Seeds of Corruption

[Alkonium]

James then began pulling up out of the slums of New Chicago, and right into the business district. He managed to land his car safely, but dented another car nearby. He stepped out of the car, and said to Yery, "I think we lost him, whoever he was."

[Writer]

((Alkonium, Jon, Jen, and Kate are on Terra... not in New Chicago.))

[Alkonium]

(sorry, I'll edit my post)

"Now, let's get to my apartment, it should be far. What street are we one, anyway?" James asked Yery, stepping back into the car.

[Tysyacha]

"We're on Viaduct," Yery replied, and then, with a wink, "I think you meant to say it shouldn't be far. Perhaps we shouldn't go to your apartment after all, because you might be being tracked, and if you are, you should be on any given interstellar comlist. Let's head for my place instead, on Vtorym Way. I think you'll find it nice."

 

Nice/I] was not the word to describe either Vtorym Way or Yery's complex. More fitting descriptions were sinfully luxurious, decadent, high-hat, and gaudy. Not to mention heavily-guarded and awash in a sea of lights. When James and Yery entered Two Vtorym Way, the ritziest high-rise on this stretch of New Chicago, four burly guards glared at them and brandished their weapons but relaxed upon seeing Mademoiselle Golightly. She tickled one of the guards' chins, and he let them pass.

 

"I don't sleep with them," Yery said, "even if they offer to pay. Instead, I tell them how to pad their paychecks through dicey games of chance, which is just as well."

[Master_Archon]

Cody and his crew had returned to the sanctuary of their ship, the 'Hallelujah', on a surface landing pad. They sat doing this and that, but nothing really interesting had happened since they had returned from the casino. The metal man had never come back from where he had been taken in the casino, and Cody had gotten tired of waiting.

 

"Jesse, you found out who's put up legal bounty claims on us yet?" Cody asked in a monotonous drawl which obviously showed his boredom.

 

"Yeah, we got another two-thousand put on our heads, each that is, and four people have claims right now. A level 2 Mercenary..."

 

"Amatuer," Cody scoffed.

 

"A level 4 Head-Hunter..."

 

"Annoyance"

 

"A level 6 Bounty Hunter..."

 

"Interesting"

 

"And finally, the qu-de-gra, a level 9 Pirate Mercenary," Jesse finished.

 

"Difficulty," Cody also finished quipping. "Why a Pirate Merc? Don't they only take jobs within the interest of their group or guild?"

 

Jesse responded lazily, "yeah, but with the bounty that's starting to accumulate around us, I don't think they're going to turn a blind eye. And a guild of pirates doesn't overlook anything that might turn them an easy profit, especially a guild that's got a personal merc of this capacity, for them it's like picking money up off the ground."

 

"Yeah, that's what I don't like..." Cody trailed off, he'd gotten an idea. "...I'm going out, while I am could you find more info on these legits, especially the pirate merc."

 

"Sure, sure, got nothin' better to do," Jesse retorted in a very similar state of boredom to Cody's.

[Writer]

A new shuttle was easy for Kate Davis to acquire and in less than ten minutes, she had left Terra. She intended to drop into hiding, a feat which the Organization made harder with every passing day. But such was the life of one who'd been higher up in their chain of command and had given up that position for reasons that involved words the Organization cared little for. Words like, morality and conscience.

 

New Chicago was her destination; though the Organization knew she'd just come from there, they probably would expect her to remain on Terra... especially after discovering their tricky tracker. And they'd definitely not expect her to return to Alpha Centauri IV.

 

But as her trainer once told her, "The signal goes somewhere... and the Organization goes everywhere." Sooner or later, her trail would be uncovered.

 

And then, Kathryn Davis would have no safe place in the entire universe. Oh, if only she still had Jon...

 

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

 

Back on Terra, Jon was wishing he still had 'Maria Carter'. He'd seen her in the elevator, but had done his best to pretend he didn't know her... and his best was pretty damn good.

 

Usually.

 

But Jennifer Cleo's best had proved to be better than Jon Martin's and so he found himself shoved roughly into Jennifer's car.

