Reach City Stories

I liked this a lot, it stirred up my fpl juices. I'm thinking about posting an O-fic. Where would be the appropriate place to post it?

Reach City, Alivia’s Diner, 40 minutes before midnight.

The majority of the table was taken up by the ninety-nine cent map of the city that Drake had picked up twenty minutes before. A luke-warm half cup of diner coffee rested to his right where it had been left unattended for most of the night. Three empty plates sat next to Attie on the other side of the table. She came here often when working late, tipped well, and because of that they now knew that “I’d like the apple pie” meant you give the girl her own pie, not a slice.

The final piece of her dessert sat on the plate in front of her. She forked it with uncharacteristic disinterest while Drake finished circling an area of the map just west of downtown.

“Hey Drake,” She says, “ I’ve got to meet up with Warpaint across town for the job in like five minutes, so that means you’ve got maybe four minutes and fifteen seconds to wrap this up.”

“Almost done,” he says. He caps his pen and reviews the map.

“Okay lets go over this one more time, just to humor me. Northtown and the Financial Quarter are still solidly under Prae-Sec.”

“Yes.”

His finger drifts down the map to a smaller island just off the bay.

“And the burbs in Governor's Island are still up for grabs, a lot of money, but realistically there’s no market there for extra security anyway. Then there’s Foundry Square, which has the need for extra security but no money so,”

“So the accountants would rather we practice our fiddles while it burns,”

Drake shrugs,

“You want to pro-bono Oldtown and Foundry go for it; you know, on your time. We’re running a business, not a super-hero league, that’s the Guardians job.”

“They aren’t doing their job,” she replies, “Foundry was barely under control before the incident at Orientation Hall. Now the Guardians are scrambling for personnel, their leadership can’t figure out how to respond, and meanwhile the regions of this city that need meta-human protection the most are gonna be the ones that can’t afford Prae-Sec's protection. It's no wonder Vigilance has the foothold they do; there the only ones showing up.”

“I totally agree,” Drake says in the most ‘don’t blame me’ way possible; “If the PD would agree to a temporary contract for work in Foundry I’d sign up. BUT, they’re still trying to figure out what to do after a massive terrorist attack caught them with their pants down, and they don’t want it to look like they can’t control things on their own. It’d be a lot easier if the city just sacked them and let the pros handle things.”

“You, wait, what?” Attie says. She puts the fork down and looks at the fire-breathing vigilante across from her. She would normally make a mental note of how green his eyes were, but she was just a bit too angry at this moment to be stumbled by that.

“You want the City of Reach to fire its police department and hire a private corporation for law enforcement?”

“No, well a little, but not entirely,” he replies, “Let’s be honest, this city would be a crater if not for us and the Guardians. That little incident was proof. Why not just admit there are some jobs Deputy Fife can’t handle?”

“Aside from the inherent condescension in your voice? Well, I’d imagine a lot of people would have issues with believing that a private company can enforce the law fairly and without bias,”

“Right, because Reach City Metropolitan Police have a track record of being fair and considerate to everyone, particularly the meta humans like us… Look we’re getting off topic and you have to go. Lets focus on what I really wanted to talk about. Little Lovecraft. It’s an important neighborhood, a lot of money from the arcane guys, and it wouldn’t hurt to have a few more magic experts working for the company.”

“Sure,”

“And your friend Warpaint can help us clear up the who’s who down there.”

“I can ask,” Attie says with the fork back in her hand, “But people in Lovecraft don’t like to get involved in the whole hero, vigilante, villain thing. They mostly want to be left alone.”

“Don’t we all,” Drake declares with a smirk, “and yet, Lovecraft is the hub of this city’s occult scene, and has a lot of big players on both sides. They’re the only district who went through the attack without losing any noticeable power. They’re strong while everyone else is weak, and that means they’re going to get involved whether they like it or not. Warpaint will get that. From what I’ve heard, The Circle's the one group down there that realizes just how bad things have become. She’s our 'in' to get them on our side. Just be, you know, persuasive.”

“I’m not the best speaker. Why not get Vox or one of the psychics to talk to their guys. Someone who’s actually persuasive.”

“Well our psychics don’t work on mages all that well, and to be honest, that’s not what I meant by persuasive,”

“Well, what did you mean?”

“Well, we thought it would be better for you to do it,” he says. His eyes casually shift around the diner to avoid her gaze as he continues, “She’d trust you more, because you’ve worked together, you have a report. And also, we’ve also found out some things about her preferences that means you would do better then me or Vox,”

“What preferences?” she asks.

Attie took another bite. His meaning hits her once her mouth his full. She swallows instantly and glares at him.

“No way,”

“Look its not anything unwholesome,”

“I’m not some bimbo the company hired to stand next to its booth at a comic convention. I’m a goddess-damn professional.”

