Pilatus

SOL CITY - Modern Slice of Life - Chapter 2 - Completed & archived. 2/2

A N N O U N C E M E N T

Ok ladies and gents, the time approaches for the event you’ve all been anticipating and what seems to have become the worst kept secret in the history of Sol City. Yes, the next time-skip will feature the long awaited B L I Z Z A R D, but you already knew that, right?! Sure. So, why the announcement? Because we’ve been racking our brains for quite a while (Prince and I actually had the idea in LAST Sol City, but didn’t get a chance to use it) on how to implement it AND do something different at the same time.

Since there is some time still remaining in the current skip, we decided to come out early and tell everyone the basic setup of what we have planned and give people some time to plot on it without giving the farm away or just broadsiding everyone all at once.

Already have plans for the big winter storm you say? Great. Cancel them.

Here’s what’s going to happen:

Instead of everyone breaking off into their own chosen pairings/groups to ride out the storm, we decided to use a randomizer to “assign” everyone into groups and just watch the chaos/fun that follows as characters that normally may not have even met are put in a contained space for a day.

So, now that we have your attention here are the groups, composed of currently active players:

Group 1:
Thomas @Conscripts
Karishma @Rodiak
Siobhan @Almalthia

Group 2:
Marlin @PrinceAlexus
Alex @Alex_The_Great
Xia @King Tai

Group 3:
Vika @PrinceAlexus
Ethan @Almalthia

Group 4:
Reya @Majoras End
Marcus @Zaxter996
Sully @CaptainSully

Group 5:
Ashton @Silver Fox
Ash @LostBrotherGrimm
Capella @Tenma Tendo

Group 6:
Paige @Pilatus
Dustynn @MissCapnCrunch
Aoki @Rodiak

So, where are Joel (@Pilatus) and Milo (@RoccanIronclad)? Good question. We have plans for those two as well. Since Joel and Milo are the only characters that have dedicated off-road type vehicles they are going to be your only links with the outside while you’re snowed in. If the characters find themselves needing anything desperately (or just for fun), they’ll have to work with one another or by phone through their connections on another team to get Joel or Milo to bring it to them. So, it will be a bit like a mini-game inside the game for a bit. The point is we want to avoid people breaking into cliques (I don’t think we really have that problem) and get some fun interactions going that we might not have if we’d just kept on with the same format. It is up to you to plot where/how your group winds up together!

We plan to throw a few more curveballs at the groups as the weather worsens so we’ll be watching carefully how everyone gets along to determine what we’re going to inflict (or reward).

As a fun little side-note, before we get going on this skip, we’re going to have a little contest:

Come up with a name for your group! The funniest name wins and we will edit them in here as we get them. The GM staff will decide who the winners are and reward them accordingly during the course of the skip. You have until the skip starts to come up with a name.

That is all we’re giving away now. Let us know if you have any questions/comments either here or in the Discord!

~P

SOL CITY - Modern Slice of Life - Chapter 2 - Completed & archived. 2/2

Joel Nicolosi

Joel was thinking about blasting down a tree-lined gravel path when he swiped his thumb to answer the call. He could envision hitting a jump running near a hundred over a sharp crest with the car rotating sideways as he sailed through the air. For some reason he thought he would hear a Finnish or English accent, though he had no idea where the person on the other end of his email hailed from, the idea just seemed to fit. Rallying wasn’t that popular in the US. Instead, what he got was some local chick and her piece of shit Ford Focus. He visibly deflated down into the old leather sofa even further as he listened to the girl, Dustynn, describe her plight. You gotta be fucking shitting me… He thought to himself. What was worse was she was in some kind of rush and more importantly, didn’t even have money to get it towed.

As she gave her address… a local trailer park, he was working out in his head how he was either going to get out of it or… nothing. His line of thinking wasn’t getting him very far and her voice was a familiar desperate and slightly impatient tone that all techs knew well. Involuntarily, his mind shifted from getting out of it, to perhaps finding an easy fix. He asked a few basic questions as he looked her address up on his phone. It wasn’t far and he truthfully didn’t have anything else to do other than sift through more mail or do some more work on Sio’s car without her knowing. Fortunately, Dustynn wasn’t far away at all, less than a mile from the YMCA. He resolved to do his civic duty and help her out, though he knew deep down he couldn’t just leave her stranded. She was from Southside and it was just the way things were done. It would have been no different if he’d found her in the parking lot. He was already going to need a change of clothes anyway and didn’t mind if his old black Caterpillar Equipment hoodie and worn cargo shorts got dirty. “Just sit tight, I’ll be there in a few. I’m just up here at the Y.”

