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Neon Shadows. (Alpha and Touch Of Temperament)

The only way he could describe the sensation of the connection was like someone had poured warm water inside his head, it started as a pleasant tingeling sensation at the crown of his skull and slowly spreading. Max closed his eyes and let the feeling wash over him, he sucked a breath in through his nostils, deep and stready before letting it out. His HUD flashed green a notification in the corrner letting him know that an uplink was active. He was suddenly aware that the signal rotated frequency every three seconds. Without even trying to know he was aware of the exact distance between himself and Nimah and of her vitals.

The hell...he thought. Both confused and amazed by the plethora of information he access to. He began to Pace the length of the room, a green arrow in the corner of his vision keeping him aware of Niamah's exact location and distance from him.

He crossed into the other room, turning on his heels he saw a green outline following some very nice curves through the wall. Even in a chaotic firefight they'd be able to keep track of each other, less chances of friendly fire, better co-ordination. The wonders of modern technology in play.

"Well. This is different."
 
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Niamh crossed her arms, once again amused by his wonder at the up link. This technology was as natural as breathing to her. She could hardly imagine doing her job without it, but his marvel betrayed he came from another time. A time where none of this was normal. He was taking all the changes well, all things considered. She watched his outline through the wall, while mentally running another check on their plans. They were ready. They'd done all the preparation they could have. She'd decided to deal with their situation by compartmentalizing it. Focus on this event now, worry about the rest later.

'Different. And better I'd say.'

She used to up link to communicate to him, turning away to check her accessories in the mirror. Fingers fluttering from her necklace to her hair, while she monitored his reaction. A last touch up of her lipstick and then she walked into the other room to join him. She was definitely ready. Getting to work, would rid her of this restless feeling.

'If you're ready.. it's time to go'

Niamh turned to the door, looking over her shoulder to him in invitation.
 
It was a strange sensation. He didn't so much hear her vocie or her thoughts, but he still somehow knew exactly what she was thinking. This was going to take some getting used to for sure. Max dug into his jacket pocket and produced his cigarettes, firing a fresh one. It was juvenile for sure but he had to ask the question that had floated into his mind, not like she wouldn't know it the moment if entered his head but he still chose to say it out loud, just for the hell of it.

"So you ever fuck anyone you had an active link with?" He asked, crossing the room to join her and offering his arm. It was time for a show. To everyone else they'd look like any other couple showing up for the evening, drink, mingle, enjoy some finger foods as the trays got passed around. Maybe their early morning fuck would work in their advantage now, allowing for a more natural familiarity in their body language. He stole a sideways glance at her an smirked to himself, before leaning in to steal a quick kiss from those gorgeous red lips. A selfish gesture but with the night ahead he wanted a moment to remind himself of her taste before he had to steel himself in the work headspace. The private hovercab they had booked would be waiting out front by now for them, a quick ride down the guilded elevator and pill shaped plexiglass vehicle was sitting waiting for them, the gullwing doors open and waiting for them.
 
While he wouldn't have noticed any change in her outward demeanor, still as polished and coolly seductive as ever, his uplink to her betrayed the quickening of her heartache ever so slightly as she contemplated sex with an active uplink. The way they had fucked that morning, all heat and unbridled passion. An active uplink could potentially ramp up those sensations. Delicately she placed her hand in the crook of his elbow.

Smiling as she replied. "Not yet. Would you like to try it?"

Another little thrill went through her as he stole a kiss. All of it just emphasising how much she wanted to pull him against her and fuck him again. Knowing very well they had no secrets right now, she maintained an iron grip on her composure. No doubt this would continue to happen all night, while they worked the party. She just had to deal with it. He wouldn't fluster her that easily.

Together they made their way down to their waiting cab. In the reflection of mirrors and the hungry stares of other hotel guests she saw they made quite a devastating couple. Quint wasn't going to know what hit them. This filled her with satisfaction.

In the cab she watched him as their vehicle hovered up and away. They would arrive at the Quint compound with a few minutes. The ride wouldn't take that long. Her fingers played idly with the necklace resting just above her cleavage. "Did you do loads of this kind of job before?"
 
He couldn't help but smirk as they stepped into the small pod, knowing the mind of his partner now was going to make for a very interesting evening. Work needed to be in the focus now, as difficult as that may became when every thought was being beamed across a two way encrypted channel, even the ones he'd rather keep private, but that was just way things seemed to be these days. Trade craft had changed wile he'd been under, some parts of it seemed to be for the better but only time would truely tell.

