Week 30: Ace comes for a visit.

On Tuesday of week 30 Ace send out three private messages to the three remaining inhabitants of SWA.

Sosie@SeoulWasteAway.wdn

Dear Ms. Sosie.

How have you held up over the last few weeks? I know it must be hard for you in this trying time and I'd like to offer as much support as I can to you and your children. I've spend the last week in Jerusalem and the helpful people of the Order have helped me cope with the loss. I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to talk with you before I left. I'd have liked to say a few things to you, so I'll take the time to do so now. Thank you, Ms. Sosie, for everything you have done for me in the last six months. I came to this city with nothing and no idea what to do with myself. You opened your home to me and were a good friend. You helped me improve as a person and become what I am today. If possible I'd like to meet up with you at some point this week, either inside SWA or perhaps I could take you out for some drinks. I've missed all of you quite a lot.

Yours
Ace.


Dusty@SeoulWasteAway.wdn

Hey Dusty. I'm sorry I've not spoken to you in a while, I've been in Jerusalem the past week and haven’t had WDN access. How have you been? If your mom will let me I'm going to try to come over this week to see you and the rest of your family. Maybe we could finally have that shooting competition I promised.

Hoping to see you soon.
Ace


Bell@SeoulWasteAway.wdn

Bell, how are you? Sorry I've not got in touch sooner but I've been in Jerusalem and not had WDN access. I must confess I'm a little worried about how you, Dusty and Ms. Sosie are doing in that house all by yourselves. Is your mom taking good care of you? I'm going to try to come round for a visit later on in the week and even if Ms. Sosie doesn't want to see me I'd still like to see you and dusty. Do you think that would be alright?

Talk to you later
Ace

(Sosie does not respond.)

TO: air@wasteaway.eb
FROM: Dusty@SeoulWasteAway.wdn

ACE!!! Yes, I would love to go shooting with you! I'll kick your ass, LOL!! I'm fine, life has been pretty boring since you guys left. I don't think Mom's gonna let us use the shooting range, though, so we'll have to go somewhere else.

Let me know when!
Dusty



TO: air@wasteaway.eb
FROM: Bell@SeoulWasteAway.wdn

Ace,

Do not worry about not contacting us over the past week. We have been continuing as expected. You do not need to be worried; we are all perfectly functional and coping well with the changes since Pinkie's death. I have been busy sorting her estate. I am sad to report that the last changes appear to have been before your employment at Oracle. You are not mentioned in the will.

I do not think Mom will allow you entrance into Seoul Waste Away. She has revoked door access for you. She does not want to be interrupted... I suspect that she does not wish to speak to any Oracle employees.

You are welcome to visit. I can offer you some access to the front office and inside perimeter.

Sincerely,
Bell

To Dusty:

If you are free how about we go out on Wednesday and make a day of it. Go out, get some food, watch a movie, shoot some targets. That sort of thing. I’m not sure if Bell wants to come too I’ll pick you up at about 1100 if that’s ok with your mom. Could you ask her for me? I can’t get in touch with her.

Looking forward to it

Ace


To Bell:

Good to hear you are all doing well. I’m planning on taking Dusty out on Wednesday if that is ok with Ms. Sosie. Would you like to come too, or are you too busy with work? In any case I’ll see you on Wednesday.

Ace

From Dusty:

Roger roger! See you then!!

From Bell:

I am unfortunately very busy this week, but I would like to meet with you. I have a few questions.

-Bell

And so it came to pass that Wednesday morning rolled around and Ace found himself dismounting his bike in front of the SWA gates. It was a strange feeling, the building that he had once looked on fondly as his home now seemed to loom cold and large before him. The gates that had once opened automatically before him were closed and impassive. He waited before them, not quite sure what was going to happen next.

"Oh my goodness ACE! ACE!" The voice was boyishly delighted, and slightly too loud. There was a clicking noise over the intercom by the front gates, and then the sound of one of the doors inside the compound opening. Ace could hear the same giddy voice over the top of the wall calling out, "BELL, COME ON!" to the open air.

The front gates opened, durasteel plates clicking as they folded. Dusty, dressed in his impeccable and strangely plastic looking tuxedo, took one look at Ace and dove for him. He scooped the WF-agent up in his arms and pulled him closer like an oversized doll. "Ace! Hiiii~!!"

