Preface: Enter Pandora, Stage Left

[Charybdis Richelle]

{GM}

Pandora nods, and a tension that Skye hadn’t even realized the decker was holding melts away as it drains from her shoulder, neck, back, and face. With the wrinkles from her repressed anxiety gone, Pandora looks far younger and more innocent.

“Good,” she says. “I haven’t really needed to use my echolocation in a while, and I’m rather rusty.” She sighs. “Is there anything in the room immediately dangerous? Knives laying out of the counter or in the sink? Open flame or worse yet those damn pressure-activated burners? Rat traps? Contact poisons? And is there anything in here someone will get slotted off if I touch – their great, great grandfather’s cup or their mother’s best china? I’d like to take a closer look if that’s alright?” Turning to face Skye, she wiggles her fingers to make her intentions clear.

Then the decker makes her way to the sink, turns on the water, and uses a bit of dish soap to scrub up from fingertips to elbows as thoroughly as any surgeon preparing for brain surgery.

As she’s scrubbing, Pandora says, “The Hope in the Box Foundation is dedicated to eradicate blindness from the world. Our activities as as simple as providing cybereyes for those who can’t afford them, or lack a SIN to get them, or both and as complex as funding cutting edge research from vat-growing cultured bioware to replace lost eye to experimentation with creating visual systems through implanted computer and camera systems. We hear proposals from a wide variety of companies and individuals who have creative suggestions that have merit, but not university, hospital, or corporate sponsorship.” Her fingers quest for a dish towel or paper towels to dry her hands and forearms.

“And how did I get funding?” she spreads her hands wide. “Well, first off I have a tidy trust fund provided for me by Shiawase – reparation for the damage caused by their vaccine. Even though at the root, it was not their fault, it was their name on the product, and they have done what they can for the victims of the sabotage to the DISERV vaccine. Secondly, I have gotten rather good at begging. My family knows people… who know people… who know people… And they get me on the speakers lists at quite a few high-end charity events.”

Then the decker flashes a Cheshire-cat smile. “And I happen to be a goddess in the ’Trix… And as Oberon says, ‘Nuyen is data; data is nuyen,’ neh?”

[Gremlin]

“Is there anything in the room immediately dangerous? Knives laying out of the counter or in the sink? Open flame or worse yet those damn pressure-activated burners? Rat traps? Contact poisons? And is there anything in here someone will get slotted off if I touch – their great, great grandfather’s cup or their mother’s best china? I’d like to take a closer look if that’s alright?”

"Knives? Not right now but the kitchen is shared by a lot of people so that might not always be the case. It's a flattop stove so no open flames or pressure burners, but I imagine a flattop would present its own set of problems since it's all, you know, flat. If you plan on cooking here a lot, maybe a hot plate or electric kettle or something might be a good idea? I don't know now how easy it'll be to tell where the stove burner are by feel," Skye muses, genuinely trying to help but probably sticking her foot in her mouth.

"The better news is, no traps or poisons. This is a pretty nice place inside so we haven't had any trouble with vermin," she continues, heedless if she gave any offense. "The only thing in the kitchen of mine I'd ask to leave alone are my chopsticks. They're black lacquered chopsticks but you can tell the difference from those cheap disposable ones pretty easily. I know they're 'only' eating utensils but to me it's like sharing a toothbrush. I just don't like other people to use them."

Skye finishes her tea, savoring the herbal flavor. She uses the time to consider a followup on something Pandora had just said. Skye hadn't intended to pry into the decker's entire history, she was just curious about her eyes!, but Pandora has been so forthcoming on her own that she brought up something that set off a small alarm bell in Skye's brain. The next question would probably sound like a job interview question, but there's no getting around that.

"What's your interest in decking for a shadowrun team then?" Skye asks, trying to make the question sound conversational. "It sounds like you already have plenty of nuyen. Now, people have other motives to run the shadows besides nuyen, I know I do, but I'd be lying if I said nuyen wasn't the primary reason."

