>>1940681
you alive boss?

>>1940870
Got sidetracked. Update shortly.

“You’re shorter than I expected.” A dark-haired young man peers through the doorway at you. He rubs his chin before opening the door the rest of the way. “Allie called me and said to expect you. I didn’t anticipate you arriving as quickly as you did though.”

You frown. “Her shop is only a few exits away.”

The man looks at you with wide eyes, seemingly horrified. “You took the freeway? It’s so much easier for them to monitor you that way!”

“Them?” You cross your arms.

However, before you can say more, the man beckons you into his dimly-lit shop. “Follow me. I have the components ready.”

You glance at Tom, who shrugs and walks through the doorway. You follow him, closing the door behind you. It is a decision you immediately regret, because you don’t have a flashlight. The shop is lit only by a desk lamp on a workbench.

“The boxes are here in the back room,” the man calls back to you. Looking around, you begin to see more details as your eyes adjust to the light. There are computer parts, bits of machinery, and things you can’t even identify strewn about in a disorganized manner.

You step forward, moving toward the back room when the shop owner (or at least who you assume is the owner) returns with two small boxes. He sits one on his workbench, then hands the other to you.

“This is the first one, Mr. Starwind. Give me a minute to find the others.” He turns toward the back room again.

>”Did Allie mention me by name?”
>”Some of this tech doesn’t look familiar. Is it alien?”
>”You seem a bit paranoid…”
>Say nothing.
>Write-in.

>>1940905
>”Did Allie mention me by name?”
>”Some of this tech doesn’t look familiar. Is it alien?”

>>1940905
>”Did Allie mention me by name?”

>>1940905
>”Some of this tech doesn’t look familiar. Is it alien?”

>>1940905
>Write-in.
Are these components hot? I don't need more reasons for them to be suspicious of me.

>>1941019
Not like we have the option to turn them down.

But yeah it would be good to know if we gotta keep this on the DL.

>>1941019
Also I think Allie is just going to use them to upgrade our software, not install them in our ship?

>>1941468
Oh I don't know, I thought we were using the elf for upgrading our software ;)

You frown, looking over some of the tech scattered about. “I’m not familiar with some of this stuff. Any of it alien?”

“Almost certainly,” the store owner says with a nod. “I’m not too picky about where it all comes from.”

You and Tom both grimace. “This stuff isn’t hot, right? I’ve already got enough people breathing down my neck.”

The man looks back at you with a deadpan expression. “My tech’s legal. I make that guarantee to every customer.”

Tom sighs. “It wouldn’t have been the first time we were duped. Hope you can understand our stance on this stuff.”

“I understand completely, Mr. McMurdo.” The man ducks into the back room, making a lot of noise as he moves things around out of sight.

“You’ve mentioned us by name,” you begin. “Did Allie mention our names when she called?”

The man peeks out from around the corner, raising an eyebrow. “She didn’t mention any names. However, it’s easy to pick up on vocal cues. I figured who you might be and did extensive background checks on both of you.”

“In the fifteen minutes it took to get here?” You cross your arms.

“Twelve,” he corrects. “And yes, I was able to run checks on you two in that amount of time. Federal Navy records are surprisingly easy to access.”

>”Are you saying you hacked the Federal Navy’s database?”
>”Smart man. You ever consider going to space?” (offer him a job)
>”I don’t know how I feel about someone going through my past like that.”
>”So you saw my record. What did you think?”
>Write-in.

>>1942336
>"Huh, I complement you on your craft. Say, do you ever look into databases other than the FedNav's?" (Possible information broker option.)
Is the What do you think option an exposition cue? Because while I wouldn't pick it otherwise I can't resist me some exposition for this universe/these characters.

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>>1942415
He'll tell you whatever he found about you and Tom. Whether it's stuff you already knew or not is entirely unknown at the moment.

>>1942336
>Write-in.
who would try tracking us on the freeway ?

>>1942415
i can support this too.

>>1942336
Supporting >>1942415
Thanks Mr Universe.

>>1942415
Supporting

You raise an eyebrow. “Huh. You’re pretty good.” You cross your arms. “Do you ever go diving into other databases?”

The man harrumphs from inside the back room. “Of course. Not that I give that info out to complete strangers.” There is a sound of things being moved out there. “Though, I suppose I have an idea of what a man like Allen Starwind might want to know.”

You frown. “Really?”

“Indeed. You are an interesting character. Decorated veteran with a stellar service history. No pun intended. Though despite your service, you have no apparent desire to return to the military life. Raised by a single father whose current whereabouts are… Disputed. You seem to have a fierce sense of loyalty toward your comrades, and your comrades seem to be consistently inspired by you.” He peeks around the corner, looking over at Tom. “You though… Tom McMurdo. History with both the Marines and Navy, in both ground forces and as a co-pilot. Your service history is a bit inconsistent, though the Marines were like that back then, but your switch to the Navy is certainly interesting.” He returns to the main room with a larger box. “Here are the supplies.”

Tom frowns at the man. “Smart guy. Maybe a little too smart.”

“Look, Mr. McMurdo,” the man says in a deadpan tone. “I don’t sell people’s information, I just thought your pasts were interesting.” He then looks over at you, handing the box to you. “So Captain Starwind,” he adds. “Do you have the paperwork?”

You nod. “Here it is.” You hand the sheet to him and he signs it, motioning for you to sign as well.

“This just shows that you received the stuff from me. You get one copy, I get the other.” He hands you one copy, then crosses his arms. “Alright. Anything else you need?”

