Post by Steve Sinclair on Aug 4, 2018 13:55:34 GMT
Tap tap tap
Tap tap tap
Jack’s boney little fingers tap the old fighter jet wing that makes up the conference room table. His white hair if you can believe it, is whiter and he seems to have lost some of it lately. Stress will do that to you. He has his hand glued to his forehead just above his eye brows, leaning on the table top staring down at it while his other hand, his nervous twitch hand, keeps tapping his fingers over and over and over….
And over and over.
Sitting across from him is Ted. He hasn’t shaved in a couple of weeks now. His big red bushy mustache is bushier if that was possible and his five o’clock shadow is now has had a five day growth spurt. Dark circles under his eyes match his dark suit from the 70’s. He is just glaring at Jack and his infernal tapping and it’s getting on his last nerve. I mean, his….last...nerve.
Before Ted can lunge across the table and choke the every loving life out of Jack, the door opens and in walks JT and Nolan.
Ted stands up to meet the leader of this highly classified outfit. Nolan raises his hand.
NOLAN: Please, spare me the formal nonsense. Listen…
Ted sits down while JT, the youngest of the 4 men in the room, and the fittest, takes his seat next to Ted.
NOLAN: This is where we’re at.
JACK: We’re fucked! I tell you that! Fucked with a capital F.
JT: I wouldn’t say that Jack…
JACK: The fuck would you know mister crossfit? Huh? Is one more push up, one more Mudder going to fix this? I think not.
Nolan sighs.
NOLAN: As of right now Jack, we’re bedded in Hollywood.
Jack slams his hand on the metal table top. Apparently it wasn’t glued to his forehand and he might have dented the table. These are very expensive tables, lots of tax dollars was spent on it.
JACK: YOU HAVE GOT! (Jack shakes his head and looks like he is about to stroke out.) To be kidding me? We’re fucking bedded in now? Holy Jesus Mary H Christ! Shall I just go type up their death certificates now?
NOLAN: Dabney….
TED: Fucking Dabney! I swear!
NOLAN: Is convinced that if we stay the course, keep pushing forward, we will achieve this mission’s ultimate goal.
TED: Let me guess, Bushnell was good with this?
NOLAN: Bushnell signed off on it gentlemen.
TED: Of course he did, stupid prick.
NOLAN: Name calling, gentlemen, isn’t going to solve anything. We have our three best agents out in the field, undercover and they have their eyes on the prize.
JT: I don’t have to remind you guys just how important it is to keep the Energon Device from falling into enemy hands do I?
JACK: No! Of course not JT.
TED: Don’t you have to go train for American Ninja or something stupid? Why don’t you go wear those tight knickers you call shorts okay?
JT: Ted, Jack, I know this mission hasn’t gone according to plan…
JACK: According to plan? Fucking NOTHING has gone right JT!
TED: We’re lucky that they didn’t end up just like, and I mean! Just like 5200!
JT: 2600 and 7800 are so much better than 5200 could have ever been…
TED: Just barely.
JACK: By a cunt hair you fucking cunt.
JT: I disagree. We have the only 2 guys on the face of this planet who can perform at the level they are at and are more than capable to see this mission through. They have skills 5200 just never had.
JACK: Says who? You?
JT: R and D, Intel, Futures, you’re two favorite people. We have the best of the best working for us.
NOLAN: Gentlemen, we have what we have, we have the best. End of discussion. But we have two new issues.
TED: That we’re not pulling out?
JACK: We seem to be nowhere nears the Energon Device is the other.
NOLAN: Hardly. It is the opinion of both Dabney and Bushnell that the Yamauchi have also a operative bedded in Hollywood as well.
TED: What?
JACK: Nonsense. Everyone has cleared them. We know everything about everyone in Hollywood.
NOLAN: Gentlemen….
Nolan stands up and picks up a clicker off of the table. He points it at a Kodak carousel 600 projector. Up on the wall behind where Nolan sits, a picture of Kendrick Kross is show. It his twitter profile picture lifted from several underground websites that are dark to the dark web. The file number to the photo has been blacked out.
