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Summary: Dingo happens upon Domino and tags along as she does some black market shopping.
Date: June 11, 2020
Log Title: The City of Night
Rating: PG (L)
The Future - NYC - Chinatown
For the most part Chinatown seems like its untouched, except for one thing, the Manhattan Bridge spanning from Canal Street to Brooklyn is no longer safe as most of the bridge is in the river below and various cables hang from the towers that still stand. Other wise all the buildings and streets are intact. Those who haven’t fled New York or couldn’t flee Manhattan still live here and a few shops for food and other survival goods are still open confined in a two-block area, its nothing of the bustling community it used to be.
Scene
Most of the denizens of China Town are inside this time of night. Even the seediest members of the community don't venture out this late at night. The silence and darkness is broken occasionally by passing Sentinel patrols, but aside from that things seem fairly quiet here.
Not exactly the quietest mutant around, Dingo is attempting to sneak around the city undetected. His armor clad leg causes every other footstep to resonate with a metallic clang which rings out in the darkness. Lucky for Bruce he can hide fairly well when he needs to, but he hasn't run into trouble yet. The Australian stops and readjusts his eye-patch, glancing around and putting his hands on his hips. "Damn it Lil, where'd you get off to. If you got killed I'll bring you back to life and kill ya again."
It was amazing what had suddenly become worth currency. Taking down a Sentinel brought in a little bit of income in the parts she scrapped and sold to the highest bidder, but the parts that some really found worth a pretty penny she didn't sell. Those were still kept in her pack and safely buried in with the rest of her stash, what she and her's would use.
Weaving in between buildings and sticking close to the side she paused, silently cursing it took her too long to get here and everything was shut down, sealed up, and to wake one building for what she wanted meant likely bringing in too much attention. Rousing the shop owner had to be done the silent way then and from the tactical belt she withdrew a lock picking mechanism, shattered many a times and pieced back together. Mr. Nizami would forgive her this once right?
She had lowered by the door but heard the loud step of another, that metal impact had her ceasing, sliding into the inset of the doorway and pressing her back against it while the black encircled eye peered out to watch for who passed.
Dingo continues forward on his way, trying to keep to the shadows as best he can and attempting to walk softly on his metal leg. He pauses near one of the buildings as he detects movement coming from one of the side allies. One good thing about all of the destruction is that it left piles of sand and dust just about everywhere. As a result, it has become terribly difficult to sneak up on Dingo.
The man turns his head so he can see into the alley with his good eye. "There someone in there? Lil? That you? I've been lookin' all over hell." He begins to slowly enter the alley, some of the sand and dust in the area moving toward him as he moves. He knows that there are Hunters about, his missing eye reminds him of this constantly. Dingo would rather not walk into a trap without a bit of firepower if he can help it.
In the time of silent watch one of her Brownings had been slipped from its shoulder rig and the safety clicked off. Held up and parallel to her face the barrel rested just along the bridge of pale cheek bone, cold metal on warm skin was a kiss she adored, one of confirming presence. It was no Sentinel, but it did not have to be a lumbering machine to be dangerous anymore. Mutant kind had been torn asunder at the seams, some by force, some of their own free will.
When the voice carried down the alley she stood within the one measured breath was taken and the silence of the wait alone was broken when Bruce was near enough to have the Browning leveled with his neck. Not his head, but where the chip was stored on Hounds. There was nowhere to go and if she pulled the trigger it would likely be one to kill either level of traitor and shatter the chip in a Hound - or at least be crippling. The only thing heard now was the faint click of readying firepower and a quiet voice. "Let me see your face."
Dingo stops moving as he hears the voice so close to him. He narrows his eye and turns toward the woman in question. "A woman? But you don't sound like the one I'm looking for…" He sees the gun and smiles, "Not something that can hurt me, love. So why don't you tell me who…No wait, I've seen you before. In the tunnels, from a distance. Unless you became a Hound in the past few weeks that is."
