The DocWagon Operator answers back with their usual formal jargon. Life saving was a business to them, a business that involved ambulances full of heavily armed paramilitary EMTs. It was one of the few corps everyone could be glad was around. "Roger. Biomonitor came online a few minutes ago. Help is en route. Is the LZ hot?"
"Negative," Chibiko manages through heavy breathing. "And I'm stable enough to walk myself to the truck. Don't bother sending the big boys." She didn't want to have to pay extra for the extraction. They did like to overcharge for big shows of force.
As she started for the door, she grabs Cherry's bag. With a shrug, she threw it over her shoulder along with her own. "No sense in leaving all our lead here in the dirt. If Cherry manages to avoid the Star, she'll just come back angrier and if she doesn't this will all end up in a hole somewhere. Whatever she's into has to be in here."
After a moment, Chibiko starts the long and painful trek down the stairs to meet the Docs.
The Docs are already waiting as Chibiko limps through the lobby. The ork at the desk averts his eyes, staying focused on his trid. See no evil; see no witnesses at the scene for the police to hassle.
Crawling into the back of the DocWagon, the Docs set to work applying some emergency first aid. The suturing of the wound is a little haphazard, but it does the job. The bleeding stops and bandages are applied. Chibiko still looks a little worse for wear, and a bit pale, but without hauling her to a proper facility (and charging the appropriate fees) that was the best she was going to get from mundane care. Fortunately, DocWagon was well worth the money. The Awakened Doc on staff cracks his knuckles and has a look at the damage. As mana flows back into the adept, the Doc murmurs a few words and leaves the girl with a significantly smaller hole in the chest. Still hurt like hell, but she'd be walking away from this fight.
The Docs send her on her way, leaving her with a small AR-enabled notice informing her to upgrade her DocWagon account now for quicker and better services! Emergency resuscitation included at a discount! Bigger and Better HTR teams!
5 hits = 3P healing
2 hits = 2P healing
While Chibiko was getting patched up, Geezer accesses Cherry's commlink hoping to find any more leads to Frank. Geezer starts sweating profusely, coming in for a crash induced by the kamikaze.
Friedrich's motorcycle camp up a ramp that lead them towards the district that the Black Bull Motel was stationed in. His motorcycle whirled towards the front of the building, and he secured his bike.
"Ser William. Our comrades are in danger. We must go."
The Knight walked in and saw the trail of blood that trickled down the hall.
Chibiko must be here
Following William's advice, Friedrich motioned upstairs where the party had stayed.
Friedrich and Billy pull up just as the DocWagon is departing. Chibiko is leaning against the outer wall of the Black Bull Motel while Geezer stands nearby, poking about on a commlink.
Unfortunately, Cherry was obviously a little more security-conscious than Frank was - the commlink is encrypted. Without some real skill hacking into systems, you aren't going to get much out of it this way.
Somewhere in the distance, sirens approach.
Scratch that.
Somewhere nearby sirens approach fast. Guess someone alerted the Star that something was going down.
I think that as we seem to have this place cased and everyone's at least standing we better beat a hasty retreat. Chibiko do you want to go with Friedrich on the bike?
"I've got my own ride around the corner. And..." She looks up at the towering knight. "I'll probably attract less attention on my own. No offense. Appreciated, though."
Why was everyone so worried about her? She'd already had most of the injury treated. It was just a flesh wound!
Was it because she was half their size and looked a third their age? It was endearing, sure... but half the reason she was in the biz in the first place was to prove a point. On her own behalf and all the others left in the world's shadow.
"We should regroup somewhere a little less conspicuous and check over Cherry's stuff. I'm figuring she's more involved than we thought."
Geezer's looking worse for wear as he continues tripping on the kami. Both of his sclerae are all bloodshot, looking as if blood vessels popped in both of his eyes. He rocks back and forth trying to tinker with Cherry's commlink to no avail. As he hears sirens coming to him, he picks himself up from the floor and meets with Chibi and the gang.
"I think the FOUNTAIN in THAT PARK over THERE is still... he breathes in heavily trying to maintain himself AGOODSPOT!!"
"I GUESS I'll HAVEtoHITCHaRIDEwith you GUYS," he says as he points at Billy and Freddy. "Veeeeerrry doubtful there is ANYMORE ROOM on that trite scooter of yours, diminny." He tries hard to contain his laughter, but some small chuckles can still be heard as he exhales.
"My apologies, EVERYONE. I am STILL here!!" his smile looks as if it cannot arc any further. "I might just need to lie down for a minute or few... Yeah, maybe an hour..." he chuckles again.