TED: Who’s that tosser?
JACK: He looks like a real salad tosser if you ask me.
Ted and Jack laugh, the first they have laughed in weeks, months. JT and Nolan, find no humor in it. Nolan points at Kross’s mug shot/file photo
NOLAN: We believe he is Yamauchi’s lead in their counter program. We find him dangerous and our biggest threat to this mission. So much so, that there is next to no chatter about him in forums on the dark web. We have people right now actively seeking any information they can dig up on him. When ever his name is mentioned, that becomes the end of the conversation. Guys….
Nolan turns and looks at Kross’s picture. He clasps his hands behind his back and stares at the file photo.
NOLAN: He could be Yamauchi himself.
Ted and Jack look up at the picture of Kendrick Kross a second time. All you can hear in the room is the fan on the protector.
After a couple of minutes, Jack clears his throat.
JACK: What do we know of him?
NOLAN: He has embedded himself deep. Multi winner of championships from across the network. Yamauchi has spent everything he has to create this persona. No expense spared. He has help too. He has a girlfriend. We believe it’s his wife.
Nolan turns away from the picture up on the wall.
NOLAN: This....."Kendrick Kross", he will deny that he is in fact Yamauchi. We haven't found that link between his code name and who he actually is, but we will find it. Trust me, we will prove it and no doubt, until we do, he will deny, deny, deny. For the time being, from this point forward, Kendrick Kross will be referred to as Bubsy. We have sent an order to the team to refrain from any social media interaction with Bubsy. They engaged in some banter the other day on twitter. They have their orders and that is that. We will continue to monitor this situation on a daily basis. That is why Jack….
Nolan looks down at Jack.
NOLAN: Why we are not leaving Hollywood.
Jack nods.
JACKS: Understood sir.
NOLAN: And the other issue we have. It has become clear that 2600 and Flashback 2 have grown, close.
TED: Well they are on the MCC all the time for however long now. A friendship is bound to….
NOLAN: They have committed teela.
TED: Oh?! Well! Yeah, that is a problem.
JACK: Really? Flashback 2 scored very high on all of her tests. From day one she has always been mission first, I don’t understand it.
NOLAN: As it stands gentlemen, we, well, how can I say this? Turning a blind eye. It doesn’t seem to be interfering with the mission or any of the battles. Just the opposite has happened, 2600 seems more focused than ever before. Seems like he has a second reason to see this mission through. But a congressional meeting is being scheduled for next week to discuss this. Dabney….
Ted lets out a low grumble….
NOLAN: And Bushnell are leaning towards an eterina mode on Flashback 2 and replacing her.
TED: Jesus! Really? Eterina Mode?
JACK: That seems a bit harsh. She has always been a trooper for us. A real card carrying member.
NOLAN: She has. That is why she would leave with full honors.
JACK: But, Who would replace her?
Nolan pauses for a moment before answering. He clears his throat.
NOLAN: Tempest.
Ted’s mouth hangs open. Shocked. Jack just about falls over in his chair holding his chest.
NOLAN: Between finding and securing the Energon Device and Bubsy, we will have to bring in the big guns for this. We can not lose Hollywood. Can not!
JACK: What about the battle of Yars?
NOLAN: We have suffered a setback in that. I don’t know if you watch the news but there is a volcano erupting in Hawaii and that has brought Yars to a standstill. Any and all Yamauchi’s minions have fled the big island and in the chaos we lost them. We’re certain they went back to their lair. Tempest is free and is willing to lend a hand, to help out 2600 and 7800. To defeat Bubsy when the time comes. We all know how she hates the Yamauchi.
TED: Yeah, Tempest is like a possessed heat seeking missile when she zeros in on those blasted Yamauchi.
Jack and JT agree.
NOLAN: It is on the table. I will keep you informed if we pull the trigger.
JACK: hmmm
NOLAN: Gentlemen.
And with that Nolan exits the room. JT stands up and pats Ted on the shoulder and leaves without saying anything leaving Jack and Ted looking at one another, with a new worry, new headaches and by the time this plays out, new ulcers……….
