Futuristic Ｂｅｌｏｗ ｔｈｅ Ｓｕｒｆａｃｅ （ＩＣ）

[Megilagor]

Phil Yang

Alias

Golden Jackal

Gender

Male

Age

40

Current location- Phil's Office, Burrow


"Dock worker, mid-forties, died by stabbing in the morning. Hmmmmm, I might have something, well two things but I don't know how much of help they will be. Let me find it first I had those files laying somewhere here." Said Phil while stroking his pretty much nonexistent beard, before walking away from his desk towards a small wall of file cabinets.
And as he stood there he scratched his head thinking out loud "Where the hell did I put it?". Then he decided to just open a random part of the cabinet and start searching for those files he needed.

"Not this one, neither is this... Ohhhh this one was fun. This one was for the little dragon. Ahh, here it is!"
Phil said while searching for the file, looking over each of them before finding the one he wanted. Then he closed the file cabinet with a bump of the hip and walked towards Asahina and threw the files on the small table between himself and him.

Then Phil returned to his seat and started writing something on the many papers that were gathered at his desk, as he spoke.
"There you go everything me and my boys know about it. The guy's name is Rick Martinez, he's your dock worker, and if you want to find his killer or at least the most probable one then follow the file. And if you want to make it fast got check out Warehouse 13. He was seen there often for the past week, officially that warehouse is empty but stuff is made there some hard stuff. Even I don't deal with that stuff cause it can make a man go insane if he takes too much, on the street they call it Genesis. A very addictive and powerful drug, with a major downside but it's dirt cheap even now. And as I suspect Martinez wasn't taking it so he was probably dealing with it. That's all your gonna get from me, the files have exact same info but more specific. Now let me get back to work, if you want you can sit down on the couch and read it or go away! Your choice, but if you could do me a favour and brew me another pot of coffee that would be nice. "
After saying what he knew he resumed working on his papers and drinking the last of his coffee in total silence, completely ignoring Asahina as he did whatever he decided to do.

A life without living was simply a death without dying. ​

♡coded by uxie♡

 

[Ayama]

Asahina Hayashi

Title

The Bloodhound

Gender

Cis Male

Age

26

Currently... at the bar, with the twins.

As Phil turned away and started searching through files, of all things, Asahina snorted quietly. He always found it funny that the high-ranking criminals in this city had about the same amount of organization, record-keeping and bureaucracy as actual law enforcement.

Well... to a point. Phil might be a relatively fastidious record-keeper but, when it came to actually filing his records in an organized fashion... The detective chuckled softly as the black marketeer began haphazardly rifling through papers in his filing cabinet.

Within a surprisingly short amount of time, he'd located what he was after and slapped the file in question down on the table between them, rattling off the facts of the case as he sat down- the detective nodded as he took notes of the most relevant parts.

Rick Martinez, Warehouse 13, Genesis... He nodded a final thanks at Phil's usual brusque dismissal- at this point he was familiar enough with the layout of the office to go straight to the coffeemaker and brew a pot while still mulling over the new information.

As the comforting dripping sounds of hot coffee splashing into the carafe and the aroma of the heavenly brew filled the room, he sat himself easily on the dilapidated couch and went through the file meticulously, making notes as he went.

He and Phil worked thus in companionable silence for a while, reading, writing, and sipping the life-affirming nectar, before Asahina yawned, stretched, and got up.

"Thanks for the info, as always," he said, dropping the file back down on Phil's desk. "Let me know if you hear anything more about this or the lockdown, yeah?"

After which he let himself out. His work day being technically over, and knowing he would soon need to make getting ahold of his sister a greater priority, he decided it was time for a drink.

Upon reaching the Burrow's bar, he was surprised to find Callei still there, and apparently locked in an arm-wrestling match with a muscular and also very familiar-looking dark-haired guy.

Callei's two friends were cheering from the sidelines, while across from them a dark-and-green-dip-dyed-haired woman was sipping from a beer bottle and watching the contest with a wry, 'I've seen this a million times before' kinda grin. She too looked familiar, and after looking from her to the man and back a couple times, he finally realized why: Lock and Nyx Solari; his and Yukiye's other rebellious childhood friends.

He chuckled out loud as he made his way to the spectacle. That Callei and the Solaris had ended up in Lockewood wasn't really much of a shock to anyone, but the fact that he and Yukiye, the Hayashis' golden, model children, had ended up here as well, and now they were all stuck here, was a particular degree of funny.

The detective swiped a bottle from the bar on the tab he kept open there, nodded to the bartender, and made his way over to the group.

"I see you two still manage to pick a fight anywhere you go," he declared sardonically, grinning at his childhood friends.

How pitiful. How predictable. How pointless. ​

♡coded by uxie♡

 

[Impius]

Darwin Lex Pike

Alias

Markus Conway

Gender

Male

Age

32

We all have our reasons.

Pike paid as much mind to the two women following him as he did to his own shadow, silently dashing around the throngs of people panicked on the streets. In his mind, if they couldn't keep up in this then they had no chance of making it out of Lockewood. Alive at least. Yet to his own surprise, the women displayed no issues keeping up with his evasive movements. Even through a time or two when he tried to shake them off in an especially large crowd.

Heat flushed over his ears on the elevator ride up, palms begining their infamous nervous sweat that he always got when he was to face his ex. He glanced at the two women with him. The MP he knew would be an issue with Yuryie. Her line of work didn't take kindly to the military police and vice versa. He sighed internally, stepping out.

Seeing Yuryie made his gut flutter in an aganoizing attempt to escape his body. For a moment, a tinge of guilt floated through his core being as arguments over his ignorance and insecurity flooded his mind. Had he acted as a normal, loyal boyfriend, they could have had something beautiful. Yet Pike had no aspirations for beautiful in his life outside of women and an accumulating amount of money.

His eyes rolled and he waved his hand, in dismissal, an infamous move on his own part, proving her statement regarding his lack of change. "Oh you'll get your money, you always do." He strode over to an empty chair and sat down, leaning it back on two legs and propping his boots at the corner of her desk. He glanced back at Endor, smiling as she said she could pay her own way. Simply, fantastic. At least she didn't give a fake name this time. For that he gave her a few brownie points back for that. Really, how could he even judge or be mad as he hisnelf had an alias often used?

"Now, how much are you wanting to suck from me this time? Ten grand? Twenty? Or are we talking the big six O's?" His lips smiled but Pikes eyes were filled with venom. He dropped his chair back to the ground after the killing daggers he received from Yuryie's eyes. He held that gaze, almost as a challenge. "Or maybe two mil will satisfy your hunger?" His infectious grin poisoned his face as he tilted his head toward the door, indicating he included the MP in that total. He would have to have her pay him back later, if he could muster it out of her, anyway.

​

 

[Ayama]

Yuriye Ivanov

Title

The Iron Vice

Gender

Cis Female

Age

26

Currently... in her office, with Pike.

As Pike waved his hand dismissively as he always did when she mentioned payment, Yuriye pinched the bridge of her nose and prayed for patience.

When he strode over to the chair and propped his dirty boots up onto her desk like he owned the place, the mob boss resisted with difficulty the urge to have her enforcer beat the tar out of him.

