[SgtBoomCloud]

"Why?" I stammer in confusion as I remain pinned to the wall like a butterfly on display.  "You did...that...on purpose?"

The questions hit Arc a bit firmer than she anticipated, her eyes blinking a few times as the words processed through her brain, a sidelong glance telling her that Anders was conversing with his spirit in that funny tongue of his that Yelena knew about.  Nothing to worry much over, so when she brought her attention back to the teen, she only gave a little smile, closing her eyes.  "Ya damn right I did.  Sheveral reasons why, but it boils down to because I wanted to, ya feel me?"  She brushed a stray lock of hair from her face before continuing.

"Ya think it might be loco, seeing's how I'm beyond a doubt no tusker.  But who's to say I'm not?  Ever since I wash nine or so, that's all I grew up around.  Hell, I could probably strike up a conversation in Or'Zet better than I can English at thish point, heh."  She paused again, working out the words.  "The life may have been pretty drek, but I lived, and I realize that I wouldn't be the slitch I am if it weren't for all that.  That's why I did thish.  It's me accepting who I am, that make shense?"

She smiled wider, squeezing the other's shoulder before pulling her into a firm hug.  "I don't think I ever got to thank yeh for saving my hoop before.  I'm grateful.  To risk oneself for sumthin' like that, that makes you as good as family to me.  What you need, I'm here for ya girly.  So what's on yo mind?"['/b]

[ismilealot]

@ Marco >>Hey Marco, it's Blake. I just wanted to square up payments with everyone. I know I owe you and wanted to know how you wanted that payment. And how the team wants payment.<<

[gilga]

@Marco texts Blake >> I think that anonymous credsticks are going to be fine.
(Perhaps move to Samia ? )

[ismilealot]

@ Marco  >>Where do you want them delivered?<<

@ Jed & Marco  When you get to Samia's you find the door locked and the guy in the barber shop says, "She's out on a date. Don't know when she'll be back." But, it's not a minute after that that a slender young woman in her late twenties rushed in saying, "Hi! Josh and I were held up by an over-zealous gardener asking his opinion on Black Rot fungus and it's uses in teas! But, we're here now. Is this the guy you mentioned? I didn't know you were bringing him today. But, it's ok! The books are upstairs. Just let me get the door open we can go in!" She's a whirlwind of energy and has a glow about her. Joshua behind her is smiling at her in a proud, proprietary fashion. He looks at Jed and says, "She's a good student. She picks up the songs really fast."

[SmilinIrish]

Jed smiles genuinely at Joshua.  It helps when you really fancy your teacher.  It's nice to see you this happy But we need to talk about your past, because I know some things you don't remember my friend.  She deserves at least a clue that you have another life that you may or may not slip back in to.   Although by the look on Josh's face, he may happily walk away from that other life.

Marco, are you still hearing the "music"?

[gilga]

Marco looked at the situation, he was going to introduce himself but what appeared like a couple in love just stormed in and he felt as if he was not on the same energy level as these two. "Wait a minute... I know the guy... I just never saw him alert." His train of thought is broken by Jed that asks about hearing.  Marco smiles at him ans say "the weed is gone by now thanks God, it gave me a headache.  I think that I might be able to sense the astral on my own but not on this intensity. I was trying to listen to a rose the other day."

[Shaman_Yuri]

I allow myself to be drawn into the slightly larger woman's embrace more due to my flaccid muscles than any active decision on my part.

She...wanted this?  She disfigured herself because...huh?  She's human!  She's made herself a freak to everyone!  If I know Orks, a lot of them will hold her in contempt to for trying to pretend like she knows what it is to be an Ork.  And humans...they'll never accept her now.  Any chance she had to advance herself is gone.  And for what?  To be like an Ork?  It just makes no sense!

I feel myself being released as I become vaguely aware that she's still speaking to me.

"I don't think I ever got to thank yeh for saving my hoop before.  I'm grateful," she says with a smile, looking into my confused eyes.  "To risk oneself for sumthin' like that, that makes you as good as family to me.  What you need, I'm here for ya girly.  So what's on yo mind?"

I look down to avoid her sparkling eyes.  My mind is a jumble of thoughts and I'm sure if I say another word I will come to regret it.  Still, I have to get out of here at least a little gracefully.

"Um," I stammer again as I kneel down enough to pick up the bag handles and rise again.  "I...It's time for my prayers.  I really need to get to my room, Arc-san."  Before the inscrutable girls can answer, I slip past her and everyone else in the room and flee behind the curtain separating the sleeping space from the living space.

