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| Scene Title | There's a Plot Hole in the Middle of this Book |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Lola arrives, and Jack asks her to help with various needs he simply doesn't have the hands for. |
| Date | March 18 2010 |
Crumbling concrete tunnels beneath the streets of Manhattan eventually lead towards what may have at one time been a subterranean access point for a basement level of some midtown business. An enritre section of concrete wall has been demolished to give way from the subway tunnel into a large and derelict circular chamber. A staircase here is filled with broken pieces of concrete and twisated steel girders, clearly whatever building resided above here has long since collapsed down onto itself, leaving this vault cut off from the rest of the city.
Opposite of the cut entrance in the concrete, a massive bank vault door rests in the wall, a pair of closed-circuit security cameras mounted on the concrete sweeping through the chamber, electricity still powering them from //somewhere. An analogue keypad has been installed next to the vault door, and the circular door itself looks to have been modified to be operated by the mechanical keypad rather than the combination lock it should be.//
For those able to bypass the security and enter the chamber within, reality seems to be completely held off on the other side of the door. What was once an expansive storage chamber in this building's basement has been converted into — of all things — some sort of //nightclub. Electricity powers neon lights and flashing strobes beneath glass flooring. Everything in here is clean, from the faux wood of the wrap-around bar to the stenciled curtains featuring silhouettes of faces, to the colored light in recessed sconces in the ceiling. Televisions completely fill one wall, connected to cable lines leading out from the bunker. This place is some implausibly constructed and well-maintained hideaway that clearly must have cost a great deal of time and money to construct.//
It's later in the afternoon, and there's a bit of unrest in the vault. Jack's on a warpath, all of the televisions tuned to nearly every camera in the tunnels, men marching up and down on the search for something. Lola will find him sitting at the bar, turned away from it as he stares at the monitors on the opposite wall. He's in jeans, a buttoned up white shirt, and a pair of biker boots, looking very unhappy. "Where the hell are they?!" he exclaims, causing the few men left in the base to flinch.
"Loose yer marbles again, sugar?" Lola asks as she saunters in, wearing jeans, boots, an open coat and a tank top. HEr hair is up in a messy reddish bun, and there's a bag over her shoulder. She's in need of work, in need of money, and quite frankly, in need of time away from Kain for awhile, who is still at her apartment.
So the flutter of the place, the fluster and hussle and bussel have her eyebrows raised, and they have her alert. But she doesn't look particularly scared. After all, she didn't do it - this time.
"The doctor and the girl escaped. I was keeping an eye on them, I needed that girl for my plans! She was a tactical asset!" Jack stands, slowly walking over to her as his expression softens a little. "Sorry, Southern Belle, this is all so frustrating. I had all the cards in place. Would you do something for me?" he asks with a slight smile, raising a hand to place it against her cheek. "And I have a confession to make, which might make you hate me."
"Will Ah get paid?" That's Lola's primary concern, what with Cardinal gone. And Kain eats. Makes life a little difficult. She adjusts the bag over her shoulder, not bothering to set it down, but she does let him touch her - she knows Jack, knows his sense of crazy, and knows that he won't hurt her. He just needs to be left alone to his own way of doing things every now and again, like now.
"I'll pay you. Find and kill Doctor Harve Thomas Brennan, and bring back the girl, her name is Liette. I'll show you videos of them. But, I need to confess now, it's unrelated…" Jack removes his hand, staring down at his feet with a deep look of regret on his face. "Going over a year, being celibate, it's been… difficult. And I, well, this woman seduced me. But I don't care about her! I'll never see her again and it was only once, I had a lapse! It will never happen again, I promise, it's just difficult going… eight, nine months? But I won't make excuses, it was my own lack of willpower…"
Lola blinks, slightly surprised to hear that Mortimer went that route. But she shakes her head, swinging the bag down between her feet and taking a seat. "Watcha need the girl for? Didn' see you much as the plannin' type fer…well mucha anythin', sugar." She taps the bar, waiting for one of the numbered soldiers to jump up and help her - as they will.
