Laser Fashion Extravaganza

No spire was free of unsavoury elements, no matter how far removed from E.I. or the Ai-Jinn. One of them was built almost entirely on the principle of sheltering them. From the small time sub-letters to your local cyberpunk group, they were every where. If you knew where to look, or who the right people where. In the case of illustrious Seoul's spire, Coraline had uncovered both and the form of tonight's illicit activities? Underground laser fashion battle with a round of betting on the side. Who said your crime couldn't come with a little culture? Not the E.I. thats who. It didn't matter that Seoul was very definitely not in E.I. territory, in fact that only added to the fringe appeal. More dangerous this way.

Coraline had sent the date and time to Fenris and Tansai in the same bundle as their custom outfits and waited there, every sign of serenity on her face. She already wore her own, a single piece dress and was quite surpassed by it as per usual. It was retro 50's future wear but slim, sleek and garishly yellow. It was E.I.'s idea of fashion after all. She was loitering outside the 'Fashion Block.' although the ex V.K. agent was contriving to still make it look refined. The building was a warren of twisty turns, staircases and cover, ideally suited for underground laser tag battles and took up about four floors. Give or take a few actual floors which had been removed for the spectator/judges.

A small figure, even shorter than Coraline herself, made their way up the road, dressed in such a way to look like they were attempting to be inconspicuous and failing, drawing more attention to themselves. They wore a hooded travelling cloak sizes too big for them, face hidden beneath the raised hood. Beneath it were two glinting, striking blue eyes the color of a plasma discharge,with a glowing pattern around the pupil. The rest of the face was hidden in shadow, and occansionally, beneath the cloak, flashes of yellow could be seen.

"Yo! Tansai here!" came a voice over smeaker to Coraline in English.

Fenris wove through the crowd towards the location, relying on the fashion sense of everyone else to avoid standing out. She too wore a cloak, though this was less for the purpose of blending in, and more for protecting her outfit on the journey there. All that could be seen was the hood, black with twin golden yellow stripes running down the center, and the Yellow bordered, black ninja mask, covering most of her face. the only bit of skin visible was dominated by her newly ice blue eyes.
As she got to the location, Fenris looked around, and finally spotted a woman who matched Coraline's description. "Hi, it's Fenris here, Coraline i assume? Its nice to actually meet you!"

"Hello my lovelies. And yes it would a delight to meet you both, if you would be so good as to actually stand in front of me." The plague doctor turned laser fashion pusher crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her foot, theatrically. It was clear that she was teasing her fellow former E.I. agents. "Come on, there's a lobby just inside where we can do introductions properly and we've a good twenty minutes yet." With that, the fashionista turned on her heel and entered the building behind her.

Tansai, using her keen deductive skills, guessed the woman in yellow who entered the lobby when Coraline said she was going to enter the lobby was, indeed, Coraline, and followed her co-worker inside, moving in such a way that you could almost hear her shouting "I AM BEING SNEAKY, DON'T LOOK AT ME".

She stood next to Coraline and raised her hand. "Hey!"

Fenris followed the shorter woman into the lobby, shrugging of her cloak as she did so. "So, done this kinda thing before?" The other agents got a decent look at the rest of Fenris' outfit. The hood seen earlier turned out to be part of a black sleeveless hoodie with the stripes on the hood continuing down the back, and another pair begining below each armpit, she wore this unzipped over a Yellow T-shirt. Fenris was also wearing black and yellow striped fingerless elbow legnth gloves, with matching nail polish. to complete the outfit, she was wearing black three-quarter length jeans, with yellow socks, and black and yellow trainers. "I'm really impressed with this outfit Coraline, it's really comfy, and i can actually move around in it."

Coraline looked a little confused for a moment then nodded, gracefully. She curtsied to the two other girls saying, "Hello there, I'm very glad to hear it Fenris. Especially since you look absolutely stunning in it too. Though, the flexibility is all in the fabric. A designer is nothing without their materials after all and they can do amazing things with materials these days." As she stood Coraline took both Tansai and Fenris' hands, kissing them in turn. Smiling to herself the ex V.K. agent unstrapped a gun from around her shoulder and extended it toward Fenris, barrel first. "Yes I have, but not here and not so competitively. I must say it's rather more exciting this way. I take it neither of you had any trouble in getting here?

Tansai shrugged. "I've used laser pistols before, and I've worn pretty clothes before. This is just a combination of those right?"

