Category: Practice

The Jiminy part 6

That was me? Travis tried to deny it, to convince himself that it was just a dream, but something in him remembered the slip, and the fall catching his head full force as he lunged forward drunkenly to avoid a fall. The stumble turned into a full dive and his head hit so hard he saw flashes. He remembered standing up, and seeing Kimmy’s face as her eyes opened wide and her hands covered her mouth just before it all went dark again. He dimly remembered falling a second time. “That…was me?” He didn’t want to believe it. ‘Sadly, yes, that is you. That’s your last memory.’ The sign seemed brusque, impatient. ‘Now, are you convinced? If not, you can still jump out the window.’ Travis shivered, and stayed on the floor, looking down at his rotund figure in red, satin pants. “What is this place?” ‘This is, for you, your new place, Jiminy,’ the sign spelled impatiently. ‘This will be your home for a long while.’ “What?” The words didn’t make sense to Travis.

I’m stuck here? In this big bedroom where a word would conjure clothes out of thin air like a dream, and a stupid sign that disses me every chance it gets. ‘I heard that,’ the sign scrolled irritably. ‘You’re not stuck in the room. Your office is right through the doors below me.’ the sing spelled out helpfully, then added a downward pointing arrow to emphasize the doors with the odd silver scroll work on them. “I have an office?” ‘Yes, an office. Why don’t you go see where you’re going to work from now on.’ The writing had that ‘I know something you don’t ‘ vibe again. If it’s another thing like … me in that ambulance, maybe I don’t want to go look. It might be one of those creepy haunted house surprise things that scared the crap out of Kimmy when we went back in high school.

Travis stayed put, still naked on the blue-green marble floor. ‘It’s not a jump out and scare you thing’, the sign printed slowly. It actually seemed to be trying to act sympathetic. Yeah right, be my buddy until you can push me into the scare. Nuh-uh. Not this old boy. I’ve seen that, well, done that a few times and I know how it works. ‘Sure you do. I promise, it is not a jump out and scare thing.’ The sign displayed in soft lettering. Really, promise huh? “I got to have clothes first. How about givin’ me my work clothes?” There was a swirl of air, and he felt just like always.

The pants fit like he remembered. The coarse threads scratched a little, and the shirt was a little loose since he’d lost some weight, but they were HIS clothes, and he took a moment in the small triumph of his dream control. ‘It’s not a dr…oh why bother, you won’t believe anything until you face it head on.’ The sign was back to the irritable, exasperated printing as the sentences flashed in sharp lettering across its face. Travis patted the clothes to make certain they were his, then did it again just to be certain. He’d had a few days when he’d been so hung over that it took a half-hour just to make sense of which way to put the clothes on and get to work. I wonder if this is the DT’s and I’m hallucinating drunk. That could be why I ain’t in control. The sign printed ‘……………..’ as if giving up trying to explain or convince Travis of the error of his ways.

The Jiminy part 5

‘How about jumping out the window?’ the sign spelled out in green letters. The way the letters appeared had Travis wondering what the sign was up to now. “You jump out the window first, then I’ll try it, ya darn idjit.” Hah, now if it’s a dream it’ll go sailing though those curtains. ‘I can’t, I’m just a sign.’ it spelled out in white once more. “Oh come on, it’s my dream, you’re supposed to do what I wantcha to.” He pointed at the window, a stern look on his face. “Go on, jump.” The sign flickered an annoying set of colors, then scrolled amongst them, ‘I already told you I can’t. For one, I’m a sign, and for two, this isn’t a dream.’ “The hell it isn’t. I ain’t at home, I ain’t in my reg’lar clothes, and I ain’t had a beer. Ain’t no way this isn’t a dream! I am gonna wake up, get a shower and get dressed for work. I gotta shift to pull. I ain’t wastin’ no more time with a stupid dream!” He crossed his arms stubbornly and dared the sign to do something.

