Just Business [Closed] - Printable Version

+- alonimi (https://alonimi.net)
+-- Forum: Science Fiction (https://alonimi.net/forumdisplay.php?fid=69)
+--- Forum: Osiris Lunar Colony (https://alonimi.net/forumdisplay.php?fid=78)
+--- Thread: Just Business [Closed] (/showthread.php?tid=759)

---

Just Business [Closed] - SolitareLee - 01-20-2018

---

RE: Just Business [Closed] - SolitareLee - 01-20-2018

It wasn't that Kari was in love with his job or anything.

He hadn't exactly set out to be an assassin. Actually, he'd wanted to be a model when he left home. But that hadn't really panned out; it was easy to be taken advantage of when you were eighteen. Twelve years of martial arts and self-defense training had panned out, though, and it turned out weapons weren't super hard to learn how to use and all that really mattered to Kari was how much he could earn versus how much effort something took. High risk, high reward. Something he was naturally drawn to.

And really, the only difference between mercenary work and assassination was some flimsy little straw laws. And how subtle you could be. Kari was good at subtle! And as for the pay, well...

There was no greater risk and no greater reward than a Krotazi.

Grilka had been fantastic for Kari's career, guiding him gently into the field of professional witnesser-of-terrible-accidents and not so gently into the field of tentacular exploration. He adored em for both, admittedly, because both always wound up with him getting very, very nice things. Grilka did so love spoiling eir friends, especially after they'd been once-again traumatized by witnessing a terrible death caused by shitty karma.

Kari was witnessing one such death right now, in fact, and was already looking forward to Grilka's peculiar comforts.

Vaughn Gilkirst had been in over his head, anyway. Everyone who Kari saw to always was, but Gilkirst in particular had been almost humorously boned. He'd learned some things it really would have been better not to learn, and had decided to contact some people he really shouldn't have contacted. It was always best not to look like you weren't going to tell someone the thing you shouldn't know about to begin with, really. Poor, good-natured idiot. Or perhaps not, perhaps he'd simply been in it for the money. It really didn't matter. Especially not now...

"Sshhhhh, sh sh sh," Kari murmured idly. The man wasn't moving; Kari had severed his spinal cord rather perfectly, in his professional opinion. His eyes were still focused, however, for a few brief seconds.

---

RE: Just Business [Closed] - kilosilvey - 01-21-2018


Neph had been on Osiris for what? Far more than a handful of cycles at this point. They were pleased to know that their buiness reputation had already spread out to this corner of the galaxy. And so plenty of work and even more opportunity to experience everything. Exotic compounds, new species and absolutely lovely strands of cosmic radiation.

This particular job should be simplicity itself. The message came in recently. A particualrly foolish meatsack came into possession of some unfortunate secrets, then tried to leverage his way out of trouble. Neph scraped some of their plates together in a derisive honk. Thank goodness for all the hapless idiots in the universe. Plundering their brains paid the bills quite nicely. Besides which, one should love their work.

Rounding a corner, Neph was surprised and unsettled to see the door to the "safe house" swinging freely. Hooves clopping softly, they made their way through the open door to see this waif standing over Gilkirst with a knife jammed clean through his spine. Neph had heard about this one. So pretty as to nearly look as atificial as Neph. A penchant for being in the wrong place at the right time and a bimbo manner that strained belief.

"Stunned anger: You scooped me, doll person. Had you waited a few more paltry seconds", Neph's monotone cuts off into a frustrated shriek of white noise, "Despondent: I've never failed a job before. And now that foolish meatsack is ruined"

It's not as though Neph ever wanted a direct confrontation. Their size and composition meant that their only two options were surprise and lulling opponents into a false sense of security. Hunching their shoulders to reduce their frame and affecting a morose trot, Neph slowly turns to leave. Discretion is the better part of valour and better to not be stabbed by a potential rival. Other jobs will come. Bodily integrity is forever.

