London 2056 - A CyberPunk RP [Game thread - Started]

[FalloutJack]

In her office, Elisa Pitt waited to hear from Jane Anderson, but she appeared to be delayed... While looking for a reason for why that might be, her secretary dropped one right in her lap. She sucked air through her teeth in minute irritation. The military. Jane does not show and a representative from our Law and Government overlords does. That could not be a coincidence. Since she was heading the matter of the bombings for the H.A. Dynasty, it was her responsibility to speak to this Asagi. She expected someone in uniform, even casual everyday kind of uniform. What walked through the doorway instead was some kind of agent.

Elise: Oh my. They are taking this with more seriousness than I imagined.

It wasn't just her appearance, but a certain feel about her. Elise could tell that woman was not simply some command-and-protocol person. Operatives were allowed certain leeway to get the job done. The government and law office tended to cloud the details of whatever issues they handled on the bases that the ends really did justify the means. Perhaps. Asagi was this red-eyed and physically-imposing woman whose 'uniform' was a combat suit, worn as though she expected to be attacked on a daily basis, and that longcoat in afterthought, as though to say she didn't want to entirely stick out while on the job. Unfortunately, that very serious look about her threw that much out the window. By comparison, Elisa was in a normal business dress, sitting behind her desk. She somehow did not like this woman. Unofficial sources seemed to list her as living in her work and being both savvy and thorough. That could be inconveniencing...

Elise: May I help you, Miss Asagi?

"Most certainly. I'm here to help you and CyCorp in discovering the culprit for these tragic bombings."

Elise: Ah, so you have also come to the conclusion that neither company is responsible?

"There are compelling reasons which I am pursuing that state that this is NOT so. Now, I haven't asked this of CyCorp yet, but could I get a copy of your security footage inthe area of the explosion before the bomb went off?"

Elise: Why haven't you asked CyCorp yet?

"In the confusion, I hadn't taken care of it and CyCorp would need time to go over their own records first. By now, I would expect that the H.A. Dynasty has done this and could offer me their records."

Elise: I suppose that's true. You'll have to forgive me. I am a little disorganized today. I have an appointment with an employee right now, but she appears to be late. You wouldn't know anything about that, now would you?

"Name?"

Elise: Jane Anderson.

Asagi did a check on this, and her eyes widened for a sec. Confirmed... She is the woman answering to the description given by Irina and has been asked to come to the nearest station for some questions. A bit quieter now, Asagi stated so.

Elise: Why?

"Another case, originally. I thought a very serious figure had been shadowing a friend of mine, since the woman in question had a picture scrambler to prevent identification. This was before the bombing. I just wanted to find out why. Terrible things going on, Ms. Pitt. I had to be sure. I'm sure your employee is not the bomber unless she has a personal grudge against the company."

Elise: On that, we agree. The H.A. Dynasty will give you the assistance you require to find these people. And understand, I mean find. Not spend months and months inconclusively chasing our tails 'till we run out of leads. Our people have been killed. We will not forgive this act.

And neither would Asagi.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

"Should I call for a lawyer now or when I get to station? I can wait until we get to the station but I'm not answering questions until they get there and I'd hate to waste your time."

The two cops looked at each other, then back at Ira before they both said "Get a lawyer.". They waited for him to make his preparations patiently, just so long as he came without a fuss so they could take care of this.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

"Well, let's get this over with..."

The cops looking to bring Liam in were much like the ones taking in Ira, a pair of skilled officers who were implanted as they were and would only use force if Liam...well...forced them to. Other than that, they really weren't looking for trouble. They were looking to take their charge to the car, drive him to HQ, book 'im, and get on with their lives. There didn't appear to be gobs of backup, but Liam would know that they would definitely give chase and call for backup. And as he might recall, the post-bombing situation had plenty of drones out.

 

[Knight Captain Kerr]

Ira sent a message to his sister over the internet using his augmentations. Some people would have a hard time contacting The Spice Queen of London but not Ira.

I know this is sudden but I'm being taken down to the police station for questioning. It's happening right now. I'm hoping you could send the family lawyer down to meet me at the station. I'm assuming it's still Christopher Wakefield.

-Ira (your brother who you love and will therefore help.)

Once the message was sent Ira bit his lip in nervous anticipation. He hoped his sister would get the message and send the Lawyer down to meet him. If there was one thing Ira learnt from his Father it's never go to a police station without legal representation. Especially for him, it wouldn't be hard for the police to find out who his relations were. He looked at the police officers. "Okay, let's go." said Ira. He followed the officers.

 

[Generic NPC 22]

London 2056 | The Hospital | Surgical Recovery Ward
Go to Sleep Little Baby​

Ding!

The 4th floor elevator chimed as the car arrived, the doors sliding open to reveal the multitude of CyCorp technicians that had been jammed inside, clown car style. While there was plenty of space on the car, each of the male technicians made a space around their supervisor, the decidedly feminine Victoria.

"You've got your orders." Vicky stated to the men as they began filing out of the elevator and into the Surgical Recovery Ward, their inordinately large number surprising the nursing staff.

"What's the meaning of this?" One of the nurses asked the CyCorp supervisor as she entered the room, surveying the progress before hanging the nurse a stack of paperwork the size of an 1990s style phone book.

"Transfer papers for these patients." The Dark Haired supervisor said amiably. The nurse looked at the stack of papers with wide eyes, wondering how she was going to sort through this bureaucratic mess, "CyCorp is doing outreach work to the community."

A patient bed glided past them, Victoria catching sight of a rather haggard looking man with one arm, asleep due to heavy sedation. Picking up the chart, Victoria glanced at the name, checking it against the list that she had been issued.

"Charles Derek May. Check." The Queen V stated and allowed the technician to pass. The technician nodded to his superior with a knowing smile on his face before moving the patient to the elevator. Victoria checked the number of patients for pickup, "One down. Twenty-five more to go."

Patching in to her techs' radios she relayed an order.

"Make it quick. I don't want to make this an all day affair. We don't want to disturb the other patients more than we need to."

------------------------------Two Hours and Thirty Minutes Later------------------------------
Converted Warehouse​

The CyCorp marked vans slid between the abandoned buildings like a pack of wolves. Matte black with tinted windows to match, the vans entered the converted warehouse one by one by one. The lead van slowed to a stop, the driver taking in the sight of over one hundred occupied patient beds. Exiting, the driver went over to the passenger side door, its window cracked due to some sort of impact from the inside of the van.

