Out of Pod Experience

The dim lights of the corridor in night mode iluminated the Greater Fool Bar through the transparent glass panels of the main door, until a shadow blocked the doorway with its presence. The lock acknowledged a entry code with a soft beep and he door opened. The ancillary lighting turned on, marking the way to the stairways leading to the private appartments. Under that light, the figure of Ishtanchuk Fazmarai looked very small, specially as she was dressed in black. Her heels tapped soflty along the way to the stairs and she started climbing up, when a man voice said:

"Welcome, Ishtanchuk"

Ish turned her head and saw Succus by the bar.

"Hi, Succus. I'm going up now, let the circus start tomorrow"
"Did the surgery go well?"
"Yes. I don't want to talk now, see you tomorrow"
"Of course. Sleep well, Ishtanchuk"
"Sleep well you too, Succus"

Ishtanchuk Fazmarai climbed the stairs and walked the short distance to her appartment's door. The door in front of hers was that of of Indahmawar's appartment, and it opened just enough to show the face of Nermal the resurrected sabretooth. The genetically engineered beast purred in agreement after identifying Ishtanchuk and acknowledging that she had been absent for a long time. Then the sabretooth tiger shut the door back and returned to his guard.

Ishtanchuk opened her appartment's door and met one of the robo-aides by it. The machines barely speaked, but this time the robotic assistant said:

"Welcome, Mistress Fazmarai. Mr. Succus ordered a cold meal for you and it's ready at the kitchen, in case that you are hungry"
"Thank you, but I will just sleep. Keep the meal for breakfast"
"Aye, madam"

Ishtanchuk undressed as the robo-aide readied the bed, and decided to skip brushing her hair, still not as long as usual, but enough to be worth keeping it in a net for sleep. She asked for a sleep pill and swallowed it; then she went into he bed as the pill relaxed her before providing a restful sleep. At least for that night.

Right before sleeping, Ishtanchuk caressed the scar on the left side of her mouth, but she was stunned by the pill and didn't felt any emotional response to its presence as a part of her life.

"Back here", she whispered, and then the second wave of chemicals from the pill hit her, and then she fell asleep.

I know, I know. I have my notebook with me and will be continuing to hammer this out. Laud's next post will be the finish to the Jailbreak story.

Indahmawar Fazmarai picked the last piece of sausage and then a piece of farfalle from her pasta breakfast, and chewed them carefully before swalowing. The breakfast was already cold and she would had left the last few farfalle on the dish if wasn't for the long years of her childhood and the need to "be a grateful lady and finish the food she could enjoy while so many others were hungry". But cold pasta was cold, so she picked all he last farfalle and filled her mouth with them in a unelegant manner; after some difficult chewing and swallowing, the dish was empty and she had finished.

She stood up and walked out of the kitchen as a robo-aide started cleaning the table. Indahmawar stretched her arms to her back, in a gesture she owed to her friend Yiole Gionglao. It didn't amttered as long as she was alone, and she could rely on her education to keep the appropiate manners in every situation. Or almost, as real life turned to be full of situations nobody had told her. Some of them specific to being a capsuleer, others more mundane and yet deemed unappropiate for a young Khanid lady with a family name and a tradition to live by them.

For an instance, what to do when the doorbell rings so early in the morning that no respectable lady would neither go visit another lady, nor be bothered by unwanted guests? She wasn't dressed as to welcome visits, but the appartments at the Greater Fool bar were very private so anyone ringing likely was important. And would (or should) forgive if Indahmawar was dressed with a t-shirt and shorts. With the mass of Nermal the resurrected sabretooth to her right, in a position where it could easily leap on any intruder, Indahmawar opened the door. Then she opened her eyes wide open and her jaw fell down, and she tried to speak but all her could do was a shocked moan.

"Hello, Indahmawar", said Ishtanchuk Fazmarai, and then she pushed softly her cousin into the the appartment and shut the door behind her.

"Ishtanchuk!", said Indahmawar, eventually. "It's you! Oh my! You! Where! Why! When! Why oh where oh... Ishtanchuk!", babbled Indahamwar and then she grabbed the chest of Ishtanchuk's dress and pulled her, and kissed her face frantically as tears rained from her eyes. "Why, when, where, why", she kept sobbing as Ish held her in her arms, caressing her back in silence.

