Empire State of Mind

[Madotsuki]

Madotsuki gave a solemn nod and lugged her suitcase in, watching as Hiro put away the groceries. 500 creds? She wasn't exactly sure how much it was worth here, but she'd need to pony up the cash somehow eventually. It might be a pain traveling between tiers, but carrying packages between them sounded like it was probably her best opportunity to make some quick money. Or maybe she could go do some bounty hunting or something? Not for the Empire's sake, but there must be some criminals out there that only wanted to save their own skin.

As soon as Hiro mentioned he worked for the EPD, every muscle in her body tensed. She was literally rooming with the very organization she opposed! Just her luck, she supposed. But this guy didn't look like those fanatical guards she saw roaming the streets. Maybe this would cover her tracks a bit more effectively-- after all, what criminal in their right mind would live with the police force?

Hiro turned to face her, and she tried her best to look nonchalant. "I'm Madotsuki," she said with a gravelly voice, glancing down the hallway the samurai had indicated. He pulled out a blue stick and asked if she minded if he smoked. The dreamer gave him the go-ahead, and Hiro lit the item up. In a few moments, the entire room smelt like a beach (not the ones with sewage filtering out of it). Who on Earth would mind this?

With another stiff bow, she pulled the suitcase into her room, shutting the door tight and allowing the scent of salt water to filter out of the air. She hopped onto the bed and opened the briefcase, piling things up next to her as she dug through the contents. Inside were a few fresh changes of clothes (all identical to her current outfit), some shampoo, a toothbrush, a few abstract posters and her Mobile Dataverse Device (which had been installed with an encryption key so the Night Terrors could keep in touch).

Speaking of which, she should probably let them know that she found a place to live for now. Setting the other objects aside, she flipped open the MDD. She was about to start texting Madeline, but the thought struck her that Hiro might drop in unannounced and ask what she was doing. She stuck the device back into the briefcase and focused, slowly forming a sign in her hands. Once it was fully opaque, she hung the sign around the doorknob outside her room. It read "KNOCK FIRST" in bold, black lettering. A tiny picture of the monochrome blob she called "Uboa" was on the bottom-right corner, although Madotsuki could've sworn that she hadn't intended for such a decal to appear there.

Satisfied with this precaution, she sat back on the bed, checked to make sure that there were no cameras in the room, then started texting. To anyone who didn't have the encryption key, it would look like she was writing gibberish. She knew full well it was anything but that.

"hey madeline u here?"

"ya"

"i found a place 2 live"

"nice. where?"

"tier 2. living with some guy named hate"

"*hide"

"*hiro"

"y u do this 2 me autocorrect"

"what's he like?"

"idk. kinda cool dude. works with the EPD"

"u mad? u'll get caught so easily"

"maybe. i'll b careful"

"if u say so"

"hey can u do me a favor?"

"wat?"

"if u find some1 looking 4 a guy to do something 4 $ let me know"

"i'll try"

Deleting the history of her little chat, Madotsuki put the MDD back into the suitcase, shut it, then slid it under the bed. Now it was time to redecorate.