Lizzie looked at her cube. She remembered that shit, solving it was one of the first tests when trying to be accepted to her majestey's secret service. But that was so long ago. She thought about deconstructing the damn thing and reassembilng it, she could easily produce the tools needed to do so, but then she saw the asian chick doing the same thing. She hated being the unoriginal bitch. Sexy genious bitch was so much cooler. First she pruduced a small knife from her cybernetic arm to grind off the paint from the cube, until it was all the same colour. Then she created 54 square stickers, and stuck them on the cube, so that each side had the same colour. Take that, Crazy Asia, she thought. I also know how to cheat.
"I thought you said you were good at these games. What took you so long?" "Is that you, Pussycat?" Kami said, cupping a hand to her ear as if his voice were a distant sound. He was only a few tables away. "You're still here? Eight more lives, eight more shots, I guess," she added with a lazy shrug. "You're pretty fast for an old dork. Not 'faster than a speeding bullet,'" she snickered, "but fast enough, I suppose."
"Yeah well, speed isn't everything I suppose. We all have our redeeming qualities. I got to say though, I'm starting to get somewhat curious about yours. Speed, accuracy and basic intelligence are all out... so unless those fishnets are secretly hiding the strength of ten men, there's not much left, is there? Care to share what you bring to the metaphorical table, gamer girl?"
"Yeah well, speed isn't everything I suppose. We all have our redeeming qualities. I got to say though, I'm starting to get somewhat curious about yours. Speed, accuracy and basic intelligence are all out... so unless those fishnets are secretly hiding the strength of ten men, there's not much left, is there? Care to share what you bring to the metaphorical table, gamer girl?" God, Lizzie thought. Alexander was being annoying again. "Give the girl a break, Chesire," she said. "She brings enough fun around here to fill the void you make. By the way, I didn't get your name, Crazy Asia."
"Yeah well, speed isn't everything I suppose. We all have our redeeming qualities. I got to say though, I'm starting to get somewhat curious about yours. Speed, accuracy and basic intelligence are all out... so unless those fishnets are secretly hiding the strength of ten men, there's not much left, is there? Care to share what you bring to the metaphorical table, gamer girl?" “Speed? I did ten things in the time it took you to do one. Try harder, loser,” Kami said. “Accuracy? I hit my mark. Hit it pretty damn hard, judging by how you cried like a baby, loser. And intelligence? Hah, who needs that? Instincts are what really matters. If you gotta stop to think, you’re doin’ it wrong. Get good, loser.” "Give the girl a break, Chesire," she said. "She brings enough fun around here to fill the void you make. By the way, I didn't get your name, Crazy Asia." “It’s Camille. Camille Azata. And don’t you forget it, ‘Lizzie Q,’” Kami said. She grinned from ear to ear as she sized up the other woman. “That’s you, right? The wannabe supermodel look gives it away. It’s funny, really…” her gaze slid back to the other man “…the lab-whore with tits the size of my head was more useful today than you, Loser. And she did it all in heels. Now there’s a puzzle I can’t solve no matter how many times I break you apart and put you back together again.”
"Now you listen, you..." For a moment it looked like Alexander was going to explode. His face was red and his eyes filled with rage/ However, somehow, he managed to compose himself. Taking a few seconds for the blood to drain back from his face to his brain he suddenly seemed almost calm. Almost. "Actually, you're not wrong." The words came out with unhidden resentment. He quickly looked around and noticed that the others hadn't rezzed yet. "I made a miscalculation in that last simulation. I assumed it was supposed to test teamwork, so I tried to... delegate. Humour some of the others in their wild schemes. However, given that the three of us are still here and they are not, I see now that I was mistaken. If it was a test of our social skills, Propaganda would probably be here and you wouldn't be." Leaning back in his chair a flash of satisfaction escaped in the form of a quick smile. "Apparently our individual ability for mass destruction is more important than having a sociable personality." This was good. He could work with this. If all they wanted was raw, unguided skill, he might actually enjoy his time here. No need to lie about important things to keep the peace, no need to protect some public image. Just get the job done, even if you tear down half the building doing it.
“It’s Camille. Camille Azata. And don’t you forget it, ‘Lizzie Q,’” Kami said. She grinned from ear to ear as she sized up the other woman. “That’s you, right? The wannabe supermodel look gives it away. It’s funny, really…the lab-whore with tits the size of my head was more useful today than you, Loser. And she did it all in heels. Now there’s a puzzle I can’t solve no matter how many times I break you apart and put you back together again.” Lizzie was somewhere between annoyed at the girl's remarks and flattered at the fact that she actually knew her. "Careful, girl," she said, not dropping her smile. "You got sass, I appreciate that, but careful. I can jab one of those heels down your much-less-pretty arse." "I made a miscalculation in that last simulation. I assumed it was supposed to test teamwork, so I tried to... delegate. Humour some of the others in their wild schemes. However, given that the three of us are still here and they are not, I see now that I was mistaken. If it was a test of our social skills, Propaganda would probably be here and you wouldn't be." Leaning back in his chair a flash of satisfaction escaped in the form of a quick smile. "Apparently our individual ability for mass destruction is more important than having a sociable personality." Lizzie always loved seeing Alexander aggrivated, and that sealed the deal in her inclination to forgive Kami. She had to admit, though, he had a point. "Skills of mass destruction," she mused. "Yeah I can work with that, can't I Chesire?"
