Little Trouble in Big China - Part 2

This needs a bit of editing, but here's part 2!:


"This can't be!", Wilhelm thought to himself, trying not to let the others notice his near panic at Ming Lee's disappearance. "OK...remember your training". OK. Wilhelm was back in the moment. The moment where they were in a warehouse with the crazed Jinda, always willing to lay down their lives for the cause of their master. By the time Wilhelm took his cleaning breath, Justin had already prepared for "negotiations". Justin was generally quick to talk his way out of situations. Sometimes, it was remarkable to behold. But this time...this time, Justin knew his bullets would be doing the talking. As he squeezed the trigger on his revolver, he heard Wilhelm's shot ring out first, wounding a Jinda. Justin may have been a terrific shot, but Wilhelm could still have the drop on just about anybody. With this first shot fired, time seemed to speed up, as skilled bladed began to converge on the two heroes.
            "Damn this filthy glass", said the Talon out loud, staring at the skylight on the roof. His instincts were spot on, but he hadn't planned for the filth on this neighborhood to shroud his view into the warehouse. Through the filth, he could barely make out a crate stacked high enough for him to land, but no line of sight of his friends.  As he took a few minutes to work out a way to possible open it a crack, or even cut a small section away... ! The Talon heard that familiar sound of a gun shots, followed by the sound of men with blades rushing from inside. "Well, that didn't take long", he said to himself, as he jumped through the glass.
            Shelly had come back from unconsciousness a while ago, but her only evidence of it was that now, instead of the pleasant dream she was having about finding the "digger", and it's engineering marvel, she only had a headache, and bound hands in the confined darkness. Shelly always dreamed of the remarkable finds she was about to discover. So, she was sorry to be awake, now. She made a habit of snooping around, but she never had someone get the drop on her like this before. She never even saw who clubbed her over the head. But that odd smell... But none of that mattered now. Now she was bound and confined, and she just heard two gunshots and the muffled sounds of men with blades rushing for an attack. Then light came from all directions! With a loud crash, suddenly the crate around her tore to splinters, and tossed her down a few feet to the ground. As her eyes adjusted to their new surroundings, she looked up saw possibly the most welcome (and surprising) sight she had seen in years. Before her was The Talon.
            The Talon stood over Shelley. He saw her, but with an unmatched focus, he studied the warehouse, noting exactly how many foes there were, and assessing his next move. He had no time to free his surprised colleague now, Jinda were already on Wilhelm and Justin, firing and parrying. Thinking quickly, the Talon used the power of his ancient stone to cast a blinding light, rendering the Jinda helpless for a few crucial moments, giving Wilhelm and Justin the upper hand. This gave The Talon a moment to drop Shelley a gun.
            In one swift motion, Shelley disassembled the gun, used the sharp firing pin to cur through her bonds, and re-assembled the gun. For Gun-Shell, this was like playing with blocks. As the other heroes battled the Jinda, they all stopped for a moment and marveled at what happened next. In a kung-fu spin move, Shelley flung the pistol at the closest Jinda, striking him directly in the eye. As it did so, the gun fired, leaving his fellow Jinda, next to him, missing much of his brain matter! The gun then bounced right back into Shelley's hand. Even the now half-bind Jinda was dumb-struck for a moment, before the Talon ended his miserable existence. Wilhelm had always found Shelley somewhat tomboy-ish. It was difficult for him to even picture the brunette in him mind without  some small amount of grease on her pretty face. But at that sight, even Wilhelm thought, "I think I love that woman!"
            After mapping up the remaining Jinda, the heroes searched the warehouse and discovered a note. They were to bring the manuscript to the Valley of Tears. After finding a map of it's location, it was off to the remote location. Upon arrival, they were greeted by the burned remains of several Jinda. The eerie site was an alter surrounded by the stone warriors of Qín Shǐ Huángdì. Wilhelm and Justin held back and covered the Talon and Shelley as they approached the alter. Once they reached it without incident, the two joined them near the alter. Just then, the trap was sprung. Before any of them could react, blow darts came at them from above! Darkness enveloped them all as they lost consciousness....