She also lowered her hood, revealing her messy hair and a black surgical mask. Shifting the cloak, the other agents caught a glimpse of a violet minidresses, a complex yellow, possibly waves, possibly flowers, possibly circuits pattern wrapping itself around her body. A dark yellow belt hung around her hips, holster at one side, while her feet were in non-matching purple and black boots.

"Actually, I've even shot laser pistols while wearing pretty clothes. So yeah, this should be fine." As Coraline kissed her hand, Tansai's other hand went to Coraline's, squeezing it slightly. "Charmer." She said, slight giggle in her voice. "No problem for me. I just walked right on through."

"Oh, uh, No it was no problem at all." She was unsure how react to Coraline's forwardness, being unprepared for it, but Fenris decided to just carry on regardless. Taking the proffered weapon, she checked it over, "Wow, thanks, this is a lot better than i was expecting for a disposable rifle. So, what actually happens at one of these things? Do we want to try to preserve our costumes or go on the offensive? And where do we go to place bets? or look at the competition? O-" Fenris stopped, and began to blush furiously. "Oh.. sorry, i'm blathering. It's just, I've never done anything where everyone is supposed to be watching me, I'm... a bit nervous..."

At Tansai's compliment Coraline nodded slightly saying, "I am aim to please and yes, I'm sure you're good at dressing to impress. Not so sure you've been more concerned about doing as much damage to someone's clothes as to an enemy agent before though? I certainly haven't. Well there was that one Tex-mas party. Ghastly affair, although the ending went pretty well." The plague doctor turned to face Fenris as the rather differently masked agent spoke.

Coraline smiled an indulgent, highly entertained smile at Fenris. The idea that someone would blush because they had said too much? Priceless "Really you've never done anything where people were supposed to be watching?" The ex V.K. agent shook her head still smiling greatly, "Such a shame. But no, you're not blathering- it's always important to know what you're getting into ahead of time, sweetie. Technically we want to do both, preserve and assault. But the best defense is an aggressive one. Find and use cover, duck, dodge weaver and go unnoticed if you can. Though that last one is especially risky. Betting happens before hand, its essentially a complicated way of socialising with the competition. So you'll we'll get ourselves an eyefull of the enemy there and then figure out who we need to focus on. And since everyone else will be doing the same, there's no need to be bashfully."

As Coraline asked her the question, Fenris tried to come up with a suitable reply, but was thankfully interrupted by the the shorter agents answers to the rest of her questions. "We should get going then, if we want to get a good look at the opposition." Fenris begins to turn away, before pausing and turning back to the other women. "Wait, maybe we should act bashful. If we seem unsure and nervous, then our odds will be longer, meaning we will make more money."[Int + Business pass by 1]

"Wait, we're doing this for money? I'm here to strip people." replied Tansai, slightly cheekily as she held out her hand for Coraline to take. " This shouldn't be too tough. Should I activate all my cybernetics now, or wait till just before it starts for more impact?" she asked, looking at the slightly taller agent. "I'm not quite ready, you know?"

She glanced over her shoulder to Fenris. "If you don't want to draw attention to yourself, then you could slink in the shadows and reveal yourself at a dramatic moment!"

"Yes! That's an excellent idea!" As soon as Tansai mentions the shadows, Fenris seems to visibly relax. "I could watch from the sidelines, and find people for the two of you to scope out in more detail."

Coraline's eyebrows rose as she considered Fenris' suggest, her vague disappointment over the yellow and black clad agent's lack of response vanishing instantly. "Not a bad idea and I do like the thought of getting the underdog win. Plus between the E.I. and Ai-Jinn cultures here, they'll definitely fall for it." The plague doctor nodded confidently, favouring Fenris by beaming at her.

The former V.K. agent couldn't help but chortle aloud in response to Tansai's quip. "Whatever works for you works for me too, my dear." Coraline glanced at Tansai's hand for a moment before taking the other agent by the arm and shrugging. "We'll make an impression now, no matter what else." She blinked in surprise at Fenris outburst then nodded, seeing the logic. "Ooh, let me know if you see a weedy guy with a mowhawk who looks way too pleased with himself will you, dear? Thanks."

