[X] Research Local – Find out what's going on with the gang war!
Taylor didn't try to stifle the yawn.
She was standing at the bus stop, waiting to get picked up for school. Before six thirty AM.
It might have been nearing two months of the new schedule but her sleep schedule was still unhappy with having to wake up at five thirty.
Which went a long way towards her not noticing a car pull up in front of the bus stop. A very familiar car at that. Taylor didn't even notice the window rolling down.
What she
did notice was when a voice she recognized ordered her to get in.
Taylor dumbly blinked.
"What?"
"You are being kidnapped, get in." Nikki stated.
Taylor blinked again, sleep still clinging to the dusty recesses of her mind. "Are you real?"
Nikki patted herself down. "I think therefore I
AM." She quoted.
Yup, that was Nikki.
With a shrug, Taylor opened the door and settled in. "Why am I-" she yawned loudly, "getting kidnapped?"
"I wish to drive you to school since the gangs are fighting." Nikki informed Taylor. "Also. Look in the backseat."
A box, with a bow, sat on the middle seat.
Taylor stared dumbly at it before looking back at Nikki.
"It's a box."
"Yes. Open the box." Nikki replied somewhat slowly.
Taylor had to finagle her backpack to the floor first before she reached back and picked up the box. It was... light? Nothing rattled around in it. Her brain was too fried to figure out what it could be... Early mornings didn't agree with her. Carefully she unwrapped the box.
A brand new Dragontech phone stared up at her.
Just reading off the back of the box made her…
concerned.
It was durable up to being dropped from five stories high without a scratch, had a minimal of thirty hours battery, a 3D screen with some hologram technology built in, a terrabyte of storage and it could operate as a satellite phone. A reported full charge time of fifteen minutes.
"A replacement. For what you lost." Nikki informed her slowly.
Taylor stared at the phone then back at Nikki then to the phone.
She was awake now. Very awake, even.
"Nikki." Her voice was low and cautious.
"Yes, I am Nikki."
"
Nikki."
"Yes, Yes. I am Nikki."
"Nikki, how much did you pay for this?!"
"It was only four thousand and nine hundred and ninety-nine dollars." Nikki informed Taylor. "It is a good phone."
Taylor's mouth opened.
Words did not come out.
Nikki said nothing, continuing to drive them both to school.
"You spent five kay on a
phone?!?!?" The question came out as a screech nearly a half minute later.
Nikki jolted, nearly slamming on the brakes. "Yes?" She asked, eyes flicking to Taylor. "Do you not like it? It is the best they have?"
"
That's so much money." It came out pained at nearly a whisper.
"I-" Nikki frowned, brow furrowed. "I am sorry?"
"You spent five thousand dollars." As if it was the most obvious thing.
"Are you feeling well?" Nikki asked, leaning over and bringing up a warm hand to press against Taylor's forehead. "You feel cold."
Taylor blinked. "Nikki, you spent
five thousand dollars. On a phone."
Nikki hummed, pulling her hand back. "Do you wish to see the nurse? I can skip school and bring you to a hospital. I promise to not hit Panacea with a door this time."
"No. Nikki." She was staring at her. "You spent an absolutely crapload of money on a phone."
Shifting in place, Nikki glanced at Taylor. "Yes? I did? Do you not like it? It has a lot of features."
"You don't understand." And Taylor was realizing that Nikki truly didn't have a good grasp of money. The whole mafia princess idea was starting to seem more and more likely. "This is so much money. I could live off it for a couple months type-money." She stared at Nikki's face trying to impart what she meant.
"Would you rather have had the money?" Nikki asked, clearly struggling with what Taylor was trying to impart in her. "Did-Did I do something wrong?" She asked, distress clear in her voice.
"No, maybe? Uh…" Taylor really didn't know how to explain to someone that they just spent an obscene amount of money on them. "You… it's just really expensive. I… like, we've gone on a date but it's a lot of money to spend on me. Like, a lot
a lot."
"But I like you." Nikki replied quietly, and it was loud in the silence of the car.
Taylor didn't know what to say to that.
On some level she was immensely flattered that Nikki liked her that much.
On the other hand, she felt like she was deeply taking advantage of her. Nikki clearly didn't know how much this was actually worth. She knew it was going to make her feel scummy if she accepted the phone. She would feel even more scummy if she refused the gift. Honestly she was going to feel scummy either way.
What made it weirder to Taylor was the fact that she knew that Nikki didn't have much of a perception of how much it cost… from what it was sounding like, it was just a drop in the bucket for her.
Nikki said nothing else, continuing to drive them to school.
Taylor stared down at the phone in her lap, thoughts whirling through her mind fast enough that trying to grab on to one was akin to grabbing oil.
Joanna was actually being dropped off as they pulled in.
When the car came to a stop, Taylor wrapped her arms around Nikki in a tight hug. Nikki pulled the keys out before returning the hug, strong warm arms wrapping around Taylor's slender frame.
After a moment Taylor whispered the thought that was stuck in her head; "you spend way too much on me." That was the truth of it. It made her feel shitty.
"I like you too much to care." Nikki whispered back, lips ghosting over Taylor's cheek.
"O-oh."
Taylor distinctly didn't know how to feel about that? Something flared in her, dark and pathetic. Whatever the feeling, it was intoxicating.
Pulling away slowly, Nikki slid out of the car, hurrying to Taylor's side to open her door for her.
