From: danmcd@cs.arizona.edu (Daniel L. McDonald)
Newsgroups: alt.cyberpunk.chatsubo
Subject: The Rubber Chicken Agenda - Just Another Trip Down Memory Lane
Summary: Ski meets nasty dealer
Keywords: Ski Max software dealer
Date: 29 Jul 92 04:14:42 GMT
Organization: U of Arizona CS Dept, Tucson

Greetings Chatsubo patrons!

What's this, another Ski story so *soon*?  Well, I've been staying up a lot
of late nights recently.  The last feedback Mark and I got was something to
the extent of, "more action, please."  This is where it begins.  This
particular thread will be winding up soon, but I have a new one already
planned.  I don't mind characters joining in, but I *do* have a very good
idea of what Ski will be up to next.  Also, what Ski will be up to next *may*
be a little harsher than this lighter fare that Mark and I have been writing.

Kudos, as always, to my partner in literary crime, Mark "Crimson" Friedman.
Mark will be graduating really soon, which is another reason why these stories
will be more frequent.

As always, direct flames, praise, money, death threats, and ideas to:

		danmcd@cs.arizona.edu (Dan McDonald)
	-OR-	friedman@cis.ohio-state.edu (Mark "Crimson" Friedman)

CONTINUITY CHECK
================

	* Ski decides SenseNet needs to have its ICE broken, just because
	  he almost got flatlined.
	* Ski and Max find a lead into where they can obtain an ICEbreaker.
	* Ski get's dissed by a girl, and Max lands her for the evening.

Enjoy!

Dan
---------------------
        The sign on the street needed no light.  It read "Leo's", with
"Karate and Tae Kwon Do" underneath in a smaller font.  Inside, a
sensei lead his class of whitebelts in forward punches, each lunge
accentuated by a loud grunt.  Closer to the window, a blonde-haired
blackbelt finished up stretching, and walked into a door labelled,
"Men."

        Fifteen minutes later, the same blonde-haired blackbelt walked
out of the locker room, duffle bag in hand.  He walked up to another
sensei, who nodded his head at him.  Dennis Daniel Broskowski knew
that his sensei would not mind him leaving early today.  He had been
working intensely, and his sensei did not mind seeing him rest.  What
his sensei did not know is that rest was the last thing on Ski's mind.

        *       *       *       *       *       *       *

        Ski looked in his duffle bag, and made sure he had the packets
of paper New Yen.  Hard currency was a rarity in the Sprawl, but the
it was the only kind Ski would part with on a deal like the one he
planned to make tonight.  Ski also felt around for his knife.
Although not much of a knife fighter, Ski felt just having it may
intimidate a few people.  It would also throw people off from one of
the two real threats.

        He stowed them both under his workout clothes, and looked into
the "entrance" to Memory Lane.  It looked like any renovated
pedestrian mall, similar to State Street from his time at Madison.  To
the outsider, it was nothing more than another street corner, but Ski,
and many others, knew that it was home to at least half of the
Sprawl's underground software business.

        "Hi," said Max, as he rushed from across the intersection
carrying a backpack.  It made him look like a student.

        "Um, yeah.  Hi," Ski replied nervously.  It was only 2:00 in
the afternoon, but Memory Lane unnerved him enough where he was on
edge.  Max's excitable burst did not diminish the pit he felt in his
stomach.

        "I brought all the stuff."  Max emphasized the word "stuff" as
he gave Ski a look intended to convey understatement.  Ski was
impressed that Max did not blurt out any words like "ICEbreaker",
"countersurveilance", or "weapons".

        "I also brought that special item I told you about yesterday!"
Max said even more excitedly than before.  Ski had to smile at this
point, because he knew how handy that item would be.

        "Great.  Now chill out a little.  You look like a kid who's
getting to try out his new ball on the playground.  Let's just hope we
won't have to play to rough.  Now this guy Stevens runs a little porn
shop called 'SoftOn'.  Cute name, huh?  Anyway, that's where we should
go.  After that, we pretty much wing it.  Let me do the talking, and
be ready for any shit to happen."

        "I wonder if he bought my 'Onogasm' program.  You plug it into
your Sendai, and it's almost like orgasm.  I sold a lot to dealers
like him.  I really haven't used it much myself lately, with Tammy and
all."

        Ski rolled his eyes.  It pissed him off that Max, *Max* of all
people, could be getting laid before he was.  Ski brushed it off to
luck.  He figured it was the bad luck that made up for the good luck
that made him not flatline when he partially cracked SenseNet's ICE.
Ski was thinking to himself about how if luck, like mass and energy,
was conserved ultimately, then he was long overdue for a good luck
streak.

