Jai nodded to himself as he thought of an easy fix. Telling each parent that he'd be across town at the other's apartment should work fine.



"I can help us stretch the cash some, my override key should work on New Harbor's autofacs. Mostly. Maybe one in four store managers bother to update the security software. Sounds good - catch up with you at a terminal near the mall, same number?"

A plan for the day beginning to formulate itself, Jai headed back over to the kitchen and started a half-dozen of the prepacks warming up.

Without thinking about it, Val gave Vamp a warm smile, unforced, unrehearsed, a rarity. She was glad to hear she was mostly fine, and perhaps she was imagining it but the usual hostility seemed gone from her tone.

"Could be worse, I guess," she said, meaning herself but applicable to both of them, maybe to all of the group.

And then for no particular reason, without any warning to Vamp or to herself, even, a hand reached casually to the Goth’s shoulder and started lightly massaging it, at the approximate spot she guessed the muscle knot was. It took Val a second to gain awareness of what she was doing, but by then she was already doing it, an unguarded gesture of friendliness. She wanted to pull away before Vamp cut her hand off or worse - but in some way, that would be even worse, some sort of admission that she had stepped out of line.

So she kept smiling, and shrugged like no big deal, and massaged the other girl’s neck softly.

"I’m fine, I guess," she said lightly, tossing her hair. "Woke up in a dump full of fugitives, still wearing my ‘high-priced whore’ dress, and I could use a shower and a change of underwear. All that aside, I’m fracking rim."

Her head turned to the rest of the room, where everyone was becoming more active, and there was a voice coming from the screen. She caught the gist of it and thought about it for a second.

"Sure, let’s do a fracking press release," she replied from the floor, loud enough that the mike would catch it. "Where’s my hair and make-up team? Kat, maybe we can tease a collab, right? Make my marketing team go ballistic."

Vamp gave out a small moan and leaned forward into Val's hand. "You are right on the spot. For this I take back one, maybe two of the bad things I've said about you but, no more than two. Three is pushing it," she said with a slight smile, eyes closed as she savoured Val's ministrations upon her aching neck.

"Maybe 'high-priced whore dress' was the wrong thing to say. How about metallic band-aids held together by string? We need to get you practical clothes but clothes that blend in and one of the first things about blending in is making you look 180 degrees from your normal look. Change your hair, no makeup and clothing that doesn't scream 'I make pop music pablum for pre-teens!'" Once again she gave Val a half-smile

Whilst talking Vamp had also been listening to the conversation with Minerva. "Bad idea for Val to make a public appearance. She identified herself to one of the pigs at the club last night so they know all too well that she was there. The second she goes out in her public image the cops will be on her like flies on shite."

Yawning, Kat smiles at Val's suggestion.  "I think a colab could work our styles are so different it would be unexpected," she says; though she frowns when Vamp reminds the group that Val identified herself to the police.

On the screen Minerva crinkles her forehead in thought as well.  "Well, that won't do then, you at least will need some sort of disguise.  Do you guys have enough you can mix and match to get to the mall?  I can fund a shopping trip and Jai can help as well," she says sounding hopeful.

Kat looks at her outfit.  "You can have my cardigan, at least that is something," she says offering the sweater.  It is lightweight, the type that is worn for decor over something else. (See post #10 for description of her outfit)

Hunter takes off his surfer hoodie, the sleeveless t-shirt underneath pulls up with it to his abs before he pulls it down.  "This will cover more than the metal band-aids," he offers with smile.

Shin-Ji realized this conversation didn't concern him, and instead made his way to the smell of delicious pre-paks. He gave a nod to Jai.

"Good, sensible action. Very chill."

Shin-Ji's sensei had been Russian army at one point. He didn't bring it up that often, but when someone fucked up planning and was late or forgot something, he was fond of saying that warriors won fights, but logistics won wars.

He found it difficult to think of anything else at the moment, other than the pre-pak warming in the microwave.

Tailgate leaned against a wall and listened to the conversation. He was leaning only partially because he needed the help staying upright. He frowned lightly as he listened to the back and forth, the details.

They weren't safe as they had thought, as they had been told. And more was to come. His eyes  shifted to Val when she was mentioned in making a public appearance. He wondered if that was a good idea...but it wasn't really up to him, or really his concern. He shook his head. So they'd hung out a little last night! It wasn't a big deal. They weren't dating.

