[ May 18, 2091. The time, roughly 3:45am. The place? Once again, the apartment of Katrina Hunter aka Katherine Parker aka Kat the Wolf aka Chako Styrina Jr. It's been some time since the events of the 'prisoner exchange'; everyone's had time to relax while your new guest, Calhoun employee Soma McLochlane, has had a shower and a rather interesting discussion thereby. ] [ It was a bit yet after Zak emerged from the bathroom that Soma did as well, wearing clothes that have seen better days but he himself looks to be in, if not perfect shape, then at the very least more hale and hearty than he did dangling from Brokkr's hands in the alleyway. What is everyone doing as he emerges? Let's find out! ] * Zak is Kat's kitchen corner, trying to coax a coffee-like liquid out of her nanostructor. He doesn't look placid, but he looks a good deal less angry. * Rochelle sits on the floor, painting her nails a nice blue color. She glances at Soma when he walks out, but that's about all he gets out of her. * Yue has made one part of the couch (one of the couches?) her perch, staring flat-faced and almost completely still. She glances at Soma when he walks out, and he actually gets more out of her because she says, "Better?" (You even got a couch to yourself. It's Roch's, though. Don't ruin it.) (by the time everyone notices the shuriken fractal pattern in the polish it's too late) (XD) * Katherine is out of suit, thank god. The suit's sitting over in a corner near the training robot. She has already acquired a mug of something and is staring at some paintings that aren't facing the room, in the far corner. (I honestly imagined all of last session as everyone in their street clothes and Kat in an oversized NASA space suit complete with fishbowl helmet.) (Tssh. Khh. Tssh. Khh.) (SUDDENLY KINGONS BURST IN WITH WHOPPERS ROLL INIT) * Katherine looks up over the paintings when Soma comes out of the shower. She comments, "Welcome back to this side'a the river." [ "Much, thanks," he responds to Yue, glancing around at everyone in turn -- and Zak last -- before Kat's comment makes him gravitate back to her. He smirks. "Thanks for the hot water." ] * Zak thumps his fist against the device. "Coffee! COF-FEE! Shazbot spacemaster piece of Dunnocrap..." He peers into its slot as it starts dispensing something into the mug, then looks over to Soma. * Rochelle tells Zak as she paints, "Shoulda thumped it sooner." (Shazbot. Really.) * Katherine waves idly with her free hand. "You needed a shower, I needed a few to put the pieces together." [ "Oh?" Walking over, he sits on the arm of the couch that Yue is currently sitting on and glances at Kat. "And what have you worked out?" ] (SHAZBOT) * Zak grabs the mug when it's full, then wanders over near Roch and affectionately nudges his sister with his shoe. He's watching the Soma/Kat show, though. * Yue folds her arms and leans back lightly. Her nose might wrinkle slightly if Soma's clothes are especially pungent, but she isn't very picky about that. * Katherine replies, "Nothin' you don't know." She takes a sip of her mug, then moves over nearer to her bed, before taking a deep breath. "You hit us because Platina hired us. So why'd you want the stone?" (If Soma smells of anything, it's mostly dust.) (Though anyone who spends, like, a LOT of energy working it out can smell blood too.) * Rochelle manages to not be painting when Zak nudges her, instead in the process of dipping her brush. She glances up at her brother, then goes back to it. (Yue's resume doesn't include sniffing like a bloodhound over people's clothes. Not when working anyway.) [ "You all got a little loco when Aurin picked it up," Soma explains. "I figured it might be the key to something, but... it isn't, is it?" He directs this last at Rochelle, since... well, for starters, she has the stone he ended up taking with him. ] * Zak looks down at Roch when she looks up, and quirks an eyebrow at her as he sips "coffee". * Katherine frowns a touch before saying quickly, "How about you tell us what you know first." (It's Roch, it's not like she's gonna say anything!) * Rochelle keeps painting. This way, she doesn't have to say anything! (Also, AFK for a sec.) [ That gets a raised eyebrow, but since Kat's the only person talking to him, Soma's gaze naturally swivels back to her. "What, you mean 