World of Darkness World of Darkness: Attrition - Penumbra

[SalmonMax]

Penumbra (Latin: paenes "almost, nearly" + umbra "shadow") the region in which only a portion of the occulting body is obscuring the light source. An observer in the penumbra experiences a partial eclipse.

Ariel slept in. It was a perk of working the night patrol. Her natural biological clock had always been set to late nights and late mornings. Rough on school. Good for cop work. The crazies came out at night.

She snapped awake two minutes before the alarm went off. A dream clung to her memory like remnants of cotton candy hanging from a cone, slowly disintegrating. She'd been in a...forest? A jungle? Chasing something. Her father had been at her side. Had they both been naked? Shit, shut up Freud you fucking pervert. Wasn't that kind of dream. It'd been good actually. Fun.

Her apartment was a small, serviceable one bedroom in West LA, just a couple of blocks from Santa Monica Boulevard and not far from the highway. Since that was where she worked too, it worked out nice. It had a decent-sized living room/kitchenette combo, separated by a short breakfast bar. She had to keep it very clean, or ants would come. Not roaches, thank God. It wasn't THAT cheap.

Shower. Ariel didn't really like showers, usually. She took them dutifully, because the consequences of not taking them was worse. She didn't savor them. It felt too much like rain. She didn't like rain either. Today though, it was different. Today the water woke her skin up when it hit in scalding hot little droplets. Today she imagined she could -feel- the dead skin shuffling off...like an unseen cocoon over and around her, leaving her transformed. She paused in the mirror afterwards as she combed her shoulder-length (and probably in need of another trim) orange hair and looked at herself.

That was something else she didn't do often. Really look at herself. She looked the same as yesterday, but she wasn't. These were the bright blue-green eyes of a new person. This was the pert, cute nose and grinning lips of someone who had been one thing, and was now another. A rare moment of vanity...she liked the light pepper dash of freckles on her cheeks and spattered over her shoulders. She liked her body, though mentally resolved to hit the gym after work from now on. She wasn't remotely fat, but she wanted more muscle tone. It would befit someone in her new position. And she wouldn't always have a partner to rely on now so...yeah. A quick butt check, no creeping cellulite yet, and she was getting dressed even as she got stuff out for breakfast.

Breakfast sandwich at noon. Fried up some ham. Some eggs. Toasted two bagel halves. Squished it all together so she could get her mouth around it. Was it just her, or was the ham especially succulent today? The eggs richer. The bagel just the right blend of bland and crispy, to provide a perfect platform for the other ingredients.

Outside. The sun always shone in LA, but it was gorgeous today. Blue sky. Green trees around her building. Grass watered. God knew there'd be a reckoning someday. You didn't keep a desert watered for a century and not pay a price. Today it was worth it though. Today was special. Today was beautiful.

Funny thing. Jogger went by with a dog on a leash. Older guy, not BAD looking, but not her type. Skinny. A bit late in the day for that. It was already getting hot, and by the thick goop of sweat that wetted his tanktop and gave his skin bright highlights, he felt it too. His eyes lingered on Ariel as he approached, and he gave her a friendly smile and nod. Then the dog nearly yanked him off his feet as it lunged at Ariel, barking madly.

Dogs. She'd always been okay with dogs. K9 units were widely used in LA, where drugs were such a big thing, and bomb sniffers were used in customs and airports regularly. Ariel hadn't served on a K9 unit, but she passed the kennels every day. This was new. A surprise.

The dog was a pretty big one. She didn't know breeds. It had a short snout and a thick trunk and somewhat bandy legs. Dark brown. From how it yanked its owner off balance, it was strong. Jaws looked powerful. They dripped saliva, but not foam. Despite the lunge, it didn't attack. It just stood there in front of her, barking. Weirder, she didn't feel scared. She ought to be, God knew...she'd seen PLENTY of dog attacks in her day. Most were nothing. Some...were not nothing. And those could make you never want to eat meat again. But instead of fear, she felt...impatient. This dog had it all wrong. She wasn't going to attack his alpha. She just wanted to go to work.

So as the dog's owner apologized and pulled on the leash and swatted the dog's hind...all of which did squat, Ariel squatted down, looked the dog in the eye, and growled. This was, the front of her brain complained, -exactly- what the K9 guys say NEVER TO DO. It was challenging the dog's dominance. It was inviting a fight.

Fuck that though. She was a detective today. Damned if she'd play submissive to a fucking dog.

It wasn't a loud growl. She wasn't even sure if she'd shown her teeth. But it worked. The dog visibly shifted gears, and the switch in its tiny brain flipped from 'fight' to 'flight.' One second a stalwart avenger...the next a whimpering puppy, cowering behind its bemused owner's legs. She almost felt sorry for it. Almost.

The owner paused in mid-apology as Ariel stood up. He'd pretty clearly never seen his little studmuffin back down like that. Ariel met his eyes with her own, and whatever the dog had seen, he must have too...because he backed up a step, then took off jogging again. Or was it running?

Ariel watched, making a mental note to tease the K9 dudes about how their advice sucked horse ass. Insanely she felt her mood lift even more...as if cowing some mongrel was cause for celebration. But it felt good. Invigorating. She wanted to scream, or shout or something. How primal. She got in her car instead. Battered old Honda Civic. Needed a new paint job, but the damn thing was indestructible. It was truly the cockroach of cars.

