Morning in crumby second-rate motel…a morning not unlike the billions of others happening around the universe. This particular morning, however, Rico Sanroma found himself at a loss as he rolled around on his motel mattress. The young woman sleeping rather loudly next to him was the cause; he had met her the other night, and while she seemed ever so happy to accept those drinks she also seemed ever so happy to enjoy her dreams through a symphony of snorting and snoring. Needless to say, there wasn’t much rest to be had for the Nepleslian sergeant…which suited Rico just fine. He preferred a good head start in the morning anyway.
After a long period of necessary primping, Rico left the motel room clean, fresh and as quietly as he could. She was a nice girl and all, sure, but Sanroma wasn’t about to jeopardize his new assignment by being too greedy with a pretty lady. First impressions meant getting on the good side of the captain…and that usually led to sweet, succulent, delicious promotions.
”You do understand why you are being transferred, correct, Sergeant Sanroma?”
“Err…needin’ my talents somewhere else, chief?”
“Not quite. As your former Captain Praxis states…’you are an insubordinate officer and a detestable Nepleslian’. I assume you did something that earned his ire so much that he’d demand you and only you to be relocated off of his vessel?”
“Well…think I slept with his lil' girl. By accident. She came on to me, ya know baby?”
“…well, that would do it. I suppose I could give you a position on another patrol ship under one Captain Belmonte., unless you have any specific requests. Despite Praxis’ report, your records still show some merit to your position.”
“I’m good wherever ya send me, boss. Just say the word.”
And say the word he did; Rico had been reassigned to the
NSS Acadia, once again joining as a marine under the command of Captain Esther Belmonte. Rico had little to complain about; he was just glad that his former captain didn’t request his head separated from his shoulders.
However, with that all behind him, Rico could relax. Once he stepped outside the door, Rico breathed in a healthy amount of Fortuna oxygen, releasing it in a long breath between his smile as he combed his hand through his still-moist hair. Morning on Fortuna…almost as smog-filled and grime-encrusted as good ol’ Funky City itself. There aren’t many mornings like it.
A man in a duty uniform would soon be spotted by Rico, he was a rather tall, gaunt and lean figure, not necessarily attractive due to the large scar across his cheek, and the fact he had glowing yellow eyes. He was accompanied by a smaller man who carried a case with him, and was dressed in a rather snappy suit, with a comb over for hair, and glasses on, giving him a rather cheesy appearance. The tall man soon found his way to where Rico was, having asked a rather disturbed maid who pointed to the room. Once he'd found the man standing outside (a stroke of luck) he cleared his throat, and spoke in a gravelly voice. "Sergeant Sanroma?" He asked, his voice deep, and resonant as well.
Rico spun around, slightly surprised to hear his rank and name called out. The first thought that crossed Rico’s mind at seeing the two snappy-suited individuals was a difficult choice between old enemies or old friends...and that really narrowed it down. He decided to play it safe and returned the greeting with a fresh smile. “Uh, yeah baby, that’s me. What can I do ya for?”
The tall man flashed a badge with the CPS insignia emblazoned on it. "I am Major Mcmanus of the CPS" He then swept his hand to the smaller man. "And this is my associate Mr. Alercroft. We are here on business that pertains to you." He said, and leaned himself against the railing. He took a pack of cigarettes out, pulled one out for himself, and fished for his lighter, and lit it. Taking a drag, he soon held the pack out to Rico. "Tell me, do you remember a young woman named Mya Larusso?"
Rico paused for a second, completely (and gladly) forgetting the fact that he was being sought after by the Fortuna’s branch of the Child’s Protective Services to focus all of his noggin-gears on grinding out their request. The truth of the matter was, however, that Rico could not remember the name of every lady he had ever met. He couldn’t even name half of them…he always did have trouble with names. “Hmm…can’t say that I do, baby. You sure you got the right guy?”
