Material Girl (Open)

The sound of a weapon being ripped from its owner’s body broke the silence of the desert sky. A Gatling gun soon landed some feet away, discarded – the impact kicked up sand, scaring away a few birds.

Once, the Dark Horn would have easily stood as one of the most ferocious and frightening Zoids a pilot could face in a battle. Now it struggled to stand up at all, pinned on its side by a very hungry-looking Berserk Fury.

“Now that we’re up close and personal like this, how about you slip into something more comfortable for me?” said the Fury’s pilot, her young, feminine voice striking a harsh contrast with the Zoid’s predatory hunger.

A pair of tri-bladed claws whirred, clicked and drilled into the Dark Horn’s armor, tossing bits of black plate onto desert sands. Gnashing, superhardened teeth dug into its neck, now exposed – the Zoid roared in pain as sparks flew. Oil oozed down the Fury’s mouth.

“Don’t like getting intimate with a girl, huh?” the Fury’s pilot said in a mocking tone, as the claws clamped down on the helpless Dark Horn’s torso. “Looks like someone needs some electroshock therapy!”

Before the Dark Horn’s pilot could register what she had just said, electricity surged through its body. The blades dug deeper as the pilot’s screams became indistinguishable from the Horn’s. Then all went black as the Horn’s combat system froze, and the world went silent.

“Good game.” rang the girl’s voice, the only thing audible in the darkness.

Two people disembarked from the faux-pilot seats at the arcade and took off their VR helmets. The first one was a young boy, wearing a t-shirt and shorts; he fished inside his pockets for a wad of cash, an angry and defeated look on his face.

The girl was older by a few years by all estimates, and walked out with a victorious sneer. “Cough up the cash, Jon.” she said, holding her hand out. “We had a deal.”

Jon’s similarly-dressed friend, who had been watching from the sidelines, walked up to the girl and shoved some cash into her open palm. Jon, his pride wounded, followed suit – much to her pleasure.

“Still think a girl can’t beat you in a fight?”

“Jeez, Kara.” Jon said. “You don’t need to rub it in.”

Kara shrugged. “Fine, fine.” Even if they were 13, that was the sort of thing she couldn’t abide. It had been a century and they were still teaching kids this crap?

She took a hard look at the two friends’ sour faces. Feeling a twinge of guilt in her stomach, she immediately shifted gear to a sunnier smile. “So, who wants milkshakes?”

***

“Thanks again for taking us out to the arcade, Miss Yun Sei.” Jon said, sipping a strawberry shake from a straw.

Kara tossed her empty cup into a nearby garbage chute. “No problem-o, Jonny boy.”

Kevin cleared his throat. “Why do we still need a babysitter, anyway? We’re 13.”

“Your parents are very concerned about your safety. It’s dangerous for two kids to go out in the city on their own.” Kara said. The real reason was probably that his parents were doing the nasty and were using her as a distraction, but she didn’t much care to tell Jon that. Especially not in front of his friend.

She couldn’t help slipping a coy smile in there, though. “Besides, it’s not like you two resent being around me. Or am I wrong?”

Jon and Kevin nearly spat out their drinks. Kara turned her head up. “Please,” she said, still smiling, “don’t pretend I don’t notice. You two were checking me out, weren’t you?” Neither of the two boys could deny it, and Jon had a guilty look on his face; Kara took that as vindication.

“Don’t worry.” Kara shrugged. “It’s normal for kids your age. Just wait five years and if I’m still single, you two can give me a shot. That fair?”

They stopped at the door of Jon’s house and Kara decided to spare the two of them from further embarrassment. Mrs. Swekel was standing at the foot of the door, a sun hat over her smiling face.

“So, how was your day out?” she said. She was beautiful despite her age – Kara barely noticed any wrinkles, and her strawberry blonde hair and perfect white teeth still looked glamourous on her.

“We had tons of fun, Mom!” Jon said.

“Great!” Mrs. Swekel pointed inside. “Now get upstairs and get washed. Kevin, snacks are in the kitchen.” It didn’t take much more than that to get the two friends to rush into the house – out of excitement or embarrassment, Kara couldn’t tell.

She had turned back when Mrs. Swekel called her name. “Kara, could I talk to you for a moment?” the older woman said, motioning for her to come closer.

“Sure.” Kara spun around. “What’s up?”

“Can I just say thank you for looking after my son, Kara?” she said, looking down. “Aside from Kevin, he doesn’t really have a lot of friends. I think the older boys give him a lot of sh – heat in school.”

Kara nodded. “That’s unfortunate.”

