Artifice

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"My memory's jacked to that. Brutus?" "Copied, Lord Caesar."

Several long minutes passed, when footsteps could be heard outside. "Company." the door opened and in stepped a woman to find that a woman was on her nerolink and a man was pointing a rifle at her. Before she could react, Caesar fired, sending several of the stun bolts flying at her with a little spark noise. She collapsed, spazing from the effects of the electricity. "Target Neutralized." he looked around, and found some duct tape, which he then used to tie and gag the woman. She tried to protest, but he just punched her and his metal fist knocked her out cold.
 
"What a joke" said Jordan "As if they could find out who it was, let alone the fact that it was 863"

The other scene didn't change much, other than a car roaring past, making it's way to Upper Regalia.

Bored, Jordan decided to change places, maybe look for more cameras to shoot, send a message. 863 jumped from roof to roof, and found a series of storage containers. One of which was extremely colder than the rest. Jordan found this very interesting. With no one in the area, 863 crawled to the container, unfortunately he hadn't gotten the welding laser upgrade made yet. 863 crawled to the door of the container and shot the lock. After some finagling with the door 863 got it open, finding some cryochambers inside, with only one active. Jordan rolled back in his chair and put his hand over his face. What to do....
 
"Harsh, don't you think, love?" Gracia smirked and looked towards Caesar, her Neuroprocessor allowing her to shift focus away from the smartphone. "This a positive ID for our Person of Interest?" Gracia looked at the now incapacitated woman while her left arm was working on the sync. "Because I think I might've found something. I'll keep looking through, but I'm not registering a conclusive yet. Could just be circumstantial." Noticing that Caesar had punched the woman - not quite gingerly - she rested her shotgun on her shoulder to appear sassy. "You sure our client won't get mad if she's too hurt and we don't find anything?"
 
Caesar shrugged. "Not like I hit her to cause brain damage. And if it does, the bitch deserves it for even being worthy of being suspected of cheating. Brutus, ID?" "Positive, Lord Caesar. As you so eloquently put it, this is our miss 'Angelique Ass-rat'." "Was that satire?" "Yes, Lord Caesar." "Well done, for an AI. Keep looking, Gracia. If we don't find it here, we'll look at the other two places. I'll just keep her in the trunk or something." he said, shouldering his gun and walking over to her.
 
Gracia shrugged her right shoulder and sighed. "I don't know, man. Maybe our client's just jumpy. I mean, if some dude just wanted us to smoke her, sure, I'd do it, but this guy wants us to have a reason behind it. I see no problem with having guy friends, as long as you don't flirt, kiss, or fuck. Simple as that, right? Maybe this dude's really overbearing and thinks that whenever she talks to a guy she's boning him. I had a boyfriend like that once. Remember the one who hit me?" Gracia looked at the woman and nodded. If she could hear anything, she was either relieved because she's innocent or frightened because she's guilty - or because her boyfriend's really territorial. "We keep talking about the job, she's gonna spill 'em before we even get done. Still, though, I'd prefer to finish up so she doesn't get any ideas."

With that, she had completely synced the browser cookies and was finishing up by stealing her IM accounts. "We don't find anything, we delete it. Find some way to make her forget about all of this - without hurting her. Like I said, we're here with a purpose, not a contract."
 
"I will find you." Roslyn held the mic for screen 6 down, all her cameras had been packed away in case of more damage, but the verbal recordings hadn't.

"Morikei, how about you scan the street and find the bastard who did that for five hundred?"

"I guess I could" He shrugged, walking away and sitting down at the table, bringing out his laptop.

"No, I mean get outside and find out. No cameras for now."

"Okay." He sighed, walking out. "I'll pick up my stuff in a bit."

"Wait!" Roslyn stopped him, "Just leave it." She sighed, "Get me a new camera, install it at midnight. I'll give you the money tomorrow, there's no point trying to track down."
 
