"Could be the music. Or more likely, that hulking Big Jimmy standing over there trying to quietly shake his head every time someone comes up."
Monica glances over at the troll standing off to the side, slightly behind where Harriet is seated, then asks, "How can you tell?"
"He's got bells on his horns."
Monica sighs again, "I'll go talk to him. It's because he knows who you are."
"I could go talk to him?"
Monica shakes her head quickly, "No no. Let me handle it."
Harriet nods, then slides off of the ledge, and turns sideways, "Does this make me look fat?"
Monica sighs again, "Not anymore. Let me go get this party started."
Big Jimmy was worried. Normally he did in fact make sure to come to the dance and do a few rounds with all the eligible women. It was a long standing tradition. Most of the other regular guys always let him take the first shot. Especially after he had punched one or two of them into agreeing with him. So Monica was right in pointing out that him standing there not dancing with the tusker woman was a big signal, and if he wasn't going to dance with her, then none of the other guys would either. Problem for Big Jimmy was that he wasn't actually a very good dancer.
Big Jimmy made very very sure he didn't step on the tusker womans toes while they danced.
Caittie
Monday 8/18/70 14:59:02
Walking into the giant building, Caittie noticed the sounds changed from that of annoyed people running for cover from the rain to the general hustle and bustle the great multi-floored mall deserved. As she took a few steps forward, she knew immediately that she entered near the food court of the mall due to the almost overpowering smell of different mixtures of food smells. She knew she had just eaten not too long ago, but Caittie couldn’t help but salivate over some of the smells coming out of a few of the shops, mainly from the bakery that was situated near the entrance to the mall she just used. Looking inside the bakery, she just gazed over all the different pastries they had displayed and mentally drooled.
“Daddy, Daddy! I want one of those. Can I? Can I? Please?” Hearing the young voice caused Caittie to look over to the side of the store and she saw a young boy, who couldn’t be much older than three or four, and his father standing in the store. The boy was enthusiastically pointing into one of the display cases while tugging on his father’s pants leg.
Looking from the boy to the case, the man gave a small sigh then chuckled a bit. As he waved over the shop attendant, he looked down at the boy and said with a grin, “Alright, alright. I’ll buy it for you, just don’t tell your mother.”
After purchasing the pastry from the store, he handed it to his son who started gnawing on it almost immediately. As they then walked out of the store, Caittie could only think about how she must have done the same thing with her father and smiled at the thought. Then it hit her that she was thinking about her father like he had died a long time ago instead of just five days ago. Shaking her head, she wondered if that sort of thing was normal, as she continued to walk in towards the center of the ‘Mall of Seattle’.
She didn’t have to go that far into the building before Caittie felt something in the air but didn’t pay it much mind as she knew immediately what it was. What she did pay attention too was the wave of spam that literally covered her AR vision. Gritting her teeth a bit, she grimaced as she mentally minimized all the windows so she could see enough to a nearby bench.
Sitting down, she started going through the painstakingly laborious task of setting her spam filters, again. She had mostly perfected them on her last commlink, but since she lost it and gained this new one, she had to start from the most basic of filters, which really meant from scratch. Caittie sat there for a long while tweaking settings and writing in deny / accept rules just so she could see though her glasses.
Monday 8/18/70 15:17:38
As she lifted her glasses and rubbed her eyes, Caittie sighed a bit. She was able to set up her filters to block a vast majority of the advertisements, all except for the ones she wanted. It still wasn’t perfect, but one or two every now and then was better than the constant torrent that assaulted her a little while ago.
Caittie then stood up and moved her way down the path towards the center of the mall, she called up a interior map to mark any interesting areas she might like to visit. Putting it in the lower right portion of her vision, she continued in while glancing at the shops as she passed. Nothing really grabbed her interest until she came across an outdoor goods store.
Walking inside, she looked around at all the equipment they had on display: sports, camping, climbing, swimming and more. You couldn’t count the amount of things unless you stayed all day looking though them all. Pulling up a AR search window for the store, Caittie set it up to search for rain gear. The search came back with things ranging from ponchos to temporary awnings for outdoor events. Slightly shaking her head, she narrowed the search for personal rain gear.
Looking through the list, she followed the personal ARO that popped up in her vision, directing her to where most of the items her search found were. Walking that way, she looked around for anything useful. Not seeing anything she really needed in the football section she was walking though, she continued on until the ARO directed her to another isle that had a majority of the personal rain gear on it.
Looking through it all, she browsed the products and weighed the quality vs. price since she was on a tight budget. After looking through a lot of the items for sale in the area, she sighed a bit as she then set up the search window to sort by price, starting with the lowest. Something near the top of the list caused Caittie to raise an eyebrow, as she saw the words ‘Clearance’ next to a few of the low priced items. Setting up an ARO to point her there, she headed in the direction indicated.
Walking up on a small cheaply constructed wire bin, she saw a pile of junk that was seriously marked down in price. It was a massive jumble consisting of toy balls for kids, shoeboxes with only one shoe in them, odd colored waist bags that no one in their right mind would wear, and other assorted junk. As Caittie dug through it all, she found an expandable black umbrella that would fit in a side loop of her backpack when she wasn’t using it. Thinking the price was good; she walked up to the front desk and purchased it.
As she left the store the umbrella stuck in her backpack, she continued walking the mall looking for anything else that might catch her eye…
Monday 8/18/70 14:59:02
Walking into the giant building, Caittie noticed the sounds changed from that of annoyed people running for cover from the rain to the general hustle and bustle the great multi-floored mall deserved. As she took a few steps forward, she knew immediately that she entered near the food court of the mall due to the almost overpowering smell of different mixtures of food smells. She knew she had just eaten not too long ago, but Caittie couldn’t help but salivate over some of the smells coming out of a few of the shops, mainly from the bakery that was situated near the entrance to the mall she just used. Looking inside the bakery, she just gazed over all the different pastries they had displayed and mentally drooled.
“Daddy, Daddy! I want one of those. Can I? Can I? Please?” Hearing the young voice caused Caittie to look over to the side of the store and she saw a young boy, who couldn’t be much older than three or four, and his father standing in the store. The boy was enthusiastically pointing into one of the display cases while tugging on his father’s pants leg.
Looking from the boy to the case, the man gave a small sigh then chuckled a bit. As he waved over the shop attendant, he looked down at the boy and said with a grin, “Alright, alright. I’ll buy it for you, just don’t tell your mother.”
After purchasing the pastry from the store, he handed it to his son who started gnawing on it almost immediately. As they then walked out of the store, Caittie could only think about how she must have done the same thing with her father and smiled at the thought. Then it hit her that she was thinking about her father like he had died a long time ago instead of just five days ago. Shaking her head, she wondered if that sort of thing was normal, as she continued to walk in towards the center of the ‘Mall of Seattle’.
She didn’t have to go that far into the building before Caittie felt something in the air but didn’t pay it much mind as she knew immediately what it was. What she did pay attention too was the wave of spam that literally covered her AR vision. Gritting her teeth a bit, she grimaced as she mentally minimized all the windows so she could see enough to a nearby bench.