"She's an Evolved encyclopedia, a living one. I was going to use her to barter with an organization that could get my golden desert eagles back, and I was going to use her to kill Rebel. I don't like technopaths, they're dangerous." Jack sighs, still not looking up at her as one of the men with numbered sunglasses walk up to her, waiting for her order. "You're not angry with me? For my lapse? I broke my vow, I never break my vows…"
"Ain' that angry with ya, sugar, more concerned 'bout killin this fellah." She lights a cigarette, taking a deep, long puff. "He ain' so bad as all that. Patched me up a bit last time Ah got shot. An Ah thought yer other half made it so ya couldn' go round killin folks no more?" She asks, crossing her legs and shrugging out of her jacket.
"I have to protect the girl, maybe he's just messed up and doesn't think there's anything wrong with what I'm doing? Or maybe he thinks you'll say no. I don't know, I'll just calm down and think this through rationally, before I make you kill anyone." Jack sighs, shaking his head. He actually looks stressed out, which is a rare thing to see. "And this damned arm, that organization might have healers. I could be rid of this thing, I could play guitar again… I'm sorry Lola. I can hire you for something less dangerous until I get this all sorted out."
Lola shakes her head. "Naw, sugar, Ah'll see 'bout gettin' yer girl back. But Ah gotta be able ta talk ta yer lesser half 'fore I do anythin'. Ah don' want him chasin' me round cause ya broke some agreement 'tween the two of ya, ya understand?"
"Yeah, that's alright. But in case I change my mind about you finding the girl, there's something else I want you to do. If you run into someone, I know you'll be able to defend yourself, and I'll give you four men to command." Jack gestures in the direction of the vault. "Somewhere in these tunnels, there's another base. Some people called the Ferry or something. We haven't found their base yet, and I'm in the middle of an important mission. So I'd like you to find the location of their base, and if you bump into them and don't have to kill them, I want you to ask them what they're doing down here."
Lola raises her brows. "Yer askin' a lot of me, sugar, an Ah ain' cheap, ya oughta know." She flicks some ash into a tray, taking another long, hard drag from her cigarette while she thinks. "How would ya recommend Ah go findin' 'em anyway? Dig in the tunnels mahself?"
"You'll have four men. They have entrances and routes mapped out that we haven't checked yet. And I know you're not cheap, but you know I wouldn't leave you hanging to dry, right?" Jack grins, then reaches over to touch her arm. "Hey, Southern Belle, I've got you covered, but I don't need you to go do anything right now, so…"
Lola smirks. "actually Ah gotta go get some dumb fuck ta sober up. Just a gal of a golden heart, is me. As fer the men, send 'em diggin, an have 'em call me as soon as they come up with soemthin' decent. Ah mean, a locked door, a guard, somethin'. Ya ain' givin' me stupid people, is ya?"
"I'd only give my best men to you, Southern Belle." Jack assures, sliding his hand down her arm to take her fingers into his palm. "You still owe me a date, if you want to. And if you want me to set that guy straight, I'll do it."
Lola shakes her head. "Ah don' think he'd much appreciate that. He ain' too fond a bein' 'round mah brand a crazy, much less yers. Doubt he could handle that." She smirks, rolling her eyes a little bit at his forwardness. "Sugar ya just got laid, ya can't be needin' it all that bad. Sides, Ah got mah work ta be thinkin' bout."
"But it was a slip up, it wasn't something I could really enjoy. You're the one I want!" Jack declares, standing up as he pulls a remote from his pocket. "Do I have to turn this into a musical number? But I guess if your work is important and all… just don't go after the girl until you talk to me again, I have to get reports back from my men to see if they found anything."
Lola smirks, rising and throwing the bag over her hsoulder. "An what 'bout the doctor?" She asks, raising a brow in curiosity. "An mah fee, fer that matter?"
"Leave them alone until I give you a call to tell you what to do. Here." Jack reaches into his pocket, pulling out his wallet to look through it. He hands her two thousand dollars in hundred dollar bills. "Two thousand dollars should hold you over until I get this all sorted out and know for sure what's going on. And you better come back for my date." he says in a bit of a playful scolding.
Lola smirks, giving Mortimer a playful nudge. "You know it, sugar." With a wink over her shoulder, the cajun girl tosses her cigarette aside and turns on her heel, sashaying her way out with a lot more to think about than when she came in.