---

RE: Just Business [Closed] - SolitareLee - 01-21-2018

Kari hadn't really been expecting anyone to come in. Privacy was kind of guaranteed when your premise for being in someone's house was the promise of sucking their dick at some point. And least of all did he expect to see a kid-sized robot in the doorway.

His body worked on automatic, dropping the body which landed in an undignified heap on the ground, knife sliding out of the man's neck and allowing blood to begin rapidly pooling on the ground.

"...Oh no! Vaughn, what have they done to you!"

...He glanced over at the bloody knife still in his hand. ...Yeah probably not then.

The little robot seemed more angry than screaming-and-calling-the-police, which was a bit of a relief. He would have owed Grilka soooooooo much for flubbing a job and then needing to get bailed out. Of course, he had only the robot's emotional descriptors to go off of to assume anger. Its voice was a dull, bored-sounding monotone, although the screaming static was pretty evocative. Probably wanted to be yelling. Seemingly didn't have the voice programming to yell. That had to be annoying.

"You can tell whoever hired you that you did it," Kari suggested gamely. He tried not to get robots mad. They made really long-lived enemies and were notoriously difficult to kill. And scooped suggested he'd been here to do the job Kari had just completed. "I won't tell!" He pressed a single, bloody finger to his lips in a "shhh" gesture, and winked. "Promise~"

---

RE: Just Business [Closed] - kilosilvey - 01-21-2018


Neph's optic brightened and their plates flared as the Doll Person spoke. Planting their feet, Neph swiveled to look at them in stunned disbelief, "Sarcastic: How helpful. I can tell my employer that rather than collecting the memories I was paid to, I instead severed their spinal cord with a sharp, metal stick. However could I thank you for this generous opportunity"

Prancing in place, their hooves clicking nervously, they cock their head to the side in a speculative way, "Sincere proposition: This is untenable. I can't have my reputation tarnished with failed jobs and I've heard about you. Far too good, far too quick and far too insufferably saccharine to ever get caught. Perhaps we could share? In the future that is. If it does not impede your contract, you let me have their brain first. Otherwise, I stay far away."

Neph has noticed that many organics are unusually territorial about their work. Their servos grind. Organics. Constantly contrary and irrational. Doll Person is delightfully unconcerned with murder, though. This sometimes speaks to a dangerous chemical imbalance but to Neph seems an admirably practical mindset. This one seems... tolerable. Hopefully some accord can be reached.

Neph's courtesy minder chimes in, a little late, "Regret: I have not yet asked your name, Doll Person. I understand it is customary for professionals meeting at work to exchange pleasantries. I am Neph. Pleased to meet you"

---

RE: Just Business [Closed] - SolitareLee - 01-21-2018

Kari's smile fell slightly, eyes widening a bit in surprise and confusion. "Collecting memories?" He glanced down at the corpse, then wrinkled his nose, lifting up the skirts of his dress and taking a few steps away from the pooling blood. This was a red dress, yes, but no need to get dirty if he didn't need to. "How the hell do you even do that?" Oh man, this was going to be some creepy eldritch bullshit, he just knew it. Some psychic robot brainjacking bullshit, he could smell it coming.

"Flattery will get you pretty far," Kari said, electing to wander towards the late Gilkrest's bar and pull out a bottle of what looked to be very nice vodka. "But I'm not entirely sure what you're proposing. Their brain? Metaphorically or literally?" He squatted down briefly to open the mini-fridge and pull out a few other things. "It's not a huge inconvenience to me if they die a weird way, like say, having their brain carved out, but I kinda wanna know what I'm agreeing to."

"Name's Kari Swanson," he replied gamely, seeming utterly unconcerned with someone who just saw him commit murder knowing his full name. He was an open secret anyway. "Exchanging Pleasantries sounds nice, but I'm not sure how to make it." He waggled the bottle of vodka before pouring some into a glass. "How about sex on the beach, instead? Do you drink? Can you drink?"

