Search Posts
The guard that nonchalantly shrugged off Kit's attempt to lasso him gets up from the massive blast from the huge sword and starts issuing orders before running from Kit. Kit grins in response, "Breaking you could actually be fun." She rapidly closes the distance to the guard. "Lesson One: Don't turn your back on me." Kit viciously cracks her whip on the man's back.
"Damn, girl," Kit says jokingly after the force generated by the massive sword washes over her. "Watch where you swing that thing."
Deftly avoiding her attacker's blade, Kit is about to dance out of his reach when she notices his eyes glance at the control panel she disabled. "Oh, no you don't," she says. Kit coils her whip around the guard's arms and torso attempting to keep him from moving.
Thanks, Rosa, glad you liked my post. I wanted to move past the "does Kit recognize Kit?" issue quickly, so Kit R needed to notice the transformation sequence. However, I think the battle has degenerated into enough one-on-one sequences that nobody should feel badly for not responding in character to the transformation. As far as the length of combat, I think it's OK as long as we keep posting in a timely fashion. This is the first time in the fight that Kit feels comfortable not directly facing down the baddies, that's why she went into focus on the job mode.
Kit watches as the cat undergoes an explosion of guts, bones, and pain to transform into a sword swinging teenage girl. A teenager who is savage and naked, but strangely familiar. "Sis?" For the first time since the fight began, Kit Reynard is motionless and her whip is just an inert length of leather, not a sinuous extension of Kit's will. Then the man she's tripped twice, the SOB who shot her, stands up and Kit remembers where she is. "OK, people!" Kit yells. "We have a job to do and it's not beating the crap out of these losers. Doc, see if you can figure out where to put the boss's magic disk. Metal man, smash anyone who messes with her. I'll take care of the door so no one else interferes with us." Kit rushes to the door's security panel and starts disabling the lock so it won't open until she wants it open.
"Hey!" Kit shouts as she sees the guards trying to flee. She leaps past the man she's been fighting and closes with the others. With a flick of her wrist, Kit coils her whip around the neck of the guard she tripped earlier. "I didn't give you permission to stand up." Kit twists her hips to yank the guard off his feet.
Kit shrugs at her opponent's ineffective counter attack. "Know what? You're boring. Let's finish this." She resumes strapping the man with her whip.
Kit stops pressing her attack and glares at her foe and his companions. "How much is Tallow paying you fools to get beaten?"
"He stabbed Kitty," Kit says as she struggles to keep on her feet after taking a bullet to the chest. Then she feels Rosa's hands on her and it's like Kit had never been shot. "Damn you!" Kit shouts as she rushes towards the man who stabbed the cat. "She's *SNAP!* just *CRACK!* a cat! *BAM!* Kit furiously flails at the guard with her whip.
"You idiots," Kit mutters. "As long as we were talking, you weren't getting hurt." Kit lashes her whip at the closest guard's feet.
Kit's certain that she's missed something in the conversation, but she can't back down now. "We don't have time for your games! Get that blade out of my face or I'll take it from you." Kit uncoils her whip with a crack and takes a step back so she's got room to maneuver.
"Stand down, Nowotarski. Mr. Tallow sent us to do a job and we're going to do it," Kit walks purposefully to the center of the server room. "You just have to make sure no one else gets in here until we're done."
"Who the hell are you to demand explanations?" Kit steps forward and looks at the man who challenged them. "TGI Security would shoot first and ask questions later. I suppose I have one of you to thank for not having to take out the locks past the first one, but disabling all the locks was overkill. Only one thing in here worth the effort, so how's swiping the database going for you?"
"Maybe there's another fox in this hen house," Kit says as she readies her whip. "Any ways, too damn close to the server to turn back now." Kit keeps walking down the stairs to the server level.
"If they didn't switch to another channel, the silence may be Jack's diversion." Kit still keeps an eye out for trouble as she heads down the stairwell.
"Don't panic. Work the lock." So saying, Kit surreptitiously takes her tools from her bag and starts working on the keypad.
Kit heads to the door to the stairwell, opens it, and starts heading down stairs staying alert for potential alarms or other traps on her way.
Rosa smiles at Marcus's comment. "I like your confidence, but don't forget who we're dealing with. I don't want to find out that they've reinforced the elevator walls after they've trapped us. I vote for the stairs. Either way, I should be able to deal with the keypads."
