Karin Level 6: 38/60 Location: Sector 7 - > Detroit - > Quarantine Valley
Word Count: 2,322
Points Gained: 3
New EXP Balance---
Karin Level 6: 41/60
Karin nodded graciously at Sandalphon. It was the least she could do, really.
Giovanna went on her way, citing obligations from her past. She seemed like a professional, but while she might not be with the Seekers anymore she wouldn’t be making things worse wherever she went. At least. Karin waved her goodbye and awaited the new information.
Now, their mission was simple- find a group of power-abusing hackers and find out what they know. Particularly about an anti red-shift drug. That would be very, very useful.
Karin stood up and, before they all set out, asked Sandalphon for her attention.
”Excuse me, Miss Sandalphon. Since traveling in a large group would undoubtedly garner much attention, I’ve decided to split off. In order to avoid missing our destination, however, I would be obliged if you established communications with me.” She said.
Once that was settled and Karin was confident she wouldn’t lose contact with the other Seekers, she thanked Sandalphon with a curtsey and was on her way.
As they traveled through the slums, Karin began constructing her disguise. Street markets provided ample opportunity for clothing. Being an expert haggler, she was able to avoid getting ripped off. With a few well placed coins, she managed to procure a large sun hat, a pair of sunglasses, a purse, and some flip flops.
Karin slipped into a back alley and began assembling her disguise. She just needed to not look like Karin Kanzuki- she also needed to not look dangerous. First things first, she removed her adventurer’s shirt, leaving her in her black sports bra. Then, with a few careful tears and folds, turned it, somehow, into a scarf that covered up her chin. With expert precision she folded and tied all her hair coils tightly around her head, and then covered it up with her sun hat. She donned the sunglasses. Next, she stuffed her boots into her purse and put on her flip flops. After that she rolled up her pants to above her knees. She took a few moments to slacken her posture and concoct a clueless, ditzy smile. This would be good enough on such a short notice. Last but not least, she detached her grapple hook and stuffed it into her purse as well.
Karin strolled back out into the thoroughfare on the border between the slums and Detroit. She would need a vehicle. It might be possible to rent a bicycle, but… she glanced down the street and saw an oncoming Taxi. It was moving a bit fast, but it would be even better for her disguise.
“Excuuuuse me!” Karin stood on her tippy toes and lifted one leg up. Her voice was several pitches higher, and she executed a valley girl accent. “Huh-lloooo! Taxi!” She waved her hand and fingers to get the driver's attention. In her experience it didn’t take long for a taxi to stop for a beautiful young woman. Especially one dressed in summer street clothes. When one finally arrived, though, the heiress-in-disguise got a little more than she bargained for.
Connected by nothing less than the Angel of Information, and all bound for the same area, the Seekers could afford to split up as they made their way through both the slums and Detroit, though the two legs of the journey ended up being as wildly different as one might expect. In the slums the only real concerns a hasty traveler might have would be the disorientation and propensity for collision offered by unpredictable and oftentimes-congested dirt footpaths, with unscrupulous locals and pickpockets a slim but still-present possibility. Compared to that, Sector 08 looked like a madhouse. Peace Protection and General Affairs had turned out in force, much to the displeasure of the Detroit inhabitants. Many of the people here, left to fend for themselves by the powers that be, harbored a real problem with authority, and though the troopers drew their fair share of ire, the real problem was the G-men. The unthinking mooks, given carte blanche to operate throughout the undercity so long as they helped quell DespoRHado and any other insurrectionists, happily went around identifying -and even inventing- whatever crimes they could, and situations escalated fast. Whether out of a woefully misguided attempt to bring evil to justice, or simply a desire to remind the unruly populace down here who was boss, the G-men were fighting as many Detroit citizens as they were DespoRHado remnants. And if Peace Preservation or the local gangs intervened on either side, things only got worse.
