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"Smyrna was her name, that's right, do you have her number Amaryst?" Jin asked, turning towards his Lashunta friend "She may be able to connect us with someone who can get us some IDs."
"Also, assuming we manage to make it offworld, does anyone have any suggestions on where to go? I have one but if someone has a better idea to propose then shoot." the Witchwyrd says as he leans on his lower arms on the table and crosses his upper arms, waiting for a response.
"Smyrna might know someone. It wouldn't hurt to ask, " Amaryst drawls thoughtfully.
"I hadn't thought about where to go. Rollo, any idea where you were going to take them after you sprang them loose?"
She pulls out her comm unit. She flips the unit over and quickly removes the cover, then the power cell.
"Korvan. Can I use your phone?"
Rollo thinks. "Well, I'd assume we were going back to base, but... That's need-to-know only. Ideally we meet some comrades or I can steal my own ship at some point and we can part ways then."
Korvan laughs.
"You know, one of these days I need to teach to curse like a human, if you are going to continue to try that is." he says, handing over his comm unit.
Emily rifled through the rest of the things she had snatched, either on the way out or from the crash. "Yeah, I got an injector thing too," she said. "And a zappy stun thing, a baton...um, a light, and this thing." She pulled out a comm unit, along with a flashlight, and the weapons.
"I... wow, thanks Cross. I'm good at hypotheticals, but I couldn't imagine, well, thank you. I don't know what's in this for ya yet, but I'll make sure it's something. It's best not to make this six hours into five, I'm gonna crash on the couch. Gnite Cross!"
Smyrna said that she's going to bed, but sleep isn't really a priority to her. She dials in on a police radio and monitors it while she drifts off.
Cross watched her go. Smyrna was perhaps the smartest person he knew, and certainly knew him better than just about anyone in this city, but she still did not quite grasp it. He was not doing this because he wanted to or for some moralistic reason. He had no choice now. If whoever made that boy got wind that Cross had even a passing interaction with him, he could kiss his carefully built facsimile of a human life goodbye.
A warning flashed through his consciousness and he looked down to realize his hands had clenched so hard into fists, he was risking self-damage. He forced himself to relax. He hated his lack of choice, how he was now directed into a specific path not of his own making. An impulse sparked and he slammed a fist into the side of the maintenance cradle. It was back to survival for him.
Cross did not need much in the way of sleep, his brain was periodically treated with chemicals to stave off his need for it. Instead he started wiping his home systems and packed up the few things in his workshop he thought might be useful.
"Also, assuming we manage to make it offworld, does anyone have any suggestions on where to go? I have one but if someone has a better idea to propose then shoot." the Witchwyrd says as he leans on his lower arms on the table and crosses his upper arms, waiting for a response.
Maldor listens to the others, waiting for the brilliant insight that these more experienced people must surely have. After a few moments, though, he realizes that even though he may lack in real-world experience, he still could offer something to the group, and so pitched in, "Maybe the safehouse has follow-on instructions. In some of our exercises we only got one piece of the objective at a time, running from one place to another to uncover the next clue or directive...I remember something from the tactical manuals about 'critical intelligence elements' and how you can protect operational-level objectives by minimizing the number of CIE's any one unit had."
Rollo thinks. "Well, I'd assume we were going back to base, but... That's need-to-know only. Ideally we meet some comrades or I can steal my own ship at some point and we can part ways then."
Amaryst does a slow look from Rollo, to the 'experiments', and back to Rollo. She shakes her head, and slips back into the ungoing conversation.
Korvan laughs.
"You know, one of these days I need to teach you to curse like a human, if you are going to continue to try that is." he says, handing over his comm unit.
"Thanks, Amaryst mumbles. She looks at the comm. "Hey have you got Smyrna's number in here?"
Emily rifled through the rest of the things she had snatched, either on the way out or from the crash. "Yeah, I got an injector thing too," she said. "And a zappy stun thing, a baton...um, a light, and this thing." She pulled out a comm unit, along with a flashlight, and the weapons.
"That's good, Emily. Can you use the weapons?"
She tilts her head to listen to Maldor. He said it well. She's really just hoping that the safe house will have some answers or resources for them.
Smyrna and Cross go to bed, and when they awake K-Van is snoring peacefully on the couch, drooling a bit. He must feel comfortable.
Smyrna's phone buzzes - Korvan Vash is calling her.
Smyrna jumps a bit, then decides to pick up when she sees it's Korvan.
Hey Korvan, what's up? Smyrna asks, straight to the point.
Cross comes up the stairs from where he had been plugged in down in the garage. The helmet was securely on and he did not really say anything as he went to the fridge with a duffle bag. After slotting his breakfast and draining it, he reached in and swept the whole shelf of cyborg meals into the duffle.
His food supply for weeks accounted for, he pulled a screwdriver out of a pocket and opened the freezer. Outside of a lonely bottle of vodka chilling there, there was mostly just built up ice. With a bit of work, he cleaned out a corner and pulled out a small bundle of credsticks wrapped in plastic and tape.
Smyrna jumps a bit, then decides to pick up when she sees it's Korvan.
