Monday, December 2, 2069, 10 PM Eastern
It's night in the Zen Gardens, and Jason and Akiko are enjoying their walk in the environmentally controlled gardens that surround the teahouse. Holographic cherry trees emit a realistic cherry perfume, and the gravel of the path shift slightly under their feet. Then Kimon breaks in over Jason's implant channel. "I'm terribly sorry to interrupt, sir, but..."
Once Kimon displays the outside surveillance camera feed, it becomes clear why it's requested permission to engage Reality Check's security systems. There are at least ten suspicious looking characters outside, some hidden by bushes or rocks. They aren't uniformed, but they are all in tough-looking winter clothes with hoods pulled up and snow goggles being worn - probably a good idea, given winter in the Northeast can get bitingly cold at this hour of the night. Most of them are armed with long rifles suitable for hunting, but their apparent leader, dressed in a sleek black armored jumpsuit with an IR visor, is armed with a crossbow.
As he addresses his troops, Tracy recognizes his voice instantly. It's Mark Berkowitz! Behind him is a familiar taxi, and Miguel stands in its headlight beams with a thug standing beside him, a pistol in his hands but not aimed at Miguel's head - at least not yet. Miguel shivers; his taxi driver's uniform is not meant for standing around in the outdoors.
"David, go around and watch the back," he says into his headset. "Garrett, go cover the left, Fred, take your guys right. Remember, we want her alive, not pushing up lilies."
At the tea house, Jason turns and explains the situation to Akiko and asks if she wants to trust his security system to take care of it. She responds, "Jason! What kind of question is that? She's in danger! I'm not going to put our date over that!"
Jason: "I'm not just going to leave you, you'd have to come!"
Akiko: "It'll be just like old times!"
Jason: "Except for the squids."
Akiko: "I won't miss that part." She shows Jason a tiny little Naginata Shadow laser pistol she'd concealed somewhere on... how did she manage to hide that thing in her curves-hugging dress?
Back in the warehouse, Cadena dutifully attempts to call Holly. She pops up in the air before his collar. "Cadena? Tracy? What's wrong?"
"Mom!" Tracy yelps, turning away from the security monitors. "Did you pick up Mike okay?" she asks first.
"Tracy, are you absolutely determined to destroy my home?" Kimon's voice asks, the tone shifted somewhat to at least indicate it's not the AI speaking. "Whatever you do, do not leave the room you are in, things are about to get nasty."
Turning to the robot, Tracy says, "Yeah, like I'm gonna walk out there. So long as I don't show that I'm actually here they can't really do anything, right?"
"Akiko, keep an eye out for anything incoming, I need focus for a moment, I have a plan. Sort of. We'll see," Jason then remarks in their transport to his companion. Kimon then perks up, noting, "They have your taxi driver with them, they know." Her eyes then shift blood red as the machine engages into its hacking mode. The target being ... the controls of the various thugs' aircars.
Holly's holographic face nods. "We just picked him up. It looks like he had a relatively easy time of it, but we won't know for sure until the lab gets done scanning him." She peers at Tracy suspiciously. "Young lady, did you have anything to do with him being stuck in VR in the first place?"
Akiko's voice responds over Kimon's audio, "All right!"
"Why does everyone blame me for everything?" Tracy laments. "Mom.. I just convinced him that Sasha had tricked him. He did the rest himself! And it's also not my fault that me ex is outside with his gang, holding a cabby hostage so he can kidnap me. I figured the tower security guys would turn him over to the cops!"
Holly blinks. "Your ex? Which regrettable young man was that?" she says, eying Tracy even more severely. However, she's quick to take action. Tracy hears rapid keys clicking.
"Mark again," Tracy groans, rubbing her forehead. "And he's got a crossbow. Maybe they took away his gun, or he only had the one clip for it that I hid.." She blinks, then turns to a terminal and brings up the mailing-list monitor that Jason but in, to see if Mark actually used it to organize things..
Jason's electronic probing pops up with one immediate match. The taxi has a radio-based dispatching mechanism. Maybe he could use that as an entry into its autopilot systems...
Cadena looks around at the displays, at Tracy, at the image of Holly, and just looks lost and bewildered. He blinks several times, and shakes himself vigorously. He slowly trots across the floor behind Tracy, unsteadily, with movements something like a tipsy sailor regaining his land legs after a long sea voyage.
Sure enough, there's a message from Mark to other members of the Wild Hunt, advising them that he has 'inside information' on their number one quarry of the moment, Tracy of House Trudeau, and that they should meet him at a certain location... And to be armed with tranq rifles.
Jason zeroes in on that control signal. "Kimon, access forth-layer building controls and arm the sonic and tesla canons, please. Lets at least show these punks that it won't be that easy, mm?" he things as the frequency generator locks on the taxi radio system.
Kimon replies, "Security systems, echelon one, arming."
"Mom, does Cadena have some weird brain override for controlling a character in VR?" Tracy asks the hologram as she reads the messages and then chews on her lower lip. She realizes that she hasn't officially been given the Wild Hunt 'notification' by Mark or anyone else yet.. so maybe that's keeping him from doing anything.
"What was that? Did you hear something?" Mark says to the thugs nearby him. The others are spreading out per his orders. He lifts a megaphone to his lips. "Tracy! I know you're in there! We're the Wild Hunt and we're going to get your pretty little tail, so don't try anything funny or it's going to really hurt when I catch you and paddle it red!"
