** Taki Wars, Episode 10. It's Febuary 14th, 2005, around noon. ... Eric's not about, and Nick has the run of the apartment complex to himself. Start. * Nick is currently relieving his boredom by walking a circuit around the apartment complex and trying to not get stabbed. Nick isn't getting stabbed! ... oddly, just as Eric said, the trouble and dangerous elements of the place haven't so much as shown a hair to Nick's eyes. ... well, at least not until an asian girl with loooong hair and long legs and lots of Sexy, holding a PDA-thingie, walks onto the grounds. * Nick manages not to wolf-whistle. He does give her a good look, though. * Girl doesn't notice the look. She does, however, stop, and bend over to touch the PDA to the ground, giving Nick a lovely view of what's beneath her short skirt. Man, it's somewhere around here.... Mm, early Christmas. * Girl stands back up, looking around again. She finally spots Nick. * Nick isn't exactly star-struck, but does look fairly happy. He leans against the nearest sturdy object casually, grinning a little. ... hey, you! I'm looking for some guy from another dimension. He's around here somewhere... * Nick bursts out laughing. "R-really?" * Girl nods. "Yeah, really." She gives Nick a funny look. Well, you found him. What's up? ... ugh. Well, you're not hi- oh? Oh! * Nick gives the attractive girl a lazy two-fingered wave. * Girl perks up, and flashes an extremely seductive smile at him, bending down a little. Which brings to view the cut of her shirt. It's barely decent. Ah, well. Hi! I'm Nina Okanbe, with DISC. * Girl is now known as Nina Nick Anderson. Nice to meet you. * Nina then taps the PDA on Nick's forehead. It beeps. * Nick glances up at the PDA. "..Eh?" Oh, nothing. * Nina looks at it, then tucks it away to a holster on her hip. ... you have someplace more private to talk? I've got some questions for you. * Nick straightens and walks back towards the complex. "This way. Don't mind the powderheads, they're harmless if you don't touch 'em." * Nina nods, and smiles that smile again. "Thanks for the warning." * Nick unlocks the door to Eric's apartment and holds the door open for Nina. "Come on in." * Nina steps in. She eyes the place critically. ... It's, uh. * Nina bites her tongue. "Nice." Well, it'll work, anyways. It's Eric's. * Nick closes the door behind Nina. "So, what do you need?" * Nina blinks once, then twice, then a third time in recognition. "... oh!" Well, Taka called me, you're the guy who fell into the ocean near her house, right? Gah, don't remind me. All that salt water.. I talked to Eric earlier. He told me somewhat of what happened. ... it worries me. So. This guy who was responsible for all this. You know who he is? What he looked like, sounded like, any identifying marks? Old dude. Tiny, long thin white beard. Hits *real* hard. You know what dimension you were in? Before, or the insanity lab? ..No. ... well, that worries me less than you knowing them. You see... I remotely uploaded the nav data from the spring you used. * Nick nods, waving his hand. "Keep talking, I'll act like I get it." * Nina nods. "It's preset for 7 more jumps. Each one a dimension away from the next, the location staying pretty consistent." It was set manually. Where did you get it, from the insanity lab? It was in my teacher's desk. Found it after he.. uh, threw me through it. .... oh, dammit. * Nina breathes out. Well. Anyways. Have you ever heard of him before? ... I think I might have. I"m not gonna say anything 'till I know for sure, though. * Nick frowns. "..Alright. And waht about me getting home?" ... I wanna take you someplace first. Where? Where the spring you took here was set to go. The location was wrong, the dimension was right. ..Okay, cool, but where is that? Somewhere in California. Don't recognize the location offhand. * Nick sighs. "That's probably home. Let's go, then." * Nina stands up, then gestures at Nick. "Stand up, and hold on to me. Tight." * Nick manages to keep his face neutral, taking hold of Nina. Through a truly herculean effort, the hands don't stray. Much. * Nina touches something on her waist, and an electrical whirring sound starts. She then pulls the PDA back out. * Nina raises an eyebrow at Nick, smiling a bit. Her voice is full of mirth as she says, "Hang on." Not a problem. * Nina pushes something, and then reality streeeeetttttttcccccccccccccccchhhhhhhhhhhhhhheeeeeeeeesssssssssssssssssssssss......... ... and