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| Hazy Shade of Winter; Sora Mizuiro && DarkAngel013 | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Jun 28 2009, 11:27 PM (1,862 Views) | |
| Sora Mizuiro | Jun 28 2009, 11:27 PM Post #1 |
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Cookie Monster
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The citizens of Reaste have always lived under the impression that their city is a safe one. They boast some of the world's most outstanding technology, and their medical treatment facilities are known for being some of the best that money can afford. The unemployment rate is somewhere around 1 - 2% of the city's population of ten million people and the percentage of illiterate citizens linger even lower than that. Despite their population count and size, they are regarded as a country in its own right by the world community, and are thus governed accordingly. While they have no standing army, Reaste’s influence in both the market and global politics is so strong that they are viewed to be of the same status as the some of the world powers. The 2013 presidential election has ended in a landslide victory for known dictator Orson Hecht, and some suspect foul play had a role in his rise to power. Only mere days after he is sworn into office, many of Hecht’s political enemies are suddenly reported as either missing or out of the country. Protests against his policies are quickly and efficiently silenced, and the media has been completely taken over by the government. Reaste’s borders are suddenly closed, allowing none to enter or leave without government consent. Trade is forbidden, and rumor has it that Hecht is building a mercenary army and is funding the continued research of nuclear technology. The people of Reaste are terrified of what could happen to them should they be forced into a dictator’s war that they want no part of, and support is quickly growing for a rebel group known simply as The Organization that is working to end Orson Hecht’s reign. Of course, word made its way to the dictator’s ears and he has since put a bounty on the heads of any Organization members. Worse yet is the fact that the nuclear research is finally starting to show results. It’s quickly becoming a race against time as The Organization struggles to prevent the project from coming to fruition, lest they be wiped out completely… - - - - - - - - - - The mission was simple enough: sneak into the facility, take or destroy any important information that might pertain to nuclear technology, and get out before getting caught. Never mind the fact that said facility was patrolled by forty or so guards, all fully armed and ready to kill at the slightest hint of an intruder, the entire place was also laced with traps. Accidentally pulling a trigger could lead to bullet shots aimed at the head, or even a complete lockdown of the area. And this was what it was supposed to be like when security was loose. The job was practically tantamount to suicide. Too bad her damn pride wasn't going to let her back out of it. Her grip on the steering wheel tightened as she made a left turn, the wheels of her black sedan making less-than-comforting noises as it skidded across the dirty, slush-like snow that blanketed the roads. Lorelei hated the snow. In fact, scarves aside, there wasn't much that the blonde didn't hate about winter in general. Maybe it was the weather—driving amidst piles of slippery snow and ice in the dead of the night was always a recipe for disaster—or maybe even the fact that her family name had any connections to the season. But whatever her reason, the fact that it was the middle of December only served to fray at her already frazzled nerves. A sudden vibration made her jump involuntarily, and she turned her wine-colored oculars down at the lump in her pocket. Taking her dominant hand off the steering wheel to pick it up, Lorelei barely cast a glance at the caller ID before flipping the cell phone open and placing it against her ear. “What do you want?” she all but growled into the mouthpiece, her eyes trained once more on the road ahead of her—easier said than done though, with all the flurries intent on blocking her view. A low, static-muffled chuckle reached her ears. That son of a gun actually had the nerve to be amused by all this. Lorelei could feel one of her facial muscles twitch, and not in a good way. “Now is that any way to be speaking to your superiors, Winters?” “You’re not the one handing me my paycheck, so I can say whatever the hell I want,” she shot back curtly. “Now what is it? I swear, if you’re just bored and calling on the job—“ “No, don’t worry, it’s important,” the male voice interrupted smoothly, all but ignoring her threat. Frowning, the blonde pressed the phone closer to her ear expectantly. “Headquarters decided at the last minute to assign you a partner. He or she is driving to the meeting point as we speak.” Lorelei let loose a colorful string of adjectives. “What are they thinking? I don’t need a partner for something like this!” Well, granted, some backup would be nice, but certainly not from some unknown person whose capabilities she didn’t know a thing about. For all she knew, they could have assigned her some bumbling newbie who’d never even used a gun outside of the practice range. And with her luck, they probably would. “And are you telling me they didn’t