"Yeah, if it just gets us a second or two the disguise is worth it. Besides, little kit-kat can hide in the pocket of your labcoat. I was wondering how to get her in the lab. A cage is out cause she wouldn't be free to do her super cat ju-ju, whatever that is."
Kit paces the room frustrated. "Well, since we can't get a password, we won't have much chance having anyone fall for our costumes," she tells the group. "Dressing up might buy us an opportunity to bluff the guards on the first floor, past that we'll have to rely on speed and stealth."
"Yeah, I'd like to head out, too. I'm all in favor of Rosa driving, good doctors and good wheelmen are hard to come by, so we'll try to keep you out of fights," Kit gives Rosa a thumbs up. "Marcus, any luck finding a password or someone I can borrow one from?"
"See, that wasn't so hard, Jack," Kit says. "I know I'm being pushy about this stuff, but you're not the one getting vivisected if we get caught. I'm willing to risk my life for a chance at getting my hands on the data in your daddy's servers, a little effort to minimize that risk is worth it for both of us." "Since you haven't mentioned how we're getting the data out, I suppose your magic disc is downloading it to one of your servers. That means we don't have to lug any bulky stuff in and out with us. I hope they don't have a way of tracing the path it takes back to you," Kit looks at Jack with a slight frown. "First capers are always tough with a new crew. You might make a decent mastermind some day, Jack. I'd like to keep both of us around long enough to find out." "Unless someone has a trickier scheme than I'm thinking of, one van should be enough. There are only five of us and we don't have a bunch of bulky gear."
Kit looks seriously at Tallow and shakes her head. "No disrespect, but we won't be able to leave until we start getting answers to our questions. We've asked about three kinds of equipment: Comm gear, transport, and storage for the database. Does your lack of an answer mean we're on our own for these? The same goes for my question about your distraction, I'll assume your not answering means you're not willing to share. That's your right, makes our job tougher but we can work around it." She then looks at the rest of the group. "A frontal assault is out. There are too many ways for them to stop us from getting to our goal if they realize what's up. The best way for a fox to sneak into a hen house is pretending to be a dog. Dressing up like a rooster is better if you can pull it off. Instead of roosters or dogs, we need to be a couple security guards, a researcher, and her test subjects to get into this hen house." "Tallow says we'll need passwords to get through the doors. You see any passwords in this data, Marcus? If you can't find passwords, look at the work rosters and get me the name and phone number of someone with access to the sixth floor who'd be at work this time of night."
Kit starts petting the cat as she formulates an answer to Vamp's question. "For my part," she finally says. "I'm fast, agile, and sneaky. I can see pretty well in low light and have a good sense of smell, kind of like a dog's including being able to track by scent. I can crack open a lock or bypass security systems, but don't ask me to change your cellphone battery. I'm also pretty good at manipulating people. That cover everything?" "Flying in a car Marcus is carrying sounds like a good emergency getaway plan, but I don't like it for our approach. Their sentries will sound the alarm pretty dang quick if they see a flying car. And I'm hoping we don't need an emergency getaway. Ideally, we get in, grab the data, and leave before they realize anything's up. Doubt we'll get so lucky, so I'm gald we have an emergency plan." Suddenly Kit realizes she's been petting the cat while talking. "Hey, Jack. Do you want us to take Miss Fuzzybutt here with us?"
"Let's face it Vamp," Kit says with a grin. "This is going to get messy regardless. If it wasn't going to get messy, Jack wouldn't need us." She then turns her attention back to Jack and says, "So your magic disc will get us the data you're looking for. Of course you'll give us a device to hold all of it. Let us know if the storage device has any security features we need to watch out for, like a self-destruct bomb. Four to five hours is almost too much time. Mind giving us an idea what kind of distraction you've got planned? We don't need the details, but if some of us pretend to be Tallow Security, having a clue might help if we're challenged by real security."
Kit starts messing with the screens on one of the computer terminals. She looks at her new employer and says, "OK, Jack. Lots of information here which will lead to plenty of questions. Let's start with two of the big ones. First, what exactly are we looking for? Hate to go to all this trouble and bring back the wrong database. Second, how long will we have to pull this off?"
Rosa, sorry I dragged you into the library follies. I didn't look through everyone's profile searching for characters with the investigation skill, but went with the in character concept of trying to find someone familiar with libraries.
