Raiha

[quote name='Rachmaninoff']Gotta love those pointless flicks they toss out in the hopes of making some more money. Never mind the fact that if they made something decent... they'd probably make a lot more of what they were after, money. I don't intend to see it since like Gavin pointed out, the trailer was less than inspiring.[/QUOTE] [COLOR="DarkOrchid"][RIGHT][FONT="Times New Roman"]Yeah but Rach, he's Soooooooo pretty! I'm just kidding. I'll probably end up watching the version my friend downloaded illegally or get some hapless male to pay for my ticket cause no way am I shelling out 10 bucks to have my eyes raped. Then again, it might keep with their spirit of hilarious dialogue. Unintentionally that is.[/FONT][/RIGHT][/COLOR]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]Speaking up as the only person on the boards [I checked] who has soldiered through Wu Cheng'En's magnum opus, his pinnacle of literary wonder, The Forbidden Kingdom is VERY loosely based on the Journey To The West. We have trickster Monkey, also known as Sun Wukong, the great and unfathomably powerful creature whose power only the great Buddha Tagatatha rivals, and then some stupid Italian kid who at least has to work to get his gong fu powers. That part was fine. Sparrow, who talks about herself in the third person and is not inspired from the Journey to the west in the least, and then we have the Jade Warlord. Who doesn't exist. And in fact he'd be impossible in ACTUAL Chinese storytelling because he'd have to be corrupted, aka an actual demon and would never not submit to the Jade Emperor's choices. Either way it was visually stimulating, and very heart warming, and I dearly loved the white haired demoness who of course doesn't have a real name because god knows in the Journey to the West there were no cool names for demons- Oh wait. Yeah....... no. They did do a relatively good job though but the movie is still somewhat inaccessible for the average action/kung fu movie person. You'd have to do a little research before some of the smaller parts of the movie and the nuances become clearer to you. Oh yes, and the parts where the elixir of immortality is? No. There is way more than that one thinly disguised thermos . Basins. Wells. Bottomless pits full of the stuff in heaven. Trust me. I checked.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]Name: Kassandra Age: 18 Gender: Female Appearance: see below: notice excessive saliva Powers and Abilities: Her drool/saliva is toxic and capable of completely immobilizing most animals within a matter of minutes. Also has very sharp claws and a whip-like tail. History: Kassandra, or Kass as she prefers to be called, is an evil, soulless monster, pulled through the hat when she was an infant and forced to grow up in Rabbica for far too long. Her unpleasant meal habits, which she made no effort to conceal made her an easy sell to the more evil creatures of the world. Additional Info: Has an innate hatred of birds. She eats the small ones and fears greatly the large.[/FONT][/COLOR] [IMG]http://www.csus.edu/indiv/g/gervaisb/Biogeography/Student%20Papers/2004/Robinson/KP/knomodo2.jpg[/IMG]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]While it's a woman's body, a baby born or not is it's own person. Being an insane knuckle dragging right wing totalitarian, I believe that human life starts at conception and don't need to tell you that it's "above my pay grade" to believe it completely. Maybe it's because I was raised Christian, maybe it's because six women in my family have gotten pregnant out of wedlock and chose to keep their baby or give it up for adoption every time. Call me crazy. I believe abortion itself is a state's right's issue and I'm not going to advocate for the abolishment of the procedure. However I do have concerns about how some women are using it as its own form of birth control, some are given abortions without proper medical and psychological counseling beforehand, and babies that are sometimes born alive healthy or not are simply killed. Abortion is the most unregulated medical procedure in America today thanks to Planned Parenthood and American society's pathological fear of telling feminists and pro-abortionists that they need to be careful with how abortion is pitched. Before you tell me that it's religious groups that are to blame, there are plenty of people who believe the same things Christians do without being crazy zealots for abstinence. They're referred to I believe as 'moral people.' I believe in holistic sex education. Yes, teach about STDs, teach about proper use of birth control methods and tell people about their effectiveness HONESTLY. But also remind them that it is only Abstinence that will ensure you never get a pregnancy or a disease or any other kind of lasting psychological trauma. People who write off abstinence as foolish to teach because teenagers and now even children [they're teaching it younger and younger, just ask my 10 year old brother] don't have self control are selling them and the future of America short.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[quote name='Morpheus']When your mouth says "Abstinence education works" and your family says the exact opposite, you look like a fool.