Sitting down, she started going through the painstakingly laborious task of setting her spam filters, again. She had mostly perfected them on her last commlink, but since she lost it and gained this new one, she had to start from the most basic of filters, which really meant from scratch. Caittie sat there for a long while tweaking settings and writing in deny / accept rules just so she could see though her glasses.
Monday 8/18/70 15:17:38
As she lifted her glasses and rubbed her eyes, Caittie sighed a bit. She was able to set up her filters to block a vast majority of the advertisements, all except for the ones she wanted. It still wasn’t perfect, but one or two every now and then was better than the constant torrent that assaulted her a little while ago.
Caittie then stood up and moved her way down the path towards the center of the mall, she called up a interior map to mark any interesting areas she might like to visit. Putting it in the lower right portion of her vision, she continued in while glancing at the shops as she passed. Nothing really grabbed her interest until she came across an outdoor goods store.
Walking inside, she looked around at all the equipment they had on display: sports, camping, climbing, swimming and more. You couldn’t count the amount of things unless you stayed all day looking though them all. Pulling up a AR search window for the store, Caittie set it up to search for rain gear. The search came back with things ranging from ponchos to temporary awnings for outdoor events. Slightly shaking her head, she narrowed the search for personal rain gear.
Looking through the list, she followed the personal ARO that popped up in her vision, directing her to where most of the items her search found were. Walking that way, she looked around for anything useful. Not seeing anything she really needed in the football section she was walking though, she continued on until the ARO directed her to another isle that had a majority of the personal rain gear on it.
Looking through it all, she browsed the products and weighed the quality vs. price since she was on a tight budget. After looking through a lot of the items for sale in the area, she sighed a bit as she then set up the search window to sort by price, starting with the lowest. Something near the top of the list caused Caittie to raise an eyebrow, as she saw the words ‘Clearance’ next to a few of the low priced items. Setting up an ARO to point her there, she headed in the direction indicated.
Walking up on a small cheaply constructed wire bin, she saw a pile of junk that was seriously marked down in price. It was a massive jumble consisting of toy balls for kids, shoeboxes with only one shoe in them, odd colored waist bags that no one in their right mind would wear, and other assorted junk. As Caittie dug through it all, she found an expandable black umbrella that would fit in a side loop of her backpack when she wasn’t using it. Thinking the price was good; she walked up to the front desk and purchased it.
As she left the store the umbrella stuck in her backpack, she continued walking the mall looking for anything else that might catch her eye…
Jonathan
Tuesday 7/8/70 09:41:23
"I don't understand, how did this happen? When? I was just with them a couple of hours ago."
Jonathan looked to the grief counselor for answers but while he did he sent a quiet command to 3PO to search the news reports for fatality car accidents. This couldn't be right, Guile didn't drive, not ever.
"Can I see the Lone Star accient report? I'd also like a chance to say good bye to my friends. . .I just. . .I can't believe. . ."
Jonathan couldn't believe this, it was beyond real. He half expected Guile to pop out of a closet and yell, "GOTCHA!!!" or something.
Tuesday 7/8/70 09:41:23
"I don't understand, how did this happen? When? I was just with them a couple of hours ago."
Jonathan looked to the grief counselor for answers but while he did he sent a quiet command to 3PO to search the news reports for fatality car accidents. This couldn't be right, Guile didn't drive, not ever.
"Can I see the Lone Star accient report? I'd also like a chance to say good bye to my friends. . .I just. . .I can't believe. . ."
Jonathan couldn't believe this, it was beyond real. He half expected Guile to pop out of a closet and yell, "GOTCHA!!!" or something.
Jonathan
Tuesday 7/8/70 09:42:04
"I'm afraid the bodies are really not in a suitable state for viewing, Mr. Frost. There was a fire, you see. The identity of Mr. Bell was confirmed by DNA matching, and his father was informed immediately. I am afraid that while Mr. Bell senior has assumed the driver of the vehicle was his son's fiancee, a woman named Guile, he also concedes that she was a provisional citizen, and we have no records on her of any sort with which to make an identification. All we can say from the remains is that it was a female elf, 170 centimeters in height, and that she'd been wearing dacron polyweave outfit." That fit, Jonathan thought.
"Well what are the police saying?" he demanded, his earlier question about the report having gone unanswered.
"Well, I'm afraid they have not really issued a report. From what I gather, based on some data they retrieved from the woman's commlink, they have ruled the remainder of their investigation confidential. I am afraid no information has been forthcoming. I do know that the investigation is being handled through the Downtown Fifth Precinct. Perhaps someone there can be more helpful to you."
Before Jonathan could answer, he heard a familiar voice behind him. "Jon, I got here as quickly as I could. Is it true? Have we lost Jason?" asked an apparently distraught Alister Connolly.
Tuesday 7/8/70 09:42:04
"I'm afraid the bodies are really not in a suitable state for viewing, Mr. Frost. There was a fire, you see. The identity of Mr. Bell was confirmed by DNA matching, and his father was informed immediately. I am afraid that while Mr. Bell senior has assumed the driver of the vehicle was his son's fiancee, a woman named Guile, he also concedes that she was a provisional citizen, and we have no records on her of any sort with which to make an identification. All we can say from the remains is that it was a female elf, 170 centimeters in height, and that she'd been wearing dacron polyweave outfit." That fit, Jonathan thought.
"Well what are the police saying?" he demanded, his earlier question about the report having gone unanswered.
"Well, I'm afraid they have not really issued a report. From what I gather, based on some data they retrieved from the woman's commlink, they have ruled the remainder of their investigation confidential. I am afraid no information has been forthcoming. I do know that the investigation is being handled through the Downtown Fifth Precinct. Perhaps someone there can be more helpful to you."
Before Jonathan could answer, he heard a familiar voice behind him. "Jon, I got here as quickly as I could. Is it true? Have we lost Jason?" asked an apparently distraught Alister Connolly.
Sledge
Thursday 7/30/70 17:03:26
The holo projector illuminated the dark underground chamber, three figures sat around absorbing the scene playing out in multi dimensional color. A large crowd of metahumanity bearing large signs with various messages are shown parading in front of the metroplex civic hall. Most of the signs indicate it's a MOM rally in support of one of the councilman. Suddenly a pop and a puff of smoke appears, rapidly growing to cover an area roughly 15 meters in diameter, the cloud settles to approximately waist height, revealing large numbers of coughing, crying and wheezing metahumans. Most of the crowd disperses, and the scene plays out with various emergency services and hazmat teams appearing over the next few minutes of playback. During the last few minutes the reconstructed scene's perspective has shifted out, and several points are highlighted, showing blowup views of various members of the watching crowds.
"How did you pick them out?"
Harriet answers clinically, "They didn't react when the initial bang went off, once I noticed that I had the agent scan for others, these 6 were picked out."
"This is a lot of trideo."
"Matrix Agent, along with some copies of illegal hackware, from which your martix team removed the VB traceware, had no problem hacking the public traffic cameras in the plaza. Plus all the news coverage spliced in. I didn't do much, just helped the agent along as questions came up."
"I see we have a data trail on all of these ... people."
Full bio data starts running in sequence on the holo tank on the various subjects.
