Douse my flames with gasoline

[Falikos]

The soft hum of jazz rolled through the Rompa bar, curling its way around the tables and chairs. A drunk Opifex gent, perched on a barstool near the front bobbed his head in time to the music between sips, serving to spill most of his drink onto himself. Behind the swinging door to the kitchen I could hear the shouts of the short order cook and manager getting into it with each other. The growing noise didn’t seem to bother the hulking bartender as he methodically polished shot glasses, one after another. He glanced my direction and smiled the same grin he’d been tossing my way for hours; warm and curious.

You see, I was waiting for something, and I wasn’t willing to leave till I’d discovered it. I had wasted just over three weeks. Wandering in the snow and ice of Penumbra, I had tried to freeze it out of myself with no success. It had only managed to disappoint; me, my friends, and the other Dreamers. Nothing was different inside my head; nothing at all.

In front of me I had sprawling piles of paper that I sorted, stacked, un-stacked and re-stacked compulsively. The edges of my mind felt frayed. Old photos, news articles some so worn they had yellowed, love letters, lists, notes – bits and pieces of my life. I tingled with a sense of urgency; notepad clutched in one hand, a strong cup of tea in the other. I stared at the piles before me – just as I had been for hours. I waited.

"Why?” “You need to get out more, Kate” “You should try a vacation.”

I’d heard it all, countless times over the last year. I started to wonder if I had looked all this time like I now felt, like my collapse was eminent and everyone around me could see it. It wasn’t a collapse though, not that had me so preoccupied. Explosion; that had me far more worried. Something, something just was so very wrong. I needed to find an answer and fast; the Truth. My Truth. I hope to find it here in this booth with my stacks, studying the mess of papers where running in the cold had failed.

Frustrated. Yup, totally and completely. I close my eyes for a moment, leaning into the faded red and green fabric. I can feel myself, standing on a ledge, totally uncertain if what I need to do is jump into something new and unknown, or turn back and be safe. Shaking my head, I mutter, “Messages.” That should cheer me up, at least as a distraction. Flipping my comm line on, I sift through each one: Junk, junk, more junk, advertisement for implants… and a message from Fingahz? I thought he was dead. I should have known not to assume that about a fixer, especially that fixer; would have to be hearty married to Pax. Chuckling to myself I fired back a short reply –

-----------------
To: Josh Fingus

Hey, long time no see. Buzz my comm some time; I’d like to hear about where the hell you’ve been. Damnable fixer! Call me if you need anything.

Curiously, -- Kate
-----------------

Clicking the line closed again it was just me and the pile. Woman vs. Pressed Plant Pulp: I squinted staring it down, and for a moment thought it squinted right back. You’re losing it Kate. Sighing and picking back up my tea I steeled myself. It would be, another, long night.

[SneakyPax]

Highrise 4, Floor 90, Rome Green
Everyone in every team despatched to look for clues and evidence on the scene stopped what they were doing, numerous heads turned around to make out the source of the commotion. Lt. Ricoh and Dr. Ashpool stood close facing each other with angered faces almost as if they were about to murder each other. Seconds passed like sirup, the sticky kind. It was Lt. Ricoh who blinked first.

"Alright, I debrief you what we know so far.. follow me." realizing he has been watched from all sides. "GET BACK TO WORK YOU SLACKERS! I WANT RESULTS DOUBLE QUICK OR I TEAR Y'ALL A NEW ONE!" he barked through the corridor towards them teams who instantly continued their work.

After the doors to another appartment further down the corridor slid shut behind them and prevented any prying ear from listening Lt. Ricoh couldn't help it and blurted out "What's so special about that bitch that someone high up at CEBAF decides to sort out the matter personally?" while lighting up a smoke.

"Honestly, that's none of your concern Lt. Ricoh. Cut the crap and tell me what you found out so far." Omni Med Armed Forces boots tapped impatiently on marble floor.


Meanwhile in a secluded cave somewhere in Lush Hills
"Ok, what do we got here.." Amelia more spoke to herself investigating Pax's ravaged body after Fing finished removing all the battle gear and clothing from her. Pax's body was engulfed in a reddish glowing aura, clouds of nanobots were doing their programmed task. "Second to Third grade degree burns on both arms and face, deep cuts on the cranium, several entry wounds on the upper torso.." she let Fing pull Pax to one side so she could get a closer look at her back. "Hmmm.. fewer exit wounds on the back which means a yet unknown number of shrapnels still inside, the right hand and its implant partially missing." a frown appeared on her face, thinking she would need a miracle to patch her up without the proper instruments. Thus she eyed Fing to confront him with her diagnosis.

"Listen, I'll be able to tend most of her injuries. As you can see the nanobots rebuilding the burnt tissue as we speak. For the right hand.. it'll be, needless to say, a purely biological hand as the implant is ruined. What really causing me headaches are the shrapnels, I have no idea in what way her mobility will be affected or if we should even dare to move her. It can't be done without the right instruments and even then... look around, this place is a hoarding place for germs. This is kitchen-sink surgery.."

"Try the f**k harder!" Fing growled through clenched teeth, glaring at Amelia almost overheard or ignored his comm that signalled an incoming message. "Should she die you gonna follow suit, and that's a promise." he added and turned his attention to his datapad and almost instantly started to type a response.