            "Welcome back", said a callous voice. Lo Fan stood before them, the lovely Ming-Lee at his side. All of the heroes were bound, as well as the professor. They were in it now. "Thank you, centurions!" Lo Fan said. I already had the instructions on how to command this great army, but what I needed was your lovely jade stone." The Talon shuttered. His precious and ancient stone, used only for good, was taken. He'd delivered it right to him. Damn! Immediately, Justin began taunting Lo Fan. Trying to convince him that he had already lost the fight. Lo Fan wasn't fooled by the rouse, but if gave Wilhelm just enough time to work his way out of his binds and check...Yes! They had failed to notice his hidden pistol up his sleeve! Just as Lo Fan began to snicker of Justin's suggestions, Wilhelm let a shot ring out...passing straight through Lo Fan! One of the shadowy figures stepped forward and said, "Surely you didn't think I would leave myself that vulnerable, SIEZE HIM!"
            What happened next happened very quickly, as the Jinda began to descend on then, Wilhelm shot his last bullet in the chamber and took one out, as the Talon and Shelley escaped their bonds. All as Lo Fan placed the green gem on the alter and sung an ancient song. As the heroes fought of the Jinda, the rumbling of the stone warriors startled them! They were coming to life! "Go, my minions. Go, conquer earth!" yelled Lo Fan, mad with power!
            As soon as Shelley had a moment, she spotted the digger in the corner of the alcove they were in. Unable to resist, she headed right for it. Meanwhile, Wilhelm, mad a direct plea to Ming Lee. "You don't have to follow him into the darkness." he told her, staring deep into her eyes. "I...I don't want to, but I..." she timidly replied. "Join us, and redeem yourself, Ming Lee, no matter what happens, I will protect you", Wilhelm interrupted. "Yes", Ming Lee said, her face welling with tears. As she began to move towards her new found savior. "No!", Lo Fan shouted. "How dare you defy me, come to my side, Ming Lee. Now!". But to no avail. "Jinda! Get her, and bring me the item!" The item...Wilhelm though. Of course! He suddenly realized that Ming Lee had been the key the whole time! Just as Jinda approached Ming Lee, they found that she was more than capable of dispatching them, as one by one they fell to her martial arts! "Ming Lee", Wilhelm shouted. "You're comb!" And she tossed him her decorative comb with the grand pearl on it.
            As Justin finally freed himself, he noticed tucked behind the alter, a box holding their possessions. As though his gun was willing itself back into his hands, he went right for it. With all the commotion, he had a hard time getting a bead on Lo Fan. But as he turned around, suddenly a large Monkey-like monster howled right in his face! As it raise it's huge claw, he heard a clank sound, as the monster fell to the ground. Standing before him was Shelley, in the digger suit, beaming as she has just tried another switch. "Ooo, that was fun", she said. The monster wasn't dead, but Justin soon ended that by firing several shots at it's head!
            Lo Fan, seeing that things were starting to get out of control commanded several of his stone warriors to break off, and attack the centurions. As they approached slowly and methodically, Wilhelm grabbed the comb, placed it on the alter, and sang the same song that Lo Fan had just sung moments before. When he finished, a beam of light cascaded throughout the warriors. First stopping them in their tracks, and then they began to crumble and fall apart! "Damn you, centurions!" cried Lo Fan, as he disappeared in a puff of smoke. As the Talon made short work of the few remaining Jinda left, the whole area began to rumble. "We must make haste!" shouted the Talon! But Justin was missing!
            When Lo Fan had vanished, Justin had seen him reappear behind the alter. And watched as he scurried away through an unforeseen passage, like a cockroach. "You're not getting away from me this time", Justin though as he dove in right after him. Just as the save collapsed behind him.
            There was no time to loose! They had only moments to leave. The Talon told Shelley that the digger did not have enough power to evacuate in that thing, and they had better leave it behind. "Power" she thought. I have an extra power cell right here with me. Remarkably, the power cell fit perfectly, and in a moment, she went from being the slowest member to escape, to the fastest.
            When they reached the edge of the crater like formation, they had only seconds before the entire site has somehow been swallowed up by the earth! Wilhelm stood there, shocked that Justin's exploits were over. Shelley has an uncharacteristic tear on her cheek. Ming Lee stood in reverence and guilt over the centurion who had lost his life to end this menace and bring her back to the light. It was The Talon who broke the silence. "We will have to time to morn our fallen comrade later, centurions We should leave this place before the authorities, or anyone else comes calling."
            Wilhelm said a particularly long good bye to Ming Lee, who vowed to see him again, someday. As The Talon made arrangements with a charter. A sad chore that was not neccesary in the original plan. But now... As the pontoon boat approached the dock, and the team looked on the bustling city of Shanghai with sadness, the door flung open. "What were you guys going to leave without me?!" said a familiar voice! Justin was with them again. "How the heck did he..." was all Wilhelm could think to say. It's a tale to tell while we're in the air, guys. Let's get out of here!