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Caesar hadn't considered that. He had forgotten how jumpy and territorial people could be. He himself was rather liberal with his stuff, so long as the second party had permission from him. This girl, Gracia for example. Barely just met her, and allowed her to stay in his home. He would have thought he would have learned from last time. What a bastard that guy was. "You have a point. Brutus, run psyche records on the client, specifying relationship history." "Yes lord Caesar."

Several long moments of silence passed. "Completed. The client has had a history of being abusive and controlling, having had seven girlfriends in the past year. All have admitted to him being 'overly attached', to say the least."
"If we find nothing against her, any tips on memory wipe?"
"Place the helm over her head when she awakes. I will cause the screen to emit a patterns tested and proven to manipulate the hippocampus into forgetting the last twelve hours. No further damage."
"You can do that?"
"Yes, Lord Caesar."
"How often have you done it to me?"
"Once, with your orders. I dare not bring it up, lest the memory be triggered to return."
"Understood." he concluded the conversation, and sat next to Gracia, resting his arm on his leg. "Problem resolved. Almost done here?" he asked Gracia.
 
"I've got her IM data, her cookies are saved. Nothing conclusive, but we might have a lead. Let's go to the next place. Take the girl." She made sure to take a moment to wipe the session data, which wouldn't take as long as it would take for Caesar to pick the girl up. "How long has it been since Shakespeare wrote plays, anyway? I'm kind of worried your helmet might try to stab you or something, C, since we're making all these references to tragedies." She smirked and placed her phone in her satchel before reforming her left arms into one. Her HUD returned to her vision as her neuroprocessor was released from working the left arms independently from the rest of her body. "The big reason I can mindjack anybody here with a brain mod is that they're not protected. Hacking protection is really expensive on brain mods. My neuroprocessor? Protected and custom modded so I can't be mindjacked. And what about you, love? You got any brain mods you need help protecting? I can modify my own coding to fit whatever you got. I can even give Brutus a security boost if you want."
 
Caesar did as told, picking up the unconscious woman while Gracia wiped the session. "Shakespeare? Tragedy? Brutus stab me? I must have confused a play for history, I thought Brutus was actually Emperor Julius Caesar's friend and assistant, and that Brutus killed Caesar at some point. Huh. Um... as far as mods go, I have no brain mods, but I do have that visual processer and Brutus, the former not really needing protection as it's not a direct neural link, but Brutus could use a boost. I get the feeling with you and me working together, we're going to get into some deep shit. It can wait till we get back to base, though." he decided, carrying the unconscious Angelique towards the car.

After sitting her down in the trunk and closing it, he activated the next location: her workplace. "Alright, her boss is male, so you're going to have to do the talking. Ask to see if any of her personal files are there, and I'll stand back and be intimidating, and step in when things get out of hand. I say this because, as a man, he'd likely want to go head-to-head with me. Dominance thing. It looks better if you do the talking, because no one is going to say 'no' to a woman with a mechanical arm, badass enough to have hired a quiet muscle with no known face. Get it?"
 
Playing the badass wasn't exactly new for Gracia, but she normally did so with guns and her heels instead of words and a bodyguard. That was the new part. "How should I approach him? Seductive as usual, all business, or maybe I should be abrasive? You pick the approach, darling. I'll just follow through. Things don't go so well, grab my shotgun. You got a rifle, but I'm pretty sure my shotgun will be more intimidating - and badass, if we correctly coordinate our movements. All about presentation, right? Looking down the barrel of my shotgun's going to be more intimidating than your rifle, so I'll let you borrow it, unless you have your own. Things go sour, I'm going to need it back in case you have to take cover. I can focus on holding my own while my neuroprocessor's working the sync. You wanna go lethal with this, or should we just keep our stun bolts? I figure that if this girl's going to have a life after this, we need to keep the boss alive, but the security won't be very kind. We can always knock the boss out if he gets wise. Hide him in a cubicle or something." As she thought about it, she got her shotgun from her sling and checked out the triggers. The first stage trigger made the top barrel and cylinder fire off, expending a single round. The second stage fired off the bottom barrel and cylinder, but also meant that if the rest of the shots were single stage, she'd click on the fourth cylinder. She checked out the cylinders. Fully loaded, not a round fired. Her other guns were the same. With the cylinder out of the holding point, she checked down the barrels. Clean - a good gun for a Forma Noblewoman - even if she wasn't one anymore, perse.
 
