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I'm against long haul.
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Sep 26, 2018 00:36
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I guess the choice becomes what are we going to sacrifice if we don't Long Haul?
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Sep 26, 2018 01:02
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Kenji takes the drugs I did a semester in college where I was awake Sunday afternoon until Thursday night thanks to three jobs and school. I would have killed for something as clean and effective as long haul. Kenji can break a mild addiction, he’s a big boy.
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Sep 26, 2018 01:03
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On a re-read, I might have been reading this situation all wrong. How exactly did Kenji know that this stuff existed, anyway? I'm starting to get the feeling that he just decided that drugs were going to be an easy solution to a sudden problem (which seems more than a little out of character) wheras previously I had kind of assumed that he had done some research (or was at least fairly familiar with it from his background, though he hadn't actually used before) and knew exactly what he was ordering, only to be caught short at the last minute because the pharm grade stuff came as an injectable liquid rather than pills. If he's literally just got his local friendly octopus to hit him up with some drugs based entirely on name recognition and a vague understanding that they might make him stay awake for most of a week straight uh this is a very bad place to be in, Kenji, you loving moron.
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Sep 26, 2018 01:05
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The drugs make me uncomfortable on a personal level but I voted yes because I think it's what he would do, being a dumbass kid who thinks he can handle it and it totally isn't the sunk cost fallacy if he makes it work. 
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Sep 26, 2018 01:17
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Ice Phisherman posted:Long Haul is actually mildly addictive. Even the good stuff doesn't get rid of that. this is false! from Discord: quote:8:18 PM] Icephisherman: Checked the notes. Addiction threshold for Long Haul is 2. Pharma lowers that by 1. It's still mildly addictive. What we have here is a literal wonder drug. No addiction, nothing. Literally just a bunch of extra time in exchange for money. Live the dream!
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Sep 26, 2018 02:40
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I don't like that Kenny is going to have to inject this stuff. Obviously there's a lot of baggage that goes with that, both for him and us here in the thread. That said I'm down with him going ahead and doing it on the grounds that if this were a pill or a drink or something else we'd let him slam it and no one would care. And I want Kenny to have a good long look in the mirror, come to that realization, and do it. This isn't the same as what Moms does. It's not even in the same freaking zip code. He absolutely should have a minor crisis over it... and then get over it and do what needs to be done. There's too much that needs to be done and not enough Kenji to do it otherwise.
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Sep 26, 2018 03:06
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Pharma grade Long Haul is not chemically addicting. But like many things it can still be addicting mentally. Ask any Decker who goes on week-long binges how bad it can be. Given enough time, Kenji will start to look strung out. Straight from the splat Man and Machine pg 132 posted:Habituation and thus psychological dependence are very likely with repeated consumption of the white, inconspicuous pills. Lung and kidney damage can occur in long-term users, causing acute urinary blood and painful urination . But frag it, this is still Shadowrun. Take the drugs.
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Sep 26, 2018 03:24
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Have the campus physician administer the drugs. Having an actual doctor sticking the needle in should change the context enough to reduce Kenji's discomfort somewhat, and should ensure that he has the necessary structure to keep his usage from becoming a habit.
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Sep 26, 2018 04:14
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The Sandman posted:Have the campus physician administer the drugs. 
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Sep 26, 2018 06:44
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Kenji, Sasha and Fuzzy – Saturday, July 27th, 2075 – Early evening – Blake Island Kenji took a shower, changed into a simple band t-shirt and jeans when he was finished, decided against a third shot of his top shelf mouthwash vodka. He critically eyed the case full of Long Haul for a few minutes without saying anything before he abruptly raided his mini fridge and left his cabin. At the soonest he planned on taking it tomorrow and at the latest, never. He grumbled to himself as he walked out. There was just so much to unpack for today. Still, he didn’t want to arrive at Sasha’s empty handed. She wasn’t much one for drinking, but he did have some goodies that he was sure would appeal to her. “It’s a Saturday night and I’m at school,” he mused, “What has my life come to?” The sun began to set and that meant the solar lights that lined the paths flicked on as he walked. The sounds of night of Blake Island began to stir: Insects, a few birds, frog song and the initial stirring of bats to name a few. On a normal Friday night there would be some cabin parties, though there was a curfew so it rarely got too wild. This was Saturday though and Saturday meant for a nearly depopulated island. He couldn’t remember the last time he actually spent a Saturday on Blake Island. It was a full moon tonight too which felt strangely auspicious. The Chinese mid-autumn festival wasn’t for two months, but that hadn’t kept him from bringing the moon cakes he’d bought a week ago. He passed Fuzzy’s cabin where she sat on her porch. She hadn’t changed out of her workout gear yet, but now she wore a long, heavy brown glove. Perched atop it was a pitch black owl. As Kenji approached, the owl’s head swiveled backwards and stared at him with blood red eyes. Kenji stopped in his tracks, thoroughly creeped out and with a rapidly increasing feeling of dread. His pulse sped up and suddenly felt torn between standing still and running away. He’d never seen Fluffy before. Fuzzy scratched Fluffy’s head and after some gentle words from her the owl turned away and accepted a scrap of meat from her hand. The feeling passed as quickly as it came. “Sorry!” called Fuzzy, “I’m trying to work on that! He’s really good at turning the fear on, not off!” Kenji couldn’t respond. He just wanted his heart to crawl down from his throat. Today’s hits just kept on coming. He didn’t trust himself to speak, so instead he waved. She waved back and he walked away. He turned onto the junior row where Sasha’s cabin was. There was only one lit cabin in the entire row and it was hers. After a short walk he walked up the short steps and knocked on her door. “Just a minute!” said Sasha, through the door. Kenji felt a little awkward. He and Sasha were friends. In fact he considered her pack, but he’d never hung out with her alone before. They’d spent nearly every meal together during the school year and would occasionally hang out together when Fuzzy was around, but that was it. So when she opened the door, her smile turned to mild shock. “Oh, hey Kenji,” said Sasha, “What are…” The shorter, Latina teenager looked at him intensely and she frowned in concern. This brought attention to a smudge of grease on her face. Below her, Puppy, Fuzzy’s enormous brown dog wagged his tail and snuffled at Kenji’s hand. He rubbed his head and got his hand thoroughly slobbered on. “Hey Sasha,” he said to her, and then to the dog, “Hey buddy.” He scratched Puppy behind the ears and the big dog happily accepted the attention. “You okay?” asked Sasha, her tone worried. Kenji thought about it and then shook his head. “No, I’m not,” he admitted, “Got some time? I come bearing gifts.” He lifted a plastic bag and she raised an eyebrow. Puppy snuffled at it with a keen interest. “It’s that mouthwash liquor isn’t it?” she asked, suspiciously. “Hey, don’t knock Big Blue,” said Kenji, “But no, they’re moon cakes.” “Moon cakes?” asked Sasha. “Chinese chocolate ice cream cakes with sherbet in the middle,” said Kenji, enticingly. Sasha’s mouth made a small O and then she smiled. “Well I was going to let you in, but now I’m really interested,” she said, and then winced, “It’s kind of a mess though. I’ve been working on stuff. I sort of want to show it off, but we’ll probably have to take it outside. Ice cream cakes can go in the mini fridge until we leave.” Kenji thought about it for a few seconds. He wasn’t really prepared to launch straight into his problems even with the alcohol currently making its way through his blood stream. “A mess doesn’t bother me,” he said, “You should see my room. Show away.” Sasha bit her lip as she made her decision, nodded, stepped aside and Kenji walked in. He found himself almost unable to walk in though as most of the room was now covered in stuff. There were a number of new machines on her desk along with open boxes on the floor. Much of her previous electronics like her stereo and trideo tank were completely disassembled. It always made