Artist in Residence

Posted on Fri Apr 30th, 2021 @ 8:38pm by Black Market Jemison (Jemi) Ajayi & Security Johannah "Mack" Shepard & Plexie El Plexuco

Mission: This Week's Special
Location: Tenzing Momo
Timeline: Immediately after Things we do in Shadows

After her heart-to-heart talk with the sweet and vaguely intimidating Uncle Zeno, Jemi had locked herself in her room in the Petrovich suite, and slept surprisingly well. She checked the cortex first thing in the morning, but there was still no reply from Administrator Wilson to her wave.

Jemi discovered the suite's pantry and refrigerator were well-stocked, considering Zeno seemed to live there alone. She made herself two fried eggs, toast, and coffee and ate her breakfast standing in front of the large window looking out at the view of the planet. Then she washed her dishes and put them away, leaving the kitchen in the pristine condition she'd found it.

Dressed in simple jeans, a long-sleeved red tee, and a blue hoodie, Jemi added her sketch book and camera to her backpack, and set out to explore the Skyplex. The Tenzing Momo's lobby was still crawling with Alliance soldiers. Another reason to find her own place as soon as possible.

She began her exploration of the Retail Bazaar on deck two by visiting a business with a promising name - Morris Pawn & Consignment. A bell on the door tinkled as she stepped through, a nice homey touch, though she assumed she was being recorded.

"Can I help you?" asked a middle-aged man of southeast Asian descent, with an accent that sounded like he was from Sihnon.

Jemi gave him her best clueless-tourist smile and said, "I'm just browsing. If I like something, I'll know it when I see it."

She took her time, examining everything, whether it especially interested her or not. While she studied everything from a chipped tea pot, to old toys, to a wooden chair, the shopkeeper became more nervous. He kept glancing furtively at two corners of the shop. Where, Jemi assumed, the cameras were located. After about an hour, she returned to a shelf covered in a mismatched assortment of knickknacks, and picked up a porcelain figurine of a jester, priced at about the cost of a cup of coffee. Jemi examined it again, Lladró wasn't her area of expertise, but she was pretty sure.

Her goal on this initial visit was not to make a profit on one piece, she needed to make the first move toward establishing a business relationship with the proprietor. Jemi took the jester figurine to the register and placed it carefully on the counter. In a calculated move she hoped would gain her an ally, she turned to face the camera. "If I were you, I'd get this appraised."

"You like it?" the cashier asked, credit signs rolling in his eyes. "Very rare. Very expensive I make you deal. $450." which was twice what it was labeled on the shelf.

She rolled her eyes at the camera, speaking to whoever was in charge. "If I wanted to make a profit on just one piece, I would have bought this for your asking price." Then Jemi bowed to the camera, and the man behind the counter, and left.

Jemi attempted to repeat versions of this performance at Big Damn Hero, Surplus & Supplies, and Chang's Gunarama, although these shops were selling mostly weapons, and not antiques. At Rim Rats Surplus she managed to strike up a conversation with another customer, a woman carrying an arsenal of weapons hidden about her person – who repeated gossip about why parts of the Skyplex were overrun with Alliance. It was a relief hear alliance presence wasn't normal, but she resolved to check the official story on the cortex and keep a low profile. She definitely did not want any trouble.

It was mid-afternoon by the time she'd finished window-shopping, and noting any other shops that featured thrift and resale, and made her way to the Skyplex's third level. The delicious aroma of various restaurants reminded her she was hungry, and her initial indecision was soothed with the realization that she planned to be on the Skyplex for a long time, and eventually she could try all of them. She took her to-go box from Lein Chi Fooditeria, and her iced coffee from Donut Czar Us to a bench at the edge of the Arboretum, and settled in to people-watch. She took her sketch-pad from her backpack, and soon her half-eaten late lunch was forgotten, her charcoal in hand, skittering across the page creating fleeting facial expressions and bodies in motion. Then she noticed a school-aged child sitting still on another bench and staring at a flowering plant in the Arboretum. She turned to a new page and drew the young person's portrait.

Jemi stretched, wiped charcoal on her jeans, and checked her watch. She'd been there longer than she'd thought. She returned her sketchbook to her backpack after tearing out the completed drawing. Then she tossed her food-trash in a bin and approached the child. "I drew this, and I thought you might want it," she said, holding it out.

