Point of Documentation: Cadence, Crew of HMS Betty

Life had not always been kind to the Denver household. In days gone, the Denvers were once successful scrappers that would haul in tons per day that would gross thousands of credits per haul. Their family and some trusted hands had managed the skiff that was their scrap hauler. It was an honest job with honest pay that neither hurt anyone nor was too dangerous. You could take the dangerous jobs, but you didn't have to. Those would be for the more militarized contractors who had an armored vehicle or two to throw around.

Through some strife at the beginning, the Denver household would go on to earn enough money to allow the father of the siblings to retire behind the Wall for good. It was a great day that was filled with cake, parties, and people at the home that was bought on a small hill overlooking the farmlands below. It was an amazing time that Cadence wished she could go back to even now. A simpler time. A time where everyone was still alive and well.

This town, the damnable town that they were in, was the last place things were right. She had come in on her last job before giving up the trade for good. It was supposed to be a simple one in a newly unearthed factory in the ruins of the city nearby. They were to go in and dig out what they could. Yet it went so wrong. Everything went wrong. From the arrival, to the job itself, to the escape. All she wanted to do was forget this place and the memories tied to it. And yet here she was again, in this town, in this shop.

Now she was here for another reason. She needed the parts for Betty so they could get moving again towards the Wall without fear of friendly-ish fire. They had entered this shop without issue, but Valentine had seen something in Marshall that had worried him. And now, it worried Cadence as well. Especially since her brother and Marshall now have something in common.

Cadence entered after speaking with Marshall out front. A feeling of hotness in her face growing, then dissipating as she entered. She needed to concentrate when it came to Valentine. The man was not kind when it came to his proclivities and his needs. At least, that was what she thought when she walked up to the counter and laid eyes on Valentine dusting off the counter. Now that was new.

“We need parts. I have a list of them, and I brought items I can trade for it. Things we found that haven’t been tagged and processed yet.” Cadence said this as she lifted the bag with scrap in it onto the counter.

Valentine’s eyes shot to the bag, but came back after the rest on Cadence. She knew his enjoyment for scrap, baubles, and other useless junk that can be made useful. After all, his shop was a graveyard and monument to that fact. “Let me take a look at that list…” Came the drawn out words as Cadence handed over the list to Valentine. “Ah, it looks like you need communication hardware and some weapons systems. I have that here, but for what price I wonder.”

Cadence’s neck tingled as he said this. That was the same phrase… no, calm down Cadence. “The price is what I have in the bag. Please procure the items and–”

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Her words were cut off by Valentine holding up a hand to her. “Communication tech is becoming very, very rare right now. Lots of high-end buyers are showing up from out of town and buying up everything they can get their hands on. So it’s worth a little more than what’s in that bag… probably.” His smile never wavered as he said this.

Cadence pushed the bag towards him and simply said “Oh yeah? Check it out yourself.” A smile spread across her face in a mock return-to-send smugness.

Valentine halted and laid his hands on the bag. He opened it and gazed in, riffling around in it some before pulling out an object. It shined in the off-color light and smelled of ozone. “Ah, a pre-Rapture Gelp-Drive! These things are worth their weight a thousand-fold, since they were used in the old Cradle ships that left Earth. Where on Earth did you find one of these?” The glimmer in his eye was turned on Cadence in such a quick motion that it seemed as if the star would be lost.

Setting her hand down on the counter, Cadence responded with “Ah-ah, a girl don’t kiss and tell. Otherwise you’d send goons to clear places out. Let’s just say there was a display piece still present on our most recent job.” She flashed him a mischievous smile and lifted her hand off the counter. “So, do we have a deal?”

The man held up the part for a long moment before setting it back down again. “I’ll look for the pieces, but do know that Petrov has all but strangled the item sales in the market. It might take me a few hours at least.” He seemed upset at this, but this was not something that Cadence needed to be involved in nor even wanted to be.

“Alright, I’ll leave you to it then. And take the rest of the bag as a payment for making sure no one knows we’re here. I don’t want the other scrappers and gangs to know I’m back in town. Especially not with someone I’m claiming is a Templar.” Cadence gives a thumb back towards the door as she says this.

Valentine’s eyes narrow at this and he gives a nod. “I can tell the boy isn’t one of those crazies, but why a Templar? They’re pretty telling from their weapons and armor.”

Cadence pauses a moment before giving a shrug. “I don’t know, it was a spur of the moment. You know?” She was absolutely not going to tell him that Marshall had a plasma-throwing gun that she didn’t know about. The not knowing part was what made her the angriest, but hey, not everyone wants to share the shiny items she guessed.

The man nodded and swept the bag behind the counter before turning back to her. “Listen, about the last time you were here… Bad blood is toxic to work relationships. I don’t need to use my power to see that you still blame me for what happened to your brother. While I do this job, don’t let that bleed into this request.”

A cold feeling came over the room as Valentine said this. Or rather, it felt that was to Cadence. Her mind went to what he was speaking of. Back to that time. She gave a shake of her head to clear the thought from her and responded in kind with “Trust me, I know. Keep it professional. Don’t bring it up again.” Those curt words and she turned and exited the shop in a brisk manner.

Once she was outside, she looked to where her charge was and… Where the hell was he? There was just an empty spot where the man had been standing when she had entered in to make the deal. She looked around and there was not a single sign of the man anywhere.

Why can’t this man just stay where he’s told?