11:37:42 Wednesday, 10 January 2063 - McHugh's

"No, it's crystal clear. We're done here."

Lana stood up and turned her back on the man who just threatened not only her sister but her as well. Taking deep breaths to try to calm her jumpy nerves, she quickly cut through the various patrons of the food court and made her way over to Kat.

"Let's go." She made a firm grab for Kat's left elbow as she kept walking.

"Now, Kat. Please."

With her free hand she fumbled in her pocket for her cellphone. Placing a call using the programmed shortcuts she waits for Niki to pick up as she's practically dragging Kat behind her despite her protests.

Getting her sister's voicemail she curses and leaves a message.

"Niki, it's me. We need to talk as soon as possible. Call me when you get this. I'm on my way home."

She thumbed the button to kill the call while shoving the tiny cellphone back into her pocket.

"No Kat I don't want to talk about it. I just want to get out of here."

01:00:02 Wednesday, 10 January, 2063 – A Warehouse in the Barrens

With only a moment’s hesitation, John renewed his efforts to climb to the top of the shelving unit, his confidence bolstered by the cloud of smoke that billowed up from the smoke grenade to provide cover for his climb, and hopefully for Cao Jaan to get clear as well. Climbing as fast as he could, he managed to reach the top of the shelving unit. Staying as low as possible, he tried to set his feet as best he could on top of the shelf, which was now swaying precariously and looked ready to fall at any second.

Down below, a massive earth elemental had appeared in astral space at Knight’s summons, and dipped its craggy head slightly in acknowledgment of its temporary servitude. When the golem spoke, it wasted no words and exchanged no pleasantries, cutting straight to the point. “Your command, master?”

Elsewhere, in the far northwestern corner of the warehouse, a lone Triad continued his silent and stealthy run to the second floor of the warehouse. One of his companions advanced as well, positioning himself for a clearer line of fire.

Taking advantage of the smoke grenade, Cao Jaan staggered painfully to his feet and ran as fast as his wounded body would allow. He headed towards the northeast corner of the warehouse, where ETG had set up an improvised pillbox and was calmly picking his targets, firing off short controlled bursts at each of the attackers in turn.

One of the Triads he’d previously wounded and had stood up to get back into the fight was hit again by a precise burst, and was knocked off his feet a second time. When he hit the ground this time, he lay still and did not move. Another Triad was knocked off his feet by a second narrow burst as the LMG roared in the confines of the warehouse.

11:39:53 Wednesday, 10 January 2063 - McHugh's

After allowing herself to be pulled along for a few minutes, finally Kat succeeds in pulling her arm away from Lana. Immediately she starts talking before her friend can get a word of protest out. “Lana! Calm down! What’s wrong? Should we call the cops on that guy? Just take a deep breath, relax, and tell me what’s got you so spooked, ok?”

11:39:53 Wednesday, 10 January 2063 - McHugh's

Lana sank down onto the closest bench inside the mall and took a couple of long deep breaths to try to calm the storm of fear brewing inside her.

"You can't call the cops Kat, they can't help." She swallowed hard and took a long hard look around her, wondering what skeleton would pop out of the closet next.

"He... The guy... I just need to get home and talk to Niki, that's all. I'm sure she can clear everything up. Can we just go, please?"

She looked up at her friend with the expression of a kicked puppy dog who was looking at the booted foot of his master approaching. Lana didn't usually get rattled, especially not to this extent so Kat was left wondering just what the ThinMan had said to cause this reaction.

02:48:47 Wednesday 10 January 2063 - 862 Lucile Ave, Apt. 2C, Los Angeles, CFS

Slipping the trode net from her head with a small sigh of relief, Cosmo settled back against a dingy wall, stretched her legs out in front of her, and closed her eyes.

Elise Niveau; world renowned Simsense star. Young, beautiful, athletic, intelligent. Unmarried, but rumored to be dating the lead singer of Anthem-pro-Morpheus. Five movies in her filmography, all of them number one blockbusters. 'Half-elven,' whatever that means, and a humanitarian to boot. Modestly professional singing career. Produces her own line of clothing for the 'active professional woman'.

Media. Freaking. Sensation.

The low growl that rumbled in her throat was only slightly surprising. Not jealousy, she was certainly above that, though she envied Niveau's seemingly carefree lifestyle. Carefree until someone decides to bomb her limo, you mean.

Cosmo shook her head and wandered into her tiny kitchen to see if Tino had remembered her deep abiding love for all things caffinated and sugar-coated.

02:55:04 Wednesday 10 January 2063 - 862 Lucile Ave, Apt. 2C, Los Angeles, CFS

Cosmo was sipping the last of her cherry cola, staring out the window from her darkened room at the glowing city lights stretching away into the distance, when the trideo buzzed to life. HardBitten routed his call through one of the automatic calendar alert routines, the screen flickering with his static-composed image before Cosmo even acknowledges the call.

"All right, schedule is cleared. What have you got for me?"

23:18:35 Tuesday 09 January 2063 - Los Angeles LTG

Few people liked to use the new augmented reality technology that premiered at the end of last year, preferring still either the hard displays of their decks or tridphones, or the full submersion virtual reality. People were creatures of habit, loathe to change the status quo. Beyond that, Nightengale knew that the current series of AR equipment was buggy and unstable, problems he'd dealt with a year and a half ago when Devlin first equipped the team with the technology. Now, though, with the third generation systems in place, it was a much more useful tool.

For his current tasking, though, he still worked submerged. The facility of AR still couldn't compete with the raw speed at which he could accomplish things in VR mode. When the CARAT team first set up shop here in LA, he ran a hardline from the hangar to his comm suite, tapping directly into the Langley mainframes for the team. Now, though, because they were shifting from location to pursuit, he was working via satellite uplink to the puzzle palace for all of his archival needs. Speed was through a hardline to the local matrix infrastructure, provided by Pac Rim Communications. One of the first things he'd done after connecting was purloin superuser status on their local server ring. It only took a couple of days for the official request to be processed giving them law enforcement access to PacRimComm's logs and traceroutes, but Nightengale always thought of paperwork as a kind of forgiveness after the fact. It was one of the reasons Devlin brought him on board.

