The
subject of this story, Herbal Gummies, is a recurring theme that developed on
the message board at www.delphi.com/darkangelfans/start
. Herbal Gummies are a gummie candy
with mildly intoxicating/euphoric effects, normally safe, non-addictive, and
legal.
MIND CANDY
Point of view: LOGAN ********************************************
I
got a tip. A large shipment of Herbal Gummies had been contaminated with a
strong, and sometimes lethal, hallucinogenic agent. Called MantiCorny, it convinces
the user that they are a genetically enhanced super human.
This
is dangerous, very dangerous. Especially to those real X-5 escapees, whose
futures depend on secrecy. Tactical exposure in the extreme.
There
have been numerous reports of wild melees in the streets, people beating at
each other with pipes and chains but swearing that they were laser cannons and
tasers. Screaming "Lydecker" and "Brinn" and other names
that should be mentioned as little as possible. The cops, not to mention the
media, haven't figured out a link yet. But it's only a matter of time.
MantiCorny
is not only addictive, but once it takes hold on the system, the effects are
incurable. The only hope is to eliminate it at the source, and to mercifully
eradicate those already contaminated with the drug.
I've
had some luck tracking down a real Manticore. I'm not ready to let Max know
about it yet, I don't want to get her hopes up. Plus the situation, as it
stands now, is too risky. I'm going to have to think about this for a while.
Point of view: TINGA ********************************************
I
exit the plane into chaos. People are running amok in the streets. Normal
people, so the danger is somewhat limited. Still, I might trip and break a nail
or something. And I wouldn't enjoy that very much.
Someone
takes a mad, lunging dash at me, screaming about Lydecker. Lydecker. There's a
name I haven't heard in a while. I grab the person in mid-run by the throat,
haul him kicking and screaming into an alley, and slam him up against a wall.
"What
do you know about Lydecker?" I ask in a low growl. The poor helpless sap
makes an ineffective swipe at me. I land a good one upside the head, being
careful of my nails. I get a babbling story out of the guy, nothing that makes
any sense. I smack him around a bit more. "Listen. You have never heard
that name. You have never heard of genetically engineered killing machines. You
are a normal person living a normal life. And if you don't go back to that
life..."
I
snap his collarbone. Painful, somewhat limiting, but overall, not a horrible
injury.
Not
to hear him scream. He's carrying on as if his life was ending.
"Oh
shut up," I warn him. He instantly complies. "THAT'S what you'll face
if you keep up this farce. Now git."
He
scampers off, whimpering.
I
dust off my hands, looking around. Maybe I don't want to stick in Seattle long.
Maybe I should hit the road now. I start moving resolutely towards the Northern
highway out of here when an Aztek, so dirty its blue coloring is nearly
indistinct, pulls up....
Point of view: BLING ********************************************
Logan sent me to find this girl Tinga. She's one of Max's sisters.
OH
GEEZE!!!! I hit a kid who just jumped in front of my car!!!! Oh GOD! Oh God!!! He just stepped right out
in front of me. I was only going about 5 to 10 miles per hour...
Ohkay!
Calm down...
I
get out to see if he's alright.
"Hey
are You okay?!?!?"
His
leg is broken... Tears are streaming down his face.
"I'm
Dave Omega!!!" He screams at me!!!
He
start throwing a tantrum and screaming "Earthquake! Earthquake!"
Another
victim of the Gummies. His leg is just taking more trauma!!!
"Kid,
calm down...."
He
swings at me...."Omega Virus! Kill you all!!!"
I
hate doing this to a delusional kid... but it's for is own good.
I
punch him dead in the face. He's out like a cheap light bulb.
I'm
trying to pull him off the side when a olive skinned woman with a good manicure
grabs him by the scruff of the neck and to tosses him between 11 year olds
going "My T-shirt says girls kick a$s." "No My T-shirt says
girls kick a$s."
They
all fall on the ground.
The
girl looks and me and says, "Tall black Mr. Clean, Dirty Blue Aztec, you
must be Bling."
I
smile. We should get going.
Point of view: TINGA ********************************************
I'd
been surprised to get the phone call on the plane. I didn't know you could dial
into those phones from the ground, let alone find a passenger with any
accuracy. The craziness around me had convinced me to bail on this city and
leave that mystery for Robert Stack, but this guy looks sane. And I AM curious.
The
three kids are fully into a slap fight now, hands hitting hands, arms flailing
uselessly. I sigh and extend a hand. "Shall we leave this insanity?"
I ask.