The child – he or she? Close up could be a teen – startled, pulled up their green hood, and muttered, "No thanks." They hesitated, then snatched the paper. "Why did you draw me?"

Jemi shrugged guiltily, this youngster looked scared and suspicious, because of her. "I like to draw, and you have an interesting face. Sometimes I get caught-up and forget to ask permission first. I'm so sorry I offended you."

Her model grunted and for a fraction of a moment the hair on the back of Jemi's neck stood up. But then the teen folded the drawing and tucked it into their pocket, and walked away. Come to think of it, there were a lot of young people in green hoodies lounging about the arboretum. Possibly a hang out for friends after school.

Jemi retrieved her camera from her backpack and began snapping photos, beginning with a study of the numerous different plants in the Arboretum, representative of the diverse botany on the planet, apparently. She emerged from the Arboretum and continued to snap photos of the people and places of level three. The people of the Skyplex were fascinating, and plans were forming in the back of her mind to use the images as reference for more sketches.

She noticed a subtle change in the ebb and flow of people moving around the restaurants and shops of the third level, changing from random to more ordered. She'd seen a flash mob musical performance once on Londinium, but this was different. The commotion that was starting scared her. Moments later a staccato of explosive sounds echoed above the crowd. People began to move in mass, some away from the disturbance, others toward it. Jemi made her way around the crowd, taking random photos as she went since her camera was in her hands. Returning to level two, she had to stand aside on the stairs as uniformed Alliance hurried past her toward level three.

Once in the Tenzing Momo's lobby, she headed to the exclusive section and the lift that would take her to the elite wing of the hotel, and the Petrovich suite. But a crowd of green-hooded figures occupied the area surrounding the lift.

Jemi returned to the main lobby and pressed the lift call button. A few minutes later, the door opened, and she stepped back and out of the way as several heavily-armed Alliance security stepped out, followed by an important-looking middle-aged man and a stunningly beautiful woman. Camera still in her hands, she took photos of them, too.

An alliance officer watching the corridor near Jemi walked up his hand extending in front of her lens. "No holos. No holos. Please move along."

As the purple belly waved her on, the mass of Green hoodies flowed onto the scene. Someone started shouting. A crescendo of cat calls and insults waved through the crowd. The security entourage formed around the VIP and his alluring companion and began to march themselves back towards the lift. Near by Jemi, a woman in a well worn long brown coat was pushing through the surging crowd to try and get near the VIP. As the woman neared the defensive line, a shot rang out. The purple bellies rushed to form a wall in the direction of the gunshot. The VIP clutched his companion in front of himself, apparently using the young woman as a shield from the assailant.

Never had Jemison been more terrified, or more willing to follow the directions of Alliance soldiers – if she could. But she was trapped in the crowd, still snapping random photos.

Security Chief Mack the Knife Shepard heard the gunshot and instinctively reached for her gun. Just in time, she stopped herself from drawing it. She didn't wear a uniform, only a badge pinned to her coat. Carnahan could easily order his detail to shoot her claiming he didn't realize she was Security.

"Shepard, Ops!" she barked into her cortex. "We have an active shooter in the hub! Lock it down! I want two reaction teams off the leash RFN, one to escort a medical team to rendezvous with the VIP and his party, the other on the hunt for the shooter. And patch me through to the Purple Bellies."

"Copy!" Sergeant Chang replied. Mack heard her orders being passed on. Satisfied that her people were doing their jobs, she called on the Alliance channel. "Shepard to whatever brain dead Purple Belly simpleton is in charge of the detail around Carnahan! What the Ta Ma De are you waiting for?!? Get him the Hell out of here! Head for the medcenter! I have reaction team escorting medics to meet you along the way! Move it, you báichī!"

"Uh... Negative on that. The Minister is unharmed." a trooper responded. Mack could easily hear Carnahan barking orders at them in the background. "We are returning the Minister to his suite. Have medics attend, we have one wounded."

The glut of purple bellies slowly moved backward towards the lift they had emerged from. The formation marched right into where Jemi had been moved aside. In the crowd nearby the browncoat clad woman (Shepard) some one suddenly called "Gun!"