Hanging in space around him were half a dozen streams of trideo data. Twice that in raw text information flowed in as well. Working the problem with a host of his own smart frames, Nightengale indexed and annotated, pulling out and summarizing key details and players. The files would be marked for review and shuffled to the waiting queues of his teammates, the topics appropriate to their areas of expertise. Overall situation briefings were copied to everyone.

Something from a text scan alerted one of his smart frames, which highlighted the data and moved it to a central display zone. The aural alert was almost an afterthought. Nightengale scanned through the summary with some interest. Sending the frame back to work, he opened up a direct line to the server at Il Grano italian restaurant. Simultaneously, he tabbed open his comm interface.

Actual, Nightengale, hit just came in. Twenty percent relevance.

He attached the data to the message, waiting for Devlin's reply.

Go ahead.

Surveillance on the Network cell operating in the area tracked them to an Italian restaurant this afternoon. They stopped for only nine minutes, probably a data handoff. Leaving the restaurant they were tailed by a single individual in a late model sedan. This individual subsequently eluded our own pursuit team. This data indicates that the security server at the Italian restaurant has been compromised repeatedly in the past twenty four hours, with at least two other superuser accounts hacked.

Devlin nodded to herself at Nightengale's report.

Assessment? she demanded.

Uncertain. This individual tailing the Network might be working for one of the other tribes, or an operator part of a team being employed by the Network. Or the lead element of a team looking to strike back at the Network. I'm working to trace the registration of the vehicle right now, as well as infiltrate a couple of the other servers in the area to crosscheck for a footprint. Initial findings indicate that this individual may have dedicated matrix support. Nightengale highlighted a couple of the datafeeds as he referenced them, redirecting his frames on this new information search.

Devlin stared out the window of the vehicle at the lights of downtown Los Angeles. Finally, she nodded.

All right, build a target profile. Pass to our surveillance teams as priority. If they detect this individual again positive recovery is requested. All necessary means are authorized.

02:55:11 Wednesday 10 January 2063 - 862 Lucile Ave, Apt. 2C, Los Angeles, CFS

Cosmo tossed a small mischevious smile over one shoulder and took one last look out the window before pulling the shade and sauntering toward her trid unit, soda can in hand. As much as Securetech toted the comfort and 'breathability' of their form fitting line, she doubted that any of their marketing execs had spent more than a minute in the stuff and more than likely none in the full suit. She took her time pulling the flexible cloth back over her shoulders and raised an eyebrow as she worked the fastenings.

"We'll go easy to start. I need a layout of Elite Limousines, south central Los Angeles. Standard package; entry points, physical security, estimated response time, et cetera. Soonest is best for this, unless those questions of yours can't wait?"

She half-grinned, tipping the can back to get at a few last drops of carbonated goodness.

02:55:49 Wednesday 10 January 2063 - 862 Lucile Ave, Apt. 2C, Los Angeles, CFS

Hardbitten's chuckle is every bit as abrasive as Cosmo remembers. The very fact of her remembering, though, brings a measure of comfort. The thread, however fragile, anchors her to the past. Reminding her that despite the nightmarish surreality of her current environment, she wasn't dreaming this Hell.

"Nah. I'm on it. Just one question before I roll. Where the frag have you been?"

02:56:17 Wednesday 10 January 2063 - 862 Lucile Ave, Apt. 2C, Los Angeles, CFS

Her smile didn't budge. Waking up from this dream wouldn't have bothered her in the slightest.

"Sleeping. We'll get into it later, HB. And hey," Cosmo tossed the empty can into a basket across the room, "knock next time, hmm?"

02:56:49 Wednesday 10 January 2063 - 862 Lucile Ave, Apt. 2C, Los Angeles, CFS

"Whatever."

The screen derezzes from its face of static into the default standby graphic.

03:04:23 Wednesday 10 January 2063 - 862 Lucile Ave, Apt. 2C, Los Angeles, CFS

She tried sitting down on the apartment's one couch to relax for a minute while she waited for Oracle[/b and [b]Hardbitten to call. Tried stretching out on the floor, lying across her bed, and standing on her head; anything to be still and relax but she just couldn't do it. Cosmo drew her new Hammerli, growled, and settled cross-legged on the floor by her bed to check and clean all her gear. She supposed it was better than scrubbing the bathroom sink, which she would do next, followed by the tub, tile, and everything else in this blasted hidey-hole if people didn't get back to her soon....

04:12:02 Wednesday 10 January 2063 - 862 Lucile Ave, Apt. 2C, Los Angeles, CFS

The incessant chirp of the trid pulled her from the bathroom. She pitched the scrubbing wipe she'd been using into the bathtub and rubbed her forehead with the back of her hand.

A massage. A manicure. Hair. Clothes. Room service. I swear to God if I survive....

She slapped her hand down on the 'accept' key. Text flowed onto the screen.

04:12:16 Wednesday 10 January 2063 - 862 Lucile Ave, Apt. 2C, Los Angeles, CFS

It was all she could do to keep from running out the door, so intense was her desire to get out of the apartment and do something. Instead, she sighed, scrubbed her hand across a roll of disposable towels, and replied to Oracle's message.

04:12:22 Wednesday 10 January 2063 - 862 Lucile Ave, Apt. 2C, Los Angeles, CFS

04:12:35 Wednesday 10 January 2063 - 862 Lucile Ave, Apt. 2C, Los Angeles, CFS

04:13:29 Wednesday 10 January 2063 - 862 Lucile Ave, Apt. 2C, Los Angeles, CFS

04:13:03 Wednesday 10 January 2063 - 862 Lucile Ave, Apt. 2C, Los Angeles, CFS

Cosmo smiled.