Ker-Chunk

THUD!

The body of a woman fell out of the van, her dark hair was matted with her blood. A golf ball sized hole was the obvious exit wound for the bullet that had ended Victoria's life. Looking over the body for a moment, the technician bent over to check for a pulse. You never knew with these fucking auggies.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" A second technician asked as he walked up to the first.

"Making sure I did the job right, Mister Rose." The first technician responded.

"You blew its fucking brains out. It's dead. Did you at least disable its on board GPS, Mister Violet?" Mister Rose asked looking down at the body.

"Uh. Yeah. Of course I did." Mister Violet said, his voice wavering with uncertainty.

"Whatever. Dump the thing and give us a hand." Mister Rose said as he went to the back of the van and opened the double doors. Pulling the patient gurney out, he looked at Charles' ugly mug, "what a fucking ugly fucking unit."

------------------------------10 Minutes Later------------------------------
Converted Warehouse​

"Mister Charles? Mister Charles?" A voice called out, seeping into the sedated consciousness of one Charles Derek May. The voice sounded young, feminine and familiar. Where'd he hear that voice before? Didn't they wheel her out of the hospital? But he wasn't in the hospital.

"Mister Charles? Are you okay?" Sienna Rostikova as she looked over at the man whose bed was located next to hers. She sounded like she'd been crying. She sounded like she was scared and unsure of what was going on. She sounded as if she was either hurt or the pain meds they'd steadily be pumping into her at the hospital were wearing off.

Where were they?

It appeared that Charles, Sienna and a number of other patients had been moved into a converted warehouse. The sound of heart monitors bounced off the metal walls and ceiling creating a cacophony of beeps. Some of the monitors emitted a steady tone, the monitoree having not survived the transport to this location. It didn't matter though, whomever was behind this mass removal of patients had more than enough material for what they needed.

Looking around, Sienna could see quite a few guards patrolling the room, armed, looking at each of the patients with a disdain reserved for when one steps on a pile of dog shit and it's wrapped around the soles of your shoe and started traveling up your feet. There was another person that walked around, pushing a cart in front of her. She was very different from the others. She was young, relatively, for a doctor and she was headed towards Sienna.

Looking at Sienna's chart, Mercy Rabbit addressed the girl in a rather concerned tone.

"Are you okay, honey?" She asked quietly as to not disturb the armless patient next to the girl.

"I... I'm hurting. Where are we?" Sienna asked, tears welling up in her eyes once again. The question caused the Doctor to look around nervously before answering.

"You're in a ..." She hesitated. She didn't want to scare the girl with the truth, did she? "You're in a safe place, dear. We're going to take good care of you."

As she said this, she turned to a cart and pulled out a small bottle and a needle. The pain blocker would be more effective than a pain killer and have less side effects... not that it mattered.

"I'm Mercy." The young doctor said with a smile, "and you're Sienna, right?"

Sienna nodded briefly before she looked at her hands, which had been bound to the bed. Charles had been bound as well but by his one good hand and his chest.

Mercy inserted the needle into Sienna's IV and pushed on the plunger, causing a sense of warmth to spread through Sienna's body. The colors of the world swirled for a moment as she looked at the unmoving body of Mister Charles.

"Mister... charles? [sub]Mister... charles? [sub]Mister... charles?[sub]Mister... charles?[/sub][/sub][/sub]"

[hr]

London 2056 | Foggy Lights Diner | 12:45 PM
Waiting for Godot? No no. Waiting for Karl​

Charlotte Sorrowfeld checked the time as she sat down at one of the booths near the back of the diner, next to an emergency exit, placing herself next to the door. Looking down at the watch that was wrapped around her wrist, she sighed as she set the analog dials to the correct time. She ordered a cup of coffee and a slice of apple pie from the waitress.

The thing about apple pie was that no matter where in the world you were, a slice of apple pie could take you right back home, provided home was somewhere in the united States. It had been quite some time since the Detective had been home. Actually, it had been some 20 some odd years since Charlotte had set foot on US soil, her parents having fled to London to escape the collapse... so it was a bit strange that when Charlotte tasted apple pie, her thoughts were of her parents' flat in London.

"This week on FNN, we'll explore the ongoing augmentation debate.  We'll talk with the heads of several major Corps as well as those who say that the Corps are covertly manufacturing their own augmented army."

The Media Screen blared as it showed an image of a man wearing a mask that had been crafted to display the musculature of the human face,

"We begin this series with an interview of the head of the Post Neo-Luddite Luddite society.  Hello Mister Lily..."

The Media Screen suddenly froze before going black. the waitress standing at the counter frowned for a minute and pointed her remote at the black screen to no avail. The Detective smiled as she looked down at her left arm, a slight humming could be heard from the signal jammer that had been built into the CyCorp made augmented arm.

The Signal Jammer was just one of the features of the Model EIS #411. There was an EMP generator as well as a hidden compartment for a small weapon (charlotte had opted for a knife since she already carried two guns with her). The added bonus was that the arm had been designed to look and feel like a real arm. It even had a series of heating coils that heated the synthetic skin to body temperature.

Thinking about her arm always made Charlotte more than slightly annoyed, however. Despite the usefulness of the device, there were times where she wished that she hadn't needed to get it replaced. But having lost it during a police exchange program with the authorities in Romania, back before it was a radioactive heap, the Detective had little choice other than to accept the augmentation surgery or look for another line of work.

"Fucking Greeks." She muttered under her breath as she looked around the diner. It was unusually busy this for this time of day. Each of the seats was taken. That wasn't the strangest part, however. Despite being so crowded, the diner was unusually quiet. Charlotte could have heard the humming of the diner's commercial grade dish washer even without the assistance of augmented hearing.

Moving her hand down to her holster, she unsnapped the strap.

Ding-a-ling-a-ling

The bell over the diner's front door opened allowing a man in a suit to enter.

"You're late." Charlotte called out to the man, waving him over. It was 1:01 PM.

 

[Texas Joker 52]

~ Karl Adler ~​

As soon as the first email was sent to Gungnir Security Consultants, Karl began to dry himself off and make himself at least look presentable. And in the process, he started to write another email, this time to Karine Asagi. Not only was Irina her friend, and she deserved to know what was going on in that regard, being a Military Investigator at this point would be extremely helpful for getting to the bottom of this cluster... Well, to the bottom of this mess.