Kenji a little nervous if he walked into someone’s place and they’d taken their electronics apart. Tweakers did that. Sasha was too much of a straight edge for hard drugs though and the new gear told him that something else was up. He handed Sasha the bag of moon cakes and she stored them in the mini fridge for the time being. She had to move two boxes and some discarded bubble wrap to get to it though. Kenji splayed out on her couch which was the only clean space in the cabin while Sasha continued to stand. She rocked back on her heels. Puppy jumped up onto the couch with him and together Kenji and the dog watched Sasha as she pointed to this and that. “You sure you don’t want to talk?” she asked, anxiously. “Later,” he said, “We’ll get around to it.” Sasha nodded in response, puffed out her cheeks and looked around at her mess of a room. “Okay, so I don’t think Fuzzy is going to appreciate this, but maybe you will,” said Sasha, “Keep a secret though?” “Sure,” said Kenji. Sasha beamed and seemed to grow a little taller. “I got matrix access,” she said. “What? Really?” asked Kenji, “How?” “I asked!” exclaimed Sasha. This didn’t seem to please Kenji. In fact it only seemed to confuse him. “You know, a lot of people ask about getting matrix access,” he said, dubiously, “They don’t get it.” Sasha rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Yeah, because they want to goof off and look at porn,” she scoffed, “This is for my education. If anyone else on the island wants to be a decker they can get a connection. People who want to specialize usually get permission to explore their interests. My interest is in computers.” “You know you cast magic, right?” asked Kenji, “Nature based magic?” Sasha shrugged in response. “It’s not uncommon among hermetic mages you know,” said Sasha. “But you’re not…” began Kenji, “Okay, sure. Got a cyberdeck?” A cyberdeck was a portable supercomputer, or at least they could get that powerful. For everyday use there were commlinks, but for anything that involved security or hacking, any serious hacker, called deckers, would use cyberdecks. Sasha lightly patted her own as it sat on her work desk. It looked like a black tablet. The sleek looking tablet had a mess of hastily connected computer parts strung together that were connected to it. “Yep, the Hermes Ikon,” she said. She wrinkled her nose and sighed as she poked at the chain of electronics next to it. “It’s the low end of the middle market,” she admitted, “If I kept going as a decker I was probably going to upgrade but…” She paused and suddenly looked sad. He reasoned that she was probably thinking about what she’d lost. Kenji directed her attention towards one of the new machines on the table. “What’s that?” he asked. This seemed to do the trick. He didn’t come here to make her sad. So instead she got back on track and brightened again. The smallest of them was on her desk among the computer parts and shaped like a rectangle. “This is a 3D printer,” she said, “It’s not meant for anything big. I got it for cheap since the developer makes most of their money in selling copyrighted templates. It prints circuit boards. Well, other computer parts too, but circuit boards are the hard part. I can’t print everything, but I can print a lot.” She pointed to a larger machine next to it, about the size of her mini fridge. “This is a recycler,” she said, “It breaks down electronics into their component parts so I can feed the base materials into the printer. It sounds like a washing machine with a wrench in it when it’s working. I fed it some parts earlier, took those parts and moved them to the printer.” Lastly, she picked up a tool kit did an awkward little dance with it. “Shiny new tool kit,” she said, “Multimeter, soldering iron, power converter, pliers, precision screwdrivers, that sort of stuff.” “Right,” drawled Kenji. He scratched Puppy’s back, who seemed to appreciate the attention and once again slobbered on Kenji’s hand. He wiped it on his fur as he idly stroked his fur. “So what does this have to do with the matrix?” asked Kenji. “Well…” began Sasha, “The Hermes is a lower-middle end cyberdeck. It’s still worth a lot, you know, since it’s basically a portable supercomputer, but upgrading is way out of my price range if I want to come to school for my senior year. I can’t access the global grids, the worldwide matrix that is, because they’re all corporate and I’m sort of lying low right now.” “Okay, that makes sense,” said Kenji, quickly. “Yeah, so I have to stick to the Seattle grid,” she said, “The problem with that is that it’s about ten miles away miles away. On its own my deck has a wireless range of two miles. I can get the local grid for Vashon Island but that’s it. It’s the matrix equivalent of the boonies out here. I have a signal, but that signal seems to start at about a hundred feet off the beach. My cyberdeck isn’t powerful enough to reach Seattle. That connected mess is a proof of concept. Now my deck can reach that far. The problem is all of the noise in Seattle. Millions of people and every single machine connected to the matrix, which is everything from your car to a toaster is all wirelessly connected. So it’s not powerful enough to cut through all of that radio interference. I upgraded the memory enough to run a program to cut through the noise. I can’t reach all of Seattle, but I can reach the downtown area and a few other spots.” She beamed as she rocked on her heels. “Sooooo…I might need some more parts,” she said, oh so casually “Do you think you can run some errands for me tomorrow?” “Can’t,” explained Kenji. Sasha’s face fell and her shoulders slumped. “Can’t?” echoed Sasha. “Nope,” he said, “Newly minted Dog shaman. I’m still getting a grip on my relationship with Dog. It’s part of why I came to see you tonight. I’m not allowed to leave the island for at least another week. Otherwise I’d probably be finding trouble. It’s a Saturday night after all.” Sasha snorted out a laugh and smirked. “Of course you’d find trouble,” she mused, “And now you’re bringing it here.” “Trouble and ice cream,” he corrected, “I can pick it up next week if you want.” “Well, you’re good for something at least,” she teased, “I don’t want to bother Julian anymore. He already helped me out by getting everything delivered and giving me the okay for matrix access. Okay, I’m done. Thanks for listening. Tell big sister Sasha everything.” “We’re not waiting on Fuzzy?” asked Kenji. “It might be a while,” said Sasha. “She said it’d be an hour at most,” said Kenji, “It’s been about…” He checked his smart watch. “About thirty-five minutes,” he said, “I say we head over to her place, bring as much bubble wrap as we can put our hands on, eat moon cakes and I can talk about my weird day.” “Mosquitos will eat me alive,” complained Sasha. “You’re a shaman,” scoffed Kenji, “You’re telling me you can’t think of something?” No CYOA Yet This is part of a bigger update I'm working on. Just wanted to post it since it's taking a bit. Ice Phisherman fucked around with this message at 13:13 on Mar 11, 2019 |
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Sep 30, 2018 19:06
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So I binged a book over the last 24 hours. It was the first book I've actually read that was in book form since about 2012 since that's when I made the switch to audiobooks. It's by one of my favorite authors, Joe Abercrombie. If you haven't heard of him, he's probably one of the top ten fantasy authors out there right now. Go read his stuff. I just read the second book of the Shattered Seas series, Half the World. And beyond his normal style of people getting beaten up with dirty fighting, murder, people swearing, people complaining, betrayals and talking about piss, there was a stellar romantic subplot in there that I was heavily invested in. The guy was naive and thoughtless at the start and the girl was a prideful jerk until nearly the end, but it had a serious payoff that made me smile. It was also a lot more explicit in the physical scenes since this was a coming of age story. I write PG stuff and this made the jump to PG-13. It makes consider pushing my limits about what I could and should be comfortable writing in romance again. Anyway, it was drat good. Go read Joe Abercrombie's novels.
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Sep 30, 2018 19:16
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I've read some of his work. It's pretty too notch.
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Oct 1, 2018 01:18
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We're going to walk into Julian's office one day and he'll be missing a finger. This Fire-Bringer poo poo is more serious than I thought. Poor bastard. What a pickle he got himself into.
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Oct 1, 2018 17:15
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Ice Phisherman posted:This is part of a bigger update I'm working on. Just wanted to post it since it's taking a bit. Much appreciated!  Ice Phisherman posted:The guy was naive and thoughtless at the start and the girl was a prideful jerk until nearly the end, but it had a serious payoff that made me smile. Is he the most eligible bachelor in all the Shattered Seas, and is she the eldest of 5 daughters in a lower middle class family? Was there much ado about dancing and officers and secret letters?  Cannon_Fodder posted:We're going to walk into Julian's office one day and he'll be missing a finger. You mean like, Yakuza style?
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Oct 1, 2018 20:21
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Julian failed, Fire-Bringer demands a finger.