Hearing his name invoked, Cadena seems to sober up a bit. "My apologies, Mrs. Trudeau. It seems that I suffered from a memory fault while visiting the Gloaming via neural induction helmet. I lost my memories of the account creation interface segment, and I am not sure what credit information I gave. I am of course concerned about that. I am also afraid that my behavior in-game was erratic, as I failed to retain memory of the local ASIM-05 behavioral protocols, and ... rather lost sight of my priorities. I will file a complete report once we are out of the current crisis situation."
"Don't forget the bit about talking to Black!" Tracy reminds Cadena. She winces at Mark's announcement.. but it wasn't the formal Wild Hunt notification, since he didn't mention the 'if you elude us for 6 days' part. Next time I'll be sure to tase him below the belt, she thinks. Still, no sense acknowledging him yet, since he hasn't given the proper notification.
One of the other persons leans toward Mark and whispers something. He adds, "Oh yeah, and if you manage to stay out of our clutches for, um, four days, you get a boon or something, yadda yadda. You won't, so don't get your hopes up. Hunt's on!"
Garrett visibly face-palms.
"Correction. I did not interact, to my knowledge, with any entity self-identifying as the BLACK," Cadena says, as he struggles to squirm into his protective vest once more. "He did, however, make the accusation that I was in service to the WHITE. Considering that this took place in the Gloaming environment, and that my in-game character appearance could arguably have been infringing upon Avatars Incorporated imagery ... well, I honestly don't know what to make of it."
Tracy helps Cadena with his vest snaps. "Kimon, I can talk to the people outside through you if I need to, right? Would they hear my voice or Jason's if I did?" she asks the robot.
Cadena continues to fret, looking a little distant, "I'm not even sure if I signed up for a one-day pass or trial membership, or whether I paid for an annual or semi-annual membership! This does not bode well for my ability to manage funds responsibly."
"They can hear any of one-thousand voice variants by passing it through modulators and using the speaker-arrays outside of this facility. Owner: Jason Edwards voice print on file. Nuisance: Tracy Trundeau voice print on file. Master-Of-Tentacles: Holly Trundeau, voice print on file..." Kimon remarks in monotone.
The taxi's control systems appears like some sort of electical generator in front of Jason's senses, surrounded by rotating walls of cryptographic protection. He works steadily, working his probe through the layers, while elsewhere in reality Akiko is guiding him into a taxi and giving a destination.
Holly looks up at this from where she's assessing the situation. "Master of WHAT?"
"Sorry for the damage your taxi is about to receive, Miguel," Jason thinks to himself.
The taxi's autopilot, sensing an outside connection, attempts to return the electronic probing... But is deflected easily by Kimon's systems.
"Focus, Cadena," Tracy tells the dog. She turns to Kimon, and grins. "Okay, relay this using Holly Trudeau's voice print please: Mark Berkowitz, does your mother know that you're trying to kidnap your ex-girlfriend? Because I'll make sure everyone else knows. Try getting a date after that message goes out."
The thugs outside continue to move into position, with David and his two friends sliding around the building to the west to try to cut off any exits on the backside.
"Please accept my apologies, Lady ... Tracy," Cadena says. "Disorientation. Failure to connect ... but it is not important." The dog closes his eyes for a few seconds, then opens them. "Focused now. I will defend and serve you to the best of my ability. This is my focus."
Mark visibly reddens at Holly's voice, but true to form, tries to bull on despite any obstacles. "Move up!" he yells. "If you see her mom, trank her too! Twice!"
"Good boy!" Tracy say, and rubs Cadena behind the ears as she listens to Mark. "Kimon, Nuisance Voice now, relay: Did you tell your friends how I got the drop on you this morning and tased you in the back of the head.. and how you wet yourself while knocked out?" She knows the last part isn't true, but she just wants Mark to be mad and stupid.
As Jason continues probing the taxi, all the layers of defenses suddenly align. He snakes his probe in, and a few seconds later is rewarded with the welcome text for the autopilot system. "G-Motors Taxi Autopilot ready, where may we take you today?"
"Disable any impact sensors and obstruction avoidance, then swing vehicle out hard left.," Jason instructs it, "Activate any exterior cameras available. Time to play an old game called bumper cars..."
Kimon advises Jason, "Echelon one defenses, armed and ready. Six enemy units within optimal radius."
"Light them up," Jason actually says in the car with Akiko ... as well and sending the command to Kimon.
Via Kimon, Tracy says, "I'll make you a deal, Marky; call this off now, and I won't upload the photos of you drooling on my kitchen floor with your pants down to the Wild Hunt mailing list. Maybe I'll just send them directly to Artemis, so she can put them on the website.."
As Tracy's own voice echoes through the outside parking lot, Mark manages to go beyond red into purple. "LIES! Fred, Garrett, go for the front door, I'll be right behind her... And I'm going to SHUT her UP!"
The taxi's autopilot acknowledges Jason's driving program. It begins to swing into action.
Kimon replies to Jason, "Affirmative. Echelon one defenses... Firing."
The abandoned cars explode into blue lashes of lightning accompanied by wild banshee wailing! Wild Hunt thugs scramble trying to get away from them.
Watching the light show, Tracy mutters, "I'll get blamed if anyone gets hurt."
Fred manages to throw himself back out of the line of fire, but electricity writhes and crackles over the other thugs that were caught in the tesla coils' area of effect. Garrett yells in pain as he and his allies are shocked.