Dingo seems to relax a bit. The Hounds usually travel in groups or with Sentinels in tow, he sees neither instance here. "What're you doing so far from the tunnels this late at night? I'm guessin' by the gun you can't do anything to topple a robot by yerself." He glances around the alley again, "And ye haven't seen a woman with blue-white hair round here, have ya?" The man's voice carries a distinct Australian accent.
The mention of the tunnels is the only thing that gets her finger to slide some tension off the trigger, but she wasn't disarming herself just because of self proclaimed inability to be harmed. "What's the passcode?" Recent events did not make her even certain she could trust the fact that someone knew of the tunnels, anyone could now, but certain things were only confirmed amongst those there at current.
"You underestimate..Tsk." Just because all she had drawn on him was a gun meant nothing, but slate blue gaze flickered from top to bottom and back in her own silent assessment of the male. Not all too familiar, but she was one to keep silent distance and watch thus far when it came to those in the tunnels. A slow shake of her head told him she knew nothing of the female he sought, none of his inquiries outright answered yet, but no marking on his face to show he was a Hound at least eased some of the tension along her spine.
Dingo shrugs as the woman keeps her gun pointed at him. "Even if you pull the trigger, nothing will happen. While you've been standing there studying my pretty face I've been packing your weapon with my sands." If Domino examines the gun closely she will find that the hammer mechanism is indeed clogged with sand. "Regardless, the passcode's Nannerpuss." He waves a hand dismissively and the sand packed into the gun dissipates.
"Not that we've met up front, but I'm Dingo. Used to go by Bruce, worked at Nowhere back in the day. Missing girl worked there with me." He glances around, "Later I ran a school for runaways near where the tunnels are now, until…Well, you know the rest."
Mr. Nizami closed and locked the door after them, moving around to light a small lamp and shield the light from spreading through the building and drawing unnecessary attention. Setting it down on a desk it illuminated the small area of simple supplies. Medical, military ration kits of food and the basics.
Domino moved towards this and gestured down to a medical kit and tapped. "I need two of those as well as more numbing agents and antibiotics." Glancing back at Bruce she gestured him forward with a pale wave of her hand. "So who is this girl you are looking for? It's not safe to go out alone you know."
Nizami was getting what Domino asked together while they spoke, moving with an ease beyond his apparent years and apparently looking busy enough to stay out of their business.
Dingo glances at the man's wares, taking note of what he has. He frequently steals from these little shops late at night when everyone's sleeping. He looks up at Domino, "She's an old friend, from before things went bad. Went out to find supplies this morning and never came home. Thought I'd go out and look for her meself." She waves a hand toward the door, "Eh, I can confuse them robots easy enough. And most mutants too. Never met a situation I couldn't handle or get away from." He shakes his head, "Poor Lil's not got much in the way of powers though, she gets cornered she's screwed."
Domino was watching between Nizami and Dingo now while he spoke and when the package was slid her way her hand rose and came down to rest on it, tapping fingers idly over it as she spoke to the little old man. "I also need bullets for my SIG, HK 417, and these." One hand rose to her Brownings. "If you have the incendiary that'd be preferable."
"Expensive Vicky.." He replied.
"I have it, I need those." She leveled gaze with the Nizami and he shrugged.
"If you say so."
He went off to the back and then there were the two, with silence. "Don't get too high on yourself, I learned the hard way Bruce. As for her, did she have a patrol path or was she just wandering? I am sure you have covered most if not all in your hunt for her, but small things can be missed." Her shoulders rolled back and she turned to face Bruce, leaning a hip against the counter shelf in an eased stand.
Dingo watches the man as he walks away, contemplating for a moment taking one or two of the items off the table. He casts a glance at Domino and decides to wait until another night. He'd rather not cast suspicion on this other mutant if the shopkeep here is supplying his side with guns. "Small things can be missed, but I don't miss small things. Picked up a trick from Magneto a long time ago. It's how I found you." That trick would be suspending particles in the air to detect movement. Dingo can also use it to get an idea of what an entire area around him looks like. "Now what about you? Sure you came here to shop, but I doubt you can avoid detection as well as I. Why're you out here so late?"
