>Rachel pages, "If you happen to glance out a window, you might spot Rachel
jogging past your building, headed north. :)" to you.
>You page, "Oh really?" to Rachel.
Rachel pages, "Oh really. ;)" to you.
>o
You walk out.
Tyr Road [200](#228RL)
The 200 block of Tyr Road is almost exclusively fancy hotels and high-rise
apartment buildings. Available in a wide range of designs, from the mundane
box-shape, to more architecturally enthralling towers such as 'The Obelisk'.
Housing this close to the middle of everything isn't cheap, but it isn't as
expensive as owning your own home farther out to the east, either. The area is
also clean..and a few commercial buildings are scattered about..though they're
rather limited.
[Exits : Don Corneo's (M)ansion, Obelisk (A)partments, (N)orth, and (S)outh ]
[Players : Rachel ]
[Sleepers: Theodoros ]
[Things : Poster Advertisement ]
>Rachel is jogging up the sidewalk at an easy pace, headed north.
>Ryan peeks his head out the door. He's actually wearing glasses now... you'd
almost believe he was distinguished. "... Oh, hey, Rachel!"
>Rachel looks around, hearing her name being called, and spots Ryan. She breaks
into a smile as she turns and jogs up to him. "Hi!"
>Ryan steps out of the door, a laptop (closed) in hand. "What're you up to?"
>Rachel comes to a stop, but not completely, as she starts to do stretching
exercises as she talks. "Just out for a run. Seemed like a nice day for it."
>Ryan nods, leaning against the wall outside. "Yeah, kinda quiet, for once."
>Rachel pages, "Look? :)" to you.
>l rachel
Rachel
A very attractive young woman, tall (178 cm, or 5'10") and athletic,
with short, feathery blonde hair, expressive blue eyes, and high-
cheekboned Caucasian features. She appears to be in her mid-20's.
Rachel is dressed for a workout, in a neon-green spandex running bra
and a pair of spandex bicycle shorts which reach to mid-thigh, shiny
black with a green stripe down the right side which matches her top.
On her feet are a pair of green-on-black Adidas cross-trainers. A
white terrycloth sweatband crosses her forehead, keeping her hair out
of her eyes.
Carrying:
>You page, "Enjoying tormenting poor Ryan?" to Rachel.
>In a page-pose to you, Rachel grins...
>Rachel is just slightly sweaty, but only a little, due to the pleasantly-cool
fall-afternoon air. She breathes easily, not at all apparently winded. "What
are you up to on a nice afternoon like this?"
>Ryan flips open the laptop. "Working on a project... a Roman city used to be in
this region, and I'm trying to track it down. It's harder then it sounds."
>Rachel stretches her arms out to the sides, tenses her muscles, then curls them
inward, wrists first, then elbows, finally pivoting them forward from her
shoulders. It looks like a good stretching move. And it's also -- ahem -- not
bad to watch, either. "Really? I had no idea. I don't know much about the
lay of the land around here yet."
>Ryan nods to Rachel, being quite sure to watch. "Yeah, it's one of the reasons
I originally came out here." He smirks, then rambles on, "Y'see, it was a small
station used while they collected taxes, but it was buried under a mudslide one
year. With luck, there's a big pile of coins just lying there underground."
>Rachel nods. "And of course, you want to find it." She laughs softly. "I was
just thinking, it shows how dependent we get on technology. When I arrived
here and my suit's GPS3 receiver went dead, I didn't even know what part of the
world I was in. Suit's navsystem's still confused, having to rely entirely on
the inertial backup. And God knows how far the clock's off by now."
>Ryan quips, "Probably about 50 years."
>Rachel looks directly into your eyes for a moment, and you see something
different for just an instant -- her guard is down, your words having slammed
home the reality of her situation once again, and the scared young woman inside
the tough, capable facade lies exposed. But only for that instant, as she
recovers...
>Rachel says, "Yeah, right. I meant in absolute terms, but..."
>Ryan looks up at Rachel. "...?" He shakes his head, then continues, "Welll, you
can set it to local time; I can get that off the atomic clock in Denver if you
want to be precise. I doubt there's any time dilation effects around here, so
that's nothing to worry about."
>Rachel nods. "We can probably rig some sort of connection between your comp
and my suit's, given the commsuite I've got. Does that do infrared?"
>Ryan nods. "But of course! Might be some differences in wavelengths and
frequencies, but that can be fixed quickly."
>Rachel says, "I'm sure. My commsystem was designed for flexibility. You kind
of need that in a command unit."
>Ryan nods to Rachel, then pauses. "Command unit, hmm? That would say that there
were subordinate units too."
>Rachel nods, looking a little pensive. "Yes. The rest of my team. Besides
Eden and her suit."
>Ryan rubs the back of his neck. "Oh." They obviously aren't here... wrong thing
to ask.
