Pilatus

Sol City Modern Slice of life - Chapter 3 - (all welcome new and old)

An Offer

Shannon smiled back winningly. She loved being complimented though there was some genuine humor behind her eyes as well. It was amusing when people didn’t know their fate was outside of their own control or how close they were to meeting it. She glanced briefly at her expertly manicured nails. The black polish was applied perfectly to a high gloss and she studied for any imperfections briefly while Alejandro attempted to explain the merits of Mara’s prostitute mother. Whores were details she didn’t care about and neither was John’s unamusing past. He seemed to be fairly longwinded, which was tiring, but no one was perfect. “I’m connected to a lot of people, Alejandro,” She said finally. The inflection in her voice changed slowly with her words into a thin tone of business as smooth as cigarette smoke while her face darkened with discernment as if she were making an assessment on a piece of property. “Disconnected from others.”

The atmosphere around them continued on happily. To onlookers, the group probably looked much like old friends catching up over lunch.

“It is precious isn’t it.” She said. “A lot like your present situation in this town.” Her focus was solely on Alejandro as she spoke. She could’ve cared less about the other two, but it seemed they were a package deal. “What you find yourself in, is what we call an unknown, unknown. She said. “You don’t know that you don’t know.” She brushed some of her hair aside. “You come in like a traveling salesman, cold-calling and then expecting an audience, but you don’t even know who you’re dealing with.and you were just sitting here wondering why all of your inquiries haven’t yielded a response.” The arrogance of it didn’t need to be mentioned. She could remember Sammy’s father, Frank, the patriarch of the Outfit for decades, had only a few simple “rules” to which he adhered and the one that came to mind in regards to Alejandro was, keep a low profile. Frank always liked her and he could tell that she was more apt to listen to his advice than his own son. “You’re lucky to be alive.” She said with some amusement.

She studied his reactions carefully. What he attempted to hide, what he tried to lie about and what truly motivated him. She needed more than brash opportunism. Integrity mattered. If he wasn’t made of the right stuff, she could always change her mind, but her gut was rarely wrong about people and she was willing to bet all three would be worth more alive than dead. “It’s simple, your flower shop property is worth about six-hundred thousand, you can buy in with me for six or you can sign over the deed… Or you can choose another way...” She paused for a moment to let the offer settle on the table. “You can sit here and wait for Nikki to find you and just take it all because that’s how he operates if you haven’t noticed already.” She said. “He’s already had his little sidekick close enough to put a bullet in the back of your head.” She said. There was no hiding the disgust in her voice when mentioning Nikki’s bodyguard. She placed her hands eloquently back in front her signifying the conclusion of her offer and that there would not be a second. “I’m done with this town Alejandro and there are only a small manner of things holding me here. If you decide to come with me, I will take care of everything you need and you will discover that your initial investment will pay dividends in a very short amount of time.”

@Pyxis

Sol City Modern Slice of life - Chapter 3 - (all welcome new and old)

@PilatusPic added. I'll look to get a post up this evening.

@The Wyrm

It needed to be an anime style picture. Please correct.

Sol City Modern Slice of life - Chapter 3 - (all welcome new and old)

@The Wyrm

I think it's fine. We'll talk to you about what kind of goals and motivations you have for him when you're ready to start playing.

We do need a couple pictures though. Please add some.

Sol City Modern Slice of life - Chapter 3 - (all welcome new and old)

Yes, I noticed we’re at peace. I am well familiar with "garrison" duty.

@The Wyrm

You'd be surprised how many don't understand that.

Sol City Modern Slice of life - Chapter 3 - (all welcome new and old)

@The Wyrm

I dont know that anyone has ever played a regular military officer. That would be something new. Just keep in mind there's no wars to fight or battles, it's slice of life. We have had others that tried playing mercenaries and other military types, but it wound up going nowhere because they couldn't relate with the other characters. Just keep that in mind. Being in the military would be his/her profession along with whatever occupational service they chose.

Sol City Modern Slice of life - Chapter 3 - (all welcome new and old)

Joel Nicolosi

“Geez, they went through that coffee faster than Poland.” Joel said graciously accepting the thermos from Siobhan. The blaze of her red hair was a roar of color and she wore it the way he liked it- down and unfettered in its natural state. He greeted her with a knowing grin and patted his chest pocket to make sure the flask was still place. Check. They could wander off and he could try again on the libations. He at least wanted a small buzz before Bruno started judging the food competition. As he turned to put his arm behind Sio’s waist and head out for a bit, it seemed the Daedalus crew suddenly wanted to chat longer, namely Marlin who had apparently been eavesdropping on what was being said.

In truth, he hadn’t spoken to Marlin in several weeks and whatever was there from the past, good or bad, he’d mostly forgotten about as busy he’d been with the rally team. He didn’t have any ill-will towards her and still spoke fairly regularly with her grandfather though unfortunately she seemed to wholly want to pursue the route of jilted loser, stuck in the past. As she lectured into the conversation about the merits of flight versus racing he simply returned a cordial smile and firmed his reach around Sio’s hips. He almost felt sorry for her. Almost. He leaned towards Athena slightly as if he were about to share some devastating secret while Marlin talked about the race being a draw, but made no effort to hide his words. “Lot of sour grapes there, I beat her by a quarter mile, very embarrassing.”

Joel shrugged as the only male member trio piped in to discuss cars. “I just drive’em.” He said. “It’s a lot easier when you don’t have to fix what you tear up though.”

The peck on the cheek as the group moved to leave seemed a tad impertinent, though Joel had grown used to the fawning to some extent, however, he could tell Sio was not impressed. What was again, sad, was that on top of it, Marlin just couldn’t resist a parting shot and it reminded him of something his dad had told him when he was younger: You learn a lot about people when they don’t get what they want from you. He simply shook his head catching her gaze as she slinked away, disappointed with how pitiful she looked.