resettles somwhere else. A residential area, which Nick immediately recognizes- his home. ... except, it's on fire. * Nick makes a choking sound. * Nina removes Nick's hands, and frowns at the PDA. "... oh, DAMMIT!" * Nick just *stares*. * Nina grabs Nick again, by the shoulder. "You. Run. Don't ask any questions, just run. Now." * Nina pushes Nick to face away from the fire. * Nick takes off without hesitation. * Nina takes off to the house, pulling out a gun. Okay, ridiculously hot police girls go on the list of people I *never* follow again! * Nick just keeps on running down eerily-familiar streets. Nick passes by an oncoming police car- followed shortly after by a fire truck. ... and ends up at a coffee shop that he knows one of his friends to frequent. * Nick stops to catch his breath, leaning on a lamppost. Holy.. shit. A couple leaves the coffee shop, and the smell of fresh brewed coffee wafts over you. * Nick takes a deep breath, straightens up his clothes, and heads inside. WOOF. The aroma hits you like a hammer. There's comfy seats, and a few tables, but is generally filled with pool tables and a long bar counter, behind which is the variosu coffee apparatti. Aaaahhh. Okay, I get coffee, I wait for hot police girl, I get explanation. Good plan, Nick. A guy in glasses waves you down, and points you to a seat. He's in the company dress code, and the nametag on his chest identifies him as "OWNER. DANIEL KIM." * Nina is now known as Daniel You're late, buddy! Where were you this morning? ..After I talk to Dan. * Daniel practially shoves a hot, frothy, steaming cup of something at Nick. "Drink up, tell me about it!" * Nick blinks and takes the cup. "..Tell you about what?" * Daniel looks at Nick like he just said the dumbest thing in the world. "... don't tell me. You forgot?" I'm a little disoriented, man. Talk to me like I'm six. You know, business as usual. * Daniel rolls his eyes. "Fine, fine. Alright. You had a date. Last night. You didn't tell me who she was, and that annoyed me just a little teensy weensy bit." You said you would tell me about it this morning, but you didn't show up until now. Spill it. ..Yeah. * Nick takes a swig of the drink. "Nothing special, no one you know." Uh-huh. * Daniel isn't buying it. * Nick is mostly trying to stall for time anyway. So. How're things? You're hiding something. C'mon, how did it go? Or did you really forget? I mean, sometimes you're dumb as a brick, but hell, you were pumped about this. Gee, thanks. * Nick looks down into the mug. "It wasn't anything special, man. We talked. We ate. I got her home." The ... uh... drink. It makes Nick feels like he wants to vibrate. * Nick sighs as the buzz hits. "That's more like it." ... and her name? * Nick idly glances back towards the door. "Erm.." ..Nina. * Daniel holds out one hand, palm up, and starts waving the fingers on it. He curls it back into a loose first. "... nope, don't know any Ninas." Told you. * Daniel adopts a mockingly sober expression. "And a fool I am for not believing you." * Nick snorts. "You of all people should know by now that I'm *always* right. Except when I'm not." One of the TVs in the place changes channels to the news. It shows a house- on fire. The image vibrates, and the angle and that suggest it's coming from a helicopter. Police, an ambulance, and a fire truck are on the scene. No volume gets through, though. There's too much crowd and distance. It goes on into an interview, drowned into inaudibilty, when the door busts open with a mighty kick. * Nick drains his mug in one scalding gulp, and swivels around to look at the door. * Nina stomps in, slightly burnt, in a very fanservicy manner. The tatters of her shirt barely cover her bra-less chest. She's got a cut running along her left arm, which is bleeding a bit profusely. She's also got a gun in one hand, and the PDA in the other. * Nick raises an eyebrow. "Time to go?" Yep. * Nick pats Daniel on the back and heads for the door. "Thanks for the drink, man. Ask me about the date later." * Daniel 's jaw drops. * Nina holds the door open for Nick. =p * Nick gives Nina a little mock-bow and gestures for her to go first. * Nina laughs, shakes her head, and heads out first. * Nick waggles his eyebrows at Dan before heading out the door. Grab on. We're taking a small trip. Dimensional travel should not be this fun. * Nick takes hold, vibrating faintly from the