Sick One

DeletedUser13682

After the van had stopped in a shed, Maya set about preparing to destroy evidence with fire. In the shed, a few motorcycles were present, and a car. But one of the bikes had been taken by Ethan, and the car by Maya. Ethan was already gone, and Maya would have been as well, if the Chemist hadn’t answered a ringing phone left in Maya’s bag. She answered, and Maya quickly took over the situation, in typical Maya style, demanding who was calling and what they wanted. Sighing, Vincent took off his overcoat, and wrapped his Martini-Enfield with it, and pulled out some twine he brought to complete the look. Not expecting to fool everybody, he was expecting to fool normal bus users to make them believe it was only some curtain rods.

Leaving the shed before Maya found the firebug in her, Vincent walked for a while until he found a bus stop. He found one not too far away, and waited for a bus to come. He didn’t wait long, and boarded, paying the fare with his bus pass. Sitting in the back, Vincent had time to think about what went wrong. The operation wasn’t nearly as smooth as it should have been. They didn’t find out what that factory had really been making (Vincent doubted that the data he recovered would hint to anything sinister). And two of their own were dead, including Katy, the organizer of all this. Maybe there was a leak somewhere in the leadership, and hopefully it would be plugged before it reached Vincent.

As the bus stopped and announced its current location, Vincent broke his thought train and alighted. His apartment was only a couple blocks away, a short walk. Arriving at his apartment, Vincent gently set down his wrapped rifle, and turned on the computer. New Vision didn’t have anything about the attack, the BBC mentioned a fire in New York that may have been the attack, but CNN and Fox were going crazy over the attack, both sides going on and on about how the attackers disgraced the American people and how they hoped the terrorists were brought to a swift death. Vincent missed the days when CNN and Fox were the polar opposites of each other. Checking his email, Vincent noticed he had gotten a few new ones, including one from his broker, talking about new stock options. After replying to them, Vincent showered, then sat down to watch a new History Channel documentary.
 

DeletedUser28032

Emerging from the bathroom wearing a fluffy pink dressing gown and her hair tied back in a loose pony tail, Sera sets the kettle going before taking a seat on the small two seater sofa and toys with the idea of catching up on some of the research work she had stored on the company laptop before discarding the idea in favour of watching old sci-fi and generally vegging out for the rest of the day. However before she could do that she had one final job she needed to do...well...two if you counted the gun currently hidden within her kitchen but would have to wait for the time being. Picking up her phone; the non-encrypted one that she used for calling her dad with she cycles through the numbers until she finds Doc's; the woman had seemed as out of water as Sera had done back in the factory and truth be told she trusted her far more than the others not that she had their numbers anyway, hell she hadn't even met them until today. With her fingers tapping furiously she sends the tentative message which depending on what sort of reply she received would tell her whether or not the cell was still active:

Wats up Doc! LOL, one hell of a party last night, did U get home ok? We was cutting it kind of close

She hoped that the woman would know what she meant whilst also making it look like a concerned friend seeing she'd made it home before curfew should the message be seen by anyone else.
With the message sent she retrieves the cup of tea from her kitchen before turning on the TV and settling in for the evening.
 

DeletedUser

As Maya grabbed the phone from Doc’s hand, and gave her the look that said she would take care of it, Doc had nothing further to do. She walked to the bus stop, and soon boarded. She paid the fare, and found an empty seat toward the back, and looked forward to a long ride. Even though she knew her apartment was safe, she was afraid to go back to it. After all, she had been recognized. She hadn’t thought about that. Her new identity had not been compromised, but still…. So, she continued to ride, even after her stop had been reached. She closed her eyes, so that no one would make conversation with her.
After some time, her cell phone vibrated, telling her she had a message. She opened it, and it read:

[FONT=&quot]Wats up Doc! LOL, one hell of a party last night, did U get home ok? We was cutting it kind of close. [/FONT]
Doc smiled a weak grin. Doc typed her reply: “Home? No...who wants to go home? Once the party started, home is the last place I want to be.” She then folded her phone, and stuck it back in her pocket. Doc needed to figure out what she was going to do.
 