Big Jimmy asks, "So I go beat on them?"
"No." Monica answers, "I want whomever was paying or supplying them. Once we trace them, then we deal with them. So both of you are going to go scare them. Find them, set them up, but let them get away. I'll have some others watching them, see where they run to."
Big Jimmy was glad that this time out no one was going to get hurt. Not because they didn't deserve it, he'd gladly break them anytime. Holding off wasn'ta big deal, he was sure he'd get to deal with them eventually. He wasn't even worried about Harr... Sledge doing it either, and in fact she was better then him is the whole making them wet their pants thing anyway.
What worried Big Jimmy most was what happened after the last three "chats" he'd worked with Sledge. Something he wasn't going to tell anyone ever, not even her sister, especially not her sister.
"After we find out who pays them, then we drop the hammer on them."
Big Jimmy sighed quietly, this was what he was afraid of, after this he knew he was going to be spending at least an hour after each assignment uncomfortably and awkwardly holding the tusker woman while she silently and violently sobbed her heart out.
She never said anything about it, and Big Jimmy would be damned if he was going to say anything about it either.
Thursday 7/30/70 17:03:26
The holo projector illuminated the dark underground chamber, three figures sat around absorbing the scene playing out in multi dimensional color. A large crowd of metahumanity bearing large signs with various messages are shown parading in front of the metroplex civic hall. Most of the signs indicate it's a MOM rally in support of one of the councilman. Suddenly a pop and a puff of smoke appears, rapidly growing to cover an area roughly 15 meters in diameter, the cloud settles to approximately waist height, revealing large numbers of coughing, crying and wheezing metahumans. Most of the crowd disperses, and the scene plays out with various emergency services and hazmat teams appearing over the next few minutes of playback. During the last few minutes the reconstructed scene's perspective has shifted out, and several points are highlighted, showing blowup views of various members of the watching crowds.
"How did you pick them out?"
Harriet answers clinically, "They didn't react when the initial bang went off, once I noticed that I had the agent scan for others, these 6 were picked out."
"This is a lot of trideo."
"Matrix Agent, along with some copies of illegal hackware, from which your martix team removed the VB traceware, had no problem hacking the public traffic cameras in the plaza. Plus all the news coverage spliced in. I didn't do much, just helped the agent along as questions came up."
"I see we have a data trail on all of these ... people."
Full bio data starts running in sequence on the holo tank on the various subjects.
Big Jimmy asks, "So I go beat on them?"
"No." Monica answers, "I want whomever was paying or supplying them. Once we trace them, then we deal with them. So both of you are going to go scare them. Find them, set them up, but let them get away. I'll have some others watching them, see where they run to."
Big Jimmy was glad that this time out no one was going to get hurt. Not because they didn't deserve it, he'd gladly break them anytime. Holding off wasn'ta big deal, he was sure he'd get to deal with them eventually. He wasn't even worried about Harr... Sledge doing it either, and in fact she was better then him is the whole making them wet their pants thing anyway.
What worried Big Jimmy most was what happened after the last three "chats" he'd worked with Sledge. Something he wasn't going to tell anyone ever, not even her sister, especially not her sister.
"After we find out who pays them, then we drop the hammer on them."
Big Jimmy sighed quietly, this was what he was afraid of, after this he knew he was going to be spending at least an hour after each assignment uncomfortably and awkwardly holding the tusker woman while she silently and violently sobbed her heart out.
She never said anything about it, and Big Jimmy would be damned if he was going to say anything about it either.
Sledge
Friday 8/8/70 19:20:33
Garamond was impressed. He'd heard some of the gossip, so he had some idea who the new recruit Big Jimmy had brought to class was. Nothing specific, but enough to know she was hot stuff. the kind of hot you didn't even want to think about around the wrong people. Of course, Garamond was used to this, sneaking a couple people onto the Firearms safety course rolls. It wasn't even really sneaking, the people registered were real, it's just the people that registered and paid and got certified weren't actually the people that showed up for the series of in depth safety training courses. Only minor adjustments to the security systems took care of any discrepancies.
When Big Jimmy saw what was up, he'd gone quiet and had dramatically rubbed his stomach while a little loudly complaining, "Me eat, not wanna be slim Jim.". Leaving Mary Sue behind to take care of herself. Garamond hadn't batted an eye, just went ahead with the routine. The tusker woman just blinked once, then shrugged like she didn't care. Maybe she didn't.
It was a standard session, starting out with lecture and discussion, then the technical stuff with the actual weapons, and only at the end did anyone get issued rounds and a little range time. The woman obviously knew how to take things apart, even if she wasn't familiar with the weapons, obvious from her frequent checks of the diagrams. And she knew about keeping things cleaned and greased to keep them working right. On the range she took her time and went through the steps methodically, doing an adequate job of keeping the targets centered. She knew about taking care of and learning to use tools right.
Garamond's classes were popular because his facility was rated for all kinds of mil spec weapons, he even had a permit to do HMG and tracer rounds to go with it. He had a lot of experienced people attending classes for recertification, and the woman responded well to the tips and advice she received.
It wasn't for several months that Garamond realized just who exactly had run through his course with half a shift of Lone Star Detectives. No wonder Big Jimmy had felt sick.
Friday 8/8/70 19:20:33
Garamond was impressed. He'd heard some of the gossip, so he had some idea who the new recruit Big Jimmy had brought to class was. Nothing specific, but enough to know she was hot stuff. the kind of hot you didn't even want to think about around the wrong people. Of course, Garamond was used to this, sneaking a couple people onto the Firearms safety course rolls. It wasn't even really sneaking, the people registered were real, it's just the people that registered and paid and got certified weren't actually the people that showed up for the series of in depth safety training courses. Only minor adjustments to the security systems took care of any discrepancies.
When Big Jimmy saw what was up, he'd gone quiet and had dramatically rubbed his stomach while a little loudly complaining, "Me eat, not wanna be slim Jim.". Leaving Mary Sue behind to take care of herself. Garamond hadn't batted an eye, just went ahead with the routine. The tusker woman just blinked once, then shrugged like she didn't care. Maybe she didn't.
It was a standard session, starting out with lecture and discussion, then the technical stuff with the actual weapons, and only at the end did anyone get issued rounds and a little range time. The woman obviously knew how to take things apart, even if she wasn't familiar with the weapons, obvious from her frequent checks of the diagrams. And she knew about keeping things cleaned and greased to keep them working right. On the range she took her time and went through the steps methodically, doing an adequate job of keeping the targets centered. She knew about taking care of and learning to use tools right.
Garamond's classes were popular because his facility was rated for all kinds of mil spec weapons, he even had a permit to do HMG and tracer rounds to go with it. He had a lot of experienced people attending classes for recertification, and the woman responded well to the tips and advice she received.
It wasn't for several months that Garamond realized just who exactly had run through his course with half a shift of Lone Star Detectives. No wonder Big Jimmy had felt sick.
Adam
Wednesday 5/14/70 19:35:00
As Sally pulled her car into the sorority-house parking space, Adam laughed. "So, let me get this straight.... The Phee-Gees are pretty decent guys, most of the time, except that they are angry, violent drunks? And the problem is that every time they meet with the Kappa Sigs, the two frats celebrate over a keg, get drunk, and fight it out?"
