Realization hurts(Darcy,cont.)

[hugodouglass]

Hugo gave Casey a wide smile, saying:
"Thanks for the offer on watching Lisa. I appreciate it very much." In fact, Hugo appreciated it SO much that Casey would be receiving a few hundred credits to her bank account from an unknown donor. He knew the kid could benefit from some extra spending money, especially with her being a student(he knew what it was like to be in college...not a fun experience when his parents weren't giving him money to spend). He hadn't even touched his bank account since he had been on the Venia, seeing as everything he needed was covered(not only covered, but he had seen a few deposits from the UGAP in his back account, signaling a down payment for his services).

The detective did feel something odd, a twinge of unexpected events about to unfold. He usually got this feeling when he was close to a breakthrough on a case...was this being triggered by his findings on the splinter groups? Or was it something different...

[darcyneumann]

"No problem, I'm sure we're going to have tonnes of fun, aren't we Lisa?" Casey grinned.

Casey was considerate enough to not run the hot water for the sink until after Darcy had emerged from the shower, otherwise they may have heard loud cursing coming from the bathroom, something that Lisa didn't need to hear. Once she was dry and changed into her clean clothes she came out of the bedroom - without tripping this time - and gave them a twirl. "Better? Good, let's go."

Casey finished with the washing and they headed straight out into the cool Autumn day. The campus was gorgeous in the fall, the auburn coloured leaves drifting in the breeze across the pavement, lining the streets with a crunchy wonderland for children of all sizes to play in - Casey certainly didn't mind kicking the leaves up with her feet on the way to class. They had a quick whizz around the kitchens where Casey did her practicals, snaffling some samples for later, then headed to the library.
It was a magnificent building, built in the 1900's and refurbished two or three times since, they still had the original glass dome in the ceiling that allowed light to filter down and illuminate the building from the inside. All the books were made of paper, like back in the olden days - students love being able to come here and sit and read without having to touch a computer screen.

Casey was propping Lisa up to reach one of the old books on a top shelf, a little way from where Hugo and Darcy were standing, when a scream pierced the air, then the loud bang of what sounded like a shot gun went off in the lobby downstairs.
Darcy's heart thudded in her chest and she immediately hurried over to the girls, checking they were both okay despite the fact that they had been nowhere near the gun blast. Why were she and Hugo always getting into trouble like this?

[hugodouglass]

"Really strange to see books in print again. I haven't seen some of these since my college days when my criminal studies professors would force us to read from print. Builds character, they said." He had just finished saying this to Darcy when he heard the blast. That wasn't a pulse rifle...in fact, it sounded like an old sawed off shotgun. The screams rushed upstairs to their ears, causing Hugo to put his senses on alert.
"Dad?" Lisa asked quite normally, as if hearing a shotgun blast was a normal occurence. Strong girl.
"Darcy, here's my communicator. Pull up SFO police and put in an emergency call. I want you all to get somewhere safe and hidden. Do not, I repeat, do NOT come out until this is resolved." Hugo was not going to listen to any other alternatives. He was already going through possible scenarios in his head, all of them quite negative.
"Dad? Why can't I..."
"Lisa..."
"Yes sir." She quietly responded. Hugo had trained her for emergency situations. It was quite simple really: listen to Daddy and don't ask questions.

Hugo approached the steps, descended each one slowly, the lobby now eerily quiet except for a few whimpers. He could now hear someone talking...high pitched voice, male, probably mid twenties. The voice talked as Hugo cautiously descended:
"All my life you never listened! NEVER! NEVER!" Someone screamed, shotgun blast, continuance of monologue:
"DON'T INTERRUPT ME! NOW IS MY TIME TO SPEAK!" Hugo was now at the bottom of the steps. He could see a few students lying on the ground, hands on their heads, shaking. They didn't look up to see Hugo, which was good. Could have blown his cover.

"I WANT JUSTICE! I WANT SOMEONE TO HEAR!"
"I'm listening." Hugo knew this was stupid, but he knew how to distract someone with discourse. Of course, he had never done it in such a strained situation, but... there's a first for everything.
"WHO IS THAT?!?" Hugo now revealed himself, arms up in the air in a sign of peace. The kid standing in the center of the lobby indeed held a sawn off shotgun...looked like it was from the early 2000's. He hadn't seen one of those things live. The kid himself was raggedy, shirt too long for his thin frame, dark brown eyes suspiciously shifting from Hugo to his gun to the students.He looked like a war refugee(had an eastern european accent as well...Czech? Hungary?).
"What's your name man?"
"None of your business!"
"Ok, ok. What do you want?" Hugo knew that a police force was coming soon(or so he hoped).
"TO BE LISTENED!"
"What do you want us to listen to?"
"There is no justice here! You Americans invite us to your country, your promises of wealth and great fame enticing my people to come here! BUT LOOK AT ME!!! LOOK AT ME!" Spittle was flying from the kid's mouth. Boy he was disturbed.