Tap tap tap
Jack’s boney little fingers tap the old fighter jet wing that makes up the conference room table. His white hair if you can believe it, is whiter and he seems to have lost some of it lately. Stress will do that to you. He has his hand glued to his forehead just above his eye brows, leaning on the table top staring down at it while his other hand, his nervous twitch hand, keeps tapping his fingers over and over and over….
And over and over.
Sitting across from him is Ted. He hasn’t shaved in a couple of weeks now. His big red bushy mustache is bushier if that was possible and his five o’clock shadow is now has had a five day growth spurt. Dark circles under his eyes match his dark suit from the 70’s. He is just glaring at Jack and his infernal tapping and it’s getting on his last nerve. I mean, his….last...nerve.
Before Ted can lunge across the table and choke the every loving life out of Jack, the door opens and in walks JT and Nolan.
Ted stands up to meet the leader of this highly classified outfit. Nolan raises his hand.
NOLAN: Please, spare me the formal nonsense. Listen…
Ted sits down while JT, the youngest of the 4 men in the room, and the fittest, takes his seat next to Ted.
NOLAN: This is where we’re at.
JACK: We’re fucked! I tell you that! Fucked with a capital F.
JT: I wouldn’t say that Jack…
JACK: The fuck would you know mister crossfit? Huh? Is one more push up, one more Mudder going to fix this? I think not.
Nolan sighs.
NOLAN: As of right now Jack, we’re bedded in Hollywood.
Jack slams his hand on the metal table top. Apparently it wasn’t glued to his forehand and he might have dented the table. These are very expensive tables, lots of tax dollars was spent on it.
JACK: YOU HAVE GOT! (Jack shakes his head and looks like he is about to stroke out.) To be kidding me? We’re fucking bedded in now? Holy Jesus Mary H Christ! Shall I just go type up their death certificates now?
NOLAN: Dabney….
TED: Fucking Dabney! I swear!
NOLAN: Is convinced that if we stay the course, keep pushing forward, we will achieve this mission’s ultimate goal.
TED: Let me guess, Bushnell was good with this?
NOLAN: Bushnell signed off on it gentlemen.
TED: Of course he did, stupid prick.
NOLAN: Name calling, gentlemen, isn’t going to solve anything. We have our three best agents out in the field, undercover and they have their eyes on the prize.
JT: I don’t have to remind you guys just how important it is to keep the Energon Device from falling into enemy hands do I?
JACK: No! Of course not JT.
TED: Don’t you have to go train for American Ninja or something stupid? Why don’t you go wear those tight knickers you call shorts okay?
JT: Ted, Jack, I know this mission hasn’t gone according to plan…
JACK: According to plan? Fucking NOTHING has gone right JT!
TED: We’re lucky that they didn’t end up just like, and I mean! Just like 5200!
JT: 2600 and 7800 are so much better than 5200 could have ever been…
TED: Just barely.
JACK: By a cunt hair you fucking cunt.
JT: I disagree. We have the only 2 guys on the face of this planet who can perform at the level they are at and are more than capable to see this mission through. They have skills 5200 just never had.
JACK: Says who? You?
JT: R and D, Intel, Futures, you’re two favorite people. We have the best of the best working for us.
NOLAN: Gentlemen, we have what we have, we have the best. End of discussion. But we have two new issues.
TED: That we’re not pulling out?
JACK: We seem to be nowhere nears the Energon Device is the other.
NOLAN: Hardly. It is the opinion of both Dabney and Bushnell that the Yamauchi have also a operative bedded in Hollywood as well.
TED: What?
JACK: Nonsense. Everyone has cleared them. We know everything about everyone in Hollywood.
NOLAN: Gentlemen….
Nolan stands up and picks up a clicker off of the table. He points it at a Kodak carousel 600 projector. Up on the wall behind where Nolan sits, a picture of Kendrick Kross is show. It his twitter profile picture lifted from several underground websites that are dark to the dark web. The file number to the photo has been blacked out.
TED: Who’s that tosser?
