The Castle Club

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"I've got one or two. Not much to go off of, really." Flint mused, beginning once more to head into the head-long traffic that was the New Angeles hobby. If you weren't working, you were either sleeping or in traffic, it was often said. "Could be anything as simple as a gangbanger's word on a job or an elite criminal's musings on the failing of clones for all I care. Either way, we need to start somewhere. For that, we're going to check out the footage and then I'll call in the favors." He wasn't one to let those go to waste.

Instead of the faint siren's buzzing or ringing, he had turned on one of the radio station's playing the normal post-punk electronic music that had become so popular in the city, though not much else was recognized as music anymore. He didn't feel one way or the other for it. It was background noise. Something to keep his head in where it needed to be, not something he used to pass the time. It was best he keep it that way.
 
Spencer looked at the road when he started driving so she wouldn't get car sick but continued to listen as he spoke. "Okay then." She mumbled then closed her eyes and leaned her head back on the seat. She wasn't planning on falling asleep just wanting to rest a little bit more before work. As he drove Spencer listened to the radio, lightly tapping her index finger against her leg to the beat of the music. She did this to make sure she wouldn't fall asleep by accident and sleeping was another one of Spencer's favorite things.
"You know where the coffee place is right?" Spencer ask after a minute of driving. The coffee place was one of Spencer's favorites because it was pretty cheap but with really good coffee. If they were feeling nice then they would often give you a free muffin or a few cookies.
 
"Of course." Flint chuckled, it wasn't the first time they'd gone there.

It had taken another half hour for them to reach the turn off, to which he finally made a quick turn - an illegal one, going beneath the traffic flow - before making it into a steep park downwards to a grav-anchored parking spot. They were nearly half a mile above the surface, the entirety of the city sprawling beneath them as Flint took an uneasy step on the stablizied walkways, grimacing.
 
Spencer smiled and put her hands up, opening her eyes and looking at him as she did so. "I was just making sure. Old age can make your memories a little fuzzy." Spencer chuckled and looked back at the road. One thing that Spencer did enjoy doing was making jokes about Flints age. She started doing it when she started to get more comfortable being around him.
When the car came to a stop Spencer unbuckled her wast belt and got out of the car, hooking her katana back on her belt. She stretched her arms over her head then walked over to Flint. "Everything okay there?" She ask after she saw the look on his face.
 
"One day you'll be like me, though with any luck a tad less aged looking." He chuckled in reply, holding the door open for her and a few other stragglers behind Spencer. "I hate the height."

"What? Big bad Beanstalk give you the nillies?" A young man jeered as he walked in the door. A vein pulsed. In a moment, he gave out a sharp breath and followed in after Spencer into the wide coffee shop. It wasn't per-say home-owned, but it was locally managed, which was about as close as you could get to home-owned these days. In terms of looks, it was rather old-school, akin to 1980's America with a new-age spin off. Neon lights, old pop music, and vintage seats. It would have been surreal to anyone who had lived through the 80's, but to the current generation it was just odd and "hip" decoration that stood out. Flint didn't care for it, feeling it was mismatched, but coffee shops were for the youth, he wagered.
 
A quiet chuckled come from Spencer as Flint breathed out. Spencer shrugged up at Flint as she didn't have a problem with the height they were at. She she smiled at him and put her hands in her pockets as Spencer stepped inside the coffee shop. She walked in and walked to the line, looking up at the menu and tapping her foot as she listened to the music. Spencer thought that the inside of the coffee shop was interesting but she didn't hate it. She mostly liked this place for how the coffee tasted and the price not really what it looked like. She sighed and slumped her shoulders. "We're gonna get yelled at when we get to work for being late aren't we?" She said looking up at Flint
 
"Probably. I never really said a time we'd be in. Being in my old age as you put it has its perks." He replied, looking intently at the various items available. He never drank black, seeing it as a stereotypical detective's drink more than a symbol of your guts or your taste buds. He nudged Spencer, pointing to the highest-sugar count drink possible.

"Let me guess."
 
Spencer looked at Flint as he nudged her and looked at where he was pointing. A smile spread across her face as she saw it and she nodded. "Oh you know me so well." She laughed a bit and looked back at the menu.
It was sometimes amazing how much sugar Spencer could eat and not get sick. It was very rare for Spencer to find something that is to sweet for her. "Do you know what coffee you're gonna get?"
 
