Not forgotten
Jan. 11th, 2014 10:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
There has been work for Myra in both worlds, over the past few years, but the older Shadow has been seen less by his agents, or at least by her, over the past year or two. Harry doesn't seem to have seen much of their chief, either, and the retreat might be a worrying one but the orders still come as usual, and there is still a relentless war on crime. Unseen and silent, The Shadow's hand shows in mobs gunned down unexpectedly and masters of crime meeting mysterious deaths. He's still hard at work, that much should be clear to his agents.
It's out of the blue, though, when Myra receives a PINpoint message in the very early hours of the morning. She may not even catch it until she wakes, and there seems to be no urgency. It's simply the address for the James Rettigue apartment, and '3:00PM'. It's from him, of course, without apology for a long absence of communication, nor any friendly social niceties such as asking how she's been. His mood and underlying motivations are impossible to guess.
It's out of the blue, though, when Myra receives a PINpoint message in the very early hours of the morning. She may not even catch it until she wakes, and there seems to be no urgency. It's simply the address for the James Rettigue apartment, and '3:00PM'. It's from him, of course, without apology for a long absence of communication, nor any friendly social niceties such as asking how she's been. His mood and underlying motivations are impossible to guess.
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Date: 2014-01-12 04:13 am (UTC)However, when the message arrives she's indeed asleep, back in her own time but a blurry view of the device in the dim light of a bedside lamp tells her this is no emergency and she dozes back asleep. She will better serve him well-rested.
When it nears time for her appearance she pinPoints back to his world, but to her own apartment. There she cleans up and prepares for her visit. It's a touch chilly out, but she braves the streets and public transportation anyway, making her way to the Rettigue apartment. It's 3PM on the dot when there's a knock at his door and she waits patiently, coat in hand. She's had time in the elevator to warm up but she's ready for whatever task he assigns to her.
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Date: 2014-01-12 04:22 am (UTC)The Old Tiger has aged very little, although he's as thin and angular as she remembers, and absent-mindedly still wearing his reading glasses perched on the magnificent piece of facial architecture he has for a nose. Rather than the cloak and hat, he's in what he tends to consider casual clothes, with a sweater over the oxford shirt as a nod to the cold weather.
She can smell tea brewing.
"It's been a while." He says mildly, standing aside and holding out an arm to gesture her inside. The smile is faint, but the lines around his eyes multiply thickly, and there's something energetic underlying his movements. He's pleased to see her, excited, even, although that may have as much to do with the reason for the visit itself.
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Date: 2014-01-12 04:38 am (UTC)"It has, Lăohŭ."
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Date: 2014-01-12 04:50 am (UTC)The apartment is still spartan, and slightly dusty, as if it's gone unlived-in for a while. Whatever he has been up to, he may not have been spending his time here. The living room has been rearranged, though, the shelves moved to another wall, so that the one that once held his books, television, and stereo is now dominated by two large desks pushed together to make one long one. There are three different computer monitors, half a dozen boxes that must be the actual computers, two keyboards, and a bit of clutter to one end of screwdrivers and circuit boards and other odds and ends. A rolling chair has been added to the furniture, while the old black leather sofa has been pushed back a bit, neglected, and the coffee table is covered in computer disks and other odds and ends in addition to the usual paperwork.
He has been very busy, since she saw him last.
"Have a seat, I'll fetch the tea." It's brusque, but not unfriendly, and he's light on his feet off to the kitchen. The old nickname has kept the hint of a smile on his face. He's also fond of his new toys, and eager to show them off.
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Date: 2014-01-12 05:05 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-01-12 05:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-01-12 05:22 am (UTC)"I haven't. Aside from the pinPoint, I haven't had much opportunity."
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Date: 2014-01-12 05:25 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-01-12 05:33 am (UTC)"Oh, I will?" She gives a coy lilt to her voice and resumes that sip from her tea, the look from behind her cup both amused and challenging.
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Date: 2014-01-12 05:37 am (UTC)"...Anything to report?" It's a belated formality, or possibly what The Shadow thinks is small talk. His social skills are somewhat atrophied compared to his younger counterpart.
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Date: 2014-01-12 05:44 am (UTC)"I've also been making an occasional visit around here as well. And that" she smiles coyly, "is a floppy disk." Which was, entertainingly, one of the only things she knew, and it was from a magazine advertisement she'd read recently. Pure coincidence had a hand in that small iota of knowledge.
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Date: 2014-01-12 05:56 am (UTC)"It is. They're limited in how much they can hold, and I would've liked to jump to something more advanced, but I'm being careful what I bring from the Nexus just in case the wrong person gets their hands on it. I've stuck to equipment from this world, and had to find other ways to make it secure, but I need a testing phase before I start having agents using this..." It's not merely a social visit, although as work goes this is far less dangerous than usual.
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Date: 2014-01-12 06:15 am (UTC)"Oh." Her eyes light up. Getting to try something the Shadow made, possibly one of the first people to do so, it was an exciting idea.
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Date: 2014-01-12 06:27 am (UTC)"The best way I could think of to keep it hacker-proof was to write the operating system from the ground up, but I'm afraid the GUI- the graphical user interface, which is how you interact with the computer, may fall short, so I need a layperson to test it. Burbank and Vincent need to be able to operate this, too..." It goes unsaid that they may be the lowest common denominator in this, being older than Myra and less agile of mind than their chief.