"Ouch, that had to have smarted," Tracy says through Kimon. "Looks like your innate cowardice paid off this time, Marky!" she taunts, as she heads for the locker to get the sneaksuit and her taser. I wish I'd had a chance to shower today, she thinks as she starts to change. I'm wearing the wrong underwear for this.
The taxi engages its motor. The thug near it yells, "Hey, what the--" And then it swerves hard left, smacking him against the next car over! He slides under the hovercar, evidently out cold.
Cadena winces as he sees the monitor display. He does a quick once-over of the monitor displays, looking for any useful information ... such as wisps of strange black smoke rising from bodies anywhere, for instance.
And back in the taxi, Jason, while looking half-asleep, smiles rather evilly. "Pinball-the-thug, taxi style," he thinks to himself. "Now ... where is their leader..."
Mark Berkowitz grits his teeth. "Get out of those shockers!" he yells. "C'mon, break for the front door! She's got to be in there!"
"Kimon?" Cadena asks, uncertainly. "In the event that hostile invaders breach this building's defenses, and enter this room, could you recommend a place in which I might hide to ambush them, where I am not in danger of bumping into any exposed and important cables, or dangerously close to any sensitive equipment that could be damaged?"
Garrett manages, through supreme willpower, to tear himself away from the lightning that gyrates wildly around the car!
Mark charges determinedly along with Fred. They seem only seconds away from gaining access to the building!
"The entrances to the work area are guarded by lethal force if proper security clearance is granted to activate it. It is advised to remain clear of the two entrances, and assume authorization will be granted. The two work-benches in this facility, while important to the Owner's work, are of nominal value and are relatively easily replaced. The control consoles are more expensive," Kimon recites.
Miguel, shocked by his taxi roaring to life, begins to pray. "Our father who art in Heaven, thank you for delivering me from this terrible trial!" He then breaks into a run away from the thugs and warehouse!
The tesla coils' lightning dies away. Kimon reports, "Charge expended. Re-arming Echelon One defense."
The taxi comes around and points at the running human figures... VrrrOOOM!
Cadena peeks up worriedly from where he's kind-of-hiding behind Jason's desk. "Uh, Kimon? Are you able to seek cover if they break in here?"
"I am capable of ambulatory action," Kimon recites.
As the taxi charges headlong toward Reality Check - and Jason worries about how big a dent it's going to leave in the side of his beloved warehouse - Mark spots the headlights coming his way and dives out of its path! The thugs yell panickedly. "Keep going!" Mark yells. "Tracy's gotta be controlling this stuff from inside there!"
Getting out of her standard jumpsuit is easy, but the sneaksuit isn't so quick to put on. Eventually she seals up the front, and the whole thing shrinks to conform to her skin. She grabs her taser and runs for the door to the lobby - as much as she dislikes Mark, she doesn't want to see him killed by Jason's inner defenses!
Cadena's head pops back up. "Tracy! Where are you going? Are you not required to remain within this room?"
"Kimon, warn them about the lethal defenses!" Tracy calls out as she changes.
"Warning attackers of defensive capabilities is not advisable," Kimon recites. "Confirm command."
"Do it!" Tracy insists. "We don't want them dead! They're just morons!"
Cadena says, "I am not certain your instructions were suitably specific. I believe you should only warn them of the threat of lethal force - not to specifically warn them of the defenses!"
One of the twitching thugs manages to snap out of it! He looks around and spots his buddies charging toward the door, and hurries that way.
Mark eyes the door and then turns to Fred. "We need a can opener!" His lieutenant frowns but pulls out a grenade.
"Yes yes yes, don't tell them what they are, just that they're lethal!" Tracy says in exasperation. "Why do AIs have to be so picky.."
"Order confirmed," Kimon recites emotionlessly. Outside, the speaker systems state in monotone. "Breaching the perimeter of this facility is considered an act of lethal aggression and will respond in kind. By continuing you accept all liability and authorize this facility to terminate your life at its leisure. This is the only warning you will receive."
"Furthermore, am I correct in understanding that you do not wish for me to employ potentially lethal force when dealing with those who threaten your wellbeing?" Cadena asks. "That would not be my default behavior in such a situation against superior numbers of armed opponents, especially. That will greatly reduce my tactical options."
Fred takes careful aim, then lobs the grenade at the doors!
KaTHUMP! The grenade lands exactly at the base... Then explodes with deadly force!
"Cadena.." Tracy starts to reply, but then the grenade goes off.
"ARGH!" One of the thugs who was standing too close gets knocked back by the explosion... Evidently out cold.
"Frotz it, Fred!" Mark swears.
Fred retorts, "Save it, you wanted us in, I got us in!" Mark grumbles, but motions for his men to press on into the now exposed, shrapnel-savaged lobby of Reality Check.
"Jason's gonna kill me," Tracy wails.
They advance into the lobby, guns drawn, looking around warily for any resistance.
Cadena's eyes narrow, and his lips curl to reveal fangs, though he has enough presence of mind not to betray his hiding place with an audible snarl.
Jason's attention is quickly caught by the sudden burst of errors from his main door camera system! "/Kimon, lethal force authorized. Activate all remaining systems; electrify all doors and exposed metal trim, tear and sleeping gas, and gun turrets,/" the hacker commands the system. And given the /doors of his building are now /gone/, Jason aims the cab right for the hole, and the tugs inside.