"Abrasive business. Show that you want what you came for, that you outrank him in dominance, but don't give him too much reason to get really angry. We're going for 'scared and upset' reaction, here. Intimidating, but still Upper business formal." He began checking his own guns. Rifle, all good. Pistol, excellent. Shotgu- oh, yeah, he didn't have one of those. "I don't prefer shotguns, but I do suppose the threat of such a powerful weapon is more that that of an efficient rifle. If shit hits the fan I'll toss it to you. Shock rounds. We want to look professional, and professionals don't spill unnecessary blood. Unless your a professional psychopath." he joked, grabbing the shotgun and examining it, making sure he knew how to use it at least mostly. Even if he couldn't fire it properly, he could at least look like he knew what he was doing wit it. Like said, presentation is key.

When they arrived, Caesar stepped out and ordered Brutus to be quiet. He waited a moment longer for Gracia to take lead, and followed her in. The boss's office wasn't hard to find- everything was labeled so blatantly it was almost humorous. As she began talking to the boss, a Mr. Johan Smith, to get the files, he stood quietly by the closed door, shifting his body and adjusting his grip of the shotgun for emphasis at appropriate points in the conversation. This would go well.
 
She felt a bit like that was a stab at her own history - even though Caesar didn't know it. "I don't like people knowing my face, but I like people seeing my face. Make sense? You gotta kill a guy sometimes." She handed him the shotguns and pointed to the two-stage trigger system so he knew what he was doing in case he had to use it. Just in case.

With that, negotiations started. Her own guns were holstered in case range became an issue, her PDW carried openly, her MP concealed in her satchel. Gracia's style showed she wasn't a typical merc. She wore cleaner colors than most Neutra residents, the typical mercenary demographic. She was obviously not from Upper, either, since it was extremely hard to get guns in Upper unless you worked with a security firm. She was obviously not security. She was too normal - well, the organic parts of her, anyway - to be from Lower or Dark. She was obviously a Noblewoman. As if the high-end prosthetics weren't a dead giveaway.

Before the words came from her mouth, Johan knew she was serious. Not to be trifled with. His only leverage was his security team, but if a Noblewoman was found dead in his building, that would mean a lot of paperwork, whether it was self-defense or not. In fact, it was likely she could get away with anything - or so Johan thought. If he didn't know who Gracia was, what house she was from, she'd be fine.

"To put it bluntly, Mr. Smith, we need files on Miss Asarrat, and unrestricted access to her computer and activity log. No clearing beforehand. My associate and I are on contract to collect information about her, and we can't take no for an answer."
 
Mr. Smith was obviously intimidated by the sight of a gun-toting noblewoman and her 'associate', but still had a job to do. "I realize this, but employees' personal files are classified. I'm not allowed to show those to anyone but corporate and the employee in question during performance reviews. I'm sorry, but I have to deny you access." he explained, trying to remain calm as possible.

Caesar watched as the man began to sweat. This would be easier than expected.
 
"We weren't asking for your permission, Mr. Smith, we were asking for you to get them for us. We can get them ourselves if you're going to be that way. As stated, we cannot take no for an answer." Gracia crossed her arms and relaxed her posture, showing obvious dissatisfaction with the man in front of her. "If you can't allow us access, we have a problem. For us, it's not a big problem. For you, it is a very big problem. I suggest you comply before my associate starts to get an itchy trigger finger. You have plenty to worry about whether you help us or not and it'll be a lot easier on you to just give us access."
 
