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Aberrant: Dead Rising - Chapter 9b: Undermoutain


Dawn OOC

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April 24, 2007

They skirted Colorado Springs as the sun rose behind them. Ira was tired, but good-old-fashioned adrenaline was keeping him awake. Colorado Springs was a zomb-fest, with the fuckers everywhere. The difference was that he also saw groups of soldiers relentlessly taking them down. The soldiers had clearly been doing this for a while; their motions were well-practiced, almost rote.

Miles directed Ira to the Air Force Base outside of town. They passed several patrols, but no one made an attempt to stop them. It wasn’t until they were at the gate to the base that they were stopped. Teresa got out and talked to the soldiers, explaining what was going on. They let them pass, and Teresa got back in the car and pointed him deeper into the base. Eventually, Ira was pulling up in a parking lot outside the infamous North Portal.

NORADNorth-Portal.jpg

“C’mon,” Miles said as he eased out of the car and onto one foot. His gasps of pain interrupted him, but he ground out, “Stay with us a night or two, guys. At the least, you need to come down and negotiate for your reward.” He grinned. “And you guys can have our shower rations while you’re here. You did save our life, and we owe you as much hot running water as you want.”

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Ira was bittersweet about arriving at the destination. One, he was rid of the excess baggage, but two, he was full on deep into military territory. They liked to take things and say it was theirs.

"Can't drive in? This tunnel is like a couple miles long ain't it? Not exactly thrilled 'bout leavin' the car way out here, might not be here when I get back. Whaddya you think, baby?"

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"It commences," Cassandra said, and she had that far-off look in her eye. "The seven ears of corn and seven cows come, but only tell half the story. There will be no Joseph to save us this time."

"Uhh... yeah," Teresa said, looking spooked. "Look, the car won't go all the way, yeah, there's a garage, but it's got people living in it. We have a small souped up golf cart that can take us to the elevator, and so that we don't have to carry all this shit. The car will be fine."

"The orange steed will live to race again," Cassie said, and her eyes lost that look. She sighed and rubbed her eyes, looking tired.

Two golf carts did roll out of the tunnel, and soon one was loaded with the soldiers' gear, plus whatever Ira and Cassie wanted to take with them. The other one was for them to ride. And all they had to do was trust the government.

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With the Voices confirmation, Ira felt better leaving his car. Though ridiculous a measure it was at the entrance to a military stronghold and the former location of NORAD, he made sure to lock the car up, grabbing his trusty 'boom stick' off the dash before closing the door.

Joe can keep his corny cows, we're at the End now.

Ira was loaded for bear and waiting for the guillotine to drop, there seemed an omnious air about this place, aside from Cassandra's plentiful prophecying.

He had left pretty much everything shy of a few changes of clothes with the vehicle, on the slim chance it wasn't raided, he'd rather have it there than in the Mountain.

Nodding at Gimpy & Barbie to say he was ready, he sat down next to Cass and put an arm around her as the Golf Cart SS took off down the tunnel.

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As their eyes adjusted to the darkness, Ira realized why they didn't drive anymore. People were crowed along one side of the long tunnel like refugees, living in housing made of hanging blankets and dividers made of tin, wood and plastic. Miles kept his eyes on the people as they rolled past them, but Teresa ignored them, unable or unwilling to look at them.

When they reached the massive concrete slab that were the doors to the complex proper, the carts stopped and pulled to the side. A garage was there, but most of it had been converted into more living space. The area was stuffy with the unpleasant smell of too many people living too close together, yet the people here weren’t depressed or angry. They seemed if not happy, then at least aware that they were in a better situation here than out there.

A wheelchair was waiting for Miles, and he was taken away as Teresa was pulled away by a group of scientists. For a moment, they were left alone; then another man in a uniform stepped forward. “Hello, I’m Lt. David Chen.” Oddly, he was very blond and not at all Oriental. “I’m to give you a tour and see you to your rooms,” he said, offering his hand to them. After getting their names, he continued, “I hear you two are quite the heroes. Thank you for helping our people.”

Turning he started to walk them into the complex. “Are you folks hungry? Want a shower? Where should we start?”

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The setup was more grandiose by far, but not anything he hadn't seen or smelled before. Dealing with more and different military types was not something he wanted to do, but assumed would happen, last thing they would do would be to keep him with people he had any rapport with. People he knew, he could read.

"Always better to eat when clean, don't you think baby?" Ira said, keeping a protective arm around Cassandra while his gloved left held the Citori tightly.