For a second, it looks like it's going to slam right into the building... But Jason manages to whip it around and aim it at the thugs. They stare back at it like deer caught in headlights.
Mark dives trying to get out of the way of the rampaging taxi, but gets knocked to the ground! The thug behind him takes the brunt of its impact.
The taxi slams into the wall of the lobby. Its headlights go out, and the autopilot whines unhappily at Jason about unacceptable damage to its structure.
Kimon replies, "Echelon Two defenses: activated." White gas vents into the lobby, though with the fans from the taxi still running, it plays havoc with the air circulation - this system was meant to be activated on a fully enclosed room after all.
"Funny-smelling gas," Mark's companion reports. "Smells like..." He slumps to the ground. Garrett yells, "It's tranq gas! Hold your breath!"
Sealing her suit-mask and sticking her taser into one of the expanding pockets of the sneaksuit, Tracy cautiously heads for the lobby door.
"Tracy!" Cadena calls out. "Please take cover! They have explosives!"
"I don't see a bomb shelter in here," Tracy grumbles, but gets under the nearest workbench and activates the suit's stealth mode.
The Wild Hunt outside peer at one another cautiously, then visibly take deep breaths and plunge into the lobby, now shattered by the grenade and the taxi.
"And Kimon," Cadena adds, "if you are indeed ambulatory, and this would not interfere with your defense capabilities, I would advise you to seek cover as well."
"Moving," Kimon remarks.
Mark stirs groggily on the floor. "Anyone get the license number of that truck?" he groans.
Ambulatory computers without emotion move as if nothing at all is the matter with what is going on; meaning she 'saunters' over to the other workbench and gracefully slides herself under it.
Holly's voice whispers to Cadena, "If you can stall them, I have forces on the way, they'll be there in about four minutes!"
Garrett takes aim at the doorknobs on the double doors leading into the majority of the warehouse. He flips an ammo selector from '2' to '1', then warns, "Back away from the door if you don't want to get hurt!"
The door buckles inward!
Fred moves up to the now shattered door and peers in cautiously, his rifle barrel nosing around the edge.
Behind the warehouse, David reports into his headset, "Looks quiet back here. You guys okay up front?... Mark? Fred? Garrett?"
"Bloody foreign imports. Can't hold up to a simple crash. Shoddy! Jason complains as he starts doing crazy things like activating the air conditioning controls and using those circuits to reroute the main controls. Sure, movement won't be as smooth or accurate, but...
The white dog keeps down, behind the modesty plate, crouching and biding his time to spring out and give someone a nasty surprise ... or so he hopes.
From her hiding place, Tracy calls out, "I don't know how big a share of the reward you were hoping for, but it's not worth dying for. Don't step through that door!"
Mark manages to get to his feet. "Ow... That's going to hurt in the morning." He looks around at the still-running taxi, then yells, "GET IN THERE! NOW! Get her!"
The black armored thugs pile into the warehouse main lab area, with Mark looking back over his shoulder at the taxi.
Garrett sweeps the warehouse. "Looks empty," he says to Mark. "You sure we have the right address?" He retorts, "She's got to be in here somewhere."
David shouts, "Look! There's a back door! Covering it, Mark. What're your instructions, big boy?"
There's a rather worrying whirr right above Tracy and Kimon. Two of what appeared to be air-return ducks open up and two very nasty-looking machine-gun style turrets drop down (probably salvaged!). There's several clicks as the belt-feed starts up. A moment later the room is poundingly loud as the guns erupt in a short burst of fire and the acrid stench of gunpowder as they train on the thugs! "Lethal force deployed and targets locked. Have a nice day!" a tinny voice chirps all too cheerfully.
Blood spouts as one turret rips into Fred! He screams, flung back against the shelf by the impact. The other turret tracks Mark, who yelps as the bullets pelt him painfully and turns toward the nearest cover - Tracy's table..
Garrett and the other thug yelp. "Guns! Get in here, David!" Garrett yells into his headset, pulling his rifle up and aiming for the closer turret.
Suddenly, there's a flash of white from behind Jason's workstation, as Mark dives for Tracy's hiding position - Cadena is on an intercept course. He goes right for the throat (since the rest is obviously armored), with his claws extended to abnormally large size.
"I gave you your chance to live!" Cadena snarls, as he slashes at the armored throat. "No one harms my mistress! NO ONE!"
Mark gurgles as Cadena's teeth close around his throat! Even through the flexible ceramic armor of his jumpsuit, that has to hurt. He goes down to the floor, limp.
Garrett's rifle fires! The bullet spangs off of the turret's armor and cracks against the far bookshelf.
The other thug switches to standard bullets as well, but his own shot is also deflected. "Frotz! These things are armored or something! Unfair!" he yelps.
"Why aren't they trying to get away?" Tracy wonders. When Mark goes down, and the rifles start up, she feels more and more certain that 'stay still, stay quiet, be invisible' is the best course of action, and follows it.
"Thank you for the gift of bullets," the turret chirps happily, "We will endeavor to return your gift and surpass it!"
Mark recovers enough to struggle with the white-furred canid that has him engaged in combat. "Get... off... you... mutt!"
Fred groans, lying against the bookshelf, a bin of spare batteries toppled over onto his head.
Garrett motions to his friend, "Get under cover and kill that dog!" He makes for Tracy's table himself!
