Unwanted Answers

Posted on Sun Jul 25th, 2021 @ 6:37pm by Black Market Jemison (Jemi) Ajayi & Plexie El Plexuco & Civilian Cassandra "Cassie" Morrigan

Mission: This Week's Special
Location: the Tenzing Momo
Timeline: Immediately following 'Unwanted Questions'

The surprisingly heavy door from the hotel corridor shut behind them, leaving Jemi and Cassie momentarily in the dark. Across from the door was a window that took up the entire wall looking out at the black and a breathtaking view of Greenleaf, the planet itself. Then Jemi hit the light switch.

In the sudden glare of artificial lighting, the windows partially reflected the room like a semi-transparent mirror. The suite was just as Jemi had left it. Along one interior wall was the kitchen and wet bar. In the middle was ample seating for entertaining a party with two sofas and several plush chairs. A display case to one side, but still in a prominent position, held Zeno's collection of Slavic art, and various surfaces around the suite were decorated with knickknack reproductions. Jemi crossed the room to the wall opposite the kitchen and wet bar and unlocked the door to her private – she hoped it was private – room. She set her backpack down inside, and left the door open.

"Are you hungry?" asked Jemi, a little nervous. What was the etiquette for inviting someone to your room in a hotel? She supposed that being a good host was the same no matter what the circumstances. "The refrigerator is stocked. I can make us something to eat. And there's the bar."

Cassie glanced around once the lights were turned on. She closed the door behind her and chuckled.

"You don't get much in the way of guests." Cassie said as she found a seat on the couch, "First though, I will disarm, as it's only polite in your home to do so."

She slowly reached behind her back, and one at a time, produced a pair of stainless steel revolvers, laying them on the table. They weren't large, though, by necessity. The grips were brown-red, rosewood, and well worn. The barrels bore a green and purple rainbow around them near the muzzles, heat scars. They'd been fired plenty before now. Cassie pushed them further down the table, more a symbolic gesture; she was putting them plainly out of reach as both a sign of trust and respect.

"I'll admit that I'm usually not this sober when I'm welcomed in. Or if I am, it's strictly business." A more relaxed smile, "Almost forgot what it's like..."

"To answer your question, I'm fine but I also won't turn down somethin' if you're having it. Wasn't raised to turn down hospitality."

There was something intriguing, and downright sexy about the way Cassie divested herself of her weapons, almost like she was undressing. "I, um… I don't even know how to shoot a gun. Not sure I want to know, to be honest. But those ones, they suit you." Plus, Jemi decided, there was no denying that relocating those guns to the table now could make getting cozy on the sofa later a bit less dangerous.

"Let's see what I've got to work with." Jemi crossed to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. "There's chicken. Fresh vegetables… huh… onion, carrots, snow peas, bok choy." She moved the ingredients to the counter along with a bottle of soy sauce, then opened a cupboard. "And rice. Do you fancy a stir-fry? There's a few bottles of beer in the 'frig also."

"I'd say that sounds great. Seems that if you've got a good grasp on the kitchen, I can forgive the lack of knowledge in firearms handling." She said with a grin and stood up and joined Jemi in the kitchen, pulling out two of the bottles, setting one for Jemi and one for herself, "Maybe next time, I'll have to return the gesture in kind." This she said with a more relaxed smile as she removed the bottlecaps.

Jemi grinned up at Cassie – she said next time - and accepted one of the bottles. Tapping her bottle against Cassie's, Jemi said, "Cheers!" and took a deep pull of the refreshing brew.

"This kitchen is well supplied. Could you check that high shelf for a wok? If we don't find one, I can use the large frying pan in the cupboard." Having something productive to do, in an environment she felt competent in, added to Jemi's confidence. She got started washing and slicing vegetables and preparing the chicken. "So, uh…" Jemi took another gulp of her beer, so much more pleasant than whatever they were drinking in that bar. "Have you made any plans for the next couple of days?"

"Normally...no. I generally don't. Ain't had much reason to." Cassie replied, looking for the wok where indicated and located it in short order, handing it over.

"But. Let's just say that I'm inclined quite strongly to make plans." She said as she stepped back and took a swig of her own. "I can afford to not completely defile myself every night. I'm sure the casino staff would take that as a kindness."