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As if sensing his mood, Cassie nodded silently. She was back to her shy self, hesitating to say anything to the strangers before her.

"Let me show you to the showers, then," Lt. Chen said. "They're separated by the genders, naturally." He took them to a set of stairs and started down. "We have several levels; so long as you stay in the top three unless taken down by personnal there won't be any issue." He gave them a jaunty grin. "Hope you like stairs."

On the second level, he took them to the locker rooms. "There you go, mens there and ladies there. I'll wait here for you two. Take your time and let me know if you need anything."

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"Okay baby, no gettin' around this one. Take care what ya gotta do, and we'll meet back here. Try to enjoy the hot shower, never know when the next one'll be. No talkin' if you can avoid it."

Hesitantly letting go of Ira's hand, and with a last minute kiss, Cass headed to the woman's locker room, not wasting any time getting there.

Despite his reservations of his current location, Ira was determined to at least enjoy the hot shower. He stripped, making sure to keep his arm hidden as much as possible and kept it slathered in soap and out of the water once he had made it under the water.

The other soldiers were whispering to each other and giving him sidelong glances, but a few intent stares had them at least looking elsewhere.

Ira quickly and thoroughly cleaned off, trying to embed the memory of the heated water cascading down his back. Knowing that Cass would probably be long done before him in an effort to be away from him less, he reluctantly turned off the water and toweled off, changing into a pair of jeans and long sleeved black T with a Corona advertisement.

Tossing his 'dirty' clothes into his bag, he walked out of the locker room, never sparing a glance to the goons, not wanting to invite them to grunt at him.

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Cassie was waiting for him, but she wasn't alone. Another woman was with her, a pale, hollow-eyed Hispanic woman with an IV attached to her and dragging the rack after. They were bent over an iPod, watching something on the tiny screen. When Ira caught their attention, Cassie ran to him and gave him a big hug. "Felicia," she said, pointing to the other girl. "Ira," she told the girl with the pride of a girl announcing her boyfriend - which she was.

"Hola," Felicia said with a slight Spanish accent. "Welcome to Undermountain!"

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Ah crap...she talked.

Ira put on his best retail smile, seemingly pleased to meet the new friend. "Hey...and uh, thanks."

Undermountain? Really? Wasn't that a game?

"Hey Baby, you two know each other?" he asked, pointing between the two as he kept an arm around Cass.

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"She reached out, and I took hold," Cassie said, bubbly and delighted.

"Helps that I like having to guess what someone means," Felicia said before he breath caught and she coughed into her hand. When the cough passed, she added, "It's cool, though, really. Marty's actually harder to understand than Cassie here." She saw Ira's question before he asked and said, "He's one of the enhanced - he can't talk anymore, only makes tonal noises. Sucks for him, but he's great on the base's band!

"We just met in the locker room, and I was showing her the last Metalocalypse episode to air. Man, I love that show, and it sucked that the zombs killed it before it got anywhere. So what are you guys doing here?"

"Felicia," Lt. Chen had caught back up to them, and he frowned at the girl. "You really shouldn't be bothering them."

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Ira was happy to see that she had seemingly befriended someone, though jealousy was building a fortress deep in his mind. Wasn't he the Knight, he was the one that understood Cass, not her, him.

"Felicia? Nah, she's no trouble, just giving us a warm welcome, Dave. In fact, I think it would do wonders for our comfort to have her along. Some nash company would be nice. I'm sure you will have no problem making that happen, right my man?"

That ought to score me some brownie points.

Anyone that made Cassandra happy couldn't be all bad, her judge of character had shown to be much better than his own. Any chance to hear about the inner workings of the place was an advantage he couldn't pass up either.

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"It's not a major problem, but Felicia tires easily," Lt. Chen said, clearly trying to be patient with the unreasonable civilians. “I don’t think it’d be a problem, but our tour might be impacted if she wears out.”

“They think I’m a cripple instead of a sicky,” Felicia explained drily.

Having two people who seemed to accept her as she was made a massive difference to the young woman. “You can be a mule,” Cassie said, smirking. As Chen frowned, Felicia laughed.

“Yes, Lieutenant,” she crowed, “you can carry me if I get tired.”

“If that’s what our guests want,” he said, still frowning. “Are you guys hungry then?”

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"Grub is always welcome, Dave. Especially the hot kind. Don't fret dude, isn't the military all about serving others? Carrying her will let you be all that you can be." Ira said, smirking.

He started leading them away from the lockers without a word, just a small shake of his head that let them know he heard it at all.