To: K-Asagi@London.gov
From: K.Adler@Cycorp.Co.Uk
Subject: Sienna Rostikova Abducted, Irina Rostikova Framed, Contact Information used to do it.

Karine, I received an email not long ago from a Gungnir Security Consultants about a contract I supposedly opened with them to kidnap young Sienna, and coerce a confession from her mother, Irina, for the bombings. I made no such contract. I'm doing what I can to find out what is going on as of writing this, but you may be able to find out more.

Irina is not responsible for the bombings, and Sienna must be rescued. I'm forwarding you the email exchange between both myself, and the Consultant in question, a Miss Charlotte Sorrowfeld. Contact me when you can.

Karl

As soon as it was sent, he took copies of both the initial email he had gotten, as well as his reply to Karine as well, and hoped that maybe she could get more out of it with her resources than he could. But when he was about to start getting dressed, he got another email.

To: K.Adler@Cycorp.Co.Uk
From: C.Sorrowfeld@amail.co.uk
Subject: RE: RE: Op Completed
Mister Adler,

As per Gungnir's Terms of Service, I am unable to send you a copy of the contract through digital means. All contracts are to be delivered in person. For delivery of the contract, please meet me at the following location and time.

Foggy Lights Diner @ 1:00 PM

Sincerely,

Charlotte Sorrowfeld

When he looked it over, he frowned. It seemed rather inconsistent, since this Charlotte had changed her style of signature. It was possibly nothing, but the inconsistency came across as wrong. Presumably, Charlotte was a business contact, one of the people someone got in touch with to do business with Gungnir Security Consultants, so one would assume that emails like this were routine, and by extension signing them. At least, when it came to clients. Remembering his own email just moments ago, more personal emails were different.

But this wasn't personal. It was business. And it felt like bad business.

Still, he forward it to Karine as well, and sent another terse email of his own.

To: K-Asagi@London.gov
From: K.Adler@Cycorp.Co.Uk
Subject: Foggy Lights Diner Meeting.

If you need me, I'll be at the Foggy Lights Diner, 1:00 PM. Will contact you if anything comes up.

Karl

Once that email was sent as well, he immediately stepped back into the shower and started his rush to be ready. As uneasy as the circumstances surrounding this meeting made him, it was certainly more familiar. This called for one of his suits meant for... Special business occasions.

[hr]

Foggy Lights Diner, 12:55 PM​

By the time Karl had finished getting ready, and made sure where the Foggy Lights Diner was, he had just enough time to spare to actually get to the Diner itself. He made a point to put on one of his more intimidating suits: Black trousers and suit jacket with red pinstripes, red dress shirt, black tie. He had been told several times by fellow Managers that it made him look like a Devil, ready to make a deal for someones soul. In this case, that suited him perfectly.

So when he stepped inside the Diner itself just a minute after the set meeting time, a woman sitting in a booth near the back called out to him.

"You're late."

One brow winged up as he started to stride over, reaching up to straighten his tie with a slight, irritated jerk.

"Hardly," he told her, his tone clipped and just a little chilled, "Miss Sorrowfeld, if you're trying to put me on the defensive by claiming that I'm late by one minute, you'll be sadly disappointed. It's also considered polite to give a proper address when selecting a place to meet."

Once he was sitting across from her he folded his hands on the table and made a point to look her directly in the eye. His gaze didn't waver for a second, and if anything they seemed to be searching her eyes for something. Possibly a moment of weakness, or the hint of a lie.

"As for the business at hand, you told me you needed to give me the contract information in person. Here I am. I'd like to see it now." he told her firmly, holding out one hand for the documents.

 

[Evrant-Knight]

Shortly after arriving back at the apartment, Selene gathered a few things so that she could begin her enquiries on the people on the list of people that had a grudge against CyCorp. She decided to tackle Kaz first, whilst there was little evidence to suggest that he had been involved, but Selene wanted to make sure just to be on the safe side. Selene also took along the list of people in case any of them jogged Kaz's memory.

Whilst it probably would have been easier to take the Underground to Kaz's place, what with the yesterday meaning an increased police presence, it would undoubtedly look more professional if she arrived in a car. Hers was a model of DB9 from a few years back, light, powerful, and yet surprisingly sturdy, it having been in a few small clashes whilst on assignments. It was all paid for from a mixture of money she had been given and what she had earned during contract work.

When Selene arrived at the address, she found herself looking at a strip of densely packed apartment blocks which looked more or less uniform on one side, whereas on the other, there was a few office looking buildings mixed in with some semi-industrial complexes. Selene noted a few coffee shops and some twenty-four hour convenience stores were dotted along the street corners. She soon got out of the car, locking it behind her after getting the items she had brought with her from the trunk, which included a bottle of wine that Selene brought along as a present.

Quickly finding the apartment building that Kaz lived in, Selene looked at the rather dusty key-panel that showed the names of all the tenants, and soon found one which bore the surname Wright. Breathing in and out a few times to calm herself she pushed the button and waited.

 

[Knife-28]

With his meager job offers sent off, Kazuko fell into his usual off day routine, alternating equal parts working out some new material for his sets on the weekend and getting caught on the web. Breaks from the expansive cyber world at his fingertips were few and far between and aside from the odd bathroom break and an aside for a brief lunch, Kaz spent most of his time sitting crosslegged on the couch, fingers on the keyboard (of one sort or another) in his lap and engrossed by the digital images dancing before his pupils.

That was until (not long after 1 PM, Kaz noted) the buzzer for his apartment went off in his ear. Opening up a new window, Kazuko pulled up the video feed from the jury rigged 'security camera' mounted just above the row of buzzers and froze at the sight of Selene standing there, baring gifts no less.

The first thought that went through Kaz's head was an internal review of his actions last night, and the question 'Did I not make nearly a big of an ass of myself as I thought I did?!' For a moment Kaz thought that the 'Wright Charm' that his father had talked about had finally, after all these years, finally surfaced, but that passed almost as quickly as it came, and a second, smaller voice started to ask what sort of angle there was to Selene's visit.

Not wanting to believe that this was a business trip for the CyCorp security woman (especially seeing as that would mean Kaz was truly deep in shit), he keyed his throat and keyed the intercom.

"Selene. I didn't think we'd be seeing eachother so soon. What brings you to my neck of the woods?"