Somewhere he could remember Tommy warning him about people, stalkers, calling and trying to set up meetings, but he, perhaps naively, thought no one would be stupid enough to make a stalker-call from the park where “Dustynn” apparently lived. He had some basic tools for off-roading in his Jeep, some jumper cables and his favorite 35mm wrench. As he drove, he pulled up into a convenience store and bought a bottle of Coke, feeling his phone vibrate in his pocket with a text, he checked to find a couple messages from Marlin, which upon reading, immediately gave him some mixed feelings, most of them pretty low. He was on his way to help a total stranger, but hadn’t even flinched a muscle about helping her on Friday night. In honesty, he hadn’t seen her, but Sio had picked them out no problem. He wasn’t sure what exactly had happened after they beat their hasty escape, but he was sure her trifling sister was likely the source of it. Shutting the door quickly from the cold as he jumped back in, he glanced up at some of the smoke stacks from the fabric plant in the distance, noting the white clouds turning low out of the towers- a sure sign that weather was on the way. He texted her back before cranking up:

Told you that office stuff wasn’t for you
Glad you liked it
I’m planning on doing some flying myself

He attached a picture of one of the Rebellion cars, a black and neon-orange striped Ford Fiesta soaring over a jump along with the email he received.

Hopefully be meeting these guys this week

He fired away the text and felt about the same as when he dropped off the package back at the airport. It wasn’t his intention to string her along. A few weeks ago, he thought she might be fun to date and they had a good time at the track, but after encountering her clinically insane family, with the possible exception of the grandfather, he had more than a few reservations. He shook his head as he drove along thinking on it. Still, she was devastatingly pretty. Then there was Sio and with that thought he tossed that drama right out of his mind as he rolled up into the trailer park and started scanning around for a silver Ford Focus sedan that didn’t take long to find.

The music inside the Jeep was thrumming along merrily, blasting outward through the softtop and he hoped they’d be paying attention enough to come outside or at least whoever Dustynn was would be closeby to her stricken car. If no one popped up he was hitting the road and they could tow that shit. He could feel eyes scanning all around him from behind highly-flammable curtains as he swung around and backed up next to the much smaller Ford to get his battery close enough for his cables to reach. The big tires of his Jeep were nearly level with the windows and the CB antenna bobbed slightly as he stopped and let the breakdown playthrough before he hopped out running a hand through his hair and propping his sunglasses up on his head. The smell of wood burning from the chip plant was heavy in the air and low to the ground like the smokestack exhaust reminding him to stock up on gasoline for his shop heater. He stuck his hands in his sweatshirt pockets against the cold and started towards the door.

Joel’s Playlist

SOL CITY - Modern Slice of Life - Chapter 2 - Completed & archived. 2/2

Paige Kennedy

It was a little comical listening to other people describe what they thought prison was like for inmates. Paige had put enough people behind bars to know that not only were the stories that outsiders seemingly came up with true, but that reality was far, far worse. Men would kill not to go back. Listening to Marlin joke about the fate of her attacker made her darkly remember visiting the state prison in Starke to deliver convicts as a Florida State Police Officer and to gather information as US Marshal for some of her cases in Delta. “Hotel Hell” was the only lockup in Florida that was still officially called a “prison” and it lived up to its name as one of three death row facilities in the state, still having the electric chair as an option for executions. Her stomach turned a little at the thought of it and she was glad the topic changed. She didn’t care to talk about it and certainly wasn’t going to bring it up.

Marlin seemed to like talking about herself an awful lot, which didn’t necessarily bother Paige, yet. Her ears were trained to pick up on subtlety and involuntary mannerisms. She’d seen it plenty of times as a coping mechanism in people and it seemed like the girl hardly had anyone to talk to in her flying job. Scantly an unsolicited phrase that left her lips did not include the words, I or me. However what did pique her interest was Marlin’s profession and her offer. They already had their own helicopter and the taskforce called in by the mayor had plenty of assets that she could get her hands on, but not having any red-tape or bureaucracy to battle to get what she needed quickly was tempting though she knew she would have to be careful with what or how she involved the poor girl.