 

"So seeing as you've caught me and you know exactly who I am," he said as the bounty hunter slid into the driver's seat, "would you care to tell me who hired you? And if you know, what do they want with me?"

[Alkonium]

"I suppose it would be. We should still be careful. I'm no criminal, so the government has no reason to send a bounty hunter after me, which means that they're not restricted by Terran Union regulations on collecting bounties. I hope your guards aren't just for show." James told Yery.

[Tysyacha]

"They're not. Now...a potent limavitatonic would do us both good," Yery said softly. This drink was similar to what ancient Terrans had called a "gin and tonic", but it was full of vitamins and minerals, not to mention a quinine kick.

 

Once the two were inside Yery's apartment--Number Two, by the by--the young Chancist turned to the gambler, her eyes full of curiosity and guileless pleasure. She was not good at hiding her feelings; she never had been, but at least this lack of sophistication rendered her mind more open to accurate predictions of daily events. "Why do you think we were followed, James?"

[Master_Archon]

((I didn't want the post to kill the RP, I just wanted to be included a little more!!! ))

 

Cody was soaring through the streets on his personal motorcycle, a 2453 Arowana, a vehicle capable of hitting zero to eighty in roughly around a second, and was one of the first cycles to be developed with a sustaining hover system.

 

Cody mentally calculated to himself, though, all in all everything that needed figuring was already figured out. He pulled up to the casino from earlier, getting off he pressed a small panel on his helmet, which in turn compacted down into a round tablet, which he pocketed.

 

He entered the casino, willingly handing his weapons over to the entrance guards. He headed straight over to the private elevator the metal man, 286, had been taken up in. A guard stopped him.

 

"I want to see Mr. Stark," Cody told the guard.

 

"What purpose, and do you have an appointment?" The guard asked.

 

"No appointment, but tell him...I'm here to talk about 286, and any available jobs," Cody responded, looking directly into a tiny, unseen camera above the elevator doors, an orange glint could be seen from behind his sunglasses.

 

The thing is, Cody just had the insane idea to go talk to the most important man on the planet for a job, for almost no reason. But a guy that rich had to have issues of some kind that needed dealing with in a...'special' way. The thing about 286 was only to grab the man's attention a bit more, once he was face to face, or as close as he could get to Mr. Stark, he didn't even have the intention of bringing the subject up, just four simple questions.

 

What?

 

When?

 

Where?

 

How?....

[Alkonium]

"Because someone in the figurative underground wants me dead, or alive. The only one I can think of would be Henry Stark. I refused to do a job for him, but I guess he won't take no for an answer." James replied.

[Tysyacha]

"Henry Stark. I've heard of him. He 'mercs' people all the time, or so they say." "Merc" was slang for sending people to Mercury to do hard labor in its brutal mines. "Not to say that he's a bad guy or anything," Yery commented, rolling her eyes. "He's just doing business. Anyway, if he's after you, I am 80% sure he won't find you here."

 

Yery sidled in closer to him. "And I'm also 70% sure you want me. More like...72%."

[Alkonium]

"72%, that's it?" James replied, leaning in to kiss Yery on the lips.

"Mr. Stark, two men, a human and an Amphorian, and a female gynoid are here to see you. They're asking about 286." Stark's receptionist informed him on the intercom. "Send them in." Stark replied.

[Master_Archon]

"Mr. Stark, two men, a human and an Amphorian, and a female gynoid are here to see you. They're asking about 286." Stark's receptionist informed him on the intercom. "Send them in." Stark replied.

 

((Actually, Alkonium, it's just Cody at the moment.))

 

 

Cody waited impatiently as the guard quietly chatted to someone on his comm. The guard stopped and turned his attention to Cody.

 

"You can go up," he told Cody.

 

"Thanks," Cody replied dryly, walking through the open doors of the glass elevator. It rose slowly, going up and above the annoying squall of the casino. The elevator let out a quiet ding before stopping and opening up into...somewhere?

