Help me or else! (Flakeblood)

[paganchick]

Neo was ready for freedom, biting at the bit for it. She had payed any debt she could ever owe doubled over. Who would think she would have to pay up debt for being born? It was ridiculous, it was something that made her bitter, a sensitive spot that she refused to recognize as such. She had used most of the night to lose the ever watchful eye of her mother's pimp, which was also her owner.

He was a cruel man at the heels of fifty. Neo knew if she didn't fight for her freedom, and escape his clutch of bondage she wouldn't be free until he died of something. Neo of course hoped he died sooner rather than later, and she hoped deep down that she could have something to do with it. If only she could remove the blasted thing in her arm, then she would be free. She would forever have that tattoo that marked her as 04108, but that couldn't hold her. The only thing that marked her as a current debt slave was the chip.

When she was positive she had eluded her masters watchmen she slipped into the shadows. The only person she thought that might help her was this engineer dude. He advertised himself and she had heard of him around Cancer, she would have to get him to help one way or another, even if it meant holding him hostage, she didn't care, she was prepared to do whatever she must.

She pulled a tablet out of the small pack she had on her back, getting to work on the mans security. She knew he had a beefed up security, and couldn't blame him really. She had been spying on him though, and unfortunately for him, she was a hacker. It took her a while, she had to break through several encryptions and such, but finally she was able to give herself a window of time, time she didn't waste.

Using his own security, Neo unlocked a side door, one hidden in shadow, one she quickly entered and locked back. She waited in the darkness for several minutes, letting her eyes adjust to the darkness of the room.

[Flakeblood]

Casey was currently sleeping, having nodded off after several hours of tinkering with one of his pet projects. He didn't notice the sound of the small side door to his kitchen opening.
His kitchen held only the minimum, with few cabinets, a stove/oven combination, a coffee maker, and a sink nearly full of mugs. Some of the mugs still had coffee in them. Just off to the side was a small table surrounded by three chairs.

Through an archway was the main living room, and it was here that Casey slept.
His main room was fairly spartan, with only a couple white loveseats, and some black tables of varying sizes throughout the room. On one table sat a shrubbery trimmed in the shape of a fish. The other held tools, delicate works of art, blueprints and diagrams, or projects in various stages of completion.

Casey himself was draped across one of the loveseats, limbs splayed about, snoring softly as his head hung partially off the seating. He wore a dark no-sleeved tee and cargo pants, and one of his hands held a screwdriver. It was impossible to tell what he had been working on, as there were several things on the table near him. The only light in the entire apartment was a small lamp on the same table, face pointed down at the metal scraps and chips.

[paganchick]

Neo smiled as she heard the faint snoring, and was quickly thankful at how well she could see in the dark, a trait that had to be from her father, who ever, whatever he was. Neo made her way towards the snoring in silence, moving slowly, making sure she didn't bump into anything. She could feel her heart racing in her chest, her mind trying to cloud with thoughts of what if.

She resisted it though, fought to stay focused, she had to figure out how she was going to wake the man. She didn't want to hurt him, she didn't want to have to hurt him. She knew if you want someone to do something for you it is best not to startle them, but she didn't have much of a choice. She had to sneak into his shop because if her owner saw her, he would know she was up to something. No this had to be in secret, this was all necessary, or at least that was what she kept telling herself.

Before too long the man was in her sights. He wasn't much bigger than herself, in height he would only be a couple of inches taller, but that gave no indicator of his strength.  Neo knew he would probably be stronger than her because of his trade, or course she could hold her own, she was by no means weak, but she didn't work with heavy objects ever. Neo frowned, she wished she knew what the best way to wake him, to get him to do what she wanted, but she didn't, how could she.

She started to chew her lip as she looked over the man's sleeping form, if she could have gotten to know him somehow that of course would have made this easier in multiple ways, but the needy couldn't be choosey.  So she decided she was going to wake him up the way you wake most people up, with a gentle nudge, and she hoped he wouldn't freak out.

