Don't let them see he's getting to you.
"Why don't you come in..." Lucho said as he looked back over his shoulder to his fellow inmates. "I'll give you a very thorough personal interview." He finished by grabbing the front of his orange pants.
The other inmates laughed and Ortiz warned him to keep it professional.
"Come on, Boss, just havin' a little fun. That's all. Just a little fun."
"Yes or no, Hernandez?" Ortiz asked.
Lucho glanced back to the card game then back to Piper.
"Yeah, okay."
Ortiz found them a cleared room just off the block and Lucho waited, leaning against the gate that led directly into the room. While Ortiz sat two chairs around a plain metal table, Piper watched Lucho closely. The inmate smirked and rubbed his chin as a couple of the other inmates cat called to him. When Ortiz asked him to turn around and place his hands together, the other inmates jeered and Lucho stuck out his tongue and grabbed the front of his pants again. The cons cheered and whistled and Lucho turned to face Ortiz then slipped his wrists through the tiny slot in the gate. In a matter of seconds, Ortiz had him cuffed and let him through.
Lucho took a seat and Piper sat across from him. She could feel her adrenaline starting to pound through her veins. She'd finally get to interview a key player at the prison.
Piper ran through some standard questions. Where he was from, what landed him there? Pretty basic stuff. She was surprised at how willing the con seemed to talk, though she wasn’t sure how truthful his answers were.
About twenty minutes in Rico, Jason, and Jenkins popped in. Piper signaled for Rico to start rolling.
As Lucho talked, she noticed the dulled nanite tattoos that looked more like scars than colorful body art. But a fresh old school tattoo marred his blocked nanite ink sleeve. She'd done enough research to know it looked gang affiliated.
"What about the gang your in?" Piper asked as he finished what he was saying.
"What about it?" Lucho said, his eyes clouding slightly.
"Can you tell us about it? That's what that tat is for isn't it?" She said pointing to the shitty prison tattoo. "MMK?"
"If you say so."
"We're filming a documentary, the staff has assured me there won't be any retaliation for your honesty," Piper said. "How'd you become affiliated with MMK?"
Lucho shrugged.
"You don't know or you won't tell me?"
Lucho was silent, but she could see the anger mounting behind his dark eyes.
"Who runs MMK?" Piper asked. “Who's calling the shots? Is it you?" She was deliberately poking the bear, she knew it, and she had a feeling Lucho knew it too.
"How the fuck should I know?"
"I have a hard time believing you don't know anything about this gang you're a part of. It's displayed on your arm."
"It's not like this damn link goes both ways."
The rage was bubbling to the surface. She wanted to push just a little further.
"So you don't know anything. No clue? I find that hard to believe."
"It's not like I can ask the little shit playing me, can I? Yes, I have a fuckin' MMK tattoo, but it wasn't my choice. I don't even know what the fuck it stands for."
"It makes you angry, that some kid out there is controlling your actions? Deciding these things for you?" Piper asked, carefully steering the conversation.
"Fuck yes it does. Wouldn't you be? Your life taken from you, someone else too chicken shit to live this life for real, deciding everything you do? When you eat, if you eat, if you sleep? Who you Clique up with, what ink you get, who your enemies are? Fuck, if you even live? So yeah, I'm pretty fuckin’…angry with my situation."
Jenkins snorted in the corner. "You gave up all those rights when you broke the law, asshole.”
"Excuse me?" Lucho glared at the officer.
"You lost all that when you violently assaulted and raped that woman..."
Lucho jumped up menacingly. Piper tried her best not to flinch but the movement was so quick she couldn't quite suppress it.
"Sit down, Lucho," Ortiz warned as he cautiously stepped closer to the table.
"You don't know shit about me or my situation. Crooked ass bastard, it should be you in here. Not me," Lucho said, inching toward Jenkins.
"Enough, sit down Hernandez!" Ortiz said as he placed a hand on Lucho's shoulder.