"Sometimes." He replied in response to her question, "topple a democracy here, install a dictator there. It really depended on the situation but solid Intel is the best tool for any kind of operation. You ever run on bad Intel?"

The numerous islands that dotted the ocean sparkeled like diamonds below, the burning bright against the night. There was a strange sense of calm he felt, a peace at watching the landscape slide by, the only noise other than their chatter was hum of the skycabs electric engines. As a rule of thumb he didn't trust unmanned vehicles, as much as technology devloped they where still more capable for mistakes than human operators. You couldn't hack a human operator to crash a skycab into the side of a building and kill it's passengers, or force an unmanned transport truck hauling combustibles to veer off it's route and take a sharp turn, causing the truck to up end and it's cargo to explode.

Flawed, and dangerous if you have enemies.
 
A smile played on her lips while she listened to him. But her eyes darkened as he asked her whether she'd ever run on bad Intel. Niamh was used to working with an uplink, and she carefully kept her mind blank to keep herself from giving away anything she'd wanted to keep to herself. Solid Intel was everything in their line of work. Instead she shared a funny anecdote where she and her partner, instead of busting up a trade deal that gave away company secrets, had interrupted a rather kinky tryst between several people.


Monitoring their progress as the pod took them to the compound, she couldn't help but appreciate this planet. It truly was a little paradise. Perfect for holiday getaways, spending entire days in just a bikini, lounging by the ocean. Too bad it was also Quint territory.


It didn't take long for them to come into the range of the Quint compound. It's signature glass trifecta of the main area. As the pod neared the building, she could easily spot the levitating ballroom. It would be completely decked out for tonight's event. Already plenty of people mingled on the glass floor. Ocean blue lighting connecting the architecture to the planet that hosted it.


The docking station was similarly decorated. Niamh scanned her surroundings as she and Max alighted from the pod, noting the way they'd upped their security. Even if the men wore suits rather than uniforms, their demeanor gave them away. She treated the host to a sultry smile as she gave their names. They walked into the ballroom with a slow stride, her hips rolling easily from side to side. Her eyes went over the crowd, noting the faces she knew from their Intel. Max's target stood in a far corner, chatting with a couple of men. Suddenly her stride faltered, just for a moment as she saw something in a passing glance.


It can't be.


Her gaze jumped back to where she'd thought she'd seen this person, but they weren't there. Even her HUD hadn't picked anything up. Maybe it had been nothing. A trick of the light. Quickly she recovered, her shoulders relaxing and her chin lifting, in every way the vixen.


"We should split up here. You can get at the target, I'll just start with a circuit of the room."
 
The time for casual flirting was gone now. The games and banter pushed to the back burner as he stepped out of the cab and on to the landing pad. It was time to work. His HUD worked quickly, tagging the guards they passed as possible threats, making them for him to keep track of throughout the night, giving him as much awareness of the situation as he could. It is a shame that his HUD wasn't able to ID the guns hidden under their jackets. But for the time being knowing where they were would at least give him some wiggle room if things got messy. He sucked in a deep breath through his nostils, taking one last glance towards Nimah before breaking away from her, the small green arrow on his HUD keeping him up to date on her current location as he pressed his way through the crowd.

Eyes up partner. Time to go to work.

He slipped past one of the waiters, a try bristeling with Champaign and liberated two of the glasses from it as he approched DiFiori, slipping on his most charming smile, "It looks like your glass has emptied and none of these gentlemen have thought to provide you a refill." He said, pushing through the throng of men around her to offer her the glass which she took happily and sipped upon.
 
Francesca DiFiori had been talking business with the other men, but she accepted the glass of champagne with a smile and a thank you, while her eyes gave him the once over, lighting up. Obviously she liked what she saw, a little blush creeping onto her pale skin. "I believe you have me at a disadvantage. I don't think we've met before Mr...?"

Niamh watched the exchange from the corner of her eye as she made a circuit of the room. She was grinning. Max knew what he was doing. It's a good thing you have such a pretty face. That woman is a shark in her field and you have her blushing like a teenager. Make no mistake this event was all about business, but it was also about seeing and being seen. Quint was wooing their customers. The champagne flowed freely. She got her own share of interested glances. Niamh let herself drift from conversation to conversation, paying attention to interesting players, both from Quint and the other clients. This was potential business for Deltaware. She spotted Jack Vanderberg on the other side of the ballroom and her HUD give him a special tag. He was some kind of security operative and although she wasn't sure of his position, she didn't want to be on his radar.