Minutes passed.

"OI! STOP WHATEVER YOU'RE DOING AND ASSIST ME, SHE'S CONVULSING." Amelia screamed at Fing, who then accidently sent the message unfinished. His datapad met the floor as Fing instinctively catched the medical device Amelia angrily threw at him. "Report her vital signs while I ready this syringe here."

"Uh, Pulse 117 per minute. B.P. at 250 over 193.."

"For f**ks sake.." Amelia sweared and plunged the syringe into Pax's carotid vein who in turn relaxed at an instant, seemingly dead. "Phew, guess we got her stable again." but thinking "The OD of Metazine she received is the least thing to worry about presently. Hope it'll keep her alive long enough until they send a squad my way that'll get this lunatic cuffed and off my back."


Meanwhile deep within the deepest depths of Pax's subconsciousness

Pax knew the brief moment when the soul parts from its worldly vessel and the following travel at lightspeed towards the whirling vortex that leads to limbo, nirvana, paradise or hell maybe. Usually it is a one way track. But here on Rubi-Ka that travel almost always gets interrupted by forces a few nutty professors came up with - resurrection technology.

This time however, it was different. Instead of suffering the bad side effects of a resurrection near the reclaim terminal in Rome she was engulfed in darkness, like a nightmarish dream of being buried alive she couldn't wake up from. Images of familiar faces floated around her head, a crescendo of voices broke the silence. As much as she tried to figure out fragments of what they're talking about but it was no use.

"Leave me alone, all of you!" she heard herself shouting angrily. Them images desintegrated instantly into countless shards emanating faint light from within as they slowly descended. The sound of clapping hands echoed over to her from behind. She turned around and, much to her surprise, faced herself leisurely walking towards her, grinning smugly.

"Hello Man-deeee!"stressing her name with disgust "about time you visit the asylum you put me in and get a taste of what it is like being bound and gagged."

[Fixerspy]

awesome!!!

[Naefen]

((Keep it coming Pax))

[SneakyPax]

Pax's revelations
Surrounded by a soft aura of light, her twin, who wore some kind of penitentiary outfit stopped her movement right in front of her. A puzzled frown appeared on her face as she couldn't remember ever wearing such clothing. As if she was reading her mind, her counterparts scorned expression softened.

"Still utterly oblivious - right Mandi?" a lilting voice escaped her clones lips obviously amused at her naivete. With a flick of her wrist the environment morphed from total darkness to bright daylight. They both stood on the porch to a huge, oriental-looking, wooden house. The smell of incense sticks mixing with the scent of roses that grew in abundance in the adjoining garden. "Remember this place?"

A strange feeling of déjá vu tickled in the back of her head, let the hair on her neck stood on end. Both terrified and curious she let her view wander over the idyllic surroundings then looked up to the skies. She realized there was just one sun that stood high on the horizon which only means this wasn't Rubi-Ka but..

"Earth... but that's impossible, I'm born and raised on Rubi-Ka.. what.. how.." her confusion turned to anger "Screw you, you used to be just a voice in my head. Why appear here as a vagary of my perception. Why the frack should I talk with a figment of my own imagination?"

"Because I'm much more than that" she absently replied while leaning casually at one of the pillars.


Rome Green
Lt. Ricoh let out an annoyed sigh along with fumes from his smoke. "Okay, I cut it short. Me and my squad were patrolling the Rome perimeter for any unusual activity as the emergency call buzzed over comm. At the given time information about what struck Highrise 4 was unknown, could've been a cargo ship or an alien craft.." he shrugged slightly while inspiring smoke from his cigarette "I instantly despatched a call for reinforcements, just by-the-book procedures in unclear situations. As we approached the scene we saw the structual damage on the highrise. There was debris alright, but no wreckage from any flying vessel. The porter on his nightshift, Mr... " quickly peered at his datapad "Adam Swanson provided us with valuable information, ie that it was on the 90th floor where the fire alarm went off and that he just finished gridwarping some postal stuff to the aforementioned floor. Well, you don't need to be a genius to assume something nasty came via parcel service and accidently got triggered by the warping procedure." Every now and then during his monologue Lt. Ricoh made eye contact with Doctor Ashpool as he had the impression he wasn't paying attention at all whether he and his squad made a mistake severe enough to kick him from his position as squad leader as threatened earlier. Slightly irritated by the stoical behavior he continued.

"Anyways, my team went straight up while other teams that arrived in the meantime secured the levels from the bottom upwards one by one. On our way there several reports reached my comm. One that verified Mr Swansons statement, the highrises mainframe computer logs revealed there were 4 items transferred to an appartment there - 3 letters and a package. Needless to say we initiated a backtrace to the sender of the package as it was the only item big enough holding a device capable of such devastation. The delivery service that brought it here is a fake, there's no business registered to FTL Courier. It claimed to be a pending order directly from Miiir fashion. Heck, I can't recall they ever made clothing that makes you wanna go boom." Lt. Ricoh laughed but quickly continued as he realized his joke wasn't shared by the audience thinking "God, I wish they'd at least say something instead of standing and waiting doing this psychological warfare."