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Oct 1, 2018 22:38
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Deadmeat5150 posted:Julian failed, Fire-Bringer demands a finger. Fuzzy requests a trapper keeper, but Julian's card expired... Fire-Bringer: "There is a way"
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Oct 2, 2018 21:45
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Kenji, Sasha and Fuzzy – Saturday, July 27th, 2075 – Early evening – Blake Island Kenji spent a few minutes tidying up while Sasha gathered up what to bring: A two liter of Fizzychug soda, some orange soda, bubble wrap and an old six pack of Dale’s Own Best Pomegranate Juice that Sasha found in a box, a remnant of her corporate days. These would join the moon cakes and one large dog to make it a party. She’d grown quiet while looking at the juice which urged Kenji to move her along to keep her from dwelling on her past. The walk to Fuzzy’s cabin took a few minutes longer than normal as Puppy snuffled around to mark his territory. So they met Fuzzy on the path as she walked towards Sasha’s cabin. Puppy strained at his leash and threatened to pull Kenji forward, but Fuzzy made a sharp noise, snapped her fingers and the big dog sat down. Kenji handed off the leash and Fuzzy pet him before he licked her hand. “Hey Puppy,” she cooed, “Good boy. Hey you two, what’s in the bag?” “Ice cream cakes, drinks, cups and bubble wrap,” said Sasha. “What’s bubble wrap?” asked Fuzzy. “Oh, you’re in for a treat,” said Sasha with a grin. Fuzzy stood on tiptoes to kiss Sasha. Deciding not to play the voyeur, Kenji looked away. When they were done they all walked together and some minutes later they set up some lawn chairs behind Fuzzy’s cabin. Mosquitoes and other bugs were everywhere though as they gathered around the single light that illuminated them. Since they didn’t have any citronella candles, Sasha summoned a tiny wind spirit to kick up the wind in the local area just enough to drive most of the insects away. Fuzzy failed to summon a bat spirit to eat the bugs, but succeeded the second time. They were small spirits and it was easy to get them to do what they’d normally be doing anyway. The outing was now mosquito free, though Fuzzy rubbed at her face from the fatigue. “I suck at summoning,” complained Fuzzy, "Spirits are way harder to summon than casting spells." “Then you should take a class beyond the safety course,” said Sasha. “Meh,” grunted Fuzzy, noncommittally, “Maybe next semester.” The ice cream moon cakes were passed out, but they didn’t have any plates. Fuzzy went inside and at the insistence of Kenji and grabbed some snacks. She came back with a bag of kettle cooked potato chips and plates. Their gathering was turning into a small party. Sasha cracked open the hard shell of her moon cake with a fork, each one stamped in chocolate with the Cantonese character for moon and began to dig into the vanilla inside. She made a pleased noise and took a few bites before talking. “Okay Kenji,” said Sasha, “What’s up? Kenji cracked open some orange soda, poured himself some and took a drink. “Hard to think about where to start,” said Kenji, “I got this note from Julie though. I can send it to your commlinks.” “No commlink anymore,” said Sasha. Kenji and Fuzzy looked at her. “What?” asked Kenji, incredulously, “Who doesn’t have a commlink?” “Me,” said Sasha, “I pulled it apart for parts. I don’t need a top of the line commlink anymore. I’m not going anywhere so I don’t have a lot of use for it. I’ve got a spare, but I need to put it back together. I got carried away.” “You pulled apart a top of the line…" began Kenji, "You know what? Never mind. Fuzzy, can you share your commlink?” “Sure,” said Fuzzy. Fuzzy pulled on her augmented reality goggles to read the note and Sasha read directly from the commlink. Kenji felt a little bad for sharing the private note, but he wasn’t sure what to make of it. He dug into his own moon cake to distract himself. It was chocolate on the outside, but since he’d gotten a lot of different flavors; his ice cream was almond. He went straight for the center and found a little ball of orange sherbet which he quickly gobbled up. The center of the moon cake was his favorite part. The ice cream wasn’t as distracting as he’d hoped and he kept his ears out for their reactions as a vague and rarely felt sense of anxiety crept up on him. Sasha wavered between making cooing and disapproving noises the entire time. Fuzzy said nothing. She only frowned in concentration and mouthed the words under her breath as she read. “Oh Julie,” sighed Sasha. “What does like, like mean?” asked Fuzzy. “It means she’s attracted to me and maybe wants to date me,” said Kenji. Fuzzy turned off her AR goggles and slid them back up her head. “But she just admitted that she has problems with elves,” said Fuzzy, her tone confused, “I knew she had problems from last year, but I don’t get any of this. How can you be attracted to someone if you have bad feelings about them?” Kenji and Sasha both stared at Fuzzy, who suddenly became self-conscious. “There’s a difference between how you’re raised and who you like,” explained Sasha, gently. Fuzzy’s self-consciousness evaporated and she pursed her lips in thought. “Okay, yeah,” said Fuzzy, slowly, “I remember when I was listening to her about stuff for a few months last year when she was sad and stressed out. Sometimes she’d talk about her parents or prison and she said that they made her hate people. She has a hard time dealing with what she wants to believe and how she was raised. So it’s hard not to hate people if you’re raised that way, but she also doesn’t really get a choice about who she likes or not. Is it like that?” “I guess that sounds right,” sighed Kenji. “I think it’s right,” said Sasha, “So from what I’m reading here, Julie fixed you up with Krupa’s sister and then freaked out about it later when it actually happened?” Kenji nodded as Fuzzy continued to snack on her ice cream moon cake. “Yeah, and I almost melted down from her being in pain,” admitted Kenji, wearily, “Dog has been sending my emotions out of control. I had to get talked down by Joyce. Julie realized that she sabotaged herself and that she has a habit of doing that, but that was hours later. So that awfulness splashed on me this time. I’m glad she’s okay and um…Also that she’s aware of what she was doing. Going through that was pretty bad.” Sasha grumbled a bit and folded her arms. “Am I allowed to be mad at her?” she asked. “I’d really rather you not be,” said Kenji, “She’s getting help. If the therapy doesn’t help, maybe get mad later. Right now I’m just glad she’s okay.” "I'm pretty sure she's going to be more mad at herself than anything you can say, Sasha," Fuzzy responded. The group fell into silence for a while as they snacked, listened to the wind spirit kick up its breeze and the bat spirit snack on bugs overhead. Kenji tipped back on his chair and tried to relax, but he was still confused and stressed out. The alcohol had done little to help him unwind. “Mind if I take a peek at your aura?” asked Sasha, oh so casually, “Maybe it’ll help.” Kenji was about to respond that she always did that, but paused. It was polite to ask for those who could see the astral to ask for, but Sasha’s disability meant that she always looked at peoples’ emotions as well as the flow of magic around her. They were outdoors and his white noise generator wasn't on, but he figured that it could be fairly easy to defeat with magic and wasn't worth potentially calling attention to their group. If people knew about her disability then that would be one more reason for the other students to discriminate against her. So Kenji pretended to think about it and shrugged. The island was mostly empty tonight, but it was good to pretend. “Yeah, sure,” he said, “Since you asked.” Puppy whined as he looked at the remnants of the ice cream on Fuzzy’s plate. She didn’t feed him any, but she did scratch his head. “Have you been drinking?” asked Sasha, “Your aura is sort of muddy.” “A little,” said Kenji, “I don’t think I could talk about this stuff otherwise. I’m not really used to talking about my feelings.” “Everything had to come crashing down before you did, huh?” asked Sasha, her tone cynical. Kenji frowned, blew out a long breath and nodded. “That uh...Mouthwash treating you okay?” she asked. “Nope,” he said, Sasha's lips made a firm line and shook her head. “Who’s Saanvi?” asked Fuzzy. Sasha turned her head to look at her girlfriend. Fuzzy poked at the commlink. She still wasn't done. “She’s Krupa’s sister,” explained Sasha. “Who’s Krupa?” asked Fuzzy. Sasha furrowed her brow and tilted her head in confusion. “She’s in your grade you know,” said Sasha, with a hint of reproach. “Maybe get to know people,” said Kenji. Kenji could name every single person in his grade as well as a significant number of those who weren’t. Sure this had been since he was looking for money last year, but Krupa had probably been in at least one of Fuzzy’s classes. For her part, Fuzzy grunted and shrugged. “I don’t talk to a lot of people,” explained Fuzzy, “Not a lot in common to talk about. I don’t use social media, I don’t watch the