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sagittaeri
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 11, 2013 11:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Voted, and very happy that this is back! Very Happy
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 12, 2013 3:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hooray! *does the happy dance* Very excited this is back! Voted. Very Happy
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Kalanna Rai
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 19, 2013 11:43 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Here we go folks, a little something for those who have been waiting. Enjoy!
--------------------------

Chapter Six: A Disturbing Occurrence

You take a few deep breaths to maintain that outward look of calm enjoyment, after all, you're here out of curiosity and perhaps some slight boredom. You're not here to verbally eviscerate Hector...yet. You cannot resist a slight jab however, putting on your brightest smile and extending your hand with as much fake sincerity as you can muster. "Hector, of course I came. How could I not after such an...expansive...gesture on your part."

His hand is damp, clammy, and feels a lot like a pudding filled sponge. His grip is limp and ineffective as you shake the appendage and you're left fighting the urge to vigorously wipe your hand on your pant leg when he lets go. You can tell the insult in your comment flew right over his head, his small porcine eyes glitter with a cold triumph. He loves seeing you humbled and it's rather obvious he thinks that time and his ever present threats have pulled whatever teeth you might have once had. You'd love to just do something violent to him right now and the amount of red-eyed hate boiling inside you is absolutely shocking. It's just not like you. Then again, you should have known that your reaction wouldn't be good. Even after all these years, you're almost willing to risk the jail time to wipe that smug and self-satisfied look off of his face completely.

His attention has wavered from you, good thing as your mask of chipper awe is starting to fracture from the internal stress of your hate. He's heartily greeting Parker with more clam-fisted handshakes and some back slapping which makes the odd sound of hitting two steaks together. It's rather obvious that neither of those two men know the meaning of the word moderation. Or starvation. And certainly not emaciation. In fact there are a few other 'ation' words you're quite certain are no longer in their vocabulary but you're just being unkind at this point. You knew what you were getting into when you accepted the invite and now that perverse curiosity that led you to whimsically accept has all but deserted you, replace by a grimmer sort of sensation. Suspicion. You're becoming more and more certain by the moment that something is happening here. Like your mysterious 'old friend' on the phone said Hector seems to have invited several loose ends to a party and you're one of them.

But you seriously doubt he's planning to kill you. You've seen how Hector kills. You know his method. Accident. And with the kind of money he has he wouldn't have even needed to try hard to arrange a 'tragedy' in your life. Or hell just put you in prison like he's been threatening to do for years. You wouldn't survive, not with what prison is like these days. If you're lucky they'd just toss you out as Subdweller bait instead.

A shrill whistle brings your attention out of whatever point of space you've been staring at for the past few moments while your brain has run circles like a nearsighted hamster. Skittish servants have come and loaded themselves down with baggage at Hector's cue, there's even a nervous looking young man who hesitantly approaches you and eyes your bag. Politely you decline. You can carry one suitcase after all. It's not going to kill you and you'd just feel...guilty accepting help when you could so easily do it yourself.

Hector is talking at the three of you, clearly enjoying having a captive audience, as he leads you from the opulent private train platform further into the house. Lavish corridors dripping splendor from the crown molding along the ceiling to the extra plush carpet on the floor do nothing to make you feel less out of place. A scrawny pelican among swans. You pass a few doors, most of which have small 'Do Not Disturb' plaques hanging from the door handles, and he quiets slightly. "Don't want to disturb my other guests."

As if. Hector's not shy about disturbing anyone. However, right now he seems to be doing everything he can to convince folks that he's sincere about their comfort and well being. Every action, every kind word...it's just making you more and more suspicious. You count the doors in the hall as you pass, trying to figure out just how many other people Hector might have duped into coming. By the time the four of you, and assorted baggage laden servants, stop at a door without a plaque, you're up to seven.

This room, it turns out, is for Parker. The portly man grins as the door is opened to reveal a lush chamber decorated in the same over the top style as the rest of the house you've seen so far. Although calling it a house is a lot like calling a luxury cruise liner a dingy, this place is massive from what you can estimate. Of course Hector needs the space, just a glance at his mile wide rump is enough to confirm that.

Once Parker is settled it's only a couple of minutes before young Miss Sterling is placed in the next empty room. She gives it an arch look, attempting to look bored, but you've had enough experience with faking emotions to know that she's actually rather pleased by what she's seeing. Possibly impressed. Your respect for her and her intelligence plummets even further than it did after her rude treatment of you on the train. Still, the moment the door shuts and you're left alone with Hector...you wish you were back on that train and that she was the worst thing you were dealing with.

He's silent with you and you're completely happy with that. He also seems a little tense...nervous even. The door he opens for you is much less lavish than the others, directly at the end of the hall. One glance inside and you're fairly certain that this is nothing more than a hastily redecorated linen closet. It's nice, a lot nicer than your apartment actually, but compared to the rooms you saw the others given this is almost a slap in the face. Hector's smiling, obviously thinking that you'll be dazzled no matter what and you dutifully give him the reaction he was hoping for. Hector's all about the petty victories, always has been.