04:13:52 Wednesday 10 January 2063 - 862 Lucile Ave, Apt. 2C, Los Angeles, CFS

The picture that prints itself onto the screen of Cosmo's trideo is a standard ID mugshot, head and shoulders against a neutral background. The face staring back at her is athletic, plain, earnest, vaguely ethnic, but unremarkable. She's seen enough to know that Cameron Descanzo was specifically chosen because he was average in just about every fashion, someone who's purpose in life was to hold down a steady government job and do nothing to draw attention to the fact that his identity was being used as cover by any number of State Department or DOD personnel. Or worse.

04:14:12 Wednesday 10 January 2063 - 862 Lucile Ave, Apt. 2C, Los Angeles, CFS

Great, so they're organized.

04:14:39 Wednesday 10 January 2063 - 862 Lucile Ave, Apt. 2C, Los Angeles, CFS

04:14:51 Wednesday 10 January 2063 - 862 Lucile Ave, Apt. 2C, Los Angeles, CFS

Cosmo glared at the message's timestamp turned back to the tub, all but attacking the slick synthetic surface. She'd be damned if the thing didn't sparkle by the time someone got back to her.

06:02:41 Wednesday 10 January 2063 - 862 Lucile Ave, Apt. 2C, Los Angeles, CFS

At the same time that her trideo screen rerezzes in the familiar static face, the speakers resound with a pair of heavy knocks, followed by the ding of file reception.

"You know, it occurs to me to ask how exactly you plan on paying for these services, sweetheart. But, apparently you hold some kind of philanthropic power over me because I don't really care about it right now. Files are onboard, everything you were looking for."

06:03:17 Wednesday 10 January 2063 - 862 Lucile Ave, Apt. 2C, Los Angeles, CFS

Cosmo had just finished straightening her ponytail and was adding a touch of blush to her cheeks with a long, soft brush when the screen came to life. She laughed softly and dabbed a bit of gloss onto her lower lip before opening the new file.

"I could always bring a manila envelope stuffed with bills by your place if you feel like re-negotiating. Have prices changed much since Seattle?"

06:03:53 Wednesday 10 January 2063 - 862 Lucile Ave, Apt. 2C, Los Angeles, CFS

"Somehow, no. The usual untraceable certified cred will be more than satisfactory. And, yes, inflation has struck. Security is expensive these days."

06:04:21 Wednesday 10 January 2063 - 862 Lucile Ave, Apt. 2C, Los Angeles, CFS

"Inflation, hmm? Will I need to hock all my pretty new things, HB?"

She laughed softly, scanning the file as she considered her options for her fifth tasking.

06:05:03 Wednesday 10 January 2063 - 862 Lucile Ave, Apt. 2C, Los Angeles, CFS

"Probably, I know what happened to the rest of your assets when you disappeared."

HardBitten had provided a complete target profile, starting with overhead satellite shots of the parking lot and the surrounding streets. The facility is in a moderately secure section of town, a half block of asphalt surrounded by a three meter tall chainlink fence. The fence has steel lightposts at ten meter intervals, halogen lamps facing inward to keep the lot at a daylight level. A pair of steel prefab buildings as well as a trailer office line the west side of the lot. One of the buildings is a garage for maintenance, the other is a car wash/detail facility. Elite Limousines employs fifteen people on the administrative side and thirty or forty drivers, depending on the season. Cameras cover the lot from multiple locations, both on the lightposts and the trailer office. The fenceline has two entrances, both on the south side of the block, both secured by maglock. The office also has a hardline PanicButton hook-up.

06:05:26 Wednesday 10 January 2063 - 862 Lucile Ave, Apt. 2C, Los Angeles, CFS

Cosmo nodded, still smiling as a very rough plan started coming together in her mind. Should be fairly straightforward, variation on a theme.

"Oh? What are you charging for that little bit of information? Incidentally, I'm forwarding you a set of co-ordinates. Can you zoom in and tell me what's going on, if anything? I'll be around for a while. Thanks again."

Long slender fingers dug at a kink in one shoulder. The fact that her "final meeting place" with the Kalds was in the middle of the desert was fairly ominous; it wouldn't hurt to do a bit of recon, even at this early stage.

Better still to have some backup....

It wasn't the first time a pair of chill blue eyes intruded upon her thoughts. There was the promise of safety, or at least some reprieve from the shades that seemed to draw closer every hour, but could she trade one dangerous situation for another? When more than her own life hung in the balance?

Cosmo kneaded her shoulder harder and grimaced, pushing those thoughts away even as her fingers itched to dial Caska's number.

07:14:23 Wednesday January 14, 2063 - Land’s End magic shop, Auburn

"Andy, could you run down to the university bookstore and pick up a couple of books for me?"

Ever since she had suddenly re-appeared downstairs a couple of days ago, her expression drawn and deep shadows under her eyes (but explaining nothing), it had been Andy this and Andy that, while she remained inseparable from her unconscious brother, who had been transferred to the upstairs rooms. Sam had quietly taken over the children’s classes. In the meantime, if an errand needed doing, it always seemed to be Andy who was sent on it. Books? he thought resentfully. Actual physical books? Aloud he asked, "Why don’t you just download them?"

Sara Lansing gave him that look that reminded him that, until he cleared that orichalcum circulation, he was still renting her shop and her facilities against her future good grace. But just for a little while longer, he silently vowed. I am already halfway there. After this I can summon my ally, and it can work on the next circulation in my very own shop. I already have the downtown warehouse picked out and people working on turning it into what I want: had to go into circulation hock to do it, but it takes money to make money.