The unknown girl stating that she could pay her own way was a welcome surprise, one that Pike smiled at as he glanced back at her.

When he stated that she was trying to suck money out of him like some kind of vampire, the bitterness evident in his voice, Yuriye couldn't resist a dry chuckle- the man was more emotionally attached to his money than he had ever been to any human being, including her.

When he glanced back towards the door with that poisonous grin of his, the mob boss pulled a sour face as if she'd just bitten into a fresh lemon.

What was the idiot thinking bringing heat down here, anyway? It was unlike the mercenary to associate himself with the law, and he definitely knew better than to bring it around her place of business.

"For getting your idiotic ass out of here," she began, "I'll take an even three mil." When he started to protest, she held up a hand for silence.

"I don't want to hear it, Lex- you have your uses, but you're always more trouble than you're worth, and I'm not sticking my neck out to help you unless I get my payment, up front."

"As for the baggage," she continued when he seemed about to interrupt again, "they will require an additional mil- each. Both could be handy as human shields or bargaining chips of course, but this one doesn't look like she could fight her way out of a paper bag," she said, nodding to Endor, "and the other one is a goddamn MP."

She sighed as Darwin seemed about to cut in for the third time. "Andrei," she buzzed, "please escort our other guest out- I need to have a word with Mr. Pike." The enforcer walked in, grabbed Endor roughly by the arm, and pulled her out, shutting the door behind them.

An awkward silence hung in the room, the air between the two criminals thick with tension. Finally Yuriye leaned back in her chair, heaving a long, exhausted sigh.

"I don't know what you were thinking bringing those two here with you, Lex, but those are my terms- take them or leave."

The higher the cost, the greater the gain. ​

♡coded by uxie♡

 

[Caffeinated Joy]

NYX SOLARI

If Nyx had been challenged to explain how Lock went from the dance floor to across the table from Cals, locked in an arm wrestling match, she’d be hard pressed to give a precise timeline of events. It wasn’t really a surprise to find Cals in Lockewood after not seeing her for so long. Nyx was more than familiar with her streams, especially the interview series she did with the locals exposing the gritty truth of life here. Of course, the people who needed to see them wouldn’t, or if they did, they wouldn’t care enough to do anything. Same old, same old.

One moment they were reuniting and asking the polite society questions “How are you? What are you doing? How have you been keeping?” Blah, blah, blah. The next, they were commandeering a table while Lock loudly proclaimed arm wrestling was 50% strength and 50% technique, and he was going to show her why.

Nyx was standing on one side of the table, with Oz and Az on the other side, cheering Cals on with aggressive enthusiasm. If they hoped to rattle Lock, they would have work harder at it. Her brother was more likely to draw encouragement from it, than be intimidated. Nothing made him, or Nyx, more determined than adversity. She smiled wryly and took a sip of her beer.

A tall man with Incredibly long hair approached, looking between her and Lock as if trying to place them. She smiled at her beer bottle. Asahina Hiyashi. Someone else she hadn’t seen in years. Of course, when they were in school, Asahina’s parents did everything they could to discourage their treasured children from becoming friends with the no-good, troublesome Solari twins, but to no avail. It was as if the very old adage was true: opposites did attract. Nyx took a moment to wonder if this weird reunion of old friends they hadn’t seen for years was coincidence or design, and if the latter, for what reason? She’d have to discuss it with Lock later.

She spotted the moment the penny dropped, and he sidled up to her, mentioning how they were still good at starting fights wherever they went.

She laughed lightly, “Well, when you’re good at something, why stop? Cultivate it. Turn it into an art form. Besides, Lock is the one who usually starts the fights.” She tapped her beer bottle against his in a toast and took a sip, “I help him end them.”

BLACK WIDOW

 

[Caffeinated Joy]

LOCK SOLARI

Lock couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw the one and only Cals Jones. How long had it been since they’d seen each other? How many years? Of course, he was well acquainted with her streams. His face split into a wide grin and he bounded up from his seat and over to her to sweep her up into a hug with an excited call of “Ms. Mittens!!!!”

Her friends looked at him with a healthy dose of well-founded suspicion as he set Mittens down. His grin still plastered on his face, he looked at them and shrugged eloquently. “We know each other from a long time ago. When were kids. I swear I’m harmless. To her.” He laughed.

Then, as it always seemed to happen with him, discussion turned from her streams, to how good she looked, and how good he and Nyx looked, to the physical training they’d done/did, and then to arm wrestling.

That was how he found himself standing across a high table from Mittens, with Otter and Astral loudly cheering Mittens from one side and Nyx watching quietly from the other. He stood with his right leg forward, his body close to the table and his right hip braced against it. He set his elbow on it, offering her his hand with a raised brow and a smirk. He felt the strength in her when she grabbed his hand and grinned widely.

When it started, he immediately pulled her hand toward him before pushing against it and rolling his hand, so his knuckles were pointing to the ceiling. As his body weight shifted to his left leg, the tantalizing thought of applying just the right amount of pressure to snap her wrist flashed through is head for a fraction of a second. He knew how to do it, and it was shockingly, brilliantly simple. He laughed a little, flicking his confident gaze to hers and dismissing the thought. One didn’t hurt one’s friends. Not on purpose, or even accidentally on purpose. One just did not.

He really needed to get out of this city and kill a bishop neatly and discreetly. Or find someone deserving closer by and kill them messily. Or just get into a good, old-fashioned fight with someone who he would be justified in hurting – on purpose, accidentally on purpose, or otherwise.

Lock squinted slightly when a familiar voice reached his ears, followed by Nyx’s quick answer. Could it be? Twice in one night? Once was good fortune. Twice was coincidence. If there came to be a third time, he might begin to suspect something was up. Maybe it already was.

Suddenly no longer interested in proving a point, and with no clear indication yet of who was winning, he released Mitten’s hand and faced Asahina, a glad smile on his face. “Why? Do you know of anyone good ones to be had? I’d hate to get out of practice, and I really feel the need to just…break something.”

He stepped forward suddenly to give his old friend a robust, glad hug.

REAPER

 

[Impius]

Darwin Lex Pike

Alias

Markus Conway

Gender

Male

Age

32

We all have our reasons.

Pike nearly fell out of his chair when Yuryie laid out her expectation. He bared his teeth like a feral dog and folded his arms tightly over his chest to keep a physical assault on her desk internal. All he could get out in protest was short noises. Finally he bit his lip and let her finish without interruption, his face turning to a deep red. He knew that the price was going to be high but an easy five million? His blood was hot at the thought, yet his hands were tied behind his back on this one. He would be damned if he was stuck in lockdown. He had things to do. Things that were necessary for his lavish lifestyle.

He remained quiet as Endor was escorted out of the room. The two women, he would make sure repaid their debt to him if he couldn't talk his way out of this one. Something Pike knew he couldn't do with Yuri but would always attempt. He let out a heavy sigh and ran a hand through his thick brown hair.

