(JAN 18.23 PDT)

It is done.

I hate Lucas right now.

I feel sorry for Aphid.

I still love Kaps.

I think Jyi kicks ass, and I like how she stood up for Darvey.

MCM did a wrap up ustream. He answered loads of questions, and was all silly tired, and he didn’t look as bad as I expected. He did act slightly insane, but I think that’s because he didn’t have any Screech yet.

As always after event like this, I’m all emotional. It’s the void after summercamp syndrome. You experience stuff together with a small group, you bond, you lack sleep together. And then it ends, and suddenly there’s nothing to do, no one to talk with. It’s an empty void. And then MCM goes all Thank you thank you thank you on you, and I become teary eyed. It’s silly, but it’s how I’m wired.

It’s a strange thing this Dispatching and Livewriting thing. Dispatching can be incredibly fun, but sometimes it’s stressful. But it’s a kick ass experience. And you want to share that with many, many people, because it’s so cool. At the other hand, part of it’s charm is that you get to know the people participating, and the bond that doing it all together creates is a special one.

But I’m stopping to make sense now. It was great, I had a blast, and I’m sad it’s already over.

Thank you all for reading and dispatching along, and see you at the next one!

17.21 PDT JAN HERE

Anna had to go sleep. Nancy had to go game. So it’s only BRAVE Cathi and myself here backstage. Only 1 more chapter to go.

Can I say DAMN you MCM!!! While reading I went: “I KNEW CAFFO WAS BAD! I was right I was right I was right! DAMN I WAS WRONG! Why do I never see this coming??!!!” Quite the rollercoaster. Anna is going to be all HAHA I got it right when she finds out who was behind it all. I think MCM just likes to play with me.

So now all that is left is the personal issues that need to come together. I’m curious if it will be a drugged spiced ending like the previous one.

Over and out and anxious for more.

Jan.

Oh before I forget, Cathi posted this beautiful picture of the sunrise. Yes. the sun is already shining on her side of the world. She’s even crazier than me!

(JAN 16.37 PDT)

OMG THE CLIFFHANGERS!!! I don’t know what to think anymooooore. Is Lucas a bad guy? Or is Darvey not there because he’s after the bad guys? But would he be allowed to go after them / him on his own? I don’t think so. So Darvey has been taken out of the picture somehow. So then where was he when talking to his ghostly wife? I have to admit this more or less went how I thought it would go, except for Lucas being there. I don’t trust him, but I think that’s because I don’t like him.

Also, I think the masks were against the Fel disease? or against the fumes?

I want more and I want it fast, but at the other hand I don’t want it to end yet!

Also, I got to press the red button that sends out questions for the last time. Or maybe last time. I’ll miss the POWER.

Over and out!

(Anna) 4.45 pm PDT
AHH! Hey was I right or what? It seems Lucas isn’t influenced by Jyi’s emotion amplifier thingy! Ha! But I am surprised Lucas was there. And where is Darvey? Chasing down the other bad guys? Fighting off Aphid? Hm.

Jan — the masks were against the fumes. Fel said that earlier to Jyi. Gosh.

That is all I have to say.

(Jan  16.03 PDT, 1.04 in the night for me. AND 7 in the MORNING for CATHI)

The Award for most die-hardest fan of today goes to Cathi!!! A round of applause!

MCM is throwing them out at record tempo, and in the meantime we all listened to Nancy’s interview and now we’re BEEEEHIIIIIND. Add to that, there aren’t any outlines anymore. Well he has, but they aren’t uploaded to the site. So we are adding questions at random. Which he has to put in. But then there’s all this white space tempting us away. And then… I do this:

Ha an empty page! What shall I write here?

Jyi is still recovering from the blows to her head. The emotions around her seem to ranging from fear, to relief, with fury and insanity thrown into the mix. It’s too hard to focus on.
She looks around, for a way out this mess. There’s bodies and rubble all over the place. She shifts a /PREHISTORICAL ANIMAL/ around to see a familiar shape. The recognition hits her. No. Not again. She can’t deal with this again. The dead person on the ground resembles her fiancee a lot. ENTER FLASHBACK TO WHAT HAPPENED WITH HER FIANCEE. First How they met, then one romantical moment, and then how he died!!!!

Jyi ends up crying on the floor. KAPS swoops in, picks her up, gently pats her, accidentally bruising her skin. They make it outside fine, where Darvey is waiting. It’s time to regroup, and they have to do it fast, because Papa Damascus is about to take over the planet once more. After he wiped them out that is.

I wrote this when we were still around chapter 28-30 story wise, and didn’t read any of the inbetween chapters, so it shouldn’t make any sense at all. I just wanted to find out what happened to the fiancee. I also wrote this for the white space on chapter 35, but I think he used it for chapter 33. Don’t you think so?