They got out of the vehicle and Sally nodded, "Pretty much. But, like, fueds arn't anything new. We just don't want it ruining the Spring Blowout!" As they walked up to the Tri-Delt house, she went on. "We're at the point where we've tried everything! Nothing seems to be working. Our last option is to call on the Pan-Hellenic Council to get involved - but before we resorted to that, I got an idea from my Human Resource class."
Adam smiled, "So I've heard. It sounds like a great idea. Happy to be your negotiator."
The pair entered and Sally was greeted by a number of shreeks as some of the other girls noticed thier arrival, and got really excited for some reason. Apparantly, this meeting really was important (or at least more interesting than whatever happened to be on TV tonight). The girls attention went almost directly to Adam who, standing there in a full suit and tie, looked out of place, but very nice. He smiled and waved, greeting a number of the girls he had run into a couple of times before. The background noise of side conversation made it difficult to hear what they were saying, but Adam got enough pieces to make out that the girls who didn't really know him were now quitably impressed.
Sally seemed a little bit annoyed by the interruptions, and pulled Adam along. "Come on, we can talk in my room, where its quiet." She led him through a few rooms, past the rooms of a number of other good-looking young girls (chatting on their commlinks, working on homework, or heading out for the night) and they eventually ended up at Sally's room.
Adam looked around, inspecting the various decorations and knick-knacks that seemed to litter every girl's bedroom. Sally made herself comfortable by sitting on her bed and kicking off her shoes, but Adam prefered to pace around for the time being. "... so it hasn't occured to anyone to try to make a sober night of it?"
Sally's blank stare made Adam second-guess his own question. Then she laughed and said, "Its like, sealing the deal or something. A sign of peace. A tradition."
Adam nodded, " Got it." He understood the Greek system's dedication to tradition. "So, I get why they havn't been able to resolve this themselves - and I think I can help with that - but what I don't get is what they don't see eye-to-eye on in the first place."
He took off his suit-jacket and set it on a chair. He saw Sally's eyes dart briefly to the holster but then look back up at Adam's. "Lots of things - just different kinds of guys, I guess. Guys are always competing and making up rivalries to keep it interesting...."
She seemed to be hesitating to say something, so Adam kept quiet, and took a seat in the chair, waiting to see if she was going to offer it up. Sure enough, after a moment she sighed, "... and there is this rumor going around that, like, one of them saw one of the other guys doing things... with, like, a guy."
Adam raised an eyebrow. While it wasn't really his thing, he was pretty sure people stopped being so concearned with other people's sexual orientation back in the 50s or something. Of course, it didn't surprise him at all. He understood the Greek system was very dedicated to tradition.
"Right, so, one of the frats brings it up, of course the other frat denies it, and everyone has to get fighting to prove how manly they are?"
"That's about it."
Adam and Sally talked for a little while longer about the details. She filled him in on the names and faces of some of the guys from both houses, and he asked a lot of questions. With some prompting, Adam joined her on the bed (so they'd have a better view of the holo-projector). Sally definately seemed to be more excited about this than Adam and insisted on going over the information a couple of times. She also seemed a lot more interested in Adam's ability to help end this fued than in Adam, himself. Dispite her outgoing bubbly personality - Adam wasn't getting the vibe that Sally had much interest in him as anything other than someone capable of helping her achieve what she wants.
Once he understood that, her (un)conscious body language which said otherwise became a bit annoying. Even if she had been all into him, Adam wouldn't have taken advantage of his situation - but he couldn't help but be distracted while she talked.
By about 8:30 pm, they had pretty much exhausted the conversation. The plan was set. Sally was going to arrange for Adam to meet, seperatly, with the guys from both frats tomarrow night. They had scrapped together a little cred to smooth over the negotiations and, theoretically, to pay Adam for his time but Adam was pretty sure that there wouldn't be a lot left afterwards.
Adam
Wednesday 5/14/70 22:26:30
Adam started to make his way out of the Tri-Delta house. Sally had offered to take him back to his dorm, but he told her he would just grab a bus or something. The truth of it was that he still had 250 cash burning a hole in his pocket, and was in serious need of a drink, and some relaxation after his stressful day. He also kind of wanted to celebrate his victory. Although he invited Sally out to go do something, she had to get up early, and declined - and suggested he call it an early night too. Adam wasn't convinced the frat guys would notice if he was tired or not tomarrow.
On his way out, he ran into a gaggle of Tri-Delts that were all dressed up and heading out to go clubbing or bar-hopping or something. After a little small-talk, Adam was invited along, and eagerly agreed. One of the cuter girls even offered to give him a ride home afterwards, since she lived in the dorms too.
Adam
Thursday 5/15/70 7:45:00
Sally got up when her alarm went off, and began her morning routine. She got a shower, got dressed, got her make-up ready - the whole ritual. The anxiety of the topic of discussion last night only lingered on the edge of her perception, and she was confident that Adam would help mediate it this evening. She was in the usual early-morning daze until she passed Angelica's room. The sight of a man's jacket on the floor cought her attention - not because it would be that strange for Angelica to have a guy over - but because she remembered seeing that same jacket in her own room yesterday.
Before heading down for breakfast, she peeked in the doorway, and confirmed her suspicions. A trail of clothes, both male and female lead across the room to a bed where she could see Adam sleeping with a blonde head in his arms. When did Angelica dye her hair blonde? While Sally was loitering outside the room, she was startled by someone suddenly behind her.
Stepping backwards to get out of the way, Angelica (whose hair was its usual brunette color) brushed past her with a glare and shut the door to her room behind her. Stunned, Sally stood there for a moment before snapping out of it and hurrying out to catch her bus. ... Lets hope your charms work that well on the Phee-Gees, Adam....
Adam
Thursday 5/15/70 11:45:00
When Adam finally made it back to his room around noon the next day. Luckily, his finals were last week, and his summer courses hadn't started yet, so he didn't have anywhere to be. John looked up when Adam came in, but was pretty used to not seeing Adam for a day or two, and quickly lost interest.
Adam spent the afternoon cleaning himself up, catching up on some sleep, and watching TV with John. He definatly felt back in his elemenent, and had nearly forgotten about his deal with Franco. Before Sally called him, he inteded to do some shopping, so eventually forced himself up and out.
Today, he took his bike with him. Stopping again at an ATM, he withdrew another couple-hundred nuyen (he blew through his leftover cash last night, buying drinks for the girls), and then headed to the mall. He picked up a cheap MetaLink commlink, paying for it with cash, and spent a few minutes activating a new pre-paid account without any of his real personal information linked to it.
He also needed to pick up another suit. He had given Franco the impression that he was a well-dressed professional negotiator, and it wouldn't do him any good to be seen again, a little while later in the same suit. Reluctantly, he tried on a few new suits and eventually found one that he thought complimented his looks, and bought it.
