Her dreams had been pleasant, mostly consisting of her sailing through the Aether in peace, and were probably brought about by the fact that she was effectively marooned at Mjesec. She continued to stroll around the deck of her dream ship, sometimes stopping to lean against the rail and gaze at a passing nebula, when suddenly a white noise surrounded her. It wasn't very noticeable at first, but it grew til it filled her ears and peace was gone. There was sounds like creaking, thudding, and scraping until she snapped out of her sleep by three sharp knocks.
Charlotte opened her organic eye first as her mechanical one took a few seconds to rev up as her brain also woke up and scanned the dark room. Nothing seemed weird, but she was sure someone was outside her door. She slid out of bed and padded across the room in nothing but underwear and a shirt, and peered out the peep hole in the door. Whoever it was out there, they didn't look normal. It was like the universe just wanted her to have the most stressful 24 hours of her life and was going to be relentless until the last second. She reached over and wrapped her hand around the hilt of a worn katana-like weapon and called out, "Who is it?"
When Nev took control of the situation Terri didn't fight or argue, they just went with the flow and followed her lead. Finally they stopped it was in a dimly lit warehouse and it seemed quiet and safe enough to take a breather, even if neither of the parties involved actually needed to breathe. Terri fell to the floor and hugged their knees to their chest. They were noticeably shaking.
"I ... I ran away ... from the mean people ... They ... They put me in a box that hurt me and it made their machines run ... but I ... I got away and I got here but I ... they want me back and ... and I thought I lost them but I ... They're here and they want to put me back in the box please don't let them put me in the box please I don't want to go back...!" The explanation was painted with fear and a childlike inability to express the necessary details like who "they" were and how the Novakid had escaped in the first place but it seemed to be as much as they could manage at the moment.
Kellan paused and took a breath in again. He had been planning for so long, it felt so awkward to actually take action. All his long laid plans and words fell apart and his mind went blank. The pause went on just longer than a normal conversation ought to but it felt like a century in his mind before he exhaled and spoke. "A client with a proposition, Captain. I believe we can both be of assistance to one another in this instance," Kellan had masked his hesitancy well, but there was a sort of plea in his soft tone as he stood in profile to the door and glanced about the ship with the powerful multi-goggles. The various displays let him know where folks were on the ship and he still did not want to have any sort of confrontation with them if possible. In all honesty he wanted to stay as low key as possible and get on her good side.
N.E.V.A.I.R.O. listened to Terry's vague but troubling story, what they had been put through was highly illegal, immoral and flat out wrong. When the novakid had finished, N.E.V. knelt down beside them and gently wrapped her arms around their head trying to offer comfort.
"Shhhh, it's okay. I'll do my best to make sure you never suffer like that again. I was once in bad place too. A laboratory, not the one where I was made; but an evil one. They thought some part of me made me different from other robots, so they tried to take me apart and find out what it was. One time, they tried to corrupt my A.I. with a virus that simulated the worst pain imaginable. And for an entity that had never felt pain it was... A-anyway, my point is: I know the kind of suffering you've been through, and as long as I can, I won't let it happen again." N.E.V.A.I.R.O. decided to let the hug go on for a little while longer, she would let go when Terry wanted her to. As for more details about who had done it, and how they had escaped could wait until Terry was a little more stable. N.E.V. wasn't really sure how old the novakid was, she had insufficient data involving the novakid aging process; according to the knowledge she did have, most novakid's never lost their childlike attitude and innocence. Terry could be anywhere between 15 and 150 years old, they were supposed to have an average lifespan of 200 years, although there are always exceptions to common held beliefs.
Charlotte wasn't going to open just because the person out there said they were a client; after the events of the day she was even more alert now. She watched the glowing lights through her peep hole and cursed how bright they were in the darkness that she couldn't get a clear view. They really couldn't just come an hour or so later? She drew the sword and held it down low by her side, passive but on guard. Opening the door, the first thing she did was take a step back and did a full body scan with her system focusing on the sword on his hip. "What's the job?"