The ski-masked and bulletproof-vest-wearing accomplice crouches down by Jason's workstation, and takes aim.
With Garrett suddenly in reach, Tracy makes a strike at his wrist in an attempt to keep him from using his weapon!
Envoy tries one more!
The bullet cracks into Cadena's side! It leaves a painful bruise, but doesn't seem to have pierced the Kevlar.
Garrett yelps as an invisible hand reaches out and wrestles his rifle away from him! "Gah! It's a ghost!"
Alright, ya yellow-bellied varmint. Ya shot da doggie, so dance!" the turrets declare in really bad faux-cowboy accents. "Yeehaw!" One turret swings and fires on the thug! The other targets Garrett!
"No, wait! She's wearing a sneaksuit!" Garrett corrects, turning around trying to grab his gun away from her.
"Cannot target aggressor, Nuisance is in the way," Turret 1 complains. Turret 2, though opens up on the thug!
Powpowpow! The thug is slammed against the wall by the turret's return fire. A puddle of red blood appears under him.
Cadena, meanwhile, is still in full frenzy mode, slashing and scraping against Mark's armored suit, but finding no purchase against it.
Figuring that wrestling with a stronger opponent is a losing option, Tracy throws the rifle back towards the other workbench before it can wrested back from her, then reaches for the pocket with her taser in it.
Garrett looks anguished as his rifle gets flung to the side, but decides based on the feminine outline he sees that maybe he can grab her and save his buddies a lot of time. He lunges after Tracy!
... and misses. "Stay still, you little minx!" he growls.
Fred, battered but still alive, struggles to consciousness. "Wh... What's going on?" He blinks blurrily at Garrett attacking the empty air underneath the table.
Mark struggles with the dog on him, trying to work his way around to kick Cadena off.
ZAP! An unfamiliar voice yelps, "Pull him away! The door's electrified!"
"No no no, little Timmy. You stay in the well," the turret chips and opens up a burst on poor fred! The other one keeps tracking around, but doesn't find a target that isn't also near someone designated as 'please don't kill'. "Aww, I never get to have any fun," it complains.
The bullets crunch against Fred's vest! He slumps back down again, evidently knocked out.
Despite Mark's ferocious struggling, Cadena is like a fuzzy white limpet mine... Equipped with ferocious teeth and claws that seem bigger than they have any right to be.
Mark arghs! He cowers under the dog's wild onslaught of bites and claws, trying to protect his face with his arms.
Garrett growls, trying to keep his eyes fixed on the elusive shimmer that must be his quarry. "Pull yourself together, Mark!" he yells. "I've... Got ya!" He springs again.
Not quite - off by a country mile, alas for him.
Mark whimpers.
From outside, David's voice echoes over Mark's still-open comlink. "Ungh! It's electrified," he says. "I'm okay! Shoot it open!" A guncrack.
Tracy can't keep dodging forever while under the table, so scoots out and heads for the lockers where she can have room to maneuver, will be covered by the turrets, and can finish drawing her taser.
"Hey! Get back here," Garrett complains, trying to grasp Tracy as her form shimmers away... To no avail.
The white dog continues its largely ineffectual flurry of claws and fang against Mark's armored suit, barking largely unintelligible threats all the while.
"Ah keel yew!" Turret 1 chips, and bursts at Garrett!
Turret 1 opens fire, but unfortunately the shots either deflect from Garrett's armor, or from the table partially obscuring him. Garrett throws a wistful look at his rifle... Wait. What is that robot doing to. Oh no. "My gun!" he yells.
Now that she has her taser drawn, Tracy squats down and centers the laser dot on Garret's chest, and pulls the trigger..
Holly's projection has gone into stealth mode - that is, she can still see and hear what's going on around Cadena, but she's blanked the image it would normally project. She whispers into Cadena's ear, "We have got to get you bigger teeth!"
The taser gun fires! ZAP The electrode connects squarely onto Garrett's chest. He convulses.
"Oh, I hear raindrops tapping on your head!" Turret 1 chips along happily. "Nice lead raindrops, traveling at 1600 feet per second!"
A blinking light appears under Jason's VR overlay, warning him that turret #1 is starting to run low on ammunition. Turret #2 is fine, having only fired a few rounds.
Alas, its aim is a little off. Those bullets that strike, are deflected by the ceramic hexagons that armor the suit.
Garrett struggles through gritted teeth to peel the electrodes away from his chest.
Cadena manages to draw blood! Mark cowers. "Make it stop!" he begs. "Make the hurting stop!"
David, accompanied by two thugs, burst into the shot-open back closet and through the kitchen! "Shoot that door open!" yells David, now in stereo from Mark's comlink and from the southern door as well.
"Then SURRENDER, you worthless walking bag of filth! You and all your cohorts!" Cadena snarls. "This hunt of yours is no game! You worthless man-child, who thinks you can shoot whomever you please, then run crying home when you don't get your way!" He continues, frothing at the mouth.
Mark yells, "Enough! We surrender! Stand down! Just stop hurting me!"
Garrett, about to lunge after Tracy's elusive shimmering outline, pauses and then slowly raises his hands.
"If they've surrendered, then they can pay for the damages," Tracy says to Kimon, hoping Jason will turn off the turrets for that.
"Terms of surrender are not in database. Computing proper terms now," one of the turrets chip, "All those who are surrendering must strip off any protective gear and be bound together. Any attempt at betrayal will be met with Echelon three response."