He paces back and forth as if something is eating him. "Gods why did I FRAGGIN do this DREK. I really want to STOP, but I just CAN'T. I LOOOOVE THE FEELIN' MAN!!"
Chibiko shakes her head quietly. She'd just gotten over being nearly carved in two. It was too soon to have to deal with Geezer's drug problems.
"I suppose if we want to sit bloody and drug-addled in a public space in the middle of downtown that would work... I was thinking more like a place for us to crash as a team and share what we've found. We've still got all night to hunt this guy down."
"The ONLY other OPTION I canTHINKOF..." he breathes in heavily, ..."is book a stay at another motel. It'd be A CHEAP STAY and it beats HAVINGTOSAYOUTSIDEALLNIGHT."
"PLUUUUS!" another heavy inhale, "I need to lie DOWNFORAMINUTE."
The wounded that stood before the Germans reminded Friedrich of one horrible run he had in his early days. Otien, the Watcher and his comrade Belthazar of the Crown, had nearly been slain for their ambition. The duo were known for their antics and it had nearly cost them their lives.
Friedrich took a moment to gauge the situation. The young girl appeared to be wounded but kept her composure - a mark of her prowess as a combatant. As for Geezer, he seemed take upon the mannerisms of a wild animal - his eyes were bloodshot, a terrible shakes erupted from the man.
Truly the Miami team were a strange lot.
"Alas, we should find respite." Motioning towards his bike, he summoned Ser William and Ser Geezer to his iron steed. Rather hefty and over burderned, Friedrich used his increased strength to steady the bike and guide it towards a motel nearby.
After shooting over a few blocks and then making a line towards the far end of Miami, it isn't hard to find a place to crash. A few nuyen slipped to the half-dead attendant buys you a safe-ish pad on the second floor of a small, age-old motel. Even has a tacky old pool out front, though it hasn't been filled with anything but murky acid rain for nearly a century.
The room, thankfully, is bullet-free. Geezer collapses onto the bed almost as soon as you arrive, having felt the after-effects of his Kamikaze. And Chibiko arrives on her scooter a few minutes later, her clothes completely ruined by the cut, blood, and hasty stitching.
Sitting around the cheap duriplast table, the contents of Cherry's bag are spilled out for survey: a small case containing four syringes with an unidentifiable clear liquid, an unmarked and entirely generic maglock passkey, and a set of simchips, also unlabeled. The only things missing were the gun mags Geezer tossed aside and the credstick he pocketed.
Geezer throws himself in his bed, welcoming the comfort of it. Even though it was still a decrepit old motel, he finds the bed more comfortable than the air mattress at his home. As his eyelids grew heavier, he suddenly finds the strength to throw them wide open again when he feels an incredibly sharp pain in his chest, almost as if someone stabbed him through the ribcage upward into his esophagus. He falls to the floor trying to fight the pain through spasms and gargled screams. He regurgitates dark red and brown substance, still suffering from spasms on the floor.
His spasms slow to a crawl, until he ceases to move, smothered in his regurgitated blood.
Chibiko slumps herself down into a chair as she enters, half leaning onto the cheap table in front of them. She offers Geezer only a passing glance and a shake of the head. "Kamikaze," she explains to the two new team members. "Geez has a bit of a problem, if you couldn't tell. I'm honestly a bit surprised his heart hasn't exploded yet." She leans back, stretching. Immediately she regrets it; all the medical care in the world didn't change the fact she'd very nearly had her innards become outards. "Down to business, then? Find anything that can lead us to a psycho killer?"
While Ser William seemed to be occupied with piecing together the information that the crew had acquired, Friedrich had felt out of the loop. He raised a finger in caution and gently placed it upon Chibiko's shoulder. As he did, motes of energy appeared and formed a connection between the two. How strong was a different question.
1 hit
"The bikerbar that William and I had checked out seemed to point out that Cherry was in league with a large muscular man. They wouldn't give me any additional information. Miami residents are so rude!" he said while watching the girl's eyes go wide as he talked to her.
"In addition, you mentioned that Cherry had aug's. This is troubling. She is first missing, and now she is armed...quite literally."
Friedrich remembered from William's recap that Cherry had several troubling things on her person - one of which was a commlink.
"I'd like to think we can get this cracked, however, are we on a time limit?"
What a mess Billy mused as he perused the items they had grabbed from the crazed lady Cherry. It wasn't the fault of anyone of the group, the information he had gleamed from Chibiko and Geezer seemed to suggest the lady was likely already in deep with this mystery.