>”You seem to know a lot. Does the name Maria Sofia mean anything to you?”
>”That’ll be all.” (leave)
>”Why don’t you sell information? You could make a killing.”
>”I wasn’t aware that people switching from the Marines to the Navy was a rare occurrence.”
>Write-in.

>>1945774
>”You seem to know a lot. Does the name Maria Sofia mean anything to you?”

>>1945774
>”You seem to know a lot. Does the name Maria Sofia mean anything to you?”
>”I wasn’t aware that people switching from the Marines to the Navy was a rare occurrence.”

>>1945774
>>”Why don’t you sell information? You could make a killing.”
>>”I wasn’t aware that people switching from the Marines to the Navy was a rare occurrence.”

>>1945774
>”That’ll be all.” (leave)
I have a feeling asking about Maria Sofia might just induce a panic attack in this guy, and he said he's not interested in dealing info. Also while Tom has darker parts to his past did Allen ever think the career switch was anything less than extraordinary? Going from a highly specialized mud foot to an entirely different specialization as a co-pilot in the navy... I understand it was an all hands on deck, oh shit we weren't ready for total war sorta time but even with modern equivalents that seems extremely unlikely. If Tom was injured enough to be off line deployment as a boot the shift over to what I assume was a new demanding skillset seems odd instead of sticking him in a training role, or anything behind a desk really. Like I said there was a desperate need for pilots, like in WW2, but there was likely just as desperate a need for other things Tom could have been qualified for with less new training.

>>1945774
>”You seem to know a lot. Does the name Maria Sofia mean anything to you?”

Dark waters. He might not be interested in selling people's info, but if he sees her name pop up then he should know it's some deep shit. He can feel free to call us, or preferably a trustworthy military commander that can scorched earth the cunt.

>>1945774
>”You seem to know a lot. Does the name Maria Sofia mean anything to you?”

>>1945774
Ask about Maria Sofia, leave the Tom things for later and ask Tom himself.

I do hope that the crazy scientist lady did not have some fucked up contingency consciousness override that would transfer her to the assistant we rescued, giving her access to federation research installation by now...

also, if the nerd did NOT hear of Maria Sofia, advise him against pursuing the topic since even if he is appropriately paranoid he could trip some defenses that would land him in more trouble than he's prepared for.

You grimace. “Have you ever heard the name Maria Sofia?”

The man nods slowly. “The name is familiar…” He raises an eyebrow. “Freelance genetic scientist, declared deceased a while back.” He then sighs, narrowing his eyes at you. “No known ties to the Federal Military, but for some reason all of her records were sealed and deemed classified upon her death.”

“Everything?” Tom crosses his arms.

“Yeah,” the man replies. “If you look her up in any Federation record books, it’s like she never existed. Spooky stuff.” He leans against the wall. “I’ve heard of them erasing the identities of former special forces members and spies, so I figure she was probably some sort of spook.”

You frown. “I thought you didn’t hand out peoples’ information to strangers.”

“I haven’t given any information. There wasn’t any to give you in the first place.” He chuckles. “This is all just speculation.” He then raises an eyebrow again, looking from you to Tom, then back to you. “So why are you asking? There some information I don’t know?”

>”If my suspicions are correct, you’d be better off not knowing.”
>”She was conducting human experiments on New Albany. Mind control, population control, nasty stuff.”
>”Just heard the name in the news a few weeks back and got curious. (lie)
>Write-in.

>>1952022
>”If my suspicions are correct, you’d be better off not knowing. And they are some very sick and scary suspicions, to be clear.”

>>1952022
You’re almost certainly better off not knowing. I know I would.

Suffice to say I just hope the witch stays dead.

“You’re better off not knowing,” you remark simply. “Let’s just hope she stays nice and dead.”

The man smirks. “Ah, the dangers of forbidden knowledge. I’m sure I’ll find out eventually.” He gestures toward the door. “Anyway, you two probably have to get back to Allie’s place. She’s been trying to get a hold of these components for a while now, wouldn’t want to incur any more of her wrath than I already have.” He begins walking toward the back room. “You two have a good day now, don’t let the Shadow Lords get you!”

You glance at Tom, collecting the boxes and paperwork. Without a word, the two of you head for the door. It takes a few seconds for your eyes to properly adjust to the daylight as you step outside. Both of you don sunglasses, getting in the truck and heading back toward Allie’s shop.

“So, Shadow Lords…” Tom smirks, fighting off a laugh.

“Yeah. Weird guy.” You frown, looking through the rear-view mirror. “Smart though, considering how much information he knew about us.”

“Most of that shit’s public record though,” Tom interjects. “And what isn’t public record also isn’t too hard to access if you know the right people.” He shrugs, lighting a cigarette.

“Fair enough,” you nod. The drive back is a little longer, partly on account of traffic. You figure it must be rush hour or something. Finally after almost half an hour, you get off the highway and back to Allie’s place. As you pull into the yard, she waves you over. Turning the truck off, you both get out and grab the boxes. You sit both of the boxes over near her table.

She grins. “Everything go well?”

“Yeah,” you nod. “Your electronics guy seemed a little strange though.”

She laughs. “Yeah, that’s Cole. We went to school together.” She leans in close. “Most of that conspiracy stuff is just for laughs though.”

“Could’ve fooled me,” Tom says.

You are about to say something else when your communicator starts beeping. You frown.

>Answer it.
>Ignore it.
>Write-in.

>>1952249
>Answer it.

>>1952249

>Answer it.

We're not a savage.

>>1952249
>>Answer it.

>>1952249

>Answer it

>>1952249
>Answer it.

>>1952249
>Answer it.