I Can Fix It

“Give me a chunk of scrap metal, a circuit board, and some element zero, and I’ll have it making precision jumps.”

[astridcolt-blog]

havaedhi:

      Never needed to do much for trouble to find him. Was too brash, too harsh and too quick witted to simply glide along the currents of life without attracting attention of a shark or two. These were nothing though, just some small fry. It was always the same story too. One got upset over Cain sleeping with his girlfriend and called on his buddies from a local gang and now they stood in front of him like the three stooges; dumb, dumber and the dumbest and it was more of a comical than a threatening picture. Chortled when the thickest-set one called him a girlfriend-thieving cunt and pointed out that it was her who initiated everything. Had a punch thrown at him but stepped aside with shoulders shrugging nonchalantly as impartially as they would of a someone declining an offer to buy cookies from a scout girl rather than being threatened by a couple guys twice his size. Knocked the closest to him on his arse and sent the other one flying in the opposite direction. Made a move on the third guy but he was long gone, running so fast one would think that Death itself was chasing him, almost tripping over a bunch of strewn cardboard boxes. Shook his head at the unfolding scene and smiled, stuffing hands into pockets but not before checking the time. Still had an hour before work, good.

      Didn’t realise that it’ll take him a little longer to get to work than he’d previously anticipated until he’d heard someone holler in his general direction from behind. Quickly turned his head to investigate the source of such an odd accusation, partially wondering if he’d somehow managed to pick up something that wasn’t originally his, but quickly dismissed the idea when the situation itself finally registered. Rolled his eyes too at the awful excuse of a thief as their figure closed the distance between the two, panting heavily. Awful. As he was passed, a gloved hand shot out and caught the hood of the other’s tracksuit with mechanical precision, hurling their ass on the concrete floor right next to his feet. Wasn’t really the nice guy type, this was done more for his amusement than anything else. Jested —

        ❝ You know, for someone who steals you should really invest into better running shoes.                 And maybe take up a jogging class or two — t’was an appalling performance. ❞

Astrid pushed people out of the way as she followed the thief’s path, glad someone had heard her yell and manage to stop him. As she approached she was seething, she had been having such a nice day and for this random man to view her as a target was enough to make her want to do so serious harm. Though she was much more likely to end up in jail if she did. She didn’t spare a glance at the bystander that had stopped the thief, instead ripping her bag out of the man’s fingers. 

“You should also pick your target’s better, not the techie that has a tracker and explosive installed in their bag,” Astrid spoke, pulling her bag over her shoulder and crossing her arms. A smirk graced her lips as she saw her assailant visibly pale at her words. “Do you want me to turn you in or should I just wait for the cops?”

The man’s eyes followed her line of sight to see the two officers making their way over, he quickly scrambled up and started to run again. She figured he probably wouldn’t get very far before the cops grabbed him. She looked over the her “savior”, perking a brow slightly,”uh...thanks for that.”

[astridcolt-blog]

mayaxseyfried:

‘’I’m not particularly fond of Night City. It’s like someone built a nightmare out of metal and stone.‘’The words, neither arrogant nor defensive, they merely proved to be a statement of what Maya thought was true: what she had been brought up to believe since birth. ‘’The beautiful France is far more appealing.’’

‘’An asshole? I’m not surprised. The city is filled with assholes and idiots. I’ve had many enemies over the years. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s never engage in a fight you’re sure to lose. On the other hand, never let anyone who has insulted you get away with it.’’ the blonde commented, the words heavy on her tongue,ostensibly weighing the edges of her mouth and inverting her smile to a gentle frown.

‘’I want to help you.’’ the words as genuine as fresh flowers that grew in the spring months, ‘’That asshole can’t win! My car is near and my shoes are already dirty,so I’m not afraid of anything.We can track him down.’’The kindly tone to her speech meant she was giving the other woman an option rather than demanding it outright.

“Uh huh, well not all of us are so lucky to see anything outside of this city. Though I’m sure France is real great,” Astrid retorted with a tilt of her head. The techie looked back at her phone to where the assailant had stopped. Bingo, found his hide out. The rest should be easy enough since the man was idiotic enough to steal from a girl who liked explosives.

