Into the Black

[Serris]

Soren carried the box to his garage and placed it in his repulsorcar. He disconnected the charging cable and took his position in the driver's seat.

"Lily, Axel, get in!"

---------

Anne whistled as she rooted through the electronics waste bin at a local computer repair shop. Most of what was in her bag were circuit boards that were wortheless ó save the precious metals in them.

She smiled; those masters degrees she had in genetic engineering and industrial design were being put to good use...just not in a way her parents would like.

Rattling was heard as another bum rooted through a trash can.

[bushwacked]

Axel held the car door open for the now covered Lily, and hopped in after her. "C'mon, let's get going."

-----------------------------------

When Marcus heard the beeping coming from his pocket, he reached in and pulled out his phone, snapping it open. UNKNOWN flashed on the screen. The corners of Marcus' mouth tightened. It was him. He tapped answer. "Zeroth."

"Yes." Never using the same number for any extended period of time, the distorted voice on the other end was responsible for the majority of orders issued to members of the Purifiers. Nobody knew his real name, and only a very select few, including Marcus, had ever seen his face. The alias he went by for the time being was 'Zeroth'.

"I found Kibagami, at the 'Electric Sheep' of all places. Engaged him, but he managed to escape."

"We know. There are 15 patrons dead. 15 non-augmented patrons. It's... inconvenient."

"I'm sorry," Marcus said, the words bitter in his mouth.

"It doesn't matter. In fact, it seems you might have another chance. Kibagami's booked himself into the city hospital to have repairs carried out on his arm. We don't know if he knows about our operations there or not, and there's a chance he's working with someone outside. If this was anyone else, one of our insiders would be sufficient but as this is Kibagami... Go to the hospital, and rendezvous with one of our contacts, he'll be waiting for you. And on no accounts can you kill Kibagami. Not yet." The line went dead as Zeroth hung up.

Marcus replaced the phone in his pocket and snatched his jacket up off the counter. To the left of the cash register was a set of car keys belonging to the human locked in the cupboard. He picked them up and let himself out of the shop.

(OOC: I figured the person who gives Marcus orders would be all illusive with code names and whatnot, but if someone wants to give him a real name go ahead)

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

Lily emerged from the house, completely clad in a form-fitting white unisuit, complete with balaclava. "How does this look?" She smiled, even though only her mismatching eyes were visible. "Does it hide every way of easily identifying me?"

She climbed into the car.

[bushwacked]

Axel looked at the white shape getting in the car. "Yeah, looks pretty good. Except..." A lock of Lily's hair had fallen out from under the balaclava, and he gently pushed it back into place. "There." He grinned reassuringly at her and clipped his seatbelt on.

[Serris]

The engines started as the garage door opened and the repulsorcwr lifted into the midafternoon sun. Luckily, Soren lived on the outskirts so air pollution wasn't too bad.

He merged into one of the skyways and set the autopilot. The man adjusted his loose fitting dark blue pants and a grey long sleeved shirt. Despite their plain appearance, the clothing was impregnated with shear-thickening fluid as well as shock dampening fibers, allowing him to absorb blows that would otherwise cripple or kill him.

"So Lily, Axel, know how to get that neurotester back without them thinking I stole it?" Soren asked. His HMD was providing real time data about the environment around him. The repulsorcar lurched slightly as Soren dropped in altitude to avoid something thrown by two passing hoverbikers.

"Anyways,

[StarfallRaptor]

Adrian stirred, the anesthetics steadily wearing off as he brought his new arm up to take a look at it.  The sleekly-molded black metal was nearly indistinguishable from his own fur. Flexing the fingers of it experimentally, he grinned as the indicators flashed into his overlaid systems, projected into his mind like images in a manual.  Noting the new integrated weapon systems, he froze when he noticed the installation of a tracking device that was keyed to an unknown frequency.  Glancing around the room, he quickly undid all the external armor plates, reaching into his arm and tugging the device out, wincing in pain as he did so.  He looked at it, chuckling a little.
"Heh.  Purifiers.   Always selling us Augs short, seems like."
He said to himself as he crushed the device in his hand.  Noticing that he wasn't hooked up to any vital monitors or anything of the sort, he immediately rolled out of the bed, standing up and preparing to go find Emilena and his gear, the panels on his arm sliding shut as he did so...

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

Emilena stirred as well. Her mind immediately went into hyperdrive. I wasn't supposed to get knocked out? What the hell? Oh god, they didn't...

Her eyes fluttered open and she moved her hand to her face. She could feel it. Cybernetics merged seamlessly with her fingers, and her palm felt hollow and tinny. She became aware that she was wearing a hospital gown and laying on the surgery table, with some familiar blood stains dotting the sheets.

She tried to get up and saw a rabbit orderly leap away in fright. "Who the hell are you?" She snapped in fright, trying to leap to her feet, but her left leg was cuffed to a railing.