[darcyneumann]

Darcy took the communicator, but past her initial instinct to check on the girls, she was in two minds on how to proceed. She either followed Hugo's 'orders', or she didn't.
She'd call the police, make sure the girls were safe, then think about what to do next.
Ushering the girls down between the bookshelves, she asked the communicator for the police. "Yes, hello, there's been a gun shot fired on the San Francisco city campus at the library. We think it may be one of the students."
"Someone else has called in already ma'am. We're on our way."
Shoving the communicator in her back pocket, she looked for somewhere to hide.

A closet, perfect.
Practically wrenching the door open, she heard Casey say.
"You're going after him, aren't you?"
"Maybe."
"Just don't get hurt, okay? I don't wanna lose you too."
Darcy looked round at her daughter, placing a hand on her head before pulling her into a hug, "I promise I'll come back." Lisa joined them in their group hug.
"Stay here, keep the door locked, don't open it for anyone but me or Hugo, you got that?"
"Loud and clear."

Once the door was closed and locked, Darcy slipped her shoes off - the heels were noisy against the plastic flooring - and hurried back along the rows of shelves to the balcony where she could see down onto what was happening below.
The sight was frightening.
She'd heard about situations such as these, where one of the students lost it and went on a rampage over campus. The thought of losing her mind scared Darcy witless, so she couldn't imagine what this boy was going through right now.
BUT LOOK AT ME!!! LOOK AT ME!"
She snuck one step down, making sure to stay out of harms way for the moment, and unnoticed.

[hugodouglass]

"Listen man, we can get you to an International relations office, get this..." The kid pumped the shotgun and blasted the floor, shouting:
"That won't WORK! It HAS NEVER WORKED! THERE MUST BE ACTION!"
"I can get you in there, I've got connections, I can work around all this. Just put the gun down and we can talk."
"I'VE HAD ENOUGH TALK!" The student leveled his shotgun straight at Hugo, finger hovering over the trigger finger.
"You really want to kill me son? You really want to be locked up on some slave planet while the rest of your people are suffering? You're giving your people a bad image, you know that?" Hugo knew that this was a final stand for him. If this didn't work, Hugo was going to have to think of something else, fast.
"I GIVE THEM JUSTICE!"
"What is justice?"
"DON'T LECTURE ME!" Hugo knew this was getting strained, the detective hoping in the back of his mind that some form of back-up would be coming soon.

"Sir, activate the audio jammer?"
"Yeah. That should do it."

Within a few moments, Hugo's(and everyone in the lobby) ears were ringing with a painful noise, the detective sinking down to his knees, a silent scream on his face. He couldn't hear the shouts of the young man, the police officers who crashed through the lobby doors and subdued him, only ringing.

Then silence.

Hugo looked up to see the kid subdued on the ground, energy restraints placed on him, two officers standing around the body.

It was over.

[darcyneumann]

Darcy almost let slip an involuntary gasp when the gun was turned on Hugo, and she had to use all her willpower to remain crouched on the step and out of danger.
Not that it matter. A few moments later, her ears were screeching with the horrific sound of the audio jammer signal, and she buried her head in her knees, holding her arms over the top of her head till the sound and pain stopped.
Peeking over the banister, she saw that it was over and heaved a huge sigh of relief, rising to her feet.
"Are you okay?" she called down to Hugo, knowing he probably wouldn't be best pleased that she wasn't hiding like he'd instructed her to.
Then she remembered the girls.
Pelting back along the floor, barefoot, she reached the door and quickly knocked three times, accompanying it with, "girls, it's me, Darcy, you can open up."
She heard the click of the lock then Casey barrelled out of the room, checking first to see that Darcy was okay before securing her in a vice grip... otherwise known as a hug.
"What happened?"

