TBD (Ampersand & GinjaGen)

[Ampersand]

"Fine, keep the damn chip, but that's our only ticket outta here, so you better not lose it," Quinn warned as he flicked his Digidex online, "As for this thing, it's a blank, a John Doe, no ID, nothing to track. Just one of the many tricks of the trade. We'll have Rudii fix yours too."


"How likely is Rudii to screw us over?"


"Rudii? Ha, I doubt it, an old guy like him. We go way back, plus, he hates Duncan. Rudii would take it to his grave before helping him," Quinn assured, fussing with the Digidex until his wanted poster appeared on the display. "Yep, just as I thought. Duncan's nothing if not predictable," he noted. Ayala and Kader's posters were on there too, but he made no mention of it, figuring they were well aware.


The cab stopped in front of a long row of buildings leading into narrow alleyways of shops. "Tech District, Electronics Bazaar. The fare is 5 credits," said the robot driver in a digitized tone. Quinn paid using his Digidex, transferring over the credits. Nearly all modern currency was digital, using credits that each contain a unique digital hash key. They transfer directly from device to device. Anonymous, untraceable, and impossible to counterfeit.


"Rudii's shop is just down the alley. Hey, give me a hand with him," said Quinn, as he struggled to get Lodo out of the cab.

**********************************************************

​

'Rudii's Electronics Emporium' read the neon sign above the shop. Behind the storefront glass lie a plethora of odd items; various Digidexes, rare ship components, a couple droids, and even vacuum cleaners--the hovering anti-grav model was a bestseller. The door chimed as they opened it and walked inside.


It took a moment for their eyes to adjust to the dim blue lighting illuminating the collection of items for sale among the racks. The air was stale and had the peculiar smell of lavender mixed with old carpet. From the back came a familiar voice, "I thought you'd be dropping by sooner or later." Behind the counter, a small man in his sixties sat over a circuit board, carefully soldiering wires to it. He was human, and distinctly of Asian descent. "You've gotten yourself into some trouble, I see," said Rudii, looking up from his work, "Oh, and you've brought friends. Are they in trouble too? Nice to meet you, I'm Rudii." He removed his glove and extended a hand to Ayala and Kader.

 

[GinjaGen]

Ayala took his hand and shook it, smiling. "Anne. And this is my younger brother Kyle." She said with not even the slightest hint that she might be making the name up. Kader didn't react either. He was used to the "younger brother" shtick at this point, and Ayala's crazy split second decisions, so he could and would go along with it. Sure it was a long shot that she could get away with pretending to be someone else, especially since the planet's information system was plastered with her and Kader's faces, with Quinn's now joining theirs as well. Sure Kader had covered his alien features, but Rudii was obviously not a stupid guy. The facts were that there was a high likelihood that he knew exactly who they were. They way Ayala saw it, best case, Rudii would play along with her charade in an almost don't ask don't tell sort of way, would fix them up with a ship off the planet, and go on with his life. Worst case he would secretly call Duncan's men. Ayala really hoped for the first option.

 

[Ampersand]

"Welcome to my shop! I'd offer you a tour, but something tells me you're all in a hurry," said Rudii, crossing his arms, "So, what is it this time Quinn?"


"It's Duncan. Was on this job that went to hell; wrong place, wrong time, you've heard the story. We have to lay low for a while, get off world. Also, can you take a look at Lodo?," Quinn asked, pulling up Lodo into a nearby chair.


"You know my work isn't free Quinn," Rudii informed, with a doubtful face, "and you still owe me from last time."


"Right, about that. I have something you might be interested in. Show him." Quinn motioned to Ayala.

 

[GinjaGen]

Ayala met eyes with Kader, who nodded. Underneath his robes, he had his hand on his sidearm, in case Rudii or Quinn tried something, or Duncan's men jumped out of who knows where. He was willing to play along with Ayala's hair-brained 'younger brother' idea for the time being, but if it came down to it, he wanted to die as himself, not 'Kyle.' As he waited for the transaction to take place, it suddenly occured to him that they might have just been able to bribe Rudii with some of the credits they had stolen into not talking about them, or helping them, and skipped this whole dangerous interaction. Too late now.