"I swear, five million, come on now, Yuryie. I will pay my three, but you heard that girl, Ellie, Elenor, whatever her name was, she would pay her own way. So I think it would be fair to pay my share of three million. As for the milita girl..."He tapped on his chin. "I'm sure I can arrange some sort of payment plan with her... The Milita are never poor folk."

He pressed his finger tips of each hand together, elbows proper on the chair arms. It wasn't that he didn't have the credits, he just didn't want to spread the wealth. Especially to his ex girlfriend. His green fired orbs bore into hers.

​

 

[Mace13]

Endor Ann Davidson Outside Yuriye’s Office

Endor left the office, quickly and quietly when her presence was no longer needed. She walked over to her old acquaintance. The last she saw the younger woman was when Yukiye’s elder brother announced he’d go into law enforcement. When she noticed the brute that escorted her out went back inside, Endor pulled out her knives which she had hooked onto her fingers.

”So, you went into law like your brother, and as an MP? You couldn’t get in as an officer?” She asked, nonchalantly as she twirled her knives. The only reason Endor was there that day when the eldest Hayashi made his announcement was because she happened to be serving beverages to fund one of her mother’s surgeries. Endor looked over Yukiye using her implant to help update the information of the youngest Hayashi. She put her knives back into her coat pockets as she went to the wall and began to lean on it.

”The Pike dude, I think that was his name anyway, might take a while, him and that crime boss have serious tension. Anyway she wants 1 million for my passage out and 1 million for yours, which I can pay for myself. Seeing as you are an MP your parents probably stripped away your inheritance so I’ll need to get a test subject and sell their organs to get you out,” Endor explained.

She pulled out a notepad and pencil and began to write some things down. Endor muttered a few things here and there, but most of the thought process was between her human brain and her implant. She was just figuring out how much she could sell the organs for to get the 1 million to get Yukiye out. Endor also wrote down the tension between the crime boss and Pike to remind herself she must ask them about it for her research on how backgrounds between people can change their emotions with people.

 

[Ayama]

Asahina Hayashi

Title

The Bloodhound

Gender

Cis Male

Age

26

Currently... at the bar, with Callei & the twins.

Nyx laughed, the sound drier and softer than he remembered from childhood. He returned the tap of the bottle with a nod, as it had indeed always been as she described: Lock starting fights with enthusiastic alacrity, Nyx finishing them with disturbing finality.

He watched Lock apparently lose interest in the fight altogether and turn to him with a familiar grin, itching to start another one. Asahina rolled his eyes as the broad man gave him a bear hug. The detective felt the strength in those arms and knew his friend could've easily picked him up and thrown him across the room.

Gently disentangling himself (even in childhood, Lock had never quite managed to grasp the concept of how much he valued his space), Asahina smiled.

"I'm not that kind of cop, Lock," he chided, feeling the need to remind him that, even off-duty, he had a limited ability to turn the other way when it came to the (no doubt) criminal actions of his friends.

"Funny we should all find ourselves here together just as the place goes into lockdown," he said, taking another sip of his beer and nodding at Callei and the twins, before a frown creased his forehead.

"Don't suppose any of you have seen Yuki?"

He knew it was a long shot, being under no illusions about the way these people felt about the police or the militia, but at this point she still hadn't answered him, and he was starting to get worried and willing to think outside the box.

How pitiful. How predictable. How pointless. ​

♡coded by uxie♡

 

[Ayama]

Yuriye Ivanov

Title

The Iron Vice

Gender

Cis Female

Age

26

Currently... in her office, with Pike.

Yuriye watched Pike sigh and run a hand through his hair in an achingly familiar gesture. She pushed down the surge of emotion as, predictably, he started trying to bargain with her over the stated price.

She made mental note of the way he referred to the girl, frowning. Not sleeping with her, not working for her... What is he doing with her then? And what about the MP? she thought, bewildered.

Once done bargaining, he leaned back in the chair and looked across the desk at her over the arch of his steepled fingers as if to say 'Your move.'

The mob boss rolled her eyes at the theatrics, reaching into her desk drawer and pulling out a scanner.

"5 mil, Lex," she said in a bone-dry voice, scanner set to the exacted sum. "And getting those 2mil out of the baggage you brought with you can be your problem."

She passed the scanner across the table to him, waiting to see what he would do.

The higher the cost, the greater the gain. ​

♡coded by uxie♡

 

[Ayama]

Yukiye Hayashi

Title

The Straight Shooter

Gender

Cis Female

Age

22

Currently... in the office, with Endor.

You need to think before you act, Yuki, Asahina's voice said in her mind, weary with exasperation and worry.

A young lady always thinks before she opens her mouth, her mother would say.

A smart person does nothing without being certain of their course, her father intoned.

And yet no matter how many times they exhorted her to this, no matter how hard she tried to do as they wanted, Yukiye couldn't help it- she was impulsive, and probably always would be.

Look before you jump, rookie! her basic training staff sergeant's voice barked in her head, after yet another fall or mess-up.

That was who Yukiye was- act on impulse, deal with the consequences. And there were plenty- doing poorly in school because she was always dropping things to help people or getting dragged around by the wrong crowd; barely making it to MP status despite her obvious skills...

And now, because of her blind decision to step out of line and help an acquaintance on the same day she finally made a big-time assignment, in the middle of a crisis no less, she was currently sitting in the office of what was clearly a criminal organization, a grumpy, stone-faced muscleman seated across from her, signal jammer pointed at her forehead and clearly illegal weapon in obvious display at his hip.

Never one to do well when forced to be still, she fidgeted in her seat, looking this way and that at her surroundings. Clearly, whoever this mysterious acquaintance of Pike's was, she was doing quite well for herself as a criminal (by Lockewood standards, at least).

As she always did when she was bored with nothing to do, Yukiye started daydreaming, picturing herself bringing in the crime boss, cuffed and irate, and her C.O. clapping her on the back and telling her what a good job she'd done, Asahina smiling softly in the background.

The daydream bubble was popped when a harsh buzzing sound interrupted her thoughts as the mob boss in question buzzed her enforcer back in. He left the room with a grunted instruction not to move out of range of the jammer, and was quickly back with Endor in tow.

She wanted to ask if the woman was okay but, when the first thing she said after coming out of the mob boss' office was something derogatory about her not being an officer, Yukiye resisted the urge to grimace with difficulty, beginning to remember why this person wasn't exactly popular around High City circles.

She watched the girl idly twirl her matching knives with apprehension. It wasn't that she thought Endor would suddenly lose it and start attacking people, but she also knew the scientist's moral compass didn't exactly point due north, and it made her nervous.

Which was immediately illustrated when she baldly stated she would need to sell someone's organs to pay for her passage out.

Yukiye's mouth dropped open in horror as Endor pulled out a notebook and started scribbling. She'd always been disturbing, but since going to that weird Academy and getting that shady governmental job and spending most of her time down here, she seemed to have been encouraged to get exponentially worse.

The MP vehemently shook her head.

"You aren't killing anyone, E. I'll figure my passage out on my own. Besides, she's gonna need an MP with her if she hopes to get past any of the barricades," she declared with more bravado than she felt, worried that she might be wrong and the enforcer whose forearms were thicker than her neck would be ordered to break that neck and dump her body somewhere the first chance they got.