Little Trouble in Big China - Part 1

So I've finally started running a Spirit of the Century game. We've done the character generation and have played the first session. One of the PCs, Scott, took it upon himself to write up the saga so far. Awesome.

The Century Club in...

Little Trouble in Big China

"I could sure use a bath" he said to his fellow Centurians. Wilhelm was always the
first to miss the comforts of the more civilized locations. "Before we find this Professor Troublé character, I'm getting a hot bath." Professor Touble. His name said it all, didn't it? The professor had made a startling discovery, and he was in over his head. Troublé had discovered some ancient manuscript, and our job was to keep it out of the wrong hands and deliver it to safety.
It was a given when traveling to Shanghai, that you'd spend a lot of time in the air. The arrangement that was made was to let local pilots get us most of the way. Then Justin would handle the last leg of the journey, in a borrowed pontoon plane. It was the right thing. This would keep Justin pretty fresh by the time we arrived. But still. Justin was a pilot. He'd rather go to a blind dentist then put his life in the hands of these hacks, so when he was finally able to get behind the stick, he felt rejuvenated, along with his fellow Centurions.
As always, Justin landed safely on the water, and coasted gently to the dock. Once the door opened, that rejuvenated feeling was sucked away. There, in the crowd, standing like an idiot, was Troublé. Shouting and waving the very manuscript we were sent to protect. Before we even drew our first Chinese breath, we were on the job. Wilhelm went as inconspicuous as he could right for the Professor. You had to look very carefully, but you could barely make out the shadowy figure emerge from the plane and creep along the shadows for Troublé. The Talon was with us. A man of few words unless he needed to say them. You would have sworn he was sound asleep during the entire trip, but he moved with silent and certain purpose of a man who knew his surroundings well.
Before anyone could reach the professor, "they" were on him. We knew there would be other interested parties, but we'd hoped that we'd get to him first. Without so much as a glance at each other, Wilhelm and the Talon instinctively knew that the time for stealth was over, and the chase was on!
Wilhelm sprang into action first! By the time he got to Troublé's original location he was already in the water sans manuscript, and the figures were getting away...jumping from boat to boat along the packed wharf. The Talon wasn't far behind. Justin, preferring his bullets do the chasing, pulled out his gun and was only briefly held up by some nasty looking locals. They all saw when one of the figures fell and cracked his skull on the dock. But no one expected him to burst into flames. The Talon and Wilhelm knew what that meant. Mantha! The elixir that was used by Jinda-hai gave them strength, and no fear, but also made their bodies combust upon death!
As the chase continued, the figures kept hurling obstacles in the heros' way. First laundry, then food products of the locals nearby. It was the fruit that slipped up the Talon. In all his training, he still couldn't do much about a slick surface. Had there been something to grab onto, then it would have been a cake walk. As it turned out, when he fell, sitting straight up on the small boat’s deck, Justin was able to pass him, using the Talon's own head to brace him from falling himself. The Talon was glad to help, but realized there had to be a better way. Looking around, he commandeered one of the few motor boats he could find, and quickly gave chase over the water.
When one of the cultists ignited a fuel source, Wilhelm dove for the water. It wasn't what he had in mind when he requested a hot bath. He surfaced and immediately grabbed the leg of a passing cultist, startling the shadowy figure and sending him down to the deck. As Wilhelm grappled with the cultist, Justin decided that his bullets could now be safely deployed to take out the last cultist, holding the manuscript. As the Talon casually rode by in his new-found-friend's boat, he found the winded Wilhelm, and Justin holding the manuscript, and some new found evidence.

