What do ya'll think of my opening post for the new RP?
Welcome to New Ziyang
He had wrapped himself into a cocoon within his coat and buried himself within. While it was universally considered summer, the darker reaches of the ‘verse certainly didn’t care for humanity’s assumptions about traditions: New Ziyang often was cold in atmosphere within the outer levels, although the primary districts often were heated appropriately to the season. This bar in the gutters of Haven’s Landing didn’t really offer much in the terms of warmth: hell, even the beers here were kept cold, although he didn’t mind that much. Warm alcohol was rather annoying.
“Hello, Mr. Thompson,” a man approached him and shadowed over the table. He held his hands within the pockets of a leather coat, and sat down at the table with sluggishness. “I do hope you don’t mind me taking this spot.”
“Hmph. I suppose if you must,” Sam muttered as he swiveled a shot glass back and forth. He stared at the Coalition cap he had placed on the table’s side, dimly lit by candlelight alongside. The old uniform of the Yasudan Coalition resembled strongly that of an officer’s, as even a bare soldier’s dress uniform held that style of hat. “This about the job you offered?”
“…Yes, yes,” the man paused as he sat and waved over a waiter, and then spoke in a local variant of Madarin. “Yībēi lǎohǔ de wěiba, fúwùyuán.” He waved off the waiter and sighed at the mention of the job.
“Well then, spit it out. I don’t have all day, you know,” Sam huffed and took a swig at the shot glass, noting that there was an annoying permanent dirt stain.
“…Fine then. I’m looking for someone to move a delicate piece of cargo to me. About a week ago, I contracted a crew to deliver that cargo from New Mogadishu on Ganymede over to New Ziyang. Hired the ship from Letterfeld on Europa…”
“Get to the point…”, Sam muttered in an interruption, apologizing by offering a cigarette to the man. He accepted both that and the lighter’s flame, and the man continued after a puff.
“Right…So, a Helsinki-Class Freighter starts hauling the cargo off Ganymede and was expected to deliver it here a few days ago. Funny thing is, I lost contact with the crew a week ago and I know something’s gone wrong. In conclusion: I need you to go to the ship’s last known location using a tracker, find the cargo, and then haul it over here to New Ziyang. The reward is ₩50,000.”
“Sounds simple enough…But there’s gotta be a catch to this. You don’t pay 50,000 Wu-Long’s for a hauling job, although it does compensate for the use of salvaging equipment,” Sam tapped at the cigarette he held in his hands, allowing the embers to fall down onto the table and away from his fur.
“…I’m afraid that there is, although I didn’t want to draw much attention to it. Simply put, the ship was indeed hit by a mere group of raiders and the ₩50,000 is compensation for possible danger-pay and the need for multiple trips,” the man sighed as he took his drink from the waiter and gulped from the glass.
“Yeah, but there’s something else about this job…What’s the cargo they were hauling? I don’t think you factored that in…And what do you mean ‘mere raiders?’ They don’t operate this far into the rim, they’re out around the Salts,” Sam pushed, referring to the area on the very edge of UN-jurisdiction territory. He wasn’t even starting on the remark on multiple trips.
“…The ship was carrying approximately 10,000 pounds of military equipment. Or more accurately, ammunition, firearms, vehicles and protective gear,” the man sighed as he revealed the cargo. “It’s all very high-value, so that’s why I need you to do return trips. You’ll be working with a few others, as I noticed from your records that your ship is generally small-“
“Listen here, I don’t do military-grade. Not only is it far too dangerous to haul, but it’s also a good way to have feds breathing down your neck asking about where all those ACR’s came from. If you want me to do this, I expect ₩100,000 at the very least,” Sam backed up in his chair at the notion of carrying such cargo. “And from what I note, you’re not savory people yourself. I don’t want to be caught hauling military equipment for a Triad.”
“Now you listen! You’ll be under the protection of Haven Angels for the entire job, you’ll be safe unless you back away!” The rising voices began to attract some attention, although it was indeed another day at the bar for most.