But she spoke to a lot of other people, gathering tiny bits of Intel along the way. Some of it pure gossip, others possibly truly interesting. Everybody was buzzing about the presentation later in the evening, but everyone she spoke to from Quint was incredibly tight lipped about it. They really wanted to make it an impression. Niamh wanted to make sure she'd been seen making the rounds before she focused on her next objective. She wanted to see if she could hack into their guest logs later on to determine their timeframe. For now she let an older woman pull her into a discussion about the latest HUD technology.

Niamh always made it a point to keep her back to the wall and kept a clear view of the ballroom, still she had the uneasy sensation someone was watching her.
 
A little praise, a light touch here, a quick smile there. He had played this game enough times over the years, gathering human intelligence, someone had once called it. There where a million different names someone could call what is was doing but the basics always remained the same, manipulate the human element to get what was needed.

"Parker, Andrew Parker." He replied with a smile, reached out to gently caress her hair, a simple gesture that he hoped would net him something of use, "I'm a journalist with Modern Science, was invited up to see the big announcement tonight though I'll admit I may just have to skip it since there seem to be more interesting things here tonight to explore."

He smirked to himself.

Oh don't worry, I'll have you doing more than blushing once we're done here. No reason to be enveious Niamh.

He continued to chat away with the doctor, casual, almost flippant at times but engaging enough to keep her attention right until he noticed her glass was empty. Another bit of data easily secured.

"Seems you've run dry my dear. Let me run to grab you a fresh one." He said, plucking the champagne flute from the good doctor's hands, holding the glass by the rim as he weaved his way through the crowd towards the bar.

I've got a possible finger print I need to confirm. And...

He plucked a single strand of hair that had gotten caught on his watch clasp exactly as he had hoped for.

We might have a viable DNA sample. What's Vanderberg up to?
 
I'll hold you to that one.

Niamh was glad she didn't have to hide her amusement in this setting. Her grin was simply just more genuine, though admittedly also a lot more heated than was appropriate for the discussion on the latest advancements in interstellar travel that she was participating in at this second. It garnered her a look of interest from the darkskinned man across from her. Niamh met his gaze and held it for a moment. Then she casually moved on, wandering about the ballroom. That prickling uneasy feeling hadn't subsided yet, keeping her extra alert. There were several companies present that she knew were also being courted by Deltaware. Actually there were even a couple customers of Deltaware there too.

Turning her head, just a fraction she had Vanderberg in her periferal vision. She'd been careful to keep an eye on him. So far he'd been approaching the party in a similar way to her. Just drifting from conversation to conversation, making sure he'd been seen by mostly everyone. It made her wonder whether he was planning something too.

Nicely going on that Max. Vanderberg's not up to anything suspicious yet.

Finishing her first circuit of the room, she moved into the hallway. The reception desk was manned by a young blonde, in her early twenties. Likely fresh out of uni, hoping to advance to bigger and better things. Niamh let out a sigh. Her hand delicately fanning her face. "I need some air. It's much cooler in here." She leaned against the reception, continuing to fan herself as she saw the blonde's eyes sticking to her cleavage before respectfully landing on her face. Interesting.

Niamh gave the girl a sultry smile, starting to chat her up.
 
I'll deal with Vanderberg in a bit. Would be rude for me to....

"Mr. Winter. Hadn't expected to see you here tonight."

Max turned to come face to face with Vanderberg who had been speaking, he assumed to him. He quickly folded the stray hair into a napkin and slipped it into his jacket pocket, his other hand making the champagne flute vanish. He'd need to deal with this now and try and lift prints off the glass later.

"I'm sorry, I think you've mistaken me with someone else."

Vanderberg didn't seem to hear his protest instead continuing on like nothing had happened, "I keep waiting to hear from you Mr. Winter, you know I can offer you a far better package than anyone else can if you come work for me, there's no way Deltaware could afford to match what I'm offering you."

Max managed to keep the surprise from his showing on his face when Vanderberg mentioned Delta but he made a mental note of it, something that he needed to follow up on later. Had someone been planning to defect from Delta to Quint? And who was the Winter guy Vanderberg seemed convinced that he was. But there was also an opertunity here that he could exploit to get past security, "how's about we talk about this tomorrow, enjoy the rest of the night. I don't know if I still have your card."

Without hesitation Vanderberg produced his business card and tucked it into the breast pocket or Max's jacket and gave a nod before moving back into the crowd.

Well. Things with Vanderberg went a lot smoother than I had expected. Seems I look alot like someone looking to leave Delta for Quint. I'm heading your way now.
 
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