"I'm Here to Take the Sky"
- Locked due to inactivity on Aug 4, '16 4:28pm
Thread Topic: "I'm Here to Take the Sky"
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"How are the lot of you? Friendly? Angry? Distant?" Vivian asked, before shaking her head, "Doesn't really matter. Point is, I don't. I'm an orphan, born and raised in the city. Neon's one too, but he won't admit it. We looked it up at some point, apparently my father's some big shot politician over in Washington, but again, besides the point. I'll always be an orphan at heart."
Vivian took another drink, a rather large one that left her cup empty, "The closest thing I had to a family was Neon; we met in the orphanage, Melody; we met shortly before she was disowned, and...Joe. And Joe is the source of my problem here."
Leaning back, Vivian called for another drink, "Well, him and how he relates to me killing Reyna, but I'll get to that later. The point is, you need to understand exactly who Joe was before you can understand why this is such a big deal for me."
"But listen to me ramble on, that's not how you have a good time. Take a drink, I'm going to go turn on some music. Order anything from the menu if you're hungry, I'm paying anyway." -
(You don't have to wait for me, since I'm not directly interfering with any of you people. One moment.)
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Nikkili hopped into the under-ground base-ment, sniffing in the light, damp air fresheners in almost every corner. He looked behind him-self, and Jason was there, with four eyes and cross-bodied.
"Hey, you feeling well?" Jason asked. He could see Nikkili was beginning to feel woozy, of course staying up for 48 hours at a time then being shot would explain a lot here.
Nikkili simply stared at Jason, while still slowly walking with a small, but notice-able limp. He was headed to the 'apartment' areas, which most weren't very luxurious, but were live-able. He ignored Jason's complaints and questions, and stopped when he reached the end of the apartment row, at apartment '23'. It was more luxurious than most the others, since he led most of the small mafia here.
Jason then yanked Nikkili's shoulders from him, knocked him straight, and said sternly; "LISTEN! You were shot twice, and being up for two days simultaneously won't help. We are taking you to our clerics, and NOW.". He was true and honest, as he began to harshly strut towards the medic area of the bunker, with Nikkili limping quickly behind.
"Stay. Get well. Get laid, do what the f--- ever you do." Jason said in haste, as he began to promptly jog towards the office areas.
"So... You taken?" Nikkili said in a very drunken-like haze with his head lolling towards one of the female clerics. -
()
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Maru tilted her head on her hands, blinking.
"I just might take you up on that." she purred, smiling. She glanced down at the drink again, staring at it for a second before picking it up and taking a long sip. She licked her lips, examining the glass in her hand with skepticism. This was something she hadn't tasted before. She made a "tsk" kind of sound with her tongue against her teeth and lifted it to her lips again, this time swallowing down a little under half the glass.
She watched Vivian go, her eyes trailing her lazily and wondered briefly what could drive this girl- who Maru remembered well to be the "changed woman"- to kill again. Reyna, especially. A liar, definitely, but respectable, and Maru wondered what kind of enemies she could have in a world with better things to do. -
When Vivian returned to the table, it was heralded by the sound of heavily remixed techno swing and an entire platter of cups filled to the brim with a frothing brown liquid. Sitting down, Vivian lifted one off the plate. "I don't know why they have all that music advertised on the machine; only thing on there is nineties rock opera and Parov Stelar. Would you believe me if I told you there was time when people actually wrote music? I know, unbelievable. One day I'm going to learn how they did it."
Taking a deep drink, Vivian continued, "Right, so where was I? Something something Joe worship."
"Joe used to be a cop here in the city. Talked about being in the military before that, but he never talked about it much and we knew better than to bother him. And Joe...well, Joe was a hero."
Taking another drink, Vivian shrugged the tiredness out of her neck, "I mean, I'm talking full on Beta Ray Bill. If you needed help, Joe was the guy who'd always step up. It didn't matter the danger, didn't matter the reasons, he was just there for you. And since I spent a lot of time in the jailhouse at that age, we bonded a little. Got him to hang out with me and my pals whenever we went out. You know, teenage stuff. With a fifty something year old man."