Holly's voice sounds from Cadena's collar. "Security forces are on the way to arrest you, Mr. Berkowitz. You'll be charged with breaking and entering, armed assault with deadly force, and attempted kidnapping."
Mark and Garrett surrender, removing their jumpsuits, exposing their boringly bland skivvies. The other thugs seem out cold.
"Down! Down on the floor! Hands behind your head!" Cadena barks. "BITE THE TILE!"
"We need to find Miguel before the scavengers do too," Tracy says, sounding relieved. She swipes at the controls on the arm of the suit, but instead of simply deactivating stealth she accidentally sets it transparent. She deactivates a second later, but not before anyone looking knows that she has red silk underwear.
"We need to find Miguel before the scavengers do too," Tracy says, sounding relieved. She swipes at the controls on the arm of the suit, turning back into default gray.
"Good luck with that, he is likely long gone," as Kimon extracts herself herself from the workbench.
Minutes later, the promised security has arrived, along with Jason and Akiko (holding her slim and deadly little laser pistol at the ready). Holly, suited up in tactical armor, looks around the remains of Jason's lobby, then rushes in to hug Tracy, while the stern-looking guards bag and tag the thugs.
"Mom!" Tracy cries and hugs back. "This was not my fault!" she immediately claims.
A very ... hm, it's hard to say just how Jason is feeling when he comes marching through the broken lobby, fragments of glass and other debris crunching under his feet. He surveys the damage, then proceeds to run his hands through his hair. "I don't suppose you can leave those two in my care? I have a pair of shears and a blowtorch I want to introduce them to," he remarks tiredly to the security and waves towards Mark and Garrett. He's probably not serious, but...
Cadena bounds about in the background, rushing from prone thug to another. Now that the immediate threat has subsided, he has suddenly switched from "kill-kill-kill" mode into "Oh no! Human beings are BLEEDING!" mode, as he attempts to administer first aid to make sure that no one bleeds out while waiting on medical assistance.
"We need them," Tracy says. "They have to contact Artemis for the meeting place on where to drop me off for their reward, after all, right?"
Holly hugs Tracy tenderly. "I know it's not your fault, dear. It's that frotzing S--" Her embrace turns viselike. "Honey, you are NOT going to be live bait!"
Miguel seems to have made good his escape. What little Cadena can make out of his trail, after all the fumes of the grenade explosion and the ionic discharge from the rigged cars, suggests he might have made his way to the nearest public telephone booth.
"Of course not, Mom!" Tracy claims. "Otherwise Jason would have staked me out in the parking lot by now."
The white dog pads up to Holly and Tracy. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Trudeau, but I failed to pick up any useful trails on the others who fled the scene. It appears that they are also guilty of holding a cab driver hostage, forcing him at gunpoint to lead them to us. I recognized him from earlier. I am not certain how to contact him to make sure that he escaped."
"I have his phone number.. but I think it's for the cab phone," Tracy notes.
Holly eyes Jason. "I do not feel comfortable leaving two weirdos who may still intend to kidnap my daughter in your care," she says, straightening up. "Jason, I'd much rather relocate you all into an Avatars safehouse, but you might be a little bit attached to all your fancy gadgets here."
Trying to derail her mother's train of thought, Tracy notes, "Jason was on a date with Akiko tonight. How'd it go, Jason?"
Cadena blinks, looking a bit derailed as well.
"What is left of them," Jason points out and gestures around his 'lab'. "And if you feel so convinced of my inability to manage things, then take her," he adds and waves to Tracy. "As for the date, ask Akiko. She should be coming in soon considering she came with me when we had to cut everything short."
"I guess a safehouse is okay while stuff gets fixed," Tracy mumbles, and runs her fingers through her still-unwashed, bad-hair-day hair. "So long as the General doesn't know where it is."
While the others are chatting about dates and such, Cadena trots over to the side, and calls up his e-message service, checking for any new arrivals. It doesn't take very long at all, and then he trots right back.
Akiko steps in, looking... Wow, is that really Akiko? Tracy remembers her as a scared little Japanese girl, but now she's matured into an Asian beauty in a shimmering blue silk dress that ripples as if she were wearing ocean waves. She puts her gun away since it seems like the threat is well contained now. "It went wonderfully," she assures Tracy.
Tracy's mouth drops open, and she seems to shrink as she slouches and pulls her hair down in front of her face. "Hi Akiko," she says, sounding defeated.
Cadena quietly looks up at Tracy, cocking his head sideways, one ear quirked inquisitively as he eyes her, then looks at Holly, at Akiko, at Jason....
"Until? Do you even know how much all of this will cost to repair?" Jason asks, sounding rather defeated himself. "I don't have endless corporate funds backing me. I'll have to salvage and repair it all myself. This will take at least a year to put right." He heads towards Kimon to check her for damage while Akiko and Tracy .. talk.
Akiko moves up to touch Tracy's hand, smiling. "I haven't seen you in forever!" she says to Tracy. "Are you all right? Jason filled me in a little, but he was concentrating on things here while we flew over."
Holly frowns. "Well, I'll put my lawyers on the case and maybe we can squeeze some money out of those idiots," she says. Mark, Garrett, and Fred (patched up thanks to Cadena's intervention) along with the other would-be Wild Hunters are outside in the chill night wind, preparing to be airlifted away to an Avatars LLC security holding facility. "If you need a lab in the meantime, Jason, I can get you authorization to use one of our spare facilities. No charge!"
