I have put this writing into a file all by itself as I really have not written to it enough as I just cannot think of any more I could add or the continuation is just not what I might want to write about.
A Flight Attendant and FireStopper are the 2 pieces currently inhabiting this possibility and I will certainly come back to them for a rewrite and re-present given the impetus.
Home hardly needed any cleaning when she could finally settle, what was the point in keeping this place had gone through her mind but now it was obvious with the joys of doing simple things like shopping and getting the Trash out. The pleasures of Domesticity and the freedom brought about by ridding yourself of the need to satiate a Lust, only the one Man in the last Month and now the Calendar ahead was looking a bit empty. Spending more than earned was not a habit picked up, but spending rather than earning could easily be given into and Holiday spots and choice of activities were now thoughtful perusals.
An eMail came in as she sat there looking at possibilities, 'Could she come in for a Meeting?' Well, yes this would be more than nice and her favourite Office of New York was the venue. Only the latest, best new Phone would do and now a second Number could be added just to show willing with the Spycraft because after all that was what she now was. A Burner phone would be a bit of a Novelty and wouldn't lead anywhere she was sure.
This was informal, Coffee and Biscuits with 2 others, 2 Men, and it might be better to accept the Hospitality and the Meal at the Restaurant with many in attendance and this was something to look forward to as the conversation was interesting and everyone well practised in being good company. The Eyes were still fairly unsettling though as she sat down in the Couch arrangement at the start of a working time in the Offices. 'The recent excursion has nothing but good reports and up for a repeat and extension.' The first Man would clearly like a reply.
'I did what I could, I enjoyed it all.' Cassy was trying to pre-empt the next statement or question, neither of them she fancied though; the Neck Ties were too formal.
The second Man spoke, 'We're going ahead with moving the Control and Operations Room to a Manned Zumwalt vessel and this means a slimmed down crew fitting into the existing operations room on board, this means less overall space, but more elbow room per Tech. Operator with more to do and less down-time. As such you may be asked to do more Weapons and of course Pilot 2 sets of Computer Controlled machines as well as the Main Ship we want to move past the 'Experimental' stage. Although the Manned Ship can sit pretty low in the Water it's not even semi-submersible just to put your Mind at ease if you're concerned.'
'No, Okay. I see.' Cassy was quite happy to listen for the moment.
'On another point, the Man you were with recently.' A strained look was fairly evident, 'how did you find him?'
'Not the biggest Man I've known, seemed alright, I am not Pregnant.' This was the first time anyone had broached a subject like this.
'We're going to lift him for some questioning this next week, you're the most recent number he'll have on his Phone so if he gets in contact at any point do some recording and let me know.' The second Man had lowered his Voice a little and had gone for a Biscuit.
'Anything serious?' Cassy was definitely intrigued.
'Hopefully not. Their was a release of information that was helpful to the President, but we don't have any recorded authorisation from the Office of the President. Should be explained easily as some sort of leadership bid or Political Party alegiance, but obviously we want to know and we're never into taking chances.'
'I understand, of course I'll get in touch and I will be fine with the Weapons and extra duty, but I might prefer to stay off an enlistment advice, I hope you understand.' Cassy would sing a pleasant song to them, the pay was getting to be more than worth it.
Moving and hinting toward closing the consultation the first man told her, 'Read up on the Littoral Combat Ships particularly the Catamaran version, their's a good possibility of a long stint on one of these as to be honest they're a much better option for the siting of an Operations Centre in the opinion of more than a few.' The Men were pleasant company for 15 to twenty minutes and easy conversation was well in order before leaving for the multi table Meal that would be reached by Car at the Restaurant, another introduction to a pleasant Gentleman might be the possibility, they weren't into playing odds in life or so they claimed but it didn't do any harm to be hopeful and optimistic.