DeletedUser28032

Pausing the TV, Sera retrieves her phone from where she'd left it on the coffee table and reads the message she'd received, frowning slightly as she tried to translate what it meant. Deciding that Doc was not in any immediate danger but in need of some kind of help she types in a reply:

True...fancy hanging out at Gino's then? can be there in 5

She had briefly considered meeting her here in the flat only to decide that that would be a seriously bad idea, after all what if somebody had taken her captive or something? No the Italian down the road would be better, plenty of people and escapes routes should things prove not to be as they seemed.
Drinking some more of her tea she un-pauses the TV and continues watching whilst waiting to see if she'd get a reply to the message she'd just sent.
 

DeletedUser

Doc felt her phone vibrate again, and she slowly opened her eyes, reached for her phone, and read the message from Sera. She looked around, to get her bearings, and saw that she was about 45 minutes away from Gino’s and would need to get off at the next stop, and board the westbound bus going back in the other direction. She grabbed her stuff, and headed toward the front of the bus. She saw someone else rise, and also start heading for the door, and to be safe, Doc sat in an empty seat, and waited for the next stop, as it was only two more blocks down. At the next stop Doc was the only passenger to depart, and that made her feel much safer. Once she got off the bus, and crossed the street to wait for the westbound, she responded to Sera: “Gino’s sounds wonderful. Give me an hour.”
 

DeletedUser28032

An hour...an hour’s cool, I can work with an hour Sera thought to herself as she read the text. Finishing her tea she turns off the TV and heads into her bedroom in order to find some clean clothes, emerging several minutes later wearing a plaid skirt, black top and a brown leather jacket and boots. Normally she'd have probably just settled for a T-shirt and jeans however after probably being caught on CCTV in that particular ensemble decided to distance herself from it for time being.
Locking the apartment door behind her she quickly descends the stairs and leaves the building; taking a right as soon as she left. Gino's was only a short walk from where she lived meaning that she ate more than few meals at the small Italian restaurant. Taking a seat within one of the booths she smiles at the owner; an elderly grey haired man by the name of Gino whom she’d come to know from her frequent visits.
Realising that she was around five minutes early, she takes the time to check out the other customers within the restaurant; looking for any tells that they weren't what they seemed.
 

DeletedUser

Doc crossed the street, and saw the familiar sign of the Public Restrooms. Glancing down the street, the westbound bus was not yet in sight, and she took the gamble to run in and change to her spare clothes that were in her knapsack. Dashing into the stall, she quickly changed. Granted, it was similar clothing, but it was clean. Loose fitting, and comfortable. Turning the jacket inside out, dressed it up a bit. Little brown and white checkered print, with earth tone pants. She neatly folded her dirty garments and placed them back in the knapsack. She relieved herself, and then went to the mirror. Her hair was still pulled tightly in a bun, and for a change, and quite out of character for her, she considered pulling it out. Do it… she thought. She grinned and as she made her way back to the bus stop, she pulled her hair loose, and shook it out.

Doc only had to wait five more minutes for the Westbound bus to arrive, and as she paid her fare, and made her way to a seat, she wondered if this was what her life was going to be like now…. endlessly riding the bus. Stop thinking that way…She took the time to clean her glasses, and straighten out her backpack. During the forty minute ride, she pulled out her tablet, to catch up on her email, and glanced back and forth between that and the holoscreen. The time passed quickly, and soon she was getting off. The entrance to Gino’s was a few doors down. She went past it to the next corner, and then turned around like she had forgotten something. She didn’t see anyone following her, but she was trying to be extra careful. She walked back to the entrance, and opened the door. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the lighting, and then she spotted Sera sitting in a booth. Doc slipped into the seat across from her, and said to the younger woman with the vivid blue eyes. “Hey there girlfriend…I’m starving! What’s the specialty here?”
 