[SgtBoomCloud]

Arc gave a little pause, her mouth opening to say something of inquiry before stopping herself, the door connecting the living space to the garage shutting behind the younger human.  "...okay then.  Next time"  She said quietly to no one in particular, smirking a little and shaking her head as her thoughts sorted out.  Just give her time, girly.  That's all  Relaxing herself with a sigh, the short mechanic turned, hands folded behind her head with arms raised as she turned around the van, spotting Anders with his hulking viking spirit, Bootstrap and the other urchins having separated to look over the van. 

"Hoi, so ya proved yshelf, that's fo sho."  She spoke up to him, nodding respectfully to the einhergar.  "Between this and yo tech, I think I can round up a couple piecesh of gear to fill things out.  Now if you'll excuse me, I gotta get some work done, and time is burnin' quick.  Yaa welcome to help out a slitch, cuz I'm sho to need it, but won't make ya.  I know ya gots a deal goin' with Yelena tomorrow, but keep in touch.  Gon' try to get the whole team on the same page in a coupla days.  Now, if ya excushe me..."

Grinning, Arc flipped the goggles back over her cybereyes, the detail monitoring and AR diagnostic aids booting up as she grabbed her tools, pulling her coveralls back over her torso as she resumed her work.  The younger street kids kept watch, diverting time between that and getting used to their new commlinks, arguably some of the nicest things they could discretely possess in their respective situations.  Occasionally, Arc would grin as Hoppy fetched a part or tool here and there, making the mechanic smile as she sat back, catching her breath after working on the engine block of the hulking beast.

Idly, when she was taking her breaks, she'd check her comms, filtering through her game requests (Training later) and other spam associated with the purchases she's made lately...and to see if any of her team needs her.  Her comm was quiet, and a gnawing feeling bit at her.  Pulling up her messenger, she quickly typed a message to her Srui.

<<@Yelena{Arc}.  Hoi.  Don't work y'self up over whateva that spirit said to ya.  Anders spoke widdit for quite a bit, so think it might be cool.  Be safe.  Call me if you need anything.  Please>>

With that done, Arc checked her chronometer....evening.  A good few hours before Jaime would be off work too.  Plenty of time to get some more things done...

[ismilealot]

@ Arc You get a comm, >>Hi, you worked on my ride a couple of weeks ago. I had an accident in front of your shop. And now my brothers been in a fender bender and the other guy did a bamf. I told him to take it to you and you'd do right by him. Can we bring his ride around this afternoon?<< Among the rest of her messages about parts she'd ordered and one from Hrock saying, >>I've got a couple parts for a King Scorp if you wanted to look at them Cricket.<< And there was a message from BloodMoney, >>Yo Arc, I need ta bring my ride by. The exhaust is burning my leg when I need ta do a kangaroo. Ya changed the configuration and it aint workin slitch.<< Just then the security system rings and Sarge is there with his granddaughters bike.

@ Yelena  Virtual Goddess contacts here and says, >>I've got two potential jobs for you. One in Moscow and one in Rio. The Rio job is a rush job but it's paying double your usual fee plus expenses and guaranteed ingress/egress with your weapons. It's with a party I've worked with several times before or I wouldn't be asking.<<

[Mercy Merchant]

Yelena notices that she has a message from Arc on her 'link and opens it.  Her Srui must have the intuition of Satan herself.  She sends a quick response back.  >>Arc.  Is Yelena.  Yelena fine now.  Was at Josie's then strip bar.  Now go Marco home.  Yelena good now.  Talk tomorrow.<<

The message from Virtual Goddess catches her off guard, but she never leaves her fixer waiting long for an answer.  >>Virtual Goddess.  Is Wanderer.  Still on down from club job.  Am going Poland.  Wanderer clean up old mess.  Is Personal.  Sending names of possible targets.  Virtual Goddess know of bounties for deaths?  Main target is Tsina Molovna.  Find client to pay for death.  Wanderer told of large reward.  Could take week or more.  Wanderer not able do Rio if rush.  What is Moscow?  If timing good Wanderer go from Poland?<<  She includes the list of names that Nikolai had provided as being with Tsina, making sure that Tsina's name is first on the list.

She shakes her head.  In another time, she would make a few arrangements and be headed to the airport to take a flight to Rio.  She wonders if that part of her life is over?  Looking deep into herself, she realizes that she does not want it to be over.  She is what she is and does not really want to change that.  The decision could cost her Marco and any chance at happiness, but she knows that she would be terminally unhappy without the shadow in her life and now she also knows there is so much more that she has to learn.  She grins into the cold, shielded by the shadow, and sets her sights on Marco's apartment.

