Intertwined (IC)

[MatrixOne]

A kick right in the ego.

The Overseer's eyes sparked with anger and arrogance - he was genuinely surprised by this blatant denial.

- Mr. Douglass, I don't think you realize what situation you're in. I'll be clear... You are in no position to negotiate. I gave you a simple choice - lots of resources, help finding your sister and an impermanent ceasefire with the girl, or death of all three.

The hologram walked up to Hugo. It was now the closest to him it could be without stepping outside the device boundary.
- And you chose the second option. I don't ask people twice... Partially because they have no problems making the right choice. But you're new to being my employee, so I'll give you one more chance to rephrase those last few statements you made"

The Overseer pressed a button on his control panel, and the reinforced door behind Hugo went offline, effectively trapping him in the room.

***

Matthews and Rin were standing outside of the Comm Room. They took notice of what was going on.

"Aw man, that's not good. Rin, can you, like, tell him something? You've got your powers, right... Tell him that if this door remains locked, I'm gonna help unlock it with an RPG"
The hunter was looking around in desperation. He knew what was happening, and he knew that the only way of busting Hugo out of there was... Well...
Not very subtle.

***

Rin focused, and sent a message.

If diplomacy fails, step away from the door.

____
Well, it's an important choice. If you choose to cooperate, it'll be more of a detective-superoperative RP. If you prefer the other option... There will be fighting. A lot. And later, too. A lot.

: D

Oh, and one last thing - really, don't force yourself to answer every day if you're tired or have RL stuff to do. I only got mad that one time because it was after a few-week downtime, and you seemed to forget about the RP completely ;q. And your 'break' was not two or three, but five days with no signs of return xD

Peace out ;]

[FreedomLivesOn]

(Oh no, I'm having FAR too much fun to NOT post every day xD)

With his only exit closed off, Hugo knew that he would be in for some nasty surprises if he didn't cooperate. His eyes scanned the room quickly, attempting to find any sort of a hint that he had missed a potential exit. As he realized the futility of his search, he heard a familiar voice tell him to step away from the door. So, Rin was nearby and had a plan. It was tempting to take her up on the offer, but he couldn't endanger her by involving her in some half-cocked escape attempt. However, wouldn't he be endangering her by cooperating with her father? She needed to have her own freedom of choice, to have the ability to forge her own destiny rather than be enslaved to a man who obviously had no human feeling left.

Hugo projected a thought, hoping Rin could hear him:
I'm getting out of the way now.

The detective then walked to his left, blowing out a sigh to play up a pretended sense of apprehension about the Overseer's offer. He then spoke:
"You do have me stranded, don't you? All by myself, without any help." Hugo would continue to stall for as long as he could, silently hoping that whatever was going on outside would be put into effect quickly.

[MatrixOne]

Rin nodded at Matthews.

He sighed.
"Ho boy... I can see the newspaper headlines already. 'Best operative betrayed Terminus in order to save his drinking buddy'. Allright... I guess I'm gonna do it"

Matthews was working here for years. All those guards and other freelancers were his friends and co-workers... And he was about to start a firefight with them.

But he believed it was all for a good cause.

"Esteban, I'm blowing this door to bits" He said to one of his friends, while equipping a rocket launcher. "Could you... Wait in the barracks? For old times' sake"

The guards were unsure what to do. Matthews was always kind, always friendly, and never picked unnecessary fights. They all came to like him sooner or later.

"Damn it, Matt. I hope whatever you're doing is worth the effort..."
Some of them hurried to the nearest buildings. The ones left were barely resisting the urge to follow their comrades.

"Thanks, Ese. Been an honor working with you"
Matthews smiled, and aimed the rocket launcher.

***

The Overseer's arrogant smile was as annoying as ever.
"I am glad we understand each other, mr. Douglass. Now that we've established who's in charge, we can go back to your mission briefing..."

A powerful explosion ripped the door in two, sending a large metal scrap flying toward The Overseer's hologram.
He didn't even flinch, or try to dodge it instinctively. The scrap went right through the hologram.

His smile got bitter, but it was confident as always.
He needed a few seconds to get a full grasp of what has just happened.
But just a few.
"Enjoy the little freedom you have gained. But don't get caught up in it. Prolonged inertia could end badly for you, and your sister"
He pressed a button on his control panel, and the hologram disappeared.

***

"Your truck is still outside. Go! I'll keep'em busy, eh"
Rin did as he said. This was not how she thought this would all turn out.