Kellan glanced away from his scan and towards the cracked open door, then immediately away again. He had obviously meant to catch her in her cabin, but had not intended to catch the captain while she was barely dressed. Even with Mjesec in its night cycle the blush was likely evident on his cheeks as he turned away and cast his eyes down. "I require assistance here in the port. In return I can aid you both with payment and in acquiring the parts you require to get your ship Aether-born again, much more swiftly than the contact you met with earlier today. I would prefer...not...to discuss details here...if it please you, Captain, might we set a meeting to go over details? You may bring with you any of your crew that you see fit and set the location." Kell tried to be firm but still came off as giving too much ground too quickly. Time was of the essence but there was no way he could do business with a woman in her panties.
Terriallus hung, shivering, in Nev's arms for several minutes before the trembling ceased and they finally let go. "I don't know what to do but keep running. Running and running, through planets, through the Aether...on and on...it makes me so tired Nevvy, so tired- what was that?" Terri ceased their lament when high above them there was the sound of footsteps on the roof of the warehouse. They clunked about for several moments before fading away into the distance and disappearing all together as whatever had been up there slunk off to another location. Possibly a large Port cat...possibly another bounty hunter.
"I think he's too close still...should we run or hide?"
Charlotte noticed that particular vital in her array of information was the only one changing and the number was shooting up by a couple degree fractions with each passing moment as she kept her scan trained near his head. She couldn't hold back a small smirk, Note to self: Panties more effective than armor against possible assassins. As he explained to her, very vaguely, the job, she leaned against the door knob still in her hand and at the end, cocked an eyebrow. She decided to not question his knowledge of her meeting the engineer earlier in the day, storing it as a question for when she wasn't wishing to be back in her bed as soon as possible, and answered, "The Haunted Cat, when this shift's bells ring." With that, she shut the door and locked it, carrying the katana back to the bed with her to lean against the wall nearby. Her plan was to meet this person in the decently busy cafe - should she not be killed tonight - to make sure he wouldn't try anything and also get lunch at the same time. Perhaps since he was the one who wanted to talk, she could talk him into a free meal.
N.E.V.A.I.R.O. heard the sound on the roof, the sound was startling; but after a second of analysis, she knew the sound couldn't have been a humanoid. It was likely a cat or some other stray animal. Terry was right though, bounty hunters could be relentless and arrogant to a flaw. There was only one way to really stop hunters like them, especially if Terry had been running as long as they claimed to.
"I know a little bit about bounty hunters. If they haven't given up by now, they're not going to, not unless there's no bounty left to go after. Based on the actions of the man we ran into a minute ago, your bounty is only good if you're alive. So if we can convince your pursuers that you're dead, then the hunt should end. All we need is a convincing novakid death scene in front of a bounty hunter so he can report it back to the people he works for. After that all you have to do is lay low for a while, and when it's all over... you'll be free. Free to do anything you want. And I think I know how to put on a convincing show for mr. weapons, we just need some supplies, come on, I promised I wouldn't let you get taken away, and that's a promise I intend to keep!" She gave Terry an old ragged cloak to hide their glow, then Nev led Terry out of the basement and towards the back allies of the shopping district, there was a back ally dealer who often was willing to deal in favors for dangerous objects.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't the little robot who likes big toys. What do you need this time?"
"Explosives, plasma based, and big."
"Putting on a little light show, are you? I got what you need, what are willing to pay with."
"The same as last time."
"Good enough for me then, just a sec." The dealer disappeared through an iron door. Just a moment later he reappeared holding a small box. He opened it to reveal a small, clear cylinder of blue glowing plasma; capped on both ends with a polished metal and attached to a small control panel wired into it. Sitting next to it was what almost looked like a lighter, but was in fact the detonator. He closed the box and handed it to N.E.V.A.I.R.O. "This'll suit your needs, and I'll remember that you owe me one."
"Right, thank you." Nev held the box carefully as she led Terry out onto the busier street, "Now all we need is the proper stage, and someone to carry the news of your "death" back to their employers. It would be best if we could do it somewhere you could duck out of sight easily, but also where nobody will get hurt by this thing... Hmm. Maybe down by my hiding spot, when the explosion goes off, you could duck back into the warehouse, there wouldn't be many bystanders. All you have to is act like you get a mortal wound somewhere along the line, then we blow up the bomb instead of you, and lay low for a while." Nev had lost track of time, it seemed as though the bells for the next shift were already starting to ring. "Oh man, that took longer than I thought it would, we should get going before someone finds us." Right as the words left her voice box, N.E.V.A.I.R.O. bumped into someone standing in her way.