“The boy needs more positive interactions, and you’re a big help. So, here.” Mrs. Swekel fished into her purse and took out a few more bills. “Have a little extra.”

Kara smiled and took the money, but found Mrs. Swekel’s hands clenched tightly around it. She looked up to see the older woman looking at her with concern.

“Are you sure you’ll be able to lay low here?”

Kara nodded. “Don’t worry about me, Mrs. Swekel. I can take care of myself.”

***

“I probably will end up dating that kid if this keeps up.” Kara said, twirling her noodles with her chopsticks.

The dish was standard for her – which was to say that it was substandard. It was little more than thick noodles in oily translucent soup, with no meat and a few stale cabbage bits sprinkled in to qualify it as “vegetable noodle soup.” The first time Kara had encountered this dish was as a little girl in her family’s factories, being gobbled up by assembly line workers.

“That is so creepy.” she muttered, too quiet for her to be heard by anyone else.

She took out a single bill and slid it under her bowl - she surmised that it’d cover twice the price, even including the bowl and chopsticks. Getting up, she left the restaurant in a rush not to be seen.

Kara bought a bag of chips to ease the soup’s slow descent down her stomach. Did she really need to be so hasty? The media weren’t trailing her anymore, and she’d stopped seeing op-eds trying to psychoanalyze her in the news. Those were the ones that bit her hardest, you know? All those tabloid allegations about child sexual ritual abuse, or being a new type of Organoid or some other ridiculous -

 “Agh!”

Chips scattered on the pavement. Kara looked up with a sheepish smile – she probably owed whoever it was an apology.

OOC Note:

Claire stared out over the street at skyscrapers towering in the distance. Below her, car engines hummed and grumbled through an afternoon gridlock, horns arguing with each other like a horde of angry geese. Above, a harsh sun beat down on her, heat building in her dark clothing and creating hazy waves that distorted the air. Claire didn't feel the heat though, nor did she feel the cooling breeze that whipped her skirts violently about her knees.

It was disappointing, she thought, that for all her human appearances, the way she experienced changes in her environment were nothing more than numbers raising and lowering, gradients tracked and recorded, and though her body had been rebuilt to account for most changes in temperature and pressure, excessive heat often caused fluctuations her optics and kinetic motors. It was uncomfortable, and her programming, a self-correcting system with several error-catching routines, was beginning to show signs of aging and poor maintenance.

And it was due to such excess noise in her circuitry that caused her to stumble as she passed a restaurant that advertised a cheap noodle soup on a sign by the door. A strangled cry escaped her throat, sort of metallic and tinny, as she tumbled to the ground, dress catching on the sign and ripping at the hem. At her knee, a gash had been opened in the synthetic skin, revealing metal plating underneath.

She rose to her feet, eyes carefully measuring up the person she had run into. The girl was taller than her, but only barely, so that Claire's eyes were even with her chin. She had stumbled when Claire took her own fall, likely because of Claire's surprising weight, and her chips had gone everywhere.

Bowing stiffly, Claire said aloud, her voice obviously synthesized and inhuman, "My apologies, miss. Please allow me to repay you for the food you spilled."

It was then that she recognized the girl's face, her mind quickly cross-referencing it with what she'd seen in news archives lately. This was Kara Yun Sei, or at least she resembled the girl from the reports, a daughter of wealth made destitute by an unfortunate accident and since forgotten by the media. There was, of course, one other fact that bubbled to the surface of Claire's memory. The Yun Sei family had once been quite capable programmers and owners of an electronics manufacturing empire.

How convenient, then. Claire's eyebrows raised in surprise at that moment, intentionally so, and she added, "I'm sorry. You seem quite familiar. Have we met?"

422 words.

OOC:

Kara pushed herself up. Judging by how heavy the girl she’d bumped into was, she’d met a robot. She nodded to acknowledge Claire’s apology, then dusted herself.

“No, I don’t believe we’ve met.” Kara said. “You’re probably thinking of the publicity stills. I’m Kara Yun Sei and no, most of the things they write about me are not true.” She cleared her throat. It was entirely likely that the android already had an opinion of her, but robot opinions counted for, like, 1/3 of human opinions anyway.

Kara couldn’t help but examine Claire. The android’s face was beautiful, but in the generic, artificial way that hers was. Her voice was the same – at once beautiful and mechanical in a combination that greatly unsettled the ex-heiress. She bit her tongue to prevent saying anything reckless and dispelled any cues of discomfort with a smile.

