402 lines
22 KiB
Plaintext
402 lines
22 KiB
Plaintext
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### ###
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### #### ### ### ### ####
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### ### ##### ### ###
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### ### ### ### ###
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### ### ##### ### ###
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########## ### ### ##########
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### ###
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Underground eXperts United
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Presents...
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####### ## ## ####### # # ####### ####### #######
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## ## ## ## ##### # ## ## ## ##
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#### ## ## #### # # #### ####### ##
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## ## ## ## ##### # ## ## ## ##
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## ## ####### ####### # # ####### ####### ##
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[ Scenes Of The Assassin ] [ By DisordeR ]
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____________________________________________________________________
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____________________________________________________________________
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scenes of the assassin
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----------------------
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The thump of the bass shook the walls throughout the club giving the
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perception it was in a foreign land. Fluid movement across the dance floor
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spilled out by the hundred or so bodies gyrating in near unison. No one had
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entered the club for nearly an hour and just a handful had left. Every week
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for the past year Tric had come here to dance away the week's frustration
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that built up within.
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Tonight was a good night, one of his best. As he moved around
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slipping into his musical trance, his hand continually strayed down to his
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left pocket guaranteeing the lump was still there. It was unlikely he would
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lose it in the club, but it wasn't every day you walked around with five
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thousand in cash. He thought back to the seventy hours he had worked to get
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the money this week, and the delight of his employer. Well, the delight part
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was just a guess, it was always hard to tell the real mood of someone through
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email. Hacking for foreign governments was a very profitable venture.
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Drums assaulted the crowd as the singer's voice cut out and a heavy
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base line kicked in. Strobe lights began their own dance over the mass of
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teenagers in the club. As a wide variety of sounds struck out loud, the
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strobes quickened in pace. Tric snapped his head up and opened his eyes
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looking straight ahead into the wall. His quick moves of dance morphed into a
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new form as he shook violently.
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A lone figure wrapped in shadows walked out of the club. Tric looked
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down to his empty pocket as he reached around to feel his back drenched in
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sweat. The figure in black put on his sunglasses and continued walking down
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the street. Bringing his hand back around, Tric noticed it wasn't sweat, but
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his own blood on the freshly removed knife. One hundred yards down the road
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the man in black flipped through the wad of cash and checked to make sure his
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second knife was still secure. Tric fell to the dance floor, dead.
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Four blocks away the assassin sat down at a coffee shop and ordered a
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glass of water. Even though he had done this hundreds of times in the past,
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his heart beat furiously as he surveyed his surroundings. Ten minutes passed
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before the first police car sped by followed shortly by an ambulance. He
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grinned as he watched the ambulance pass since he knew it wouldn't be too
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helpful. Even if the mark survived the knife, he had to deal with poison that
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laced the blade.
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<***>
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Detestable was the only word to describe Draper. He had all of the
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fine qualities of a wart hog, and the personality to match. Even in the
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freezing weather surrounding the resort, Draper somehow managed to sweat.
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Coupled with the old sweatsuit three sizes too small, and his lack of bathing
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for two weeks, he was outright disgusting.
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About the only thing he had going for him was his ability to launder
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money. Somehow his past had taught him subtle tricks in covering his tracks
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in the financial system, and turned it into a lucrative career. His contacts
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refused to meet with him because of his hygiene, not secrecy, and that was
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the way he liked it. Draper had only dealt with a few members of an unnamed
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government agency in his past, and planned on keeping it that way.
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His three-night stay in Vail was almost at an end. His work had only
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taken a few hours the first night, but he always demanded time off to
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"recover" as he liked to say. He packed his bags with a fervor that didn't
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match his demeanor. Once done he grabbed his bags after throwing the room key
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on the table. In the distance he heard the steady beat of the helicopter that
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would take him back to his home in New York.
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Downstairs he stopped at a candy machine hoping for a bag of chips
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and a Sprite for the helicopter ride. He fumbled for the change needed to get
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the chips almost dropping one of his bags in the process. The first quarter
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dropped in the machine with a few clicks. The second followed but had bigger
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results. A split second before Draper went deaf from the explosion, thousands
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of shards of glass from the machine sliced through his face and chest.
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Draper was dead before he hit the floor. Seconds later, a black Miata
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sped out of the parking lot, a slight grin on his face. He picked up the
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mobile fun and speed dialed. As the remote line rang, he turned up the music
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to drown out everything else. He couldn't hear the other end pick up the
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phone, but he knew they would, and the music delivered the message. He would
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collect the other half of his payment later that day.