'next to nothing'? You probably know more about what Ferrion wants out of Xavier than I do." He pauses, then says with a faint smirk, "I didn't make it out of the ice before Brokkr and Eitri showed up. Hence my four-star treatment at Chez DRAUPNIR." ] * Katherine replies, "Roch talks when it matters. Ferrion?" [ "Augustus Ferrion. The director at DRAUPNIR," Soma responds distractedly, looking around the apartment. "Can I have something to drink? Even not-quite-coffee would be stellar." ] One sec. * Zak wanders back over to fight with the nanostructor. He punches it first this time, and it seems to comply. * Yue lets out a little breath and murmurs, "And here I thought you would know something. At least she's not dressed with a claw to kill now." * Katherine mms, glances to Yue, then says, "You couldn't have told us any of this, huh?" (You never asked.) (I didn't have a name!) (So you never asked.) * Yue raises a bit of an eyebrow and responds to Kat directly, "I'm under orders to not tell. I made this clear." [ Soma does turn to Yue, however. "That's a good question, though: what ARE you doing here, anwyay?" ] * Katherine snorts and takes another sip, muttering about orders. * Zak wanders back over and hands a mug to Soma. He takes a sip from his own mug. [ He takes it! Aww, Zak made a friend. At least until he sips; that gets a 'OH MY GOD, WHY!' reaction for a second. ] (Back!) * Zak goes back and sits down on the floor next to Rochelle. "The fresh mountain aroma of dog urine, straight from Dunno to your mug, grok?" He grins. * Katherine smirks a little. "Zak's not used to a _working_ Pipe." [ "Just another reason to punch those Swedish fucks in the face later," Soma responds, sipping. "That and the torture." ] * Yue pauses, and raises her eyebrows. "What do you mean, what? My mission ..." A pause as she glances to everyone else, makes a brief noise, and then continues, "Finding you. You went missing. Remember? Or do you mean something else?" * Rochelle looks at Zak and grins a little, then finishes with her last nail. Voila! Her nails are... blue. She screws the cap back onto her polish and waves her hands for the drying. [ He looks at the coffee. "Between the two, I'm not sure which is worse." Soma sips again as Yue lays that out, thinking it over, then 'oh's faintly. "Well, and my last known transmission was from Twilight, talking about these jokers... well, I suppose that makes sense NOW." ] (Congratulations! You found me. Good luck saving the world!) * Katherine rolls her eyes. "Great, you're reunited. I left my violin in my other holster. You telling me you had no idea what she was doing at all?" * Yue shakes her head and remarks somewhat flatly, "Nevermind. I'm glad you aren't dead." She glances to the drink and stands up, if Kat doesn't pin her to the ground, so she can get not-quite-coffee herself. [ That gets an incredulous look. "You mean Yue? Well yes, which part of 'captured and tortured' wasn't clear?" ] * Katherine frowns. "No. Platina. And Ferrion, I guess." [ That gets a handwave, and another sip of coffee. "I know it involves Aurin. I know it has something to do with the disappearances, lately... presumably you've been hearing about those on the news." ] (Presumably!) (How do I get dicey in here?) ( /invite Dicesuke #atc ) (/invite Dicesuke #atc) * Dicesuke has joined #atc (Mind rolls! Tell me by how much you succeed or fail.) 2d6 2d6 Zak rolled 2 6-sided dice. < 3 3 > Total: 6 (6). * Dicesuke throws the bones for Zak (2d6) and gets a natural 9 for a result of 9. Rochelle rolled 2 6-sided dice. < 6 4 > Total: 10 (10). * Dicesuke throws the bones for Rochelle (2d6) and gets a natural 8 for a result of 8. (I FAIL BY 5) (Holy what.) (You guys are going to crit success so hard.) (Oh man your dice are on.) (Fail by three.) (Oh, uh.) (They off yet, Saka?) * Dicesuke was kicked by Todd (Todd) (Just use hers then.) 2d6 Katherine rolled 2 6-sided dice. < 4 5 > Total: 9 (9). (Saka's dice hate me.) (wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwow.) (Miss by 2.) (Sakalaka? Rollin' for Yue?) (Sakallama!) * Zak shakes his head. "I don't have clockslice for TVNet tickershows. (+") (Sorry.) (Er, wait, you want to use MY dice?) (Mecha hates my dice.) (Might as well, they're on.) (So much hate.) (On the bright side, the word mods are nice.) Yue rolled 2 6-sided dice (2d6). < 4 6 > Total: 10 (10). (Fail by 4. 