While Ace was being squeezed, he could see Bell leaving the house too, dressed simply in a black t-shirt and shorts. The door stayed open for a few minutes later than was strictly necessary, but if she was letting someone out with her, they were invisible. She looked at the boys hugging and took a few steps forward, bare feet oblivious to what was almost certainly spikey gravel.

Ace was being crushed. It wasn’t the most pleasant of experiences, lack of air aside, as he was not used to being hugged this enthusiastically. A brief manly hug was expected at times, as was the occasional embrace in the arms of a loved one, but not this. He wasn’t sure what to do and stared wide eyed at Dusty and around at everything else. He made a few inarticulate noises before being put down whereupon he spoke normally. “I’m happy to see you too Dusty, and you Bell. I didn’t think you would be joining us. What have you been busy with?”

He tried to ignore the feeling that someone invisible was watching them. If bell had let someone out then its possible Sosie was there watching him. Ace fired up his Mini-Map and a basic map of the area appeared on his GUI, overlaid with dots of movement from his Motion Tracker, Dusty and Bell identified as green dots.

The motion tracker did indeed pick someone up, but it moved away from the group of people and walked down the side of the building, fast for a person. Bell ignored it and moved closer to Ace, watching her brother. She addressed his last question first. "Probate." It seemed all the answer he was going to get about that. "I am not going with you, but I wished to talk."

Dusty meanwhile adjusted his guns. He had a shot gun and his laser pistol, and they were holstered around his body... Which he couldn't stop fiddling with. Still, he seemed to realize Bell wanted to talk to Ace, and he waited his turn.

Ace ignored the figure. The comings and goings of people, or animals, to SWA was no longer is concern. Ace's expression hardened at the mention of serious matters. "What did you want to speak with me about, Bell?"

Dusty waited quietly, shifting his weight from foot to foot. He didn't turn to look at his sister until she spoke. Her voice was level, her eyes steadily on Ace. "..You were there when Pinkie died." She stated the fact simply, taking a few more steps forward.

"Tell me what happened." She kept staring at the ex-Fed agent, large green eyes staring. "I.. would like to know. I.. want to." Her voice dropped a little, and her eyes looked down. Bell had been working on the garden; little ivy plants grew along the walls of the compound proper, and little bushes grew at the wall next to the full grown vines. She looked from her garden to Ace again, almost timidly.

Ace leant against the wall. His face was hard and although his eyes were hidden behind sunglasses the shape of his mouth and body posture was enough to know that this was hard. He took a deap breath, In and out. In and out. He seamed to be composing himself and gaining strength. When he spoke it was curt and precise. There was a fait hint of sadness in his tone but it was burried under composure.

"We were on a mission in a factory. The place was guarded by MAG tanks but we had snuck past them everything was going fine until the floor opend up and people with plasma weapons pored out. I didn’t quite know what was going on but I was given orders by Ms. Pinkie to get everyone out, so I made a hole in the wall and got Ms. Parvati out. I went back in for the others.” Here is composure started to fade. “Ms. Pinkie had destroyed a MAG tank by herself but her and Ida were still in there. By this point the people with the plasma weapons were subdued by our team and some UIG inspectors who were there. The remaining intruders went into a room and Ida went after them. The UIG officers tried to apprehend us but we fled. Well, Ida and I fled. Ms. Pinkie stayed behind to kill the officers and then was killed by the squad of Melenbrach that she knew was coming. I don’t know why she stayed, but because she did she was killed. I wasn’t there at the moment of her death. I’m sorry.”

Bell's eyes watched Ace as he got visibly upset. Her face was still impassive, body still.. In fact, she was not breathing as her ex-housemate continued the story of Pinkie's... death. Her brows furrowed a little as he finished. Her weight shifted. After a moment she remembered to continue her artificial respiration.

"Questions." She did not wait for Ace to respond to her demand. "How did she kill the MAG tank? And.. do the UIG use.. galvanic weapons?" That question came out haltingly, as if she was having trouble forming the words. Another pause. Her eyes finally broke away form Ace, looking down at the gravel at her feet. "..Why would she have stayed to kill the UIG Officers? What possible benefit could that have provided?"

Ace's voice was edged with pride as he described the way Pinkie had scaled the Tank and assaulted it from above using the twin weapons of Ice and Fire. The second question was a little harder to answer.

"I've looked back over the footage of the fight. I think the UIG officers were using some sort of Archon Pattern Phase weapon. I'm not sure how it works but it's supposed to be very hard to heal, anti-agent weapons. The only person who used Galvanic weapons was, well, me. I threw a galvanic grenade at the anarchists. The melenbrach might have had some, I didn't see. Why? Is that what.. killed her? She should have been grounded."