The connection she had with Xia was clear though she honestly hadn’t heard the term “yardie” before and was curious. As Xia and Marlin spoke, her fingers quickly worked over her phone. She knew who to ask. “No,” Paige said as she finished typing and returned her attention to Xia. “Ray Ray is much older than me, he’s nearly sixty.” She flipped the screen around so Xia could see the conversation she was having back in her home city.

Text Message

“I met him when I was little, my parents used to take me to the farmer’s market where he still has a big spread, he was a handyman back in Jamaica before he moved here.” Paige was actually starting to smile as she spoke. She could picture the dreadlocks, the straight brim hat and glasses he wore and hear the Jamaican’s voice through the words on the text. She was happy to share it with Xia. “When I worked in Delta he always watched my back and kept his ear to the street for me. I miss him.”

Listening to Xia straighten out Marlin’s negativity, Paige nodded a little. The girl had the right attitude for her job as a trainer and would probably make a good workout partner as well. Seeing the time and considering Xia’s question, she fished out two of her business cards and placed them face-down as she thought about her date with Milo and knew she would have to run soon to be able to meet up with him later. “I think I’m gonna go do a little shooting later,” She said pushing the cards slightly away, one towards Xia, the other towards Marlin with her index and middle fingers. The cards were simple and carried a large image of the Federal Star along with basic contact information for
Paige R. Kennedy – Deputy United States Marshal. “I’ve gotta run, but it was nice getting to know you ladies a little bit, give me a call some time.”

@King Tai@PrinceAlexus

SOL CITY - Modern Slice of Life - Chapter 2 - Completed & archived. 2/2

Joel Nicolosi

Joel took a seat in the old leather sofa of the lobby beneath the banner of the racecar and took a small cup of the free coffee to drink with his protein bar. The old seat was well worn from years of regular use and he sunk down to what nearly felt like the floor. Running a hand through his sweaty hair, he took out his phone and decided to check a few messages before heading back to the shop.

Of all the mail, email and voicemails he received since winning the Grand Prix, only a few were really important to him. With Sio’s help, they’d sifted through the majority of it, though even weeks later it was still trickling in at a regular pace. As he worked, she’d read aloud the mail and summarize the voicemails to which he’d reply keep, toss, delete, maybe or just laugh and make some off-color remark and leave her to make a decision or surprise him. He thumbed through some of the emails, making his way to the one he fancied the most: A correspondence from Rebellion World Rally Team. Named for the extremely popular Rebellion energy drink, the email featured the well-known neon orange and black of the company logo along with a neat picture of a built Subaru rally car in mid-drift, slinging dirt through some heavy woods. The email was from the team’s Operations Director asking Joel if he’d be interested in meeting and perhaps trying out a few rounds on a test stage they were building in the mountains to the east at one of the old abandoned lumber mills.

Joel hadn’t forwarded the phones at Apex Designs since the race weekend and let everything go to directly to voicemail, but after a couple weeks he was willing to take a risk while he was out just in case they called his Google number. He’d called the Director back and left a message around 3am and he glanced up to check the time seeing that most “normal” people were awake and was hoping for a call back. The concept of the rally was different from anything else he’d done and the inherent danger in it piqued Joel’s interest. Normally one incorrect flick of the wheel or a split-second wrong decision was punished with devastating results. He’d seen enough videos where mistakes usually resulted in the car rolling no less than six times, sometimes down a mountainside, or hitting a tree or some other immovable object and flipping end over end. The danger of it felt exhilarating and the near possibility of sudden death was appealing to him.

Killing a little time, Joel was enjoying an article about secret military bases on the dark side of the moon before the phone began vibrating in his hand with a call alert. The number displayed as unknown, which made him mildly irritated, not only because his reading was interrupted, but for whatever reason, when the calls were forwarded, the original number would get lost in translation from time to time. He complained about it before, however the Google rep explained to him that it had to do with the “ancient” phone network of Southside to which Joel could offer no retort. Normally he would have let it go straight to voicemail, but not wanting to miss the call he’d been anticipating, he answered in his classic, regular tone, cutting the name short: “Apex, this is Joel.”