Astrid didn’t understand why this woman was revealing so much to her. France, making enemies, picking fights, and then offering to help her track the man down. It wasn’t very “Night City” of her but maybe it was just that, the woman wasn’t a usual citizen. Of course that didn’t make Astrid any less suspicious, she had learned not to trust anyone years ago but then again the help wouldn’t hurt if she was heading into a gang’s hideout.

She had weighed her options and decided that getting her stuff was just far more important than anything else. Plus her motorcycle was just to far away. 

“Alright, I’m not about to turn away help. Lead me to your car and I’ll lead you to the asshole,” Astrid spoke with a shrug before flashing her phone to the blonde.

[astridcolt-blog]

Reconstruction | Astrid & Dexter

[runner-dex]

  He just sorta stood there could hear her voice growing ever so slightly louder, the subtle sound of feet scuffing the floor and that odd sensation of feeling someone’s presence before him. Contrary to the belief of some your senses didn’t became enhanced to some super human degree just merely more attuned, Dex was quieter than most and that served him well could pick up the little details. Knew who was in his apartment just by the sound of their footsteps if it was family, it grew harder to distinguish whom he was talking to if they’d only met once or twice. Sometimes simply because he didn’t feel like asking he’d go an entire conversation without knowing who it was, didn’t happen often these days didn’t usually encounter new people.

  “Alright,” Dex pulled the other cover away so that both sockets were available to her and remained as stiff as a board, stood there waiting for something to happen. Occurred to him then that she could very well do anything, it’d be easy enough to infect his neuralware through a direct link. Ignored that and focused on the fact that she had no reason, just a techie. “Do whatever,” he answered finally after a lingering silence, “can I sit down first?”

  Walking this far hadn’t done him any favours he was still on the weaker side after the most recent bout of sickness, didn’t move just yet. Waited for her permission first and some form of indication as to where he could sit, “sorry to be an inconvenience,” he added quietly.

[astridcolt-blog]

Astrid smiled softly, there was something about the guy that made her want to be...nicer, maybe. She couldn’t quite figure it out herself. Perhaps it was cause he was vulnerable yet still placing a bit of trust in her, maybe it was because he simply couldn’t see her. She hesitated slightly when he asked to sit down, slowly reaching out and pressing a hand on his arm to guide him. She led him to the leather couch, perching herself besides him with her legs tucked beneath her.

She remained silent for a moment, analyzing the sockets as his quiet words hung in the air. Astrid scoffed slightly, shaking her head at the very idea,”you’re no inconvenience. I was beginning to get bored which usually ends up with me disassembling and reassembling Zed, which he is not to fond of-” the robot barked in agreement “- besides it’s not often I get projects like this, helps me hone my craft. I’m more interested in how you managed to get here, couldn’t have been easy especially with the riots in the streets.”

The young techie turned off the flashlight she had been using before pulling away just slightly to grab the headgear off her worktable. It didn’t appear that his connections were fried so the fix should have been simple enough. She just switched out the plugs and checked the lens one last time before placing them in his hands.

“Try it, should be good now,” she instructed, readjusting herself on the couch as she watched him.

[astridcolt-blog]

Task Two: Home

The techie has lived in her small loft style apartment for nearly five years. It’s the closest thing she has ever had to home, the only place that is truly hers. It isn’t much, only being through rooms and a loft for her bedroom. The amount of things she has managed to shove in one apartment is astounding though. It very much embodies Astrid in every sense.

The kitchen is stocked with less healthy options, bags of ground coffee, instant noodles and a fridge full of takeout containers. She just isn’t much of a cook and often enough forgets to eat when entertained with her work. The living room was formed into her own little shop complete with a crowded workbench, shelves covered in various tech, a leather love seat and a recharging station for her robotic dog, Zed. The bathroom is nothing more than a sink, mirror, toilet and a shower. Though a clothes line runs through it with her unmentionables.

