First Reply Distractions

[Cartri Keswoll]

Location: Denon
Objective: Wind down
Attire: Link
Tags:

"Josef - I Wonder Why Ft. Loyle Carner"

On a rooftop, a pair of legs dangled off the edge. Below, countless amounts of people on the cold denon street passed by without a care, stuck in the matrix of their own regular lives. Cartri on the other hand was solemnly listening to music through some headphones, silent and understanding of what the words meant to him. Daiya was a girl who had broken his heart yet he couldn't stop thinking about her, through good or through worse. Deep down he still loved her, he was just hurt to admit the one of a kind girl was irreplaceable in his life. Daiya used to be the glue that kept him together. Now that she was gone, he could feel himself falling apart.

He needed a distraction, music was one of them but Cartri needed something bigger to blow off some steam. There had to be something going on in this sorry city to garner his attention, so with very little work he was able to get into a few of the district's street cameras to do a bit of spying. In this case, it was more trouble the better, but if there were any individuals who caught his attention he'd be more than curious to investigate.

As he went to change songs with a sigh, an individual of interest seemed to stop him in his tracks. Without any emotion, the boy quickly placed the headphones into his backpack and began making haste to their location.

It was about time something came up...​

 

[Kadora'Tra]

​

Denon.

It felt like years since the last time she was on it, and every instinct in her body told her she should run away. A fat lot of good her instincts did her. Surviving off of the charity of ruthless capitalists and getting thrown away the moment she could be replicated. Protesting peacefully, she knew exactly what would happen. Her freedom from prison was predicated solely on the value placed on her based on how much she could hurt a competitor. She was stuck, and Denon was the drain.

She wanted out, but every choice she made felt like it was the wrong one.

Right now, she wasn't in the mood for choices. Or instinct. Or thoughts. She just needed something to keep her from chewing her hair out. Hair that itched because she had shaved some of it away. To obscure her identity, she supposed, or maybe another reason. If she had wanted to hide, she could have used a holo-disguise, like the one she used at the protest. Maybe she shaved the side of her head to be noticed instead.

It was suicide, and for some reason, she didn't care.

Barely looking around for people watching, Kadora'Tra found a nice open wall outside a Mining Union Coordination Center (MUCC). Shaking cans, she started to make something beautiful out of that ugly brown building. Luminous Sun's specialized supply even included some unique features to the tagging cans, and she used them to her fullest extent. It was an art project, surely, but it was also sabotage. "Publicity Warfare" is what she called it. Kadora'Tra didn't care. For once in her life, she was allowed to do something from the heart. Something she thought was beautiful and reminded her of better, simpler times.

Cartri Keswoll

 

[Cartri Keswoll]

Location: Denon
Objective: Wind down
Attire: Link
Tags: Kadora'Tra

Cartri made haste across the rooftops, kicking his legs across the small gaps that threatened a nasty fall. On the feed, Cartri swore he had seen the cat like figure before. In his head, there was only one person in question that matched that description, an individual who had been off his radar for a very long time. Why she had suddenly shown up today was a different question, but it was only right to say hello to the feline who gave him a nasty scratch that one time.

Skidding to a halt on the last building, Cartri slowly knelt down and saw the person in question putting their artistry to the test. She looked different from their last meeting, but from those claws he could certainly tell who it was. As quietly as he could the teen climbed down the building and lowered himself behind her.

"It's been a long time feline." Cartri said with a fold of his arms, cold light blue eyes staring into hers with no emotion. He had also changed. yet his ginger hair that peeked out of his hood stayed the same.

​

 

[Kadora'Tra]

​

The greenery spread from the red petals she shaped into existence with the turn of her wrist, her two-toned eyes mesmerized by the movement of the multi-colored paint. Part of her was nearly fooled that the vegetation spreading from her can was actually real, reclaiming the ugly duracrete of Denon's rot. The more she sprayed, the more it seemed real, and the further it spread without her input. Much of the mural was her own work, but it was all connected by vines, stems, and trees native to Belazura. Belazura had never been her home, but it was a place she felt personally responsible for.