trideo, I’m not really into music, I don’t play games on my commlink, I can’t talk about travel and I’m not interested in fashion. On the other hand, most people here don’t like pressing flowers, kung-fu movies, training animals, hunting, martial arts or motorcycles. In fact, most of the people here don’t even drive. People drive for them. I talked to one guy about my Harley who liked motorcycles. He collects them, but when I tried to talk he got all snobby- Said I was too little for it. I told him I ride just fine and haven’t talked to him since. Plus I didn’t have normal classes last year, only magic classes. So I didn’t get to know many people. If I saw someone around I could recognize them, but I couldn’t tell you the names of most of the people at school.” “Just had to sneak in pressing flowers, huh?” teased Kenji, “Hard to think of you doing anything girly.” “Who says riding motorcycles isn’t girly?” asked Sasha, pointedly, “You brought ice cream after all. Your hair is long enough that I could braid it. I’ll try for something masculine. Promise.” “That a threat?” asked Kenji. “Nah, ice cream goes a long way,” said Sasha, “I think that I’m the girl in this relationship.” “Which makes Fuzzy…” began Kenji. Fuzzy raised a pale eyebrow at Sasha. In response, Sasha smirked, spooned out the mango center of the moon cake, held out the spoon and winked at Fuzzy. She ate it gladly and smiled up at Sasha as she licked her lips. “The other girl,” snarked Sasha. Everyone had a chuckle at Sasha’s small joke. “If pressing flowers is girly then I guess it is,” admitted Fuzzy, “I just do what I like and don’t think much about it. Anyway, tonight is not about me. You went on a date?” Kenji immediately felt his cheeks heat up. “It wasn’t a date,” he said, far too quickly, “We had coffee. She was watching me since I’m still getting a grip on how to deal with Dog and Joyce had to go somewhere and…” Sasha began to giggle. Without taking her eyes off him, she’d leaned over and whispered into Fuzzy’s ear and she began to giggle moments later. Kenji suddenly stopped talking. “Keep going,” urged Sasha, as she grinned. “You’re laughing at me,” said Kenji, defensively. Normally this wouldn’t bother him, but he was out of sorts tonight. His normal social defenses were down. “Noooo!” exclaimed Sasha, who paused, “I mean yeah, but just a little. I’m just happy for you, you know? It’s just that I’ve seen you flirt before and I’ve never seen you so flustered. I can count on one hand the amount of times I’ve seen you get embarrassed.” “Is she cute?” asked Fuzzy. Sasha’s smile disappeared as she shot Fuzzy a flat look. Fuzzy reached out a hand and held her girlfriend’s hand. “I’m not going anywhere,” Fuzzy soothed, “I’m just trying to be happy for Kenji too.” This seemed to mollify Sasha, who squeezed Fuzzy’s hand in return. Their attention lingered on one another before Puppy whined again. Fuzzy stroked his head while Sasha looked to Kenji, who was struggling with how to respond and keep his dignity. “Okay, sorry. Anyway, is she cute?” asked Sasha. “I think I got a picture of her when we exchanged contact information,” said Kenji. Kenji connected to Fuzzy’s commlink and sent a peer to peer message with Saanvi’s picture on it. In Kenji’s opinion the picture didn’t do her justice. Her expression was almost lifeless. Again, Fuzzy shared her commlink with Sasha while she briefly slipped on her AR goggles. “Dem-o-sell paladin in training Saanvi Patel,” read Fuzzy, slowly, "Oh, I saw some paladins when I went LARPing. I was a barbarian though." “Is she some sort of cosplayer?” asked Sasha. “What?” asked Fuzzy and Kenji at roughly the same time. “Costume play,” said Sasha, “It’s where you wear costumes as a kind of performance art. Does she pretend to be some noble paladin or something? From like a video game? I used to know a few people who took cosplay really seriously back when I played Miracle Shooter.” “Uh, no,” said Kenji, “That’s her military title. She’s in the Tir military.” This didn’t register at all with Fuzzy, but it did with Sasha. Her brow furrowed as she tried to conjure up an explanation. “What’s a Tir?” asked Fuzzy. “It’s a nation a few hundred miles south of here,” said Sasha, slowly, “It used to be called Oregon back when the United States was still a thing. It’s mostly elves that live there. Ares does a ton of business with them. What is she doing in Seattle?” “She’s training to be Krupa’s bodyguard,” said Kenji. Her brow furrowed and her eyes flicked from Kenji and back to the picture. “Kenji, how old is she?” she asked. “Nineteen,” said Kenji. “And you’re what, sixteen?” she continued. “Seventeen come Christmas,” said Kenji. “You were born on Christmas?” asked Sasha. Kenji shrugged and grabbed another moon cake from the container. He broke apart the hard chocolate shell and went for the center again. “A lot of kids from the ACHE say that their birthdays are on holidays so that they’re more likely to get presents,” explained Kenji, “I didn’t get many presents while growing up so I decided on Christmas. There’s a big screw Christmas party in the ACHE and everyone has a truce so there are no floor wars. Tourists come in to slum it and it turns into a gigantic party. I hated my life and rarely got presents, so I decided that’s when my birthday was. I was more likely to get presents that way.” Kenji pulled out the sherbet center from the moon cake. Normal moon cakes weren’t ice cream. They had a cooked egg inside. Since this was ice cream, he pulled out the egg sized piece of sherbet and ate it in a single bite. "I think she’s about three years older than me. Maybe more, maybe less," he said. “You don’t know when your birthday is?” asked Sasha. Kenji dug around through the bar and found that the ice cream filling around it was almond instead of simple vanilla. He liked it. “I just told you, Christmas,” said Kenji, “I decided on it years ago.” “She looks nice,” proclaimed Fuzzy. Sasha turned to Fuzzy and then peered at the commlink again. “Yeah, but if this is some ID picture I think she probably looks a lot better in a normal picture,” remarked Sasha. “I’m going to meet her at her place next week,” said Kenji, “So maybe I can get a regular picture.” “Oh yeah?” teased Sasha, “Her place huh?” Kenji hesitated and grimaced. He took a long sip of his orange soda, but his stalling didn’t help at all. “Not a date,” said Kenji, defensively, “She mentioned how she missed omelets and I offered to cook her breakfast.” Sasha shot him a knowing look accompanied by a knowing smile. “Breakfast, huh?” continued Sasha, oh so casually. “Yeah,” confirmed Kenji, “Just breakfast. I’m showing up after I get off the boat. That’s all I plan on doing. It’s not a date. We’re not dating.” Kenji thought back to his conversation with Saanvi and his insides squirmed. He remembered the way the corner of his mouth and cheek tingled when she kissed him. How his mind went blank when she bit her lip. As he slipped away from the conversation, he was brought back to reality by Sasha’s voice. “Hey uh…Kenji?” asked Sasha. “What?” asked Kenji. “Hate to break it to you, but you’ve got it bad,” said Sasha, who stifled another giggle. “Bad?” asked Fuzzy. Sasha made a small squeal of delight and beamed at Fuzzy. “Really bad!” Sasha continued, “Kenji has a crush.” “Aww,” cooed Fuzzy, “That’s really nice. Do you think she likes you back, Kenji?” Kenji made a small, strangled noise in his throat as his emotions were laid bare before his friends. It was deeply uncomfortable for him. He now wished he’d had that third shot. “You could say that,” he said, quietly, “Yeah. She’s um…Aggressive. I have a hard time dealing with that.” “Well that changes everything. You’re just coming over to cook breakfast at her place on your not second date,” said Sasha, whose smile turned wicked, “Just remember, if she’s wearing matching underwear, it wasn’t your idea.” “Sasha!” exclaimed Fuzzy, “Be nice!” Sasha collapsed into a fit of giggles while Kenji felt his face burn all the way up to the tips of his ears. He hoped that the growing darkness hid the worst of it. So he didn’t cover his face, or it would make his embarrassment obvious. Then he remembered that Sasha could see right through him to his emotions. He tried to conjure up some indignation, but all he could muster was a dull ache of disappointment. Unable to take any more of it, he stood up. “Maybe I should go,” sighed Kenji. Sasha got to her feet and put a hand up to Kenji’s chest. Her mouth which had been full of delight moments earlier twisted into worry. “No! No. No, don’t, please,” implored Sasha, her giggles gone as quick as they came, “I’m sorry. I’ve just been so stressed out lately and I teased you too much. My mouth got the better of me. I’m being a bitch. Sorry. I’ll be nice.” Kenji felt emotionally ragged, embarrassed and slightly drunk. He wavered between coming and going. Then he felt Fuzzy's calloused hand grip his own. “Please stay, Kenji,” asked Fuzzy. His shoulders slumped. Sasha looked back at Fuzzy, who did not look pleased with her, bit her lip and sat back down. Kenji did as well. After a few seconds of awkward silence, Kenji took a deep breath and spoke. “I turned that down too,” he murmured. “Turn