the Soldier and the Geneticist
Rico has had tough days while in SICOM. Running multiple Ops. back to back, long standby orders for an Op. that would never happen, etcetera. But the last 24 hours have been taxing to say the least. It had started with a retaliatory raid on a local small time gang that decided to mug and hospitalize an Adamas employee. Normally it would be handled by the local police. But when a gang has known ties to the syndicate, well, a message needs to be sent and it up to the secret police to deliver it.
Now, usually this wasn’t an issue. Usually, he gets to go home and decompress with a neat Southern Comfort before going to bed. Usually, he has Carmencita to console him through his night terror. Usually, he had a flask full of alcohol to get him through the day. This time though he didn’t get to go home. Carmencita was away on an Op. for SICOM and couldn’t talk him down from the night terror he experienced when he napped back in the empty barracks, and no alcohol to get him through today.
Despite these obstacles, Rico still had his day job to do. So here he is, on his lunch break, in the company cafeteria, and feeling at his wit’s end. As his luck would have it the cafeteria was filled to the brim, much to Rico’s annoyance. He quickly scanned the room to find the least occupied table.
His search rewarded him with a particular desolate table with a single occupant. A Japanese woman who looked to be about Rico’s age. Rico shrugged, “Better than fighting for elbow space,” he though as he made his way to the table.
As he carried his company deli sandwich to the table he started to recognize the Japanese woman. The woman in question was Umiko Kugo, the head geneticist of Adamas. Even in his haggard condition he had the for sight to ask permission to sit with the one of the big four of the Adamas.
“Permission to join you ma’am,” Rico asked, falling back into the routine of a soldier speaking to a superior.
