| Logs |
2002 March 12
| Cosmic Guardians |
| Realms |
Retired
| Reality Fault |
General Info
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| Realms: Guardians Logs |
The First Mission - Part 5
Cosmic Guardians: The Double-Edged SwordPart 5:The Letter
The phone rings in both Reynard's and Sasha's rooms at around 8:00. In Sasha's room, Sasha stirrs and sleepingly grabs for the phone, groggily saying 'Hello?' into it. She listens, and then hangs up, slowly pulling herself out of bed. Nikki, who had stayed up all night since her anchor was in the boys room, looks over from her chair. "Who was that?"
In the other room, Reynard rolls over, with a slow grump, and fishes at the reciever, pulling it up. "Hello?" His accent is thick while he's groggy, intoning into the phone. "This is your 8:00 wakeup call, sir!" a cheery voice says to Reynard."
Reynard nods absently to the phone. "Thank you," He replies, hanging up the phone and lifting his arm straight in the air. Shaking his head, rubbing an eyelid, he doesn't immediately get up, but keeps his arm suspended. It often keeps one from falling back into sleep.
Sasha chuckles. "Wakeup call, Nik. Scuse me, I hear a shower calling to me." She goes into the bathroom, pausing briefly at the door. "Feel lucky you don't have to shower and put on makeup anymore, Nik." she says wryly, before closing the door behind her.
Nikki shrugs. "Showers are kinda nice....baths are nicer, though." she says, mostly to herself.
Reynard groans and shifts, peering at the other single bed across the way. Lupis doesn't appear to be in it, and it doesn't appear to have been slept in. Reynard blinks slowly, as he realizes this. Woah. He sits up, and thinks after a few moments. "Probably met someone at the bar," he says with a grin, shaking his head. Pushing himself out of bed, he drifts towards the shower. Actually, he'd taken one before bed, but those are fail-safes.
Nikki stands and stretches, thinking of an outfit to wear. She picks a pale yellow shirt and aquamarine shorts. It seems like that'd be appropriate in the warmer climate. She solidifies after she changes and then steps out onto the balcony to smell the morning air. The balcony opens to the east, so Nikki can watch the sun rise. To her left, there is moderate traffic out on I-10, most of it heading into Phoenix, to the east. Nikki stretches a bit and watches the sun and traffic and the city waking up around her.
A good five minutes later, there is movement beside Nikki. Yin has apparently gotten out of bed, and is standing beside Nikki in his nightshirt, looking out at the sun. Reynard, meanwhile comes out of the shower, spicing up his smell, and doing the morning grooming rituals. Briefly checking his weapons, he gives a knock on the seperating door.
Nikki hears it and starts to step back inside, but thinking about the drop and Yin, she takes his hand and leads him back inside. Yin doesn't fight with Nikki, following her without looking at her as she leads him back in. Nikki lets go of Yin's hand once inside, and then opens the door. Reynard appears on the other side, leaning against the doorframe. "Hey, Nikki, where's Sasha? I'm wondering if we need to load up fully on all the weapons."
Nikki looks blank. "Sasha's in the shower. You really think we even need any yet?" Reynard shrugs. "I don't know; I was brought for shooting. I would have to wonder why they'd call me in, if I don't need to shoot something."
Nikki tilts her head. "I think the idea is that, as a team, we might eventually get in firefights." Reynard considers this, and finds it a likely conclusion. "A'right. Just let her know I asked," He returns, and shuts the dividing door, and turns on the morning news. Nikki blinks at the door and glances at Yin. "You never can tell what people are thinking, right Bookie?"
Yin continues to gaze out at the rising sun as Nikki speaks to him. Then he says something strage. "Tryxillandra."
Nikki starts at Yin. "What? What does that mean?" Yin doesn't respond. He doesn't look happy, but then again, he never really does. He sighs, and then goes to turn on the TV.