what down?” asked Fuzzy. Kenji waited for Sasha to say something, but she held her tongue. In fact, she looked worried. That made sense because he felt worried and she was looking directly at his emotions. So Kenji began to explain. “You have to understand, I didn’t approach her. She approached me,” he began, “Or at least Joyce made me aware of her interest. He said she wanted to court me or something.” “Oh, I know what that is!” exclaimed Fuzzy, “From my history books. Courting is like dating, right?” “Joyce made a big deal about how nobles don’t date, but you’re basically right,” said Kenji, “Anyway, she was watching me while we were having coffee. We talked and she actually tried to pass on courting. She went straight to offers of casual sex and money. Before you judge, I’d done a favor for Krupa big enough to get her attention and gratitude. Saanvi was just so dispassionate about the offers that something felt off. The next thing you know my hand brushed hers and suddenly I was having a vision.” He rubbed at his ribs. Just like that phantom tingle of her kiss, the memory of repeated kicks to the ribs and screaming came back. “Dog showed me her point of view,” he explained, “Sort of. For a while I was her, though some sort of dog version of her. One person was kicking me in the ribs and another was screaming at me. I just laid there and took it because I knew that if I resisted it would be worse the next time. Then my…Then her sister showed up. They stopped, pet and praised her. They pretended that nothing had happened. The parents that is, not the other dog. The other dog was confused. Then they left and her sister went about licking my wounds which sort of feels weird saying in retrospect, but so did suddenly being a dog and getting beaten down with zero warning. I popped out of the vision and suddenly I understood her. For a while, I’d been her. Not just in the vision, but in my normal life. Like her I’d been hopeless, helpless and completely under someone else’s control.” Kenji looked down at his hands. His whole world had narrowed down to them. He thought of Edward, made fists of anger and then with a sigh and a conscious effort of will he forced himself to relax. “So when she offered her body and money to me, I realized that she wanted to reward me and that’s all she thought she was good for,” said Kenji, quietly, “I turned her down which she thought was a total rejection. I decided to cook breakfast for her instead because she said she missed that. That seemed to confuse her. I’ll be sending some letters too, though I’ll need to find some paper. I’ve never sent a letter to someone before. Last year I probably would have taken her up on at least the money. Now I’m revolted that I ever thought that way- That I was that person.” Again, silence reigned. Kenji reasoned that it was a lot to take in. After all, when else does someone get a waking dream from a spirit where they literally think they’re someone else for a while? “That’s horrible,” said Fuzzy, sadly “Who did that to her?” “Her mom and dad,” said Kenji with a sigh, “Horrible abusers if I believe Saanvi, which I do and apparently so does Dog. And it seems that Dog loves her for some reason, though I’m still trying to figure out why. Anyway, I spent just a couple minutes with her, brushed her hand and now I understand her. So I just tripped over myself wanting to make her feel better. That’s how the next few hours went.” Sasha’s looked like she tasted something sour. “Yeah, that’s a lot more common than you think,” said Sasha, slowly, “I guess her family is rich since Krupa is here?” “Yeah,” said Kenji. “Domestic violence gets really bad with families of the rich and powerful. It happened all of the time in…In Ares,” she said, with an awkward halt, “The laws tend to be suggestions to the elite. They can buy the best lawyers, buy off the cops or just keep the cops away through layers upon layers of private security and legal threats. Not everyone is bad, but the worst abusers barely have any limits. The worst abuses happen where the law can’t touch or won’t touch. If you’re managing a department with tens of thousands of people underneath you and a billion nuyen budget or if you have lots of money, you have to do something big for someone to sic the law on you. In Ares, the powers that be didn’t want to mess with the high performers.” “Or the cops could just not give a poo poo because you’re poor. Or they just don’t show up at all,” said Kenji, bitterly. “Yeah, that too,” said Sasha, quietly. Instead of waiting for the awkward silence to linger, Sasha picked up a few pieces of bubble wrap and handed them out. “Time for a break,” she said, “The conversation is getting heavy. I want some time to mull everything over. More ice cream, more drinks, pop some bubbles.” So that’s what they did. The sounds of bubble wrap being popped filled the forest, but Sasha and Kenji stopped to stare at Fuzzy after less than a minute. Once introduced to it, Fuzzy was at first surprised, then delighted and then focused as she took to it with a will. Over the course of a few minutes she methodically popped every single bubble on her sheet while Kenji and Sasha ate and stared. However, the silence this time wasn’t awkward as it was punctuated by the snaps of popping bubbles. “Having fun?” asked Kenji. “What?” replied Fuzzy. She’d been so engrossed in her sheet that the world had faded away. Kenji handed her his barely popped sheet and she let out a small squeal of delight. Her focus went straight back to the new piece of bubble wrap and she continued her quest to pop them all. Sasha giggled. “Okay, seems like someone is enjoying themselves,” said Sasha, “You know, Kenji…” “Hmm?” asked Kenji, from around a spoonful of ice cream. “Pop, pop, pop, pop, pop,” went Fuzzy's bubble wrap. “I think you’re at risk of becoming a good person,” mused Sasha. “That a fact?” asked Kenji. “Yep,” agreed Sasha, “Because I was at risk of becoming a better person once upon a time. I know what that feels like.” “How’s that working out for you?” asked Kenji. “Pop, pop, pop, pop, pop,” went the bubble wrap. Sasha looked at her girlfriend, who was totally engrossed in the simple joy of popping bubble wrap. She smiled. “Still working on it,” she said, softly, and then her gaze turned back to Kenji, “Don’t let me stop you if you still want to bicker with me though.” She winked at him and smiled to let him know she was teasing. Kenji chuckled. “I know of no other way to talk to you,” he replied, “It’s just been a rough night after all. I think you’ve grown though, as far as being a good person goes.” Fuzzy grabbed the last sheet of bubble wrap and furiously popped it. “Oh yeah?” asked Sasha. “Yeah, you apologized to me,” he said, piously, “I think that that shows real personal growth.” Sasha rolled her eyes and smirked. The gentle teasing was all she needed to return to sarcasm. “So does a tumor,” she snarked. They both laughed. Fuzzy looked up at the two and there was a hint of relief visible on her face. Then she held up her piece of bubble wrap. Is there any more?” she asked. “Popped all of mine,” said Sasha. “I gave you mine,” said Kenji. Fuzzy sighed and decided to scratch Puppy’s head. Again he put his head on her leg and whined. “No owl treats for you,” chided Fuzzy, “They’re for Fluffy. Plus I don’t have my falconry gauntlet. He’ll show up and tear up my arm again.” “Owl treats?” asked Kenji. “I set traps for mice and shred them,” she said, without looking up, “Fluffy won’t show up for pellets anymore so I have to use scraps of meat. I fed Puppy once and he whines whenever I have them on me now and sometimes even when I don’t.” The conversation meandered. Kenji’s problems were a lot to take in and occasionally he’d see Sasha concentrating as she watched him or she’d pause in thought, so he could tell she was mulling everything over. He was happy for the break. He truly wasn't used to talking about his feelings and that had taken a lot out of him. So Kenji made small talk with Fuzzy about her animals while Sasha thought and ate the last of the ice cream. Ice Phisherman fucked around with this message at 05:23 on Oct 4, 2018 |
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Oct 3, 2018 18:14
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Ice Phisherman posted:“Is she cute?” asked Fuzzy. Jealous much, Sasha? Calm down girl, ain’t no need for that kind of reaction. Ice Phisherman posted:“Dem-o-sell paladin in training Saanvi Patel,” read Fuzzy, slowly. Hah; both her and Fuzzy would know a lot about cosplayers, yeah. Ice Phisherman posted:“Breakfast, huh?” continued Sasha, oh so casually. Yeah, I don’t believe him either, sister. Elf. Man. Hussy. Ice Phisherman posted:“Well that changes everything. You’re just coming over to cook breakfast at her place on your not second date,” said Sasha, whose smile turned wicked, “Just remember, if she’s wearing matching underwear, it wasn’t your idea.” Ya know, since we’re opening this can of worms, I bet ‘bedroom games’ with Saanvi are quite something else, floppy phallus sword and all. Ice Phisherman posted:“Maybe I should go,” sighed Kenji. Oh Kenny-Boy, don’t be like that. *** Good update Ice!! Let’s see that other shoe drop!