Ayala reached into her pocket and removed the chip, balancing it in her palm as she held it out for Rudii to see. She was watching him, as well as Quinn, very carefully, knowing Kader had her back as he always did. She wouldn't let Rudii take it until Quinn gave her the signal that it was ok for her to do so. In a way she hated taking orders from anyone, especially from someone that she had just met. The fact that besides being an apparent criminal, something that she most definitely could not judge him for, he had so far been pretty good with them made her feel a little bit better about their whole situation. The fact that he was arguably good looking also helped. "This worth the cost, right?"

 

[Ampersand]

Rudii's face lit up at the sight of the chip. "A nav chip? From a human ship? You've got my attention. Ok, let's see what on it," said Rudii.


Quinn looked to Ayala and nodded.

 

[GinjaGen]

Ayala nodded back at Quinn and handed Rudii the chip, keeping a close eye on him as she did. She stepped back after she handed it to him, crossing her arms and leaning against the wall behind her. While it didn't seem like the best position to be standing in, as it was, she had easy access to her weapons should she need them, or she would have if she wasn't wearing the infernal desert get-up. She made a mental note to ditch the costume as soon as possible. She missed being able to see her boots.


Then she heard Rudii's comment. She frowned. "Human, you say?" She glanced at Quinn. He hadn't mentioned it being human. That made everything much more interesting. She could see Kader's interest as well, though he hid it much better than her. That might have also been because Ayala actually was human, so she was instantly much more interested in what could possibly be held on the chip.

 

[Ampersand]

"It's Terran alright, well, if it's not a forgery anyway," said Rudii, holding the chip to the light with a look of doubt, "Don't see much Terran stuff these days. Where'd you say you found it?"


"I didn't," Quinn said with a grin, "Does the name Borealis ring a bell?"


"The Borealis? Is that what you're talking about?," Rudii sighed, "Don't tell me someone suckered you into buying this Quinn. First it's the 'authentic Kotek mystic scrolls', then it's '100% genuine Zepherian wind crystals'. When will you stop chasing treasure that doesn't exist? These things are myths. Legends. They make good stories for children...and fools."


"Skip the lecture Rudii, I betchya fifty credits it's real, now just check it already."


"Alright, suit yourself. Always were one to learn a lesson the hard way," said Rudii, as he locked the shop door and turned his store sign to 'CLOSED'. "Follow me."


Down dusty steps at the end of a draped hallway lay an organ-sized apparatus that looked nearly as ancient as the chip itself. Rudii pulled off the sheets that covered it and flipped a breaker on the wall. The orange tube display flickered to life and it began booting up with a series of hard drive clicks and chirps.


"Let's have a look-see." Rudii sat down in the worn leather swivel chair, inserted the chip into an illuminated slot, and hit a few buttons on the pull-out keyboard console. After a moment of scanning a series of *ERROR* warnings scrolled down the screen. Rudii, swiveled the chair back around to Quinn.


"See, it's borked. Probably some cheap knockoff they sold you, the scanner can't even read the damn thing. Nav chips are forged all the time, especially old tech like this. They stamp 'em out by the lot and sell them all around these parts, sometimes they're even good enough to fool me. Sure, real ones are worth a lot with all those years of collected nav data on them, but you can't just go around these markets buying chips...."


While Rudii talked, all the others could do is stare at the computer display behind him, wide eyed...


*ERROR*


*ERROR*


*ERROR*


*ERROR*


*ERROR*


*ERROR*


*ERROR*


*ERROR MEMORY BUFFER FULL*


*WRITING TO DISK*


...


...


*DRIVE_01 FULL*


...


...


*DRIVE_02 FULL*


...


...