'cause I r dum) (Yow.) * Katherine shakes her head. "Been a bit out of it. Lost Days." Heard something, but it didn't stick. * Yue comes back with coffee and has been spending a little too much time staking out apartments and racking all of her mental capacity of how to fool people who can splatter you into gunk to recall or comment about anything. * Rochelle 's nails are drying! How awesome is that? [ A raised eyebrow. Putting down the cup, he starts ticking points off on his fingers. "Well, first off, there was a young girl from Red Johannesburg..." ] (Session 1 -- [ A TVNet set over the bar drones on in the background; topics include local sports scores, heartwarming human interest stuff about the Lost Days, and a short piece on a young girl who went missing in Red South Africa last week. ]) [ He keeps going. "Some gang in Twilight was going nuts over a missing guy while we were there, in fact..." ] (Session 4 -- [ There is a note from Sarah on Zak's desk, as he sits at it. She has surprisingly neat and precise handwriting. "Boss: Off to shut up Krazors about guy that went missing couple days before carnival. Back in a few days. - S" ]) * Zak snaps his fingers. "Shit, I knew about him. Krazors went pretty blitzcore about it." [ With a shrug, he stops counting and reaches down to pick up the coffee cup. "Plus some guy in Red Mexico. All gone in the past week and a half, all under mysterious circumstances. The only one I can trace back to DRAUPNIR is the girl from Africa, but it can't be a fucking coincidence." ] (Session 5 -- [ That earns a shrug. "I'd half rather stay here. Some guy in Red Mexico City is claiming life insurance on his dad... but there's no proof the guy's dead, just missing. So... yeah. If you need anything, gimmie a ring, but this is gonna be a long time investigating." With that, she gives a jaunty wave and walks back into the closet, which she shuts behind her. ]) (Feel free to cut those from the log, but: :D) (I'm completely imagining CSI/PW/whatever explanatory music playing over those.) (Snicker.) (I am actually listening to "Turnabout Courtroom ~ Trial" from PW1 as BGM.) (PW INVESTIGATION MUSIC) * Katherine glances to Zak, then to Soma. "Common SCA Mod?" * Yue rubs the back of her neck and says, "All very depressing and devious." She drinks coffee. Not quite coffe. [ "As far as I can tell they don't have ANYTHING in common. The only bit of information I know comes from... well, something I managed to overhear at DRAUPNIR, so maybe my little stay wasn't completely wasted. And it might not have anything to do with the disappearances at all." ] (The guy in Mexico can't be 24. Too old, unless his kid is claiming insurance at a VERY young age.) (s/be 24/be a 24) (Nod.) * Rochelle looks up to Soma and finally speaks: "Lots of people go missing for lots of reasons. Way more than three in a week and a half." (Kat didn't know about the flashback, though, so that piece of information evaded her leap.) * Katherine looks down at Roch, then at Soma. "She's right. What'd you get out of DRAUPNIR?" [ "True," he says in response, indicating Rochelle with his glass. "But the guy in Mexico 'died' in a massive fire. The girl in Africa went missing in a super-crowded apartment building with signs of a struggle, but nobody heard anything. This sounding familiar?" ] * Yue stares at Rochelle as she speaks, and is forced to silently agree. (Damnit, Kat stole my pose.) * Zak sets his mug on Rochelle's head. He's grinning. * Yue rubs her head for a moment afterwards, and then puts two and two together. "Platina's flunkies." (cupfull of shuriken) * Rochelle holds still to keep coffee from spilling all over her. "Zak..." she says in warning. * Katherine nods slightly. "Does. I love coincidences at oh-fourhunded in the fucking morning." [ That gets a nod from Soma. "Exactly what I thought. As for what I heard, it was a name... or something. Honestly I have no idea what it means." He pauses to sip the last of his cappucidunno, then delivers it: "SIG-ASP Special Forces 5th Division." ] (Does that mean anything to any of us?) (Yes.) (It will.) (Help me with 5th division, or don't I know that bit?) (Not to Yue or Soma, though, and probably not to Zak. Perhaps to Roch.) * Katherine groans quietly and squeezes her eyes