But now instead of having her as a possible subject of interrogation she was now likely in jail with several police watching over her. Billy looked over the items, but then a little bulb blinked on over his head.
I'm not sure on the law in your country just yet but I gather that if the lady isn't dead already she could be bailed out?, what if she could get out of jail and we just follow her till she leads us to the men we are looking for?
Plus Freddy and myself haven't met her yet face to face, we could tail her and she shouldn't find it as suspicious, I'm sure we can either keep to the shadows or disguise ourselves to blend in.
If that fails there's still the muscular man lead that we found out about at the biker bar and the beach too to comb
Billy got James onto the commlink to see what he could give on the subject.
Chibiko nods at Billy's plan. "Shouldn't take long for her to get out, either. The Star's like any other business - they'll take what's not supposed to be hers, slap her with a fine, add a note in her SIN's file, assuming she has a SIN, and send her on her way. A couple of illegal augmentation's isn't enough to warrant a full criminal SIN writeup. They're not going to waste the money on a hooker."
With a sudden cough of whatever blood was left behind his throat, Geezer slowly rolls over clenching his stomach as if someone punched the wind out of him. He finds the strength to open his eyes again and sees himself in a small pool of what appears to be a mixture of soy meat chunks and blood. The smell in the air and his hoodie was overwhelmingly revolting; a mixture of iron, extremely sour wine, and rotting soy.
"Ugh drek... I feel like a fraggin train wreck... he thought to himself.
He tries to swallow, but it became apparent that the acid in his stomach singed everything in his throat. He painfully lifts himself up from the floor and sees the rest of the gang around the table conversing about their findings. He slowly stumbles to them, clenching his stomach along the way in the fear of another regurgitation.
"Hey..." he says to them in an extremely hoarse tone, now coming to realization that his kamikaze laced larynx was completely, but hopefully temporarily burnt from his stomach acids. "WhaddImiss?"
Billy hears the horse voice of Geezer as he finally wakes. Ah good I was starting to think we might have a dead man with us, we think we have a cunning plan, plus you'll get to work on your tan for a little bit, sound interesting? Billy then lays out the plan to Geezer, which is a basic tailing job for Freddy and Billy of Cherry whilst Chibiko and Geezer check out the beach side for clues to her possible other man. We can gather that at least one of these leads has to go somewhere, since you've been seen already by her we'll cover the tail, thankfully she should be more easier to handle once the stars have gone over her augments, plus she will probably go running off to whoever is doing all this. Time is short however we had better get moving if we want this to work however, we cant be sure how long they will keep her. The sooner we leave the better. Do you think you can handle some more leg work?
The crawling feeling under her skin hadn't gotten much better, but Chibiko nodded. "There's also the rest of this stuff to go over. It's all gotta lead us somewhere." She picked up the maglock passkey and scrutinized it, but it was as featureless as it appeared. Not that these kinds of things were her specialty, anyway. Instead she opted for the pack of syringes. Tossing them towards Geezer, she grinned. "You're our local drug expert. What've we got?"
"Hmm... I'll try to figure out what it is, but I have a contact that I can talk to if I don't exactly know. It's not like I keep my own set of beakers or a microscope on hand."
Geezer gives the syringes a long and careful look, trying to analyze to the best of his abilities without the need of the tools necessary to do so. Colorless liquid doesn't really narrow things down.
Geezer comes just short of injecting the stuff into himself, but it doesn't take long before he recognizes the fluid for what it is - narcoject, a powerful sedative. Commonly found in tranquilizers for animal control and riot control, it is an understandably restricted substance. Along with her cyberware, it's not the sort of thing that Cherry should have been toting around.
"Narcoject... I have almost absolute sincerity that this is narcoject," Geeze states to the gang. "I was injected with this stuff before, not my doing but... he pauses with a slightly angered look, as if a bad memory flashed back at him.
"...I think Cherry might be a bigger suspect than I've initially thought. What if Cherry played a role in those surgical tools and not Frank? Do you guys think that the severed finger we found might actually be connected to one of Cherry's clients? I mean, it was definitly not the finger of a whore, so I don't think Frank severed it. OR... It could be Frank's finger..."
He begins to pace around the room, thinking almost too deeply; "...What if Cherry knew about her bloodied room, and her astonishment of it was just an act? Come on guys, give me leads."
its certainly a good idea then that we keep an eye on Cherry, from what you've told me she seemed to be used to handling herself. I think your right Geezer, she probably is still part of this. Which is why we need to get a tail on her asap.
