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- It was almost eerie how well she could blend in with the large chair not even five feet away from him. Her figure seemed to be set in the chair so perfectly that he would not have been surprised if she told him it had been custom made to fit her body. She seemed so comfortable here, like she had nothing to fear and everything was going as expected. It was difficult to meet her gaze yet nearly impossible to stop staring at her. She was so intriguing. There were few women that could match her beauty and on top of that she had just risked who knows what to save his life. Whatever the reason was, she was interestingly tightlipped about it. At the moment all she seemed interested in was his past. He couldn't quite put a finger on why, but he was pretty sure her intentions were not ill. There was an uncomfortable silence now as they both sat there waiting for the other to talk. He watched as she tried to come up with a delicate way of changing the subject.
- "I'm sorry, Nicholai. I didn't stop to think of the pain their memories would bring you."
- He just smiled and looked over to the liquor cabinet. The woman must have noticed because she was almost instantly on her way to the wet bar to pour him another glass of vodka.
- "My dear Victoria, I must confess that I would like to learn something about the woman who saved my life for some unknown reason. Perhaps you would be so kind as to answer some of the questions you have asked me."
- "I don't see why I shouldn't be expected to do the same things I ask of you." Victoria sat back down in her chair and locked eyes with him. "How could I expect you to trust me if I was unable to do the same." She looked away from him and stared over at her purse sitting on the bar. "When we are done talking, I have something to show you. You will most likely find it quite interesting and it could very well answer some questions you might have about yourself."
- Nicholai nodded his understanding and sat back in his chair. He suddenly got the feeling that he would be here for quite some time.
- Track 1 - Blood, Milk and Sky - White Zombie
- "I was born to Jacen and Claire Evansworth in the Systemechanics Archology Hospital in Los Angeles on April 18, 2019. My mother often told me what an easy birth I was and how that should have been her sign as to how much trouble I was going to be after that. Looking back I understand why my mother thought I was such a pain in the ass.
- I guess you could say I was spoiled.
- My father was a 'higher up' at Systemechanics. If I remember correctly he was one of their head designers for computer technology so he raked in some serious dough. He died when I was about three so I don't remember much of him and mom refused to talk about him. I eventually found out why but that's not important until later. What is important is that I was raised by a clinically depressed multi-millionaire so I got pretty much anything I asked for. Over the years, she dated a lot of men that were most likely interested in her money and her body more than anything else. I grew to be disgusted by my mother as she allowed all these men to manipulate her like a puppeteer does with his puppet. It was a learning experience though and I quickly began to notice the little ploys that her would be suitors used on her. I should've probably thanked them for I believe that I wouldn't have such highly developed people skills had they not treated my mother like meat.
- I'm not sure exactly when I decided that I had seen enough, maybe you can only come home to your mom fucking some guy in the foyer so many times, but I started to get jealous of the attention she spent with her "lovers." Every day she would be going here or there. Her time for me was quickly disappearing and I was going to have none of that. I'm not sure if I was actually trying to get her to pay more attention to me or punish her for throwing her life away. All I know is that I eventually got slapped around by one of her boyfiends, her maternal instincts kicked in and she kicked him out. All it took then was for me to cry my eyes out and tell her how the others were abusing me too. She was skeptical at first but when I produced I few used drug syringes, she bought it hook, line and sinker. After that, we slowly became friends again and my mom tried to get her life back together."
- "I can't help but noticed you said that she 'tried' to get her life back together. Am I to presume she was unsuccessful?"
- Victoria looked up from the table she had been staring at and smiled at Nicholai. "She really did try. For almost four years we got along where nothing seemed to be able to separate us. Then she got into drugs again. I, of course, got upset with her and asked why she felt the need to do such horrible things to herself. At the time she said that she couldn't handle the stress and pain of her life and that there was no other escape. I was furious at her and yet was deeply wounded at the same time. I felt so powerless that I was unable to help my mother. She eventually passed away one night. When I found her, she was laying in bed with blood running out of her eyes, ears and nose. I thought for the longest time that she over dosed on drugs."
- "I'm sorry, Victoria." The Russian leaned forward and put a hand on her shoulder. "Perhaps I shouldn't have asked."
- "That's okay. I feel comfortable talking to you. Besides, I want you to know that you can trust me."