 

[Generic NPC 22]

London 2056 | Foggy Lights Diner
The Ambush​

Charlotte looked at the man who sat in front of her. He appeared to be the typical sort of man who would engage in business with Gungnir, though there was something about him that struck the detective as slightly more capable than the others she'd done business with, mainly he had the spark of intelligence behind his eyes. Intellect was one of the things that appeared to be in short supply these days and was rarer still in the upper echelon of Corp ranks. The one armed detective didn't get a chance to continue her analysis of the man as he made his desires known. Despite the well crafted nature of his sentence he did appear to be gloating over the fact that he'd just managed to get away with not paying her for the completion of her Op.

"As for the business at hand, you told me you needed to give me the contract information in person. Here I am. I'd like to see it now." The man said firmly his hand outstretched.

The woman seethed internally. Was he so addled with Cyber Psychosis that he thought that she would have brought a CONFIDENTIAL contract with her on her person? If he wanted to play it that way, fine. Charlotte Sorrowfeld could play that game. Reaching down to her hip with her right hand, the sound of a pistol being drawn from its holster was audible to both Karl and Charlotte. If he needed any further evidence of her intention, it came in the form of words. A dead client could not pay her what was due.

"Listen here, shit stain." London PD's Sadistic Torturer hissed under her breathe, "You fucking know that I can't carry a contract with me, no one in Gungnir can. It's one of the procedures that keeps your fucking ass from being arrested by us, the cops. Which leads me to believe that you're trying to screw me out of the money you owe me. which leads me to believe that you don't mind a hollow point in the knee cap for screwing me over."

The Detective paused, giving the man an opportunity to explain himself. Dead men did get that opportunity after all.

The German Businessman narrowed his eyes into a glare for a moment before he let out a soft sigh and reached up to take off his glasses. Once they were folded and slipped into an inner pocket of his suit jacket, he leaned forward.

"I made no contract with you, Miss Sorrowfeld. That's a fact. You also sent me a reply, detailing a meeting here, at this very diner, so that I could be given the contract that I supposedly opened with Gungnir. That's also a fact." he hissed, before reaching across the table and grabbing the collar of her blouse and tugging her forward.

"Someone used my contact information to hire your 'Security Consultants' to frame an innocent woman, and abduct her child, and I want to know who the fuck is responsible you--" he spat before unleashing a stream of German that could only be a harsh, and creative, curse.

RIIIIIIIIIIIIP!!

The sound of fabric being torn was not a common sound at the Foggy Lights diner, not that it would have been a common sound any where in the world, save for a clothing manufacturing plant. The sound of Charlotte's blouse being ripped by Karl caused the already quiet Diner to turn deadly silent as the patrons turned to look at the commotion, namely Charlotte's flushed face as she attempted to salvage both blouse and dignity. It was only through the virtue of her bra and shoulder holster that she was not topless, save for the scraps of cotton that clung to her body for dear life.

If Karl was going to make an apology, he was cut off by Charlotte as her brain started recognizing a pattern among the patrons of the establishment. Namely a very large number of them were the type of people who did business with Gungnir Security Consultants.

"Do... do know anyone else in here, Mister Adler?" The Detective asked and nodded towards the faces leering at Charlotte.

Despite his ire and frustration moments earlier, the moment he ripped the Consultants blouse his face tinged red, opening his mouth to apologize as he looked away. When he saw a few familiar faces among the patrons in the Foggy Lights Diner, staring at the scene they were making, his eyes narrowed and his face hardened again.

"Quite a few, actually. All of them from R&D Departments, just like me. Let me guess, they've done business with you before?" he asked quietly, giving her a sidelong glance.

Charlotte Sorrowfeld nodded before adding, "Some of them, yes. Others, no... but..."

DING-A-LING-A-LING

The detective paused and looked towards the door as someone else entered the diner...

 

[Evrant-Knight]

"Selene. I didn't think we'd be seeing each other so soon. What brings you to my neck of the woods?" Kaz asked over the over the intercom, the speaker of which was mounted just above the keypad. With a heavy sigh Selene pressed the button that allowed her to talk.

"Well, part of me wanted to come over with a gift, to say thanks for the nice time I had last night. I know you aren't the big connoisseur of wine, but I figured it was a memorable gift." It was then she went silent as she dreaded what she was to say next.

"However, I am here also because of work. You see I need to ask you a few questions, about your connection to CyCorp, as your name has appeared on a list of persons that the company has deemed to be of interest. You can probably guess its in connection to the events of last night. Do you mind if I come in?"

 

[FalloutJack]

The meeting at the old H.A. went better than expected. They wanted whoever did this to them with a vengeance. Then again, they were a familial organization. Know what else is like that? Any Mafia group across the world. Yeah, things could get very ugly around here if she didn't find whoever was behind this and soon... However, it wasn't long before she received a message relayed to her as she was exiting the building. Karine opened it on her HUD and stopped.

"WHAT?!"

The woman was not necessarily known for her outbursts, so when this one came...it was almost like a shockwave to the people around her, coming in and out of the building. People looked, wary for a moment, before...carefully moving around her. Asagi stared into space, actually the message scrolling down in front of her eyes. All of it. Irina was in custody, framed for the bombings. Her daughter was kidnapped! And Karl? Oh, he was being made out to be the ringleader of this fiasco! Well, she headed right on her Karasaki Mirage, Bat-Cycle armoring opening up, and sped off in a hurry.


She was multi-tasking, driving and sending out messages, orders.

Central, I have orders. A young girl (Sienna Rostikova) has been abducted from her hospital room. Sift through all drone recordings and locate her position. She has been taken and Irina Rostikova (her mother) has been framed for the Dynasty/CyCorp bombings. Adler of CyCorp is investigating a firm used to facilitate this, and I am investigating that situation personally. I want a team of police and drones with a seek-and-capture load-out to take down whoever's holding the girl, and NO ONE is going to do anything to that woman without my say-so. She's been through enough hell and I can vouch for her personally. I am heading for the Foggy Lights Diner.

Actually, she was already there. As an operative who was DEFINITELY on the job, nobody can tell her to obey traffic laws. Not speed limit, not turn allowance, not anything. Asagi approached the door...and it didn't just ding, it banged because she kicked it! If there was ever a moment in her life that it might be Brown Trousers Time for Charlotte, now might be that time. For you see...Asagi had also looked up the name 'Charlotte Sorrowfield', and therefore knew her by appearance, meaning she could zero right in on her as soon as she entered. This extremely angry woman flipped out a shotgun all of a sudden and spoke...very clearly and in very authorative tones that conveyed very little patience.