A set of stairs by the bathroom leads up into her loft bedroom. A queen sized bed sits in the middle with red cotton sheets and various blankets depending on the weather. Her clothes hang on a makeshift rack that blocks the living room view into her bedroom. She has several shelves covered with tech she has created that she particularly fond or proud of.

It’s not much but for her it is home.

[astridcolt-blog]

Reconstruction | Astrid & Dexter

[runner-dex]

  Dexter gave a cautious nod a little relieved that she seemed amiable enough to consider his proposition, a hand subtly went out to feel for the door and he took a small step forwards. Not entirely sure exactly where she was. The gear itself had two functions, the initial was similar to the earlier versions and was useless to him he was totally blind not able to distinguish between light and dark so the glasses measuring and amplifying the brightness of his surroundings didn’t help. The second however was more useful, had to be plugged into his interface plugs but he’d had a whole separate pair installed on his temples for the headgear to plug in directly.

  He inhaled sharply ignoring how that sent a flurry of aggravation to his chest. “I think the sensors are blown on it, last time I used it the feed was coming out glitchy,” either that or his neuralware was kaput which given he was still jacking into the net alright seemed highly doubtful. He’d have fixed it himself but without the damnably thing he couldn’t, tinge of irony in it. “I need it to see,” he stated numbly. Dexter shoved his hands into his hoodie pockets now that they’d been freed of the tech, stood there like a sheepish teenager when he was far from it.

  Reluctantly he drew a hand out to pull the realskinn cover away that concealed the socket on the right side of his temple, “or it could be these,” in truth he hadn’t thought of checking to see if they were working or not. He silently scolded himself for not thinking of it earlier. Quick as a cat he pushed the cover back into place, “the gear itself isn’t too dissimilar to your regular goggles only it links in directly,” bypassed his faulty eyes. It gave him a picture that wasn’t totally complete or totally perfect but was more than enough to go about his daily business without assistance.

  Dex didn’t move just stood there in her doorway, green eyes staring blankly in the general direction he’d last heard her speak in. With the audio cue he was fairly accurate now, not that it mattered.

[astridcolt-blog]

Astrid watched the way he moved and had a feeling she knew what the tech was for before he confirmed her suspicions. She stepped back towards the door, shutting it behind him gently. Her eyes follow his every movement while she didn’t think he would be a threat, she couldn’t be to cautious when it came to having strangers in her apartment. She nodded slightly as she listened to him explain what was wrong with the tech in her hands. It could have been a number of different things but a glitchy feed helped her narrow it down a bit.

“It could be the sensors,” she agreed as she perched her down at her workbench, bringing out various tools. “It’s the more likely of the options though it could be the ports as well. Nothing looks like it’s fried so it must be the ports. You’re in luck, I just bought some part this morning that will work. I want to take a look over her ports too, just to make sure. If that’s okay with you?”

She stood up, shuffling through some parts on a shelf before finding what she needed. She really needed to reorganize the place it was starting to become a problem, even for her. Astrid turned on her heels, slowly approaching him as she waited for his go ahead before touched him. She smirked teasingly,”I promise to be gentle.”

[astridcolt-blog]

mayaxseyfried:

The sound of the waves was probably one of the most refreshing sounds in the world.Although the salt in the air wasn’t very pleasant.Recent events left her speechless and she could only find comfort among the beautiful sounds of the sea.Maya was late for work.She knew that as soon as she stopped walking,she would get cold, but at the moment she was sweating. It was hard to stop, because she was in a hurry.She didn’t like to think about what would happen to her if she didn’t hurry.

But that day something was different.She heard a sound,a person. She took a deep breath,turning her face towards the woman.’’Are you all right?’’Maya hesitated for a moment, but then went on.’’What’s wrong?What happened?’’Her voice was serious but, despite that, it still carried the same silken grace as before. It was a voice that matched the rest of her perfectly.