[Charybdis Richelle]

{GM}

Pandora smiles as Skye fumbles through trying to tell her about the stove. “Cooking? Me?” she says with a grin. “Sure, soy noodles or stuffers in the microwave.” Then sobering, she adds, “Actually, Skye, knowing what kind of stove top it is helps a lot. Now I know I need to find the controls and turn on each burner by itself. If I hold my hand over it at a safe distance, I can easily work out the parameters of the burner. Then, let it cool and repeat. It takes practice to remember where they are, but I can always heat the burner just a little before using it to cook… in the twice a year I actually want to scramble a synth egg or something.”

“Got it,” Pandora says about the lacquered chopsticks. “Does anyone else have personal chopsticks? Most are textured, so even without seeing colors, I can easily learn to tell them apart. It’s not unlike Braille, really. I’ll ask the others about personal items. Mine is my Stuffer Shack Extreme Cup. It’s a first edition, which means I get all of my fountain Fizzy Goo at half price… and I get to tweak staff about it too… Most think the promotion has ended… which is true for every other run of the cup. But the first edition data work said it was a lifetime promotion. And a class action lawsuit has enforced that.” She grins here, too.

Pandora pauses when Skye asks why she runs the shadows. She shakes her head. “What else what I do? I would be bored as drek at a desk job; that would be Hades. Accounting is boring as hell. I finished the degree to make my father proud, but I told him before I started that it would never be my life’s work. I love English and history and mythology, but that’s not really a way to make a living… So, what are my useful skills? Decking. Most people think of decking as a logical experience – all numbers and patterns and stuff. And it is, sometimes. But, it’s also beating the system… and moreso, beating the system designer. Cracking a truly challenging system is figuring out how the IC’s programmer thinks. Especially in sculpted systems. There my humanities training comes in handy. I know how to be part of a sculpted system, to become part of the metaphor. And that opens doors…”

“My therapist thinks I deck because the ’Trix gives me the illusion of sight, and she’s not wrong. That’s definitely why I started decking. And it’s how I got Shiawase to pay for my first deck and headware – the latter which nearly killed me, so I can never hope to upgrade, but that’s a different story. But… I guess part of me is a rebel at heart. Like my namesake, I am driven by curiosity. What’s behind the next door? What’s in the next node? What would happen if I…? Decking lets me do that. In some ways, I guess I am as much an adrenaline junkie as any mad coyote.” She shrugs.

“I can’t do any of that as a corporate decker. 90% of legal decking is security work. Designing IC, hunting down intruders.” She shudders. “I don’t want to do that, especially working on the new drek Frigidaire has started putting out. Those psychotropics are Hades on Earth.” Her shudder hear is deeper, and her pallor goes green. For a moment Skye thinks Pandora might actually vomit. But she takes a few deep breathes and gathers herself.

“But you didn’t ask about decking. You asked about shadow work. For me, though, they are one and the same. My desire to know takes me places They – the infamous Them – don’t want me to go… And I want to find out who tainted that batch of vaccine. Not for vengeance… not any more. For accountability. It will be easier to find the operatives that did the deed than those who paid for it. And I need to find them to find the next lead. So, how do I do that? I have to learn to think like a runner. And I can’t just take a class in that at Seattle University, neh?”

“Does any of that make sense to you? I know it’s not a straight line answer,” Pandora says. “But it is an honest one. And about as clear as I can put it into words.”

[Gremlin]

Skye

“Does any of that make sense to you? I know it’s not a straight line answer,” Pandora says. “But it is an honest one. And about as clear as I can put it into words.”

"Makes sense. It sounds like you want to do it to give yourself direction. Not purpose, you seem to have plenty of that. But you could do all that decking and other stuff without running the shadows. Shadow ops point you to places you wouldn't otherwise consider and forces you to use and hone skills in ways you otherwise wouldn't," Skye comments. "Just my opinion, of course. Sorry, I don't mean to psychoanalyze you. I'm sure you get court mandated psych evals or something for that."

Skye walks over to the cupboard and takes out a bag of her favorite wasabi peas. "Speaking of which, terrorism conviction? Oh, and want some wasabi peas?"

