Chapter 4.1: The First Jobs, with Cid
Novel excerpts continued, plus some comments on process and RPGs
We’re on to Chapter 4, and the main cast is on to their first few missions together.
When I was drafting, this part wasn’t in the original outline. Nor was much of the previous chapter. Since the original concept was based on a role-playing game campaign (that I wasn’t directly involved in!), I’m not clear how much they explored the getting-to-know-you backstory. Often the preference is to get into the action quickly and let character-building happen in the course of play. Not that RPGs always have to be that way; I’ve played some where a good portion of the early sessions are taken up with getting the party together. I somewhat prefer this style, as it gives players a chance to develop their characters and get to know each other organically. It can slow things down, though, if what you want is to get into the meat of a campaign quickly.
In a novel, though, there isn’t the benefit of the player, who creates and embodies the character. In a game, too, a lot of the joy is filling in the blanks yourself as the story grows. The storyteller or GM opens spaces, scenarios, and possibilities for that character growth to happen. A novelist has to do a lot of that work for the reader, without the boost of real-time interaction and improv.
As a writer and a reader, I’m extremely character-driven. I read a lot of genre stuff, but I care a great deal more about the people whose stories I’m following than the larger picture. I suppose it reflects how I approach community and friendships, too: I’m very into individual people and small groups, but get overwhelmed — and ineffective! — if it gets too big.
So this chapter takes a bit of time to show how the group coalesced over the time between their meeting and when the main action starts. It’s not overly long, especially compared to Chapter 5. But I felt it deserved a little space, a few breaths to see what these folks are like together, before the proverbial shit starts hitting the equally proverbial fan.
Enjoy, and as always, please share if you like it. Your support helps me keep doing this.
Chapter 4
How To Succeed in Business While Trying Really Quite Hard, Actually
“What is it, exactly, that you…do do?”
-Madeline Kahn as Elizabeth, Young Frankenstein
ONE
Cid
First job, we basically took Eden along as window dressing. Terrah had her dress in a sharp suit and sunglasses, carry the case of product, and pick up the case of money. It was theatrical, but it worked. The client was a smarmy one Terrah hated dealing with; he always had to make some sexist remarks or comment on Terrah’s body (usually denigrating its lack of the brand of femininity he preferred), but he was also consistent and had the cash, so she put up with his bullshit and I restrained myself enough not to tear his head off his neck. Eden provided a distraction, someone Terrah figured could absorb the bullshit more easily, maybe deflect it from her. It wasn’t the kindest thing T ever did, but I think she wanted to give Eden a taste of the kind of shitty stuff she had to deal with and see if she was genuinely up for it. She did admirably.
We didn’t need her exactly, at the beginning. But she gave our little crew a little extra style. She needed us a lot more, back then. But she did good, those first couple jobs. She needed to prove something to herself, and she did. To us, too.
It was during the fourth time out that she went off-script the first time. We were starting to get some bigger jobs. We were getting better at what we did, and having Eden along was a new curiosity for clients. She confused people, in the best way. She wasn’t extra muscle. She couldn’t be someone’s girlfriend, or a hanger-on, could she? And why bring her along? What could she do? Why was she important? People got nervous around her— in the way that I did, of course, because her beauty was out of control, and she’d been made to spellbind people in that way. But also because they didn’t know what else she might be packing. Guns? Mind control? High-tech bioweapons?
To be fair, that last one was closest to accurate.
On that fourth job, we had to make the exchange in a pretty exposed situation, and I didn’t like it. None of us did. But the money was good — about twice what we’d been pulling — and Tuco seemed confident enough that the client was good for it.
The drop was at a repair shop for robots and borgs, which made me nervous to start with. Places like that gave the client all the advantages. They were usually in neighborhoods where not many people lived, surrounded by warehouses and other deserted places. They were loud, which could mask any unexpected violence. And of course, they were full of robots and borgs. Not exactly a situation where I felt cozy.
But we went in, and took Eden, and let her dress up like usual. We figured out early on that letting Eden choose her look for a job was the right way to go. Among her other talents is an innate sense of theatre, and she had a way of knowing just what to wear and how to look to have the effect she wanted. This time, she showed up in black leathers, like she was a customer there to pick up her motorcycle.
Don’t get me wrong: Terrah always looked like she knew what she was doing, mostly because she knew what she was doing. But in a lot of ways, she only had the one trick: being forthright, tough, and unwilling to tolerate bullshit. I was the goofball who could disarm folks with a joke or a short vid on my face-screen, but they also knew I could tear them apart with my hands. Perfect bodyguard drag. Eden added that soft touch, the chameleon who brings whatever’s needed to a given situation.
Sure enough, once we dropped the product, the client tried to stiff us. “Take the case,” they said. “It’s what we agreed.” Terrah opened it and gave it a glance, which was enough to see that it was not at all what we agreed, and that they wanted us to know it.
“The fuck is this?” said Terrah, quietly.
“This is what we agreed to, before your boss tried to strong-arm us,” said the client. “You bring that back to him and tell him we won’t be bullied into paying more.”
“We gonna have a problem?” said Terrah. The menace she could bring was now a long-known signal for me. I activated my weapons system without changing position. It made a small spinning-up sound, which I imagine you’re familiar with. I loved doing that. I could immediately tell who knew what it meant and who didn’t. Those who didn’t startled and looked around at the sound; those who did looked like their urinary continence might shortly be in question.