Stepping away momentarily, a tear accumulated on the thin coat of fur under her left eye.

"It's been a long time feline." Kadora'Tra hadn't noticed him, and her ears perked toward him before she turned around. She made sure her movements were deliberate and not too fast. The voice sounded familiar but not too familiar, so she couldn't be sure if there was a blaster pointed her way. Though, if it was someone who recognized her with ill intent, she doubted they would have hesitated long enough for a chat. Life was surprising sometimes, however.

"Oh, hey." Her mouth opened before her brain did as recognition set in. She had two reasons to know the human with hair the same color as some of her fur. The first was being blamed for his apartment (and his compatriot, or guardian, or whatever Xan was) blowing up during the Doppelganger plot. The second, this little runt stole her badge, resulting in a chase and tussle. Xan had given her a second shot at life, and although she was on her third shot (or maybe fourth?) now, Kadora'Tra didn't feel like squandering that charity begrudging the orphan with weird powers for petty theft.

"If you're back for the badge, I gave it up; otherwise, I'd give it to you." Kadora'Tra held her hands open with nothing but the custom spray canister. "I uh, I do this now... I guess." She shrugged and tipped her head to the mural still growing behind her.

"That cool?" Kadora'Tra tried her best to remain as cool as she was talking, and watching the street graffiti spread on its own out of the corner of her eye gave her some soothing comfort.

Cartri Keswoll

 

[Cartri Keswoll]

Location: Denon
Objective: Wind down
Attire: Link
Tags: Kadora'Tra

"If you're back for the badge, I gave it up; otherwise, I'd give it to you."

Cartri waved off the feline, grinning slightly as he leaned up against the wall "I'm not turning into a corpo anytime soon, but thanks for the offer anyway" he said, his blue eyes glaring at the can in her hand. Out of all the things she was going to turn into this wasn't one he was thinking about at all. Instead, she had probably more a darkwire follower more than anything else "To be honest feline, I'm happy you've finally stepped away from their grasp"

From the sounds of it, the feline hated working for corpsec. I mean who wouldn't? all they did was control your life and force you to do things that were despicable. Even though she was way less off now, it was probably the best decision she could have made.

Cartri moved away from the wall and looked at the art she had made so far. It was impressive for a girl who had been with the corpo's for so long, but there was still the question as to why she was doing it "What are you spraying here? You got a reason for it?" he asked curiously while moving forward to study the piece of art further.

​

 

[Kadora'Tra]

"To be honest feline, I'm happy you've finally stepped away from their grasp"

"Well, when you're expendable, it makes the choice easier. To call it a choice at all, though, I'm not sure." The remnants of a child soldier went to at-ease. The tension of their encounter fell as quickly as a raindrop.

"What are you spraying here? You got a reason for it?"

"I'm not sure I've ever made a choice now that I've had time to think about it." She turned to face the mural on the wall, watching it grow in full now, analyzing where next to apply her mark before it would be finished.

"Even now, I'm not certain that I have. Made a choice. I was born with nothing and promised so much to sell my childhood. My adulthood. My whole life. When everything went to shit, when it was as though all I had been given was a curse instead, another voice whispered promises, too. That woman you lived with. I was blind to what I was giving up to CorpSec, and I was blind to what I was losing for Darkwire. In the end, I'm just an animal that belongs in a forest. Or maybe someone's zoo. A reservation even, if I'm endangered, I suppose. I don't feel like people."

"So what you're looking at is my enclosure. An advertisement for my sanctuary scratched onto the dresser of my old carnival ringmaster. Something to remember me once they've all forgotten." Cognizant now of how much she was speaking, she sprayed more onto the scintillating graffitied wall.

"Sorry, you're the only audience I've had in a while." Her apologetic tone was muted by her focus on the art.

Cartri Keswoll