As they walked, Ira asked Felicia, "So you're Sick too huh?" Putting emphasis where it was due, glancing at Cass as he did.

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"Oh, yeah," she said, her voice resigned. "I'm very, very sick. You're looking at the first person to test the zombie vaccine." As the two looked at her and Chen made a noise of disgust, she added, "As you can see, it needs refinement. And before you asked, I volunteered, and I'm not actually sick with the zombie virus. It just... seems to have trashed my immune system. But they think that I could be bitten, get sick and die and not turn from the bite. Scientific improvement!"

Cassie, her eyes troubled, reached out and touched Felicia's arm. She didn't try to talk, just offered a quiet comfort.

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"Wouldn't it just be easier to shoot 'em when they got sick? Rather than infect the population with some back-alley chemistry compote that could have unintended consequences or side effects? I mean seriously, how do they intend for a vaccine to have any power over a condition that doesn't really mature until after death?" Ira ranted, gesturing wildly in frustration at the audacity of what was left of the human race.

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"The ultimate goal is to make people be immune to even getting sick," Lt. Chen said, his voice struggling to not be snotty. "That's the goal. Then our soldiers have a better chance of winning; they won't have to fear closing with even one of them."

"I know... I don't regret it." Felicia shrugged. "Just hard to deal with when doing your duty doesn't work out so well. At least the military will take care of me for the rest of my short life, right?" She stopped at a door and waved at it while smiling at Ira and Cassie. "There you are. Food."

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Ira shrugged at their rebuttals, not really caring enough to continue the debate. They wanted to sacrifice themselves, let them. Not his problem.

"Hot shower, hot food, cure anything I tell ya. Wouldn't you agree baby?" Ira said.

An enthusiastic nod from Cass had the pair moving into the mess hall. Neatly arranged table and chairs adorned the room, a standard 'serve n' slide' lunchline was against the far wall with the kitchen behind it. The two newcomers received their share of inquisitive stares, but most quickly returned to their meals, deep in their own thoughts.

They quickly moved through the line, Ira suggesting that Felicia's tray be carred by Chen, after he saw her struggling with her IV stand. Chen acquiesced despite a slight curled lip and they sat down at one of the many tables.

"Y'know sugar," Ira addressed Felicia, biting into the warmed roll and gesturing with it as he talked around the mouthful, "There's this Doc at Fox's that might be able to help ya. Give ya some more time to finish that bucket list."

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"I'm sure your Doc is good, but I doubt he's that good," Felicia said with a smile as she ladled down some soup.

"She is the Chirugeon, and she can give life," Cassie said, biting into her sandwich with enthusiasm. "And she will lead us into the light!" There was admiration on Cassie's face; she seemed to have forgotten Myf's denial of that 'honor'.

"Light?" Chen asked, tilting his head at her curiously. "What light?"

"The one at the end, that kisses the house of the Great Spirit," Cassie said, far more interested in her food than what she was rattling off.

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"Actually babe," Ira said, dimissing 'the light', "She is that good. Healed Cass' broken wrist with hardly a touch. Should be able to take care of that nasty bug you got from 'our protectors' without much trouble."

Probably not the smartest move, egging Chen on, but if Ira could get him annoyed enough, he seemed the type to maybe start boasting. That or throttle him.

"Not that far either, but be careful, the place has a tendency to spontaneously combust and get ransacked by the RUS. Prolly why the Doc stays there, always some whiner that needs healed."

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"The RUS is there?" Felicia looked suddenly somber, her spoon hanging in her hand. Chen's annoyance was gone in a flash, his expression intense. Ira got the feeling that several other tables were now paying more attention than they had been a moment ago.

Cassie flashed worried eyes at Ira, but didn't stop eating. Girl knew to eat, sleep and laugh when you could, because you never knew when you'd get another chance at them.

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Ira looked around nervously at the sudden silence and attention he seemed to be getting. "I take it they are none too popular around here, huh?"

"Look, I'm not to keen on 'em either, so don't get your military-issued boxers in a bunch guys." Ira said addressing the room and trying to diffuse the mood.

He lowered his voice and looked at Felicia, "Well, they were, prolly not now, by all accounts. Gonna regret this. S'pose I could take ya, after our stay here at Mount Hilton, if you are worried much."

Why am I such a sucker for the cute damsel-in-distress?

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"Felicia can't leave the care of this facility," Chen said quickly. "She's in a very delicate state, and can't leave. You'll have to bring this doctor, this one here."

"The wolf will blow down the straw house," Cassie said ominiously. She looked somber as she took another bite of her food and chewed.