Well, there went her plans of lying low. She’d hoped to have dodged notice in this part of town – if the robot was with the media, Kara’d have to let her off. She wasn’t giving off any interviews anymore. Still, if the robot had heard of her, she’d probably know that Kara was in no position to squander offered money.

“Now about my repayment terms?” Kara said, scratching the back of her head. “And by the way, I’m not giving away any interviews.”

Interviews? Kara's demand caught Claire by surprise, and the android blinked blankly in response, unable to answer Kara's payment request. Then it clicked in her mind. Of course. Kara Yun Sei had been hounded by the media for being the subject of legal controversy and unprecedented surgical procedures. After her revival from cryonic stasis, news following Miss Yun Sei had marked every headline, every internet article, across the planet. In fact, it was only because of this notoriety that Claire had so quickly recognized the face.

Her neck twisted stiffly as she looked down at Kara's clothes and then back up to her face. The woman wore a kind of confidence comfortably but had an air of suspicion and defense, all of it forming a kind of light jacket, elegant but protective.

Claire spoke carefully and politely with this fact in mind. "Miss Yun Sei, I can tell you that I prefer discretion, like yourself. My name is Claire Fano."

The Fano family was still a small one and therefore likely an unknown name to Kara Yun Sei. Claire had taken over the family following Corrado Fano's untimely death and set about building something of an empire. Her intent with the family was to offer protection for business ventures in the region. Her family offered safe passage through the bandit-laden deserts, monetary insurance, and bodyguards, thereby flexing a kind of firm but polite racket.

Claire reached calmly into a handbag that hung from her shoulder and withdrew a long envelope wallet. Both were colored a dark mahogany, a rich brown to contrast her burgundy-colored dress. The fashion spoke wealth, and as she drew a banknote from the wallet large enough to cover Kara's food four times over but, as Claire felt, not so large as to appear rude, the android looked the taller woman in the eye intently.

"Actually, Miss Yun Sei, I do not wish to assume your current circumstances, but I understand that you were once a capable computer scientist, and your family business was in computer electronics, if I'm not mistaken," Claire said, extending the bill towards Kara. Her eyes stared into Kara's own, almost boring holes straight through the taller woman's head.

"If you felt so inclined, I could use the services of someone like you. With monetary compensation, of course. Are you busy at the moment?"

391 words.

Kara gave the bill a hungry look and, with a swooping motion, snatched it from Claire’s arms. Clearly this robot woman was the sort of people you didn’t say no to; or at least, she was with them. And if she hadn’t assumed her circumstances then, she sure as hell did now.

She scanned her memory for anyone named Fano, and drew up a blank. Evidently since her sleep, new family firms had risen and made their own names; still nothing compared to hers, but that didn’t matter when you were disinherited.

“Well…yes, that’s all true.” Kara said. It was not all true. She’d barely finished her degree before the accident, and hadn’t intended on getting any worthwhile work experience – she was the goddamned heiress to an electronics firm. She’d never planned to work a day in her life!

Still, that was then and this was now. She’d gotten fairly good grades, which qualified as “respected” from a certain point of view.

So yes, she was a respected scientist! Claire could have gotten someone thrice as competent for half whatever the price was, but Kara wasn’t going to be the one to tell her that.

“Yes, all definitely true. And I’m not at all busy right now! Yes yes.” Kara cleared her throat. “So what do you have in mind, specifically?”

Claire raised an eyebrow at how eager Kara seemed to be for the money. Perhaps she could assume that Kara was not quite seeing as much success as the woman would have liked. It cast a shadow of doubt over Kara's actual talents. Perhaps the media had exaggerated the young woman's capabilities. Perhaps she was simply what she seemed, the disgraced Yun Sei daughter left to rot in some alley.

But if memory served- and memory rarely failed to serve an android- Miss Yun Sei was only 20 or so. She had room to grow and develop if given the opportunity. The only question was if Kara had the drive.

"Miss Yun Sei, there is a park two blocks away with a shaded grove of trees lining the western side with tables if you would like to sit. I believe that would be sufficiently private yet visible enough to let us talk safely," Claire explained calmly. "It would be unwise to talk about my... business intentions... here, I believe."

Without really waiting for Kara to answer, Claire walked away towards the park she had mentioned, ignoring the jerking motion of her leg. Her hopes were that Miss Yun Sei was as precocious and intelligent as the news reports suggested. Claire wanted someone to review her work on her own code and to provide a safety net in case she was rendered incapable of correcting any errors that arose.