"Ahem.. another memo informed me who resides on that particular floor. As you already might have guessed it the recipient was Mandi Fingus better known as Paxcorpus. The brief background check we done on her sure cleared a few things up. Seen her rap sheet, thick as a phonebook.. bitch must've stepped on too many toes to receive such a present. Her bank record shows she was broke for several months now, spending exorbitant sums for a dozen private investigation agencies. People down at Intern Ops are on it to figure out what she was desperately looking for. The most recent credit movement was done by Nick Noodle, a deposit of 25M credits. A team is en route to him for interrogation, maybe coming up with a few more answers but I seriously doubt it. What we got here is just another living example of wasted youth." Ricoh inhaled one final time before he carelessly dropped the smoke on the marble floor. A sound of grinding teeth made him eye up the CEBAF representative. The madly fluttering eyelid on the totally poised appearance of the oriental looking Doctor instantly told him he shouldn't have pointed out his last remark.

[SneakyPax]

Rome Green
"ENOUGH! Lt. Ricoh, you're drifting off. I do sense you stretching your briefing into unbearable lenghts on purpose thinking I get bored and miss one or the other detail. You know what? You're right - I really don't give a rollerrats butt what you personally think of my patient nor how the bomb got here.. spare me with all the details that apparently only buying you sand for your hourglass - me and my colleagues ain't selling any. So before you start to throw more meaningless drivel my way, tell me, what was Mandi Ash.. ermm Fingus' condition when you found her?" his eyes pinned the soldier down, studying his every reaction.

"Well, she got caught in the blast radius." a shrug "Bet you can imagine she wasn't a pretty sight. It was inconceivable she could've survived. But why not give it the benefit of a doubt so our team medic Miss Connor checked her vital signs which were critical. But before any medical actions could be taken we were ambushed by a yet unidentified fixer." Lt. Ricoh fingered another smoke out his breastpocket.

"It'll be a cold day in hell before I let a lovesick low-down fixer interfere and stop me with my project. You were just lucky you managed to jump off my operating table Mr Fingus.."

"Dr. Ashpool?" Lt. Ricohs voice let him snap out of his thoughts, he caught himself grinding his teeth together again. Lt. Ricoh eyed him su****iously as if he was about to ask if he's holding back information about the identity of the guy who caused all this.

"Ahem.. how can you say this was the work of a fixer?" he blurted out just to say something to distract him. It sorta worked as that question earned him an annoyed grimace followed by laughter.

"Told you Doc, you shouldn't mess in affairs you don't understand. So listen... and learn. He was wearing grid armor which, in case you don't know is a nightmare to any conventional firearm. And if that wasn't bad enough that son of a leet sorta moved with lightspeed, zigzaggin past our ranks.." and added with a lower voice ".. thus the moderate casualities, all caused by friendly fire." Lt. Ricoh took a long hit from his smoke. "As I mentioned my squad arrived here first and the metaphysical division, the ones with the appropriate nanoprograms to stop a GA wearing mad dog were still en route. Enough time for him to give us hell and grid out along with your patient and our medic."

[Fixerspy]

/me squirms in her seat waiting to read More!!!

[SneakyPax]

Pax's revelations
The hours sped by in fast forward, shadows grew bigger until the sun disappeared behind the horizon. The stars came out on the cloudless sky and with it the urge to watch them, to read them rose up in her.

"You never wondered where that habit come from, do you Mandi?" her lookalike image faded away just to rematerialize close behind her whispered in her ear "Don't you find it odd your nickname is Paxcorpus, a nick in a long dead language that's only used in medical terms by doctors these days? Do you even know the meaning of it?"

"Nicknames don't mean sh*t but yes, I translated it out of curiousity and came to the conclusion it's without meaning.."

"HA! So who gave you that nick, hmmm?" she interrupted "Bet you cannot remember so here's a hint.. this mansion belongs to Doctor Hideo Ashpool. It is located in Okinawa, Earth."

"Tell me evil twin, how do I get the hell out of here? I don't believe one mere word you're saying! LET ME OUT! I WANT OUT!"


In a cave somewhere in Lush Hills
"This keeps bothering me." Amelia thought aloud while studying the reading on a handheld diagnostics tool. Fingahz stood nearby them, endlessly watching the cave entrance. Outside it was dawning. He knew they couldn't hide here for very much longer, evaluating his chances without the moment of surprise on his side; Hopeless.

"God, I'm way too exhausted and bruised for any more bad news.. so what is it?" he said wearily, limped the short distance towards them.

"Take a look at these figures for a sec." Amelia passed the tool over to Fing who done as he was told but certainly didn't have a clue how to interprete the readings.

"Aha.. very interesting. How what the hell am I suppose to see in these two graphs?" he snarled at her.

"Those are neural patterns. One individual means one neural pattern but when I use the device on her I get two, that's impossible."

"Hell bent on wasting time, you obviously using crappy, good for nothing devices.. I'm more interested why the heck she's not waking up? You got an explanation for that?" pointing at the body of Paxcorpus whos appearance changed drastically. The burnt and torn flesh, the missing hand, the bruises - all miraculously healed by a constant flow of nanobots solely designed for tasks like that.

"No, I don't have an explanation for it.. Heck, if those readings are correct and there really are two complete personalities within I fear this is way out of my league. Administering medication might aggravate the situation. But trying to wake her up by any means.. I have a bad feeling about that. Give her a lil more time."