He
smiles. It's a great smile. And gallantly takes my hand, leads me into the
Aztec. Inside, I notice that there are extra controls on the steering column.
Interesting. This car is designed for a paraplegic to drive. This "Logan
Cale" who called me has even more interesting things up his sleeve.
We
make it back to the apartment without incident. Apartment, smartment. Penthouse
is more like it. It is most definitely to my taste. Anything money is to my
taste, for the most part. I look around appreciably. The computer setup alone
is first rate.
Bling
is watching me, amusement dancing lightly behind his eyes. Amusement and a
shrewd calculating look. He's got more to him than he appears. I make a note to
try to remember not to write him off.
Logan
appears, wheeling in. He seems to be looking for any sign of surprise at the
wheelchair. I hope I've gone up a notch in his estimation when I patently don't
react. Besides, I'm too busy looking at //him//. VERY pretty. I look back to
Bling, and a slow smile starts to spread across my face. Well, at the least,
this is easy on the eyes.
"Hi,
Tinga," Logan says. "I'm Logan."
Point of view: LOGAN ********************************************
Tinga
didn't react to the chair. Not that she surprised me, she was probably trained
to keep her reactions to herself. Firm handshake, also not a surprise, although
the nails were.
She
doesn't look like Max. I don't know why I expected her to, but in a way I did.
Bling seems to like her, from the way he's looking at her. Or at least he's
figured out something more about her than he's letting on. Hopefully he'll let
me in on it later.
"I
trust your flight was OK?" I ask.
"Fine.
The phone call was a surprise, but other than that, fine. I'm not sure about
this city, though."
"Well,
we'll work on that later. For now, why don't you get settled for the moment?
You can decide later if you want to stay here, or elsewhere."
I
show her to a guestroom and leave her, returning to the living room and Bling.
Bling fills me in a bit on the insanity outside. Seems like he even had to take
out some kid. Not only are the kids going crazy, they know way too much about
Manticore. Things they shouldn't know. So whomever is contaminating the gummies
has assistance, feeding information to at least a percentage of the users. This
is turning into a bigger situation than we could have imagined.
I'm
not sure what to do about Max. Tinga's an unknown quantity, and I don't want
Max meeting her until she's up on the situation. At the same time, the city is
going wild and Max would be safest here.
I've
been unable to reach Max, anyway. Kendra had some guy over for the weekend, and
Max took off on an extended ride on the Ninja. Hate the way she messes with the
Sector police when she does that.
One
way or another, I have to talk to her. Bling goes to make sure the bugs planted
in Tinga's room are working, and I page Max one more time.
Point of view: MAX ********************************************
I'm
enjoying terrorizing the sector police on my Ninja when my pager beeps, and of
course it's Logan. I look for a payphone, which are incredibly hard to find in
this city. Finding one, I dial his number and call.
"You
really know how to ruin a girl's fun. The sector nazis were just learning how
to play along," I say as soon as he answers.
"Max,
I need to talk to you," he says, his voice all serious. There's something
in his voice, like he's got something to tell me, but doesn't know how to say
it. Well, if its about the Herbal Gummies, I've already heard about that. It's
hard to ignore screaming people in the streets when you're a bike messenger.
"Oh,
is this about the decoder ring?" I tease, "Cause I could really use
one."
"No,
but it is important. Can you get over here?"
"Sure,
no big dealio." I hang up and swing my bike around in the direction of
Logan's, wondering what he's up to.
Point of view: TINGA ********************************************
The
offer of a place to stay is nice, and unexpected. I walk into the guest room
and look around.
The
bugs are pretty easy to spot. Audio only though, no video. Nice that he's
cautious and not a perv.
I
hope.
Oh
well, I'm sure I can work around it. Or through it, if the case may be. And I
think of two towns back, and the way I had to exit my stay there.
I
undo my travel backpack and start pulling out a few things. As long as I'm here
as guest, I might as well make myself at home. This room even has its own
private bath. Now I know I'm in heaven.
I
wash off the dirt from the plane and the fight, luxuriating in the hot shower.
I love hot showers, the hotter the better. The shampoos and other essentials
are top notch. Getting out, I choose a slightly snazzier outfit to put on,
reapply the makeup and survey the results. Devastating. Although I do believe
that the nail on my index finger is chipping. And I just got this paint job.
My
mood slightly marred, I decided I've given the boys enough space, and reenter
the room.
