2009-10-07: Lights Out

Starring:

Staci_V4icon.png

Guest Starring:

Alpha Protocol Hunters

Date: October 7th, 2009

Summary:

The government tracks down the girl who glows.


"Lights Out"

New York City

It's dark. Nighttime. Most people around this apartment complex are snug in their beds, probably watching the Late Show right now. The complex is mostly old people, so the amount of lights shining through the windows is slim, and what is there are from the aforementioned old people. But there is one or two brighter than TV light…those'd be the odd people who decided the place was worth it for it's cheap rent.
One of those is stepping out of a first floor apartment.

Staci doesn't really mind the area. Sure, it's noisy. Lots of cop traffic tends to fly balls to the wall with their sirens on at all hours. And as mentioned before, it's mostly made up of retirees. But it's cheap, and between her and her roommate (Who's taking advantage of the college break between quarters to be elsewhere), they do okay. Staci's still here because, as she told that random guy in Starbucks, she's not good at the brainwork, and is trying to get ahead in her courses so she can possibly relax more. But all nighters demand caffeine and sustenance of the sugary kind, which is why she's walking out during Leno. But not feeling up to walking to the convenience store nearby, she just goes to the vending machines at the pool, which, thanks to fall weather, is closed now. It's dark, a bit away from the complex, and kind of creepy, complete with crickets and the occasional howl of a lonely stray cat, but Dr. Pepper and M&Ms beckon. At least she's not glowing.

In other words, it's the perfect spot for dark, shadowy men to jump out of the shadows.

But that would be too perfect, right? Too cliche?

Not when the group of men inching toward Staci in the dark aren't muggers, but highly organized, militaristic agents. Government hunters. They organize on the opposite side of the pool building. For now, out of sight. Black boots were already creeping toward the complex. Now, one pair of them inches along the back wall of the building, peeking around the corner. Waiting for the girl to go in by the pool where she's more trapped.

It is too cliche, which is probably why she's thought herself mostly safe from such a thing. Stuff like that happens only on TV, just ignore the muggings that happen outside on the street there that never get reported because nobody either hears it or they just turn up the tv.

The pool's reached, and she goes around the side where the machines are kept. At least they're not on the inside of pool where they'd be locked up for two seasons, but it does make her more isolated. It'd be the kind of thing where, would /this/ be on the tube, viewers would be screaming at the screen about how dumb she's being. But a small town girl who's never quite been a victim of the big city has a certain naivete about things. Completely ignorant of the danger lurking in the shadows, Staci digs into her pockets for the few ones she brought with her and begins feeding them into the machine.

Staci might have time to press the button for Dr. Pepper or M&Ms before the door to the building creaks open. It's not unlike a horror movie, but the door is only in regular use half the year; it's creaky, what can one expect? However, although it's not out of the question for someone to have the same idea as Staci, most of her retiree neighbours probably don't venture out for midnight vending machine snacks.

The man standing in the doorway is faceless in that his features are almost entirely hidden by black goggles, certainly more intimidating than sunglasses at night. The rest of him becomes clear as he steps further in — most clearly, a large, rifle-like weapon leading the way. Black fatigues, vest.

Two more agents appear behind him, flanking.

The creak causes a fingertip to hover over the button of life-giving Dr. Pepper (Despite what her gaming group says, Mountain dew is NOT the way to go). She looks to her left, where the door is, and just blinks. Last she checked, Halloween wasn't happening yet. Nor any parties that she was aware of? It's the gun that gets her attention though. And the guys that take up the space behind him. "Can I help you?" Strangely enough, her voice doesn't give away that her heartrate just went up by probably fifty. And curse the designers for sticking the vending machines in a room on the side of the pool away from the complex!

The men — or are they men? It's hard to tell, but the figure in front is tall, blocky — don't answer. Another name, another face, another target. They advance in a trio, one of them shutting the door behind them with a resonating slam. Yet more of them lurk outside; so many, for one girl, but they must be prepared. Inside, the leader of the team wastes no time in firing on Staci by the vending machines. It's a taser gun — a bolt, red-flagged like the many spares strapped to his chest, sails quickly toward her.

This first time, it's luck. Or perhaps it's instinct, suppressed by logic and intelligence, that was given a heads up by the suspense. She's barely aware of ducking behind the machine in hopes the dart decides it wants a cool refreshment too. Of course, Machine + Electricity's probably not going to be a good combo, but she doesn't care. Sparks are probably flying and she's pushing herself to the back corner of the small shack. There's no screaming, but the fact that the equivalent of roughly a hundred watts of 'pure soft light' or whatever the advertisement says on the lightbulbs has just lit up the shack should be a good indication that the girl's suddenly panicking.

That and the fact that she keeps dropping her cellphone. Why is 911 so hard to dial!?!

That sudden light is part of the reason these mystery men wear those dark goggles. Unbothered by the flash, and not even seeming confused, they advance quickly and methodically, automatically moving to surround the girl and her phone (and the vending machine, incidentally). As soon as the leader glimpses Staci, the taser is fired for a second time.

"Why is it so hard t—" Those wide eyes glance up as her own light gets shielded from the various reflective surfaces. Oh lovely, she can see them plain as day. The taser gets spotted, while one part of her mind is screaming to finish the dialing sequence on the phone, she can't help but just /stare/. She can't even utter the quip of 'Don't tase me bro?' just to try to be cute…but when the dart hits, there is a "But why?" somewhere in the gargle of syllables that happen. The phone drops and it shows she just needed to hit 'Call' to get some help, poor thing. And incidentally, 'lights out' isn't just a clever quip, it's actually literal in this case.

No back-up needed, and no answer given, the three men descend on Staci. The phone is taken away, and they check her for any other devices and the taser bolt extracted before she is hauled up, a long-limbed sack of potatoes. Lights out will last for awhile.

On the plus side: the next person at the vending machine is getting a free Dr. Pepper.

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