*DRIVE_03 FULL*


*ERROR ALL DISKS FULL*


*SCAN INCOMPLETE*


*27.4 TERAQUADS PROCESSED SUCCESSFULLY*


*DISPLAYING NAVIGATION DATA*


"...from the first guy who claims they've found the lost city of Atlantis," Rudii paused, seeing their mouths agape, "Are you kids alright?", before he turned back around to the screen.

 

[GinjaGen]

Ayala felt her jaw drop. Behind Rudii was a map... or something. Ayala wasn't quite sure what it was. Whatever it was, it was, it was corrupted, or maybe Rudii's processor simply didn't have the memory or drivers to run such an old and possibly gigantic program. Ayala didn't know, she was not a computer person. That was Kader's department. She snuck a glance in his direction to check on his awed and somewhat excited face. He loved experimenting with software, especially old software.


And this was obviously quite old. Ayala could tell because of the ancient Terran that appeared every now and then. For a moment, she forgot that she was a wanted criminal and thought about how much she would have liked to take the time to sit down and translate the document into Empire Common, using the Terran she had learned from her mother.


Kader, on the other hand, wanted to shove Rudii out of the way and play around with the code. You could learn a lot of information that you might otherwise not be able to find from the code. You could learn about who wrote it, how they thought, and all kinds of information. Kader didn't know that it's origins were especially relevant to the three other people in the room, nor would he have particularly cared had he known.

 

[Ampersand]

"Oh my..." Rudii froze in amazement for a moment as the display rapidly cycled through maps and data graphs. "This... this is incredible," he stuttered, "Must be hundreds 'a years of navigational charts in here. Could be thousands, just look at 'em all! Can't even fit it into the scanner memory. Where did you find this?!"


"In an old ship out in the desert. Lodo and I..."


"The desert?," Rudii exclaimed, eyes still glued to the screen, "You found it here, on Var'sarr?! How is that possible?!!"


"Maybe the stories are true."


"It's unbelievable, but look at it, it's all right here," said Rudii, pointing to the maps. "Look, there's New Eden, the Terran colony network! And here, that's the Vivarian outer expanse...sans a kilocycle of interstellar drift. But these," he tapped the screen, "I don't even recognize 'em. According to the data here they're located on the other side of the galaxy...but that's impossible! A ship would have to travel faster than...anything."


Rudii was interrupted by a banging sound upstairs, followed by the sharp crunch of breaking polyglass as metallic footsteps walked across the floor above them. A booming voice called out, recognized by anyone in Oasis. "We've come for your friends old man! And a certain piece of old Terran hardware," said Vrath. "You two should've known better than to leave that ship in the desert for us to find! Well, what are you waiting for? SEARCH FOR THEM!"


"Shit, Duncan knows already?! And he sent Vrath!," Quinn squeaked, as soldiers trotted across between rooms upstairs.


"Quinn, we've got to get the rest of that data off the chip and away from Duncan. You two have to stall him for as long as you can. Leave the robot."

 

[GinjaGen]

Ayala's face paled. "The wraith?!" She hissed, glanceing at Kader, who was equally pale and now fully armed. Her hand was also instantly on her weapon, not that it would do much good. She'd interacted with Vrath before, and even a seemingly fatal wound didn't necessarily spell death for him. This was not good, especially because he was searching for them, Quinn, and the Terran technology. Them all being in the same place was not a good thing. This wasn't going to go well, for any of them unless they came up with a viable plan. Ayala did not have one of those. All she knew was she had to get herself and Kader out of there.


Then she glanced at the Terran tech again, and guilt as well as longing built up in her chest. She had been raised among a variety of species on a space station a long way away from earth. However, all humans had heard the stories of Earth, and how it had been stolen, causing the humans to be either evicted or enslaved. The stories of the Borealis varied, but they usually involved the return of the human race. Ayala couldn't help but want to be apart of that, to 'save' the humans. She mentally laughed at herself. She knew she was no hero. But still, the desire was there.


