Monday, December 2, 2069, 11:55 PM Eastern
With five minutes to spare, Jason touches down on the landing pad. A monitor lights up with parking fees and instructions as the stolen aircar glides forward and down into the parking structure, followed by the second "getaway" car. If they don't get back, then someday Mr. Berkowitz and his friend Garrett are going to have a heck of a parking fee waiting for them when he gets out of jail, courtesy of the North Bend International Airport.
An elevator descends from the parking level to the underground level, where a moving walkway whisks them to the airport terminal itself. They pass the baggage claim area where bored and sleepy-looking travelers wait for their luggage to emerge, and the ticketing area, where an artificially perky sales-robot waits to serve any customers unfortunate enough not to be able to book their seats online, and ride the escalators up to Terminal One.
To the left is a small lounge with two couches and chairs along the walls for the comfort of travelers. To either side of the window, which looks out onto the tarmac and the jet liners, gimlet-eyed security robots eye them, shaped metal cylinders on treads with hemispherical heads on which cameras are mounted. Each has one standard utility arm on the left and a Hephaestus government-issue rifle on the right - automatic fire, a bolt launcher with taser bolts. Signs on the wall advertise flights to Europe, Africa, China, Australia, and the International Space Station - the last depicts one of the newer fusion-powered Icarus Spaceliners lifting away from its broad-winged first stage launch vehicle.
Ahead of them, a bored-looking security guard mans the entrance security desk, behind which security scanners divide the hallway into two halves, one for incoming traffic and the other for exiting. Each side has a humanoid security droid which halts random passersby and clarifies any anomalies that could represent a weapon or explosive device of some kind.
If all is going according to plan, around now Inari should be arriving in her private jet. Her MyUniverse channel is abuzz over this sudden departure, and some wonder if Inari is being written to by a past lover. 'Could he have known her before she got her fox op?' one fan wonders. 'Maybe it's her abusive dad! LOL.' Even now, her webchannel is streaming video of the golden vixen, dressed in mirrorshades and tough-looking black motorcycle leathers, ensconced in a leather-upholstered acceleration chair with a glass of something bubbly in her hand. Akiko is of course monitoring all this, dressed in one of the anonymous T-shirts and low hip-hugging jeans that Tracy stashed at his place - it makes her look quite a bit younger.
RIU peeks out from within Jason's trenchcoat, eying the plethora of airport security warily. Tracy and Cadena are farther behind, having arrived in the second car under autopilot - it has a return program as well. All of them have already established an encrypted comm channel, and Jason has provided Akiko a white noise generator.
Stifling a fake yawn, Jason saunters towards the security cordon. "Appear bored and boring. That's easy, because I'm both," he thinsk to himself as he looks about, trying to appear for all the world just a 'tourist' of sorts. Nevermind he's actually casing the defenses and what might ot might not be hackable for use later if need be. As he gets closer to the guards he waves once and mutters, "Evening."
The security guard wears a helmet with a visor, but as Jason approaches, the cloudy glass resolves enough for him to see the pleasant (if bored) smile. "Evening, sir. Just walk on through, ol' Gears here will let you know if you need to stop for an inspection."
"Ol' Gears" stands motionless, next to what looks like a gate between the banks of security monitors and scanners.
"Right. Seems a bit silly, but there are enough weirdos out there we need it. Better to catch em than have em walk in, I always say," Jason remarks as he walks through towards 'ol Gears'. He even holds his arms out a bit to make scanning 'easier'. "Kimon, check for access frequencies on their scanner system, please, through the ol' brain chip.." he relays back to his home 'computer'.
As a tired-looking businessman walks through from the opposite side, Jason can make out his skeleton on a display, tracing his movements exactly. Little hotspots identify energy cells that presumably belong to his PDA and implants.
Back at the base of the escalator, Tracy sticks close to Cadena.. and takes the stairs. Behind her mirrorshades, she keeps an eye out for any likely places to duck into for doing an identity swap with Inari. She's wearing the pre-programmed sneaksuit under her jumpsuit, and keeps her hands in her jacket pockets. The black wig helps hide her face a bit, which tends to keep down to look like a brooding teenager.
Akiko looks about nervously, left behind at the top of the escalator, then walks after Jason.
The nearby airport map identifies this as the entrance area to the hub of Terminal One. Past the security cordon would be a ring of stores and restaurants catering to the needs of travelers, and stretching from that would be the first set of gates, with airplanes docked at each. There should be bathrooms in both the hub ahead and the end of the walkway.
Kimon's voice comes through loud and clear to Jason, possibly due to the airport having its own wireless networking hub. "Software maintennance and diagnostic channels identified."
Cadena trots along after Tracy, suited up in his protective vest and electronics gear, with a holo protector feed on his back linked into the publicly-accessible airport channel, cycling through flight arrival and departure times, with pop-up reminders of prohibited items, tips on speeding passage through security, and the occasional advertisement for food court vendors, taxi services, and local hotels - the sort of thing just as easily accessible at any number of monitors throughout the complex. He keeps ears perked and alert for danger, but otherwise does his level best to look like nothing more than someone's personal service animal with a few trendy gizmos thrown in for good measure. He pauses and takes special care when stepping gingerly onto the escalator after Tracy.
"Analyse security on diagnostics channels, please," Jason thinks as he waits his turn to walk through. "Shutting down the actual scanners but making them register as active might be necessary later."
Kimon initiates a security probe. "Class 8 civilian-grade security detected. Author of record is Northrop Avionics, a subsidiary of Dantech Security."
"Noted. Cataloging for possible use later," Jason thinks. Stifling another yawn he finally goes through the security scanner to get it over with.
Ol' Gears surveys Jason as he walks through. "... Proceed," it says in a flat, clipped voice.
Jason salutes the security bot. "Yes sir, immediately, sir," he tells it, grins, and mozies on through!
The security guard's eyes go to Akiko as she comes up. "You're looking lovely tonight, miss," he says. She blushes.
"Hey, watch with the flirting," Jason inwardly grumbles.
Akiko proceeds through the scanner with trepidation, but Gears appears even less interested in her. "Proceed."