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Oct 3, 2018 20:30
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Ice Phisherman posted:Sasha began to giggle. Without taking his eyes off him, she’d leaned over and whispered into Fuzzy’s ear and she joined in moments after. Both began to giggle. Kenji suddenly stopped talking. Anyway, I'm loving it, and I'm at the edge of my seat here waiting to see how this evening turns out.
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Oct 3, 2018 23:18
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drat, Kenji is really weak to a bit of good old aggressive ribbing. For someone who's such a flirt you'd think that he'd be used to that kind of thing. Maybe it's just because he's been having a complicated time.
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Oct 4, 2018 00:24
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Yeah I think he's just feeling a bit raw and exposed right now, plus he's had a few and seeing as he was feeling apprehensive when he downed them, they wouldn't help inure his feelings. They'd just amplify them.
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Oct 4, 2018 00:26
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Kenji's social prowess fades when he loses situational control. He's not good on the recovery from getting tilted.
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Oct 4, 2018 01:36
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Unsure raw emotions + a bit of booze. Yeah a bit of ribbing the wrong way would totally do that.
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Oct 4, 2018 02:51
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Yup, been there
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Oct 4, 2018 03:16
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Me too.
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Oct 4, 2018 03:43
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Kenji, Sasha and Fuzzy – Saturday, July 27th, 2075 – Evening – Blake Island Time slipped by as he and Fuzzy continued to talk. If pressed, Kenji would admit that he wasn't interested in training animals, but he was interested in just how excited Fuzzy was about training them. It was a joy to see her face light up. She went deep into the minutia of how to train an owl and she recounted how between Puppy, Fluffy and herself, she was able to kill all of those feral pigs in the factory farms of Snohomish. Fluffy would drive prey with his magical fear, Puppy would chase them down and bark at them to distract them, and Fuzzy would either take them out with her bow and arrows or spear them. "Get any trophies?" he asked. He vaguely understood that a huntress should have trophies. Fuzzy nodded and smiled. "I got a coat just for me and a leather case for my commlink to keep it from breaking," she said, as she held it up and gave it a small wave, "Also I got a picture of my best night. I killed eight pigs. They were a total pain to haul to Rat Man's truck even with his help. I missed martial arts class the next day because I was so tired. I'm glad that my Harley can drive itself home, because Rat Man took me home that night. I slept in the same cot that I did when I was a kid. I'm sort of regretting the Harley now. As much fun as it is to ride, it can't haul anything and I'd have to take a taxi to take Puppy and Fluffy to go hunting. They got really expensive. If I'd had a truck instead of a Harley, I would've made a lot more. I want to get a truck, but parking spaces are really expensive too. I'm lucky that Julie lets me use hers. Otherwise I'd probably have to sell my ride, but..." "But motorcycle rides are fun," said Kenji. "But motorcycle rides are fun," echoed Fuzzy, happily, "Car rides just don't compare." "Pigs are dangerous you know," sulked Sasha, "I wish you'd found a different job." Fuzzy scoffed and shook her head. "I was invisible most of the time," she said, "If anything I was over-prepared: Spells, adept powers, nightvision goggles, two animals, bow, spearknife, armor and my shield with the flashpack inside. No pig was spared. Honestly, I was more worried about my animals." "I was more worried about you..." Sasha continued. To Kenji, this sounded like a well tread argument. It had that sort of rhythm to it. So he raised his hand to his mouth cleared his throat to head it off. "So Sasha, figure anything out?" he asked. She briefly frowned at him and nodded. Fuzzy snacked on some kettle chips and drank pomegranate juice. "Yeah," she said, "First, Julie is a mess. I've known she's had a crush on you for a while but she was also with Marco for most of that time. I worry about her a lot. I thought Julian was on top of this since he's her guardian, but the more time I spend around him, the more I realize that he's a workaholic just like her." "Workaholic?" asked Fuzzy. "They both compulsively work long hours," said Sasha, "And in this case, I think they both do it because they're running away from their problems. They’re both riddled with doubt and guilt. Julian tries to hide it, but I see through him. They’re similar in a lot of ways. Or at least their emotional states are often similar.” “Really?” asked Kenji, now interested. “Yeah,” said Sasha, “I lived around a lot of people who use work to run away from their problems.” Fuzzy looked to Sasha and began to open her mouth. “Not you,” said Sasha, “You run towards problems, not away. You work hard for entirely different reasons. We’ll talk later if you want.” Fuzzy’s mouth made a sheepish smile and she shrugged. “Anyway,” continued Sasha, “I’m just glad Julie is getting help. I’m not sure what to do except be a friend.” “We could send her letters,” said Fuzzy. Both Kenji and Sasha looked to her. A wave of nervousness passed over her features, but she continued on. “I wrote Dave letters for all of last year,” she said, “I still do too. We could just write letters for Julie.” “Never thought of that,” whispered Kenji, “I’m going to write Saanvi and I never thought about writing Julie. Now I feel bad.” “Don’t,” sighed Sasha, “I didn’t think about it either. Besides, you just visited her. Anyway, have you ever written a physical letter before?” “No,” he said, simply. “Neither have I,” said Sasha, "It doesn't come naturally to you." “Need help writing one?” asked Fuzzy. “Probably,” admitted Kenji, “At least in how to send one.” “It’ll be fun!” exclaimed Fuzzy, “I’ve got letters, paper and special pens. We can all write some letters together.” “Okay,” agreed Sasha, “But later. Kenji gets help first.” Fuzzy nodded and continued to snack. “Okay, next up, you’re getting set up,” continued Sasha. “What?” asked Kenji. “The courting thing,” said Sasha, “You repeated that James said that nobles don’t date. They court.” “Joyce,” corrected Kenji. “Right,” she said, “Well, he takes you out for a day and it just so happens to leave you alone with Saanvi for four hours. You said you did a big favor for Krupa. I don’t know what that is, but from the sound of it he’s not asking you to casually date Saanvi. He’s asking you to court her. Fuzzy, can I see your commlink for a second again?” Fuzzy handed it over and Sasha tapped at the touchscreen. Seconds passed and with a final tap, a feminine voice in began to speak in precise, Standard English. “Courtship,” began the commlink, “A courtship is a period in a romantic couple’s relationship when they are dating. Most partners go through a courtship before deciding to get married. Courtship is an old-fashioned word, assuming that two people who love each other will eventually get married. The word comes from the sixteenth century when it meant “paying court to a woman with the intention of marriage.”” Kenji’s mind recoiled in horror as Sasha handed Fuzzy her commlink. Apparently his body recoiled as well, because he almost tipped backwards on his chair into the grass. Before that happened he grabbed onto Fuzzy’s shoulder. She slapped a hand on his forearm and pulled him upright. He nodded and shared a tight smile with her. Then he stood up and began to pace. “There has to be some mistake,” he said. “I don’t think so,” replied Sasha, “I mean I could be wrong or you might not be telling me something, but courting is definitely not casual dating. I think this is less about seeing Saanvi and more about you getting scouted as talent. What did you do?” Kenji turned on his heel while his two friends and one dog watched him pace. He mulled it all over in his head as his gut churned uncomfortably. So he made a snap decision, flicked on the white noise generator in his pocket and spoke without stopping his pacing. “This doesn’t get repeated,” said Kenji, firmly. Fuzzy’s eyes went a little wide, but Sasha merely kept staring. “I promise I won’t repeat it,” Fuzzy swore. Sasha only nodded, but looked about to make sure no one was close enough to eavesdrop. “That terrorist attack last week,” Kenji said quickly, “Krupa astrally projected there. She healed some people, but she ran out of power before she could heal everyone. She came back and begged for help. I kept her from going back by and getting herself or other people killed by triggering a secondary bomb. I talked her down and got Jayvon to talk to his dad since he does high threat response for Crash Cart. I convinced Coach Bolt to make a call off the island, Jayvon talked to his dad and a lot of people who would have otherwise died got treatment by the first responder team. They were only supposed to pull out a few people who bought the kind of medical care that gets you pulled out of a terrorist attack without clearing the area first. We exchanged what Krupa knew from going in for treatment for everyone who didn’t get immediately pulled out. Most of the people who didn’t immediately die made it through.” There were a few beats while Sasha processed this. She pursed her lips and nodded in respect. “Wow,” said Sasha. “I don’t understand most of that,” said Fuzzy, “You helped keep people from dying?” “I played a small part,” said Kenji, quickly, “No talking about this. I’m serious.” Fuzzy