"I am sorry to ahve worried you, Indahmawar", said Ishtanchuk, and then Indah noticed her calm tone. Ishtanchuk wasn't crying at all and Indah noticed too what she had seen inconsciously: she was tan, darker than usual, and there was a decolorate scar on her cheek.
"Ishtanchuk! What's that scar?"
"It is a reminder.. it hasn't been easy these last months."
"You've been away for half a year... Where have you been? Why didn't you come back sooner?"
"I... I've been lost, indahmawar. But Succus found me. And I am here now. I see that you... You look well"
"Do I? I suppose... Oh Ishtanchuk, things have been so complicated.. and maman is really ill... and I've been paying the Sansha agents with your money but I feared I would run out... i asked Yiole and she borrowed some to me... I..."
"You've been a bit overhwelmed by the circunstances, I figure", said Ishanchuk, amd Indahmawar was shocked to notice her cold tone.
"Ishtanchuk, are you angry?"
"Do I sound angry? No, I am not. I am just tired yet. But I didn't wanted to delay the news. I am back, that's it. Now we can start sorting everything with Eugerelia's new clone."
"Ishtanchuk... what happened to you?"
"Don't worry about that, Indah. It's past"
"But the scar..."
"It will be past too. Another day"

Ishanchuk looked at Indahmawar. Her face still was red and wet from cying, and obviously she still hadn't finished with the tears. As usual, she looked very fragile despite she was taller and younger than Ishtanchuk. Ishtanchuk had pondered whether it was worthy to share her experiences with Indahmawar; but that was not the time. Maybe would never be the time. Yet also, could Indahmawar understand Ishtanchuk?

"What if... what would you do with it? That someone almost killed your older cousin, your older sister, your best friend?", she thought. But that was not the present neither. The present was the Greater Fool Bar. It was Eugerelia's clone. And it was the itching and discomfort as her body healed from the (expensive, fast and extremely high quality) reconstruction of her right breast. A rarity among capsuleers, when eternity and forever youth were a clone away. But things had to be done as they had to be done.

"I am not angry", said Ishtanchuk and then she held Indahmawar's face and kissed the corners of her lips. "I am fine. I am here"

Then Indahmawar saw a single tear falling from Ishtanchuk's eye, and she leaned on her shoulder and began crying again. Ishtanchuk caressed her back too, as things had to be done. A shiver of realization went down Ishanchuk's back and she pressed Indahmawar harder. It was real. That was her cousin. And she was there too, eventually!

Back at home.

You really shouldn't do that you know, it can be quite unhealthy. After the recent filter malfunction a few days ago in this part of the station, you can not be too careful. Who knows what sort of particles might cling to the surface of that window....

Ezwal shakes his head and enters the bar.

Ah, good, my favourite table is free. A friendly nod and a slight hardly noticeable hand gesture to the bar is enough.
Good beer, excellent place, even better personnel. As usual, the tip I give is just as good.


((As, I might add, is the storyline.))

Yiole Gionglao and Random McNally decided to invite the Fazmarai cousins to have a lunch at a restaurant, and the group agreed to go to a trattoria. Yiole noticed how Indah seemed about to say something, but she agreed with the rest.

At the restaurant, they picked a quiet table in a corner to have some intimacy as four capsuleers would draw attention anywhere. The owner already kenw Yiole, and the group enjoyed a nice meal -just Indah took forever to pick her dishes- and all in all they had a nice conversation. Yet it was Yiole and Random who carried the weight of it, with the Fazmarais rarely intervening. Yiole's curiosity just grew as she watched Ishtanchuk being quieter than usual. Yiole waited for her chance to speak to Ish, and that chance came when Indah left for the toilet and a few minutes later also Random went in the same direction.

"And well, Ish? Will you say something today?", said Yiole, smiling.
"Why?"
"You two have been there silent like stuffed blackbirds... and don't you think you should explain something about your latest exploits?"
"Don't want to speak about it" said Ishtanchuk, tersely.
"Don't want to speak? I've seen that scar in your face. It's a gunshot, honey. Somebody shot your mouth! And you say you don't want to talk about it?"
"No, I don't want. It's the past. I want to let the past stay past"
"But you neither moved to a new clone nor healed that scar. I can see that you lost some teeth from that wound... but they're not missing, You just preserved the skin bruise... as to remember?"
"Seriously Yiole. Stop it. I just want to think about the present and the next future"
"As in? What are your plans?"
"My plans? Eugerelia's clone will reach the appropiate age in three weeks. I plan to bring Indah's mother here to detach her from her environment so she's more open... I've found a workaround to the body and soul issue... should work as she's not an Amarran, not even a pure Khanid. And she can't beat me in matters of Theology, obviously"
"Well, nice, so you heal Eugerelia. And what next?"
"Next? I don't know what's next. I just want to take that burden out of my shoulders. I want to relieve myself from it and let Indah and everybody else sort their business on their own. So I can focus on me, too. I've been taking a lot..."
"Hey, hey, stop it! You've been taking what you've wanted, I don't recall you ever asked me for help to get the money for Indah's mother! It's been you who has been leaving your friends aside, just like in the last six months!"
"My friends?", shouted Ishtanchuk, upset "My friends! Whom didn't cared for two months while I was missing! Who were very happy to not give me a second thought while I... It had to be Succus who convinced you that something was wrong with my absence! And he never gave up, he struggled and kept looking and questioning and doing all sorts of things to figure what had happen and whether I was in distress! It's been him who helped me!"
"No, no, stop that, inmediately!", shouted back Yiole "I'm not taking that bullshit, not even from you! If you had trouble, you just needed to ask for help! It's been you who wanted to single handle everything!"
"Ask for help?" spit Ish with a grim face "How, Yiole, how? Don't you think I would...?"
"You would...? Wait, what happened...?", said Yiole, concerned.
"Forget it. Past is past and I need to forget... to..." said Ishtanchuk, as grimness became sadness in her face and her eyes wetted.
"Ish! what happens?" asked Yiole, looking into Ishtanchuk's eyes.
"What? It happens that I am tired!", bursted Ish. "It happens that I am hurt! it happens that my heart is broken and there's nothing I can do about it!", cried Ishtanchuk, sobbing and collapsing her face on her arms.