>Rachel sees your look. "No, it's all right... I'm just worried what happened
after Eden and I vanished on them. But at least the fight we were in was
mostly over, and hadn't been that tough to begin with. Just some
out-of-control construction bumas."
>Ryan pauses at the 'buma' mention, before remembering what the term means.
"Begs the question, why bother making the things if the AI is so buggy?"
>Rachel says, "Used right, they -- well, that model at least -- is perfectly
safe. But in this case, their owner was a greedy S.O.B. who overworked them.
They're not human, but they still can't work 24/7 without some downtime."
>Ryan nods. "I see."
>Rachel says, "Their AIs are partly biological. Which makes them more adaptive
than all-electronic units, and better able to deal with things that come up as
they work. But it also makes them subject to fatigue, and they need rest
periods to keep from getting twitchy."
>Ryan raises his eyebrow. "Partially biological, eh? Guess slavery is just as
common in the future, then..."
>Rachel sighs. "Actually, that's getting to be a subject of debate. I mean,
those construction units are about on a par with a really bright dog -- okay, a
really bright dog with a computer full of blueprints and expert knowledge on
construction work jacked into its brain. But some of the more sophisticated
models..."
>Ryan raises his eyebrow.
>Rachel nods. "Some people are even saying they might replace us. Or join with
us. The next step in evolution."
>Ryan puts his hands behind his head. "Well, I don't have any opinions on the
matter until I talk with one of 'em."
>Rachel nods. "I've done that. Spent a few hours one night talking with a
bodyguard model. If I hadn't been told up front that it was a buma, I'd've
sworn it was a real guy. A fairly charming, attractive one."
>Ryan chuckles. "Hmm."
>Rachel nods. "Yeah, I know. I'm glad they told me beforehand, or else I'd've
been trying to get a date with him."
>Rachel blushes, just a little.
>Ryan raises his eyebrow. "Sheesh, I'm out of a job, then."
>Rachel laughs. "Well, not yet."
>Rachel says, "Besides, I prefer warm and human and imperfect to... that."
>Ryan chuckles. "I can imagine how hard it must be to program that." 9.9
>Rachel looks at you. "Look, you want to go somewhere and talk? Somewhere
better than standing out here on teh street, I mean?"
>Ryan shrugs. "I'll leave it up to you, but yeah, it is a tad cold out."
>Rachel nods. "Long as I was running, it was fine, but standing here I'm
getting chilly."
>Ryan hmms. "Well, there's the bar, or back to the church, or up to my place."
>Rachel says, "Well, we _are_ right here."
>Ryan smirks. "Well, up to you."
>Rachel smirks right back. "I'll brave the peril. Besides, I can take care of
myself."
>Ryan chuckles. "Hey! I cleaned up last month!" o_=
>Rachel rolls her eyes.
>Rachel . o O ( Guys in this reality aren't any different... unfortunately... )
>Ryan snickers to himself ^_^
>Rachel says, "Let's go, then. And I'll take a cup of coffee, if you can find a
clean cup."
>Ryan nods to Rachel
>Rachel falls in line behind you.
** Walk cut **
Obelisk Apartments: Fifth Floor
Exactly as you'd expect. The clean hallways of this floor are maintained by a
constant, almost literal army of custodians and maids. The lighting is
adequate, and a few security cameras add to the sense of protection. Sparse,
fragrant, potted plants also dispell any odors that might make their way inside
here.
[Exits : 509, (508) Ryan's Apartment, 507, 506, 505, 504, 503, [502] Gan and
Faris' Apartment, (501) Alhana's Apartment, and (E)levator ]
[Things : None ]
>Ryan arrives, with Rachel following behind.
>Ryan fumbles for his keys a moment o_=;
You open the door to Ryan's Apartment, and walk inside
Obelisk : Room 508 - Ryan's Apartment(#618R)
One word springs to mind as you walk into Ryan's apartment: cluttered. Stuff is
strewn everywhere, from the multitude of shelves that line the wall, to the
comic books and CD's on the floor.
The main room, which makes up most of the apartment, has apparently been
relegated to storage duty. Aside from the King-sized bed, the desk, and the TV,
all the rest of the furniture here is book shelves. As you look the shelves
over, you see a roughly equal proportion of both scholarly texts (physics
textbooks, archaeological logs, etc.), and comic books. How unusual. Hooked up
to the TV is a wide variety of video game consoles, some no longer supported.
The small kitchenette and bathroom are comparatively unremarkable.
[Exits : (O)ut ]
[Things : Backpack(#2158), and Midgaard City Map(#1293) ]
>Ryan arrives, with Rachel following behind.
>Rachel glances around, eyes lingering over the bookshelves. Like they're
something she hadn't expected.
>Ryan glances at Rachel. He's seen the bookcases before. She's much more
interesting.