[Charybdis Richelle]

{GM}

“Sort of,” Pandora agrees about Skye’s assessment. As she talks, she walks to the industrial rack and begins running her hands over the surface and its contacts. She starts at the bottom and works her way up, stopping before doing the top shelf as she can’t reach even the edge while on tiptoes. “Not exactly, but I really can’t think of a better way to express it.” She shrugs. “But close enough for you to judge my motivations, I guess.”

The decker chuckles at the mention of therapy. She moves to the freezer, walking her fingers along the top and opening it. “Oh, yeah,” she says, moving to start a quick search of the freezer’s contents, finding the baskets on the side and the inner shelf, but does not quite take inventory. “Once a month with a court appointed shrink and Matrix Anonymous twice a week.” Pandora gives a wicked grin. “I've graduated past needing daily meetings. I’m almost due to get my two-year pin.” The decker sobers.

“The terrorist charge,” Pandora says, stopping in front of the first refrigerator, the traditional one with the freezer on top. She turns to face Skye. She sighs. “That’s another long story,” she says. “Let me just give you the highlights of that one. Otherwise we’ll be sitting here until the end of time.”

Pandora turns back to the freezer and opens the door, doing a quick search here and moving on to the fridge, too, generally noting what is where – at least with obvious items like soy-milk, almost-butter, synth-eggs, and the like. “Maybe later, Skye,” she says to the offer of wasabi peas. “I love them, but I’d like to finish looking around first.” She steps to the second fridge, the side-by-side, and repeats the process.

“I had only just started seriously decking,” Pandora says. Then she stops, shaking her head. “No, that’s not true. I have been serious about the ’Trix since I finally convinced Dr. Thames to implant my datajack and relevant headware when I was twelve.” She gives a harsh chuckle. “Okay, when I was out of recovery some six months later. Apparently, the neural decay from the corrupted vaccine does not play well with cyberware. I am under strong caution never to implant more. Dr. Thane wanted to remove it, but consulting the biotechnical team convinced him that it would cause further complications.”

Crouching in front of the fridge, fingering cans – a mixed selection of soda, fruit-flavored liquid nutrisoy, soy beer, synth ale, and assorted cocktails – Pandora pauses. “Can you tell me what these are? Any of them Fizzy Goo, by any chance? Ultra Umph if Ghost doesn’t hate me today?”

[Gremlin]

Skye

Crouching in front of the fridge, fingering cans – a mixed selection of soda, fruit-flavored liquid nutrisoy, soy beer, synth ale, and assorted cocktails – Pandora pauses. “Can you tell me what these are? Any of them Fizzy Goo, by any chance? Ultra Umph if Ghost doesn’t hate me today?”

"No Fizzy Goo, it's just a a collection of soda, fruit-flavored liquid nutrisoy, soy beer, synth ale, and assorted cocktails," Skye answers.

[Charybdis Richelle]

{GM}

“Frag!” Pandora says, but the curse word holds no heat. “I definitely gotta go shopping then before I drop dead from withdrawal.”

The decker keys a button on her wrist phone and says, “Barcode reader.” She takes a minute scanning cans with her wrist phone reading out the products until she gets a Bubbly Blue cola. “Not nearly enough caffeine,” she says, with a grin, “But almost enough sugar to make up for it.” She pops the top and drains about a third of the soda and sets the rest on the table.

Returning to feeling her way around the kitchen, running her fingers over almost everything on the counters and in the cabinets, Pandora continues. “Okay, where was I? Oh, yeah. I had just started professionally decking,” she says, correcting her earlier description. “I had been in college long enough that the thrill of living away from home had worn off. I had recently graduated with my two undergraduate degrees and looking for any excuse not to go back home, I started grad school. I was still underage, so Shiawase remained obligated to see to my education. But frankly, I was bored. I started small, like most deckers do. I don’t think anyone starts off going, ‘I think I’ll try and run Fuchi Japan today.’ A friend was failing Algebra 101. Even my tutoring wasn’t helping. He was really bad at math. If he failed, there went his scholarship, and he was barely hanging on financially as it was. No way he could pay for classes. So I skated into the university mainframe and passed him. Nothing spectacular, just a good solid C. He was grateful, and it was fun.”