"Charlotte Sorrowfield, you are under arrest for kidnapping, blackmail and coersion, and falsifying orders and documents. Your attempt to frame an innocent woman for the recent bombings also puts you under suspicion for having something to do with said bombings yourself, and you will be investigated for WHY you would want to benefit from that. Now, you can come with me and get cuffed and await transport, or I can drag you there, Batman-style."

...which would undoubtedly involve hanging upside down in front of the Commissioner's office.

 

[Knife-28]

"Well, part of me wanted to come over with a gift, to say thanks for the nice time I had last night. I know you aren't the big connoisseur of wine, but I figured it was a memorable gift."

In the silence that followed Kazuko considered asking Selene how she got his address (after all, he certainly didn't drink enough to forget if he had given it to her) when she spoke again.

"However, I am here also because of work. You see I need to ask you a few questions, about your connection to CyCorp, as your name has appeared on a list of persons that the company has deemed to be of interest. You can probably guess its in connection to the events of last night. Do you mind if I come in?"

Kazuko's gut plummeted far enough to set a new depth drilling record. While he had figured CyCorp would catch onto his two faced tendencies one day, he had hoped that that little revelation would come after the bastards responsible for his father's death got what was coming to them.

Then the rest of his brain caught up, and he realized what she had actually said. Selene said it was only in relation to the previous night's bombings. Yes, being on their person of interest list wasn't the greatest thing, but he hoped that it was just because of the line of work he was in, as well as being a person that had worked for CyCorp, in the independant sense, in the past.

Exhaling to calm his nerves, he keyed the microphone again. "Yea, sure. Come on up."

The moment he cut the camera feed and pulled off his headset, Kaz realized a few things: One, the fact that he hadn't showered since last night, two, that his apartment was in a state of organized chaos that, to the untrained eye, looked like a bomb had gone off at some point and three, that he was still currently in his undies.

Thankful for the first time in living memory that his apartment was on the 6th floor of his building, Kazuko quickly lept to his feet and quickly lept to his feet and dashed over to his dresser. After a liberal spray of deodorant, Kaz pulled on the first shirt and pair of jeans he could find, and set about clearing as much of the clutter around his apartment as he could until he heard footsteps and a knock on the door.

Running a hand through his hair, Kaz took a step towards the door, before his eyes darted to the pistol sitting on his bedside table. A moment passed and he grabbed it, stuffing it into the back of his jeans and covering it with his shirt as he walked down the hallway to his door.

"Sorry about the mess, I wasn't exactly expecting visitors." He said as he opened the door to let Selene in.

 

[Generic NPC 22]

London 2056 | Foggy Lights Diner
You... what?​

The sight of a shotgun was not an unfamiliar one to the detective. The sight of the business end of a shotgun was and entirely different matter. Looking at the woman who had the audacity to be pointing a probably loaded weapon at her, Charlotte noted that the woman looked like she was of military bearing, which meant she was quite a bit out of her jurisdiction. Now normally speaking, someone interfering with her affairs would have meant a rather painful introduction to interrogation techniques. However, considering the potential liability an incident would have caused, the Pocketed Detective made due with a simple smug smile. It wasn't just cops that were on Gungnir's payroll. Judges were just as human and just as buyable as anyone else.

Raising both her hands, the detective revealed the pistol that had been pointed at Mister Adler, releasing the grip and allowing it the firearm to dangle from her finger. If there was one thing that Charlotte could say that she admired, it was spunk and from the looks of it, this unknown woman was full of it. There was another thing that she was full of as well.

"Bullshit. You know that this is utterly and completely bullshit." The Detective said as she maintained her position at the booth, "If anyone should be arrested, it should be Karl here, though I doubt that someone on his pay would see it that way."

Did she just? Oh yes she did. The implication bomb that Karl had bought the woman's loyalty had just been purchased had just been dropped. I mean, he'd done the same with Charlotte, had he not?

"Tell me, what's to stop him from doing the same to you? He specified a contract, we completed it, he removed the contract from our system before I had time to confirm its completion." At least that was Charlotte's working theory on the matter," So I have a counter proposal. How about you remove that shotgun from my face and sit down. We have food like civilized people and talk about how once I get out of jail, Mister Adler here is going to go missing for reneging on a contract."

 

[Evrant-Knight]

"Yea, sure. Come on up." With that a buzzer sound was heard and the door unlocked itself, allowing Selene access to the building, where she proceeded to climb the flight of stairs up to the sixth floor. Roughly a couple minutes later, and barely breaking a sweat, Selene arrived outside of Kaz's door, where on the other side she could someone, most likely Kaz hurriedly pacing about.

Not wanting to waste time, Selene knocked on the door, a few seconds later, the door was opened, revealing Kaz, his look revealing the rushed nature of the situation.

"Sorry about the mess, I wasn't exactly expecting visitors." He said as he welcomed Selene into the apartment. Taking a look around, Selene noted the abundance of musical and electrical equipment dotted about the medium sized flat, a small lounge area off one side, and a small kitchen on the other.

"It's quite alright Kaz, I'll admit it was all a bit sudden myself getting this particular contract. Only received it about an hour or so ago. However, be glad I'm the one coming to visit you and not somebody else, some of the others that CyCorp hires can be a little... difficult to say the least." Selene said as she turned to face Kaz, bottle of wine still in hand.

"Anyway, I guess you want to find out more as to the exact reason as to why I'm here?"

 

[Texas Joker 52]

~ Karl Adler ~​

Karl wasn't normally one to let his veneer of calm control and smooth class shatter, particularly due to temper. He preferred to play to his strengths as an cunning and manipulative man, and anger only ended up making that harder. So his outburst slowed him down a little, particularly when he realized that he recognized quite a few people among the Foggy Light's Diners clientele.

What came as the next shock was who had kicked in the front door to the diner itself.

The Karine Asagi he saw striding in with purpose was a very different woman than he had met the night before. Then, she was polite, if authoritative, and had a clear sense of knowing what she was doing. But she didn't have a look of murderous intent on her face, or a fire in her eyes. The way she almost swaggered in, the look on her face, the fact that she zeroed in on the two of them like a lethal smart round seemed to flip a switch in Karl.

He thought she was attractive before, but now? She was radiant, exotic, and extremely dangerous, and that only made him feel more drawn to her. So when she flipped out a shotgun and leveled it at Charlotte, he found himself swallowing hard.