[/QUOTE] [COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]No, you look human. This happens to people all over America. Every freaking day. I have a sense of humor but this is simply not amusing in the least.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]Sorry, unamused. In fact. Offended. So she did advocate abstinence only education. But attacks on her daughter are unwarranted and unworthy. Her daughter didn't choose an abortion, she chose to marry her boyfriend and carry her baby to term. Even Obama's said hands off her family. And that's probably the only other time I'll agree with him too.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]The water in the pool I swim at. Today it tasted like a mix of male reproductive fluids and saltwater. ....oh wait. I was very distressed and it actually made me upchuck just a little.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="times"]Our villain should be perhaps a rabbit gone evil or perhaps a Komodo dragon or monitor. Iguanas are too lazy to strike fear into my heart. I'd like my character to be a spook, morally ambivalent. Or trying to be good but occasionally evil, you know, like Bruce in Finding Nemo. Rabbits are friends! Not food![/FONT][/COLOR]

[IMG]http://icanhascheezburger.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/funny-pictures-emo-goat-in-tree.jpg[/IMG] [COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]It's VICKY! DON'T DO IT! We love you![/FONT][/COLOR]

[quote name='Quoth Serenity'][COLOR="DarkSlateBlue"]ohh - one more important point that hasnt been made, macs are so completly blindingly WHITE, and all of the icons and menus and everything are soo shiny and they reflect everything! Too shiny i think, i mean if you want to be able to do your hair in the safari icon, and if you dont mind only using the mac when your wearing sunglasses then they tend to be ok (apart from the above reasons) Personally however, I think they look bad, and the UI is terrible but i wont go into that =p[/COLOR][/QUOTE] [COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]I'm not quite sure what you're referring to. Mac laptops come in black, silver, and white. Keyboards come in silver. You can't see the apple logo [which is usually in white] when it's open. These new fangled technologies all come with *gasp* dimmer buttons. And they're right there in the top line of Function keys. What a shock. The Safari browser logo is silver and partially blue. Now brace yourself. The firefox mozilla logo is.... ...also partially blue. Can I do my hair in that one too? And menu background colors are, surprise again, customizable. Mine for example are mauve and icons on the [b]optionally invisible[/b] dock come in the colors god intended. So, every color of the rainbow. [/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]My business associates in USANA call me "D" because my mother's name is Desiree and my other partner's name is Deanna, so I suppose people are just lazy or don't want to get confused. My male friends that are "of color" persist in calling me a variety of slangish but not necessarily insulting names that I will respond to. "Shorty [only it's pronounced shawty]" "Heina [Hi-nah]" "Homegirl" My OB friends call me Rai and nobody who wants to live past their twenties calls me "Babe."[/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"][i]The newcomer's entrance was almost expected. Carol had warned me, set up the trap to keep him from bolting at once, and he walked right in. I suppose I had Jenn's breathing exercises to thank for that. And when we made ourselves more visible, spoke to him, I could see the intelligence behind his eyes. And his smell. Male, different from Eros's, but passable. His eyebrows went up when I picked up his scent less subtly than I usually do, but it was better this way. At his response I felt a tickling sensation in the back of my mind and it almost made me squirm. I laughed and Jennifer laughed with me, the sound was almost child-like to Carol and Korey's ears, and had an immediate soothing effect. Carol left immediately and began repairing the front door as I gave Korey's arm a gentle tug and led him towards the sitting room that led into the kitchen. He sat down on the sofa I indicated towards with a hunch of my shoulders and I pulled a chair over from the breakfast nook and sat down, straddling it, my elbows leaning over the back. The cigarette tasted good to Jennifer, and using her technique, I blew a smoke ring over at Korey and smiled lazily. [/i] "We call them eaters. They like to consume minds the way some of us got our first ones. Kill the vessel, take their thoughts with your bare hands. And lately they've all come for Carol." "Knife girl?" "And cleaver, and machete, and golf clubs. She's a fighter. But she's also a mother, and the mother of infinite children in her memories. She's a virtual goddess. It would take dozens of Eaters acting in concert to bring her down, and they hardly ever roam in packs." "Oh. So you're Grace then." "I am now. But I've only got one mind in me that isn't' really mine yet." [i]I held up one finger in illustration, then carefully finished off the cigarette and ground it out on the nail of the same finger before flicking the butt into the wastebasket in the corner. Korey watched it sail through the air and land perfectly, then smiled back at me. The back door burst open with the sound of heavy breathing and nails clicking on hardwood floors. Escobar nudged it shut behind him and Carlotta leapt up, working the latch with her front paws. Then they bounded over, circling my chair once and sniffing the hand that Korey held out to them. Josie made a harumphing sound in the back of her throat and trotted off to say hello to Carol, while Escobar laid his ears back just a little before shaking his head once, sneezing, and wandering off. Lastly, Carlotta blinked at Korey as she smelled the variety of scents on him, much like I did, picking up the smells of pavement, sweat, blood, and possibly thousands of others I just couldn't identify.