Tracy walks up to the security station, and asks, "Excuse me, but do your scanners use x-rays?"
As Tracy approaches, an Indian-looking gentleman dressed in a business suit dashes up the escalator from behind her. He stops behind her politely, if wheezily.
The security guard raises his eyebrow. "Another lovely lady on my shift! I'm so blessed." He winks, visible at close range to Tracy through the visor. "We use X-rays, Y-rays, Z-rays, and a few other rays of which I haven't been informed, miss. Gears can give you all the details. Is there a problem?"
As Cadena approaches the security display, he looks up and stops before the security robot. The holographic cycle on his display is interrupted, and shuts off, as a diagnostic light comes on. A new display appears, showing a schematic of all his incorporated gear, along with biometric data for Cadena himself, with a slowly rotating visual model, and ID. Most of the data blurs by too fast for anyone to have any chance of reading it, but it's largely a courtesy for the human security guard to make sure nothing suspicious is going on while the computers talk to each other.
The girl points to Cadena, and says, "I can't be more than a few meters from my support dog. Would we be able to go through together? And the rays won't mess with signals right?"
The guard nods. "Just go right on through, miss. Ol' Gears will sort it out."
"Okay," Tracy says, and heads for the robot.
Cadena's holo-display finishes cycling through the declaration sequence, and he patiently awaits, like a good dog, for the go-ahead to proceed.
"Kimon, scan airport for maintenance control signals. Try to isolate light, robot, and door controls please," Jason thinks as he continues to saunter on, making a lazy path towards the gates.
"C'mon Caddy," Tracy says to the canine.
Gears nods to the white dog. "Proceed." It turns its gaze toward Tracy and scrutinizes her carefully.
Kimon's voice responds. "Low-grade security network identified for lights and environmental control. Robots are on high-level encrypted security frequencies."
The nearby security droid swivels its head, tracking Jason.
Gears finally nods to Tracy after a few sweat-inducing seconds. "Proceed."
"Prepare to insert control programs into environmental controls. I'll signal when ready to begin," Jason thinks as he continues onward as if nothing at all is amiss.
"I feel like I've been ogled," Tracy tells Cadena as she walks with him through the security hall.
The Indian man steps through after Tracy and is about to follow her, when Gears raises its hand. "Halt," it says. The security guard checks his monitor. "Sorry, sir. Just a routine check." He stands and starts to pat the man down.
"Excuse me, but I'm late, I've got a flight to catch," the man protests. "Could you make it quick?"
Kimon's voice chimes. "Environmental control programs loaded from archives. Intrusion ready."
"Hello, what's this?" The guard pulls out a small snub-nosed gun. "Sorry, sir, I'll have to check this for you. You can pick it up on your return."
The Indian man looks alarmed. "But they told me-- ah-- I need that for self-defense! I am going overseas, and it is very dangerous," he claims.
Despite his protests, the Indian man doesn't get his gun back, and eventually the guard proclaims him "clean" and lets him through.
As Jason walks, he glances toward one of the many holographic arrival displays, checking on the status of the flight due in at 1E. "I bet there will be a mob of fans there," he thinks a bit crankily.
Gate 1E: PRIVATE FLIGHT - Arrival in 2 minutes.
"Let's head for the bathroom, Caddy," Tracy suggests, turning to the right. The restrooms are conveniently located right where Inari's plane is supposed to land, after all.
Cadena's flight arrivals/departures loop pops back on, on his holo display, as he trots after Tracy.
"Bleh, I was hoping for more time," Jason thinks and quickens his pace slightly. His plan is to plop himself down in a sofa between gates 1D and 1E ... then 'helpfully' augment the environmental controls. You never know when a disco needs to break out, after all.
The Indian man picks up his pace, looking disgruntled. He seems to be headed the same direction that Tracy and Cadena are.
Cadena quietly whispers to Tracy, "There are no overseas departing flights in this terminal listed for the next half hour."
Holographic ads light the inside wall of the shops and restaurants. One shop advertises "DUTY-FREE WEAPONS - Don't be without protection in a strangt country! G-Force: There When You Need It." The fine print reads, "All weapons are chipped and will not fire in the vicinity of the airport or on board the plane. Removing a weapon chip is a criminal offense and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law!"
"What's that got to do with anything?" Tracy whispers back, not having paid attention to the person entering security behind them. She was too nervous about getting through herself at the time.
A Duamutef's Donuts plies tasty, high-starch and sugar goods nearby.
If anything, Tracy eyes the donut shop with more trepidation than anything else. "Try our Dimensional Portal Crullers, they can absorb a liter of coffee each," she mutters.
Cadena, rather than elaborating upon vague suspicions, just adds, "Let us be on general alert, then," and he continues along, as he keeps a watch out for any particularly suspicious activity.
The outside wall of the airport is clear durable plastic of some kind, offering an excellent view of the commercial WorldAir jetliner at the gate. Aircar technology has reduced the size of the engines so that they can be built right into the wings, but the overall silhouette remains the same, a bulbous main hull with wide-stretched wings, and windows for the passengers.
The airport seems relatively quiet with perhaps ten or twelve people in the nearby gates... And then there's the crowd at Gate 1E. They carry signs reading "We love Inari!" "Inari 4 President!" "INARI RUELZ!"
"Oh get a life! She's just a musician," Jason yells towards the crowd of fans with hints of annoyance in his voice. He rolls his eyes and heads towards a sofa now and stuffs his hands in his pockets. "Ten seconds until control infiltration," he thinks to Kimon.
"Fans," Tracy notes with a frown, picking up her pace a bit and heading for the restrooms.
The window outside looks onto Inari's private jet now taxiing into place, a whole new level of sleek aerodynamic engineering. Though it's night, spotlights illuminate the Icarus logos on its body, and there's a stylized golden fox head on the tailfin. It comes to a halt, and a refueling truck zooms up to tend to its need while an operator extends the red-carpeted walkway to the plane.
Jason collapses down into a sofa and stretches his legs out as if getting ready for a nap. He still looks annoyed with the fans, but ... probably because it's going to interrupt his resting, right?
