<> <> <> (In that any death or dismemberment will be more or less accidental.) <> <> * Vera is in her room, surprisingly not doing her thing. She's wearing black pants and a halter top, and her hair is unbound. She's sitting on a sofa watching a remake of a remake of the Godfather VII (Animatronic Marlon Brando.) ( "Oh my God! There's a panda head in my bed!" ) (*snicker*) * Threnody knocks on the door! Because he is from Earth. * Vera calls, "Yeah?" * Threnody clears his throat. "It's me. May I come in?" * Vera thinks about that for a minute. Eh, sure. * Threnody opens the door! He is apparently dressed for XTREEME SPORTS today: a skintight black sleeveless shirt and cargo pants. And sneakers, which he never wears. He's carrying his bokken. "I'd like to ask a favor." * Vera looks Then up and down. "Don't play sports, sorry." * Threnody puts up a finger and seems about to say something, then changes his mind and puts it down. "...That's not it." Mm? * Vera turns to face Thren. "Then what's up?" * Threnody pauses a moment, pursing his lips, then clears his throat again. "I want to go with you. On a bounty." * Vera half-smiles. "That a joke?" * Threnody shakes his head. "No, it isn't. I have my reasons for asking, if you want to hear them." * Vera leans back. "Sure, go ahead." * Threnody hmms and looks around, espying a chair. "Mind if I sit down? It may take a bit." * Vera shuts off TVNet. "Go on. I've seen this movie three times now anyhow." * Threnody nods and has a seat. "The truth is..." He pauses. "The truth is I've been thinking about pacifism and I've come to the realization that I may be mistaken in pursuing it." So... You want me to take you out to hit stuff? * Threnody tilts his head, putting a finger to his chin. "Maybe not so much... how to put it." He pauses. "I've got... I don't know that it's multiple personality disorder, but there's something going on in my hand. I have to constantly keep a side of me that wants to do nothing but be violent in check." * Vera sits up more. "Oh?" She looks more interested. (... cannot help thinking of Alice's Restaurant.) * Threnody nods. "I've been... I don't fight not because I don't know how, but because fighting puts me in the position of having to work even harder to keep that down. But... I've been wondering if I haven't just been making it worse by not giving myself an outlet." * Vera nods. So, I know that people with official bounties are criminals and other people who've done wrong things. There are worse ways to get rid of pent up aggression, and I get to do a public service and keep my sword arm sharp. Well, you know that it's not all that glorified. I mean, half of my targets don't even know there's a bounty on their head. They surrendur as soon as they find out someone's after them. Sometimes you get one that runs, but there's not that many that fight back. * Threnody shrugs. "Then the exercise will do me good. Besides, I know a telepath could be helpful to you, and I'm not interested in a cut of the reward." That's true... * Threnody grins a little. "Worst case scenario, you're forced to spend three or four hours with me, which can't be that much worse than sitting here dying of boredom." * Vera shakes her head. "No, worst case scenario, you figure you have a better idea than I do and go off to do it without telling me, which gets us both killed." * Threnody shakes his head. "I don't know anything about bounty hunting. You're in charge." * Vera cups her chin. "Hmm... Can I count on you, then?" * Threnody nods with a smile. "I'm more useful than I look." * Vera shrugs. "What the hell, we'll give it a try. But if you screw something up, you're out. Deal?" * Threnody nods. "Perfectly reasonable." Well, okay then. * Threnody smiles. "Thank you, Vera." He pauses. "How did you get into this line of work, anyway?" * Vera chuckles. "I've been doing it so long, I forgot." * Threnody huhs and gets up. "Odd. But I suppose that everyone has a job where they know they're destined to do it, and thus have never thought of doing something else." I dunno if 'destined' is the word I'd use. But it's easy money. Risky, yeah, but easy too. And 'sides, I'd rather do this than be a career woman, or something. * Threnody chuckles. "It must be exciting." It's pretty nice, yeah. * Threnody slips the bokken into his belt loops. "In