[SgtBoomCloud]

The bombardment of messages about requests, jobs, and such assaulted Arc's image feed as she sat back, grabbing a glass of water for herself to calm her system down.  "well drek...man, this is gonna be a week..."  she realized that her rep demanded being able to perform these jobs...and likely she wouldn't be able to take on much more on her own before the Poland trip happens.  Making a note to get the word out she will be closing up shop, she went through each job in turn before sorting out her thoughts as she helped Sarge bring in his grandaughter's bike...and luckily for the mechanic, the mods were already planned.  As she reviewed them, she sent out her replies over the Matrix.

<<@Hrock{Arc}: Tary'kart, you couldn't have hit me up at a better time.  I've got 3 jobs for biz on queue with 2 more personal, and I'm gonna be out of town for a beat after a week.  Howler drek has been less intense for a solo like me, hah.  Come by whenever you can with whatever you got for this stuff (file attached).  Cred is good, you know it, but sooner I get these, sooner I can finish.  You're awesome, Uncle>>

<<@BloodMoney{Arc}: Hoi, you didn't say nothin' on no kangaroo maneuvers.  Figured the stub exhaust would cut the weight and give you the nimble ya needed.  Bring it by, I'll reroute it under the seat for ya, fix that issue>>

<<@customer23A712{Arc}: Yeah, I've got some work lined up, but I think I can fix a fender bender.  Lucky break too, about to close up for the holidays.  Bring it by, we'll see what I can do>>

As she finished, her form crouched over the simple but sleek bike, the big troll would lean over, a big hand lifting the mechanic's face up by the chin, eyes surveying the tusks.  "Hmm"  Was all he said, little inflection denoting a positive or negative reaction...but definitely one of curiosity.  "The plan seems sound.  If you get this and my King back before you leave, we will be even, I believe.  Excellent.  I know you will do this, Arcwelder.  You weren't one to back from a challenge"  The slightest smirk showed on his grizzled features as he stood, leaving the girl smiling as he departed in his truck, leaving little Arc in her garage to do her thing...

[Duck N. Cover]

<<@Arc: A rush job? You're in luck.  I've already got a line on at least half your list and can have the rest in a couple hours.  I'll even do you one better and return your jack when I drop it off.  I shouldn't need her any more this week, but you never know.>>   

   “You're selling her short, you know”, Hrock sighed.  “My niece ain't the type to hold silly drek like that against you.”
    Tuskaloosa kept her gaze on her patch of the windshield. “Maybe.  Probably.  But in this case, I'd rather not take the chance.  Trust me—I've been stake-n-torched for doing lesser things.”
   “It'll hurt more the longer you wait to tell her...and she will notice.”
   “I'm sure she will.”
   The ork growled in disgust as the stoplight holding them turned green.  “Suit yourself.  But this is between you and her—I'm not getting dragged into a crossfire, savvy?  And you owe me—big.”
   “I know.”

[Mulcarn]

Anders was finished talking with Tróndur í Gøtu and patiently watched the the dialogue between Arc and another girl, foreign looking, like himself.  It was hard to make out her features but she looked to be of oriental descent.  Whatever they were talking about seemed to get the petite asian in a rush.  She flitted out of every which way and off to some other corner or room.  "Huh, that's weird.  I kinda wanted to say hello and see what she was about.  She might not be feeling well.  Probably needs to eat a pickled herring sandwich or drink some soykaf.  Or maybe she just had to use the bathroom.  I hope she's okay."  His attention was broken by the tusked mechanic's greeting.  Anders listens to her plans and ideas non-objectively.  Only a few words of a reply to go with before Arc returns to work.  "Nah, it's cool.  I bugged you enough as it is.  Going to head home and see if there is anything else I need to do as well.  But tell your other friend I said hi and that I wish her well.  Anyway... see ya later."

Turning to face the viking spirit.  Anders says his goodbyes and releases him from runic oath.  "Jeg har holdt deg her lenge nok.  Solen går snart.  Gå tilbake til der falne slekt samles rundt for mimrer ganger."  Tróndur í Gøtu nods once to Anders and once to Arc before vanishing into nothingness.  The link between summoner and spirit broken, reverent servitude at end.  Anders grabs his duffel bag of gear and throws it over his shoulder.  Happily waving goodbye to the teenage crew before going.

I've kept you here long enough.  The sun sets soon.  Return to where fallen kindred gather around for reminiscing times.