Kader didn't understand the human-related need. All he knew was they had to get out of there. With a nod at Ayala, both of them began throwing off the disguises, knowing they could move faster and fight better without the hindrance of the bulky robes.Plus, Vrath knew they were there, so the disguises were not goo anymore. It was good to feel his fur out in the open. It was also the first time Ayala had been free of the robe in quite some time, probably the first time since they arrived on this planet.


Her long black ponytail, with just the ends bleached a light brown, flopped over her shoulder as she pulled the headscarf down off of her head and down around her neck. Under the robe she had wore a simple tan button-up shirt, undershirt and khaki cargo pants. Her clothing was torn and frayed from use, and her pockets obviously carried many objects. Her utility belt, holding her weapons was clearly visible now, as were her combat boots. It was definitely not the sexiest outfit Ayala had ever worn, but she could move in it. She preferred clothing that was useful in keeping her alive over looking attractive.


Speaking of life, they needed a real plan.

 

[Ampersand]

Quinn caught himself staring at Ayala after her transformation until the banging at the stairwell door snapped him out of it. "Right! Gotta stall 'em! Uh..." He looked around the cluttered basement, searching for inspiration. It didn't take long for him to find it in the form of a large metal pipe. "That'll have to do. Ok, you two draw their attention and I'll spring 'em when they come through the door!"


Quinn turned around to see Rudii plugging cables into Lodo. "Rudii, you got five minutes, tops. You better be outta here by then. Alright, let's do this!," he said as he positioned himself near the door and waited for it to break.

 

[GinjaGen]

"Woah woah woah! I am not going to distract him so you can make a break for it!" Kader yelled as quietly as he could, not trusting Quinn or the plan in the least. Ayala rolled her eyes, and grabbed him, waving to Quinn. "Distraction, got it."


Against every lesson on survival she had ever learned, Ayala practically sauntered over to stand in front of the door, setting Kader down. Then she looked around, trying to think of a distraction. Then a light clicked on in her eyes and grabbed three pairs of soldering goggles, one of which she tossed to Quinn. "Put those on."


She put a pair on herself, then turned to Kader who was examining his own pair. "Get to the side as well, and get your weapons ready...." She said. He frowned. As much as he didn't want to be a distraction, he didn't want her to be one by herself more. She was the closest thing he had to family anymore, and he really didn't want to lose her. She simply patted a pack on her belt in response. His eyes widened and then he grinned and nodded, knowing what was in that pocket. "You better not get shot." He said, finally walking over to the side, and taking up a position that he could defend and attack from without hitting her or Quinn.


Ayala took a deep breath, and prepared herself by pulling two objects out of her belt pack. They were simple harmless antique flash grenades she had nicked from someone a while ago, but at least they would be a distraction, maybe the distraction Quinn needed. Her hope was that they would work, and that because they were super old, their attackers wouldn't know what they were. Her hand was shaking, as was to be expected from a situation in which she quite possibly could be killed. She'd run from things for her whole life, and had no problem. She'd stolen and cheated and done plenty of bad things. But she wasn't running now. She was doing something right for a change, defending something that could help the human race as a whole. Was it worth it? That was a question for after they made it out of this.


The door finally gave, crashing down onto the floor. Ayala looked up and grinned at the figure in the doorway. "What took you so long?" Then she popped the flares and threw them at the doorway. They exploded instantly into bright, loud and smokey flashes. She then proceeded to dive to the side before something could be shot at her, praying this would work.

 

[Ampersand]

The unfortunate goon to receive the lion's share of the blast was a Killix, with dilated eyes the size of fists. It doubled over to the floor, grasping its face in agony. Its fellow compatriot had escaped unharmed, until Quinn fixed that with a swift iron pipe uppercut. Well, that was easy, Quinn thought, until he noticed the distinctive ringed barrel of a microwave rifle pointed down the corridor. A moment later the blast tore towards him, igniting a hundred circuit boards on the shelves in a shower of fiery sparks, blowing Quinn backwards down the staircase into a stack of wooden crates.