        They started stolling off down the 'Lane' and Ski decided to
strike up a conversation.  "So how was the rest of the evening with
our fine, perky friend?"

        "Oh!  Tammy is simply *wonderful*, great personality, sharp
sense of humour..."

        "Cool."  Ski immmediately had the feeling that he would regret
asking.

        "She's a lot of fun to be with.  Did you notice her legs?
She's got really nice legs..."

        "No, I didn't notice..."  Actually, he had.  Immediately.

        "And her breasts.  She's got perfect breasts, too."

        "I noticed *them* a litle."  Ski looked at the ground to
hide the remorseful expression on his face.

        "Yeah.  The perfect size and shape."  Max held up his hands
commensurately.  "No cosmetic surgery, either, she's a natural!  We
took some pictures.  I know some contacts in the modelling industry
and..."

        "Pictures?"

        "Yeah, some holo-stills, and a I got a little sim-stim
recording and editing suite, too.  Wow, can she be downright *erotic*,
just like flipping a switch.  All that repressed sexual drive..."

        "I could imagine."  He was grinding his teeth together.

        "Yeah.  We went to her place from the Loser and had sex for a
few hours, and it just hit me while we were taking a break: 'you
oughta be in pictures!'  So we dressed, hopped a cab to my place, and
set up my equipment.  Besides, she doesn't have a waterbed..."

        Ski just grunted.

        "Oh man, and when I was setting up the stuff, she found 'the
closet'.  Boy was I suprised when she snuck up behind me wearing a
studded leather ensemble!  Who knew she would enjoy bondage and
discipline so much?"

        His jaw dropped.

        "Oh, yeah.  She never did B-n-D before, but she said when she
found the outfit in 'the closet' it *really* stirred something inside
her.  And she was just *sooo* playful last night, so I taught her a
thing or two.  Good student, extremely bright."

        Ski growled.

        "So we shot some footage in that outfit.  I even taught her
how to use a whip: like I said, she's a natural!  Great pictures.
Remind me to show you sometime."

        Ski shook his head, "Yeah, that's great Max, but..."

        "So then I put some trodes on and we got down to some live
action stim-recording.  I played the submissive this time.  You know,
office techs *always* make the best dominant partners..."

        "No I *didn't*, but I'd rather not..."

        "Oh yeah, they do!  You see, they have to take order after
order from their loudmouth bosses all day and they just get sick of
it.  Frustrating, you know?  So when it comes time for sex, it becomes
so *liberating* to have complete control over the situation: it goes
*where* they want *when* they want it to.  It's quite a refreshing
change for them."

        "Fine, but I really don't..."  Ski balled his hands into
fists, trying to control his irritation.

        "And it's the same way with corporate execs, but the other way
around.  There's so much responsibility weighing on their shoulders
all the time, so it's a relief to have someone else tell them what to
do, to hold the reigns, so to speak!"  Max laughed at his own in-joke.

        "Shut up, Max..."  He hoped that SoftOn came into view very
soon, now.

        "Yeah, that's how I got into it, myself.  I had all these
projects on my mind, all this publishing pressure, and I just needed
to let go once in a while.  And lucky for me, my therapist, Alicia,
had the 'cure', in a sense.  Admittedly, that's further than a doctor/
patient relationship should normally go, but we ended up doing it on a
totally recreational basis instead.  Ah, those were good times..."

        He raised his voice a little.  "Shut UP, Max..."

        "And it was a shame when I had to move out here: it broke up a
damn good team.  But neither of us were up to marriage at that point.
Heck, I'm still not!  Luckily, though, Alicia had a friend that lived
in this area, and she gave me her number.  So now I go out with her
occasionally.  And to think that I never knew that Alicia was bisexual
until Julie told me about the time that she and Alicia took this *big*
cucumber, warmed it up in a microwave, and started to..."

        "SHUT UP, MAX!!!"  Ski was sure that steam was escaping from
his ears.

        Max visibly jumped.  "Well, you *did* ask..."  He took to
pouting.

        *       *       *       *       *       *       *

        Ski *finally* picked out the "SoftOn" sign from several blocks
away.  Despite his time in school, and in cyberspace, he still had
keen eyesight.  Ski poked Max, who after straining slightly also
targeted the sign.  Ski was surprised Max, the staunch researcher,
inventor, academician, wannabe hardware artist, and now rough-stuff
sex maniac did not have any sort of vision correction.  Ski saw no
contacts, nor any of the slight scarring or bruising associated with
new eyes.

