Murder in Neos

[Rakaan Horne]

NEOS CITY​

NEOS​

​

"Of course." Kole subtly mouthed, his lips had barely moved as nothing but incoherent air ventured forth in a raspy fashion. The Droid had always found it interesting, if not amusing as to how Lyn never failed to have a story -- good or bad -- pertaining to the current situation. He didn't have a lot of stories, and even then they weren't the kind you told in passing, or at all. Yet, he had found her rather talkative nature was capable of being used as a radar of sorts. Lyn typically kept her mouth sealed tight when in over her head, similar to the situation in the Babylon. It was only one of those things he kept to himself, not wishing to make her try and actively work against it as the stubborn individual she often was.

​As he shuffled his way into the seat, his legs finding themselves beneath the dash he motioned to close the door behind him, spotting a pair of sunglasses in the door. He hadn't exactly handed them to her, more along the lines of a half-assed toss in the Zeltron's direction. They were what she was after, oddly enough- but they hadn't suited her at all.

Kole shifted his gaze onto Lyn as she gave her two cents, replying with a slight nod his head and, "Apartment it is." It always paid to be able to defend yourself with more than just your fists, or some hammer you found nearby. His eyes wandered against the transparent glass, seeing straight through it as his arm propped itself up against the door. It crossed his mind to open the window, but who knew what was capable of flying in?

[member="Lynnori Cruz"]

 

[Murder in Neos]

They glided through the streets of Neos. Downtown wasn't half as pretty as the business district but it held high above the downtown districts found on Nar Shaddaa and Coruscant. As a false skylight played out a dreamy dusk that wasn't real, vagrants on the street traded and dabbled in illegal hardware. From jacked up supercars to illegal mods on insidious weapons. Crime ran Neos. Crime made Neos.

There wasn't a hoverbike or airspeeder no matter where they looked. All of Neos was grounded. The only ones with the authority to fly here were the Red Ravens and even then they were careful in their use of it. A last resort against extreme gang violence and riots.

A trio of individuals who were trying to palm off an illegal street racer stared up from the alley, the same group the investigators had seen on the train. The cyber-punks watched them go by, all but two stopped watching once the car had gone by, the one who had been seated to the left on the train.

The car they were selling was splattered in blood. The front bumper had a bull bar with razor wire wrapped around it. A powerful engine rose up from the hood of the vehicle. Thick black clouds of toxic fumes coughed out from the exhaust pipes. Yellow neon light bars lit up the ground beneath the car. The window glass was replaced by a metal mesh. A street demon.

The apartment would not be a far drive from them now. A complex would rise up at the end of a long street. It was derelict. Doors to other apartment rooms had been thrown open or entirely torn from their hinges. Graffiti marked the walls. There were thugs smoking out on balconies and as the car closed in they raised guns and peered down scopes, laughing as they shot at garbage cans nearest their car. They put the rifles away and walked back into the complex.

They would turn left, right and beyond the complex and towards the inner city. Building rose higher and higher here until they touched the clouds. One such building contained their apartment. It wasn't as tall as the others around it but still rose to over a hundred floors high. Neon lights and holographic images danced down the side of the structure. A man by the front entrance seemed to recognize the car and flagged them down. The apartment valet.

 

[Lynnori Cruz]

NEOS CITY​

NEOS​

MY FRIENDS ARE ROBOTShttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wy7RrJNVtOI​

