As if on Shakespearean cue, an aging, brown-haired man - wearing a somewhat dirty lab coat that looked like it had been worn out in the garage a little too much and cleaned a little too much after that - walked into the bar, a worn expression on his face and hands in the pockets of his equally worn khaki slacks. A bag was at his side, probably containing medical equipment and a few other odds and ends.
The bartender looked up at the man, recognizing him instantly. "Doctor Sp..."
The Doctor raised his hand, silencing the man. "No name now, please; sorry... just a drink."
The bartender shrugged, turning to grab a bottle. "All right, then, Doctor. Good to see you in any case. I'm guessing you want something strong now."
The Doctor nodded.
The bartender poured the drink, speaking idly. "We'd thought you'd left us for good, the way you went running off into the blue that way. I heard from Yanagi that you'd been spotted, but then you went off into deeper space." He placed the drink in the Doctor's hand. "What with all your stories about alien jumpgates in Liberty Space and Nomads, I thought you'd gone and done something really crazy and got yourself killed."
The Doctor laughed quietly. "I brought you something back, in that case." He set the drink on the counter and reached into his bag, digging around. The bartender, naturally curious, leaned over and looked at the Doctor. The physician smiled sheepishly while digging around, before suddenly smiling and whipping out a brown lump.
The bartender raised an eyebrow. "A brown paper lump?"
The Doctor ripped some of the paper away, making a small crack. A faint purple light immediately radiated from it in an ethereal random pulse. "An artifact."
The bartender received it and tore the rest of the paper off to reveal a hemispherical crystaline fixture with the light source constantly shifting about inside, bright points of light fluttering about. In other words, an alien snowglobe. "Rosebud..." he swore. He looked up. "Is it dangerous?"
The Doctor shook his head. "Not that the or... other... experts can tell, at least. It's inert as far as anyone can tell. So that's where I went... I saw things you could never dream of while looking for a refuge... and I'm still alive to tell the tale. And I'm back, for however brief a time."
"You seem to be the luckiest fellow alive." the bartender marveled.
The Doctor nodded, and, with that, he left the bartender, taking his drink and sitting at a table, all the talk worn out of him. He didn't even take heed of anyone else in the bar, eyes staring blankly at the backside of Manhattan while his mind wandered back to the grey plane of squares and diamonds... he thought it looked like a rug he'd had in his office back in Leeds.
As if by an oscillation of a pendulum, as soon as the Doctor shifted his focus past the immediate surroundings, Noam raised his head from the book to examine them.
The one person out of place was wearing a lab coat.
Really? A lab coat? A worn out lab coat, while we're at it?
He listened attentively, and as soon as the man ordered his next drink, Noam got the confirmation he needed. He approached - but carefully, never quite heading right at the Doctor, until just a few steps were between him and the table, at which point he made every attempt to take a place casually.
"Sam- Doc? You look... worn out, almost beyond endurance. At least get some rest before you disappear again."
The Doctor glanced up at an all-too familiar fellow standing at his table - Noam Fourfall, the first person he'd met in Liberty, and valued Lane Hacker friend. He couldn't help but smile.
"Noam! How pleasant to see you." His smiled faded a little bit as he considered the question. "I suppose... I hope, at least... that I'll be able to get some rest before I leave again, although with Liberty now against me, I suppose it will be somewhat harder. And, even not considering that, my foray was taxing, even when I finally reached my destination. I suppose I'll simply crash here in the bar soon enough." He managed to revive his smile. "Oh! And I brought you something... a bona-fide artifact." he pulled an oblong brown paper package from his bag, about thrice the size of an egg, and handed it to Noam.
A man,looking rather old,showed up in the bar.
His face wasn't shaved,and he was wearing a white lab suit with "Pr B. Lanakov" proudly written on it.
He looked a bit confused,apparently not knowing what he was doing here.
The bartender hailed him with a friendly tone.
"Hey,prof ! what is it you want here ?"
The professor seemed to suddendly understand where he was.
He was talking with a strong foreign accent,yet understandable.
"I am looking for a lane hacker named Noam Fourfall.I have something to deliver to him.Oh,and get me a dry vodka,please,the day's been long."
He was informed that his friend wasn't available at the moment.
The professor wrote a quick note that he asked the bartender to deliver to his friend as soon as he'd see him.