The worth of the fight is in doing what's right. ​

♡coded by uxie♡

 

[Impius]

Darwin Lex Pike

Alias

Markus Conway

Gender

Male

Age

32

We all have our reasons.

Darwin Lex Pike let out a hefty sigh of defeat, his eyes staring at the scanner that rested on the desk between them. He rubbed the lower half of his face with his hand and rolled his eyes to the ceiling. He knew he wouldn't win this argument, especially in the heart of her mafia operation. Really, he should consider himself lucky enough to have even been graced to appear before her. Pike was an asshole, not completely stupid. He rubbed both sides of his temple, groaning again.

"You got me beat, Yuri. You want five mil, fine, have it... Just chunk change anyway."

As he said this he slammed. Ahand down heavily onto the scanner, dragging it across the table. The display for his available credits dropped by five million as they transfered over. He would have a word with the women outside the office later.

"If you were hurting that much for some credits, you could have always...." His eyes examined her from head to toe, his eyes narrowed by the end of the second, his tongue held in place by his own instinct of survival. He waved a hand at her as if to say forget it and stood up.

"Let's talk about this evac situation, shall we? As you said before we don't have much time."
​

 

[Mace13]

Endor Ann Davidson Outside Of Yuriye’s Office

Endor looked up from her notepad, scanning over Yuki’s face trying to see if it was a joke evidently she realized the girl was serious. She put the notepad and pencil away, not before writing how the MP didn’t wish anyone to die even to save her own skin. ”Alright, Y, you don’t want me to kill anyone I won’t, but why? Humans are usually so corrupt, especially MPs that they wouldn’t care who dies as long as they live. Though I suppose you and your brother are different than normal considering how you didn’t strive for the jobs where you would be set for life,” Endor remarked, sliding easily into the old nicknames most kids back in High City used.

The scientist wasn’t necessarily popular with the people around her age. She used to mainly converse with the people of higher rankings and influences but on occasion she could be seen talking with a few of those people’s kids. It’s how she worked the Davidson name back up in status after her father died. Given her job most people believe she is loyal to the government even after they find out about her illegal studies.

”Come to think of Y I don’t expect you to know the answer. Sometimes even I don’t know all the answers to my questions, especially when it comes to the human mind. It’s all one big mystery that is yet to be uncovered but until then just use that tiny brain of yours to its full extent! Maybe then we could get more answers!” Endor added, making a point by walking up to the girl and tapping on her forehead where the frontal lobe is located. The scientist smiled, in a creepy way, before going back to the wall and leaning on it again.

This isn’t how Endor acted on a daily basis but seeing as her bosses trapped her in Lockewood Division she couldn’t help but go a little more mad. She was not a typical mad scientist nor was she insane but her implant was a prototype when she received it so when something went wrong with it she had to hack into its software and add things. When it didn’t exactly go her way she lost a little bit of her humanity, but not enough to make her be a human robot, making her focused on learning everything she can about the human mind and emotions to code it back into her life, currently she had coded anger and annoyance back meaning she still needed to get fear and happiness coded. ”I hope I’m not going too mad right now. That would be quite unfortunate seeing as I’d have to do a quick recoding soon to manage my few emotions,” The scientist explained.

 

[Ayama]

Yuriye Ivanov

Title

The Iron Vice

Gender

Cis Female

Age

26

Currently... heading towards the Burrow.

A small smile curled Yuriye's lips when she heard Darwin heave a defeated sigh- she knew she had won. She couldn't deny that seeing him physically suffering at the thought of parting with that much of his money gave her a certain satisfaction.

She rolled her eyes at his exaggerated display, then narrowed them at his insinuations. Luckily, he caught himself before saying anything she would truly make him regret, but she wasn't about to let it slide.

"Let's get one thing straight," she said as she quickly glanced at her credit count to ensure the transfer had gone through. "I'm in charge of this operation- you and your friends are just paying passengers. So," she continued, rising from her chair, left arm coming to rest on the desk and holding her gun in evidence, "you move when I say, where I say, and besides that you keep your mouth shut."

"And anymore of the nicknames or insinuations, Lex, and you'll find yourself wishing you'd never come to me for help in the first place. Got it?"

She then walked around the desk, grabbed her coat from the stand, and stepped confidently out to the other room, where some sort of tension seemed to have developed between the two girls.

Rolling her eyes once more, she stepped forward and glared at them in most intimidating fashion.

"All right, here's what's going to happen now. Your generous benefactor having paid for your passage out of town, you will now follow me to the Burrow. You will not argue, you will not whine, you will not cause me any problems on this trip, or Andrei here will shoot you in the head and leave your corpses for the rats to find."

She smiled menacingly, wanting them to be under no illusions that the threat was real.

"You, MP, stay within range of the jammer at all times," she instructed. "The rest of you, follow me."

And with that, she left the office and made for the dirty streets of Lockewood's back alleys- a maze she could've navigated with her eyes closed. It wouldn't take long before they reached the Burrow and, with Phil's help, started making their way out of this godforsaken city.

The higher the cost, the greater the gain. ​

♡coded by uxie♡

 

[Ayama]

Yukiye Hayashi

Title

The Straight Shooter

Gender

Cis Female

Age

22

Currently... headed for the Burrow.

Yukiye couldn't believe it, but Endor seemed to be genuinely surprised that she didn't want anyone to die. When she then proceeded to thoughtlessly insult her entire profession, the MP bristled with indignation.

When the scientist dared to insult her brainpower, walked up, and tapped her on the forehead like a small child, Yukiye nearly decked her right then and there, just barely restrained by the continued presence of the bald gorilla with the jammer, who apparently couldn't care less what either of them said or did to each other.

When she mentioned something about going mad, the MP started to get genuinely worried, wondering if she might have to reconsider her assessment of Endor as a potential threat. Before she could make any kind of response, however, the mob boss had come back out of her office with her shady associate in tow, looking none too happy- no doubt the payment he'd been forced to make didn't sit well with him.

Fear for her near-future intensifying, she looked between the two and the enforcer apprehensively as the woman declared they were headed for Lockewood's famous black market.

Despite the urgency of the situation, Yukiye couldn't help but feel curious. Who were these people and how did they know each other, and what would be waiting for them in the dark, seedy tunnels of the Burrow?

The worth of the fight is in doing what's right. ​

♡coded by uxie♡

 

[Impius]

Darwin Lex Pike

Alias

Markus Conway

Gender

Male

Age

32

We all have our reasons.

Of course everything that further came out of Yuriye Ivanov's mouth, convinced Pike that his blood was made of molten lead. Never had he felt his ears so hot in his life. There had been few instances, and far in between, where the man was bested. Each time, it had been similar situations. Paying his way out of trouble. That was what excess money was good for, wasn't it? To buy pleasures and the way in. Or out, in this case. He threw up his hands, letting them fall back to his lap with a clap. He really didn't like the idea of handing control of this little operation over to her, but he really didn't have a choice at this point, did he? He had just paid out five million credits, for himself and two women that he knew absolutely nothing about.