"Charlotte Sorrowfield, you are under arrest for kidnapping, blackmail and coersion, and falsifying orders and documents. Your attempt to frame an innocent woman for the recent bombings also puts you under suspicion for having something to do with said bombings yourself, and you will be investigated for WHY you would want to benefit from that. Now, you can come with me and get cuffed and await transport, or I can drag you there, Batman-style."

"[small]Wow[/small]..." he murmured under his breath before shaking his head a moment to clear it.

Once the haze of lust was gone, he watched as Charlotte Sorrowfeld raised her hands and let the pistol on her finger dangle before she spoke.

"Bullshit. You know that this is utterly and completely bullshit. If anyone should be arrested, it should be Karl here, though I doubt that someone on his pay would see it that way."

His eyes narrowed dangerously at that, his tone flat as he said, "What?"

"Tell me, what's to stop him from doing the same to you? He specified a contract, we completed it, he removed the contract from our system before I had time to confirm its completion. So I have a counter proposal. How about you remove that shotgun from my face and sit down. We have food like civilized people and talk about how once I get out of jail, Mister Adler here is going to go missing for reneging on a contract."

The nerve! This woman had the nerve to not only continue to believe that he had actually made a contract with them, but to suggest that he had bought off Karine! He felt his temper starting to get the better of him, but this time he forced it down. In fact, the entire diner felt like it was getting far too stuffy for his liking as a result, and he reached up to loosen, then take off, his tie.

"Miss Sorrowfeld, I dislike repeating myself," Karl started, and his tone made it clear that he was only barely managing to suppress his temper, "But to make myself perfectly clear, I'll say it again: I have not made any contracts with Gungnir Security Consultants. None. That is a fact, plain and simple, whether you want to believe it or not. You were used by someone who happened to use my contact information to frame an innocent woman, and have her daughter, her grievously injured daughter, kidnapped." he told her.

His expression, cold as it was moments before, seemed to crack a little as some of his anger showed through, and he bared his teeth in a small snarl.

"That is unacceptable. And the fact that you suggested that I paid off a Military Operative is not only lunacy in this case, but it's beyond insulting. The gall." the Businessman spat, letting disgust seep into his voice.

 

[FalloutJack]

She took Charlotte's gun as it dangled freely from the woman's finger, shotgun still steady in Asagi's own grip. With those cyber-arms, a little thing like recoil wasn't going to bother her. Pocketing the pistol, she listened to the Gungnir speak her peace. She accused Karl of the things he insisted over email that he was not a party to and accused her of being on the take. Naturally, Karl was irritated as well. Asagi could see that much bleeding out of his attempts to control his demeanor. He had all the reason to, since apparently this woman had put alot of things in jeopardy and she was foolish enough to be going on about contracts and payoffs. This went far beyond simple monetary transactions.

"Contract? You mean such as the one between him and Irina Rostikova to install new augments into her daughter, CyCorp being able to test its new product in return for covering medical payments? I see no reason why Mr. Adler would ever endanger that with a strange covert mission when this was all above board and would benefit his company. It would especially look suspicious to enter such a thing during a bomb investigation, which leads us neatly back to you."

She had calmed down somewhat, but those angry red eyes were still quite angry.

"He says you've been duped. Are you duped, Miss Sorrowfield? Or are you in league with whatever group orchastrated the bombings and are helping them cover their trail? Choose carefully."

Essentially, Asagi was accusing her back of being a manipulative ***** - which she was - in order to assist the bombers, assuming she wasn't one herself. In short, even if she claimed jurisdictional crap, she's a military officer working on a case being handled by the military and there was some sort of connection here. It was good enough for government, at least. This woman was making hell for her and hell she would get back!

 

[Generic NPC 22]

London 2056 | Foggy Lights Diner
Bada Big Boom
Charlotte Sorrowfeld​

As Karl Adler breathed fire at Charlotte Sorrowfeld, the detective eased back against her seat, a frown appearing on her face as she did. She wasn't really paying attention to the content of the message, rather she was paying attention to the manner in which it was delivered. Prior to the installation of her augmentations, the Detective had considered herself fairly observant. After her surgery, it was rare for her to miss anything. The woman's augmented eyes kept track of the position of Karl Adler's eyes while observing the rate at which his heart pumped blood through the man's jugular vein. Her augmented ears listened to the stress contained within the frequency makeup of his voice.

"(Shit.)" Charlotte cursed internally as she closed her eyes, her frown deepening, "(He's telling the goddamned truth.)"

There was a minute chance that Karl could have gear installed that allowed him to regular his reactions and vocal patterns, however those protocols were rather rudimentary at the moment and left the user sounding rather monotone so that someone using a voice stress analyzer couldn't tell if the subject was telling the truth or telling a lie. The way Karl hissed his words, there was no doubt that his genuine emotions were filtering through the Corp mask that he wore.

There was one anomaly in regards to how Karl reacted, however. The way he looked, the amount of blood that rose close to the surface of his skin, the quickening of his pulse, the guy had a super hard on for the military ***** with the shotgun. It wasn't useful information at the present since the woman didn't appear to requite the hormonal calling cards as her friend but it might be useful at a later date. She mentally filed the little fact away as she waited for the Operative to react.

The Operative was interesting, to say the least. Charlotte's type of woman were she ever to take a dip in the lady pond... which she wouldn't. That one time phase in college was enough to dissuade her against repeating that mistake. Still she fed the Detective just enough information for Charlotte to lean towards Mister Adler's innocence in the matter. It would make no sense for the CyCorp executive to make a deal with Irina Rostikova and then have her daughter kidnapped.

"He says you've been duped. Are you duped, Miss Sorrowfield? Or are you in league with whatever group orchestrated the bombings and are helping them cover their trail? Choose carefully."

Were a shotgun not pointed at Charlotte's face, she would have been tempted to slow clap at the display. It was a masterful way of getting the Detective to not only state that she'd carried out a contract on ... Not-Mister Adler's behalf as well as admit her inferior positioning in this whole affair.

Instead, Charlotte ordered a coffee and thought the matter over.