caffeine surge. * Nina taps something on the PDA, and reality does the stretchy thing again. A moment later, the two of them settle in a well-furnished, comfy-looking room. There's loveseats, and couches, and cigarette trays... on the whole, it's got a very peaceful, meditative atmosphere. The inscence in the air probably doesn't hurt, either. * Nick removes his hands a little reluctantly. "Niiice." * Nina waves around the room vaguely. "The Zen Room." One of many recreational areas in the DISC complex. No kidding. ... there's a couple of other places, but for now... take a seat. You're going to be here for a bit, and I might as well tell you why. * Nina fingers the tatters of her shirt, annoyedly. "But first..." * Nick shrugs and half-falls onto the couch, propping his feet up on one of the armrests. * Nina turns her back to Nick, and pulls the rest of the shirt off. She replaces it with a tablecloth she yanks from one of the various fixtures, and ties it around her neck. * Nick idly snaps his fingers in disappointment. Mmph. Much better. I liked the old look. * Nina gives Nick an amused look, along with the Bird. Quit living in the past. Looking into the past is always so revealing, though. * Nick grins, looking at the ceiling. "So, what's up, Doc?" * Nina chuckles, and shakes her head, grinning. "Well, let's start with... why I told you to run." That... was your house, right? I'm pretty sure it wasn't mine. Well, not 'your' house, but where your house would be if it were your dimension? Yeah. Right. Well, there were two of you there. One got gunned down, by the other. ... the other, he had on a DISC badge. I traced that, it was a fake. But, he also had a spring. He got away before I could catch him. Augh, man. There were too many of you in the same place. That's why I told you to run. * Nick nods, still looking up at the ceiling. ... and that's also why you're going to be staying here for a little bit, until we can investigate more. My life is turning into a neverending series of strange couches. * Nick shifts. "So, anything else?" * Nina drops down to her knees, and takes Nick by the hands. "Aw, don't worry. I'll be keeping you company, since I'll be doubtless stuck here at the office for a while for that last stunt I pulled." ^__~ * Nick brightens at that. "Company is good." * Nina stands up, then lifts Nick's head up. She sits underneath it, then lets his head fall back. "So... what're your favorites?" I'd like to make your stay enjoyable. ^_~ My favorite whats? Ice cream flavor, music, animal, position... you know. *she winks* Favorites. * Nick makes some kind of inexplicable choking sound deep in his throat. "..Um.." I was kidding about that last one, by the way. *grin* That's.. a relief. Yeah, a relief. I'd rather hear more about you, though. * Nina tilts her head. "Well... I can drink anybody under the table. And I mean anybody." * Nick grins. "Really, now? We'll see about that." Not right now, we won't. There's time. So.. why do you need to keep me here? * Nina pats Nick on the head. "Man, you're cute. If only you weren't as youn..." ... for your own protection. That's all I can tell you at the moment. ..Not that young. * Nick frowns a little. "And why protect me specifically? There are all those other Nicks out there." We'll deal with them. We've got to track them all down. You, though, have been exposed to the possibility of other dimensions. That makes you a bit more unpredictable, and dangerous, than them. * Nick actually snorts at that. "Dangerous. I can't even fight." ... you're not dangerous yet. ... enough of that, though. Mm. * Nina smiles to herself. "What about... if you weren't too young, hmm?" * Nick spreads his hands. "We may never know." Good answer. * Nina pats Nick on the head, then slides out from under his head. "I've got paperwork to put off. Have fun, try not to go stir-crazy, and don't go overboard on the incense." * Nick sighs, laying back in his original position. "If you have a slightly younger sister, you know where to find me." * Nina raises an eyebrow. "Venny?" She blinks, and then looks like she wants to burst out laughing. Hey, my devilish good looks and razor wit don't just work on you. Oh, those, with your youthful expression are quite endearing. But it just makes you look like a cute wittwe puppy to me. * Nina waves, and walks out. * Nick grumbles a little and turns over, facing the couch back. "Some girls go for that.."