"WE DON'T HAVE TIME, for christs sake!" he exploded "We gotta keep moving. Soon this place will be swarming with OT Special Forces so DO AS I SAY!" Fing levelled his perennium beamer right at Amelias head, this time with a frenzied expression. "DO IT, NO MATTER OF THE CONSEQUENCE!"

"You're doing a big mistake..." Amelia muttered but readied a syringe to the max with Adrenaline. But instead of ramming it into her heart she handed it over to Fing who didn't quite understand. "Here, YOU do it so you cannot blame me afterwards."

"Don't be ridiculous.."

"I'm dead serious. Shoot me if you dare but I won't give her the injection."


Pax's revelations
"Evil twin? Just because it's my face you see in your daily look in the mirror doesn't mean you look like me. You still believe this split personality crap those shrinks at CEBAF told you, right? C'mon, let me show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.. Sometimes long forgotten memories say more than a thousand words." she smiled smugly and with a smooth movement of her hand the location faded to nothingness except for the entrance to the manor.

"Cheap parlor tricks.. stay away from me." Mandi backed up.

"What are you so afraid of? Not confident anymore that I'm just a figment of your imagination? Off with you, insolent brat!" she boomed, forcefully grabbing her like a leet doll and sent her flying through the doorway laden with suppressed memories.

[SneakyPax]

Rome Green
The little appartment was quickly filled with fumes from the chain smoking Lt. Ricoh as this floors ventillation system got cut off due to the fire alarm.

"Alright, I recapitulate how I see it. You and your whole squad got tricked by a single fixer, a whole floor totalled, the suspects still at large and their whereabouts unknown. What an obvious sight of incompetence. How's the supreme court gonna react once they are aware of such blatant failure?" once the question passed his lips it hung heavy, just like the cigarrette smoke, in the room. For Lt. Ricoh it was like the time slowed down, a mere blink of an eye took half an eternity. Beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. A few more eternities passed before Dr. Ashpool decided to continue "But fear not, I have a plan for such an occasion as this." secretly pushed a button on a black box he carried inside his notum spangled Omni-Med coat - Operation Deadeyes.

"Ack.." was all Lt. Ricoh was able to say as hostile nanoprograms invaded his nervous system, made his body crumple up in agony. He met the floor, terrified he couldn't move nor scream. Imprisoned in his own body his thoughts were spinning what the hell is happening. He heard footsteps slowly walking towards him. Dr. Ashpool squatted down to him.

"Don't worry, you ain't gonna remember a sh*t about all this once I'm through with you. Did I mention I'm not with CEBAF?" he chuckled and it sounded sincere.

"You're right with one thing though.. we sure got people to lobotimize, people like you."

[langwiz7]

Borealis bar

The fixer known as "Lastsecond2" looked in disbelief at the message Katelin had received. He knew the traps of the enemy sometimes came in the guise of old friends, and suspected Kate knew as well, but her disposition troubled him more than the message.

"I agree that the events of his death are questionable at best, but I think you need to let me handle this. Something doesn't feel right about this message. And something doesn't feel right about you." He looked at her with the concern a family member would feel, if he were bonded by blood. By some accounts, that could be true. "Maybe you should talk to Xeph."

"Also, my sensors picked up a break in at your apartment." She looked at him, confused. "You don't remember the ones I placed after the DB attack?" He dared not use their full name in a public place. Even the abbreviation brought a su****ious glance from the bartender. He looked down, ashamed for bringing that event back up. "I suggest letting Dawn have a look around your apartment for anything the sensors didn't pick up, a stray hair or partial print, or something of that nature. And this message could be related."

"But I already sent a reply. I recognize his writing, it must be Josh." she protested.

"I'll check around, but you shouldn't have sent anything so quickly, you don't know who really sent this."

He glanced down at one of the piles of paper she had begun carrying around. Something was definitely happening. Some degradation of her glory. She didn't use paper much before, and definitely did not take work to a bar, at least to his mind.

"It's nothing." she lied, and covered up something about a plant.

He stood, and paused for a moment. "If there's anything else I can do, please, tell me." She nodded halfheartedly. Then, it was time to call up some old friends. He strode quickly out into the cold rain of Borealis that seemed to fall around him, but never on him, his nanobots even prevented that "danger". Deep within him, he hoped that RAGE would not impede his quest for truth.

[SneakyPax]

Rome Green
"Get that filth out of my eyes, I'll personally take care of him later. Meet me up at Harrys one hour from now." Genom turned to leave while his zealots grabbed the immobilized Lt Ricoh and vanished into the grid. Near the entrance he fumbled a gas mask out his pockets. Once in place he activated the appartements doors. The commotion was gone replaced by an eery silence. All teams who were looking for evidence earlier before now lay around unconscious. Two hulking Atroxes, both with canisters strapped on their backs were busy spilling liquid everywhere.

Genom rushed directly to the makeshift surveillance OP in order to get the latest information about the possible whereabouts. Most furniture got carelessly thrown into a corner to make room for technical gizmos. Like tentacles cables lay throughout the appartment. Numerous displays flickered from every direction while a printer endlessly spewed out intercepted comm signals going in and out of the area around Lush Hills. A program resolved the long, meaningless comm numbers to their owners, giving the user something to work with. He scrolled through the long list of recent transmissions but stopped abruptly as a mugshot of Katelin "Falikos" Phare appeared on screen.