For emphasis, Caesar adjusted the shotgun in his hands, like he was starting to get fidgety.

Mr. Smith sighed. "I... Fine." the man typed and clicked away at the computer. He spun the holomonitor around so they could see the files. Look through 'em now nor download them to a portable drive, I don't care. Just keep that barbaric contraption away from me." he said, looking distinctly at the shotgun. It would seem Johan saw himself above the use of guns, but also terrified of them. "I don't even care anymore."

Well that was quick, thought Caesar. This could be easier than- THUNK! "Lord Caesar, we've received a blow in an attempt to render us unconscious." "I noticed." He spun around and slammed his fist into the jaw of the offending security guard, who fell to the ground either unconscious or dead, in his adrenaline fueled counterattack he forgot to check how much power he was using. "Dammit." muttered Johan. "Well, that's actually all the security we have here. We don't expect much trouble. Just take the damn files and get out, please." the man said, dropping his head.
 
Gracia looked back to see Caesar take care of the security guard. So that's why he wore the helmet. After Mr. Smith had explained himself, Gracia looked back at him and clicked her tongue, obviously peeved off. Always one to make good on her threats, Gracia brought her foot up and kicked Mr. Smith onto the ground, pinning him by the neck. If she'd gone straight for the head, he'd have died. If she'd gone straight for the neck, she'd have died. Thrust in the sternum, pin at the throat. Knocks the air out of them and then asphyxiates them into unconsciousness. "Don't fuck with me, big boy. C, shotgun. I'm not taking any chances."
 
Oh, this guy. This guy. This guy thought he was some big-shot? Some awesome kick-ass internet vigilante? What the hell did he think he was doing? Regardless of his entire monologue, the only thing that really made itself painfully clear to Gwen was how much of a pretentious ass this "Jaxer" guy was. I mean, who the hell just randomly puts up a giant dick on a website and calls it a masterpiece? I mean, hell, her power fists were more of a masterpiece than that. Her power fists could smash holes into buildings and/or people. A giant dick on a high-security website certainly couldn't do that.

"Lissen, buddy. You're an ass. A cocky arrogant ass that shows dick pictures on things to try and impress people. You wanna impress me? Go wrestle some big-ass mutant or something. That'll impress me."

She was blunt, painfully blunt. It's what she did best in social interaction. She didn't treat people nicely, she treated people the way they needed to be treated. And sometimes, some people needed to be kicked down a notch. As the prostiborg commented on her, y'know, saving her life through effective application of violence, she nodded once and raised one fist up, saying, "The name's Gwen. I punch people. That's my job. Boxer. Professional. In the Cybernetic Enhanced League." She did have that overall athletic look to her, although the toolset she carried around, as well as the sleeve-mounted computer, showed that she had least had some technical skill in fixing her own things.

Of course, when the big mutant guy mauled the batguy, she found it pretty amusing, not gonna lie.
 
At the command, Caesar tossed the shotgun over to his companion, pulling the rifle from his back. Sirens could be heard in the distance. It would take four, five minutes before the officers could actually get to the building. "Hey, grab the files. We need to go in three or less." he informed Gracia, being sure not to use her name. If they caught her face they wouldn't be able to match it without contacting Forma. And that took lots of unnecessary paperwork. "Brutus, start the Imperial and make sure the next destination is locked." "Yes, Lord Caesar."
 
He listened to the woman who just came upon the group, saying that he was strange and he met that statement with a chuckle. Jaxer was LEAGUES beyond strange. Hell, there were many names for his kind. Creep. Asshole. Egotistical bastard. Retard. Idiot. He took each one of them as a compliment and they were just the foundation for his ego. The 'bat' always tried to find ways to turn negative things into positive ones, regardless of how mean or blunt they were. His attention turned to the female boxer as he heard Resic thank the boxer for saving her. He scanned the boxer one more time before shrugging. Whoever the large fist lady was, she didn't seem like she had a good heart but then again, who cares? He opened his mouth, about to speak words when suddenly a hand was around his neck and pinning him to the ground. He took the blow to the ground hard before shaking his head vigorously to get rid of the 'wooziness'.