At breakfast, Kit reads the book the cat brought her. It's a crazy idea, but Jack Tallow said the cat had been modified. Maybe Tallow Genetics had some nefarious use for a feline librarian. Gotta do something to thank kit-kat, Kit thinks. Kit looks for Legion and quietly asks if he can get something. "It's not for me, it's for the cat," she explains needlessly. Minutes later, Legion hands kit a small package which she slips in her pocket.
Kit feels reassured when she feels the cat rub against her legs. "Yeah, we're not alone anymore, Fuzzbutt. I think we've actually got a chance since Jack brought us all together." Kit goes to pet the cat, but Marcus has beaten her to the punch. Then she notices Star's shared thought. "Don't worry, Lilly. I think our inheritance has given us all more than our fair share of bad memories. Part of our job now is figuring out how we're going to make some good ones."
"It's a deal," Kit responds enthusiastically. "Workouts are always more fun with a buddy. If you want to work on agility, I think we can set up a better training course in the simulator room than the library. Better yet, we should head out to the mansion grounds some time. The funky old tower is just begging to be climbed." ***
"There have to be more like us. I ran into other kids during my training in the lab. I helped one get out when the explosions and stuff happened," Kit is speaking softly and looks at the floor. "I... I think I gave him back to them. There have to be more of us and I want to help them get away from Tallow. Especially the ones that are still in their labs."
"Well, to become a teacher you had to get a license or permit or something, right?" Kit looks down from her perch and asks Star. "I'm fuzzy on the details cause I never really went to school myself. I can't remember how the Labcoats taught me my ABCs and I'm not sure I'd like to remember. Anyhow, you went to school enough to learn to use a library. Like how the books are sorted and that sort of thing. You might have a better chance of finding what you want than I do." "As far as the cat's concerned," Kit thinks for a minute. "Yeah, she looks like a cat, but if Jack says she's modified, I'm willing to believe him. Just by looking at me you'd never guess half the stuff I can do. After all, you can't judge a book by its cover. Speaking of which." Kit notices the book the cat dragged off the shelves and jumps to the floor. "Aren't you a smart kit-kat? Papa said he had a cat that could bring him dead birds, you bring me books." Kit picks the book up and looks at the cover.
Kit is scanning the books in the library. Every so often, she grabs a book off the shelf, checks the table of contents and index, then puts it back on the shelf. It's really frustrating, there has to be a mention of Jack Tallow someplace in here. She looks down and sees the cat sitting at her feet. Kit has no idea why the cat has chosen to follow her around, but she likes the animal's company. Kit notices a book with an intriguing title, but it's out of Kit's reach on the bookcase's top shelf. "Yo, Fuzzbutt," Kit says to her feline companion. "Make yourself useful and get that book with the green cover for me. Never mind, I'll get it myself." Kit nimbly climbs the shelves. Just when Kit's about to grab her target, a presence penetrates her consciousness. ::"Hello, we did not say much a dinner, I'm Star but you can call me Lilly, could I ask what you doing?":: Kit climbs to the top of the bookcase, grabbing the green book on the way, and looks to see where Star is standing. "Oh, hi Lilly. I'm finally trying to get a higher education. Bad-dum-ba!" Kit smiles at the blonde lady and does a small curtsy. She then sits down on the bookshelf. "Actually, I'm trying to find out about Jack Tallow, but I'm not having any luck."
Kit wanders around the mansion with the others, but strays from the group when they find the library. This is it! Jack Tallow's library has more information about Tallow Genetics gathered in one place than Kit ever imagined. She spends the rest of the night browsing through the stacks like a kid in a toy store. When she's too tired to read any more, Legion shows her to a room in the guest quarters. It's clinically bare like the rooms back in the lab, but there aren't any restraints on the bed and the only lock is a standard push button privacy lock that can be controlled from inside. Kit crawls into bed too tired to consider what Legion meant by "taking the liberty of bringing your things here." The next morning, she finds out what Legion was talking about. The closet and drawers hold Kit's street clothes from the safe house she abandoned last night and a safe house on the other side of town. Kit puts on a blouse and slacks and heads back to the library. She spends another couple hours sifting through the documents, but realizes her search is pointless. There isn't a file conveniently labeled "Kit Reynard: What we did to her and why" and Kit knows she lacks the skills to ferret out the answers from random searching. Frustrated, Kit goes down to the simulation room and runs through combat scenarios until she's exhausted. The physical exertion gives Kit time to clear her mind a reach a solution to the library problem. Kit wanders through the base until she finds Rosa. "Hey, Rosa," she says. "Earlier you said you don't have the skills for breaking and entering. Don't worry, I've got that down pat. I think you may have skills other than patching people up that could help us. We need to find out more about Tallow, and not just what Jacky wants to tell us. I tried digging around in the library, but I'm not much good with that kind of work. After a few minutes, I want to climb up on the bookshelves and play obstacle course. Would you mind helping me find what I'm looking for?"