It did, but not what he expected. It started scrolling images. They started blurry, but as Travis concentrated, then became clearer. There was a light, but it seemed distant. There were three men in dark blue jumpsuits, a white and red patch on the left bicep. It was a green cross inside a gold circle with the letters ‘Goldsboro’ over the top of the cross, and ‘Rescue Squad’ on the bottom. Two men were kneeling in his kitchen next to him. There was vomit on the tan linoleum floor near his head, and a puddle of bloo under it. He could see his wife, Kimmy, talking to a police officer and pointing at a chunk of the white formica counter lying next to his head. Travis winced internally as he felt the impact when he’d slipped after throwing up. Wait, slipped? What the hell? His mind ran away on him as he watched the Rescue Squad members wrap his head with gauze, then slide a flat, yellow board with holes for handles on the sides under him. Three officers moved next to the three medical techs, then bent over, slowly lifting him up.

Then they shuffled out of his kitchen, and into the cold December night. The WHite van with the red stripe had it’s lights flashing next to the boxy white ambulance. Headlights illuminated the blue striping on the sides, and the tan police cruisers just beyond it. He watched as one Med Tech unbuttoned his shirt and pulled it open. He grabbed the stethoscope from around his neck, then stuck the disc to his chest. The tech was a young kid with a thin face, and leaned body. His wisp of a beard made him look like one of those skateboarding punks that were over at the park on the weekends. The tech raised his hand and shouted at the others, while making made a circling motion. The team jumped into action, pushing him in the back with his shirt still open. The ambulance spun it’s rear wheel in the dirt then dug in and the ambulance rolled away, red lights flashing. He saw it go down Drumhill Street, and turn west onto 119th avenue, and out of sight.

The Jiminy – part 4

“OW! Miserable, moth**8&%@& **&^)()(**!!.” He was cut off in pained mid-rant when the room shifted again throwing him away from the wall and rolling him back across the floor and halfway to the bed. What is going on?! Did that freaking sign have something to do with all this?! He looked over to the sign, the bottom edge lit up and the bluish light moved up and down looking like two hills growing then receding. It reminded Travis of a shrug somehow. ‘I had nothing to do with it, Jiminy.’ “Jiminy?” Was this some kind of insult or put down? The only Jiminy that came to mind was the little cricket in that animated movie about some wooden puppet. ‘Got it in one’, the sign scrolled. Travis swore that somehow it had a smug edge to the letters.

A slight breeze reminded him he was still butt-naked. “How the heck do I get some clothes around here?!”

‘I told you, ask for them’, the sign replied with a smug flourish of letters. “Okay genius, how do I ask for them?” Travis thought the sign suddenly looked, well, impatient. ‘You ask by saying what you want.’ The sign scrolled the letters very, very slow, and big, covering the whole height of it top to bottom. It felt like it was trying to yell louder and slower, which made Travis more frustrated. ‘Remember the thong bikini.’

That shut Travis up, and he shifted to sit cross legged in the middle of the bright blue-green marble floor. “What I want, huh?” Travis stared at the sign, daring it to print something. The sign obliged, with ‘Exactly’ scrolling across it’s face with what Travis felt was smug satisfaction. He hated smug satisfaction in people, they were always so stuck on themselves. “Okay, I want a set of silk pants and a Hugh Hefner smoking jacket.” His naked rear suddenly felt a sinfully smooth cloth against it, as a comfortable, baby-soft coat settled around him out of thin air. He looked at his now-covered arms. “Burgundy.” ‘Yes, a satin burgundy smoking jacket just like Hugh Hefner’, the sign scrolled with a bored flourish of letters.

Travis glowered and took off the jacket. It his dream, obviously, how else could you explain Hugh Hefner’s smoking jacket? ‘It’s not a dream’, the sign scrolled with a series of contemptuous dots at the end of the letters. Travis started doing a slow burn. If it was his dream, he darn well could get what he wanted, and what he wanted was his regular pair of Dickies slacks, and his blue button-down shirt, his black belt with the Budweiser logo on it, and his Red Wing steel-toed boots. What he really wanted, was to wake up. He’d heard you could wake yourself out of dream by forcing yourself awake. Well, supposedly you could by hurting yourself, but he’d already bit his fingers and didn’t wake up, so what to try next?