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"I hate to say it, but I think I'll be trying black today." Flint chuckled as he walked forward and paid for the two of them. Coffee done, he headed back to the car and began the long trip to N.A.P.D. headquarters, near the other side of town. Luckily the traffic routes for cross-city travel weren't nearly as slow as the block-to-block travel that took Flint from his apartment to Spencer's. Up on the Fly, it was only about half an hour as opposed to two, three, or even four hours through block after block of congested city traffic.

When they were well up in the air, Flint turned to Spencer, lined face creased more and somber. "We'll have to head to the Underground either way we look at this." He was naming the crime-infested center of New Angeles. "I doubt there will be issue, but they're always a chance." He paused, grimacing. "I don't really know where I'm taking this."
 
When Spencer got her coffee she smelled it and smiled then followed Flint to the car, grabbing a straw on the way out. In the car Spencer had her elboe on the window sill of the car, resting her chin on her palm, while her other hand held her coffee. She was slightly bouncing her leg up and down and starring out the window at the city. Occasionally Spencer would take a sip of her coffee even though she was trying to save it for work. But she always did have trouble saving anything that contained allot of sugar.
As Flint started talking to her she turned her head to look at him. She raised an eyebrow at first but then a small smile came to her lips. "I don't know where your going with this either." She chuckled. "Like you said Flint it should be alright. We both know how to take care of yourself." She said then took another sip of her over sugared coffee.
 
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The drive went on for about another forty five minutes - traffic conditions were exceptionally decent. Both of them occasionally shared idle small talk, but Flint kept his attention on the packed airways above the city. N.A.P.D. headquarters was, even by modern standings, a massive building. It dominated its urban landscape with four, massive towers that scraped the sky with their height and loomed over all but the Beanstalk, still visible behind even such a tall structure. Near a mile away from the center, Flint's car was tagged and the auto-speed monitor took their already slow pace down to a crawl little above five miles an hour. The autopilot would take them all the way to the parking bay, and now it was just a matter of waiting.

And waiting.

And waiting...
 
When Spencer and Flint weren't tlhaving small conversation she would be changing the radio station, have her eyes closed and head resting against the seat or starring out the window. Right now she was starring out the window, humming a tune with her leg bouncing up and down a little. Bouncing her leg up and down was a habit of hers just like chewing on her finger nails. It often meant she was nervous, angry, or bored and in this case she was bored. By now half of her coffee was gone and with all that sugar now in her system it would soon make her restless.
After a while of waiting Spencer sighed. "Oh my god, how long is this gonna take?" She graoned impatiently. Most of the time Spencer was a patient person except after she has allot of sugar.
 
"Not too much longer." Flint replied, the computer returning control of his wheel to allow him to make a wide turn into the parking garage. The flickering fluorescent lights were almost all that awaited them in the upper, reserved levels. There were still a few cars among the scattered spaces, a few undercover or otherwise corporate representatives and other high-class patrons of the N.A.P.D. In a few moments, the car was parked and shut off, Flint already striding outward to the elevator that led into the main building. An outward leg held open the door for Spencer as he waited, suddenly brisk and business like again as he always was near the headquarters.

"Come on, then."
 
Spencer huffed and set her elbow on the window sill of the door, resting her cheek in her palm. She took another sip of her coffee and looked outside as the car moved. Spencer moved her arm away from the door as the car shut off and she grabbed her coffee from the coffee holder. When Spencer stepped out of the car she set the coffee on the roof to stretch her arms over her head and stretch her legs to. "Okay, okay I'm coming." She said as Flint called for her to hurry, knowing how he gets when he gets to the headquarters. Spencer started to walk to the elevator but stopped to grab her coffee then fast walked to the elevator. When she got into the elevator Spencer twisted her torso causing it to make poling noises. She sighed happily then smiled. "Ah much better."
 
The elevator began its ascent at Flint's slide of an ident-card, soundless gliding across wire and electrical circuit as Flint stared outward into the reflective glass. Across the back wall of the elevator sat a glass slide that showed the entire city, the Beanstalk dominating the viewport in its pillars and support beams towering into Earth's atmosphere. It did not literally take one from Earth to the moon, but it provided a launching point that remove the all-limiting prospect of gravity. He looked entirely mesmerized at the behemoth, though he didn't speak. The place brought up memories he wished to keep buried, yet they nagged him every time he viewed the place.