"Get the fuck off me,” Lucho snapped as he jerked away from Ortiz's hand.
Ortiz held up his hands in a take it easy gesture and Piper could see them getting kicked out, killing her film, for riling inmates. She had to do something.
"Okay, okay. Please, sit down. We meant no disrespect. But you need to know this is how the public sees it. They don't know any better,” Piper said.
Lucho seemed to calm slightly so she continued.
"Help me tell your story, make them see what this hell is like for you. Tell them how you were wronged, victimized by a crooked, prejudiced, system."
Lucho glared at Jenkins as he slowly sat back down.
“This is your chance, let your voice be heard. Don’t let them get away with it,” Piper said, trying to get the guy calmed and talking again.
Mucho sucked at his teeth, mulling it over.
"Yea, yea, least someone up in here gets it," Lucho said, nodding. "So where do we start?"
Ch 15 Lenox
Lenox looked at the naked girl next to her in bed. She was beautiful, had been beautiful. She supposed it was the black nail polish and all the neon nanite tattoos the girl had artistically placed all over her body that had initially attracted Lenox. Gave the illusion of danger. But after the lust wore off and took the rose tinted glasses with it, she seemed so ordinary. They all did. Flat, one-dimensional, distractions; that's all they were. Nothing more.
She'd ruined her. Become the canvas against which she judged all others, and no one could come close so far. The damn bar was raised so high, everything else dulled. Fell short. It didn't stop her from trying of course, and God knew she tried. It just made each one a bigger letdown than the last. God, she was lonely. She hated that she felt that way. She just wanted to find the one person she could be herself around. She’d thought she’d found that. Turned out it had been a lie. Like everything, it seemed to start out amazing, but quickly deteriorated into a self-destructive pile of shit. The Bitch had ruined her.
Lenox watched the girl next to her again. The girl, she couldn't recall her name, smiled and snuggled into her. Her stomach roiled and her skin crawled in disgust. Lenox quickly slipped from the bed and grabbed her pants.
"Hey, baby, where you going?" The girl asked, leaning up on one arm.
"Out," Was all Lenox said as she pulled on her jeans.
"Out?" The girl's brow wrinkled together. "You don't want more? Come back to bed,” the girl said as she reached out and pulled lightly on Lenox’s arm, trying to get her to stay.
Lenox's skin prickled again and a wave of bile rose in her chest. At that moment, the last thing she wanted was to be anywhere near the girl. She quickly pulled away.
"I don't do sleepovers."
She had her reasons, but she didn't need to explain herself to the girl. She didn’t need to explain herself to anyone. And she sure as shit wouldn't apologize. She thought she'd made it perfectly clear from the pick up that it was just sex, nothing more.
"Who said anything about sleeping?" The girl pursed her lips into a deep pout as she batted her eyes.
Lenox flexed her fingers. She had the itch. Again. If she climbed back into bed for round two she was sure the girl would be traumatized. It wouldn't be like before, she wouldn't restrain herself and the girl couldn't handle it. One look told her all she needed to know, the girl was a fake. Lenox wasn't interested in the boring gentle sex they'd just done. The poor girl would probably run screaming.
But she'd sure as fuck leave.
The thought was tempting. She'd have to scratch the itch sooner or later. But what she wanted was probably more ak
in to assault. Still, it was tempting.
"Come on, baby...don't you want me?" The girl let the sheet slip lower, exposing her chest as she pouted a little more.
The girl's voice grated against her nerves, irritating her beyond rationality. If they did go again, Lenox would probably end up killing her. And love every minute of it.
"Do us both a favor, don't be here when I get back," Lenox said as she pulled on a black t-shirt and headed for the door.
The girl's face instantly went red.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?" She yelled as she moved off the bed, pulling the sheet with her to cover herself.
As if she hadn't already seen it all. What was modesty now?
The girl kept shouting and Lenox ignored her, walking from the bedroom out into the tiny, sparsely furnished shit hole of a living room. The kitchen wasn't any better. Actually, it was probably shittier.