Having taken shelter from a brief but dangerous skirmish between Hoodlum Dolls and G-men in a bus stop, Goldlewis shook his head in dismay. Like any veteran of the US military, he possessed a great deal of endurance, but his headlong run through these chaos-ridden city streets had only gotten him so far. In terms of raw agility he ranked rock-bottom among his fellow Seekers, but the big man’s visibility was sky high. Even if his destination lay nearby, getting there on foot would be a risky proposition, but the map projected via his link to Sandalphon told him that Quarantine Valley was still a long ways off.
Really missin’ my hummer right now, he thought as he took a quick breather, woefully imagining his badass titan of a vehicle sitting idle in the Sector 06 Hublink parking lot, chained up like a dog when it ought to be running free. With the roving Administration squads, spooked Detroit citizens, and general unrest, the buses and other means of public transportation wouldn’t be running. Goldlewis didn’t want to steal a vehicle, but what were the odds of catching a taxi in a climate like this?
Wait…what was that sound?
“Yayayayaya!” Off in the distance,
music echoed through the streets. Incredulous, Goldlewis stepped out of the shelter of the bus stop. Out from a side-street burst a bright yellow taxi cab, traveling at a breakneck pace. It drifted around the turn and blazed down the roadway, deftly weaving through the mayhem. Behind the wheel sat a
daredevil in blue with a bucket hat, sunglasses, and massive grin. “Holy smokes,” Goldlewis breathed, watching as the cab got closer. “Who is this guy!?”
“That’s B.D. Joe. You should hail him,” Sandalphon’s voice suggested. On a leisurely slide through Detroit’s sky-line network, following in Geralt’s footsteps, the archangel could afford to look out for the others through her magical connection. “It’s said he can get you anywhere, fast as lightning, for the right price.”
“Hey!” Goldlewis stepped out onto the street, pulling a wad of crash from his jacket to wave and hopefully flag the driver down.
B.D. Joe spotted him and slammed on the breaks, tires screeching, to come to a stop inches away from the veteran. “What’s up, man? Where we headed?”
“I’m headed to Zone 9, close as you can…” As he went to climb in, Goldlewis stopped cold. He’d realized that this cab was taken by a young woman, dressed as if on holiday, her face wisely shielded against any grit kicked up by the convertible taxi’s tires via sunglasses and scarf. Instinctively he stepped back. “Oh, uh, beg yer pardon, miss.”
The stroke of fortune just widened Joe’s smile. “Zone 9? Sounds like you two got somethin’ in common! I wouldn’t mind takin’ you both if y’all don’t!”
The woman grinned, breathless from the rise but seemingly pleased by something. “Yeah it’s like, totally no issue at all, dude!” She scooted over to make room for Goldlewis. “The ride’s a little bumpy though!” Inwardly, Karin wondered how long she could keep the charade up. If nothing else, she imagined laughing if Goldlewis caught on right away. She hadn’t really had enough time to be mischievous recently!
“Aw, thank goodness.” With surprising speed Goldlewis clambered up into the back seat beside his fellow passenger, his curious gaze lingering on her just a split second longer before he squeezed his coffin in between them like an article of luggage. Before he even sat down Joe was off again, the pedal to the metal. Despite its new encumbrance the taxi cab accelerated like a racecar, quickly leaving the veteran’s refuge -and the nearby agitants- in its dust. Goldlewis held on for dear life; while he wouldn’t by any means describe himself as easily rattled, this man drove like a maniac. He could only suppose that it took a certain kind of person to be brave enough to be out on the streets making money given the circumstances. And it was hard to argue with the results. Despite his frenetic pace, Joe kept scrapes and bumps to an absolute minimum. Even if a couple G-men, gang members, ornery Detroit citizens, or Peace Preservation Troopers looked the cab’s way, after another second or two they were nothing but distant memories.
“You picked a helluva time to go sight-seein’ ‘round here, miss!” Goldlewis practically yelled over the tires, engine, and rushing wind. “Where ya from? And what in sam hill’s got you interested in Quarantine Valley?”
Karin glanced over the window at the chaos happening around her. A shame, truly, if she lived here she would be rioting, too. But there were more important matters at hand: messing with someone she respected. She was holding the top of her head to prevent the wind from taking her hat away. “What?!” She shouted over the wind. “Sam who?!” She asked loudly, bouncing up and down in her seat.