"Hello,mister Fourfall !
I managed to secure as much of the hardware you requested and brought it here.It has been unloaded in *check the back of the note* and is mainly composed of ***-****** processors coming from ****** and optronics manufactured in *********.Tell me if there's something missing,those have been difficult to bring up here.
Concerning the surgery,I'll have something to tell you,next time we meet.I read some reports about similar experiments for different goals that might interest you.
See you later my friend !
Boris. "
He gave the note to the bartender and sat to a table next to Samuel,his colleague and friend,whom he tapped the shoulder.
"Any more trouble with them hunters,doc ?"
(06-14-2019, 12:25 PM)Sombra Hookier Wrote: If everyone was a bit more like Lanakov, the entire world would be more positive. Including pregnancy tests.
Noam examined the package, carefully unveiling it just a little bit.
"It looks quite magnificent, Doc. What am I looking at?"
Wait, I'm forgetting something here... Ah, right, right. Was this a distraction? Probably not, a gift like that only raises questions. Well, we have time, don't we?
"And to move on to other matters... when we last talked, you said you were leaving Liberty for good - is this here the last time we're seeing each other, then?"
His stream of speech was derailed by someone else approaching the Doctor - another figure in a lab coat. This lab coat, however, was a class higher - a snow-white, pristine example of lab wear, with not a stain or sign of wear on it - given the chance, that lab coat could even attract the ladies.
I should get me one of those some time.
Noam smiled as he recognised the new party at the table - it was none other than professor Boris Lanakov - the adventurous scientist he met and instantly liked some time ago, as a direct result of his habit of discussing politics over short-range comms every now and then. Boris was walking the line between two sides of the law, but he was always on the side of science, so it wasn't all that strange for them to team up on a few risky projects.
"Ah, Boris! We meet again - always a pleasure. Come, grab a seat."
"It's an artifact, Noam. And this is indeed and regrettably the last time we might see each other, depending on how things go. I..." he trailed off as Noam greeted their guest - Professor Lanakov. He didn't really look like how he'd imagined him, but that didn't really matter at the moment.
The Doctor was painfully aware of the contrast between their labcoats and shifted somewhat uncomfortable in his seat.
The Doctor smiled and offered his hand nonetheless. "It's great to finally meet you, professor. Faring well, I hope?
The professor shook Noam and Samuel's hands warmly and took a seat.
It was about time he could sit in Rochester with his fellows and friends.
The last weeks were dedicated to try to establish a contact with his team,which diseappeared in Kansas two months ago.It proved rather unsuccessful until now,and he was about to give up,resigning to the worst possibilities.They knew the risks...
"I've been visiting some friends in Gallia recently,Noam.I had the opportunity of consulting gallic libraries about you-know-what.
The operation you are about to endure has been attempted on Ancient France,for apparently getting rid of **** **********,without the need of nuking anything.
The results have been compelled by a writer named Bernard Werber.
The Operation "Ultime Secret" as they called it was a success.
Although difficult and having nasty effects (exactly the ones you mentioned in your letter),it proved efficient in stopping the ********.And some subjects managed over the time to regain what they had lost...
But I'll tell you about all this in space,there are a lot of...confidential materials you need to know before we proceed.My friend is ready to help you."
He handed his glass.
"For the sake of humanity !"
He turned to Samuel Sprolf,and wondered how he managed to get so many different colours on his labcoat.He looked like a really busy man,in a fashion that impressed the professor.Despite this,something disturbed him,something he felt the need to ask.
"Doctor,dear colleague,your suit...
Does it attract ladies ?"
(06-14-2019, 12:25 PM)Sombra Hookier Wrote: If everyone was a bit more like Lanakov, the entire world would be more positive. Including pregnancy tests.
The Doctor was somewhat confused by the rapid succession of speech that was directed at Noam, all about some operation. And then Professor Lanakov turned and asked if the Doctor's coat attracted women.
The professor offered a toast for some reason, and the Doctor obliged, raising his whiskey.
"Um... no, I don't believe so. I haven't noticed an increase in female magnetism anyways, though that could be because I'm not exactly in the age group most are looking for." His face became a little more somber after this humorous thought. "About Kansas, professor... I... met your friend a short while ago. He's... he evidently found the path, as I did, but he followed it, as I didn't... he's... he is an oracle now... one of them, I'm afraid... he also inquired as to how you were doing. I was somewhat terse with Vladimir, although we had an interesting conversation about his philosophy."
