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RP: The Fringe [Chapter 4.3b] - Doctored Delivery

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Origin Medical Wholesalers Warehouse Garage - Aisle 47B

The astrogator raised an eyebrow at the golden skinned Nepleslian's question, leaning against the side of the truck and crossing her arms as she waited for the Veil's doctor to finish her exchange. Instead of answering, she simply shrugged her shoulders; In a way, she wasn't sure about it herself. "Nothing important." She said, looking up towards that truck's bed. "You?"
 
Origin Medical Wholesalers Warehouse Garage - Aisle 47B

"I'm here on a business trip, but I have a little downtime to do as I please." Rathe told the woman, being halfway honest in what he said. Rathe secured the box in the truck bed and took a seat on the edge of the bed before speaking again, "I don't mean to overstep any boundaries, but the ride over here was... Well, it almost killed Danny and I. Would you mind if I chauffeured the cargo? I assure you I'm beyond capable of driving a truck if you tell me where to go. Hell, you can hold me at gunpoint if you want to..." Rathe chuckled at his own comment before continuing, "Again, it's just easier on the cargo and whoever's in the back." he concluded casually.
 
Origin Medical Wholesalers Warehouse Garage - Aisle 47B

The hulking man looked embarrassed for a second, but the friendly, disarming smile only grew a bit wider as he held his hands up, his phone still clasped firmly in one of them. "Ah, my humblest apologies, friend," he replied, and waggled the phone in his hand. "Allow me a few moments to complete my business here, und I vill happily move my vehicle, ja?"

Up ahead, Danny noticed that the men working around the other truck that had them blocked in had vanished when no one was looking.
 
Origin Medical Wholesalers Warehouse Garage - Aisle 47B

Amelia raised an eyebrow as Rathe spoke. It was hard to tell whether her expression was one of surprise, outrage or amusement from the way she looked at the golden skinned Nepleslian. "You saying I'm a shitty driver?" She finally asked, still not noticing that the other truck had vanished.
 
Origin Medical Wholesalers Warehouse Garage - Aisle 47B
Danny couldn't help but wonder where Neckless' company had gone - perhaps he was keeping his eyes on the wrong balls, or his paranoia was getting the better of him. He always justified his paranoia by being correct more times than he could count, and the Lazarus training taught him to doubt sudden generosity from strangers.

...kind of like what he was offering to Amelia right now, but he couldn't really shoot the messenger here or he'd collide with an anvil's worth of pure irony. Still, he remained on his guard, and chuckled at Rathe's continued antic, though something about it seemed stiff. "What, would you rather a Yamataian driver instead, Rathe? The cars drive themselves over there."

He was implying that Yamataians couldn't drive because they didn't. That was the joke. Laugh. It was a little difficult to look amused when you were wondering if the freespacer would be safe from a Neckless Volksprache speaker - one of the languages he had to brush up on, but knew the gist of. A great language to be angry in.
 
Origin Medical Wholesalers Warehouse Garage - Aisle 47B

" Danke " Six Four said with a curt nod before turning back to its own transportation, mission accomplished. As it strode forward with a sense of purpose in its step, it couldn't help but notice that the other vehicle at the end of the aisle had left as well. A breif look of disappointment flashed across its face, all that talking was now needless and it still had to make sure the new help had properly put everything in the truck as well.

With the short trip back to the truck, the doctor whipped out its datapad, sorting and checking all the boxes that were in the back of the vehicle whist the others talked.

"The truck in front has moved, this one has also asked the one behind us to move as well. Though Six Four believes that it will be unnecessary." Six Four said to no one in particular, though not looking up from its work, as well as adjusting the boxes ever so minutely so that they were precisely in line with each other.
 
Origin Medical Wholesalers Warehouse Garage - Aisle 47B

Upon hearing Danny's joke, Rathe realized that keeping a level and casual head under paranoia wasn't his strong point. "Meh, you're not the worst I've seen, so I'll shut up." Looking back, Rathe knew that insulting a lead and calling it small talk was a surefire way to lose them, so he elected to cut his losses and deal with it instead.

When Six Four returned with the news, Rathe smiled in relief. "Sweet, and I think the boxes are all loaded too. By the way, where's all this stuff going?" asked Rathe as he climbed back into the truck bed and sat in the area not taken up by boxes.
 
Origin Medical Wholesalers Warehouse Garage - Aisle 47B

Amelia listened to the other Nepleslian's question with the same expression that she had before. After some time, after his question and Six-Four's comment she finally spoke again. "You're very curious," she commented, not answering the question and turning her back to the two men on the truck's bed. "Alright, let's go then," the astrogator said, tapping the edge of the truck's bed to get everyone's attention while she opened the driver's door with the other.