The Indian man dashes up to the crowd, then tries to look nonchalant, adjusting his suit and taking a deep breath. He glances over the gathered fans.
A disgruntled fan near Jason shouts back, "Inari's more than a musician, she's a way of life, man! Live like it's your last minute!"
"That's idiotic. You do that and it will be your last minute! Grow a spine and develop your own personality!" Jason quips back. "Kimon, dive and infiltrate environmental controls ... now." he thinks.
Akiko pauses, looking at the crowd. ... That's a lot of people. Her eyes turn toward the walkway.
Hurrying now (like she really needs to go), Tracy ducks past Akiko into the bathrooms, and first checks to see if the family changing one is unoccupied.
Cadena holds back just a bit as Tracy rushes in, standing guard ... but giving Ranesh a little extra attention, since for some reason the fellow has grabbed his attention just a little more than anyone else (seeing as this sure doesn't look like the likely destination of someone late for an outbound overseas flight).
In Jason's VR-scape, a wireframe schematic of the airport security takes shape. It resembles a giant phoenix encircled with moving walls of fire. Intimidating looking as the fire may be, the environmental controls that he wants to reach are only two layers deep, with more layers protecting the higher-security functions.
The Indian man mixes into the crowd and joins in with the cheering. "We love Inari!" he chants in ritual fashion. "We love Inari!'
"People always overlook the basic things, which are just lovely infiltration points. Just monitor the resonance of a light and you can sometimes decode voices from the sound wave vibration, Jason thinks. There's no style to this hack; time is limited so quick and deadly. Break the encryption later, then open a gate in the secondary wall...
The airport bathroom is antiseptic smelling but at least it's clean, not a speck of dust or mold to be seen. The women's bathroom appears empty with no one in the stalls, and the family baby-changing room is likewise vacant, with complementary diapers and sanitary hand-wipes available in tiny boxes.
"Ahem. Calling Sparky Dragon," Cadena says into his subvocal pick-up as he points himself (and his video pickup) toward Ranesh. "Please tap into my video feed. Individual I am looking at claimed to be late for an outbound overseas flight in security. Tried to get a snub-nose gun through security. Could be perfectly good reason, but wanted to give you a heads-up, in case."
After checking that the room is empty, Tracy enters the Family Restroom and throws the latch. She hurriedly removes her wig and pulls up the hood of the sneaksuit, then taps her earpiece and whispers, "I've got the family room," before starting to remove her outer clothing.
The volume of fannish squealing goes up as the hatch of the private jet opens and several camera robots zip through to take up position. A male and female in matching shiny black jumpsuits step through first, and then the familiar golden vixen face of Inari. She's here!
RIU beeps? inside Jason's trenchcoat.
"RIU, cloak and go monitor the guy Cadena is worried about," Jason instructs the bot. In virtuals-ace, his 'knuckles' crack and he dives towards the security!
RIU blips into invisibility! Jason feels a scaly presence slither out from under his trenchcoat and then presumably he's gone to monitor Ranesh.
Inari looks around coolly, and then lets her bodyguards preceed her into the airport. The camera robots zip around to monitor her from different angles.
Jason's cyberattack worms through the first level of security, but the system detects an outside presence and emits a wave of tracers!
In the bathroom, Tracy's boots, jumpsuit, jacket and wig get stuffed into a folding bag and squashed up in the fold-down diaper changing table. Then she takes a position behind the door, unlatches it, and gets ready to trigger stealth mode if anyone comes in.
Kimon advises Jason. "Intrusion in progress. 50% completion."
"Scatter decoys, location dispersal, worldwide. Distract tracers. Wall two, time to open up for me," Jason says as his virtual form goes blurry and dives towards layer two!
The layer opens up before Jason's hack-form, flames wisping out to become the green-ciphered black walls of the local control system. Kimon chimes. "Decoys successful. We have access."
"Inject full control over environmental systems, lights, fire, door looks, temperatre, speakers, everything," Jason thinks as he works fast in deploying his control programs. "Cadena, Tracy, there may be plants in the crowd," he sends though his comm-link, "That Idnian man is watching two others in the crowd. Something smells fishy. Be ready."
"Ready," Cadena subvocalizes over the communicator. "Please advise if I should approach further. Otherwise, remaining in position to assist my master."
The bodyguards exit the walkway and take up position on both sides as Inari walks up. She smiles at her fans, her predator-intense eyes going over each face until they rest upon Akiko... And then she glances back to the others, narrowing her gaze at the Indian man. "Well, what a surprise to find you all here," she says, her teeth tiny and sharp. "And here I thought I was going to be all alone by myself here."
The Indian man chants, "We love Inari! We love Inari!" His acting is terrible, however, it's as if he's reading lines off a teleprompter.
Akiko waves to Inari, smiling, then looks toward Jason, still apparently napping on the airport couch.
"RIU, be charged to bolt that man if he makes any agressive movements towards Inari, Jason instructs the stalking-dragon. "RIU has him covered, Cadena ... but be ready anyway. I have a bad feeling."
"Acknowledged," Cadena returns, on the alert, and maybe just a little bewildered at the sight of Inari and the wide-ranging nature of her audience. Somehow, he'd imagined her following to be ... different somehow?
Inari continues brightly, "I feel very welcome here in North Bend! But I hope you'll forgive me, it's been a long trip and I feel the need to... Freshen up." She winks, and then nods to her bodyguards. The male stays nearby, while the female breaks away and heads toward the bathroom.
Akiko whispers into her com, "Not that her private jet doesn't have a bathroom already." She hovers nearby, keeping an eye on Inari and her escorts.
"Talk to me.. is she coming alone?" Tracy whispers into the channel.
Kimon acknowledges Jason's instructions. "Standing by for instructions," it says.
Disperse," Jason instructs his system and the VRscape around him dissolves, leaving his vision back in the real world. He cracks open one eye and watches the whole 'rock star' thing. Also, realizing something, Jason checks the receiver-unit in his implant and listens for signals that might be being sent to Ranesh.
"On her way," Cadena subvocalizes into the shared channel. "Her lady bodyguard is clearing the way first."
