Foxhunt: Girls Just Wana Have Fun!

Rowans lips curved into a small smile and she took a sip on her drink. She eyed her visitors carefully as they stood there, drinking in every detail. The vibrant beat of the club music seemed to slow in anticipation of the moment. The lights dimmed just a shade, except around her. With a thought, she nudged the local lighting to a purple haze and her hair and tattoos to a violent pink. The Neo would see it all of course. She would know that the music and lights responded to her mood, she would see the filaments of her implants spidering across her nervous system.

She placed down her drink and shifted forward on her chair, letting her arms hang lazily over her knees.

“Looks to me like you are fishing in my pond.” she replied, “A Neo with her Alpha, and bonded would be my guess… Ooh, he has it bad, clear as day. You know little girl, he would tear my heart out if I so much as looked at you in the wrong way. Wouldn't you big dog?” Rowan made a growling sound and barked at Romeo. Her followers laughed, some of them nervously as they watched the Alpha.

“Yes.” Piper replied absently to the tech repleted woman who spoke the truth about her Alpha. Most of her concentration was being used trying to locate the Neo.

“Yes. I would.” Romeo confirmed. His neo was busy anyway so he was running point.

“Your 'pond’ has a Neophyte swimming around in it. We are just here to do our job. Get the Neo. Get out. Nothing needs to be made complicated and your business didn't suffer any electronic hiccups … or OSEC boots tromping around during the height of your night.” The Alpha pointed out. There wasn't any reason this couldn’t stay cordial after all.

Roach remained stoic the pup imitating how Frosty stood while Piper’s mind seemed to wander. He wondered of all Neos had that faraway look when they did their thing.

Piper could have easily gotten lost in the intricacies of circuitry lacing Rowan, enough to hold her in awe, but at the same time, she was getting pinged back by her brethren. *I told you my name, what’s yours?* Piper silently replied. *I want to talk to you because you’re like me. You’re a Neophyte.* She picked up a location he was thinking about or possibly heard. Eastside, furthest from the entrance! Got ‘em! If-- they could only get out of where they were.

Piper was coming in clearer now, and he’d heard every word: you’re a neophyte; it was an unfamiliar term, something he’d heard in passing like news headlines or some shit, Saul chimed in, it’s cute of you to try to be normal, but the money’s not worth it if you end up dead, it’s time to go and I’ve highlighted the best route to take, shh, Toxx replied, she says she’s like me, says she just wants to talk, no, she wants to get inside your head and erase you, overwrite you with some brainwashed Oracle croney, I still want to meet her, I don’t have to go with her, he said, adding to Piper, *I’m Toxx, but how do I know I can trust you?* He was walking, now, away from the bar and toward Mr. Satori before ducking into a side alcove waiting on Piper’s reply

Rowan considered the Neophyte and her muscled protector for a moment longer before switching her attention to Roach.

“What’s your name puppy?” she asked as she rose from the chair and sauntered over to the Alpha, “Have they taught you any tricks?”

She stopped within a few feet of him and held out her hand. She blinked and the colour of her eyes shifted to meet the same copper hue of the man.

“Shake a paw?” She narrowed her eyes, waiting to see how the rookie would react.

Roach opened his mouth about to make a snappy comeback when Romeo cut him off. “Pup who gave you *permission* to speak.” Romeo snapped at the young Alpha who straightened. “Ma’am you speak to *me* not the pup.” The elder Alpha said keeping his voice even toned. “So other than trying to bait the new guy why are we still here and not retrieving an errant Neophyte in your club? ”

Rowans eyes flared with a sudden rage and shifted to a golden sheen as she listened to Romeo speak. She glanced briefly at Roach before stepping between the two Alphas. She snapped her fingers and the music stopped, the dancers stopped, the flickering lights stopped, leaving the club hanging in a black and purple gloom.

“You are here OSEC, because I asked you to be here. This is my playground and if you want something in it, you play my fucking games!”

She spun around pulling a blade from beneath her dress and with a scream of rage stabbed into the dance floor through Roache's foot. All around the room the clicks of weapons being pulled and cocked sounded.

“Your move.” hissed Rowan as she looked up towards her visitors.

*Shit, I’ll be right back.*Piper replied to the fellow Neo, letting loose the hold with Toxx as she snapped back to the present with Roach’s assault. She glanced quickly to her own Alpha, assessing the situation and realized they had gone beyond being diplomatic. Her mind buzzed and her eyes shot back and forth rapidly as she took a half step, zooming in and out to lock down every weapon in the room that had had any sort of connection to the grid. Anything remotely cyber within striking distance, ‘spoke’ to her and powered down. Lights flickered angrily on and off, one or two a little too much zeal, the tinkle of glass spraying small shards to the ground with exploding filaments. Her mind danced between the cybernetic enhancements of the room’s occupants, the one or two with firing pin weapons were sporting the latest in enhanced arms, that Piper convinced to point towards the ground. Lastly, she swung her eyes towards Rowan, dipping in to take a quick look at the intricacies of tech interlaced within the woman’s frame. “Nice hardware,” she quipped, letting the comment hang.

“Pup. You functional?” Romeo asked cooly.

“I am sir.” Roach gasped pulling the knife from his foot. The blade smeared with his blue colored blood. “Just a love tap.”

“That's a nice blade.” Romo stated.

Roach looked it over. “It is sir.”

Romeo gave a slight tilt of his head. “You should keep it.”

“I intended to.” The pup confirmed.

“And what did we learn today?” Romeo asked.

Roach sighed. “Watch the hands not the face.” He recited.