Taylor rolled her eyes at the gesture but got out all the same. It was sweet. She made sure to not forget the phone, holding the thing carefully, like a live, baby animal almost.
She was so focused on not dropping the device that she didn't notice her feet bring her over to Joanna on autopilot.
"Well hello you two." Joanna waved at her mom's SUV which was pulling out of the parking lot. "Glad to see the relationship is on the mend."
The girl didn't look so good, paler than usual and with dark splotches under her eyes. The light make-up she wore did little to hide it.
"Everything... Good? You don't look... Well rested." What was clearly unsaid was that she looked like shit. Taylor wasn't going to say that out loud. She was polite.
"You look unkempt." Nikki added.
"
Thank you." Joanna sighed. "Long night. The gangs being stupid means a lot more work for Hospitals."
"How much sleep did you get?"
"Enough to get me through the day at least. So maybe three hours?" Joanna rubbed her eyes, which then landed on Taylor's phone as she tried to blink the gunk out of them. "Holy shit Taylor, where did you get
that?"
Taylor was still holding the box, after all.
She wanted to point to Nikki but she also didn't want to let go and let the very expensive gift possibly meet the concrete. Instead she motioned awkwardly with her head towards Nikki.
"Nikki..." Joanna looked between the two of them. "Ooooh, so Nikki is your sugar momma, huh?" She asked, looking much like a cat that had gotten the canary.
Taylor was uncomfortable at the notion. She didn't want to mooch off Nikki. She really didn't. She didn't deserve it. "Nikki went
way overboard." The protest still came out as a mumble.
"Oh-Just shut up and give her a kiss and a thank you Taylor." Joanna gave the ravennette a
look born from a lack of sleep and a bad night.
It wasn't a
nice look.
"Nikki is clearly a romantic sap head over heels for you. I can see it, you can see it, martian bacteria with a big enough fucking telescope can see it. No offense." -"It is likely true."- "Frankly seeing you pussy foot around someone's love is so cliche I'm sure it's going to bomb in theaters!"
She threw her hands up and ambled off towards the school with the walking pace closer to that of a zombie.
Taylor stared at Joanna.
Nikki stared at Joanna.
Very quietly, Taylor murmured, "thanks, Nikki."
Nikki's warm arm slid around Taylor's waist and pulled her into a one armed hug. "You are welcome, I think she is just cranky. Do not take it to heart."
Taylor's queries upon reaching the library was a simple ones.
What had set off the gang war – if anyone knew, what was happening now and where it was happening.
The first had a very simple answer- the Empire Eighty Eight had actually put out their own reasoning why; Kage had killed two of their members, Rune and Alabaster. Rune had been killed in her civilian identity, while with friends- including
all of her friends. However, particular mention was Alabaster being killed while half their roster had been volunteering in Canberra.
It had made many known cape accounts weighing in, not necessarily in support for the Neo-Nazis but in condemnation of Kage for slaying another cape in their home during an Endbringer fight. Whatever goodwill she had built up in the past few months for defending the common-folk like gangs always claimed was being dragged through the mud. Kage's response, which she had done from a verified account, had been…
'Lung did not order their death, nor was I active during this time. Nor do I have the ability to kill Alabaster, as we have fought before in a way that would be lethal to anyone not enjoying his power. Look elsewhere, perhaps Coil had a Trump kill the Empire and used their racist nature against them in identifying the culprit. Though, my condolences to Rune's family, she was far too young to die for something as messy as intercity gang politics.'
The person posting on PHO had countered with photos of ominous warnings that had been written in Alabaster's blood that no one was safe in their homes and then pointed out that Kage was the only
known parahuman in the city with stealth capabilities. Murdering someone in their home seemed on-brand for that.
As for what was happening now, that was more up in the air.
There seemed to be pretty much constant gunfire going on in several sections of the city, especially in any of the areas that Kage had pushed into over the past half a year. That had resulted in a city-wide curfew going into effect. Which was going to cut Taylor's time short today as the library was only going to stay open a short half an hour from her arrival.
As for the where…
It was mostly in E88-ABB border in the south and southwest parts of the city though there were some erratic gunfights going off and on in the northwest.
For
now.
Taylor stared at the ceiling, the early morning Saturday light streaming through her blinds.
Her dad had been home quite early last night.
Due to the curfew in effect, her dad wasn't going to go to work for longer than a few hours during the middle of the day, today. He actually had most of the late afternoon and evening free. He had wanted to know if maybe she wanted to watch a movie or two with him.
She had mixed feelings.
She'd have to bring up the fact that Nikki bought her a
five thousand dollar cellphone at some point… but she
really didn't want to discuss it.
At least not now.
Maybe he'd be as baffled as she was?
Flipside of this was that she could easily go out and try and make a difference or do something constructive with her time. Maybe even save lives.
Choices...
[0/6 Patrol actions]
[Average days patrolled: 0/2: 0%]
[] Go do power stuff and possibly fight crime! [+2. QA desires data for the data throne]
[] Spend time with your dad.
Author's note: Nikki gonna Nikki.
Fabled dad social option is now here, you may praise me now.
So fun fact; if we hadn't sent the giant to the Ziz fight, Taylor would have been able to do something to stop this from happening. Or at least interfere with it, for whatever it's worth.
Please vote and discuss as always!