Yiole watched Ish, sobbing as her shoulders shaked and stifled moans could be heard from behind the hair hiding Ish's face. Yiole stood up and moved to Ish, crouching and embracing her so Ish could lean her head on her shoulders.

"Ish, ish... oh my, what happened... What is so terrible? I am here, we are here, we are your friends... you're not alone, we love you!", said Yiole to comfort Ish. Yet Ishtanchuk kept sobbing, hugging Yiole and shaking so hard that Yiole had trouble to keep her balance, crouched on her high heels.

"Don't worry... we're here... ", kept repeating Yiole.

********************************************************

The restaurant had an old fashioend layout, and that meant that the architect had alloted similar room for both ladies' and men's bathrooms. That meant that there were queues at the ladies' toilets, and so Indah had to wait before it was her turn. Thus in a way, once the set was staged, it was almost unavoidable that Indah, who had moved first to the bathrooms, exited them to meet Random right at the hall outside of the bathrooms.

"Hey, cutie!. Let's go back to Yiole and Ish before they think we fleed away!", waved Random.

Indahmawar smiled shily, and she felt the weight fo Fate on her. Before she could second think it, she said:

"Random... I think we should talk"
"Talk about what, cutie?"
"About what happened", said Indah's mouth as if it had its own life.
"What happened", repeated Random, and he felt a shiver from the top of his head to the depth of his guts. Memory bursted him with the feeling of a warm slender body under him, tantalizing green eyes staring into his eyes, a beautiful face rocking with the movement of hips against hips, and a sound of pitched moans as he pushed himself deeper and deeper into the moist, soft flesh of Indahmawar... Random felt heat on his cheeks and looked into Indahmawar, and she blushed under his stare. She felt as if Random was under her clothes, and a few endless seconds passed before Random's tongue untangled and he could say:

"Talk... about what? Why?"
"Yiole...", answered Indahmawar.

And then there was silence as Random and Indahmawar looked at each other, waiting for what would be next. Yiole...

Do it, do it now!

Sam grinned and turned looking for fresh targets but Random froze. Looking at Sam, he noticed that the huge Caldari soldier’s hair was darkening.

The nanite disguises were wearing off.

“We gotta go!” he said, scooping Indah from the floor and sprinting down the hallway.

Sam, Random and the unconscious Indahmawar entered the vestibule. The guard behind the desk was sprawled over the console with Lailyana plucking the sidearm from his fingers. Laud turned back to Random. “We have to go.” She said urgently. “The disguises…”

“…are wearing off. Yea, I know.” Random finished as he glanced briefly around. “All present and accounted for.” He said, more to himself than to the group. “Ok Lail, Laud. Let’s fade out.”

Lail went to the exit of the security area and glanced each way. With a casual air, she stepped out and started walking down the hallway. Laud turned a worried look to Random about the unconscious Indah in his arms. “She’s fine.” Random answered with a smile. “Now she’s battle tested.”

Laudenum smiled her wide smile and placed her arm in Lemant’s. They both strolled out casually into the hallway.

Random turned back to look at Sam who was fiddling with the controls of the guard’s stun rifle. Sam noticed his glance and smiled. “It’s crap as a real weapon, but I do like this part.” He flipped a switch on the power pack and an electronic hum began increasing in pitch and intensity. He casually tossed the rifle down the security hallway and joined Random and Indah walking down the hall. A loud ‘WHUMP’ emanated from the security office entrance followed by a small cloud of smoke and debris and Sam smiled wryly. “They really need to tighten up security in this place.”