“Good boy.” Romeo said before turning to address Rowen. “Everyone gets so worked up over Alphas … it’s almost insulting how everyone seems to dismiss the Neo. You know the one who can control and talk to the tech and boy is there a lot of tech here.” Romeo said glancing at Piper as he stepped forward to square off with Rowen. “Now I’m willing to chalk up your little love tap as a teachable moment for my pup but I am trying to be cordial here and you are making that difficult. Can’t we come to some agreement that doesn't involve me wading through the bodies of your men and mountains of paperwork waiting for me at OSEC.” The copper eyed Alpha said signaling Piper to loosen her electronic grip on Rowan.

Rowan threw back her head and laughed. She clapped her hands and backed up to get a good view of the three interlopers. She glanced around noting the weapons that were being interfered with by the Neo and also the number of weapons that were not. She shrugged.

“You keep the knife puppy. perhaps later we’ll play a game with it.”

Rowan spread her arms wide and addressed Piper, “These boys are no fun. Let’s speak girl to girl. There is still enough lead and metal pointing this way to make swiss cheese out of you, and… let's say that captain wonderful here is really that good, let’s say he…” she waved her arms around for effect.. “Kills us all dead…you think that’s the end of it? You pick up your newbie Neo and trundle on back to the top side. Oh, no little lady. Sojo is my fucking yard and you don't play nice and you are running a pitched fucking battle all the way home and beyond.”

“All right.” Piper replied, trying to maintain focus, “Girl to girl. Captain wonderful could. But we’re fishing in your pond, playing in your playground, riding the metro at your station, I get it, we’re in your world. *I didn’t forget you, just give me a sec, Toxx.* There’s a Neo nearby. I know who it is and where they are. OSEC has already been notified and while they do have their hands full topside, they will come if we call. *Almost done, just sit tight.* I don’t want that, you don’t want that, no one wants that. So how about we play your ‘fucking games.’ You have a fighting pit,” she shot her eyes to Romeo and smiled proudly. “Nothing you have can beat my Alpha. One fight, one opponent. When he wins, we leave with the Neo, no pitched fucking battles on our way home or beyond. [i[ Slight situation that needs to be handled. [/i] Has your crowd ever seen an Alpha full out fight?”

The music went off in the adjacent VIP club, setting an eerie half-tone to the rest of the club, lights, music, everything was paused, even the people whose job it was to service the clientele stood stock still, cue Piper’s message and Toxx’s response when she left him high and dry, *what the fuck? I don’t sit tight, you poked your way into MY head* there was no response after she mentioned a situation needing handling, something told him this Piper was the reason things were going dark in the Flesh Pits and he hesitated, curious as to the source, he crept closer to the affected room

Roach shifted a little uncomfortable with the conversation. He was young, hotblooded and feeling jilted to not be included in the proposal to fight in the pits! He had only gotten stabbed in the foot!? Since when was THAT a disqualifier!?

Romeo shrugged looking ambivalent. He liked Piper's confidence in him and he was arrogant enough to believe it because he had the chops to back it up. He turned to look to Rowen for her verdict.
Rowan walked over to the window and stared down at the central dance floor where the drunken customers were milling about no doubt wondering why the music had stopped. She gave the system a nudge and it started back up again, the whir of lights and dance beats starting anew.

“OSEC are already here Neophyte, half of the senior staff are down there getting blow jobs on the house or getting high on my gear.” she turned and walked towards Piper raising her eyebrow as she watched Romeo stiffen ready to move.

“Gotta get me one of those.” she shared with Piper, “Bet he’s a real animal in the sack?” getting no rise from the woman she shrugged and moved to stand near Roach once more.

“I’ll take your offer.” she said after a moment, “Your boys will stay here with me while you go fetch your quarry.” She glanced at Romeo and smiled.

“Oh he won't like it, but I guarantee not a hair on your head will be harmed. Anyone so much as brushes against you and I will personally skin them alive. Now go… fetch, and tell your beefcake here to stand down.”

“Fine.” Piper replied, trying to look calm but seriously uneasy to be going for an unvetted rogue Neo solo. She shrugged when she passed Rowan, looking back to the Alpha and the pup. “But just so you know? He doesn’t take orders from me.” *I got this. It’s not like he’s glitchy. Nothing to be worried about. shit, Hey, Toxx, I’m gonna come meet you, okay? Stay put.*

Toxx was standing in the doorway when he heard Piper’s mistaken message, oh hell no, he thought, she was handling him! Saul, Toxx thought, get me the fuck outta here, with pleasure Saul sang back and in a moment the best route displayed along with a thick enveloping feeling like a blanket over his consciousness, so while Toxx started down the stairs the lights started to blink black, interference garbling and scratching the speakers, and the thick throng of bodies shuddered as the music cranked up LOUD, and those same bodies started thrashing all the more--it made it easy for him to slip into and among the grinding patrons and away from the VIP room he’d fled

He was troubled by her comment about being ‘glitchy,’ don’t worry about that, Saul said, comfortingly, when he noticed Toxx was hung up on it, yeah, but, what could it mean?

Rowen was right about not liking his Piper going off solo. It wasn’t about of trust of faith rather just the unreasonable, selfish need to be near her. While it didn’t show on his face eyes watching her as she left. That was the center of his universe walking away without him. Romeo had to keep reminding himself to play nice as he looked back to Rowen.

Roach wanted to protest the idea of letting Piper go out alone but was more afraid of being swatted by the elder Alpha. He couldn’t help but let his inexperience show with how on edge he `was getting.

Rowan picked up the vibe and leaned in towards him with a wink, “Perhaps if you are a real good boy they will let you off the lead on the way back.”

Romeo snorted making his opinion on the matter clear.