He needed to focus on something else and get back in to his own level of the social strata. This hiding together wouldn't last forever. He smirked. He didn't need to do much for an alibi - just say he was going...

...riding. "Aw man...I had t'leave my RIDE! I gotta go back for it." He was talking to himself, even though it was loud. He grabbed his jacket and started to head towards the door.

Shin-Ji reluctantly pulled him away from the microwave for a minute and stood in his way, raising one hand. His tone was firm, but not hostile. He made it clear he'd

"Gonk move. Not my business if you want to play loose with your life, but if you get caught right now, you endanger everyone.

If you wait a few minutes we can all leave this place ready with no risk of you leading them back here."

He noticed that the ganger was barely capable of standing on his own.

"You look like you couldn't handle a moped right now.
Eat something and take stock. You'll think more clearly. Maybe we can find out if the place is being scoped by corp-sec." 

There was a ding from the microwave. Shin-Ji carefully considered. It was not worth bringing attention to the place by starting a brawl, and the man had a right to do what he wanted.

"Your call, rider."

He made his way back to fill up, having presented his view.

"You want to watch that," Val replied with a fake serious tone, as she kept massaging Vamp’s shoulder. "You stop calling me a whore all of a sudden, people will start whispering. And what is not practical about this?"

She meant the silvery hexagons, straining against the flexed muscles in her thighs.

"It gets the job done in my line of work. Which is not escorting, before you say it. But yeah, I get it. I should wear… I don’t know, leggings?" she added in a dejected tone, as if it was the worst imaginable defeat. In the bright light of the safehouse, the tattoos covering her leg looked almost like normal ink.

She bit her lip as she listened to Vamp, then the other Glitter Girl.

"Well, does it make a difference that I told the cops I was there? You fracking were on-stage, Kat. It’s not like people are going to forget that – even if not one single juve mentioned it, out of solidarity or whatever, there were plenty of zombieboys at the Obelisk. Including the bastard who didn’t want to get me a vodka lemon. But let’s not make this about me – yeah, I’ll take that hoodie I guess? Gosh, I’m too iconic for my own good…"

"You're right," Kat says with a slight frown.  "I don't think the Obelisk management would sell me out, but they are adults ultimately, they'll follow their best interests," she adds with some concern.  "I do have to tell my parents something.  Party in Rancho Coronado?  Do you know someone out there?"

Hunter grabs a pre-pack and slices it open, digging in like a starving man, and nodding along in agreement with Shin-ji.  "Dude, we can pick up your bike on the way, just chill for a minute, let the girls work this out," he says to Tailgate between mouthfuls.

Minerva is still on the monitor, waiting to see what plan you will come up with and if you want to share anything more with her.

"Order up. Uhh... label said Chick'n A La King. I have my doubts..."

Jai slid the newly microwaved prepack and a plastic fork onto a nearby table, surprised that the call was still ongoing. Luckily, watching the food spin was boring enough that he'd paid attention to what passed for obstacles to their trip in the meantime.

"Uh, I figure as soon as everyone's dressed, we head out and grab the bike on the way? Like I said before, can you give us an address to contact you once we find a 'term at the mall?"

Tailgate slowed to a stop as multiple people tried to impress on him that it was a bad idea. He frowned but nodded and stepped back. He let out a sigh and slumped in to a seat. He just...couldn't help but think horrible things. What if his bike had been impounded? What if someone had trashed it? Or it had gotten shot up in a crossfire or something?

He tried to banish the thoughts and focus on the present.

Alibi.. Alibi.. to be seen. hmmm i could show in some ecoraider initiative, i mean not the most radical actions.., some protest or something alike that would make things much more complicated. That way they will believe if i say i've been participating since yesterday. now i need to find if there is something somewhere

Kat’s comment made Val think about her own parents. Briefly.

Were they concerned? Probably. For all her bad girl rep, it wasn’t like her to go out and not come back the same night. Scratch that – it was totally like her, but she wasn’t allowed, and she had never dared face the consequences. But did she actually care that they got worried? And worry they would – if nothing else, because their main source of hard cash and social capital had disappeared. Oh yeah, and then, she was their daughter, that too. A distant second.