Definitely shittier.
Lenox grabbed a water bottle from the tiny fridge and sat on the ratty couch as she pulled on her boots.
"Fuckin twisted asshole! Piece of shit!" The girl went on in the other room.
Lenox smiled to herself as she took a swig from the bottle. It wasn't the first time she'd been screamed at like that, and she was certain, it wouldn't be the last.
“Fuck you and your stupid, shitty apartment!”
Lenox smiled again and shrugged. That last part was right, she couldn’t argue with the shittyness. She took another swig in agreement.
A loud crash echoed through the place and rattled the wall. No doubt the bitch had thrown something in her temper tantrum.
Lenox stood, pulled on her shoulder holster and grabbed the small, black bag by the door as she left. She made it a point to slam the front door, not because she was angry, but to agitate the girl even more. One of the small pleasures in life. Lenox smiled again as she loaded the bag into one of the saddlebags on her bike. She sifted through the others before moving back to the front door.
She entered quietly, more out of habit than anything. It was amazing what you observed when people didn't notice you were around. Almost like being a fly on the wall. Definitely the next best thing.
She moved silently into the living room and reached for her jacket. The girl had stopped yelling. Lenox smiled again as she turned to leave but stopped when she heard the girl's mumbled voice from the bedroom.
Had she called a friend to bitch about her? Or get a ride perhaps? Lenox inched closer, eavesdropping.
She couldn't wait to hear what nasty things the girl would come up with. She could use another laugh.
"She left just like you said...this will cost extra, you know? You didn’t tell me she was such a freak. You know she carries knives? Who the fuck carries knives?”
Lenox heard the girl moving around the room.
"I'm looking...Maybe you should fuckin’ tell me exactly what it is I'm supposed to be looking for...Hold on, I'll check the other room."
Lenox reached for the gun in her shoulder holster and sat in the worn out easy chair facing the bedroom door. She pulled out a cigarette and lit up, blowing out a cloud of smoke. Freak didn’t even begin to cover it. The girl had no idea who’s web she’d just wandered into.
She accessed her neuro display and pulled up the mod marked "kill switch" and waited. Her finger itched along the trigger and she forced herself to be patient. She took another calming drag from her cigarette. Seconds later, the girl stepped from the room and froze.
Lenox activated the mod and watched the surprise wash over the girl's face as her call and any upgrades she had, went dead. She wished she could’ve snapped a pic of the girl’s face. Priceless.
Lenox raised the gun with a smug grin. "I think we should talk, don't you?"
Ch 16 Piper LaRue
It was hard not to be excited. Piper had to stop herself from humming on the way back from the restroom. She didn't know if it would be considered a weakness and the only ones that would hear her in the deserted corridor would most likely be a guard, but she didn't need them thinking she was soft either. She wasn't someone they could just intimidate and shove around.
They'd filmed some amazingly compelling interviews. First with Lucho then a few other inmates and even Jenkins, though that was more of a pity interview to shut the bastard up. She couldn't tell the guy he was too one dimensional and thick headed to be truly interesting. He just wasn't what her audience wanted. Still, he did drop a few useful tidbits her way. It was better to have him on her side than make him an enemy.
She walked toward the corner of the hallway ready to round it and get back to her crew, call it a night, when she heard a heated voice echo off the walls. She froze and listened. She knew that voice.
"Unacceptable! It was supposed to be here two fuckin' days ago!"
Piper poked her head around the corner. Delgado's back was to her and she was waving her hands in the air in overly animated gestures as she spoke.
"That's not good enough. I have 2000 inmates here, I'm trying to run the top-grossing game for the third year straight! Do you have any idea what that takes? Course you don’t!You're fucking with my livelihood. And you know what happens when someone fucks with my business."
Piper pulled back around the corner just as Delgado turned.
Shit, shit, shit.
She pressed herself back against the wall, holding her breath. Had she been spotted?