[/i] "You're like a blood hound?" "I wish. My gifts run more towards animal instincts. Carol can do anything though. And Eros can too." "You live with a Greek God?" "He's upstairs. You'll meet him later if you stay for dinner. You Are staying right?" "Do I have a choice?" "Well you can't go out there. Carol just locked the front door." [i]He opened his mouth to ask me how I knew that when she herself reappeared, holding a screwdriver and looking triumphant.[/i][/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"][i]Curling Linnett up into a pliable fetal position, Einge carried her as he and Dahler ran, outpacing the night, heading for the next safe place to hide until the sun rose again. The two didn't speak, and the only sound was their footfalls on the frozen wasteland. Eventually, just as the rosy fingers of dawn were spreading across they slipped into a cavern pressed up against the sea cliffs and laid out to sleep out the day. Dahler leaned against a wall for a few minutes, getting the feel of their new resting place.[/i] "We'll reach Tierra Del Fuego tomorrow." "And find real clothing, real flesh slaves, real blood again." "Will you keep her leashed? She seems to like you." "Naturally. I'm her grandfather after all." [i]Dahler made some noncommittal sound and slid down until he was stretched out on the ice. Einge did the same with his own private smirk, letting Dahler work out the ramifications of that statement. The Dynn clan was a branch family of the Jahaena clan, and as such he could say without too much deceit that he was something of a grandfather to Linnett, even if the blood was a couple times removed. That and he'd watched her far more closely than her own father had, probed her mind delicately, with the same sort of finesse that Linnett herself had used. He'd taken sips of her pain and found them as delicious as her forbidden blood had been to Dahler, just less filled with visions of terror and zorn. Linnett had spent the night in a strange sort of slumber, dreaming of being tossed from brother to brother in a game they used to play to test their strength and reflexes. Now she was laid out in the traditional position with her hands lightly crossed over her chest, Dahler and Einge on either side of her in the same position. As soon as she felt her body stretch out the true sleep overtook her and she found her dream self dancing down the staircase of her former home. Clad in a white linen shift she shuffled her feet, then swept her arms around her in a circle and cartwheeled one handed down the hall into the main lounge. In her dream, the room was empty, and she stood alone in the middle of the seven pointed star circle carpet, woven of human hair, dipped in the blood of their clan's enemies. While there she combed out her hair with her fingers and carefully braided seven small strands together, tying them with threads ripped from the hem of her clothing. Then, personal hygiene satisfied, she sat down cross-legged and sang to herself in a soft high voice, the sound drifting from her mind to Dahler and Einge's, slowly incorporated into their own dreams.[/i] "The Eater comes down near, His blade is on my skin, To carve a new feeling, And then I let the cut begin." [i]She repeated the verse again slower, and then slower, and then she felt her dream self curl down into a small circle, like an exhausted kitten and closed her eyes. Dahler heard her song echoing to him, as in his dreams he strode down a marble hall, pillared almost excessively, knowing he was home. In his family's mansion, he saw young vampires flickering in the corners of his vision, but when he tried to look directly, they disappeared completely. Disappointed, he went back to his own clan's main hall and found Linnett, looking very out of place, sleeping as carelessly as anything and leaned down to pull her hair away from her face. Just as his hand was about to touch her overly fair skin her yellow eyes snapped open and she snarled at him, recoiling and leaping backwards to cling to the furthest corner of the wall. He held up a hand in pacification and took a step towards her, but as he did he heard a long low chuckle come from over his left shoulder. As he whirled around he saw Einge, clad in a simple cowl of black, holding out a palm full of blood, walking towards Linnett's corner. As he did he spoke in a soft, soothing voice as if comforting a fractious babe.[/i] "There there, Dahler didn't mean to take liberties with you. Come down child and drink. You must be so thirsty." [i]She hissed at first, then slowly slipped down, her claws leaving huge strands of crackled plaster and stone behind her and cautiously stepped closer to Einge. Then, lured by the scent of the blood, she leaned her head down and lapped at it with her perhaps almost overlong tongue. He smiled over his shoulder at Dahler, who hadn't moved from his first position. Einge's voice, still in that gentle tone reached his ears.