Summary:Nick and Isis follow up a lead on Lobo Tech - in a nightclub. Log Info:Storyteller: None |
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"WE COULD HAVE HAD IT ALLLLLLLLL! ROLLING IN THE DEEEEEEEEEEEP!! YOU HAD MY HEART AND SOOOOOOOOULLL! AND YOU PLAYED IT TO THE BEAAAAAT!"
Nick steps into the venue where a cover band is belting out 'Rolling In Deep'. The singers aren't bad. The music isn't bad. The lighting is low and the atmosphere is smoky. This is the kind of thing that PI's do a lot more often in fiction than in reality but he's looking for someone - a young employee of Lobo Tech who has been posting a lot on social media - who he thinks frequents this establishment.
"Ugh. Can't see a thing, can't hear a thing, can't smell a thing." Nick grouses.
Isis hates these places. They smell bad, the sound hurts her ears and the empathic overflow is hard to deal with. "What did you do? Sniff chilli before we came? I can smell *everything*, right down to the trash out the back." She says, rubbing her ears against Nicks arm trying to alleviate some of the pain.
"He seems to like dancing and girls, Nick. We should head towards to the dancefloor and see whether can see."
She's dressed for a club in all black. It sets her pale skin off nicely.
"That, or we could have him paged …"
Nick chuckles. He loops his arm around Isis as they move. She looks nice. He looks less nice though still nice enough. "Alright. Let's go to the dance floor. Are you going to want to dance when we get there?"
At the suggestion of having him pages Nick shakes his head. "No, I don't know what he's into and I don't want him to bolt. Easier if we just run into him. If he takes a shine to one of us we won't have to pump him for information so hard but… either way we really need to get something from him."
From the social posts it seems possible that he might not agree with some things happening at Lobo but whether those are germane to Nick's case or just personal grievances is hard to tell.
Either way they haven't spotted him by the time they make the dance floor but there's more seating on the other side of it.
Isis is happy enough to lean into Nick as they move to the dance floor. "You look nice …" She says. The shirt fits Nick very well and he's drawing some notice - not just because he's a wolf man either.
"Dance? I …. yeah, I'd that." Isis might hate these clubs but dancing is something the feline-like mutant likes very much.
"I can't see him, yet but over there …" Isis inclines her head "… someone is really annoyed about something."
Nick cranes his neck to look but he can't see through the press of moving bodies. Still, he trusts Isis' intuition. Someone annoyed is as good a lead as they're going to get, so he takes her hand and steps on to the floor. And starts to dance.
It's not really a traditional style of dancing. It's moving in a rhymic way and he's good at it. They're going to have to slowly, gently, push their way through the crowd and that DOES involve a lot of bumping. And squeezing past. And pushing a little bit. Though he is big and people tend to let him through.
It also involves not getting split off because other people want to dance.
Isis can't see either - she's not short by any stretch of the imagination but she's not as tall as Nick. It's easy enough to let him lead her to dance floor. She's good at dancing like this too - her feline dna letting her move like most humans can't and she can make people move almost as well as Nick can.
Of course, not getting split up is a bit difficult. Nick finds himself with a woman who has inserted herself between him and Isis - smiling broadly at the big brown wolf as she gets close to him.
Nick sighs internally. He makes sure he can keep track of Isis as the woman gets close. He knows in a crowd of so many people there will be someone angling for her. She's actually pretty good looking. And yes this is a way of asking if someone is interested in - at minimum - hanging out. Possibly more, depends on the person. It isn't like Nick is practiced at this.
But Nick DOES know how to move, a bit. So when he sees someone angling for the woman he cuts back and turns slightly so that now HE is in front of her. Now he just has to find Isis and also put a bit more of the crowd between him and the eager lady. Second one first.
It's not easy to detach himself from the young woman who's chosen him, but Nick manages and the blondes attention is soon fixed on the new guy. The big brown wolf can get glimpses of Isis' ears as she moves in the crowd - there's at least one person trying to dance with her.
Those ears are moving in his rough direction, but also angling towards where she'd felt the annoyance.
Nick can see now, there's a group of people near the dance floor, gathered about at least one person.
Nick now starts to make his way more toward those ears and if he can toward that person that is surrounded by that group. Toward the edges it gets a bit thinner and it's easier to move even for a person of his size. He really doesn't want to get separated from Isis though and keeps an eye on her. This case has gotten pretty dangerous already and while it should be safe here it's not something he wants to chance.