Matthews took cover behind a wall. The other guards were slowly joining the fight - they had to do it eventually. What they didn't have to do was... hitting their target.
"You guys aim like a bunch of drunken losers. Woo! I'm gonna miss our bar brawls..."
He fired a smoke round right next to himself, and loaded the launcher with one more rocket.
"I never liked this wall, anyway..." he mumbled to himself, and fired.

_____________
Well, I'm glad that despite my horrible grammar and dreadful writing skills you still enjoy playing with me ;q

Blowing up that wall is a cue for Hugo to pick Matt up. Of course, you can just drive away and leave him to die, too...

As for our destination... I have no clue. I honestly planned you'd choose the second option (working for the crazy egomaniac). But hey, a choice is a choice : D. I guess we need to find that sister before The Overseer's goons blow her head off.

[FreedomLivesOn]

(Oh absolutely. In regard to the choice Hugo made: he's an idealist, someone who doesn't compromise what he thinks is right. It hurt him to do so, but he has faith he'll be able to find something relating to sister...hopefully xD)

Hugo complied with Matthew's instructions, sprinting toward the truck, his head ducked down in case of oncoming fire. Once inside the vehicle, his right hand shakily started the ignition, looking over as Rin joined him in the passenger seat.
"Keep your head down. This is going to get ugly." An explosion rocked the compound, Hugo seeing the wall that had separated him from Matthews splinter into pieces. The former detective couldn't help but smile, shifting the truck into drive and stomping on the accelerator. Hugo made a sudden stop, giving Matthews cover from the storm of bullets.
"GET IN!"

After making a quick adjustment to the mirror, Hugo shifted into reverse just as some of the Overseer's men got in the way of the vehicle's path. Knowing they had little time to try and persuade them to move, Hugo had to allow the vehicle to be his negotiator. He once again stomped on the accelerator, launching the truck on a straight(relatively) line out of the compound. The men who had once stood in their way quickly reconsidered their actions and rolled to either side of the oncoming metallic monster, continuing to fire as they recovered.

Once outside the main walls, Hugo made a quick J-Turn, the truck leaning dangerously over to one side before stabilizing. Bullets followed them on their way out, but after a few hundred meters or so, they stopped coming. Breathing out a sigh of relief, Hugo looked into his rear view mirror at Matthews, asking:
"Why'd you do it, Matthews? You know as well as I do that you're a marked man, now." His eyes focused back onto the road, noting the direction of the sun's rays.

They were headed east.
Good.

"And Rin, are you alright?" He gave her a quick glance, not noting any superficial injuries on her face or arms.

[MatrixOne]

"Call me Matt. Or Drake. Whichever you prefer, eh"
He replaced the empty magazine with a new one, and rested his rifle on the other seat.
"Well, as much as I'd hoped for a peaceful resolution, I did promise that you'd come out of the comm room in one piece, more or less... Didn't feel right leaving you like this"
He laughed. It seemed he wasn't worried about the situation at all.

"But... What went wrong? I mean... The Overseer knows you're an idealist. I'm positive he didn't want you to commit a crime or do something unethical. Hell, I'm an idealist myself, and every assignment he sent me on was picked accordingly. And his rewards are the best - money, equipment, some degree of power later on..."

Rin interrupted him.
"Something is approaching us"

Well, you didn't need psychic powers to hear it...
Matthews decided to state the obvious.
"Helicopter...!"
He kicked out the door and leaned out of the truck, holding the sniper rifle with only one hand.
The helicopter crew consisted of a pilot, gunner, and a sniper. The gunner had a mounted machine gun and a rocket launcher...
Not good.

Matthews fired a round, but it missed. Shooting a helicopter from an old truck going at max speed was not an easy task.
"Keep it steady, man"

There were two different roads ahead. One, leading to a city, was relatively smooth - but very open. They'd be an easy target.
The other road was going through a nearby forest. Or what was left of it after the war... Anyway, they'd have cover from the helicopter, but the bumpy road won't make it easy for them to shoot back.

____
The choice is yours. If you make the right choice, we'll take down the heli, if not, it'll fly away to refuel and cause trouble later.

Also, do you have anything planned for our destination? Because if you want me to continue 'leading' I must be sure not to interrupt any of your own ideas. We're in this together, eh.

And one last thing - if you don't like Matthews, just say it, and I'll 'degrade' him back to the NPC form he was supposed to have from the start ;q.