@MissCapnCrunch

SOL CITY - Modern Slice of Life - Chapter 2 - Completed & archived. 2/2

Paige Kennedy

Paige’s smirk broadened a tiny bit at Marlin’s statement. She loved being complimented on her work and though she thought telling the girl about just what transpired that night at the downtown Ritz would possibly provide some greater measure of closure, she kept it to herself. Whatever the public relations people had come up with to console her was usually good enough. Still, tuning up poor Bob had caused more ripples in the City’s underground than she thought as he was her first big capture since arriving in Sol. Bob’s handlers and her old friend, Lupe, were scantly seen again and must’ve known how he spilled the beans on their little soirée down in Mexico. She could care less about the other two, but she did care about Lupe and if he’d cut his ankle tether and skipped town, they’d be after him as well. The implications for them were grave and she reminded herself to look into it again.

Consoling people was not really a strong point and Paige couldn’t bring herself to muster any sort of encouragement to Marlin. She just wasn’t programmed for much sympathy. A professional mob assassin had tried to kill her in her own apartment and she never gave it more thought as she went back to work than how she was going to get even. People had tried to kill her before and that one just happened to have come the closest. She didn’t find herself “scarred” or “damaged”, just more determined. The next one they sent would go in the ground right behind the last one. However, listening to Marlin seemingly adjust the inflexion in her voice, whether it was voluntary or not, reminded her again that most women were not like her. It was almost like watching some wild animal attempting to cover themselves outside of their natural habitat like a chameleon unable to control its skintone while a hawk circled.

Paige’s expression lightened some at Xia’s comments. It felt good to run into someone that was even just a little bit associated with where she came from and she allowed herself to reminisce for just a fraction of a second as the other two women spoke. Milo was able to put Delta City behind him, but it was in Paige’s blood: The South, the people, the culture, the roaring sun of the day and the balmy nights, afternoon thunderstorms, neon lights on the Bay, all of it. Xia represented a small part of that. Home. “Barbados was kind of a wild guess…” She admitted. “I was leaning more towards Jamaica, but I wanted to cover some ground.” Her expression was more genuine as she thought back to some of the people she’d had to leave behind. “I’m from Florida, Delta City…” She said with an appropriate measure of pride. “…I’ve been down your way a few times. One of my best friends back home is from Kingston. We used to call him Rude-boy. I knew him since I was little, there wasn’t anything that went on in that town that he didn’t know about.”

Giving her cup a light shake to mix up what was left of her smoothie, she glanced back over at Marlin’s to answer Xia’s question. “I think we have the same thing, banana… something or other with mango.” She liked Xia. Much like Sio, she had healthy level of realness about her and like most women from the Caribbean, she could tell there was some fire in her heart just by the way she spoke. It was their natural way. “It’s not bad,” She said briefly examining the remaining contents. “But I have a bottle of Wray and Nephew back at the house that would probably wake it up some.” She doubted Marlin would get the reference, but was sure Xia would.

@King Tai@PrinceAlexus

SOL CITY - Modern Slice of Life - Chapter 2 - Completed & archived. 2/2

Paige Kennedy

“No, no lawyers, I just bring you in. Judge takes care of the rest.” Paige said using her regular line as she smirked a little at the thought of Friday night and how accustomed she was to her profession being the first subject anyone brought up in conversation, even people that didn’t know her. The words rolled off her tongue without a thought. As she listened to Marinalia speak however, she quickly picked up on the younger blonde’s attempts at measuring the tone of her English accent towards her at somewhere between Kim Cattrall and the GPS in her BMW like some sort of masking defense. To her credit though, the girl seemed to hold some level of class for the time-being, unlike her sister, and didn’t seem to want any sort of confrontation. Conversely, she only presented an aura of wrecked nerves and some timid curiosity. “I’ve been called a lot worse,” Paige admitted thinking about the descriptions recalled. “And I usually shoot pretty straight, literally and figuratively, so I guess that fits.”

She somewhat liked the super-laser idea and being intense was something for which she was often accused though not for trying. Being “complimented” on the natural fire of her gaze was nothing new to her. It was haunting, piercing and near physical in its contact; a natural talent that she was keenly aware of and used often. Even some of the hardest of criminals and degenerates, she discovered early on, crumbled under the weight of it. In some ways, she knew it made her unapproachable, but at the same time she loved the power behind it. Seeing the Romus sister in person interjected some lost humanity behind Bob’s file that she’d long since put away and had only been previously connected by Victoria. She knew people dealt with things in different ways and that Marinalia was clearly not over it. Oftentimes in the past, many of the women she helped, both as friends and in her job, liked the idea of the swift hand of a woman taking care of business, but she wasn’t going to bring it up unless the subject came naturally.