Taking himself from his self-induced foul mood, he turned to Spencer and asked. "You've been here before, right?"
 
Spencer starred out of the elevator glass at the passing building below as it started moving. She set one hand in her pocket as the other held the half empty coffee cup at her side. As they past the Beanstalk Spencer looked at the pillars then looked at Flint and started to wonder what he was thinking about. She had always been curious about his past but, like there unspoken agreement, she never asked him or any of his friends about it. After a moment Spencer looked away and back at the glass. She started tapping the cup against her leg while she hummed the same tune as in the car, softly to her self. Humming this small tune was another thing that Spencer would do when she was bored.
She stopped and looked at Flint as he spoke to her then looked around. "Uh have I?" She asked her self. She wasn't sure her self. "I think so...I think I have but only once."
 
The rest of the elevator ride - nearing out at about ten minutes to the private investigator floor - was held in silence. The view from the near-top floor was shrouded in smog and thick fumes with only the Beanstalk's massive outline peaking through the thick, ungainly shroud. No one could really say how far the city went, save for those who lived on its fringes. Those, like Flint, who had spent their entire lives near the Beanstalk had never seen a scrap of green save for the University and the War Memorial, and even those were scarce.

Finally, with a soft beep, the elevator doors glided open to a near-silent office space. Phones rang, monitors beeped and shone dully, and several of the desk-jockies were sitting around, hands typing across responsive displays or otherwise muttering into a voice receiver. A weaponized security scanner cleared them through to the main office, a second layer of clear doors sliding to admit them. Contrast to the harsh, greasy confines of the elevator, the air in this room was fresh and crisp. Rebreathers cycled the air outside, scrubbed it, and sent it into the building. Still, even those who spent all their days inside were subject to higher rates of lung defects and the like despite their isolation.

"Three floors down.." Flint grunted. The elevator only covered the key floors, the rest had to be traversed by foot. This was intentional, leaving several chances for a possible break-in to be halted long enough for heavier defense assets. He hadn't needed to resort to such a protocol yet, but one happened every year or so and there were always the drills.
 
Spencer rested most of her weight on her left foot, continued to hum to herself while they were on the elevator. A semi-disgusted look come to her face as she saw the fumes and smog around the city. She still wasn't used to the fumes even for how long she has lived here. She hasn't lived here all of her life. Up until the age of 6 she had lived in a place that some would consider middle class. Even though it was considered middle class it was hard to remember the last time she saw green. She took another drink of her coffee and looked down but looked up as the elevator stopped. She set her hand on the belt of her katana. As they went through the maid office Spencer mostly looked down, not really looking at anything or anyone besides Flint and the floor. After going through the weapon scanner, Spencer took a breath of the clear air then breathed out, happy for fresh air.
 
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The looks to Spencer, as always, were queer. Not many were used to the N.A.P.D. "Outlier" program that had started up a while back. Few ever really questioned it; the city was big enough that odds are if you didn't like it you never dealt with it. A few nods were given to Flint, a scowl or two, but overall he was well-liked among some of the higher-up personnel.

At the start of the stairwell from their current floor to the lower one, a hulking man began his way up the stairs, his boots thudding against the concrete. Squinting in the dim light of the narrow, parking garage-level stairwell, Flint recognized the man. Louis Blanche. The man grinned and held out a hand to Flint, who took it and shook it vigorously.

"Everyone's favorite underworld contact in headquarters for once?" Flint beamed, breaking the handshake.

"Oh, this and that." Louis shrugged with a lazy wink, to which Flint chuckled.

"If you get anything on a dead clone in the Beanstalk, contact me." He said curtly before giving him one last handshake and heading downstairs.
 
As people looked at Spencer she just kept looking ahead of her at Flint. Even though she had gotten comfortable with Flint she hadn't gotten comfortable with the other people or how they often looked at her. Spencer almost bumped jnto Flint as he stopped walking to talk to someone. She looked out from behind Flint at the man he was talking to then stepped back abit. As Flint talked with Louis she glanced at him, not sure if she recognized him or not, and took another drink of her coffee which was almost gone. She stood there quietly as they talked and waited for them to finish. When they finished, Specncer followed him down stairs. "I don't think I've ever seen him before." She said walking next to him.
 
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