Once he catches Isis' eye he motions that she should approach without him and try and make conversation. The young man they were looking for is definitely there. He's the one in the center of the group and they're all talking rather animatedly.
Nick can see Isis looking for him as they move through the crowd. He can almost be sure she's using her power to follow him. Nicks mind is quite … distinct … for Isis.
When she clears the floor, the blue eyed mutant gives one glance to Nick and then approaches the group. She lingers on the edge for a moment, sending waves of reassuring emotion in their direction, trying to get the young mans attention and hold his eye contact.
Regardless of whether she does or not, she just moves in - picking up the mans drink from the table and drinking it.
Because … Cat.
Attractive women like Isis can get away with that. The young man - Jon is his name - blinks as Isis takes his drink and smiles a bit. "Well hello Kitty. Aren't you brave?" Clearly he doesn't disapprove. Nick is approaching but deliberately doing so slowly. He wants Isis to loosen the group up a bit before he gets there. She's got an edge in that with her power.
She can feel the others kind of relax. Normally they might be curious or tense but she's making sure that they're welcoming and accepting of people outside their group.
It's classic Isis that's stands in the group. Her blue eyes flick over Jon and then away. The feline-like mutant has never really worried about others private space and she uses that now to her advantage. "I was thirsty, I saw you had a drink …" is what she says, offering a very feline smile.
Her power works on that, sending out emotions that should make most people receptive to her interruption. "What's your name…" She knows it of course but doesn't offer her own. Of course she doesn't.
"Looks like you were having a good party here…"
"We were. Are. I'm Jon. Might be better now that you're here. What's your name, Kitty?" Or does she just want him to call her that. She is familiar with being called that. Sometimes it's not quite so nice but hey this is just a young ish guy talking to a pretty girl.
Nick pauses at a distance and looks at Isis, asking silently if she's prepared the group enough or if he should hold off.
Things DO seem to be going rather well. He might be willing to answer questions about work soon. Guys tend to like talking about their work.
"Do you think?" Isis moves to perch on the table - lounge really, as she looks at Jon and his friends. She nods to Nick, imperceptibly - it's safe. "Jon. That's a nice name." She doesn't provide her name yet. "What were you all doing? I'm trying to relax after work. Do you like your work, Jon? I like mine but it gets tiring …"
Isis doesn't look at Nick directly, but she's tracking his approach. He'll know how to approach her so she can bring him in.
"I do think." Jon maybe should notice that she hasn't given her name but he doesn't. Isis is working them quite will. Nick approaches from another angle and calls out. "New friends, Kitty?" He doesn't give her name either. Just calls her what Jon called her. Jon looks over to Nick seeming to size him up and then look back to Isis.
"I used to like my work. It's a big tech company and they're always doing interesting stuff. But it's been a drag recently. You know how it goes I'm sure. Ever seen your boss do stuff you think he shouldn't?" He probably shouldn't talk like that but again, Isis is doing good work here.
"New friends…." Isis gestures lazily to draw Nick in. "I was thirsty…" she explains as she lounges there, keeping their attention on her. Nicks no threat, things are good. That's the feeling that settles over the area.
"I was just telling Jon how much I like my job but it's tiring. So I came dancing…" She says. "Do you mean like putting cans for recycling in the trash? All the time."
"What does your boss do that makes things such a drag?"
"I see." Nick chuckles. He's quiet though. Isis is working this and yes. He's no threat. He so much not a threat in Jon's mind that the young man leans a bit closer to Isis and looks up at her, resting his head on his elbow.
"No, like pulling resources away from actual projects with real impacts for… weird genetic studies. We've got some amazing consumer stuff coming down the line that I can't really talk about, but all the boss wants to do is funnel time into another divisions work. All biomed stuff involving atavistic genome expressions. Not even stuff like cancer treatments that I could get behind."
Ah. This is a 'socially conscious' worker. Who feels like his time is being wasted on 'stuff that doesn't matter'."
Isis sips the drink she's taken, gazing at Jon like he's the most fascinating thing around. He really isn't but he doesn't know that.
"That sounds pretty bad and really annoying." Isis agrees. "What's atavistic genome expressions, though? It sounds like something that might be useful at some point."
Isis does hold the drink out to Nick though - to take some. She hadn't offered him first drink, like she usually does, but she does offer.
Nick sniffs and shakes his head. Whatever Jon is drinking doesn't sound good to him. Well. Doesn't smell good to him. But he does note the offer. It's customary now for Isis to do that. Offer him some of her food or drink. Nick doesn't question it because they've been doing it for so long now.