"And the stories he'd tell..." Vivian leaned back, apparently in bliss, "Caves full of crystals, empty plains as far as the eye could see, exotic animals that defied belief and Tokyo. Capital of the free world, he'd say. Blessed Tokyo."
As Vivian came down from her high, so did her smile. Hastily, she reached for another drink; missing her first shot but grabbing it with the next. "Have you ever left the city, Mary pal? Like, actually left?" -
While Nikkili was being treated, Jason was speaking with one of the 'arrangers' near the main desk in the back of the rectangular office room. It was plush, and comfortable.
"Ok, so, muggers attaced the scene where Nick was at last, injuring him but not touching the money." Jason said solidly.
"Hmph. Muggers? That hasn't happened in a little while. Most know Nick's street rep. Was it the money?" The arranger said with a deep, gruff voice. Almost in-decipherable.
"It must've been. But, Nick had never touched the money before, hell, he didn't even know where it was. Only that 'Vivian' did." Jason said with confusion.
"Well, maybe this 'Vivian led the muggers there, knowing Nick would show up, the muggers take place, and then fire? 'Vivian' would look like the innocent one, any-ways." The 'arranger' said while curling his index and middle fingers simultaneously when-ever he said "Vivian".
"I doubt it. Viv has worked with us for a little bit, but more as a mercenary vs. a worker." Jason said, his voice dripping, almost as if he cringed at this thought.
"Have you learned any-thing, my boy? Workers are half-trust-able. Mercenaries are un-trust-able. Has she sought after any intel?" The arranger said with cunning and curiosity.
"I don't know, Nick or maybe Alexis would know. I'll check up on Alexis since Nikkili is out for now." Jason said, sitting up quickly.
"Wait, Nikkili? You always call him "Nick". What is it with this sudden change of name?" The arranger said, oozing with curiosity.
"I don't know, maybe because he just got jumped by a small army." Jason said, scooting his chair in, then he left. -
Maru finished her first drink, half-listening while Vivian talked on and on about some cop having a mid-life crisis. By her expression, Maru gathered that he was very important to her. She blinked, tilting her head while her thoughts chased after each expression on Vivian's face. The smile melted away off the girl's face when she had finished her reminiscent rambling. Used to be. He used to be very important to her. Maru was sure she would hear about it at some point with the way tonight was going already.
She reached for another glass, noting that Vivian wasn't wrong about the music. It was tasteless. Flat. It was the most boring kind of excitement the modern world had to offer. She took a sip of her new drink, lowered the glass from her lips, and swirled some of the liquid around with a painted fingertip.
"Yeah, I've done a little bit of travelling." she offered, but wasn't entirely sure how much the girl needed to know. "Japan, for one. Not Tokyo, unfortunately. Your pig friend's got me beat there. I wanted to, believe me. No, I went to a much smaller city. Little place called Hakui. That was just educational, s---, too. Nothing fun."
She stopped talking abruptly, frowning awkwardly and staring at her drink for a second. Was this something she should tell about? She couldn't tell. She chuckled then, almost forcefully, taking another drink and looking back at Vivian expectantly. -
Jason curled around a few clean-put desks littered across the office territory. He kept towards the 'cleric' room so he could see Nikkili. Eventually, he passed a final curb and turned to see Nikkili sitting up in bed. He had an advanced 'TekNikLyy' computerized band across his left middle finger.
"Nick, go see the Arranger." Jason yelped out, before scurrying across the office room.
Nikkili got out of the bleached stretcher he was in, then stood up, still a bit wobbily. He made his way to the Arranger's post room.
"Well, Nick, my boy, sit down!" The Arranger said, a reasonably new news-paper in his hands.
"What was it?" Nikkili said with a grim voice, backing the seat up so he could settle in it.
"This friend, Vivian, has been interfereing, non?" The Arranger said, still looking at an almost-fresh news-paper.