"Speaking of getting a tail on her, I know it's probably not necessary, but I've kept the mags from her machine pistol in the event we could pin her for a possible illegal possession of the gun, among other things. They're by the side of my bed which thankfully isn't covered in my salsa chunks."
"Also Billy, in regards to your question on whether or not if I'm up to the task, I would say yes, but I just woke up after puking blood. I feel like I need to rest for a bit to get my barrings straight." He gives off a wheezing cough, the tone of his voice begins to worsen. "Drek, I need fraggin water. Anybody know if the pipes are clean in this place?"
Well how about this, Geezer can look over the stuff that was grabbed from Cherry further, keep the mags in case we run into trouble with Cherry and need her to cooperate and Chibiko can cover the beach, hows that sound to everyone?
"Not sure a couple of mags are going to convince her to do anything. She nearly sliced me in two. Somehow I don't think she's one for blackmail of any kind. And having narcoject... I've got a couple of arrows with the stuff. Stuff's strong enough to bring down a hellgator out in the Glades. She wouldn't be carrying that around for nothing - and I'm going to regret saying this - but I think maybe Geez is right."
The words felt seconds after leaving her mouth. A bitter aftertaste with a side of insanity. Chibiko glanced down at herself and inwardly sighed. She hated going to the beach; reminded her of what she wasn't. Miami was a great place to disappear, but damned if it wasn't a terrible place to have her curse. She'd long gotten used to it, of course... but still. It stung her pride a bit.
"I'll take the beach then. I'll set up shop somewhere on the north public beach and keep watch for anything... suspicious...? What exactly am I looking for, anyway? I doubt they're out murdering people on the sand."
With the aid of his magic, he was able to make out some threads of Chibiko's speech, though...not particularly well.
"I will take upon a biker's appearance and hope to learn more about the people Cherry traveled with. But before I do so, do you wish for me to heal either you or Geezer? I am gifted in that regard."
2 hits
"The worst of mine's already been taken care of... but Geez could probably use some help."
Geezer lets out a dry cough. The burning sensation in his throat makes it seem like something is lodged in there. "If we were to do this tonight, then I could use a little pick me up, otherwise I'll be in bed for another hour or two. I really hate to admit this, but I feel like I can barely take a punch, let alone a fraggin bullet if gets that worse."
The brave knight gave a slight nod to Chibiko and turned his attention towards Geezer. In another light, the kamikaze addict seemed like the wounded Friedrich tried dearly to protect during Modred's assault. A shallow form of a man laid upon the ground spewing bits of blood, mucus, and whatever else was in his system. To Friedrich, he knew that the task must be quick.
Leaning down, Friedrich pulled out his medkit and opened it's case. Several vials of curative liquids, bandages, and body sealant laid inside.
"Your friend will receive my aid." he said to Chibiko while applying first aid.
4 hits
Upon seeing Geezer's relaxed expression, Friedrich wiped his brow and turned to Chibiko. "Finished. I do suggest we take care of this matter quickly, lest our quarry runs off."
Geezer swallows the medicine the German knight hands him, immediately rejecting the taste. After about a few minutes, the pain in his chest slowly dissipates until he can no longer feel it biting him.
"Much better," he says with his voice already finding its tone, but never to the same state it was before he binged on kamikaze. "...and I agree, I think we should take care of this before something gets worse. If I need to watch the evidence, that's fine, but I'm okay with being on the beach as well."
"We must go, Chibiko." giving a small nod to the archer, Friedrich stands up and walks towards Billy Chines.
"Comrade, if we were to use trickery and deceipt, I think it would be best if you dressed as well. I can't do well being unable to speak the local tongue."
The knight's hands felt tight and he clenched them. How long as he been engaged in battle? It felt like a small eternity under the guidance of Merlin.
Right! lets get ourselves some clothing and get to that station asap, Good luck you two and try and stay out of trouble, Poor Freddy had to drive like a man possessed last time and as a back seat passenger Id rather not go through that a second time today :P Billy ended that on a jovial note, they had seemed to be more then capable of handling themselves. now how are we going to get costumes, buy, or steal? Billy pondered as he made his way out of the door.
Friedrich noded to Billy Chines and made his way to the parking lot where his valiant mechanical steed lay waiting. Even in the glow of the neon lit sign, the motorcycle seemed like a thing from legend. It's sheen had covered much of the vehicle, and it had that badass feel to it.