A shiver startled its way down his spine, remembering the bargain he had made to accomplish that -- but Sara trusted Jack Solomon with the keys to her store and what seemed to be a disconcerting part of her life -- and Andie’s. Irritating, that last. Whatever she was willing to put up with was her business, but his life was his life, and he wasn’t looking for friends in a business relationship. She’d introduced the two of them, true, and thus far it was proving to be a decent working partnership, even if the guy seemed to turn up around the store far more than Andie would have preferred. Although, come to think of it, Andie hadn’t seen him around since he and Sam had half-carried, half-dragged Sara’s brother up the stairs to Sara’s private quarters two days ago. So how come she doesn’t hire the fragging fixer to get someone to walk the fragging dog? How did I get promoted to chief dogwalker?

Although, truth be known, he was finding that, despite himself, he rather liked the excuse to get away from the circulation and out. Now that Dusha and he had evolved an understanding, anyway. Null and void the moment a squirrel or stray cat was spotted, but Andie was becoming rather adept at anticipating those moments and quickly wrapping the leash two or three times around the nearest railing: for he had discovered early on that the dog was a good deal stronger than he -- and that time that he had tried wrapping the leash around his hand instead without having been braced first, that didn’t bear too much thinking about. And the dog always looked so apologetic afterward, like he’d really meant to be good, but then there was this squirrel -- Twice daily walks, during which he was coming to learn the neighbourhood in a way he had never bothered to, back when he was just coming to Land’s End for training. He could usually stretch them out enough that he was able to check out progress at his warehouse on at least a daily basis, although the distance took him to the limits of his endurance. Dusha, he suspected, could keep going all day, and still have enough energy left over to lunge after any small furry target of convenience. The man with the cold blue eyes had been right: the dog certainly did like to run.

Still, it got him out of the place for a bit. Best of all: Sam didn’t seem to mind at all taking over the circulation while Andy checked out the progress of his magic shop to be. They’d even formed a surprising bond over, of all things, security systems: gradually working out an optimal cost-effectiveness ratio for the warehouse. Most of it was turning out to be unexpectedly low-tech, a useful thing for Andy’s credstick. As simple a thing as bars on the windows, Sam had suggested, would deter almost all casual nighttime thefts of opportunity. For more determined thieves, passive after-hours electric eyes and an electronic scan system could be rough-wired in and gradually upgraded as time and cashflow allowed, though it would be quite a while before he could afford anything on the level of Sara’s.

How quickly, how very easily, had even this sharp turn of events become routine.

And then after I get The Reflecting Pool going I can hire more people to work on other circulations. And that is just the first step. I am going to succeed. I will not be my parents.

Breaking into his thoughts, Sara added, with something almost a grin, "Take Sam with you this time. Please!"

"If you can’t make him step outside this place, how can I?" pointed out Andy reasonably, the returned quirked smile drawn out of him despite himself. Not that I mind, after all. "Which books?"

"Just a couple. Here’s the list. Your warehouse is pretty much on the way, isn’t it? It’s a bit of distance, but you don’t even have to cut over the lake."

Mind like a steel trap, no matter how distracted. He should have guessed she’d have figured it out. Andy nodded shortly, the thump thump thump of the dog’s tail against his leg reminding him that his morning leeway time was running out. The wet nose nudged at the hand holding the leash, then again, more urgently. "See you in a few hours." He snapped the leash on the dog’s collar, swung on his own longcoat, and stepped outside into the light January drizzle.

01:12:46 Thursday, 11 January 2063 - The Barn, Seattle UCAS

Litany had gone a little glassy eyed, it had been a long day actually, the morning's hot chocolate a fond but distant memory. The tart raspberry flavor ice was cutting through the haze in her head as she listened to Ralph expound on the finer details of one of his financial clients pecadillos. The all too common story of the man not being smart enough to get both his wife and mistress under iron clad contractual agreements. Turned out they had gotten around some account restrictions by hiring out to each other, thus increasing their share of the revenue stream to a full four fifths. Ended up controlling both the board and bed room.

When the alert came in she was relieved.

//Gabriel Alert! <trumpets>
//Gabriel Cancel alert. A <data packet::Flipper> has arrived.
//@Gabriel Scan and run, visual overlay.

Ralph was momentarily disconcerted as Litany jumped up grabbed his arm, and with a peck on his cheek whispered into his ear, "Your way too smart to end up having a pair of women ruining your life like that. That what I like about you."

it would only take one

"I need to be down at the flower market first thing in the morning to check the first shipment. Boss had a bright idea, and guess who has to go traipsing around at dawn through some muddy market full of street vendors and delivery people?"

She made sure to give him a good hug and squeeze, running her hand low across his stomach so he'd notice, before she left him at the bar.

delicate touch... parts of him will remember...

17:04:52 Wednesday, 10 January 2063 - Apartment 1319 - Metropolitan Park Apartments, 601 S. Washington St., Seattle

She was about to wear a hole in the floor of the tiny kitchen with all her pacing back and forth, but she stopped in her tracks as she heard Niki outside the door fumbling for her keycard. When the tall blonde woman entered the apartment she was ambushed by a smaller, darker version of herself. Lana hugged her sister for all she was worth with all the strength her little frame could muster. Niki was obviously taken by surprise by her sisters actions and after a moment she dutifully returned the hug before forcing her sister loose to give her a look of surprise mixed with concern.

“Lana, what’s the matter?” She spoke softly with heavily Slavic-accented English.

She just looked up at her sister and shook her head, not entirely sure what to make of the situation anymore or how to even explain what happened at the mall. She opted to skip the words for a second and give her sister another hug, grateful that she was there in front of her, alive and in one piece.

“Niki….” She started to speak but lost some of her nerve. Deciding after a long pause that it was better to be on the safe side and tell her sister about what happened instead of just brushing it off in case it was something serious she screwed up the courage to ask the difficult question.