@PrinceAlexus@Almalthia

Sol City Modern Slice of life - Chapter 3 - (all welcome new and old)

Paige Kennedy

Hearing the cover fall off the forklift, Paige glanced back briefly watching Tao forego sitting on the floor to rest his legs. She couldn’t blame him, he definitely wasn’t the physical exercise type.and they had covered a lot of ground. He was good company though- Hardly spoke unless it was business and whenever he did, it was with total confidence in his work. What was cute though was that he seemed to naively believe anything she said. She could have promised whatever he wanted in return for taking on the job and though her status as Federal Agent often carried the effect of trust, she could lie with the best of them. Letting him think that he had to be bribed to help her just added to the effect. Conversely, however, she thought they would have found what they were looking for long ago. The possibility that they may have embarked on a monumental wild goose chase was creeping.

Shifting her weight onto one foot, she steadied herself against a dusty pallet marked, Sol City GP, trying not to get her jeans dirty and wiggled her toes a bit under her Converses. She sighed at the momentary relief through her aching foot when Tao spoke up from the driver’s seat of the forklift. She cut her eyes over at him sharply for interrupting her temporary respite, but the quizzical look on his face was more than enough to garner her total attention. She walked over, feeling the stiffness return to her legs from the momentary break. Pulling herself up next to him she glanced at the steering column where he motioned. She didn’t know anything about forklifts other than seeing Milo operate one from time to time back in Delta City, but they usually had a key like a car or at least that’s what made sense in her mind. The machine beneath them only had a small mounted box, very much like a door transponder. “You gotta be shittin’ me...”

She glanced at Tao briefly with an exhausted sense of surprise and waved the card over the sensor. Agent Barrett’s toothy grin in the keycard photo, an image Paige loathed completely, happily brought the electronics of the machine to a pre-ignition mode with an affirmative chirp. She shook her head in astonishment. “We are so stupid…” Her eyes darted around the spartan controls: a few switches and multiple levers for articulating the forks. One worn button featured a faded image of a key and without a second thought she mashed it firmly. The engine coughed and sputtered as if trying to turn over, but died instantly. She mashed it again, harder. The same sequence happened again and the engine fell flat. “What the fuck?” She looked around, rapidly racking her brain, trying to jog a memory of the last time she had seen Milo use one of the machines. C’mon Paige! Think!

The memory struck her and her arms shot for the seatbelt, wrapping it over Tao’s waist and buckling him firmly into the seat. She planted his other foot on the brake pedal and mashed the button again. The startup sequence was much sharper and the engine calmly turned over and puttered happily. Her heart soared. YES! She looked around. It was getting interesting. There was no other doorway on the map other than the one they came in through, but the timestamps on the logsheet clearly showed another access point activated only moments after the forklift transponder hit. “It’s in here,” She said, not realizing she was clutching his arm, hard. “Start moving some of these pallets along the bottom on the far wall.” She said letting go and pointing along the interior of the room, though she stopped suddenly and looked back at him discerningly, the glance of her olive eyes narrowing. “You can drive this thing, right?”

@Allycat

Sol City Modern Slice of life - Chapter 3 - (all welcome new and old)

An Unexpected Guest

A rather large individual sat down across from Mara and the elderly woman seated at the table completely blocking her view of Alejandro and John. No sooner had he adjusted himself to the space and began making use of the condiments for his healthy portion, another pair came along behind the two men carrying a portable table between them. There wasn’t much space and there were probably better routes for them to take with the awkward load rather than directly through the dining area, but onward they pressed clumsily brushing against the those eating whilst arguing with one another about the merits of various dishes being offered across the festival grounds. The pair were gone as annoyingly as they had arrived, but as Alejandro and John returned to their meal, they find a blonde woman seated directly across from them seemingly out of nowhere. She had a haunting smirk on her face, a black shirt and an ornate bracelet that hung from the wrist that propped up her chin inquisitively.

“Hello, Alejandro.” She said. Her blue eyes were piercing, nearly without pigment. She looked at him, ignoring John. “Does your partner over there only shoot people at supper time?” She shook her head in an almost motherly form of dissatisfaction. “And I’m surprised at you. No prayer before the meal?” She looked briefly at the food set before them. “Here, I don’t mind leading.” She folded her hands out as if for them to take them before she began: “Dear Lord, before we eat this meal, we ask forgiveness for our sins, we ask that you please forgive Mara over there for not choosing a better life for herself after her whore mother dumped her into a life of gang-crime, for John here for doing things that can’t even be spoken-of aloud in public,” She paused for a breath, almost reverently, still with her eyes closed, “And especially for Alejandro, please forgive him for shooting that associate of his in the back of the head at that flophouse outside Houston, let not the image of that poor soul’s brain matter splattered over a windshield dampen our appetites, but may the knowledge of these trespasses guide their walk and may the food provide them the nourishment they need- but if it doesn’t, She continued. “Let them take solace in the fact that the LAPD, FBI and other government agencies are offering several thousand dollars for information regarding these events, funds that could be graciously offered back to you God... or Jesus, or whoever, in your name we pray, Amen.”

She folded her hands back neatly in front of her on the table and crossed her legs gingerly as her confident smile returned. “I’m Shannon.”

@Pyxis

Sol City Modern Slice of life - Chapter 3 - (all welcome new and old)

@Rabidporcupine

Just about got this looked over completely. We'll have you taken care of tomorrow for sure.

Sol City Modern Slice of life - Chapter 3 - (all welcome new and old)

@Rabidporcupine

Go for it