He laughed darkly and drained his whiskey quickly, seeming to have had a sudden mood swing, or as if he'd seen a ghost or remembered someone's dying words. "I'm afraid I have to go. Now. Sorry... I'll be back, Noam, Lanakov, before I leave. I promise."
And with that, he grabbed his bag and ran out of the bar, to his battered armoured transport, off into the black of space.
(//Sorry about this. Something came up and I won't be able to access Freelancer or the internet much if at all for a month or perhaps more.)
Noam raised his tea to match Boris' toast to their project, and beamed as he was inquiring about the effectiveness of Doctor's coat. A few moments later, the Doctor was gone, and Noam found himself too surprised to so much as say a word. Only his fading smile gave any evidence that he acknowledged what happened. For a while, he was lost in grim thoughts.
Damn. What did he get himself into? Let's see - if doc needed help, he would ask, and if he could tell us more, he would. Nothing to do but wait, then. I hate waiting.
Finally, he pulled himself together, and managed to muster just enough willpower to find his voice.
"I really do hope our mutual friend will be able and willing to keep his promise."
He looked at Boris, almost as if to make sure the good professor wasn't going to disappear as well. The man seemed real enough.
"About our plans, though... Since we're going to work on those in a less crowded environment, for now I trust they are doing well."
Xavier[Ex-ay-vier] Stone entered the bar, in his stealthy grey and black camo bio suit, his rifle at his back, pistol at his side and a knife going across his chest strap, the other by his leg, reflecting a glinting blue 'beam' at the counter due to the blue uv light above him at the entrance. He walked in with his mask at hand, the tricloptic lenses on his goggle flashing in an electric blue, it looked a rather stunning work. Enhancing visions of heat detection, gas detections and infrared laser detectors, it appeared to be the latest in assasin or spyware subtlety technology.
He made his way to the counter as he surveyed the people within the bar.
'Hand me the Liqueurs please, the green one and the cream..' Xavier told the bartender in a formal tone, a rather odd thing to ask for rather than an already made drink. 'Here you go...sir' The barmaid replied in confusion as she watched him mix the two drinks in a thin glass.
After mixing he indicated to pay on his way out and walked commonly yet making not a single sound towards the table where two liberty rogues a lane hacker and a junker who had just made his way out sat. He brought out a few pictures from his inner pocket within his suit. The men turned there heads with a distinct look of curiosity, they scanned Xavier with their eyes up and down as they reviewed his suit, simply amazing.
'Can we help you...? Hacker? Ive never seen you around...New?'One of the chubbier men of the trio said.
Xavier gave him a look of affirmation as he lay three pictures on the table, one seemed to be of the infamous 'Mr.Phate', the other of the pilot/captain of the 'Logic.Bomb', Saronsen and the last of a namely 'Polaris', the three captains/pilots. The men looked with a snigger, looked at the pictures then looked out the window towards the hangar.
'You are trying to search for these three men... With that junk of a flea at the hanger...'The man spoke as the group chuckled. 'Hehehe, Cut the talk and give me the info I need as to where I may find these men' Xavier spoke mocking the insulence of the man infront of him. He then opened yet another pocket of his suit and showed the man a credit card, the men seemed shocked. 'Yes, its for a Gunship, mock it when I fly by here later fools..' 'You can find 'Mr.Phate' and maybe 'Saronsen' men near Magellan at the freeport tradelanes, in vespucci or near the mactan base, about the Polaris Im unsure.' One of the hackers spoke kindly interrupting the other.
Xavier gave a nod of affmirmation thanking the man as he smirked at the other, the rogue did not speak throughout. He then made his way out of the bar chuckling as he lay a credit card on the counter of the bar. A ten thousand sirius credit card to pay for the drinks and the extra for the barmaid. He continued his walk out and his starflier was seen leaving the hangar. The men watched from within aswell as a few more spectators, all in confusion.
'One strange encounter that was, He seeks men he knows nothing about...Hmmph' The rogue finally spoke as he continued to speak with his colleagues sipping his drink.
