A Day Out on the Town
It was a
dusky, fog-ridden morning as I went along the busy sidewalk with a Yankaka
close at hand. The lower half of her face, along with just about everyone
else’s that we passed, was covered by a thin respirator to keep their lungs
clear of the low hanging smog that blanketed the streets and was almost
one-and-the-same at this point. Yay… Urbanization. I was one of the few that
was not wearing one as I simply did not have to breathe the noxious fumes and,
even if I was forced to for whatever possible reason, my body was more than
capable of processing the toxins.
Yan was
sticking close to my side as to not be separated from me because of the heavy
foot traffic that the wageslaves and sararimen (Apparently street names for
those who worked for the corporations.) went to and from work. She had
apparently found a restaurant while she was out exploring the area and, as
always, was keen on dragging me out of the apartment to try it out. Honestly,
it was kind of sweet how she wanted to share her findings with me (Though, I am
sure it was also because I always paid for the food.), plus it gave me an
excuse to leave the apartment and, in this case, an excuse to avoid the plans
that Bang, Cannonball, and Chopshop were currently fabricating for the job that
we had been given.
Now this
was fairly normal of her, staying close and physically dragging me to wherever
she happened to want to go. I did not mind such things, but she seemed a little
more insistent this time around. If it so much as seemed as if I was drifting
more than a foot away from her, she would pull me close once again or, at the
very least, pull herself closer to me if I didn’t budge… At one point she even
jumped onto my back under the notion that I apparently wasn’t allowed to run
off without bringing her along.
To top it all off, she seemed a bit
more jealous than usual. Now, ever since we had started dating, her jealousy
was, for the most part, under control whenever she wasn’t in a bad or paranoid
mood. What surprised me, however, was the fact that she was smiling and
chatting away as we walked, but if anyone glanced my way she would begin to
glare and then even growl if they got what she apparently deemed as too close.
Heck, she almost lashed out at someone who complimented her jacket while saying
something along the lines of “No, nya! You no have Yankaka. Yankaka with Sweet
Guy, nya.”
Something was amiss. Despite her
psychosis and her usual behaviors, this was a bit… odd… even for her as
far as her normal, moment-to-moment behavior, especially around me. She was
always a calmer individual around me and, while even I realized that she could
be argumentative and aggressive when I wasn’t around, she was normally quite in
control of herself if I was present. At least we arrived at the restaurant
without any real issue.
---------------------------------------
The
restaurant was an in-the-wall and out of the way establishment. The room was
small, lit by only the glow of faint, neon lights that lined the wall and the
small, hanging lamps that dangled above every table. There was a bar-kitchen
mix up against the left and only five booths along the right wall, which might
cause someone to wonder how it even remained in business at any given time with
such minor holdings. Yankaka was clinging to Tadek’s arm as they entered,
tugging him along while he was left to glance around the establishment with a
curious eye.
She had
been looking forward to convincing him to come to the restaurant. It wasn’t of
the same quality as the last one, but she was sure that Tadek would enjoy a
higher quality restaurant such as this. Their serving sizes were actually more
than slivers of food just barely larger than the palm of their hands and didn’t
take fifty minutes to cook! Though… She did recall never getting any food, but
that was the waitress’s fault for flirting with Tadek and forcing her to take
action to prevent a new challenger from getting their hands on the object of
her obsession.
Once they
were seated, Yankaka made a point to sit across from Tadek with her arms
outstretched toward him while they waited for someone to come over and take
their order… At least until the Orc that was standing behind the counter called
out with a rough “What will ya’ have!? I’m not going to you just to know what
you want!”, which was answered with an order from the both of them after they
took the time to actually figure out what they served. Soy, krill, mushroom…
Really, there was barely any “real food” on the menu to choose from, so in the
end they shelved out the extra nuyen to purchase one of the few choices that
had the actual meat for the way it would taste or look if it was simply soy.
Everything
seemed simple enough at the least. Lot of food ordered, lot of food eaten, and
simple conversation. “Just have to get Sweet Guy to speak, nya. He will tell
Yankaka who is after him… Have to be subtle, have to find out what he wants.
Then Yankaka can have him for herself, nya.” She thought to herself throughout
their conversation, trying so hard to keep things subtle by asking him more
about what he had been up to whenever she wasn’t around. She had to find out. She
had to know who was between her and what she desired.
It took some time, but she eventually dragged out how he had been spending a lot of time around a specific Stuffer Shack, a mass-chain convenience store, where he had been meeting new people to converse with whenever he was wandering around the area and wasn’t either practicing his new abilities, such as the magic that Yankaka listened to… and whatever caused him to go limp and not respond to anything that she did. Really, she didn’t know what he was doing, but the Dwarf and Troll explained that he was probably in the Matrix doing what they called “technomancer stuff”.
It took some time, but she eventually dragged out how he had been spending a lot of time around a specific Stuffer Shack, a mass-chain convenience store, where he had been meeting new people to converse with whenever he was wandering around the area and wasn’t either practicing his new abilities, such as the magic that Yankaka listened to… and whatever caused him to go limp and not respond to anything that she did. Really, she didn’t know what he was doing, but the Dwarf and Troll explained that he was probably in the Matrix doing what they called “technomancer stuff”.
That was
all the information that she needed, though… She knew that he was talking to
people, so now she just needed to find out who might be trying to distract him
or take him away from her. Once they were taken care of, they could have a
proper date… She just needed to figure out who to remove from the equation.