6. It's a balmy, sunny Saturday in Seattle, and you have no appointments, plans, or prior commitments. What do you do for fun, day and night?
A balmy, sunny Saturday in the Seattle sprawl? And it's not the result of massive ritual magic that will eventually make the volcanoes go BOOM (again)? Frag me, chummer - those are rare indeed. Let me take a moment to search through my old logs here to see if I can find on that fits that description. Why invent a fiction when I've already got facts to suit my needs, neh? There are mountains of tales in these old files, since I've been keeping journals ever since getting a 'link implanted. DNI makes it that much easier to record my thoughts and encryption gives me modicum of privacy.
Ok, found one. Also, it looks like they are not as rare as I thought, since this one happened within the last year. Trust me when I say it's a good one, omae. Here it is, in all its unedited glory [no redacting, Tryx!]:
"4-AUG-2073: Saturday
0500: Ding! And that's it for my 3 hours of regulated sleep. Weather should be uncommonly good today and no new messages on the 'link since I crashed at 0200, so I'm thinking a morning run is a good start. At least I'm not down Amazonia way, where today's total eclipse is going to make for some crazy magical drek. I would *not* want to be in the Azzie military on a day like today.
0600: Nice to exercise outside for a change; I'm usually stuck with calisthenics at home or running in the (acid) rain. Breakfast was nothing special, but the woman I chatted up at the soykaf cart by the park was. Didn't hurt that she's fellow UW alum - Go Huskies! Got those digits stored for later. If nothing comes up, I may see if Priya is available tonight.
0630: Got a message from Gunny that my "packages" are ready for pickup. I responded and asked him to book some range time for this afternoon so I can try the new stuff out when I go by to pick everything up later. Might as well bring a few other pieces for some extra practice while I'm there, so I guess it's time to clean guns and count ammo while I watch some trid.
0900: Done with guns for now, and Gunny confirmed that range time is secured for early afternoon. Watched some new episodes of Desert Wars and picked up an idea or two. Too bad they spend less time on squad-level tactics, but that wouldn't feature experimental heavy weapons with pretty explosions. Give the people what they want, I guess. At least I got to see that barrier foam drek in action; useful stuff. Makes me glad I let Gunny talk me into to buying a clip of splash grenades filled with it. Also: I was briefly tempted by a sudden alert from an old Matrix gambling node I used to frequent (and thought I had spam-blocked), but I was able to put that aside so I could call Priya and make plans for tonight.
1000: Priya is sounding more like fun every minute; she's all excited to go check out 'Supercrit', a restaurant/club downtown that came under new management and has reinvented itself. I know it had previously been a sushi bar/Yakuza front, according to some details Nikolai shared the last time we spoke. I'm not sure who runs it now, but the change in cuisine to molecular-gastro makes any connection to criminal syndicates way less obvious. Now, with 9 hours to burn, it's time to pack up and hit the road for Ft. Lewis territory. Also need to do a better job of solidifying my new fake ID; I almost tripped up talking to Priya. First name: Ford. Last name: Hutton. Occupation: wageslave, contracts negotiator at Northwestern Hydraulics. Get it right, soldier!
1100: On the road, but not without a hitch. Had to leave the bigger stuff behind when my cyberears picked up some mutterings from the old lady smoking on the balcony 3 floors above my parking spot. Something about the number of bags I was loading made her suspicious, so I am short my Desert Strike and Enfield. I'll be parking in a different location when I return. Fortunately, I'm picking up the Alpha from Gunny, so at least I'll be able to run it through its paces at the range. Got to remember to stop and get the old guy some lunch on the way; never hurts to come bearing gifts as well as payment.
1145: Looks like the nice weather got everybody in the sprawl out on the roads; it's slowed to a crawl, so I'm going to let the Pilot do the driving while I stream the latest EdgeLaw Matrix-cast. They're discussing some new case law on virtual property and the controversial idea of limited 'squatter's rights' for DI's that Pulsar has been promoting (with backing from Horizon, of course). Haven't had the chance to take on a DI as a 'client', but I'd rather be prepared in case I ever have to deal with one in any capacity. Rumor has it that there's a DI recently emerged in Boston with the personality and expertise of a Harvard law prof, and that 'she' plans to pursue professional licensing. Good luck to her, I suppose.