Hey Korvan, what's up? Smyrna asks, straight to the point.
Amaryst is equally business-like. "It's Amaryst, not Korvan. We need some professional grade IDs and papers. Do you know anyone who might know anyone who could do that?"
"Oh, hey Amaryst, yeah I do. I was actually about to order some papers from her myself. Her name's Naomi, local fence. I'll send you her contact info."
"That's good, Emily. Can you use the weapons?"
Emily nodded. "Point the shooty end at the bad guys," she said, making an awkward attempt at humor.
Amaryst's reply is a single amused grunt.
{You're not wrong, mind sister.}
"Oh, hey Amaryst, yeah I do. I was actually about to order some papers from her myself. Her name's Naomi, local fence. I'll send you her contact info."
"Use this number. My comm is broken. -- And thanks,Smyrna. This is a huge help; my clients need to travel incognito. Keep yourself safe."
Amaryst stares at the phone. What am I saying? I must be more stressed than I thought.
Korvan looks on, after hearing Amaryst tell Smyrna to use his number and sighs.
"Looks like I'll need to reprogram that with a new number before too long again..."
"You can always use Jenny's number - 867-5309." Maldor quips to Korvan...
The Lashunta tosses her head at Korvan, then looks quizzically at Maldor.
"Cool, um, hey, that was Jin, right? Did you say ship?" Smyrna's at attention now, she quickly looks at Cross.
Amaryst looks back at the comm, and drops her head, and shoulders. The motion gathers momentum into a full body slump.
"Yes, and yes. My clients are looking to travel off world." Amaryst tries to recover a professional tone.
Rollo turns to whomever is nearest and murmurs, "Who is that?"
"If we can't trust them, we might need to go... take care of them."
"One second Amaryst." Smyrna activates the silence function on her comm unit.
"Hey Cross, Amaryst and some people need papers and have a ship. It might be the easiest way to hitch a ride, what do you think?"
"Amaryst Geil, right? The Lashunta merc? Sure, she's got a good rep," Cross said as he opened a drawer in his kitchen and pulled out a gun cleaning kit. It too went into the duffle. He did not have much in the way of personal effects, it seemed, so packing was easy.
"Adding more unfortunate souls to our merry little band of fugitives?" Korvan asks Amaryst.
Smyrna re-activates her comm unit, she takes a moment to silently choose her words, then she speaks. "Amaryst, I have a proposition. Some associates and I are... traveling off of this planet. I'll help you get those papers either way, but if you need skill or muscle on your project, we'd like to join you, temporarily and discretely."
Listening to the conversation, Maldor just looks at Emily and shrugs...then pops another food cube into his mouth and mashes it between his tongue and the roof his mouth.
"Adding more unfortunate souls to our merry little band of fugitives?" Korvan asks Amaryst.
Amaryst shakes her head.
Smyrna re-activates her comm unit, she takes a moment to silently choose her words, then she speaks. "Amaryst, I have a proposition. Some associates and I are... traveling off of this planet. I'll help you get those papers either way, but if you need skill or muscle on your project, we'd like to join you, temporarily and discretely."
"I'll have to ask my clients. How many are you?"
After receiving the answer she continues, " Give me an hour. I'll call back."
Amaryst switches off the comm. "Smyrna will help us get the papers, but she and some associates also need transport off planet. My ship is really designed for four. We'll be eight. Do we want to take them?"
"It'll be crowded that's sure, but if she's got the goods we need as far as IDs go, I really don't see much choice at the moment."
"Smyrna's solid. We'd have a better chance with her than without. But is it fair to involve her in this? She probably has a little local trouble. Our problems are out of her league, out of all our leagues."
"If we're bringing her along, let us say nothing about who Emily and Maldor are. They are clients, friends of Jin. Rollo is just another bodyguard hired by Jin. At least if we get caught, she can say she didn't know."
At the apartment, Smyrna hangs up her phone and goes to speak to Cross. "I have a good feeling about working with Amaryst's group, but we should definitely keep K-Van a secret from them. They're probably caught up in something local, while we're gonna have a government on our ass."
"So what do we tell them? Neither of us are exactly manipulative masterminds," Cross noted, rooting through some of his clothes to give K-Van something to wear. A couple of t-shirts that had a fitted cut on him would be close to acceptable. He found an old and worn pair of jeans that some quick work with a knife trimmed into something like the right length and a belt synched up with a new hole stabbed into it made up for the difference in their waist sizes.
The effect would be closer to deliberate and make him look more like someone street tough's kid brother wearing hand-me-downs instead of an escaped science experiment wearing whatever they could get their hands on. He would hopefully turn fewer heads this way. He also got an old muskin leather jacket and a flat cap from the short period of time before Cross started hiding the insult that was his 'face'.
Smyrna holds her hand out for the cap, then playfully shoves it on K's head. "This is my cousin K-van Scry. Our last job went South, so the police are searching for his Dad, Martin. Uncle Scry's paying for us to escort his son, K, off of the planet before shit goes down." Smyrna Smirks. "I'm no manipulative mastermind, but that should hold. We'll hear from Amaryst in an hour. I thought about eavesdropping on them, but Korvan's too good to risk it."