Cheering Inari fans attempt to press close, to reach out and touch Inari, but the male bodyguard fends them off. "Make way, please! The Lady needs her privacy." The female bodyguard heads toward the bathroom but notices the large white dog nearby. "Excuse me," she says to Akiko. "Is this your dog?"
Inside the bathroom, Tracy activates stealth mode and vanishes. Then she keeps very very still.
"Asian woman on the right is moving forward," Jason murmurs into his comm-link. "Mr. Indian is watching her."
"Confirmed," Cadena subvocalizes. "I am pointing my video pickup so you may refer. Two individuals spotted. May be carrying snub-nosed pistols of same model described earlier." He focuses first on the asian woman, and then a "redneck"-looking fellow in the crowd. "Should I give personal ID to Inari's escort for security purposes?"
Inari continues to scan the crowd as her bodyguards clear the way slowly. Her gaze pauses over Jason looking distracted on his sofa, and the tip of her tongue appears on her muzzle, licking her nose briefly. She continues on however, perhaps not wanting to draw the fans' attention to him.
"Akiko, cover for Cadena?" Tracy whispers.
Akiko hesitates until Tracy prompts her, then smiles and moves closer to Cadena, rubbing his ears. "Oh! Excuse me, is he in the way, miss? Yes, he's mine. Isn't he just adorable?"
"Not yet. We don't want to tip any hands," Jason answers Cadena. He fakes another yawn and stretches. "Kimon, isolate that call the Indian has going and copy the communication signal to our communicators in listen-only mode." he thinks.
"Master," Cadena subvocalizes, "should I stay in position to accompany you, or move into position to intercept possible threats, should they act?" He then immediately looks up and wags his tail, tongue lolling. He drops on his haunches and raises one paw out, bobbing it as if offering to "shake."
"Intercept," Tracy decides. "I can sneak out, and I'm armored - the others aren't. But be careful not to block RIU's line of fire."
Kimon chimes. A low-level whispered conversation becomes audible. "... the heck is Inari doing now? Ranesh, Bryan, keep an eye on her, Marie, you've got a sudden urgent call of nature."
The female bodyguard chuckles and then shakes Cadena's paw. "Yes, he is cute, but could you please keep him under control? My client's coming through and we've had a few... canine-related incidents that I'd really like to avoid."
Cadena tongue-lolls, leaning into the ear-scritches and hamming up the part of just being a big happy harmless dog.
Akiko looks startled. "Oh really? How terrible! Don't worry, Caddie here will be good. ooh! Is that a REAL FOX?" She keeps a hand on Cadena's collar, though her grip is light and wouldn't hold him at all if he decided to make a move, and pretends surprise at Inari's appearance.
Cadena anxiously watches the people-with-suspicious-pocket-bulges, trying very hard just to look dumb and happy.
The female bodyguard sighs and smiles. "Yes, I take it you haven't heard of the world famous Inari?" Her tone somehow makes it sound like Akiko must be a real shut-in. She offers a black card with a gold foxhead on it. "If you'd like to learn more, you'll find a website on this card. Excuse me, I'm going to make sure the bathroom's clear."
"Everyone keep calm," Jason says into his comm. "We have to play this cool. Any sudden movements will tip off the security." Not that he doesn't feel twitchy himself, but...
The nearby security droids keep an eye on the procession.
The Chinese woman hurries toward the bathroom, "Excuse me, please," she says as she brushes by the bodyguard. "Very urgent!"
Tracy chews on her lower lip, hidden behind the mask of her sneaksuit. Great.. if I switch with Inari, are those three in the crowd extra Voya security or a hit team out to get her? I hope Inari knows, she worries.
Cadena tongue-lolls and extends a paw out to shake to the urgent Chinese lady. "Wurf!"
The Chinese womman oofs as Cadena's paw snags on her sleeve! "Excuse me, your dog's in my way," she says not looking up at Akiko, trying to disentangle him.
Cadena immediately whines and drops back, looking chastened, like he KNOWS he's been a bad doggy! "Confirmed. Individual is packing, heading into restroom," he sub-vocalizes.
The whispered audio conference call says, "Look casual, Marie. Pileup in front of the bathroom, happens all the time. Ranesh, Bryan, just take up position, be natural."
The female bodyguard smiles tightly. "Go on ahead, miss," she says. The Chinese woman sighs a breath of relief and then hurries into the bathroom.
"RIU, continue to follow out of sight, be prepared to stun as necessary. Confirmed weapons," Jason instructs his little dragon. Jason stretches out and pushes himself back to his feet. "For the love of everything, it's midnight, folks. I'm just waiting for a plane to arrive and trying to get some sleep. Can all of you please keep it down," he complains in a tired-sounding voice.
RIU beeps! (over the radio)
Cadena slinks back behind Akiko, trying to get back from the crowd. "Sparky Dragon, Master, anyone - are Inari's bodyguards informed of her plans? May I have permission to warn them of armed suspects? Unsure of how they'll react."
"I have no idea," Tracy whispers. "Can Kimon identify them as Voya security?"
Tracy's hearing picks up the Chinese woman as she enters the female bathroom. Luckily however, she doesn't seem interested in the changing room; instead she takes up position near (if Tracy is hearing this right) the sinks and becomes silent thereafter.
"Don't warn them directly," Jason tries to transmit, "Can you get one of the men to drop their gun? Kimon, can you identify the tree individuals? Access my visual interface for reference."
Kimon chimes. "Working... Affirmative. Ranesh Baliga. Marie Wong. Bryan Fosters." Information begins scrolling up, identifying them as local actors and scrolling through a list of multimedia appearances in which they've previously "starred" - if you can call commercials and public TV announcing to be starring roles.
"Three identified as actors. Likely Voya agents," Jason relays to the others.
The female bodyguard goes in to check the bathroom next, while Inari looks down at Jason's outburst. "Quiet, mister? I don't know about that, midnight seems like the perfect time to... ROCK!" She snaps her fingers and suddenly music blares from nowhere - or perhaps from speakers hidden in her motorcycle leathers. She favors Jason with a smirk, reaching out as if inviting him to dance.