Hopping on and twisting the throttle, Friedrich leads Billy to a nearby urban clothing shop where they can buy Miami street gear.
Billy looked over the shop, standard affair, gaudy black leather cuts hanging about trying to mesh with the other clothing. It would be one of the least likely places Billy would visit, the thought of the chaffing alone was enough to make his inner thighs ache. But this was a mission that required some sacrifice so he looked up a reasonable collection of pants and a leather spike jacket and got himself dressed up. Just to be extra careful he finished off the ensemble with a bandanna and a large sombrero styled hat. The jacket was shorter around the midriff but he had enough room in the side pockets on the inside seams to hide both his guns. He quickly grabbed a pair of shades from the counter and paid for the lot. Now he had just his fellow knight to wait on.
Friedrich eyed the ware suspiciously. It wasn't that synthleather was against his fashion, but he felt as if he were stopping down to their level.
He kept his synthleather coat, but opted for accessories that he could add on, such as patches, chains, and other metallic do-hickeys that made him more of a common street urchin. He did however managed to find a pair of pants with appropriate rips.
Just as he walked away from the changing room. he saw himself and couldn't believe the sight.
Producing forth a cred stick, he handed it to the clerk and attempted to look blasé, discouraging conversation.
Well look at us a regular part of leather bandits eh? Lets hope we don't pass a cowboy or they try and wrangle us in and brand us HAH!
Now lets get ourself to that station and hopefully there will be a cafe or store nearby we can sit and watch from.
Time to get this over...
The 2 Germans headed out from the clothing store and made their way to a small cafe that overlooked the nearest Lone Star station where supposedly Cherry was taken to.
"You know me full well, comrade, I'm not one to back down from a fight, but I'd rather not tackle these guards...unless I have to." said Friedrich as he settled into a chair on the outside patio. Well, it was more of a polished bucket with beads and other crappy jewerly that gave the place a island get away feeling.
Other folks frequented the café as well, mostly teens aiming to be cool, or others looking for a quick escape. It didn't matter none because everyone was drinking the same crappy soy-mixed beverages that were hot or cold. Occassionaly, Friedrich could feel the eyes of the manager who didn't seem to like their casual attitude. Coupled with their recent street ware, Friedrich didn't know if the situation called for his comrade's charming personality.
I agree, I think its best we just sit, relax, drink these "refreshing" beverages and keep a eye out for ms. Cherries reappearance. As long as we play it cool we shouldn't have any issues.
Chibiko nods and wishes her new teammates well as they depart. Left with only a drug addict, a paid room, and a damaged uniform, she sighed. At least she'd put in her time at 'work' during the day - the Professor would make sure everything was in order for at least a week. Gave her plenty of time to track down the muscleman on the beach... not that the description was particularly helpful. This was Miami, after all.
"Alright, Geez. I'll take the North Public Beach tomorrow. More family friendly. Southern one is your problem, it's got all the cheap beach bars and stuff. We'll alternate duty and find this guy. Keep in touch."
With that, she grabbed her bag and headed for her ride. Inwardly she grumbled. Bathing suits did not look good on her.
x30 = 90 nuyen each. Not so bad!
Overtown was the newest and latest hub of Miami government. While it was high security enough that a pair of SINless walking down the street would be picked up immediately, it was high-traffic enough that not every SIN could be triple checked for its quality.
Meant that just about any schmuck who could afford a two-bit fake was good enough for strolling on in and taking a seat at the Soybucks. The Soybucks straight across from the south end's Lone Star booking station? Well, sure, but that took a lot more cojones. Fortunately, that was something that both Friedrich and Billy Chine had in spades. The overpriced iced soycafs were about as tasty as they sounded. At least they were a nice break from the Miami heat, which hadn't gotten all that less hot now that it was decidedly dark out. Not that you could tell from a glance out the window: both Overtown and Downtown beyond were still hopping, neon flickering long into the night.
Unfortunately, it becomes immediately apparent that the south booking station got its fair share of traffic. A lot of the people being dragged in were obvious - drug possession, public indecency, assault. At least one fellow who looked every part the serial rapist. Average day in Miami - looked like the south booking station got all the good stuff from Downtown. As night turned to day and the Soybucks tab grew larger, the pair begin to suspect they might have staked out the wrong place.
Until... at around 4 PM in the afternoon, they spot a familiar face. One that matches the picture they have to a T, and looks a little worse for wear. The crimson-haired woman looks a little preoccupied, already fiddling about with a commlink in her hands.