The Jiminy Part 3

The sign scrolled cheekily, ‘Get dressed and find out’. “How the hail am I supposed to do that?! Ain’t no clothes here!” ‘Ask for them’, the sign scrolled testily. “Ask for clothes, just like that. Well fine, I want some clothes!” Travis waited, then waited some more. ‘You have to ask for what kind, unless you want to wear a thong bikini?’, the sign scrolled with what seemed a wiggling smirk to Travis. “A thong bikini?” The words had just passed Travis’ lips when the was a sudden swirling rush of air around him. He blinked as the sheets swirled up then settled back down, sliding past the twin white triangles of cloth that now rested on his chest. His nether regions had a sudden funny rubbing feeling. He looked down at the unfamiliar sensation. His eyes went as wide as dinner plates when he saw what was now in place over his chest. Travis screamed and quickly thrashed out of the top and bottom, his face pale and sweating. Oh my gawd, what the hell just happened? That was like some stupid comedy trick, only it ain’t funny! How did they…it…get that on me without noticing?

Suspicious, Travis looked back over at the sign over the door. I swear, it ain’t doing nothing, but I get the feeling that it’d be whistling and smiling like a damn cat that ate a canary. The longer he looked, the more the notion seemed to be fact. “You set me up”, he growled furiously. The sign somehow continued to act innocent, and innocently scrolled, ‘Who, me? How could I set you up? I’m just a sign.’ Travis believed that not for a second. It was a dream, dammit! It was his dream and he should be in charge. ‘You’re not in charge,’ the sign printed slowly, that smug know-it-all attitude oozing from it once more. That really chapped Travis’ ass. If it was a person, I’d smack it up one side and down the other and really show it whose boss. This is a dream! Any moment I’ll wake up and this stupid room will be gone and I won’t have to remember anything, especially that… Travis squeezed his eyes shut hard and compressed his lips into a thin line. He would not mention what just happened a few moments ago, to anyone, especially his best friend Harvey. I’d never hear the end of it, and he’d tell everyone else, and no one would ever let it go.

‘You mean your ex-best friend?’, scrolled the sign. Travis wasn’t certain but the room seemed to suddenly grow a little colder. He pulled up the sheets then lay back down, a cold sweat breaking out on him. ‘Aren’t you going to ask?’, printed the sign slowly. Travis didn’t answer, he had shut his eyes attempting to will himself to wake up and end this strange dream. He’d just started to relax when the whole room shook like an earthquake. The bed was stuck to the floor somehow and never slid or shifted, but the same couldn’t be said for Travis. The sudden tilt to the right nearly spilled him out the side, an the tilt forward threw him up and off the bed like a catapault. He landed on the floor and skidded face-first into the far wall with a loud thud.

The Jiminy part 2

Travis scooted to the edge of the bed, then stopped. Where do I find some clothes around here? He felt very uncomfortable realizing he was naked as a jaybird in a huge fancy, empty room, in a huge bed with blood red satin sheets, and not a towel or bathrobe to be seen. Another thought intruded. Where the hell do I get a beer around here? For the last sixteen years, he’d always started out with three beers with breakfast. It got him through the morning at that rotten job setting the housing around the air conditioning compressor. That was all he did for twelve hours a day, six days a week, fifty-two weeks a year, shroud air-conditioning compressors.

The floor manager, or ‘FM’, was always down his neck, telling him he ought to be moving faster, and the beer buzz was just enough to keep him from dropping the shroud on the miserable floor and riveting him in it. Lunchtime would roll around and it’d be six beers in his truck out in the parking lot to keep the buzz going for the rest of the shift until it was time to hit the bar and really unload. He really wasn’t a drunk, he just drank to take the edge off his problems. ‘You were a drunk’, the sign flashed. “No I’m not!” ‘Yes, you were.’