"Ah, Miss Phare... Why am I not surprised to see you messing around in this?" punched a command into the console to list the coords where that particular transmission gone to. "Hmmm... a cave to the northwest from Harrys, now that's a start.."

"Sir? 2 mins till evac." one of the Atroxes said as he passed by to saturate the surveillance area starting at the farthest corner so Genom could stay a little while longer at the console. He knew he had to hurry before the knockout gas entirely dissipates and all the teams around him would wake up from their involuntary nap.

"Now to make sure I was right with my assumption.." he mumbled, crosschecking if any transmissions were sent from the given coords. A few moments later a familiar Opifex face got displayed on screen instantly let him grind his teeth together again.

"Just stay put there a little while longer goddamn you."

"Sir, it's time." the same Atrox said while unstrapping his canister carelessly dropping it to the floor. A small display showed a 20 and counted backwards. Genom and the two Atroxes got beacon warped away before the canister ignited. Floor 90 on Highrise 4 turned into a blazing inferno.

[Fixerspy]

wow. no evidence. no witnesses. no trace...

[Jacob Stroud]

Outside Rome Green Highrise 4

Fireman Supervisor Mark Hazel surveyed the damage from a firetruck hovering outside the building. It wasn't pretty.

"This is the fault of those stuck-up incompetents in Omni-Pol," he thought to himself. They had tried to respond to the initial blast but for some reason Omni-Pol had locked down the building, preventing any other emergency services from getting inside. Now a fire had broken out, probably from some damaged wires that Omni-Pol had neglected, and had already spread up to the 93rd floor.

Something caught his eye. While the other fire units were trying to contain the blaze by fighting around its edges like they were supposed to, one ariel unit was spraying fire suppressing foam directly into the gaping hole on the 90th floor. Checking though his binoculars he could see that it was Unit 13 from from the Rome Blue 3rd District. What were they even doing on this side of town?

He grabbed his comm and started barking orders. "Unit 13, I need you to move up four floors and put some suppression nanos down so we can get this thing contained! Unit 13, do you copy? Unit 13? Unit 13, please respond..."

*******

Meanwhile, inside the blasted shell of Pax's ex-apartment, a lone firefighter with the name "Bannister" on his helmet fought back against the inferno armed only with a hose spraying supressive foam. Slowly, he made his way forward step by step through the smoke filled darkness. First through the hole where the apartment door used to be, then across the hall into a neighboring apartment. From time to time, he risked a glance at his NCU to ensure he was still closing in on his objective.

Finally, he stopped in front of a door to a walk-in closet. A quick check revealed that it had been sealed from the inside. He gave one last spray of the area, beating back the flames and plunging the area into near darkness. Dropping the hose, he picked up the power ax that was clipped to his belt, activated it, and started to hack away at the doorframe.

The door finally gave way, and he shone his light inside. In the middle of the floor, lying on its side, was a large refrigerator. He pulled the door open to find an unconscious woman wearing a stealth suit. Reaching to his belt again, he pulled out a thin anti-themal blanket which he wrapped about her, followed by a spare oxygen mask which he put around her face. After a few seconds she began to stir.

"Wh-what the...," she began as her eylids flitted open.

"Jadedragon, we need to evacuate. Can you stand?" Bannister the Fireman said in a dead, emotionless voice.

"McClymonds? What the hell are you doing here? You're supposed to be AAHHH, my head!"

"My objective is to retrive you and the comm terminal chip. The comm terminal is fried, you are not. Let's go."

Bannister/McClymonds propped up agent Jadedragon and helped her walk back to Unit 13, still parked outside the hole in wall. Sitting down in one of the passenger seats Jade tried to focus her thoughts in her still clouded mind.

"McClymonds, call back to base. We need to put together a strike team immediately."

"There are no strike teams currently available. All spare units assigned to the Project have been called in by the central office. That is why they sent me instead."

"WHAT?!?" Jadedragon winced though her headache.

"You should get medical attention. I'll take you to the Rome Blue lab..."

"No, there's no time for that. It seems we have some competition in tracking the fixer down. We have to get to her first."

"Do you know where to find her?"

"Not exactly, but I know where to start. Head for the public grid terminal. We're going to Harry's..."

********

"Unit 13 do you copy? Unit 13 do you..." Mark Hazel's voice trailed off as he watched Unit 13 turn and speed away into the city.

[langwiz7]

Old Athen

Lastsecond2's list of contacts had been unforthcoming about the data he wanted, he frowned as he walked past the new offices of Ramon Bauer. He glanced at it, then quickly back straight forward, and a little downcast. The clans were becoming increasingly intrusive of neutral affairs, and he was pretty sure if they bothered to look, he too would have a rapsheet a mile long, pretty much standard fare for a fixer of his calibre. He stopped at a small stream, then backed off a few paces and leapt over it into a grassy area underneath a tree. A man was working in a garden next to it.