However, if Miss Yun Sei was not, in fact, worth trusting or even capable of working with Claire's complex routines, she could still be useful. She was the daughter and former heiress of a the Yun Sei family business, which remained a wealthy company. Wouldn't Kara be pleased if she could take her place as the head of the company? Wouldn't it be nice to have such fortune fall onto her by a chance meeting with a strange android in an alley?

Claire smiled greedily. If she could indeed help Miss Yun Sei achieve her goals, the returns could be very profitable indeed.

341 words.

Kara followed the robot. It saddened her that she’d have to sing for her supper, but at least she could actually showcase her skills for once. Skills she totally had. Yes, totally. Skills which she was currently in possession of.

Admittedly, she hadn’t yet re-familiarized herself with over a century’s worth of advancements in programming. But that wasn’t going to stop her! All of the ones in use had their basis in the ones she’d studied in class anyway, and she was confident that she could get the hang of it. Besides, the robot looked relatively antiquated anyway, aside from some spare upgrades. Kara could probably handle it.

She just hoped that the android’s owners wouldn’t have her head for any screw-ups. Kara had to remember to make that part very clear during the job. She found it unlikely that anyone named Fano, judging by her lack of familiarity with the family name, would want the unnecessary heat down on them. Still, the clandestine nature of the work implicit in Claire’s tone put her on edge. Probably not a good idea to push that bit too hard.

Sitting on the table, she let out a sigh. “Alright, so what’s your business?” she said, in a hushed voice. She’d gotten better at using her indoor voice after awakening from cryo-sleep; it kept the media people at bay.

"I will be direct, Miss Yun Sei," Claire replied, sitting stiffly at the table. The wind blew in gusts, weaving through her hair as if it were a field of wheat.

Claire's hands were clasped firmly together as she continued. "Daino Industries has a warehouse in this city. Last week, they announced a new prototype from their cybernetics division, an android like myself. Daino, however, is still quite behind in their artificial intelligence research, if I say so myself."

Smiling haughtily, Claire sat at the table like a smug cat, infinitely pleased with the compliment she had paid herself. "Now, a shipment of parts is due for their laboratories in two days. I would like to obtain those parts as well as any data they have on their new prototype."

"Miss Yun Sei, my business is to make use of this data to correct errors in my own programming and to improve my physical body. In order to do this, I will require an assistant in case of... failures... in my routines." As if answering her euphemistic words, her leg twitched under the table, shaking her torso visibly.

"Please understand two things. I am the head of the Fano family. The Fano family offers protective services to businesses in the area and has made enemies in the past. As such, I do not typically trust others with access to my programming. No one owns me. I maintain myself. I develop new routines on my own. A sort of bicentennial woman, as it were."

Her eyes flashed darkly as she leaned forward, an imposing figure despite her diminutive stature. "Your role in this venture is to ensure, should an error occur and I am unable to correct it on my own, that my software be restored to the last working state and the error recorded. Your incentive will be a 40% cut of the value of the obtained parts as well as a flat fee, half paid on acceptance and half paid after the procedure is complete. I assure you the return on investment will be very worthwhile."

"The other thing I wish to impress upon you is that my business under the Fano name is frequently at odds with the law. We will not be obtaining these parts or this data by legal means, and should the need arise, we may be forced to take them by whatever means necessary."

Settling back into her seat to watch and understand Kara's reaction, she concluded, "You were once the heir to a business empire. Should you accept- and succeed in assisting me- I would be willing to help you find your place in the lap of luxury again."

446 words.

When Claire indicated the legality of their mission. Kara froze. She stopped to contemplate this line of work – she’d never broken the law before, at least not in any way that mattered. This android gave her the creeps. Was she with the mafia or the triads? Kara didn’t want to know, and failure probably meant a lot of legal nightmares in the future. At best. At worst, well…Kara had cheated death once already. She wasn’t so willing to try her luck a second time.

She’d have to be very, very careful as to how she’d deal with these people. As an heiress, she’d had no shortage of people trying to cut shady deals with her – they were never this overt, however, nor did they ever even indicate the quasi-legal status of their dealings save for euphemistically.

Then it occurred to her. She had never broken the law…and if she played her cards right, she’d never have to. Plausible deniability was the name of the game. She chuckled to herself in silent realization a split-second after freezing.

Taking out a notebook and a pen, she began to write her response down. When she was finished – admittedly, after three rough drafts – she tore the page from her notebook and slid it on to Claire.
It read:

I’ll agree under the following conditions:

1. We formalize this in contract. I need something to sign; I’m working under the impression that you’re at least partly a legitimate business, and would like to sign documents reflecting on that fact.

