theseus dillema .
[ PROGRAM / Overdrive : week 1 ] : starter for @immovablewill .
having split off from the rest of their team , the two made their way towards the back alley , mei had her own reasons for wishing to head there , aside from thinking it would be a place where she could buy information off of people -- had she had intentions of hoping to find someone she could rob some chrome off of ? well , they can brush past that for now .
the heap , a place always seeming on the move , only managing to find it by pure luck was as good as striking gold , if they needed information , this would be the place to get it , she's gonna need to get lucky , with only eighty-one credits to her name , worth while information may be hard to come by .
she first took a look around , her eyes looking for anyone who stood out -- right away , two people caught her eye , a rather expensive looking man , who looked . . . rather out of her price range , she'd probably go broke trying to get information out of him , so she'd go for the second option .
the only man in this place without anything covering his face had caught her attention , he stood out from the rest for better or for worse , fingers tapping upon a holographic screen at speeds she couldn't keep up with .
mei slowly approached , which had caused him to dart up , as if daring her to step closer -- she looked over him for a moment , she couldn't sense any violence . . . more like he was the sassy type , so she took another step closer , him speaking up right away .
" what's your issue? need something? go find it somewhere else. "
she wasted little time with small talk , cutting straight to the chase .
" apologies -- i don't mean to bother you , i was just hoping you might have some information to spare , i could buy it off of you , of course ."
" if you can afford it, " he grunts, " what're you after? "
" we're looking for someone -- a woman with gray hair and violet eyes , we had heard she's been around here lately , would you have happened to spot anyone fitting such a description ? "
code 024 , to be specific . . . someone who apparently went off the radar and became a sympathizer , little is known , so it's quite hard to ask around with such limited information .
“ five bucks and i’ll answer. ”
. . . only five credits for the information ? it took little hesitation to hand it over .
“ nope, haven’t seen shit. she got a name? ”
a sigh , that made sense . . . she'd move onto a more bold and direct ask . " would a code work ?"
he raises a brow. " huntin' syndicate? brave. sure. "
" you seemed like the the type to not mind so long as the payment was met , am i wrong ? 024 . " it was a gamble , but judging by a reaction , he didn't know nothing . was said nothing what she was looking for ?
he taps away at his hologram a moment, then grimaces. " this isn't just any ask, y'know. that's high security info you're after. fifty-five, and consider a tip for the trouble. "
a hefty price . . . being as she's already down 76 credits , that would leave them with very little for other information or things they might need . " quite a hefty price for information i don't know if you have or not , you charged me low for information you didn't have , but charging me high for information i'm unsure of . . . "
so why not make an attempt at bartering ?
he didn't seem too pleased , letting out quiet grumbles as the two discuss momentarily , seems he'd settle for fifty , at least that's five credits saved . . . she handed it over , as agreed .
with a grunt and a lot more tapping, your man does his job. “ i won’t jack your tech, swear, but for the bargain i won’t promise not to leave a stray virus. ” another few taps and your peripheral lights up with a date entry that reads: 024, special attack code: rebuild status, complete system overwrite: deceased “ your girl’s a syndicate legend. double digit codes mean business, and it looks like she’s the only surviving member of whatever shitfest she was assigned to. ” a shrug, your peripheral darkens again. “ won’t leave anything that’ll get you or me in any trouble on your drives, don’t worry. ” he adjusts, moves to stand up. “ they rebuilt her, she ran. looks like she’s be spotted a few places by now, doesn’t go by her code anymore either. can’t track a name, though. seems she’s got a runner of her own keeping it off anything i can find. ”
she took mental note of all this -- some quite valuable information she's been given , rebuilt and fleed , huh . . . that's strange , it's a situation where one has to wonder if you're even the same person after being rebuilt , but those thoughts are for later on . " i think that's quite a great bit of help . . . i'd ask about the last place she'd been spotted , but . . i'm not sure if i'm able to afford that , so i think we'll keep moving , if that's alright . "
the man gives a thumbs up before mei turns away , taking a step back as her attention turns towards Sara , she had just spent quite a while talking with the other , perhaps Sara had something she wanted to say or ask .