Sasha comes out about ten minutes later, wrapped in two towels. "Go shower, Bookworm." she says kindly. Yin nods, murmuring to himself. "Remember. Test the water with your hand. Don't get in till the water is just right." He stands and strolls around into the bathroom, closing the door behind him.
Nikki watches him, puzzled. She turns to Sasha. "What the heck is 'trixilandra'?" Sasha arches an eyebrow. "I have no idea. Why?" Nikki says, "Bookworm just said it."
Sasha purses her lips. "Hmmm. Sometimes he says things that aren't clear at the moment...let's just file that one away for later." Nikki nods thoughtfully and then remembers Reynard's question. "Oh...Ray just asked if you thought he needed to bring all the guns...or just a couple." Sasha nods. "This was just a one night place...once we get close to the campus, I'm going to find us a hotel closer by to be our Lodge."
It takes the better part of an hour, but Reynard, Sasha, and Yin finish up with their morning tasks, and meet outside the rooms. It is then, all gathered that Sasha realizes that Lupis is not there. "Where is he?" she demands of Reynard.
Reynard arches a brow curiously at Sasha. "I don't have his leash," He comments absently, "Seriously, he wasn't here when I woke up. Nor has he slept in his bed." Sasha sighs frustratedly. "That man...come on, let's go downstairs and see if he left a message."
Nikki says, "Wasn't he talking about meeting some friends while he was here?" Reynard nods. "Went to a bar to meet some band boys. Likely got too into his cups, or went home with someone." Sasha hmmphs. "If he left a message, I'll be less put out with him. We'll see.
She clambors into the elevator as it opens, carrying her luggage and leading Yin around. Reynard carries his bags, easily enough, and follows Sasha. Then he thinks of something. "Hold on. I might as well go get Lupis's things." Sasha nods and holds the elevator while Reynard goes back. Nikki carries her own computer bag and follows them in. Reynard returns a few moments later, lugging the man's things, with the guitar noticibly absent.
The group rides back down to the lobby. Sasha strides to the front desk, gives the room number, and asks if any messages were left. The man at the desk smiles. "Why yes, actually. A woman called, said she was calling for, ah....'Lupis'? I think it was...said he'd be held up and would meet you later." Sasha rolls her eyes. "Figures."
Nikki quietly offers to help Reynard carry Lupis's things. Reynard nods thankfully, but looks up at Sasha as she speaks. "At least he left something, eh?" Sasha chuckles wryly. "Yeah, but he couldn't even bother to leave it himself. Or maybe he passed out from booze and sex." She speaks quietly with the attendant, checking out. She also takes a moment to leave a message for Lupis. "If he calls, or show up, tell him to call this number." Sasha directs, giving him the number to her digital phone. The man nods and says it will be taken care of. That done, Sasha waves the others out to the car,
The four pile into the car together, and pull back out onto the interstate. After a good fifteen minutes as Sasha tries to pull around the morning traffic, she calls back, "Nikki, did you make any progress getting folks enrolled in the big university?"
Nikki grins. "Yep. Me an' Lupis. He's a musician and I'm a computer geek." Reynard hmphs. "I wanted to be a philosopher." Nikki smiles at Reynard. "You mean you aren't?"
Sasha nods. "Good. Did you enroll yourselves in classes with this Professor Dash, too?
Reynard says, "Ya, but now it's just creepy for me to try and pick up college women." Sasha looks back at Reynard. "Oh, what, you don't like them that young?" she teases. Reynard grins back, peering into the rear view. "Nope. Like 'em experienced. Although, there is a certain quality about college women, what was it? Ah, yes, drunk and curious."
Sasha chuckles, looking back at the road. "Feel relieved, Nikki. You're safe from this rogue, at least." Reynard pshaws! "Not yet she isn't. This whole 'undead' thing is curious."
Nikki smirks. "Uhm...aaanyway...I thought it might be a little weird to enroll us in his class if we weren't going to be showing up. It might get him curious enough to look at our pictures."
Nikki notes in an aside to Reynard, "I'm not undead. I'm most decidedly dead." Reynard chuckles. "All right. Do you prefer 'Living Impared'?