"Dinner is at six tonight. It's informal, don't feel the need to dress or anything. I'll send someone at five-fourty to remind you and guide you down to the table."

That oily smugness in his voice...he could have said anything, even the most pleasant of things, and you'd still have hated him. As it was, his snide little comment about 'dressing for dinner' does not go unnoticed. Same old Hector, just rubbing your nose in it...seriously why had you ever thought this was a good idea. At least you're not alone, it seems nine other people have been suckered into this too. Although you doubt any of them hate Hector with the same passion you do. Maybe one of them might but you're not counting on finding an ally that way.

You manage not to slam the door in his face. You even manage to still have a smile on your face when you gently shut the door on him. Your cheeks hurt and you're debating using staples to keep it in place next time. This is probably why you never felt the urge to be a politician.

You slowly unpack, taking a little care to hide your iPod gizmo. You know that this room is bugged, sound and camera. There is no possible way on the ruined face of this planet that Hector is not monitoring your every slight action. You don't care really, let him watch. Still, the urge to pull out the iGizmo is strong. Especially when it begins ringing in your pocket. A few quaint bars of an old favorite tune. You blink in wonder, hands shaking a little.

It cannot be a phone. Cannot possibly be a phone. There are no cellphones these days. There just isn't tower support for them...although internet calling...or satellites. No, it's far more likely this is an alarm of some kind. A jingly jangly vibrating alarm that sounds and feels an awful lot like your cellphone used to. You want to pull it out of your pocket, you really do. But Hector will know for sure...won't he?
--------------------------------------

What will you do? Do you give in to temptation and look at the gizmo to see why it's making noise? Is it a phone, is it an alert? What is going on?
-----------------------------

There you go, a neat little decision to make and hopefully a little furthering of the story. Hope you liked.
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Seraphi
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 19, 2013 5:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Great job, Kalanna! Even after a short hiatus, this story is still great!

I want to look at the iPod! Well, it's more of a need, but with Hector invariably watching it will be tricky. My first instinct is to go to the bathroom, however something tells me that he will even have that room monitored. *shudders* So I'll just pretend to be a little sleepy from the train ride, snuggle up under the covers, and see what that alarm is all about!

Keep it up! Very Happy
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sagittaeri
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 19, 2013 6:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yes! Oh man, Rai, you're one awesome writer! Very Happy

We have to answer the "call"...but only with the right precautions. Go to the bathroom, run the tap on the bathtub to drown out the sound, take out the gadget but hide it in the corner of our body and the wall. Avoid the mirror because that's probably where the camera will be, if it's bugged.

If possible, find some reading material and pretend to read it while waiting for the bathtub to fill, while actually using the device.
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Kalanna Rai
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PostPosted: Tue May 14, 2013 12:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well, there appears to be a new poll. Folks should vote so that there can be a new chapter.
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PostPosted: Tue May 14, 2013 12:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yes! I've been waiting for this one... Very Happy Voted!
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PostPosted: Sun Oct 20, 2013 9:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

And with the tie finally broken we can get back to business. Enjoy!
------------------------------

Chapter Seven: A Perplexing Conversation

You stretch, fake a yawn and that surprisingly doesn't take a lot of effort. You've had a hectic day so far. Kicking your shoes off, you dive into the bed. The ringing noise has stopped briefly and you get yourself perfectly situated, all wrapped up and snuggled in, before you pull it out. Good thing too, the thing begins to jiggle in your hands and you fumble with it quickly before it starts actually making noise. You stare at the word 'Connected' for a minute before slowly putting it to your ear.

A dry chuckle follows. "For a few moments I wondered if you'd forgotten how to use one of these old friend. It wouldn't surprise me, so many people are forgetting things these days. Like how to secure their camera feeds. You're a very convincing lump of blankets, I can't see any glow from the device at all. Now do me a favor, work one of your feet out from under the blankets. You're face down right? So we're going to go with twitching your foot right for yes and left for no. Got it?"

The voice of your 'old friend' isn't giving you many clues to their identity. Though the sound quality is crisper on this phone they sound a little raspier than anyone you know, it's just not familiar at all. But you dutifully twitch your foot to the right to signify that you understood them. You find it creepy that they're watching you, using Hector's cameras. Honestly you're still wondering more and more if this isn't some kind of huge set-up Hector is planning but honestly...it's too smart for him.

"You caused quite a stir with my associates when you wrote that 'Maybe' response. I told them you'd be cautious. You wouldn't still be alive if you weren't. At the moment though there are precious few of them willing to go on my word alone. So I'm going to ask you to do one very simple thing for us, just to get them off my back and prove that you're not the risk they're sure you are. You with me so far?"