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<***>
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Down time was always fun for him. A person can only take so much
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killing before they have to take a break and smell the roses along the path
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of life. Movies was his answer. He loved nothing more than a good movie to
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escape into, often imagining he was the hero or occasionally the villain.
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Either way, it was his fun time.
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The Majestic Theatre was his favorite place to check out the newest
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movies. He felt as if he owned the place because of the amount of time he
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spent there, and had considered buying the theater when he went legit. Until
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then, more new movies. Today's movie of choice had the appearance of a
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typical action flick with lots of guns and mindless violence. Not his
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favorite, but typically amusing enough to life his spirits.
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Today he was accompanied by Juli who worked over at the 82nd Street
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Deli. Not his first date with her, but he couldn't dedicate any feeling to
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her because of his job and lifestyle. She knew it though, and enjoyed his
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company. Good for him, she was very tolerant and didn't ask questions about
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his work, or some past incidents. As the lights dimmed they both kicked their
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feet up and positioned themselves to enjoy the film.
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The previews rolled by displaying upcoming nights where he would be
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in the same place, at about the same time, maybe even with the same company.
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Juli nudged him away from his thoughts after she noticed him zoning out, he
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smiled in return. Seconds after the last preview something happened that he
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wasn't quite expecting, his pager went off. For most people this was a
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typical occurance, for him, it was much worse.
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In less than a second he jumped up as if his seat had caught on fire.
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Half leaning over, he whispered to Juli while handing her his pager and some
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money. He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before running down the aisle
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and out the side door. A small sigh is all Juli could do as she clipped the
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pager on her belt, pocketed the money, and sat back counting the minutes
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pass.
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Exactly ten minutes later, the theater burst into living hell as
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twenty armed federal agents stormed the aisles. Juli acted quite surprised at
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the intrusion and cooperated with the big armed men. Even answering all the
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questions about the strange man trying to pick up on her, it still took two
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hours before they were satisfied with all of her answers.
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She walked home with a small grin on her face, impressed that he
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always managed to get away like that. It was only a matter of days before he
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called her again, asking to make it up to her, which always turned out to be
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a nicer night than any of the movies. Until then, work as usual... and
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puzzlement over who always paged him like that, why he was wanted, and how he
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always managed to get away.
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<***>
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Since the first time he received that page, he couldn't help but
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wonder who his guardian angel was. Like other parts of his life, the near
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busts were almost like clockwork, coming once every three months, almost to
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the day. Someone high up saw it in his or her best interest to keep him
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alive... he just wanted to know who and why. Was it his employers looking out
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for a good employee? Or perhaps someone else higher up that sanctioned his
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actions.
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Each time the page came, it only said "escape." The first time it had
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happened he almost didn't make it out in time because he was unsure of what
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it meant exactly. His latest was unexpected only because he had forgotten it
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was a leap year. He was expecting it tomorrow even though he had no idea
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where he would have been.
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Two days later he walked into the deli where Juli worked and asked
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for a BLT and diet coke. Juli smiled warmly at him before telling him it
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would be another hour before she was off. As usual the place was fairly busy
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serving the lunch crowd of surrounding businesses. Since Juli opened every
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weekday morning, she was always off by early afternoon leaving the rest of
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the day for whatever.
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Two o'clock rolled around as she finished up the midday duties. A few
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minutes after she came out from behind the counter and sat next to him. She
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seemed quite happy to see him which always brought a smile to his face. He
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cleaned up his lunch mess before they headed out to spend the day together.
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Making it up to her was always enjoyable since he usually spent the entire
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day out on the town with her. From past conversations, he had gathered that
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she didn't get out much which would explain her good mood each time they
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spent the day together. Either way, there was something else about her today
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that seemed different.
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<***>
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Their first stop was a small cafe a few blocks away on 91st Street.
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The cafe was nothing more than a hole in the wall, but the coffee was
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outstanding and the place was littered with old computers hooked into the
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internet. Since he never bought a computer of his own, but maintained several
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email addresses to stay in touch with various contacts, trips to the cafe
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were frequent. He liked the anonymous access this place gave him. Julie liked
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to hang out on IRC and chat with a few friends from Texas where she used to
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live.