“Where do I get some clothes!”, Travis yelled at the sign, since it was the only thing communicating with him. ‘Just ask for them’, the sign prompted. “Huh?” Ask? Does it mean someone delivers clothes? The thought had him going neck deep in the luxurious feeling satin sheets once more. “How do I do that?” He was getting used to this dream. It was weird, but at least it isn’t a nightmare. ‘Oh, this is not a nightmare.’, the sign prompted once more. It seemed to Travis that the sign seemed to flash with a smug ‘I know something you don’t ‘ attitude.Travis decided he didn’t like the attitude the sign was scrolling with. He decided to give some back. “So what is this, Mr. Know-it-all?”

The Jiminy

Hiya and welcome to 2017! May your be filled with awesome and grand things for you all! And, thank you for stopping by to read and comment. Everything helps and I sincerely appreciate any and all feedback. Now to a new story I’m calling, ‘The Jiminy’. I hope you enjoy.

 

Travis Hoad lay in bed. The sunlight crept slowly up until it caught his eyes. Travis groaned and squinched them tighter against the irritatingly cheerful brightness. He heard the wind flutter the curtains, and the sounds of birds calling. I must have opened the window last night? I don’t remember doing it. Travis sat up, his arms overhead. The sheets slid down his body like silk to puddle in his lap. He yawned loudly and stretched his arms out to the side. This feels awesome. I must have had a great sleep. Maybe I should keep the window open more often, and stopped mid-stretch. My sheets never felt like this before. He opened his eyes. The bed stretched a good eight feet to the end, and at lest six to either side. The blood red satin sheets were overlain by one of navy blue. The window stretched from wall to wall and floor to ceiling. The curtain was pulled shut, but fluttered at the center of the bottom, where a window or door was open.

Is this a dream? Travis quickly looked at his left hand, then bit down hard on the first two fingers. “YEEEOOW!” Okay, it wasn’t a dream. “What the hail is this place?” The room itself dwarfed the bed, looking to Travis like a football field from the foot of the bed. The walls were a good, according to Travis, sixty feet away to either side. The wall opposite the glass window-wall was black. Not just black because of the shadow, but black wood that had an odd silver filigree that he could see in complete detail despite being so far away. The silver wriggled and wiggled on the wall making odd back and forth convulsions, creating what two his eye were two wrinkled microwave potatoes pressed against each other in a sad attempt at a circle. As he continued to look at the door, a bright light snapped on over the top, with the words ‘Are we awake?’. He tilted his head, wondering who that sign was for. ‘It’s for you, Jiminy’, the light spelled out. “Me?” Travis pointed at himself. No, this can’t be real, I’m still dreaming. The sign scrawled out in an irritated scribble, ‘You already bit your fingers once, care to try again?’ scrolled the sign.

Hack the Future part 21 ( Steven Schaufler & J Dark )

One hour later, she listened to the rumble of the bus leave the stadthalle. Cannibal Lighthouse had arrived the night before. The road crew had been up all night setting up the stage and special effects, and were just pulling out of the parking lot to get a well-deserved rest before kicking the concert off tonight. Cannibal Lighthouse’ show was due for 9 pm to 12 am. That gives me plenty of time before security gets paranoid to walk around the stadthalle.

The tour around the building turned up no visible exits that weren’t on the plans. Let’s see what a spell can get me. She moved across the street to the small park across Rosenstrasse. Making certain she had line of sight on the building, she crouched down near a large oak, then idly scratched a circle in the ground with a stick. It wasn’t a perfect circle, it didn’t need to be. All she needed was the circle, and the four ‘ordinal’ runes that defined her purpose.