beamed up at him with pride. He slowed to take that look in and managed a smile in return. As stressed as he was, approval from her lifted his spirits. “That would explain all the extra security on the boat,” murmured Sasha, “At least the kind that I can see from the docks. You can turn off the white noise generator now.” Kenji reached into his pocket and flicked the white noise generator off. Then he began to furiously pace again as nervous energy surged through him. “Did Joyce see all that?” asked Sasha. Kenji nervously toyed with the white noise generator and almost turned it back on, but pulled his hand out of his pocket. “Front row seat,” confirmed Kenji. “Coach Bolt is a hard rear end,” continued Sasha. “He’s not that bad,” said Fuzzy. Sasha tossed Fuzzy an incredulous look and shook her head. “Not for you maybe,” said Sasha, “I'm guessing it was a hard negotiation, huh?” Kenji snorted out a single laugh. “Had a lot worse, but yeah,” he said, “I could do nothing, buck authority and try to get help or talk to him. I decided to talk to him.” “Yeah, okay,” sighed Sasha, “Here’s your problem. Not to be offensive, but you haven’t exactly carved out the sort of reputation that Fuzzy and Julie have. That’s a big ask, but you still didn’t do it. You’re not the best student and the magic you’ve developed on purpose was mostly to impress girls. Now it's different. You performed well at a critical moment and you’re standing out with your new relationship with Dog. I think you’re getting scouted as talent. Congratulations and condolences.” “But I didn’t do anything!” exclaimed Kenji. “Nope, you did,” said Fuzzy, “And I’m proud of you.” Kenji’s didn’t hear that. Instead his pace increased as he furiously thought. A number of pieces began to fit into place. Saanvi had confirmed that Krupa could have gotten hurt or killed in the attack despite being in her astral form, which was normally impervious to physical damage. Joyce had fallen apart on the beach when Krupa rushed towards the attack. He’d gone on a hunger strike for her as well, so she mattered deeply to him. Dove was Joyce’s mentor spirit and Dove valued peace and negotiation. Kenji realized that after an entire year of cultivating a slacker persona, he’d let that mask slip. He’d been effective in front of people. Joyce and Krupa had noticed. Then he’d told Joyce that Dog had given him a vision about Saanvi because saying nothing would have been more suspicious. Joyce’s methods had been subtle and Kenji hadn’t realized what was going on. Kenji had a thought that marriage was something that older people did, but then immediately discarded that thought. Joyce and Krupa’s marriage had been arranged for at least a few years. It all made a horrifying sort of sense to him. Kenji stopped pacing and stared into the darkness of Blake Island at night. “Holy poo poo, Joyce is trying to recruit me,” whispered Kenji. Saanvi had warned him, but it was one thing to be told and another to understand. She had told him point blank that she might be used to recruit him. Kenji didn't dismiss her or the idea, it just hadn't felt real. Now it felt real. Joyce was interested in recruiting him in a permanent way. “Yeah,” agreed Sasha, “That’s what it looks like. You’ve been making connections, which up until lately mostly involved furiously flirting with most of the girls on the island since day one. It looks like you’re trying to plug into the corporate scene, but no one was taking you seriously. He’s probably trying to repay a debt and scouting talent at the same time. Sorry Kenji, you played the influence game too well. It looks like someone finally decided you’re worth playing with. He probably thinks he’s doing you a big favor or something.” “Recruitment through marriage though? Really?” asked Kenji, “Wait, don’t answer that. Joyce is a noble. He thinks differently than me. I’m realizing that now.” "If it means anything, this sounds like a long term plan," said Sasha, "There are plenty of ways to derail it if you're not interested." Sasha let out a sigh and there was a small flicker of light as she released her spell. Kenji frowned at Sasha. “What was that?” he asked. “I improved my smarts while you were chatting with Fuzzy,” explained Sasha, “I wanted to give you my best. I’m probably missing some stuff, but I’m confident in what I said. You’re getting scouted as talent.” “Fffffffffuuuuuck,” groaned Kenji. He sat down heavily in the plastic lawn chair. “You’re welcome by the way,” said Sasha, “Sorry that I’m not helping you feel better.” “It is what it is,” whispered Kenji, “And thanks.” “At least she’s cute,” said Fuzzy, “What’s she like?” After all of the tension and bad news that Sasha delivered, it was Fuzzy who kept it light. He slowed his pacing before he sat back down. He sipped his drink, found it mostly empty and took his time refilling it to gather his thoughts. Fuzzy and Sasha waited for him to speak. "Well, she's not the kind of person I ever thought I'd be attracted to," began Kenji, "In fact, she seems like a mess, but I have to admit that I sort of like that. After all, I'm a mess too." CYOA Time Unless anyone has anything that Kenji wants to do tonight, we're going to skip ahead a bit. That said, what is Kenji going to accomplish with all of this free time in the coming week? For example, Kenji might go out of his way to talk to someone on some topic, purchase some (legal) gear that he can have delivered to him or try to accomplish something. Remember that he's going to get two weeks off because we're approaching the time where all of the shamans learn their spells. He's not accomplished enough to do any enchanting with Mr. Peters, otherwise he'd be doing that with that amount of time. Two weeks is not enough time to make even a basic enchantment. Too risky. So we're not in the third act yet, but we're coming close. -- So Kenji is just going to be full to the brim with time now that he can’t sleep due to drugs! Here’s what’s on the list of what he's going to be doing. 1. Practice making breakfast with Oli. I want Kenji to start involving her in social activities since I’ve been painting her (fofofo) as disconnected from people. This way he can get get Oli some people time and invite over some friends to eat his food. 2. Work on his enchanting homework for Mr. Peters and get ahead. 3. Work on his mundane homework and get ahead. 4. Write letters to Julie and Saanvi. 5. Throw himself into his artwork. 6. Purchase a tattooing kit. 7. Work on his skills (like con and Cantonese) Here’s what he can’t do until Friday: 1. Talk to Min Yun. Technically he could get a commcall to Min Yun, but all methods of calling out are monitored and that includes Sasha’s fancy cyberdeck. The school is monitoring Sasha's activities so no joy there. 2. Leave the island until next Saturday. He is still getting control of his relationship with Dog and he needs another week before he'll be allowed out and about on his own. Joyce will be leaving tomorrow to see Krupa, but he won't take Kenji. He's going to be busy. Ice Phisherman fucked around with this message at 19:15 on Oct 5, 2018 |
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Oct 4, 2018 07:11
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Groetgaffel posted:Should be her, right? Thanks, got it. CourValant posted:Jealous much, Sasha? Calm down girl, ain’t no need for that kind of reaction. Sasha is more frayed at the edges than year one for obvious reasons. She went from having a lot to having very little and she only hung on to her current life instead of going with LeBlanc because of Fuzzy. I see this reaction as understandable for someone who has lost so much. Maybe it's not healthy, but it is understandable. quote:Hah; both her and Fuzzy would know a lot about cosplayers, yeah. Fuzzy's alter ego, Marissa Wolfswift, has undertaken many a quest with worthy paladins in her monthly LARPs! quote:Oh Kenny-Boy, don’t be like that. Deadmeat5150 posted:Unsure raw emotions + a bit of booze. Yeah a bit of ribbing the wrong way would totally do that. Yep. Normally this would just roll off his back, but Kenji is frayed too, just like Sasha. He's off his game and it's showing. Ice Phisherman fucked around with this message at 08:54 on Oct 4, 2018 |
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Oct 4, 2018 07:17
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Told ya, Kenny-boy. This is a massive opportunity for him though. Its literally the path through which his dreams can be realized. He's an Elf, a Face, and can already negotiate. Give him a few more years and he'd be the perfect Tir Johnson in Seattle, working out of Dante's Inferno and selling magical tattoos as a talismonger on the side. Wealth, power, and privilege would be at his fingertips. Better yet, as scoutable talent he has negotiating power put the gate and can get Fuzzy, Sasha, and even Julie in too. Julie's raw power alone practically guarantees her authority and real world power. She could funnel nuyen into the Ork Underground as well as supplies quite easily, all while being the Ork Face of Tir. "Hey look we dont hate Orks any more," says the new ad campaign. Old Kenji would have jumped at this deal in a heartbeat, he wouldn't have had a choice in the matter. Now he does have a choice and even through a lot of thought he should come to the conclusion that with this he could elevate his entire pack. He wouldn't even have to compromise much. Deadmeat5150 fucked around with this message at 12:23 on Oct 4, 2018 |
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Oct 4, 2018 12:05
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Deadmeat5150 posted:He wouldn't even have to compromise much. Just his soul. Okay, so not really. I mean, yeah the Tir are assholes. But the same could be said of basically every group in Shadowrun. THIS group wants him, so I really don't think he should reject it out of hand. I also don't think that Joyce's plans for Saanvi and Kenji should really have any bearing on whether we continue to pursue her or not. There's a connection there.