“And what if I say no? I’m not getting involved like that with a syndicate, not one that’s at war! I take contracts as a third party if I’m ensured I’m not getting shot-up by potential contractors,” Sam finished his whiskey and stood up abruptly from the seat, about to walk away.
“If you say no, I’ll ensure you’re going to lose all of those potential contractors, you slum-dog,” the man growled and avoided gazing at Sam as he exited the deal.
“Hmph! HA’s are little guys even in Haven’s Landing, what makes you think that you’re more powerful than the other local families? Hell, you won’t survive the gang war without that equipment!”, Sam walked towards the bartender as he talked, slipping a few bills for the drink and returning to the table for his cap. “And if you ain’t around, I can at least contract with the other groups here. Or perhaps I’ll go to your ship for salvage, treat myself to a few weapons!”
He walked out of the bar and into the sidestreet, blinded for a few moments as his eyes adjusted to the light of the various signs and advertisements for businesses. It was a generally empty sidestreet, although it did hold several loose pieces of trash: Sam added to it by dropping the burnt-out cigarette from his mouth. He reached his hand into his pocket and found his packet, reaching out a fresh cigarette and sniffing it before placing it in his mouth. A standard-issued silver lighter with an insignia on it emerged from the other pocket, lighting to the rubbing by Sam’s finger and emitting a light flame with sparks. Sam took a deep puff of the cigarette, and then swung it out of his mouth and tapped it along his side as he began walking away from the bar. He pondered what he had said within the bar, and remembered that he lacked contacts with any of the other groups in this area. A better reason to keep to salvaging as crime, and try and take some kind of legal job.
“…If only I could find one,” Sam chuckled as he walked out into the darkness of the street, only lit with the illuminant lights of the buildings’ signs.
“…Now then, Mr. Jansma,” a police recruiter sighed from behind his item-covered desk and computer. “I understand you wish to wish to join the ASF.” The recruiter referred to the Armed Security Force: the station-wide paramilitary peacekeeping agency that acted as a homeland security force on New Ziyang. He spoke to a grey fox on the other side of the desk, who sat happily within the bright office in the smack-middle of Little Shanghai.
“N-No, sir, I wanted to join the NZPD…Is the ASF marked on the application?”, Ray responded with a hint of nervousness. This was his first time coming in for an interview, although he regretted coming to this office. He disliked the recruiter because he seemed to be handling the interview lazily and carelessly.
“Hm?....Oh, yes, that’s correct. My apologies,” the recruiter called back once more with a sigh, noting that he had mistaken the application for some ungodly reason. In reality, he hated the semi-cheery, semi-serious furry who sat in front of him with a passion: he didn’t want him in the office nor in any position in the government. “Anyway, on with the questions…Now, it says that you have military service?”
“2’nd Battalion, 4’th Marine Division, 1’st Corps. Democratic Union Armed Forces, sir,” Ray responded. “I was an officer; Lieutenant, to be exact.”
“Mm hm…You’re a legal DU citizen, US citizen and a citizen of the Independent State of New Ziyang…Legal residence is: 514 at Ventside Heights, Tri-Meet Avenue, Little Shanghai (District 3)… you came here using a proper immigration application and did your citizenship test online…Ah! Your immigration paper says that you are homeless and your official file on the registry says so as well,” the recruiter seemed happy to have caught something that was apparently a red-flag.
“Oh, really? I thought I sent in the proper forms; you said yourself that I have a residence!”
“Yes, on the application for the NZPD you wrote you have a residence! Yet my cross-check in the database says otherwise!”
“But sir, you’re crosschecking the Department of Immigration! You should be on the Residence of Citizen’s Division database-“
“Well, I ran that too! It says otherwise…”, the recruiter reaffirmed with a smug look. “That’s a red-flag! You are unable to join the New Ziyang Police Department if you do not have a proper residence, nor if you lie on your application! Therefore, I must blacklist you according to my duties as a recruiter!”