Could they even pay him back? If not, then what other ways could he get what was owed from them? His mind wondered through a few options and decided that each one wouldn't be enough of a service or help to him that would equal out to a million. He reminded himself that he knew absolutely nothing about them and decided that he would figure the details out later. For all he knew, Endor could out rank him and everyone in Lockewood. He doubted that, but it was possible.

"You win, I got it. Loud and clear," speaking with his teeth clamped together helped him from saying anything further that would deem him excluded from this little trip. He followed her out the door silently, much like a dog that had just been beaten because it took food off it's masters plate. Despite the heightened tension that had crammed itself in Yuri's office, he could feel the tension of the MP and Endor as well. He glanced down at them, knowing his face sported its famous frown. He made a small unsatisfied grunt after a moment. At least Yuri had sense enough to get over to Phil's to get some gear, especially for Endor who to Pike, looked more like a commoners pharmacist to him.

Now all he had to do was follow the woman he had betrayed over time and time again, literally putting his life and future into her hands.
​

 

[Caffeinated Joy]

LOCK SOLARI

Lock was about to haul Asahina off his feet and swing him around, but his old friend wormed his way out of his grip before he could do so. Hina had always been very much a "no touchy" type of person, and Lock just couldn't help but push that envelope. The assassin laughed and clapped him on the shoulder, genuinely glad to see him. “Not even for an old friend? I’m not asking you to take part, Hina. Just aim me at someone deserving and let me go. Surely there’s someone you’d like to see smeared across the floor?”

Nyx shot him a look and he rolled his eyes, lifting his hands in surrender. “Fiiine.” He emptied his bottle and waved it at a nearby waitress, circling a finger around the three of them to indicate he wanted fresh bottles for each of them. He glanced over at Mittens and her two friends, then back at Asahina, feeling his suspicions grow at hearing Yukiye was here too. To run into Mittens, Hina and Yuki in Lockewood on the very day it was shut down seemed awfully coincidental. Then again, he was awfully paranoid; however, paranoia kept him alive in his line of work. He had just enough of it to keep him on his toes.

“Yuki’s here too?” Suspicious as he was, he looked forward to seeing her again. Between Yuki and her brother, Yuki was definitely the less buttoned up of the two. If Lock had a single credit for each time Hina rolled his eyes at any one of them, he’d never have to touch his trust fund. He began to dance a small shuffling step on the spot, as if unable to stop himself from moving to the music playing around them, and looked around, trying to spot her. “No, darling, I haven’t seen her.” He stopped dancing long enough to grab one of the three bottles brought over to them and took a swallow, watching their waitress walk away with an appreciative gaze. “Ahhh…tastes much better than spray paint.” He quipped, an expression he and Nyx had started using since being made to scrub graffiti off their school wall when they were teenagers.

Nyx laughed, “Not as easy to scrub off as you thought. Honestly, everything tasted of paint and chemicals for days after.”

REAPER

 

[Caffeinated Joy]

NYX SOLARI

Nyx silently watched Lock and Asahina as they greeted one another. It was obvious to her that Lock was feeling tense and uneasy. It was in the way his gaze flickered around, instead of smoothly observing as he usually did, and the taught line of his neck and shoulders. When he began to pester Asahina to find him someone to beat up, she softly cleared her throat to get his attention and give her head a subtle shake and raising a single, dark brow. With him, the more things changed, the more they stayed the same. Meaning he’d done a lot of work curbing his dangerous impulsiveness, but it tended to make the violent side of his nature a lot more so in unpredictable ways.

Most people would think she would resent Lock for putting her in the position of being his personal minder, but she didn’t. Emotionally, they were flip sides of the same coin. She understood his extremes and lack of boundaries. For as long as she remembered, she’d taken on the responsibility of keeping Lock safe from himself. He was energetic, good-natured, and violent. She was too – violent, that is; however, where his was explosive, hers was quiet. It made sense to her that all of his self restraint had to come out somewhere.

She pulled herself from her thoughts and turned her attention back to Lock and Asahina. He was glad to see their old friend, and so was she. Once upon a time, if you saw the Solari twins, the Hayashi siblings weren't too far away. When Asahina mentioned his sister, she joined Lock in looking around for her, feeling a little disappointed to not find her. “Both of you are here? Why did you pick Lockewood, of all places? I’m sure your parents were thrilled. So much for their grand plans for you two.”

She joined Lock in watching the waitress walk away. Both of them had a healthy appreciation for people, and a beautiful person was a beautiful person, regardless of gender. Lock, however, was a lot more vocal in his appreciation. “Nice ass.” She said quietly, than laughed as Lock proclaimed the beer tasted much better than spray paint. “Not as easy to scrub off as you thought.” She said to her brother, then looked at Asahina, “Honestly, everything tasted of paint and chemicals for days after.”

BLACK WIDOW

 

[Ayama]

Asahina Hayashi

Title

The Bloodhound

Gender

Cis Male

Age

26

Currently... at the bar, with Callei and the twins.

If he hadn't already been halfway through the bottle, Asahina definitely would've spilled his beer when Lock clapped him on the shoulder. He gave the man a sardonic sideways glance as he essentially asked him to point him towards someone he could beat to a pulp.

"Not. That kind. Of Cop," he repeated in a clipped tone with that same mixture of amusement and exasperation he used to use with Lock when they were teens. And, just like when they were teens, with one look from his sister the man desisted and ordered another round.

Asahina's brief-lived hope was dashed when his friend brightly enquired about Yukiye.

So, they haven't seen her, he thought, worry spiking again. Yuki, where are you?

At Nyx's question about Lockewood, Asahina shrugged, the customary twinge manifesting at the mention of his parents.

"Let's just say you rubbed off on me in what they would consider to be the worst possible way," he said with a mysterious half-smile and sideways glance at her, his gaze discreetly fixed on her face as hers was on the retreating waitress.

The detective absently took a swig of his new beer, and nearly spit it out when Lock mentioned the taste of paint.

I haven't thought about that in years! he reminisced with helpless laughter- the twins had convinced he and his sister to come along on a 'noble mission' (though really it had been pure vandalism), and the four of them had gotten caught and ended up at the station together.

The twins had been made to scrub the entire wall clean by their parents and the school, and Asahina and Yukiye had been forbidden to associate with them ever again. Which they had done (at least in public).

He could still remember the look in Nyx's eyes when they passed the room she and Lock were in, being led out by their parents- they hadn't lost any of that terrifying depth.

"Well, you know what they say-" he quipped after another sip of his beer, grinning wide, "- you are what you eat."

How pitiful. How predictable. How pointless. ​

♡coded by uxie♡

 

[Ayama]

-Thirteen years ago-​

"Come on Hina- you know what they're doing isn't right!" Nyx folded her arms and frowned slightly as her friend hesitated, unsure.

"I know, Nyx, but we could get in serious trouble for this..." Asahina wavered.

Lock clenched a fist and looked, for a moment, as if he was going to punch the wall, before he seemed to reconsider, slamming it into the palm of his other hand instead. "They've got these people living on the streets, man- you know that's messed up."

"Yeah! We should do something!" Yukiye piped up, under the spell.

"I know, and it isn't that I don't want to help, but our parents..."

"Screw your parents!" the twins erupted in perfect unison.