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Juli enjoyed a Latte while she chatted on "#texas" while he went to
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each of his accounts checking mail. There were only a handful of people this
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early in the day. Each scattered about drinking and chatting about daily
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affairs. It ended up taking the better part of two hours to finish everything
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up. He threw down a twenty to cover their tab and left the rest as a tip for
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the computer time. From there, they headed toward the zoo.
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<***>
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Despite the beautiful surroundings and the exotic wildlife, the two
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walked hand in hand throughout the zoo very slowly. Conversation seemed to
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turn back to a variety of daily chat rather than their normal deeper
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conversations. Every time he looked at her she seemed to glance away as if
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she had been studying him. He had a feeling this would come some day or
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another, not that he was ready for it by any means.
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His mouth opened several times but shut a split second later each
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time. Everything he thought to say to start the conversation on his terms
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just didn't sound right after his mouth opened. She saw his nervousness and
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grinned. Realizing he just couldn't get things started, she began.
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"I'll start, not that I know where to begin really. I guess you are
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probably expecting this to come some day or another.
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Hope you understand where I am coming from with this."
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He nodded and smiled to himself, impressed with her strength, as she
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continued on.
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"Ever since we met, I could tell you valued your privacy, and I know
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you offer what information or feelings that you can, but I want to
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know you better. I mean, I know you can't talk about your job much
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for whatever reasons, but I know you can tell me more about you."
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It took him several minutes to digest what she said and plan his
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typical carefully worded reply. They continued walking while he figured out
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what to say to her. Even after thinking of how to start, it took a poke in
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the ribs to actually begin.
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"Well, you're right about the job. I can't talk about it for a lot of
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reasons, some personal, some professional. What you don't understand
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is that the personal reasons keep me distant, not the professional
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reasons. I don't know how to explain this really. I guess it's a
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really big catch 22 of sorts."
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He took a pause from his confusion and led her down a path toward the
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aquariums. While he walked, he couldn't help but to look down at his feet,
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unable to make eye contact with her. Squeezing her hand tightly in his, he
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continued on.
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"As for my past, it's the typical college drop out story or
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something. Been on my own since I was sixteen. Finished high school
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before working as a computer technician for a while. Started
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contracting for some interesting groups who did some different
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things. Ended up doing a little college while I worked for them,
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but dropped out because the money was better. While I worked there,
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they kept training me in different areas, and here I am."
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She half-squinted one eye and looked at him as he told his story. She
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could tell he was leaving the most interesting parts out, but that was fine.
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It was more than obvious he couldn't talk about a lot of it. She figured it
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had to do with one of the secret government agencies or another, and because
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of his use of computers she guessed it had to do with hacking or spying or
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something. She didn't really care to know since he made sure it never
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affected her.
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Even though they had only known each other for ten or eleven months,
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she felt a deep liking for him. Every time she thought about the whole thing,
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she could never really tell if it was love until she was with him. Then, she
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couldn't deny it.
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"Well, that's a start I guess, but certainly not the finish."
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She smiled really big letting him know she was happy with his
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explanation for now. Not wanting to let him off the hook so easily, she kept
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going.
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"First off, can I assume that you haven't seen anyone else since we
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started hanging out? And if not, why not?"
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He looked over at her surprised at how straight forward she was and
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laughed quietly. At least this was an easy question to answer.
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"The reason I am never with anyone is because I need complete and
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unconditional acceptance from them. But I can't make them promise
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that without knowing all about me... which I can't tell them without
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that unconditional acceptance. So I am always in a bind of sorts.
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This goes back to the Catch 22 and why I don't talk about certain
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things. If I could somehow manage to find someone willing to accept
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me at face value, and to unconditionally accept who I am, then I
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guess I could be a little more open. Just a matter of finding that
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person who can truthfully do that. And let me tell you, it would be
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a little more than 'disturbing' what I would tell that person. Do you
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see what I mean?"
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He wasn't sure if she could ever fully comprehend what he just said,
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and even less sure she would respond positively to it.
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"Basically, I would tell that person a lot of really frightening
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things, and have to rely on them to accept them, and then accept me
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afterwards. Since I know what I would tell them, it gives me a good
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basis for never telling anyone."
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He glanced at her trying to measure her response, silently hoping
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this would be it. He had desperately wanted to find a companion in life,
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someone who could share his dark past and his dark present. Someone that
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could look past that and see the whole story. He had given up on finding
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anyone long ago because of the weird nature of his work. The smile slipped
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away from her as she considered what he said. They both knew it was an offer
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of sorts, but she wasn't sure what was to come if she said 'yes'.
