At the community center

It's been a month since you all have had any real work together. By coincidence, everyone happens to gather at the community center at the same time to see if there's any work to be done. It seems some new people have gathered the motley crew of misfits as well...

Pretti is clad in a cut-off shirt, a leather jacket, amazonian bracelets, and… no pants. Her bare midriff is attached to a mechanical pelvis at the waist. She has taloned metal legs and a tail with a pointy end like a she-devil.

Her smile is more angelic. Those familiar with Shinto religion might note her charm from the Temple of the Heart. She only recognizes Kin, and of course she knows Emiko, who drove her here from the temple.

She introduces herself to the strangers. “You can call me Pretti,” she says with a friendly wave. Then almost immediately she adds, “’Cause it’s my name, I mean. Not like—I’m not bragging, y’know?”

Kin comes out of his bedroom to a crowd gathered in a common area. It's good to see everyone back together. Though he's had a busy time after the King Cobra encounter, he's anxious to get back to work.

Finally settled in his new abode, Kin greets each of the individuals who are present with a big, genuine smile and nods to each in turn.

Edison could tell by the way Little Brother pulls the layers of clothes tighter around his not quite human frame that he was self conscious about being around strangers and being discovered as an anthrodrone. He was sympathetic to his little brother's emotions, Edison couldn't conceal his heritage either, he was feeling a little self conscious himself. Regardless of this he did his best to match the vibe of the crowd, introducing Little Brother as "LB"

Emiko walks in with Pretti and says hello to everyone. Not having met Edison before, she bows to him and says, "hello, I am Emiko Amaterasu. It's a pleasure to meet you."

She tries to strike up small talk with those in the room, asking what they have been up to.

Kin turns to Emiko.

"Well, let's see. Had a little work done to my car, went for a swim, met up with an old friend, and had a fun night of karaoke."

He gives her a big smile and a wink.

Pretti turns to Emiko. “I want to talk to your friend, Setsuko, before I go and throw myself into a game where people aren’t supposed to die… but they did. It reminds me of the job I did a couple weeks back, preventing a cheat. But that wasn’t very dangerous.

“I wouldn’t even consider throwing myself into this sorta thing, but… she’s your friend. I meet her before I meet her coach.”

“Of course! Let’s see if we can get her on the commlink.”

Emiko holds the commlink so she and Pretti can be seen.

If Setsuko answers
“Hi Setsuko! This is my friend Pretti. She is interested in filling in and wanted to talk to you about it.”

If Setsuko does not answer, Emiko leaves a message
“Hi Setsuko! I have someone interested in filling in for you and has a few questions she’d like to talk to you about. Give me a call.”

Pretti says, Plenty. But I guess we can start with what exactly happened to you, and don’t hold back on the gory details.

Pretti takes the com so the camera pans down to her bare midriff, to the waist where flesh meets metal, and all the way down her legs, stopping at the talons. After a couple seconds, she pans back up to her face, saying,

“Been a victim of senseless violence myself. The second thing is, what time can we meet? Can we meet today? With only a week to learn this… game… I don’t wanna waste any time.”

Pretti replies, “Sure! I got your number from Emiko’s comm, so…”

She sends a text to Setsuko that just says,
Call me!
, Pretti

“…now you got mine. Send a location, and I’ll be there within the hour!”

She then says to Emiko, “Um… if any jobs are left undone after a week or so, I’m happy to work with you assuming I do alright with your friend. Also, tell me something when you can.”

Pretti types a text message, sent to Emiko, which she can check later.

When Emiko immediately replies, Pretti grins a little and waits for Setsuko to send a location.

“Well, I’ll do my best to help your friend. Can you show me these replay videos she mentioned? As much as it pains me to ask, I mean the replays of her teammates as well. Not that I… I don’t wanna watch anyone die.

“But I do want to see the faces of their killers. And the face of the one who hurt Setsuko, too.”

“I actually have a hard time watching them. I can set you up to watch some highlights from last game but I’d prefer not to watch. It’s probably how MK feels about you working.”

Emiko downloads some clips and shows Pretti how to work her deck. Emiko giggles to herself thinking how Sam would think it’s ridiculous to let another person touch her deck.

“Let me know if you need any help, Pretti. I’ll be back.”

Emiko goes off to chat with others.

Pretti excuses herself for a few minutes…

When she returns, she comes back in looking deeply disturbed. It’s not lost on her that Emiko compared herself to MK. Pretti might have smiled upon hearing that. After that video, smiling about anything just seems… wrong.

“I sent the highlight reel to my own comm. I saw… your friend. I couldn’t watch more than that. I’ve seen the full video of what happened to me but… it’s different to see someone else go through that sorta thing.”

Pretti gives Emiko her comm back, then says with conviction, “I won’t let you down, Emiko. Oh, but I won’t let MK watch the game either… just in case.”

Emiko takes back her deck and says, “be careful.”