"Well, not necessarily interfereing. She's been paying off a little debt and almost got killed yester-day. Would've if it weren't fore me." Nikkili said, a bit of a conceited tone in his voice.
"Well, do you remember a 'Reyna'?"
Nikkili shook his head.
"Good. Do you know Maru?"
Nikkili slowly nodded. "What are you getting at?"
"Nothing. I just need more information on this 'Reyna'." The Arranged continued, news-paper still in front of face. "Cause right, she is the main competitor of our cause." He said.
"Why's that?"
"Well, my boy, she stands for every-thing we don't. She wants order, we need control. She wants crime to stop, we need to augment it. Right now, she does not know of your where-a-bouts. She will soon, though. Very soon." The Arranger said, almost as if he were 'Arrange'ing some-thing.
"And how is this again? I don't like it when you hit around the smoke like this."
"Well, ok then. You see, she's gone under the grid for at-least estimated around a few weeks, maybe longer. We need to survey the ones she knows."
"To get more information?"
"Of course, my boy."
"And how?" Nikkili said, sputtering with curiosity.
"Maru. And Vivian, but mainly Maru. We have recruits at disposal, use them at disposal."
"Fine. Maybe. Any other advice?"
"Don't get shot this time." The Arranger said with a audible chuckle.
"Yeah. f--- you too." Nikkili said blatantly. -
"Ah, nice try. I may be stupid, but I'm not that dim. I know a haiku is a type of poem. You can't trick me that easily. Left the city, my ass."
Putting down her drink, Vivian rubbed at her eyes. She wasn't used to not wearing the glasses; and all this light was starting to make her eyes water. Blasted light; what a terrible thing. Who even wanted light in a place like this? "The reason I ask though, is because Joe actually did leave. He came up to me about two years ago, with this look I've never seen before, and doubt I'll ever see again. And he tells me that he's 'breaking out.' Tells me that something's gotta change, that the wind was picking up, that the city was screaming but everybody was too scared to make a sound. And he told me that he was leaving, and he wasn't coming back until he'd made things right. 'If I'm the only one left standing, I will not be afraid to fight.'"
"What a crazy b------, right?" Vivian said, falling silent. She reached for another drink, and fell into the music as she traced through her memories. It was hard to do through the black cloud over her mind, but it was important. Joe was important. He was crazy, but Vivian didn't have any higher respect for him.
"And then he climbed up onto his bike, told me to wait for his return, asked me to get my life sorted out without him, ordered me not to kill anyone; or as he said it 'hold back the night,' and drove off." Vivian leaned forward, "That was the last I saw of him. Felt like I'd lost a brother, fell into a bit of a funk, but when I pulled myself out I was a different person."
Motioning at Maru, Vivian grinned, "But you're a smart girl; only slightly less than Melody. You know I didn't call you up to reminisce on my missing brother. You want to know how this relates to Reyna. Why I'm considering...off-ing her, right? Hell, you want to know everything about Reyna, right down to the shoe size." -
Maru blinked at the girl. Was this a matter of her drunkenness or...?
"I'm serious." she said. She shifted in her seat, eyes suddenly wide in her discomfort. "About Hakui, I mean. I'm not.."
She stared at her for a second and decided this wasn't worth the effort.
"Yeah." she agreed, nodding her head in time with the music. "Yeah, actually, I am. I do. I'd like to know more abour Miss Reyna, that is."
She bit down on her tongue and tried to make herself concentrate, but it was becoming harder with each passing second. The alcohol was numbing, the music pumping and blending into the air like pastel. The whole scene was making her tired.
She leaned in closer to Vivian, setting both of arms down flat against the table and resting her head on them.
"Sorry, go ahead." -
(Guys, exactly what year is this?)
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We're gonna say 2021. Not too far into the future so there's no reason for the technology to be too advanced but also not too soon because the government needs time to collapse.
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(Good. 'Cuz I was just about to send spies on yo ass with lasers and invisibility cloaks. :/)
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Lame.
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