"One could say that I've been duped or one could say that Mister Adler's been duped. In either case it doesn't matter. Since you're a Military Operative, I'm sure you're aware of Gungnir's other businesses, in fact, some of our contracts come from various military branches from nations the world over. Suffice to say, I was given a job by Gungnir. Take sienna Rostikova into custody and get Irina Rostikova to admit to the bombing at CyCorp. Undoubtedly, some other person is taking the fall for the HA Dynasty bombing at this very moment. Since I get my jobs from Gungnir, I can see two possible points of failure. One, someone's compromised Gungnir's servers and issued the contract that I accepted under Mister Adler's name. Two, someone's compromised Mister Adler's credentials and issued the contact. In either case, Mister Adler, I believe that you're not responsible for this... error." What a magnanimous ***** this Detective was, "However, are you quite responsible for my blouse," Charlotte stated, gesturing towards the torn fabric that clung to her body, "You'll be getting the bill sooner rather than later, I assure you."

So there you had it, Charlotte had admitted her duplicity in the situation while suggesting that Mister Adler was sloppy with his personal information in this day and age and she'd informed them about the order that she'd been given. This still left them with very little to go on except for the fact that someone had managed to penetrate into Gungnir's servers. It also make Charlotte wonder why Mister Adler had assumed that Charlotte would have the contract with him.

The Detective stopped her thought process for a second as she noted a cargo van passing, CyCorp prominently painted on the side paneling. The squeal of tires filtered into the interior of the diner as the van's tired complained about an all too sudden stop. The Diner's patrons attention filtered away from Charlotte as they looked towards the door and the person who entered.

DING-A-LING-A-LING

It was a man, in a medical gown. Blood oozed from the freshly installed augmentation sites as the man stumbled in as if he'd been pushed through the doorway and the sound of the van speeding off soon followed.

"H...help me." The man uttered as he took a step forward and fell down on the ground. A number of the executives, familiar with the working of Augmentations from what it appeared, leaped into action as they went to check on the man, turning him over.

"Get down, Mister Adler." Charlotte said as she pulled his leg, dragging him under the table before pushing it over, a second later the Operative was hoisted over the top of the table and behind it. The Detective hoped that it would provide enough cover for what was bound to occur.

01:25 PM: The front entrance to the Foggy Lights Diner exploded outwards as the plastic explosives shaped like freshly installed Augmentations detonated, killing the good Samaritans a majority of those inside the diner and a few pedestrians as well. The CyCorp Van that had fled the scene pulled up back up to the site of the explosion, men hopping out of the back, each one armed with automatic weapons.

 

[Texas Joker 52]

~ Karl Adler ~​

Karl's eyes only flicked away from Miss Sorrowfeld's once as he watched her pistol get taken by Karine. But he turned to look at the Operative properly when she spoke.

"Contract? You mean such as the one between him and Irina Rostikova to install new augments into her daughter, CyCorp being able to test its new product in return for covering medical payments? I see no reason why Mr. Adler would ever endanger that with a strange covert mission when this was all above board and would benefit his company. It would especially look suspicious to enter such a thing during a bomb investigation, which leads us neatly back to you."

"Especially when I happen to be assisting with said investigation." Karl added tersely.

"He says you've been duped. Are you duped, Miss Sorrowfeld? Or are you in league with whatever group orchestrated the bombings and are helping them cover their trail? Choose carefully."

Turning back to the Gungnir Consultant, Karl waited for her response, folding his hands atop the table. She took the time to offhandedly order a coffee before she finally answered.

"One could say that I've been duped or one could say that Mister Adler's been duped. In either case it doesn't matter. Since you're a Military Operative, I'm sure you're aware of Gungnir's other businesses, in fact, some of our contracts come from various military branches from nations the world over. Suffice to say, I was given a job by Gungnir. Take Sienna Rostikova into custody and get Irina Rostikova to admit to the bombing at CyCorp. Undoubtedly, some other person is taking the fall for the HA Dynasty bombing at this very moment. Since I get my jobs from Gungnir, I can see two possible points of failure. One, someone's compromised Gungnir's servers and issued the contract that I accepted under Mister Adler's name. Two, someone's compromised Mister Adler's credentials and issued the contact. In either case, Mister Adler, I believe that you're not responsible for this... error."

"How gracious of you." he sneered.

"However, are you quite responsible for my blouse. You'll be getting the bill sooner rather than later, I assure you."

Reminding him of her torn blouse caused Karl to look away and clear his throat, with the expression on his face clearly one of discomfort.

"You're right about that much, and I do apologize. My anger got the best of me, and I wasn't thinking straight. Though, trying to grab the collar of a designer blouse, one that turned out to be so flimsy, didn't go as planned. If you'll forward me a bill with how much it cost, I'll promise to reimburse you on that much." he told her with a nod.

"What concerns me is that my credentials were compromised at all, and that they would go to these lengths to cover up the bombings. Tell me, what did you have Miss Rostikova say was her mo--" he started, until the door to the diner chimed.

DING-A-LING-A-LING

He heard a number of the other patrons rush from their seats, including most, if not all, of the other executives he recognized. Turning to see what was the matter, his eyes widened in shock at the sight of a heavily injured man in a medical gown.

"H...help me."

It looked as if he had just had cybernetic augmentations installed, and was tossed out onto the street without so much as letting his flesh heal, or giving the augmentations a chance to fully integrate with him. Something about it all seemed so... Wrong. But before he knew it, he was pulled under the booth's table by Miss Sorrowfeld.

"Get down, Mister Adler."

Karine was dragged behind the table as well after it was pushed over, and not a moment too soon. Once they were both behind the cover of the table, there was an ear-ringing explosion that shook the entirety of the diner and filled it with smoke, debris, and gore.

Karl reached up to shield his head, and after a moment he felt something long, heavy and damp thump onto his lap. And he had a feeling he wasn't going to like what it was, once enough of the smoke cleared so he could see it.

 

[Knife-28]

"It's quite alright Kaz, I'll admit it was all a bit sudden myself getting this particular contract. Only received it about an hour or so ago. However, be glad I'm the one coming to visit you and not somebody else, some of the others that CyCorp hires can be a little... difficult to say the least."

That was some small comfort at least. Hopefully he'd come out of this in better shape seeing as it was Selene and not some other CyCorp goon.

"Anyway, I guess you want to find out more as to the exact reason as to why I'm here?"

"I guess so, yea." Kazuko said, before realizing how little space there was in his doorway and waving his arm towards his 'living room'. "But first come in, sit down."

Kaz waited for Selene to walk past before before he moved back from the wall and fell in behind her. The pistol in the back band of his pants wasn't obvious, but Selene was probably trained to recognize things like that, and he didn't want to take any risks.

"So, if you're here because of Cycorp I guess you know I wasn't exactly truthful when I told you what I did for a living." Kaz admitted as he sat on the opposite arm of his L shaped lounge to Selene.