Pandora starts on the next counter. “One thing led to another and I started doing favors first for friends, then friends of friends, then the circle got a little wider. I started hanging ’round the decker clubs – in the ’Trix, of course, I wasn’t legally old enough to even go into bars and nightclubs in the meat, let alone order drinks. But, the decking community in Seattle’s pretty tight. I could learn more in an evening at Syberspace than I could figure out on my own in months. I kept pushing boundaries, even found the way into Shadowland, met the Captain, the whole deal, neh? Then I started hearing about pro gigs. I started small. Mostly just did data theft, but every once in a while a team’d ask me to do ’Trix overwatch. Always from the comfort of my dorm room. I’m pretty independent, but I do have some sense of my limitations… Sometimes… Every once in a while, anyway. I wasn’t ready to show up in the flesh on an actual shadowrun. Trying to sneak and hide in a strange place while the lead is flying? No, thanks.”

“But what happened? I wanted to push boundaries. I wanted to test myself. Go further. I think every decker does, really. But my rig wasn’t up to it. It was a nice piece of hardware, don’t get me wrong. I know many a newbie who’d cut off their right arm for what I had.” She shrugs. “But Shiawase’d given me that deck to let me experience the illusion of sight. They expected me to use it for virtual tourism, composing term papers, maybe a little research here or there. So, I had a great foundation, but I started pouring all my ready nuyen into improving my deck. Which meant I could try harder systems… Which let me improve… Which made me want to push even higher boundaries… Which meant I needed a better deck. See the pattern?” the decker asks. She picks up her can and gulps about half of what remains.

[Gremlin]

{GM}
“But what happened? I wanted to push boundaries. I wanted to test myself. Go further. I think every decker does, really. But my rig wasn’t up to it. It was a nice piece of hardware, don’t get me wrong. I know many a newbie who’d cut off their right arm for what I had.” She shrugs. “But Shiawase’d given me that deck to let me experience the illusion of sight. They expected me to use it for virtual tourism, composing term papers, maybe a little research here or there. So, I had a great foundation, but I started pouring all my ready nuyen into improving my deck. Which meant I could try harder systems… Which let me improve… Which made me want to push even higher boundaries… Which meant I needed a better deck. See the pattern?” the decker asks. She picks up her can and gulps about half of what remains.

"I mean, that's how it is with a lot of us. Magicians pour nuyen into learning new spells to take tougher jobs to make more nuyen for more spells or foci, etcetera. I bet it's the same with sammies and mercs with their cyberware and gear," Skye comments.

[Charybdis Richelle]

{GM}

“Probably,” Pandora admits. “Now, couple that with one of the most profound moments of my career. I was in Shadowland, chatting with this novahot kid – and I mean that literally. Since then, I’ve had occasion to meet him in the meat. He was, I don’t know… 7? 8? No more than 9 at the most. Honestly, I don’t think he knows himself. But we were talking about the difficulties we both had experienced with the IC in a particular system, and who overhears and chimes in with his two nuyen? I drek you not… Oberon himself… in the electrons. And he came to talk to us! Anyway, in the course of that conversation, he told me that I was almost as good as I thought I was. Then, to take the sting out of it, I guess, he added, ‘Which is, mayhap, true of all deckers. Verily, ’tis true of all good deckers, to be certain – myself included, milady.’ So, I ever so boldly asked Obi-Wan what I could do to improve, and he said, ‘Forget the box. You have already learned to think out of the box, methinks, milady, but you continue to keep it in close proximity – like a swimmer staying within arms’ length of the edge of the pool. Forget the box ever existed. Remove all traces of it from your mind.’” She snorts. “Which I completely misunderstood. I think I am beginning to get a sense of it now, but at the time, at sixteen, my mind wasn’t nearly developed enough to truly process what he meant. But I thought I did. And it didn’t help that Oberon turned around to talk to Commander Keen, the kid I mentioned, and asked him, ‘Would you care to join me by the fireside, my young lord? I believe I see your conundrum.’ He invited that snot-nosed little brat and not me. I was hurt, embarrassed, angry, humiliated – not that Oberon was rude about it. I don’t think I’ve ever heard tell that he’s ever been less that absolutely polite to anyone, not even his enemies. But Oberon only brings in the best of the best to his private room at Shadowland. Keen got an invitation, and I didn’t. So, I decided I had something to prove.”