In a deep, gravely, and commanding voice he spoke to Nev, "Excuse me, but I'll be taking the novakid now. It was then that he pulled a gun from it's holster and pointed it at N.E.V.A.I.R.O., "Resistance is pointless"
Kellan bowed at the waist, not a full 90 degree or anything, but an incredibly polite 30. "As you wish. I will be waiting." He stated softly before his body flickered like an afterimage and he was gone from the view of the door way.
He spent the rest of the intervening time locating the correct location. One of the very reasons he required the Captain and her crew was their familiarity with the port, but he managed to get to The Haunted Cat with time to spare. He ordered nothing but a cup of green tea with honey and took a seat to wait for the bells to toll. His goggles reported to him what was going on around him as well as on the electronic level, they picked up certain radio wavelengths and displayed certain news pieces but they were beginning to give him a headache. No one seemed to be paying attention at the time, so he slipped the device up to rest on the top of his head and rubbed his temples for a mement to rest his eyes. He hadn't slept since coming in to port, but he was also a professional who knew his limits and Kellan had gone for longer periods than this with less. It was the worry that was eating him up inside. The bells for the shift clanged in the distance and he slipped the goggles back down, he was not the sort of man who wanted to be recognized, not at this stage of the game, and the Captain was bound to turn up shortly.
Terri followed Nev with the little cloak draped over their head to cover up a bit. They tried not to get in the way, but they were also unwilling to let go of her hand and attempted to maintain contact of one sort or another even when she needed both hands, like when she was holding the bomb they got. "O-okay I think I can-EEP!" They ducked behind Nev when yet another hunter confronted the pair, but it wasn't any safer back there as the previous bounty man had recovered from his earlier shocking experience with novakid energy transfers.
"Oi mate, d'is 'ere be moi bahnty, y'ear may?" He cocked a rifle but didn't train it on the other fellow yet. After all the bounty was only worthwhile alive, but his competition...he could bite the dust and like as not no one would care. Nev and Terri were now back to back with a bomb and between a rock and a hard place.
"Wh-what do we do...?" They whispered so softly only Nev's audio sensors would likely hear. Unless one of the two hunters was a cyborg, then all bets were off.
"I don't know," Nev whispered back, "I thought we'd have more time than this..." The robot and novakid were in quite a jam until bounty hunter number two spoke up to mr. weapons.
"Back off, the battery comes with me." The masked man pointed his gun at mr. weapons, who in turn pointed his rifle at the masked man.
"Noht hoppenen mate, drop et behfor ya get hart."
"I have an idea, when I give the signal, run; but stay close." N.E.V.A.I.R.O. used her vocal processor to play the sound of a gun firing, as loud as she could. the jump caused all civilians around to start panicking and both bounty hunters to start shooting at each other. In the ensuing chaos, Nev grabbed Terry's hand while holding the box in her other arm, and ran into the crowd of fleeing people. Hopefully they would be able to escape in the jumble of hundreds of people, while at least one of the bounty hunters ended up... incapacitated. But life rarely goes according to plan.
Charlotte didn't get as much sleep as she had hoped but it was better than nothing, even though her body protested through sore muscles. She pushed herself out of bed and groaned as she stretched every way possible. Crossing the room to her closet, she closed her eyes as a yawn came through and it turned out to be the worst timing as her foot got caught on a small object and caused it to slip forward. She craned her back to keep her balance and felt it strain every angry muscle there. "For ******** sake...!" With a groan, she bent down to find the evil object and turned it a couple of times in her palm before reading the tiny print on the bottom, Coral Red #2 (Semi-gloss).
Her eyebrows scrunched as she racked her brain for where it could've possibly come from...and it dawned on her by way of an image flashing irritatingly through her memory. An evil woman wearing red lipstick in the dim light of sunset, taking a boot to the chest. Without even being here, the thief was making Charlotte's life irritating. She set it on the edge of her desk and finally went to change into a pair of fitting black pants, a white tank, boots, and her coat. A short walk through some random, winding alleys and she entered the cafe with familiarity. She immediately crossed to the back after a quick scan landed on the unique goggles her possible employer had on a few hours prior. On the way, she gave a waiter an order for the daily breakfast special and took a seat. "So."