You twitch your foot to the right again, as if trying to get comfortable. You'll at least hear him out after all. There's a little mumbling from your phone as it picks up voices in the background, your old friend is talking to someone. Someone soft voiced but you're sure it's female, almost positive. Either that or it's a teenaged male. The exchange lasts only a few moments before your old friend clears his throat and speaks to you again.

"We know that Hector has invited several people to this impromptu dinner party. At first we thought it was just him gathering his minions for another round of ass kissing and back slapping, pardon my language. However, that all changed when contacted several other members of the guest list, including you as the very last invitation. Honestly you were the straw that broke the camel's back, confirming our suspicions. There are very people who know how deep Hector's corruption runs, who know enough of a truth to fill in the blanks...and they're all about to sit down to dinner with him in a couple hours. You understand what I'm saying?"

Slightly anxiously you shift in the bed before twitching your foot back to the right again. You were coming to that conclusion yourself after talking to Parker and young Miss Sterling. Something was happening in the life of Hector Blumberg and it involved burying the rotting corpses of his past even deeper.

"So I understand if you really really do not want to help. If you think this is all a complex plot of Hector's...which you and I both know is unrealistic. He's not this involved or detail oriented. But I do understand, my associates are the ones that don't. So what they'd like you to do is quite simple. They want you to record the dinner conversation. All you have to do is turn the sensitivity on the microphone to max and hit record, it should pick up most of the sound in the room from a hip pocket just fine. Most likely all we're going to hear is Hector stroking his ego at all of your expense but there's the slight chance he might drop a hint about what is going on in his head. So...can you do this?"
------------------------------------

The decision is straight forward here folks. Will you record the conversation in hopes of sharing it with others and getting a little more information about what's going on...or is the risk of exposing the device and being discovered too great to take? The choice is yours.
-------------------------------------

I know you've all been waiting a long time for this but hopefully it was worth it. Hope you liked.
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 23, 2013 7:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote


Who is this "old friend"?! Haha, great job as usual, Rai! I really enjoy the short and sweet mystery of this SG, which is a nice change of pace from the others (which are also excellent, just different).

So, Hector's motivation is said to be...cover up his past crimes. It certainly is plausible, and probably true, but I'll still be cautious, in case there's more to the story after all. Now that I think about it, if Hector is as incapable of complex plots as everyone seem to think, then how exactly did he become so powerful, beating all the other power-hungry sociopaths who were capable of complex plots?

Is it possible Hector's smarter than everyone thinks, but hides his true nature so his enemies would underestimate him? Or, is it possible he's only a puppet, controlled by someone else? Or...perhaps nothing more complex is going on beneath after all, and he got his current power by sheer luck or by inheriting them?

Either way, I still won't trust either Hector or my "old friend". I'll do the recording, but first, I'll figure out if there's a way to hide the device on my body better. Perhaps, the device is small and flat enough to fit between my shoe and my feet somehow without causing great discomfort or create a gait?


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Kalanna Rai
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 07, 2014 5:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Okay guys, if any of you out there have been holding comments on this one, now is the time to cough them up. Otherwise I might have to move Host over to linear to get finished and where's the fun in that?
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 14, 2015 5:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hello everyone. It's been a long time. I've put up a poll to see if anyone is interested in finishing Host out as an SG. If there's enough interested, well and good, toss a vote and reply with a chapter suggestion when you've got a free moment. If there's not enough interest to continue it as an SG I will likely have it sent over to linear where I can finish out the tale and wrap up the loose ends.

Happy reading!

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PostPosted: Thu Oct 15, 2015 5:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hiya, Rai, and welcome back!

Forgive me for being gone so long that I haven't commented until now, but I'd definitely love to see this story keep going along the lines of an SG (linear would be good too, but as you said before, where's the fun in that?).

So at this point I trust this "old friend" about as much as I do Hector, but they did give me the iPod in the first place and don't seem to be trying to do me in...at the moment anyway. Still, getting the recording is definitely the way to go, not only to assure this mysterious person (and his equally mysterious cohorts) that I can be trusted, but also for myself. A little bit of audio blackmail can go a long way. I would stuff it down my shirt, maybe I have a garment with an inside pocket or its thin enough to tape down somewhere inconspicuous? The closer it is to the level of the voices, the better the recording will invariably be.
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PostPosted: Fri Nov 06, 2015 9:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Looks like Host still lives. I'll give it another week to gather suggestions before I open a poll for them.
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PostPosted: Fri Nov 20, 2015 5:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Alright guys, interest in keeping this going was expressed. Here's the first poll for a shiny new chapter.
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What will you do?
Make the recording.
0%
 0%  [ 0 ]
It's too risky, don't do it.
0%
 0%  [ 0 ]
Total Votes : 0
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