Aeydan, the DSR, and a Fight at Reets

[UwensBack]

Chris had come to Reets for yet another night of partying. It was fun, like normal, though it was going kind of slow. It picked up as time went on, the partiers discussed very important things like the reasons for adventurers being so charming and why adventurers leet themselves so often. Then he arrived.

Aeydan... bleh Chris thought, Not him again

Aeydan St. James. He dripped with sleazy cheap "charm". Bad pick up lines. Big ego. The works. This time he showed up with a big, strong, stupid, stereotypical Atrox bodyguard "for show", or so he said.

About half an hour after he arrived, two neutral aligned soldiers walked in, looking very menacing, guns out and in full black. They walked slowly up to Aeydan, dancing on the couch. They talked briefly with him, but he blew them off at first. Then they told him something rather cryptic: "The DSR says hello." The colour in his face drained at the mention of "DSR". he said quickly, "DSR?" [Then glanced at his Atrox bodyguard. "Annil! Run!" They bolted out with Raquel Sezmra Svancara and Lizbeth Demona66 Guiney following closely behind. Chris didn't follow, he just sat on the couch hoping whoever the DSR was, they'd catch St. James. Something about the guy bothered him and if someone removed him, Chris wouldn't complain. However, when Demona announced the bodyguard was fighting the menacing soldiers, he ran out catching the tail end and the bodyguard hitting the dirt. Aeydan was no where to be found, though the reporter, Stybeck and a couple other people had gathered around them. He looked around. Where's Sez.... He saw the soldiers kick the bodyguard's corpse. Chris shook his head.

"Ya let the big fish go."

The Opifex woman soldier spun on him. Short as he was, she was shorter. She obviously either didn't notice or didn't care.

"Uwen! Where is he? I know you saw him! Where'd he go?"

Chris looked down at her.

"If I knew where he was, I'd tell you, trust me."

He thought about contacting Sez, he figured she was with St. James, but he he decided against it. He didn't know why, he just figured it'd be best if he let this run its course. Besides, just because he didn't like St. James didn't mean he should turn him over to these.... "DSR" people. He figured St. James was a criminal but whether the "DSR" was a organised crime syndicate or some kind of police force was yet to be seen. Plus he didn't like these cocky soldiers either.

The soldiers eventually gave up and left, deciding the crowd didn't know anything. Chris stayed around and talked to Stybeck about various things. Eventually, Stybeck decided he needed to be heading off to bed so they waved goodbye and Chris went back to the party. She wasn't there either. He didn't think she would be. He wasn't worried, it was different. he never thought anyone'd have to worry about her. She'd take care of herself. And in the remote possibility she didn't, Brae'd fix things. Not business anyway... Not my place. Wouldn't be much help anway.He told himself to leave any worrying to Braedon. He couldn't tell what it was, but told himself it wasn't worry. Whatever it was, it was unsettling.

[Lauri]

"This way!", he called to them.

The trio had just barreled out of the Borealis Whompa frantically. What an adventure this was. First, her "date" was fashionably late, and now she was running from two crazies who wanted to kill him.

Aeydan looked around in confusion, but the last of the trio, Argamemnon seemed to know exactly what to do. He had started running north, calling for them to follow. Raquel, still in her dancing uniform, hurriedly tried to get a bit more dressed, a rifle loosely draped over her shoulder at the same time. She struggled another brief moment then was in toe with the pair.

They continued north, then darted around a few buildings, and around a corner. The engineer led them down a corridor, fumbled with something on the wall, and before they knew it, Raquel and the St. James fellow were creeping through a door. A large room greeted them; it was fairly bare, but a desk did decorate the opposite side of the room, a single terminal dotting the desktop. The walls were lined with other machinery, here and there, all used by the engineer for "engineer things", Raquel figured.

By now, she had gotten her clothes situated, and could concentrate on the task at hand. Putting the rifle on a nearby table, she pulled out her favored weapon, her OT Boomer. Calmly, she headed to the desk.. Argamemnon was already behind it at his chair, Aeydan across him, in another.

Some date...

[Ashval]

((*growls*))

[UwensBack]

Originally posted by Braedon
((*growls*))

((*laughs*))

[______________Emiliy]

As the twin suns of Rubi-Ka melted slowly beyond the horizon over the small resort town of Wine, a lone anun tearer cried fiercely in a high-pitched shrill and soared majestically past the waterfall into the distance. The moist air whisped around, tossing her hair ever so playfully about, gently warming her skin.

Taking a deep breath of anticipation, Emiliy tossed her datapad aside. Her one and only exam loomed ominously on daybreak's tablet, yet it had been somewhat of a chore (or rather, moreso) to focus on the bizarre workings of econometrics. Her mind was elsewhere, in another time and place.

It had now been twenty-four subtle hours since the scene at Reets the previous evening, and yet the whispers of phantoms had haunted her since. After seemingly months of silence and inaction, the ICC had risen again on Rubi-Ka, albeit in a most curious fashion.