To the direction of the building, she scratched the rune ‘to see’. To the left, ‘silence’, to the right, ‘to be hidden’, and opposite her target ‘the all’. She finished the runes, then slowly sang the runes quietly as she sat down against the oak, her feet pointed at the stadthalle. As she repeated the chant, she felt the world go fuzzy. She rose above herself and floated into the stadthalle. There was darkness in the walls, which brightened as she floated into a hallway.

She followed the hall, looking down through the rock, comparing her vision to what she remembered of the public plans. Slowly floating over through the auditorium, she saw the huge paper mache’ lighthouse, with half eaten bodies holding up the banner proclaiming ‘Cannibal Lighthouse’. The pyrotechnics showed up in her sight as a pulsing yellow energy, waiting to be fired. Security was posted top and back. She’d managed to get lucky as the teams were going through final checks of patrols and stations for the show. It was no surprise to see the dark brown shirts and black pants of Kruss. They were the biggest security provider in Nurnberg, so it was expected they’d be the ones to handle the concert.

Two at each back door to the stage, a two man team above the lights, three two man teams in the halls, and six in front of the stage. They’re all armed. Movement below her caught her attention. She floated down to get a better look. Her vision wien black as she drifted down through the rock, becoming bright once more as she found herself in a hastily dug tunnel. Two short stocky men were operating spells to push and solidify the earth moved. Both were dressed in leather robes, with small gems of all colors set all across the leather like rhinestones. The shorter of the two men had a thick thatch of black hair that was bound into a ponytail that almost dragged the floor. The larger man was bald, and slightly thinner than the first. Both sere still under one-point-five meters, and seemed about one meter wide.

The men formed a six foot tall tunnel, the earth being forced to the side and heating slightly to reinforce the walls of the tunnel. Earth magic was expensive, and required both endurance and strength to wield like this. Dwarven stoneworkers didn’t come cheap. She backed into the wall, leaving only her head in the tunnel. These mages could see her if they turned around.

After a few minutes of watching them grow the tunnel another twelve steps away from her, they stopped. They both looked up, and stayed that way for a long moment, then their faces turned to look at each other. They started to turn, and Blade ducked back into the wall. Darkness surrounded her. She started a slow count to thirty, but at five, light started to strike her incorporeal eyes. They’d seen her! She floated to her left towards the end of the tunnel. She heard a muffled curse as the diggers tried to follow her movement. She increased her speed slightly, feeling the strain on her heart. A quick pop of her head showed she was right at the ront of the tunnel. Forgoing any slow movement to conserve energy, she shot upward as fast as she could, drifting up through the rock and into a small dressing room.

She estimated the size at maybe one and a half meters wide, and three long. The room was taken up by a small army cot in a corner, a foldable dressing table with a full kit of makeup. Two guitar cases sat in the corner, with the letters ‘D.E.’ on them. Darkos Edge’s dressing room? Are they after the bell? She floated up out of the stadthalle and rushed back to her body. Her chant faded as she settled back in. There was a moment of weakness due to the extra energy used to return so quickly, but she rose off the ground and strode deeper into the small park and away from the stadthalle. Looks like we have competition.

Hack the Future part 20 ( Steven Schaufler & J Dark )

She gazed at the tall, three story buildings. Crowded together at odd angles, the mingled architecture gave the feel of age and a mischievous sense of life. The various stores were as haphazard as the buildings. Electronic stores nestled against Coffee shops, which in turn abutted banks, which in their own turn, snuggled up to a laundromat. Small businesses abounded, with only a few buildings that were single tenant. Kruss Limited building was immediately recognizable. It’s Dark blue glass front was jarring compared to the red and yellow brick fronts on the neighboring stores. The light reflected onto the street in bright squares as each pane was slightly off in mounting to it’s neighbor, creating a spray of light across the street onto shops across the narrow two lane road.