Cadena's jaw drops.
"Woohoo!" "Inari's the best!" Fans break out into an impromptu dance as well, leaving the actors stunned before they clumsily try to follow suit.
Hiding in the family bathroom, Tracy resists the urge to laugh.
Ranesh says, "Um... We love Inari!" He starts doing the Robot dance.
Jason, however, doesn't resist the urge to laugh. "Lady, if you want to keep your look star appeal and fans, you would be better off picking someone to tease that doesn't have two left feet," he remarks as he walks right up to her. "But then with music like that, maybe it doesn't matter?" he counters with his own smirk and arched brow.
The male bodyguard boogies down waving his hands in the air before him, shuffling to both sides. Apparently this happens often enough that he's got an entire dance routine for it, but there's nothing quite like seeing a deadpan muscly bodyguard in an armored jumpsuit break out into dance in front of you.
Inari laughs, doing a spin so her tail brushes fluffily over Jason's hands. "Don't be such a sourpuss, stranger! Sometimes music's for the ears, sometimes it's for the feet!"
Akiko bites her lip, trying to keep from breaking out into laughter - or maybe tears - where she's holding Cadena's collar. "Subtlety, thy name is not Inari," she whispers to him.
Tracy really hopes Kimon is recording this off of Inari's webchannel. She also tries to listen for the female bodyguard.
The pirated audio conference call emits a groan. "Great, she's being improv again. Just deal with it, she'll get bored and move on."
The female bodyguard checks each of the stalls, then pushes open the door of the family changing room.
Next to the door, Tracy keeps very very still.
"Careful what you wish for," Jason chides, laughing, "I just might ruin your reputation. There are some things that can never be cured, and my terminal case of 'white boy's' syndrome is one of them." he does, however, make a grab for Inari's tail! That brings back memories. Of course they're of a undead infested ghost ship, but still, memories!
Zahnrad awws!
The tail whisks tantalizingly just outside Jason's grasp. Inari winks.
"It's hard to serve two masters," Cadena absently whispers, looking distant, before remembering himself and snapping back into "dumb-dog" mode.
Jason hmphs and crosses his arms. "You think you're so amazing," he complains. "I guess it's not hard to think that when you have fans like them..." he adds and thumbs towards Ranesh.
Inari laughs, then whisks Jason into a sudden dance move, tugging him close! She whispers into his ear, "Forget him. What's the plan?"
The female bodyguard glances around the changing room, but looks right through Tracy without seeing anything unusual. She proceeds past her and glances into the men's room, before returning to the women's room.
"Waugh!" goes Jason. And yes, he really does have two left feet when it comes to dance, but at least doesn't trip over himself in the process. In other words, he's keeping up! "A decoy is waiting for you in the dressing room. Tracy in a military grade sneaksuit and all that," Jason whispers while looking patently horrified to be hugged on camera! "Someone to lure off the people and cameras so you can slip out. Failing that, well ... lets just say I have control of most non-security related systems in this building. You think you can cause chaos? You're an amateur compared to me..."
Inari raises an eyebrow. "Oh really, is that a challenge?" she murmurs. "Well, your turn then." She dips Jason and for a horrifying moment he thinks that she means to smooch him - eep, fangs! - but instead she licks his nose and then lifts him up again.
The nearby security droids at gate 1D look at each other. There's a sense of random numbers being compared, and then the one on the right buzzes and moves forward. "Excuse us, sirs and madams, but airport noise ordinances prohibit loud music in the concourse. We request that you quieten your audio output."
"Kimon, isolate track playing on Inari's body-harness ... and play it on the airport announcement system will you? Make the windows shake," Jason relays to his home system. "Careful what you ask for, little foxy," he murmurs right back, lips drawing back into a devious smile. "The thing about chaos is that it requires a larger scale than just a personal speaker..."
The pirated audio conference call crackles. "Bathroom's clear," the female bodyguard's voice says. "Marie's in the female bathroom, I'll keep an eye on this side. John, guard the front." The male bodyguard stops dancing and subvocalizes his response. "Understood."
FOOM! Death-metal rock shudders all down the concourse and everyone looks up. They may have heard that up in the Towers. Inari winces, then laughs and snaps her fingers, turning it off. "Touche'." She lets Jason go, then makes her way to the bathroom.
Here goes, Tracy thinks. Hopefully her 30 minutes of studying Inari footage will be enough to let her fake her movements.
"I really don't see the allure," Jason tells the crowd as he wipes of his wet nose, then thumbs over his shoulder towards the retreating Inari.
The crowd of Inari fans rushing past look shocked at Jason's proclamation! "Hey, you got her to dance with you and you didn't like it?" says the red-haired young teenager. "What kind of mutant are you?" It looks like it could get ugly soon. Beaten to death by irate death metal fans, what a way to go.
Akiko whispers to Cadena, "Oh, he's asking for such a hitting!"
"It's hard to like it when you've got these two dancing even worse than me hanging around," Jason remarks, sounding unconcerned as he straightens out his coat. "I know I'm a bad dancer but ..." he adds, then motions towards Ranesh and Bryan, "Thes guys. Wow. They kill the mood."
Cadena absently nods sympathetically, though with the timing, it's perhaps unclear with whom he's agreeing.
Fortunately those two gentlemen are at a great enough distance not to have heard Jason's gibe, but the fans start an impromptu discussion of who had the best move, complete with bringing out their PDAs to view the 'instant replays'. Look, there's Jason's nose-smooch from Inari!
Inari flutters her hand at the fans goodbye as she disappears into the bathroom.
Jason wisely resists remarking that Inari will probably wreck the bathroom. Instead, he shakes his head and wanders over to the wall near Akiko and flops his back against it. "Really, is she all that?" Jason asks Akiko and waves his hand. "Should I feel honored?"
As Inari goes by, Cadena just looks the part, again, of a dumb dog, but not going out of his way to hinder her or shake a paw this time around.
Akiko punches Jason's shoulder. "You're such a jerk," she says, smiling up at him.
The security robot trundles back to its place, now that the loud music has ceased, and takes up station once again.