Aeydan... a man upon the breeze that, much like the wind, seemed adventurous and mischievous, playing about the strands of every woman who graced his wandering eyes. Sezmra... the legendary Omni-Tek agent, friend of her brother to the bitter end, and seemingly ami-du-nuit of Aeydan, who had toiled endlessly over her. And then the peacekeepers...

They had dawned on Reets the previous evening in utter disregard for the sociality of the occasion, their very presence burning into the leery, stumbling minds of GSP's patrons. Fixated and unwavering, they had targetted Aeydan, who, aside from not particularly knowing (nor caring for) the character to whom his attraction drifted, seemed innocuous to all but the females swaying softly along the expanse of the glass floor.

Aeydan, beer in hand, mockingly taunted the female ICC peacekeeper, and only when threatened with the barels of rifles did he finally calm. After a brief exchange of heated words, Aeydan was arrested, and was swept off to the ICC headquarters in Andromeda for "questioning", as one peacekeeper so benignly, and undoubtedly falsely, stated. Emiliy had followed. Emiliy had watched.

And now, twenty-four hours later, Emiliy reached for another datapad. With all of the equations and theories of regressions stored safely within her NCU for the trying three-hour morning trial, and with sleep more of a fleeting wish than a biological desire, she tapped the screen gently as it fired to life, tuned instantaneously to the day's gridfeed.

[UwensBack]

((Shameless cross post, but it goes with both stories))

Thursday Evening, almost one week since the nightmares began anew.

The night had been eventful, but after most of the crowd had gone and the events with Aeydan calmed down, it had slowed down. There were only a couple people left. Chris had left to tend to business and upon returning found Sezmra had returned. He sparkled the remaining partiers and nonchalantly began asking "innocent" questions and commenting about the evening's events. It wasn't working and he didn't think it would. She was the secret agent. She knew what he was doing. He laughed to himself as he pulled out a bottle of Scotch, his first in almost a week. If he wanted to find anything important out, he'd have to ask her directly.

20 minutes later....

Somehow, they had gotten onto the subject of women. He'd had a little to drink and had a loose tongue. He admitted he had no idea what he was doing when he came to women, it was all luck. She didn't seem to believe it, at least at first. They talked for some time about that when the conversation took another seemingly random turn. He said something along the lines of "If people think I'm cute, guess they don't know me." What he meant was they don't know his past, but she said something that put what he decided Emiliy had been trying to get at in a blunt light. "I call 'em how I see 'em." Everything made sense then. Everything Emiliy had said about pasts and presents. "...how I see 'em." Its how he is now that matters. Thats what Emmi was saying. The past can't be changed. His actions couldn't be excused. But, at the present, he wasn't the same person he used to be. He was... how did she put it.... "cute". "Fun". Not a killer. He was a healer now. Sure, the nightmares and the remorse would still come, but he would be worried if it didn't. They would stay with him until the end of his days reminding him why he was a healer. Hopefully tempering any future action he took. He wasn't a grief stricken teenager. He wasn't a militia soldier. He wasn't furious-beyond-words with his brothers. He was "cute" with a past that he hoped he learned a lesson from.

He was surprised that he had said so much. She was fun, but he didn't know her like others did. He decided he needed to get to bed and she said she was tired as well.

"Glad we had this chat"

He looked up, surprised.

"Likewise."

She smiled and walked off and he turned and began walking to his apartment. He didn't quite get her and didn't think he ever would. He remembered back to his first day back, he went straight to Rompa's and had exactly two people on world he knew personally. She'd been sitting there in a booth with that fixer, Demenzia. He thought about going back to his old waiter duties, but he decided they could wait and had gone to other things. He mumbled something about coincedences as he entered the apartment.

Wonder if I shoulda said all that... For all he knew, she had recorded it for a SPARTA profile.
Nah, he thought, ,
A) yer not that important,
B) She wouldn't do it.

What makes you so sure?

Like she said, I call 'em how I see 'em. I'm not a secret agent, but I think I can trust my gut about people.

He grumbled about his discussions with himself and climbed into bed.

[Kyrstina]

Kyrstina had been quite troubled recently by these turns of events her "brother" had been bringing her. News of Reets becoming more and more of a political hotbed then previously thought.

"Well, it is in neutral territory....anyone can go there......bound to turn up some unseedy characters to say the least....."

Still, it bothered her slightly. Activity at Reets had almost always been a given, but just not to these levels.

Gorvant had recently arrived on-world. Strangely enough, TIna had happened to be walking by one of the welcoming hallways as he was beginning his inprocessing. The two had stopped by the Cup and talked for several hours, becoming fast friends. After some time, Tina had taken a liking to this man, which was unusual for her. Seeing as how he had no family and no means to help him out, she offered him a place in her personal family, whch was now made up of quite the collection of people who had shared her views and gotten her to smile a few more times than she usually did. Tina smiled, gave him a few creds and a few tools to help him on his way.