Moments later, Ray was outside of the recruitment office with his application, having slammed the door and stormed off. “Motherfucker…”, he muttered and stuffed the application paper into an envelope and put it into the pocket of his overcoat. He made sure his tie was straightened and tucked into his vest before walking towards the tram station, walking by the numerous cars racing back and forth along the street. Brushing his way along with and through crowds of people from the many walks of life, Ray made his way to the tram station and swiped a UNI-card through the entry point, allowing him passage inside and access to the trams. Despite them being public transportation, trams on New Ziyang were seen as a better alternative to the street-clogging buses and were maintained by fines.
Ray stayed in the station’s lobby for a little over a dozen minutes, taking time to eat a roachdog before sitting down to wait for the tram to arrive. When it did, he sat down inside with a sigh and stared out the window into the city, holding his head in his hands. The tram easily made speeds of around 80 mph as it went along its predetermined route, making several stops at other stations in the district before finally arriving at the small Tri-Meet Avenue station. Ray exited abruptly and made his way into the building, taking comfort within the nearly out-of-place beauty of it as he made his way to the elevator and hit the button for the fifth floor.
“Hello? Anyone home?”, Ray called out as he entered the apartment, stowing the keycard back into his pocket as he removed his fedora and coat. After a few moments of waiting, he figured that neither of his roommates were home and went to his room to change into more comfortable attire. As he finished changing out of his outing attire and into more casual, home-friendly clothing, he suddenly felt his phone vibrate and took it out as it played its ringtone.
“Oh, hello ‘sis!”, Ray happily responded to the voice coming out of it as he walked over to his computer and placed on a headset. He placed in his password into the computer and then transferred the call to the computer, bringing his sister’s face onto the screen.
“I’m fine, Fluffy-Tail, how are you? Seems like you’ve been awful lazy today by what you’re wearing, considering your dress-up games!”, her voice responded in a similarly cheerful manner.
“…I’m doing well, ‘sis, I just wish you wouldn’t call me that!”
“Oh, we both know that you do indeed love it by the sound of your voice! You’ve had ten years to adjust to hearing me call you that!”
“OK fine, you’ve caught me!”, Ray giggled back through his headset and sat down with a glass of Coke, watching his sister through the live-feed on the computer screen. “So, any reason why you’re calling? Are you just bored or something?”
“Yeah, I suppose I am just bored. Although I suppose I did also want to actually talk to you about stuff!”, Ray’s sister swung her head sideways playfully from her position on the floor of her room back on Earth. “You meet anyone special yet?”
“Ha! I knew that you’d start off with that, it’s all I heard you talk about when I came home last year!”, Ray chuckled back and rubbed his eyes. “…Well, I suppose I have, yeah.”
“Oh, really? That’s good, maybe you can tell me about her! And then you can tell me about the best ways to attract guys!”
“….Yeah, maybe I can tell you about him…”, Ray quietly trailed off and then soon cut himself off, saving the discussion with his sister for another time. “Well, you just have to be nice and look pretty. You already do both!”
“Oh hush, you!...So, how are you doing out there on New Zi…Zeeyaung?”
“’Sissy, you pronounce it ‘Tzu-Young’, not ‘Zee-Yang’,” Ray giggled again. “Anyway, I’m doing fine here. It’s awful nice now that I have somewhere to live, and it’s a nice place. Not a run-down place; I live in a nice district.”
“Nice, huh? Well, I can see it looks good from the vid-feed…Well, I’ve started high school now. Did you hear from mom and dad?”
“I heard! I’m so proud of you, Emma! You’ve grown so much…I think you’ll do really well in life, seeing as you already are! Straight-A’s student!”
“Oh don’t pick on me, you said yourself you were a total nerd! I’m trying to become a surgeon, so I have to be smart…What are you gonna do? Do you have a job yet?”
“…N-No, I don’t yet,” Ray sighed and lost the happy mood as he took out the application from before and placed it on the desk. “…I want to become a police officer, or something good like that.”
“Really? Wow, that’s cool! Have you gone to an interview yet? Are you in a police academy?”
