Foxhunt: House of Sin

“No wonder he went radio dark,” Piper exclaimed once inside, using some of Romeo’s terminology to explain why there was no communication with the Neo. The place was laden with AI, AR, VR, TC and a host of other initials. Some of it was sleek and new, giant screens broadcasting some sort of fighting game, some of it was grungy -- slot machines, backroom AR booths, machinery that did damn near everything. And somewhere amidst all the discord, a buzz in the back of her gray matter telling her this was the place.

Romeo scanned the mass of people bumping and grinding on the dance floor and looked briefly over his shoulder to see if Piper could give them a direction.

Now that Piper was in the building she was inundated with a buzzing noise. Piper didn’t know why Romeo or Victor didn’t see it but she had noticed two people in the crowd arguing emphatically. The man was shorter talking in an animated fashion. The women might as well have been carved from stone as she watched him with dispassion.

“Wonder what that’s about?“ Piper’s voice echoed loud as she pointed toward what she saw, thunder rumbling in her mind.

The women turned as looked straight at Piper and she had that feeling again … that spike to the head.

“Fuck!” Piper swore loudly, as the hot, blinding pain seared itself into her brain, the world around her giving way to darkness. She reached out for her Romeo, but as she did he got further and further away, fading completely to nothingness.

Strong hands gripped her arms as icy tendrils snaked their way across the room forcing themselves down her throat, drowning any chance she had of calling for her Alpha. The tendrils quickly enveloped the length of her spine, wrapping itself around and squeezing tightly.

Whatever it was, Piper fought back but the more she struggled, the tighter it became. It was-- alive somehow. A living being, and if it was alive? It could be killed. Romeo will kill it. Get out! Piper warned it as her hands closed tightly into fists.

Lights flickered, strobing like in the elevator and she was falling, slipping into the rich black velvet darkness, ink filling her lungs, drowning her. [i[“STOP!”[/i] Life preserving panic was setting in, if she stopped fighting for a moment, let up, she’d lose, and what if she couldn’t claw her way back? No, that couldn’t happen. No way could that happen. ”I AM STRONGER THAN YOU, AND I SAID STOP.”  Piper pushed back hard, the words echoing around in her mind, as her brain soaked in the same black ink as her lungs.

She imaged it was ink, not blood, dripping from her nose. NOW! She’d never bulldozed anything with that intensity, but the black moved as if in reverse, uncoiling itself from her and slinking back under the bar. Able to move again, she struggled against the hands holding her elbows until the room came back into focus and she was looking into Romeo’s copper eyes.

Romeo’s eyes were filled with worry, and there was the barest frown to his mouth as he watched helplessly. All he could do was wait while she came back to him. He knew this was a bad idea! OSEC was running them ragged and now it affecting his Piper!? With all the crazy going on she had been taking more and more responsibility and look at the result!

Luckily the anger an and conflict raging in the Alpha didn’t reflect on his face. “Piper? Hey, come back to me?” He whispered watching her eyes come back into focus.

“Hey … okay, you're okay now. You need us to go back? They can send in another pair … IT wasn’t the rouge Neo, was it? If it is I swear I will hunt the son of a bitch down and empty my whole clip in him …” Romeo said a tinge of anger in his voice.

The out of place couple that had been arguing was gone.

Piper’s eyes scanned the room for the woman or the short man she’d been arguing with, but as their argument drifted off, replaced by the usual background noise of an establishment such as this, they just vanished. and with that, the ambient noise from the Neo had grown stronger. “N… No.” She stammered, regathering her bearings.

“That wasn’t him, I don’t think. He’s not glitchy. It’s not like the one earlier, and if we don’t get him now, we’ll lose him, there’s no time for another pair to get here. He’ll run. I have a clearer connection with him now, it must have been--” Been what? “Romey I don’t know what it is. Maybe just sensory overload, I think. I’m good now. I have you to watch out for me. And if the neo is corrupted, I know you’ll do what needs to be done.” She drew strength from that, from him - whatever she needed, it was Romeo.

Romeo pressed his lips down to a thin line and nodded. He trusted to know how to handle herself. It didn’t mean he wasn’t worried. You best be sure he would be requesting a lengthy R&R! Clearly, Piper was being pushed too hard, the Neo’s was probably all being pushed too hard.

“He needs the Spire. I’m sure I just need to focus better. I can find him.” She was reassuring herself as well as her Alpha, but the clearer connection was true. He was buzzing louder now, he was uncomfortable. Maybe not in any physical discomfort, but nervous. “He’s upstairs.”

__________________

Rowan strolled from the lounge to lounge greeting her guests and keeping an eye on the flow of business. Her entourage was on hand to keep her glass full and her drugs handy. She paused to stand in front of a mirrored wall sipping on her sparkles as she admired the goddess that looked back at her. She was wearing her Miu Miu vintage feather trim dress, peach with violent pink ostrich feathers around the hem. Her white platforms were having the desired effect, making those legs of hers, those two beautiful stairways to heaven look even longer and more luscious than usual. Absently she ran her finger along her collarbone and licked her lips as she thought about all the nasty things she could do to herself. She gave herself a wink and shifted the colour of her hair to pink to match the feathers. Even better.

Red appeared in the reflection behind her and she turned, handing her empty glass to… someone. It came back full and she waved red over.

“Drink?”

“Always.” Red took a glass from the help and knocked it back.

“Good girl. Is the Toxx boy up here yet?” she asked peering around the room.

“Should be arriving any minute now, just left him with Chi Chi getting changed.”

“Good choice, tell her to give him a five-fingered bonus if he is up to the job.”

“I doubt she’ll need encouraging.” Red shrugged, “He’s easy on the eye.”

“That so? Then perhaps I’ll deliver it personally.”

Red laughed and grabbed another drink, “Let the kid settle in first boss, you don't want to break him on his first night.”

Rowan pouted, “I don’t know what you mean, I can be gentle.”

Red raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

Both women were interrupted then by one of the Pit security guards. He stood hovering, waiting to get their attention. Rowan called him over and stood waiting.

“Well?” Red asked.

“Well, we have visitors. OSEC downstairs, two Alphas and…”

“Well fuck,” Rowan interrupted, “A Neophyte in the Flesh Pits. Don’t just stand there man, go, fetch them, bring them here pronto.”

“But… but they… I…”

“Go!” Red ordered and the man scurried away back down the stairs.

“The night just got interesting.” Rowan grinned as she swiped a Red Devil tab from a nearby tray and popped it in her mouth.

“That’s one way of describing it.” replied Red, following suit.

“You know, I’ve always wanted to fuck an Alpha.” Rowan mused.

“Aw shit no.” Red groaned.