[/i] "You see? Easy as breathing."[/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]Clearly this is just another tool by the mainstream ruling class to sexualize female girls and create within them an inadequacy that leads them to use every material good produced to make them feel more 'beautiful,' thus promoting the evils of capitalism around the world. OR Someone tried drawing his ideal sex mate while smoking crack late one night and it leaked out somehow.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"][i]Lord Allamorph barely registered the presence of his newest servant, as bequeathed to him by the Lady Indi upon the event of her tragic death. Korey was quite pleased at this and did his best to be as unobtrusive as possible. The creeping, gentle way that his numerous servants padded around his manor spoke to that. They reminded him of rabbits in a warren, carefully going from one place to the next, not drawing attention to themselves unduly, speaking only in the softest tones when verbal communication was necessary. Pressed into service as the new chief cupbearer, Korey tasted drink after drink that passed through his hands and unto the hands of his master. As he did he constantly had to remind himself to bob his head as he did and murmur a quiet, [/i]"As your Grace pleases." [i]The servants quarters by night were so very quiet, he could hardly stand it. At least in the [dreaded] Lady Indi's house a certain amount of quiet chatter had been permitted. But perhaps the biggest change Korey noticed was that Lord Allamorph permitted his slaves to purchase other slaves with tips of their own for their own private use or to perform tasks that Lord Allamorph expected of their servants. The matron of the kitchen, Vithuri'il had purchased a male servant to chop wood for the ovens every morning and to haul it to the various bedrooms for the fireplaces. And he knew that the majordomo had purchased a young woman for his own personal use. But as a servant starting out in his capacity, he had yet seen no cash come his way. Instead, he saw work work, and more work. When he wasn't endlessly tasting the variety of exotic drinks Lord Allamorph demanded throughout the day, he was cleaning with the other servants the enormous amounts of marble floorspace and cherry hardwood furniture and fixtures. Sometimes he wondered just what would happen if he stopped and laid down to take a nap, but his curiosity was sated when a little boy slave, Lrb, accidentally did fall asleep while he was polishing the silverware. Like a wraith, Lord Allamorph was upon him in an instant, the willow switch in his hand savagely cracked against the boy's knuckles, jerking him out of his repose in an instant. Without another move, he swept off and left Lrb and Korey to their work again. Korey worked his way over across the large hutch he was buffing and muttered.[/i] "Are you well?" "I'll be fine. His Grace is merely upset because one of his cats was eaten by a dog the other day." "He keeps cats?" [i]His question however went unanswered. Vithuri'il swept by with her male slave in tow and turned her sharp eyes towards them and saw a renewed vigor in their endless cleaning. Later that week, while he was wrestling a large urn filled with wine down into the cellars he lost his balance and fell down the stairs and was crushed to death. Lord Allamorph however didn't notice. He had other matters to attend to, his beloved feline to mourn, and guests to entertain.[/i][/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"][i]Jennifer whispered to me in my sleep, telling me to be calm, to wait patiently for a way to save us from us, but I couldn't listen. Too much howling downstairs. Carlotta had caught a possum in the backyard and was currently eviscerating it in the name of protecting me and Carol, who she was starting to regard as her mother. Giving up on sleeping I pulled on my jeans and found a pullover. Slipping my belt on and adjusting the holster of the 9mm Jennifer had kept in her glove box I quietly unlocked the back sliding glass door and stepped into the grassy yard. The air was cool, and the breeze rising from the bay brought the scents of the night. With the olfactory nerves of two women instead of one, every scent was amplified. Not like the dogs now happily bouncing around my feet, not like Carol, who could hear a ladybug tramping across rosebushes in the gardens, and the sound of thunder rolling in from the coastal hills. I turned my head, listening for changes from the occasional and exceedingly infrequent car, or person scurrying home. These days circadian rhythms meant very little. So little in fact, that Carol and Eros could be found up at any given hour. Right now Eros was sitting in the kitchen, drinking a ginger ale out of a glass bottle and looking forlorn while Carol was upstairs sleeping behind Kevlar blinds and what we'd started calling 'The Coffin.'