In order to command Qín Shǐ Huángdì's army, one must complete the circle about the square, the union between heaven and earth. Scatter praises to the four winds: 東 (dōng - east), 南 (nán - south), 西 (xī - west), 北 (běi - north). Pat the horse's mane then make a surging fist. Finally, sing the ge'wei, the song of gathering.

The Green Dragon, the dragon of bounty, breathes life. The White Tiger, the tiger with claws of metal, snatches that away.

"It's referring to the army of a general that died a couple of millennia ago." said Wilhelm. "Well, whatever it is, we've got it now" said Justin. Along with the manuscript, they picked up a laundry ticket. Thinking that it may lead to those who sent the cultists, the team decided to pay the laundry a visit. The old man was polite, and pretended to be perplexed when he explained that the ticket was his, but was not for picking up.... but for dropping off. So, this was the drop off point. But who was picking up?
The Talon and Justin had been on enough adventures with Wilhelm to know that the beautiful woman who entered the shop they were surveilling was going to be a huge distraction for him. But there was nothing they could do now, short of running in guns blazing. A thought that had crossed Justin's mind several times.
Wilhelm could charm the eye liner right off of Cleopatra herself. But Ming Lee was different. She was something special. It was all he could do to not hand over the manuscript and blush like a school boy the moment she revealed that she was the one picking up. It took every bit of strength in Wilhelm to delay her by a couple hours. They just needed a plan. The team decided to consult with Professor Troublé, only to find that he'd been taken by the Jinda.
The pace of the Centurion is not the easy path, nor is it the clear path. Justin struggled with this. Life had been hard for him, and he thought that the mission was complete. We had the manuscript after all. The Talon, however saw the way of the world. The cruelty. The injustice. We'd been given one mission. But the Talon...the Centurions…always have an additional mission. But it was not the Talon's place to force this higher purpose on anyone. The Talon, with those steely eyes, looked at Justin and handed him the manuscript. "You must choose our course of action" he said, without a hint of judgment. The path before them seemed suddenly clear. The path of the Centurions is the one that makes the world a better place...the one that saves the helpless. Justin decided that we must go back for the professor.
The team decided to make a fake manuscript, and use it to barter for the professors life. When they met back up with Ming Lee, it seemed that without the manuscript, her cruel master Lo Fan, may take her life. Wilhelm, enamored with her, vowed to protect her as well, and she agreed to take them to see her master. The odds were not in their favor. Lo Fan was already known for his cruelty, and he was sure to have an army waiting for them. When they approached Lo Fan's (seemingly) abandoned warehouse, then entered. Wilhelm paused for a moment, as he noticed that the Talon had disappeared. Finally he noticed that he had decided to find his own entrance on the roof. "Yes. That might work better" Wilhelm thought. As he began walking again, within the warehouse, he was too far behind Ming Lee to do anything about the Jinda who suddenly appeared at her side, only to disappear with her a moment later in a puff of smoke! Ah...the trap!

Link Dump

http://mightyatom.blogspot.com/
http://www.devilteam.com/
http://www.microartstudio.com/index.php
http://www.shop.microartstudio.com/
http://www.plusmodel.cz/news_en.php
http://www.archertransfers.com/CAT_Miscellaneous.html
http://architectgames.wordpress.com/
http://wreck-age.net/
http://technoirrpg.com/index.php
http://chroniclesofthevoid.com/index.php
http://www.shapeways.com/shops/gangwar
http://www.ferrus-workshops.com/commissionpainting.html
http://www.maschinenkrueger.com/joomla/
http://www.migproductionsforums.com/phpBB3/index.php?sid=854dbd270529ed91ff66a79656019f44
http://thatshowweroll.libsyn.com/that-s-how-we-roll-season-03-episode-01-wt-fot-c
http://williamgibsonblog.blogspot.com/

Interface Zero - Part 3

So, where we last left off, Jackson was facing off in melee with a ninja looking suspiciously like Tabitha, Simon was advancing on the conference room, Tabitha was clumsily checking out the offices, and Zeb was on overwatch.

