001.1 Chapter One - A Night at Jessica's

Jessica's was a hot spot, a bar somewhere between a neighborhood dive with a fresh coat of paint and a classy pub that was behind on its upkeep. It was owned and operated by a criminal gang and peopled by some of the less reputable denizens of Old Westgate, one of the poorest neighborhoods in Center City. But it was large, comprising the first two floors of a centrally located high rise, and Enforcement rarely troubled the patrons. It was a place where anyone could enjoy a drink unmolested and pretend to have more class than they could actually afford. Since the quarantine, people from all over The QZ had been coming to Jessica's. The QZ encompassed most of the poorest neighborhoods in Center City, and Jessica's had somehow captured the public imagination as the most prestigious bar and club within their now limited habitat.

What made Jessica's stand out among the other clubs was its ever changing decor, thanks to a meticulously programmed suite of holographic and hard light projectors. Most nights it looked like a cross between a biker bar and an Irish pub, but the holosystem were programmed with several variations, all custom designed to fit the actual space within the building. Thursday nights Jessica's became a 1940's era jazz club complete with dark wood, cozy booths, and red velvet curtains, and even boasted a holographic orchestra or jazz band, depending upon who was performing.

It was Thursday. On these nights, the crowd was quieter than on a normal night. Before the show, glasses could be heard clinking together at the bar, and the murmur of conversation was low. Aside from the fashion sense of the clientele, one could almost feel like they were back in the 1940's, or at least in as good a simulation of the era as could be recreated from the data that remained on the era.

---

Veronica had just finished her set, and stepped down off of the stage to deafening applause. She approached the table where her brother Eli sat with her friend, Will. Eli had a night off from working the door, and the two men had been enjoying drinks while she performed. They both stood, clapping loudly, as did everyone else in the club.

Malachi approached the trio, his smile broad and looking as authentic as his recently tailored, retro tuxedo. Rings flashed on his fingers, a diamond glittered one one, and his single earring was large and gold. He flashed teeth too white to be natural, his smile more predatory than friendly.

"Come to the VIP area," he said. It was an invitation, but certainly not one that should be declined. "I saved the best seats for Veronica and her friends."

Two bodyguards in suits moved ahead of the trio, clearing a path toward the staircase that led up to the balcony where the VIPs could watch the show. Malachi brought up the rear. None would dare interfere.

People were already seated on the balcony that formed a wide semi-circle overlooking most of the club below. Many of them stood and offered Veronica polite applause as she came up the winding staircase to the massive, circular booth in the center of the balcony. The cushioned seats were velvet and deep red, the table so black it gleamed, and their drinks had already been moved from downstairs by the industrious wait staff. Malachi allowed them to sit, then took his customary place at one end of the booth and turned to look down at the stage.

"Got 'em beggin for more every time you step off that stage, Veronica." His gaze moved over the crowd below. "Nuff to make a guy jealous, that kind of devotion." He looked back at the trio and grinned.

---

Downstairs, Richard and Jack sit beside each other at the bar. Richard hadn't made it on time to get his favorite table; Fiona, who obviously had a crush on him, had come to visit his sister, Alexis, before he left their apartment. Dodging her flirtations had made him later than he had planned. Now he was chatting casually with Jack, hoping to get down to the business of Alexis' medicine. She had maybe a two day supply left, but it seemed to be lasting for less time with each dose.

The bar area was teeming with people, and now that the show was over, everyone was crowding closer to get drinks. Patrons bumped into each of them from behind, said a cursory "excuse me," or "sorry," and then moved on toward an open space where everyone was funneling up to place their orders.

Will relaxes in the VIP area. It's not quite what he's used to, but it's much closer than most everything else in the quarantine zone. He nods to the waitress when she brings their drinks and surveys the crowd. They're all lower middle class at best, clearly trying to be posh when the only thing they know about the high life is what they've seen on television.

Pretenders. Poseurs. Wanna-bes. These people wouldn't last a minute in his world. His mother alone would chew up and spit out half of this crowd. His mother. He'd been dodging her calls for almost two days. He would have to talk to her eventually, but this was not the time. Tonight was about his friend, Veronica. Watching her sing that amazing set had renewed his eternal attraction to her, but that's not why he was here, either. Tonight was about making her world the best place it could be.

"Everyone wants Veronica," he said in response to Malachi's words. He was teasing, and of course she would know this, despite the fact that it was true of him as well, a fact she didn't know. He intended to keep it that way. No point ruining a perfectly good friendship.

"Nice place you've got here, Malachi." He looked at the grinning man. There was something off about him. Something that made Will feel defensive. "I bet it costs a lot to keep this running."