Smyrna is able to make a few calls and arrange a meeting with the criminal fence, Naomi. They're to meet her in a storage space/freezer area behind a small bodega in the Intercultural District of D.C. called "La Tienda de la Mexicana". A non-descriptive name, sure, but easy to find with Google Maps.
With a text to Korvan, the rest of the group is able to get the address. There's no roadblocks (yet), so a trip on the free busses gets the second group smoothly over to the meeting point. However, many military trucks and tanks are seen in the streets, and the police are out in force. The nine of you meet outside of the store before heading in - Smyrna and Cross accompanied by a tough-looking ten-year-old and Korvan, Jin and Amaryst accompanied by a couple of college-age youths wearing Hot Topic clothing and a scarred korasha lashunta male, middle-aged.
It is about 2 p.m.
- - - - -
"Aren't we a crew," Cross noted dryly from behind his habitually worn helmet, the reflective surface giving the other party a fishbowled look at themselves. He rested his hand on the kid's shoulder in what he hoped was a reassuring way. His aversion to physical contact temporarily overcome by an urge to keep the kid calm. Granted, the amount of comfort the poor sprout might glean from a decidedly inhuman touch was debatable.
The motion also parted his jacket and gave the others a look at the straps of the shoulder rig he wore under the muskin leather riding gear, so the movement may well have been a polite warning too. He knew Amaryst by reputation, aliens were rare enough that people talked when the moved in adjacent circles, but the others were strangers.
"Let's get this done, I need to get my ride out of hock before we leave."
Korvan rolls his eyes at subtle threat/warning from the unknown individual.
"So this is how this is going to go...off to a great start."
"Sorry?" Cross asked, then noted the other man's expression. Cross was not exactly easy to read, what with the helmet and most of his body language being more conscious than a mostly organic's but he made a point of relaxing his shoulders.
"Ah, yes. 'scuse me, usually it's best to get these things out in the open. I'm armed, you're armed, we don't know each other well, I'm going to be a touch edgy and honestly you probably should be too. I don't dress down for the first date, friend."
For the trip, Amaryst is in full bodyguard regalia. Grey plate armor under a charcoal gray poncho that covers, but doesn't quite conceal the semi-automatic pistol below her right hip. She has two heavy bags slung
over her left shoulder.
She's also in full bodyguard mode. She posts Rollo a step ahead on Jin's right, while she trails the witchwyrd on the left. Leaving Rollo to watch behind, she goes first through doors, then backs out to watch behind as the others file in.
On the bus she's a slightly more relaxed. There's going to be a little warning if the bus is stopped. She engages in mental conversation.
With Emily the subject is mind speech and it's attitude, volume control, and telepathic etiquette. {We Lashunta try to accent the mindspace with whispered song. Never be too strong, too forceful. ...}
With Maldor, the subject is first telepathy, then religion. {Are you a mind speaker also?}, and {Is your god the god of Abraham, Jesus, and Mohammad?}
With Jin and Korvan, it's about planning and tactics. { ... Maybe Rollo was right and we should have rented a vehicle. If Jin's rich enough to have body guards, he's rich enough to have a car. We're striking the wrong note....}
With Rollo, she just tries to reassure him that everything is fine. There's no reason to be too keyed up.
Korvan rolls his eyes at subtle threat/warning from the unknown individual.
"So this is how this is going to go...off to a great start."
"Sorry?" Cross asked, then noted the other man's expression. Cross was not exactly easy to read, what with the helmet and most of his body language being more conscious than a mostly organic's but he made a point of relaxing his shoulders.
"Ah, yes. 'scuse me, usually it's best to get these things out in the open. I'm armed, you're armed, we don't know each other well, I'm going to be a touch edgy and honestly you probably should be too. I don't dress down for the first date, friend."
Amaryst takes some small comfort from Cross' attitude and actions. Still she keeps herself between him and the rest of Jin's group. She also keeps her hand well clear of her pistol.
She nods a greeting to Smyrna, "Good to see you." Then addresses the (apparent) android and boy. "I'm Amaryst, Smyrna's friend. Let's do the rest or our introductions inside."
With that, the group heads inside. The man behind the counter, a hard-bitten Hispanic man, looks a bit puzzled at such a large group but when he sees Smyrna's ID he waves them through. In the back of the convenience store is a door which leads to a storage room, and in the storage room are a series of deactivated freezers. One of the freezers is an office with a few chairs and a desk.
Behind the desk is a woman, probably thirty years old, with a wry look on her face. Her skin is dark, and she wears business attire and square un-rimmed glasses. She motions for the group to sit down. "So, Ms. Stephanides says you need new identities. For who, and how many?"
"Show me your current IDs."
Trusting that Jin and Smyrna can handle the negotiations, Amaryst elects to remain outside the office where she can keep an eye on the entry door. As a sign of respect for their hosts, she doesn't prowl the storage room, but moves only a few steps in each direction looking for other doors or windows.