The bunny drew a long syringe and stabbed at her knee, but thanks to her double joints she bent out of the way, then took that opportunity to kick him square in the head with her right foot. As he hit the floor, she spotted her personals on a footstool out of reach. She tried to shake her foot free, but of course that didn't work.

The bunny leapt to his feet, this time with a dart gun. She recognized the make; it contained powerful horse tranquilizers. She slapped him with her intravenous fluid bag and caused his first shot to wildly miss.

As he reloaded, Emilena grasped the foot cuff in her fingers and tug. To her amazement, her new Augmented hands tore through the thin metal, easily freeing her foot from the warped cuff. She hardly had time to reflect on this, as the bunny had reloaded. Leaping forward, she delivered a hard right hook to his chest, sending him staggering but stable. He was tougher than she thought.

Diving through the curtain, she found herself in the inner recesses of the hospital. Her pursuer giving chase, she raced down the hallway, attempting to locate Adrian or an exit, whichever came first.

-----------------

Lily shook her head cluelessly. "You could tell them the truth," she suggested. "That someone left it on your doorstep. They may figure no thief just returns stolen goods. You could even gain a reward. Just, make sure I'm not there when you talk to them. Last thing I need is to have the theft pinned on me..."

[bushwacked]

Axel nodded. "That makes sense. You don't look like a thief - and that reward could come in handy if they actually give one."

---------------------------

Marcus watched Adrian through the CCTV in the security room. His contact, a jackal sat on a chair in front of the monitors, zoomed in on the image as Adrian pulled the tracker free. "He found it," the jackal complained.

Marcus swore under his breath. "I told you it wouldn't be enough. We've tracked him before, he knows what one feels like." He balled his fists, his claws digging into his palm. He couldn't let this opportunity go...

"What the hell..." The jackal muttered as he noticed something in one of the smaller screens. He changed the image on the main screen. It changed to a female fox struggling with one of the orderlies. Her face turned briefly towards the camera, and Marcus frowned. She seemed familiar...

His eyes widened as he recalled that she'd been the dancer at the Electric Sheep, who'd turned up right at the same moment Adrian did. She didn't seem to be much of a dancer... and now they both just happened to turn up at the hospital together? It was too much of a coincidence.

Marcus snatched the tracker up from the table next to the contact and loaded another chip into it. Though a tracking chip would give the best signal if inserted into an augmentation, a chip shot under the skin would still be useful. He slipped out the door, hiding the tracker under his jacket.

[StarfallRaptor]

Adrian grinned, quickly hacking into one of the hospital's terminals to gain access to the patient records so that he could figure out where his articles had been stored, as well as where Emilena had been taken.  Quickly bypassing the locks on the code, he rapidly located Emilena's room, then the patient storage where his articles had been taken.  He cracked his neck, then turned to one of the cameras, flipping it the bird as he turned and ran off...

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

A cybernetic surgeon, apparently halfway through an operation, walked out of a room in front of Emilena. He gasped in surprise when a tranq whizzed past the approaching fox's ear and embedded in his neck.

Emilena took the opportunity to dart into the open door. An anaesthetized bear appeared to be halfway through receiving cybernetic arms; the left one was still sitting on the preparation tray. Emilena snatched it up and beaned her assailant in the face when he entered the room. Wailing on him for a good ten minutes, she finally stopped when he looked less intact than the bear behind her.

Fishing the tranq gun out of the bed, she froze when a security guard walked idly past the door, then froze and looked wide-eyed at the scene within.

"Uh, I can explain?" started Emilena, but he quickly drew a pistol and she was forced to shoot him. His shots went wide as she continued her exodus, but he still radioed in as he passed out. "Emergency...rogue patient armed with a gun and dangerous...two, maybe three people dead...send backup to the Upper Extremities wing..."

[StarfallRaptor]

Adrian looked back at the unconscious guard behind him, hearing the announcement pertaining to an armed patient escaping, chuckling a little to himself.

"Couldn't wait to get out of here, huh, Emilena?"

He muttered to himself, then rolled his eyes as another guard rounded the corner, gathering an electrical charge in the palm of his new arm before lunging the guard, slamming the crackling palm into the guard's sternum, the electricity coursing through the unfortunate guard and dropping him to the ground as Adrian made his way through the halls to the Upper Extremities Wing...

[Serris]

In the meantime, Soren parked his car on the street. He shut off the engine and opened the door to the passenger compartment.

"I'll be back in a bit," he said as he picked up the box.

"Hey man, you got some cash?" an intoxicated bum went up to Soren. His right arm, once a top of the line augment was tattered and patched up with wire, scrap metal and who knows what else scavanged from the streets and garbage cans of Lanthae.

"Sorry. I'm busy now."

Anne Foe emerged from an alleyway with a messenger bag full of assorted electronics scrap that she could process and sell for a few creds.

