Chapter 1 - A night at the Electric Labyrinth

Underground Parking B2Max notices a subtle shift in the guard's demeanor, a slight tensing of his shoulders that indicates sincerity. "Yeah, we can pull up the footage in a minute on our screens here," he confirms, gesturing toward the security cameras. "Just haven't had a chance yet with my colleague tied up with the cops."

He nods toward the screens in the security box, where rows of monitors display various angles of the parking lot. "It's all digital, centralized in a control room that's backed up. Don't worry, we'll have their faces soon enough in VNet HD."

"Perfect," Max says patting the guy on the shoulder. "And can you access the main files and backups from here? There might be a bit we need to scrub. I know you want to help us out."

He continues pushing into the man's mind, giving him the urge to do what Max says.

This guy better just get this done, he thinks to himself. He's still thinking about those pics Seo-ah sent.

He scratches the back of his head, puzzled. "Why would we delete any of it? Don't we want to catch those jackasses?" His brow furrows in thought. "I wouldn't even know how to do that. The data is stored centrally, and only a few people have access to those servers." He gestures toward the security cabin. "From here, we can see everything, but we can't delete or manipulate anything. We can't even stop the equipment. And why would we need to, unless we were doing something we're not supposed to?"

"Sorry, I must have misspoke. what I meant was we want to make sure no one accidentally deletes anything. Good job that can't happen from here." He looks sideways at Connor and Tony.

You need Tav, Max thinks to Connor and Charlie. You just hit the limit of what I can do.

Tav looks up as the two dancers approach and attempt to engage them. She realizes that her absent focusing on the near distance as she contemplates all the situations of the evening have been clear cues for the two dancers to approach them. Tav smiles and squeezes Selvie's hand under the table. "Oh..hi Penelope..Vanessa..." As this is certainly not Tav and Selvie's first dance to Moonrise, they both know the girls by name and have spent some time with each of them in the VIP in the recent past.

So as not to appear to have mislead the dancers with her apparent attention to their performance, which would be rude in the extreme, Tav nods. "A private dance or three sounds wonderful right about now. Lead us the way."


'Charlie? Any luck with locating that Anika person Connor is so hot for tonight? There's a big organized crime meeting going down here tonight. I have a bad feeling there's going to be a bloody coup taking place in between. Call it Tav's intuition.'

"All right, man. Good luck," Max says as he darts back toward the exit. "I've got my phone if you think I can help. I might not answer right away, but I'll get back to you."

And with that he hurries up the sidewalk toward the hotel where Seo-ah is waiting rather impatiently.

Tav! There you are. That doesn't sound good. Might be dangerous for you two there. Can you get out safely? There's a chance the cameras in the parking garage caught Connor's powers, I don't suppose you could do something about that...the guard said the recordings are kept in a main security room. You'd still have to access it to work your magic, wouldn't you?

We've got a license plate. I'll text Jenn and see if she can run it.

Still helping Charlie hobble to the street, he one hand texts the cop.

Connor: Know you're busy, but kidnapping in progress, one of ours taken. Jack in pursuit. Run a plate? GYB-4778. Black van.

Connor: Anika Kessler. From Nx. A rental? Aight, thx. Owe u

Jenn says it's a rental, from Hertz. Can't do anything more for us.

His demeanor is inconsistent, panic and determination trading places rapidly in his thoughts.

Having flattened herself against the van as best she could -- to both attract as little attention from other drivers, and to hold on as best she could -- Jack curses silently as she tries with one hand to text the group, and to send her GPS location. The van's driving is too erratic and eventually she just decides to hang on to see where they are going.
Playing the angles, Jack slides to the side of the van's roof and leaps quietly from the vehicle as it passes by a row of trucks. She lands lightly on the side opposite from the ambulance, Merc, and two women; heartbeats later she was ducked behind a truck bed and is both watching what's about to happen, and texting the Nexus escapees she grew up with.

Jack: Big trouble. Goons who took Anika are about to hand her off to big shots. Two women. Need help! Base of Ed Koch Bridge, sending location -- they are about to move Anika into an ambulance! Will stop them if I can, but badly outnumbered!

Max stands at the desk in the lobby and asks for Seo-Ah by name, telling them she's expecting him. His phone buzzes as he's heading to the elevator, and he checks it once he's on his way up. It's Jack. Dammit. He didn't even like Anika. When the elevator doors open, he steps out into a hallway and turns in the direction indicated by the signage, heading toward Seo-Ah's room.

Dammit, dammit, dammit. He has to at least see her, let her know he's here.

They don't need him anyway. Goons. Outnumbered. A fight. That's not a place where Max would be able to help. He convinces himself they're fine without him, and knocks firmly on the door to Seo-Ah's suite.

'Don't worry about us. I'll work on the security problem.' Tav mentally returns to Charlie.

Taking Selvie's hand, they rise to join the two dancers. Tav picks up her glass and downs the rest her drink and then offers Penelope her other hand, that the two girls can lead them all into one of the VIP booths. With the special gifts, Tav knows for certain that there is a well-hidden camera in each of the VIP booths to ensure the safety of the dancers.

She'll need a moment to focus to put the camera in a loop feed and tap into the network with her intangible, and invisible to the naked human eye, psychic tendrils.

"Lead on." She assents to the dancers' desires to dance for Tav and Selvie; not that it takes a lot of nudging in the first place.

"No, I was planning on getting blitzed and going home with a tennis babe. Char- er, Tony, thanks for coming. This is New York, we should find taxicab in forty seconds."

He looks around waving at any passing cars.

Moonrise - Tav and SelvieAs Tav and Selvie follow Penelope and Vanessa into a private room, the atmosphere shifts from the lively club ambiance to a more intimate setting. The booth is draped in luxurious fabrics, with dim lighting casting a sultry glow over everything.

Penelope and Vanessa lead them to a plush seating area, where they encourage Tav and Selvie to make themselves comfortable. With a flick of her wrist, Penelope dims the lights further, creating an ambiance of secrecy and allure.

"Make yourselves at home, ladies," Penelope purrs, her voice low and inviting. "We're here to make your night unforgettable."

As the music pulses in the background, Penelope and Vanessa begin to move with sensual grace, their bodies undulating to the rhythm. They dance for Tav and Selvie, their movements mesmerizing and hypnotic.

Tav can feel the camera's presence in the corner of the room, its lens watching their every move. Meanwhile, Selvie watches the dancers with a mixture of awe and fascination, her eyes following their every movement. She leans in closer to Tav, a smile playing on her lips as she enjoys the tantalizing show before them.