The design was meant to be intimidating, and the turret overhanging the top floor like a cobra with its hood spread added to the oppressive nature that emanated from the building. Kruss was like an octopus, Blade recalled, having fingers in electronics, chemistry, biomechanics, security, psychometrics, and satellite design. She walked past the building, slowing to a stop in front of the blue mirror windows. Leaning to the window, and raising a hand to shade her eyes, she acted like a tourist trying to see inside. The guards on duty were quick. The door, which was only identifiable by the gold handle mounted on the glass, opened as two guards i dark brown shirts and black pants, stepped out. Each guard had a black tie on, and both were massive through the shoulders and waist. Both were bald and wore sunglasses. Blade was certain both were on some kind of steroid to build the extra muscle. Muscle grafts were more blocky than chemical enhancements.

„Fraulein, please step back from the glass. It is pressure sensitive. Accidentally leaning on the glass can set the security alarms off. Alarms and the laser pod on the roof, she mused. I wonder how the government made pistols and rifles illegal, yet allows shotguns, compressed air arrow launchers, and things like lasers to be legal, when those are more lethal than most of the banned weapons. She shrugged her shoulders and gave the two men a timid smile as she aimed her glance down at their shoes. „I didn’t know. The glass is so distinctive that I thought it might be a boutique.“ She slowly raised her eyes to gaze between them, knowing each would think it was him she was looking at. She saw the one on the left shift slightly. He reacted to her coy actions. The other remained professional. She memorized the names in case she needed to approach ‘Dietrich’ later. She would avoid ‘Mueller’, he was too professional. Seduction had a place in her arsenal just as did her metal arm and pistol.

„It’s all understandable, Fraulein, the building does stand out“, Mueller stated in a no-nonsense voice. She nodded, lowering her eyes again slowly. „Thank you. I would have been terribly embarrassed if I had caused a scene.“ The two men nodded, then Dietrich opened the door, and he and Mueller entered the building. Her hearing caught, „Put your tongue back Deitrich, she’s cybered. She’d gut you like a pig.“ She heard Dietrich’s surprise mumble, then the door closed on them, cutting the conversation like a guillotine.

I had better stay away from here. If Mueller is closer to the standard guard, then they’ll be very good. TJ will want to know this. She checked her pocket watch. It was an old mechanical antique, with no memory chips or GPS tracking to locate the user like a cellphone. It’s time to go look at the concert venue. Cannibal Lighthouse has three concerts over the next three nights. I need to check the stadthalle.

Hack the Future part 19 ( Steven Schaufler & J Dark )

Just like him. Asking an open-ended question so I can choose the subject. „No.“ She turned over in the seat to gaze out the passenger window. „I’m going to go take a look at the site. We need ideas for ingress and egress. Especially the latter, since we’ll be three leaving instead of two.“ She heard TJ sigh heavily behind her. Her right hand came up to rub her metal left shoulder as she considered things. That priestess played us. Not that we could do anything about it, it’s still being played. So, let him stew.

„Blade, we’re going to talk, or you’re going to walk. If you want to act like a spoiled Clucker, then you shouldn’t have wasted your money on your ears. This is a job. We’re in, or we’re dead. Our, Patron,“ TJ growled sourly, „wants a bell. We have to get said bell. We can’t do it without teamwork. I team with you because you have my back, and I got yours.“ She heard a chuckle come from him as she contiued to lie on her side and stare out the window.

„I’m going to wait here for the landlord, and get our room key. You’re idea’s a good one. We’ll want to know everything we can. There’s bound to be one or two other exits that aren’t on the floor plans. They might be our best way out after we grab Edge.“ There was a pause, and then TJ said, „We better find someone clued into the Black Market. I don’t want the locals feeling like we didn’t pay our respects first. This could bring big heat down on some very important folks, and cluing them in would be a smart move.“

„What if they don’t approve, TJ? Then all we did was tell them what they need to know to szett us over. We ought to be fast in and out, and a fast trip to the ‘bahn and back to Oranienburg. Staying put in here would be a spud move.“ TJ was quiet for a half-minute. Blade could see him in her mind mulling the idea over. „I was thinking the same way. But home is where the Clucker’s waiting. We should either hide out in a small town, or some place like Münich or Fankfurt. It’s off our beaten path, so if anyone who does know us and links us to the job, they could look all they wanted in the wrong places.“