Neo kneeled down beside the couch before nudging the man gently on the shoulder before putting on her biggest, most convincing puppy dog eyes.

[Flakeblood]

The soft nudge roused Casey from his improvised sleep. He groaned.

"Mr. Fish," he whined, flailing a hand out until he patted the top of what had to be a head, "I said I didn' want you ta--"

His hand froze, his brain finally having caught up to what he was doing. No one should be in here. It was night, the doors were locked, he was alone. ...Well, not anymore, but still. Opening his eyes, he quickly noticed the girl kneeling next to him, her eyes wide and pleading.

His first reaction was instinct. He screamed--not like a girl, thank you--and scrambled up the back of the couch before briefly slapping a hand over his mouth, eyes still wide. He took a couple of breaths to help calm down.
His next reaction was instinct also, but of a different kind.

"The fuck are you doing here?" he hissed.

[paganchick]

Neo reached out, trying to cover his mouth as he screamed, praying to the gods no one would notice. That was all she needed, was to be arrested for breaking and entering. The man had moved too far away for her to cover his mouth, he was much faster than she would have expected him to be.

She forced a flinch as his voice turned cold. She could pop off with her usual attitude, she needed his help. He could possibly do something that she knew she couldn't do. She had tried to hack the chip and it proved useless. It was something that would have to be removed.

"I... I need you... Please help me," She asked, trying to act as needy and vulnerable as she could. As they say, desperate times called for desperate measures.

[Flakeblood]

Oh. Ouch, okay. That made him feel like an ass. Really, he hadn't meant it like that, it was just a startled reaction. He slowly sunk back down to the cushions, crossing his legs to sit.

"Well, uh, okay just don't..." He was no good at this. What did you say when someone broke into your house and yet you ended up distressing them? "Relax, okay?"

Stifling a small yawn, he ran his fingers through his hair. He caught a clock that was still working on the wall across from him. It was late, or perhaps early? It was technically morning. That might have been a good time for breaking in, but waking him up didn't help with stealing.

"What d'ya need me for? You know, I wouldn't've turned you away during the day. Didn't have to sneak in. What if I'd been in the nude?" Another yawn stopped him from saying anymore.

[paganchick]

Neo felt a deep relief the man seemed like he was willing to help. Neo sat beside him on the couch, wearing baggy cargo pants that were a dark gray-brown, and a black long sleeve shirt with a hood. She took a deep breath as if calming herself down. Finally she rolled up the sleeve of her shirt. In the darkness you could see the faint glow of something orange beneath her skin, and beneath a row of numbers, 04108.

"I had to sneak in, if I didn't they would have caught me," She whispered, her words complete truth. If he knew anything about debt slaves he would know what he was looking at, if he didn't, well, he still might understand so aspects of what he was looking at.

Neo didn't know how much knowledge he had about slaves and ships, and such, but she hoped he had enough.

"Isn't like I haven't seen a man naked before, my mother is a prostitute and her pimp is my owner if that tells you anything," She spoke softly, she added a slight waver to her voice to add effect.

[Flakeblood]

No... it couldn't... but it was. Her next words confirmed it. She was a slave, and by birth, if he was reading into that right. Sure, he knew it happened. This was the Cancer; he had pirates as regular customers. Even so, it disturbed him to hear and see this. He tentatively reached one hand out and brushed over her exposed skin with his fingers. Beneath that... beneath that was a chip that controlled her life.

He'd never done anything like this before; he wasn't a hacker, and he wasn't a surgeon, but damn if he was going to let this girl stay indebted to someone in such an unforgiving way. Not without at least trying something. He looked up, hoping the waver in her voice wouldn't mean she'd cry, and gave her a small smile.

"I'll, uh... see what I c'n do."

He pulled back abruptly and slid off the couch, using his hand to rub the back of his neck. He shuffled the few steps to the kitchen and gestured for her to follow.

"Coffee?" He grabbed a pot still half full and gestured with it to ask her, before pouring some into a nearby mug for himself.