“Niki, just what is it that you DO for Sader these days?” Lana held her breath and waited for her sister’s answer.

17:05:51 Wednesday, 10 January 2063 - Apartment 1319 - Metropolitan Park Apartments, 601 S. Washington St., Seattle

If Niki was at all caught off guard by Lana’s question, she didn’t show it. “I am a resource manager for Saeder-Krupp, you know this Lana. Why do you ask me this? What is wrong? What has happened to you? Is everything all right?”

Despite the harsh sounding nature of the questions in English due to Nikol’s heavy Slavic-accent, it is clear that Niki is concerned. From Lana’s eyes, her sister seemed a bit too concerned. Almost as if she already knew the answers to her own questions. Then again, maybe that was just her paranoia talking. Or maybe not.

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

Knight decided that now was not the time for big speeches, so he kept his command to the elemental short and to the point. “Destroy all those who invaded this place.”

The spirit nodded slowly and firmly, ‘speaking’ in a thick, gravelly voice that one might expect from an earth spirit. “It shall be done.”

As the spirit drifted away from him in preparation to complete its task, Knight began moving at a brisk pace towards ETG’s pillbox. He remained conscientious of his employer, however, and was sure to keep Cao Jaan in his line of sight to heal him or assist him as necessary.

Ignorant of the new threat that had yet to manifest itself physically, a few of the Triads continued moving silently and quickly, being sure to keep themselves out of the line of fire while better positioning themselves to continue their offensive.

Meanwhile, swaying precariously atop the teetering shelving unit, John tried desperately to get his balance as he prepared to jump to the catwalk above him. Steeling himself, he took a quick glance at his niece, screaming for help and dangling almost 10 meters above the ground with only her little hands and Lady Dove to hold her up. Gritting his teeth and drawing upon that extra something that had helped him stay alive so many times in the past where others had come up short and died, he leapt with all his might for the catwalk.

Whether it was luck, fate, adrenaline, desperation, will, or something else entirely, he jumped as if he was twenty years younger; his hands easily grasped the catwalk floor with enough grip that he was able to swing forward and use the momentum from the backswing to pull himself up quickly and smoothly.

As he pulled himself up to the second floor of the warehouse, he looked over and saw Lady Dove and Nora staring at him in astonishment. His enhanced vision allowed him to see his niece blink her eyes in disbelief and shake her head, like she couldn’t believe it was her uncle, her very own Uncle John, he of the hideously ugly sweater, who had just pulled a move right out of an action sim like a real-life simsense hero.

Despite the pressure and tension of the moment, John allowed himself a grin of satisfaction and a bit of ego-stroking. Hey old man, looks like you’ve still got it after all. Even in the middle of life and death, the ladies are still impressed with you. Who’s sweet? Scrapheap, that’s who. Oh yeah…

17:06:11 Wednesday, 10 January 2063 - Apartment 1319 - Metropolitan Park Apartments, 601 S. Washington St., Seattle

She chewed on her lip as she tried to figure out how to explain the ThinMan from the mall thing.

"It's just, I don't know this guy at the mall. Kat and I were off shopping, and he just kind of came up to us out of nowhere. He knew who I was Niki, he knew who you were... "

She paused as she replayed the scene in her head, remembering the words he said as close to the letter as possible. The way the guy so matter-of-factly told her if Niki didn't stop what she was doing there would be problems for her and her sister made her blood run cold again. With that feeling spurring her on, the words just tumbled from her lips.

"This guy basically said that I had to deliver a message to you, that an Undisclosed Party wanted you to stop working on what you're working on. That you'd understand what that meant. Do you understand what that means? Basically that if you stoppped no one would get hurt... including me. Niki he totally freaked me out! I mean he knew my name, my entire name!"

Lana tried to take a deep breath as she was rapidly approaching teen-angst panic levels.

17:08:01 Wednesday, 10 January 2063 - Apartment 1319 - Metropolitan Park Apartments, 601 S. Washington St., Seattle

“Hush Lana. Breathe deep and calm down,” Nikol said gently as she gathered her sister into her arms in a tight hug. Stroking her little sister’s dark hair soothingly, she said, “It is ok Svetlana. Everything will be ok. Calm down. Yes, calm down. Everything will be ok.”

Lana tried to do as her sister said, her breathing gradually shifting from quick gulps to deeper, more controlled breathing. After Nikol was satisfied that her sister had calmed down, she asked, “What did this man look like Lana? Describe him as best you can. Did he have anyone with him, or was he all alone? Did he say anything more that you have not told me? Be sure to tell me everything. Any detail could be important.”

Her sister was the picture of calm and control, her tone matter-of-fact and level. In some ways, that was even scarier than if she’d started freaking out. Not that Nikol was the type to panic. Truth be told, Lana couldn’t ever remember seeing her older sister freak out, even a little bit. Sometimes she wondered if Niki had ever really been a teen, or if she’d just jumped to being an adult. Still, it would have been comforting if she at least got a little weirded out.

At least that would have shown that she had no idea what was going on and Lana could have tacked ThinMan onto her ‘List of Weirdos I Met Today’. But the calm and controlled tone of her sister’s voice left Lana with a sinking feeling that Nikol knew exactly who ThinMan was and what he was talking about. And if that was true…how on earth could she know that? More importantly, why?

17:09:16 Wednesday, 10 January 2063 - Apartment 1319 - Metropolitan Park Apartments, 601 S. Washington St., Seattle

"We were outisde Racer X when he came up to us, he was short, and skinny." She paused as she tried to remember more details of the guy himself and not just his words. "He was wearing a suit, but he wasn't all pulled together and polished like a normal corp guy, he looked like he had slept in the suit. He looked kinda tired, bored even, except for his eyes. His eyes were awake. He didn't even give Kat a second glance. He didn't want to talk in front of her either, wanted to keep it private. Or he wanted to get me alone I don't know."