"Nice garden" LS2 said. The man did not pause or look up at him, but nodded. Undaunted by the silence, the fixer continued "I was wondering if you had any plants from offworld."
"Fraid not." the man said. "How is your garden, if I may be so bold?"
"It is fair." LS2 replied. "The roots don't always take."
"These are Ysenia. I received them by grid 2 hours ago. Aren't they lovely?" The man smiled slightly.
"Very. I should see about ordering some." LS2 said.
"I only ordered this one batch."
"Do you think they would go well in my garden?"
"They do better in Lush Hills. I ordered some soil from Harry not too long ago."
"I see. Do you have any Forget-me-nots?"
"Yes. Those are them there." He pointed northwest to the flowers.
"Do they like this much sun?"
"Very much so."
"They're perfect for my garden. Thanks for the advice."
"You're quite welcome."

The fixer glanced around to make sure no one else was watching, then, in a flash of blue light, was gone.

Sirocco continued planting his Ysenia. (Yes, there was an elaborate code going on during the whole gardening section.)

Once within the relative safety of the grid, the fixer sighed. "Josh, what have you gotten me into this time?" He started toward Harry's, hoping he would pick up the trail from there, or follow someone who had a better idea of it than him, and commed Fali, using the massive data flow of the grid as some cover to relay his new information.

[langwiz7]

"Stupid, stupid, stupid." The fixer thought out loud as he ran back towards Harry's. He leapt over a chain link fence surrounding the prominent radar dish. "Backlogs." He hoped he would make it there in time to do what he knew needed to be done. He glanced nervously left and right before slipping the electronic lockpick from his sleeve. "Come on." He whispered. Click. He whirled inside and shut the door. He hoped he was not going too fast.

He pressed himself up against a wall in the short hallway, knowing it would not offer much cover. Getting into a firefight might damage the controls and end his mission, so he must be quick. He edged closer to the door at the end of the hallway, hoping he would not be caught in a crossfire. He felt certain someone would be coming to check the door, if he hadn't already triggered an alarm. The fixer's quarry was a middle aged man, slumped over in his chair facing a huge monitor filled with coordinates. Lastsecond2 made sure this man would wake up somewhere else with a quick, efficient blow to the head, crunching a few vertebrae.

If they weren't aware of his presence, they would be now. He spun a small device off his left wrist and attached it to the computer. *Beep* Access Denied. *Beep* Access Denied. *Beep-boop* Access Granted. He typed in his search string and watched the away from him. "Hurry." He said, trying to will the computer to work faster. He glanced back. "Gotcha Josh. You really were in a hurry." He knew the coordinates now. And that something was wrong. But he already knew that from the counter-surveillance report. "Ok...Edit." He mumbled, keeping his attention on the door.

He heard the outside door open. 'Running out of time, but I have to do this, even if I get close to getting caught.' 3800, 1409.3. A few more keystrokes and he would be out. Footsteps. Delete last 5 actions taken. He grabbed the device and felt the shadows push him in an awkward direction. Plasma nearly scorched his right thigh. He turned to face 3 men dressed in Omni-Pol's finest.

"Sorry boys. Can't play." As their guns revved up to release their volleys, the blue overtook Lastsecond2.

-----

"Lt. Sarden, report!"
"Fixer, Colonel. Came in and killed Coverly. Then did something."
"What?"
"Uhh...just says deleted. What's that mean?"
"Nothing good, Lieutenant. But what I don't know. Ops!"

-----

The fixer exited the grid at Harry's and began running to the cave. He knew those grunts would have to secure the perimeter, but probably wouldn't give him chase if they saw him. Hopefully he wouldn't run into any other opposition on his way there. The guards' delay may have cost him a lot more than he thought.

[SneakyPax]

Pax's revelations

A birthday cake with 6 burning candles lay on the table, her surroundings, the table, chairs, everything seemed so huge. An oriental couple - the man bore a great resemblance to Dr. Ashpool but a whole lot younger - was smiling down to her, cheering as she doused all the candles with a single blow. Everyone was talking in a language she didn't understand - or rather no longer understand as she heard herself saying or responding something with a strange squeaky voice. As she meddled with the wrappings of a present she noticed her hands - small, pink and purty. Her vision froze to an image still that folded itself into an origami and vanished.

"It's just my mind playing tricks on me.. someone must've slipped a hallucinogenic drug into my sake.. Yes, that must be it."

"Jumping to conclusions.. yes? This ain't no bizarre aberration but excerpts of events that happened in YOUR past. Let me fresh up your mind some more Man-deee.."

"No, wait!"


A mirror that reached from the floor all up to the ceilling showed a litte Solitus girl approximately 12 years old, wearing a formal black dress. Eyes bloodshot from constant crying. The mirror also reflected parts of her room. A telescope at the window, piles of books about astrology on shelves. Most impressive was the hologram that covered the whole ceilling, displaying the constellations of the stars in realtime. A knock on the door. Dr Ashpool, in a younger version stepped in wearing a pitchblack suit. Without an expression on his face he said something in that unknown language. The girl nodded. The memory burred and vanished in a swirling vortex.

The feeling of déjá vu was now omnipresent - more and more of them flicks made sense. "He.. he said I should get a grip on myself and that all tears in this world won't bring her back to life.. ..."

"Oh yes, your pops detests big emotional displays. Thanks for the translation by the way, I pondered for months of what he was babbling about."

"Can't be.. no.. no way, there's a GIANT flaw in your tricks, neither Dr. Ashpool nor that gal, apparently his daughter is Opifex..."