​

Lyn's brows rose upon the sight of the monstrosity they were peddling as a car. For one; a darkly curious part of her was tempted to switch vehicles with that one just to see how it'd drive, and two; why in sithspit were they trying to sell it in the first place around here? There couldn't be buyers. If there were, well, this place was crazier than Lyn had expected initially. Perhaps there was a sweet underground racing ring. Actually, that idea brought forth more than a few bad ideas in the Zeltron's head, so she stored it away for further... Consideration.
Earlier she'd gotten a bit of a startle when Kole had chucked something into her lap, but the grateful doting 'girlfriend' smile he had gotten in response surely made the scare worth it. She put the sunglasses on almost immediately to complete the look of punk speed-demon that she so often adopted, boot on the pedal, cruising them down the streets of Neos. Eyes were drawn immediately to the sky through the windshield, noting how it was empty. Coruscant would have been alive with traffic.
"This place is weird."
She thought aloud, not intending to comment to Kole, but, well, that's sure how it came across. The driving was steady none-the-less, none of her usual antics concerning speeding (Being arrested here would suck, majorly, especially as there was little proof thus far that the locals spoke Basic) but instead calm and controlled. Skilled, yes. Out of character? Just a bit. Reined in for now, really.
The shots are what finally shook her.
With the front of the vehicle swerving a little in response, even though the gunfire would not touch them, it still seemed rattling. Well, of course it would, it was fething gunfire. The grip tightened on the wheel surreptitiously, thumb tapping along the material rapidly, all in all, she seemed spooked, "Really, really weird." After that, Lyn drove a little faster.
Their car shot into the inner city at a respectable speed, not illegal-- she hoped to God, anyway --but fast enough to evade the unwanted potshots that could be following them, the demonic ramshackle cars that might be on their proverbial heels, outrunning the bad areas of the city as fast as possible, like running away from shadows to chase ghosts instead. The brakes were hit upon arriving at the set destination, looking up and over the tower, "And we have arrived. In one piece."
Over the rims of her sunglasses, Lyn gave Kole a look. The look, even. Every pair has one, the look that signals the need for a life vest, the desire for stability. You could say a cry for help, but when did she ever need help?
Not often. The driver's side opened, pink legs slid out, the blue bob of hair emerged, "Home sweet home."
[member="Murder in Neos"] | [member="Kole Harper"]

 

[Rakaan Horne]

NEOS CITY​

NEOS​

​

There was something strange about Neos; this lingering suspicion of artificiality had crept through Kole's synthetic mind in a pit or irony. There had been a great many planets, cities, metropolises that had bore some similarities. It was often the shape of the buildings, the general disposition of those that dwelled, the scum (say he had an eye for it; identifying your own kind), and an inability to predict whatever it was that was going to come next. Yet, as Kole shifted within his seat, looking out the front windshield and the window to see clear skies... it was strange, it was different. Maybe it were the rumours, the legends of Neos that enabled a different method of thought. He hadn't a clue, and there was something that told him he never would.

​He initially reciprocated Lynnori's all too genuine, sincere and somewhat enchanting smile. His, however, had been far more subtle- as per usual, only a grin, a smidge of a flex. Kole's gaze remained fixated on the Zeltron for a few moments after the fact, taking in all that was Lyn in a moment of admiration. The Droid breathed some amused air, the oddly flattering-unflattering glasses that Lynnori wore allowed that that barely existing smile to take a little longer to fade as he turned to face the window.

The Droid had moved his head up and down, bobbing along with the brief words that Lyn had spoken. "Empty sky." He commented in a way of confirming that they felt strangely towards the same thing. Then, well, Kole simply returned to the people watching as they flew by the people without so much of a care. He didn't really have the time to really observe them in their entirety.

Neos had then displayed it's reputation as a place that was often so typically violent. Gunshots? A dangerous weapon, that. They created a mess, more blood and gruesome dismemberment than your typical blaster fire. Kole had snapped his head in the direction of it, or so where he believed it had originated. His expression was alarmed, concerned, and he felt a little bit naked considering his gun wasn't on him. "Are you alright?" He asked, his head turning back to face Lyn. He knew she was, at least physically.

They ultimately arrived, and so Kole could rest easy with the acknowledgement that they weren't dead or in any serious trouble. Yet. He hadn't a verbal reply, yet another nod of his head and familiar grin that hadn't any real need to be there but almost felt necessary as a response. His hand positioned itself on the internal handle, the door opened, and he slid out. Kole craned his neck, looking up towards the building as the neon lights had bathed him in their vibrant colours. Home. He softly mused in a low whisper within his own mind, almost as if in satire. They did say home is where the heart is, and so maybe Lyn and Kole could have a home anywhere.