even give you the basic information about this person?” “Unfortunately, it must have slipped their minds,” the male informed, his own discontent evident from the tone of voice. Lorelei sighed, her breath coming out in puffs of crystallized moisture despite the fact that she had the car heater running on high. “Fine, I’ll deal with it when I get there.” “Alright, you have fun with that.” And without further ado, the line went dead. The blonde snapped her phone shut, glancing down at the blinking numbers that were meant to inform her of how long she’d spent talking. Have fun indeed. She tossed her cell phone over to the passenger seat, watching as it hit the seat dead-center and then bounced off onto the floor of the car. Darn, she must have thrown in a bit too har— Lorelei didn’t even have the time to finish that train of thought, because she suddenly found herself being jerked forward as behind her, the sheet metal of the car crunched almost sickeningly. Had she’d been a bystander and watching this happen, Lorelei might have even cried a bit at watching the back of her car get wrecked. But the warping metal of her precious vehicle was the least of her worries as suddenly her vision was assaulted by some oppressive white object. It vaguely registered in her mind that the crash must have triggered the air bags before the object blew up enough to start constricting her breathing. As if her seat belt wasn’t already doing a good enough job of that. Panicked at the lack of air, and more than slightly dazed by the unexpected crash, Lorelei fumbled for the door handle. Once it was within her reach, the blonde forced it open and stumbled out to stare at the spectacle before her. The back of her beloved car had been crushed and mutilated in a way that almost resembled sheet foil, and smoke was starting to waft its way up from the hood. Numbly, she looked ahead to see that the car behind her—so that was what she’d hit—had stopped. It didn’t look like it was in much better condition than her own vehicle, but it seemed like it was still capable of running. Already in her mind’s eye, she could see how much paperwork it would entail just to report all this to the higher ups. “Oh, fuck.” Edited by Sora Mizuiro, Jun 29 2009, 03:05 PM.
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she won't make a (( alone in this fight with herself )) & the fears w h i s p e r i n g if she stands, she'll fall down | |
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| DarkAngel013 | Jun 29 2009, 12:51 AM Post #2 |
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Sleepy Inspiration
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The raven-haired male growled at the screen in front of him. He couldn't believe it. He was in the middle of his sleep and he had to be dragged out of bed. Great. He didn't liked to be disturbed from his sleep, much less in the middle of winter. This was stupid... but he understood, he'd have to. "Hello?" he said into the phone. "You're being assigned to a new partner," the man said. "Like it or not, you are getting a new partner, Huojin." "Call me Jin," he snapped, slamming the phone shut before curling into bed for a few more minutes before he stepped out into the chilling air. He dressed up in his usual winter attire, wearing a beanie, aviators, a thick jacket that still allows him to move around easier, a black thermo shirt, and jeans. He pulled together his guns and few other gear before heading out. However, before he could, his phone rang again. "What?" he snapped. That was when he was briefed on the assignment that they were supposed to do, his partner, which turns out to be a female named Winters something, before the man hung up, along with Jin as well. Pulling himself into the car, he turned on the engine to warm it up before he headed out. Then he swore under his breath when he realized that it was snowing. Hard. "Brilliant," he muttered. "Just bloody brilliant." After the car warmed up a bit, he pulled the car out of the garage and headed to the area towards where he was going to meet the new "partner." Then he drove straight into a flurry. He swore brilliant colors of adjectives. Partially because he was cranky from waking up, partially because it was the cold. Then again, he didn't mind. Before he could even focus on the road ahead of him, barely already able to see, his head hit the wheel of the car, air bags pushing him to near suffocation. He stumbled out of the car, swearing a long string of brilliant swear words as he touched his head and felt something of a bump on his raven-haired head, his hair in the certain where girls liked it fine. Not too short, nor too long. Then he realized that the car in front of him had probably more damage than his own. "Shit," he muttered, his piercing amber-gold eyes looking around. "Hey, are you all right?" he called out into the roar of the wind. |
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^Clicketh on thy picture. =] Call me Niko-chan~ ![]() ![]()
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| Sora Mizuiro | Jun 29 2009, 01:01 PM Post #3 |
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Cookie Monster