Kellan set his tea aside for the moment and steepeled his fingers in front of his face. "I am sure you are wondering why I asked to hire you. In this instance I require some assistance. I am ... wholly unfamiliar with this port, my skills as far as navigation here are...inferior. I would like to hire you and your crew to aid me in locating someone. A Novakid in fact, beginning immediately with whatever crewmen are available now, time is of the essence. The less questions you ask, the better off we will both be. I can procure your ship parts immediately as a down payment, and I will pay appropriately for you and your crew based on the time and resources required to locate the target." Kellan placed a palm sized data pad on the table as he spoke, it displayed an image of a single child sized energy being in a soft purplish pink color with a moon and star for a face brand. "I want you to help me find Yllen Terriallus."
"Wah!" Terri shouted as the pair ducked away and chaos ensued in the middle of the port street. They made good on their escape while the two brutish men duked it out. "Ono ono ono ono ono," they muttered the entire time they were fleeing, the brand on their face didn't change one bit but the distress was palpable. From a higher vantage point a third hunter was taking aim with what appeared to be a net launcher. She breathed in, steadied her arm, and took the shot. The net went out with a fwoomp and in an instant the thick fibrous material snatched Terri off their feet and knocked them to the ground in a miraculous tumble. They recovered fairly quickly and pressed their hands to the net on their knees. "Ono ono ono ono! I'm not hot I'm nOT HOT I CAN'T MELT IT!"
The female began to drop down from the roof to claim her prize...and a hefty check...
Charlotte's eyebrow shot up at the man's proposal. The down payment was to fix her ship? So...she could literally just...leave. It wasn't a bad plan, to say the least. She scanned the profile shown her and committed it to her limited database. The interface complained about running low on memory and she quickly deleted an old entry from a couple years ago. It would probably help to just clean it out completely...eh, she'll get around to it. "So...you get parts to my ship and I'll find this kid?" She shrugged, as if making a decision, and leaned forward on the table, not to talk in secret more, but because a young lady brought her a large plate of breakfast. "Thanks." The plate was quickly disposed of and with a dainty wipe of her mouth, quite the opposite of how she had inhaled the food, she stood. "I look forward to seeing my ship functioning." She exited the cafe, full for the first time in a while, leaving the bill with Mr. Goggles.
Things went from bad to worse when ANOTHER bounty hunter shot a sticky net to wrap up Terry's legs. Then she jumped down from the roof she was perched on and started towards the tied up and heavily panicked novakid. Failing to find a better option N.E.V.A.I.R.O. stepped between the two.
"Stoooop! I won't let you take my friend!" This bounty hunter spoke with an commanding french accent.
"Away with you, you'll not stand between me and my prey."
"No, I won't let you ta-" Nev was cut off when the bounty hunter clubbed her in the side of the head with the but of a net cannon, sending her flying to the ground and dropping the small box, luckily it's latch kept it closed. Hopefully nobody would step on it... that would be bad. But that would come later, right now there was a more pressing matter to attend to; that bounty hunter b***h. Nev gathered herself and jumped towards the huntress, almost landing short and grabbing onto one of her ankles. "I won't let you take them"
"And I told you: none shall stand between me and my prey!" At the last word, she kicked Nev off of her leg and started walking again, only to notice her boot start sparking. "What?"
"Those jet boots are the latest model of Viocorp personal flight mechanics," N.E.V.A.I.R.O. said standing up, she had a sizeable dent on the left side of her head, but otherwise wasn't too damaged. "But their operating system is susceptible to overloads of data, and causing misfires."
"You little pest!" The huntress raised a rifle to point at Nev's head, but before she could fire, one of her jet boots activated. She was forced onto her side, and started sliding out of control wherever her boot took her. She had no balance and with only one boot firing at full power there was no telling where she would end up.
N.E.V.A.I.R.O. picked up the bomb box and the Huntresses energy rifle, slinging the latter over her shoulder before heading over to Terry. The net was a generic sticky net used to incapacitate criminals, this one had been modified to restrict plasma instead of organic tissue. But that also meant it was only viable against plasma based life forms, a very specific weapon. Nev was able to tear enough of it apart to free Terry and help them to their feet.