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"Don't let this guy bully you baby, you're sick, you deserve the best care. However, not like you guys are all high and mighty that everyone comes to your beck and call now. Government sorta lost that privilege when they bit the big one." Ira said, gesturing with a fork loaded with reconstituted mash potatoes.

He shoved the heap in before continuing, "I mean, if she's so delicate Dave, then a car ride ain't gonna make her any worse now is it?"

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"Other than killing her?" Chen asked angrily, his pale face reddening. "You ready for her heart stopping on some backroad in the middle of nowhere." Felicia had gone pale, but Chen didn't notice as he continued, "You think you know what's going on here, but you don't have the first-"

"Leiutenant? Is there a problem?" A voice from Chen caught everyone's attention. The man there was tall and thin, his gray hair cut short.

"No, General!" Chen said quickly, snapping into a salute. Interestingly, Felicia did the same.

"Relax, Airman," the General said to her, then told Chen, "Thanks for watching them for me." He smiled warmly. "I'm General Nelson." He glanced around at the avidly watching airmen. "Come on, let's go to the officer's mess to talk. Felicia, you're welcome to come."

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"Aye, Aye Cap'n" Ira said, saluting with his fork as he stood up and grabbed his tray. Giving Chen a 'I won' grin.

Dammit, so close, few more minutes.

"C'mon baby, time for the fancy chairs and chocolate milk." he added with a warm smile at Cass.

"So General...how's it hangin'?" he asked as they walked, still eating.

Take two.

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"Hangy," he said easily, taking them up a hall to a room where the tables had clothes and the silverware was made of metal. The General showed them to a spare table; as he grabbed his own food, the tables around them quickly vacated until they were as close to alone as they could get in the space.

"So," he said, sitting back down. "You know my name, I know Felicia's, but I don't know yours."

"Ira," Ira said, then pointed at Cassie. "Cassie."

"Just Ira and Cassie? Like Bono and Cher," Nelson said, dropping his napkin across his legs. "So I hear you come from Fox's Refuge. I'm not going to bullshit you. I'd like to know where they are because I think they'd be good allies to have. You've been less than forthright, but I hope you'll be willing to share that much with us." He took a bite and nodded. "Try the Salsbury Steak. Delicious."

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"Bono & Cher without the variety show...more like Bonnie & Clyde if you ask me, though if you ask Cass, she'll say its all Anthony & Cleopatra." Ira said, rolling his eyes in an exaggerated way as he grinned.

"So...when do we get to see the Prez?" he added, nary a thought to the segue or the General's comments.

He lifted his eyebrows expectantly as he shoved his mouth full of the last of the roll, drenched in the scrapeings of the mashed potatoes.

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"Well, that depends on how soon I trust you," Nelson said, his expression pleasant. "Given that we just met, and you seem to like dodging my questions, it won't be today. Given what I can see about Cassie, and the fact that you wear gloves inside in April, I think the 'Prez' is safer with you not being in the same room as him." Nelson's expression hadn't shifted at all, despite the fact that the conversation had shifted to a less-friendly tone. "For now, enjoy our hospitality for a bit."

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"Fair Enough, the man has sorta lost his glamor anyway." Ira said, glancing at Cass' eyes.

So beautiful.

"Since we're enjoying your hospitality and all, what is there to do 'round here?" he said, leaning back after finishing chewing the last bite. "I mean, *burp* aside from taking pot shots at the undead, cuz yeah, that's gotten a little old."

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"We have a library, a media room with computers, games and movies," Nelson said, before giving them a quirky smile before adding, "Ping pong, of course. If you'd like to meet the other Enhanced, I'm sure you could arrange to spar with them, or play chess or whatever you guys like to do show off."

The general took another bite of food and added, "So long as you're on-base, you're not going to see a zombie. My men have worked hard to keep them off base. You guys can relax, enjoy your stay here. Is there anything you two need or want? We'll get you the former, and see what can be done about the latter."

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Sweet!

"Hot showers, hot food, hot entertainment...this place really was ready for a Soviet strike. Think we're good though, don't expect to be staying here long. Unless you want anything Cass?"

The place was tempting, but then that's how Hell...err the military worked. Suck you in with promises of divine entertainment and then they get you to sign away your Soul...err your options. Ira wasn't fly with that, he wasn't gonna get caught in the Devil's web. He might take a taste, but no way, not staying here.