Rubbing moisture from her eyes – consequence of slicing the onion - with the sleeve of her shirt, Jemi finished slicing a carrot. "Hard to imagine you defiling yourself at all. I don't know about the casino staff, but I sure would take it as a kindness if you'd make plans with me." Jemi's own forwardness surprised her. She concentrated on preparing the vegetables. The chicken was already deboned, so that was quick to chop into bite-sized pieces.

Jemi put the rice on to cook and began heating the wok, before taking another gulp of beer and turning her shy gaze back to Cassie. "We could explore the Skyplex together, uh, in the morning."

"Well, you caught me before I could begin." Cassie shrugged and leaned against the opposite counter, "I'm not going to argue, and Lord help anyone who might try and stop me."

A smile spread across Jemi's face. "I'm glad to hear it." She finished off her beer and set the bottle on the counter next to Cassie. "Dinner will be ready soon, just getting hot and ready to cook. Uh, the wok, that is."

The smell of hot oil caught Jemi's attention. Dinner first, dessert later. Maybe. If she didn't make a fool of herself... Jemi tossed in the onions together with the chicken. When the chicken was cooked through, she added the sliced carrots, then the snow peas, and bok choy last, stir-frying each addition. It was ready at the same time as the steamed rice, and she plated two generous servings. "Shall we sit on the sofa to eat?"

A loud voice interrupted. "It smells wonderful Ladies, but I fear there will not be enough room for all of us on the sofa." Uncle Zeno laughed as he appeared as if from nowhere in the corner of the kitchen. Malysh, I have seen your friend around the station, but have not had the pleasure. Zeno Petrovich. " he introduced himself.

Cassie mentally cursed as they were interrupted. But she kept a polite smile as she stood up.

"Well, I may have been drunk and belligerent if we ever did meet, so we have a moment to meet when I'm more sociable." Cassie commented, "Cassie Morrigan."

Jemi wondered why she suddenly felt like she'd been caught making out with a schoolmate in the janitor's closet. Especially since Uncle Zeno arrived before any such thing had occurred.

"A pleasure to meet you. I apologize for intruding upon your evening, but a grave situation requires our attention. My niece Natalya is missing. Not uncommon for young people to avoid their elders, but this case is special. She is not responding to her Cortex, which she always has on and her father is very concerned. Unusual activities are afoot on the station. Perhaps you could humor me with little favor?"

"Unusual activities is putting it lightly." Cassie said, and looked at Jemi, "We got to watch some of the proceedings."

Jemi watched Cassie and Uncle Zeno converse. First with annoyance at the interruption of the meal that might lead to desert, and then with concern for the missing girl. "What favor do you need? Is Natalya a sister of Oksanna? Do you think something happened to her?"

"Yes. Yes, Natalya is sister to Oksanna, daughter of my brother Sasha. She did not show up for work at donut shop. She does not miss work. Late yes. Disrespedtful, pretty much always. But never not show up. Her school mates have not seen her. She plays Czarina and keeps her court of underlings always. But today nothing. And then word of her cohort running in the streets as Minister gets shot at. Not Natalya's style. She cares little for government or even her elders. She is missing. That is certain. Her family is concerned. We need her to be found, and if someone has done something unseemly, they should be turned over to the family. Would you go to look for her? She is normally on Decks 2 or three at the young person hang outs. Or they sometimes go to Land of Storage. If you to help, the family would be most grateful. Yes."

"...well now." Cassie took on a more serious demeanor. The playfulness went to determination, the swagger now held meaning. "I ain't given to coincidences. Her disappearin' like that, purple bellies real keen on lockin' away our chief of security, throwin' their weight around. And the plot thickens."

She glanced to Jemi, "Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but you said the exits were blocked by a group of youngins in green right before the floor show started. You've got that eye for the detail, I'd have thought nothin' of it." She added with a smile.

"Seems a mite like this was a plan. And somehow, our Huánghòu disappearin' too?" Cassie shook her head and then to Jemi, "Whatchya think? Could be fun."

"Absolutely, I'm in," agreed Jemi. She'd never thought of being observant as that useful, except for producing art. More important, a girl was missing, what else could she and Cassie do besides help look for her? Jemi got her backpack from her bedroom, with her camera inside. "Uncle Zeno, can you show us an image, so we know what Natalya looks like?"