 

Cody stepped off, looking around a bit baffled, but soon another guard approached to escort him. "Right this way sir," the guard said, motioning for him to move on ahead, like a butler might, only this butler was armed to the teeth and was in a suit of light anti-personel armor.

 

Cody went on, the guard following and guiding, until finally Cody was lead into an office where the guard left the room, leaving him inside. Cody looked around, straight faced, he didn't seem too impressed with the place. He moved forward towards the large desk, moving around to the front of the 'guest' chair, Cody slumped down into the seat, looking at the man across from him.

 

'Guy looks just like his office, overdone' Cody thought to himself, not even conveying his thoughts on his face one bit. "Mr. Stark, it's a pleasure to finally meet you," Cody said with a sarcastic grin.

 

"I'm here looking for a job, any job, well, almost any. Bounty snatching, transport, you name it; though, I'd prefer the job be kept within my expertise.....Oh, and I'm looking for a tin-man, you seen 'im?" Cody asked, smirking with mischief.

[Alkonium]

"I sent him after a gambler named James Dalton and he hasn't come back yet. He lost his trail in one of the residential canyons. If you want, I can send you to after him in his place, with the same offer." Stark replied.

[Master_Archon]

"Oooohhh, interesting! So...how much was this offer of yours?" Cody asked inquisitively.

 

"Oh, and if I take this job, I'll need all the info you've got on this, Dalton. You know, statistics, video feeds of 'im, recorded dialog, ecsetera, ecsetera, you get the idea. I'll also need to know where Metal-Man lost him, so I can get a general idea of where this guy is and might be." Cody told Stark, sitting up in his chair, as the offer of what seemed to be a interesting and profitable job caught him.

[Tysyacha]

Later that night, as she lay tight in his arms, Yery said:

 

"I can hide. I know how to protect you. Chancists--true Chancists, that is, who do not pretend to know the ways of events but instead rely on the actual future--sense when danger is coming and help their allies to avoid it. We must leave soon; this morning at the very latest. I'm sorry, but there are those who are searching for you already, James."

[Alkonium]

"I agree. We should be able to charter a transport off planet. If we use false names and go somewhere out of the way, Stark shouldn't suspect anything. How does Theria sound?" James replied.

[Tysyacha]

"Lovely," Yery replied. "I've only been there once, on vacation when I was a teenager. It was too expensive for me to afford by myself; that's why my family took me. Not only did I have the time of my life, but it was there that I experienced the pull of destiny. I predicted that we would have our return home given away for free. Lo and behold, we won a sweepstakes, and that allowed my parents to save for my college.

 

"I did well, but I dabbled in many things and did not receive a degree. Lazy, I was, in planning for the future and mapping out a life-course. Not so anymore, I believe..."

[Master_Archon]

((Since my character hasn't received a response, I'm going to assume that Stark hired him and gave him what he needed, unless otherwise stated.))

 

Cody was again going down the streets in the direction that the robot had lost this Dalton fellow. He had contacted his crew and was currently talking to them.

 

"I've pulled up no further info on this Dalton guy, but his female companion, yes. From past records it shows she's done, well, not much of anything to our interest at least. But there is one thing that you should know, she's a chancist," Jesse told Cody over the comm.

 

"Great, just what I need, someone who can predict when they're in danger...not only that but she's probably already predicted some form of danger. Alright, Murphy, I'm in the area where bolts for brains lost them, I need you to do a favor," Cody said as he stopped on the side of the street briefly.

 

"You want me to do a telepathic scan in the area, for the woman," Murphy replied before Cody could even finish asking. "Pretty much," Cody responded.

 

"Why the woman? Why not just search for the Dalton guy?" Jesse asked over the comm. "Because, she's got higher brainwaves than him, spotting her with a telepathic scan will be a lot easier." Cody replied, then turning his conversation back to Murphy, "sorry to ask this of you pal, I know it can be a mind breaking stress to search through so many individuals' heads.

 

"It becomes easier when I syphon out all the people with lesser brainwaves, even more so when I syphon out all the non-chancists....it will be reletively quick," Murphy responded in his concise, emotionless manner.