"Ow," Jason complains and rubs his shoulder. "I'm going to regret this in a day or two once my face is plastered over the net," he mutters to Akiko.
Cadena subvocalizes, "All right. I am unclear on my directions past this point. Whom do I accompany?" He casts sidelong glances up first to Jason, then Akiko.
Inari steps into the ladies' room. From here, Tracy cannot see her but can hear her footsteps as she approaches the door, then exchanges words with the female bodyguard. "Angelina, have you already checked the changing room?"
"Yes, ma'am," the bodyguard replies.
Tracy takes a deep breath, and watches the door closely.
Inari's expression is invisible. "Well then, give me my carry-on luggage and I'll just get changed," she says. "Can't let the fans down, after all."
Angelina replies, "No, ma'am. Of course not." The door clicks open.
"Not Tracy-Inari immediately," Jason transmits. "Just stay with Akiko until the crowd has followed the decoy ... then follow after them by scent. Find Tracy and then go with her when she makes the car-escape ... and out into the dregs and tunnels to find Randall."
Tracy blinks - carry on luggage? She wasn't expecting Inari to change outfits..
Inari steps through, one hand to her motorcycle jacket as she unzips it... And Angelina steps through after her, holding the carry-on bag. That must be why she has both male and female bodyguards - so someone can accompany her at all times.
"And RIU, return to me. I don't think you need to zap the flunkies..." Jason instructs the little dragon.
RIU beeps mentally, and scoots right back under Jason's trenchcoat. It snuggles up into his coat while replaying video images of Ranesh being the World's Worst Dancer, as if it were blaming Jason for making it watch that.
Cadena subvocalizes, "I will attempt to comply, but please beware that my ability to track via scent is inferior to specialized entities."
"If you fail we'll return you to the pound," Jason claims in the comm.
Ranesh reads a newspaper, fresh off the rack, while Inari fans gather around the door. In short order Inari is established as the best dancer (of course) but Jason, to their surprise, comes off pretty good despite his claimed lack of experience.
"I should have just hijacked the plane," Jason whispers to Akiko, "It would have been less of a spectacle..."
Still frozen in place, Tracy wonders how to proceed. Inari isn't alone, and she's changing. She could probably cover the suit with the new outfit and still have it work, but wouldn't able to go invisible then. This is a complication, she thinks nervously.
Inari nods to her bodyguard as she strips her jacket off to reveal a skin-tight jumpsuit beneath. "Angelina, dear, would you put that down and close the door?"
The female bodyguard places the bag on the baby-changing table, then turns to close the door.
With Angelina turned away, Tracy switches quickly over to the Inari disguise, hoping the real Inari catches sight of it in the mirror.
The actual Inari catches sight of Tracy, then grins seeing the military suit engage its light projectors to create optical illusions of ears, muzzle, and tail. Her eyes sparkle as if to wordlessly say, You're on, sister! She sets down the motorcycle jacket and moves to allow Tracy to step into her place, taking up a position out of the bodyguard's line of sight.
Tracy hurries forward, and stashes the jacket into the travel bag. She doesn't have an alternate outfit prepared, so tries to come up with an excuse for not changing.
Angelina turns and looks to "Inari", dressed in motorcycle leathers. "Is everything all right, Ma'am? Aren't you going to change?" she asks. The actual Inari waits patiently, watching to see what Tracy says.
The Voya security call crackles. Marie sounds bored. "Still in the washroom," she says. "Guess Inari's changing."
"At one time, hearing Inari is changing implied something more than just clothing," Jason remarks into the shared comm.
"Slight change, Angelina," Tracy bluffs, zipping the carry-on closed. "Something.. personal.. spilled open in there. I'm stuck with this outfit for now.. unless you want to trade?"
Akiko giggles a bit, leaning on Jason's shoulder as they wait outside the restrooms. She scratches under Cadena's chin, but he can tell that she's feeling tense, waiting for things to really hit the turbofans.
Angelina shakes her head. "No, ma'am. Will that be all, then?"
Handing the bag back, Tracy says, "Looks like it; time to shine for the cameras again!"
"How much do you bet that people try to sell clothing claimed to be 'Inari worn' on the net? Hm, this could be a way to pay for the repairs to my home," Jason remarks into the comm, perhaps in an attempt to not appear nervous himself.
The bodyguard accepts the bag. "Of course, ma'am." She opens the changing room door and steps out. At which time the actual Inari leans close and whispers into Tracy's ear, "I've got a few things in there that won't pass the scanner, dear. You might want to come up with a plan for that..."
Inwardly, Tracy hopes the extra jacket bulge isn't noticeable, and nods to Inari as she steps forward after Angelina. Of course, she doesn't actually have a plan just yet.
Angelina leads the way back out of the bathroom. Marie continues to silently occupy one of the stalls in the women's restroom. Thanks to the audio and video pickups from Cadena's collar, Tracy has a very good idea what's waiting for her outside...
The Voya security channel crackles. "Okay, she's on the way out. Look alive out there, folks! Ranesh, go stake out the concourse. Bryan, see anyone suspicious?"
"Yeah, that guy she was dancing with? He's waiting outside the restroom. With the dog and some cute Asian lady," Bryan subvocalizes.
The Voya security coordinator hmms audibly. "Could be she's made a fan. Just keep an eye on him."
Tracy-Inari waves to the crowd and declares, "I may not be able to play music here, but that doesn't mean I can't have heralds going on ahead and announcing me! And I'm always looking for backup singers, so let me hear you!"
"Whee, I'm now suspicious," Jason remarks into the comm. He sounds ... amused.
The Inari fans cheer! "We love Inari!" "Make way for Inari, Queen of Rock!" One or two burst into entirely unauthorized "covers" of her songs as they move out into the airport to form her forward line. This unfortunately draws the attention of the security droids, as they once again exchange meaningful looks.
Tracy figures that if they keep moving, they'll pass out of each droid's range of action before they can complain. She doesn't want a riot to break out, after all!
The male bodyguard steps to the side deferentially, falling into place.
"Whee yay, Inari. Music, whoo," Jason remarks from where he still leans on the wall. He even twirls his index finger like a little flag. He does not follow.