shut. "You have to be fucking me." * Rochelle blinks. Once. But she doesn't move otherwise, because coffee is on her head. (best typo ever) (What typo?) (Well, lack of a preposition.) [ Considering he was expecting no reaction at all, *this* catches Soma's interest. "Mean something to you? I mean, other than a ref to some military unit I don't know jack, and 'SIG-ASP' doesn't come up as any corp registered ever, even in the ass-end of Martian history when there were nine million of the fucking things." ] * Yue shakes her head and says, "I don't know about it either, and military codes and units are more than half of my life." * Rochelle doesn't respond; she's busy looking into nothing, her eyes glazing over. * Katherine is silent a moment, then starts striding towards the door, not catching Roch glazing over. "You all amuse yourselves. I got a call to make." [ That gets a raised eyebrow from Soma, who then turns it on Yue with a shrug. ] ... the hell? * Katherine , not stopped, grabs her purse off the table and starts fishing out her pad/cell as she goes. She shoots Zak a glare, then grabs the door, yanks it open, and slams it shut after her. * Rochelle distantly responds, "Okay." That done, she finally moves, shifting her head out of the way quickly and deflecting the falling mug with her arm at just the right angle to splash most of the 'coffee' into Zak. "You've got coffee on your face," she comments as she steps just out of the way of the spill. (Owned.) [ "Your guess is as good as mine," he says, before looking back at Yue. "So CEC sent you out here to get me back... well, here I am. What are you going to do n--" He's stopped mid-question by the Krogstad Show, and suddenly purses his lips, making the slightly choked-sounding 'trying not to laugh' noise. ] Gah! Hot! * Rochelle gives Zak a huge grin, stoops to grab her nail polish, and scrams to the bathroom. * Yue stares at Rochelle's clever use of the reflection-deflection-block ranged attacks trilogy, but is slightly less humorous about it than Soma and stares back at him. "Remember how you wanted me to wait till tommorow to call mission command? I could've answered this question now if you hadn't." There is an... attempt at dry witticism there, but it falls into a deep pit somewhere with the lack of tone in her voice. * Zak reflexively freezes the entire front of his shirt solid, then blinks and looks down. "... Space Jesus DAMMIT, Roch, this was my one nice outfit!" * Rochelle calls as she closes the door behind her, "Should've thought of that before you put coffee on my head!" [ Soma is responding to Yue, but *watching* Roch and Zak. Wouldn't you? "If you'd called them right now, CEC would swoop in here and do something stupid without knowing all the info." ] * Zak walks over and shouts through the bathroom door. "You always sucked at playing Table when we were kids, too!" He spins around and heads for the kitchen area as his shirt's front begins to melt. He's grumbling under his breath in incomprehensible slang. * Yue lets out a brief noise as she watches for the first time in her life, someone deflect coffee with a frozen sheet of ice, and responds with, "I've completed my task, but I could assume their next directive is helping you out to make sure that torture bit doesn't happen again." (Technically he froze the coffee that soaked into his shirt. Zak's reflexes aren't THAT good.) (Oh.0 (We use our amazing SCA powers in coffee wars.) (You totally suck at Table.) [ Soma's eyes are tracking Zak for a bit longer, before he turns back to Yue. "I don't know what's going on, but Parker's poker face sucks. She *knows* something, but if my read on her is right you couldn't get it out of her with a chainsaw." ] (You suck more.) [ A pause. "There's a feeling you ought to be familiar with." ] * Yue raises an eyebrow and remarks, "Well, yes, I got that she knows something." ("So, what's your favorite color, Yue?" "RESPECT MY BOUNDARIES.") (It doesn't matter if your poker face sucks if you never talk!) (It only makes people more frustrated!) (Hey, my poker face is GOOD. It's the web of dialogue that falls apart.) (That's your problem. You started talking at all.) (I KNOW RIGHT) * Zak sops at his shirt with some sort of nanosponge the nanostructor spit out. He responds to Soma without looking up. "Kat's got boku secrets - she rates more secrets than enemies, and that's a bignum." [ "She sounds absolutely charming." Mushroom cloud of sarcasm. ] * Yue rubs the back of her neck again for a moment, which is probably a difficult feat given those gloves, and then glances at Soma again. "She made me sit on my hands," she states. [ A pause, and then a faint smirk as he gets up and starts walking toward the coffee maker. "How awful for you." ] * Yue lets out an acquiescing noise afterwards, as she crosses her legs on the couch and idly stares at Zak. * Zak gets most of the coffee out. The magic of nanocapillary action. He starts working on his pants. "She's got problems, no foolin', and she's tres angrybear. Deep down though she's got hearts. Wouldn't have come back to TC to help if she didn't." He pauses. "Shame she's got a hate on for me still.' [ Soma starts pressing buttons on the coffee machine. "It's amazing how you do that, using words that aren't really words yet they go right in the human ear and the sentence itself is completely understandable. Is it a 24 power?" ] * Zak grins. "Naw, it's TC sleekspeak." [ He looks up, over the rim of the mug. "Interesting." Sip. Grimace. Sip. ] * Rochelle can be heard flushing and running water from the bathroom, and a little after that, she returns just in time to get the bit about sleekspeak. "Yeah, only reason I don't talk about that is 'cause of the net." (s/about/like) * Zak gets all the coffee out which is going to come out (which is really almost all of it) and throws the sponge into the disposal slot on the 'structor. He grins at Rochelle when she comes out. "You and mom, hooked on those balmy Platridge soaps." * Yue lets out another little noise of understanding at that. While formerly a citizen of TC, she didn't live there long enough to get crazy, it seems. "Your speech's preferrable." There's no bias there because of the silence. No sirree. Nah, just Mom was hooked on those. I watched 'em 'cause there was nothing better in that timeslot. [ Amused, Soma nevertheless looks at the door. "I wonder who she's talking to. And I wish I were a cold hearted enough bastard to find out." ] * Rochelle wanders into the kitchen to get one of those nanosponges. "Kat's cool," she comments as she does so. * Yue picks herself up and glances around, before heading towards the kitchen again. Not for coffee, though, just for a space she can duck into to put her rifle down on the table so she can start to tinker with it, with a set of her own tools. "You struck a nerve, it seems." [ That gets a shrug out of him. "I frankly don't care one way or the other. I just want to know what the hell's going on with all this and right now, she's holding all the cards that Ferrion *isn't*." ] * Katherine comes back a moment after that, still looking annoyed. She puts her purse down and mutters, "Right. Fine. What the fuck ever." * Rochelle grabs a sponge and returns to the living area, dabbing at the coffee on the floor. She can clean up her own messes! Nice thing to know, Soma, but it doesn't help us put together anything. * Yue watches from the sidelines, this time. Tinker tinker tinker. * Katherine picks up her cup from where she left it. "Records don't fucking exist." * Zak gets himself another cup of coffee. [ Soma grimaces into his mug at that, before he's even sipped. "That's unfortunate. Beyond that, I really don't know what the hell is going on. Ferrion... well. He wasn't a bad guy when *I* worked at Dunno. But a little after his kid was born, he got... high-strung. Not surprising, given the deal with his son, but still." ] * Katherine frowns. "'The deal'?" [ "Pretty sad, actually," he responds, sipping. "Kid was born with some unidentified genetic disorder. He'll probably be dead by 15. They think it has something to do with his SCA, but they don't know what the SCA is." ] * Yue pauses, and that also gets a raised eyebrow from her. She'd comment about how he didn't mention he KNEW Ferrion personally, but... no need. You don't think it could have something to do with these kidnappings? [ Soma shrugs. "It might. I left Dunno for CEC when things at DRAUPNIR got bad. Howe's the only person left there in anything approaching 'in charge' that's not a complete nutbar." ] * Katherine frowns, takes a sip, then, "My best guess at what he's trying to put together... it's