Seeing the other woman approach didn’t bother Paige. She calmly returned to her own smoothie, at first noting the scanning glances that came from Xia as she spoke to Marlin, but then the Caribbean vibe she carried… It was a welcome surprise and the sound of her voice felt close to home. She listened carefully before Xia introduced herself.

“It’s fine,” Paige said with a small wave. “No, we just sort of know each other through other people, but hadn’t ever actually met.” She continued. She’d been to Luna enough times that she thought she had seen her before, but only in passing. “I’m Paige,” She said slightly narrowing her glance in a somewhat playful study of the other woman, “And you’re from… Jamaica? Or Barbados maybe?” Being from Mid/South Florida, she had a pretty good measure of people from South America and the Caribbean and travelled there several times. Some of her best friends and contacts back home were from Jamaica, Columbia, Belize and others in the south. She loved the culture and was genuinely curious about Xia.

@King Tai@PrinceAlexus

SOL CITY - Modern Slice of Life - Chapter 2 - Completed & archived. 2/2

Paige Kennedy

Paige accepted her smoothie and made her way over to an open table closer to the lobby where the midday sun shined through the skylights on to the broad, well-kept entrance to the facility. The small café/bar area was fairly busy along with the rest of LSF, but Mondays were what brought in the truly committed no matter the location. She was accustomed to big gyms from her home back in Florida and didn’t mind the rush. A good gym atmosphere was important and along with the regular hustle and ambient noise, some Top 40/Pop station played through the speakers at a moderate volume. She tossed her bag on the raised table and pulled her phone out to go over a few work emails. One of her shoes bobbed steadily with the beat of the music.

There were a few email chains from the other Marshals working the city along with sometimes curt responses from their Chief Deputy, the system-generated BOLOs on various assholes on the loose along with bulletins from SCPD and other district notices. There was nothing out of the ordinary and the office slogan, “fucked up as usual” summarized the correspondence perfectly though her objective of taking her persistently-churning mind, just for a few moments, off her own case was quickly failing. She knew she was being set up: They were using her, which was the obvious part, but the end-around was what had her perplexed. If everything she read about Sammy was true, then Shannon was really the one running the show and at some level was working with Elvin, but it didn’t seem they were looking for a showdown with Nikki or they would have already done something. What was it they were really after?

The scenarios were playing in her head when another woman brushed past her and said something. She wasn’t paying a lot of attention and shifted in her chair a little to let her through. “It’s fine,” She said with a snap glance out of the corner of her eye only catching a flashy jacket and a pink bag as the stranger made her way. What she hadn’t expected, as she returned her attention to her phone and typed a few notes to herself, was for the woman to return and also be someone with whom she was familiar. At first the turning glance of her green eyes was sharp as ever from the second interruption, but seeing the older Olympus sister who had no idea who she was made her relent some. Much like her file, the girl presented a much less deviant persona than her trifling sister, more victim than troublemaker. She wondered briefly what that little snake had said about her and enjoyed the thought of it.

“I saw you at the club on Friday night,” She said with her own southern accent. Her words were pointed and confident and she looked the Englishwoman in eyes. “I was working… My name is Paige.” She knew as soon as she said the words that Marinalia would make the connection though it was about that moment that another girl called from across the way.

@PrinceAlexus@King Tai

Ambient Gym Lobby Music

SOL CITY - Modern Slice of Life - Chapter 2 - Completed & archived. 2/2

Paige Kennedy

Paige blazed away on the stair machine while her lips moved silently with the words of the song that piped through her earbuds. Since leaving the museum earlier, she hadn’t listened to anything and just drove in silence, thinking and being thoroughly disappointed with herself. The whole plan she had when she headed to confront Sammy that morning was thrown into disarray by the appearance of his wife and Paige had not been expecting her to be a match- Something about her was too.. familiar. She wasn’t sure how Shannon knew she was going to be there. Elvin was the only person that had any idea that she was going to check out the museum, but even he didn’t know exactly what time. Now things were much more complicated.

As sweat dropped on the moving stairway beneath her, Paige patted her face with a towel. Her braid was looking slightly disheveled as she’d done a long combination of weights and machines to vent out her frustration. Walking forwards, backwards, skipping steps and climbing one side at a time she wasn’t sure if she was really releasing stress or just punishing herself, she hadn’t even been in the mood to wear her normally confrontational red Diamonds jersey; instead choosing a more common, racerback turquoise tank top with snug, black capris and matching black sneakers. The capris had a pink band that ran around the waist that were their only distinguishing feature other than the sharp figure she cast while they were on her.