"Yeah!" Yukiye chimed in again, completely bewitched.

Asahina rolled his eyes at his sister, swept away as usual by the twins' enthusiasm. "I don't know..." he hesitated, biting his lip. It was one thing to go along with them on small-scale rebellions, but what they were proposing now could have serious consequences for all of them.

" 'I don't know' " Lock mimicked mockingly. "Listen, Ass, it's paint. Paint washes off. How long can it take for the four of us to paint 'Empirica Tech uses slave labor' on a wall? We go, we paint, we leave, no one sees. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy, darling."

Nyx shot her brother a reprimanding look at his "I'm annoyed with you" nickname for Asahina, before turning to look at him directly. "Hina, nothing else we do works. No one pays attention to the petitions, or the pamphlets, or the kids shouting in the street. We need to do something people will notice- something big. Something they can't miss. Some of these people have kids, Hina, who are also living on the streets. Think about it."

Asahina hesitated. Lock's taunts hardly ever worked on him but, whenever Nyx looked straight into his eyes and said his name like that, using that voice that somehow sounded much older than any fifteen-year-old should, he would always get uncomfortable- it was difficult to say no when she looked at you like that.

"Hina," she pushed, not breaking eye-contact and knowing she had him. He put up his hands in helpless surrender.

"Okay, okay," he finally relented, hoping he wouldn't end up regretting this. "I'm in."

*****​

Later that night, the four of them crept silently along a wall, identically dressed in black, clutching cans of spray paint to their chests as if protecting baby sparrows.

"I can't wait to see their faces when they get a load of this tomorrow!" Lock declared, grinning wide.

Nyx smirked at her brother's enthusiasm. "This paint has nano filaments in it. As soon as it dries it'll light up like a neon sign. We should be long gone by then, but they'll spot it tonight."

Lock squinted at the label on one of the cans. "No shit, Nyx?" He gave a quiet hiss of laughter, understanding, on some level, the need for silence. "That's awesome! You're a devious genius, you know that?" The corners of his sister's mouth lifted up slightly.

"I know- one of us has to be," she responded with characteristic dry wit.

They slid around the corner to a section of the school wall strategically chosen for its perfect combination of being hidden enough for them to paint on without being spotted, but public enough for the sign to be easily seen when done. They carefully set the cans of paint down, wincing slightly as one of them tipped over and clattered to the ground on its side.

Lock giggled impulsively. "Shhhhhhhhh," he said to the can.

Asahina rolled his eyes again even though he, too, was getting caught up in the excitement of the moment, and a small snort of laughter escaped his lips before he could stop it.

"Try to be serious about this, Lock," he admonished. "If we get caught, it's game over, so let's get this done."

For the next few minutes, only the sounds of shaking and spraying paint cans could be heard as the group focused on their task, Yukiye giggling uncontrollably and egged on by Lock, despite Nyx and Hina's reprimands. The sign done, they stepped back to admire their handiwork.

"Well, this will definitely get their attention," Nyx commented in dry satisfaction. Asahina smiled over at her.

"Yeah, it will. Now let's get out of here before-"

At that moment, a bright spotlight suddenly illuminated the entire group and a gruff, irritated voice barked

"Hold it right there!"

*****​

Everyone froze at the sound of that voice. Asahina and Yukiye shared a panicked, wide-eyed look, while Nyx just closed her eyes and sighed softly, swearing under her breath. They'd been so busy being caught up in the moment and having fun that no one had thought to pay attention to what was going on around them. In all likelihood, someone had seen or heard them at work and decided to called the cops.

Lock pursed his lips, and glanced at the others out of the corner of his eyes. Was Asahina actually raising his hands in surrender? Oh. Hell. No. His parents would freaking ground them both for life if they got caught here like this- there was no disappointment heavier and harder to bear than that of the Hayashi parents. Lock and Nyx would be fine- their parents would be pissed, of course, but not Hayashi-level pissed. They'd be grounded for a few days, be made to pay the few thousand for cleaning, and move on.

He glanced up at their work of art, already drying and starting to glow softly, then at the cans of spray paint lying around him. A slow smile crept across his face and he nodded once. He started to lift his hands, as if copying Asahina, but then suddenly and quickly swept up two cans in each hand, spun around, and let the paint fly. The wall wouldn't be the only thing shining like neon lights in the party center of High Town. He released a loud howl of laughter.

"DOWN WITH CORPORATE GREEEEEEED! FUCK THE SYSTEM! EAT MY SHIIIIIIT AND RUNNNNNNNN LIKE THE DEVIL IS AFTER YOU!" Lock roared under the equal consternation of the cops and Hayashi siblings.

Nyx's jaw dropped and she laughed softly. Glancing at the siblings, she whispered loudly, "Go!" while sweeping up two cans of paint of her own and turning them calmly on whoever was behind them.

Asahina and Yukiye stared at each other for a moment, hesitation in both their features, before Hina grabbed his sister's hand and, feeling as reluctant as she looked, dragged them away from the scene, even as the cops started swearing and trying to get to the twins, who were both fighting back with gusto and clearly enjoying every second of it.

Asahina glanced back once before rounding the corner and, just as he thought they'd made a clean getaway, ran headfirst into another officer arriving at the scene. He staggered back a few steps, letting go of his sister's hand, and slowly looked up into the eyes of a notoriously twisted campus cop who'd caught the twins in wrongdoing a couple times before.

He glanced down at Yukiye, and then his eyes met Hina's and his mouth slowly curled upwards into a twisted, satisfied smile.

"Well, if it isn't Mr and Little Miss Perfect," he purred, the spider to their flies. "Oh, I wonder what your parents will think of this..."

The two siblings shared one anguished, terrified look, and Asahina heaved a soon-to-become-characteristic sigh, even as the sounds of approaching sirens told him there was nowhere else left to run.

*****​

They were separated shortly after arriving at the police station, and left in rooms with a desk and two chairs. It was familiar territory for Lock & Nyx, but not for Asahina or Yukiye. Lock leaned back in his chair and propped his feet up on the table before taking a sip of the soda they'd left him. He didn't feel the slightest bit bad about the "defacement of school property", but he did feel bad that his friends had gotten caught. Who called the cops on them, anyway? They weren't being that loud. Were they?

The door opened and a cop came in, shaking her head at Lock. Her face was definitely familiar, but the name escaped him. He glanced at her tag. Pepper. Ah, that's right, Sergeant Pepper. How could he forget?

"Mr. Solari. I'd say it's good to see you again, but..." she glanced at her data pad, " 'Empirica Tech uses slave labor'? Really?"

Lock shrugged. "Really. They're grabbing the poor from Lockewood and paying them practically nothing. For most of them it's not even enough to pay for housing- how is that legal?"

The cop sighed and sat down. "Have you ever considered...oh, I don't know, a non-violent, non-defacing petition?"

Lock shot her a searing look, not even bothering to grace her with an answer. Sergeant Pepper was not the least bit fazed.

"Doesn't it bother you, knowing you've gotten your friends into serious trouble?" she asked, trying a different tack.

Lock bit the inside of his cheek and looked away. "Fuck you." Sergeant Pepper sighed, shaking her head again.