Adam
Thursday 5/15/70 14:15:00
Adam parked his bike a block away from the Dancing Bare and headed to the front door. He was purposefully arriving a while before 5 (when Franco's schedule said he goes to work every day). The doorman held out his hand and gestured to the AR sign indicating the cover-charge - he obviously didn't recognise Adam from last night. Adam smirked and handed him a datachip. "Make sure Franco gets this, and tell him it is from Mr. Smith - it contains the contact information he wanted me to give you last night."
At the mention of the bosses name, the doorman's face shifted, and he became a lot more attentive. After he took the chip from him, Adam turned and left. The ball is in your court, big guy.
On the ride home, he called Tyisha, and asked if she had spoken to Shwen. Tyisha said that she had stopped by again, but saw Shwen and two huge guys in suits moving her stuff into a car. She tried to get Shwen's attention, but decided not to push her luck. This gave Adam a little reason to worry. If Franco was relocating her, he might have a hard time hearing how he is treating her - and it might be in an attempt to cut her off from those who might report to his 'employer'. He politely asked her to keep trying to get ahold of her on the phone and make sure she's okay.
Wednesday 5/14/70 19:35:00
As Sally pulled her car into the sorority-house parking space, Adam laughed. "So, let me get this straight.... The Phee-Gees are pretty decent guys, most of the time, except that they are angry, violent drunks? And the problem is that every time they meet with the Kappa Sigs, the two frats celebrate over a keg, get drunk, and fight it out?"
They got out of the vehicle and Sally nodded, "Pretty much. But, like, fueds arn't anything new. We just don't want it ruining the Spring Blowout!" As they walked up to the Tri-Delt house, she went on. "We're at the point where we've tried everything! Nothing seems to be working. Our last option is to call on the Pan-Hellenic Council to get involved - but before we resorted to that, I got an idea from my Human Resource class."
Adam smiled, "So I've heard. It sounds like a great idea. Happy to be your negotiator."
The pair entered and Sally was greeted by a number of shreeks as some of the other girls noticed thier arrival, and got really excited for some reason. Apparantly, this meeting really was important (or at least more interesting than whatever happened to be on TV tonight). The girls attention went almost directly to Adam who, standing there in a full suit and tie, looked out of place, but very nice. He smiled and waved, greeting a number of the girls he had run into a couple of times before. The background noise of side conversation made it difficult to hear what they were saying, but Adam got enough pieces to make out that the girls who didn't really know him were now quitably impressed.
Sally seemed a little bit annoyed by the interruptions, and pulled Adam along. "Come on, we can talk in my room, where its quiet." She led him through a few rooms, past the rooms of a number of other good-looking young girls (chatting on their commlinks, working on homework, or heading out for the night) and they eventually ended up at Sally's room.
Adam looked around, inspecting the various decorations and knick-knacks that seemed to litter every girl's bedroom. Sally made herself comfortable by sitting on her bed and kicking off her shoes, but Adam prefered to pace around for the time being. "... so it hasn't occured to anyone to try to make a sober night of it?"
Sally's blank stare made Adam second-guess his own question. Then she laughed and said, "Its like, sealing the deal or something. A sign of peace. A tradition."
Adam nodded, " Got it." He understood the Greek system's dedication to tradition. "So, I get why they havn't been able to resolve this themselves - and I think I can help with that - but what I don't get is what they don't see eye-to-eye on in the first place."
He took off his suit-jacket and set it on a chair. He saw Sally's eyes dart briefly to the holster but then look back up at Adam's. "Lots of things - just different kinds of guys, I guess. Guys are always competing and making up rivalries to keep it interesting...."
She seemed to be hesitating to say something, so Adam kept quiet, and took a seat in the chair, waiting to see if she was going to offer it up. Sure enough, after a moment she sighed, "... and there is this rumor going around that, like, one of them saw one of the other guys doing things... with, like, a guy."
Adam raised an eyebrow. While it wasn't really his thing, he was pretty sure people stopped being so concearned with other people's sexual orientation back in the 50s or something. Of course, it didn't surprise him at all. He understood the Greek system was very dedicated to tradition.
"Right, so, one of the frats brings it up, of course the other frat denies it, and everyone has to get fighting to prove how manly they are?"
"That's about it."
Adam and Sally talked for a little while longer about the details. She filled him in on the names and faces of some of the guys from both houses, and he asked a lot of questions. With some prompting, Adam joined her on the bed (so they'd have a better view of the holo-projector). Sally definately seemed to be more excited about this than Adam and insisted on going over the information a couple of times. She also seemed a lot more interested in Adam's ability to help end this fued than in Adam, himself. Dispite her outgoing bubbly personality - Adam wasn't getting the vibe that Sally had much interest in him as anything other than someone capable of helping her achieve what she wants.
Once he understood that, her (un)conscious body language which said otherwise became a bit annoying. Even if she had been all into him, Adam wouldn't have taken advantage of his situation - but he couldn't help but be distracted while she talked.
By about 8:30 pm, they had pretty much exhausted the conversation. The plan was set. Sally was going to arrange for Adam to meet, seperatly, with the guys from both frats tomarrow night. They had scrapped together a little cred to smooth over the negotiations and, theoretically, to pay Adam for his time but Adam was pretty sure that there wouldn't be a lot left afterwards.
Adam
Wednesday 5/14/70 22:26:30
Adam started to make his way out of the Tri-Delta house. Sally had offered to take him back to his dorm, but he told her he would just grab a bus or something. The truth of it was that he still had
250 cash burning a hole in his pocket, and was in serious need of a drink, and some relaxation after his stressful day. He also kind of wanted to celebrate his victory. Although he invited Sally out to go do something, she had to get up early, and declined - and suggested he call it an early night too. Adam wasn't convinced the frat guys would notice if he was tired or not tomarrow.On his way out, he ran into a gaggle of Tri-Delts that were all dressed up and heading out to go clubbing or bar-hopping or something. After a little small-talk, Adam was invited along, and eagerly agreed. One of the cuter girls even offered to give him a ride home afterwards, since she lived in the dorms too.
Adam
Thursday 5/15/70 7:45:00
Sally got up when her alarm went off, and began her morning routine. She got a shower, got dressed, got her make-up ready - the whole ritual. The anxiety of the topic of discussion last night only lingered on the edge of her perception, and she was confident that Adam would help mediate it this evening. She was in the usual early-morning daze until she passed Angelica's room. The sight of a man's jacket on the floor cought her attention - not because it would be that strange for Angelica to have a guy over - but because she remembered seeing that same jacket in her own room yesterday.
Before heading down for breakfast, she peeked in the doorway, and confirmed her suspicions. A trail of clothes, both male and female lead across the room to a bed where she could see Adam sleeping with a blonde head in his arms. When did Angelica dye her hair blonde? While Sally was loitering outside the room, she was startled by someone suddenly behind her.
Stepping backwards to get out of the way, Angelica (whose hair was its usual brunette color) brushed past her with a glare and shut the door to her room behind her. Stunned, Sally stood there for a moment before snapping out of it and hurrying out to catch her bus. ... Lets hope your charms work that well on the Phee-Gees, Adam....
Adam
Thursday 5/15/70 11:45:00
When Adam finally made it back to his room around noon the next day. Luckily, his finals were last week, and his summer courses hadn't started yet, so he didn't have anywhere to be. John looked up when Adam came in, but was pretty used to not seeing Adam for a day or two, and quickly lost interest.