Pandora chuckles. She finishes her soda and says, “I was such an idiot. Oberon took the time to stop and give me advice, and I got my all my circuits fried because he didn’t give me a gold-star that day.” She shrugs. “But I was 16 and arrogant as Hades. I convinced myself that he meant I needed to take bigger risks, that I wasn’t pushing my boundaries fast enough.” Having finished her tour of the kitchen, she returns to the sink and scrubs her hands again before retaking her seat. “So, the fuse was primed, and I was completely ready to light it…”

[Gremlin]

Skye

"Are you sure you don't want some wasabi peas?" Skye asks as she pops a few more in her mouth while she listens to the verbose decker.

[Charybdis Richelle]

{GM}

“I’m sure, Skye, thanks,” Pandora says. “I already ate this week.” She chuckles. Then, seeming to pick up some impatience, she adds, “You know, if I’m rambling on too much, just tell me to zip it. I can always go scope out my room and work on learning the layout of the building.” She shrugs. “You’re the one that asked for my life history. But you don’t know me, so how were you to know I’d actually give it to you?”

The decker stands and puts her empty can in the trash bin. She opens the fridge and picks another Bubbly Blue from memory. “Hey, where do you keep the refills? I should put some back in. I’ll go shopping before I come back, but even now I can at least replenish what I took from the ones in the cupboard so the next chummer has cold ones.”

[Gremlin]

Skye

"Uh, to your left is the pantry. Check the bottom. I don't drink those but that usually where all the surplus stuff gets put," Skye replies.

"And by all means, keep going," she adds, amusement in her voice. "I'm dying to know what turned you into a convicted terrorist."

[Charybdis Richelle]

{GM}

“Thanks, Skye,” Pandora says. She opens the pantry door and crouches down, feeling around until she finds the cans. Once she does, she once again uses the bar code reader on her phone to find Bubby Blue soda. She pulls out a whole 6-pack and puts them on the bottom shelf of the fridge. “Well, the short answer would be fragging Judge Rathers, but that’s getting a little ahead of myself.”

She pops the top on her new soda and says, “So, slowly my rep starts building. Just after finals, I get a call from a prior client, a friend of his needs someone for a heavy run, can he give them my LTG? I said, “Sure.” I mean, I run my calls through at least three proxies anyway, and I can always change the starting point. So this fellow, Tommy Wander-Skies, buzzes me and says that he and some chummers of his need a decker for a run against Council Island. I ask what’s the skate, and he says datasteal… and maybe a bit of overwatch when they go in. They need to pick up a few cultural items in addition to the data. I knew from general chatter that most of the hard paydata for Council Island is in a closed, stand-alone system. I told Tommy this, told him that anything really valuable wouldn’t be available from the ’Trix. A decker’d have to go in with the team and jack into the system on site. He says fine and offers to pay me twice my normal fee.” She shakes her head.

The decker takes a sip of her soda and goes on. “I wasn’t a total idiot, I told Tommy I didn’t do on-site work. I explained about my blindness and how that would make me a liability in a physical run. I turned him down and offered to recommend another decker. When I did, Tommy said he’s already asked that decker and his usual one was busy. That’s why he’d called me in the first place. When I refused again, Tommy thought I was bargaining. And I guess, in the end, I was. I had no intention of doing something that reckless. But Tommy started waving around numbers that ran right over my common sense. And then he offered to throw in a new bit of tech, restricted only to the Crow tribe, and two proggies I’d been dying to get. Charming fragger that he was, Tommy also started playing to my ego. ‘Think of what Shadowland will say… Someone cracked Council Island… Whoever did it would make a name for sure.’ That sort of thing. And thinking I needed to stretch myself away from my comfortable niche if I ever hoped to sit in on one of Oberon’s fireside chats, I let Tommy talk me into it.”