Nyx, as always, was sitting in her chair, unflappably calm and not saying a word no matter what was said to her. He envied her for that, sometimes- nothing ruffled her feathers. He glanced up at the window as Mr. and Mrs. Hayashi swept past, fury and outrage in their eyes. Well, shit. It was nice knowing you, Hina and Yuki, he thought.

"Your parents will be here soon," the sergeant said softly, "and one of these days, someone is actually going to press charges against you, you know. Maybe you need to think about what you're doing, instead of acting on impulse."

At that moment, as if on cue, the door opened and their mother swept in, followed by their father, both of them looking far angrier than they ever had before.

*****​

Asahina was sitting on a cold, uncomfortable chair, leg nervously twitching as he bit the inside of his mouth. I can't believe I did that, he thought miserably. I can't believe I let Yukiye do that.

He tried to take deep, steadying breaths, counting down the seconds until their parents burst into the room. He knew what they would say: how could he be so irresponsible? How could he let his sister get involved? Was he trying to throw away his future? And what about the family's reputation?

As the sound of irate footsteps clacking on concrete reached their ears, the two siblings glanced at each other, matching trepidation in both their eyes.

When the door opened, their mother was the first to walk in, looking angrier than they'd ever seen her. But it was nothing compared to their father- the absolute silence that accompanied his slow footsteps was deafening, and both siblings quickly looked down at their feet after catching his eye.

"Explain," Tomohiro Hayashi's deep voice rumbled in the empty room. Asahina shifted nervously in his seat.

"Father, I'm sorry- it was my fault. I never should've-"

"Why would you do this?!" their mother suddenly interrupted, shrill with rage. "Do you have any idea what this looks like?" The two teens hung their heads.

"We're sorry," Yukiye said in a small voice. Adriana rounded on her daughter.

"You're 'sorry'? Do you know what we had to pay to get you out of here tonight, how much damage control is needed now?"

"I swear, this will never happen again!" Asahina protested, not knowing what else to say. His mother rounded on him.

"Indeed it won't," she repeated icily, "because you are never to associate with the Solaris again." Asahina bit his lip, holding back a retort about it being unfair- he knew there was no winning this one.

"And I don't ever want to see you disgrace the Hayashi name like this again- is that clear?" their father demanded. The siblings looked at each other, then at him, before turning back to their feet and mumbling in unison.

"Yes, father."

"Good. Let's go home."

*****​

Lock couldn't remember ever seeing his parents looking angrier in his life, even though he and Nyx had arguably both done much worse than this in the past.

Rocket slammed the palm of his hand on the table between them, red with rage "What were you two thinking?!" he demanded, before shaking his head. "No, don't answer that- I really don't want to hear your excuses this time."

"What are you so angry for? All we did was paint a wall! We've done worse!" Lock protested.

"You didn't 'just paint a wall'- you painted police officers for chrissakes!" Athena's voice was exasperated. "Not only that, you got the Hayashis involved! Do you have the slightest idea what this means? They have affiliations with I.U.! And some of my more lucrative contracts come from them- I'm going to have to do a lot of work to keep this mess out of it, Lock! And you, young lady!" she rounded on Nyx. "I expect better from you."

Nyx spoke for the first time. "Better from me? And not Lock? Do you expect me to just let him walk into the fire pit on his own? He'd do much stupider things if I didn't get involved, and you know it."

"Hey," Lock mumbled in a hurt voice.

Rocket took a deep breath. "We know you have good intentions, but good intentions do not excuse bad behavior. It reflects poorly on us, on the friends you involve, and on their parents. When are the both of you going to stop and think about the consequences of your actions?"

Lock narrowed his eyes. "When the I.U. does," he hissed.

The twins glanced up as the Hayashi family walked by. For a moment, the gaze of all four teenagers met, a world of meaning passing in a single look.

"For what it's worth," Lock said softly, "I am sorry Hina and Yuki got caught up in this. We just wanted to paint the sign and go- the rest of it wasn't supposed to happen."

Nyx nodded. "We'd wake up to everyone talking about the neon spray-painted sign. That was the whole goal- to get people talking. We couldn't just not do something impactful." There was a pause, before she turned back to look at her parents again. "We'll pay for the cleaning- all of it."

Rocket snorted. "You're damn right you will. You'll also do the cleaning, and it won't be under the cover of night." He spread his hands wide. "In broad daylight, for everyone to see- the both of you."

Lock opened his mouth to protest, but the look of anger and abject disappointment in their eyes stopped him cold. "Yes, sir," he mumbled dejectedly, pushing his fingers through his black curls and making a silent promise to himself to at least try to be less... impulsively reactive to everything, because this sucked ass. He looked over at Nyx and raised his eyebrows. She nodded, understanding, and tilted her head slightly, as if to say, "I got you."

*****​

As they dejectedly followed their parents out of the room and through the police station, Asahina and Yukiye passed a door where, through the glass pane, they could see the twins- Lock's feet were unceremoniously propped up on the desk as he antagonized their interrogator, while Nyx sat serenely by, imperturbable as always.

The four teens exchanged a meaningful glance as they passed, knowing that things would have to be different now.

As Asahina's eyes held Nyx's for as long as he dared, one thought ran through his mind without him being able to silence it.

They were just trying to right a wrong.

And try as he might, over the next few years as he worked to regain his parents' confidence and trust, that thought and the look in Nyx's eyes stuck with him and, though he might never admit as much to his parents, it was the reason he had been unable to follow the path they'd laid out for him. Because the twins had taught him that, if you saw something wrong, you couldn't just turn away and pretend everything was fine- you had to step into the ring, and try to make it right.

♡design by neon reverie, coded by uxie♡

 

[Megilagor]

Phil Yang

Alias

Golden Jackal

Gender

Male

Age

40

Current location- Burrow

After Asahina gave back the file Phil rose up and put it back in its place, then he went back to his desk to check the recent message he got.
Upon reading it Phil was furious, he quickly picked up the pot of coffee and downed the entire thing grabbed his jacket along with his stuff and went downstairs to the bar.

Not minding anyone there Phil whistled loudly before speaking garnering the attention of his staff and a few of the bar-goers.
"Johnny, Jason, Michael and Freddy go get the wire cutters and I see four of you going for a little payback. Someone touched one of our people and left them nearly dead, thankfully old doc found her and patched her up. You four go find who did it and leave him a nice present would ya? I will send you the location where she was found soon."
As he said so four people came up to Phil, they looked calm up to the point where they received the info, then their faces turned into those of demons for they were filled with pure rage.

"Now go. And do what shall be done. Now I'm sorry to say this to you our dear clientele but you should scatter and go home, don't worry if you haven't payed the bill yet, let's say it's on the house."
Upon hearing what he said in his tone and all of the clientele picked themselves up and began to move towards the exit, some paying some not but that's what happens.

Then he turned towards Bill the main bartender of his establishment, and showed him three fingers, upon seeing it Bill made Phil a drink and set it on the bar.
Phil then walked up and drank it all in one shot, those of you who actually hung around the Burrow know that it's a drink from the secret menu called Abstinence which is ironic considering how much alco goes into making it.