Feeling the tension melt from the room, Kit relaxes. Mouthing off to Vamp like that could have resulted in a fight and having the cat in her lap would have been a handicap. "So, pretty kitty," she says while scratching the cat behind the ears. "What super powers did you get from the hell lab?" Then she considers Jack Tallow's question. Kit leans towards the monitor with a scowl. "You even negotiate like your old man's creeps; 'Here's the offer and the dire consequences if you refuse. Take it or leave it.' On the other hand, your daddy would have put knock out gas or something in this toy." Kit slides the cellphone across the table so it stops in front of the monitor. "He'd start negotiating with me strapped into some torture device and I'd never see his face, even on a monitor. I like your much method better. I'm in."
"If you want to leave, leave!" Kit shouts at Vamp. "Just can the theatrics and get off the table. When I finally got a chance to get the answers I've been looking for, all I can see is your grimy boot!"
"Yeah, yeah. I smell yummy," Kit says to Vamp. "You'll need a better line than that. I just can't imagine sweat tinged with adrenaline is 'yummy.'" When Legion opens the doors to the hall, Kit goes in and waits until Vamp is seated before sitting across the table from him. When a predator says you smell yummy at dinner time, you'd better keep an eye on him. She sits quietly through the first introductions. Kit's blood is chilled when their host identifies himself as Jack Tallow, so she keeps from jumping in with an introduction. The first words will be important, so it's best to let a couple others speak first. Then the cat scampers nimbly across the table to sit next to Kit. "Hi, there! Aren't you a pretty kitten?" She blurts the words out then realizes she's just used up her all important first impression. "Hello, everyone. I'm Kit Reynard."
Gotta admit this is a party where a talking cat would be one of the more normal things showing up.
"Just follow my assigned caretaker," Kit says as she represses a shudder. "Legion, that is way too much like the way they talked in the lab to be reassuring." Kit then notices that the metallic man has transformed into a security guard. "Whoah, I am so glad I never ran into you professionally," she tells him. "This is going to be one interesting party. Wonder what they've got for dinner."
A cursory glance at Kit shows that she has a belt around her waist, hanging from the belt are a whip and a nylon bag like a fanny pack. Vamp's keen senses detect a metallic odor from the objects in Kit's bag. Detecting a whiff of machine oil and cordite, Vamp notices Kit has a small pistol holstered in her right boot. She carries a cellphone in her hand. "Sorry, Vamp," Kit says in response to his sniffing. "I didn't have time to shower after spending my afternoon running from heavily armed goons. As soon as I got home, I got a phone call inviting me to a party to discuss Tallow Genetics. No offense, but I'd guess you, me, and the metal man are probably three of Tallow's run away freaks." She continues following Legion, glancing occasionally at Vamp. "Dead president, huh? And I thought he'd mistaken you for Sherman Hemsley." She gives Vamp a wink and a grin.
Looking skyward with the girl, Kit briefly wonders what the other Kit is looking for out there. "Freedom," she says quietly. "Freedom's great, but I can't shake the feeling it's going to be taken from me at any minute. Good luck keeping yours, Kit." "Whoah, I'm getting way too somber," Kit gives her companion a grin. "And it's getting way too late. I seriously have work to do tonight. I'd love to tell you about it some time and I'd love to hear about what you've got in that huge pack of yours. Give me a call sometime." Kit waives at the girl and starts walking away.
Just as Kit asks the old man about others coming to the party, she notices the old man's doppleganger talking to a man who identifies himself as Vamp. She looks at Vamp's clothes and thinks, If I ever worried about wearing the wrong clothes to this shindig, I shouldn't have. He definitely didn't. However, she realizes that she'll stand out in her own way. At five foot three, Kit's a bit shorter than Vamp. She keeps her black hair cut short and isn't wearing any makeup or jewelry. Kit's form fitting body suit is intended to help her blend into the shadows, but in a well lit manor like this one... Well, it won't help with blending in. No time for worrying about appearances, may as well move on to the meet and greet. "So thy name is Legion," Kit says to the old man with a slight grimace. "For thou art many. And you're Vamp and I'm Kit." She bows slightly to the man with varicolored hair.