Adam spent the afternoon cleaning himself up, catching up on some sleep, and watching TV with John. He definatly felt back in his elemenent, and had nearly forgotten about his deal with Franco. Before Sally called him, he inteded to do some shopping, so eventually forced himself up and out.
Today, he took his bike with him. Stopping again at an ATM, he withdrew another couple-hundred nuyen (he blew through his leftover cash last night, buying drinks for the girls), and then headed to the mall. He picked up a cheap MetaLink commlink, paying for it with cash, and spent a few minutes activating a new pre-paid account without any of his real personal information linked to it.
He also needed to pick up another suit. He had given Franco the impression that he was a well-dressed professional negotiator, and it wouldn't do him any good to be seen again, a little while later in the same suit. Reluctantly, he tried on a few new suits and eventually found one that he thought complimented his looks, and bought it.
Adam
Thursday 5/15/70 14:15:00
Adam parked his bike a block away from the Dancing Bare and headed to the front door. He was purposefully arriving a while before 5 (when Franco's schedule said he goes to work every day). The doorman held out his hand and gestured to the AR sign indicating the cover-charge - he obviously didn't recognise Adam from last night. Adam smirked and handed him a datachip. "Make sure Franco gets this, and tell him it is from Mr. Smith - it contains the contact information he wanted me to give you last night."
At the mention of the bosses name, the doorman's face shifted, and he became a lot more attentive. After he took the chip from him, Adam turned and left. The ball is in your court, big guy.
On the ride home, he called Tyisha, and asked if she had spoken to Shwen. Tyisha said that she had stopped by again, but saw Shwen and two huge guys in suits moving her stuff into a car. She tried to get Shwen's attention, but decided not to push her luck. This gave Adam a little reason to worry. If Franco was relocating her, he might have a hard time hearing how he is treating her - and it might be in an attempt to cut her off from those who might report to his 'employer'. He politely asked her to keep trying to get ahold of her on the phone and make sure she's okay.
Caittie
Monday 8/18/70 15:49:34
Slowly walking up and down the floors of the mall, Caittie browsed the windows as she passed. Every once in a while, she would see something that caught her interest and call up a store advertisement. This was usually followed by a slight groan at the sight of the cost of the item and her walking away from the store while she looked at the floating money count in her AR vision.
The latest of which was a cloths store that Lisa would drag her into to just try on the cloths. Like now, Caittie couldn’t really afford anything from there, but Lisa liked to have someone with her and every once in a while she would spot an outfit if she thought Caittie looked really good in it. Caittie had to admit that she did have fun when she was trying on the cloths, she was a teenage girl after all.
She had thought about it a bit while walking around, and Caittie decided that she should remember the good times she had with her friends and family. Even though she lost them not a week ago, she knew they weren’t coming back and dwelling on that fact wouldn’t change that. She couldn’t grin about it, but she would bare the burden and go on.
Going on, she continued walking the second floor passing more stores. She passed many more stores, most of them selling cloths, before she came across a store that Alex usually wanted them to stop in. The place usually annoyed Lisa just as much as cloths shopping did to Alex, but Caittie didn’t mind either. As she walked into the store, the store’s information opened up in a floating window, ‘Electronic Stop’.
Looking around, Caittie saw more games than anything else in this place. There were a few SIM-chips on a rack but that only took up a small portion of the place. The shelves were stacked with different types of games: Adventure, Shooting, Role-playing, Flight and Driving. They even had some shelves with old fashion book games. She looked at the stores stock until her gaze settled on a game that Alex always talked about.
‘Miracle Shooter v3.19.002 - Now with more realistic feedback. Feel the weight and recoil of your weapon as you make your way though the ranks of monster hordes. Earn points per kill to buy more ammo and better weapons while you play with your friends in real life. Please remember to play responsibly.’ an ad flashed in her vision as she lingered near the display for too long.
‘Why did he play this game so much? He talked about it every now and then, but Lisa would get irritated and say it had to be a macho guy thing. I never understood the appeal of it, but then I never really looked into it either.’ Caittie thought as she walked over to the shelves that held the boxes. Picking one of them up, another window opened up thanking her for checking out the product and if she would like to try a free demo. ‘Why not, it couldn’t hurt and it is free...’, Caittie decided as she moved her free hand to the yes button of the screen.
A second later a HUD appeared in her vision and a sudden weight caused her outstretched hand to drop a bit before she countered it. As she looked at why it dropped, she saw a shiny chromed pistol in her hands and she instinctively dropped it. As it fell to the floor, it clattered around until it settled into its final resting place. Looking at it, she slowly bent over and picked it up while looking at it again.
While she was examining the firearm, a man in a lab coat stepped up in front of her. The man was pretty old and it seemed out of place for the store, and even more so when he started talking. “What you hold in your hands is the Beam 9, the starter weapon for your mission. It fires 9mm ammunition and has relatively low stopping power, but the recoil is weaker than some of the later firearms too.”, the man says as Caittie looks from him back to the gun.”What you see behind me is a weak specimen that has escaped our gene experimentation laboratory.”, he continues as a three foot tall humanoid thing appears behind him. “We call this type of mutant a Goblin. They are pretty weak by themselves, but in numbers can do great harm. Your mission is to help rid these goblins from the city and help meta-humanity win the great fight!”, he explains as he strikes a heroic pose. “This one right here is for practice purposes, so feel free to try out your basic firearm on it.”, he finishes and steps out of the way.
Looking from the man in the lab coat to the short deformed goblin, she wonders why she should shoot it. Then she remembers it is just part of the game and sighs. Raising her arm, she aims the gun near the diminutive humanoid and pulls the trigger. The following bang was followed by the sound of a bullet embedding itself in the floor. Seeing this, Caittie gasps a bit at seeing the smoking hole in the floor.
“If for some reason you miss your intended target, this program is designed to act realistically with the object that was just hit. Do not be alarmed as they are only visible to you or anyone else who uses this program, and all damage goes away after a set amount of time.”, the scientist explained per his programing.
Feeling a bit relived, Caittie aimed again and fired. She continued until the gun started making a clicking sound instead of firing. She looked at the gun and then looked over to where the goblin was and saw that it was on the ground twitching, with splatters of blood around it. “Enemies will act realistically to where your shots are aimed. You landed one shot in a vital area and two in minor areas out of eight shots total. Though you are at newbie level, with practice you could raise to the top of the leader boards! Thank you for trying out the demo for ‘Miracle Shooter’ and we hope you enjoyed our product.”, the scientist finished out as the goblin, blood, bullet holes, and he all faded into nothingness.
Caittie looked from her now empty hand to around the shop before seeing the shop attendant looking at her. She smiled sheepishly but he just waved nonchalantly showing no real surprise because he had seen the same scene around twenty times a day. Blushing a bit, she walked out of the store and noticed a deduction on her credstick value.
‘What?! Why did it go down, I didn’t buy... Oh no...’, she questioned as she looked down to her hand and saw the game box she picked up before. As she looked back into the store and queried refunds, it came back that since she bought with a certified credstick, refunds were not an option.