An explosion signifies the deployment of the second enemy team. Fortunately, Zeb, expecting something like that, already had them in his sights, and immediately takes out one of the six.

As Jackson and Tabitha 2 are trading blows, Simon runs in, grabs the silver box, and bolts.

Taking advantage of the confusion, Zeb takes out the leader of the strike team.

Tabitha goes to check out the damage done by the explosion, tripping over one of the dead bodies in the process.

The strike team retreats, regroups, and readvances, to no avail. Zeb takes out two more.

Finally, Jackson gets a solid blow in, knocking the ninja unconscious. As the sword tumbles from her hand, Jackson's programming goes directly from self-preservation to medic and kneels down to patch her up.

The remaining two members of the strike team decide to bolt and get into the van to make their escape, unfortunately Zeb sees one get into the drivers seat and cuts him down.

With the box in hand, Simon calls for a hasty retreat. The last remaining member of our own support team reports that he's captured a prisoner and will be bringing him along.

The last remaining enemy in the van bolts out the back, with Zeb in hot pursuit. As he makes it to the front of the building, Zeb turns the corner and shoots him in the back. Down he goes.

The team finally regroups and boards the armored bus for departure. Despite Zeb's protests to grease the prisoner, Simon proceeds to interrogate him. They find out that he's just an actor playing a part and explains that the script didn't go as planned. At that point, the team realizes they've been set up and decide to go to one of Simon's safehouses.

Meanwhile, Jackson gazes into the laserfine patters on the silver box, gets lost in them and almost loses his "humanity". Fortunately, he snaps out of it, oblivious.

The group, sans their remaining support member and prisoner, but with an unconscious ninja Tabitha, sit in Simon's safehouse pondering their next move...

Interface Zero - Part 2

This is a rough outline of our second game. I hope to add more details (or even write it as Jackson's log file!) in the future.




Tabitha wakes up on the operating table, staring into the big plastic grin of her attending physician, Jackson.

Jackson fails to heal her with a, "there, there now." He tries again under Dr. Bob's watchful eye and succeeds. Then gets promptly fired.

Jackson overhears Tabitha and Simon talking about a job, so he asks if he could tag along. They agree.

Tabitha finally gets a decent shower while Simon and Jackson raid the medical supplies.

They end up taking a taxi manned by a cat...er orc with a samurai sword to Yorktown mall.

They speak with a fat, sweaty lawyer who offers them a job retrieving a silver box with the numbers "0,0,0" on it from the HelpDesk Inc. main office. After some clever positioning and negotiating by Simon, they agree. Meanwhile, Jeb, on lookout, gets harassed by mall security. He sternly explains that his ginormous sniper rifle is a gift for his wife. The rentacop leaves quietly. They all jump into an armored bus manned by the same "orc" and are joined by another 4-man tac team.

They reach the HelpDesk Inc. main office, deploy, and send the tac team in first.

All the previous occupants inside appears to be cut to death.

Shortly thereafter, another team in two vans shows up. One van deploys at the front gate wearing red armor and begin a pitched battle with the tac team. The other van proceeds around back.

Meanwhile, the PCs work their way into the back. Simon gets in and starts hacking the system to try and locate the box. Tabitha is checking out the nearest likely rooms. Simon discovers a meeting about the box was scheduled in the main conference room. Jackson runs there immediately, trying to avoid the rounds and grenades being tossed back and forth at the front of the building.

Once he arrives, the room is dark. He flicks on the light to see the entire meeting group dead in their seats, the silver box in the middle of the table. Out of his peripheral vision, something drops from the ceiling.

He turns to see a female ninja wearing samurai armor. She has Tabitha's face!

