River: 10thDOM February Challenge, Muse 3

Parental Advisory:  Rated R for language and sexual references.  Gotta go with what they gave me.  Muse 3  is "Fuck Origami".

It was a great relief to learn that her missing hours earned her only a slap on the wrist. Next mission involving Olympia, she has to take it. Of all the colonies the Titans patrol, Olympia has got to be the shittiest shit hole of them all. Think Las Vegas of Earth, early 20^th century. All glitzy and enticing on the outside. Corruption, greed, hedonism on the inside. And none of the newly created “Agencies of Protection” have been able to break the age old cycle of payola, looking the other way, and if no one gets hurt why the hell do you care. Then add the new wave of personalized drugs, enhanced virtual reality, and the trafficking in not just human flesh, but artificially  intelligent almost human flesh for sordid purposes and you've got a hell of a, well, shit hole.  With technology crimes on the front burner, the 20^st century crimes that still plague Olympia aren't usually worth their depleted staff's efforts. Fine. She'll go.

She'd been expecting stiffer consequences, actually. Jenkins thinks she's unaware, but Leah knows that every test, every simulation, every mind-numbing interview he has put her through, has been getting her further under cover. Shit, by now she really could use a playbook cataloguing who knows what and how and for how long. At least Jenkins doesn't have one either. Good thing.  She started this assignment with him as an enemy to keep close, but he's earned her grudging respect.  He really is caught between agencies just trying to wield his own brand of justice. When did it all become so fucking complicated?

Caffeine. She needs caffeine. Not to mention a shower. She's used to men checking her out. She's not used to them checking her out and getting off the glide while holding their breath. It's with quite a sigh of relief that she enters her private quarters at last. “Lights 50%.” Hastily she pulls off her high heeled boots and tosses her soiled jacket on the tile floor of the entry way. Heading for the kitchen area she contemplates caffeine choices. The patch would of course be the quickest. But what she really wants is to sit down. Think. Plan. Sip. Ok, shower sit think plan sip.

As a senior officer, her living area is equipped with more luxuries than most of this station's soldiers'. She slides the MorningJoe cartridge into the brew unit and gives up pretending she's going to be good. Grabbing the bottle of all-purpose cleaning fluid from under the sink, she dumps what's actually vodka into her coffee.

Feeling that first sip of caffeine-enhanced alcohol (not to be confused with alcohol-enhanced caffeine) all the way to her carefully manicured toenails, she heads for the shower. Even she can't stand the smell of herself anymore, and that's saying something. After all, she's the one who endured the olfactory-testing assignment at Ridel IV the longest. Just the thought of that hideous sense-assaulting endurance test sends her heaving into the commode. And that's when she finds it. Ha. They do float. She's heard about this new technology, but to see the Whisper Class recording device exit her person? A bit alarming. Funny though, it does fold up like some fucking origami creation when exiting it's host. Just like they said.

Leah's not sure when she's appreciated a shower more than this one. Fishing that tiny recorder from her own vomit was just the last straw. She never cries. Never. But stepping into the cubicle, under those forceful jets, she lets herself. She cries for her lost brother, she cries for her lost innocence at much too young an age, and she cries from the unrelenting strain of what she's been trying to accomplish.

As the sobs die down, she begins to plan. Determine if the chip is still hidden. Figure out how to play recording from origami bug. Contact Ian. Shit, that should be first. Where the hell is her drink?
Continued at Muse 4 

Muse 0 here

Muse 1  here

Muse 2 here

To read the other entries in this challenge, go here.