Tracy seems suddenly shy, but still smiles to Akiko. "You've changed a lot. I'll be okay.. nobody died, but I didn't do much. Jason told me to stay put so I hid most of the time. I think maybe he hates me though." She reaches down to pet Cadena, since it's nice to have someone standing at her side.
Cadena just quietly leans into the petting, tail wagging slowly.
"I'll consider your offer," Jason notes to Holly once he is satisfied Kimon wasn't damaged in the chaos. He rubs his hands slowly over his face, perhaps in frustration. "This is hopeless," he finally says. "We don't have the equipment, funds, or resources, to deal with what is going on. They're just going to pick us apart, one by one. I just lost two-thirds of my defenses in five minutes and now my home is exposed to salvagers. Two thirds to a buch of idiot kids off on some stupid game quest."
"What kind of mental defective keeps charging on past nasty, but nonlethal defenses, ignores repeated warnings that lethal force will be deployed, and so on?" Jason continues, "Who is that stupid? I don't want to start killing people but what choice are these idiots giving me?"
"Jason? Hate you?" Akiko looks surprised at Tracy. "If you're here at all, it means he trusts you! He might be a little bit upset about the damage, but..." She looks over at Jason ranting at Holly. "It's not like it's your fault jerks with too much weapons and too little brains are after you, is it?"
Holly frowns. "They've played a lot of Gloaming... Avatars LLC follows the rules on VR interfaces, but what about Dantech? Could they have been hypnotized?"
"But I was here, and they found me because someone must have seen me get into that taxi," Tracy says with a sigh. "He thinks I make too many mistakes because I'm a naive kid."
Kimon begins storing the neatly disassembled and cleaned parts of the rifle.
"Plus I'm cursed," Tracy adds in a whisper. "Even if the curse is named Sasha."
"I wouldn't know. I stay away from VR games," Jason remarks, shaking his head. "Now I have to weld temporary doors up on the front until I can actually fix it correctly. That's going ..." He groans again, "What time is it?"
Akiko pets Tracy's hand. "Tell me about it! She was my curse four years ago, always sniffing me and Inari out, no matter how we tried to hide," she says. "She might be after me this time too! But at least I'm not going to be helpless this time, I made myself a promise." She pats the hidden pocket where her hold-out gun is concealed.
Kimon replies, "At the sound of the tone, it will be 10:15, Jason."
beep!
"Right. An hour and a half, roughly. Might be time to weld up some makeshift doors," Jason remarks. He looks at the mess again and amends, "If it is even worth it."
Cadena gives Tracy's other hand a friendly and sympathetic lick, and then he trots over toward Jason and Holly near the door.
Grinning to Akiko, Tracy says, "You toughened up I see. Mom made me learn martial arts.. but I did sorta like it after awhile. Got into gymnastics and stuff because of it. Am I a terrible person for wanting to pummel Sasha until she isn't recognizably human anymore?"
Akiko looks skyward. "Was I terrible for wanting the same thing?"
"Nope, I guess that makes us normal then!" Tracy says cheerfully, then glances over at her mother and Jason (and now Cadena). "So.. did Jason fall apart when he saw you dressed like this?" she asks in a whisper.
Holly shakes her head. "Well, do you want me to take Tracy off your hands for tonight, Jason? And did you have anything you wanted to ask our young would-be kidnappers before I slap them into a room with a lightbulb, a table and two chairs?"
Akiko grins! "Yes, yes he did. He looked so, so very cutely lost!"
"Is there gonna be a second date then?" Tracy asks, looking sly.
Cadena looks back and forth between Holly and Jason, tail wagging slowly.
"I'll ask them later. As for Tracy ... she'll probably want to meet Inari. She should touch down at midnight. So ... no, she can remain. I can always put her on cleanup duty; someone has to sweep up this mess," Jason says.
"That depends on Jason," Akiko confides to Tracy. "He's going to be picking up Inari in a little less than two hours. Our lovable hacker Robin Hood has a busy life."
Holly frowns. "I'll leave a few men here to keep patrol then," she says. "They won't get in your way, promise! But Mark and his band of idiots might have been a little bit deterred if they'd seen some armed opposition on the outside."
"Inari is coming?" Tracy squeaks, eyes going wide. "Oh no.. Jason will be totally distracted then."
"I can't believe it either, but if she says she is, then she'll be here!" Akiko says.
"They walked through million-volt discharge defenses," Jason points out to Holly, "I don't think a few guards would have deterred them."
"Uh, you'd be competing with her you know," Tracy whispers to Akiko, while glancing at Jason. "I gave up as soon as I saw you, but I never really stood a chance anyway."
Cadena nods slowly. "They showed almost complete disregard for personal safety," he notes in a low voice. He must be in the "not sure whether I'm allowed to talk in front of everybody" mode. "Even with an out-of-control taxi careening around, they seemed to largely ignore it except when it was bearing down directly upon them. It was if they thought they were acting out in VR, like those terrorists at the dormitory, almost."
Holly smirks. "Your average Joe Stabbingham is not familiar with a tesla coil defense system," she points out. "Thanks to decades of action movies, however, he is familiar with how guns work. But there's only so much I can do, and I am not bringing my daughter back in hadncuffs... However much she might deserve it.