---

RE: Just Business [Closed] - kilosilvey - 01-21-2018


Neph lets out a series of melodic, metallic chimes. Their rough facsimile of a giggle, "Speculative: Kari is a good name. It's tricky and hard to pin down. Like Neph" They hold out a palm, letting a small nest of neural net snarl and writhe in a nimbus around their hand, "Concerned: Organic brains are just chemicals and electricity, yes? My... Nerves you could say are more energetic than most. If one lets me get close enough I can feel what they feel. I can also induce sensation. Fear, warmth, excitement, pleasure. It is all electricity to me. I don't kill people. I just take what I need and mask the memories after. Less chance of retribution. Quick, clean and profitable."

Neph quickly folds their hands behind their back. It wouldn't be the first time that a meatsack has screamed and run away at the prospect of what Neph can do. It's not fair. Given the myriad forms that sapient life has taken in this benighted universe, that Neph is the odd one. They take a tentative step forwards, tilting their optic up at Kari's face, "Eager: I like to experience all that physical space has to offer. I can taste, yes. On occasion, I have been allowed to experience drunkenness by proxy. It's very fuzzy. Ummmm. Sex on the beach. Sex is a funny word. Does it mean emotion? Does it mean sensation? There is no consensus. But lots of touching."

---

RE: Just Business [Closed] - SolitareLee - 01-21-2018

Oh god he'd totally called it. Kari tried not to look as absolutely put off as he felt, but he probably did lose a few shades of color. It would be rude to call the little robot a brainfucker. He still wanted to. But it would be rude and Kari didn't know how to kill a literal bundle of electric nerves that could brainfuck people.

He took an automatic step backwards when Neph took one forwards, but managed to cover it somewhat by kneeling back down to grab another glass from the bar.

"That's, uh, interesting," he managed finally, pouring juice over the vodka and ice. "I mean," he gestured over to the still leaking corpse. "Arguably I can't throw any stones. So. How close is close enough?" He held up one of the glasses. "If I hand this over, are you going to get a brain full of Kari, or is it more, uh, direct-interface-y." Brainfucking. Did it involve LITERAL brainfucking or just metaphorical brainfucking. Either one: creepy, but it was good to know these things.

"Well, sex as a concept might have a nebulous definition in galactic culture, but sex on a beach is a shot of vodka, a shot of cranberry, a shot of orange, and half a shot of peach schnapps. And that's universal," he said with a grin. Nervous, but trying to hide it. "Tiny umbrella optional."

---

RE: Just Business [Closed] - kilosilvey - 01-21-2018


Neph's optic dims and they freeze. Skin conduction, shading and body language. Kari is horrified. Which is not exactly new, but certainly tedious. They hold up their hands placatingly, slowly stepping back in an effort to be polite, "Weary: You're spooked and trying to guage my strengths and weaknesses. Probably because like most meatsacks, your fear leads to violence. Even so. Please don't mistake me for stupid"

Neph's optic brightens, shade changing to more of a bloody red and their plates bristle in a defensive posture, "Frustrated: And here I thought we were going to have a nice conversation. If it makes you feel better to slide the drink over, I'd be interested to try something as evocative as Sex on the Beach. But please don't try to attack. For whatever its worth, I won't try anything unless you ask me to. The struggle would be unutterably tedious and unpleasant"

A frustrated stamp of a hoof. No one ever considers the perks, limited as they are with most of their bits on the inside. How does that not feel like a prison? "Tentative: If you wish, I will give you a demonstration of what I can do with those who I'm not paid to interrogate. Of course I promise to stay away from your brain. Consent is important, yes. Or if you prefer, I can turn around and go. That is an option"

---

RE: Just Business [Closed] - SolitareLee - 01-21-2018

"I didn't threaten!" Kari protested, pouting like an upset child. "And who'd be stupid enough to attack someone who just said they could fuck brains? Or... some nicer way of saying that," he added, still pouting. "I'm armed with a knife and a small rifle, not an EMP rig." He didn't elaborate as to where on earth he was managing to hide a rifle while dressed in a skintight gown.