Walking out the door onto treacherous street and cobblestone.  The youthful seidr passes through hustling traffick to his hearth of spectrum coldness.  He was however pleased with what he managed to accomplish.  Him merely being himself and showing a modicum of magic and wordplay ended up in favor.  The einherjar's disapproval of the she-elf Yelena was, and still is, a worrisome thought.  She measured Anders on murder and death, to see if he was worth bringing along.  He had no such kill count and probably never will.  The woman interviewing him did.  So much so that Tróndur immediately picked up upon it.  Albeit with a discouraging remark.  And with a warning about darkness to go with it as well.  Darkness and perhaps... redemption?  Or quite possibly, damnation?  It's hard to foretell the future when you don't have the whole image in scope.

Anders halts and rests at a bus stop bench to catch his breath and work out a few thoughts.  "An omen of shadows and hatred.  An honorless killer chasing an honorless traitor.  A riddle wrapped in a mystery.  I'll travel with Yelena to Poland and help her attain revenge.  Once that's done, i'll reach my own conclusion and measure her accordingly.  Not as a headsman or a holier-than-thou priest.  But as Sunder."  Satisfied with his answer, Anders continues his trek back home.

[SgtBoomCloud]

Her replies sent and the jobs taken on, Arc didn't wait for the street crew of hers to get bored before she asked them to head out.  "Got some faces comin' in, gon' be boring with work work.  Take some fun, y'all earned it" She said to them with a tusked grin before shutting the door and getting her stuff together.  With all the work coming in today, space was clearly limited, so she took a moment to get the van moved out onto the street, the engine roaring as she eased it back out.  As she hopped out of the van, actually having to jump a bit with her legs, Bloodmoney just showed with his bike, bandages on his leg evidence of his claims and confirming his soured expression.

A brief exchange and a promise to compensate later, she was wheeling the bike into the same bay as Sarge's grandau's bike, an ARO showing her design reconfiguration proving satisfactory enough to quell the ganger's mood and let her get to work.  It wasn't long after that did the ork she helped weeks prior (Was it just weeks?) pull up with the damaged car he was talking about.  Ushering it into the other bay, her garage was looking at the pinnacle of busy...likely at capacity for the time she has left, and she was definitely getting the word out now she would be unavailable for a while.  Exchanging info, a quick examination showed that the damage was repairable...and with a cash payment of about 1.5K nuyen, she could restore it to its uncrunched state without pulling any insurance drek in.

The customers seemed happy with that, making Arc smile, swelling a bit with pride in her work as she saw Hrock's reply come in.  Perfect...

<<@Hrock{Arc}: Perfect, couldn't be happier about that right now.  Pull up out front when you get here, behind the van.  Garage is capped out, you'll see what I mean soon!>>

<<@Jaime{Tessa}: Hey babe.  Just picked up a bunch of fixing jobs for the garage.  I know you're working late, but I'm gonna try to be home when you are, aight?  See you soon>>

Satisfied with those, and cracking her neck, the little mechanic picked up her tools.  Where to start...

[Mercy Merchant]

Yelena wakes up next to Marco for the second day in a row.  She gazes at the man next her in the bed and smiles.  And frowns.  Climbing out, she pads softly over to the bathroom to use the toilet then steps into the shower to wash off the remnants of yesterday and last night.  Luxuriating in the hot water, she wrestles with herself on what to tell Marco.  It is not fair to him to hide that she is moving deeper into the shadow, not out.  The revelation might hurt him and ruin her chances for happiness and love, but she remembers the betrayal of the sax man all to clearly, even after so many years.  He, too, had said that he loved her but was hiding a secret that would have caused her to leave him had she known.  Finding out later only made it harder to accept and she does not want to do that to Marco.

She quietly dresses and leaves the bedroom for the kitchen, where she makes coffee and tries to think.  She contemplates leaving him a message explaining what she feels, but shakes her head.  She is no coward and he deserves better than that.  No, the two need to have a long sit-down chat, not a text.  She does leave him a quick message explaining what she is doing to day and telling him that she will be back later.  She goes to the other bedroom and grabs her weapons case before getting her jacket on.

She carefully checks her tags to be sure that nothing was moved and leaves the suite for the garage.  Climbing on the large machine , she wonders a bit just why she does not call Virtual Goddess up and take the Rio job and get back to her life.  After Poland.  She ahs to see that through.  Maybe she can talk him into leaving what he is doing and come with her.  His talents would certainly augment her own and they could do so much together.  If he could only get over his rather silly notions about killing.  The ride to pick up Anders is smooth, if a bit chilly.  It is early yet, but people are about and some of the streets are decorated for the holiday.  Christmas holds no special place for Yelena, along with any of the religious holidays.  Her god is darkness and shadow and she knows that now.

Yelena pulls up at the agree-upon meeting place and waits for Anders.