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Date: 2014-01-12 06:33 am (UTC)"And which Burbank?" She knows exactly which one he refers to, but she's in too good of a mood to stop being coy for the time being.
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Date: 2014-01-12 06:40 am (UTC)"I intend to have a few of my younger agents try cracking the security, too. There won't be any sensitive information stored with network access, but I do intend to have some of this used for communication between agents, particularly those overseas." The Old Tiger's network is a far-reaching one, and the primitive beginnings of the internet are too good an opportunity to be ignored.
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Date: 2014-01-12 07:10 pm (UTC)At the mention of long distance communications her posture straightens a bit and she looks back at the monitors. In his presence there's hardly any point to hiding her impressed expression at the wonders of technology, he'd likely see through any facade she attempted anyway.
"Keep dangling that carrot, Chief, and I might not finish my tea." She smiles, sipping but keeping her eyes on the computers now. Such incredible marvels of this world he lives in, and here she is getting the opportunity for hands-on experience.
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Date: 2014-01-12 07:25 pm (UTC)"...I can always make more." The rim of his cup does little to hide a faint smile. He's as eager as she is, if not more so. "We could start with teaching you how to turn it on..."
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Date: 2014-01-12 07:31 pm (UTC)"That sounds important." She smirks, finishing off the last of her tea, though certainly not rushing it. "I'm ready whenever you are."
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Date: 2014-01-12 07:42 pm (UTC)"It'll take a minute, anyway. Everything I build from what we have here is maddeningly slow compared to the marvels of the Nexus." He gives a sigh, and a faint wheezy cough, the first she's heard out of him today. The old problem with his lungs is not gone, but the extra rest of spending hours sitting at a desk each day has done him good. "Do you know where the power button is, or should we go over the basic components, first?" There's no insult intended, he's just not quite certain what ground zero is for her.
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Date: 2014-01-12 07:46 pm (UTC)"I can take a guess, but I'd rather you show me." She frowns, she'd have liked to figure it out but there are a few buttons that look like they could power the machine, and she doesn't know if there's a specific sequence to all of this or not.
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Date: 2014-01-12 08:11 pm (UTC)There is no second rolling chair, but when The Shadow frequently prefers to be on his feet, ever restless.
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Date: 2014-01-13 02:54 am (UTC)"Ready." She gives an additional nod of her head.
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Date: 2014-01-13 03:19 am (UTC)The Shadow is many things, but he is not an easy teacher. She may wish she'd brought a tape recorder to play it all back later, because he tends to go fast.
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Date: 2014-01-13 03:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-01-13 03:51 am (UTC)One can only hope that having him hovering over her shoulder all the while, intense blue gaze boring through the reading glasses, won't throw off her concentration.
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Date: 2014-01-13 05:04 am (UTC)She follows along well enough, but a few icons catch her up, the pixeled image a little difficult to decipher despite it's larger size. She makes a good show of it though, considering the most difficult machine she's ever had to work was a PINpoint.
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Date: 2014-01-13 12:46 pm (UTC)"The machine you'll be connecting to is located across town, but in theory you could reach any computer connected to a phone line." The ramifications are, of course, enormous.
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Date: 2014-01-14 09:30 am (UTC)She creates a query to the system across town, her fingers dancing fluidly across the keys. Lacking the force required for a typewriter, her already fast speed at the keys is made slightly more impressive.
"And...there." She depresses enter, to find her screen displaying one of his demonstration files, and she smiles proudly as she uses the mouse to scroll down the lines of information.
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Date: 2014-01-14 12:24 pm (UTC)That is, in itself, a rare invitation. This is an unusual experiment, however, and one that he is aware depends far more on the ability of others to use it than his own feelings on the matter.
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Date: 2014-01-20 07:04 pm (UTC)His work was really impressive, and thorough of course. She starts to carefully navigate her way back out of his database, to make certain she can manage that too.
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Date: 2014-01-25 01:17 am (UTC)Sorry for the delay!
Date: 2014-01-30 01:42 am (UTC)Re: Likewise!
Date: 2014-02-13 10:31 pm (UTC)((New post here if you're interested, inspired by excessive winter weather. The Shadow has cabin fever. Or I'd be content to start up a new thread...))
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Date: 2014-02-13 10:42 pm (UTC)"You need one of those start-up sounds. Something to give the kids a good fright before they even get into the system."
((Hah! I'm looking at that post right now, debating who to tag with. Can't blame Shadow, this weather is pretty crazy. New thread would work too. I'm free today, so whatever works!))
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Date: 2014-02-13 10:57 pm (UTC)((Ah, are you also snowbound? Perhaps one or the other of them could visit, what with crime being muffled by lengthy bad weather...))
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Date: 2014-02-13 11:09 pm (UTC)"Otherwise, as far as the adults are concerned, I think it's pretty solid."
((Yes, i am indeed snowbound. Will be tagging at SWS shortly!))
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Date: 2014-02-13 11:22 pm (UTC)"Thank you for the seal of approval, then. You'll be seeing it in use soon, so set aside space for a computer in your apartment."
((Brilliant! Perhaps we can wrap this thread up, then.))
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