>Rachel says, "You read a lot, I see. Or is this just to impress the girls you
manage to bring up here?"
>Rachel grins, teasingly.
>Ryan puts the notebook computer away. "Hey, what's that look for? I am an
Archaeologist." o_=
>Rachel . o O ( Complete with silly hat and bullwhip, no doubt... Stop that,
girl, he's being nice! )
>Ryan doesn't wear the silly hat. His canon girlfriend does!
>Rachel rubs her hands together, trying to warm them. "About that coffee...?"
>Ryan snaps his fingers. "Gotcha." Zip, he's off to make some. Hope you like
instant.
>Rachel looks around for someplace to sit. Out of the two available choices
(other than the floor), she takes the desk chair.
>Ryan zips back, a steaming mug of coffee in hand. Beamsmilebeam. ^_^
>Rachel asks, "So, mister archaeologist, why don't you tell me about yourself?"
>Ryan blinks. Wow, nobody's actually done that before. He rubs the back of his
neck. "Well, I'm an archaeologist. I basically find ancient tombs and the like,
and loot them for all they're worth. Way I figure it, the dead people don't
mind."
>Rachel . o O ( Gee, _that_ was deep. )
>Rachel says, "I don't mean about your work. I mean about _you_."
>Ryan doesn't have a lot of his history mapped out canonically, so anything I
say will be made up on the fly n.n
>Ryan smirks. "It's a tough job, but it pays well when you succeed."
>Rachel asks, "Are you in it for the science -- the history -- or just for the
money?"
>Ryan says, "Oh, mostly the history. You'd be surprised at a few things I've
found. The money is just a nice side bonus."
>Rachel nods. "I'm sure."
>Rachel . o O ( Okay, raise the estimate one notch. )
>Ryan chuckles. "Like that time when I explored that tomb in upper Egypt. Turned
out it was a hyperspace beacon for some alien race. Almost got killed by their
maintenance drones, how embarassing."
>Rachel blinks. "You're kidding, right?"
>Ryan blinks, looking down at Rachel. "Do I sound like I'm kidding?"
>Rachel says, "Well... I'm sorry, taking the notions of aliens and 'hyperspace
beacons' and such seriously is still pretty new for me."
>Ryan chuckles. "Well, it isn't exactly common knowledge, mind you."
>Rachel says, "It's science fiction, where I come from."
>Ryan smirks. "Well a good rule of thumb around here is, if it sounds crazy, it
probably works somewhere."
>Rachel says, "I've noticed."
>Rachel asks, "So where are you from? You're an American, or...?"
>Ryan nods. "American."
>Rachel says, "Me, too -- well, I'm an American citizen, but I've spent almost
my whole life in Japan. Army brat."
>Ryan nods. "A lot of culture crossover, even now."
>Rachel says, "And more to come. But I was there because of my Dad. He was in
charge of the American side of the joint U.S Army/J.D.F. project to develop
mobile infantry PA suits and tactics for using them."
>Ryan hmms. "What year was that? I know the US Army is working on a few, but not
the JSDF"
>Rachel says, "They project was started in 2012. And the Japanese wound up part
of it because of the involvement of one of the corporations doing research in
suit development."
>Rachel er, The, not They.
>Ryan nods. "That'd explain why I haven't heard about it."
>Rachel says, "Daddy's retired now, but the work he did is still important. The
suit I used to drive was a direct descendant of the original ones his unit
first fielded."
>Ryan nods. "A few people can make stuff like that around here, but nowhere near
production-model levels..."
>Rachel nods. "You were telling me about that one friend of yours. I'd like to
meet her sometime. One of the things that makes me most uneasy about being
here is the lack of tech support for my suit and the moto. I can do field
maintenance, but if something gets really damaged, I'm completely out of luck."
>Ryan hmms, and nods to Rachel. "She's built power armor before, she might be
interested in getting her hands on future technology." Pause. "Maybe it'd be
better to wait until it's actually damaged, first."
>Rachel asks, "Just what I was thinking about getting her to do it -- It could be
mutually beneficial. So long as she promises not to try and dissect my gear,
there's probably a lot she can learn from it. But why wait? Is there a
problem I don't know about?"
>Ryan says, "Well, that dissection thing is the problem. I'm sure she ould put
it back together afterwards, but..."
>Rachel asks, "What if at least part of my gear might personally object? Like
the moto? Would that get ehr to behave, you think?"
>Ryan rubs the back of his neck. "Oh yeah, it has some sort of AI, doesn't
it...? Perhaps."
>Rachel nods. "It's a Cray-Fujikoma level 6 AI. And no, it's all electronic --
now worries about it going wonky on me."
>Ryan nods. "Gotcha."
>Rachel typos some more! The crowd goes wild! now=no! :P
>Ryan changes the subject, "So, how's the coffee?"
