Act II

Chapter 11-3

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Week 4 - Day 6

It was early in the morning. The sun had not risen yet but Vai found herself awake and angry. She rolled out of bed and walked to her kitchen, mumbling what were meant to be insults that came out as jumbled words. Vai took a bottle of alcohol, opened it and drank from the bottle there at the refridgerator. She grew angrier and angrier as she stood there at the refridgerator, bottle in hand. She didn't know why she was getting angry just that she was. Could it have been the chirping of the birds that was making her angry? Could it have been the drunks on the street bragging about the night's exploits that made her furious? Perhaps it was the loud knocking on her door that was enraging her. Vai didn't know which it was but she headed towards her door, intent on stopping the one she could stop.

"What...?" she shouted as she unlocked her door and threw it open. Vai gasped and almost dropped the bottle of alcohol in her hands when she saw who it was. Her eyes narrowed as she composed herself and she locked eyes with the thin, bony woman at her door.

The woman was old, her hair starting to gray and poorly dressed. The woman's clothes were practically rags, covered in several differently colored stains and a strange odor emanated from her. Vai couldn't tell if it was the woman's clothes or the woman herself that gave off the rancid stench. "What're you doing here?" Vai asked angrily.

The woman's mouth moved but no words came out. Vai was about to close the door but just as she moved to do it the woman fell forward, hitting her head on the door as she fell to the floor. Vai threw the door back open and crouched down to check on the woman. Panicking, Vai quickly got up, ran to her room and grabbed her phone, dialing the emergency service as she made her way back to the woman.

"Circle City Emergency Services, what is the nature of your emergency?" a voice asked.

"Send an ambulance, quick. My mother just fell... hard. I think she's had an overdose..." Vai said, her voice was trembling as well as her entire body.

"An ambulance is on route -" the voice said but Vai threw the phone to the side. She turned her mother over, putting the unconscious woman on her side. She rested her mother's head in her lap as she bared her teeth, trying to hold back her tears as they flooded from her eyes.

"You... stupid bitch..." Vai cried as she sat there, holding her mother.

Alessia and Lewis sat at the the table, eating their breakfast quietly, the TV playing in the background. It had been a few days since Alessia had began considering accepting the Ark as a sponsor for Black Raven. She and Lewis hadn't had a prolonged conversation since she began considering it. She looked at her phone and her schedule for the day. Eliza had set up a meeting scheduled for later in the day but Alessia was still unsure if she should go for it. She attempted to make eye contact with Lewis but he wasn't lifting his head from his food.

"If you don't want me to go through with it, I won't. Just say so..." Alessia said. Lewis put his utensils down and looked up, at Alessia.

"I already told ya... it's yo' call, Alessia..." Lewis told her.

"Yeah that's what you keep saying... but if you have a problem with it, I don't wanna do it..!" Alessia explained. Lewis sighed a heavy sigh as he leaned back in his chair.

"My head's not clear... Alessia... This ain't a decision I can make and it ain't a decision ya should take my advice on..." Lewis explained.

"Well give me the details. Tell me why you're against this,"

"I've told ya plenty of times. Arthur died testin' a prototype AC loaded with military grade munitions and test parts,"

"That's not what I meant..."

"I know what ya meant but it doe'n't get anymore complicated than that," Lewis said as he started back eating. Alessia was slightly disheartened by Lewis' dismissal. When Lewis saw that she was disheartened, he sighed. "Whatever ya decide, I'm behind ya. I mean that. I'll always be ya number two fan,"

""Number two...?" Alessia said confused but cheered up.

"Well I'd be ya number one fan but ya keep throwing my beer away," Lewis laughed. Alessia laughed at the joke, her spirits lifted.

Vai sat in the hospital room, waiting and watching. She watched as doctors and nurses scrambled around, doing whatever tasks they needed to do. Patients were being wheeled in and out of the hospital. Some of the patients injuries were minor and some of them looked pretty severe. Vai had been waiting for a few hours already. They'd immediately taken her mother and began flushing the drugs out of her system.