[bushwacked]

"Okay. Be careful, Soren." Axel watched through the windscreen as Soren walked away, then turned to Lily. "So, you want to check out that clothing store? There's no way they'll be able to recognise you."

-----------------------------------------

Marcus' shoes clumped against the hard, polished floor as he made his way briskly down the corridor. He turned left, right and left again, following the signs to the Upper Extremities ward, where the camera had shown the fox making her last stand.

As he neared the ward, he slowed his pace. Things were made more complicated by the fact that he wasn't able to kill either Adrian or his companion - but he had to make sure a tracker stayed on them. When he neared the double doors leading to the ward proper, a group of four security guards rushed past him. Marcus leaned against the wall, looking nondescript. After they pushed through the doors, he waited a few seconds then followed behind them, making sure he wasn't seen.

[Serris]

Soren made his way to Stephenson Memorial Hospital. When he got there, he noticed it was cordoned off by the hospital's surprisingly well armed and armored security guards.

"Hospital's closed sir," a guard said. Judging from the shape of the guard's helmet, all that could be said was that the guard was canine.

Soren raised an eyebrow. "What happened?"

"There's been a shooting inside. One of the new Augments apparently took violent exception to what she was given."

Soren straighted himself up. "Well, anyways, someone dropped this off at my house." He pulled out the neurotester and showed the label to the guard, who scanned it with a wristed mounted reader.

"Thank you." The guard handed him a credit chit worth 35,000 credits ó a little over a quarter of the neurotester's value.

Soren sighed and tucked the credit chit into his pocket. As his booted feet splashed in the dirty water that pooled on the sidewalks, he passed by a street vendor selling some noodles.

He shrugged and bought three take out boxes of vegetarian stir fried noodles and three herbal sodas. All in all, the meal came out to 220 creds.

Soren trudged back to his car. Using his pocketknife, he dislodged a drug vial that had gotten stuck in the tread of his boots.

"Lily, Axel, we can't go to the hospital. Some Augment apparently didn't like what they got...so they're taking it out on the staff." He placed the bag containing the three plastic takeout containers and drinks in the backseat. "Anyways, I got a reward for turning the thing in and some lunch."

(OOC - FYI, credits are the currency in this 'verse. They're equivalent to about $0.10. Why yes, I did base the exchange rate on the HK dollar.)

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

Lily put her hand to her mouth. "Are they calling for backup? Is everything about to be swarming with police officers? Let' s do this quick, Axel!"

She practically dragged him to the clothing store.

The clerk smiled when he saw them. "Can I help you with anything?"

Lily grew silent and held Axel's arm. Sapaar women were supposed to be seen and not heard.

----------------------
Emilena traded shots with a pair of guards, who decided to retreat. These guys weren't prepared for combat at all, she thought smugly, as she rolled under a gurney and the pursuing guards raced past her. I can keep this up all day...

"Analena, get the hell out from under that!"

One of her fellow police officers was down the hall, gun drawn. The bandage on his thumb suggested he happened to be a patient in this wing. "Throw your gun out first!"

Emilena tried to shoot him but he blasted it out of her hand.

"What are you going to do?" She spat, holding her arms up in a martial arts pose.
The officer narrowed his eyes. "What the hell is wrong with you, Analena? Brownstreet is here, and he's gonna tear your ass off for this."

"Brownstreet is an idiot!" Emilena shot back. "I've stumbled across something bigger than you could ever understand. What that old mule wants doesn't matter. Now if you're gonna shoot, better do it now."

She turned away and dashed down the hall. The officer sighed and watched her go. Then he grabbed his radio and called Brownstreet at his office downtown.

[bushwacked]

Axel smiled at the clerk uncomfortably and smoothed down his ruffled T-Shirt. He always felt self-conscious when he talked to people he didn't know.

"Ah, yes. I wondering if you could tell me anything about this purchase..." He handed over the now slightly worn bar code sticker. "It's from a pair of boots that were bought here maybe about a week ago." He paused. "Well, I was actually hoping you could tell me if you remember anything... unusual about the person who bought them," he said, hoping the clerk hadn't seen the news lately.

---------------------------------------

As Marcus moved down the evacuated corridor, he heard the fast, slightly lighter footsteps of a female somewhere ahead of him, around the corner. They were coming towards him.

Looking around, he quickly ducked into an empty operating room and pressed himself against the wall as the fox ran past. Marcus waited for a couple of seconds until she sounded sufficiently far way, then lightly opened the door and leaned out, clicking back the tracking gun.

He could see her nearing the end of the corridor, about to turn the corner. He took aim and fired, the tracking gun making a tiny clack as it fired the tiny tracking chip. It sank painlessly into the back of her leg. Now I just need to get out without being recognised by the police.

