The News at Ten... At Eleven

Piper folded her legs underneath herself, leaning against her Alpha on the couch. Sy was back in the medical bay, and the Neo was contently watching over Romeo's shoulder as he fine-tuned his AR koi fish. It looked less drunk now, and he was shading it in different colors to decide which scheme he liked best, the low tech television on for background noise.

“I like the red and the white,” she commented as she watched him type source code.

“Purist.” Romeo teased looking up briefly from his work.

She rested her chin on his shoulder, absently bringing a hand to play with his hair. “I like the basics. Something that looks ordinary can be a lot more than what it seems. But if you want to go for flashy, neon is all the rage.” She resisted the urge to change it for him herself, distracting herself by watching the report on the screen.

*"This is Lucy Li reporting live from Little Tokyo where there reality TV star known as Orlock is running amok.”*

Piper tilted her head to the side. “Isn’t that-- Hey! That’s the crazy guy you fought in the hive! He’s a reality TV star? What did Roach call him? “

“Wait do-” Romeo said alarmed.

“Hah!” could be heard loudly next door from Wren, followed by a second guffaw from his Alpha.

“ … Fu …” Romeo started.

“You fought that tv creampuff?” Lima called loudly.

“... ck …” He groaned dragging a hand down is face.

Piper sucked in a recalcitory breath through her teeth. “Wren, you traitor! He brought you Tiramisu! Shut it Lima!" She called back protectively, playfully banging her hand on the wall between the apartments for emphasis. “Sorry.” she apologized, hugging around his neck. “It’s like if someone tells you not to think of an elephant, then you can’t help but think of an elephant. On the plus side, the whole thing earlier cleared up whatever psyche block was messing with Wren’s vision, so… hey! Wren and Karma are back.”

“Yay.” Romeo said, less than enthusiastically.

*"This is Ken Ham with the News at Ten."* Stifling a yawn, the Neo flashed a quick look at the clock on the wall. The 10 O’clock news wasn’t broadcast in the Spire until 2300, sometimes 2330, everything shown had to be pre-recorded to coincide with the fact that there were no signals going in or out. Coupled with the day the'd had, she bet sleep would come easy that night.

*"Oracle sits under a cloud of fear tonight as New Way terrorists continue to carry out attacks across the city. AR tags are appearing on every street corner and OSEC are working over time to find a coherent link between the targets. There is concern that some criminals may be using the noise to mask their own activities beneath the New Way hysteria.*Piper held onto Romeo a little tighter, and he laid the tablet down on the coffee table to watch as well.

*There have been reports of technological disturbances in the South 40s and Downtown Oracle pointing towards OSEC high tech security teams at work in the area. One thing that is clear is that the New Way agenda is very much concerned with the Spire and those OSEC employees who work within. We have fresh reports that a petition has been going around to open up the Spire to public enquiry and several community protests are planned at the facility gates over the next few days as the populous become increasingly fearful of the escalating threat.”*

Releasing the grip she had around her Alpha, the levity of moments ago were quickly forgotten. The Spire was self-contained, public inquiry of what? It’s not like they had anything to hide, but it’d be a security nightmare, let alone if anyone came in with any sort of enhancements or tech. And protests? The Spire wasn’t the threat! What was there to protest, did they want to shut down the Spire? Have all the Neos out and about?

“Nothing we can’t handle,” she said with conviction, sounding confident until Wren’s reply.

*You sure about that?*