So as for reassuring her parents, nah, Val was good, no big hurry to allay their fears. But still, if Kat wanted to do some sort of media appearance and Minerva (whoever she was) had suggested it as a good idea, then Val wasn’t staying out of it. Not so much to reassure her parents she was alive and well, but as a frack-you to them, and to the pigs who had tried to arrest her. Slowly she smiled. Yeah, actually... This could be her chance to increase her street cred immensely, not to mention show Theo and the rest of his clique how much more rimmer than them she was.

Val gave Vamp’s neck one last squeeze and sprang to her feet.

"OK, let’s do this, yoboys. Thanks for the hoodie, Hunter, I’ll use it in a minute – I shouldn’t appear in that vid with it, would make it too easy to spot me later. We need to film it somewhere that doesn’t give away this place, not until we’re ready to leave. Mmm… Kat, let's you and I get into that bedroom, yeah? No boys allowed. Make it look like a publicity stunt – I mean, it is a publicity stunt. Oh, meanwhile – can someone maybe drop by that alley and get my electromoped, please?"

Her eyes searched the room, stopping on Tailgate, who was looking sort of concerned.

"T, maybe? You’re good with bikes, aren’t you, yoboy...?" She let that question linger, raising an eyebrow. Was he, now?

Nicola's gestures after hearing Valeriya's idea conveyed the words: "Good Idea!, Indeed" she started to rub her chin while staring at a non existing horizon "Making a video is a well though strategie,  i must say and i think that the juves providing us with this place did already make sure that our comunications are not being tracked... I wonder if i can use their dataterm to obtain some video footage we keep in the Ecoraiders network in which i was filming and denouncing the release of toxic fumes from the roof of a corporate building.. i did not release it since we found it more convinient for analysis purposes, basically to hayduck it later.... i guess i can use it to make it seem i'm there now..if not i'll need to call my parents to let them know and some other ecoraiders to retrieve info on current operations and see if i can join them"

Shin-Ji took dibs on the "Chick'n" happily to eat the questionable flavor.. as long as it was food. There was a nasty taste from.. whatever was growing on his mouth for the past 12 hours, and he knew this was plastic and sawdust, but he didn't care: it was food.

A quick shower, a change into his spare clothes, and hacking off the sleeves on his gi, he felt better. He still thought he looked a completely gonk in the mirror, but he sure felt more human after just a few minutes of self care.

Of course, with the immediate dealt with, his mind started to drift to last night, but he tried to force it away. His first duty to his yo-gang and everyone else he was with was to stay alert and stay alive. He'd worry about payback and guilt later. He'd have to send some messages out and find out who was still walking around and who had died in the mess at the dojo.

(Shall we skip ahead?)

Jai sent contradictory text messages to each of his parents describing how he'd spend the next few days, then returned to his unofficial job while the girls finished their logistics.

"Next up... Kimchi Rice and... Paneer Tikka Masala. Well, at least it's all vegetarian. Nothing sadder than two juves throwing hands over the one slice of vat-grown ground mystery animal."

As soon as he'd made one for everyone, he ducked out to go clean himself up.

(Sounds good to me.)

Kat followed Vamp into the fresher eagerly joining her with a conspiratorial look.

Hunter looks at Tailgate and Shin-ji.  "Maybe we can get the bikes while they are in there.  Does it look okay in the neighborhood, Minerva?" he asks.

Minerva looks away from the camera for a few moments then answers.  "All is quiet.  Creepily quiet, but no one is shooting down my drone.  It's best if you stay together, but considering the short distance, I'd say you can make a run for it.  There are still vehicles at the Obelisk parking lot, including some bikes," she says.

Nikola addresses Minerva : “Ok so i think its better if i create an excuse without getting too much far away from here. Can you retrieve a video out of the Ecoraider network if i give you the data on how to get access to it?”
This message was last edited by the player at 10:18, Mon 31 May 2021.

Tailgate looked at Val when she asked him to go after her moped. His number one priority has to be HIS bike! Those things were expensive as hell, and unlike Val he didn't have rich parents to buy him stuff any old time.

But...it was Val. And even though he disliked himself for it, and he knew it would never go anywhere, he wanted to do things for her, make her smile, have her like him.