[Nick22]

Detain her and bering hrr in for questioning.' Brownstreet ordered. ' i give her an extension, and she goes postal while while receicving treatment at a hospital.. for well gods only know. you get her down and bring her to me.
-
 marie marita and roswe were told to leave by a security guard ' we are in lockdown outside of this wing.. mr guttsun is being brought out, the surgery was a success. you three better get going, its not safe with a crazed lunatic on the loose.
- will do' Marita said. marie sighed ' just when i thought it was going to be a bi easier, not something else happenes. ' we'll we could head to my place for the rest of the evening ' marita said. ' alright. could we stop at my place first ' its on 32nd and stillwater ' 5 blocks from here' marie said.. ' i.. guess i'm tagging along wth you for awhile ' she sighed. um marita.. ' yeah.. ' thanks for letting me come with you.. i appreciate it. ' lets get gittsun and go,  ' marita said. '

[Serris]

Soren stuffed the food into the backseat of his repulsorcar and sprinted after Axel and Lily.

He sighed and sat down on a bench. He looked at the wares. Most of the shoes were simple sneakers or boots reminiscent of combat boots worn by the assorted soldiers and security guards.

-----------------

Anne unlocked the door to her apartment and entered with her satchel of old electronics. Her "apartment" was filthy, but not with organic detritus. Instead, there were scraps of metal and other electronics waste scattered everywhere underfoot and the entire apartment stank of solvents, grease and heated metal.

Turning on some loud industrial rock to drown out the noise of the shredder, she fed the unusable circuit boards into the device until that that was left were a pile of fingernail sized chips.

The Shetland Pony transferred the material into a large fermentation vat. This vat contained a mix of genetically engineered bacteria (stolen of course) that would break down the bioplastics used in the circuit boards and concentrate the precious metals into large nodules. For safety reasons, the bacteria were engineered to require a purely synthetic amino acid to live and reproduce. She pumped in the nutrient solution and headed back to her couch where she could maybe light up a joint and relax.

Two marijuana plants sat in the corner of the room under some grow lights. Anne smiled as she laid eyes on the plants. Sometimes, it was good to go back to the basics.

[aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato)]

"Well, let's see." The clerk entered his database. "Ummm...they were purchased by a Lily North on Monday at 11:38 am. Would that be you?" He asked the wife pleasently.

Lily shook her head frantically.

"Then I'm afraid that is all I may do for you," the clerk stated, when Lily said in desperation, "It's my daughter! Our Lily has been missing for a week, and this is the last place we knew she was! Please!"

The clerk paused. "Oh dear, I am so sorry..." He continued clicking. "All right. She did not pick them up in the store. She had them custom fit and delivered to an address. Do you live on 125 Tingham Lane?"

"Er, yes. that's where we live..." Lily muttered.

"All right. I wasn't on duty the day, but let me check our security footage," the clerk brought up security feeds and rewound. "Please don't mention to my manager I'm doing this...ah, here we are."

On screen, Lily walked into the store, wearing her gray dress and a hiking belt, rugged backpack, and carrying a walking stick. She was chatting happily on a cell phone, and looked perfectly content.

She spent several hours trying on hiking boots, selected her favorite style, and then checked them out. Then she left, heading to the ice cream parlor next door.

"She's so...normal..." breathed Lily, amazed.

"I'm sorry this wasn't much help..." the clerk sadly shut the feed down. "I truly hope you find your daughter. Please let me know if there is anything I can do."

(Ooc: they should check the brand of shoe in the back of the store.)

---------------------

Emilena sent a scalpel spinning into an overhead light, drenching a guard-filled hallway with backness. She used the distraction to kick her way through.

Unfortunately, someone with a taser got a lucky swipe, and she fell to the floor, incapacitated for only a few seconds. But it was long enough for half of the guards to dog pile her.

Unbeknownst to her, she was close to the main hallway, and had almost reached Adrian...

[StarfallRaptor]

Adrian rounded the corner to the main hallway, and, the instant the lights went out, moved in.  As the security forces began to go at Emilena, he darted into the melee, grabbing two guards and tossing them aside, both hitting a wall with a dull thud, blacking out immediately.  The remaining guards turned towards him, but he grinned, activating the embedded neural augments he had.  In a flash of red fur and movement, he darted into the middle of the group, then lashed his right leg out, smashing a guard across the face with a vicious kick and sending him flat to the floor.  The next guard met a swift backhand, another two falling to a rapid spinning kick.  Without any hesitation, Adrian grabbed Emilena and slung her across his shoulders, kicking away another guard who got cocky enough to rush him, then took off down the hallway, dodging bullets in the process, before finally spotting a window and leaping through it...
____________________________________________________________

Not too far away, Kojuuro sat on a rooftop, and, hearing the commotion from the hospital, looked over the side of the roof just in time to see Adrian break through the glass of the window and take off running...