Eli walked with the others as Malachi lead to their new seats. Moving with a predatory grace, Eli had no trouble finding his way through the crowds.

Remembering Connor' s message from earlier, he finds himself trying to remember who it could be. While he could remember some things clearly, most of his memory is still hazy and blank.

Letting his sister and Will slide into the booth, Eli took the door opposite Malachi at the end of the seat.

Richard had been silently watching Veronica's performance. She had been great, as always. He really wishes he could have taken Alexis to see her but today is just not the day for it. He had barely been able to focus on the performance himself, his thoughts drifting off to his sister's dwindling supply of medication and the job he had received earlier this day.

He sips his drink in silence next to his "friend" Jack. Richard really wishes he didn't have to get mixed up with this guy - something about him just rubs Richard the wrong way - but if he doesn't want his siter's condition to get worse, he has no choice.
"I hear there's supposed to be a new shipment of beta coming into the QZ", he finally says, quietly. "The last supply ran out faster than expected. I'm afraid the stuff is either getting weaker or Allie is building up a resistance. Is there any way a larger portion of this shipment could get lost than last month?"

His thoughts drift back to his job. As terrible as Alexis' situation was and as dangerous as these deals were for him, they had become routine. The situation that Ms. Parker had told him to take care of, wasn't.
Richard looks around the bar. He can't spot Eli anywhere - or Veronica for that matter. They must have gone backstage somewhere. Does Eli have money? His sister has good connections to the rich kid. Maybe they could organize something. But what if they can't?

He turns back to Jack and asks: "And, hypothetically, if I wanted to borrow a large sum of money from you, how would I go about that?"
He hopes he won't have to ask more favors from Jack than he already does but it's always good to at least know all the options.

"Thank you Malachi, oh I love bringing up peoples spirits. Ever since they quarantined us all people have been angry, or depressed. It is nice to see smiles instead of scowls." She slides into a seat.

She blushes a bit at Will's words. "Their just happy to have someone sing just for them. Can you imagine if they saw me in my normal day in day out look, bleary eyed in front of a hologram display working code." She ended it with a wide smile for her friend.

"Yes I still can't believe the holography and hard light is amazing Malachi, Will is right it must have been very costly but I absolutely love it. I would have it all over the city and have people play my game !" She laughed a bit at her stupid and silly statement.

Her eyes couldn't help move to her brother though, "You ok Eli ? You look like your in space ?"

Eli snaps back to reality as he hears Veronica speak. I'm fine, just trying to remember something. I got a message from Connor. Supposedly a friend is coming to town. Just trying to figure out who..

"Oh, really from the outside ?" Veronica looks surprised.

Veronica worried a bit about her feeling about being watched but here among all her friends and her brother. Malachi was a bit scary but that might be a good thing right now.

"Don't worry I am sure your memories will come back, I am just worried about what the military might have done to you that you don't want to remember."

"An old friend, huh? I wonder how he's getting inside the QZ. I'd love to follow his trail back out. I haven't seen Amanda since this all began." Will looks sullen for a moment, but then his smile returns.

"But maybe we'll get lucky. There haven't been any outbreaks since the first round. Maybe the quarantine will finally be lifted."

Will motions for the waitress to bring him another drink, then downs the last gulp of his current one.

"Any news on what started the outbreak ? I mean nothing like this has ever happened before. People dying yes but people gaining weird freakish powers, that is the stuff of media entertainment."

"The last time I spoke to my mother, she said their were rampant rumors, but nothing conclusive." Will accepts the new drink without looking at the waitress. "Everything from an alien virus from one of the colonies to government funded experimentation, and even class wars/ethnic cleansing. No one seems to really know anything.

"The general consensus is that it's contained in the QZ, so they're worried about letting us out. I guess no one else has developed powers anywhere else yet. So for now, we're stuck in here til they figure it out."

"Alien virus ? I never heard that rumor. Could you imagine." Veronica got that look she often got when she just breached a firewall.

"It makes me wonder what alien contact would be like, you know with sentient aliens not just a virus. I would love to be part of the contact effort but we humans kill and mistreat each other for stupid reasons, so how ready would we really be."

She orders a drink herself.

"I really am sorry you got caught in here with us Will, you should be out there with your fiance and mother. I would miss you a lot but it sucks that you were here when the quarantine hit."

Jack snaps out when the applause starts. He had completely missed Veronica's performance. Not that he didn't enjoy listening to her voice or even her company. Being in the QZ had been his choice and he is constantly reminded that he doesn't truly belong to this place. He has not been there when things where at their worse. A friendly face like Veronica's did help feeling less out of place, maybe even less... lonely.