[/i] "Do you smell anything Escobar?" [i]The enormous black dog looked back up at me with doleful eyes as if to say,[/i] "No, but you could feed me and make me a happy man." [i]I heaved an overly dramatic sigh and stroked his velvety soft ears with one hand while resting the other on my hip casually. A flicker of movement over my left shoulder and I immediately sank into a crouch and Escobar grew tense underneath my hand. He growled once, then surged past me, barking hysterically, loud enough to wake everyone sleeping in the house. Josie and Carlotta joined in the din, and eventually whatever it was retreated far enough for them to content themselves with wandering around the perimeter of the fence, noses quivering, senses on high alert. Feeling none too sanguine myself I turned and found myself staring directly into Carol's multi colored eyes. She regarded me calmly, and blinked so slowly I thought she'd merely closed them entirely. Then she opened them again and tilted her head to one side.[/i] "The dogs scared off two weaker Eaters. I can hear him running now." "There you go again, making me jealous." "It's no gift to most I'll tell you that. Eros is upstairs with the scope. If you get back on the wires we can tell the others in the area." [i]The tone of her voice rankled me just a little, even though I knew it wasn't wise to argue with someone who could literally rip me in half. I went back inside and climbed the second staircase to my room. Pulling my laptop across the desk towards me I put out an alert on the system the sane ones used. The insane ones would welcome an Eater attack. Then I went back to my blog and began updating. I refrained from mentioning Carol. Any crazy who found out that Mrs. Young's house was a haven for a virtual goddess on earth would blab it somehow and bring all the loonies running. On the third floor I could afford the luxury of an open window, and the smells from downstairs drifted up this way. Viewing the bay, and the bridge still standing I almost felt sad. We'd never cross it again. Not without suffering any amount of injuries along the way or running for our lives. But even then we'd have to wait. Mrs. Young couldn't feed herself anymore, or wouldn't. And this house was the safest thing we could get to. The closest to being secure. And it was good enough for me. It would have to be. I shut my laptop and crossed towards my bathroom, running my hands over the murals I'd had all the time in the world to create. In black and red the text on my western wall read;[/i] "I know how the undead feel." [i]Maybe it was melodramatic but who cares? Nobody will see it but Eros and Carol. And Eros was too preoccupied turning his room into a web, connecting the women in his life to form some semblance of order. Carol was amused and pleased with my art, and let me be without a motherly lecture I knew wasn't her. Jennifer never would've guessed that in her mind there was the artistic capacity to produce everything we had done together.[/i][/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]Me finds Lunar and Chibi-Masterz! [IMG]http://icanhascheezburger.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/funny-pictures-cats-jumping-fence.jpg[/IMG] [/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"][IMG]http://icanhascheezburger.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/funny-pictures-superior-cat-on-horse.jpg[/IMG] EEEEEEE! It's Sandy![/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]Who needs PJs? Birthday suits are so much more comfortable! Although before actual sleeping I usually wear loose fitting linen capris or my own hand sewn flannel pj bottoms if it's cold and loose fitting shirts. I also have some actual nightshirts with three quarter sleeves that are actually pretty heirloomish from both grandmothers. So sometimes those if it's cooler.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]I waffle between clinically derranged outfits stolen from inmates and emo children and functional form fitting clothing. On any given day you might see me in my quentissential Merrell hiking boots, form fitting Aeropostale jeans, and any kind of top. It might be a black t-shirt turned halter, a ripped up Led Zeppelin blouse, or a green tube top. On other days I might be wearing cute skirts, and a flowery top and lace up sandals. However when I go to the right clubs, I'm wearing a red and black vinyl hook and eye top, a black leather O ring collar, black business slacks, and six inch stilettos. I like to keep things varied. Oh yes, and I too wear sunglasses in direct or indirect sunlight, as being blinded is not conducive for someone who spends about 2 hours a day on the road. That and no matter what I'm wearing I will be wearing matching earrings over three inches long.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]Dude. He's a Namek. He's also missing his antenae. This is like making them go Super Saiay-jin but making their hair pink. Don't tell me that's just a 'cosmetic' change. That and nobody gives a crap about Bulma's hair. Stupid spoiled bimbo with bad taste in men...[SIZE="1"]*grumble grumble*[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR]