Astrid sighed angrily, brushing her fingers through her dark hair as she watched her assailant get lost among the crowd. There would be no following him, not in today’s busy foot traffic. The sound of a smooth voice besides her made her break her gaze from the crowd. Her eyes flickered over the woman, whom was dressed far to well to be walking through the docks. Astrid decided in that moment that they were likely complete opposites. She always had a tendency to judge a book by it’s cover but then again most people proved her right.

“Oh you know the usual in Night City, just getting my stuff stolen by some asshole,” she half snarled though it hadn’t been intentionally aimed towards the blonde. Astrid slipped her phone out of the back pocket of her leather pants, tapping a few buttons before bag tracker showed up. Not many thieves expected someone to be so attached to their bags but the techie it was her life line. This particular thief was going to get a very rude awakening. 

“Now I just have to figure out where these fuckers are heading,” she spoke more to herself before her dark eyes met the woman’s bright blue ones,”sorry I’m fine, just got to find myself a vagrant.” 

[astridcolt-blog]

Astrid had been spending a lot of time in the Marina district of Night City the past few days. The mass array of stores, especially the techie heaven of Weird Stuff, and the delicious food of 24 Hour Cafe. This extended time with the sea air had left her feeling much better after staying stuffed in her apartment fixing broken tech. Though when Astrid was in a good mood, something often went wrong real quick. This time it meant someone stealing her bag of newly purchased tech scrap.

“Hey! Give that back!” She yelled, running after the figure who took her stuff.

[astridcolt-blog]

AU WEEK: SUPERNATURAL CREATURES

In Greek mythology the Erinyes also known as Furies, were female chthonic deities of vengeance; they were sometimes referred to as “infernal goddesses”.

A fury has the ability to create insanity in others by staring into their eyes. The insanity caused by a Fury intensifies until the victim dies. A Fury requires eye contact in order to use her powers, but once a Fury has “inflicted” her victim with insanity there is no known way of stopping it. This applies also to themselves, as even the reflection of their own gaze can drive them mad.

[astridcolt-blog]

Astrid Colt + Tropes

[astridcolt-blog]

Reconstruction | Astrid & Catalina

[astridcolt-blog]

catalinaximenas:

Just as much as she liked being in front of the cameras, she’d found she had a penchant for being behind them, too. Both photography and videography had become hobbies as of late, and since she couldn’t take the videocams at her workplace, she’d gone out and bought her own. But the riots had left a number of items strewn through the streets and store floors, windows broken as looters made their way through. One of the items she’d happened to swipe was a broken camera, too advanced, too fancy to be wasted on the flaming streets.

She made her way down to where she heard someone fixed tech shit for cheap—as long as you had cash, she’d fix it. Flashing the woman a smile when she opened the door, Catalina held out the mangled camera towards her, random buttons weakly flashing green and blue. “I want you to fix this, please. Even better than brand new. Can you do that? I’ve got the money.”

A crooked smile crossed the techie’s lips as she eyed the camera, it was a nice one which she didn’t get to on very often. Most of her work was keeping a piece of scrap still working. She nearly just yanked the tech out of the woman’s hands from pure excitement but managed to control herself for the moment. Astrid opened the door, motioning for her new customer to come in. 

“You said today’s magic words, ‘I’ve got the money’,” she snarked before shutting the door. The brunette gently took the camera out of her hand, examining it for damage before deciding that it wouldn’t be to hard of a fix. Just needed a replacement lens really and she would open it up to make sure that everything was still intact inside. Astrid grabbed a pair of pliers, and a screwdriver before starting to work on the refurbishments. “You manage to snag this during the riots? Looks like someone stepped on it after deciding to throw it. It’s a shame, it’s an piece of pretty tech.”

[astridcolt-blog]

Reconstruction | Astrid & Dexter

[astridcolt-blog]

runner-dex:

Dexter didn’t need any more run ins, no more trouble, he reckoned Athena might just bite his hand off if he came home with even the slightest speck of blood. The riots weren’t helping with that but he wasn’t willing to give up his independence he wanted to walk to the store without being jumped, so he’d found a street engineer through the net, brought his ratty broken headgear and hoped for the best. He glanced upwards green eyes fixed on her, or where he thought she was and then believing he was at least somewhat on target his gaze stayed there. Blank, unseeing but focused. “This needs fixing,” he lifted up the headgear, he might’ve been able to do it himself but the irony was he couldn’t do it without the damned thing.