It shocked her even more when she next heard from Gorvant, when he came home, talking about meeting the most wonderful woman. It hadn't really surprised Tina that Gorvant would find someone. After all, for a solitus, he was rather attractive and he did have some kind of..... charm..... going for him. It was just the speed at which he had found someone. What shocked her even more was the revelation of who it was, one who was already a close friend..... (())

As such, Gorvant also mentioned he had heard of strange things about the newcomers to Reets as of late. As such, she had asked a favor of a certain agent friend of hers, disguising her brother's identity. She knew it would wear off eventually, but this was reconnisense she would need.

Gorvant had still not come home from last night. "Probably passed out at Reets..... *sigh* ......again....." She decided it was time to start preparing for her celebration that evening, and began laying out her many outfits from which she would have to choose from.....

"Hmmmm........ I think I need to go shopping again....."

[vallikat]

Originally posted by Kyrstina

It shocked her even more when she next heard from Gorvant, when he came home, talking about meeting the most wonderful woman. It hadn't really surprised Tina that Gorvant would find someone. After all, for a solitus, he was rather attractive and he did have some kind of..... charm..... going for him. It was just the speed at which he had found someone. What shocked her even more was the revelation of who it was, one who was already a close friend..... (())

(())

[Lauri]

Raquel lounged in the couch a few minutes longer. Her conversation partner seemed ready to find his bed and prepare himself for another day. She smiled briefly and thanked him for the chat before getting up to leave, herself.

She'd sat there for a good hour or so, just casually speaking with the one she nickname "Uwy". Something seemed to have been troubling him, ever since she noticed him again at the party. Surely she wasn't getting rusty and betraying her calm, cool attitude about things...

It seemed though, he was concerned with this "Aeydan" fellow. She sensed he didn't care for him much as they talked. Just as well, her 'date' did have an air of arrogance about him... it was mildly attractive, but she figured it could be an aquired taste. Turns out, she was right.

Either way, they talked... somehow they centered around the topic of pasts. Uwy came off as sure that he knew who he was. He was so sure as to claim that perhaps she was wrong in her perception of him... maybe not, wrong, but that she just didn't know him as well as others. Raquel couldn't have cared less, really. She didn't need a resume to be able to describe someone.

Uwy never came off as troubled, though, as he was then. He just drank his scotch, wallowed in his strange sense of sorrow. He spoke of things that he seemed guilty for, saddened over. Whatever it was, it didn't dissuade her from her opinion of him. He was kind, fun, and kinda "cute".

Not even the worst of "pasts" he'd ever muster could change that view of him, to her.

She left Reet's with a small burden lifted from her shoulders. Even if she hadn't shared as much as he had, the comfort of knowing that someone with such a dark past could be themselves, truly, was a boon.

[UwensBack]

He woke at 4:45, the latest in more than a week. He got out of bed and took a shower to wake himself up. He dried himself off and pulled on some clothes. He sat down at his desk and tried to access a log of the previous night.

Log not Found

Ah, you gotta be kiddin' me....

He shut off the grid feed and tried to recall the previous night.

So... I went an' had a little to drink and my tongue started loosenin' up. Again. I gotta stop that. Ah well, at least in was my drink in a week. First step I suppose. Wonder exactly how much I told her? Maybe ask her?

He laughed softly to himself.

Yeah, that'll be smart. Not only do you blab, you ask her how much you blabbed. Real smooth eh?

It was odd. It wasn't a "deep" talk like the ones he and Emmi have. Hell, it wasn't even a talk. Casual conversation's a better definition. He usually felt better after those "deep talks". But this one had done something similar. He felt... relieved? Maybe? Ah, it doesn't matter. Shouldn't've brought it up anyway.

He pulled up his clan's gridsite. Anna had gotten the log of her chat with Aeydan.

Agent? Sez was right. Rockstar punk. And this was a seemingly different story than the one he told Sezmra. You don't know? Just an innocent little rockstar bein' "strongarmed" by the ICC eh? Nice story. Think I'll mail these logs to Sez. Maybe foward a copy to Brae, see if he knows anythin'.

He mailed the logs to Sezmra and Braedon.


To: Raquel Sezmra Svancara
CC: Brendan Braedon Demesa
From: Christopher Uwen MacGreggor
Subject: Aeydan Conversation Logs
Attachment: The log

Here's some logs I got from a guildee chatting with Aeydan. What do you think of them? Compared them with what you told me he told you Sez and they don't seem to match up to me, but I don't know.

Tell me what you two think

Chris/Uwie/Uwy

He shut off the grid feed. He walked outside and hopped in his Yalmaha and flew to Reet's Retreat. Josef would be showing up in a couple hours. Time to have a chat with little Joe.