[URL="http://io9.com/5044681/a-first-look-at-dragonballs-live+action-lord-piccolo"]WTF?![/URL] [COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]Houston... we appear to have run out of green body paint. We can't find anything but pasty bug yellow. WARNING WARNING WARNING! [IMG]http://cache.io9.com/assets/images/io9/2008/09/piccolo_01.jpg[/IMG] Good lord how hard could it be to get ONE THING RIGHT?! Sure he's bald and veiny and pointy but JESUS! What the hell were they thinking?[/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]Right chest size, almost right hair, it's perfect! [IMG]http://grownuphikki.files.wordpress.com/2008/01/linainverse.jpg[/IMG][/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]Before the non mac people get on here and bluster and pontificate about how great their non macs are and how EVIL macs are as someone who has used both Windows and Mac her whole life [started at 5], I can safely say that I have less problem with macs than I have had in the past with windows. Dell laptops, depending on what you do with them, are prone to viruses of all kinds, crashing, blue screens, and my idea of a good laptop is not one you have to give a debugging enema to every five minutes. My laptop from a software standpoint has yet to piss itself and die in a virus induced haze. I use a 17 inch Mac Powerbook G4 and I dropped it multiple times before only the sound fizzled. Everything else still works, I merely pinched the wire that connects the audio system. It's kept in its case when I'm traveling which probably helps it survive the typical bumps and bruises naturally acquired in backpacks, and considering how old it is, it's in remarkably good condition. You can get a used laptop similar to mine, or perhaps smaller for about 1000 or less or just spring for a new one and get that new iPod if you're a student. And considering the time and effort you'll spend shredding your brain over a virus ridden Windows laptop that has lost all of your data, I suggest you swallow hard and get the mac. It will be good to you if you're good to it. [And don't download foolishly].[/FONT][/COLOR]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"][i]My day started out normal enough, wake up early, even before my wife, kiss her cheek as she slept, shower, get dressed, and report to work. Sometimes I wondered why, even if I was about to be promoted, just why we kept it up. It was like re arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. We were going down. And when I got the reports on the new drug "Buzz," I could feel that old fear clamp down on my neck and start to shake me. We would never win. My partner was looking over the remaining files, Petie was always good at that. He flashed me one of those tired grins that said it all and we began crunching the numbers, looking for a definable pattern. Sure this was the job of forensic financial analysts, but OCPD's ridiculous budget cuts in the past six years had made our lives far more difficult than was really warranted. My wife tried to keep my spirits up. She was always writing, always laughing, making me tempting dinners even when I had no appetite, but what to do? Buzz. Technological advancement gone wrong, capable of infecting anyone when they're in the wrong place at the wrong time. Aggressive takeover of consciousness, morality, completely addictive, utterly destructive. I winced and flipped through the next sets of hard data the men upstairs had unceremoniously dumped in our laps. Petie paused while scrolling through spreadsheets and tapped the screen, pulling it onto mine. [/i] "See that? They keep shipping to the same place. I cross checked with the docking times at the pier." "You think they're moving more than the upstairs brass thinks?" "Think? I know." [i]His almost intolerably smug expression was completely warranted, so I let him have it. Six hours later we piled into the car, kept running only by the sheer genius of Neil's mechanical skills and possibly the TLC of Korey over at Maintaining and Deployment. Stupid upstairs takes forever to validate anything, preventing us from moving too quickly, always covering their asses. And just as we were reaching the docks, our clothing concealing our weaponry, both of our cells began to ring. He and I picked up at the same time, and answered automatically. Nothing. The lines went dead and I blinked. The caller ID was blocked, and as I flipped over my phone to check the sim card lodged in the back I felt cold steel pressed against my temple. In the driver's seat, Petie sat, his cell phone in one hand and his piece in the other. His smile was gone, instead he looked a little sick. And the muzzle kept jittering and shaking against my scalp. I slowly looked over my left shoulder at him and froze when his hand immediately steadied.[/i] "How long have you been on it Petie?" "Six months. I just jammed your cell signal. I led you here. Soon you'll be floating face down and I'll be going home, to rape your wife. She'll be screaming my name all night long." [i]The blood surged to my face, and I could feel my body heat up against my will. The way he coldly announced to me his plans, the way he spoke of my wife made me want to reach across the e-brake and rip his lungs out. Then I heard Raiha's voice in the back of my mind, reassuring me. Reminding me who had taken her to the range every week, taught her how to use a speed loader. I forced myself to relax and calmly respond.[/i] "Have a nice trip Petie. Hurry up and give me a hole in the head. It'll make you feel better." [i]He laughed, uproariously, and I debated making a move for his gun, when he suddenly went quiet, pulled the trigger, and blew my brains out across the passenger side of the squad car.[/i][/FONT][/COLOR]