The wave of panic washes over her again as she has images of what could have happened instead of just his verbal threats. She looked back to her sister and was even more freaked out that she was standing there calm as ever.

"How come you're so damn calm? Some random freaky guy corners me and threatens me if you don't stop working on whatever it is you're doing at work and you just keep telling me everything is going to be ok?!?"

01:34:46 Thursday, 11 January 2063 - Seattle UCAS

Litany was tired. But this was no time for mistakes. Parking in a sheltered spot several blocks away she activated the tiny drone and sent it on it's way. It would take several minutes to travel where it would do some good. She didn't like not going and looking for herself, but she knew enough to treat a Talismonger, and any possible Awakened, as if they had some weird sense no one else had. Which was the case. Just like if she was using thermal vision and no one else was, she'd have an advantage and see thing no one else could. Just pretend you didn't have thermal and the opposition did and that took care of ninety percent of it. The ten percent was something you could never account for. It was also tougher for magic to work on something like a drone and cameras, that much at least she learned from Murphy before she died.

After ten minutes doing a full circle fly around with the bug drone, and leaving it a good spot, she didn't even bother suppressing her yawn before she headed back to her apartment to get some rest. She would check the footage the next day. why do they call it footage, nothing to do with feet...?

17:11:02 Wednesday, 10 January 2063 - Apartment 1319 - Metropolitan Park Apartments, 601 S. Washington St., Seattle

“Lana. Calm down.” Nikol’s voice is still firm, calm and in control. “Listen to what you are saying. This man, from your description, did he look like he was in control? Did he act like a man capable of delivering on his threats? Did he act like anything more than random crazy person?”

“He did not corner you. You chose to listen to what he had to say. He did not present any threat beyond a verbal one. You saw nothing threatening beyond his mere presence. You have met many freaky people since you have been in Seattle. Is this one really so different from all the rest that I should not be calm?”

Stroking her sister’s hair, Nikol says gently, “I will look into this. Perhaps there are consequences of my work I am unaware of. You should be careful, but then, you must always be careful, yes?”

03:18:49 Thursday, 11 January 2063 - Mirror Dark Magic Shop, 6300 Woodridge Road Suite 5, Renton, Seattle UCAS

From its position, Litany's drone can scan the entire length of the strip mall which houses the Mirror Dark talismonger shop. It's tucked out of the way on a corner of the L-shaped commercial building, labelled plainly and discretely, with no neon or flashy holographic advertisements. Out front is the parking lot, lit to a dusk level by sodium arc floodlights. The lightpoles were once meant to be decorative, with fluted concrete sheathing. Years of acid rain, vandalism, and accidents have left the lights looking more like the columns of the Parthenon.

The shops windows are closed and dark, tinted against the light of day and prying eyes. No fanciful displays or advertisements are present, just a plain storefront with a single door on its lefthand side. Outback is the sole other exit from the building, a pair of oversized double doors capable of handling any deliveries for the shop. On the roof, a large industrial sized forced air ventilation unit grinds away.

17:11:35 Wednesday, 10 January 2063 - Apartment 1319 - Metropolitan Park Apartments, 601 S. Washington St., Seattle

As much as she hated to admit it, Niki was right. He didn't put a knife to her throat, he didn't put a gun at the small of her back, he just told her to deliver a message to her sister and she had now done that.

She rested her forehead against her sister and gave in by nodding silently.

"I promise I'll be careful Niki. Always careful."

And I'll prove that tonight by going down to the Kat to keep my best friend from being followed and harassed by some sick stalker... sure, always careful.

She pulled back from her sister and looked up at her, hoping some of the calm would rub off on her. She decided that stressing out about it was futile since there was nothing more she could do but be more vigilant about watching her own back for the time being.

"I just wanted you to know what happened, just in case." She shrugged and looked towards her room. "I've got some stuff to do for a class before I head out tonight with Kat and Aidan."

She shrugged slightly and slinked into her room in that way only teens can when they're moody or up to something.

01:47:18 Sunday, 14 January 2063 - outside 905 West Park Avenue, Tacoma

Wind whipped outside the building, and had been for the past two hours. Snow moved with the wind, occasionally whipped up forcefully enough to block the view of a door or to conjure the appearance of movement in the shadows, and had been for two hours. The combination of below zero cold and human breath fogged up the window occasionally, requiring Tony to start the car and run the defroster; this too had been going on for the past two hours.

And I haven’t seen a damn thing in the past 2 hours he thought with a shivering yawn, switching on the Americar to clear the windshield yet again. Tony had been taught a few things on how to surveil an area, but most of the real learning was on how to actually maintain alertness when absolutely nothing was going on at the moment. “Jjjust like nnnow,” he said to himself, feeling the cold blast of air from the defrost vents wash over him. Mostly, it boiled down to either being chemically aided or being uncomfortable, in Tony’s view. He hadn’t had the time to score a dose of Long Haul (not the best option, as the crash off the stuff had its own drawbacks), so staying cold kept him alert and made him uncomfortably sober.

Regardless, nothing had changed at the building he was now set to break into in about 24 hours or so. Nothing. No lights, no sounds, no people, no nothing. Enough of this drek Tony thought, feeling the engine warm up from the temperature of the air flowing from the vent. He’d seen enough of this building tonight, and this job wasn’t paying enough to require him to freeze his hoop off staring at what looked to be nothing. Putting the car into gear, he pulled a block from the clinic before switching on his lights, heading back toward the Terrace and a long, hot shower.

21:45:00 Wednesday, 10 January 2063 - Klassy Kat, Second and Virginia, Downtown Seattle

Promptly at 21:45:00, Aidan and three of his buddies showed up at the Klassy Kat, just as he’d said he would. Lana was impressed. Usually Aidan was about 10-15 minutes late for any appointment (typical man!), so for him to be so prompt showed how seriously he was taking this.