        They walked another four blocks, and entered the small
boutique.  The blue velvet decor of the shop doubled the already
sleazy look and feel.  Many sexual toys, both hardware and software
were prominently displayed in several glass cabinets.  Overseeing the
cabinets was a young man not much older than Ski.  He had
shoulder-length blue hair on the right side of his head, while
settling for shaving and tatooing the rest of it with pictures of
brick walls and tits.

        Ski looked up at a video screen, where a computer-enhanced (or
generated, Ski was not sure) redhead was pedalling herself.

        "Hi," the nymph made the slightest kissing motion, "my name is
Vonda, Virtual Vonda.  Although the pleasure is all yours, and all
real."

        Ski rolled his eyes, and thought to himself about a redhead he
slept with his sophomore year.  He tried to imagine her up on the
screen, but couldn't stretch his imagination enough.  Max, conversely,
took an inventory of the items in the glass cases.  He appeared to be
critiquing each item for compliance with some internal standard.  Max
snapped his head up and asked the man behind the counter, "Do you have
any Onogasms?"

        The punk gave him a blank, depressant-enhanced stare.  "We
sold out of those months ago, dude.  Do you know how *hard* it is to get
those?"

        Max laughed, and was about to say something when Ski cut in
with, "We're looking for Stevens."  Ski flashed a sizeable quantity of
New Yen notes to show his sincerity.

        The punk's eybrows rose approvingly.  "Step through the
curtain."  He pointed out a break in the blue velvet wall.  "And don't
try any shit with that knife, fag."

        Ski held back an "Oh shit" as he closed his duffle bag.  That
stupid fuck behind the counter wasn't very stupid, he thought to
himself as he walked through.  Max followed Ski, conspicuously being
very careful to hold his backpack in a inconspicuous manner.

        Behind the curtain was a small storage room, with a desk and
two additional chairs to the right of the curtained entrance.  Two
large men were seated in the chairs, and two more men, one sitting,
one standing, were behind the desk.  The men behind the desk glanced
at Ski and Max.  The two bodyguards, by Ski's guess, stood up and
glared at them.

        "I'll take it Billy let you two in here," said the man sitting
at the desk.  Ski quickly glanced over him: he was black, bearded, and
had a look in his eyes that pierced through the twin towers of grafted
muscle that stood on either side of his desk.  Ski raised his eyebrows
in response to the black Italian suit he was wearing.  The man's
blonde-haired assistant wore slightly less flashy clothes, but carried
an Uzi not unlike the one Ski had been shot up with only a few months
back.  The gun nearly petrified Max, and injected painful memories of
a drug-crazed lunatic into Ski's mind.

        Ski swallowed, then spoke, "Yes."  A pause followed.  "I heard
about you at the Loser.  You're Stevens?  If so, I'm looking for
something."

        Ski glanced at Max, who fumbled into his knapsack and pulled
out a small box.  It made no sound, and flashed a calming green light.

        "No bugs, or any other eavesdropping," Max said, his unease
showing.

        "I wouldn't have it any other way," said the man, who nodded
his head when Ski mentioned the name Stevens.  "Now quit wasting my
time, or that won't be the only thing wasted here today."  The guards
were looking anxious to tear apart this kid and his balding friend who
they thought could be his father.

        Ski grabbed out every sheaf of New Yen he had, and laid it out
on the table.  "I'm looking for something to cut ICE.  And I'm willing
to pay big."

        Stevens looked at the money on the table, looked at Ski, and
suppressed a laugh.  "That's it?  I hope this is a down payment,
'cause that's all I see here.  Well?"

        Max looked at Ski, and Ski just looked at the money
dumbfoundedly.  He had no idea how much an ICEbreaker would cost, so
he figured he'd bring about what a new Hosaka would cost.  When
Stevens mentioned "down payment", Ski's jaw dropped.

        The bodyguards started toward Ski and Max.  Max had already
stuck his hand into his bag, and threw what he grabbed into the
ground.  The magnesium flash blinded everyone but Ski, who knew it was
coming and managed to turn away until it died down to a tolerable
level.  He then kicked the bodyguard on his left once in the stomach,
and once to his downwards-facing head.  He ran over, roundkicked the
upright guard that was groping for Max, and then spun around to face
Stevens...

        Apparently the other man behind the desk hadn't been affected
by the flash either: he had helped Stevens out of his chair, got him
away from the action, clicked off the safety on his Uzi, and was now
pointing it at Ski.