- Nicholai leaned back in his chair and poured himself another glass of vodka. "Have you ever been in love? I will tell you that I love my wife and daughter very much. It pains me to think that I will never see them again and that they will think of me as a failure for the rest of their days."
- "You're not a failure, Nicholai! Maybe in the eyes of your corporation you failed but that doesn't make you a failure. A failure is someone who gives up on something because they're not the best. One mistake does NOT warrant a death sentence."
- "You love life don't you, my dear?" Nicholai said with amusement. "You can't stand to see it wasted, can you?"
- Victoria just looked at him curiously. "No, I guess not." They sat in silence for quite some time before she spoke again.
- Track 2 - Claustrophobic Sting - Prodigy
- "Life after my mom's death was rough. While I was given almost a half million dollars, it went quickly. I was fifteen at the time and a new teenager with that much money isn't exactly what you would call responsible. Most of my money went to paying the rent of my mother's apartment. Other than that, I splurged on clothing and picked myself up a motorcycle. I would drive around town and grin at the boys who would cat call me. It was during this time that I realized how attractive I was becoming. I started to notice how boys and men alike would gawk at me as I wandered through the streets on Los Angeles. A few times I was even propositioned which was incredibly thrilling. I played off of this for quite a while and as I'm sure you know it eventually got me into trouble.
- I was riding home one day and stopped at a store to pick up some food. On my way back out I noticed there was a large gentleman that screamed solo standing next to my bike. I casually walked up to it, hoping he was waiting for someone else. As I got closer I found out that I was wrong as he moved to intercept me.
- He glowered down at me as he spoke. "I have someone who wishes to speak with you." The solo lifted his massive arm and pointed to a luxury vehicle about twenty yards away. I was scared stiff and wasn't sure what to do. I felt my arms grow weak and the bags crashed to the ground. I looked up at the solo, searching frantically for any sign of sympathy in his face but found none. He simply glared at me, it almost looked like he wanted me to try and run. I took that as a hint and turned towards the car and began to slowly approach it. When I was about five yards away, the back door opened and another solo stepped out. He held the door for me as I got inside and a chill of despair ran down my spin when I heard it slam shut and lock behind me. The only other occupant was a gentleman in his late twenties. He was well dressed and gave off an amazing aura of confidence. He sat and stared at me for a while before he said anything. When he did speak, I couldn't help but listen.
- 'At first I doubted that my friends description of your beauty was accurate but I must confess that I am glad I was mistaken.' The suit spoke in a hesitant speech pattern but in a way that let you know he was used to the obedience of his lessers. 'It has come to my attention that you are a desired woman and, as you may or may not know, desire is something that can easily be manipulated. I have need of your beauty to make one of my agendas more profitable. I also couldn't help but notice that you have no family in the area that would miss you were I to acquire your assistance. I believe that you will be a nice addition to my team.' He then leaned forward and tapped on the glass. A few moments later, both solos had gotten into the car I was being escorted to my new life.
- Over the next couple of days I learned from Mr. Huitt that my new job was to be a gang member. Not just any gang member however, I was going to belong to a gang that was put together to by Huitt himself to patrol the streets and gather as much information as possible. My job was quite simple. I was considered a fringe benefit of sorts. An incentive to join. You see, if you were in the gang you got to fuck the most attractive girl in the area and this was great for Mr. Huitt as the more people that were fucking me the more people he had getting information. When he was done laying it all down for me I sat in terror as he called for his 'executives' to come and see that I was properly prepared.
- Without getting into any details the next year and a half of my life were a nightmare. I tried to get away once but was caught almost instantly and given an extensive amount of what Huitt called shock therapy. He said it was civil because it left no lasting external damage. I was hoping that it would kill me. As you can see, I'm still here. The gang was eventually disbanded when Mr. Huitt was replaced by a young upstart who felt that getting information through street trash was unreliable. Needless to say I wasn't in any way sad to learn of his replacement. We each were given a modest sum of cash, which I used along with the remains of the cash my mother left me, to move to Seattle in the northern part of Westopolis."