Three Purple Bellies detached from the formation around the minister and stepped toward Mack, guns leveled. "Everyone down on the floor! Now!" people began responding laying down where they had been walking.

Jemi knelt on the floor, right where she'd been standing, and cradled her camera against her chest, trembling with fear. Still too close. She was way too close to whatever was about to happen.

Mack rolled her eyes. "Of course I have a gun!" she said. "I'm the Gorram Chief of Security! And it hasn't been out of this holster since I put it there this morning! TA MA DE! Look, there's my people and the med team. Let them in before the Companion your boss got shot bleeds to death! NOW!"

The purple bellies moved in closer, rifles leveled directly on Mack. "On the Floor I said!" the officer shouted at Mack. Shortly the three were within a good arms length, gestureing with their weapons for Mack to get down.

The other cluster of purple bellies surrounding Carnahan were piling into a lift that had finally arrived, rather rudely shoving the occupants out into the crowd laying on the ground. The tail guard gestured to the approaching medics to catch the next lift up.

Meanwhile, several of Mack's constables showed up and pointed their weapons at the purple bellies. "Stand down!" the Senior Constable in the group said. "She's the Chief of Security! Stand down NOW!"

Mack gritted her teeth. "Alright, Gorram it!" she said. "Constable Lee!"

"Chief?" a female constable said.

"Come here and take my weapons," Mack said. "Nobody shoot anyone if you can avoid it." Mack put her Shanxi pistol back it it's holster, took of the belt and holster, along the knife, baton, and restraints attached to it, and handed it to Lee. She removed her boot knife by unfastening the sheath from the inside of her boot and handed that over. She took off her Brown Coat and in the process removed the shoulder rig with her kambantuli knives in it. Finally, she removed her ballistic vest and handed that over. "The rest of you, stand down. I appreciate the loyalty, but these idiots are actually stupid enough to shoot first and ask questions later." Mack got down on her knees, crossed one foot over the other at the ankles, and put her hands behind her head and interlocked her fingers. She looked over at her Lead Constable. "Tell Scarlet what's happened, let my sister and that whacko boyfriend of hers know, and the other important people on the Plex that need to know."

Constable Lee, being very smart and quick witted, left the area with Mack's gear before the purple bellies thought to stop her. She figured Security wouldn't be very secure for a while, but she had some ideas on where she could stash her boss's stuff, places the Feds wouldn't know to look for it or would at least be reluctant to enter.

The purple bellies looked deadly serious as they closed in on Mack, pointing their guns out at the security officers. "You will be the ones standing down as a direct order from Alliance authorities. Lower your weapons and make no move toward the prisoner." The alliance wasn't skilled to use words like suspect they just acted. Pushing their way to Mack, they popped a pair of binders on her wrists. "Move it, filthy browncoat." a soldier barked as they started moving towards the lift, their guns still trained on the security officers.

Lead Constable Park lowered his weapon and motioned for his men to do the same. He looked directly at Mack to make sure the purple bellies would know he was talking to his chief, not them. "Yes, Ma'am," he said. "You can count on me." Park was no fool. He knew that the 'other important people on the Plex that need to know' were really just one person: Sasha Petrovich.

Unable to stop herself, Jemi looked up and unwittingly caught the gaze of the woman the alliance officers were arresting. In that instant, the woman's quick intelligent stare seemed to take in everything about Jemi, including her camera. Then they were hauling her away, leaving Jemi still huddled on the floor with a bunch of other onlookers.

Lead Constable Park scowled. He had no love for the Feds, though the man could admit that Marshal Alice LeMat was decent enough, and most of his deputies were friendly enough after a few beers. But actual Alliance military goons? Gaejasigdeul*, every last one of them. Park hadn't known the Chief long, but she'd gotten off to damn good start and treated all of her constables with the respect they deserved, and she didn't just fold like wet cardboard when the purple bullies tried to muscle in. She had grit. Park just hoped that would be enough to get the Chief through this. Park called the administrator, then headed off to the Petrovich apartments. The Old Man wasn't going to like that the Feds were trying to pin this bogus crap on Mack. He and the Chief shared a mutual respect. Hopefully that respect would amount to more than just pretty words. Knowing the Old Man's rep, Park was pretty sure it would.

*Motherfuckers in Korean

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