He shrugged and nodded. "I'll do what I can. Especially if they're coming with me to help.", looking at Hunter and Shin-ji.

He pulled the hood up on his jacket. "I guess let's go if we're going."

15 minutes later, Shin-Ji was still wet from the shower and he thought the sleeveless look was stupid, but at least he had the arms to pull it off. He'd tied some bandages to cover any white scarring.

His blades were clean and put away.

"Ok. Let's see if we can get those bikes."
This message was last edited by the player at 06:06, Thu 17 Feb 2022.

Val gave Tailgate her smouldering smile. Perhaps she looked a bit less than smouldering that morning, what with the makeup smeared around the eyes and her hair in a chaotic mess. Or perhaps that gave it an extra something...?

And that gave her an idea.

"Thanks T, you are real rim," she said as she passed him by, brushing a hand on his shoulder and squeezing lightly. Things might be fun, after all.

She got into the bedroom with Kat and took a quick look around.

"OK, let's make the most of the scenery then," she said surveying the room - little more than three beds and anodine walls. "This could be anywhere. Which is good, I guess - means it might take the Simba more time to find this place once we release that video. And maybe we can make the most of that 'just woke up in this dive, after that wild jazz' thing. Mum and the marketing guy are so gonna pull their hair out when they see this..."

Val got her v-term from the purse, set it over the bedside table, fiddled with its position and virtual keyboard until satisfied that the in-built camera covered the nearby bed and nothing else was in frame.

"OK then, Kat," she said, winking at the other Glittergirl, "Why don't we do it like this - you start, and go like," good-girl voice, imitating Kat, "'hi everybody, I know this is not my usual stuff and might come as a surprise for you dear fans, but I met someone tonight and we had this great idea for a collab', yadda-yadda, build up some expectation, and then I barge into frame like I just woke up and go like 'heeey guys'," she did her sultry voice, then went back to normal, "A little tease, a little peck on the cheek - then we log off, leave the frothers frothing. Boom, bomb dropped. Then we are outta here as fast as we can."

She couldn't help but giggle. Finally, this was starting to be fun, what with being a fugitive and infected with some biomechanical disease and all that boring stuff.

"Ok, ok," Kat says sitting on the bed next to Val and prepping herself to be on camera.  She takes a couple of deep breaths, then nods that she is ready.  Her voice comes out sot and mellow, almost like she is singing, breathy and intimate way.  "Hey everybody, you'll never guess who I met last night, no details right now to keep the Watchdogs at bay, but we decided to do a collab.  Here she is,"  and then she will shimmy over a little to let Vamp take center.

Meanwhile, the boys (is Nikola going with them?) step out into the morning light.  The alley is clear, though there are sounds of life and activity in the building above.  Making their way carefully to the East end of the alley, the streets are all eerily quiet with the morning fog just dissipating.  There are no cars moving close by, but the sound of garbage truck in the distance is clear.

"Mmm.. we may be in luck. Looks like they didn't want the police response to last through the busy workday. Still.. keep your head on a swivel."

Shin-Ji moved carefully, looking for faces in windows or shadows that might indicate they were spotted.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:06, Thu 17 Feb 2022.

Vamp opened her eyes when Val finished rubbing the kink out of her neck. “For a corp whore and bitch you sure give one hell of a massage,” she told Val, giving her that enigmatic smile again.

“Jaysis, you still nattering on about that bloody bike and going to get it? If I get caught or killed because of you and that bike, I swear I’ll bloody end you,” she growled, smile gone. Said lack of smile turned into a sneer when she heard the “girls only plan.”

“Sounds brill. Maybe we can braid our hair and paint our toenails whilst we’re having at it.” She said as she grabbed her duster and followed the others into the room and dropped into the bed. If the camera swept past her at any point she flashed the V before going back to looking utterly disinterested.

Nikola  decided to go with the boys for the bikes since it seemed that Minerva did not hear her questions. while walking with them she kept looking at the surroundings not only because of cops but also to find something she could use to get an excuse for her absence. like something to hayduck to makeit look she took part in some kind of protests (ooc: would a roll help her chances?)
This message was last edited by the player at 14:14, Fri 04 June 2021.