He bristled a bit himself at the optic turning red, interpretting it as angry or aggressive. It didn't seem like a good sign, and he tensed accordingly. "I didn't say anything rude," he said huffily. "It's not my fault if you're a robotic empath or something. Faking not being alarmed is the best I can really do under the circumstances."

Kari glared down at the drink in his hand, pouting. He was not going to squat down and slide this thing along the floor like an animal, but he was still nervous about approaching. "Is there an option between those two?" he asked, frowning, then managed a slight--if still a bit tense with nerves--goofy grin. "Normally people at least have a couple of drinks before anyone starts getting probed."

Kari didn't seem particularly worried about hanging out in a dead guy's house and drinking his booze, all things considered. "This guy's room actually has a pretty sweet balcony. I mean, the view's a hologram, but it looks nice. We can try sex on the beach, and you can explain with words what neat things you can do. I'd reciprocate, but..." He shrugged. "Humans are pretty universally boring." As if he wasn't a crossdressing assassin in a ball gown who worked for a Krotazi. But still. Anyone could do that.

---

RE: Just Business [Closed] - kilosilvey - 01-21-2018


Neph lets out another honk of plates frictioning together. And then relaxes from their defensive posture, more bemused than anything else, "Confused: You really aren't being the aggressor. Despite your revulsion. I... Do not understand. My words were not sufficient. I hope they mean what I intend them to. Nuance is difficult."

Neph's optic brightens to a bubblegum pink as they consider the hidden, and still unused rifle. That bodes well for not getting shot. And in a gesture of goodwill, they turn their back on Kari and walk out towards the balcony. Placing a hand close to the hologram, they extend a few tendrils to sample the quality of light emitted. Spectrums of visible light refract in a rainbow spider web as each filament is bathed in the hologram.

Plates and the mesh underneath ripple in a cascading shrug. Metal and synthetics clinking and rattling along the modest length of Neph's frame, "Tremulous: Explaining is hard. I can never be sure if my experiences are a true reflection of the source. With physical contact, I can interface with nerve tissue. I can feel what they feel and I can push back. I can stimulate the nerves I'm touching to fire in different ways. I feel it too. A... feedback loop. Pleasure, pain, heat, cold, numbness, pins and needles. I'm along for the ride but I have more distance. No pesky evolutionary responses to dictate how I react to those sensations. Even when they are unpleasant"

---

RE: Just Business [Closed] - SolitareLee - 01-21-2018

"Do people normally try to pick a fight as soon as they figure that one out?" Kari asked with a snort. "That's stupid. So yeah. That tracks with most people, I guess."

He trailed Neph out towards the balcony at a respectful--and cautious--distance, for the most part. He watched the little tendrils of gold extend out from the palm of its hand. Was all that gold part flexible? God, he really just kept running into people that were secretly just made of tons and tons of tentacles, huh.

He walked past Neph, close enough to casually hand the glass he'd prepared down as he walked by. He'd met with enough smaller races to understand that squatting down was generally considered a bit condescending. He didn't particularly appreciate when Grilka brought emself down to his level unless it was a direct precursor to kissing. And even then.

Kari, for his part, plopped down on a lounge chair, pulling the long trail of his dress up and to the side and crossing his knees. It was a relaxed posture... although he still had the knife, and had no real intention of disarming. Fair was fair--his body wasn't an actual literal weapon.

"Weird!" he commented gamely, taking a sip from his drink. "So you use it to mess all up in people's brainmeats? And get drunk. Hopefully never at the same time." He took another drink. "You use it to fuck? I dunno why I'm phrasing that as a question, fifty credits says you absolutely use it to fuck."