“Oh, would you tone down the righteous indignation,” he rebuts, “We just want you to talk to her and explain our offer because she’d take it better from you. Nothing explicit if you’re uncomfortable, ”

“Oh, is that all? Tell me, should I just stick to being implicit? Should I bat my eyelashes, oh, or maybe I could bite my lower lip and twirl my hair.”

“Ok,” Drake says, “forget I mentioned anything. It was a dumb idea, and sexist and wrong, and I deeply apologize for implying that as a woman your value was limited to your attractiveness, which as far as I can tell is unlimited.”

“Don’t flirt with me now Smaug; I am not in the mood.”

“You cannot take a joke... anyway, we just want to make sure the Circle knows where Praetorian Security stands; make it clear that things would be better for everybody if we could secure marketplaces. Those are the keywords, ‘secure marketplaces’. We don’t want to reshape the world like Vigilance, we don’t care about private morality like the Guardians, and we’re certainly better then letting those storm-troopers come back while we’re trying to figure everything out.”

“Wow, we’re better then storm-troopers? We aught to put that on the merchandize.”

Attie’s pie had quickly evaporated while they were talking. Attie stands and pulls the heels back on her running sandals so they fit right.

“Look, I’ll talk to her,” she says, “But that’s it. I’ll tell her, and she’ll say no. And then I’ll come back to you and tell you that she said no. Ok?”

“Just do what you can.”

Attie smirked at him with the undertone of anger still readily visible. She was gone nearly instantly, but the revolving door kept spinning for another two minutes after she left.

That is totally fine by me. I've been trying to avoid explicit mention of the events of the RP since I don't know how the end yet. As far as the 2nd story they get mentioned to as an 'incident' but that's it. 

Also, any lore you have would be great. I've added a little myself, and I've got some other ideas, but the framework is still missing pieces, and I always viewed this as a collaborative project anyway.    

“Now, please start from the beginning Nadia, and tell me everything that occurred after…

“…”

“I can wait here all day, Nadia—”

“Detective Nichols,” she says, “You call me Detective Nichols. Not Nadia, Not Ms. Nichols, not ma’am. ”

“…Answer the question please, detective.”

The interviewer’s tone showed patience slowly being worn down. Nadia was not particularly amused at this point either. She lit a cigarette and took a drag that was purposefully longer then it needed to be. She exhaled slowly, and thought back.

“Well, it began like any other night…”

-------------------

Officer Ramseur and myself were sitting in a cruiser that’s been on the force longer then both of us combined. We had just gotten two coffees from Alivias. The diner was mostly empty when we had arrived, save the regulars. That blonde chick in the leather who works for Praetorian was always there at about that time. Sometimes I’d nod to her, and she would nod back. This time however that job stealing prick Drake was with her, and it was all I could do to not mentally fling his flame-spurting ass through the window.

Anyway, we were there, and the cruiser was waiting like an aged tiger ready for one last hunt. The moon wasn’t out, but in the neon glow of Alivia’s sign, I could see every spec of grime tarnishing the back-alley. It made me think.

“Reach is a city of strangers...” I thought to myself, “Strangers to the world, strangers to society, and even strangers to themselves… and if you don’t know yourself, you’ll never know what you can get into. Me, I know them. Know them better than,”

“Nadia, you’re monologuing again,” Ram said.

I leaned up in my chair. Ram was glaring at me just the way you are now, slight irritation but too damn polite to get actually angry.

“What? No, I’m not.”

He nodded.

“Yeah you were, you were projecting again; it was about a city of strangers and some BS.”

I have a tendency to ramble when I’m thinking my thoughts. But don’t we all? ‘Cept telepaths, we don’t always stay inside our own head, and Ram would get bothered by it. You know Ram, right? He’s out of the one-six. Black hair, maybe six foot-two to six foot four, and maybe two to fifteen-hundred pounds depending on what his density powers were doing. Anyway, it was late and I guess it was wearing on his nerves, though now that I think about it he was probably just anxious about something else.

“Oh, sorry bout that Ram” I said, “just get carried away sometimes.”

“No problem,” he said, “it’s just a slow night tonight…”

As if to intentionally contradict him, a woman shaped blur shot out of the front of the diner at that moment. We tracked her as she dashed past our car. While Ram had his hand on the key, I was just sipping my coffee. He craned his neck to watch as she left our field our view.

“What would you say that was, 70-75?”

I lowered the cup and swallowed. Alivia’s was a decent enough nightowl diner, but the coffee tastes like boiled rainwater.

“80-ish,” I said, “but the limit only applies to vehicles. Dumb rule. Besides she’s one of those PraeSec gals. Probably off somewhere important.”

“Lucky her,” Ram said dryly, “… hey, so, since we got some time for once, can I ask you something?”

“Shoot.”

“Ok, and just tell me if this crosses a line or whatever. I don’t know if this is weird.”

I shrugged it off.

“Ask what you got to ask.”

“Ok, so how do you…how would a man…” he leaned back in his chair and exhaled, “Ok, so, how does a man return a bra?”

