Streets and Shadows (Candy Flavoured & NightBird)

[NightBird]

It was a normal enough evening in the City. Most cubers had left the drudgery of their semi-private desks to go home to families or out on the town, leaving the streets in residential areas quiet, and very much the opposite around bars and restaurants, shopping complexes and the big entertainment venues. The sun had dropped to the horizon, casting deep shadows that were almost dark enough to hide the piles of garbage in the seedier parts of town, away from the dinner-table peace and nightlife revelry.

There, deals of many sorts took place, and there was room for nearly anyone strong enough, fast enough or ruthless enough to carve out a niche. More than anywhere else in the City, the old phrase 'it takes all kinds' rang true.

[Candy Flavoured]

With the sun set and armor donned Talia had just accepted her latest deal, to rob the museum of robotics. Talia was a short teen-aged girl outside of the robotic suit she wore, however that was difficult to see due to the fact she was wearing it. A thin, lightweight flexible metal covered her body, even the cat-like ears and tail that protruded from her body. Getting to the museum in the upper-class part of town was easy, getting in would be the hard part.
She walked up to the side of the building, using her suit to detect where the cameras were, finding a blank spot on the wall she fired her suit's grappling hooks, the cords made of carbon-fiber, and scaled the wall with relative ease, using the suit's stealth capability to prevent being spotted by anyone who might walk by. On the roof she made her way to a skylight and using the diamond bladed claws of the suit, she cut open a hole in the glass just large enough to slip in. Leaping to the ground, grabbing the falling disk of glass along th way, she glanced around, hoping this place no longer employed organic guards while she sneaked her way around to find her target, an old super computer's motherboard and memory stores.
Objects in hand, storing them in a compartment at her suit's belt, she walked to where she entered, accidentally tripping a silent alarm along the way, and leaped towards the hole in the glass, using her boosters as a sort of 'double jump' to help her up. She set the glass disk next to the hole she cut as she began to flee the scene, glad her suit left no DNA or fingerprints behind.
(Sorry if this isn't good enough ^_^; )

[NightBird]

[No apologies necessary as far as I'm concerned!]

The silent alarm did its job, bringing a dark panel to a brilliant display. The guard who watched it, deep within the heart of the facility's electronic hub, tapped the skin above his talker implant and sent out a report. Soon a squad of heavily armed and armored guards poured into the foyer, but before they could arrive, the image of a crouched figure perched high atop one of the displays wavered into view.

The watcher rose to his feet, staring after the retreating burglar. The alarm had shown on his H.U.D., too, along with the lines where she'd avoided all the rest. He laughed softly as he lifted the visor on his suit, which looked similar but not quite identical to the one the cat-girl had worn. The face that appeared would have meant little to the guards, but it would definitely have had an impact on Talia.

The one who had watched was the same man who had hired her, Blake Carmichael, investor, inventor and collector of fine and intriguing things. His laughter faded only with the distant sounds of the approaching guards, his sign to leap lightly to the ground and exit the same way Talia had, but his destination would, initially at least, be different.

--------------------------------
(a few hours later)

Blake was dressed in an understated suit, but one still obviously too expensive for him to fit in at the all-night breakfast place where he sat, waiting for Talia to make the drop as they'd earlier agreed. It was true enough that he wanted a particular piece of outmoded robotics for one of his current projects, but he was just as interested in enticing the cat-girl into his employ. She had guts and talent, and it was about time somebody made proper use of it.

Blake's bodyguard stood outside, his back to the hover limo and his arms crossed, looking thoroughly annoyed from the tight lift of his shoulders to the even harder line of his mouth, but still poised and ready to leap to Mr. Carmichael's defense if anyone even looked at his employer the wrong way.

[Candy Flavoured]

Talia walked into the building to find her employer. She had carefully wrapped the items in wrapping paper after putting them in a carefully packed box. The sun would be rising soon so she had to be quick about this. After walking in, keeping her suit on to hide her face from her employer, she sat at his table and held out the box "Happy Birthday" the artificial voice modulator in the suit's helmet made her voice come out sound a hell of a lot mature and seductive then her voice naturally did, she set the machine herself, she found it suited her thief persona better. She quietly awaited her payment after handing over the box, he would probably open it first but it didn't really bother her, the goods were safe and inside. "Hope you like it" as she said this she was looking around, making sure there weren't any cops, she hated when people led her into traps. Her tail twitched, she was defiantly on edge, even her employer could see this, she was a bit paranoid but worked good, which was why so many people sought her for work despite her high costs, usually charging a set amount for the risk of the job and however much energy she used or damage she had taken. She held out a piece of paper in the guise of a card, inside was the price for the job with the extras, which wasn't much due to how little effort she had to expend.

[NightBird]

Blake's lips curled upward in a satisfied sort of smile as he saw Talia enter the dingy little restaurant, then the smile became a more genuine expression of bemusement. A birthday gift as cover for the hand-off! It was just strange enough that several patrons, initially curious, had looked away again, shrugging at the uptowners playing their silly slumming games.

For a heartbeat, as she sat down, he fingered the disrupter in his pocket. He thought he'd set it correctly to shut down the powered suit Talia wore, but he wasn't sure if it would work. Both hands came to rest on the table by the time she was fully in the chair on her side. Better to try to persuade her the conventional way first.

"You remembered," he purred, his voice halfway to a caress, then reached out, almost touching her arm before drawing back to the box. "I'm sure I will, if you found it for me." He did open the box, just enough to recognize what was in it, then smiled after a quick glance confirmed the item. "I couldn't have chosen something better if I'd picked it out myself."

After looking at the card, he nodded and pulled a slender wallet out of the inner breast pocket of his suit jacket. Instead of opening it right away, however, he leaned toward her, murmuring so softly she'd likely need to use the suit to hear him, "What say I triple it as a hiring bonus if you sign on to work for me."

[Candy Flavoured]

She remained still, ready to harm him when she saw his hands near her arm. At his comment of signing on she shook his head, replying in a similar hushed voice "Sorry, sir. I only do things like that for beautiful women" she held out one hand "The money. Now" it wasn't a request but a demand.
Below the tinted visor she was glaring at him, her normally expressive eyes cold and angry, she didn't like men who tried to control her. Her tail's irritable twitching increased as she began to suspect something would go down between her and this man and she began to regret her decision not to get a real weapon, she supposed she'd have to deal with the stunning shocks her suit could administer if he tried anything.

[NightBird]

For an instant, something flashed across the depths of Blake's dark eyes, but it was gone without a trace so quickly afterward that many observers would never have seen it at all. He shrugged, giving every reasonable appearance of nonchalance, then opened his wallet to reveal a checkbook.

"As you wish, but you're turning down an exceptional opportunity," he replied, his voice almost indifferent in tone, hiding the anger well enough to fool the restaurant patrons around them. "I have the facilities for you to perfect your skills, for one thing. Did you even realize, I wonder, that you'd triggered an alarm?"

[Candy Flavoured]

She gave a shrug, an irritable growl uttering from her throat "Can't be perfect all the time" she hissed "Now give me the money" she could destroy these things he had wanted her to get in a second if she wished. She slammed one metal coated fist on the table "Now give me the money and leave me be!" short tempered it seemed, she would be getting the attention of people here, that would be bad for business.
The claws on her hand were out, digging into the wood of the table and she would not hesitate to use them on this vile man, he disgusted her strongly, she just wanted to be rid of him so she could go home and rest before morning came.