*Poc*
*Poc*
*Poc*
*Poc*
*Poc*
*Poc*
*Poc*
*Poc*
*Poc*
*Sigh*
*Poc*
*Poc*
Cere- Will you stop doing that?
*Poc*
*Poc*
*Poc*
*Poc*
*Poc*
Kate- 'M bored... anything from Harold?
*Poc*
Cere- Still nothing since you asked... ten minutes back.
*Poc*
*Poc*
*Poc*
Kate- Shiiiiiit....... nothing in three days...
*Poc*
*Poc*
*Poc*
*Poc*
Cere- He did tell you to take some downtime, I guess he meant it.
*Poc*
*Poc*
Kate- I guess... haven't had any for a while...
*Poc*
not sure what to do with my skin.
*Poc*
*Poc*
*Poc*
Cere- It might help if you stop throwing that ball to the ceiling and get out a bit. Alternatively, you could also try some VR games...
*Poc*
*Poc*
Kate- Haven't played any of those in years.
*POC...POc... Poc... poc... roll... roll"*
*Clic*
Kate- Out of 'roine, arm stash empty... right, new arm, need a refill... "Cere, where's the fucking Cyberoine?"
Cere- You left it in the drone bay.
Kate- Right...
Caned woman voice- " Identitified, Judith Sitwell. Access Authorised.
*Djjjjjjjjjj... clic.*
Kate- Feel like sleeping until something happens... fuck... no... not now... need to do better.
Cere- Last time you had a pretty bad nightmare.
Kate- Yeah... just... feel like shit. Always so busy to survive, never had time for anything else since Stink...
Cere- Would you like to get a new hobby?
Kate- Sure... can't be worse than what I'm doing right now... alright, shoot me ideas.
Cere- How about music? I have access to promotional samples, would you like to hear them?
Kate- *Sigh....* Sure
* ZIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOOM BOOOM ZZIIIIIIIIIII*
Kate- "WHAT THE FUCK? CUT THAT CRAP!
Cere- As you wish
Kate- How are people listening to this shit?
Cere- Your adrenaline level has spiked quite a lot, I think it triggered a fight or flight response linked to a mix of noise sensitivity and trauma-induced stress response. The low-frequency beat seems to be the source, I could play something more soothing.
Kate- You know what? Fuck music.
Cere- Maybe you could go to a shooting club?
Kate- I'm s'posed to take a break, not train.
Cere- Then what about those VR games we talked about?
Kate- ... Nah, excitement and adventures... got enough of that already.
Cere- Maybe a dating site then?
Kate- You know how they are, set up for failure to keep us captive and wanting and keep us paying. Even if you do get to meet someone you meet the bottom of the human barrel narcissists and fuckups most of the time.
Cere- There is a vintage board games convention going on in dome 718...
Kate- Not my speed... hey, what did people from Earth use to do back before the shit?
Cere- Well... some went for car rides, would you like to take a driving class?
Kate- Do I look like some gold-plated bitch? Bibibibibi, look at me, I own a car, off-the-road peasants. My home is made of diamonds, I live at the tip of the city with a perfect 360 view.
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Cere- It isn't that... hold that thought, Harold is at the door.
Kate- Saved by the gong. Let's see what he has to say.
*Bjjj clic*
"Hey Harold, wanna come in? Got something for me?"
Harold- "Hello Kate, sorry to show up unannounced, am I interrupting something?"
Kate- How do you want to bet that fucker is testing me somehow.
"Nah, pretty bored actually. Hey, can I try that fishing thing with you next time?"
That should throw him off his game.
Harold- "Sure, but just so you know it isn't cheap and it isn't for everyone."
Kate- "Well, better than throwing a ball to the ceiling for a few days straight. Was about to offer you a drink but I'm fresh out."
Harold- "I would have declined, I try to mostly keep off the stuff now..."
Kate- "Gotcha..."
Harold- "About the fishing, some find it tedious or disgusting..."
Kate- "I guess I'll know once I try. Anyway, 'bout that job?"
Harold- "Right, got us a gang boss to take back alive and whole. A big motherfucker with top-shelf combat implants. So no cooking him up."
Kate- "That's a thought ask, why alive? Who wants him? Any specifics?"
Harold- "He used to be a Neutronix Cybernetic special force goon..."
Kate- "THE Neutronix? damn, what do they want him alive for?"
Harold- "From what I gathered, he left in a hurry with sensitive proprietary code in his Chrome a while back and deleted the original copies. It's that code they want bad. So nothing of the chips-busting category"
Kate- "Wait, a while back? Why place the bounty now?"
Harold- "They tried a direct approach in-house with a spec op team but the mission failed. He controls a derelict dome with his gang, Neutronix didn't expect the extra opposition at first so they dropped it as not being worth the manpower investment. That's why they are subbing now."
Kate- "How many gangoons we talking 'bout here to keep Neutronix wanting?"
Harold- "Bit shy of three hundred. They call themselves the Brutalisators, boss name is Brutaff."
Kate- "Shit, no kiddin'? Who calls himself Brutaff, guy must be a toaster"
Harold- "Gets worse, he's chromed to the gills with gold plating on top, real corpo financed death squad stuff."
Kate- "Fuck me, how'r we sposed to deal with that? Not as if we had Angel gear to outmatch him. You do have a play though... right?"
Harold- "Sure do, it needs to go right here and there and there is a risk, though a pretty limited one for the kind of payday we are talking here. Wouldn't think of it if I was not confident in our chances."
Kate- "Let's hear it."
Harold- "Well, first you will have to call him using a corpo ID Spazz got you for the job, let him believe he has out beforehand."
Kate- "Easy enough..."
Harold- "Then you and Marcel will make a play on one of his lieutenants, a guy named Killyan. Before you ask, yes, he killed a guy named Yan as his first. The guy is a full borg but not as plated, should be an easy catch for Marcel if the initial plan fails."
Kate- With names like these a bullet is a mercy.
Cere- Keep telling yourself that Pitbull.
Kate- Fuck my life.