"You idiots! I said storm the shop, not light it on fire!," Vrath boomed, through a tornado of smoke and flame that spewed forth from the stairwell door.


Quinn climbed off the broken crates with freshly singed eyebrows. "Dammit, these take forever to grow back! ... Uh...fire? FIRE! Shit, this place is going up! Rudii, you got a back door?!" Rudii was typing furiously on the console, his mind in another world. "RUDII! Snap out of it! How do we get outta here?"


"Oh, yes, corner of the basement, behind those shelves," said Rudii as he fidgeted with Lodo's circuitry, "There's an access crawlway that'll lead you out through the maintenance tunnels under the bazaar."


"Good. Hey, help me move this junk in the way!," Quinn yelled to Ayala and Kader, tossing down his pipe.

 

[GinjaGen]

Ayala, in a different situation, would have laughed at Quinn's comment about singed eyebrows, having experienced that plenty of times herself. However, as it was, the situation wasn't right for laughter, partially because of the thick smoke now filling the room, and partially because people were trying to kill them.


Kader was coughing and sneezing from behind his hiding place, his nose much too sensitive to deal with whatever toxic stances was burning in the enclosed area. Luckily his ears worked fine. When he heard Rudii describing an exit, he stumbled over to assist Quinn, finding Ayala already there, bracing against a particularly large metallic object of some type. He started shoving things as well, keeping his eyes on the doorway, waiting for someone to come down and shoot them. To be honest he was suprised Ayala's distraction had worked so well. However, the effects were quickly dissipating, though the now raging fire was technically on their side.

 

[Ampersand]

Thick smoke billowed from the hallway, fueled by age-old electronics. The fury of flames would keep Duncan's henchman at bay for now, but Quinn guessed they'd already be looking for other exists to prevent their escape. It's what he would do.


With a strong heave a rack of parts fell to its side with a crash, revealing a short metal grate. "Looks like that's our exit," said Quinn removing the mesh guard and peering inside, "Rudii, how much longer?!"


"Minutes! I just need a few more minutes!," he replied, furiously typing on the computer console.


"Goddammit. Ok, I'm gonna follow them to the exit and make sure it's clear, then come back to get you and Lodo. In two minutes I'm yanking you outta here no matter what! Ayala, Kader, let's go!" Quinn punched a button on the Digidex and its built-in flashlight lamps illuminated the passageway as he crawled in. Behind them, the room was quickly filling with smoke as the polyfill flooring above them started to melt from the heat upstairs.

 

[GinjaGen]

Kader was out of the room and inside of the tunnel before Ayala could confirm that she could hear Quinn and had understood his plan. Kader's nose was quite sensitive, and to be honest, he kind of blamed Quinn for all of this. He hadn't wanted to save him, he hadn't wanted to go with him to the city and he hadn't wanted to come to this damn store. Now here they were, barely able to breath, shuffling through a tunnel hoping they could get away from the infamous Vrath who was not looking for one or two but every single one of them. And they were all conveniently in the same place for Vrath to pick off.


This is what we all get for going along with the stranger. He thought bitterly as he scampered down the tunnel after Quinn, only stopping once in a while to make sure Ayala was still following.


Ayala knew she shouldn't be enjoying herself as much as she was, and on one hand, she was having a terrible time. Part of her arm was hurting, the deep sharp stinging pain that indicated she'd probably burned it. But at the same time, she'd always loved excitement. And good God there was excitement right now. Oddly enough, the only thing she was really regretting was the fact that the tunnel was so dark. She hadn't really had the chance to look Quinn over from behind.


Soon, the smell of smoke had lessened. Kader was the first to smell the beautiful scent of fresh air from somewhere up ahead. That made him only crawl faster. The sooner he was out of this hell hole, the sooner he could get away from Quinn and this planet and the sooner their life could go back to normal. Screw the Terran treasure or whatever it was.


Unfortunately for Kader, Ayala had already decided she was going to go after it, and despite what he sometimes said, Kader would never leave her.


