Sudbury Saturday Night
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Sudbury Saturday Night
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“aw geez mom can’t I go play with the Boyz?” she teased “do me a favour keep an eye on those two guys in the corner there the two not fighting”
She scooped up an an abandoned basket of fries and sauntered her way round the back, pausing only to let a projectile land in front of her. As she reached the door she saw a woman picking her way round the edges of the fight.
She knock on the door
“sorry to disturb but you guys expecting a cybered woman to join us?”
“yeah, shes in the party, I hear you play a little”
“na, I just busk a little to make gas money” she looked for a place to sit down and finish her fries “oh here, look, here my cousin and that elf dude you invited” she announced through a face full of starch and grease.
#05
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Rebbeca stands up and walks slowly toward the Bronwean that seems to be playing the fixer – Only Silk knows how can all these people possibly be at one random place at the edge of civilization. Worse yet, if everyone selects the same hellhole to lay low in – how effective can that hiding place be.
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Kynos lifted the pot to prevent an unfortunate patron from hurting it with his head. He was still only halfway through it and wanted to enjoy it for as long as he could. So he got up, kicked his chair into the person following after the guy who had threatened his soycaf supply and used the temporary clearing to step through the fray.
Dodging the clumsy swings wasn’t hard, doing it without spilling his mug, took quite a bit more care. Suddenly Kynos stopped as he saw a familiar face: Could this really be Al? The leather jacket seemed to be entirely authentic, as did the scarred face and the not at all impressing height.
He felt someone punching his back, but ignored it as the gel packs absorbed most of the momentum. With a mental nod, he activated the shock weave in his coat. Suddenly there were yelps left an right, as would be assailants came into contact with the garmet and where thrown back by their spasming muscles.
“Al, how nice to meet you again. You here for a job as well?” He was interrupted by a troll who weathered the high voltage better than the smaller fry around. This time Kynos spilled a bit of his soycaf as he side stepped the guys swing. Annoyed he turned around and kneed the troll in the balls.
“Probably better if we go the back room, all things considered.” He took another sip before finishing his short journey at the door and fumbled for a moment to carry both mug and pot as well as opening the door.
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“Roger that, kemo sabe,” Al said. He didn’t appear to be consciously avoiding either intentional blows or inadvertent collisions – he seemed almost oblivious to the chaotic melee swirling about the large room – but somehow the brawl flowed around him without making any sort of contact.
In one hand was a bottle of beer and in the other a habanero soyrito – courtesy of Batshit, who had made herself known to him immediatly upon his arrival. He had greeted her warmly. He liked her. And since her presence could not possibly be a coincidence, he was glad to see her since he vastly preferred working with friends to stumbling through a job with strangers. Most of all, he liked being proven right, and her presence was one more verification of his axiom that all jobs in this business involved a disproportionate number of simstar-level hotties.
His theory was doubly proven once he spotted Becky. She was playing it cool with a black-trenchcoat nod, but he was headed her way for the greeting his long-time friend and co-worker deserved, when the brawl broke out.
And then there was Kynos. Another one whose skills he knew he could trust, if his motivations were perhaps a little more gray than Al preferred. Still, he had that merc code that dovetailed nicely with Al’s own work ethic, and they’d get along just fine.
So Al alternately drank from bottle and nibbled from the plastic soyrito wrapper as they navigated their way to the back room…followed closely by Lily.
“Well Maria Mercurial in crotchless panties, it’s fuckin’ old home week in here.” Ignoring their hosts/employers completely, he said, “Kynos baby, ya know these chiquitas? Hard ladies one an’ all. Ya done fell inta good company on this one. An’ lookee lookee,” he observed with delight, “Not a Satanist amongst ’em!”
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Kynos frowned and nodded at Al’s words while taking another gulp from his cup.
“You could almost imagine this is a remake of Three Angels for Charly. Makes me wonder which one of us is Bosley.
But no, I don’t think I’ve met any of them before. Good evening everyone.” The greeting was surprisingly polite – i.e. pretty much apathetic.
“No mages then. Pitty, those can be useful.” Kynos had to think back to one of his few friends, or rather “people he didn’t dislike”, the megalomaniac, satanic black mage who had a penchant for letting himself get kidnapped and setting himself on fire. The though made him add: “Though they can indeed be more trouble than they are worth.”