DeletedUser28032

"The wine of course" she replied with a laugh as Doc took the seat opposite her "...though the Tagliatelle is also pretty good, oh hey you've changed your hair" she exclaimed suddenly noticing that Doc's hair was no longer in the bun that it had been in on every other occasion that they'd met "..you should wear it down more often it looks really nice, and it makes you look younger" and a little less like my old headmistress back in Scotland not that she would ever say that last part out loud as she did genuinely like Doc.
Taking a moment to glance at one of the menu's sat upon the table Sera decides upon a Ravioli dish and waits until Doc was ready before calling over to the owner Gino; the man making a show of lamenting the fact that the young blonde girl was forever in his restaurant though from the look in his eyes it was clear that he enjoyed the girls company and was only playing.
As Gino left to prepare their orders, Sera ran her finger around the rim of her glass of wine before speaking in a quiet and frankly quite nervous voice "you know we were set up right? they knew we were coming" other than the few brief and panic filled words she'd had with Vincent this was the first time she had been able to voice what had been on her mind ever since they'd fled the factory "...the whole...party...was a disaster from the very start...we're lucky not to be...in trouble" she had been about to say dead but couldn't bring herself to say it; partly because you never knew who was listening and partly because saying out loud would bring back the memories of those who had been quite so lucky. Taking a mouthful of the wine she forces herself to smile before speaking in a more cheerful tone of voice "I am kind of surprised you came, I'd have you'd have been laying low back at you're place, not that I don't appreciate the company, I mean its nice not having to sit at table by myself again but...you know"
 

DeletedUser

Sera ordered the Ravioli, and Gino was waiting for Doc to order. “I’ll have a Club Soda with lemon, and let’ see….” Doc quickly looked over the menu, but was having trouble making any more decisions at the moment. Something light, but filling would be best, Doc thought. “Caesar Salad, dressing on the side of course. Veal Piccata with Angel Hair Pasta, and Broccoli.” Doc wasn’t sure if she was going to be back on the bus, riding it all night, and didn’t want to be too weighed down. As Gino left to prepare their food, Sera voiced her concerns. Doc leaned closer, and said softly. “Yes, the foreman told me that they were expecting us. He also told me that they were making cyanogens, an ingredient in fertilizer, and toxic cyanogens gas. He was worried to death for his life.” Doc paused, absentmindedly twirling her hair, something she hadn’t done since high school, and then said “What I don’t know is if our side already knew what the foreman told me. If not, they really need to know. I have been waiting for my contact to get in touch with me, and that hasn’t happened yet…and that leads to my second problem….. I was recognized. One of my old patients, Jeb, recognized me. And so, even though my apartment is listed under my new identity, I am still scared to go back.” Doc sat back as Gino brought their food. “So, thanks for asking me to meet you.” Doc said in a more normal voice. The food smelled delicious, and Doc started to eat.
 

DeletedUser13682

It was nearing dinner time, and the documentary was very boring. It was about how the Federation came to power, and it seemed to have received an official script. Vincent wondered what the current view on the Apollo landings was. Maybe they didn’t officially happen anymore. Sighing at the injustice, Vincent headed to his kitchen. There was nothing there. He had forgotten to resupply his stocks of food before that illfated investigation mission. Sighing again, Vincent decided to eat out tonight. After changing into a polo shirt, khaki slacks, and a sweater, Vincent gathered the necessary items for a walkabout to a local restaurant. Checking his wallet to ensure he had fiat, Vincent walked out of his apartment, and into the sidewalk below. Filled with people, some of whom were talking about the attack on the factory, most were talking about a pop idol’s new song, Vincent surged along.

A few minutes later, he reached his destination, a restaurant specializing in Italian cuisine. It probably wasn’t as authentic as it claimed to be but its gnocchi was very good, and its red wine selection was varied. This was a seat yourself place, Vincent choosing a booth near a far corner. A few moments, and a waiter appeared, laying the Italian accent on thick. “Gnocchi alla romana, chicken marsala, and amarone to drink. Half litre, please.”
 

DeletedUser28032

"Oh...that’s not good...you don't suppose he'd keep quiet would he?" Sera replied without much hope of the man keeping quiet over Doc's former identity, fully understanding why she was too afraid to go home "Well..." Sera started not really sure if what she was about to suggest was the best of idea's as she began to eat her pasta "...if you like you could crash at my place, we can pick up some hair dye on the way" a change of hair colour wouldn't make her invisible but it might throw off the casual observer.
Picking her way through her meal Sera tries to find a solution to her friends problems only to find then either way out of her skill set or simply horrifying.
Casually glancing off to her right the girl suddenly frowns as she catches sight of the man sat in one of the booths on the other side of the restaurant "Hey...is it me or does that look like the guy we were with at the party" she asks; leaning over the table to whisper to the other woman with a casual nod in the mans direction unsure as to whether seeing the man alive and well in the same restaurant as them was a good thing or not.
 