>Rachel takes another sip. "Okay. I've had worse." She grins. "Take a tip --
never let Eden make it."
>Ryan raises his eyebrow. "Oh?"
>Rachel says, "Just trust me on this one."
>Ryan chuckles. "I'll keep that in mind."
>Ryan comments with a smirk. "The outfit looks good on you."
>Rachel looks down at herself. "This? It's just a workout outfit."
>Ryan continues, "Ah, but on you, it really shows off... well, everything."
Smirk. Not sure if he's being an idiot, or just joking around.
>Rachel opts to believe the latter -- until proven wrong. She laughs. "Well, I
guess." Sure. Like she didn't know that. ;)
>Ryan smirks. "Well, try not to give guys heart attacks as you jog by, eh?"
>Rachel says, "Well... if you insist."
>Rachel keeps her face serious for just a second or two, before breaking into a
grin.
>Rachel tries that again.
>Ryan chuckles to himself
>Rachel says, "Seriosuly, I work hard for this body. Not because I want to be
looked at, but if it has that effect as a side benefit, I'm not objecting."
>Ryan smiles. "Oh, I'm not objecting, either, believe me." He pauses, to let his
idiocy sink in, then continues, "I'm sure reflexes are quite important when
piloting those things."
>Rachel says, "Difference between staying alive and not, a lot of the time.
Being able to get out of the way, or being first on the trigger."
>Ryan nods. "Rule number one of high-tech warfare: you're hit, you're dead."
Darn it, stop being so morbid! How can he flirt when you're morbid!?
>Rachel says, "The suit I've got now helps a lot in the 'getting out of the way'
department, compared to what I used to drive. But it also can take a little
more punishment. Against the sorts of things I'm used to fighting, it can take
a hit or two and not crumple. If I'm in the moto, besides, I can take a lot
more, at the expense of a lot of agility."
>Ryan nods. "What type or hardware are we talking about here? Conventional
weapons? Beam weapons?"
>Rachel says, "Mix of both. Kinetics and energy weapons."
>Ryan nods. "Well, at least rampaging robots don't seem all that common around
here, barring a few exceptions."
>Rachel says, "Like that one that's popped up twice now."
>Ryan nods. "Yeah, what's its problem?"
>Rachel says, "No idea. It's not a type I'm familiar with."
** I get bumped for a second **
>Ryan rubs his chin. "Well, it's probably from somewhere else."
>Rachel nods. "Not likely it'd be from where I am."
>Ryan snaps his fingers. "Well, we've beaten in twice, so it can't be all THAT
tough."
>Rachel looks somber. And a little angry, as she looks at nothing in
particular. "After it killed two cops the last time."
>Ryan crosses his arms. "Didn't hear about THAT part..." He pauses. "It must
have backups somewhere to keep coming back like that."
>Rachel says, "It must. And I'd _really_ like to get my hands on the asshole
who's making them."
>Ryan nods. "I hear that." Pause. "Enough about that, the angst here is thick
enough to cut with a knife..."
>Rachel says, "Sorry... I'm not a lot of fun sometimes, I know."
>Ryan shakes his head. "No! Not you, I mean, the whole attitude around here is
gettin' to me. Something else goes wrong every day." He rubs his chin. "Well,
that isn't exactly too bad, but i mean, 'something potentially fatal'."
>Rachel nods. "I could really use a break from it. I'll let you in on a secret
-- I work hard, and I tend to put everything into the things I do... but I
play hard, too."
>Ryan raises his eyebrow. "... Oh?"
>Rachel says, "Comes from a promise I made to someone."
>Ryan takes a seat. Well, wait, the chair is taken. He decides on the floor.
"Promise?"
>Rachel says, "Not now. Maybe I'll tell you about it sometime."
>Ryan blinks, rubbing the back of his neck. "Oh... um, okay."
>Rachel glances at the time. "Well, I should probably get going. But I'm sure
I'll see you later. Thanks for the coffee. And..." She looks right at you.
"Thanks for talking, and for listening. I needed that."
>Ryan blinks. "Already? This is WAY more inetresting then trying to translate
500 pages of Latin." Pause. "And the view is better, too."
>Rachel laughs, her eyes playful as she looks into yours. "Glad you like it.
But I _do_ have to go. But before I do..."
>Ryan raises his eyebrow
>Rachel leans down. _Very_ close. Those blue eyes are amazing from this near
to yours. She smiles. "You _do_ still owe me a date. I'm not letting you
forget it." And she leans closer, brushing her full lips against yours before
pulling back, grinning devilishly.
>Ryan crosses his arms behind his head. "First and foremost on my mind."
(
geocities.com/tokyo/harbor/3252/logs) (
geocities.com/tokyo/harbor/3252) (
geocities.com/tokyo/harbor) (
geocities.com/tokyo)