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“first time I have heard that phrase not applied to me” batshit quipped under her breath “OK, if our Mr Johnson here would like to give us all the pitch” internally she was praying for it to be an outdoor job.
#06
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The female troll — Tammy — looked all business now, in contrast to her fervor minutes before. “I’ll be honest, this is a bit of an odd situation. Usually a client comes to us with a job and we figure out what runners suit and are available. In this case an old contact reached out to us saying only “I have some odds and ends to clean up, and I’m going to need some heavy hitters to do the cleaning. Some magic, some metal, but nobody who falls apart without their magic.” He … has his reasons, and he was confident that such a team could be gathered, but I think it is better to let him explain all of that.”
She glances over at her brother, who finishes up “One part of the job is apparently dealing with a toxic situation, the other tracking down a missing person. Apparently they tie together somehow. And he promises that he can pay for the sort of talent that he was requesting. I don’t doubt that part, but we’ll guarantee your pay.” Tony looks only a touch worried about that part. “If you agree to take the job on these… poorly defined … terms, then we’ll get on to when and where to meet your Johnson.”
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“So you are calling us into this godforsaken region and the hole briefing consists of ‘do some violence’, details about pay and task only after you sign up?
Get that Fragger on the line and have him explain what this is about. Right. Now.
I’m not in the habit of breaking contracts, but only because I read them beforehand.”
Kynos hadn’t spoken particularly loud, but there was definitely quite a lot of anger in his voice.
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Rebbeca was more diplomatic – but she agreed with Knyos. She briefly looked at the people she knew and then spoke “The job seems within our capabilities, and we are serious enough to meet the Jhonson but, as our colleague pointed out, it is difficult to commit to a job before we know what the job involves. “
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It going to be a find someone who can sort something that is slap bang in the middle of a massive background count. Yay! Fun fun fun. And if she kept saying it she might believe it sooner or later. Well it beat dumpster diving or escorting.
“well I’m with Beccie on this, let’s just go here this mystery Johnson out before we get all worked up. What some people see as huge we can take in our stride” she took a deep breath to continue “so do we set out now or wait on you guy to let us know when your set? Aaaand” she stole a glance at Al “is not having a mage or a shaman going to hurt us?”
She paused waiting for Al to start muttering about Satan and such
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Far be it from Al to disappoint a young lady.
“Done got through nigh half a century with no benefit whatsoever from such. Hell, barely ever saw ’em ceptin’ onna trid. Git into this crazy line o’ work, they’s almost as common as betrayal an’ hot chicas. But while they got they uses, an’ while I done met a few I was partial enough to that I lament they inevitable descent into eternal hellfire, reckon any good ever come of ’em was either balanced by mishap or else born of it. Criminy, the most good a Satanist – an’ I speak of a good friend here – most good a Satanist ever done fer ol’ Al was turn me into a damned snake! Now I like snakes, probably more’n the next feller, bein’ a lifelong handler an’ all, but the becomin’ o’ one, well that was disconcertin’ ta say the very least, an’ I’m not sure I wouldn’t’ve preferred the consequences o’ the alternative, however dire.”
Somewhere during his rant he’d lit a fresh Lucky strike, though few of his companions could recall where it had come from or when it had first appeared between his lips.
Not that smoking it deterred his monologue in any way.
“But I’ll cast my vote with the go-an’-hear-’em-out faction. Good Book trumps any weird urban merc code, so the moment they ask ol’ Al ta go agin’ it, that’s the moment I jump ship with the Lord on my side.”
That was enough for the Not-Thompsons to give the team a location, and let the ever-eager Bronwean know that the meet was not set until eight a.m. the next morning.
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Kynos sighed: “Right, meeting him is acceptable. But accepting without getting the whole picture – or at least all the edge pieces of the puzzle – is not.
Damn, it’s just to cold out there for this kind of dreg.”