Bell continued looking away from Ace. She listened to the story of the MAG tank thoughtfully, brows knitting once and maybe, just maybe.. smiling a little. It was hard not to be proud of someone who could single handedly take down such a behemoth of a machine.

As Ace stopped talking Bell stood stock still. His question hung the air for a few very long seconds. Dusty too looked away, admiring the vines on the wall and shifting weight very nervously. After too long, the little replicant nodded once, almost imperceptibly. She let out a slow breath. Her gaze gradually made its way up from the ground to Ace's face. Despite the luminous brightness of her irises, her eyes seemed dark, gaze penetrating. "..Why did she stay to kill the Officers? What could have been worth risking her life for?"

Slowly and reluctantly Ace answered. "I've spent a lot of time thinking about that question. Even now I still can't come up with an answer. They couldn't identify us and they had been distracted enough for Ida to escape. I thought at one point she was holding them back so the rest of us could escape, but even after we were she stayed to fight more. Even with a full squad of Melenbrach descending she stayed to fight. If she had run to the tunnel then we could have blocked it off, collapsed it. But instead of fleeing she stayed. I think... perhaps she knew the officers and had a grudge against them? Perhaps it was bloodlust, I don't know. I guess.. I just don't know enough about how she thinks. I just don't know."

Bell seemed to relax a little as Ace finished talking, giving a cursory glance around. Her eyes glowed briefly. It was obviously she was done with the conversation, and her actions seemed to convey the need to shut Ace out of whatever turbulence was happening in her mind. "..Thank you, Ace. I.. wanted to know."

Dusty's head snapped up from poking the plants and he looked at his sister. He nodded at her, and wandered back over to Ace. There was a little eager smile on his face. He was unphased by the conversation that had just happened. "..And now we're gona go shoot things?"

"You're welcome Bell. I hope it's helped"

Dusty had been very patient, more so that Ace would have expected, but now it was his turn. Ace’s voice was still a little melancholy as he attempted to get the previous convocation out of his mind and focus on the day to come.

"Yes Dusty, I could only book a range for the afternoon so how about we get some lunch, find something to do until then?"

Bell nodded again, more visibly this time... And without waiting for anything more, walked to the door. It opened for her as she got close, and shut quietly after she entered the building proper.

Ace could "see" the invisible figure was still outside, roaming around the other end of the building.

Dusty practically bounced with excitement, grinning ear to ear, his guns rattling. "Oooh, food! Lunch! And something else! I want to see the city? OH, OH, could we stop by the comic book store? I am collecting the synthpaper copies!!"

"Sure. That all sounds good. Where do you want to go for lunch? What kind of food do you want?" As Ace questioned Dusty he started walking with him. While listening to his reply and engaging in some mildly asinine smalltalk Ace followed the invisible thing at a distance, curiosity getting the better of him.

Whatever it was was on four legs, moving away from Ace cautiously while obviously keeping an eye on him... From behavior, most likely Pinkie's big Cat? He certainly couldn't see it.

Dusty, to his credit, followed and was only moderately annoying, chirping encouraging and helpful advice. He seemed aware that most people didn't exactly listen to him, and it didn't bother him. "I want to try something I never had before? Oooh, what would that be, hmmm?"

Whatever the cybercat was up to was no business of Ace's. Now he had assessed it as not a threat he was content to leave it to go about its business. He lead Dusty away from SWA, walking down the streets confidently, leading the replicant in toe. He was slightly weary of being stopped by a UIG Officer or Ranger given he was not legally allowed to own a replicant but he was sure there wouldn't be a problem.

"Have you tried noodles before?" Ace asked, trying to judge what would be a good source of nutrition for a Dusty.

"Only the instant kind! But they were good. Not as good as chalkolate. Or candy! Or Ratta Nibbles." Dusty grinned, bouncing along. Ace may not have had a replicant license, but it was of no concern. He was his mother's, and as far as the UIG was concerned, he was just on a mission from her to accompany Agent Nizky around. "I haven't eaten in a few days, though. We've been busy, and with me and Bell, and I don't think she is bothered much by eating. But I think it's so fun! And.. exciting? Do you like noodles? What kind? I mean, what kinds do they even come in?"

He seemed so.. bouncy. Giddy. He looked around delightedly and seemed to very much enjoy being outside.