The attempted rescue of Kelvin McClure (Core, No Mods game story, Seed: H1483

[anthraxus]

One would think that it would be impossible to angrily open a auto-door, yet Katrine Korogo was so righteously indignant that Daniel Bowers would have sworn he heard it slide open a little quicker and more forcefully than normal.  He sat at his desk and held his breath as he eyed his boss, hoping with every fiber of his being that her anger was not focused on him.  He quailed under her thunderous gaze as she paused just inside the door and glared at him.  "You, with me." was all she said to him, and quick as a capybara he hopped up to follow her. 

She quickly walked down the hallway from the reception area towards her inner office, each click of her devilstrand heels sounding like suppressed gunshots.  Daniel noticed that her two assistants each glanced up with concern from their screens as the pair quickly passed by their offices, but he waved them off as he went by.  He proactively pulled up her schedule and recent correspondances that she had made visible for him on his internal heads-up display, but nothing jumped out as something that would get her this worked up.

Other than those first three words she said nothing until he closed the door to her office behind them.  He saw the icon appear to indicate that the surveillance supression was in place, and he nodded to her.  She continued to pace relentlessly behind her desk as he stood nervously.  "They did it! I can't believe it, but they totally did.  The unmitigated gall!" she said, practically spitting the words. Daniel stood still and waited for her to come to her own point.  There was a reason he had lasted longer than her last three personal assistants. 

After another minute or two of confusing ranting, she suddenly stopped behind her desk and stared directly at Daniel.  She said, "Bowers, McClure has disappeared. I know some TSS goons grabbed him, but they supressed the signal of the tracker I had on him and were able to shake the agents I had on him as well."  Daniel's jaw dropped in surprise.  He knew that Ms. Korogo had been keeping close tabs on Kelvin McClure, the investigator that had published several very bad exposés on certain practices of the Triad Survivalist Society and indiscretions of it's leadership.  He didn't know it was that extensive.

She said, "Bowers,  I need you to start clearing my schedule and making some arrangements for me.  I need neurotrainers and my lawyer ASAP.  I also need you to take Sweaty to the groomer and get her ready for travel." Daniel paled at the thought of having to deal with Katrine's pet yak, Sweaty.  She had grown up with the beast and loved it more than most people.  "This needs to be kept as low-key as possible.  We'll use the codename Keyhole for the operation.  That was the codename that McClure used when we talked."

The next quadrum was a blur of quick preparation, neurotrainer and nanite immune system integration as well as shifting control of her various companies to trusted associates or trustees.  At the end of it, she and Sweaty and ample supplies were transported to the Sumsummat orbital station and then loaded into a large transport pod to be dropped to the surface.  She had paid a substantial sum in bribes and blackmail to insure that she would be inserted near the general area she had found McClure had been dropped into.  The chances she was going to find him alive were slim, but she felt she owed it to him for the numerous times that his information had either turned her a massive profit, or prevented some tragedy to her and her businesses.  The last thing Daniel handed her before prepping for transit was a TSS Universal Trial Recorder.  "It's been scrubbed and tweaked by security so that it will transmit to us instead of them, but the Utilitool and library access will be critical for you," he said, the concern and worry easily readable on his face. 

"Don't worry," I said, "I've already determined what the outcome is going to be, and you know I'm almost never wrong."

She closed the transit pod and petted the sedated Sweaty.  As the sedatives began to impact her as well, she said, "Stay alive Kelvin.  I'm coming to get you."

[juleburr]

Really love the writing and lore work you wrote out.