Kami shrugged. "I break shit. It's what I do. Been doin' it since long before you people invited me into your gilded city. I wouldn't be here if that's not what they wanted. Did it seriously take this long for you two geniuses to see that?" She harumphed. "This ain't no social call. This is business and I just wanna get it over with so I can go have a drink... and you're buying, Loser. You know how to do that, right, buy a girl a drink? What happened to your arm? Did it fall off? Too many lonely nights strokin' the ol' trouser snake?"
"Oh the arm was a conscious decision. The moment cybernetics became apt enough to do everything a real arm could do and more I had mine amputated and replaced. It's called efficiency and I doubt you'll live long enough to learn about it. I'll join you in that drink though, but I suggest we let the next simulation decide who's buying. I don't fraternize with kids."
The three were the only ones to solve their cubes, the others being withdrawn from the simulation. One failure was acceptable, two was not. Each agent was a costly investment to put in the field, and the fact that they had failed at something so simple would likely cause those responsible for training to be examined for incompetence or even purposeful sabotage. Considering information was the primary tool of combat now, knowing who was capable or who might be a spy was very important. The chances were that nothing would turn up, however, the trainers would be under observation for some time regardless. The front glass panel of each cubicle descended, allowing them to enter the central chamber where a plinth was starting to rise from the ground. On it was single, simple handgun, the sort that would be considered crude by the standard of the time. It was then that the voice began to speak again. "There are three of you. The gun contains two bullets. The simulation will only end when the gun is empty." At that moment their weapons flickered between an accurate representation and the bright orange polygons that seemed to make up the simulation behind the textures, before fully fading away.
Lizzie smirked to herself. She ran forward and lunged, aiming to grab the gun and roll away before the other two got there.
"And what about me, Chesire? Want to buy me a drink?" "If only to poison it, my dear." The moment the gun appeared he thought to get it, but Elizabeth was faster, so he went for her instead. Her cubicle had been almost opposite his, so her lunge actually brought her closer to him. With a single step he grabbed her wrist with his cybernetic hand, pulled it above their heads and started to squeeze. "Brings back memories, doesn't it?"
Kami, who hadn't moved an inch and was still sitting in her seat, with her feet up on the table, began to slowly clap. "Great job." She shrugged. "For a moment, I thought you'd hold a damn conference about what to do with it." They were finally learning. The best way to solve a problem is to just go for it. Pure instincts. "I'm so proud of you," she added, pretending to get teary-eyed.
"Brings back memories, doesn't it?" "Oh, yeah," she whipered and winked. He understood. Then she whipped her hand sideways, pointing the gun at Kami, and squeezed the trigger.
For the first time today, if not ever, Alexander and Elizabeth seemed to agree on something. He loosened his grip on her wrist and instead helped her aim for Camille. Of course the girl wasn't all crazy and expected this from the start. The moment the gun dropped in her direction she flipped the table and took cover. The incredibly inefficient side-arm didn't have the stopping power to penetrate but ricocheted instead back in the general direction of the two shooters. Since Alexander didn't feel like getting shot by friendly fire twice today, he took a step back so the bullet whooshed past him until it burried itself into the glass wall behind them, which was appearently stronger than it looked. Of course, he was now also about one step removed from the lady with the gun in her hand. Man he'd gotten rusty. "Ah fuck."
The moment the gun swung in her direction, Kami did what could best be described as a backflip or some kind of half-somersault, falling backwards out of her chair. She grabbed the edge of the table as she went down, taking it with her, and landed on her head and shoulders, folded up like a pretzel. The table toppled back, giving her the cover she had subconsciously wanted. It wasnt the most elegant landing --kind of hurt, actually-- but she wasn't going to let them know that. Totally intentional. Really, I meant to do that, she thought as she uncoiled and crouched behind her ad hoc cover just as the gun went off. The tell-tale sound of a ricochet proved she was safe... for now. All that drama and you missed!? Seriously? Kami peeked over the edge and waved the peace sign. "Hey, Sugartits, how 'bout you dump the other bullet on the floor and save yourself the embarassment of missing twice?" She smiled. "We're cool. C'mon, empty it so we can get on with our lives, kay. Nobody likes a try-hard." Meanwhile, behind the table, she was repositioning her lower body, with her feet braced against the table, ready to give it a good kick, if she had to. Strength of ten men? Not quite, but this would do.