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"Well, it's kind of hard for me too. I can't promise that I will
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accept it since I don't know what it is. There are some things that I
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don't like and I refuse to deal with. On the other hand there are a
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few things most people consider 'twisted' that I have always looked
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past."
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Her ability to reason and look at all points of a problem had always
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been appealing. She knew exactly what was up and just had to decide whether
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or not if she wanted to take that chance. He gave a sincere smile to her to
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try to comfort her. She hesitated with her response but finally managed to
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continue.
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"Let me think about it tonight. I can see it in your face that this
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isn't some trivial bullshit, and that it is something I really have
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to consider. Do you mind?"
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"Of course not! Take all the time you need....shit..I'm getting
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paged."
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He checked his pager to see a message indicating his services were
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needed once again. Of course he would get paged right now.
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"I have to go. I probably won't be able to see you for two or three
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days but when I get back I will find you."
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"I understand. I guess this works out for both of us. It will give me
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time to think about it, and time for you to worry about my answer."
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She gave him a big mischievous smile after her response. Better keep
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him on his toes she figured. They said their goodbye's and took off in
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opposite directions, more because it felt like a parting of ways, not because
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they were really going in different directions. Both walked with the weight
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on their shoulders.
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<***>
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It was three days before he returned to town, happy with his
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performance during the job. The time to wind down was definitely upon him
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because of minor complications over the past three days. He took some time to
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clean his place up a little, grab a few days worth of snacks in case he spent
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time at his place, and to ready himself for Juli's answer. He actually hadn't
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thought about it much because of everything else happening, but now it was
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the only thing on his mind.
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He picked up and set down the phone at least five times before he
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could muster the nerve to call her. The conversation went a little roughly
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because of the nervousness on both sides, but he managed to pick a time and
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place to meet her. Now, he had to find a way to pass the hours before they
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met. Those hours seemed longer than anything he had ever encountered.
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He walked into the restaurant with a fear he had never faced before.
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The feeling unnerved him to the point he almost couldn't go through with it.
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To top it off, his mind raced trying to figure out why he was losing control
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of himself like this. It was just one woman! He looked around nervously
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trying to find her, unsure if she had already shown up. He wandered around
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the various sections to see if she had already grabbed a table.
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After walking through the entire place he headed back up to the front
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to wait for her. As he walked into the lobby, he saw her walking through the
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front door. His heart stopped beating while they took a few more steps to
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stand face to face. Sweat dripped down from his armpits and his hands were
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very moist. He wasn't sure why this was such a big deal, but nothing he did
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could make his body quit reacting like it was.
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They both said 'hi' and turned to head toward a table. He glanced
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over at her and couldn't help but wonder about the look on her face. She had
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a very intent look in her eyes which betrayed the half smile she showed. His
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mind read it as an extreme; either very good or very bad. Something about the
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way she was smiling today made him wonder about her intentions. This was
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quite different for him as he was accustomed to reading her like a book.
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After the standard procedure of ordering drinks, appetizers, and the
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main course, it came down to it. He had made idle chat with her waiting for
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them to be alone for a little bit. Unable to contain himself, he started off.
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"I take it you have had time to think about our talk the other
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day..."
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Before he could finish, she was nodding 'yes'.
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"So.. After thinking about things.. I mean.. damn you! You're
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enjoying this aren't you?"
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A big smile crept over her face as he said that since that was
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exactly her plan.
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"So throw caution to the wind..."
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He scooted up and leaned on the table, anxious as he had ever for
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anything. His hands kept clinching back and forth, sweating like mad. His
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left foot was tapping quickly to some other beat or thought he had been
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having. His mind played out every scenario for every possible answer she
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could give. His heart screamed as he waited for her to say something. It was
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then that he realized what had made him lose control over all of this. One
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simple little thing. True and unconditional love for her. Now he only had to
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wait half a second more before he knew if the feeling was mutual...
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<***>
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Another day on the job. He never knew what order it would be in, just
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that he would kill, escape, and get paid. It had been like that for years now
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which was mutually beneficial to both him and his employers. Not that he
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really knew who they were, nor did he care. Some gut feeling told him that if
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he did know, someone like him would be hired to pass him along. Oh well,
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another day... but now, it would be another day with someone who accepted him
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for who he was. And that meant everything in the world.
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.dis.
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---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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uXu #387 Underground eXperts United 1997 uXu #387
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Call LHD<48> -> +1-818-546-2332
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---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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