12-13-2016, 02:24 PM
Hiro considered Okor's words for a few long moments, pausing to drain the last of the sake from the bottle. Tossing it in a nearby trash can, he looked up and down the empty alley they found themselves both in. He cracked an amused grin. "You know Okor, I think I know why most people are afraid of you, and why I nearly passed out the first time I met you. Everything you say sounds like a death threat."
A raspy, wet cough emanated from the embedded vox in the Plague Marine's armor. "That's no fault of my own, Hacker. Perhaps it is the rest of you, with your....weak sensibilities and gentle, easily sundered flesh that ascribe a threatening quality to my words."
The hacker thought about everything he knew of Okor, both personally and by reputation, and came to the conclusion that he'd been avoiding since the end of their escape from Dante's Abyss: Okor wasn't really such a bad guy. In fact, he reminded Hiro of Raven.
Lifting his goggles up and watching the rusted behemoth wait for his answer, he wiped a bit of blood from his ear and spoke gently. "Home, huh? Didn't think you had the capability to be wistful, Okor." He thought again, and answered. "I did just get saddled with a bunch of administrative leave..." He blew a sigh out from his mouth, and paced a bit more. "It is kinda out of the way though....and I'm pretty beat up."
Okor sneered and spat on the ground, a mucousy wad of phelgm blackening the tuft of grass growing through the cobblestones. "Too bad. I had thought you a warrior, after our ordeal in the forsaken Abyss. But go, if you are not interested. Lick your wounds and play with your circuits."
Hiro frowned at that. He just lost a fight to an old freakin' man, and was being treated like damaged goods by the EPD. It might have been pure, bone headed bravado and stupidity, but he was not going to let people like Okor see him as craven anymore. He was a fucking Prime. And Primes ruled the Omniverse. That lesson had been staring him in the face since he got here and he had blinded himself to it, content to enjoy the luxuries of Coruscant. No longer. It was time to get serious and actually achieve something.
"No, you know what? Yeah, sure. Why not. I'll come with you and we'll kick some undead ass. The Viral Veteran and the Circuit Samurai. They'll make a fucking comic book about us." Okor nodded silently, and Hiro guessed that he probably wore a look of confusion under his menacing and crusted helmet. The hacker shrugged, and looked up and down the alley, before reaching into his jacket and pulling out a small silver case. "Here. I summoned this on the way back from Cinnabar. Was trying to do some testing on it but I need the equipment from my apartment. You like viruses and disease and stuff, right? You've got about a million of them."
Okor grunted in the affirmative. "Nurgle, the Plaguefather, spreads his gifts far and wide across the galaxy. Decay and rot are necessary for reality to function. Through his power, I am sustained long past the point of death. I am very old, Hiro." The tipsy cyberpunk nodded, and opened the case, presenting it to the marine. Inside were five glass vials, filled with white crystal powder. "This is Snow Crash, a supremely unique infection. It's a drug, a virus, and computer code. I'm sure you'll find it interesting, and I'd rather not have it on me if we're fighting undead. Think of it as as token of....well, not friendship. Let's say alliance."
Hiro gingerly shut the case and handed it to Okor, trying not to actually touch the warrior's greasy and rusty gauntlets. "Now, Darkshire, you said? Lemme work on getting us some wheels out of here...." Okor shifted on his metal boots and cleared his throat with a wet, gurgling noise. "You may want to act with some haste. I....had an....altercation with an Imperial Stormtrooper on the way here."
Gritting his teeth, Hiro turned on his active scan mode on the googles. The local trooper chatter confirmed what the Plague Marine had said. Hiro needed to hurry the fuck up. "Goddamnit, Okor...what, did you piss off the whole Costa garrison? It's never simple when I run into you. Never just 'Oh, hello Hiro. Don't mind me, just looking for my ear' First it was the Island, now this...eh, well. At least it gives me a reason to stay sharp. Try to look inconspicuous while I summon us up a ride..."
A raspy, wet cough emanated from the embedded vox in the Plague Marine's armor. "That's no fault of my own, Hacker. Perhaps it is the rest of you, with your....weak sensibilities and gentle, easily sundered flesh that ascribe a threatening quality to my words."
The hacker thought about everything he knew of Okor, both personally and by reputation, and came to the conclusion that he'd been avoiding since the end of their escape from Dante's Abyss: Okor wasn't really such a bad guy. In fact, he reminded Hiro of Raven.
Lifting his goggles up and watching the rusted behemoth wait for his answer, he wiped a bit of blood from his ear and spoke gently. "Home, huh? Didn't think you had the capability to be wistful, Okor." He thought again, and answered. "I did just get saddled with a bunch of administrative leave..." He blew a sigh out from his mouth, and paced a bit more. "It is kinda out of the way though....and I'm pretty beat up."
Okor sneered and spat on the ground, a mucousy wad of phelgm blackening the tuft of grass growing through the cobblestones. "Too bad. I had thought you a warrior, after our ordeal in the forsaken Abyss. But go, if you are not interested. Lick your wounds and play with your circuits."
Hiro frowned at that. He just lost a fight to an old freakin' man, and was being treated like damaged goods by the EPD. It might have been pure, bone headed bravado and stupidity, but he was not going to let people like Okor see him as craven anymore. He was a fucking Prime. And Primes ruled the Omniverse. That lesson had been staring him in the face since he got here and he had blinded himself to it, content to enjoy the luxuries of Coruscant. No longer. It was time to get serious and actually achieve something.
"No, you know what? Yeah, sure. Why not. I'll come with you and we'll kick some undead ass. The Viral Veteran and the Circuit Samurai. They'll make a fucking comic book about us." Okor nodded silently, and Hiro guessed that he probably wore a look of confusion under his menacing and crusted helmet. The hacker shrugged, and looked up and down the alley, before reaching into his jacket and pulling out a small silver case. "Here. I summoned this on the way back from Cinnabar. Was trying to do some testing on it but I need the equipment from my apartment. You like viruses and disease and stuff, right? You've got about a million of them."
Okor grunted in the affirmative. "Nurgle, the Plaguefather, spreads his gifts far and wide across the galaxy. Decay and rot are necessary for reality to function. Through his power, I am sustained long past the point of death. I am very old, Hiro." The tipsy cyberpunk nodded, and opened the case, presenting it to the marine. Inside were five glass vials, filled with white crystal powder. "This is Snow Crash, a supremely unique infection. It's a drug, a virus, and computer code. I'm sure you'll find it interesting, and I'd rather not have it on me if we're fighting undead. Think of it as as token of....well, not friendship. Let's say alliance."
Hiro gingerly shut the case and handed it to Okor, trying not to actually touch the warrior's greasy and rusty gauntlets. "Now, Darkshire, you said? Lemme work on getting us some wheels out of here...." Okor shifted on his metal boots and cleared his throat with a wet, gurgling noise. "You may want to act with some haste. I....had an....altercation with an Imperial Stormtrooper on the way here."
Gritting his teeth, Hiro turned on his active scan mode on the googles. The local trooper chatter confirmed what the Plague Marine had said. Hiro needed to hurry the fuck up. "Goddamnit, Okor...what, did you piss off the whole Costa garrison? It's never simple when I run into you. Never just 'Oh, hello Hiro. Don't mind me, just looking for my ear' First it was the Island, now this...eh, well. At least it gives me a reason to stay sharp. Try to look inconspicuous while I summon us up a ride..."
![[Image: MZSDl2O.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/MZSDl2O.jpg)