[hider=The Lancer]The bright orange-red sun spilt rays of light across the bleak wastelands that encompassed in all directions. Among the sea of dirt, sand and the derelict resemblance of civilization was a motor vehicle that steadily made itself across the expanse, holding two individuals of very different worlds. Kandy surveyed for threats with autopilot on while Chinatsu was recovering from an expensive synthetic memory surgery. They spent most of the day in contemplative silence, which was normal for both of them for separate reasons. Kandy, feeling concerned, inquired invitingly

[right]“You seem restless. I could only imagine being in your shoes.”[/right]

Chinatsu’s silence and demeanor indicated that greater context should be given, but as time dragged on Chinatsu went ‘Hm?’

[right]“The memplants you have are very nice and also very expensive. Shittier ones are hard to recall and the information can be bad. I overheard the details from your procedure. Eidetic memories of mixed martial arts and combat training, lots of different lectures and presentations all customized and tailored for you, sounded pretty intense.” Smirking defiantly, she claimed as to indicate justification for her inquiry “I could only imagine being in your shoes!” [/right]

Chinatsu smiled pleasantly with soft eyes, which betrayed the consternation which plagued her mind “You’d have to consider that I’m from somewhere completely different than here, and the memory of what was risks fading. It worries me more than I should, but everything being so new. . .” Her voice steadily decrescendoed to nothing. She noticed since the implants she had begun speaking the common language much more fluently than before.

[right]Kandy could sense her drift away and remarked, “I've been meaning to ask you more about Rodaycia. From what you've said, it doesn't sound too inviting. How long were you away from there?”[/right] 

“Maybe. . .5 years now, back then I was a Lieutenant colonel. . . I was competing with a few others for Colonel since an incumbent’s retirement was incoming.” Not wanting to think of that time, a separate thought came from her mind, “Before I was responsible for managing my theatre against threats beyond the wall, as a Captain and Major I was an investigator for incidences that concerned The Lancers in the uhh. . .undercity, which is where my government enslaves countless people to create more space underground. By the time I left all women were considered property, some better off than others. . .I was a part of the military, and despite achieving infamously I was discouraged by the people I put my life on to protect. I was property to The Lancers and I never saw a day where my superiors would forget to remind me I'm better off breeding instead.”

Kandy, who was a bit disillusioned, remarked abjectly 
[right]“Wow, they must have thought you were really hot. What happened to becoming Colonel?”[/right]

“They saw my promotion as a threat to their world view. . .It wasn’t the first time I encountered that obstacle, as a man taking commands from a woman is seldom a reality from where I am from. Historically there has been incidences of military heros named Batyr’s, all of which through time have been men. The greatest fear was realized when my non-probable dream of becoming a Batyr haunted the sentiment of men, because it was assumed with that there would be a revolution.”

[right]“Oh that’s fucking sick!” Interjected Kandy, “How’d that go?”[/right]

“My years as an investigator brought many allies that were part of a female resistance that had cells in almost all parts of the city, and I was among them but also a sort of public figure. There was a hidden underground element to this network, but there was also a small public presence that held an office in the higher society which politically demanded to revoke secondary citizenship from women, and such. . .”

[right]“Secondary citizenship? I thought you said women were considered property."[/right]

"We liked to see ourselves as humans by default, it's sort of a counter to the objectification. Most of us were treated as extensions of the home. I had a privileged life relative to others, and managed to find other many other women and allies who shared my distaste for how things were, but the prevalence far outweighed it. Without our help in the work force they would have surely crumbled. I like the odds at present, out here in the wastes."

The ticking of the Geiger counter began and the two looked at each other, before adjusting their direction away from the unknown source of radiation. Things seemed relatively calm and they were back on track.

Kandy took advantage of the lull, 
[right]"So they didn’t give you the promotion, what happened to get you out here?”[/right]

There was a momentary silence where Chinatsu, who was typically unflappable, stared hard trying to compose best how she remembered. Intrusively, she thought about how she might forget all of her old memories if she didn’t start vocalizing about them, but she resisted and tried to briefly answer her question, which came out exasperated like a sigh, “It became apparent that I had a better chance of surviving, running through the forest for as far as I could, than I did being there.”