Cadena subvocalizes, "Ms. Summers, perhaps we should relocate, so we are not pegged as associates of Mr. Edwards?"
During one of the cheers, Tracy whispers into her comm, "We need the duffel bag."
As they march along, "Bryan" eyes "Inari"'s tail suspiciously, then frowns. Something seems off to him.
Akiko gets up and walks along to continue observing "Inari"'s coterie.
Cadena, as he trots after Akiko, subvocalizes, "Master, I see a travel bag in the hands of Ms. Bodyguard. Am I to interpret this as a command to acquire the bag and to exit the premises with it? And if so, what priority of emergency is this, so that I may gauge what level of risk is acceptable to carry out this directive?"
Why does he asks such a complicated question? Tracy wonders, and times her next whisper when the crowd is loud. "Get bag back to Inari," she whispers.
"Tracy, the tail isn't reflecting the light right. One of the Voya guards is eying it. You'd better distract him. If you can't, well ... I might have to do something drastic..." Jason notes into the shared comm.
The Inari fans are loudly "heralding" 'Inari' as she approaches the concourse. A few are air-guitar-ing.
"Assumption that drastic measures are required. Understood." With that, Cadena tugs forward, looking a bit less-behaved than a dog should be, as he lurches toward.
Great, Tracy thinks. "I'm getting a weird vibe, Angelina," she says to her bodyguard. "If I need to run, drop the bag and stick with me."
Angelina frowns. "That geek you danced with? Is he giving you the look?" She glances back over her shoulder.
Jason watches Cadena dart off ... and rubs his face. "Right," he mutters, then beats his head softly on the wall behind him. "Kimon, prepare to initiate a fire drill using the environmental controls, complete with flickering lights and sprinklers. We may need the cover soon..."
Akiko eeps as Cadena takes off! She role-plays his owner, "Caddie!" and hurries after him.
"Dogs make me nervous," Tracy claims. "If it smells what spilled in my bag, it'll.." she starts to say, and then breaks into a run when she sees Cadena coming after her!
Slim black gloved hands go over Jason's eyes. "Guess who," a familiar voice whispers into his ear as Akiko dashes off.
"Wurf!" Cadena says, as he bumps first into suspicious-bodyguard-guy, and then into one of the older fans who seems to be wearing an impractically-fancy dress for the occasion.
Jason goes completely stiff. "Ernesto Falliupte," he claims as the identity of the source of the hands over his eyes.
Kimon's voice chimes. "Fire drill protocol standing by," it responds.
Inari giggles. "Do I look like an Ernesto to you? Well, if that's what you want..." RIU wiggles in Jason's trenchcoat as he feels an electric tingle nearby.
Tracy dodges past her heralds, and runs towards Mr. Indian and one of the float-cameras at the corner of the concourse, heading towards Terminal 1.
The fans, totally startled, break in all directions! The female bodyguard does as "Inari" instructs, dropping the bag and running to catch up with her.
"Ha ha. No, you don't," Jason remarks and reaches behind himself to try and poke Inari. "And did you have to lick my nose? On camera?" he mock-complains as he tries to turn around and actually spot the crazy former-Avatar.
"Eeep!" screams the woman startled by Cadena.
The male bodyguard glances back at the dog, then holds one hand to his earpiece. The Voya security channel crackles. "Bryan! Get over here and guard the bag! Ranesh, Marie, go, go, go!"
As Jason turns, he sees... Well, that's certainly not Inari. It's a fat Italian gent with thick handlebar mustaches, dressed in overalls. "Me? Would Ernesto Falliupte do a thing like that?" he protests in a broad accent. "Unpossible!"
Bryan stumbles as Cadena thumps heavily against his legs en route. As he recovers, he yells. "Hey! Watch where you're going, mutt!"
"You have just ruined every dream I have ever had. That's ... rather impressive really. You da man," Jason deadpans, then laughs. "We better circle around the other way ... because Tracy is causing a mess. I'd rather we not get caught in the middle of it all. And as a warning, I hope what you're wearing can get wet..." So .. Off Jason goes in the opposite direction of the chaos!
The male bodyguard grabs at the bag, trying to snatch it up before the dog gets to it - but to no avail!
Akiko pursues Cadena with pauses to apologize to Bryan and to the fan that he jostled. "I'm so sorry! I don't know what's gotten into Caddie!"
The white dog drops on his haunches, and slides across the floor, rear paws flailing, and then he snatches the bag in his mouth. He then skid-skid-skids his paws on the slick polished floor for purchase as he does an about face and runs the other way!
'Ernesto' grins and chases after Jason. "You had dreams about me? Well, I never!"
Disguised, Tracy still makes her mad-dash towards Terminal 1. She just needs to duck around a corner before the cambots can catch her..
Over the Voya security channel, Cadena hears, "Grab that dog! He's got her bag!" Marie turns and tries to catch him!
Inari fans look stunned as "Inari" easily outpaces them, dashing down the airport concourse. Angelina struggles to catch up; meanwhile the male bodyguard draws his gun and tries to line up a shot. Voya security breaks in, "John! Don't be a nut! Do you know what airport penalties are like if you fire a weapon in here?!"
"And dressed like that, it's no wonder you never," Jason retorts, amused. "And I should have known Tracy would cause a scene. Oy. This was supposed to be covert ... not snatch a bag via doggie! And did you have to lick me? That's going to be all over the net!"
The Chinese woman grabs at the bag, but unprepared as she was emerging from the bathroom, she's way too slow for Cadena!
Cadena skids and slides underneath the lady, slips and skids his paws again as he tries to alter his trajectory to dash off in the direction of Jason and that strange man accompanying him.
"Ernesto" laughs as he puts distance between them and the crowd of fans. "Is that your dog?" he asks conversationally, as they're moving. "It's got my bag."
"Tracy's dog. Tracy told it to grab the bag. I have no idea why and ... ack, is it coming this way?" Jason says.
Cadena casts a mournful, confused, lost look at Jason as he scampers by, desperately looking for some nice hidey-hole big enough....