Logan
is in an intense discussion with a dark haired girl. From the way he's looking
at her, despite the businesslike tone, I might as well write off trying to play
him. The girl has her hooks in him, big time. Oh well. There's still the other
handsome guy. I paste an innocuous smile on my face and move languidly into the
room.
"Hope
I'm not interrupting," I purr.
They
look over. I see the girl's face for the first time, and something about it
bugs me. It's like I should know her. She stands in a blur and I tense. This
girl is a Threat with a capital T, one like I've not seen in a long time.
We
face each other, staring long and hard into each other's eyes.
Point of view: LOGAN ********************************************
I
have only enough time to brief Max on the Herbal Gummy situation before Tinga
walks back into the room. Damn. I was hoping for another few minutes.
Max
jumps up and the two face off, bristling like two cats. Instant animosity. Max
has been known to have a chip on her shoulder, but not like this.
"Max,
this is--"
"Terry,"
Tinga cuts me off.
That
throws me. No way I'm not telling Max who this is. But if she wants to play it
that way, fine. I'll update Max later.
"Terry.
Right. She might have some information on the Manticorny contamination."
Max
isn't buying it. She knows something is up, but she doesn't know what. She
looks like she could happily claw the makeup from Tinga's face, and take the
skin with it. Tinga looks like she'd love to return the favor.
Bling
steps forward, but just then Max's pager beeps.
Point of view: NORMAL ********************************************
Hi,
Max this is Normal. Do you happen to remember me? Oh! you do. Then may I ask
why you aren't at work? Wait. Don't bother. You'll just have an excuse or
something. I'm giving you a half an hour to get your caboose back here.
Hold
On.
You!
Are you here to work or eat? Then take this! go! Are we made of money? Who's
turn is it to shut off the TV?
Max?,
Max?...get back here now! Bye.
Point of view: MAX ********************************************
I'm
eyeing this Terry girl Logan's got at his place when Normal pages me. He's in
one of his ironic moods. Before I can explain, he gives me half an hour to get
back to work.
What
I wouldn't give to not have to work for that man. But then again, I can't start
living off of Logan's charity. I'm an independent girl.
"I
gotta bounce. Try and behave yourself," I say to Logan, but I'm looking at
Terry. What is that chick's dealio? She seems familiar in some way, but I'm not
so sure that that is a good thing.
Sending
her an ice glare, I shoulder my pack and head for the door.
"Bye
Max," Logan calls after me. Terry smirks.
Outside,
I jump on my bike and head for Jam Pony.
Point of view: NORMAL ********************************************
"Some
people work in offices, some people have employees that listen to them and I
get none of the above. This heat is killing me..." I thought wiping the
dirty counter.
"Sketchy!
get up there and see what you can do about the air-conditioning. I don't care
if it's safe for you. You work here right?" wondering if he did or was
just here to watch TV.
"Always
someone with some lip around here. Oh! look the princess of lips herself. You
took your sweet time getting here Max! Your five seconds late!" yelling at
her as she walked casually down the ramp with her bike.
"If
you keep looking at me like that you better be thinking marriage." I
glared at her as another idiot was kicking the soda machine again.
"I'm
gonna dock your paycheck for each scratch!" I screamed at the rider who
seemed bent on turning the machine inside out for his soda.
"Yeah!?
what is it? ...you got the wrong package. Do you know who delivered your
package?...This is Jam Pony! not Lickety's delivery service! I told the caller
as I turned back towards Max.
"Max!
I want you to take this package to North Beach . On 85th and 28th Ave and
please no touring of the Golden Gardens. I know it's summer and all you weed
sniffers need your high but please do it on your own time." I told her.
Point of view: LOGAN ********************************************
Max
took off without a backward glance. Well, a backward glance at Tinga, and an
unpleasant one at that. But not a look at me. Somehow I'm going to have to get
hold of her before she and...Terry meet up again.
Speaking
of which, "Terry?" I ask Tinga.
"Just
maintaining my privacy here," she replies. You know my name, no one else
needs to. Except you, big guy."
Is
she flirting with Bling, of all people? And I forgot that she doesn't know who
Max is, either. Somehow I'd thought that they'd recognize each other. But they
didn't, and maybe that's better. If I can get hold of Max, I'll tell her about
Tinga. And tell her to keep her own identity to herself.
Tinga
walks over to the TV and flips it on. The evening news is covering the latest
riot. Kids, and adults too now, playing some bizarre form of cops and robbers.
Trying to jump over walls, flip opponents over their heads, outrun vehicles and
bullets. Bullets? Damn, the cops are involved now. Through the screaming I can
hear faint cries of Lydecker, Brinn, and other names that I don't recognize.