Her heart beat just a little bit faster as she looked at his red hair and rugged jawline. Not that she hadn’t spent plenty of time before gazing at his good looks, but knowing that he genuinely cared about what was important to her…well, that was enough to make any girl’s heart flutter a bit.

She had arrived earlier, at about 21:00:00 to get set and watch the place before Kat arrived. One of the bouncers had placed her in a strategically placed booth in a corner that allowed her a good view of most of the club, but without making her an obvious point of attention. Despite Kat’s arrival at 21:30:00, Lana had seen no sign of Michael O’Halloran. That was a good thing, right?

Striding cockily over to Lana, Aidan didn’t even look at the dancers on stage on his way over, an impressive feat for him. He slid into the booth as she scooted over for him, greeting her with a brief kiss on the lips. His buddies, on the other hand, wasted no time in heading straight to the front row of the main stage. Kat was going to be on soon, and even though she would never date any of them, and even though she was friends with them, a smoking hot stripper was still a smoking hot stripper, friend or no friend.

Back at the booth, Aidan leaned back and put an arm around her before scanning the other patrons, carefully checking them out for anyone suspicious looking. Unfortunately, that covered about half the clientele, him and his friends included. Giving up after a few moments, he turned to Lana, and with what was probably a supreme effort, looked into her eyes instead of the dancer on stage.

Looking over his shoulder, Lana was even more impressed with his self-control as she saw the dancer on stage tease the crowd into a frenzy by slowly undoing her already barely there bikini, letting the straps slip down her shoulders as she ‘modestly’ tried to cover up herself. With dark humor, she thought it was interesting how the dancer’s covering up ‘accidentally’ led to more of her breasts showing, inch by tantalizing inch, with each strategically placed move to the beat of the thumping music. Her attention was pulled back to her boyfriend as he said, “Hey babe, what’s shakin’? That creepy guy show up yet, or is everything still chill?”

08:33:46 Thursday, 11 January 2063 - Huskie Brand Management, 55051 Corporate Drive, Seattle UCAS

Yawning widely, Litany reviewed in high speed playback the utterly boring recording from the previous night. She'd set Gabriel to managing the loading of the latest animated chinese cheerleader dolls from Wuxing into the dispersal bins. The mechanical loader's flashing yellow lights barely gaining her attention. This was typical, the extra early morning drive around town, getting up earlier then usual to make the detours to her current part time job, then sit around viewing boring scenes. Hours and hours of boring scenes. High speed boredom.

All for that one moment of spiking excitement when something showed up and fired up the adrenaline.

Litany didn't think it would happen today.

21:45:00 Wednesday, 10 January 2063 - Klassy Kat, Second and Virginia, Downtown Seattle

Lana was glad when Aidan slid into the booth beside her. She was all for watching Kat's back but sitting in a booth by herself at a nudie bar was hardly the way she wanted to take her mind off the day's earlier events. She nestled herself closer into the crook of his arm as her eyes moved about the club looking for either a sign of the creep after Kat, or the creepy thin guy from the mall.

"Hey babe. Still no sign of this creep, but the night's still young. Glad you guys could make it, though I doubt it took a lot of convincing to get the guys to come down, no?"

She tried to keep upbeat, but she was edgy still and Aidan could probably sense it as well. She conveniently kept her eyes averted from the dancers as much as possible. She was hardly a prude, but staring at half naked women just wasn't her cup of tea.

"I'm kinda hoping that this guy gives up on Kat and moves on. I mean how many times does she have to tell him to frag off before he takes the hint?"

22:00:00 Wednesday, 10 January 2063 - Klassy Kat, Second and Virginia, Downtown Seattle

Exactly at 22:00:00, Kat’s music began playing and she stepped out from behind the curtain, a vision of sheer eroticism designed to produce the maximum amount of lust from men (and women, for those who were so inclined) in the minimum amount of time.

Tonight she had decided to opt for the always popular ‘smutty corporate executive’ look. Her long blonde hair was securely put up in a bun; she was wearing a stylish black skirt suit (fake, of course) with white pinstripes, and her open-toed heels added several inches to her already long, toned, and tantalizingly bare legs. Black rimmed plastic glasses and a pen she held by the tip in her mouth (her tongue conveniently teasing said tip slowly and obviously) completed the look.

Aidan was obviously staring at Kat, and when Lana watched her friend begin her routine, she could almost accept it. Her friend had a sinuous grace about her as she strutted on stage, doing a complete walk down the stage before finishing it up with a sexy pose, exactly like a model would, before walking back to the curtain as if she was leaving. Murmurs from the crowd were quickly silenced when she let down her hair and shook it out before turning back to the crowd with a wicked smile and seductive gleam in her eye.

She turned sharply, rolling her shoulders as she did and letting her jacket slip to the stage as she began walking back towards the audience, moving her hips to the beat of the music and swaying in all the right places as she began to unbutton her blouse as she danced.

The crowd was already eating it up, and even Lana could appreciate the skill her friend possessed, if not necessarily the craft itself. Her look quickly turned sour though as she looked into the crowd and received an answer to her earlier musings.

However many times Kat would have to tell the guy to frag off before he got the message was uncertain. What was certain is that apparently it would have to be at least once more.

Making his way to the front of the stage, surrounded by three of his friends (bodyguards?) was the creep from this morning. Any doubt as to whether it was the guy was immediately answered when he roughly shoved aside several patrons in the front seats and took their places directly in front of Kat.

She blanched visibly and almost lost the beat, but she quickly regained her composure and continued moving to the music. However, Lana also noticed that her seductive looks were much more forced and wooden, and she directed them anywhere but at Michael O’Halloran and his crew.