[FreedomLivesOn]

(Oh, don't worry, I've got twists and turns planned as well. I do like Matthews, but having another charrie tagging along may complicate things. Maybe he can have a reoccurring guest kind of role? Where he pops up every now and again, but not as a main character? That may work better. It also saves you the trouble of trying to get into the heads of two people xD)

Hugo was ready to reply to Matthew's question when Rin announced an approaching object, said object making a very loud ruckus to ensure that it's presence could be felt. Emitting a slight growl at the Overseer's tenaciousness, he punched the accelerator, the truck slowly gathering momentum down the relatively straight road. After a few moments, Hugo noticed a divide forming in the highway. It looked like this used to be an interchange between a business route through a small town and a route that led directly toward a larger one, the latter quite obvious by it's straightaway nature. They would be sitting ducks if they took the open road, but who knew what dangers lay in the forestry? If they ran out of fuel, they could be back on foot again, which was unacceptable.

How could they shake this copter without...
A smile came to Hugo's face as he barreled down the highway, the former detective shouting over the din of machine gun fire:
"Hold onto something!" Hugo went a few more meters before slamming the emergency brake down, the truck lurching dangerously forward, it's two hind wheels coming off the ground for a few seconds before coming back down onto the ground. Other than feeling as if his entire skeleton had been displaced, they were alive and hopefully the helicopter was attempting to reposition itself due to the sudden stop.
"How's that for steady?!" With the truck at a dead halt, Matthews would have a clear shot.

Hugo hoped he wouldn't miss.

[MatrixOne]

(Okay, I'll kill Matthews then)

The pilot steadied his helicopter when his two comrades switched places. The Terminus sniper now had a clear shot at the stationary truck.

But Matthews had the sniper in his sights, as well.

They both fired their rifles at the same time.

The rusted truck door Matt was leaning on nearly broke off from the vehicle when he shot his gun.

Firing at the pilot was a bad idea - most Terminus vehicles had bulletproof windows, and while Matt's rifle used .50 cal bullets that could break the window off anyway, he'd need to shoot again to kill the exposed pilot. And he only had one chance.

That's why he aimed his bullet somewhere else.

It pierced the axis holding the helicopter rotor in place.

But at the same time, the Terminus sniper fired his rifle.

***

The bullet hit Matthews right in the chest. The impact caused the truck door to finally give up and break away from the vehicle, resulting in Matt falling to the asphalt at the same time the helicopter crashed.

And then there was silence, interrupted only by Matthews' coughing mixed with... Laughing...?

"Kh.. Haha... Who the hell is he trying to kill with a 5.56mm? That's not bird hunting, man"
He got up, and went over to the driver's window.

Hugo could see the bullet was stopped by Matt's armor. The impact sure wasn't pleasant, but other than causing a few coughs, there was no damage.

"Look, man, they'll definitely catch up to that rust bucket you're driving. I'll stay back and delay them. Catch this"
He pulled out a small device, and threw it into the truck through the driver's window.
"It's a private comm-thingy. We'll be in contact, so if you need anything, speak freely"

He smiled, and knocked on the truck's roof.
"If we ever find ourselves in the same city again, remember that you owe me a beer, eh"
He stepped away from the vehicle, and watched it drive away.
_____
I bet I had you thinking I'd really kill him back then xD.

[FreedomLivesOn]

(I did! I was going to be disappointed; I like Matthews)

"I owe you more than a beer, Matthews; if it's up to me, you're going to get a whole bottle of the best bourbon I can find." Hugo hesitated a moment before driving away, looking over at the unlikely ally before telling him:
"You did a good thing today. Be careful out there; I want to give you that bottle myself." With that request, the truck lurched forward, chugging down the road.

Silence permeated the next twenty minutes, the words of the Overseer ringing in his mind:
Prolonged inertia could end badly for you, and your sister

What did he know? Was he just playing mind games? What if the Overseer possessed the same ability Rin had and was attempting to play his own desires against him, utilizing Hugo for his own purposes before casting him aside? It would fit with the personality profile Hugo had loosely constructed based on their limited interaction, but then again...

His gear!

"You didn't happen to snag my bag before you left, did you?" If Rin hadn't gotten it, Hugo would have to scrounge up whatever he could from the caps he had on him, which wasn't enough for either of them to survive for longer than two days.

Up ahead, the sprawling ruins of what used to be Pittsburgh came into view.

[MatrixOne]

Well, that was not very sensitive of him.
"Times like these, I wish I had arms to pick up things"
Rin didn't seem to be bothered by this, though. Her tone sounded as if she was talking about something that could be useful at times, but not 'absolutely necessary'.