        "Shall I kill them, or let the twins have their fun?" said the
assistant with a heavily German accented voice.  By this time, the two
guards were unconscious, and Max was up, although still rubbing his
eyes.

        "It's too bad you two don't have anything else besides this."
Stevens grabbed a handful of New Yen.  "You've got real balls to try
what you just did, and brains enough to use the flare grenade.  You
guys don't deserve what Tim and Jim would do to you, but I'm gonna
have to let Gunter kill you."

        Max, who had previously been too busy recovering his eyesight,
spoke up, "Onogasms.  I can get you Onogasms.  Your guy Billy said,
you've been sold out for months.  I can get them.  I *invented* them!"

        Ski couldn't belive his ears.  He was bracing himself for
another shooting, and Max is talking about Onogasms.  He couldn't
believe his eyes when Stevens told his assistant Gunter to lower his
Uzi.

        "You better not be jerking me off.  I don't believe you
invented them, but if you can get me even a dozen one-shot Onogasm
cartridges, I'll let you both live."

        "He invented them, believe it," Ski managed.

        Max interjected, "Yeah, and I can give you the master copies.
I've been making it better.  And you can have the copyright to it, but
only if you let us have an ICEbreaker..."

        Ski braced himself again to be shot.  He verified the
invention story out of sheer panic.  Now Max was offering Stevens a
gold mine.  Nobody could believe shit like this, nobody.  But what Ski
heard was Gunter putting the safety back on, and walking back to grab
a small box.

        "Gunter is finding a package from Bockris Systems, GmbH.  I'm
sure one of you has heard of them.  One of their design engineers
traded a corporate ICEbreaking package for two dozen Onogasms, plus
150,000 New Yen.  I see 100,000 New Yen on the table, plus, if you're
not lying, several lifetime's supplies of Onogasms.  Gunter is my
European contact.  Onogasms are quite popular there, as well as
Sprawlside.  I'll let you have this package from Bockris, plus your
lives, if you deliver."

        Max was amazed.  He didn't realize that one of his little
sidetracks could be worth so much.  Ski did, however, and with
newfound courage stated, "Plus maybe some repeat business?  If your
friend Gunter can get more toys from Bockris or anyone else, maybe I
could buy them; test them at least, so you make sure you're selling
good shit."

        Gunter placed a box in front of Max.  Max moved it over to
Ski, and said, "I can download the master copies for you right now..."

        *       *       *       *       *       *       *

        "Nice doin' the biz with you boys!"  Stevens slapped Ski on
the back.  The two had taken to sealing the deal with a bottle of
whiskey after Max was able to download the Onogasm masters.  Max, of
course, refused the toast as did Gunter, who preferred to keep alert
during "business hours".  "Now, you two come back soon.  I'm *sure*
we'll have some new toys for you to test-drive..."

        "Certainly."  Max said as he guided the now staggering Ski out
the front door of SoftOn.  He waved back.  "Have a nice day!"

        Ski had a shit-eating grin on his face.  "Man, we're in
bishness now.  We got what we were after, got a direct conction with a
schteady big-time shupplier, and we even got to keep our livesh to
boot!"  He hadn't taken down half a bottle of anything in quite some
time.  Ski hoped he wouldn't pass out.

        "Yup!"  He pointed Ski the right direction down Memory Lane.
"This is more exciting than I thought it would be!  And we still have
the main event ahead, though I guess you'll have to sober up before we
start anything..."

        "Yeah.  No deck drunking, or drunk decking..."  He pointed to the
parcel Max was carrying.  "What'sh in thoshe packagesh?"

        "Huh?  But I only have one here..."  He spotted a cab and
waved to it.

        "No, ya got three.  What'sh in the middle one?"

        Max rolled his eyes in comprehension and explained.  "It's a
new leash and collar for Tammy.  It's spiked, even."  He smiled fondly
at the memory.  "She said something about feeling like a verrrry bad
girl..."

        Ski slapped Max on the back of the head.  "SSHHUT UP, MAXSH!"
He laughed hysterically.

        Max raised his hands in exasperation, "Well, you *did* ask..."
--
Dan McDonald    |Internet: danmcd@cs.arizona.edu, UUCP: ..!uunet!arizona!danmcd
U. of Arizona   |BITNET: danmcd%cs.arizona.edu@arizona.BITNET
Computer Science|     "I was lined up for glory
Graduate Student|      But the tickets sold out in advance." - Rush (N. Peart)