Sasha nods thoughtfully. "Okay. But how are you going to approach him, then?" Reynard quiets, though, seeing things are to be put on task. Nikki frowns. "Is that what we decided to do? I thought we were just gonna scope things out first?"
Sasha shrugs. "We didn't decide to do anything. But I expect, since Roland Dash is the head of the Lab, the lab that's making the top of the line Gibsons, that he either might be behind Sauvagine, or might be able to help us look for him. We'll probably need to check him out sooner or later."
Nikki nods. "Yes...but being in his class might compromise us...unless we endeavor to actually attend. I suppose it'd be an interesting class." Sasha hmmphs. "Point. And it might be a useless drain on you, keeping you solid through an entire class." Nikki shrugs. "I can do an hour, easy. It just means I'll have to do more resting than I usually do."
Reynard inclines his head after a moment. "Sasha... I had a thought. Now, there's likely some catches, and whatnot, but what is stopping Nikki from sneaking into his office and snooping around?"
"Probably nothing at all, Reynard. Especially considering she wouldn't show up on security cameras." Sasha replies. "What do you think, Nikki?" The hackerette glances at Reynard. "Sounds like a fun idea."
Reynard nods, rubbing his chin. "Hell, technically, she could be our tail, following the fellow, or atleast eavesdropping on things." A shrug. "Though, if some people are as concious about what inhabits this world, I imagine that's not totally a failsafe."
Nikki says, "Someone'd need to be nearby with the watch, too." Sasha, in response, to Reynard, replies, "I think she's relatively safe, in that regard. We're not dealing with the spiritually and magically alert...not yet, anyway. At any rate, here's the plan. I'm going to drop you two off at the campus, and then go find us a temporary Lodge. You can get your ID, at least, and get a feel for the layout, a bit. Sound okay?"
Nikki nods. "Do you think we should go together, or separately?" Reynard considers. "Seeing as I'm not a student, what exactly will I do? Unless you want me to be a janitor."
"Actually, I'm thinking more that you shouldn't be anyone, except, eventually, yourself." Sasha replies thoughtfully. Reynard grins. "Uh oh. You sure you want that?"
Nikki smirks. "Anyway...I suppose I could carry the watch for awhile, but if I'm not picked up in time, the watch will fall to the ground when I lose form....and I imagine it'd be picked up pretty quickly." Nikki giggles. "Haunting some poor student might be fun, though."
Sasha gives Reynard an amused look. "I mean, be Reynard the bounty hunter. It might be important, at some point, if we feel the need to pressure someone. Give you some authority and so forth." Glancing at the giggling Nikki, Sasha replies. "I wouldn't worry too much about it, Nikki. As I recall, from your file, you can probably be enough of a distance away from Reynard that you wouldn't seem 'together', but still within range of the watch he carries, yes?"
Nikki nods. "Yes...I was just curious if that was necessary." Sasha nods. "I don't want anyone associating the two of you, at least not right away." Reynard nods, and says poinantly, "Boom." A glance down at the watch on his wrist. "Right. And, if need be, you can't go unsolid, while toating this about." He considers after a moment, "What about Gorgy?"
Nikki glances down at the bag. "Well...I can bring him along...or leave him with Sasha. I think the latter would be best, for now. Gives me more mobility."
"Should I be looking for something, or someone, in paticular?" Reynard asks. "I'm just not sure what I should be doing, specificly."
"Use your talents, Reynard. Scope out the lab, the campus, the people around. Keep your eyes and ears open. I mean, think of this as an assignment. You're hunting a bounty, you're just not sure who or what you're looking for." Sasha replies as she moves into a faster lane.
Reynard nods. "And, would it be best if the people around actually knew there was a professional hunter on grounds, or would it be best, for the mission, that that be kept quiet?"
Sasha considers the question. "Use your judgement, Reynard. My best advice would be not to volunteer the information until it becomes necessary. But that you probably shouldn't let them know the exact truth about who you're hunting. You're an inventive fellow, I'm sure you can think up a plausible lie."