"We really need to go, if you remember the way back to the port, can you lead? My head feels kind of... fuzzy."
Salara rolled her eyes and smiled as she gave her coughing colleague a hard pat on the back. "C'mon! Is that all you got, luv?"
They were now at the port's famous pub, "The Fawcett Inn", a place where all sorts gathered around--from the seedy to the elite--to have a good ol' drink before the demands of their next journey.
Rupert had just gotten a taste of the bartender's special cognac, and was having trouble digesting it. He groaned and hunched himself over a chair, heaving as he tried to contain himself. "Why would you--" he coughed, "--Why would you do that."
Salara pulled him up, straightening his shirt for him and answering him with a small whisper,"Because...its fun, you look hilarious, and I'm trying to make sure our stress levels...aren't too high." she said the last part through gritted teeth. "Now, how about we take one more drink, and then you can join me upstairs."
Rupert blinked at her once, before hastily making his way to the bartender yet again. The last thing we wanted was to be thrashed about by an angry Salara, and not today most of all.
Some time passed.
He walked upstairs, a drink in hand, with Gizmo on his shoulder happily giving a small "toot" every now and then. When he had reached the top, he could hear the unmistakable, faint sound of Salara's frustrated growls. "Knock...knock?" Rupert said while hesitantly opening the door to their Inn-suite.
"What the [********] is in this thing?!" Salara yelled at him, holding out the weirdly shaped vase with a shaking hand. Her other hand had some ashes on the tips of its fingers. "Don't tell me this is somebody's...someone's..."
Rupert quickly walked up and took the vase from her, eyeing it closely. Gizmo whirred up to float at his side, excited from Salara's antics. "Here lies...Grandma Sue."
"EW. EW. Oh my god. no. no. no--" Salara immediately stood up and dashed toward the washroom, running her hand under the sink's water and lathering soap. Her repeated "no's" echoing in Rupert's mind. "That godforsaken ship is a nightmare! A nightmare. Don't even get me started on that...that woman!" she exclaimed, as though giving a speech to a large audience that happened to be in the bathroom's mirror. She re-appeared in a few minutes in front of her Rupert, her face red from stress, and her hand red from the vicious scrubbing.
The poor boy's eyebrows had turned up in concern, and he shakily held out the drink toward her.
Salara looked at him for a few moments, and then gave a deep breathe. Inhaling...exhaling...
She calmly took the drink from him, and then, completely silent, sat on the bed and took a sip, intently looking out the window. Stress levels needed to stay low.
-------
Salara wokeup from her stupor, drunkenly rubbing her eyes and realizing that she was holding an empty bottle. To her right, was a napping Rupert, along with a few more empty bottles sprawled around him on the bed. A pounding headache, a sigh.
She stood up and began to silently step out of the room, journeying past the now-empty Inn and out the door.
The sounds of the port just outside the pub included a lot of honking, yelling, and ships leering overhead as they came to dock. Salara looked around, still drowsy from her recent sleep, and began walking down the strip. Sometimes it was really nice for her to take time to clear her head-- it was how she kept sane, and focused on her next mission. Rupert, her colleague, was a very fretful boy, and the last thing she wanted was to interrupt his current moment of peace.
Gizmo had actually been following her the entire time, and surprised her with a loud beeping noise after he zoomed to block her path.
"Ugh, what is it this time you pile of junk?" she said with a hand on her heart-- trying to quiet her heart after the fright.
Gizmo responded with an unfolding screen attached to the end of a metal joint, in which emerged from the top of its head. On the screen, was shown a radar, with a red dot indicating a moving object. "Hmm..." Salara looked at the screen in thought, it had been a while since the little robot had shown anything of interest. In a port like this, it must be trying to point out something big. A bounty. She tapped the screen, bringing up a photo of a Nova kid. "Alright, lets do it."
She followed the robot down the strip, and rounded a corner. Immediately there was the unmistakable sound of gunshots, and two figures dashing away. Gizmo beeped excitedly at them, and began to dash after the two figures without any warning. "Gizmo, wait!" the girl called out, following the chase with an easy sprint, "Hey, you two, stop right there". She pulled out her gun.
200
200
200