- Nicholai just stared at her. There was little he could say to ease the pain of these memories so instead he just sat back and let her get a hold on her emotions. He had to admit that she was doing an admirable job holding back her anger and suffering. Perhaps she had dealt with it already and it was just part of her life now; however, he didn't think so. Either way he decided that she was a strong woman. It wasn't to long before she started talking again.
- Track 3 - Jumping Someone Else's Train - The Cure
- "By the time I was eighteen I had begun to get my life back on track. I had, for the most part, put the miserable experiences of my employment with Mr. Huitt behind me and was making a living of sorts as a waitress for an Italian restaurant called d'Vinicci's. It was the only sane job I ever had. The pay was decent and my schedule allowed me to go out at night to party. My employment lasted about seven months before I realized my calling in life.
- I was great with people. No one could explain it but whenever I tried to keep peoples attention or convince someone to do something it usually worked. I never noticed my gift before until the day a jealous ex-boyfriend came calling on his successor.
- It was an ordinary Friday and I was taking a family of four's order when I heard the gunshot go off. The next thing I knew everyone in the restaurant was screaming and running for the exit. I was frozen in fear and couldn't bring myself to turn around. A few more shots rang out and people hit the ground.
- 'Nobody move!'
- The scared voice came from behind me and to the left. I wasn't about to ignore the orders of a man with a gun so I kept facing towards the table, still in the grips of fear. My respite didn't last that long however as he soon was directing his voice towards me.
- 'Hey waitress! Turn around so I can see what you are doing.'
- I slowly turned so as to deny him any reason, other than the fact that he was crazy, to shoot me. The scene before me did little to improve my stress level. He was standing near a table with a woman and a man, the latter of which was bleeding from a shot to his right shoulder. The shooter stood with his gun pointed at me, making sure I wasn't a threat. Once he noticed I wasn't about to interfere he turned his attention back towards the table. He began to rant about how they were meant for each other and how he couldn't believe that she was able to forget about him so easily. She just sat there crying and begging him not to shoot her. It was obvious she cared little for the man who was bleeding freely from open wounds next to her. For some reason that thought was able to snap me out of my shock. I'm not sure why but I felt the need to save this man's life. I guess it just disgusted me to think that he meant that little to her. I took me a while but I eventually got the guts to speak up.
- 'Why are you doing this?' I was suddenly certain that he was going to kill me as he spun and pointed his gun at me once again.
- 'Stay out of this, bitch! It doesn't concern you.'
- 'Normally I would agree; however, once you decided to come in here a make a spectacle of yourself by shooting that man in a public place you made it my business.' I was surprised at my boldness but everything just came naturally to me.
- 'Unless you want to get shot too I suggest you shut the fuck up!'
- I studied his movements for a while and once I felt that he wouldn't actually shoot me I continued. 'Why did you shoot him?'
- 'Shut up!'
- 'Did she cheat on you?'
- 'No.'
- 'Then why do you hate him so much? What could he have done to possess you to shoot him?'
- 'I couldn't stand the fact that she was with someone else. He doesn't deserve her!'
- Someone must have called the police during all of this as about this time a few Aztechnology Security Force vehicles pulled up. A few moments later they had the building surrounded. It didn't take long before he was arrested and the wounded man was hurried off by TTI. I was asked to give a report on the situation after which the detective informed me that I had done a great service for his men. He asked me if I had ever considered becoming a negotiator. Apparently people with my talents were rare and I shouldn't let them go to waste. I thanked him for the compliments and went on my way. After a few days of soul searching I decided to take him up on his offer and enrolled in the Aztechnology Security Force Academy."
- "I'm sorry, Nicholai." Victoria looked up at him and gave an exasperated sigh. "You probably don't want to listen to all of this. If you would rather I brought you someplace to sleep I can do that."
- There was a small pause as Nicholai considered her words.
- "Miss Evansworth, I understand that bringing up these memories must be painful for you and as such you feel uncomfortable talking about them but, judging from what little I know of you, you must be able to tell that you are not boring me. The choice is yours. Do you want to continue or would you rather get some sleep?"
- "I'm going to grab a bite to eat from the kitchen and then I will continue. Would you like a sandwich?"
- "Sure. Mind if I pour myself another drink?"
- "Go right ahead." Victoria then opened the door and stepped out into the hallway. It was only a few short minutes before she returned with their food.