DeletedUser

The veal was just as tasty as she imagined. Just the right amount of seasoning, and not breaded too heavily. “A place to crash tonight would be wonderful, and hair dye is a great idea, Sera!” Doc thought for a moment… “Maybe tomorrow, I will run by my apartment, grab a few things, and go into hiding for a while. I have not seen them flash my picture across the holoscreen yet, so it should still be safe.”

Sera then noticed that someone from our “party” was in a booth not far from us. Doc casually turned in that direction. “Yeah, that’s Vincent alright. I don’t like this one bit, Sera.” Doc whispered through gritted teeth. “Try and get Gino’s attention, and see if there is a back way out of here. It is too much a coincidence that we are here, and he shows up.” I am seeing ghosts in every corner, Doc thought. “Wait, just because we were set up, doesn’t mean that they planted someone on our team. I just don’t have enough input to know whether we can trust him or not, but I think we should leave.” Doc slung her back pack partway over one shoulder, to be ready. “Shall we go powder our noses?”
 

DeletedUser

The Van

"Who are you and what do you want?"
The voice at the other end of the line paused for a while. But within a few seconds the Brooklyn accent spoke. "I'd like to talk to Katy, I'm not sure if you have any scienter."
Meanwhile outside a police siren wail echoed down the street, cutting through the crisp air.

Gino's

"Hey, look tat this!" Cried out one of the waiters, who turned up the volume on the TV above the bar. It was a news channel, showing bird's eye footage of the factory, which was now on fire. The news anchor suddenly spoke; "We have just received some new footage from our sources of the terrorist attack, which we will show you. Some viewers may find these images disturbing, and rightly so." The footage switched, to show a CCTV feed of the factory floor. Figures in suicide vests wearing balaclavas ran into the workshop, and began shooting at the workers, who all had their hands in the air. One of the gunmen ordered a group of workers up against the wall, before executing them one by one.
 

DeletedUser31931

The voice asked for Katy, and gave a recognition codeword. FF then, just as she was about to reply, the sirens cut across her. "I did, but it caused the bird to flee her cage so I took it back." She replied, using standard protocol to inform the man of Katy's death. "The pigs on the farm are getting rowdy, call me later." She said and hung up before pocketing the phone. She had sprayed enough high flame fuel over the place. Pulling out a cigarette lighter she slid into the car before tossing the light cigarette lighter onto the floor. Staying just long enough to make sure the flames had caught, she drove out before pulling out her cellphone and texting Boris.

Spilt drinks all over the floor and burnt the bacon, not goin well 4 me. Can I crash at urs?

She heard an explosion behind her, probaby the van going off. The petrol she'd laid down was more flammable and led to some reserves, the whole building would be gone in under five minutes. She shifted the gear stick into second and carried on driving, joining the traffic about a minute later and vanishing into the city. She slid the her phone into the slot by the window to let it charge but kept Katy's phone in her pocket, waiting for a call.
 

DeletedUser13682

The meal came out, and Vincent dug in. It was very good, though he didn’t know how an Italian would feel about this food. To Vincent, it seemed like this was real Italian food, but he did know of a place in Hunter’s Point that claimed to serve traditional middle African food, though their ‘Luwombo’ was nowhere near what it should be. It probably wasn’t even banana leaves! But this food was good, and Vincent ate it in silence. After a few minutes, the news story on the TV turned back to the attack on the factory. It seemed that the Department executed the factory workers and were trying to blame it on them. It wasn’t good publicity at all, and would give the FF an even worse name. However, Vincent couldn’t do much about that right now. Later, he would see if he could get some less hostile reports in the newspapers through some connections.

As the news story switched to something about cats, Vincent began to turn back to his meal. It was then that he noticed two of the FF group that were with him during their investigation of the fertilizer plant. Had they followed him here? Did they know his apartment was nearby? After a moment of frightful thinking, Vincent calmed down. He doubted they even noticed him. It was probably a coincidence; this was a popular and well known restaurant. Calling his waiter over, Vincent asked if there was another way to exit, placing an extra $20 in his hand to emphasize the point. He now doubted the two women were the mole that had set their group up; the younger one was just too scared at the time. However, Vincent didn’t want to take more risks, and wanted to leave discreetly before they noticed him.
 