“What I didn’t know then was that Tommy Wander-Skies was a lieutenant in M-C Resurgence; they’d been working to smuggle in weapons for months to ‘defend themselves from go-gang attacks.’ They were ready to make their move to overthrow Chief Moses. But they didn’t tell me. They just let me blindly think they were playing some sort of intertribal prank.” She chuckles a bit on the word ‘blindly.’

“Trouble was, this action was compromised from the get-go. M-C Resurgence had a mole or something. The troops on Council Island were waiting for us the moment we stepped in the door. They let us get just far enough to be certain the charges would stick and then took us down – hard. Tommy and his number two, Ethan Eagle’s-Bane fought. Council Island security mowed them down like wheat in the field. Me, I hit the deck screaming, ‘I surrender’ at the top of my lungs. Ghost, I shudder to remember how close I came to drekking myself.” Pandora chuckles at her own predicament. She chugs about half of her soda.

“The rest you can see in the news archives. I was the scrawny little thing in a floral sundress, staggering because I couldn't use my cane with my hands cuffed behind my back. All of us were arrested for breaking and entering, insurrection, and terrorism. Frag, they found 15 kilos of C12 on Tommy's person -- the same again on Ethan's. Me? The most dangerous thing I had was a pin that, in Braille, read, 'Give me coffee or give me death.' For me, they added illegal decking with intent for mayhem, or something to that effect. The decking charge was bulldrek. I didn’t even have the chance to jack in. Even the judge threw that charge out.” The decker taps the jackstopper supposedly keeping her out of the Matrix. “Almost six years later, I’m still barred from the ’Trix for something I didn’t even have the chance to do. The B&E was more concerning, though I really had no part in that either. I just walked through the opened door.” Pandora takes a pull of her Bubbly Blue and definitely looks like she wishes it were laced with something.

“No, what landed me in Silcox were the insurrection and terrorism charges even though they were as bogus as a politician’s promises. I was there for a data grab. Insurrection? I had no fragging clue there was even a schism within Salish-Shidhe, let alone the name of the current ambassador to Seattle. Like I wanted to take him down. Terrorism? I was about as terrifying as a day-old kitten. The only one terrified there was me. I wasn’t even armed. I mean, really. A blind girl with a gun. Even the officer laughed as she searched me.”

“But none of that mattered. Guilt by association. ‘Choose your friends more wisely, young lady,’ Judge Rathers told me, right before she announced I would be sentenced to Silcox.” She rolls her unseeing eyes. “I might have just gotten a few extra months for asking if I would meet the right kind of friends in lockup.”

She chugs some more Bubbly Blue. “And there you have it, Skye, the whole sordid story.”

[Gremlin]

Skye

"Ah, the UCAS criminal justice system," Skye says, shaking her head -- a gesture likely lost on Pandora. "That's rough. But I guess that's kind of badass to have on your sheet if you ever need to establish your cred to someone."

Skye gets up, pushing her chair back loudly. "Well, I'm meeting someone in a little bit so I need to get changed. It's nice meeting you and thanks for the storytime." As she's headed out of the kitchen, she adds with a laugh, "And welcome to the loony bin I guess!"

[Charybdis Richelle]

{GM}

Pandora shrugs. “I guess something good came of it,” she says, “I met Baby Blue.”

“Have fun storming the castle,” Pandora says, quoting a flat-sensie she’s never experienced.

“And watch your back,” she adds the traditional runners’ benediction as automatically as breathing.

Pandora laughs at the comment about the loony bin, but she doesn’t respond. Instead she finishes chugging the rest of her second Bubbly Blue and continues her slow exploration of the house, softly clicking her tongue, and frowning at the odd echoes in this place. First stop, she thinks, has got to be the bathroom.

If she hears anyone nearby, she will ask for directions.

[shaidar]

{Revs}

As Pandora disposes of the empty Bubbly Blue bottle and turns towards the door she hears the scuffing of boots and someone clears their throat "Me and Bone Biter keep the decent coffee on the top shelf. The muck the others drink is on the bottom shelf. We can move it around if it makes it easier for you, no trouble."