Reynard nods. "Of course. I'm sniffing around for a lead on a possible quarry who may have come on campus. Perhaps one of the students knows about him. Perhaps he's in Dash's class. It would offer possibility for me to question about Dash, subtly, and inspect the computer labs."
Sasha smiles. "See? You're getting the picture already. This really isn't so different from what you do, Reynard. It's just that the playing field has stranger enemies than you're used to. Reynard offers a thumbs up to the woman. "One just has to be wary of suggesting that the actual target is Dash, and not someone simply in slight association with him."
Nikki listens quietly to the conversation, having nothing really to add.
Sasha after a moment, pulls the van into a rest stop. "Here. We don't need to fuel up, but we should pick out a quick breakfast, yeah? Coffee and such?" Reynard grins. "All ready had a cup, and my morning snickers. But, why not?" Nikki sighs and lies against the wall of the van. "Have a glass of OJ for me?"
Sasha glances sympathetically at Nikki before getting out of the car. "Maybe you should check to see if that information about the NYSE came in, Nikki. Just quickly pop in and out." Reynard claps his hands, a moment. "Oooh, and Nikki? Could you get me a printout of one of Dash's class roosters? Maybe one or two others of other CS professors?"
Nikki says, "Check your email, Sasha?" Sasha smiles as she passes by the open side door. "I told them to send it to the Gorgon, Nikki." she says before heading inside. Nikki ahs, and nods also to Reynard, becoming solid and bending over to pull the computer out of the bag. Reynard slides out of the van, to grab his own morning breakfast.
Nikki wakes the Gorgon up, having him check for messages while taking the time to log into the school computer and get the information Reynard asked for, still being overly cautious about it.
Nikki successfully logs in to the computer, and in a moment has the information Reynard wanted printing out on a portable printer. Before she can log out, however, the Gorgon abruptly appears and closes the window Nikki's working in; literally folding it in half, then into quarters, and so on till it completely dissapears. "Had to sever the connection, honey. We've got another present." he grunts, pulling up the email window. There is only one message, and it's from sauvagine@hotmail.com
Nikki blinks, frowning quickly. "How the hell is he tracking us? Or did he just get our address from the first time? We might have to change your identity...scan the message for bombs." The computer works for a moment, and Gorgon appears, listening to an envelope with a stethoscope. Then he opens it with a scapel and peeks inside. "No white power, Nikki. She's clean." Nikki nods. "Okay...let's see what it says...."
I'm sure you're wondering why I'm bothering to talk
to
you. In part, it is that facinating
Gibson you have at
the other end. He is quite a puzzle, he is. It's certainly not because
of Munifican. I'll be glad to be rid of him. I wonder if he will tell
you the real story? Probably not.
He will keep
his secrets close to the vest, and reveal only to attain what he needs. If you
were useful; would aid him, he'd say thank you and then run along - off to play with me
again. Then again,
you are more interested in what was lost, right?
You desire to know where, what, why. Maybe I will tell you, hacker. Maybe. One thing that is
true: the board unfolds.
- Sauvagine
Gorgon poses like 'The Thinker'. "I don't think he was talking about me, Nik. He never tried to hack this little mainframe, so he might not even know about me. I think he means the Minotaur."
Reynard throws open the door, sliding in with a little paper bag and a cup of steaming goodness, but smelling more of chocolate then coffee. Shutting the door behind him, he extracts a bottle of orange juice. "Hey, what's gotten your knickers in a bunch? You look white as a ghost."
Nikki swallows and looks up at Reynard, fitting his description rather nicely. "Uhm...we just got another message from Sauvagine." Reynard, in the middle of taking a sip of Cappuchino, spills it and nearly burns himself. "Bloody hell."
Nikki nods. "Gorgon says he's got no reason to believe he's been hacked...but I'm gonna take him offline for the day and go over him with a fine-toothed comb tonight."
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