<div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide</div><div class="spoiler_body">http://elliquiy.com/forums/dicebot.php?r=43541<br/>This means antagonist, plot twist, something unusual. Hmm...<br/></div></div>That was a dark blue night on the 0943871 planet, also known as Alcatraz among those that bothered to call it anything but "mudball". And she was feeling an intense disquiet, like if someone was creeping on her.<br/>Nobody was actually doing that - she had checked. But something was up. And it wasn't just the dick of a guy that was looking at her ass from across the street. Probably couldn't get any action...<br/>Still. There was more important stuff to do right now. Like meet Lai'mia.<br/>Lai'mia, who had called her earlier, was a good fence. Well-she was as good as fences get, but she still paid double for stolen items. They had even shared a cup of coffeine-based stimulants from the Shirtair Barony's system (neither was actual coffee of course - if they could find any, it would be more likely to become the object of a high-profile deal than to be made into a drink). It was as close to friendship as it gets between a fence and a thief.<br/>And right now, Lai'mia had called for her help, and promised reward, in a cryptic message. "Come to me at 2175. Need help, possibly muscle. Reward is more than the usual."<br/>So here she was, staring at a fence's flat in the bad part of the town. The part that she knew so well.<br/>But there was also something wrong in the air. She could smell it even from outside the door. There was a faint, metallic smell.<br/>Blood. And lots of it, right behind the door. But there were some scratches at the metal of the door's handle, like a cat having dragged her claws.<br/>She thought she heard a door closing on the opposite side of the building, too.<br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide</div><div class="spoiler_body">So, what do you do?<br/>There is a cat-human hybrid in the flat, who would try to surprise her, and the body of Big Joe, a well-known local brawler with artificial muscles, with his throat ripped out. Lai'mia is nowhere in sight, but there is a footprint on the ceiling.<br/>What do you plan on doing?</div></div><br/><div align="center">***</div>Al'maraint<br/>Al'maraint is<span class="bbc_u">a baseline human</span><span class="bbc_u"><strong>struggling to get ahead in the corporate world.</strong></span>However, he is<span class="bbc_u">very much an outsider,</span>which doesn't help. Apart from<strong>good skills with the law of 23rd century United Space Habitats,</strong>he's also<strong>an expert karateka.</strong><br/>Which, in the world of 23rd century, means that<span class="bbc_u">every street brawler is going to own you,</span>as anything that's not a McDojo is illegal. But it<strong>gives him something to talk about at parties,</strong>and<strong>chicks seem to dig the angry white pajamas.</strong>Which is a good thing, since he's got<span class="bbc_u"><strong>a naturally high sex drive</strong></span>as well. Sometimes, it even works out for him, but<span class="bbc_u">chicks tend to leave him for less outsider-type guys with better prospects.</span>That's part of the society's ethics, so he's not offended - everyone is looking to sell their talents.<br/>On the other hand, he's<strong>a big, tough guy,</strong><strong>shaped by fitness and yoga,</strong>with a<strong>naturally high pain threshold.</strong>More importantly, having<span class="bbc_u"><strong>spent lots of time in full-immersion VR,</strong></span>he has played fighting games aimed to induce<strong>a spirit of relentless aggression in soldiers.</strong>Even more importantly,<strong>he had learned to harness it,</strong>only<strong>releasing a hint of it when an office co-worker forgets their place.</strong>To this day, people can still feel natural aggression, it seems.<br/><span class="bbc_u"><strong>He hasn't used it for fighting yet,</strong></span>but there's no reason not to free his aggression if he ever was attacked...what could possibly go wrong?<br/>Al'maraint is<strong> respected in mainstream society</strong>for having a corporate job, and<span class="bbc_u">a target for the ones that live on the fringe.</span>He<span class="bbc_u">hasn't got a lot of street smarts,</span>but he's<span class="bbc_u"><strong>smart enough to know that much</strong></span>and to look for help. He<span class="bbc_u">hasn't got many close friends,</span>and most of them are colleagues.<br/>Still, he needs to get involved with street elements now. Both protecting the corporation's interests and getting the dirt on his bosses require it - and illegal money are still money, and still give you a head start up the corporate ladder.