Blade watched a small flock of pigeons fly between the buildings. They dipped and lifted with the wind as they flew out of sight over a building. „We get paid more the faster that sorceress gets her precious bell. Hiding out doesn’t get us the bonus.“ She turned over to lie on her left side and face TJ. „Hiding out does keep us from being played, however. No bonus and a last minute delivery makes certain there’s little enough time to screw us over.“ „If we’re early,“ TJ countered, „there’s less chance of a cooordinated ambush.“ „True,“ Blade replied. „But again, if she’s offering the bonus, who’s to say that the sorceress hasn’t already got a plan.“

TJ again mulled things over quietly. „I’d say you’re probably right that if that Clucker’s got a plan, it’d be one that she set up ahead of time. That means there’s a set of circumstances she’s factoring in. Which means we can play her by changing the drop location, if she gives us one.“ „Of course“, TJ continued, „If she gives us the choice, we ought to be in place from the call, so we can make certain there’s no spud trying to jump us by setting up early.“ Blade stared at TJ as he started to launch into another ‘what might happen’. TJ noticed the steady gaze, and whatever he had planned on saying, lapsed into silence. Blade stared at him a moment longer, then said in a deadpan voice, „Parnoid much?“ TJ lost it. The rumble launched from his chest to his lips in a roar of laughter that caught Blade up and had her grinning with him. Got around that one.

After a half-minute of hard laughter, TJ wiped his eyes and his voice dropped back to a rolling chuckle. „Blade, don’t think we’re done. We need to cover that ground eventually.“ Blade felt herself tense, and it must have showed in her face as TJ sighed. „It can wait until you’re ready, after the job’s done.“ She nodded slowly, as she thought about Irelle again, and the job in front of them. „The place over there has great pizza, according to the local papers. It got number five out of the top twelve in Nürnberg“ TJ rolled his eyes. „Don’t you ever get tired of that stuff? It’s like you’re addicted to it.“ „It’s the one human contribution to grand cuisine“, Blade sighed. „Why shouldn’t I like it?“

TJ had dropped her off downtown, then had driven away after giving instructions on where to meet. She had most of the day to take care of her few small purchases, and do some sightseeing. Working into contact with the local gangs would be better handled together after sundown. The streets were busy as locals walked briskly to or from jobs. Cars drove by in a constant stream, many o the new self drivers were garishly colored to proclaim their status, and to warn human drivers that the vehicle next to them was computer controlled. Blade disliked the driverless vehicles immensely.

She’d been asked to hack one, and found that each was acting like a black box, only recording all information on their passenger. The system was set to hack a person’s cellphone, tablet, and any other electronic device. The one she had worked on also collected credit card and license information for transmission to a central processing room. All in all, she’d decided never to ride in one.

Hack the Future part 18 ( Steven Schaufler & J Dark )

It was still pitch dark, when he awoke. Stumbling blindly to the window and cursing under his breath as he stubbed his toe against his desk, he noted that the faint indigo hue of false dawn was creeping up from the east. He checked his watch and sighed. It was just a little after 04:00. Can’t be helped; he thought, and quietly headed to the shower. Blade was still asleep, and on the couch of all places. He idly wondered if she’d fallen asleep waiting for him. At any other time he might’ve done the gentlemanly thing and draped a blanket over her but, they had an early -and likely long- day ahead of them, so he just smiled and shook his head as he closed the bathroom door behind him.