The walk down the hallway was frighteningly dull. It’s isolation from the greater part of the station kept foot traffic to a minimum. The hallway was nearly empty save for a few maintenance workers working on electronics within exposed panels. As the trio approached the first of the maintenance workers, she casually stood and opened a door allowing Sam to enter and vanish down a different hallway. The woman returned to the panel as if nothing out of the ordinary happened.

A dozen steps later, another of the techs stood and opened the door for Random and Indah. Zoe Kaltana smiled and glanced from under her work cap. “Next time, don’t keep all the fun for yourselves.” Random smiled and winked to the Bloodhorse tribe warrior and slid inside the passageway.

---

Indahmawar awoke with a start. She looked around the unfamiliar environment wide eyed and startled.

“Shhhhh, you’re ok, Indah. You’re safe.” Random said, holding her gently. She spun in his grasp and looked up into his face.

“Where…What…” she said as if so many questions went through her mind but couldn’t decide on which one to voice.

He hugged her and stroked her hair, watching the nanite induced silvery white coloring in her hair drain away to its natural black. She accepted the hug, clinging to the solid mass that was the big Matari.

“I was so frightened.” She whispered into his neck.

“You were very brave.” He said with a smile. “Nermal would have been proud.”

“I…I…” she stuttered, looking very confused. She looked up into Random’s eyes and kissed him with an intensity that can only confirm that you are alive. She withdrew from the kiss slowly; her eyes closed and body thrumming with the nervous energy from the fight. She opened her eyes and composed herself, every bit the Khanid royal lady. She slid from Random’s grasp to the ground and looked around.

“Where are we?” She asked. The fire from that brief burst of passion beginning to temper.

“We are in a maintenance space behind the bar.” He said, his lips still tingling from the contact. “I didn’t think it would be good to enter with you, “he hesitated, “indisposed.”

She smiled and hugged him gently. “Thank you.” She said blushing. “I think I’m ready to go back in now.”

---

Laudenum returned from the bar to the table where Random sat sipping from a cup of coffee. She carried a tall glass of something that looked foul and smelled strong. She moved with a bubbly energy that showed that she still rode the ‘high’ of the successful operation. She plopped down into the chair across from him and drank deeply from the contents of the glass. She winced and shuddered slightly as the noxious stuff went down but smiled as her face reddened. The stuff must have been very potent.

“You saw Lemant off?” Random asked.

“Yea. I gave him my Vigil. It’s speed fit so he shouldn’t have any trouble unless he runs into a bubble.” She sipped from the glass again with less reaction. “He owes me now.” Her grin showed a lot of teeth.

Random scowled into his coffee. He could understand his sister’s mood. A successful operation and what appeared to be a clean get away. What was there NOT to celebrate? He took another sip of his coffee and willed his face to a neutral mask.

Laudenum watched her brother, the euphoric smile dying by degrees. “Random, “she said, frustrated, “what the hell is wrong with you?”

The staff gazed spellbound at Laudenum as she finished the story. She tipped her glass and emptied it.

“That is NOT how it happened.” Indahmawar said sternly, snapping the reverie from the assembled audience. “At least, not that last part.” The color in her face was rising.

Laud smiled. “There may have been just a little embellishment on the storytellers part.” She said with a wink.

The wait staff that had assembled to hear the story collectively groaned at the thought that their boss had NOT been involved in a torrid love affair and began dispersing to their duties. Laud quickly set her glass on Angelina’s tray which earned her a quick scowl and a half hearted smile. As Angelina returned to the bar, Laudenum stretched her long legs under the table. Indah stood hugging herself next to her.

“How did you know?”, Indah whispered, her face now bloodless.

“Not from my knotheaded brother, if that’s what you are concerned about.” Laud whispered back. “Rook, the head of maintenance is a class ‘A’ perv. He has tapped into most of the security feeds in the station.” Laud stood and wrapped Indahmawar in a sisterly hug. “Rook had a copy of your tryst.” She said, looking Indah firmly in the eye. “But, I’m sure the technical difficulties he’s experiencing now will ensure the patronage of the Greater Fool Bar their discretion.”

Laud softened as a tear escaped Indah’s eye. “I’m sorry, hon.” Laud said, hugging Indah tightly. “I’m so very very sorry.”



This concludes 'Jailbreak'. Hope you liked it.

*Looks around at the patrons*

"Alright, alright. I'll do it."

Empties her drink and sets the glass on the table.

"But if she tries to sell me into slavery, I'll kick her in the face."