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"Hey, are you all right?" "Not. Fucking. Really," she managed between gritted teeth, trying to suppress the shivers that currently wracked her body. She rubbed her arms in an attempt to generate some miniscule amount of heat, but to no avail. God, it was freezing out here. The blonde had dressed looking like she was about to head to the North Pole--puffy jacket, thick wool scarf, boots and the whole shebang--and the cold was still somehow managing to get under her skin. Just another reason for her to hate winter. Lorelei cast a forlorn glance at the metal wreck that was at one point a black sedan, wondering frantically if it could still be salvaged somehow. Granted, it wasn't the fanciest of cars, but it had still been hers. She could feel a sentimental lump rising in her throat as the reality of the situation hit her. Her precious car was all but totaled, never to run another mile again. And she wasn't even going to have the money finish paying it off; after all, how was she supposed to get to work at this rate? If someone had the nerve to mention public transportation right then—which, she was sure that a certain smartass back at the office would if she were to call him back right now—she was going to punch the living daylights out of them. She strode over slowly to the trunk of her car—or rather, what was left of it—and jerked off one of the top pieces of metal. It came away far too easily into her grasp, a fact that barely registered in her mind before she plunged her hand into the hole and fished out a slightly dented metal case. It was a bit more banged up than she would have liked it to be, but at least its contents would still be usable. Unlike her car, on the other hand… The blonde turned wearily to face the male responsible, dumping the chunk of metal onto the snow-covered cement before searching her pockets for scrap paper and a pen. She should have resented him—and she probably would, in time—but all Lorelei could feel now was a numbing sensation that she could only attribute to the less-than-spectacular weather. "I'm guessing this is the part where we exchange insurance information?" Edited by Sora Mizuiro, Jun 29 2009, 04:05 PM.
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she won't make a (( alone in this fight with herself )) & the fears w h i s p e r i n g if she stands, she'll fall down | |
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| DarkAngel013 | Jun 29 2009, 01:39 PM Post #4 |
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Sleepy Inspiration
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Jin only raised an eye-brow at the word she used. Then again, he wasn't all that much surprised. Her car was completely totaled. He signed and pinched the bridge of his nose, thinking for a moment as she seemed to try to get something from her totally ruined car. Oh, to add to that, it was snowing. Hard. He flicked out his phone and called the office and then called the insurance company. They both weren't going to be happy, even if he was driving as carefully as he did. Then again, he was stupid enough to come out into the biting cold and the blizzard that he recklessly drove out into. He snapped the phone shut when the calls were finished. He wasn't going to call the police, especially what with his records and all. Then again, the office was going to handle everything, now that they knew. He glanced down at the smaller but more thickly dressed female when she said her words. "I guess so," he said before he took out his phone again, surprised he was able to handle the cold as well as he did, even though he had been woken up from the nice and warm dreams of his bedroom. Even if it was empty. "Name?" |
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^Clicketh on thy picture. =] Call me Niko-chan~ ![]() ![]()
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| Sora Mizuiro | Jun 29 2009, 03:22 PM Post #5 |
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Cookie Monster
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“Lorelei Winters. L-O-R-E-L-E-I and Winters, like the season with an ‘s’ at the end of it.” Ah, her phone. Why hadn’t she thought of using that? Abandoning the search for scrap paper, she headed around to the front of the vehicle and jerked the door open. At once, the shrill safety alarm went off, sounding out that ever-aggravating series of beeps and honks. Grimacing at the unexpected noise, she fumbled for the ignition key near the driver’s seat and jerked it out of the slot. The sound faltered and then died slowly as she pocketed the key, eyes searching the floor of her car for any telltale glowing light that her cell phone screen usually emitted. With a grunt of effort, she fished it out from underneath the passenger seat, flipping it open to make sure that it was still functioning. Which it was, thankfully. She would have some phone calls to make; firstly back to headquarters to inform them of the situation so that a replacement could be sent out, then to her insurance company, and lastly to a towing company so that they could drag her car out of the middle of the road. But before that, she might as well finish up with this guy first. Lorelei stood up, brushing snow off of her pants. “My insurance company is Arturia, if that helps any. Do you need a phone number or something, too?” Actually, she had thought that it would have been the other way around, with the male giving information and her recording it. But what did she know? She'd never had to deal with the aftermath of a car accident before. Edited by Sora Mizuiro, Jun 29 2009, 03:25 PM.
