Day 261 - Monday, September 8th

[papalobo]

[Max isn't awake early enough to be shocked by how early in the morning Ash can pull it together to text, nor is he shocked by waking up first and alone. Although that he's going to be in a good coma with the pill and his exhaustion probably isn't a great cause for concern for Ash in not getting a response. It's around 11:00 AM that Ash gets a thumbs up emoji as an answer.

In actuality, things are not thumbs up. Max wakes up alone, and his mind combines the dream with reality to quickly determine Ash has left him to finally take that flight to Japan; unaware he's awake, even while aware that's not very realistic, he lies there looking at the empty space not even occupied by cats, for several minutes, before the need to use the bathroom finally gets him moving enough to come back to reality just a little more, to process that all of it were dreams, that he has no right to get depressed, to blame Ash for any dreams. Nor for any realities. He told him to take on Blanca. He's urged him to take up Eiji when he's ready.

Ash had to go without breakfast today. Probably. He'll check the kitchen for signs of cooking before realizing the texts he read about Ash leaving last night weren't part of the dream, but were real; so he's living that double life, away from him now. Things are dangerous, and Max... sits at home and worries about food. Things are hazy. Maybe the good parts of yesterday were a dream too; at best, they were a delusion that really physically happened, he realizes.


He could call Alex and ask for a full update on the situation. He could probably ask Ash directly and get one.


Instead, he tends to his own work e-mails. He'll be on a few major shows soon, after all. Time to get his data together, time to follow up with some of those politicians, time to get with Charlie about how the lawsuits and investigations into The Unit are going.


Time to reach out to Shawn, since he does have his number. In confidence.

Misplaced confidence. At 12:30 Ash is texted by Shawn.]

Your old man's a drug addict~~

[Also today, the girl who is not presently covered in twigs but still looks as if she's been rolling around on carpet for static, frizzy hair and clothes meant for painting a house more than actually going out, glares at him bitterly through class, even during a test that should have her more distracted by it. But Ash is surely too busy to deal with that.

All the more when at 2:00, Wu is calling him. He's more of a caller than a texter.]

Comments

[jadedlynx]

Maybe not for you. We're taking it from the start. Tell me everything from the time you got approached.

[papalobo]

[He sounds like he's holding in a sigh, the days at The Unit still seeming to have taught him a semblance of hiding his urge to sass.]

I was coming back from the old guy's car class. Some black guy asked me if I knew Shawn, then said he'd pay me thirty bucks if I'd give him a piece of paper with some foreign scribbled stuff on it. Then when I was just out doin' stuff same guy since I did so good last time, he'd pay me sixty if I brought Sing without telling Shawn. Only I didn't know any Sing, so I asked Shawn about Sing and said I just missed him. Like I did know him.

Shawn came and told me when Sing dropped by, so I waited to get him alone and told him some big black guy wanted to meet him in secret. That's it.

[jadedlynx]

[ Big black guy? That's a bit harder than the Chinese. Ash did have some black men in his group. Still, they could have spoken to Sing themselves.

Noneyjeless, he it wouldn't hurt to try. ]

Take a walk around with Alex. If you see him, let me know.

[ Alex nods, stepping inside. ]

This is gang territory. Don't pass anymore notes.

[ Stepping out, he calls Shawn. ]

[papalobo]

Yo? A call this time instead of a text?

[jadedlynx]

I need a fast answer.

A little kid brought you a note from somebody. The same somebody sent one from Sing. I need to know the details.

[papalobo]

Yeah, I told you, right? About Gou Sheng tryin' to court me and all that. I'm not interested in him and the princess's civil war out here, I'm on a Sabatical or whatever, not my country, not my problem.

[jadedlynx]

[ Sheng was definitely involved in this. Damn it.

But the guy was black. That was rare. ]

Have you seen a black man working with him?

[papalobo]

Huh? A black guy? From what I heard, you're the only gang that's got any interracial blends in one group out here.

[Which meant no. Or at least none he'd admit to.]

[jadedlynx]

The same black guy is behind the note. Did it include an address? Anything that might lead somewhere?

[ Ash finally begins to text Yut Lung and filled him in on what he learned and then followed up with a question: have your guys spotted any black men around? ]

[papalobo]

Any notes've been kids from here or something saying someone asked them to pass it to me. Everyone I bothered asking said they had it passed off by someone who looked Chinese, but... I still got some of the notes, but they're in Chinese. We could try fingerprinting 'em or something, but I mean, doesn't seem like a secret who the source is.

[There's no immediate reply from Yut Lung, but that isn't likely surprising; he isn't someone who works on the ground level at all, it'd be fair to say he probably hasn't set sights directly on a single human being with a net worth of less than six figures in over a week. But a racially homogenous gang has its benefits when looking for an outlier.]

[jadedlynx]

I met with him, and he doesn't have plans on spilling anything. I need to find the guys who might have directly interacted with him. Go through them and see if there's anything you can find.

Thanks.

[ It's a quick call. He sends another text to Cain, which is rare enough. ]

Have there been any Chinese men hanging around?

[ It's unlikely, but Ash returns to the alley to look for clues. If there were flies, maybe the garbage is old enough to contain something. ]

[papalobo]

Through them, like the kids?

[It's not that he didn't understand, nor that he thins it's completely unreasonable. But still, he does know there's a chance, even if they were just used as messengers, that they'll get drug into a gang war.]

[jadedlynx]

No. I mean the notes. If you think any of the kids can give you a description, I won't pass it up, but I don't want them involved in this anymore than they are. I'm already planning to let him know how pissed I am he used them as his messengers.

[papalobo]

The notes just make it real clear he wanted to meet with me. I mean, I guess I can try to go all detective on it and look for Beautiful Mind schticks, but.

[jadedlynx]

I'm following through all angles. He's managed access to Sing. Just let me know if you find anything.

[papalobo]

See what I can do. Not really in my own territory here, thoough.

[jadedlynx]

I know, but right now, you're the popular girl in school.

[ And Ash is moving to search trash bags. ]

[papalobo]

Tee hee. Is the dethroned queen bee gonna go nuts trying to get her crown back before prom, now?

[jadedlynx]

You got desperate enough to expose yourself in corners. I figure you need this more than I do.

[papalobo]

And you bit a guy's dick off. So I got why you were top dog and I was just the chihuahua in your purse.

[jadedlynx]

You bite one guy's dick off, and that's what you're known for.

[papalobo]

Anyway, I'll call you if I find anything. Or when I think I spent every lead.

[jadedlynx]

Thanks.

[ With that, he ended the call and went to bust open a trash can. ]

[papalobo]

[The alleyway has a normal trash can and two industrial dumpsters. The dumpsters were last dumped that morning; it's a block with a Monday garbage day. The regular trash can meant more for passing use by pedestrians has a lot of food containers, drinking cups, cigarette packs, ad flyers. There are no windows on the sides of the buildings that make the alley, and it leads to an entanglement of back roads between the businesses there. It's a well chosen place to get lost in, with five different entrances and exists to the little concrete maze, including the one Sing and Conner had gone into and only Conner had come out of.]

[jadedlynx]

[ The text to Cain was sent. Yut Lung was looking in his territory. Shawn was following up. It's late, and he doesn't enjoy walking down random dark alleys at night, but Ash can at least follow the various trials to look for clues. ]