Sighing deeply, she swung her backpack around and put the box in it. ‘What’s done is done I guess...’, she consoled herself as she put her backpack around her shoulders again. A little lighter of the purse and chiding herself slightly, she continued her trek of the mall...
Monday 8/18/70 15:49:34
Slowly walking up and down the floors of the mall, Caittie browsed the windows as she passed. Every once in a while, she would see something that caught her interest and call up a store advertisement. This was usually followed by a slight groan at the sight of the cost of the item and her walking away from the store while she looked at the floating money count in her AR vision.
The latest of which was a cloths store that Lisa would drag her into to just try on the cloths. Like now, Caittie couldn’t really afford anything from there, but Lisa liked to have someone with her and every once in a while she would spot an outfit if she thought Caittie looked really good in it. Caittie had to admit that she did have fun when she was trying on the cloths, she was a teenage girl after all.
She had thought about it a bit while walking around, and Caittie decided that she should remember the good times she had with her friends and family. Even though she lost them not a week ago, she knew they weren’t coming back and dwelling on that fact wouldn’t change that. She couldn’t grin about it, but she would bare the burden and go on.
Going on, she continued walking the second floor passing more stores. She passed many more stores, most of them selling cloths, before she came across a store that Alex usually wanted them to stop in. The place usually annoyed Lisa just as much as cloths shopping did to Alex, but Caittie didn’t mind either. As she walked into the store, the store’s information opened up in a floating window, ‘Electronic Stop’.
Looking around, Caittie saw more games than anything else in this place. There were a few SIM-chips on a rack but that only took up a small portion of the place. The shelves were stacked with different types of games: Adventure, Shooting, Role-playing, Flight and Driving. They even had some shelves with old fashion book games. She looked at the stores stock until her gaze settled on a game that Alex always talked about.
‘Miracle Shooter v3.19.002 - Now with more realistic feedback. Feel the weight and recoil of your weapon as you make your way though the ranks of monster hordes. Earn points per kill to buy more ammo and better weapons while you play with your friends in real life. Please remember to play responsibly.’ an ad flashed in her vision as she lingered near the display for too long.
‘Why did he play this game so much? He talked about it every now and then, but Lisa would get irritated and say it had to be a macho guy thing. I never understood the appeal of it, but then I never really looked into it either.’ Caittie thought as she walked over to the shelves that held the boxes. Picking one of them up, another window opened up thanking her for checking out the product and if she would like to try a free demo. ‘Why not, it couldn’t hurt and it is free...’, Caittie decided as she moved her free hand to the yes button of the screen.
A second later a HUD appeared in her vision and a sudden weight caused her outstretched hand to drop a bit before she countered it. As she looked at why it dropped, she saw a shiny chromed pistol in her hands and she instinctively dropped it. As it fell to the floor, it clattered around until it settled into its final resting place. Looking at it, she slowly bent over and picked it up while looking at it again.
While she was examining the firearm, a man in a lab coat stepped up in front of her. The man was pretty old and it seemed out of place for the store, and even more so when he started talking. “What you hold in your hands is the Beam 9, the starter weapon for your mission. It fires 9mm ammunition and has relatively low stopping power, but the recoil is weaker than some of the later firearms too.”, the man says as Caittie looks from him back to the gun.”What you see behind me is a weak specimen that has escaped our gene experimentation laboratory.”, he continues as a three foot tall humanoid thing appears behind him. “We call this type of mutant a Goblin. They are pretty weak by themselves, but in numbers can do great harm. Your mission is to help rid these goblins from the city and help meta-humanity win the great fight!”, he explains as he strikes a heroic pose. “This one right here is for practice purposes, so feel free to try out your basic firearm on it.”, he finishes and steps out of the way.
Looking from the man in the lab coat to the short deformed goblin, she wonders why she should shoot it. Then she remembers it is just part of the game and sighs. Raising her arm, she aims the gun near the diminutive humanoid and pulls the trigger. The following bang was followed by the sound of a bullet embedding itself in the floor. Seeing this, Caittie gasps a bit at seeing the smoking hole in the floor.
“If for some reason you miss your intended target, this program is designed to act realistically with the object that was just hit. Do not be alarmed as they are only visible to you or anyone else who uses this program, and all damage goes away after a set amount of time.”, the scientist explained per his programing.
Feeling a bit relived, Caittie aimed again and fired. She continued until the gun started making a clicking sound instead of firing. She looked at the gun and then looked over to where the goblin was and saw that it was on the ground twitching, with splatters of blood around it. “Enemies will act realistically to where your shots are aimed. You landed one shot in a vital area and two in minor areas out of eight shots total. Though you are at newbie level, with practice you could raise to the top of the leader boards! Thank you for trying out the demo for ‘Miracle Shooter’ and we hope you enjoyed our product.”, the scientist finished out as the goblin, blood, bullet holes, and he all faded into nothingness.
Caittie looked from her now empty hand to around the shop before seeing the shop attendant looking at her. She smiled sheepishly but he just waved nonchalantly showing no real surprise because he had seen the same scene around twenty times a day. Blushing a bit, she walked out of the store and noticed a deduction on her credstick value.
‘What?! Why did it go down, I didn’t buy... Oh no...’, she questioned as she looked down to her hand and saw the game box she picked up before. As she looked back into the store and queried refunds, it came back that since she bought with a certified credstick, refunds were not an option.
Sighing deeply, she swung her backpack around and put the box in it. ‘What’s done is done I guess...’, she consoled herself as she put her backpack around her shoulders again. A little lighter of the purse and chiding herself slightly, she continued her trek of the mall...
Caittie
Monday 8/18/70 17:32:49
Sitting down in the food court, the elven woman slowly ate the cheap Asian meal in silence. She had walked practically the whole mall that day and though she did get a couple of things, Caittie was getting bored of it. She had spent the afternoon just in here staying out of the rain and, though at first, she was interested in wandering the place; now, she was getting tired.
As she took another bite of the soy-chicken bulgogi, she pulled up a current weather feed over the area of Seattle. The transparent window opened up on the other side of the table showing the giant mass of rain on the east side of the city and heading farther that way. Even so, there was still a mass of green that covered almost the entire screen, and when she zoomed out, she saw it still covered a good part of the map. Just as she groaned at seeing this, an audio feed opened up automatically.
“...eastern winds are supplying the cold front with all the moisture it needs to keep this up for a while. The good news is that the worst of it seems to have passed by the area and all we have to look forward to is a light rain of between a quarter inch to half inch per hour. With the current winds and expected changes in atmospheric pressure, forecasts are indicating that this might go on into the night, if not longer. For all you people out in the open...” the forecaster went on before Caittie closed the feed and window.
Looking out the windows near the place she sitting, the sight was one to be expected. The grayed out parking lot was light up in places by the light poles lit prematurely by the tricked photo-sensors. Water pooled in lower areas of the parking lot and ran in streams towards any drains it could find. The red lights of vehicles moving around were dimmed farther out on the streets by the lightly falling rain and mist.