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she won't make a (( alone in this fight with herself )) & the fears w h i s p e r i n g if she stands, she'll fall down | |
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| DarkAngel013 | Jul 1 2009, 01:25 PM Post #6 |
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Sleepy Inspiration
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“Lorelei Winters. L-O-R-E-L-E-I and Winters, like the season with an ‘s’ at the end of it.” He stopped his texting when he realized who this female was. Because his car had been a borrowed from the company, he knew they were going to have a fit but then he had the recorded time of them calling him out during this storm and they even had phone records for this kind of thing. After all, this was the government they were talking about. He watched her pull open her front door to grab her phone before coming over with the name of her insurance company. “My insurance company is Arturia, if that helps any. Do you need a phone number or something, too?” "It's fine, I don't think I need it," he said as he put it into the phone as well. Thank god he didn't drive out his own car in this storm. Then again, he only drove it during summer and fall. "And besides, since I'm your partner, that means I didn't need that information since the 'office' was going to handle everything relating to our accident that involves us that they hired." The area that they were supposed to infiltrate to get the information on the nuclear research was "loose", but he knew that looks were deceiving. He had scooped out the place before he actually had to come here. He had been the type to look at the things beforehand, never knowing if something was going to come in handy or not. Usually, it was, surprisingly. "I'm Jin Smith, pleasure to meet you," he said with a smile that did not reach his eyes. His last name was obviously false, and he was using the name that the Organization had given him... then again, he was a figure that was rarely seen on their databases. The only thing known is that only one man knows his real name but then, his name seems to disappear off the phone records as well, even if spoke on the phone with. He was very keen on keeping himself quiet. "I am your new partner that they have sent." |
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^Clicketh on thy picture. =] Call me Niko-chan~ ![]() ![]()
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| Sora Mizuiro | Jul 1 2009, 05:35 PM Post #7 |
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Cookie Monster
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"Partn—" For someone as agitated as she was, Lorelei took the news surprisingly well. Which, for her, meant that there were no long strings of profanity involved. She did, however, consider giving someone a good punch. Preferably one of her higher-ups, because if they hadn't assigned her a partner at all, at least her car would still be in one functioning piece right now. But that could wait until later. For now, she had to finish up business on this end so she could get to the mission. Assuming, of course, that they could still get there with a car that beat up. "Their idea of handling does not include paying off my monthly car installments," Lorelei shot back testily once she had gathered her wits about her, "or reimbursing me for the damages done. And knowing those cheapskates, I'm probably going to end up with a bill for the towing fee in the mail sooner or later too.” She propped her elbow up on the hood of her car, holding her cell phone so that she could see it clearly as she scrolled through her phonebook. On the bright side, at least she only had one call to make now instead of three. Holding the phone against her ear, Lorelei mentally ticked off the number of rings it took before someone picked up. One, two, three, four— “Winters?” Just her luck; it was that same infuriating man who’d called earlier. “Richardson. I need you to call for a pickup truck to clean up the mess on—“ she cast a brief glance at the nearest street sign “—14th and Myrtle Street.” The sound of shifting papers reached her ears. “Don’t tell me you got into an accident too? Since you have the energy to call, I’m going to assume that you’re alright, but that partner of yours apparently had a similar problem too. We’re going to have to send in replacements, you know.” The corners of her mouth pulled upwards into a wry grin. Her wine-colored oculars landed on her partner’s car, inspecting it from a distance. There were lots of dents and scratches, but nothing that indicated that there was anything internally wrong with the vehicle. Good. This might work out after all. “If we’re lucky, you might not have to.” “What, so you plan on taking the subway?” The note of incredulity in his voice was hard to miss. “No, stupid. He—my partner—still has a working car. Just send over that tow truck, alright? Good.” Without waiting for a response, she cut the line and slipped the phone back into her coat pocket. At Jin Smith’s introduction, she nodded noncommittally. “A pleasure,” was all she said in response before bending down to pick up the briefcase she’d fished out of her trunk earlier. It was better to keep a distance between them for the time being. Granted, she’d have to be working with him for the next few hours, but Lorelei was determined to keep their relationship strictly on a professional level. Otherwise she might find herself trying to gun him down later for wrecking her car. “Shall we get going then?” Edited by Sora Mizuiro, Jul 1 2009, 06:28 PM.
