M is for Myg

“I’m going to need this loft here, it’s got a good crawlspace that’s not obvious,” said JB. “And I want two of my nekos on staff at Clockwork for cover.”

We were touring the renovations in Section 8, right under the looming towers of Leviathan Unltd. I was not happy about letting guerrillas set up operations on my property, but I was in no position to refuse.

“JB–” I pleaded. “Are you sure you want to stash orbiters and high-damage materiel this close to Leviathan? How come you can’t just keep it all in inventory? What are you up to anyway?”

“Yes. It has to be here. Those dragons have all kinds of personnel scanners — you can’t even hide your stomach contents from them.”

I was about to protest; if Leviathan could scan inventory, wouldn’t they be able to spot a pile of weapons prims under a brick loft? She held up her hand.

“We have camouflage tech that will keep it hidden long enough. But the less you know the better.”

We walked through Topgol’s Philly trying to look like just another couple out shopping. But JB, who apparently did this sort of thing all the time, seemed tense. I was too, but for different reasons. I could see she had his name tattooed on her stomach.

“Let’s get off the street,” she said. “You can’t see it, but they have cam bots and scanners all through here. I’m gonna have my crew scan your club. If we find anything, which we will, we’ll set up some foilers–kind of like jamming or scrambling, but it replaces the signal with similar but innocuous data.”

Talking about Leviathan like this seemed to give them even more power. I know it was all in my head, but it was almost as if the touchstone in my pocket grew warmer and heavier the more I thought about Topgol’s new corporate residents.

JB turned down an alleyway and ran up a wall. I didn’t feel less exposed up on the roof of the barbershop, but JB was right at home off the ground. It had been years since I’d had to climb like this, and JB could find a finger hold on a marble wall. “You don’t know much about Leviathan, do you?” she said.

“Oh come on, I know at least as much as anyone else. They’ve been here for months and though they like to throw their weight around, they seem like most other multinational development companies. They’re just trying to rejuvenate urban spaces.”

” ‘Rejuvenate?’ ” she spat. “Cleanse is more like it. Why do you think the nekos have been disappearing from the cities?”

I was confused. She was always hotheaded — it was that fire that attracted me in the first place — but I sensed real hatred. “It goes far deeper than you think,” she continued. “They’ve got their tentacles into everything. You think that demon’s presence here was some kind of fluke? You need to wake up and figure out why your girl is so interesting to them.” For a moment, she looked concerned.

I said nothing and the look turned to disgust.

“You’re such an asshole. You leave us right when it all went to hell, after everything my family did for you. Right when we could have used your help. You think it’s easy leading this thing on my own?”

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This entry was posted on Monday, August 20th, 2007 at 12:49 pm and is filed under Burgess, Met a stranger, Second Life.