"That's a pretty name, Kit," says while she ponders the odds that the kid shares her name. Then she realizes they're walking to the cinema. "Hey! I said I'd go with you if I didn't have plans, but I do have..." Kit gives a good natured shrug. "Oh, well. As Papa said 'The best laid plans of mice and men always wind up FUBARed.' At this point, another hour or two of casing the joint wouldn't help." The movie wound up being some mindless action flick about masked men in spandex trying to save the world from a mad man. As if that would ever be real. Afterwards, Kit looks at the girl and asks, "So, do I have to worry about your mom or dad getting mad that you spent a school day watching movies with a stranger?"
"Well, it would be a let down and you weren't expecting me when I got here after following your directions," Kit says to the old man who addressed her. Not that it would really make any difference which one she answered. What the heck are they, clones, robots? Not even twins would be that similar. Carefully looking at her surroundings, Kit follows the man into the mansion. "Nice place you got here. Your message said something about a 'party'. It will be one weird party if it's just us. Where are the others?"
Kit laughs at the kid's brashness. "That almost sounds like you're trying to blackmail your big sister," she says with a smile. "That wouldn't be very nice. Even if I paid you, I'd have to worry about you blabbing. No, that would be nasty game for everyone and someone would wind up getting hurt. But I do like your style kid. If I didn't have plans, I'd go to the movie with you."
Was I talking that street smart when I was her age? Kit smiles as she opens the diet soda. "Don't talk about details in the open, but yes and yes. I have something in the works. Something that could have been screwed up if you'd gotten into it with the store manager. And I guess I've had heat on me so long I think they might have forgotten, but I doubt it." Kit doesn't know why she's being so open with this kid. It can't just be that she reminds Kit of what she was like ten years ago. "Hey, I know this is totally weird, but I'd like you to have this," Kit swipes a cheesy puff from the bag and puts a business card in the kid's pocket. The card just has the name Reynard and a phone number on it. "Give me a call sometime if you want. It was kind of fun having a fake kid sister to play with."
"Fan-freaking-tastic!" Kit yells at the silent cellphone. "First Tallow Genetics's goons, then some mystery voice that acts like it knows everything inviting me to a 'party.' What freaking game are we playing here? And why the heck am I talking to myself?" With the last, Kit takes a deep breath and starts thinking. Point One: Tallow Genetics knew just where to find me when I'd be off guard. That's bad, way bad. Kit grabs a bottle of water from the fridge. She carefully checks the plastic cap to make sure the seal wasn't tampered with. Paranoid? Hell, yeah. A night like tonight better paranoid than dead. Point Two: Mystery Voice knew where I'd run. He's gotta have eyes watching me here even if Tallow doesn't. She drinks half the bottle of water in one go. Guess I'm going to his party. Hate to see what he does if I blow him off. Besides, I have to tell him off for calling me "kitty." Point Three: This safe house is blown, too bad. Safe houses in good neighborhoods are hard to find. Kit goes to the bedroom and opens the secret compartment in the closet. She carefully takes a duffle bag from the compartment and removes some clothes from the bag. Point Four: I'm going to a party where this party dress won't be out of place. Kit changes into a black body suit, boots, and leather gloves. No point wearing the mask. Tallow's goon squad or Mystery Voice would recognize me with or without it. Normally Kit would wait until she got to the job site before gearing up, but tonight is far from normal. Normally Kit doesn't run like a little girl. She makes sure her whip is on her belt and her pistol is tucked into her boot. Each piece of her other gear is placed in its proper spot and she's good to go. Point Five: Tallow Genetics will regret coming after me. Don't know what kind of game we're playing, but I like games and I play to win. Dressed and geared up for her kind of game, Kit drinks the last of the water. She quickly scans the safe house. Like any proper safe house, there's nothing of her in it. Still, it sucks losing a hiding hole before you're ready to give it up. Kit looks at the directions that are loaded in the cellphone. Swell, it won't let me skip ahead to the destination. Blasted GPS. She checks the alleyway behind the safe house. Confident the coast is clear, Kit starts following the directions on her unwanted new phone.
|