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Batshit burped as she finished her perloined fries “too damn cold for anything out there” she muttered “OK so we go see our Mr Johnson tomorrow, it’ll be an early start. Those side road won be clear. I got five seats if you’ll all want a lift”
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The trolls exchanged glances, Tony sighed, “We’ll send you the address. Road should be OK, reasonably main secondary road and they haven’t had fresh snow in over a week. As for filling in, or at least providing a frame…”
Tammy jumped in “The client is about a hundred years old. Been old as long as I can remember him and keeps getting older but keeps getting on with life, eh? He’s seen a lot, and if you believe his stories done a fair bit worth seeing. But it sounds like maybe he’s thinking he doesn’t have a lot of life left and has some business he doesn’t want to leave unfinished. He didn’t give a lot of detail, just the nature of the team to find, and to tell you there was a toxic situation to clean up and someone to track down, so as to ‘scare off anyone who was hoping to get paid to sit somewhere warm and scratch their arse,’ as he put it.”
Tony nods, and adds “He has this spirit, Sirius, and sometimes it knows things. Like when we were going to be going to Boston years back, it warned us of something to do with panic and dragons was coming there. Turned out our show would have been three days before the drek hit the fan there, but close enough. I don’t know if that has anything to do with this, but if you see an all black dog or horse — or heck all-black anything living — treat it with respect, it is probably Sirius. And if the client claims something is so, that you don’t think he could know, it is probably something from Sirius. I think he’s been relying on the spirit more these last few years.”
He goes to take a drink of beer and realizes his glass is empty, then spits into the glass instead. “Look, I know it isn’t regular. We’ll guarantee at least 2k for each of you for heading out there and hearing the details, even if you don’t take the job. But I don’t think he’d be hiring if the job wasn’t real.”
Tammy finishes up with “I’d say it is worth going there just for his raspberry jam. That plus cash ought to be worth getting out of bed for.”
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Rebbeca assures Tammy that she’ll be there. Takes the address and exits the place, and looks at Knyos with a bit of admiration saying “Thanks, good negotiations.” subvocally. If he really is pro- he’ll hear that, and if he is just a cybered wanna-be-runner than he cannot be worse than her ‘do-gooder’ friends that feel inclined to help damsels in distress. She can get along with anyone, and does not want to be alone with her thoughts.
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Kynos nodded to The Dryad in return and said to the plenum: “I think we all should use our individual transports. Always good to be prepared – and my supplies are in my car.
Alright, a 100 year old guy with a Daemon telling him what to do. Not the worst Johnson I’ve ever had.
In case we work togehter: My name is Kynos.” With that, he turned and also left to find his way towards the coordinates.
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“hi, so I’m bronwean/batshit,” she shrugged apologetically in atonement for a hundred sins “its too late for everyone to go trailing out there now. Let’s all go back to my place least we can be warm and I can use up the last of my food before we split. The temperature tonight will ring a very literal meaning g to killing time. Any fool can be uncomfortable as they say. “
She could hear the fight winding down in the bar.
“we better go out the back the monties will be out front clipping anyone they don’t like the look of”
She led then through the kitchen and out the back
“don’t worry folks coming out this way are assumed to be staff, and we make sure it’s that way, we get to go home Tey only have to cover the front everyone’s a winner”
She climbed up in to a big four seat 4×4 pickup that had obviously been souped up. Al looked it over quickly
“see you gone got some work done, she lookin’ pretty there batsheet. Done Picked this one out myself” he announced with some pride.
“yeah she’s sweet Jack her up opened the ports change the cam whatsit and an independent staring thingy. Oh yeah and two whinches, one each end.” she stated proudly “love this truck, she’s real purdy. Right everyone go get you’re motors and follow me anyone need a lift hop in go four up front and four in back”
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“Rebbeca” she replies to Kynos, and then when Bronwean suggests the slumber party again she asks “How is your place? How long are you holed up in here?”
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“I’ve been hear nearly 4 weeks, lucky you guys came when you did or I would have moved on. Can only stay in one place about six or eight weeks. That’s why I splurged on the truck, made it my hobo wagon. Like I said I gotta be back up north in three months when the expedition gets back so touring the lake, workin’ jobs gigging to pay for gas”
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Rebbeca smiles a cynical smile, scorning her “good” fortune. “Lucky is assuming we wanted to find you. I for once tried to get lost rather than have a reunion with my morally bounded buddies.” She pauses before she has to get personal, and shift the conversation. Nevermind that, if you are having trouble paying for gas then you are doing something wrong. The only reason I am sometimes short is that I buy expensive shit like drones, cars and a cyberdeck.”
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