[right]“So that’s what you did?”[/right]

“I tried once and came back. They needed me there both as a protector of the city and to coordinate the womens resistance, but it seemed like no matter what I could do the solution was still beyond my grasp, and my presence generated a lot of heat from the government, particularly The Lancers. I assembled a team of friends to help me leave the city and I would not have made it without them. They had to return-- my actions were suicidal, desperate and in a sense, selfish. ” Some tears crawled down her face, but her demeanor was monolithic and melancholy which spoke of her confidence in being vulnerable yet strong.

Wanting to lighten the emotional weight of the conversation, Kandy noted [right]“Haha well nothing wrong with that, friend.” Their coordinates were coming up within the hour, and the two began adjusting their bodies, and K continued after some space from the silence, “This place we’re going to, Jericho’s Reach, has a lot of variety and it’s not so cold and corporate like where we’re from -- or like Terminus Est.”[/right]

This gave some comfort to Chinatsu and her smile helped ease her companions concern. As they came closer to the city, she remarked on how comfortable she was in the car. The vehicles in Rodaycia were much smaller than those of these land because it was contained to about 400 square miles with a circular 40 feet tall wall around. Seeing other vehicles drive in the way they do in such openness was bewildering and beyond her imagination. Before they knew it, there were more and more -- the traffic being rigorous, quick and dynamic, which while it was to much chagrin for Chinatsu, was delightful to Kandy.

While they were still far from the most main road to Jericho, the outskirts were sometimes littered with street corners and complex urban developments that were, even in their dilapidated state, still usable for the purposes of drift racing. Something about the center of gravity being connected to the floor at neck-breaking speeds while the car was going [i]sideways[/i] made Chinatsu queasy, but she had a throw up bag between her legs just in case. As one particular group of racers began to test Kandy at the height of her skill, Chinatsu decided to close her eyes and drop into a meditative state.

As they were on the tail of one of the other drivers, a bounty/warrant indicator caught Kandy’s attention. Details of not just the individual, but the group he was a part to, occupied her attention briefly -- . There was another corner coming up; the sound of Kandy adjusting her gearbox and Chinatsu peaked at her companion, before reading the new information about their targets. They waited until there was more of a straight line on them and in the meantime, Chinatsu strapped herself to the top of the vehicles ceiling. 

They were coming into very long turn before the road went in a way that was one direction; all four of them had downshifted and began to drift the corner -- however the racer to her right steered into a donut. This was the perfect opportunity to eject Chinatsu, as she would be launched directly at them. The noise which indicated this action gave Chinatsu the idea that she was about to be propelled [i]by the car[/i]. Kandy pressed the button while her vehicle ‘flicked’ and watched her friend get throttled onto the car as she pursued the other two, feeling a little invigorated by the air.

Finding herself on a very fast and out of control vehicle and expecting those inside to react to her arrival, she activated her lance and proceeded to use it like a torch. A beam of flame pierced through the vehicle's interior and began to set aflame and melt one of the passengers heads. She spun around in quick succession while holding the lance against the roof of the car resulting in the ceiling falling on the weapons of her opponents. Hopping out of the hole she made she reconfigured her lance to act more like a flame thrower to an intense cone of heat projected twice at the remaining passengers.

This all happened quickly enough for the other two racers to realize what was going on and the one on Kandy’s left peeled away to check on their casualty. Chinatsu activated her glider and used her lance to propel her at the other car and twisted around so her back was to them; their bullets  slapped against it like hail drops until she was onto their vehicle. She found herself on top of it and much of her glider receded into a back-pack, improving her mobility greatly. She made quick work with her lance, creatively shifting through its functions with confident understanding of its results. Kandy seemed to have her own thing going on and Chinatsu began tagging the individuals to verify the targets and assess collateral damage in order to receive the bounty. 

Kandy returned not too long after with some success and immediately criticized Chinatsu, 
[right]“We may get another verification penalty if you keep burning them up so badly, please be careful. I think we got lucky this time.”[/right] 
Chinatsu was flustered and apologetic, but content she was back on the road after making a little money. :sun[/hider]