Link Dump

Maybe I should have a separate blog for all these link dumps. Anyway, here's what I got:

http://architectgames.wordpress.com/
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/856440647/reclamation-post-apocalyptic-horror-rpg
http://wreck-age.net/
http://joshroby.com/taxonomy/term/47
http://technoirrpg.com/index.php
http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?573043-Technoir-Anyone-know-anything-about-it
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/847327173/technoir-high-tech-hard-boiled-roleplaying
http://chroniclesofthevoid.com/index.php
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005Z8G08S <-- My buddy Boomer's book
http://www.ferrus-workshops.com/commissionpainting.html
http://www.maschinenkrueger.com/joomla/
http://www.migproductionsforums.com/phpBB3/viewforum.php?f=9
http://www.mainlymedieval.com/ozpainters/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=614&start=0
http://www.tuaw.com/2011/10/05/iphone-4s-what-can-you-say-to-siri/
http://shitsirisays.com/
http://themacadmin.com/
http://www.grandpappy.info/wwater.htm

Interface Zero

Last night,  I got my first chance to play Interface Zero, a cyberpunk setting for the Savage Worlds RPG.  Josh ran it (a different Josh), and since we were short players, I was able to talk Eric and another Fair Game patron into playing with us. I am very happy with how it played out, so here's my post-game writeup:



Darkness.

Tabula Rasa

That's the first thing I remember.

Then I opened my eyes.

Still pitch black.

I thought, "well, at least I'm alive." Then I patted myself down to take stock of myself. I seemed to be unscathed, wearing some sort of paper, but I was constricted by something. Fumbling around, I found the backside of a zipper. I paused to listen before trying it. Footsteps. I decided to get out of whatever it was I was in and quickly. I worked the zipper from the inside, bright light pouring in and stinging my eyes.

"Are you alright?" asked the figure standing in front of me.

"Who are you?" I snapped back.

"My name's Simon. I've come to get you out of here."

"Here where? Where am I?"

"Downers Grove."

"Downers who?"

"Downers Grove. It's a shithole in the walled city of Chicago."

My eyes adjusted to the light, fading to the dim light of the decrepit room. Simon squatted down next to a nicely wrapped box with a bow that was near the bag I escaped from. He undid the bow and the box unfolded, revealing a card, a credstick, a pistol, and a knife.

"Tabitha? I think these are yours," he said.

I moved over to the objects and picked up the card. It was blank, but my mind superimposed words over it: "Take these and run."

I looked up at Simon. He seemed to have received a similar message as well, as he produced a briefcase, opened it, and retrieved a pistol.

I put the card and credstick in one of my paper pockets, tossed the box and ribbon into Simon's briefcase a fraction of a second before he snapped it shut, and picked up my gift weapons - one in each hand.

Simon made his way to the staircase down and I followed close behind. At the base of the stairs, a man with a huge rifle was keeping two other men at bay. The closer of the two, seeing Simon step off the stairs, called out, "let's make this easy. We just came for the merchandise," and nodded in my direction.

"Well, you can't have HER," replied Simon. "Why don't you leave before somebody gets hurt."

About that time, I heard a car pull up. The second guy turned and stepped outside to speak with the driver.

"Listen, in about two minutes, I'm going to have to put you both down and take the merchandise anyway."

Something about the way he said it triggered something in Simon. In one smooth movement, Simon darted across the hall, triggered the spring-loaded knife release in his boot, caught the knife, and plunged it into the guy's throat.

He grabbed his throat, dropped to his knees, and gurgled, "well, that sucks."

I'm surprised I remember that, as I was also enraged by his comment, tore across the hallway and out the door, and found my own knife plunged into the other guy's back. As he dropped to the concrete, the driver calmly asked, "now who's gonna pay for these sandwiches?"

Simon stepped up and said, "that's my order. Can we also get a lift out of Downers Grove?"

"That's strictly against policy. But the going rate's 10 credits each."

While Simon was making arrangements, I pulled out the card and looked at it again. This time, my mind read it: "Congratulations."

I then decided to check the two dead men. The were both carrying large pistols, both carrying credsticks, and both carrying I.D.s showing that they were Level 1 Support personnel for HelpDesk Inc. I took all of it. They were both wearing what looked to be almost identical outfits made to look like distressed street clothes. Actually, now that I think about it, they almost LOOKED identical.