He bumped into Quinn, having abscent mindedly sped up even more. He had the easiest time moving around in the small space, being at least half of Ayala and less than half of Quinn.


"Keep moving!" He hissed, then coughed, a high pitched embarrassingly adorable noise.

 

[Ampersand]

A light appeared through the crevasse of a gate at the end of the tunnel. "This must be it," Quinn said, pushing the doors open. For a moment, he had to guard his eyes from the blinding bright daylight. As they adjusted, the silhouettes of five armed figures appeared.


"Lookie what we have here, los tres amigos. Duncan's none so happy with you bunch," Vrath joked, motioning with his pistol for them to come out, "Alright, drop 'em, nice and slow now." Quinn dropped his pipe and the others followed suit. "Good, now where's the chip?," asked Vrath.


"I don't have it, it's inside with Rudii. I need to go get him. Now," said Quinn.


"Idiot, you left a memory chip of untold value in a burning building?," Vrath said, turning to his goons, "You and you, go inside and get the old man and the chip. You two, search them in case he's lying!"


The goons pocketed their weapons off the ground and frisked the trio as Vrath held a lone pistol. After a moment, one of them looked up at their leader, "It's not here boss."


"Like I said, Rudii has it," Quinn insisted, with a frustrated tone.


"Don't fuss, you'll all be reunited in a minute," Vrath growled in his deep voice, "Then we'll sort this little issue out with Duncan."


A minute passed, and then another. Something had gone wrong--Quinn could tell by Vrath's eyes that he was thinking the same thing. Not a moment later smoke poured out behind them from the passage as the shop collapsed in on itself in a crash of polyglass and tearing metal, consumed in flames.

 

[GinjaGen]

As the light actually appeared in front of them Kader gasped with shock and happiness. He was practically bouncing out of the tunnel, at least until he noted the group closed around them, smug smiles on their faces.


Ayala, the last one, had thought she had heard a strange noise behind them, and had been peering warily into the dark. Had someone followed them? After a moment Ayala figured she was simply hearing things related to the building burning down behind them. It wasn't until she ran directly into Kader and Quinn that she realized that she should have been looking forward and not behind them.


She glanced around at the goons, "Crap."


She carefully laid her weapons on the ground, looking at them longingly. Had it just been the five guys, she figured the three of them could have taken them. However, she knew that messing with Vrath was not an option. She'd learned that lesson the hard way, and was lucky it hadn't been the last lesson she would ever learn.


She stayed mostly silent as Quinn exchanged frustrated words with Vrath.


"Idiot, you left a memory chip of untold value in a burning building?"


"If you'd waited like ten minutes before busting in the door, the building might not be on fire." She muttered under her breath.


She then made sure she sent the goon who frisked her a piercing glare, and apparently it was severe enough that he paused for a moment. However, his fear of Vrath was much greater than any pain she could inflict on him, and he also knew she was pretty damn scared of him too. So he finished searching her, of course turning up nothing.


"It's not here boss." A goon reported. Ayala slowly and enthusiastically rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. It might have looked like she was simply being defiant. but with the roll of her eyes, she subtly got a look at the area around them. She assessed the streets and buildings, trying to judge whether or not it would make sense if they would try to get away.


She didn't have time to think of a plan, however, because with snapping, popping, and crashing the shop they had only just left crashed to the ground in a plume of smoke.


Ayala stared. "Double crap."

 

[Ampersand]

Quinn's heart sank as he witnessed the destruction of the shop. Rudii was no father to him, but he was the closest Quinn ever got to having someone to look up to. And Lodo, while not quite a friend in the normal sense, was a loyal companion. More of a pet...that spoke. What mattered is that Quinn trusted them, and that was a rare.


"Alright, come on, let's go. Into the hold, the lot of ya," Vrath said angrily as the goons ushered the trio into the back compartment of a cargo craft, "Duncan's not gonna be happy about this." The door shut with a *CLUNK*, sealing them in a cozy metal bin. Quite clean, and empty. Just as Quinn was about to get clever, there was a hissing of gas, followed by immediate dizziness.