Eventually, a nurse and doctor came to update Vai on her mother's condition. Apparently, her mother had been taking high amounts of a new street drug called Reave. The nurse explained to Vai that the drug is made by mixing a diluted neuro-toxin with several other chemicals and ingredients. Like most street drugs, it tricks the body into thinking the neuro-toxin is healthy for the body by releasing dopamine into the brain but in high doses within short periods of time, the neuro-toxin can build up, causing serious damage to the body. The doctor told Vai that her mother was lucky because she had an amount of Reave in her system that was well beyond the average amount that it takes to kill the average user.

"Will she be alright...?" Vai asked.

"Her nervous system was damaged pretty badly... She'll live but depending on your definition of "alright"..." the doctor explained.

Vai thanked the doctor as he continued on to his next task. Vai sat there for a while, somewhat relieved that her mother would live but it was a brief relief soon replaced by anger. She got up and left the hospital, calling a taxi to take her back home. On the way back to her apartment, Vai had the taxi stop at liquor store where she purchased bottle of whiskey and once she had arrived at her destination, she paid the taxi driver the credits she owed then immediately began drinking the whiskey she had purchased.

Alessia sat alone, waiting for the heads of Ark to make their decision on whether or not they should sponsor Black Raven. There were six people at the table, one of them was Eliza who was there to vouch for Alessia and Black Raven. Alessia, glancing through the glass wall that seperated the office from the waiting room, noted the facial expressions of the five heads of the Ark and she guessed as to which were opposed to sponsoring Black Raven. After a seemingly back and forth conversation, the meeting concluded. All but one of the people in the room stood from their seats and exited the office. The participants of the meeting walked pass Alessia without looking in her direction except for Eliza who walked over to Alessia with a smile on her face .

"They agreed to it...!" Eliza said excitedly. She stood Alessia up and pulled her into the office where the one man still sat at the table.

"Mr. Cunningham," Alessia greeted the man.

"Miss Saint-Claire," Cunningham said as he gestured for Alessia to sit, "I've discussed it with my associates. We here at the Ark have decided that sponsoring Black Raven, would be a good investment."

"Thank you...!" Alessia said energetically. Her face lit up with happiness and relief at Cunningham's words.

"Now, now," Cunningham said, "There are conditions..."

Alessia's expression quickly changed and became less energetic. She looked to Eliza who shrugged her shoulders. "And what are the conditions...?" Alessia asked, somewhat worried.

"Black Raven has been out of the public eye for two years now... I think it's safe to say that your team's fan base is down. Also, your team's pilots took several severe injuries, so I'd also say it's a safe bet that your pilots aren't in their best shape... Do you consider these unfair criticisms...?"

"No..." Alessia said after a brief pause.

"We're seeking teams who'll make a big enough splash and help us expand our brand. It could very well be that your team has peaked... With that possibility in mind... the conditions are simple. If you lose to a rookie team, we'll stop sponsoring you. If you lose early in the main tournament, we'll stop sponsoring you. Your team's performance data is equivalent to that of New Suns', so if your performance should drop below that standard, we will stop sponsoring you. We've set a budget for how much support we give to each ACFL team we sponsor. If you ever require more support than alotted per month, you'll receive the support for that month but we will stop sponsoring you. Do you have any obejections to any of these conditions...?"

"...No...!" Alessia said confidently, looking Cunningham in the eye. He smiled as he slouched in his chair a bit.

"Very well. My assistant will give you the contract on your way out," Cunningham said.

"Thank you, Mr. Cunningham...!" Alessia said, standing up from her chair and making her way out. Eliza was about to follow her but she waited at the door for Alessia to get out of hearing distance.

"You guys never brought up anything about conditions..." Eliza pointed out.

"You'll keep that fact to yourself miss Brigham," Cunningham told her. Eliza nodded and left the room after Alessia.