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His lady looked at him for a second and he saw that flicker of determination in her eyes that told him she was making the effort to be completely coherant. Leaning over, she whispered in his ear, "Big, wide, comfy bed." Her eyes twinkled with glee as she leaned back and smiled at him.

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Ira perked up as a large grin spread across his face.

A freakin' bed! How long has it been since a real bed? Ira you idiot!

"Well you heard the Lady, we need a big, wide, comfy bed. Egyptian cotton, 1000 thread count. Chop, chop." Ira said, in good fun, clapping his hands to the General/porter.

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The general looked both amused and slightly put out. "I don't know about all that," he said, sarcasism dripping from his tone, "but I think we can find something bigger than a twin with no lumps. How about I drop you off in the media room and get something arranged for you?"

"Sure, lead the way!" Ira said eagerly. Cassie nodded and even Felicia perked up a little.

The general walked them to another level. He patiently gave Felicia all the time she needed to take the stairs, and when it was clear she wouldn't make it no matter how much time he gave her, he carried her to the room.

The media room looked like someone had raided a Best Buy; a PlayStation 3 and X-box 360 were hooked to a large screen TV, and a shelf was piled with movies and games. A computer was in one corner; a soldier was playing a game on it with quiet intensity.

"Help yourself," the general said, putting Felicia down on the couch. "I'll send someone around for you when your room is ready."

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"Ladies first. Cass you can pick, game or movie. Though if you put in something like Resident Evil then we may have to reevaluate our relationship, Baby." Ira said, smirking at her.

Ira plopped down on the couch next to Felicia, pulling the 360 controller out of the way at the last minute. He closed his eyes for a moment and leaned back as he relished the soft feel of the cushions hugging his body. Even the worn texture of the fabric felt like lush Persian rugs compared to the worn springs in the Up Chucks vinyl bench seat.

I am down deep in the Earth, maybe I am in Hell...but it feels so goood.

"Maybe you don't got it so bad here, babe." he said to Felicia, his eyes still closed. "Aside from the oppressing thumb of the military that is."

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"Actually, the oppressive thumb is less oppressive now that they've killed me," she said, giving him a wan smile. "It's less oppressive for the enhanced, too, right, Ed?" She looked over at the soldier, who glanced at her, startled.

The regular-joe features of the black soldier faded into the handsome Asian features of another man. Even his clothes changed from fatigues to jeans and a t-shirt; as they stared, the man sighed and said, "How'd you know?"

"One, you didn't salute the general," Felicia said, "which any regular soldier would have done, and second, I recognized your avatar on that game." She smirked as Ed grimaced. "Too bad your skills can't make your avatar look different, too."

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"Whoa, dude!" Ira said, jumping up as he looked over at the soldier. "Bet the military has you on a short leash."

All the fantasies of being someone else for a day came rushing back and he idly wondered how long it would take before it got boring and you lost your sense of 'self'.

"You here to listen in, see if we drop any goodies?" Ira asked, then looked over at Cass, "Lemme guess, he's sick too?"

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"Felicia is not sick, just walking toward the Styx," Cassie said, looking irritated as her mouth ran away with her again. "But among the others... sick, sick, sick."

Ed looked at Cassie and then shrugged, giving Ira a wry look. "They do like to know where I am, generally. They think they know where I am most of the time. Right now, I'm hiding out from the honeys," he said, "because they all want me to fuck them looking like Mel Gibson, Tom Cruise or Seth Rogan - don't ask." He looked closely at Ira, and then Ira was looking at Ira. Cassie inhaled sharply, and DuplIra asked, "Like what you see, sweet stuff?"

"Ed, you're being a jerk," Felicia replied. "Honestly, I don't know how those girls who want to fuck their fantasy can put up with your mouth."

"Snake," Cassie muttered as she selected a game, "Benedict snake." She handed Ira a case for SSX Tricky for the PlayStation, then sat back with a controller and waited for him to hook up.

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"There's something wrong about their being two of us, one Sick bastard is enough." Ira said, his head pulling back in a mixture of being weirded out and realizing how badly he needed a haircut.

He took the clamshell and popped the disc in the tray as he grabbed the other controller and fell into the couch between the two Ladies. "Dude, doesn't it bother you that they don't really want you? That they're just there for your shapeshifting cock? The world may make the Gunslinger's journey look like a freakin' cakewalk, but...really?"

The Knight reached over Felicia and grabbed the remote from the arm of the couch and turned up the sound as the game booted up. It had been what seemed like ages since Ira had taken to the time to unwind like this and he was gonna do his best to immerse himself in the environment, even if it was old school SSX.

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