[hugodouglass]

The officer now spoke:
"Please vacate the building in an orderly manner. Are there any wounded?" No student replied, rather being content to stand and be grateful for having been spared from a possible slaughter. Thankfully, there were no wounded, so they did as the officer suggested.
"Sir? Please move along."
"I'm waiting for my family."
"Sir, they will be filing out shortly. Now please move." This time the officer was a bit more forceful, causing Hugo to reach for his belt and remove his ID card, handing it to the officer, who then proceeded to scan it with an authentication device hanging on his belt.
"Sorry about that, Detective."
"No worries. Just doing your job. And may I say, doing it well."
"Thanks. "The cop relaxed, knowing he was in the company of a fellow lawman. Hugo then realized: he had told them to stay put.

Great.

He walked up the stairs, calling out their names, slowly realizing what he had said to the officer:
"I'm waiting for my family."

Did he...say that?

[darcyneumann]

"We're here."
Casey emerged from the bookshelves first, carrying Darcy's shoes, then Darcy herself appeared, Lisa in her arms. The girl immediately wanted to be put down when her father came into view, and Darcy obliged, taking her shoes from Casey, slipping them back on her feet before taking her girl's hand, squeezing it tightly.
"Well," Casey cleared her throat, "that wasn't exactly what I had in mind for a fun day out. Sorry about that."
"It's not your fault," Darcy told her. She cast a glance at Hugo, "trouble seems to follow us wherever we go."

[hugodouglass]

Lisa didn't say anything(a first), but rather ran to her father and hugged him tight. No tears were shed, but her sorrow was expressed in the way that she hugged him: tight, desperately, as if he was the only thing she had in the world. Which wasn't far from accurate. Hugo kissed his daughter on the forehead, brushing hair away from her eyes as he told her:
"Baby, are you ok?"
"Uh huh."
"I know that was scary, but you did exactly what I told you. I'm proud of you." Lisa smiled slightly, responding:
"Don't let that happen again...please?"
"Not if I can help it." He hugged her once more, relishing the fact he could still hug her in public(give it a few years: she would be embarrassed). Letting go, he chuckled slightly at Darcy's comment. It was true....so true.
"Lets just get out of here. They're probably going to shut this place down for prints."
"Hey Dad?"
"Yes baby?"
"Can I have ice cream?"

Back
to
normal

The commotion outside had died down slightly, but there were still students outside, standing there like paralyzed sheep. The police were on the verge of leaving, and yet they still stood, dumbstruck. It wasn't like this was commonplace.
"You guys want to head back?" A traumatic event like this usually held people captive mentally for a few hours.

[darcyneumann]

"Sure," Darcy said, answering for everyone, "we can raid the store's freezers on the way back for ice cream."
Holding out her other hand to Lisa, she cast a glance back over her shoulder to Hugo and said, "be safe."

The store did indeed look like bandits had been through by the time they were done, and they hauled up in Casey's flat, each with a spoon, sitting on the rug on the living room floor wrapped up in blankets - almost like they should be at a slumber party or something.
"Next time, you or Lisa can pick somewhere to go," Casey said, licking the caramel sauce from her spoon, "obviously the library is a dangerous place these days."
"I know," Darcy said, a smirk creeping onto her face, "with all those books, it's almost perilous."
Casey rolled her eyes at Dee, turning her attention to the non-sarcastic one. "How's your ice cream, sweetie?"

[hugodouglass]

Hugo walked over to Lisa, kneeling down as he said:
"Behave, child."
"Yes sir."
Hugo kissed Lisa on the cheek, saying:
"I love you."
"Love you too." He rose from his kneeling position, responding to Darcy's comment:
"Aren't I always?" Hugo gave Darcy and Casey a smile before walking into the distance.

He would be back. But there was something he wanted to find out first.

"It's GREAT!" Her eyes sparkled as she deviously ate. The sugar was going to get to her. Big time.

Hugo had been able to swing into the police department by showing his ID at the reception desk(he had added clearance now that he was a UGAP contractee) and was now on route to Captain Michael Hurd's office. Hurd had been on the LAPD police force before being transferred out here to San Fran. He was a muscled African American in his mid 40's and was tough as nails. They used to call him Lt. Hurt.