Under her breath Lana couldn’t help but ask herself, “OK Lana, you’re here and so is the sleaze. What do we do now?”

22:00:52 Wednesday, 10 January 2063 - Klassy Kat, Second and Virginia, Downtown Seattle

Most of the patrons of the club were too “into” seeing Kat naked, or just too drunk to notice any real change in her dancing but she noticed and between that and the way she tensed up when she saw Michael O’Halloran, it was clear that Aidan now noticed something wasn’t right. He protectively tightened his arm around her shoulder and leaned into Lana a bit to hear her over the club’s sound system.

“The creep just walked in, with three of his friends. Right over there by Dash and Jamie at the front of the stage.”

Lana kept a wary eye on the guy, thankful he hadn’t tried to play a game of grab ass with Kat. Patrons still waved dirty script in her direction as Kat kept dancing, looking like she was trying to will the music to go faster so she could get off stage that much sooner.

Lana felt for her friend, right now she wished more than anything that Kat could have just taken a “normal” job to put herself through school instead of taking her clothes off for money. Guys like O’Halloran kind of came with the territory of a place and a job like this. She leaned back up into Adan’s neck and whispered over the music.

“Outside of taking him in a back alley and beating him senseless, or paying him to turn his attentions elsewhere, you have any brilliant ideas to get him to leave Kat the hell alone? Because you know I can’t fight for drek and last I checked my lotto ticket wasn’t a winner.”

For an instant she was lost in the familiar smell of Aidan’s skin mixed with leather and the smell of his imported clove cigarettes and she was momentarily lost in the thoughts of all the places she’d rather be that very moment and all the things she’d much rather be doing that very instant. Her conscience got the better of her when she remembered that Kat could be in over her head if she didn’t keep an eye on her and the creep in the front row. She caught Kat’s eye and gave her a reassuring nod and a smile reminding her that she wasn’t alone up there and nothing would happen to her tonight if there was anything Lana could do about it.

22:02:11 Wednesday, 10 January 2063 - Klassy Kat, Second and Virginia, Downtown Seattle

Aidan checks the guy and his crew out, sizing them up. Turning to Lana he shakes his head. "You're the brains of this pair tonight babe. I'm just the muscle. We probably don't have enough to buy him off, and if he's that hot for Kat, we might have to drek-stomp him to convince him it's not good for his health to keep up his interest in her. Why can't we go that route anyway? You never did tell me."

22:02:45 Wednesday, 10 January 2063 - Klassy Kat, Second and Virginia, Downtown Seattle

“I never said you can’t beat the ever-living drek out of the jerk babe, I just…” Lana turned her gaze away from Aidan and back onto the creep leering at Kat from just before her feet.

“I just get a creepy vibe from him is all. Last thing I need to do is drag your sexy ass to the hospital if anything gets out of your control.” She gave him a little squeeze as she tried to keep things light as to avoid freaking out. Here they were talking about beating the crap out of some guy for chasing after their friend. Lana didn’t do the physical confrontation stuff, she did better at the talking her way out of situations.

“I could always go have a little conversation with the guy. See what it would take for him to lay off Kat and stuff.”

22:03:39 Wednesday, 10 January 2063 - Klassy Kat, Second and Virginia, Downtown Seattle

Aidan seems to mull it over for a bit, his masculine desire to protect and insulate Lana from any possible harm written all over his face. On the other hand, he understood that as far as the food chain on the streets went, he and Lana were just small fry, and if this O’Halloran guy was someone with real connections, they could be a in a world of trouble before they knew it.

It’s obvious to Lana that her boyfriend is conflicted, but eventually, the street smarts won out over the macho impulses that were probably telling Aidan to just pound the creep into the ground and be done with the mess.

“All right babe. Talking first never hurt I guess. And if we can get him to lay off Kat without starting trouble, that’s probably best for everyone, right?” He smiles at her, letting her know that if trouble did come though, he’d be ready to leap to her defense.

Glancing over at Michael, he asks, “So when do you wanna talk to the guy?”

22:04:02 Wednesday, 10 January 2063 - Klassy Kat, Second and Virginia, Downtown Seattle

“I don’t want to put him in a sour mood by interrupting his entertainment, I’ll head over near the end of Kat’s first set. If he’s as into her as he seems, he won’t be leaving for a while.” She shrugged slightly as she tried to formulate her plan of just what she was going to say to the guy that wouldn’t get her into a world of trouble of her own.

Kat stayed on stage for an additional full 2 songs, working the crowd like a pro while purposefully avoiding O’Halloran at all costs. The patrons of the Klassy Kat were far too willing to toss their hard-earned nuyen at Kat’s feet in hopes of catching her attention and getting just a little more “attention” from the stripper. Lana shifted in her seat the longer she had to sit there and be a part of the whole scene. It was making her uncomfortable and she just felt unclean. She was familiar with the song that Kat was dancing to, so as the final bars blared out over the club’s speaker system, Lana gave Aidan’s hand a little squeeze and scooted out of the bar from him.

“It’s now or never babe.”

She tried to screw on her best game face as she walked across the club, weaving between the tables and patrons who were drunk enough to try to play a game of grab-ass with anything that looked female that walked by. The one guy who got a firm grasp of leather and ass was the recipient of an icy cold glare and a knee in the crotch as he tried to pull her into his lap.

She shook her head as she crossed the distance between her and O’Halloran. Just as the last couple of beats of music played and Kat was strutting off stage and almost behind the curtain, Lana stood just behind the man’s left shoulder. Screwing up every last ounce of courage she had, she tossed her hair to the side and leaned down to deliver the message she wanted only O’Halloran to hear. She was about to do something with absolutely no plan in mind. She was flying by the seat of her pants, but she had to do something, anything, for her friend before the guys tried their way of “talking things out.”

“I think it’s time for us to have a private conversation.”