The Capsuleer

"The Black of Space. A miner's worst nightmare or a pirate's paradise. In New Eden, ISK makes the verse go round. How you earn it is up to you. How you spend it...well that is up to the black of space."
This one slogan fueled her, and thousands like her, for eons. Before the wars, before the politics, before the empires and corporations. And now, things were different. Corporations were a mainstay in the universe, and the empires, having attempted to tighten their grip, are beginning to lose it altogether.

---

“Begun to lose it, they haven’t lost it yet.” thought Lailyana as she sat up in the cloning facility. Looking around the room are a couple of other clones, other pilots, just like her. A technician monitoring the others, not yet activated. No doubt flying somewhere throughout New Eden. Shivering cold and dripping wet in stasis fluid, she starts wincing at the sudden fire running through her head and down her spine, dulling down just as quickly as it shot through her extremities. Suddenly, and without warning the beautiful Caldari vomits profusely into a nearby trash receptacle.
“Well that was slightly more pleasant than the last time.” she says breathing heavily and muttering under her breath as she vomits again.
Gathering her strength after what seems like several minutes Lailyana gets up and walks over to a dresser drawer to reveal her clothing, taking a deep breath she mutters under her breath, “At Least the hardest part of this is waking up” as she pulls her shirt down over her head revealing her short hair that was almost as red as a nebula in Rens and a full sleeve on her right arm. After she is clothed she pulls out another personal comm link, clasps her belt on her camouflaged pants and walks out of the cloning facility.

Walking through the station still painfully stretching Lailyana suddenly starts thinking, what she could’ve done different, if that was a fight she could’ve walked away from or was she doomed from the beginning. While thinking about the events her communication link starts going off, grabbing it she opens a mail that reads.

From: Secure Commerce Commission
Sent: YC115.08.26 05:17

RefID: 1011774250310 your friendly insurance company has transferred 18,414.40 ISK into your account for the recent loss of your ship. This payout is the default payout for an uninsured ship. If you are interested in better insurance then please visit a station with an Insurance Service for further details.

Lailyana chuckles aloud to herself, “better insurance isn’t going to keep me from being killed by pirates,” she says to her commlink as she closes it, “but still, maybe I should upgrade the package just to get more money out of it, and Interstellar Kredits shouldn’t be the only thing that concerns me” Lailyana said getting increasingly frustrated the more she thought about it. Since the empires figured out how to clone their vast armies, it lead to immortal humans, and with immortality comes advantages, and in the case of repeated deaths, disadvantages, like the memories and pain and sadness that all accompanies a death like the brutal ones that claim so many in New Eden. “Even if it is only just momentary, it still is scary, and still is extremely painful,” thought Lailyana rubbing the back of her neck where her combat implants go.
Sighing once more, Lailyana took a seat at a nearby chair, for the dozens of deaths, she can’t remember the one that mattered, the day she died as a mortal human and was reborn as a clone. The changed happened what seemed like an eternity ago, as a fighter trainee of the Caldari Naval Academy she had seen countless fights with a near perfect record, but like everything in New Eden, all it takes is once. She awoke shortly after in a medical cloning facility just a few AU from one of the largest trading hubs in the universe, the station known as Jita 4-4. As she woke up in station the familiars that she’s accustomed to now at the moment of death, just multiplied tenfold as it felt like her very soul was on fire. Lailyana having been daydreaming heard her commlink going off. As she looks down at it she starts smiling. Answering it she says “Kane, how is it going good sir.”
“Lail, what the **** happened out there?” the gruff, yet obviously concerned voice said.
“I had a cosmic anomaly on my scanners, I dispatched the Blood Pirates surrounding the data site, but then a manticore de-cloaked and before I could do anything a 4 man gang showed up, I was able to hail you on comms and then turn into them when my shields were depleted, the rest…
Lailyana paused a minute, recollecting things, she suddenly realized through the chaos of her low shield indicator alarm beeping at her and her targeting showing she had an Amarrian Executioner class frigate locked when suddenly, just as quick as it started, it was over.
“Kane can you get in your Nemesis and scout out my wreckage, I have a funny feeling those were slavers.” Lailyana continued.
“What would Amarr be doing in Caldari space?” Kane intuitively asks.
“Well, my guess would be looking for quick captures for ransom, but I put up a fight, ill head down to fitting services and get a new Merlin class.” Lailyana said..
‘‘Ok I will head out there, keep your comms open, we may need more back up.” the gallentean said closing comms.
“I am so lucky so have friends like Kane.” Lailyana thought. The fact the rough Gallente Soldier and her get along is amazing, being Caldari herself, the two races have never really seen eye to eye.