- Track 4 - Fumbling Towards Ecstasy - Sarah McLachlan
- "My first few weeks in the Academy were quite strenuous. I had little difficulty with the lack of sleep. It was all the drills, exercises and classes thrown to me all at once that gave me so much trouble. The classes were nothing to me as anything involving people skills I excelled at immensely, but the physical training almost killed me. I managed to make it through it all though, as I experienced something I never really understood before.
- Friendship
- This was the first time in my life that I was able to make any real friends. People I could go out on the town with or drink with or whatever. It was my friends who were responsible for my success in the Academy."
- "Surely your drive and determination played a key factor in your success," Nicholai interrupted. "You shouldn't undermine yourself. While they may have assisted you with moral support, that alone was not responsible for the outcome of your training."
- Victoria laughed out loud. She was impressed that Nicholai had given her a taste of her own medicine. "I am aware of that. I just wanted to emphasize how much help they were. It was really overwhelming to me to have so many people concerned about my well being."
- "They seem to mean a lot to you. Tell me about these friends of yours."
- "Well, there are only three that are important." Victoria gracefully lifted herself from her chair and moved over to her purse. She opened it and removed a picture that was obviously worn from repeated abuse. After staring at it for a few seconds, she walked back over and handed it to Nicholai. The picture contained four people, two women and two men. One of the women was no doubt Victoria at a younger age. The other woman was blond with a very athletic build. Her sharp, blue eyes looked like they could pierce through the hardest of surfaces and her freckles gave her the look of youthful innocence. The two men were quite different. The Japanese man had a smaller build with long hair pulled back in a ponytail and a large burn on his right arm. The other was a huge black man with no hair on his head and obvious cybernetics. All four of them were wearing their formal ASF uniforms.
- "You haven't changed much over the years. Still as beautiful as ever."
- "Thank you." Victoria made a show of blushing before continuing. "The other woman in the picture is Monica Valentine. She is quite the character. That woman has got a wit that could drop a fully armed solo. The Japanese man is Shinjo Aramoro. He came to the states after his father exiled him from his clan for refusing to kill his traitorous brother. The other man is Tyler Grieves. He was your typical gentle giant unless you pissed him off. He was killed a few years ago in the line of duty." There was a short pause before she continued. "That picture was taken on the day we all graduated. It was also my twentieth birthday. We saw a lot less of one another over the next few months as we were all separated into our own field for further instruction. I was sent to Field Negotiation Studies, Monica went into the Intelligence department, Aramoro was given instruction in espionage and Tyler became a Corporate Solo. We stayed friends for the most part but it was never the same once we had so much responsibility. The biggest change was between Aramoro and myself. Once the weight of the real world crashed down on us we realized that the past year and a half was more than casual flirting and enjoyment. We were falling in love with each other."
- Track 5 - Number One Crush - Garbage
- "It never really hit me until about four weeks into my negotiator training. The four of us would try our best to go out every Saturday and have a great night on the town. Then, one night it just hit me. Aramoro's car was in the shop so he asked me if I would swing by and pick him up. I told him that it wouldn't be a problem and did so. We chatted for a bit on the way to The Kult, which was the common meeting place, but before we arrived he asked me if I would mind not going. I looked over at him in confusion and asked him why. He just said he needed to open up to me. I suddenly felt so warm inside and all these feelings I must have been suppressing came flooding out of my heart and pumped through my body. Before I realized what I was doing I leaned over and tried to kiss him. Much to my enjoyment, he let me.
- We spent the rest of the evening at the Archology Park learning all about one another, asking questions we never felt right asking before. He told me the story of how he was exiled from his clan and that the burns on his arms were what remained after the painful process of removing his family tattoos. It was a constant reminder to him that he was no longer welcome home. I felt this sudden urge to hold him and try and squeeze all of his pain away but I knew that it wouldn't happen. I asked him if he would make the same choice if he had to do it over again. He said that he would. That even though his decision caused him so much pain, when it was all said and done he was still true to himself. He believed in karma to the extent that as long as you never betrayed yourself or your beliefs, then you would find happiness.