got nothing to do with SCA mutations. Is the kid just... crazy?" Rough break. SCA ain't all pretty. [ "No idea. I've never met him. Spends all his time in the Dunno-run hospital in Red Stockholm." ] * Rochelle finishes cleaning up coffee, tosses the sponge, and has a seat on the couch. (Probably next to Yue, mwaha.) (A CONVERSATIONAL BLACK HOLE OPENS) (FROM WHICH NO ROLEPLAY CAN ESCAPE) (I escaped the couch to go to the kitchin to rifle.) So what do we do now? (SWEET THE COUCH IS MINE) * Yue raises an eyebrow, puts her elbow parallel to the counter as she leans in and says, "How much pull do you still have with this Howe? Maybe he can cough up a thong or two." (... thing.) (HA.) (... nice.) (oh god images) (Ha!) * Katherine sighs and rubs her face. A slight grimace comes across her features as she mutters, walking across the room, "Well, right now, I'm just wondering how far they'd go to keep that kid alive. Like something out of a TVNet show." [ "I barely knew him. Besides, I ditched Dunno for a rival corporation. You wouldn't want to bring me up." ] * Rochelle is silent for a moment, then says, "I don't know." Xavier worked for Howe most of the time, right? And I don't think he... I mean, either of them... likes Platina. * Katherine sits down on her bed and watches Roch exposit for a moment. [ Soma is sipping his coffee and listening. ] * Zak wanders over to the couch. "Obviously willin' to go far enough to blow up Twilight," he mutters mostly to himself. That was Platina. * Rochelle scratches at the back of her head and looks to the blank TVNet screen. * Yue is more busy with the hammer on her rifle now than anything, given that she can only suggest here. "It'd be a slightly better lead than knocking on that kid's door," she comments. No matter which way you take it, all roads lead to Sweden. 2d6-2 Rochelle rolled 2 6-sided dice. < 2 5 > Total: 7 (5). * Zak looks over at Rochelle and gives her a meaningful Look. * Rochelle doesn't look back; she's sort of zoning out right now. [ Finishing his second mug of coffee, Soma goes to put it in either the sink or the deconstructor or whatever, before looking back at everyone else. "Well... I suppose while you're all doing that I can head back to Japan, see if there's been more progress on the missing persons, or if there's been any more." ] * Rochelle blinks once, then looks around the room, taking note of everyone there. Again. * Zak is still looking at Rochelle. * Katherine takes a sip and nods slightly, before chuckling and saying "Corporate espionage. Who said it had to make sense." * Yue shrugs lightly as she glances at Soma as he walks to and fro the kitchen, and idly empathizes with Kat's statement. [ "Well... one more thing, actually." ] ("I'M A VAMPIRE!" <( 'w')>) (AAAAGH I KNEW IT) Yeah? [ He jerks a thumb in Yue's direction. "Take her with you. I'd imagine you can use the help, for one... and for two, I'd like to have some eyes on the scene while this is going down. You'll notice, as I make this request, that I haven't asked you any pointed questions about your phonecall." ] Good, because it was fucking worthless. * Rochelle grabs Zak by the sleeve as she watches the conversation. * Katherine stands up, adding, "And trying to figure out enogh ways to say that and actually convince you, not as fun as it sounds." * Zak puts his hand on Rochelle's and squeezes gently. * Yue stares at Soma and stops to think thoughtfully about a response, but it actually makes a modicum of sense. "Fine enough by me." * Rochelle opens her mouth, hesitates, then says, "Do you guys have to report everything?" [ That gets a smirk from Soma. "I believe you. Listen... figure out what you're doing. I'll comp your tickets on my way back to HQ." He pauses, blinking, at Roch's question, which takes him a little off guard. "I've worked for two major corps now. I'm an expert at telling my bosses exactly what they need to know and no more." ] * Rochelle looks to Yue. * Yue pauses, and then looks uncomfortably away for a moment, back at Rochelle, and then shrugs with a bit of a sigh. "Is it about Aulin? But if McLochlane's going to take care of the reports, I have no problems." * Katherine glances to Yue, then she says, with a faint grin, "It took Roch and I months to get to speaking on a functional level. Adding more people who want to report