The Security for the Afternoon at the Restaurant was more evident today, constant and Low Key had been the way and the brief for some time, but the Men at the Table had Security from the Limousines and upto taking a seat and some of them were clearly not going to take the Jacket off while eating, an indication they were 'Packing Heat'. Most in attendance had to be Senate members or working for the Offices and certainly Presidential representatives comfortably chatted away. 3 Ladies in total at the Table of about 26, just about the right kind of numbers as far as Cassy was concerned and the man to her left refilled her Glass of Water without a prompt and spoke nicely asking a question to put her more at ease often.
Back at the Computer Base station at Home a trawl through the Classified documents she now had access to revealed an offensive plan for the Zumwalts, a small set of Ships the Navy were thinking of dumping, decommissioning and using for target practice. The plan involved not only having these as submersibles, but building them in different sizes in a sort of Mesmerising, Hypnotic effect to present to an enemy prior to an Amphibious invasion force. These distractions, all practical vessels of course, could be sited just offshore of the Target Land giving an extraordinary effect to observers who would automatically perceive a Row Boat size floatable as a full size 6th. Generation Destroyer. All very odd, but the more you think about it and look into it the more you understand the intention and use of such an approach to winning a regional conflict. Of course the whole of the Military were in the middle of being slimmed down not bolstered. This fairly bizarre sounding plan was not likely to see the light of day while the placing of an operations centre on a Littoral Catamaran directing swarms of computer controlled drones and Bots was clearly the way to go should their be an escalation. The 'Top Brass' were going to let opposition military dictate what the response might be, an Okay approach if any offence is known about, but not so good if their's a strong, successful effective attack.
Pondering bits of the conversation it started to occur to her about the latest Male encounter. Maybe she should have put herself as a gentle questioner reporting back the findings or someone who could bring more pressure to bear. None of this was a test, the Job had been secured if that was what she wanted to do perhaps they might have let her. On the whole the reasoning was Men were their to be enjoyed and romanced and not set up for possible imprisonment or assassination; this was the correct course, sure of it.
The Phone rang, a Car would be outside in the next twenty minutes and would wait another Hour if she was or wasn't packed or unwashed. They certainly knew how to spring things on people, but she had stuff ready already and all she needed was a bit more War Paint at the moment as well as the re-application of a Hair Tie. She got into the Car after he had been sitting there for less than ten minutes and other than saying Hello she sat quietly in the back with her small over the Shoulder number and the Wheely Carry thing in the Boot, a local Airfield was the destination and after that it could be a Mystery reveal.
Their was a wait for the Plane, the fixed wing passenger affair would be Flying to a Port on the Coast nearly full so their was time for a Briefing. 'This is going to be a "Shoot and Scoot" into a well fortified position that we would like to take out because it's a Command and Control centre under the final stage of construction and once it has all the Defensive Plating added would need a great deal more Firepower to annihilate.' The Junior Officer she recognised from the last opp. and had introduced himself as just that and appeared almost Juvenile with the clean shaven, well manicured and smartly dressed Sales pitch. Cassy nodded along making sure he knew she was paying attention and was not asleep for the brief.
'We're attacking at the point of strongest defence, the bit pointing toward the Sea and the main thing for us is going to be taking out the SAM sites so we can hit the Control Centre. We have the routines they've been running for the Air Defences well observed and their'll be no time for a Scramble with what they have in the area and in the unlikely event they find something from somewhere we have the cover to deal with it.' He looked out of the window, 'You can board your ride now.'
'Where will I be based?' Cassy was showing interest although it was undoubtedly on a Ship at the back of the formation.
'You'll be getting there via an Osprey and then their's going to be more briefing and that's all the details I'm sure of at the moment. Theirs only 4 operators and much more Elbow room for each of you although the Space used is much less than it was as we'll now be on monitoring stations with the Comms. and Firing. They're boarding.' He had looked again in the direction of the Runway.
'Okay I'll get gone then.' She said standing and heading for the plane. "Shoot and Scoot", she thought, more like "Shoot and Sail" but who was there for this facile conversation this mission might inflict the greatest loss of life for the opposition in some time.