any event. Shall we?" What, rightn ow? * Threnody blinks. "WEll, there's no time like the present, right?" * Vera swings back to the TVNet. "I guess not. Lemme check the bounty lists and see if anything's up." (Vera, remind me. What did I title your first bounty run?) * Threnody nods. "Alright." He glances around the room a bit, and then out the window. "It's a little strange being in this city. This is where my mother lived when she worked for ATC." He pauses. "There's a skyscraper where her house was now." ( Uhh... ) (Rundown, I think.) ( Rundown ) (Woot.) * Vera checks lists. "Can't say I ever had anything to do with ATC before this mess, so..." * Threnody tilts his head. "They were a different company 20 years ago. Ronnie really has changed it in a lot of ways." Mmm. I can't remember that far back, so I wouldn't know. * Threnody blinks. "Hmm. You can't be much older than I am, though, so that's not so surprising." <> Why? How old are ya? * Threnody smiles his 16-year-old smile. "21." Damn, you're older than you look. * Threnody nods. "Yes. My brother looks closer to his age, but our father looked younger than he was too. We both take after him in that respect." <> * Vera leans back. "Taking a while to load." So your mother worked for ATC? I think you told us about that before. * Threnody nods. "She was a strategist and melee combat instructor." * Vera nods. "Explains your relationship with Ronnie. * Threnody laughs. "She's in every Europa Team member's home, actually. A wallscreen for all six of them. They are her 'parents' after all. We're more like cousins than aunt and nephew." (You neglected to mention "Freelance consultant extortionist".) (She didn't ask.) (And it was Bradley who offered her 3/5 of HER OWN SALARY for her initial mission.) (Yup.) (Which she incidentally BOTCHED.) * Vera leans back. "That's lucky. You were born with connections. Not to mention telapathy." * Threnody knits his brow. "It's not as nice as it sounds. Being a telepath has done more harm than good. There's plenty of days I wish I weren't." If you say so. I wouldn't mind being able to do that, though. <> * Threnody laughs. "If there were a way to give it to you, I would." He blinks at the ding. <> * Vera leans forwards and reads. "Hmmm... Here's one. Huh, ex-ATC." * Threnody tilts his head. "Must be dangerous. ATC is usually pretty good about cleaning up their own ex-messes." * Vera nods. "Yeah, looks like it." * Threnody smiles a little. "But those are the ones that are most exciting, right?" * Vera nods and gets up, grabbing her duster. "Yep. Only live once." <> (Laying claim, my bad on not clarifying.) (I'm thinking only Vera can actually see the board, yes? She's reading off a datapad or something.) > * Threnody hmms. "Schwartz. I don't suppose you know them? Does that mean we can't go after him?" * Vera slips her duster on and reads as she loads her gun. "Never heard of them." * Threnody nods. "Ah. Do you come into conflict with other bounty hunters very often?" Not usually. But usually I don't hunt for them in this stronghold of a city, either. * Vera checks her other gun, then puts both inside her duster. * Threnody ehes. "Fair enough." * Vera grabs her hat. "Right, let's go." She heads out the door. * Threnody follows like a good Edward unit. (Er.) (You get the idea.) ( Dis is mah bizniz hat. ) * Vera heads off to ATC! * Threnody follows! *Batman transition* <> <> * Threnody looks around curiously. "It seems kind of strange to be coming *to* an ATC base on our week off, so to speak." (Talk amongst yourselves. Reboot. Technically, I'm not 'off' if I'm hunting a bounty. * Threnody tilts his head. "Fair enough." We should start by checking around, see if we can get any background on the guy. If we can't straight out find where he is, I mean. * Threnody nods, looking around again. "That makes sense. Did they say what he *did* here?" Nope. Just that he was in the military. Looks like you might get the opportunity to hit someone tonight after all. Because I doubt he'll go down without a fight if he's ex-military * Threnody nods again slowly. "Alright. Where should we ask first?" Those guards first, see if they know him. If not, go to the military. They'd be sure to have some records. Oh, and maybe you can call Ronnie, too. * Threnody ehes. "We might want to consider Ronnie a last