 

[FalloutJack]

It wasn't even magnificent bastardism. She simply knew where she stood in this situation. The woman had kidnapped the daughter of her next-door neighbor and framed said neighbor. Frankly, because of the events of late, she could verify all of Irina's movements. so, the only way to push her into this mess was to implicate Asagi herself, and frankly the military knows what she's been up to. Operatives have to be observed in their actions closely so as not to allow them to overstep their authority on matters. They had more leeway in order to get results, but they weren't just allowed to go wild. Suffice to say, Asagi hadn't done anything unreasonable in years. Charlotte merely had the problem of being out-played. She might've indicated that Karl was also being duped, or even her, but frankly neither one of them was in trouble right now.

Or were they?

RING-A-DING-DING...

Door opened. Asagi looked, seeing a van with the CyCorp logo leaving the scene and a man walking in who looked fresh from surgery and wrong. Her eyes followed the blood and saw things about that leg that looked wrong and...explosive! Asagi didn't need to be pulled under the table or whatnot. Even as Charlotte took Karl, she was moving for cover as well, and then the prosthetics exploded, taking a good number of people out while they were behind a flaming table in a ruined diner.

Outside view, NOW!

Ah shit... That van was back and it unloaded a few men with machine guns. It was probably a convincing fake. The super dupers had lured these two in so that they could silence them. How did she know? How about...there was a diner destroyed all around them! However, these men were amateurs.

"Several armed men outside, waiting to kill survivors. We wait here."

Why? Because they weren't jamming her. They didn't expect her. She sent out commands quickly, before any of them thought to do so.


There were still combat drones out on the streets and in the air! They hadn't been taken off patrol yet. What were they thinking? The observor drones in the area had already given the others a target and they would home right in on them! True, none of them were loaded for lethality right now, but it was still quick reinforcements. The police were going to block roads out of here and wait, and the drones were coming in. The first ones were the Sky Runners. One would fly overhead and just dust the area with aerosol tranquilizer, while at least one other began to strafe with the rubber bullets they'd been outfitted with. This was just the start. The six-legged, low-to-the-ground armored turtle-like Crawlers with their guns and their back-mounted grenade launchers were comiing around corners, launching concussion grenades.

"We should be able to hold our ground here for the moment while they're given hell outside. Speaking of which..."

She pulled out Charlotte's gun now, giving her a look saying 'Better point this at the right people'.

"Care to assist investigations, Miss Sorrowfield? I just found some pretty viable suspects."

 

[Generic NPC 22]

London 2056 | Flaming Wreck of Foggy Lights Diner
Stupid Terrorists and their Stupid Bomb attacks​

Despite the Military Operative's thoughts on the callousness and stupidity of their attackers in regards to their own safety, it seemed that they were fairly well organized. A squad of four of the men took positions in front of the building, laying down covering fire against the drones that had arrived while four others entered the flaming wreckage of what used to be the front entrance of the Foggy Lights Diner. It also didn't help the matter that the terrorists realized that the drones were using non-lethal rounds, allowing them to take their time with their shots, ensuring their bullets hit something critical such as a sensor array here or an engine there or a hydrolic line anywhere.

"Care to assist investigations, Miss Sorrowfield? I just found some pretty viable suspects." The Female Operative and owner of Mister Adler's Boner said as she dangled Charlotte's gun in front of her. Looking over the edge of the table, a flurry of machine gun fire raked one of the front most booths of the diner, killing whomever it was that was unlucky enough to still be alive after the explosion.

"Fine. Just keep one of them alive... I loved this place." The Detective said as she took stock of her situation. Her cover was a table made of wood liminant, not very good at stopping a bullet. First order of business would be to extricate herself from her position and find a spot where she wouldn't become a slug sponge. The second order of business would be to either kill all the assailants or delay them enough for reinforcements to arrive.

Aim Assist Active

Gun Cam Active

The Aiming assistance module installed in her occular implants powered on, connecting with the sensor array built into the muzzle of her gun. Looking down the barrel of the pistol, a set of cross hairs appeared in the direction the gun was pointing, a counter on the lower right side of her vision displayed her ammunition count as relayed by a processor built into the handle of the pistol. A second window located on the lower right hand side of her vision displayed a video feed of the barrel mounted mini-camera saw.

"First, let's get Mister Adler here to safety." Charlotte said grabbing Karl by the collar as she hauled him towards the rear exit, her foot smashing through the already weakened door and sending it flying off of its hinges. Ducking through the door with Mister Adler in tow, a flurry of bullets whizzed through the open exit just a few microseconds after Charlotte and Karl had passed through the threshold to relative safey.

"We've got two bolting out the back!" One of the intruders called out to the others, one of them making the mistake of charging towards what he believed were unarmed Corp Executives.

BAM! BAM!

Charlotte's pistol spoke loudly as she fired from cover, not needing to actually stick her head out to aim. The video feed from her gun cam confirming that she'd hit the assailant two times in the chest. There was a very distinct thud as the man's kevlar vest absorbed the shock of the lead bullet, dispersing its kinetic energy. Unfortunately, for the man, the soft lead bullet surrounded a small sabot that pieced the Kevlar vest and entered the man's chest. The man looked shocked before he pitched forward, his face hitting the floor as he attempted to breathe, the blood collecting in his lungs making it nearly impossible.

"One down... seven to go." Charlotte muttered as she looked for another opportunity to fire. Bullets were cheap, but they weren't unlimited.

 

[Evrant-Knight]

"I guess so, yea. But first come in, sit down." Kaz said as he waved his arm towards the living area. As Selene passed him, she noticed what appeared to be a small calibre handgun tucked inside of his trousers. Not very well concealed, but easy to draw in a pinch. If Selene was in his position, she'd want something to defend herself with as well.

"So, if you're here because of Cycorp I guess you know I wasn't exactly truthful when I told you what I did for a living." Kaz then sat on one of the arms of his L-shaped lounge settee that was opposite from the chair that Selene was sitting in.

"So you're not just some hit DJ whose playing it up in all the clubs then? Honestly? I'm a little surprised that you would lead a double life Kaz, then again, life is full of surprises isn't it?" Selene asked in a rhetorical manner whilst displaying a coy smile, trying her best to lift Kaz's spirits a little during what must be a difficult moment.

"Whilst I had come to ask what sort of grudge you had against CyCorp, the opportunity to learn something else new is always welcome. So, whenever you're comfortable."