on us just fucks it up." [ "Look," Soma starts, glancing between Yue, Kat, and Roch in turn. "If this were just 'oh, who stole patent x from dev team y' would any of us be here? Something big and fucked up is going on that's bigger than the corps, and we all know it. I don't give a rat's ass about the paperwork and neither should you." ] (Soma clearly can't work for ATC. He's too sensible.) * Zak visibly relaxes, and sips at his coffee. * Rochelle squeezes Zak's arm in something close to a death grip, but her face remains calm. It takes a while for her to get the words out, though. "It's about Howe. He's in a hospital room now, by someone in a bed. Him, and everyone with him, grieving on a sunny day." (I can already see the tripodal balance of power. Dunno: On Crack. Calhoun: Competent, but way too blunt. ATC: Competent, but barely sane.) (Yes!) (I like it when things work without me having to specify stuff) 2d6 Todd rolled 2 6-sided dice. < 4 1 > Total: 5 (5). (Sorry about your coffee again, Zak. XP) * Zak tenses up again, and swiftly looks down ar Roch. "Sis!" * Yue lets out another breath, and then looks at Soma with a brief nod. "Right..." a pause, before Roch does her thing again. She really ought to ask what's up with her. * Rochelle does NOT look back at Zak or respond to him. She's staring at Soma. * Katherine looks to Roch, silent a moment, then sighs a bit and says, "Right." [ That statement gets the dark-skinned CEC op to look Roch's way, and one black eyebrow goes up. "Well... I can see why you asked *that* question now," he ventures, before shrugging. When he speaks, it's in a 'talking to my bosses' tone. "It's a good thing you've got contacts in Red Sweden, passing this info on to you." ] (PROTIP: Not every corp rep is a bastard.) (Lies.) * Rochelle relaxes a little. Zak's arm is no doubt grateful. * Zak shakes his head slowly and has a sip of coffee. His mug shakes a little. (I think we're gonna call it a session shortly and you can start to Red Sweden in your own time.) * Katherine glances to Zak, then Roch, then rubs her neck. "Whatever works. I don't want to hit the ground tired. We can get moving tomorrow." [ Soma turns to Yue. "You sure you're okay with this?" ] * Yue stops dead for a moment, looks down at her rifle, and then looks up again. "Still working, right? Worse crowds to blend around with, anyway." [ For a second, he actually looks concerned, glancing at Yue meaningfully. Eventually, however, he breaks and heads for the door. "I'm going to see if there's spots on a red eye. Don't worry about reporting in, Yue, I'll handle it." He opens the door and half steps out, then turns back to everyone. ] (A noontime red eye! Ha ha.) (It's 4am.) (Unless the airport is... 8 hours away from your apartment.) (I was commenting about our travel, not his, since he said spots.) (He didn't mean for you. >_>) * Zak waves with his mug. "Don't forget to tell your crews to check in at Stargazer." [ For a second, he doesn't say anything. Then he smiles at Zak faintly. "I'll keep up my end of the bargain, trust me. Good luck out there... I'll be in touch." Then he shuts the door and is gone! ] (AHAHAH NO MORE NPC TAGALONGS) * Yue stares back at Soma for a long while, even after he heads for the door. "Thanks, McLochlane. Soma." Then he's gone. * Rochelle flumps back into the couch. She suddenly looks exhausted. * Katherine exhales noisily, looks to Roch, then Zak, then finally goes, "Long day, people. Find places to sleep." * Katherine walks her way back over to the art in the corner and takes another small sip. * Zak eyes Roch, then sighs and slips off the couch onto the floor. "Your furry bastardthing better not sleep on my face again, Kat." (He turns to find Eck full of shuriken.) (Cats are territorial creatures.) * Yue packs her rifle away and looks for a good wall or corner to sleep in. No seriously. * Rochelle kicks off her shoes and flumps to one side, claiming the whole couch. Sleep is serious business. (Wrap it up, kiddies.) * Katherine doesn't even look at him as she mutters, "Don't talk about Eck like that. Just be grateful you're getting some pussy. S'a wonder you don't have the shakes." (Fired.) [ And on that tasteful note, our heroes(?) finally get some rest. They have a big day ahead of them. What will happen in Red Sweden? Find out... NEXT TIME.]