She closed her eyes like that would somehow make her invisible. That it might reverse being caught. The silence ticked on, filling the hallway and Piper feared her slamming heart might give her away.
A bead of sweat trickled down her forehead as the numbers at the corner of her vision climbed dramatically and turned red.
Unhealthy rise in blood pressure… Flashed across her vision and sounded in her ears.
Yeah no shit, ya think?!
She closed her eyes and listened. She didn't breathe until she heard Delgado continue.
"I don't give a shit what 'complications' you've encountered. Conditions are already slipping. Things are escalating, I have two dead inmates, we need to get this under control. I have a duty to these people! We have a certain level of expectation to hold here. And I can't do my job unless you do yours. Do your fucking job, Hugo!"
There was a brief pause then Delgado's voice lowered.
“Listen, if I go down, I take you with me. So figure it out. No more excuses. I need that shit here on the inside.” There was another brief pause. “I don’t care how, just do your job! Get it here now."
Piper only heard silence but didn't dare move. She hadn't heard Delgado move. She prayed the woman didn't come her way. Clearly, she'd overheard something she shouldn't have.
"Fuck," Delgado said with a long exhale.
Piper pressed herself harder against the wall. Seconds later, she heard the tight click of Delgado's overpriced heels as the woman walked away down the hall.
When she heard the door at the other end open and close she finally let out a long, tense breath before daring to move. It looked like Delgado had some dark secrets, and she wanted, no, needed to know, what they were.
Ch 17 Piper LaRue
Piper popped another piece of ice into her mouth and chomped away as she reviewed all the footage they'd captured so far. She was trying to get a feel for where she wanted things placed, which direction she wanted to take. Plot a general story of sorts. Even documentaries needed a theme and at least some loose narrative to tie it all together. It was still too early to really nail anything down, but at least she could get a feel for the broad strokes.
An hour into sifting through all the segments they'd caught, she was getting restless. She couldn't stop thinking about the odd conversation she'd overheard. The whole drive back to the hotel she'd gone on and on about it to Rico and Jason. Jason had been quiet. Not surprising at all. He wasn't much of a talker, a really stellar listener, but definitely not a talker. She wondered if that had anything to do with why he'd specialized in audio?
Rico, on the other hand, was firmly in her camp. They'd both concocted scenario after scenario which rapidly turned into elaborate conspiracy theories which quickly progressed into ridiculousness. They’d really flown off the rails with some of their theories but what if they hadn’t? What if there was even a kernel of truth somewhere in there? The possibilities were staggering. Quicksand. The more she tried to fight the grandeur, the further she sank and came up with even more ludicrous theories. She was driving herself insane.
God, we're one step away from tinfoil hats.
Now, with her mind once again flooded with the conversation, she wished she hadn't turned down their offer to go out. Dinner would’ve been a welcome, grounding distraction.
She crunched on another ice cube and hit pause on her Jackpad. The frame stopped on a shot of Lenox. She hadn't realized they'd really gotten any footage of the Reaper. Couldn't recall Lenox even around. She looked at the frozen image a moment longer but her thoughts once again drifted to Delgado.
She sat back and debated taking Rico's advice. She bounced one leg then forced herself to be still. She'd made up her mind.
"Call Archer,” she said and her Jack opened a voice link.
She waited only a few seconds before the man picked up.
"What up, lady? Been a while." Archer's voice fed to her ear.
"It's been too long." Piper agreed.
"What ya been up to?"
"Oh, you know me, trying to crush the establishment." Piper joked.
"Now you're speakin' my language. Who's in the crosshairs now?"
"Just some little company, doubt you've heard of them." Piper teased.
"Try me."
"MAX Corp."
Archer let out a long, low whistle. "You really know how to pick 'em."
"I got an exclusive on Lockdown."
"That's impressive. Do they know what they've gotten themselves into?"
"They think they do."
"Well, you know how much I love stickin' it to the Man. What can I do?" Archer asked.
She could hear the smile in his voice. He ate this shit up. Lived for it.
Gaming The System Page 6