His morning showers always started hot and ended cold, so roughly fifteen minutes later found him standing infront of the couch -and its sleeping occupant- fresh and invigorated, if shivering, despite the large towel draped around his waist. He nudged Blade’s side with his foot and grinned as he cried out „Rise and shine!“ His grin only widening as her response was to merely groan and turn around. Of course, he only saw that as an invitation, and followed up by nudging her again, only this time there was a little more power behind it, and the target wasn’t her side but her tush. „C’mon, Blade, get up! If you really need more beauty sleep, you can sleep in the car.“ With that he turned and headed towards his room to get dressed. Behind him, he heard Blade mutter something into the pillow that, given her extensive repertoire of expletives, he was glad he missed.

Another fifteen minutes later saw him dressed and all but ready, and from the random thumps and thuds coming from the other room, Blade was getting ready as well. He was surprised to see two rather large slices of salami pizza sitting on the counter and, given the coffee pot was full and the divine liquid within lukewarm, he realised Blade really had fallen asleep waiting for him. Well, he’d make it up to her after this job was done. There might be enough money left over after bills and debt to take her to one of those fancy ‘Fusion’ restaurants. But fancy was not for today. He poured himself some coffee and rummaged around one of the cabinets for a can of tuna, dumping its contents on the pizza and adding a few bits of canned pineaple before nuking his savoury breakfast for a minute.

By the time Blade came out of her room, he was all but finished eating. With his mouth full, he wasn’t going to say anything so he just waved the hand holding the nearly devoured treat in her direction in a combination of good morning and thank you. She just glared, then rolled her sleepy eyes at him; slinging her dufflebag over her shoulder before heading down to the car. Shrugging, he finished his breakfast and, when Blade didn’t return, grabbed his own bag and left the apartment, locking the door behind him.

When he got to the car, Blade had already made her nest, as it were. Tilting the passenger seat all the way back and using her bag as a pillow, she was stretched out comfortably and, judging by the lack of reaction as he got in and started the engine, already fast asleep again. He sighed softly. It would be a long drive, and brainstorming with his partner would’ve helped the prepare more for the job, and also help pass the time but, oh well. He discarded the first tape he’d thought of playing and instead opted for one of his classical mix tapes. At least ‘Hall of the Mountain King’ wouldn’t have Blade jolt wide awake as the ‘Ride of Valkyries’ would have.

There was no need to get pulled over, and so despite all but having the streets to himself this early in the morning, he didn’t exceed the speed limit by too much. I took about forty minutes to get onto the A9. Behind them, the first golden rays of sunlight crept over the horizon, and he grinned as he gazed into his rearview. He knew he couldn’t win but, as he pushed down on the gas pedal and turned up the volume on his anachronistic Alpine stereo system, he sure as hell tried to outrace the sun as he sped southward at roughly 250 km/h.

It was fun while it lasted. Once they reached Bayreuth, semis had started becoming more frequent, and forced him to slow down considerably and, while he was still able to make good time, once they pulled on to the A73, it was over. The last 20 to 30 kilometers towards Nürnberg were more of a slow crawl, and ultimately complete gridlock, before they reached their destination. By the time he pulled up infront of the old sandstone building their rented apartment was in, it was exactly 10:00. Nearly six hours of driving, in what could’ve been done in under five.

Blade had slept the entire time, or at least remained quiet if she did stir awake at some point

Now that they’d arrived however, she fluttered her eyes open as he shut off the engine, and asked sleepily „Are we there yet?“ He nodded in response. „Yeah, we’re here. Still got another hour before we meet the landlord.“ With that said, he reclined his seat slightly and opened the window, then lit up a smoke and puffed the smoke out into the street before looking at his partner. He’d had several hours to think about everything once again. From the what they were about to do, to how he’d deliberately goaded the elf the night before, and the revelation that his partner was a half-breed. He trusted her. He knew she’d always have his back, and with all of the secrets he had, he didn’t begrudge her any of her own. But it was a big elephant in the room -or the car, as it were- and they needed to clear the air if this job was to succeed. He gazed up at the sunroof and asked almost nonchalantly „So, wanna talk about it?“, giving her the option to decide which it she wanted to address first.