Finally relenting from another step-program she smacked the stop paddle and let the machine lower her to the floor and glanced around as she wiped more sweat away and hung the towel over her neck. Milo would tell her that she needed to chill, which coming from him was about the epitome of a pot calling kettle black moment. It made her smirk a little and she thought about what he was doing as she held the ends of the towel, dropped her shoulders and allowed herself to exhale deeply only closing her eyes for a second to center herself again. Maybe the gun range later? She could look forward to shooting him under the table as he tried to lower that handheld cannon he fancied at a target. Picking up her bag and storing away her earbuds she made her way out to the lobby giving a few small waves to those that recognized her as a regular.

Feeling depleted and not in the mood to go anywhere else after sweating her guts out, she again fell for the temptation of the Luna Sports Smoothie Bar. It was very good, but at near ten dollars a pop, it was a little pricey for her to indulge every time she worked out and normally she only bought one every week. She looked at the time on her phone, sent Milo a text and decided that after her day so far, this would have to be it for the week.

Paige's Workout Playlist:

@RoccanIronclad@PrinceAlexus

SOL CITY - Modern Slice of Life - Chapter 2 - Completed & archived. 2/2

Joel Nicolosi

The Southside YMCA was where Joel preferred to get in a workout among the myriad of Sol’s offerings. The monthly fee was a little high compared to some of the other commercial clubs, but he never worked out anywhere else his whole life. As kid, he’d stayed there for the after-school program and some of the facilitators and trainers he’d known since grade school. He realized he was paying for the company rather than the equipment and was fine with it having his monthly dues go to a pool and hot-tub he never used as well as a variety of kids’ sports. When his mother reminded him he should donate some of his race winnings, the Southside Y got the check. Of the various YMCA locations in the city, Southside was the oldest. Housed in what was once an awkwardly laid out office building, the weight room was in a humid downstairs area that the locals nicknamed the dungeon. The equipment was older though regularly serviced and there were plenty of benches, dumbbells and machines for someone who knew what they were doing to take care of business.

Having nothing else to do at 4am, Joel arrived in the crisp morning darkness when the doors opened and got in a decent round of arms and back with most of the equipment all to himself in the dungeon. The staff on hand greeted him same as always, the memory of his big race win mostly fading from people’s minds though questions still popped up occasionally, he was glad it was no longer the topic of every conversation. Though he knew if he said he got tired of talking about it, he would be lying. When they offered to put his name on the wall of donors he turned them down and told the manager to put up a big picture of the car instead, which he did, and as Joel used the upstairs cardio room to finish off on the same stair machine he always used, he got to look at a large banner of the 300, roaring down a straightaway with the background blurred behind it, hanging in the lobby and it made him smile every time.

Plugging away and nearly finished with his headphones in, sweat dropping steadily, Joel watched the various monitors with the morning news programs as the national and local blocks cycled through. Sometimes he’d read the ticker or captions while other times he’d just admire one of the rather good-looking, morning anchors on the local shows. As bizarre as he kept his schedule, he often came back to getting up early just because of the quiet time and knowing he had the whole day ahead no matter what he did. Everything was much more peaceful at 3am and when he made the drive from his shop, he scantly passed ten cars the whole trip. He looked around seeing more people filing in through the front to get their workout in before heading off to work and being glad he was not part of the rat-race. Without Sio around, he wasn’t planning to do much work on her car, which their agreement stipulated, but when the parts became separated from the car, then that was another matter. He smiled to himself at his cleverness.

Joel's Workout Playlist:

SOL CITY - Modern Slice of Life - Chapter 2 - Completed & archived. 2/2

Paige Kennedy

Old Sol Museum was not normally the type of venue that Paige found herself frequenting. Museums in general were just not her cup of tea, but following up on Elvin’s tip had paid off and as she made some calls and spoke with the administrative staff, she found a scheduled time that the museum’s doors would be closed during regular hours for a high-profile visitor. With some coercion and some help from the Mayor’s office, the museum relented and allowed her to enter in ahead of their appointed guests without her having to get too heavy-handed with them. If she had wanted, she could have barged right in, but based on her investigative work and intuition, subtlety felt the most useful option and as she walked the long halls and exhibits alone glancing at the various artifacts and collections she had a sense of foreboding again, much like she had felt when she and Sio had pulled up to Milo’s shop a few weeks ago. Her intuition had again proven right as that day had led her to where she stood.