"How very perceptive, M. But I will unravel that little breed mystery for you. No need to bend your noodle on the "How?" and "Why?" - let me help you through the las' mile. We're almost done.


Lush Hills
"You're so helpful.. gimme that, goddamn it" grabbing the syringe, towering over Paxcorpus' body. "What am I supposed to do?"

"Oh, it's basically simple - inject the Adrenaline into her heart. But you have to thrust the needle hard enough to get through the tough thorax and press the plunger..." A bead on the syringe's needle lost the fight against gravity dropped on Pax's chest "... but ..."

"BUT WHAT? Spit it out now!" Fing looked like a crazed high priest but with a syringe instead of a ritual knife.

"But do you think that'd be the best for her? Something unpredictable could happen.. something more serious than a trip back to reclaim. Are you ready to take that risk?"

[langwiz7]

Lastsecond2 suddenly felt thankful to the Omni-Tek Terraforming Department for not totally destroying the land masses surounding Lush Resort. The hills offered some protection from the patrols that were scouring Lush Hills, but he knew there wasn't much time left. He had to reach Josh and warn him before it was too late. He wasn't sure what his friend had done, but it had pissed off someone big. He heard voices to the west, and suddenly grew torn. It was apparent that they weren't being dutiful, and the fixer's curiosity had been wearing at him for quite a while. He decided it would be better to see what these people had to say. As he crept closer, he could tell that they hated what they were doing, but something was keeping them at it.

"What a botched operation." Last was rather surprised to hear a high pitched voice come from the trox that stood at a 90 degree facing from him. The other patroller had his back turned, a solitus from the shoulders.

"Shh. Don't let people hear you say that, Orson."

"But it's true. We wouldn't be out here if Lt. Ricoh hadn't screwed it up, and look what happened to him. Shipped off to the funny farm."

"That's enough, Orson! If you don't quit babbling you could end up like him. By now he's another one of the doctor's specimens."

"But I'm scared, Lewis. What if we find them and he STILL ships us to the funny farm?"

Lastsecond2 decided he had lingered for too long listening to the grunts, and began his rather roundabout path towards the cave.

[SneakyPax]

Somewhere in Deep Artery Valley
They rematerialized in the hidden base located underneath an abandoned village. Only Cyborgs run regular reconnaissance sweeps through the ramshackled buildings that was once a thriving community. Something seemed to attract them biomechanical creatures here; Maybe the radio transmissions that frequently go in and out through that area or the brief traces of lifesigns that made it up to the surface. Endlessly scouting like caught in an infinite-loop they were not able to come up with the creative thought to realize Genom and his devoted staff worked below ground level. The unfortunate souls that ever passed around here and tried to reveal the reason for all the strange activity ended up assimilated or used as spare parts for them Cyborgs.

The two Atroxes departed as their assignment has been completed. Genom removed his gas mask and headed for his office at the end of the hall. Below his poised appearance he was fuming about the situation so far. To the left and right were workstations all occupied by his most trusted subordinates. After he closed the office doors behind him an annoyed yet tired sigh passed his lips. As he made himself a drink at the minibar his reflection in a nearby mirror caught his attention. An old man stared right back at him.

"I am running out of time" he pondered while sipping his sake.

"BOGEY SPOTTED WITHIN THE PERIMETER" bleared through his comm unit all of a sudden almost made him spill his drink.


Pax's revelations
"Well M.. it all started some 40 years ago when your former self, the girl you saw in the recent flashback, started to suffer from a rare form of hereditary anaemia. There wasn't a cure for it and therefore a whole bunch of doctors thought it would be the wisest decision to put you to cryogenic suspension so the condition won't get any worse. Unfortunately it were the same doctors who turned your pops down to help him finding a remedy. Earth with its strict medical ethics wasn't the right place to start illegal experiments so he left there forever and immigrated to Rubi-Ka.

The conflict here between Omni-Tek and the Clans was just perfect for him - he needed humans to experiment with. Fortunately for him people.. ahem.. happen to vanish everyday during a conflict. Both factions just blamed each other for it, too busy planning strikes and counterstrikes than to look for one or the other missing person within their ranks. He also realized in what perverted ways notum could be used. Thus it happened the once so noble quest to find a cure for you, his daughter got twisted into something else... what if I tell you your pops spend the last 40 years looking for a way to transfer the very essence of life, the soul so to speak, from one human being to another and that he didn't even bother using his own daughter as a guinea pig? How much would one spend for getting transferred into a younger, healthier host body? Although the appearance may change, combined with the current resurrection technology it'd mean pretty much becoming immortal."

"THAT'S INSANE! All things start somewhere and end somewhere.. there's no exception to that rule!"

"I know it sounds crazy.. but come and think about it, if it weren't true, neither you nor me would be here. You'd still be frozen solid in your cryogenic capsule and me... heh... prolly playing cards at the swimming pool in limbo."

[SneakyPax]

Somewhere in Deep Artery Valley
"Varsus, report!" Genom snarled into his comm while storming out of his office down the hall.

"Sir, we just finished infiltrating Omni-Sat and clearly spotted someone snooping around target area. Seems he knows something; bypassing our units that are closing in on the cave. Bogie passed Orson and Lewis, it seems they didn't spot him."