But still, the lack of supplies could be troubling. Additionally, the truck started running out of fuel...

But at least they made it to Pittsburgh. Or what was left of it... The once great and prosperous city, now reduced to ruin. Some settlers decided to reestablish a part of it after the war - they moved into the central section of the city, the least damaged one, and restored a few buildings to working condition. It wasn't much, but it was enough for New Pittsburgh to become a useful trading post and a place for caravans and travelers to stop and rest.

There wasn't much going on recently... Aside from a group of Terminus hunters asking questions about people passing through here. They were trying to track down Hugo's sister, but their 'investigation' turned up nothing new. For now.

________________
I need you to provide me with info about Hugo's sister. Where is she, who is she, her character... Because it's hard for me to write posts about somebody who's not yet... introduced to the game, you know? ;q
I'm sure you know what I mean. Give me something to relate to ;]

[FreedomLivesOn]

Pittsburgh had never been a place one would visit willingly, but in the post-war fallout, the city had become sort of a rallying point on the east coast besides D.C. Cities like Manhattan, Miami and even Boston were heaps of rubble, only minor settlements existing in each; however, all of this was hearsay. For all Hugo knew, the aforementioned cities were bustling with life and held the keys to rebuilding civilization.

Passing a few minor camps on the way, Hugo could tell that things were tense. Denizens were hunched over fires, their eyes examining the truck with a kind of cautious fright that sent up red flags in Hugo's mind. Once he had parked the vehicle in a makeshift lot a few hundred feet away from the main square of trading, he told Rin:
"Stay close to me, ok? Something isn't right here."

Examining the various stalls bore some fruit, seeing as the former detective was able to purchase a few necessities for their journey as well as a rusty Glock 19 pistol with two clips of ammo("Best gun in town!" The vendor had proclaimed). With a new canvas bag and supplies put in that bag, they found an inn nearby which they checked into. Once the duo was up on the second floor and headed toward their room, Hugo spun rapidly, withdrawing the Glock from his holster and delivering a resounding blow to the man who had been following them from a distance ever since they arrived in town. The detective grabbed the man by the collar of his worn shirt and threw up against the left hand wall, asking quietly:
"I'm going to ask you only once: who are you?"
"Just calm down, calm down, mate!" The man's gaunt face and Australian-tinged voice clearly gave off alarm, but there was also a sort of...reserve, as if he was holding back the true force of his emotion.

A handy trait.

"I'm not calm until you tell me who you are."
"Alright, alright, just let me down, bugger and I'll tell you what I know...it's about Lindsay." Hugo released his grip, a look of disbelief coming over his face.
"What do you know? Tell me. Now!"
"Lets get into your room, alright then? Too many ears out here." Hugo unlocked the door a few feet away from the encounter with the skinny Australian and allowed both Rin and the man to walk through before he entered, shutting the door behind him. The man walked to the makeshift window and leaned against the wooden shudder for a moment, as if gathering his thoughts. Then, he spoke:
"You got a transmission from her, yeah?"
"How did you know that?"
"I was there when she did it, mate. Lindsay and I went through the same program."
"What program?"
"They made us do things, made us act like us hoons..."
"Hoons?"
"Crooks, blood crooks we were. But it paid well and the buggers gave us implants and..."
"My sister?"
"Yeah, right, gettin' to 'hat: See, we were goin well until we hadta dispose of a few malcontents in the Biggie and Lindsay, she got all white in the face and couldn't do it, mate, couldn't do it. Let them buggers go and told the Polly's that she wasn't doin it anymore. Well that bothered them quite a bit and now she's on the run."
"Where is she?"
"Dunno, mate; she gave me this phone, told me to give it to you, told me it was..ah, the word was, 'imperative'." The man walked to Hugo and gave him a battered candy bar cell phone, a rarity in the post-war market.
"How did she find you?"
"Just did, mate; I was here on assignment a few days ago and she popped up like a jolly roger and told me to get this to her brother. Gave me a picture of you and that was that."
"She didn't tell you where she was headed?"
"Fraid not." Hugo grimaced.
"Now, if it's all right with you, I need to get back to the Biggie before the Polly's come for me."
"The Biggie?"
"New York."
"So you were both there, then?"
""As right."
"Who are your bosses?"
"Don't ask me that. Just don't, mate." The man walked past Hugo and out the door, but didn't leave without a parting piece of advice:
"Don't go after em, mate; you're not gonna end up alive."

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