DeletedUser28032

It was as she was getting ready to powder her nose that the TV suddenly switched to the news; a feeling of dread stealing over the girl as she realised that it wasn't liable to be good for them. Watching as balaclava clad men masquerading as FF fighters executed the factory workers Sera simultaneously felt like crying and screaming that’s not fair! We didn't kill anybody or at least nobody that hadn't shot at us first we didn't even have any stinking masks. Leaving her chair she moves over to where Gino was currently stood behind the counter watching the TV like nearly everybody else in the restaurant was "Hey Gino, would it be ok if we went out via the kitchen entrance? My friends Ex is over there and she'd rather not bump into him" she said nodding her head in Vincent’s direction. Nodding his head in understanding; a veteran of two marriages Gino shows them out through the kitchen door once Sera had paid for the meal, his eyes lighting up as she told him how wonderful it had been as usual. However as soon as they were through the door and by themselves tears began to flow down Sera's face "Its not fair, I am not a monster, I didn't kill anybody!" she quietly sobs, trying her best to cuff away the tears "Well at least we know they don't have our faces...else they'd have plastered all over news too"
 

DeletedUser

[FONT=&quot]Doc saw on the TV at the bar how they had twisted up what had happened at the factory. She didn’t need to wonder whether it was staged or not. They wouldn’t hesitate to kill all those people, so as to make the FF seem like monsters. She had heard stuff like this time after time from her patients, and it didn’t surprise her at all. As a matter of fact, it was stuff like this that had convinced her to join the FF. Sera had Gino show them out of the kitchen entrance, and then poor Sera broke down. “I know sweetie, I know. We need to go NOW, it is not safe here. Let’s go to your place, but walk in the wrong direction first. We need to make sure we are not followed.” Doc was looking around, and so far she didn’t see Vincent. Again…she didn’t think he was the snitch, but… it had been a very long day, and she had no idea who they could trust.[/FONT]
 

DeletedUser28032

Nodding her head in mute reply Sera leads the pair of them out of the narrow side alley at the back of the restaurant and back onto the main street before heading for a shop in the opposite direction to her apartment. As she walked down the street Sera found herself looking at the reflections of shop windows or casually glancing over her shoulder in order to see if anybody was following them causing her to wonder had she always been this paranoid or whether it was Doc's suggestion that they go the wrong way that had caused this.
Entering the small convenience store Sera collects a basket from the stack and slowly walks down the aisle and picks up a few essential items along with a bottle of high strength drain cleaner and nail polish remover though only after examining the list of chemicals they contained.
Arriving at the small selection of hair dyes Sera glances over bottles before looking at the other woman "So blonde or redhead?" she asked deciding that a different shade of brown would be too subtle to make any real difference "I can't really offer any advice as last time I dyed my hair it was Candy pink...yeah I know, I was young and stupid and had the crazy idea that I could be a punk" she said looking slightly embarrassed as she made the confession. Once a decision had been reached she would pay for her items before then taking the long way home.
 

DeletedUser13682

The waiter nodded understandingly (apparently this wasn't the first time that somebody had needed to escape the back way), and pointed to the back entrance. After Vincent paid for his food, he nodded to the waiter, and went into the kitchen. He heard the sound of the back door closing (who else left?) and was about to open the door himself when he heard the two women talking just on the other side. They wanted to get out of here too. Maybe they thought he was following them. Though he knew it was coincidence that they ended up at the same restaurant he occasionally ate at (although he didn't know for sure until he heard what they were saying), they probably didn't know he wasn't tailing them.

After a few moments of silence, Vincent exited as well, and caught the two leaving the alley. Of course they would pick the direction he lived. Sighing, and hoping they wouldn't think he was tailing them, Vincent departed toward his apartment. He didn't see where the two went. Thinking about it, Vincent was kind of thirsty. He could do with a drink. And he needed to stock up on food. Entering the local convenience store, Vincent greeted Gregory, the cashier, and headed to the food section to stock up on necessities.
 

DeletedUser

“I always wanted to be a red-head, let’s go with that.” Doc responded to Sera. Doc had been keeping an eye on the door, and she saw Vincent enter, and greet the cashier. “Have you ever seen Vincent in this neighborhood before Sera? He knows the cashier’s name.” Doc thought for a second. “Let’s pay for our stuff, and wait outside the store for him. I don’t want us to lead him to your apartment. If I get the opportunity, I will hypnotize him, and he will wander aimlessly for a few hours.
 
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