resort. She IS the company CEO, after all. But it's an option if we get desperate." He heads toward the guards! * Vera shrugs, heading towards the guards. "Yeah, she's the CEO, but she can probably pull up an employee file easily, 'specially for family." * Threnody clears his throat a little. "If push comes to shove, I could always hack the personnel files. Lord knows it wouldn't be the first time." He looks slightly unhappy at that. (PLus I know Watts' password! Unless he changed it, which he probably did.) (*snickers* To "cadabra", probably, unless the IT dept. looked at his password and immediately fired him) * Vera walks up to the guards. "Hey." <> "What?" * Threnody is the good cop! Alright, the cute cop. He smiles and says nothing. * Vera watches their reactions as she asks, "I'm lookin' for a guy who used to work here: Harry Consuela. You know 'im?" "So what if I do? Who's askin'?" (BRB. Grabbing a snack. Won't take but a sec.) I'm just an acquaintance who's trying to get in touch with him, is all. <> "You mean you're looking to put yourself in touch with some money. We don't need you bounty hunter scum around here. ATC takes care of its own problems." Who said I was a bounty hunter? * Threnody frowns at the guard with adorable disapproval. His expression basically shouts "You're mean!". Plus he skims the guy's mind while Vera's got him distracted. "I did. If you were really trying to find him, you'd have emailed personnel." ... Damn, you're right. Why didn't I think of that? (He is a Class A Goon. He's only out here because there's a double watch on tonight, precisely because they know this guy is coming.) But hell, I didn't, and now I'm here instead. * Threnody watches, but sends a message to Vera. %% I don't think he knows where he is. He's just extra watch they put out. %% "Well, you can just leave again, for all I -" <> * Vera looks that way. <> * Threnody blinks and turns toward the flame with mock surprise. "Angry ex-employee?" <> Looks that way. <> * Threnody is all innocent smiles. "Maybe we should go take a look?" Yeah, might be a good idea. * Vera starts off that way. (Walking or running?) * Threnody heads off with a jaunty wave at Goon!Guard, matching Vera's pace. ( Walking ) ( At least, until we're out of sight of the guards ) <> * Threnody hmms as he watches the guard run. "Are people always that cranky?" Eh, you would be too if you had to stand in one spot for eight hours a day. * Threnody shrugs. "I suppose that's fair enough." <> * Threnody knits his brow. "He's certainly boisterous. I wonder what his grudge is." * Vera runs for it. "No idea." * Threnody also runs! Thank god he wore sneakers! <> ( I was running towards where the flames were headed. ) (Well, that's the base. There's a fence in between you and it.) ( Then towards the gate what blew up, so we can get inside ^^ ) (WEll, damn. Better go home.) <> * Threnody winces. "This bodes a little poorly." <> * Vera draws her gun. "Sure as hell isn't like any bounty I've ever been after." (Upside: Many people are getting life insurance.) (Luanne's going to be busy.) <> (No dice, genius. c.c) ( Dicebot ) -herring.sandwich.net:@#atc2- Chamelaeon invited Dicesuke into channel #atc2. * Dicesuke (akodomakot@ip68-13-166-245.om.om.cox.net) has joined #atc2 (I wish this were the '80's. "SMOOTH MOVE, EX-LAX!") (Don't laugh. My dad still uses that.) 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Vera (2d6-2) and gets 8. ( Nope ) 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Threnody (2d6-2) and gets 5. (Yep.) <> d6+6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Vera (d6+6) and gets 10. d6+6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Threnody (d6+6) and gets 9. (Almost did d10+6. Stupid Jossverse games.) * Threnody frowns. "It looks like the other hunters are here too." Yep. <> <> <> * Vera runs forwards until she gets to something that provides semi-decent cover, and takes a shot at the fire guy's shoulder. ( Called shot ) 2d6-4 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Vera (2d6-4) and gets 2. (Which gun?) ( Normal ) <> <> * Threnody draws his bokken in one smooth motion but doesn't move to close just yet. "What do we do? They beat us to him." (Hold action.) Doesn't matter! We take him down and get him before they do, and we win! <> 2d6-5 