Warmth steadily returned to her fingers. She’d still neglected to buy any gloves and the short warm spell in Sol hadn’t helped her procrastination. Her upper body was cozy inside a fitted, white thermal jacket that her mother sent her as a “second house-warming” gift and like everything mom sent it was meant to be stylish and most importantly, practical for her job fitting her just right that it didn’t interfere with the pistol holstered on her hip. The morning cold still clung to her legs and feet though. Her standard jeans and sneakers weren’t near enough to ward away the regular weather of Sol’s mornings for very long. She looked at her reflection in a passing antique mirror that was nearly as tall as the ceiling and brushed a few loose lockes back over her ear. It was loosely braided, a trait she’d taken from Sio as they’d hung out more and it was easier to manage at the gym where she planned to go next. The bruising on her face was nearly gone.

Following the signs through another large corridor led her to a hallway of velvet-roped doors each one showcasing a particularly valuable collection. Paige checked her phone noting she still had some time and stepped around the soft rope. The small display frame simply read Ming Dynasty and considering her affection for ornate China, it seemed a tempting choice to enjoy for a few moments while she waited.

The room was a stark, polished white, so clean that she looked behind her to see if she was tracking anything inside as the door gently closed behind. Glancing down at her sneakers she could see her reflection in the meticulously buffed marble floor that made the pillars she’d seen at the downtown Ritz look like outhouse doors by comparison. Not often did she feel underdressed and impressed at the same time, particularly when it came to Sol City. There didn’t seem to be a speck of dust or outside debris anywhere. The displayed collection, housed under glass on white pedestals lined the room at the perimeter and down the center, perfectly aligned in three equal rows with an exactly measured amount of light designed to bring to life the full inspiration of the display.

Walking softly, Paige looked inside the first case at something that resembled a headband and a crown arrayed with precious stones in turquoise, sapphire and lily and set in gold. Some of the stones were missing, but the craftsmanship of the piece itself was overwhelmingly exquisite as the tiny gold inlays swooped and dove in regal patterns away from the gems. There were no descriptions accompanying the case and she guessed the curators assumed anyone allowed inside the room would understand their significance without juvenile descriptions. She wasn’t sure, but something told her, with a fantasy of satisfaction, it was the headpiece of an Empress. Her breath fogged the glass as she looked closer and she stepped back.

A door opened gently on the opposing side of the room as Paige continued to study the display. The woman’s white heels had a dark sole and produced a firm, resonating tap with each casual stride she made across the silent room only competing with the resonate sound of the central heating faintly passing through the air ducts. Her dress was brilliant, unaged-white as well; crisp and form fitting with quarter sleeves and stopping very professionally a few inches above the knee. “That is part of a headpiece worn by Empress Fang,” She said stepping closer. “She saved her husband from assassination…” She continued and looked at the case stopping only a few steps away. Her blonde hair was expertly parted over her left eye and framed her face evenly a few inches past shoulder length. “The Emperor was violent towards the female members of his court and he killed many of them, but Fang remained loyal to him.” She looked at Paige with a haunting crystal-blue gaze from pupils that were nearly absent of pigment. “And in return, he allowed her to burn to death when the palace caught fire… I’m Shannon.” She switched her small, matching clutch to her left hand and extended her right.

Paige looked at the woman’s hand and the expensive clutch that sported a small, foreign name that she couldn’t pronounce and never heard of before. She didn’t shake and only looked back at the woman, putting one hand on her hip, meeting her gaze and holding it firmly. Shannon Giancana was Sammy’s wife and true to Elvin’s words was apparently an expert on jewelry from the far East. Her athletic frame wrapped in white exuded class, but her eyes, the firm, piercing shot of her untrying gaze spoke of unrestrained power. Paige looked back at the headpiece conscious that she had allowed herself to look away first. A twinge, nearly microbial in its concious existence, of envy crossed her mind. “It is beautiful...” She said solemnly and looked back, “But I didn’t come here to talk antiquities.”

Unphased by the lack of return on her gesture, Shannon smirked. “Did you know I was from Florida?”