"Yeah, we're sure right down to the DNA." Mcmanus said as he took another drag of the cigarette. "Well, I'm not going to pussyfoot around on the issue. You, Mr. Sanroma have a daughter. Conceived in YE 25, by Mya Larusso. And she has bit the big one about a week and a half ago, leaving said child, parentless as Mya Larusso lacked any family, trust us, we checked." Smoke trailed out of his mouth as he spoke. "She was murdered, and turned up a day or so later, and we took the kid into custody. Hearing you were on Fortuna, we didn't necessarily have to waste time tracking you down."
Most of the words from Mcmanus after the ‘have a daughter’, sadly, did not make it through the intense battle going on in Rico fresh morning mind. The most he could do was pause for a second and repeat the sentence over in his head for a few moments before retuning a solid, definitive, jaw-dropping,
“. . . huh?”
Mcmanus shook his head, and brought a finger up to the corner of one of his eyes, rubbing it. "Yeah, it would seem you didn't wrap it when you slept with Miss Larusso. And the result is a kid. Come on now Sergeant, we know how biology works."
“I…ungh,” Rico said as he idly scratched the back of his head. He
used to be confident enough in the women he slept with to trust that they would use the ever-so-affordable birth controls available pretty much anywhere (even in corner-store vending machines). It would appear that one of them actually
wanted a kid…a thought that Rico himself couldn’t begin to fathom, let alone appreciate the gravity of in such the circumstance. “…well shit, you sure? I mean it could be anyone’s kid, yannow?” Rico asked again, still having trouble accepting the full face value of what the two men before him were telling him.
Mcmanus ground the spent cigarette under his heel, and looked at Rico firmly. "Look, we ran the DNA of the kid on the networks to determine if she had any other family, and what we got back was a positive match for you, right on up there in the 99.9% range buddy. We don't dick around with this kind of stuff what, with how the government is and all."
“Unngh…” Rico groaned, leaned back against the door and clapped a hand over his eyes. He didn’t have time to argue this kind of stuff; he needed to get to the NSS Dust Devil before it took of to transfer to the Acadia. As much as he wanted to stick around and get stuck with a new kid, Rico stood back up. “Well shit…I can’t take care of it, my ship pulls out in ‘n hour or so, in case the uniform wasn’ a dead giveaway,” Rico said, waving a hand shortly over his green military regalia. “Y’all did the damn research, right baby? Then ya know I got family on Nepleslia…just send the kid to them and they’ll take care of it. Probably a lot better than I can.”
Mcmanus shook his head. "No can do, if you don't take the kid off my hands here on Fortuna, she's going to an orphanage."
“Whaaaat?” Rico said disparagingly, tilting his head in aggravation. “Well shit, why the fuck not? It ain’t that hard, put her on a boat an’ ship her to my address.”
"Due to the CPS branch just kicking off here in Fortuna, there is a clause stating only immediate family can claim children, and looks like you're immediate family. We aren’t trusting anybody else but immediate family. And you can't just put her on a ship unattended; we're monitoring transfers to ensure child safety." Mcmanus said as he crossed his arms and stared down at Rico.
Rico paused again, his eyes squinting slightly as he processed the rest of Mcmanus’s answer. He didn’t like the conclusion…this wasn’t what he was expecting to be thinking about today. “…so you can’t ship her to my folks, or even let her go with anyone else but me. Can’t she, like…wait here or somethin’? Maybe one a’ my folks can come and get her or…?”
"Hey, we do that, she ends up in a rather
nice orphanage, I'm sure a five year old would love that. Unclaimed children must be sent to facilities to be cared for...we only hold them until they're ready to accept." Mcmanus said.
Sergeant Sanroma heaved a heavy sigh. “Jeez man, you ain’t makin’ this easy. Fuuuuck,” Rico said, turning around and pacing for a moment with his back to the two. He didn’t have time to do this, no time to argue. Rico wasn’t about to quit his military career for some kid he didn’t even want. But and orphanage…a few of Rico’s gang buddies were rolled up in a place like that back in Los Apagos. Rico remembered them.
“…so, what, you got her with ya right now?”
Mcmanus jabbed a thumb behind him to a somewhat ramshackle sedan. "Yeah, backseat." He said looking over his shoulder. "Rather sweet kid too, and I hate the little monsters."
“Well shit,” Rico said, sighing again. “Let’s go, I’m kinda in a hurry.”