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Vera (2d6-5) and gets 4. ( Got it ) <> (Hey.) (I wanna take my held action. ^_^) (Go for it.) * Threnody nods once. "Alright. I'll do my best!" He charges flamey guy and starts things off with a nice, uncomplicated swing to the gut! 2d6-3 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Threnody (2d6-3) and gets 1. (Yep!) <> * Threnody frowns and backs off a few steps, dropping into a defensive stance. %% Something's not right there. He's augmented somehow. %% * Vera nods. <> * Vera takes another shot, this time at his knees. "Gotta have a weak spot somewhere. ( called, again ) 2d6-4 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Vera (2d6-4) and gets 1. <> * Threnody shrugs. "Well, when you've got a lead, go with it." He spins and aims a kick at the back of the guy's other knee! 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Threnody (2d6-2) and gets 4. (Yep!) <> <> * Vera fires at the guy's other leg "See if we can't keep you from going anywhere." 2d6-4 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Vera (2d6-4) and gets 0. <> * Threnody nods once. "Cybernetics... fah, how distasteful." He grabs the sword by the hilt and goes to clock the flamey one on the back of the head. 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Threnody (2d6-2) and gets 2. (Yep! Hey, no dicehate. Must be because it's a mini.) <> * Threnody grimaces, but isn't so stupid as to drop out of stance. "Alright, let's talk this over like reasonable adults..." Ha! <> "Fine. You give us our bounty, we leave you alone." * Threnody smiles absently. "Well, really, it's not anybody's bounty just yet. And technically I did knock him out." <<#2 shrugs.>> "Then we're done talking." Damn, that was faster than I expected. * Threnody winces. <> d6+6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Vera (d6+6) and gets 12. d6+6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Threnody (d6+6) and gets 9. <> <> <> (As long as I get to break Kirika's neck.) * Vera points her gun at the one facing her. "Careful." She doesn't actually fire, though; she's waiting for the woman to make the first attack. ( Holding action ) <> (block, I'm guessing.) 2d6-3 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Threnody (2d6-3) and gets 3. (Yep!) 2d6-5 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Vera (2d6-5) and gets 3. ( Yep ) <> ( Can I take my held action? ) (Sure!) (Go at the same time.() * Vera swerves to the side, and fires at her opponent's knee. ( Called shot ) 2d6-4 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Vera (2d6-4) and gets 3. <> (Whoa. Got dzzy there a sec.) * Threnody sighs and drops into a defensive stance. "It's better if you back down, please. We can solve this without getting too violent." (Full defense.) <> * Vera takes a few steps back, keeping her gun pointed at the woman. "I'd quit while I still had one good knee, if I were you." (Holding action for now.) <> * Threnody closes his eyes and breathes out. "That's a relief." Yeah. That wasn't so bad. * Vera walks over to the flame guy. "C'mon, let's get this guy to the station." * Threnody reaches down to grab a shoulder. "Must have been cyber enhancements. Means he's going to be... oof!... heavy." <> * Vera grabs the other shoulder, grimacing. "Christ. Maybe we should rent a damn tow truck." <> * Threnody does a lot of oof-ing, because he fights on finesse, not muscle. "I was impressed, Vera. You're a true professional." Like I said, been doing this longer than I can remember. * Vera drags the guy along. "You didn't do too bad yourself. Guess I owe you an apology." * Threnody shakes his head. "No, you don't. You're right. We did act distrustful and suspicious. But we had reasons to do it. That's all I can ask you to understand." Eh. That's cool. Just means that when I pull the same thing on you, you can't get mad. * Threnody laughs. "Deal." * Vera tugs the guy along. "So, if you wanna come on another run sometime, it's cool. Just let me know." * Threnody ehes. "Well, it was sort of a mixed bag for a first outing. But if I get the urge, I'll let you know. And if you feel like you can use a telepath, you can always ask." Thanks. I'll take you up on that. Helps when people are uncooperative. (And so the day was saved! Thanks to... well, Cham watching Noir.) <> ( $_$ ) <>