Notes about another page of FireStopper
I'm not going to write a Cop story as I mentioned, but here I'm going to continue with a Sci-Fi read that might explore a close relationship more than anything else and present it just as writing without any intention of pretence toward Screenplay or some such.
The jump to a second story or locale is taken from a Futuristic scape I outlined for another story set in 3493 or 3194, but as I don't have a plot, characters or any other ideas for it it'll do as enough of a change to keep a reader engaged. Clearly this is going to be an exploration of how, why and if Humanity is to develop and react to the inevitability of the Synthetic life form.
I might try and cover the subject in the piece, but SADS (Sudden Adult Death Syndrome) will inevitably affect some more than others at times and a Life with little history, genuine strong character traits and purpose could be much more susceptible to this.
A normal day starting with a morning at the Desk quickly turned into a 'Different' news meeting with a superior.
'We have a change of Policy, Operations, Direction from the Communiques and some ruler authority Council or another. GlissCo. have been making more progress than they're letting on and we're going to go with it a bit.'
Deckard relaxed a little more now as this was not going to be the dressing down possible firing he imagined. 'They're the other side of the World.' GlissCo were part of the Africa/Asia project that was returning huge sections of Land back to Wildlife, repopulating it and constructing huge viewing points hidden behind One-way mirrors or displays. A Train hidden from anything roaming around took people directly from Europe into Savannah and Bush lands where the ferocious Beasts could be observed safely by those with enough Credits and clearances. No way could the demand be met so secrecy was a big part of the deal and this was handy with the resiting of the population and of course they were being thinned out as well; all very nasty business.
The Man was deadly serious, 'All Replicant activity is going to be there and as such the Police will be a new exploit in the region.'
The very obvious occurred to Deckard, 'The offending Replicants causing displeasure can be a lot closer to the Death source.' The remark hinted at sarcasm and misery.
'Pretty much, we want to make sure they don't start routinely fattening the Crocs. with those they might not like after all these Scientific advances are proving more than useful and who is to say they aren't an improvement to be treated as a natural advancement.'
'Anything peculiar?' Deckard asked a standard question as early as he could in these situations, the authority might be put at ease by demonstrating need and a lack of knowledge.
'Don't shoot anyone to avoid getting eaten by the Wildlife as this is just getting you back here without the Love of your Life and we're looking at this as a beneficial arrangement for everyone.'
'GlissCo get something?'
'They're going to dislike the Policing authority obviously, but we're putting enough people there to be effective.' The Boss Man pushed a Button on the console in front of him and the lighting lifted a little. Screen and Projector use would not be needed now, Deckard had a good understanding from his own analysis of current events.
'Bigger Desk? More Authority?' Deckard pushed the questioning hoping something important or hidden might be hinted at.
'More Space sure, but what the Communique's are looking for is probing and policing the Replicas; your brief though remains the same as here and you'll have full reign with much fewer to analyse and go to response, deter, detain etc.' The Man was now expecting another question.
'I quite like it, I'm sure the pretty Lady will as well.' Reassurance put forward by the Employee.
'Day after Tomorrow then, pick up anything you have at the Office and leave the Weapon in a Drawer. See 'ya later.'
'Thanks and see you later.' Deckard left through a hinged Door before entering the Elevator and getting to the Office where he picked up his Notepad and Pen while pushing the Gun into the top right drawer of the Desk. This place was just getting comfortable to him, but the move would be worth it as he would be keeping his just reward for expended effort and Loyalty, his new to-be Wife.
World War II had a name, a title and dates to go along with it and the alliance of Countries subsequently banned Death Squads outright and on the formations of these Governments and other Authorities intervened or stepped in, but clearly many Countries had no chance of stopping these organizations moving towards this activity and once started minimal interference would be tolerated by those carrying out the mini genocide; the big powers / Guns could only try to stifle or differ the supply until the collation of tragedies in the region blew itself out or slowed to a Halt. No period of time could be pointed to as WW3 and the fact that many now knew time could be renamed to a different numbering system what was the point anyway? Better to just go along with the Medical and Spatial solutions and not cause more trouble than was necessary. Deckard would pray to a God each and every day for being alive if he believed in one, he was just satisfied to be alive although not overly happy about it.