"In the meantime," Cadena suggests, still quietly, "you might either rent or scavenge a couple of ISO containers to drop in front of and behind the building, as temporary seals on the doors. If you get one with a side door that could face inside, you could lock the main access doors on the container. That should dissuade anyone without ready access to a hauler."
Akiko sighs. "Well, if you love something, set it free, if it loves you, it'll come back to you," she quotes looking philosophical, then confides to Tracy in a hushed whisper. "I love Inari, and if she and Jason would be happy together, I'll try to want that."
The young Japanese woman twiddles with a strand of her hair at this thought.
"Frankly, she would probably like handcuffs too much," Jason remarks rather dryly. His head tilts, then a nod follows. "A fair suggestion with regards to the doors. It would secure it well enough."
"Well, I don't know that they'd be happy.." Tracy admits. "You two at least wouldn't have to change your entire lifestyles to see each other. I should check out the damage to the lobby. If Jason will let me use the conference room projectors, I can whip up a 'scape to hide the damage."
"One more minor thing, Holly ... if these are the types of boys you let Tracy date ... you both need to go to counseling. A lot," Jason adds.
Holly nods agreement as well. "Anything else I can do for you before I kiss my daughter goodnight and take these idiots downtown? And what are we going to do about Randall?" she asks of Jason. "Who isn't getting a goodnight kiss, through no fault of his own."
Cadena's tail wags more vigorously, happy to be of help. "I also may have a minor conundrum, but I suppose it can wait. It's not nearly as important as this. Just a little glitch regarding the Gloaming and its curious billing practices ... or perhaps a gap in my memory. I'm not sure which."
"I already have plans in action for dealing with Randall," Jason answers, but doesn't elaborate. "Hopefully they will work better than this did."
"Believe me, Mark Berkowitz was not my choice," Holly replies. "Thank God my daughter picked up the signals and realized he was a bad choice."
Holly nods to Jason, then goes over to give Tracy another hug and a kiss on her forehead. "You be careful, all right, sweetheart, and help Jason with the mess? I'm going to leave a few men to guard this place, but if something big's coming, don't try to play hero, just get out and get safe."
Tracy thinks for a moment, then asks, "Mom? Can I have some of those Gen-8 AV projectors you use at trade shows?"
"The big ones? Whatever for?" Holly looks puzzled.
"There are no heroes here," Jason calls out. He shakes his head then heads towards Akiko. "Sorry about this. And everything. This was supposed to be a normal night and I managed to botch it," he tells her when he gets close and ends up looking at the floor.
"Well.. I could hide all the damage to the building, project guard robots.. maybe an alligator pit or a roof-dragon. You know, like I did for Halloween before all the complaints?" the girl notes.
Akiko flings her arms around Jason and hugs him. "Oh, Jason! When has life with you ever been normal?" she says with a laugh.
Holly pauses to think. "Well. I think I can get one free, but it'll have to wait until tomorrow morning," she says to her daughter. "That's covered by Stageworker's Union, and they don't do overnight rush jobs."
Tracy hugs her mother, saying, "Thanks Mom! Maybe it'll improve Jason's mood if he doesn't have to see all the damage.."
Holly laughs a bit. "Jason would still know it was there. But I think he works better angry." The middle-aged Chinese mother gives Jason a fond look. "He's probably got some harebrained plan for rescuing Randall. Just remember, life isn't a VR movie, honey. Call me before things go bad."
Jason isn't quite sure how to react to being hugged! "I was really trying to be normal tonight, though," he admits. The squeak of the squashed dragon in his jacket, though, doesn't really help with an image of normalcy. It's also rather awkward, but he does hug Akiko back eventually ... and when he thinks no one is watching, he kisses her cheek quickly. "Thank you for putting up with the insanity," he adds quietly.
"Of course," Tracy promises. "Within the limits of plausible deniability, anyway."
Cadena just wags and looks happy, as it seems the spirits of the humans are buoyed considerably compared to where they were but a few minutes ago.
RIU licks Akiko's ear, causing her to giggle against Jason. She whispers back, "I think I've actually missed it. I'll give you a hand with cleaning up... Unless you'd rather I go?"
Holly grins. "That's my girl," She hugs Tracy again, then Akiko and Jason and gives Cadena a petting, before she goes to escort her prisoners to their new temporary home.
More than anything, Tracy wants to take a calming bath right now. But instead she goes over to Jason and Akiko. "Jason, want me to secure all those cars the Wild Hunt left behind? I mean, maybe we can use them tonight? Or at least to pick up Inari," she asks.
"If you try to leave,I'll handcuff you to a table," Jason claims to Akiko just before Tracy shows up. Hoping that Tracy didn't hear that, he tells her, "Can you manage doing that without someone trying to kidnap you?"
Akiko laughs. "Kinky," she teases Jason. "I'll go with Tracy and keep an eye out."
Cadena wags and gives a quick bark as if to say, "I can help, too!"
"Well, Cadena can guard me," Tracy notes at the bark. "And I still have a few minutes of invisibility left..."
"Keep an eye on her, she does strange things," Jason warns Akiko and thumbs towards Tracy. "Also, feel free to club her over the head if she gives you any trouble at all..."
Akiko whispers to Tracy, "I know you mean well, but let's face it, nothing puts Jason out of the mood more than his lab being in shambles. Let's go deal with those cars!"
"Okay," Tracy agrees. "I don't want to be the one having to pull bullets out of the tables anyway.."