I thought for a second or two.

“Well, you can probably just go to the gal at the Victoria’s Secret counter and tell her it doesn’t fit you just right.”

“See, this is why people don’t ask you things.”

“Oh don’t get your knickers twisted; that’ll just make the whole thing worse, trust me.”

A truck rumbled by the alley. I remember that it shook the cruiser, but it was doing maybe 30, tops.

“You clearly knew what I meant,” Ram then said, “which was, well, how does a man return a woman’s bra, after she has left it at his place.”

“I don’t know… I would guess you could just hand it to her the next time you meet.”

“Isn’t that a little embarrassing? Just to slip it to her like we’re passing notes in class. There are so many ways it can go wrong. I mean, I’d have to get her alone first, right? Plus, maybe she doesn’t want me to just hand it to her; maybe she expects a little more class, a little more discretion.”

“If you don’t like that idea, then you can just give it to her next time you two knock boots.”

“Well that’s the problem, I don’t know when we might ‘knock boots’ next,” he said, “If it’s weeks, then she knows that I’ve been holding onto it all that time, which is far too long. And worse, if she doesn’t want to see me again, she probably just wants it back right now. She may know that she left it behind, and is hoping I return it soon in order to eliminate the mutual embarrassment. In that case, what’s she gonna think when I don’t return it the next time we happen to meet? That I was trying to keep it like some sort of perv? Or that I was holding it hostage so the only way she could get it back was to stay over again?”

“Son,” I told him, “you are over-thinking every element of this. Real dames don’t care about men of thinking, we care about men of action.”

“First, off, don’t call me son. All right? You may outrank me and talk like you were born in thirties, but I’m at least two years older then you.”

“Cool it Ram, I’m just having a go at you. No need to get crazy.

“Well, I am crazy,” he said, a little dejected and exasperated, “That’s what you ‘dames’ do to us. I’ve been carrying this thing around all day, just hoping I’ll run into her and find an appropriate moment. It’s all I can think about,”

There was a pause in the conversation. Then I turned to him while he was mid-sip.

“Wait, wait, hold up; so you’re saying you’ve been carrying it around with you all day?”

He swallowed and cringed as it went down.

“Yeah,”

“You’ve been carrying some broad’s brassiere for the entire day?”

“No, not carrying; it’s folded in my breast pocket.”

He tapped the badge attached over the lapel of his uniform. Then we just sat there a bit longer. A few cars went by. Then it hit me.

“OK. Let’s see it then.”

Ram really cringed at this.

“No.”

“So you’re willing to talk to me at uncomfortable length about the method how you should return the bra, but you’re not willing to let me see it?”

“That’s different.”

“Why? Wait, is this someone we know? Someone at the station?”

-------------------

“Detective Nichols, this is becoming pedantic and somewhat insulting.”

Nadia telepathically snuffs out her cigarette, but the force also crumbles it to ash.

“Well shit Ma’am, I’m sorry, I didn’t know I was wasting your time. I guess we both know how that feels now.”

“I was hoping you would cooperate. Your captain said,”

“You can hope that you won’t get struck when in pissin’ in a rain storm, but that don’t mean your ass is lightning proof.”

“Detective,”

“You asked for the beginning and I was getting there. It’s called setting a scene, a little narrative technique.”

Nadia didn’t know much about the woman across from her, only that the captain had asked her to meet with her. She never gave a name. She had black rim glasses, shoulder length white-blonde hair, gold hoop earrings, and a clean manicure. Not a T.R.U or beat officer obviously, and not likely a detective or captain. And this wasn’t being recorded for an official investigation, so not I.A.B either. No, she was coming from Uptown, a personal liaison from one of Nadia’s captain’s, superior’s superiors. Though there were ways to know more about her, Nadia had a long standing promise to never enter another officer’s mind against their will, and she was not quite ready to break that oath tonight.

The woman pushes the glasses back up the bridge of her nose.

“Detective, if you could please edit your answers down to relevant facts.”

“Why do you need any of this? You can work it out without me; you have the body, you have the damn boat, you have your facts,”

“You have more,” she says, “your ‘talents’ assure us of that, and I want to make sure we get the whole picture. So if you would please,”

“Sure, of course… Oh right, the APB…”

I'd probably put them in the FPL fic section rather then here exactly.  

I thought of them as a libertarian private security firm that picks up a lot of the meta-huamn slack in law enforcement on Reach and competes with the Aegis/Sentinels types for prominence. Though I wrote all that before I found out that Kev had already created a PMC on Reach called Starfire, which was similar. Because it would be weird to have 2 meta human security firms on an island as small as Reach, we talked a bit about what to do about that, but I'm not sure we decided anything.

So, explaining Praetorian Security might be hard because I'm not sure they'll continue to exist, or if they'll merge with something else or whatever, and I might just move Attalanta into Aegis.