Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Chasers: 2075 ❯ Chapter 25

Chasers 2075: Part twenty-four

Silver finished preparing the coffee for them, picking up the two old, chipped cups and then bringing them into the bedroom. She smiled as she saw the brown haired woman who was stirring on the bed and softly said, "Good morning."

"Morning," Kate sat up, rubbing at her eyes tiredly. Her face lit up with a smile at the cups, "Oh, thank you! I needed that."

"Here," Silver put the cup on the little table beside the bed, "there hasn't been any more news since the hacker announcement."

Kate smiled wryly as she reached for the coffee, taking it in her hands and breathing deep the scent before she drank. "The mayor's office and the police chief are probably talking with the spin-doctors right now, trying to salvage what they can from this," she sighed.

"Hmm," Silver took a drink of her own coffee.

Using a remote to activate the holo-tank sitting in the corner they sat down together to watch. The holographic projector was old, the image badly grainy, but the news announcer was clear enough as she summarized the news. There was a summary of the hacker's actions, the worm spreading data on a proposed police crackdown, and then a press release from the police.

The news android read with that same sunny smile, "The Department regrets any distress caused by the preliminary reports being leaked. There was no intent to act on these reports until the authorization from several levels of government and legal approvals were acquired."

Kate snorted, "Yeah, right, they were going to announce the crackdown later today, originally. Now they're denying it was ever going to happen."

"The corporate influence being leaked probably had something to do with it," Silver agreed. She frowned, "So what's going to happen now?"

"The faction in the police department that proposed this will lay low for awhile," Kate said thoughtfully, "the amount of public disapproval will tell them that. And I think the androids rights groups will step things up to a new level."

"Wish I could disagree with you," Silver sighed, "but yesterday was pretty scary." She took another drink of her coffee, "Thank you for staying last night. I didn't want to be alone..."

"It's all right," Kate blushed a bit.

"I was wondering why you didn't..." Silver trailed off. She took a breath, "I thought I had made my offer pretty clear."

"You did," Kate agreed. She drank some of her own coffee to hide her blush, "It's just that I'm an old fashioned sort of girl."

"You don't have sex with androids, then?" Silver asked.

"Not quite," Kate made a face at the bitterness in the other woman's tone, "I only make love with people that I'm in love with."

Silver looked up at her in honest surprise as she asked, "You're serious?" Kate nodded slightly and Silver continued on more gently, "You're a romantic as well as being a gentleman, then. I thought they were dying breeds."

"Chivalry isn't dead," Kate shrugged, "it's just on life support."

That got a soft chuckle from Silver. "You're going to need to check into work soon, right?" she looked up to see the clock mounted on the wall.

"I've been trying not to think about it," Kate sighed, finishing off her cup. She slid out from beneath the covers, standing to stretch in just her T-shirt and panties.

'She looks so good,' Silver mused.

Kate wasn't beautiful, at least not in the traditional sense. There was too much muscle and not enough flesh on her rangy form, to start with. Her face was a bit too angular, her eyes almost piercing, while her brown hair was frankly a mess. But none of it mattered, her spirit made it all come together as a bold statement of self.

"What are you going to do?" Silver finally asked her softly as she reclined on the bed and watched Kate getting dressed, pulling her pants and socks on, then slinging the heavy police jacket over her shoulders.

"I don't know," Kate said honestly, "but I do know that I won't fire on any Freewill that hasn't broken the law." She walked to the door, stopping to give Silver a look, "My word on it."

"Thank you," Silver murmured as Kate left. Her trademark hair swirling around her Silver walked towards the window, standing there looking down at the shadowed street. Kate emerged as few moments later, shut the cruiser's security measures down and was off in a squeal of tires. A soft sigh, "I could fall for you so easy, officer."

In another part of the city's great towers a women dressed in the best business wear paused in front of a door before knocking firmly. She waited a moment, then the Asian woman knocked again. "Where are you?" Gwen muttered to herself.

There was the sound of footsteps, the soft clinks of locks being undone. "Yes?" Beth looked up at her as the door opened, the little redhead blinking owlishly.

"Ah," Gwen felt herself blushing redly. The green panties Beth was wearing were quite cute, but sadly she wasn't wearing the matching bra. Or anything else! She covered her eyes reflexedly, "Could you maybe.."

"Huh," Beth looked down then blushed slightly, "oh, sorry. Come on in."

The little redhead led Gwen inside her home as she slipped her shoes off, then went down the little hall towards the apartment's living room while Beth continued on to her bedroom to get dressed. Half of it was pretty typical for a young woman, with a couch, TV, a table for eating, etc. etc. just like anyone else's living room.

The other half of the room clearly showed Beth's fascination with all things electronic. Her massive computer system was a hybrid machine, with several open cases and equipment spread out all around, multiple monitors providing her access to several subsystems. On one wall there were shreds of paper where a set of android schematics once hung, and a pile of half assembled weapons waited on a nearby workbench.

"You want a coffee or something?" Beth asked as she came out of her room a few minutes later, a bit more modestly dressed in T-shirt and pants.

"No, that won't be necessary," Gwen said calmly. Beth gestured her to a seat as she poured a cup of coffee for herself. Gwen waited till the redhead sat down before quietly saying, "I thought we had an agreement."

"We do," Beth took a drink of her coffee.

"And what about the worm you put together to spread the data that you shouldn't even have had?" Gwen asked her pointedly.

Beth looked down into her cup, swirling the coffee around a little. "You told us to think about it," she said, "to follow our conscience." A grim little smile, "My conscience tells me that letting a corporation dictate how we do our jobs is a bad idea."

Gwen fought back a smile, "I didn't tell you all to be quiet, but I didn't expect you to shout it from the rooftops, Quicksilver."

"You know that I don't answer to that name anymore," Beth sighed softly, "not since you caught me way back then." She drank coffee, "I know I promised not to hack anymore, in exchange for you looking the other way. I just didn't see any other choice."

"I didn't come over here to try and bust you, Beth," Gwen said to her softly, "I just wanted to make sure that you hadn't put any of your calling cards in the program." She paused, "I don't want to see you endangering yourself."

"I was careful," Beth said reassuringly, "we did such a good job making sure Quicksilver was 'dead' I didn't want any rumors of her survival being around."

"Good," and Gwen chuckled suddenly, "I guess I'm in no position to talk, either. I passed information on the crackdown to an android's rights contact I know."

"That explains the notices on some of the bulletin boards I visited," Beth looked relieved. "I wondered where they got the information."

"The Governor, Chief and Mayor's office all sent me a message telling us not to go in today," Gwen said, "I came over to tell you."

"I guess with all the publicity we're not the people they want to see around," Beth nodded slightly, then she sat up straight as something hit her. "You woke me up to tell me I didn't have to come in?" Beth groaned, "Gee, thanks."

"I wanted to tell you in person," Gwen smiled. She got up, "I called Jen and did leave a message on her organizer, if that helps any."

"And Kate?" Beth asked curiously.

"No answer at home," Gwen made a face, "but that antique answering machine of hers isn't all that reliable. I'm heading over there next."

"She said she was going to Lowtown," Beth offered, "to see a friend."

"Thanks," Gwen got up from her seat, stretching. She looked over at Beth, "We've known each other quite a few years, Beth. Do me a favor and tell me when you're going to do something like you did last night, all right? It's not good for my nerves."

"Got it," Beth got up to walk her over to the door. She paused there to look up at Gwen, "Thank you, I didn't mean to worry you."

Gwen looked down, a slight blush to her cheeks, "I'll see you later."

To be continued..