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she won't make a (( alone in this fight with herself )) & the fears w h i s p e r i n g if she stands, she'll fall down | |
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| DarkAngel013 | Jul 2 2009, 03:48 PM Post #8 |
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Sleepy Inspiration
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"Ah, true," Jin replied with a small shrug. "Then again, my car doesn't belong to me, it belongs to the company." He stopped talking when she flicked open her phone to talk to what appears the same person that Jin had talked to earlier. Although, Jin's car wasn't as damaged as Lorelei's... thank god. His mouth quirked up into an amused grin when Lorelei called him "stupid" ... well, the person she's talking to on the phone. He raised an eye-brow at the briefcase as he noted to himself the brief comment she gave to him during the introduction. Short and brief. So she was trying to keep their soon-to-be work relationship on business level. He shrugged mainly to himself. Whatever happens, happens. "Sure, where to?" he asked as he slipped into the car. "And what's in the brief case?" Edited by DarkAngel013, Jul 2 2009, 03:49 PM.
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^Clicketh on thy picture. =] Call me Niko-chan~ ![]() ![]()
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| Sora Mizuiro | Jul 2 2009, 04:24 PM Post #9 |
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Cookie Monster
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Ah, was she to be cursed with having to put up with idiots all her life? "The facility at the edge of town, of course," she growled, unceremoniously jerking opening the door to the passenger side. She plopped her still shuddering body down into the seat, not giving a damn when she noted that her and her briefcase had dragged in a small avalanche of snow with them in the process. It was a company car anyway. But that aside, why had they offered one to this Jin guy and not her? Jerks. Sulkily, she buried the bottom half of her face into the gray scarf that encircled her neck. Her body had instinctively curled up in a position that would allow her to retain the most body heat, arms crossed, legs pulled up with one an top of the other and her back pressed firmly against the cushiony seat, all while she glared vindictively at the raging blizzard outside the vehicle. Her thoughts were running something along the lines of ‘that damn facility better have working heaters or else’ before her ears caught the dark-haired male’s next question. “Sniper rifle, handgun, grenades, camera… You know, the usual stuff,” Lorelei responded, her voice muffled by the presence of the woolen scarf in front of her mouth. |
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she won't make a (( alone in this fight with herself )) & the fears w h i s p e r i n g if she stands, she'll fall down | |
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| DarkAngel013 | Jul 5 2009, 12:25 PM Post #10 |
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Sleepy Inspiration
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"The facility at the edge of town, of course," she growled "Of course," he said with a shrug, moving the car out of "park" and into "drive" as he carefully drove the car towards where she mentioned. Jin turned up the heat a bit so the car started to warm up a bit more than he usually did in the car, seeing as this was piece of a junk of a car in the first place. The heaters kicked in, finally, although it was on before the accident. The blizzard made it rather difficult for him to look passed anything so Jin drove with relative ease as he leaned back comfortably to drive. “Sniper rifle, handgun, grenades, camera… You know, the usual stuff,” Lorelei responded, her voice muffled by the presence of the woolen scarf in front of her mouth. "Ah, the usual," he replied, nodding his head in agreement. "Are you better at long distance or do you prefer close-combat?" Since he was driving rather slow to avoid another accident, the fact that they were going to get anywhere soon would probably be in about a few minutes or so, depending if the snow would let up at any given time. But since he was on an assignment, he couldn't take any longer than necessary. The office gets cranky when they take too long. |
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^Clicketh on thy picture. =] Call me Niko-chan~ ![]() ![]()
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