- I was so enthralled by his strong nature. He seemed to have little difficulty dealing with his past. It was a trait I would eventually learn from him. When he was finished I told him things I never mentioned to anyone else before then. I told him about my 'employment' with Mr. Huitt and the rougher times I had with my mother. All of which he listened to without once interrupting me. When it was over all he said was that he was sorry those things had to happen to such a wonderful person. I asked if he thought I would still be the same person without those experiences and he just laughed and said it wasn't fair to use his own philosophy against him. We spent the rest of the evening sitting near the lake and exchanging stories.
- It took me a while to realize how right we felt together. Before we started to become more than friends I was terrified of letting myself get too close to anyone. I had so much ignored pain that I felt I would never be in any position to love anyone. It just felt so right when I was with him that I let go of my fears and embraced whatever might come along. I think it was the healthiest choice I ever made. He was an important part of my life and his wisdom helped me deal with all of my issues.
- We grew closer and closer over the next year to the extent where we were almost one person. We trusted each other implicitly and knew that the other would always be there for them. There were never quarrels about being out too late or not spending enough time together because we understood that there was more to life than each other. I think the day he asked me to marry him was the happiest day of my life. I was ready to spend the rest of my life with him."
- Victoria stopped talking and just gazed off into the distance for a while. Nicholai could tell it was taking an amazing amount of willpower to not cry in front of him. He wanted to tell her that she didn't need to act so strong in front of him but then he thought she might have been offended so he kept his mouth shut. He instead decided to take a different approach.
- "You would make my wife proud. In Russia, men who cry are made to wear little pink ballet dresses so that everyone will know them for a whimpering fool. Natasha was almost ready to kill me for being forced to appear in public with me in such attire."
- Victoria looked at him curiously for a second before she busted out laughing. It took her some time to compose herself again but Nicholai didn't mind. He had accomplished his objective. When she was finally ready to talk again she smiled warmly at him.
- "Thank you. I really needed that."
- "Of course you did," he replied with a grin. "I find that humor is indeed an amazing cure for sadness."
- "Not so much a cure as a temporary fix. You have to deal with it eventually or it only gets worse." Victoria grew distant for a while and when she spoke again her voice was still with her mind. "I suppose you're curious how my 'perfect' relationship ended."
- "I won't lie to you, my dear. I am not at all uninterested in what you are telling me; however, I will understand if you don't wish to continue"
- "Have you ever heard of a kage-jin?"
- "No."
- "It's Japanese for shadow pack. It's a group of elite spies from a yakuza clan who are sent out to investigate areas of importance for their ryu, or godfather. It was eventually found out that he was a member of such a group. Once Aztechnology discovered this I of course was suspect too. To prove my loyalty I was forced to interrogate him to the fullest of my abilities. It took me less than two hours to break him. He confessed everything to me and one of the commanders of the ASF. Afterwards they hauled him off in chains and I never saw him again. I resigned a week later."
- Track 6 - Sabotage - Beastie Boys
- "It didn't take long for me to hate the bastards for using me like they did. I guess the old adage of 'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned' can be pretty appropriate. I was burning to make them look like idiots for days before everything hit me.
- Why couldn't I use everything they taught me to strike back at them?
- I quickly realized that I wasn't going to be able to cut it on my own so I went looking for people on the street. You would be amazed how easy it is to find people who are fanatic about being anti-corporation. Knowing the vague whereabouts of 'shady' merchants wasn't a bad thing either. It wasn't long before one of the net runners was able to get me enough money for a little self-improvement. When I finally found a cyber doc that I trusted enough to not kill me while I was asleep, I had my muscles and nerves fitted with fiber optic transmitters so that my reflexes would be abnormally quick. Once I was accustomed to my new found agility I began to practice stealth and disarming security devices. A few short months and I could break into or out of anything the guys set up for me. Not only that but they seemed to honestly want to help me. It confused me because I didn't realize it at the time, but I was their salvation. They had been a group of oppressed people for years and I was their chance at revenge. I certainly wasn't about to let them down. Small groups of people flocked to us at a time and soon I had a score of fanatical people ready to help me in my insane quest.
- It was then that I began to respect life as a whole. For years I never acknowledged the fact that there was a large portion of the population that was just spit on and ignored. Used as carpet for the 'Haves' to wipe their shoes on. After getting to know these people and realizing that they were, more often than not, a lot more decent than any Fake and Bake corp that I've ever met. I decided that I was going to do everything I could to help these people. The next day I decided it was time to start poking holes in the Aztechnology Archology.