"They're depressurizing the hold, just enough to knock us out," Quinn guessed, as his ears popped, "I'm sorry I got you two into this." He was already starting to feel lightheaded enough to take a knee--it was like breathing at high altitude; the effects of oxygen deprivation were almost immediate.

 

[GinjaGen]

Ayala saw the look on Quinn's face and felt for him, the destruction of the space station... her space station... flashing briefly through her mind before the goon behind her shoved her forward. She stopped and turned, giving the particular goon, coincidentally the once she had had the pleasure of glaring at before, another piercing look. Feeling satisfied as she watched his purple face take on a greenish tinge, she turned back and continued forward on her own into the cargo craft.


Kader, on the other hand, was tossed in like a sack of potatoes, hitting the floor of their temporary jail with a clunk before immediately jumping up and smashing on the door, yelling a number of quite inventive profanities.


The moment Ayala heard the hiss, she knew they were in trouble. Quinn spoke the words she hadn't wanted to think were true, though they were all thinking them. Or at least Ayala and Quinn were thinking them, Kader appeared to be too busy being angry to pay attention to their new predicament.


Ayala swayed, feeling the effects already, and sat down hard.


Hearing Quinn's apology, Ayala experienced one of the few moments of guilt in her life. "Don't worry. It's not your-"


"No." Kader snapped, interrupting Ayala, turning suddenly from his fruitless attack on the door. "You should be sorry... you... you... stupidhuuum...humm-man" Kader attempted to declare angrily before falling with a thump to the ground.


Despite herself, Ayala couldn't suppress a light headed chuckle. Feeling the unusual need to explain, and despite the heaviness of her eyelids, she shrugged at Quinn with a small smile on her face. "Tiny... little lungs."


Her face then became serious as she tried once again to console Quinn before she passed out.


"It's not your fault..." She struggled to remain conscious. "He's looking... for us ...too."


Then, wanting to relay the appreciation and importance of her next and potentially final statement, she gathered herself mentally and grinned at Quinn. "And you didn't screw us over!"


thump

 

[Ampersand]

The Palace was a fitting name for a crime lord's home. It was a multi-story mansion in the center of an expansive estate, complete with gardens, rubo courts, two pools, and private security. Duncan sat at his throne, softly fanned by two scantly dressed girls in go-go outfits. His outer shell sunk deeply into the cushioned velvet chair.


"Wake the girl," he commanded in his nasally voice. "Just her. I want to see what she has to say."


Vrath walked up to Ayala and injected a stimulant. After a moment she began to stir.


"So, little miss, you and I both know why you're here," Duncan said, pulling a grape from a bowl of fruit. "It's fortunate for you that you might have gained some valuable knowledge recently--knowledge I intend to obtain. If not for this, we wouldn't be having this talk right now. To the point, I was going to make an example of you, but you're in the unique position to free yourself of that unfortunate fate. You see, we found the ship in the desert. There wasn't much left, mind you, but enough to discover its origins. Of course, we searched the wreck thoroughly and it became apparent that someone had removed the navigational chip. That data is worth quite a bit. In fact, it's exactly as much as it will take for me to...disregard our previous misunderstandings. So, that being said, where is it?"

 

[GinjaGen]

Ayala had been having a terrible dream.


The pair of thrives had been going along, business as usual when they had suddenly been caught. They had retreated into the desert, only to almost be killed by a ship falling from the sky carrying a strapping and quite attractive young man and a broken robot. They had helped the man bring the robot, and some ancient data card, to some shady but surprisingly cordial man who attempted to fix the robot. Then the bad guys trying to find the pair - and apparently their new companions as well - found them. They were captured, and-


Ayala felt a sharp pinch as she was injected, quickly pulling her out of the dream/not dream experience she was going through.


Groggily she looked around, then sighed realizing the unfortunate reality of her dream/current situation.


"Damn."


