savetheearth | Closed Action

Who: Skyler and Raiden
When: Backdated to (to be determined)
Where: Near a Blood Keys meeting place
What: An actual cyborg and a not-yet-cyborg might have different motives, but they're interested in some of the same things.

A figure moved in the second-story window. It wasn't anything more than a dark shadow illuminated only by the dim blue-ish light of a screen, but it was definitely there.

Jack... no, Raiden, now... tapped a button on his phone, turning the display off and stuffing it back in his pocket. Even if he wasn't responding to the Network, and hadn't for months now, that didn't mean he wasn't going to watch. Read. He'd tried actively taking on their enemies, and where had that gotten him? Captured, tortured, turned into a fugitive. Massive personal fallout, and caught in the middle of a full-on bombing of the Dead District. In other words, nothing.

But he still had to go on, didn't he? And if he got caught, well, he was a dead man anyway. And as long as everyone thought that, nobody'd come to try to save him, risking their own neck. It was better that way.

The few months since pulling himself out of the rubble hadn't been kind to him, and between his unusually haggard look, hoodie pulled well over his head, and a oversized trenchcoat over that obscured his appearance enough to get around. Made a few friends among the city's homeless population. And generally kept out of the way. If the slummier regions of and around the Dead District had to be home for now, he was going to at least keep an eye on that part -- and as for his suspicions about the Thunder Corporation and the Blood Keys' gear, well, the more he could find out about what was going on, the better.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

As the guy slips into the duct, losing his lock-on in the depths of the shaft, Skyler leaps from the building he's hiding on, landing with a louder noise than he would have liked next to the open shaft. He has to trust that whatever the guy is doing inside there, it's much louder and important than paying attention to a possible stalker.

... God, this really is like that one British spy movie. Skyler hunkers down and enters the shaft himself after he double checks that the coast is clear of both the guy and Keys. The paths inside the vent split into several paths, but Skyler switches on his night vision once more, peering down the vents and checking for anything this guy might be interested in, backtracking a lot as he doesn't have the foresight to actually listen to what the Keys below might be saying until about halfway through. For all of his cybernetics and by now sick criminal rep, Skyler Veracruz is still a dumb teenager.

He eventually gets his shit together and starts following the sounds of distant conversation until he feels as though he's almost in the right vent... huh. Where did the guy go? He noses around until he spots an open vent... that's gotta be it. He makes his way over there as quietly as he can, peering out of the opening and letting his enhancements do all the locating for him. Both infrared and nightvision pick up the guy's back as he puts his ear on the wall. Gotcha.

... So, now what? Skyler realized that he's been tailing this guy all night without any intention of actually, uh, confronting him. He just wanted to see what was going down. But looking the way he did, and considering what he did to get here... Uh. This may be a little difficult to explain, especially if this guy could very easily attack him on sight.

Or maybe he can't? Skyler hears the mutter of a short conversation outside the door. If he came down this quietly, and had to sneak in instead of just barging in with guns blazing, maybe it was in his best interest to keep quiet at a high cost. Skyler doesn't exactly know what reason that would be, besides the obvious stealthy info gathering angle, but it's a good enough cover as any for him to try entering the situation. If all else fails, he can cause a ruckus and set this guy up to get taken in by the Keys. Hey, at least it'd be way less awkward to explain than the truth.

So he does roll out of there as quietly as he can, although again, he doesn't have this guy's finesse, so he does land a little more loudly than he would have wanted. When Skyler lands, though, he remains deathly still, gauging the guy's reaction to his sudden visitor. Your move, super-spy.

Thankfully Jack has enough presence of mind to not make a surprised outburst, but as soon as Skyler drops to the floor he whirls around, pulling a handgun from under his coat and aiming directly at the sudden company.

He doesn't move any further though, warily eyeing what he can make out of Skyler in the darkness. It's possible to hear the voices next door still, enough to just barely make out occasional word. More than close enough for anyone to hear a gunshot.

So Jack waits, tense, for Skyler's next move in a silent stand-off.

Well, great, at least this guy has a gun. Skyler feels oddly relieved at that. Too many network vigilantes come into the district with their fists and spells, but packing that sort of ammunition seems to get the point across to his fellow keys more efficiently than waving around their hands and saying some mystical words. Guns are straightforward, and mean that one should back off. It's courteous.

Right. Skyler technically has the advantage here (he thinks - this isn't the gun skills guy), so he slowly raises both hands where Jack can see them (he hopes - it IS kind of dark in here) and then, also very slowly, moves a hand to put a finger to his mouth. He then uses the same finger to point at the wall Jack was listening at. Well... it's a LITTLE vague, but he hopes he's making his point? Truce, truce. He wants the same thing. Skyler will slowly start moving, but always in what light they have, always with his hands in view, making his way towards the wall.

There's a lot of good reasons to not shoot, not the least of which being he's down to his last couple bullets, but it's sure a good way to get a point across. Jack's suspicious, and the barrel doesn't waver, but what else is he supposed to do? Shoot this kid and bring every goon in the building down on him?

So he doesn't let Skyler leave his sights, but does silently nod, shifting back towards the wall. There might not be a second chance to catch what's going on here, and after all the trouble of getting in, well, he doesn't want to waste it.

Good. Skyler makes his way to the wall as well, putting his ear up against it. The voices are a little muffled, but fortunately the two conversationalists are standing close enough to make things clear.

'... wanna piss your people off, but goddamn, you don't know what it's like havin' all this sick shit and watching your people getting capped anyway. We need something better, man.'

... It sounds like someone's trying to make a deal with the Keys' suppliers. Looks like this network guy had just stumbled onto something important. Skyler keeps a careful watch on him, but continues listening quietly, trying to keep an ear on the guards out in the hall at the same time. He can't possibly pay attention to EVERYTHING, though.

Closed Action

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SORRY SORRY lost the tag