Deckard always fancied a Hat, changing his outlook to become a Hat-wearer was not anything he had considered before, but now the prospect of keeping the Sun out of his eyes made the thought applicable to a life situation. One thing was for sure the colour depiction arrangement would be changing in favour of a numbering system and this would prove easier as their were 2 shades of Blue/Purple he couldn't see and a lot of the people he had known had even more trouble managing the system and those with really bad chromatic differentiation had to be moved away and onto other things fairly smartly. Anyone would think the Medical branches of the Organizational Tree were just playing with people for the sake of petty Politics rather than any serious attempt to stop or solve Crime or improve living standards generally.
Rachael was not there at Home waiting for him, a shopping trip to look at a new Com. device that meant she could dump the ID Card had been arranged and although it was a discussion with a Sales person the Yes or No came from this person over any question about ability to pay. She had found herself quite in demand as she was pleasant and looked great. Deckard pushed the button for the wall-vision and asked for 'resumed and requested playlist' that showed a series of stills and videos about proposed Architectural changes to his Home town, a long way from here, but very much well remembered by a now very clean shaven senior Detective.
The Car had only been with him for 3 days and now they would be leaving in less than 3 days for Europe and this was the worst of it. The freedoms extended to any Man through owning Vehicular transport is of course well known and documented, but the benefits and advantages of a close relationship with a Female represented new and unexplored territory and avenues; 'Virgin Land' to express this in a not often used linguistic term. A 2 person pod would only be in America for an Hour before the transfer to the newly completed Submarinal Transatlantic Tube that worked by Accelerating constantly through a Vacuum and then Decelerating steadily ensuring the quickest transport possible over the great distance. They were not getting off and out on reaching a Stop, but the option of a visit to a Restaurant Car became possible on hitting what used to be France or Spain. The whole Journey would be taking 8 and a half hours minimum. Toilet breaks had to be calculated and bargained for on this particular Land transfer and the personal Automobile would not be playing a part in life for the foreseeable future.
She arrived back Home happily carrying a Bag of newly designed and manufactured Clothes, the traditional way of Shopping might be worth preserving was the reasoning and in this case programming.
'Hi!' He said. 'We have to talk.' He continued because efforts toward relationship considerations were now uppermost and obviously would be for some time.
'Fine, Okay. You can view these things a bit later, I'll try not to eat too much and then they are guaranteed to fit.'
'We have to move in a couple of days, the luggage will be following on a bit later. I have a new Job design and their's no way to avoid it.'
She put the Carry bag and purse to one side and sat next to him attentively keeping her head close so he could play with her Hair if he wanted to as he did this occasionally. 'You preferred here or is this new place going to be much worse, it has to be one or the other.'
Taking her up on the offer of playing with the Hair on her head he felt reassurance might be best. 'Read up on the activities of Glissco. but I'll give you what I know. Their's tourist facilities in the Jungles of the East accessible only by Air and these run through Tubes in the thick of Jungle areas recently benefiting from wildlife repopulation. The trips take a few Hours and stop off where the animals are before getting to one of the 6 Air access points. Interesting to people and worth it.'
She was listening and kept her eyes on his face. 'Same Job? Policing.'
'Yes, but not quite that far East, no need for anyone to interfere with the Air arrangement, but where we are isn't dense Jungle, but areas of open Savannah and the Train stops at viewing platforms, the whole thing can cater for a paying person for weeks, if not longer and that' where the Human frailties can tend to show through making relations difficult.'
Maybe this was an invite to start playing with his Hair, anyway she blinked and smiled.
He leant forward and kissed her forehead, 'Let's get sorted and fed, please have a look and see what you think.'
'Yes, sir. No problem.' He had stood up and was now near the Kitchenette and she moved toward the Bedroom Closet and the Bathroom, not quite the surprise she was expecting; all she'd accumulated would need packing up tight for the transfer. Still their was plenty of time.