“Sam hill!” Goldlewis called back despite quickly losing confidence in the feasibility of communication. “Ol’ southern slang for ‘what the hell’!”
“Oooh!” She tilted her head up like she understood. “It’s like, good to meet you, Mr. Hill!” She extended her hand for a handshake. “You’re really tall!”
Goldlewis reached around the coffin to shake her hand, noting that left just one hand for the purpose of holding the woman’s sunhat on. “Yeah, they make us big out west! You’re pretty short for a Californian!”
“Whaaat?” She gasped. “Like, how did you KNOW I was from California?!” She asked.
Goldlewis cracked a slight smile. “Got a couple good friends out there that talk just like ya! Whereabouts you from? Fresno? Bakersfield?”
Just like her? Karin wasn’t sure what to make of that. Though, her accent
was very good… “You’re like, totally reading my mind right now. You must be from…Texas!” She said, like she was trying to do the same guess that he just did.
She glanced up at their driver as they hit a particularly large bump. Really had to make sure that had stayed on, otherwise, the jig was up! Karin grinned.
“Nevada, actually!” After going over the pothole Goldlewis straightened his glasses. “Right next to California! My accent oughta be a dead giveaway!” He made sure to raise his eyebrow at her. “Boise, born an’ raised!”
“Boise? What part of Texas is that in?” The woman asked cluelessly over the sound of the wind. “Hey, you know what’s funny! I have an aunt from a place called Boise that’s in Nevada!”
“It ain’t in Texas!” Goldlewis hollered back. “That is funny, considerin’ Boise’s in Idaho!”
“It is?!” Karin asked. “No way! Are you sure you’re even from Amerigo?!”
At that point it occurred to Goldlewis that among the many worlds crammed together by Galeem, there might very well be many coincidences and different versions of reality. Zenkichi’s testament about his homeland had only been the most recent bit of evidence. It would be hard to ‘gotcha’ someone effectively on raw facts when anything was possible. As the taxi rounded a turn, Goldlewis could see open air beyond the next row of buildings, and after another moment Joe brought his cab to a screeching halt. “There! That’ll be four hundred and eighty three dollars and forty five cents between the both of y’all!”
“Highway robbery,” Goldlewis grumbled, reaching into his wallet. The veritable roller coaster ride left him a little numb and jittery, his heart still pounding, so it took him an extra moment to rummage while he climbed out.
“Okaaay!” Karin happily paid such a fare both in character and out of it, considering the virtual warzone he just genuinely masterfully maneuvered them through. She slapped the appropriate amount of coins down on the armrest of the taxi and stepped out, taking her purse with her.
Then she glanced around at the place she was in, taking in the sights. “Uh, like, what? This isn’t the Valley. This is like, creepy.” She put her finger on her chin through her scarf.
She was right in several respects, since Joe had left them on a street that ran alongside the deep, overbuilt gorge, with buildings and air alike tinged orange-brown by rust and sediment. Goldlewis could buildings below, but no way down. Joe counted up his cash with a big smile. “This is as close as it gets. Enjoy the view y’all, ‘cause there ain’t no way in or out. Later!” He cranked his taxi’s gears and steered it toward a glowing green zone nearby where a Detroit woman was waiting. The moment she vaulted into the cab, B.D. Joe peeled away and swiftly disappeared into the disquieted cityscape.
“Not for normal folks I guess, seein’ as the whole place is sealed off. But seein’ as it’s the Administration that sealed it, there’s gotta be a door somewhere. Just a matter of bustin’ it in.” Looking around for any sign of the others, Goldlewis spotted a jeep with Zenkichi and an unknown lady behind the wheel, and as he set off with his coffin hoisted over his shoulder he beckoned Karin to follow him. “C’mon, Kanzuki. We better link up with the rest.”
“Kanzucky? What’s a kanzucky? Hey, I think I have an aunt from there!” Karin asked, maintaining character and following behind.
The big man smirked. “You’re thinkin’ of Kentucky, partner. Luckily, I got a couple aunts from there too. Small world, eh?”
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