“Yes, and you went to Alabama,” Paige replied. “Traitor.”

“Ah yes,” Shannon rolled her eyes reminiscing briefly, “I know how to pick a winner.”

“That’s great.” Paige said sarcastically unimpressed. “I didn’t come to talk about college either. Now where’s Sammy?”

Shannon held her slight smirk and shook her head lightly. She had around eight years over Paige. They were about the same height from the floor, but in her heels, Shannon looked down on the younger blonde by a few inches. She sighed a breath of beguilement, “I just have to say, when Elvin first asked me to look into you, I thought damn, you are exactly what this City needs and when I first saw you, I knew I was right.” She looked the younger woman up and down, her smirk coming into a smile, “You should’ve been on the other side with us.”

Paige snorted unamused.

“Oh, you’d still be able to shoot people and be a cold-hearted bitch…” Shannon shot back anticipating the reaction. “…Your two favorite activities- Except you’d be a rich bitch.”

“More like dead or in prison.” Paige said bluntly. She was growing impatient, not totally from the conversation, but from the fact that Shannon seemed to know a lot more about her than she did about the mob Princess. There was hardly enough information to cover the file-jacket on Shannon in comparison with the rest of the Giancana Syndicate. How she met Sammy and what she did for the Racket were a complete mystery.

“No, Paige.” Shannon said. Her tone became more measured as her smile faded. “No, you wouldn’t be because you understand, just like I do, that in order for a woman to survive in this business, on your side or mine, she’s got to be even more ruthless than the men, more calculating and more willing to make the hard decisions the men won’t, just like when you put away that worthless Tommy Peralta back in Delta with a bullet.”

Paige looked her dead in the eye at the mention of the South-American gun-runner. The man she’d killed and ultimately led to her transfer to Sol City. Her anger boiled at the sound of his name and her hand, ever slightly, moved towards the grip of her pistol. Her lips tightened for words to escape: “You don’t know anything about that.” She growled.

“I know you’re not going to arrest Nikki when you find him.” Shannon deftly countered. “You’re going to kill that son of a bitch.” She said darkly. “And I’m going to help you do it.”

The room was quiet between them as they looked at each other momentarily with only the gleaming treasures of the Orient as witnesses.

Paige exhaled a tiny breath: “Go ahead, I’m listening.”

“In less than two weeks, Nikki’s men are going to hit all three major banks in Sol...” Shannon began.

Paige instantly smirked a bit, “And I thought I was old fashioned.”

The older blonde returned the sly grin, “Except they’re going to do all three at the same time. The Millennium, StarBank and First National.”

“And why should I believe you again?”

“You don’t have to believe any of it.” Shannon said raising an eyebrow. “You can go right back to your Chief Deputy like a good girl and we can pretend like this never happened. Except that Nikki will be here in Sol to make sure it goes down without a hitch.”

“And you just want me to take him out for you?” Paige snapped. “Is that as deep as this goes?”

“No, we just have that goal in common.” Shannon replied sharply.

“Then why don’t you get one of your own assholes to kill him.”

“Like I said, I know how to pick a winner and I know you don’t want me to do that. You want to put him away after what he did to you and your wild, fire-starting boyfriend.” Shannon said matter-of-factly, her smile returning as she mentioned Milo. “Sol City was going to be Nikki’s power-play until you all showed up… He already had that sleazeball, Jackie, out laying the ground work, thanks for that by the way, but you and the mayor’s little GI-Joe’s made everyone scatter underground, now he’s trying to look like he’s not scared.” There was growing disgust in her tone when describing her husband’s half-brother.

“So let’s say someone stops him… What happens after that?” Paige asked. Her heart's beat struck harder at the mention of Milo. “You and Sammy consolidate power and wait for the old man to croak?”

“I have my own goals…” Shannon said. She twitched her lips briefly considering her words. “…And Sammy has his… but if Nikki succeeds, things are going to go badly for a lot of people.” Her expression hardened slightly. “You see, he knows the business will always be Sammy’s. He’s not trying to please Frank anymore, he’s ready to take over. You haven’t been around long enough to see the big picture, but I’m not gonna live the rest of my life looking over my shoulder. You understand? If you’re not up to it then I will take care of it. So you can either let me help you and get to be the hero, maybe even get back to Florida, or you can just keep on shaking down computer hackers and DelleSantos thugs for cut money. Now are you with me or not?”

@RoccanIronclad