Killing Time OST – 6b – iCraft Cool Tools

<< 6a – iCraft Cool Tools

I slept fairly well though Nathan Blode kept shooting lines of code at me in my dreams. Once upon a time, I could annihilate his security systems on a bad hack day. Now that I was tech clean, I actually had to work on it.
I opened the fridge to make myself a PB&J but a rustling in the lab stopped me. I put on a pair of slacks and left my apartment. A covered platter rested on my workspace next to a pot of coffee. Sitting at her computer in a robe, Lorelei absentmindedly munched on a yolk-covered toast, one leg folded under her and the other supporting her food-bearing arm. Her free hand flitted about, scrolling numerous files way too fast for me to analyze this early.
“Oh! It’s one of those mornings.” I commented as I uncovered my plate. A complete brunch asked to be eaten. I complied.
“I was bored and wanted to go through some stuff.” Lorelei replied after she washed down her toast with coffee. “I did some financial digging.” I carried my plate next to her so I could look on her hologram. “Edouardo’s a coyote.”
I nearly choked on my bite of egg. Lorelei once explained to me that “coyote” used to designate men illegally bringing people over the border. Today, it meant a similar thing; instead of coming from underdeveloped countries the immigrants came from the inner city. People who wanted to get out of the overcrowded slums offered their body for a given time of nanotechnology testing which paid for their relocation in a Third World country. If they survived.
“Subcut W’s expenses in testing are ridiculously low. That’s where they cut on the production cost so they can make their profit margin.”
Lorelei swung on her naked legs to the coffee pot and poured herself another cup. I joined her and settled on a stool to comfortably eat my breakfast. Maybe it was worth killing Edouardo before going after Merrilyn Tech.
“Don’t touch that!” I mumbled through a mouthful of fruits. Lorelei terrorized my lab when she had nothing to do. My intelligent pets hid but my unanimated props suffered damage from her constant poking and probing.
Lorelei reluctantly withdrew her hand to a safe distance from the AG2P2’s mold – the rubber required a bit more time to set and I couldn’t have her mess up the process. She took the stool in front of me, swinging her legs in impatience. Hopefully, she would soon figure out something else to occupy her muscles and brains and I wouldn’t have to babysit while I worked. She watched me eat for a beat – or, more accurately, her empty stare rested on me while she thought – then her eyes lit up.
“I’ll need a pulley on a twenty foot collapsible track.”
“A goo gun and a pulley system? Isn’t it a bit murder-light?”
“With some acid and adhesive, it’ll be perfect. How long ‘til you do that?”
I knew better than to ask Lorelei what she had in mind. At this point in the process, her mind filled with ideas but the concrete plan and minute timing would only take form later. A precise schedule would land on my desk – probably sporting a “Don’t you dare hack my chip” warning in bold red letters – and I would execute it while she dodged bullets.
“Tonight. Tomorrow morning at the latest.” I could start on the pulley while the rubber set.
“Good!” She smiled. “I won’t have to wait on you.” She jumped off her stool and ran upstairs before I retorted.
“You’re welcome.” I muttered. Actually, it suited me to reduce her wait; my lab would be safer that way. Besides, after this assassination was completed, Lorelei’s physical presence would be reduced for a couple of months. Maximum two murders in the same city before she moved on to another of her bases worldwide: such was her rule.
Lorelei had ways to travel under the radars and came back for her weekly brunch with her dad and other stuff. She didn’t want the authorities to link her absence from her home to the Nightshade’s hits. I helped her from here, where her body couldn’t distract me or her character frustrate me. Much. Long distance relationships were never easy.
I finished my breakfast seconds before Lorelei returned, fully dressed.
“I’ll be playing chemist for about two hours.” She announced as she slipped protection gear on before going in the room she reserved for these tasks. That meant “nothing is to disturb me during my chemical cooking”. Either that or she might lose fingers.
I grunted my response, focusing on the instruments I needed to craft the pulley system she requested. The collapsible track would be a bit of a challenge: strong enough to bear her weight, twenty feet long, small enough to fit in a backpack. And the pulley had to slide smoothly along the track too so the hinges or whatever allowed for collapsibility couldn’t create bumps.
“What do you say, Frogster? We test the rubber and get started?” My robotic frog croaked. “How about some Industrial?”
Without further instruction, the frog leaped from one table to another until it reached the shelf where my radio’s control panel shone. It stuck out its tongue and selected music. The deep, machinery-inspired beats of Grendel started.
“Good job, Frogster!”
Apparently, congratulations jinxed disasters; the frog jumped in celebration but its legs missed the corner of the shelf on its way down. The back of its head hit it instead, sending off sparks before the lifeless frog reached the ground.
“No wonder you’re extinct.”
I picked up the frog and laid it to rest on one of my work counter, undecided about its future. Should I try to resurrect it again or give up on my argument with Mother Nature? She was as intent on ruining my happiness and crafty as Nathan Blode.
I shrugged to myself and tested the firmness of the rubber for the AP2G2. As expected, it still needed a couple of hours.
Just enough time for me to find the parts I needed in the jumble at the back of the lab.

6c – iCraft Cool Tools >>