JACK: He looks like a real salad tosser if you ask me.
Ted and Jack laugh, the first they have laughed in weeks, months. JT and Nolan, find no humor in it. Nolan points at Kross’s mug shot/file photo
NOLAN: We believe he is Yamauchi’s lead in their counter program. We find him dangerous and our biggest threat to this mission. So much so, that there is next to no chatter about him in forums on the dark web. We have people right now actively seeking any information they can dig up on him. When ever his name is mentioned, that becomes the end of the conversation. Guys….
Nolan turns and looks at Kross’s picture. He clasps his hands behind his back and stares at the file photo.
NOLAN: He could be Yamauchi himself.
Ted and Jack look up at the picture of Kendrick Kross a second time. All you can hear in the room is the fan on the protector.
After a couple of minutes, Jack clears his throat.
JACK: What do we know of him?
NOLAN: He has embedded himself deep. Multi winner of championships from across the network. Yamauchi has spent everything he has to create this persona. No expense spared. He has help too. He has a girlfriend. We believe it’s his wife.
Nolan turns away from the picture up on the wall.
NOLAN: This....."Kendrick Kross", he will deny that he is in fact Yamauchi. We haven't found that link between his code name and who he actually is, but we will find it. Trust me, we will prove it and no doubt, until we do, he will deny, deny, deny. For the time being, from this point forward, Kendrick Kross will be referred to as Bubsy. We have sent an order to the team to refrain from any social media interaction with Bubsy. They engaged in some banter the other day on twitter. They have their orders and that is that. We will continue to monitor this situation on a daily basis. That is why Jack….
Nolan looks down at Jack.
NOLAN: Why we are not leaving Hollywood.
Jack nods.
JACKS: Understood sir.
NOLAN: And the other issue we have. It has become clear that 2600 and Flashback 2 have grown, close.
TED: Well they are on the MCC all the time for however long now. A friendship is bound to….
NOLAN: They have committed teela.
TED: Oh?! Well! Yeah, that is a problem.
JACK: Really? Flashback 2 scored very high on all of her tests. From day one she has always been mission first, I don’t understand it.
NOLAN: As it stands gentlemen, we, well, how can I say this? Turning a blind eye. It doesn’t seem to be interfering with the mission or any of the battles. Just the opposite has happened, 2600 seems more focused than ever before. Seems like he has a second reason to see this mission through. But a congressional meeting is being scheduled for next week to discuss this. Dabney….
Ted lets out a low grumble….
NOLAN: And Bushnell are leaning towards an eterina mode on Flashback 2 and replacing her.
TED: Jesus! Really? Eterina Mode?
JACK: That seems a bit harsh. She has always been a trooper for us. A real card carrying member.
NOLAN: She has. That is why she would leave with full honors.
JACK: But, Who would replace her?
Nolan pauses for a moment before answering. He clears his throat.
NOLAN: Tempest.
Ted’s mouth hangs open. Shocked. Jack just about falls over in his chair holding his chest.
NOLAN: Between finding and securing the Energon Device and Bubsy, we will have to bring in the big guns for this. We can not lose Hollywood. Can not!
JACK: What about the battle of Yars?
NOLAN: We have suffered a setback in that. I don’t know if you watch the news but there is a volcano erupting in Hawaii and that has brought Yars to a standstill. Any and all Yamauchi’s minions have fled the big island and in the chaos we lost them. We’re certain they went back to their lair. Tempest is free and is willing to lend a hand, to help out 2600 and 7800. To defeat Bubsy when the time comes. We all know how she hates the Yamauchi.
TED: Yeah, Tempest is like a possessed heat seeking missile when she zeros in on those blasted Yamauchi.
Jack and JT agree.
NOLAN: It is on the table. I will keep you informed if we pull the trigger.
JACK: hmmm
NOLAN: Gentlemen.
And with that Nolan exits the room. JT stands up and pats Ted on the shoulder and leaves without saying anything leaving Jack and Ted looking at one another, with a new worry, new headaches and by the time this plays out, new ulcers……….