- For the next seven and a half months I, along with my followers, wrecked havoc upon the protectees of the ASF. We became well armed and equipped and I had enough money to retire many times over even after I gave a lot of it to the cause. We sat back as the ASF went nuts looking for me and had a good laugh as I always escaped notice. When you know their standard operating procedure it's easy to not leave any evidence.
- I still don't know how they found us. Whether I got sloppy due to pride or one of us got scared and ratted us out I never found out. What I do know is one day I came home to an unusually quiet base. The door wasn't locked and as soon as I opened the door I could smell the blood. I searched the compound for misplaced sounds and the only thing I heard was one person breathing. It came from down below. I embraced the shadows and slowly made my way down to the recreational room where I saw someone sitting on one of the chairs with their back to me. My cybernetic eyes revealed that he had no modifications of his own and I slowly moved to incapacitate him when I saw the red light appear on my chest. I cursed myself for being careless. I was so frantic that I hadn't stopped to think that he might have a guard hiding somewhere. He was using an internal oxygen supply so I was unable to detect his breathing. The suit turned to look at me after a few more seconds. The guard must have spoken to him using one of those damn communicators.
- 'You must be pleased with yourself, Ms. Evansworth,' the suit spoke with a sharp tone of anger. 'It took us quite some time to locate you and your pathetic band of misfits.' He waved his hand towards the four dead people in the room. It was obvious that they had been gunned down like dogs. There wasn't a single weapon near any of them. He let the fact sink in before he continued. 'I have no interest in why you decided to betray your company. I just wanted you to see the futility in everything that you did before you died. Do you see now how stupid your actions were? Look at all of the death you caused! These people could have lived out the rest of their miserable lives like any normal street scum but you had to rally them into some pointless crusade. Did you really accomplish anything significant?'
- I realized that he wanted a response to his inquiries but I had no intentions of speaking to him. I just stared at him in disgust, waiting for him to kill me. I didn't have to wait long. He snorted his disapproval and ordered his solo to kill me. I closed my eyes and a few seconds later the shot went off. I was surprised that I never felt it hit me. I looked down at my chest where the red light had been. I heard a thump in front of me and noticed that the suit was on the ground. The solo stepped out of the corner and the light revealed his features.
- 'I was hoping it wasn't you, Victoria.' I had no problem recognizing the thick, deep voice of my old friend.
- 'Tyler!' My excitement turned to suspicion as I remembered the carnage surrounding us. 'Did you do this?'
- He just stared at me with a sad look on his face.
- 'Are you going to kill me, too?'
- 'If I was, do you think I would have plugged my boss in the back of the head?'
- 'I guess not.' I stared at my old friend for a few minutes before I spoke again. 'What now?'
- 'I suggest you run away. Leave Seattle. You should probably leave Westopolis. If you stay they will find you again and I won't be able to protect you next time.'
- I moved up and embraced him. He returned the affection and then pushed me away. 'Go, Victoria. We won't meet again.'
- 'Thank you, Tyler.' With that I turned and ran out of the building. A few days later I left for Northopolis to start over again."
- Track 7 - Plowed - Sponge
- "After I bought a place to live and some transportation I began to carouse the scene of Minneapolis/St. Paul. There were only a few clubs that were really worth going to but fortunately for me I ran into the sweetest kid in the world at the White Silence. I had absolutely no idea about the street connections here and was beginning to think that I might have to resort to an honest life before I met him. He was sitting in the corner of the bar typing away on his cyberdeck. I'm not sure why I decided that I was going to talk this kid but I had this feeling that he was a good person and could help me. I sat down at his table.
- "I'd offer to buy you a drink but I don't think you're old enough to enjoy it." I was sure that I had put enough friendliness in the statement that he wouldn't be offended. He looked up from his work and I watched as his expression changed from sarcastic to awe.
- "Well, Ms. Most Beautiful Woman I've Ever Seen, you would be surprised how easy it is to sneak in unnoticed in a group of junkies."
- "My name is Victoria, what's yours?"
- "Well, my friends call me Moriarty. As a matter of fact I've been called that for so long I don't remember what my real name is anymore. Most people just call me Mo."
- "As in Ho-mo."
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