"Hugo!" Hurd decimated Hugo's hand with his patented killer grip(no kidding), Hugo smiling through the pain as he returned the greeting:
"Good to see you, Mike. How've you been?"
"Things have been tough around these parts, Hugo, ain't gonna lie. Got that dumb kid who thought he could hold the campus hostage, got gangs runnin up and down these streets like nobody's business...I tell ya my man, it's nasty."
"Tell me about it."
"Man, take a seat! Don't be a stranger in here. Brandy?"
"No thanks." Mike plopped down a chair in the corner of his office, Hugo sitting on one diagonal from it(there was no desk).
"What brings you by? Looks like you ain't here for no social call."
"That kid...where was he from?"
"The campus kid?"
"Yeah."
"Report said he came in from the Third. Born to Russian parents. Bright kid, got transferred out here on scholarship. I saw some remarks by his professors on his term cards though: he was unstable in the head, man."
"No surprise huh?"
"You tellin me man...why you askin?"
"The Third has been churning out murderers, rapists, gangs, and all kinds of nonsense for years now. Don't you think we need to get in there and clean that up?"
"Hugo, you can't solve that mess. No one can man! Let New Earth handle their own business."
"They can't. You just saw an example of it today."
"That was one. Isolated. Incident. You can't go around mamby pamby just makin assumptions."
"I'm not assuming, Mike. I'm commenting on facts." Mike looked over at his computer console, which had chimed in the middle of Hugo's comment. V-Mail.
"I need to get that."
"Yeah. I'll see you around, Mike."
"Yeah...yeah..."

He knew that kid came from the third. All these degenerates came from there. The question is: why? What is happening out there? These thoughts tormented him as he made his journey back to Casey's. He knocked on the door.

[darcyneumann]

Sugar burning activities were needed after all that sugar eating, so Casey selected a dance game from the holo in the corner of the lounge, and both she and Lisa got going on that while Darcy cleared away.
When there was a knock at the door, she answered it, the sounds of screams and giggles immediately filling his senses. She was relieved to see him, maybe he wasn't so relieved to back in amongst the chaos. "Come in," she told him, pulling the door wide open so he could step on through. "And welcome back to the mad house."
Closing the door behind him, she glanced at her watch, it was almost five thirty - the day had passed so quickly after all the drama back on campus.
"Uh," Darcy said, before they joined the girls, "what time were you thinking we should go out later?" Despite everything, she hadn't forgotten what he'd asked her over breakfast that morning. "If you still want to go out at all, of course."

[hugodouglass]

Hugo saw his daughter and Casey dancing wildly to a song(Was that Arius Spears? Not that he would keep up with popular music...), causing him to smile. He was glad to see Lisa having a good time with someone other than a holo or adults that were twenty five years older than her. Hugo looked over at Darcy, now remembering his proposition.
"Yeah. Yeah we can go. Just tell me when you're ready." He was a bit occupied, but he knew they all needed some kind of release from what happened today. There was a nice private bar he knew of downtown. That should do.

[darcyneumann]

"I am ready," she said, figuring that it didn't really matter what she was wearing right now, "just let me grab a jacket."
The song drew to a close and Casey let out a groan, "beaten! Beaten by an eight year old! Gahhhhhh," she cried over dramatically, before holding her hand out to Lisa, "good game, young one," she shook her hand.
"Hey girls, we're off out," Darcy reappeared from the bedroom with her coat, "enjoy your pizza, try to keep each other alive." She smirked slightly, giving them a wave.
"My hostage will be well fed and in bed at a decent time," Casey assured them with a nod.

[hugodouglass]

Lisa was having fun and Hugo knew it. He hadn't seen her this wound up since...well, it had been a long time. He looked over at his daughter and said:
"Lisa, you know what to do."
"Yes sir."
"Good. We'll be back soon. You treat Casey with respect." Lisa looked up at Casey and giggled, as if she was sharing a secret that was nonverbal AND one Hugo shouldn't know.

He would never figure out his daughter.

"Alright then. Casey, I'm leaving my comm unit on the table. Just hit the screen and it'll get to me." He looked at Darcy and realized that, even with all the garbage that had gone on around them...

She was still as pretty as ever.

Hugo brought Darcy to what would be labeled "Old Downtown", which had a rustic feel of a twenty second century downtown hub, not excluding concrete buildings, litter, and a frequency of bars. The bar he took Darcy to didn't look like much on the outside(just a two story brick building), but inside was another story.

It felt like a lounge imported straight from the world's finest country clubs.

The room was decked out in subtle tones of red, portraits of art hanging on the walls. There were overstuffed chairs everywhere, three bar stations, even a few holo projections.
"They call it 'The Undercover'. What do you want to drink?"