Chapter 6
AN: if the cable hack seems familiar that's because it is…It's the first cable hack that we ever had the privilege of seeing located at the beginning of the pilot episode…just so you know I don't own it. Also various bits of dialogue will seem familiar to you for the rest of the story…They were used in DA episodes mainly the pilot. I am doing this intentionally to add an interesting element to the story…well I think its interesting but you may not…if you don't sorry you aren't writing this so there…jk…I love everyone who is reading this…I did this to try and bring the fact that even though Max and Logan are different they are essentially the same. Sort of a comparison. I hope it works well and as always I hope you enjoy it. Also the chapters from now on aren't going to be entirely dedicated to one main character they will go back and forth much like an episode would. To try and make this less confusing I will be putting extra big spaces and a setting at the top of each new scene so to speak…oh yeah…feedback makes me write faster. Its magic in that way…
"Do not attempt to adjust your set. This is a streaming freedom video bulletin. The cable hack will last exactly 60 seconds. It cannot be traced, it cannot be stopped and it is the only free voice left in the city. There are certain men who move through the world with impunity. Their actions, no matter how vile are immune from consequence. Edgar Sonrisa is such a man. You've seen him, smiling at political fund-raisers. He owns shopping centers, a trucking company and the largest medical supply company in the northwest. He also runs drugs and guns up and down the west coast. He's very obviously dirty. Journalists who have attempted to expose him have been gunned down in the street. Their blood is the ink of our modern news. Those who've opposed him have vanished. All of that is about to change." Logan finished his broadcast and pushed away from his computer.
"One of these days you aren't going to be able to make anymore of those little videos of yours cause I'm going to be busy scraping you off the street." Peter, Logan's newly hired security guard said from behind Logan as he walked over to the desk.
"You get Lauren and Sophy here safely?" Logan asked ignoring Peter's warning.
"They're in the other room. I meant what I said, you've had some pretty close calls over the last few days." Peter tried again but to no avail. Logan pushed him aside to go and talk to his guests. Peter shook his head in annoyance and followed his employer.
Jam Pony…
"The man is deep." Sketchy said with awe. Max rolled her eyes, true Sketchy wasn't known for his brains but hey after eight months of working with him he kinda grew on you.
"No you're easy." Max shot back winning a grin from Original Cindy. In the eight short months Max had been out, she'd gotten a job at Jam Pony a package delivery service, gotten a place to live with a girl named Kendra who turned out to be not that bad, and a bike. The bike was her pride and joy and she often spent her nights with it riding around Seattle since she didn't sleep much. Her baby as she affectionately termed it hadn't come without a price however.
Max had picked up on slang quickly and her new "boo" Original Cindy had gotten her fairly well acquainted with the way things were.
But the slang and social customs of Seattle weren't the only thing Max had picked up on. She'd "picked up" on a lot of art, cars, and other various items. She'd picked up on the fastest way to earn a grand. So while she picked up on slang she'd also picked a few locks.
That was one of the many reasons her job at Jam Pony was ideal. While giving her free rein of Seattle it also gave her ample chance to check out the homes of the wealthy. While they signed for the package, Max looked for a way in. When they tipped her, Max figured the price for fencing their new plasma TV. Service with a smile.
Max had never intended crime to be her major income but when her money ran out two months out of Manticore and her Jam Pony income just didn't seem to cover everything, it seemed like the only other option. Then when she met her "baby", for the first time she had known that she had to let it out of its commercialized prison, it was born to run free, it was born to go fast. And when she had run out of her Tryptophan injections, she hadn't had any other choice, she needed her Tryptophan to supplement the seritonin her brain didn't make without it she went into seizures, without it too long would kill her. It covered the little necessities that Jam Pony couldn't. Secretly she wondered what Zack and Tinga would think about using her abilities to take other people's things. Well at least Manticore could turn out some pretty talented cat burglars.
In eight short months she was completely on the inside and she knew that it was time to get down to the business of finding Eyes Only. She'd been putting it off rationalizing her need to have a stable income, then her need to get acquainted with the customs and traditions of Seattle, then her need to… Well it had been something. Honestly she knew that she was just trying to get the most out of her stay in Seattle. And if she had to stall a little bit to do that who would it hurt.
"He ever been wrong about anything?" Sketchy asked breaking through her cloud of thoughts.
"He's on the hustle, same as everyone else." Max said rolling her eyes and playing her part. Manticore obviously thought that there was something to him because she wouldn't be out here trying to find out what he knew if there wasn't. And she certainly wouldn't be ordered to kill him if he wasn't perceived in some way a threat to the organization.
Max and Sketchy hopped on their bikes and started off to deliver their packages together but after a few streets a hover drone flew over and Max ditched Sketch choosing to take another route to deliver her packages. If she was laying low she needed to avoid contact of that sort at all costs, even if it meant biking a mile out of her way.
Delivering her packages Max once more looked for a good place to get some extra cash, her Tryptophan supply was running low and she didn't want to get caught without any. She was about to call the afternoon a bust when arriving at her last delivery of the day with nothing yet striking her fancy, when something caught her eye across the street. People with money lived in those places and people with money often had lots of good stuff to sell.
As she left the building she did a quick estimate on the apartment across the street. It would be all too easy to break in. Using her enhanced vision, those guys at Manticore sure knew what they were doing when they put her together; she located the object that had caught her eye. It was very nice, and if it was authentic it would fetch a rather nice price. Smiling smugly Max started down the street. The afternoon hadn't been a bust after all.