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Oct 4, 2018 13:44
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Tying his fate to a Tir is a Bad loving Idea, and that route is doomed anyway; the path where Saanvi actually likes and wants to be with him is there one where he busts her free, and if he reneges on that at this point to be her Tir hubby she'll hate his guts for raising and then shattering her hopes. Recruitment is going to have to be his cover story, and he has to be to terms with that going in. Considering how Joyce was already dropping knowledge about how Kenji could become a noble if he wanted, though, I'm surprised he's surprised. As for a project, this 'delivering letters' thing has given me an idea. What if Kenji got a flying drone? There are little camera drones which are used by paparazzi, spies, and Shadowrun YouTube vloggers. The Horizon Flying Eye is the 2000 nuyen standard (a sphere that flies/rolls using omnidirectional air jets set into its surface, like a flying golf ball with a sensor suite), but the Horizon CU^3 has a 6000 nuyen quadcopter with Pilot 4, a built-in Clearsight 4 airsoft, and it's a little cube that fits in your hand built around a vectored thrust fan. The CU^3 has more of a reputation for being a vapid vlogger toy than the Flying Eye does despite its better high-end stats because the base model is pretty junky. The last solid option is the Renraku Pelican, a quadcopter sized around its climate-controlled storage compartment; it's a food delivery drone that costs 4000 nuyen for maximum utility but minimum stealth. Having this would open a lot of things up to Kenji. First, he could use it to fly out into the Sound far enough to be outside of the dampening field, then fly back; it can be a mailman to let him finally be back in contact with people while stuck on the island. He can also use it for actual spying/surveillance, even just hiding in his cabin's rafters as a security camera. And finally, he can have it follow him around in some places to make people think he's still vapid and/or avoid him because they don't want to end up on YouTube. Sasha helping him pick/mod it could be a fun bonding project for them too. Shows he knows her interests, finds them valuable, and wants to spend the time with her. Anyway, if that plus the setup costs of the Human Brotherhood run would put him in the red then never mind, but holy crap would a flying drone open up a lot of options for even just the 'can send emails while I'm at school' factor alone.
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Oct 4, 2018 14:45
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If the island has a Matrix Dampener wouldn't a drone be unable to fly on and off the island? Also without Headware how would he control it? It would be fairly conspicuous if he used his comlink the whole time. But Pelican is the best choice and actually has a pretty good "stealth" rating only because there are thousands flying around all the time making deliveries. A guy getting a package from a Pelican could be getting the latest Ares Predator with the serial numbers filed off or some hot ramen.
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Oct 4, 2018 15:13
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also, presumably the island has some sort of defence against spydrones, so he'd have to get it approved by faculty which means he'd be under surveillance when using it.
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Oct 4, 2018 15:24
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Deadmeat5150 posted:If the island has a Matrix Dampener wouldn't a drone be unable to fly on and off the island? Also without Headware how would he control it? It would be fairly conspicuous if he used his comlink the whole time. He couldn't pilot the drone. He'd have to hope that its stupid brain would work. Kenji can't do any rigging. And the island prevents people from jumping into drones. But a drone can pilot itself with the right upgrades. There would probably be rules about using one without registering it, but if he was willing to break them he could do it. Or he could get it legally registered, but then he'd have a hard time getting clandestine information off the island. I'm not sure what the penalties would be for trying to get around the island's rules though, or running a drone without a license. edit: After some thought, Kenji could legally register a drone for himself and fly it for mail, but an unregistered drone would get him in serious trouble. Not expelled, but he'd definitely have to dig a hole for a shame pole in his front yard. The island is filled with the children of the wealthy elite who are subject to getting occasionally hounded by the paparazzi at best or kidnappers at worst. He could try it, but he doesn't know how the island's security systems work in order to subvert them. Ice Phisherman fucked around with this message at 16:00 on Oct 4, 2018 |
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Oct 4, 2018 15:49
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Deadmeat5150 posted:If the island has a Matrix Dampener wouldn't a drone be unable to fly on and off the island? Also without Headware how would he control it? It would be fairly conspicuous if he used his comlink the whole time. Drones have autopilots. You don't need to directly control it or have wireless support. You can order it to fly a lap over the Sound long enough for a Running Silent commlink to get a wireless connection and finally send the emails that were sitting in its outbox before coming back to shore. Even the dumbest of the drones - the Pelican - can still just buy the 1 hit necessary to not even need to roll for that kind of everyday stuff. All drones and most vehicles have rudimentary pre-sapient AI and machine learning that, when combined with skill software called an Autosoft, lets them operate partially/completely autonomously. With 100 nuyen Personality Software, you can even have them behave like a pet.
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Oct 4, 2018 15:53
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Kenji buys cat software for drone, drone immediately flies off and attacks random birds on the island and never actually comes when Kenji needs things delivered.
Zodiac5000 fucked around with this message at 16:01 on Oct 4, 2018 |
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Oct 4, 2018 15:59
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Zodiac5000 posted:Kenji buys cat software for drone, drone immediately flies off and attacks random birds on the island. On a critical failure, Fluffy takes it down, thinking it is some sort of tasty bird. 
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Oct 4, 2018 16:01
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Ice Phisherman posted:On a critical failure, Fluffy takes it down, thinking it is some sort of tasty bird. That'd be quite the pun with the Pelican, since it's literally a food delivery drone.
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Oct 4, 2018 16:05
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jagadaishio posted:That'd be quite the pun with the Pelican, since it's literally a food delivery drone. You just know that somewhere out there in Shadowrun there's a software developer who decided that 'rear end in a top hat cat' was important to include on their software.
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Oct 4, 2018 16:44
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I don't think Kenji's surprise at the idea of being recruited makes sense. Realizing how it happened/where he screwed up sure, but Saavni already told him that's what Joyce was up to at the restaurant. I think it would be good for Kenji to talk to Olisha some time soon about Tir/Joyce and Krupa. Not like, spill his guts and everything, but lay groundwork for him to spend any time at all with them and not have her blow up about it. Right now Kenji is on a crash course with Olisha and it doesn't feel particularly necessary. I don't want Kenji to get recruited by Joyce. At best figure out way to maintain him as a Tir contact, but honestly he and his
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Oct 4, 2018 17:36
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