A hand reached up to rub the realskinn covers that concealed the plugs on either side of his temples, he never hid his interface plugs but these were different—a sign of weakness. “It’s uh—unique,” Dexter didn’t fancy explaining what the tech did fully but he was going to have to. He also didn’t fancy standing out here much longer, he’d managed to get here alright by himself but he didn’t want to chance it. “I’ll pay,” he said stiffly, “full price, double, just fix it,” low voice was soft almost quiet but there was that unnerving edge to his stare that seemed to make people uncomfortable. He was just as uncomfortable. “Please.”

Astrid wasn’t sure what to think of the guy standing in front of her. She was pretty cautious when it came to new customers, to many of them had ended up as bad news for her not to anymore. There was something almost off about him, his eyes blank and not quite looking at her. She slowly opened her door wider, figuring if things did end up going south she could just sic Zed on him. The robot dog did have a nasty bite when he wanted to.

“Come on in,” she spoke a moment of closely analyzing him. If he was willing to pay double that she was more than willing to fix it. One didn’t get an offer like that very often in her line of work. Astrid gently grabbed the tech out his hands, dark eyes examining it. She was familiar with the base but the enhancements were something she’d need to get a closer look on and most likely some additional information. 

“You’re gonna have to explain what you need it to do otherwise I won’t be much of a help,” she sat down at her desk, grabbing out some small tools so she could start her work. The headgear was decently complex but it wasn’t completely unfamiliar to her, she had worked on plenty things like this before but most didn’t have as many enhancements or upgrades as this one did.

“What enhancements do you have?” She questioned, her question coming out a bit strange having placed a screwdriver in her mouth so she had a free hand to grab a piece of wiring. 

[astridcolt-blog]

Feel My Wrath | Astrid &

[astridcolt-blog]

one-eyed-q:

 Q was as usual slouched across a seat, this time in a booth toying with a glass of liquid sugar mismatched eyes set on the young woman whom had been keeping him company as of late. Eyes staring at and through her, watching the door in case someone a little more interesting arrived, her stories were starting to bore him. She was starting to bore him. His lips twitched up into a small smug smile, “fascinating sweetheart,” he murmured before pushing her away just enough to slip from the booth. All grace and nimble, might’ve been elegant had his coat not been blaring the usual explicit imagery. Never had quite grasped the concept of elegance.

 Prowled and slid into a seat at the bar beside the young woman who’d caught his attention, “let me get that for you,” he cooed sliding over a few bills to the bartender. A few extra for a drink himself, having left his own back at the table with the now steaming young lady. He couldn’t care less. “Q,” he introduced himself, “I promise I’m not here for anything but your company,” he was lying through those pearly white teeth. Then again he was still slowly draining the life force of the woman whom he’d been in the company of earlier, but his hold over her was dwindling now.

 “Innocent as a newborn lamb,” no doubt that line would pull a few cackles of laughter from the few people that knew him better, the people that were familiar with Q, One eye but not Quinton. No-one was with the exception of one, and even he didn’t know much about the incubus. Veiled in a secrecy of smirks and crass comments. The perfect disguise—then again was it really a lie these days? He shifted on his seat leaning a little closer, mismatched eyes focused on her, coat open shifting rapidly from not so artistic photographs to a blood orange glow.

Her whole body tensed as someone sat besides her, she had wanted to drink alone but she should have known better than do that at a crowded dive bar. Perhaps she could slip the bartender a tip and leave with her drink before she was forced to interact with anyone. To late, she huffed slightly as he spoke, one dark brow rising at his words. Everything he said seemed to set her on edge, the tone of voice, the context behind his words. She was suddenly sent back to a darker time in her past when she once fell for a smooth talker.