Waiting in silence nearly drove Friedrich mad. Idleness welcomed two reactions from the Knight, a delicious BTL induced vacation, or magic practicing, both of which were not a wise choice in public. Friedrich tried to hold onto his patience after drinking what seemed like the hundredth cocktail at Soybucks.
All this sugar is going to make me fat he thought as he attempted to water down his beverage.
Just as he was returning to the table, something caught his eye - a crimson haired woman. Dropping his drink to the ground, he placed a heavy gauntlet upon Billy Chines and quietly muttered - achtung.
Charging her in the street right outside of a Lonestar station seemed like a quick ride to hell, so instead, he attempted to see which direction she would walk towards. Perhaps the duo could tail her since she had only encountered Chibiko and Geezer.
Billy took the the hint and gazed at the opposite side, there was the supposed Cherry, looking like she was about ready to make a bee line away from the station, under his breath he mentions off hand to Freddy.
" seems she's talking with someone, could be our man. I think we had better take it easy for the moment, remember she hasn't seen us before, plus her knives will have been taken away. She'll make a bee line for her accomplice and then we can strike if need be."
Billy could see Freddie s agitation, this had been a rather boring stake out and frankly if he hoped he'd never see another soy brand drink again for a while. Casually he paid for the drinks and got himself ready to prepare for a small road trip.
"Right, I'll keep in touch with you tomorrow then," he says to the girl as she departs out the door.
Noticing that he has the paid room to himself, he decides to take advantage of the situation and make himself comfortable. Relieving himself from the weight of his equipment, he bolts the door shut and sets the alarm on his commlink, placing it on the nightstand next to his bed. He once again welcomes the comfort of the bed, tightening the ripped comforter around himself until he loses the strength to keep his eyes open.
*beep* *beep* *beep* *beep*
"Urgh..." Geezer flails his hand blindly across the nightstand, desperately attempting to silence his commlink. With a slight but jerky nudge, he succeeds in grabbing it, but at the cost of falling out of the bed face first into his dried salsachunks with the commlink still beeping. The odor did not subside when the vomit dried up, it still smells as strong as it did when it was fresh. It was enough to wake him up strong, with the thought of him bolting to the toilet to empty his already depleted stomach.
He picks himself up from the floor and silences his commlink. Needing to find something to drink, he finds a bowl of complimentary soycaf pods. As he places one inside the machine, he discovers that the coffee machine is unfortunately broken. It could be a shot circuit, however, he didn't have enough care or time to tinker with it. He settles for filling his cup up with the unfiltered water from the sink's faucet, cloudy as the humid morning fog after a rainstorm.
He prepares his equipment while he sends a message to Chibiko.
"Morning, Chibi. Remind me again on why we need to comb the beach? I recall that we need to find someone there, but I don't recall it was Frank or Cherry. I was out during that discussion."
Beaches never tickled his fancy, never liking the fact that kids and even some adults would urinate in it among the several hundred thousand sea life that inhibit it. He also does not liked the idea of baring his pale skin in the radiated radiation in the hopes that he could blend in with the crowd.
Chibiko rolled over. She didn't really remember falling asleep, or even getting back to her room. Thankfully she'd managed to do it without making a mess, otherwise she'd have woken up to the sound of the RA screaming through the door instead of her commlink's soft buzzing.
Grabbing for it without actually moving, she shuffled through a series of messages she'd received overnight--a pair from the professor, one telling her everything was in order and another telling her to keep out of trouble, and a third from Geezer. She flipped over and stared at the ceiling as she typed out a response on the clumsy keypad.
<Friedrich and Billy said Cherry was meeting with someone who looked the beach bum type, but well-dressed. And as big as an ork. Sounds like your kind of problem :)>
She tossed the 'link to the side and laid still. Technically, she was supposed to be helping comb the beaches. But this was Miami. Finding a beach bum here was like trying to find a particular grain of sand on the beach. Caribbean Casual was the standard operating procedure for all but the most formal of businessmen. A musclebound orc in a nice Hawaiian shirt? He was the needle in the haystack.
Instead she closed her eyes and waited. If anyone needed her, she was sure they'd let her know. And it was nice to have a day off once in a while...
<That really narrows it down. A big guy dressed in a Caribbean casual wear along with several thousand other people there? That's as productive as it sounds.>
He fastens his equipment and gets dressed, ready to leave his room, but not until he addresses his concern with Chibi. <My kind of problem? I take it that I won't be seeing you at the beach?>
Chibiko tried not to wince as she rolled over and glared at the commlink on the table. She grabbed it and answered simply and honestly.
<No.>