The raven haired Nepleslian jumped into the seat, looking back at Six Four. "Did our good captain tell us where to bring this cargo back to?" she asked the freespacer while she tried to start the vehicle. The irony in her tone was also something hard to miss.
 
Origin Medical Wholesalers Warehouse Garage - Aisle 47B


Six Four looked up from its data entry procedures when Amelia spoke to it, stairing at her for a moment as if she had spoken to her in a different language.

"Yes." The doctor finally said after an almost awkwardly long pause, "The instructions said that 'When this one is satisfied, have them help you load it into the truck and take everything back to the Veil's hangar' To quote Captain Shelton's message directly. Seeing as how this one is satisfied with everything Six Four recommendation is to proceed with the next step in this course of action."

Swiping a few things on its datapad the freespacer doctor stowed it in its pocket before heading up the side of the vehicle towards the passenger door. With a quick flip of the handle, the freespacer hopped into the front passenger side seat, closing the door and putting on its seat belt with a click. As it flatened out the nylon strap over itself it stopped, frozen in mid smooth it turned its head towards the help in the back of the truck.

"Query: Do you two require a ride back to your own personal transportation devices?" It said in its standard digitized helmet voice.
 
Origin Medical Wholesalers Warehouse Garage - Aisle 47B
There was a gamble to be had. Push ahead and see if he could get more information at the risk of looking suspicious or perhaps being revealed for what he was. Or, he could play it safe and request just to be dropped off at the nearest main road. He'd discovered that, aside from the oddity with the qualen being the norm for painkilling on the Concordia Veil, the crew seemed to be utterly civilian at a glance.

Though, as he was in proximity to Amelia, the beginnings of a resemblance were creeping up on him but he couldn't quite tell who it was. Maybe it was the shape of the face, the raven black hair, the no-nonsense attitude and the whiff of space they both shared. Could it have been?

Maybe not. Rathe's sidelong glance to the blonde haired Hunter was telling him to calm down a little; not everything was meaningful and sometimes a coincidence was a coincidence. It had been a pretty interesting day for him so far.

"We were walking. I guess you could drop us off at the nearest main road." Danny said, playing things safe. "Though, if you feel you still need help, we can both help you load your stuff wherever you're going."

The offer was on the table like a pristine-condition Super Neppie meal at Neppies.
 
Origin Medical Wholesalers Warehouse Garage - Aisle 47B

The hulking, silver-haired man took several more moments to finish whatever conversation he was having on his phone, pacing aimlessly in haphazard circles around his giant truck as he did so. Finally, he seemed to say his farewells, and walked back to the driver's side door, and climbed in. The blinding headlamps flared on again, causing any one of Amelia's group who happened to be looking that way to flinch and squint on reflex, and the dull roar and rumble of the big truck's engine starting up echoed through the cavernous garage. It remained still for a moment, then slowly began to back up, circling around the end of the aisle, and stopped perpendicular to their driveway, leaving them now a way out in both directions. It didn't move any further, however, and the other vehicle that was in front of them was nowhere to be seen.
 
Origin Medical Wholesalers Warehouse Garage - Aisle 47B

Amelia turned the key on the ignition, making the utility truck lurch and shake as the engine rumbled to life once again, adjusting the rearview mirror to stare at the two men on the truck's bed. "I think we got that handled for when we get back. Thanks for the help," she commented, changing the vehicle's gear, although she took every precaution to drive more carefully now that Rathe had talked about her driving. It would also be a bad idea to have any of the cargo be lost on the way back; it would come out of her pay if it did so, after all.

The astrogator slowly drove forwards since they were now clear, planning on turning on the next intersection so she could backtrack her way across the warehouse instead of driving on reverse. With all the boxes stacked and secured on the back of the truck Amelia would have to orient herself with only the side mirrors, and she didn't feel confident yet in doing so, specially after someone pointed out how shitty her driving was. "Do you know if Sienna will still want us to do anything after this?" She asked the freespacer sitting besides her.
 
Origin Medical Wholesalers Warehouse Garage - Aisle 47B

Six Four glanced at its data pad, flicking a few things on the screen bringing up a handful of messages. Taking a brief moment to scan it, making a few notes on another section it looked back up and over at Amelia.

"The only further instruction was to take the cargo to the Veil. Also to message her if we hit any snags. This one does not recall hitting anything so the only logical thing to do is take the cargo back to the ship. Curious however, is snag a racial or ethnic slur? If so I do not believe the Captain should be using them."
 
Origin Medical Wholesalers Warehouse Garage

"No, it's just a figure of speech," Amelia explained as she turned the truck around the aisle and started to make her way back, keeping keeping the utilitarian vehicle at a reasonably slow sleep.. The raven-haired Nepleslian bit her lower lip as she continued driving, and glanced at the rearview mirror once again to stare at the two passengers on the back. "Where you guys wanna be dropped off?" She asked, having to raise her voice up so they could hear her over the truck's engine.
 