Lizzie couldn't believe it. Now she was the only one holding the gun, and pointing it at the other two. She took a couple of steps back and stayed in the corner, the gun raised upright. "Sugartits, eh?" she called to Kami. "You know, there's nothing smart in smart-ass when you have a gun to your head." She looked from Alexander to Kami, and smiled sweetly. "Here's the deal," she said. "Buy me a drink, and a meal, oh, and peomise to be a candidate in a completely safe experiment. First to promise that, gets to live."
"We'll all live. It's a sim, stupid," Kami said, rolling her eyes. "Why the hell would I give away real-life stuff to survive a sim? Ya know what? Fuck this." She poked her head out, making herself an easier target. "Go on. Right here, between the eyes. Come a l'il closer if you have to. Don't wanna see you miss a second time, Sugartits."
God, that girl was annoying. Lizzie stepped forward, aimed the gun, well this time, at least as well as she could, and shot. But she shot for the shoulder. Death was meaningless here, but pain, pain was something different entirely.
The sound Kami made was somewhere between a yelp and a squeal. It was the sound a Chihuahua might make if it bit a live wire or stepped in a bear trap. It was brief, but followed by a grumbling, muttered string of expletives vulgar enough to make a sailor blush. And then silence. And then laughter. The cackling, disturbing, 'something ain't right in this girl's head' laughter. "That's not what getting shot feels like," she hissed through clenched teeth. "If you're gonna make a sim where people shoot people, you ought to get shot first! Fucking amateurs! I was gonna feed you this table," she said to Lizzie, "but what's the point if it's gonna feel like a pillow fight? See ya in the real world, bitch. And you," her gaze zeroed in on Cheshire, "you def owe me a drink now. I just took an imaginary bullet for you. Took one for the team. Woohoo." She pumped her fist once, then winced and dropped her arm. "Ow."
Lizzie laughed so hard she almost dropped the gun. "Oops," she said, dropping back to her youthful London accent. "I am terribly sorry, really I was aiming for your head. Promise. Must be my suckish aim." Then Kami started laughing. Lizzie realised she just can't stay mad at this girl. Sure, she was a pain in the ass, but she had this overload of sass Lizzie always appreciated in her girls. And beside, Kami was definately crazy, also a plus in her books. "I'll tell you what. How about we both buy you a drink, eh? Then we'll call it even?" She didn't even look at Chesire. In she just decided he'd agree to that term. "Gun empty," she shouted.
The simulation started to remove itself, stripping away the out texture to reveal the orange crystals, then stripping those away to the wire frames beneath, before, one by one, those started to disappear as well, till a single horizontal line was left in each of their visions. Eventually, that reformed into a line of text. Simulation complete. Number of participants passed: 3. Overall Grade: C. If you desire you own personal grade for completing the simulation, please inquire with Daedulus. With that their visions of the room returned, and the sound of a slow clap filled the room. They would feel slightly groggy, but nothing too bad. "I was wondering if you would just fire the gun into the air, but no, you don't disappoint." Came a woman's voice, filled with sincerity. It was a dark skinned woman dark short black hair. She was dressed in what might be described as formal clothing, a clean white shirt and trousers, but the attitude she held was casual enough to make them seem like regular clothing. "I'm Lawson, and I'm going to be your handler for the foreseeable future." She informed, sipping from a mug of synthetic coffee. "You people want to go get a drink?"
"You def owe me a drink now. I just took an imaginary bullet for you." "As long as the bullet's imaginary, the drink will be too. This whole thing is making me long back for the days when underage drinking was still considered a bad thing." When the simulation ended, Alexander felt only the slightest of temptations to have MAIA buff his personal grade, but figured that would probably be considered a breach of contract. Besides, he already knew he had the best score out of the bunch of them. Lawson was in interesting appearance. He'd expected the handler to appear before testing simulations, but I guess there's something to be said about knowing what you're in for and all that. He wasn't too happy to see another woman though. They always had the nasty tendency to mingle and agree on things. Logic seemed like a foreign subject to most of the ones he'd met so far, even those that thought themselves intelligent. So far this 'handler' didn't seem like she was going to break the mould. "You people want to go get a drink?" "Only if you're paying."
Simulation complete. Number of participants passed: 3. Overall Grade: C. If you desire you own personal grade for completing the simulation, please inquire with Daedulus. Better than usual, Lizzie mused. Looks like I'll be going on this mission after all. As the simulation was ending Lizzie was beggining to get slightly irritated. She needed to contact her people back at the lab, and she was really hoping to get back to that ciggerette. "I waswondering if you would just fire the gun into the air, but no, you don't disappoint." She was going to like this woman, Lizzie thought. Then again, she also thought the same thing about Camile. "You people want to go get a drink?" "Only if you're paying." "Abd I wonder why he's still single," Lizzie murmured and rolled her eyes. Then she said aloud, "We'd love to." She took her cigarrete out of the compartment in her cybernetic arm, "Smoke anyone?"