“You know when a woman is by herself at a bar and refusing to look anywhere except her drink it usually means she doesn’t want to be bothered,” she retorted, twirling her straw around her glass before taking a swig on the dark liquid. Astrid refused to look over at him, partly so she didn’t give him the satisfaction and partly because she was simply so drained after the long night she had. It wasn’t everyday that you managed to drive someone quite literally insane.

She finally broke eye contact with her drink, chancing a quick glance at the man besides her. It was a small glance, only a few seconds before she was back looking towards her drink. In the little time she had looked him over she had learned at least two things, he was flashy and he was handsome. The combination certainly made him dangerous in Night City and she was particularly interested in anymore danger, at least for the next few days.

“Your coat might end up blinding someone,” she quipped before taking a heavy swig to finish her drink, motioning towards the bartender for another one.

[outrageouslies]

[rinarps-blog]

[astridcolt-blog]

Feel My Wrath | Astrid &

The young woman pulled her jacket tighter around her shoulders, a frown set in her features. The past thirty minutes were a blur, a blur of screams and anger. She should have known better, she knew her anger would surely get the best of her but she went to confront the black market dealer anyways. He had sold her a wrecked piece of motherboard so she was intending to get her money back. It didn’t go as she had planned, of course it hadn’t, hardly anything ever does. 

Instead, the man refused to give her money back and said some crass things that sent her temper off. He had no idea who was dealing with, the woman who represented anger and vengeance. Astrid didn’t even have a moment before her eyes glowed red and she sent the man into his own personal hell. It was only in his head but there was no reversing what she had done, at least to her knowledge. He would be left to his torment until someone found him or he did something to make it stop. It wasn’t pleasant either way.

As soon as she realized what she had done the fury ran from the apartment, walking the streets with a heavy heart. Astrid was suddenly thirst for something that would dull the pain. She turned into a dive bar, perching herself on a stool and ordering herself some hard liquor. A few drinks and maybe she could forget all the horrible things she had done to others because of her own stubborn temper. 

[iridescentfilms]

[xavierkelada-blog]

shadow play • xavier & astrid

[astridcolt-blog]

xavierkelada:

          Watchful gaze swept over the woman’s frame, observing, assessing—her stance was casual but careful, without any visible weapons. Not a threat, he eventually concluded. “No,” he answered after a long beat of silence, mirroring her quirk of eyebrow. Oddly enough, there was a hint of amusement in Xavier’s tone, barely detectable. Micah didn’t attack people unless she was assaulted first; she also knew to wait for his order, as he was her alpha. He’d trained her as such.

          Putting a hand to the wolfdog’s neck, he stroked the raised fur to calm her down. Micah let out a huff, still baring her teeth, but obediently stepped away to sniff at their surroundings. Xav’s gaze flickered over from the dog to the stranger—walking around with no weapon in hand wasn’t a great idea. The mobs were like packs of wolves. They sized you up from a distance, and if you seemed like easy prey, they attacked.

          “The road up straight is… on fire.” There was no other way to describe the sheer chaos, cops and protestors tangled in a web of metal and blood. “I don’t know where you’re going, but you’re gonna have to take a detour, miss,” he suggested. 

Astrid crossed her arms, tilting her head as her eyes shifted over the man and his dog. The animal didn’t particularly scare her in fact the only thought she had was about her own pet. For a robot dog, Zed loved playing with the organic versions of himself. She hoped he was okay cooped up in her apartment, the noise might have startled him and she would prefer he not set her home on fire.

The woman watched as he calmed down his wolfdog, watching as the animal seemed to let out an reluctant sigh before moving away from them. She cursed under her breath after he spoke, that road was the only straight shot to her motorcycle. It was likely that it was now destroyed because of the riots and that hurt her more than getting caught by the mobs could. That thing had been her life for nearly two years, having built it from practically nothing. At least she knew no one had stolen it, it was in tune with her dna to prevent theft.

“On fire?” She quipped with a snort, shaking her head before looking down the road almost wistfully. “Have any suggestions? My destination happens to be around that area and I’m not sure there is many options.”