After finishing it he turned around and spoke to the few who remained.
"Asahina, Reaper, Black widow, the three little kittens. You can stay, one way or another you are a part of this family whether you like it or not. Ahh, the only thing that could make this day worse for me is if an MP came in or the little dragon came to make another deal."
Said Phil while he sat down on of the many bar stools while rubbing his temples.

A life without living was simply a death without dying. ​

♡coded by uxie♡

 

[Ayama]

Yuriye Ivanov

Title

The Iron Vice

Gender

Cis Female

Age

26

Currently... at the Burrow, with everyone.

Yuriye was surprised at the uneventfulness of the trip to the Burrow. She had expected Pike to start ranting and raging and intimidating his two passengers the second they were out of her building, but he seemed to be sulking instead. Yuriye hoped he wouldn't have one of his usual 'happening-at-the-worst-possible-moment' outbursts as a result.

After arriving at the concealed entrance, saying the password, and being let in, Yuriye observed the unnatural silence in the Burrow's tunnels with a certain amount of trepidation.

Don't tell me Phil has already left... she thought, worried.

When they got to the larger open plaza that usually included many open stalls tended by very vocal vendors, she saw that even these seemed to have been emptied. The only people still around were standing or sitting by the bar. She spotted Phil's blond mane among them and stepped forward with a sigh of relief.

"Looking a little dead around here," she commented as she walked up. Phil's head swung around in surprise as she quickly glanced at the other patrons, which included a colorful trio with cat-ear implants; she recognized one of them as a famous ex-HC vidstar.

The other patrons included the dark-haired twin assassins she'd hired once before to scare an ill-prepared, would-be competitor of hers, and the long-haired Lockewood homicide detective she dealt with on a semi-regular basis.

Focused on the task at hand, she walked straight up to Phil, making sure to maintain eye contact.

"Listen, I know the last thing you want to see here right now is an MP, but trust me- there's a good reason she's here. We need to get out of the city; I'm here for weapons, clothes, and a scrambler. I can get you 1mil up front."

She watched the black marketeer for a reaction- they'd never before done trade in credit amounts exceeding 500k, and she hoped the sum would be sufficient to overcome his natural reticence.

The higher the cost, the greater the gain. ​

♡coded by uxie♡

 

[Mace13]

Endor Ann Davidson At the Burrow

Endor had been verbally silent during the trip to the Burrow, but her brain was a mess even with the implant. She was taking in all of her surroundings, adding alleyways and roads to her small mental map. The scientist felt the tension between the group, especially the one she created with Yukiye. Upon hearing the password leaving the crime boss’s mouth she began to memorize it.

What have I gotten myself into today, she thought, suddenly wondering how a small trip to collect rat samples turned into an escape.

Clearing the thought from her head, stepping inside the tunnels, she quickly followed the others. Endor watched the face of the criminal, trying to decipher her thoughts as she looked around the empty place. When they entered the bar the scientist looked at the others there. She saw a blonde man at the bar, three people with cat features for implants, two dark haired people one male and one female who look like they could be related, and someone that seemed to look a lot like Yukiye’s older brother.

Just my luck I get to see both Hayashi siblings today, she thought, not quite wanting to associate people who tossed aside perfect jobs just to annoy their parents.

”Well if that’s who I think it is, it seems to me you’ll be stuck with your dear older brother. Lovely reunion,” Endor whispered in Yuki’s ear, gesturing to the girl’s brother. The scientist took a step back, wanting to observe the interaction between the siblings, so she could document it on her notepad.

 

[Megilagor]

Phil Yang

Alias

Golden Jackal

Gender

Male

Age

40

Current location- Burrow Bar

"Oh it might look dead to you, but I will tell ya' this someone today will rest in a bed hidden five feet away. So what brings you here little dragon, or should I call you the Iron Vice now."
Said Phil with a dry chuckle before turning himself towards her still sitting on his stool.

Looking at Yuriye's face Phil could easily tell she meant business and not one of the rare drinking sessions they shared sometimes.
'Like I'm in the mood for a deal, Yuri.' He thought but then he heard a few magic words from her which made him feel uneasy.

So he stood up from his resting place, walked up towards her while getting his hands in position to quickly access his knives, and then he stood in front of her a bit taller than her so he looked down and spoke.
"Ya' just had to pick the worst hecking day to bring a goddamn MP into my place. Do tell me why should I not have our little MP smell roses from down under? Pike I can somewhat understand since you two have a relation even if it's more complicated than the Collatz Conjecture. Hell, I even understand the little brainiac over there since she sometimes sells stuff to me. And you Yuri, you know the reason why I trust you, but I don't trust the MP, especially if I don't know everything about them."
Phil then walked past Yuri towards the MP, and he stood there, staring down at her, before speaking.

"Even if we assume I will trust a damn MP to even be here why should I help them cross? Hmm the only one vouching for her is you, Yuri, that's not enough."
After his little show, he returned to his stool where he sat down, Phil picked up a new glass of his drink and swirled it around before speaking again.

"1 Mil won't be enough you know it, you want fresh unmarked weapons, decent clothes probably bulletproof if not over-proofed, and a scrambler, I presume for the MP, that would need to be high duty scrambler, but the handheld ones are quite heavy but yet cheap, or do you want the implant one, they are more expensive but way lighter, but bad news for ya' our doc is currently having his hands filled with patching up one of ours, so either your escapade is delayed, or I or Brainiac over there does the implant procedure. So make it 1.5 Mil at least or offer me something that will bridge that gap of half a mil. Then you got yourself a deal. But do know the MP will be on my kill list if even a tiny screw-up happens in your escape, I treasure you in a way, but don't get it wrong it's a familiar type of treasuring."
Finishing his speech Phil drank from his glass and awaited some kind of interference or reactions from others, being still clearly pissed from what happened earlier and this only added the olive to the fire of his ire.

A life without living was simply a death without dying. ​

♡coded by uxie♡

 

[Ayama]

Yuriye Ivanov

Title

The Iron Vice

Gender

Cis Female

Age

26

Currently... at the Burrow, with everyone.

When Phil marched up to her in unusually intimidating fashion, her mechanical left fist clenched reflexively.

Maybe I should've had the damn MP wait outside, she thought. He must already be on edge with what's happened today, and this seems to have set him off.

When Phil refocused his attention on the MP instead of her, demanding that someone vouch for her, Yuriye looked over at the long-haired detective, raising a single expectant eyebrow.

I didn't fail to hear Endor's comment, Hayashi, she thought. You'd better speak up for your sister before the Jackal makes mincemeat out of her.

When he sat back down and started negotiating, Yuriye let out a breath.

Good, back on familiar ground.

The increase to 1.5mil was a reasonable one to make- especially under the circumstances. She gave a small smile and a quick nod.

"Done. We need the scrambler for a direct hack- it'll be too inconvenient otherwise. Outfitted with clothes and weapons, and a go plan and full evacuating list- I assume those still here will be coming along?" she asked as she reached for the scanner behind the bar with familiar ease and transferred the required sum.

The higher the cost, the greater the gain. ​

♡coded by uxie♡