"Contact them goddamn it, tell em to take him out!" he left the main corridor into another tunnel that stretched for miles underneath the surface slowly ascending. A few Kodaik Turbo IX were parked near the entrance. The short sprint already made him gasp for air, silently he cursed his old age. If only he could get a hold of his runaway specimen Pax to recover the last missing figures to his formula for immortality.

"According to the speed he's moving, there's no way in hell they can ever reach him in time.."

"Then figure out a way to intercept him with the remaining units!" he interrupted while boarding a Kodaik, moments later speeding down the tunnel.

"On it while we speak, Sir."


Lush Hills
"K, wench.. on a count of three. Count if you'd at least do that for me." Fing said,intensely focused the spot where Pax's heart would be.

"That dosage's going to kill her... no, them. Alas, she was beyond my help right from the start. I'm not going to stay and let myself killed that easily.. I'll use his confusion to flee on my own, them incompetent sons of leets at Omni-Pol."

"Alright then. You heard my warning..." Amelia paused for any sign of doubt but there was nothing.

"ONE.."


Pax's revelations
"I remember now.. I just turned 14 when the anaemia broke out.."

Another long forgotten memory resurfaced. Intense neon lights were blazing down from the ceilling, illuminated a pure white, sterile room. Mandi Ashpool was lying in a coffin shaped device, its lid still in an open state. There were footsteps caused by a bunch of doctors who were leaving the room. Apparently everthing was set up and they left so Genom could share the last few conscious moments alone with his daughter. As soon as the door shut behind them he looked down to her, realizing the terrified impression on her pale face.

"Fear not my dear, in a few you'll have the sweetest dreams." he said with a smile while dropping rose pebbles into the coffin. His gesture and the strong scent of them pebbles let her relax some.

"Yes.. I'll be dreaming of roses, them stars above.. of mom, all them precious moments... but I'm scared never waking up again, dad."

"Tsk tsk tsk little one, I promise you won't get used to this sleeping state.. I'll find a way to get you out of there doublequick. Trust me." one of his eyelids twitched involuntarily. Secretly he activated the the procedure, the lid silently descended down the cryogenic capsule. "Sweet dreams" he said just before it was sealed shut. The memory ended abruptly as Mandi lost consciousness at an instant.

All but Pax in her penitentiary outfit fade to black. "I don't have a clue what you both were talking about, but I'm betting it were some excessively sentimental goodbyes, right? You always were pops little glass princess"

"Knock it off.. you could start telling me about yourself instead of naggin me all the time."


Lush Hills
"... TWO ..."

[langwiz7]

Lastsecond2 looked out over the hills as he ran towards the cave. The sun was beginning its descent into the cold black void, signalling the change of the night sky guard and the topsy-turvy heat to come from his feet instead of his head. Already his armor was compensating for the changes, adjusting temperatures, removing sweat and keeping him relatively cool, as well as lowering the friction his legs generated as they rubbed together in stride. He suddenly heard a lot of whooping and hollering from the south, voices carried by a southerly wind were definitely familiar. Lastsecond2 chuckled again at their incompetence and started the nanoprogram Gridspace Freedom.

They'd never catch the ones who were born to run. But this fixer had underestimated his foes before, and was not about to now. "This oughtta slow em down," he mumbled, as he tossed a few sticky Kizzermoles behind him. As he released the last one, he heard the whine of engines and sighed. Kodiaks. "I don't have time for this!" he complained to the air as he launched himself over the next hill. He straightened his course to the cave. 'This may be exactly what they want me to do, but I'm beginning to run out of options,' he thought. He quickly went through his bag of tricks, it had a black button on it, and found what he was looking for. "These will be perfect for gutting those Kodiaks." He said aloud as he shoved a pack of Permorpha bullets into a customized slot. At the flick of a switch, they would be loaded into the firing chamber instead of the normal energy charge.

He grinned with grim determination as he reached the summit, and saw the cave below. A Kodiak sped in from the west. He waited until he was sure that it was on an intercept course and received his answer as a shower of dirt and rock leapt up to his right, but already behind him as the fixer was moving. He began altering his trajectory randomly, zigzagging towards the vehicle. Another ground shaking boom, this one in front of him, but his reflexes took over, jerking him to the left and around. The kodiak began to attempt escape, but it was too late, the fixer targetted the engines and launched a permorpha bullet. The shot rang true. Smoke poured from the puncture wound and he knew it would not be long before the driver visited reclaim. Lastsecond2 fired a burst of regular energy into the engine, and a great explosion rocked the valley. "Now everyone knows I'm here," he grumbled.

He hoped the carnage outside hadn't damaged the cave. He ran towards it, abandoning any further defense. His sunglasses revealed another Kodiak on the hill behind him, but he had no time to deal with the new threat. Another gun sounded and the heart of the fixer filled with dread as the shell screamed by him and impacted with the cave wall. Somewhere deep within him he felt the call of speed and he was inside the cave. The ground shook and loosened some of the rocks that held the ceiling. He knew the cave would not take much more punishment before it became a tomb. Inside, he saw a nightmare. A fiend was about to stab a fixer he knew by reputation.

"Stop!" he shouted, not knowing anything about the situation until his eyes adjusted to the darkness.