“N-No, I just did an interview…”
“How did it go? Did you get the job?”, Emma quieted down a little, looking concerned for her brother.
“…Well…The guy told me that I should go to another office tomorrow…He was kinda busy.”
“…Well, at least he didn’t flat-out refuse you. But if things don’t work out, you can always come back to Earth with that woman you mentioned earlier…Back to Seattle, so you can be around us! Not on some dinky-old station.”
“’Sis, you know I can’t do that. I said to mom and dad that I can’t go back, it just doesn’t feel right after all that’s happened…Besides, even if I did want to go back, I couldn’t just stay with you all. I’d have to have a separate home, and you know that Seattle isn’t really prime in the job market right now,” Ray sighed uncomfortably as he stood up and walked up to the window overlooking the street, looking if he could see space from the window’s angle.
“But Ray-Ray, I want you close by! Heck, you can even live somewhere like British Columbia or Portland, even! Those places are close and you can take an airbus to see us nearly every week, maybe even every few days! And what’s wrong? You came back from the war happy, and you even lived with us for a couple weeks!”
“…I know, Emma. It’s just that I paid a lot of my money to get here because I thought I could get something new…And I met the guy I love here, I can’t just leave…”
“Wait, what guy?”, Emma’s attitude suddenly changed and she gave an odd look.
“Anyway,” Ray cut her off. “I spent a lot to get here. I can’t just suddenly get back up and leave after spending a week here. I spent a lot of Wu-Longs-“
“What’s a Wu-Long, Fluffy-Tails?”
“…The equivalent of a dollar here on NZS,” Ray sighed with some relief that he had changed the topic away from something that he was uncomfortable talking to his sister about. After all, it was that time in school…
“Oh…Well, what if the police thing doesn’t work? You’ve gone to college, you’re a smart guy: even if you are a little wunky with the speech. Do you have any other alternatives? You can always go back to the army.”
“Emma, I wasn’t in the army like the US. The DU doesn’t have an army, they have a navy and a marine corps; they’re not a country that’s like America, they’re our space country representative…thing. Besides, I spent two years there and I don’t really know if I want to go back.”
“Well, do you even have any alternatives to joining the police?”
“…I kinda saw a nice ad for a ship,” Ray said as he nestled himself back in his seat, pulling up a window on the computer and finding the website that he was looking for. “I think I can find the hypernet site of the lot-“
“What’s a hypernet?...Oh yeah, you guys out in space call it something else.”
“Yeah, you hit it on the head. Anyways, here’s the picture of the ship I saw,” Ray pulled up a link and sent it to his sister.
“Wow, that’s cool looking! You could even be like a…space policeman or something! Getting criminals out in space! Although the ad says that it’s a one-man vessel, so you couldn’t have a crew. But it does have a bedroom, kitchen and bathroom!...Oh wow, that’s a spendy ship. Can you even afford that?”
“…Not right now, no. But I think I might get a little bit of money and buy it when I can. The Lockheed-Martin F/A-75 is a nice STNC vehicle…And ‘STNC’ basically means that it can fly in space.”
“I think I saw that in an ad on the TV once, and on the news too! It would be pretty cool if you got that, so you could fly here and visit!...However, I think I have to go now. Mommy said I have to come with her and dad to dinner tonight, since they’re visiting Grammy and Grandpa,” Emma started to wrap up and sighed that she had to stop talking.
“Well…You go and have fun then! Eat something tasty, and say hi to the folks for me OK?”, Ray smiled softly as he said his final sentence, or at least what he thought would be.
“We’re going to this place that serves these weird ecola-based foods alongside regular stuff that we’re used to! I heard that’s it’s good, so I’ll make sure to have fun! Bye Fluffy-Tails!”, Emma giggled and blew a kiss to Ray as she turned off the call on her tablet.
“Bye, Emma…I really want to see you all again soon,” Ray smiled as the call ended and sighed. He picked up and took a drink from his glass, and then walked over towards the window to stare out at the streets below. He didn’t find a spot where he could see space from this window yet, but he longed for it…