Let's
hope the cops don't recognize any of them. This hasn't been linked to Manticore
yet, and if it is we're all in trouble.
Tinga
makes herself comfortable, still keeping one eye on Bling.
Point of view: JONDIE ********************************************
"Same
to you buddy" I yell as some guy comments on my inability to get out of
his way. I feel a fire in my belly....sometimes I swear they put Irish genes in
me....just to see how much anger could enhance my performance.
It's cold here....but then I am in the North, it's always cold. I've grown
accustomed to trudging through the streets lined with snow, however, today I
wasn't in the mood to lose feeling from my toes to my hips. I sighed...Work had
been a killer today, when I say work I mean the second of my two jobs...I'm a
manicurist by day, and a waitress by night. Honestly I despise both
occupations...let's just say I'm still finding my niche. I must admit, there
have been times I wanted to throw away my apron and nail file and become the
latest Mrs. Sanitation. I could see myself now, perched upon the trash truck,
smiling and waving at wide eyed people while my "coachmen" emptied
trashcans below my feet. Such glamour, such fame...I chuckle to myself at the
thought.
It is then that I stop my wandering mind to cross the street and enter my
humble abode. Carefully I enter the room and smile at the familiar smells...my
perfume, my dinner, and yes...rising just above it all is the scent of my
significant other. I smile at the little furball on the couch...he jumps up and
scurries to my feet...who needs a man when you've got a dog. I sigh in relief
and flop myself onto the couch with my trusty can of Sprite...heaven knows how
the Coca Cola company managed to stay in business. It is then that my nightly
TV show is interrupted by a newsflash from those darn hoverdrones. I curse
silently at the thought of missing the scene where she, our ever popular
heroine, kisses her love goodbye, as she is about to cross the border to Canada
and never return.
As I lower the can from my lips my eyes widen at the scene. Hundreds of people,
swarming around....fighting each other. But that isn't really what scares me,
no the part that really gets me are the names erupting from their
mouths..."Max...Lydecker...Jondie"...Oh no.
Point of view: MAX ********************************************
I
take the package from Normal, choosing to ignore the weed smoking comment. I
hope he appreciates that.
Biking
through the mob of MantiCorny addicts, I severely reassess my vow not to harm
the innocent. Not that these people aren't asking for it.
The
thing is, I'm scared. I won't admit it to Logan, but I am. These people know
enough to know the names of all involved in Manticore, but not enough to keep
their mouths shut.
"Hey!
Watch it!" I yell as a guy not much older than myself almost knocks me off
my bike with the skateboard he's wielding, "A girl's tryin to make a
living here!"
All
these hyped-up peeps can't help it, they've been drugged unwittingly. They
don't know it's my life that they're screaming about in the streets.
I
reach my destination and knock on the door. A girl about my age answers.
"Yes?"
she asks.
"Jam
Pony bike messenger. Package for a Jana Peters," I say.
Point of view: BLING ********************************************
Logan
filled me in on the details of Tinga... er Terry?
I
never really thought about how different all the Manticore would be. I always
thought Max was little insecure and covering a sweet side... like that cat the
rubs up against your leg, then runs away when you go to pet it.
Terry...
She more like that cat that hides behind the couch and claws your legs as you
walk by.
I'm
not quite sure how I feel about being eyed like a can of Tuna.
I
catch a weird look from Logan.
I
have to smile... He's never seen a women interested in me. I guess I have kept
things pretty business only, or should I make that Eyes Only, since I took over
as his 'left hand' man. I think I have to start getting my boy to do some
physical therapy IN THE PARK! Get out into that world we're trying to save.
As
for the kitty stretched out on the couch... let's show the Logan how it's done.
"Nice
outfit. Can I get you anything? From the kitchen."
Smile
big now.
**************************************************************************
Author's
Note:
This
story started as an RPG (role playing game) played between a number of fan
fiction writers at a Dark Angel message board, www.delphi.com/darkangelfans/start
. As the story developed, additional
characters and players were added. When
we realized that we had non-players reading it as well, we decided to clean it
up and present it as a fan fiction.
Each
character is written by a different writer, in a first-person point of
view. The character's name is listed
before each section. Information on all
of the writers can be found on my author's page.
This
game/story is still in progress, so please read and review. Let us know where
you want it to go. And we are always
looking for new writers to play along, so please visit us at www.delphi.com/darkangelfans/start
and read the rules and casting notices in the RPG folder.