The whole time that the mutant went on with his speech, Jaxer gave him a comical grin. Resist the urge to kill was all that was going through his mind as he listened to the individual. The speech consisted of how he was a little shit and was obviously on a break or something because he openly gave out contact info and admitted to defacing a website. The mutant also said how the Forma Regalion police department would just love to find out who defaced their website and that was true; they probably did want to find out. The mutant ended with saying that Jaxer should keep himself scarce for a while and released his grip, before Jaxer leaned his neck from left to right, cracking the upper part of his spine. With a cheeky expression he stood up, now being battered by insults from the boxer. She explained about how he was an arrogant prick and a dick and could only impress her if he wrestled a mutant, but he shrugged, slightly ignoring her statement. He twirled his index finger in the air before pointing at the mutant.

"First of all you have no PROOF about me defacing that website. It could have been ANYONE who did that, and there is no way to track me anyways. I got some special countermeasures against that. Also, who would listen to the likes of you anyways? Aren't you just some abomination who fights for the entertainment of others, or am I wrong? WAIT, WAIT! Did those words hurt a bit, I'm sorry. I honestly didn't mean it. Want to go get lunch together and become friends or something? I know most of the Forma Regalian people like to use your kind as entertainment but I ENJOY befriending BEASTS like you."

He gave a grin to the mutant before his finger pointed towards the boxer lady.

"You. I don't even get you. I just came over here, trying to express how I could be of use to others but you think that you're all that! Wouldn't you just be some normal girl with those gloves? I would totally wrestle you if you didn't have em on. That's like cheating, you CHEATER!"

Jaxer was enjoying this, enunciating words in people's faces like this made him feel more...bad ass. He slid to the side of Resic before placing his arm on his shoulder, leaning against her.
"I got nothing against you though. You're hot. You got that running for you! How about you and ME go out instead of that ugly thing over there?"
 
So the boxer was named Gwen? Honestly, Resic was a bit surprised by the sound of her name. For some reason she had been expecting something a bit more...harsh. Perhaps even something a bit masculine instead of what was given to her. But then again, her name probably sounded really unusual to them all. She wanted to look to the larger mutant and ask him his name, but she was stopped as both Gwen and the mutant went off on Jaxer. Apparently neither of them found him amusing as she had. A gasp was even torn from her lips as the mutant grabbed Jaxer by the throat and pushed him to the ground. Both of her hands lifted up and she moved toward the two as though she were going to stop them, but thankfully she did not get too close. Who knows what would have happened if she had touched either of them during the whole situation.

Her hands dropped back to her sides as the mutant let go of Jaxer; who had not gotten back to his feet. She listened in silence as the batman retaliated at both of them; his words not too friendly. "Please stop this." She said as Jaxer began to lay into Gwen. Once he was done he had moved over toward her and even put his arm around her! She looked up at him with black eyes, confusion obviously on her face. He wanted her to go out with him? And he had nothing against her merely because of her looks? Was he shallow or something? Her eyes went from him to Aeon. Giving a shake of her head, she moved out of Jaxer's grasp and turned so that she was facing both of them; her arms crossing in front of her stomach. "If you wish to 'go out' with me, then I hope you have the cash to do so. There are plenty of other en that would be happy to pay me to spend my time with them. Even my client from earlier had stated that he wanted to see me again." Her lips had curved into a smile as she spoke. Was she serious about them paying her to be with them? No, not really. In truth she was just trying to tease them both; Jaxer more than Aeon. But then again, such a rouse from her could cause them to fight once again; both of them claiming they could out pay the other for her. Either way, Jaxer's words were wrong; Aeon was not ugly. At least not to her.
 
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