[member="Murder in Neos"] | [member="Lynnori Cruz"]

 

[Murder in Neos]

The valet silently slid into the empty drivers seat Lynnori had just vacated. Once Kole had departed the car started and drove off, down the street and away from the building. The engine roared as it gained incredible speed. Someone laughed. At a window was a man looking out. His jaw was mechanical and he wore an akubra. Dark skin and black eyes. His teeth flashed an obsidian smile. "That wasn't a valet," he said, "This isn't a hotel." The man stood from his chair by the window, left from their sight and reemerged at the entrance to the building.

"The names Douglas," he introduced himself. He wore a heavy brown leather trenchcoat. There were pistols on either side of his hips. A gunslinger. "I'm not associated with Mr. Rigger but I was paid to take you to your room." He turned on his heel at which point they'd notice he didn't actually have feet. His legs were carved clean at his knees and replaced by thin prosthetics that had a slight bounce with eat step. His feet looked like small skis. Blade runners. He led them through the lobby. The mood was damp with depression. There was a cloud of smoke from deathsticks. Lights above flashed neon red and blue. An elevator ahead awaited them.

Once inside the doors would close behind them. "You've chosen a bad time to come to Neos, Lysle's grip is slipping," he pushed a button for the seventy-third floor. "The only Ravens you'll find outside the CBD are those droids. Lysle hasn't risked any of his real goons since Valentine was gutted in a street." His explanation was enough to clue them in to why no actual Ravens had met them at the train station or apartment complex. Their only Raven contact would be the netrunner Spook.

"BodMods has a grip on this city," he said, explaining that they were an underground corporation dealing in cybernetics and illegal firearms smuggling into Neos, more specifically the CBD where they had strict policies on blasters and slugthrowers. "Corporate samurai, cyber ninjas and road warriors," Douglas said, "Neos has never had a problem like this. The city is crumbling. The Ravens can't hold it together." The gunslinger went on to explain the dynamics of corporate politics on Neos. How corporations were funding groups that targeted the Ravens while simultaneously arming the Ravens, gaining profits on both sides.

 

[Rakaan Horne]

NEOS CITY​

NEOS​

​

Kole reared his head over his shoulder once the sound of the engine began roaring ever so violently. It wasn't something you were typically going to expect of a valet, abusing a customer or a visitor's automobile in such a way. It made sense to the Human Replica Droid in that moment, though. He almost tensed a grin, but the kind you often made when frustrated and weren't really able to comprehend your own actions. Kole seemed to make plenty of those, more so after becoming entangled with this Zeltron. His synthetic eyes shifted to the vibrantly coloured alien with a mouth almost ajar. A huff of air left him, and following it were shakes of the head- no doubt in some form of disappointment.

Really?

Douglas made himself known and Kole only watched and listened, his eyes trailing his form as each new detail had revealed itself. It was clear to him, and likely Lyn, that this figure hadn't been another ruse. Kole, rudely, cast a brief stare at those prosthetic legs. They were an eye-sore, but maybe some ladies (or gentlemen) had a thing for the disfigured type. Whackjobs, he'd call them, but never to their face.

​The Droid had trailed alongside Douglas with wandering eyes as they surveyed the interior of the building. There was plenty to see even if there wasn't. Kole had prided himself on his ability to be rather perceptive, and each detail was something his artificial mind could store within for that very reason. Robotics, as they were, had been far greater memory retainers than something, say, organic. Nevertheless, each word was listened to with a degree of care- even if it didn't seem as if that was the case.

Ultimately, however, Kole aimed those blue orbs of his into Douglas'. There was a passive seriousness to it, but nothing hostile. "I only need to know who killed Valentine." He had explained with a particular firmness to his voice. It was the truth, after all. No matter how interesting all these politics may be, it wasn't essential to the case he was running. "You wouldn't know anything about that?" The tone persisted.

[member="Murder in Neos"] | [member="Lynnori Cruz"]