2. Officially, I am doing a repair/restoration job and a repair/restoration job only. You must specify in the above contract that I am not privileged in any way as to how these parts are acquired. All payments for my services are for said job only; you may, of course, pay me an unusually high amount for whatever reason you deem fit.

“There is, of course, nothing illegal about repairing you with parts you already own.” Kara said, winking and smiling.

How disappointing. The Yun Sei heiress seemed to recoil at the notion of skirting the law.

Claire had a number of ideas about human laws, but not all of them were negative. As an android, she was technically not offered the same legal protections as humans were, and as such, she did not see why she should respect the restrictions humans placed on themselves.

Furthermore, laws were frequently open to interpretation in a courtroom. Businesses, like Daino or Claire's own, frequently used loopholes in regulations in order to maximize profitability. Claire did have a lawyer on file for that very reason.

Perhaps Kara was simply getting the wrong idea about Claire's position. Glancing at the note, she attempted to clarify. "Miss Yun Sei, please understand that the Fano family is a well-respected organization in Whitesmoke and its surrounding regions. Though our operations do not yet reach this bustling metropolis I'm presuming you call home, we are a business for our town's people first. We protect them from bandits in the hills. We offer infrastructure, roads, schools, and the like."

She glanced up at Kara then, drawing forth a business card from her handbag. It was a simple but elegant thing that sported her name, the title "Chairwoman, Fano Family Works", and contact information for her office in Whitesmoke. It even included, on the back, a list of businesses in the area that Fano owned, such as the rebuilt Sleeping Helcat pub.

"My intentions are to be as honest with you as possible," Claire continued. "Contractual paperwork will be provided to your preferred means of contact, of course, and for the duration of any work you do for me, you will be under my legal protection. I am not a criminal, Miss Yun Sei. I am simply a business-woman. If you are not happy with how I conduct my business, I will be on my way."

Leaving the card on the table, she gazed out beyond Kara into the foliage of the park around them. "I get the feeling that you've never had an encounter with an android as advanced as myself, so let me be clear. What I am offering here is more than a job. It is an opportunity for a future, should you desire it. You don't want to be down here in the alleys all your life, do you?"

392 words.

Kara took the card and tried to hide her distaste at the last remark. She wasn’t down in the dumps per se; she had enough money to live an idle, sustainable life. Still, anything would seem like “the alleys” in comparison to her previous life. The various veiled attacks at her were nothing she hadn’t experienced before, but they still stung.

“No, no, please do understand. I am interested in this line of work.” Kara said, waving her arms with the card still in hand. “I’m simply a bit…hesitant to engage in deals like these, on principle. Some of your statements gave me pause as to your legitimacy, but I understand now.”

“I’d be perfectly willing to engage in this line of work. I’m just hesitant to participate in anything which might scandalize me further in the eyes of the public.” Provided full protection, of course, but she had said that part already.

Still, the daughter of a businessman knew that businesses wanted nothing more than profit. If this android decided, she could really mess her up with any evidence – Kara would have to play extra carefully around these sorts of people. Her would-be employer’s goal, she was sure, was much less than altruistic.

“I see that you offer…protection, yes? It would seem I have misjudged you.” Are these folks a racket? Kara wondered. Ultimately, though, it wasn’t any of her business. “I’ll take the job.”

Quite pleased with the arrangement, Claire clapped her hands together and smiled. "Excellent!"

Claire chose not to disclose the fact that while, yes, the Fano business was in protecting travelers and traders in the Whitesmoke scrublands, she wasn't above slipping a small sum to hungry raiders to perform a bit for her clients. If Miss Yun Sei felt herself above a little manipulation to turn a profit and see results, Claire would simply need to keep that part of her operation secret.

Provided their business extended beyond the immediate, of course. Frankly, Claire wasn't really sure anymore why the Yun Sei girl had caught her attention. She didn't seem to talk as if she had any interest in chasing her family legacy or her career as a computer scientist, let alone the knack for machines that Claire had hoped from the heir to such an important name in electronics.

But she could be useful in other ways, however.

"I'll just get your contact information and have the documents delivered to you electronically. Any such contract will be encrypted as you see fit and never made available unless requested," Claire said as she rose from the table, placing the scrap with Kara's terms into her bag and turning to go.

Over her shoulder, she added, "When you do business with me, Miss Yun Sei, I treat you like family."

228 words.

Kara: 24 + 5: 29 RPC
AHC2: 22 +5: 27 RPC

Good read, you two. I know you'll likely have another, hope I get to read that one as well.