Jon just shakes his head, not noticing. All his attention is on Isis. "Something about people having animal like coding in their genomes. Throwbacks from evolution. They say that it might help further the understanding of genetics but… I don't know. It's not about who we were, it's about who we are, right?"
Admirable perhaps but Nick and Isis know very well that this is about who people ARE and who they are GOING TO BE. Or rather, what they are going to be. This centers around mutants and this certainly sounds like mutant centered research.
Isis stares at Jon as he says that. A throwback from evolution? Isn't that what she is? He called her Kitty after all. Jon, of course, won't realise that the stare is because Isis thinks he's an idiot - he'll think she's fascinated in him. "I suppose it is. Do you think your boss is doing this without having permission? Or are the requests coming from elsewhere? Maybe he doesn't have a choice."
The feline takes the drink back and sips again. It's very sweet - so she likes it. It's *also* very alcoholic, Nick might need to watch her if she has another.
"Uh, well…" Jon scratches the back of his neck and she can feel his confusion, as if he'd never thought of this before. Which is typical. He saw something he didn't like but like many people he hadn't stopped to think about why it might be happening. "I doubt he'd do it without permission. I don't know about the others. I mean if the company is TELLING him to do fringe genetic studies instead of work on medicine that's just as bad, anyway. If not worse."
Nick chuckles. The viewpoint is… well it's a bit na%<239>ve. But he's not going to say that.
Isis has to be careful, she knows that. Asking too many questions, Jon will get confused. She smiles in that feline way of hers and lets her gift wash over the group.
"So you come here to blow off steam? Dance and stuff? Or is it somewhere you can just vent without people hearing you?"
She glances to Nick, seeing if he's going to add anything. "Who's your boss anyway? He sounds like a bit of a dick…"
"Bit of both?" Jon says. "I mean nothing takes your mind off a bad day at work like good music and pretty women." He smiles again at Isis. Well you know. He's a certain kind of charming just probably not Isis' kind.
"Oh no one you know. Name's Hadrick." That sounds like a last name and Isis can see Nick make note of it. Hopefully he's not a middle manager, because he might be hard to track down if that's the case. But if he's a VP or something similar, that shouldn't be very hard to find.
"I get that." Isis looks around at Jons friends now "Do you all work at the same place?" She's so … approachable, isn't it? So easy to talk to and no one seems to mind that she's loungeing everywhere. "Hadrick the dick, huh? Well, I hope you get to blow off that steam tonight…"
The feline gives Jon a long slow look as she finishes his drink and slides from the table.
The Kitty looks like she's going to do just what cats do. Tease and generate interest and then … leave.
"Most of us. A couple are from other places." One of the friends says. As Isis slides off the table Jon watches her. "Care to stick with us for a bit Kitty? You and your friend? Or do you have a hot tin roof you need to get to?"
At least he's not too pushy, grabbing her hand or tugging her off somewhere. That probably has something to do with Isis emotional manipulation and maybe also Nick's presence.
"What do you think, friend?" Isis gives Nick a smile as she moves towards him. "I like hot tin rooves but I want to dance some as well." She hasn't asked where they work. Both she and Nick already know - and they shouldn't connect Kitty to anything that might happen at work.
She's not sure she's got everything that Nick wanted but she's trying. There's a lot to remember and it's hard not to just be a cat.
Well, it's easy to be a cat….
"Dancing is good." Nick chuckles. "If you're not hungry that is." Isis is always hungry, Nick has found. He'd say she's still growing but he knows for a fact that isn't the case. Or at least not in any seriously major way. Nothing that should make her eat like that.
"What do YOU think, Kitty?" Kitty, not Kitten. Which is what he often calls her.
"Food then dancing then food again." Poor Nick. Isis is going to dance his feet off and cost him a fortune in food. And yes, she is always hungry - it's something to do with her mutation.
It's also a reason to leave Jon and his friends here. She needs to talk to Nick about what they discovered and if they need more information she's left a way to be seen here again tonight.
"Come on …" she tugs on Nicks hand and almost ignores the group in a typically feline way.
NOW Nick gets tugged by the hand, tugged almost off his feet back onto the dance floor. They need to talk about the information and then they need to follow it up and see what they can get from it. The most important thing is probably the name. If they can link just ONE person to anything at all shady at Lobo Tech they can get the police to serve warrants and blow this thing wide open.
But first, food then dancing then food again.