He sips his drink and looks around trying to spot anything Malachi may be interesting in. It seems like the gangster took Veronica up to the VIP balcony, his favourite spots at Jessica's. Jack couldn't see Bella around and Kurk was still nowhere to be found... His attention is broken by Richard's words. "Ah yes. I'm expecting to get a new batch soon enough." Jack mentions dismissing Richard's worries. "There have been some delays, but it should all be sorted now. How much do you still have?". Jack reconsiders his approach and tries something more personable "How is she doing by the way? Your little sister, I mean". Her needing more was not good. Not only smuggling Betavive would be more complicated and dangerous, if she got worse, Richard may become less... collaborative...

The mention of "large sums of money" capture Jack's attention. "Money? In the QZ? What could possible costs that much here?" he laughs it off as a joke while trying to carefully read Richard's body language to find out what Richard, or even better, that gangster Evelyn was up to.

Richard sighs and in his head goes through the small stock of Beta he has left. "Two days supply, three at most." He takes another sip from his glass. The alcohol here was better than in most places in the zone but the stuff he could afford was still not amazing.
When Jack asks about Alexis' situation, he hesitates. He doesn't want to tell him any more than he has to but Richard needs Jack's help and it seems to be a pretty innocent question. "She's doing okay, considering the circumstances. She doesn't know about the med problems and I'm planning to keep it that way. Fiona is with her right now."

When Jack asks about the money, Richard shrugs. He tries to make it look casual but isn't sure about how successful he is at that. "I probably won't need it", he says. In his head, he adds: And if I can avoid it, I won't get it from you, even if I do need it
His body language is tense, like it is most of the time, especially when he is around Jack. Whatever he is planning to use the money for, it doesn't look like he just wants to buy himself something nice.

"Fiona? Ah yes, Alexis' friend Veronica told me about." Jack recognised the name after awhile. "I think it's a good choice to not worry your sister with such small issues. It's hard on her as it is..." he sympathises a bit distracted hoping to spot Kurk showing up at anytime.

"Most likely you won't" Jack agrees with Richard about the money adding, in a mix of reassurance and opportunism, "But you know that if you were to need anything else, I could try to find ways..."

Richard eyes Jack suspiciously. "I know you could. But you're not the kind of guy to give anything away for free. What would it cost me?"

Malachi grins as he listens to the discussion at the table.

"I don't care how it happened or what caused it," he says. "I was doing okay before the virus. Since it hit, I'm drowning in money and women, and to top it all off, I'm a god-damned super hero."

When he says the last bit, his eyes light up as he places his hand over the flame of the candle in the center of the table. The flame licks the palm of his hand, then seems to be sucked slowly into it until it disappears. Malachi's smile is mischievous as he closes his hand into a fist, turns his hand palm upward, and opens his fingers again. Tiny flames dance from the center of his palm, one each up the length of each finger and thumb until the end of each finger burns like a small candle.

He flicks his wrist, and the flames are gone in an instant, followed immediately by his laughter.

"Energy Absorption and Redirection is what they call it online." One eyebrow shoots up as he looks around at all of you. "Not too bad for a poor kid from Old Westgate, huh?"

"It is impressive. You can do that with any energy ?" Veronica was always impressed at seeing people use the unusual powers they have.

"You would think they would want to hire us, or put us in product placements right ? Instead of lock us up. It is so strange but maybe, maybe people are afraid of us."

Jack fakes an outraged look at Richard insinuation. "You make me a villain with your words!" he replies calmly finishing his drink. "The truth is that these are difficult times and what you're asking is... difficult. You want rare things, precious things..." Jack look serious at his friend. "...there are costs involved you know? All I'm asking is for some information in exchange." Jack opens his arm around to show his surroundings. "You don't mean to tell me that Ms. Parker of yours is what you want for these people? "

Richard looks around to make sure they're not overheard.
"You're already bleeding me dry of information. Everything important I know, I tell you. I can hardly tell you more than I know" He finishes his drink and orders another one without a moment of pause. "I don't care about politics. Ms. Parker looks down on our kind but what can am I supposed to do about it? I'm safer under her than I would be with Malachi's people."
After a second of silence, he adds: "You know, forget about the money thing. I won't need it."
Hopefully that's true, he thinks. Hopefully, Eli can get that money together.

Jack replies immediately "Fight back! Your... I mean, our kind is special. These new powers are precious, you can't just let anyone get a hold on them. They are the key for a better future" his hand slowly fading away, a fake invisibility trick that he kept using to prove that, he too, had powers.