I grabbed one of the jackets and a pair of boots and put them on.

Simon, the silent guy with the rifle, and I climbed into the small delivery vehicle. I handed Simon the credsticks, one of which he promptly paid the driver with and tossed out the window.

"Can I have one of the sandwiches?" I asked.

Simon handed me one, which I tore open and voraciously ate. It was simultaneously the best and worst thing I ever ate. It was a flavor I had never experienced, yet vaguely remember. At the same time I could taste each individual artificial chemical used in the processed protein and texturized vegetable matter.

Simon directed the driver to his apartment, which was situated above a convenient store. Upon arrival, the silent guy with the rifle got out and started hiking off into the distance, Simon stepped out, waved, and called after him, "See ya Zeb. Thanks!"

Simon's apartment was a sparsely furnished couple of rooms that doubled as storage for some of the convenient store's old hardware. Taking a look around, I found a pristine envelope taped to the side of an ancient slushy machine. "Hey Simon, what's this?"

Simon looked just as confused as I. He tore it off the side of the machine, opened the envelope, and removed another blank card. He stared at it for a long while, then looked up at me with furrowed brow. "I'm going to find out what HelpDesk Inc. is all about."

He sat down at a desk that had to be about 80 years old. "Huh, looks like there's two new job postings for them on craigslist."

I sat down at the coffee table and started going through the objects I collected during the evening:

• Boots - Men's, artificially distressed, no labels.

"Checking their public site."

• Jacket - Artificially distressed, no labels, bloody hole through the back.

"Nothing exciting."

• Two Plastic I.D.s - HelpDesk, Inc. Level 1 Support. Nothing else.

"Just a firm that rents out low-level security personnel."

• Two 10mm Watchdog Automatic Pistols - New, registered to HelpDesk Inc., fired two or three times at the most, 12 rounds each.

"I'm hitting up their private site."

• One 10mm Watchdog Automatic Pistol - New, unmarked, unregistered, and direct from the manufacturer.

"Huh, there's a big gap in their firewall…"

• One Combat Knife - New, unmarked, unregistered, and direct from the manufacturer, bloody.

"Big white room. Single file cabinet in the middle."

• Box and ribbon - High quality, otherwise unremarkable.

"I'm gonna open it."

• Blank card - Now it says, "We'll be in touch."

"Damn! Nothing in… SHIT!"

• Credstick - Labeled, "Rasa, Tabula."

Simon snapped out of his trance and sat upright in his chair, "damn honeypot…"

"Rasa, Tabula." Is that my name? Simon called me Tabitha. Did he read it correctly?

"How'd you end up in that body bag?"

"I don't know."

"Well, what happened before you climbed out of it?"

"It was dark."

"Do you remember anything before that?"

I thought for a long while. "I don't remember anything before that..."

"Hey, I just got an IM from some guy. He liked our work dispatching the HelpDesk guys and wants to offer us a pickup job."

Something wasn't right. "That was awfully quick. I don't trust them."

"Yeah, but it's a job working for a company on the same level as HelpDesk."

"How do you know it's NOT HelpDesk trying to set us up?"

"Well, our only other plan is to take those two openings and work for HelpDesk… Anyway, we got a couple of days to decide. It's 5 AM, and I can use some sleep."

Simon moved to his cot, made no attempt at removing clothing, warned me, "don't go outside," and, as promised, went to sleep.

I was still reeling from the night's events, so I decided to do some online shopping and pulled up MallMart's clothing line. After perusing their entire catalog, I settled on some comfortable athletic wear, rugged running shoes, and a pleather jacket with ballistic panel inserts. They said it would be delivered within the hour, so I decided to take a quick shower.

Unfortunately, Simon's bathroom left something to be desired. Like cleanliness. My best bet would be to do some spot cleaning.

I shed the blood-splattered paper coveralls, wet some toilet paper, and stood in front of the cracked mirror. The body was medium-dark skinned and athletically built. But the face was startling. Blonde, pale eyes, strong bone structure. I didn't recognize it all, yet at the same time something deep inside was familiar about it.