[Charybdis Richelle]

{GM}

“That was the stuff Bone Biter gave me earlier, yeah, Revs? It was Revs, right?” Pandora asks, tying voice to name. “It was almost passable, a little weak, but not too bad.” She nods.

“If there’s a step ladder somewhere near here,” she says, “The top shelf’s fine, but if I’d have to be climbing the cabinets to get to it, yeah, I’d appreciate you moving it down. I suspect the boss might freak a little if he walked in to find me hanging from a cabinet door like a spider monkey.” She chuckles. “I do it at home all the time, yeah? But…” She shrugs.

“Soon’s I have a chance, I’ll bring over some Apocalypse Anti-Matter. That one doesn’t even need to be double-brewed to be passable. And it holds more sugar in solution than any other coffee on the market.”

[shaidar]

{Revs}

"Yup, Revs, that's me. I've never tried the anti-matter, but I'd like to. We can't have Headstone pop a vein, just let me know if you need a hand moving things around. That echo location you do, the clicking, that's pretty impressive, but it must still be a challenge in a new place. I can show you around if you like, point out some less obvious dangers... If you want, that is."

[Charybdis Richelle]

{Revs}

"Yup, Revs, that's me. I've never tried the anti-matter, but I'd like to. We can't have Headstone pop a vein.

{GM}

Pandora grins. “Yeah, not a good idea to make your boss stroke out on your first day,” she says. “I really need this job for the next three months, so I’ve gotta be good ’til then. After that, I’ll be free to live as I please.” Her grin broadens into a full-on smile, and her tone lilts.

{Revs}

"Just let me know if you need a hand moving things around."

{GM}

“Thanks,” she says. “If you’ll just make sure that the strongest coffee available, Fizzy Goo Ultra Umph, Chocolate NERPS, and high-protein, high-sugar microwavable stuffers are within arm’s reach, that’d be frosty.”

“Only other thing I really need is a jar of hard candy, but I’ll set that next to my desk. Sometimes if I’m in the ’Trix for three or four days, I need a little sugar boost to make it to the protein bars in the kitchen, neh?” Though she’s halfway laughing as she says it, somehow Revs gets the feeling that Pandora means this literally.

{Revs}

That echolocation you do, the clicking, that's pretty impressive, but it must still be a challenge in a new place. I can show you around if you like, point out some less obvious dangers... If you want, that is."

{GM}
“Yeah, I’m really rusty,” Pandora admits. “Not that I was ever really that great at it. I’ve met kids who are confident enough they go outside into a city playground and ride skateboards or even bike.” Envy seeps through her tone. “I’ve never been even close to that good. I do okay standing still, but moving at more than a snail’s pace, it throws me off. Outside, with all the distractions and other sounds to interfere, I’m lost. I struggle in wide open spaces. Silcox was a slitch, too. And not just because it made me stand out even more than I already did.” She shrugs.

“I like to echolocate in a new place. It really helps me draw my mental map. But this place echoes really strangely,” the self-proclaimed accountant says, “So, yeah, if you have the time, that tour would be really wiz. I don’t want to start off my stay by walking off a catwalk or something,” She chuckles.

“I’d especially like to find my room,” she says. “Before social fatigue sets in too hard. No one ever believes me because I never shut up, but I’m a strong introvert, about as far as you can go on the Myers-Briggs. And after all this social, I’m probably going to sleep for three days.”

“Headstone said it is the second to last one in the hallway to the left… And I think Baby Blue said it was right next to hers. We don’t have to go straight there or anything, but I’d like to end up there at the end, neh?” she starts moving towards the kitchen door, sweeping her white cane before her. “Lead on, McDuff.”

[shaidar]

{Revs}

"I get the introvert thing, sometimes I think I understand vehicles better than people, it's hard to explain...I just have this...instinct...I suppose. I guess that sounds odd from someone in a band, who goes out in front of all those people, but to be honest when I'm on stage I'm thinking about the music and not the faces looking at me." he clears his throat " Anyway, let's show you some of the basics now, the living room and the bathrooms at least."