Bryan breaks into a run after the wayward bag. Voya security: "The mutt's getting away!"
A security droid yells as Tracy runs by, "Sir or madam! Please do not run in the airport. Running with reckless disregard for others is prohibited by civil ordinance 50-1250A..."
"Glah gluh glah glah!" comes the signal from Cadena's subvocal pickup. Alas, the running and grabbing things with his mouth don't contribute toward giving the mic an intelligible signal to pick up on.
The camera bots whoosh climbing in the air after "Inari"! One can almost imagine the headlines: "WILD DOG CHASE IN NORTH BEND AIRPORT."
The male bodyguard hurries after the bag-chompin' Cadena, along with Bryan Fosters. "Stop that dog!" he yells at Akiko, who looks frantic. "He just stole Inari's bag!"
"Remember what I said about chaos?" Jason remarks to 'Ernesto' as he watches poor Cadena. "Well, I control the horizontal and the vertical ... and with a snap of my fingers, let chaos reign." And indeed, he does snap his fingers. "Kimon, engage fire alarm protocol," he instructs his 'personal computing companion'.
Kimon chimes. "Engaging."
Adding to the confusion, the fire alarm sirens begin howling! Sprinklers overhead start whirring, scattering water all over everything, and lights spaced every fifty feet start flashing.
The white dog skids out as he tries to hug the curvature of the terminal's circular layout, bag still hanging precariously from his mouth.
"Alarms active, everyone head head towards the fire exits," Jason says into his comm.
The stunned Inari fans gather in a cluster. "Is this what an Inari appearance is normally like?" one says. Another one claims, "Nah, this is quiet," but anything else they might have said gets lost in the din.
Before the floor can become too slick from the sprinklers, Tracy dashes around the corner into Terminal 1, leaps behind a security robot, and triggers the stealth mode on her sneaksuit.
"Ernesto" points to the left, on the inside wall. "There's a fire exit," he says to Jason. "What say we make tracks?"
"I say that sounds like a marvelous idea!" Jason agrees ... and heads towards the exit!
The white dog dashes up to the fire exit as well, rearing up on his hind legs and slamming the release bar with both fore-paws.
Tracy jumps behind the security robot... Which swivels to face her, even as she engages the full invisibility mode! It says, "Excuse me, sir or madam, but please do not run in the airport." It continues to reel off the ordinances that she may be violating if she continues to engage in reckless conduct.
Hampered by the sprinklers, Angelina and Ranesh's pursuit are hampered, but the camerabots whoosh out into the atrium and start scanning the area. Now where did their Inari go?
Seeing as how a bunch of people are about to run around the corner after her, and possibly draw weapons.. Tracy doesn't feel inclined to reply to the robot.
The fire exit thunks open! Normally this would trigger an alarm... But the fire alarm is already going. Musty air spills out into the airport from the stairwell beyond.
Akiko, considering the tactical options, decides now's a good time to retreat into the bathroom and catch up later.
Cadena dives through the fire exit and immediately drops the bag outside it - then dives back in to continue running.
"Ernesto" snatches up his bag as he dives through!
Over their shared communication channel, Jason can pick up Akiko's voice. "Tracy, are you okay? Do you need backup?"
Jason just ... follows after Ernesto! "Tracy, this is not covert. Some ninja you are," he complains into the comm, "Akiko, are you okay? We're out the fire door. Oh, uh, I guess you are okay?"
The security robot finishes, "Please step away from the security robot. It is prohibited by law and municipal ordinance to interfere with the operation of security robots in the course of their duties." It eyes 'invisible' Tracy severely.
Tracy moves away from the bot, hugging the wall. She spots a vent overhead.. but the cameras are already out, and any movement she makes under the sprinklers will break her camoflage. She starts to move back towards the corner instead.
As Tracy moves away, the security robot turns back to monitor the airport atrium.
A narrow escape! As Tracy sidles away from the robot and back the way she came, she almost gets plowed into by Angelina Joy, who is running pell mell (despite the sprinklers) to try to catch sight of "Inari". Angelina frowns, looking both ways, hand over her eyes to shade them from the drizzle, then speaks into her headset. The Voya security channel crackles. "Emergency, all agents! We've lost Inari! Spread out and track her down."
"Ernesto" laughs, dropping his disguise. The illusion shimmers away to reveal Inari's foxform. She shoulders her bag and starts hiking down the stairwell. "You have a well-trained doggie," she tells Jason.
Bryan and the male bodyguard pause as they listen, then abandon their chase of the white dog. "Roger that," the male bodyguard says over the channel.
The Inari fans dash into the nearest store to try to avoid the drizzle outside.
"I think I prefer that look over Ernesto. It's good to see you, Inari," Jason says, grinning. "Lets get you out of here. The fire exist should lead outside of the building. The others should be safe as long as they play up the confused traveler act. This could have gone better, but ..."
A minute or so of creeping later, Tracy regroups with Akiko and Cadena in the women's bathroom (luckily, there's no one to yell at Cadena about being of the incorrect gender, even if they were inclined to check). Inari and Jason make good their escape, emerging into the open field of the airport.
Cadena pants as he gets back to the bathrooms, diving into the women's room, swiveling the hand-dryer vent downward, slapping the activator panel, then standing underneath it. "Cadena here," he subvocalizes, then pauses to get some more breath. "Back at the bathroom. They don't seem to be chasing me. Are you all right, or do I need to provide further distraction?"
"We've got a couple cars out in the lot, " Jason says, visibly relaxing now that they're mostly 'home free'. "And what was so important in the bag that Tracy and her dog went to all that trouble?"
After changing back into her regular jumpsuit and wig ensemble, Tracy asks, "So, should we just walk out the way we came in? And do you want to borrow my jacket, Akiko?"
The Inari MyUniverse channel is alive with up-to-the-minute speculation. INARI DISAPPEARED! Fans are, even this minute, going over the camera records to try to figure out what happened.
Inari smiles over at Jason. "Oh, a few things I thought would be useful. And as for the nose lick..." She leans over and licks his ear, causing RIU to complain about the female invading his territory. "I felt like it."