---

RE: Just Business [Closed] - kilosilvey - 01-21-2018


Neph gives a delicate shudder, "Rueful: some of my targets have been drunk. So yes, I suppose. Their reactions were so slow it was like walking through mud." Their courtesy minders are fluttering, "Surprised: Oh. The sex comment was rude. How strange. Sex is a silly word, especially when applied to me. I don't reproduce. Nor do I have genitals. And so one assumes sex is largely a matter of perspective."

Dipping a hand in the colourful drink, Neph stirs up the contents, tasting its various complexity. Lots of sugars, acids. Mmmm. Nicely tart, sweet and just enough bitter, "Archly: Thank you for the drink. It's much sweeter than most alcohol I've been exposed to. Such a delightful complexity of sugars, acids and trace elements. The mercury in particular is quite nice. Though I think someone was trying to poison Mr. Gilkirst."

Glancing over to Kari, he seems far more relaxed. Neph has noticed that organics tend to sprawl when they're relaxed. Almost as though they're melting, "Curious: You meat creatures tend to sprawl a lot when you're relaxed. Is resisting the pull of gravity so arduous?"

---

RE: Just Business [Closed] - SolitareLee - 01-21-2018

"It's probably sex if someone's genitals are involved," Kari suggested. "Doesn't have to be yours. Thank god, or some of my friends would never get laid." Kari had never seen Grilka's dick and absolutely never wanted to, ever, not even a little. He didn't seem particularly worried about being rude.

He made a face at the mercury comment, though, and idly poured out his drink. "Looks like I'm sticking to rum for the rest of the evening," he said dryly. "Too bad I can't just order room service." There were limits to what he would do with a dead body in the room. Just not a lot of them.

"It's a body language thing," Kari explained. He was more than used to explaining human quirks to Grilka, who didn't need them explained but liked to pretend ey did. "Sprawling out is a way of saying, I feel confident that I am not about to be stabbed in my squishy bits. The inverse of getting all tense when we feel threatened. Although, yes, gravity is a bitch and sucks, until it's gone, and then all you want is for gravity to come back."

"So," he said, leaning up a bit to eye Neph. "You want to share targets. Just in case of a future overlap, or in general? We'd have to compare notes to do that, either way. Obviously, I don't mind being all up in your business, but I'm pretty sure my boss would seriously mind if I was forwarding a list of who would be having terrible accidents to someone every month."

---

RE: Just Business [Closed] - kilosilvey - 01-21-2018


Neph nods a little stiffly. The gesture is unfamiliar but the shrill courtesy minder is always on about appropriate body language, "Understanding: Oh. The sprawling is a communication display to indicate confidence. I probably couldn't do something similar. My legs don't bend the same as yours." Neph squats into a frankly horifying, pretzel of a crouch and hums a little, speculatively, "Embarassed: No. Definitely not for me. At least you appear to be comfortable." standing back up sheepishly.

They take another taste of their drink. That mercury adds quite a lot. Why don't more drinks have such distinct notes, "Yes. This amount of heavy metal would likely kill you if you kept drinking it. Someone wanted Mr. Gilkirst to have an unpleasant death. I'm helping. What with the telling you about the horrible poison" Neph's internal mechanisms chime in a self satisfied manner.

In reality, Neph does not need to take very many jobs. It mostly serves to keep them entertained and their sorry excuse for a warp craft fuelled, "Confident: As far as the business arrangement, perhaps it might be best if I met your boss. I don't pick up that many targets and regardless, would not want to get in the way of someone with that amount of clout. Or, if you preferred, I could inform you of my potential targets as they come up, and you could warn me if they were about to fall on knives or anything of that sort" Pausing, Neph tilts their head to the side quizzically, "Confused: How does one of your skill so perfectly portray the mask of the doe eyed innocent. I am broadly familiar with your work and yet your manner indicates hapless confusion and low confidence. It is an impressive smokescreen"

---