Origin Medical Wholesalers Warehouse Garage
"Just drop us off on the next main road," Danny replied to Amelia as everyone started to mount up and get ready for another lovely afternoon drive with Amelia. Surprisingly, the ride was a lot smoother with all of the cargo in the back, and it seemed she was taking some modicum of care now, letting Danny put his head back, put his hands behind his head and rest.

Or listen in to the conversation going on in the main cabin. They were going to go back to the Veil. It would've been worth radio'ing to Desmond, but only once Danny's targets were out of sight with Rathe and the blonde haired hunter delivered safely at the nearest block.

Maybe the safe ride back was his reward for keeping his cool. Rathe could see a smile creep into Danny's face as he rolled his neck gently.
 
Dawn Station - Sector Nine City Streets - Tier 4

The truck exited the garage and took a turn onto the main road, merging into the traffic that was increasing in density as the evening rush began to swell under the steadily darkening artificial sky. They weren't afforded a good opportunity to drop Danny and Rathe off immediately, amidst the impatient honking and cars piled up on top of one another, forcing them to continue along the thoroughfare, searching for a suitable place to stop.

However, they hadn't gone far before the two occupants in the back of the truck noticed the van that had been blocking their way ahead in the warehouse pull out not far behind them, forcing its way into the flow of traffic. Although they couldn't see inside from several car lengths ahead, they knew better than to think it was a coincidence. They had a tail.
 
Dawn Station - Sector Nine City Streets - Tier 4 - Back of a truck

As the traffic thickened, Rathe made sure his "disguise" of a hat and sunglasses was on. After all, any good bounty hunter knows that keeping out of attention is often the best action in any situation. As if to show an example of what not to do, the hulking van in pursuit of the four of them jammed itself into the traffic behind the truck. 'Being inconspicuous must not be in their playbook.' Rathe thought to himself as the van behind them stuck out like a chocolate bar in the snow.

"Danny, be on your toes and hope our friends behind us don't wreck the job." said Rathe to his partner. If the ones in the van were indeed rival hunters looking to cash in on Sienna, Rathe hoped they at least had the common sense not to break out into a firefight on a crowded interstate.
 
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Dawn Station - Sector Nine City Streets - Tier 4 - Front of the truck

Amelia continued driving the utility truck, paying attention both to the traffic ahead of her as well as to the sides as she looked for a spot to drop off the two men. At least until she heard one of them mumble something from the back of the truck, making the raven-haired Nepleslian squint as she tried to make sense of it. Could it be that they spotted a place where she could drop them off? Obviously, it could've only been that.

"What did you say?" She asked, turning her head around to stare at the two of them on the back, waiting for a response. The astrogator stood like that for a few seconds, right arm extended until it was on the back of Six Four's seat until she remembered that she was behind the wheel of the vehicle, and turned her head around sharply to see that she was about to rear-end the vehicle in front of her. Amelia smalled her feet on the brakes, bringing the truck to a sudden stop, even despite its relatively low speed.
 
Dawn Station - Sector Nine City Streets - Tier 4 - Back of a truck
Everything was going smoothly and Danny thought he could relax until he looked up from his daydreaming and long drawn sighs of relief to see he was being followed. Rathe being the first to spot the familiar black van started to let gears turn, propelled by a trickling, professionally honed grade of paranoia you saw in extreme loners who kept their pasts theirs - or didn't have one at all like Danny.

♫ Deadly Premonition - Underground ♫

Then when he heard Amelia's voice ask what Rathe was talking about, he clenched his teeth. Could this have been the moment that collapsed the job with some misplaced words from his gold skinned companion? Danny started speaking over Rathe, "We just want your cargo to come through unh-"

The sudden stop that Amelia had to make since she wasn't focussing on the road cut him off. As her attention was divided and Danny said had his piece, he turned his attention to the trucks, eyes becoming steely and trained on the traffic-locked pursuers, slinking forward and looking for cover and concealment as he bought Rathe with him, grabbing him close.

"Worse to worse," Danny whispered to Rathe, under his breath, "We protect this truck. Pass me a piece if eggs start boiling." Another Lorath idiom, analogous to 'shit hits the fan'.
 
Dawn Station - Sector Nine City Streets - Tier 4 - Back of the truck

While Rathe was only vaguely familiar with Lorath sayings and had never heard the phrase, the context of the phrase gave a pretty clear meaning to it. The nepleslian nodded back to his partner before redirecting his attention to Amelia.

"Hmm? Oh, I'm just planning the rest of the day out. Still a good bit of daylight left after all." said the golden skinned nepleslian with a chuckle.
 
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