 

"Good...and thanks," Cody replied. He looked up into the sky as he waited, it was getting brighter, it would be morning soon. Cody heard what passed for Murphy grunting in exertion as he came back onto the comm-line, "I...uh, found her..."

 

But he didn't finish, and soon Jesse was on, "Murphy's okay, he just needs to sit down. He told me the woman's due east and south of your location, not sure how far, but I'll try to make sense of what he's saying and get an exact address."

 

Cody didn't respond, but only waited with as much patience as he could. "Okay, I've got a location, the street is Vtorym Way," Jesse said, Cody grinned, gunning his motorcycle into motion, he headed for the street as fast as he could, without attracting cops, which was something he didn't want at the moment.

 

"Murphy says to hurry, he's barely keeping track of her, but from what brief contact he's had with her mind he's learned that they're going to be on the move soon," Jesse stated over the comm. Cody slowed down, he knew chasing a chancist would only spur his target to move faster.

 

"Tell Murphy to lock her brainwave patterns into his subconcious, and then go get a rest, once he's reenergized he can track her easier, and we can find out where they're going. Jesse, try to track them through technological means, hack cameras, hijack mailbots to monitor them, I don't care how you do it, just keep track of them, when they head for someplace that seems of relevent importance, tell me, then we'll branch out with a plan from there." Cody said, veering off in no particular direction, so as to buy time.

 

"Will do," Jesse replied. "Over and out."

 

"I'm just going to cruise for a bit, until we know what'll happen. Over and Out too," Cody said also, riding down the streets on his Arowana motorcycle at a leisurly pace, just enjoying the ride for the moment.

[Alkonium]

"That motorcycle's been circling the streets for a while now, I don't trust them. Is your car close?" James asked Yery, looking out the window.

[Tysyacha]

"Better. I have a Chancist's Beam. Due to my incredibly high accuracy rate at predicting events, I can step into a molecular transporter and enter a destination. I'm 80% sure I'll get there, though if I mess up, I usually land in the restroom of a fancy restaurant with just my underwear on. Willing to give it a try?"

[Alkonium]

"Nothing like that would bother me, why don't we try it?" James replied, kissing Yery on the cheek. "If we're going to, we should soon. Someone's been circling the building for a while, and I think Stark sent him."

[Tysyacha]

Yery scoffed, making a "Phfft!" wet-raspberry sound. "Once we step into my handy teleporter, the vulture on a motorcycle outside the building won't know what hit him. We'll have disappeared and reappeared in a matter of seconds, leaving no trace of where we went. The teleporter is voice-activated, and being a machine, it has no memory. That means it can't break under 'disassembly', which in human terms is torture." She gave James one quick peck on the lips before they stepped into the booth. "Don't worry. No one ever dies in a teleporter these days. They're all safe.

 

"Theria," commanded Yery, and she wrapped her arms around the gambler before they both dissolved into vanishing molecules. When they rematerialized, they were shocked!

 

"Stang." Yery looked down. "We're in the restroom--of a fancy restaurant--on Theria--in nothing but our underwear." She looked at James. "Any suggestions, poker player?"

[Master_Archon]

"Situation?" Cody asked as Jesse came onto the comm system.

 

"Yeah! I was spying on the two love birds with a hacked street security minidrone when they stepped into a teleporter and well, you get the idea," Jesse said with a slight hint of alarm.

 

"No need to panic, I'm on my way back to the ship," Cody told her, gunning his motorcycle heading for the launch pads where his ship was docked.

 

(Will edit more in later)

[Alkonium]

"This." James replied, leaning against the wall right next to the door. As soon as it opened, he slammed his fist into the forehead of the man who entered, effectively knocking him out. He then took the clothes off the man and put them on himself. He looked out the window. "Okay, we're on one of the lower levels of a Tower City, several hundred metres underwater. We're definitely in a rich district." He said to Yery. Theria was completely covered by water, but the native Therians had modified their tower cities to accomodate air-breathing races of the Terran Union sometime after the difficult first contact.