I wiped off the remaining blood droplets and scanned my body for any distinguishing marks. As I ran my fingers over the nape of my neck I felt a raised pattern. I swiveled my shoulders around enough to make out the the genetically modified roman numeral "III".

At that moment, I was notified that my package had arrived and was waiting for me downstairs. I hurriedly pulled on the paper coveralls, put on the boots and ran downstairs.

Waiting for me was the same car and driver from earlier in the evening, however the "Johnny Jim's" placard had been replaced with "MallMart". I took the package from him, thanked him, and bid him a good evening. I opened the box, pulled out the armored pleather jacked and put it on. Then I decided to look around the area.

Noticing the convenient store clerk and my dry throat at about the same time, I stepped inside the brightly lit store.

Annoyed, he impatiently looked up from what he was working on.

"Hi! Where can I find the drinks?" I asked.

He jabbed a grungy finger across the store to a sign that boldly read, "DRINKS."

"Oh, thanks!"

I made my way over to the slushy machine and poured myself the largest CrocAde Slushy available.

"Hi! Whatcha working' on?" I asked as I stepped up to the bulletproof booth to pay.

"I saw you come in earlier. You Simon's new girlfriend?"

"Well, I'm female and I'm Simon's friend, but that's about the extent of it."

"Well, a couple of guys were in here asking about you."

"When?!?" I shouted.

"About fifteen minutes ago."

"What'd they look like?!?"

"I dunno. Like street thugs."

I bolted for Simon's apartment.

Once inside, I ran over to Simon's cot and shook him.

"Wha?"

"Simon! They're here!"

"Who is?"

"Those guys!"

Rubbing his eyes, "Who?"

"HelpDesk Inc.!"

Fully awake now, "When?"

"About fifteen minutes ago!"

Simon leapt up and grabbed his weapons. I hurriedly tore off the paper garments and replaced them with my new purchases, jamming two pistols into the pockets of the jacket.

Then we ran back downstairs.

Carefully rounding the corner of the building, we noticed the convenient store clerk conspicuously missing. We entered the store and noticed some movement in the back row by the drink coolers. Simon went right, I took the left.

"Bang!" Simon's gun went off and Simon ducked back behind the shelves. There was obviously a threat, but Simon didn't hit it.

I decided to try my side. I ran to the end of the rows, peeked around the shelves and fired on the unsuspecting thug. He didn't stand a chance, going down with a thud. I ran back to the clerk's bulletproof booth only to meet the barrel of another thug's gun inside. Startled, I tried to stop quickly, but only slid in the puddle of the clerk's blood and ended up on my ass.

The thug fired. He was apparently startled as well, as his bullet hit the ceiling. I fumbled for my second pistol, fired both, but only one connected, putting the thug down.

I got myself on my feet and found the clerk's assault rifle behind the counter just in time to see another thug advancing on Simon. I pulled the trigger on the AR and held it down, putting several rounds into the bulletproof glass between me and Simon's new threat.

My bluff worked, because the thug bolted out the back of the store with Simon hot on his heels.

Just as Simon was about to clear the door to the stockroom, he stopped suddenly and dodged back into the store just as a launched grenade passed through the door and into the frozen foods behind him, blowing up the produce section and raining down bits of flaming vegetables.

I ran out of the clerk's booth and around the shelves, just in time to see a man in heavy red armor raise an assault rifle at Simon's prone body, forcing him to drop his gun. That's when I opened up on the guy in the red armor. Unfortunately, the armor did what it was supposed to, so I ducked back behind the shelves.

Simon took the distraction as an opportunity to pop his spring-loaded boot knife and try to find a chink in the armor. And failed.

Just as I was about to take another shot at the man in red, one of the thugs got the drop on me, sinking his blade deep into my right shoulder, cutting muscle and scraping bone. The pain was incredible!

It gets fuzzy from there. I remember sliding down the shelves to the floor. I remember handing the clerk's assault rifle to Simon. I remember the sound of breaking glass and my assailant's head disappearing in a pink cloud. I remember Simon frantically trying to apply medical care to me. I remember a few more shots. Then…

Darkness.