She drove to work. The day was just starting.

(To be Continued)

[SalmonMax]

The easy routine of work was lent a new shine by the thought that this was the last time she'd be doing it. When Ariel undressed in the locker room and got her uniform on, she reminded herself that this uniform wasn't going back in after work. The other 'locker room girls,' greeted her with various emotional subtext. Val was quietly jealous. Shirley and Yvonne thought she had a big head. Uma, the newbie, was genuinely thrilled at her success. The locker room was a convenience, not a requirement. A lot of cops took their uniforms home and just came to work wearing them. For whatever reason, Ariel and these others (and a few more that she hadn't met) preferred to change here. It was funny how such a trivial decision could lead to a little social subset forming of people who's only common ground was their occupation, and that one little choice.

And just as easily, that social network could be left behind.

After hugs and congratulations from The Locker Room Gang, Ariel headed to her desk to tidy it up before the patrol schedule. It was just a timekiller, basically, until her partner Doug joined her. They went across to get their squad car then...and in so doing passed the kennels.

The kennels were a big fenced off 'yard,' with its own big structure called the Doghouse. The trainers and K9 cops would regularly exercise and interact with the dogs that weren't actually on duty either in the Doghouse or out in the yard. There was a parking lot adjacent to the yard where squad cars waited.

Normally Ariel didn't think twice about this arrangement, didn't even look over to see what was going on. Unless you were into watching big old dogs romp around, there wasn't much to see. This time Doug caught her elbow though and jerked his thumb over at dog yard. "Check it out," he said. "Even they know something's up."

Forming a long line behind the fence was every dog that had been exercising in the yard. The trainers were still standing out where they'd been, futilely calling and whistling. They weren't growling or barking, but Ariel recognized their posture. Tense and alert, ears forward and tail down. They were waiting to be released. Every one was looking straight at her.

"You didn't bring your stash here today, did you?" Doug asked chuckling.

What is it with me and dogs today? Ariel privately wondered, but she shook her head and played along. "Damn. And I would have gotten away with it too, if it wasn't for those pesky, meddling dogs."

When they got farther away, the dogs started breaking up; peeling off and responding to their calls.

"Huh," said Doug. He lifted his hat to scratch under it. "Maybe you just had a funny smell on you."

"There was a dog that acted weird this morning when I went to my car," Ariel recounted as they got into their appointed cruiser. "It didn't touch me, but...eh, whatever. Dogs. Lets get going."

She started the engine, and Doug shrugged. "Works for me. Mind if I open the window? It's too nice a day to use AC."

Ariel grinned. One thing she liked about her partner was his ability to find joy in simple things. She'd miss that. "Be my guest."

They drove out to begin the last day of Ariel's old life.

(Insert Ariel's scene from the party here)

"I still think there was something weird going on there," Ariel said. She was letting Doug drive now. She could look at the photos she'd taken that way.

Doug shrugged. He'd seen a lot of parties. "Only thing more we could have done is searched the house, and even then I don't think there was probable cause."

"There was a fist-shaped hole in the wall and an assload of witnesses," she retorted.

"Doesn't mean she dosed up at the party. She might not have even been a guest as much as just someone who walked in."

Ariel shook her head. "I don't buy that. It's hard to miss someone that whacked out. We'd have had people seeing her come over..."

She frowned at that. That was kind of what was nagging her, really. In a nutshell.

Noticing the frown, Doug asked, "What is it?"

"Just...the statements don't really fit what I'd expect from someone tripping that bad," Ariel said, putting the camera away. "A dose high enough to let someone do that kind of damage to themselves would have other effects too. Muscle contractions. Confusion. You don't usually expect someone on that much PCP to hold up their end of a conversation lucidly...but both of them said there was an exchange of words that got heated, got hostile, and she flew into a rage and hit the wall and left. Hell, the guy was picking her up before the fight. He didn't report anything unusual about her behavior until the pissing match started."

Doug was quiet at that. Ariel had been doing her homework. Her promotion to detective involved a transfer to the Narcotics division. Finally he just said, "So...what, she wasn't high?"

"Maybe," Ariel grumped. "Or maybe it wasn't PCP. Different drug, different effects."

Now Doug grimaced. There was only one new drug of note he knew of.

"You think there was Crimson there?"

Ariel shrugged. "Maybe. Or, like you said, maybe just some junkie wandered in. I haven't read up on it much yet, so I don't know if this fits. Guess I have some homework to do."

"Uh uh," her partner countered. "You can do that after you start. Tomorrow's your sendoff."

She groaned. "Doug..."

"It's just as much for us as for you," Doug said stalwartly. "You've got friends that'll miss you."

"Jesus, it's not like I'm going to the moon, Doug," she pointed out. "I'll still even be at this branch."

Doug just looked at her with a wry smile, and she had to admit...she was wrong in a way. The distance between detectives and the 'uniformed' cops could be pretty far. They interacted mostly in the field, and mostly in the capacity of detectives telling uniforms what to do on a crime scene. She wouldn't trade it for anything, but at that moment Ariel felt a stab of sorrow for what she'd lose.

"Yeah...well...thanks," she finally said softly. "It means a lot."

"Don't mention it," he replied. "Think of it as us smashing a bottle across your face before you pull out of the harbor."

Ariel laughed. "Not quite as flattering that way."

Now Doug joined her, and added, "Depends on what's in the bottle."