Caittie let out a light sigh as she tried to make up her mind on whether she should stay or leave. She continued on with her meal and by the time she finished it, she decided on braving the light rain instead of staying in the mall. Throwing her trash away, she headed towards the doors and pulled out her umbrella. Looking up the nearest coffin motel to her position on the city map, she groaned at the walk she had ahead of her.
Monday 8/18/70 17:32:49
Sitting down in the food court, the elven woman slowly ate the cheap Asian meal in silence. She had walked practically the whole mall that day and though she did get a couple of things, Caittie was getting bored of it. She had spent the afternoon just in here staying out of the rain and, though at first, she was interested in wandering the place; now, she was getting tired.
As she took another bite of the soy-chicken bulgogi, she pulled up a current weather feed over the area of Seattle. The transparent window opened up on the other side of the table showing the giant mass of rain on the east side of the city and heading farther that way. Even so, there was still a mass of green that covered almost the entire screen, and when she zoomed out, she saw it still covered a good part of the map. Just as she groaned at seeing this, an audio feed opened up automatically.
“...eastern winds are supplying the cold front with all the moisture it needs to keep this up for a while. The good news is that the worst of it seems to have passed by the area and all we have to look forward to is a light rain of between a quarter inch to half inch per hour. With the current winds and expected changes in atmospheric pressure, forecasts are indicating that this might go on into the night, if not longer. For all you people out in the open...” the forecaster went on before Caittie closed the feed and window.
Looking out the windows near the place she sitting, the sight was one to be expected. The grayed out parking lot was light up in places by the light poles lit prematurely by the tricked photo-sensors. Water pooled in lower areas of the parking lot and ran in streams towards any drains it could find. The red lights of vehicles moving around were dimmed farther out on the streets by the lightly falling rain and mist.
Caittie let out a light sigh as she tried to make up her mind on whether she should stay or leave. She continued on with her meal and by the time she finished it, she decided on braving the light rain instead of staying in the mall. Throwing her trash away, she headed towards the doors and pulled out her umbrella. Looking up the nearest coffin motel to her position on the city map, she groaned at the walk she had ahead of her.
Caittie
Monday 8/18/70 17:38:10
As soon as Caittie stepped out of the mall, the cool wet weather assaulted her with its full intensity. She could feel it seep through her clothing and she shivered out of reflex. ‘I hope it doesn’t start coming down again like it did a few hours ago…’ she thought as she pulled out the umbrella.
Opening it up, she walked out into the rain, trying to avoid any giant pools of water that the showers had left. As she trekked across the parking lot towards the main road, she set up an ARO system to point her towards the nearest motel and then followed the ghostly indicators.
Everything had a dull grey tinge to it due to the cloud cover and it made everything look very bland. The world seemed more hostile due to the mood set, with even the cars passing by splashing water up and around the sidewalks. People moved through or with the sea of moving bodies, neither interesting nor interested in the going city life around them. While you might have people watchers sitting on a bench on the side of the road on a normal day, not so with this weather, with everyone rushing to get where they wanted and out of the constant rain.
Monday 8/18/70 18:23:46
Caittie let out a huge sigh of relieve as she walked though the lobby doors to the coffin motel. ‘Finally, someplace where I can warm up and relax. I’m beat…’ she thought as she looked though the listings of rooms for the cheapest unoccupied one. After finding one, she set out up the stairs towards the second floor and walked down the hallway. Coming up on the door to the room, Caittie went through the now familiar steps to register the room and walked inside it.
Hearing the big metal door close and lock behind her, she got out of her cloths and spread them out as best she could on the shelf. Thought they weren’t wet, the humidity and wind had made them damp and Caittie wanted them to dry before she next needed them. She really didn’t need them in the coffin room because it was a nice warm temperature controlled environment, set to what she needed and wanted.
Lying down on the mattress, she pulled the ‘Miracle Shooter’ game from her backpack and slipped the chip into her commlink to install. As she watched the install bar scroll across her vision, she wondered why she was even doing this. By the time it was done installing, she figured it was just so it didn’t go to waste. “It’s not like I’m ever going to be in a situation again where this will be useful. I’ll just play it till the month runs out and then drop it”, Caittie told herself.
After the game loaded up, it had her set the initial options and then asked if she wanted to go through the tutorial. Selecting yes, the same scientist she saw in the store appeared, albeit only six inches tall, floating in the air. As he started explaining the rules and options of the game, she started to get tired. By the time the scientist had started talking about purchasing better weapons, she was half asleep and wasn’t paying any attention. Turing off the game, she put her commlink back up on the shelf and turned off the lights. Within minutes of doing such, she was sleeping contently and dreaming sweet dreams.
Monday 8/18/70 17:38:10
As soon as Caittie stepped out of the mall, the cool wet weather assaulted her with its full intensity. She could feel it seep through her clothing and she shivered out of reflex. ‘I hope it doesn’t start coming down again like it did a few hours ago…’ she thought as she pulled out the umbrella.
Opening it up, she walked out into the rain, trying to avoid any giant pools of water that the showers had left. As she trekked across the parking lot towards the main road, she set up an ARO system to point her towards the nearest motel and then followed the ghostly indicators.
Everything had a dull grey tinge to it due to the cloud cover and it made everything look very bland. The world seemed more hostile due to the mood set, with even the cars passing by splashing water up and around the sidewalks. People moved through or with the sea of moving bodies, neither interesting nor interested in the going city life around them. While you might have people watchers sitting on a bench on the side of the road on a normal day, not so with this weather, with everyone rushing to get where they wanted and out of the constant rain.
Monday 8/18/70 18:23:46
Caittie let out a huge sigh of relieve as she walked though the lobby doors to the coffin motel. ‘Finally, someplace where I can warm up and relax. I’m beat…’ she thought as she looked though the listings of rooms for the cheapest unoccupied one. After finding one, she set out up the stairs towards the second floor and walked down the hallway. Coming up on the door to the room, Caittie went through the now familiar steps to register the room and walked inside it.
Hearing the big metal door close and lock behind her, she got out of her cloths and spread them out as best she could on the shelf. Thought they weren’t wet, the humidity and wind had made them damp and Caittie wanted them to dry before she next needed them. She really didn’t need them in the coffin room because it was a nice warm temperature controlled environment, set to what she needed and wanted.
Lying down on the mattress, she pulled the ‘Miracle Shooter’ game from her backpack and slipped the chip into her commlink to install. As she watched the install bar scroll across her vision, she wondered why she was even doing this. By the time it was done installing, she figured it was just so it didn’t go to waste. “It’s not like I’m ever going to be in a situation again where this will be useful. I’ll just play it till the month runs out and then drop it”, Caittie told herself.
After the game loaded up, it had her set the initial options and then asked if she wanted to go through the tutorial. Selecting yes, the same scientist she saw in the store appeared, albeit only six inches tall, floating in the air. As he started explaining the rules and options of the game, she started to get tired. By the time the scientist had started talking about purchasing better weapons, she was half asleep and wasn’t paying any attention. Turing off the game, she put her commlink back up on the shelf and turned off the lights. Within minutes of doing such, she was sleeping contently and dreaming sweet dreams.
This is a "lo-fi" version of our main content. To view the full version with more information, formatting and images, please click here.