Domino in turn watched Dingo, her jaw working slightly to keep back any words her assumptions would spew at how he assesed things in this little shop. "Mr. Nizami has been an acquaintace for a long time, drawing attention to him is not something I would like to do, late is better here since it is relatively quiet on this side of town at any hour."
Hearing locks click and machinery whirl to life in the background she knew he was working open his safe area where he kept the munitions safely hidden. What Domino ordered was never anything he should be offering at this time and having that was a risk in itself. "You might be able to avoid some for of detection, but being out at this hour for anyone is questionable. We're in the same boat, just different people."
Dingo shrugs and wanders around the room a little, glancing at the windows for gaps in the boards for an easy way in. If nothing else he can always slip under the door later and open it from the inside, that's what he usually does. "Still, I'd imagine you'd at least have someone on guard duty outside. This place doesn't look to have too many exits if things were to go badly." He tilts his head as he hears the clicking of the safe. Something else for him to come after later it seems. The safe will be a bit trickier. He'd rather the people who live here not see him if and when he returns to rob them.
Trained eyes were still on Dingo as he walked the place, he may be a part of the same "team" but it didn't mean she trusted them nor would rely on them for anything. There were very few that got that anymore these days and those numbers were dwindling to one hand count.
The windows had a draw down gate that went over them, drapes pulled closed behind it to keep the street lights out at this hour as it was apparent the man lived here as well. There was the front door for typical business hours and the side, which they used for entry tonight. The only place for windows was at the front and the shop had its name scrawled over one of those windows in old lettering. "Needful Things." How the inventory had changed over the years, but he had lived up to his name and a few of the remnants of what it once was remained on dusty shelves. Knick-Knacks from collectors figures to picture frames, something no one used anymore. History covered in dust.
"I have backup when I need it." His questions had her suspicions on the rise, but none the less she left it alone and opted for observing.
Dingo glances back at the woman, noticing that she seems to be watching him rather closely. He quirks a brow and walks over toward her again. "Well just be careful out there. If you're here supplying stuff to our side, we don't want you caught or killed." He stands there and folds his arms, looking around as though expecting some hidden assailant to jump out of the shadows and attack.
Nizami came from the back, following the herald of the locks going back into place and the whirring of rotating links locking everything away. A box of the incendiary rounds were placed on the counter beside the first aid kits as he spoke out the price. Domino was speaking to Dingo as she pulled the money from a place tucked within her tac belt and counted it out. "I am supplying my aid and my ability to our side right now. That's good enough."
Domino's words were chosen carefully, with just as much care as the ammunition was taken from the counter and held at her side with the kits. "Domo Arigato." Her eyes flicked to Nizami as she spoke her gratitude with a brief nod of her head and made for the door. "I've made it this far, if I got caught or killed now, luck wouldn't be on my side and my time was up anyway." A bleak outlook, but a realistic one.
Dingo seems interested to see that currency still has value up above. He's so used to bartering down in the tunnels that he had almost forgotten that there was an actual commercial system in place. He glances to Domino as she heads for the door, offering the man a nod of his own before following her. "I suppose I should get back to looking for Lil, eh?" He heads out once the door is opened, glancing around for signs of trouble. "You be ok to make it back alone?" Though after her last comment he's sure she'll say she's fine, Dingo still thinks it the polite thing to do.
Just before the door closed behind them the small man's voice called out quietly. "You and your friend be careful." Domino looked back and only offered a wavering smile instead of correcting him. "You too." The door clicked to a close behind them and the lock slammed into place, resoundingly loud in comparison to the thick silence outside.
"I do wish you luck in finding her, I am fine, she seems like one more to worry about then me." Another flicker of slate blue eyes swept over Dingo and a small salute was given with her free hand before she darted down the alleyway and blended with the shadows. "Be seeing you." Maybe, if he even made it back as well.
Dingo offers the woman a wave as she departs before turning and heading in the opposite direction. His metal leg seeming to clank just a little too loud as he moves through the shadows. If things go bad he'll have to abandon it, but he hasn't run into trouble yet. Maybe if he's lucky he'll find who he's looking for and be back in the tunnels by dawn.
~ Fin ~