Coraline paused a moment as they rounded the corner onto the scene of unmitigated chaos. A large hall spread out before the former E.I. & affiliated companies agents. Packed with punters running from one bookie to the next to make bets, teams mingling while getting smashed on cheap s-chohol and the PDA system gave a reminder of the start time, complete with all the hamminess and product placement that was par for the course with the E.I. The scene looked like a cross between the worst elements of the busiest stock exchanges, thriving night clubs and small time, desperate back alley boxing rings. The plague doctor grinned widely and waved goodbye to her team mates as she set of to socialise. Hips swinging in her wake. [pres+looking good pass by 5.]

Tansai glanced over at Fenris. "You ok by yourself?" she asked, watching as Coraline disappeared into the crowd, before shrugging. "I should probably get these cybernetics sorted out." she said, lowering her and pulling out a comb and a strange wand object, and setting about combing her messy hair, fixing it using the wand as she went.

"Well, I don't intend to do too much idle chatter, so I should be fine.. Suppose I could go for the whole mysterious thing. " She did still seem a little uncertain, but was trying to put on an air of confidence. After watching Tansai do.. whatever it was she was actually doing, Fenris followed Coraline into the crowd, though she was trying to remain thoroughly in the background.

After a small amount of general all purpose carousing alongside standard meet & greet, Coraline attached herself to a small, shady group off to one side. After a short but animated discussion it appeared that Coraline quietly excused herself. The plague doctor made a beeline for the Tansai, the kind that could only be called the path of least resistance in a crowded social situation.
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"Oh excuse me, have you seen?"
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"Oh, over there, thanks dear..."
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"Velveteen!? Oh my that's daring."
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"You slept with who? Oh my!"
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"Scenic route you say?"
....
"Ah, Tansai sweetie. Sorry to interrupt. I was wondering.... would you be able to extend me a loan by any chance? Promise to pay you back after my next mission. Pleeease?" Coraline had appeared over Tansai's shoulder and treated her fellow agent to a winning smile. A smile that was definitely holding back just how much this would mean to her. It was practically palpable around her though.

Tansai nodded, the tips of her lips stretching out under her mask as she smiled. "Sure! How much would you want?" Without waiting for a reply, she spun a credit chip out of her pocket and slid it into a slot on her finger, before she grabbed Coraline's hand. There was a small beep, and Tansai's built in ID chip checker noted Coraline's chip and allowed the transfer, the skin on the back of her hand peeling back to reveal the screen. "60,000 do you ok? Or would you like more?" asked Tansai, rather causally, as if she had just lent Coraline a few credits...which, relative to her overall funds, Tansai just had.

After a short while, weaving through the crowd, Fenris decided to head for the edge of the room. That way she could get an overall view of the crowd and direct her team-mates to look at the competition. One team immediately stood out. A trio of Asian men, that looked like they could be triplets, though that could be just Kreig at work. They were surrounded by fawning supporters, and had an air of smugness that made Fenris want to shoot them in the face, even from across the room. Grudgingly accepting that they did look good, she decided that someone should go and talk to them. "Hey guys, there's a team that i think we should try and take down, three asian guys, triplets, follow the fangirls."

"...You read my mind sweetie." Coraline looked nonplussed, a single eyebrow raised in flummoxed surprise. The she smiled wide, a large toothy grin. "You're not eavesdropping on me are you? That's only a shade away from spying after all. You wouldn't want to spy on me, would you? Thank you for the credits, very much. Have them back to you as quick as I can. Promise." The plague doctor nodded once before looking around.

A small frown of confusion lined her forehead before clearing. Fenris' voice, smeakers fine. The ex V.K. agent checked her credit total on her phone and then came to a decision. "I think I know why they have the fans. Tansai, would you be so kind? I need to finish up on a purchase. Oh yes!" This last statement clearly signified a thought occurring to Coraline. In one smooth motion she had picked up Tansai, hugged her and spun the ex E.I. agent around. "Thank you so much for the money!" As she put the even smaller woman down Coraline winked at her and said in a voice quiet enough that only Tansai should hear, "Perhaps now we'll have fans of our own?"

Tansai made a slight noise as the stronger agent threw her around, that sounded somewhere between an eep and a laugh. Neatly back to standing up straight, she adjusted her cloak around herself and patted her hair, which had snapped back to her new, flowing style.

"I don't know. Want to try turning it up a notch?"

“I believe that's traditionally kept for the main event sweetie, at least between people who have just met. Back in a bit, my dears!” The plague doctor blew Tansai a kiss nonetheless, as she bustled off to finish whatever it was she had been in the process of purchasing. It was nice to be around E.I. again. Nostalgic, almost.