1600: Headed home, after a good afternoon with the Gunny out at the range. Glad I had enough spare nuyen after the last job to pay for the upgrades he's installed on my Alpha - any recoil reduction available should be taken for a weapon capable of full autofire. Of course, if the 'run is going correctly, laying down lead in full-auto mode is about the last plan to use, but when the drek hits the fan...
1700: Munching a nutrisoy snack while I clean up for my date and catch up on messages. Looks like MIlo dropped me a note about a 'decidedly non-urgent' job opportunity. I'm taking most everything he throws my way since I struck out as an independent, so I'll be sure to follow up with him soon. It's good to be free of my obligations to Nikolai's organization, but the steady flow of work form the Vory was a welcome certainty while it lasted. Speaking of my favorite Russian, Nikolai responded to my earlier request for info on this Supercrit place and said his sources were not 100% convinced that all interesting activities had been relocated since the changeover. Great, just what I need: a crypto-front for the Yakuza. I'm sure nothing will go sideways while we're there, but I'm going to change into my concealed SecureTech protectors and wear my Actioneer suit just in case. Think I'll pack my Élan, ceramic knife, and Flash-Pak as well. A trio of easily-concealed, yet highly effective tools.
1830: About to pick up Priya at her high-rise place downtown. Good thing my Rover SUV blends in this neighborhood. Thanks again for the sweet ride, dead guy who used to compete with my former 'employers'. Sorry about shooting your rigger first; who would have guessed you guys would swap seats?
2000: Pitstop. Priya is a lot of fun; I think tonight may end on a high note. Food was like some kind of mad science experiment, but good, and mostly the real stuff to boot. I think we're moving on to more drinks and dancing next. No sign of unsavory types yet, but there are some obviously wired Japanese sammy muscle guarding a door marked 'Manager - Private' at the darkened end of the long hallway past the restrooms. Only noticed because of my cybereyes, but I don't think I tipped my hand in the process.
2100: Somebody making a lot of noise in Cantonese over by the bar is about to cause to trouble with the Yakuza owners. I smell Triads and scores to settle. Time to make a hasty departure, hopefully back to Priya's. That fire exit I spotted earlier should do the trick...
2200: Priya's apartment; nice place without a view, but she's got the full AR treatment to spruce it up. At least it's secure, which is a welcome reprieve from the excitement that happened at Supercrit earlier. Priya is cleaning herself up and clearing her head while I fix us some more drinks. Things got a little dicey during our escape from that bad situation, since the Triads had thugs guarding the fire exits. Out of the three we faced, I dropped one with a quick shot from my Élan and caught two by surprise with the Flash-Pak, allowing us to make it safely to my ride in a neighboring parking garage. I'm out a Flash-Pak, but that's a small thing, considering our hoops are still intact. Priya was kind of in a shocked daze through the whole violent sequence, but that's how it goes for many civilians who get too close to the shadows. Fortunately for Priya, this sort of thing is all too familiar for me, so I've been able to calm her down and (hopefully) salvage the remainder of our evening.
0130: Just left Priya's place. Don't know if I'll call her again, since this night didn't go exactly as planned, but we did make a good connection and she is worth a second look. At least we had a great time finishing that bottle of wine and talking until she passed out; too much life-threatening excitement for one night. Thought I'd slip out quietly to spare her the awkward morning. Since I'm swimming in wine myself, the Rover's Pilot is driving me back to my place.
0200: Time to hit the rack. I'm still grinning about the last thing Priya said, a half-considered question while nearly asleep: 'What kind of lawyer are you, anyways?' Hah!"
And that ends it. Okay, chummer, you got me: not every Saturday turns out like that, but this one really did. In case you're interested, I did hang out with Priya a few more times. Fun was had, but I'm not really the commitment type anymore, so ka?
No, Bastion, I'm not giving you her digits. Because I don't think she's really that into the whole Dunkelzahn Lives! movement thing, big guy, that's why. You're right, that is her loss. Yeah, I did get the chance to cast my vote for Big D seventeen years ago. Remind me to tell you that story some other time...
-Rake