Zeno smiled as the two agreed to help. "This is good. Very good. Thank you. I show you image of Natalya." he said pulling out the sleek cortex unit from his pocket. The machine whirled to life. His large fingers poked at the controls. Nothing appeared. His smile dimmed. He pushed another set of controls. "Stupid machines. This is why you trust people. People do what you want." His large fist pounded down on the thin machine. Odd sounds blurped about as the confused device tried to do his conflicted bidding. "I do not know why we rely on stupid things!" His face turned a brighter shade of red. "Oksanna, she knows these machines. A curse on the rest of us though."

Cassie walked over to the table and picked up the pair of pistols and tucked them back into the holsters at her back with practiced ease.

"You got an old fashioned picture sort of thing?" Cassie then asked, "I ain't big on techno stuff, dunno if that's supposed to happen or not."

Jemi interceded on the unfortunate cortex unit's behalf and wrapped her hands around Uncle Zeno's much larger ones. "May I try?"

"It helps to have small fingers for these pesky devices." Accepting the unit from Zeno and cradling it in one hand, Jemi found a likely holo icon, then held the image selections up for Uncle Zeno to see.

Zeno reluctantly turned the device over to the young woman. "You see if you can make thing do." His eyes widened as her small finger danced deftly across the screen. "There... there! That one. The one in all black. Yes. That Natalya." The cortex projected a holographic image of a young woman, no older than 17. The streaks of green in her hair certainly made her stand out. She was not an unattractive girl, despite her best attempts to make herself so. "Family is looking for her around station. We need help on storage decks. So many places to hide a body." he stated with an eerie matter of factness of someone who may have hidden his share of bodies there. "We have developed animosity with local Tong. They attempted to assault Natalya's sister. Responsible people have sense left the station, but many bad feelings."

"Blood feuds have a way of never truly leavin'." Cassie commented, "We'll keep that in our back pocket, though. Also couldn't hurt to ask around, someone has to have seen her today. Standin' out and all that, her absence is more conspicuous than her presence. Which tells me someone either ain't figured on that or they have more in mind for that reason exactly."

She looked at Jemi once more, "But now that I brought more than a few storm clouds to the horizon, anything comin' to mind? A glimpse of her earlier, or even maybe a notion that might give us more options to trackin' her down?"

Jemi examined the holo image carefully, turning it to get the full effect of the 3D likeness and looking past the girl's pretty, symmetric features to the defiant set of the girl's jaw, the glint of independence in her eyes. There was a wildness about her that Oksanna Petrovich had lacked. Jemi sent the image of Natalya to her own portable device – they could show it when asking around, then handed Zeno's cortex back to him.

"I was on deck two in the morning, and deck three in the afternoon. I don't think I recall seeing her." Jemi took her camera from her backpack and made a quick run through holo images she'd taken that day projecting them so Zeno and Cassie would see them. She slowed over hoodie-clan teens while uploading her images to her dark cloud account. Jemi continued through to the end when she'd dropped to the floor along with other bystanders including Cassie.

Uncle Zeno had mentioned storage decks, and Cassie brought up blood feuds. "With all this attention on the second and third level, something might have happened elsewhere on the station without notice. If the family needs more eyes on the storage decks…" Jemi smiled at Cassie. Searching for a lost teen was not exactly what she'd had in mind for that evening, but Natalya needed to be found. "Shall we get started looking?"

"I reckon we're burnin' daylight at this point. Whoever it is, they've gotta be fixin' to play their hand sooner rather than later." Cassie nodded back to Jemi, the feeling was mutual at this point, though Cassie was also now wrestling with an unfamiliar feeling, one that hadn't been there in a while. A little of that haze in her life was clearing. And she wasn't quite sure how she felt about that. But she did manage a smile back.

"In the meantime, Zeno, best your people be keepin' an eye out. And if anyone remembers somethin' before drownin' it at happy hour, be a real kindness if it reaches us in a hurry." Cassie added, "Let's go find her."

Zeno nodded. "Da, is good. Go. The family will keep their search too. You find anything call and we will come running." he said smashing a fist down against the table.

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