Ayala tried to look around as Duncan began his attempt to convince her to give up the chip. She tried to see if there was any way out of this, any way to get away. Unfortunately, her former employer knew of her knack for escape, and had done a fantastic job making any attempt at freedom all but impossible.


This forced her to actually listen to what the ugly being in front of her was saying.


"...so, where is it?"


Ayala knew she was in trouble, and probably about to die, but she couldn't help but twist her face into a mock puzzled expression, as if she was straining to think of the answer to a tough question. "Hmmm... Let me think..."


"Ah!" She said, as if a spark plug had exploded in her brain, bringing with it the answer, "I remember! Your idiotic lackey let it burn up in the shop!" She, despite her relatively altered state managed to shoot Vrath a smug yet withering look look before continuing, "so, as much as I'd like to doom any chance of survival for what's left of the human race, and spare the lives of myself, my friend and this guy I just met... I don't have it, and most likely its destroyed."


Then she paused. She needed a bargaining chip, and a thought had occurred to her. "But... If your interested in finding whatever was on the map... We may or may not have seen it, and Kader may or may not have a great memory, and I may or may not have translated a bit of it... And together with this guy" she motioned at Quinn, " we may or may not be able to lead you in the right direction." It was only a partial lie, but she was a good liar, and didn't particularly want to die.


She hoped that would be enough to peak his interest. She held her breath and kept her face even.

 

[Ampersand]

"So it did burn up then. If that's true, then it's...disappointing." Duncan noted, glancing over to Vrath with a piecing gaze that made Vrath wince. "Though, if you're telling the truth about seeing the data on it, then not all may be lost. You three may still be of use after all."


Duncan rose from his throne and walked down the few steps to where Ayala and the other lied.


"There's a device that's illegal across sixty realms of space. Not many of them exist anymore these days; relics of a forgotten war, used to interrogate prisoners. They're very effective in pulling memories right out of your mind--though, it tends to pull a bit more than it needs. Everything, in fact. The person becomes a blank slate, ripe for retraining as a soldier or what have you. Ingenious, really. Quinn would make a nice jester until I tire of him. And you know, maybe I'll make you my new special pet. I'll put on you on a leash and everyth.." He paused. "Hmm, I suppose there's no point in me monologuing if you're not going to remember it. Vrath! Put these three in a cell and tell Dr. Trellix to prepare the memory collector. After they're done, keep the humans. You can dispose of the monkey, I've no use for it."


Vrath walked over and grabbed the tied up Ayala, easily picking her up and putting her over his shoulder. "Alright, let's go," said Vrath. Two goons struggled with Kader and Quinn.


"Goodbye little miss," said Duncan as the trio was carried away. "See you soon."

 

[GinjaGen]

Ayala's face quickly paled to the color of milk as Duncan explained the device, and she came to the realization that she'd somehow made things even worse than they already were.


Before, he was just going to kill them. Sure, that would have sucked, but at least in that case she wouldn't have led Duncan to the one thing in the universe that might have finally been able to help humankind.


Though, thinking about it, Ayala realized that she'd lied, and in all likelihood Duncan would never find anything. That thought might have comforted her if Duncan had not then explained what he planned to do with each of them once they were a blank slate.


She felt bad for Quinn, and disgusted, angry and scared for herself, but she but she actively began yelling profanities and fighting when Duncan mentioned simply throwing Kader out like he some useless object. No one talked like that about him.


Of course, her fighting while tied up did absolutely nothing to stop Vrath from easily picking her up and throwing her over his shoulder. She continued struggling and swearing, though she knew this was probably the end.


She caught sight of Quinn and Kader being carried as well.


I'm so sorry.


"Goodbye little miss," said Duncan as the trio was carried away. "See you soon."


Ayala stopped struggling for just one moment and stared right into his eyes, her own almost appearing to glow with anger and hatred,


"FU-" She was unable to complete her final swear as her head was unceremoniously - and later described as 'accidentally' smacked into a wall as Vrath turned.