Because that outline went like this originally:

Jyi trapped with Fel, brought to warehouse, rigged with explosives and gagged.  Both need to wear masks because of toxic fumes in place.  When Darvey appears, same trick as before: stun grenade, and then she has to crush him with fear so he tells where the loot is.  If she fails to do so, he’ll kill her and torture it out of him.

So YAY for my silly teasing. YAY for the flashback. Less YAY for still not knowing who the fiancee was and what happened to him. Very much yay for the fury. THE FURY… You have to admit it sounds creepy. And you know she’ll use it. And she won’t use it on Darvey. I do wonder if it was her mind control abilities only that they were after all this time.Is she the only Centurian on the planet???? Or is it still because of something else too?

On to Chapter 34.

No outline available.

A minor WTF. Here I am rooting for Aphid all the time, and he just goes for the fine yet fluorescent blue eyes? Jyi is awesome, and kick-ass, but she isn’t nice. Aphid is strange, but she’s cooooooool.  People should be less superficial! And maybe I’m missing something, but why exactly does Darvey loves his wife? Because she isn’t mad at him? I find that a strange reason.

And again, since when do Darvey and Jyi actually get along?

(Anna) 4:24 pm PDT and I need to get to bed soon
I’m happy Darvey’s going for Jyi. It was only ever one-sided between Aphid and him, at least logistically things could work between him and Jyi. Fel’s plan, however, for Jyi to project fear? How’s that going to work? She herself has admitted she can’t control the power very well so he’s just as likely to get knocked out by things. Unless… are there any alien races who can’t feel emotion? That would be an interesting.

I’m getting sick of Lisa to be honest. She does understand Darvey a lot in a way other people don’t but it’s still annoying.

Anyway that is all I am going to say for now. I really need to go to bed soon as I have to be up for work tomorrow bright and early, unlike Cathi who has a national holiday and Jan who has no classes. Le sigh. I expect I’ll have to catch up with the last few chapters tomorrow evening.

(Anna) 12.42 pm PDT And we’re getting slow at The Dispatch
Jeez, I’d barely posted the previous post and MCM announces another chapter going live! Ridiculous. So it’s time for a chart to make up for things. This is MCM’s total wordcount progress so far:

Kind of makes NaNoWriMo nutters look like wimps, huh? His progress has been pretty steady, although he hasn’t quite managed to rack up the wordcount he did for the first 3D1D. There are still several more chapters to go though, so your bets are welcome!

Anyway on to comments of Chapter 31 (I will leave Jan to give you the outline) — I thought it was cool that Aphid could make dreams! I wonder how she did it, and if it’s a skill of her race or just a drug-induced thing. And I told you Darvey/Jyi had potential!! I felt a bit bad for Aphid, though, she’s trying so hard but I don’t think it’ll work. I think Aphid/Kaps should get back together. And what about Lucas? Is there no action for him? No wonder he’s a grumpy sod.

Now the ending of the chapter was really unexpected! I can’t imagine what the riddle is — perhaps something to unlock treasure somewhere? Why else would a warlord need the answer to a riddle? It makes no sense. And poor Jyi…. Darvey better run into the rescue! But he’ll have to do it unofficially because Lucas has taken his badge, right?

I bet because Aphid loves him, Darvey could convince her to help him rescue Jyi… Although it will hurt her feelings when she realizes that Darvey likes Jyi better. Hm. And Kaps will come along to the rescue too, I imagine. But Lucas will try to prevent them, or at least say he hasn’t ordered them to the rescue. Those are my guesses, at any rate.

(Jan 14.45 PDT)

I just got back from the store, running for supplies, and find this unfinished dispatch and Anna off line! I hope she comes back to us soon. Do you know that scene in the BBC North & South miniseries where Thornton whispers after the carriage Margaret just stepped into? He goes all dark and broody “Look back! Look back to me! Look Back”. That’s how I feel when Anna goes off line, but change look for come off course.

Ooooh! I found it!

Damn that series (AND BOOK!!!!!!!!!) was great. Anyway, back to this great series. Chapter 31 and 32.

31

Darvey knows who the assassin is, but Lucas refuses to do anything about it because of the rules broken.  [POLITICAL POSITION] furious, ready to forbid CSA from working on Panella ever again.  Lucas suspends him indefinitely, takes away his badge.  Kaps getting angry.  Just before a mutiny happens, call comes in.  Fel.  He’s got Jyi.  He’s going to kill her unless they can get Papa Damascus to answer his riddle.  They have [NUMBER] hours.

A slightly longer outline this time. I also noticed a difference! In the outline Darvey knows who the assassin is, here we still have no idea. Except that his doors blow up that is. I really don’t like Lucas anymore. I thought he was funny in the first TNR, but here he’s just too emotionless for my liking. He does have major secret ass kicking skills apparantly, if Darvey wound up in the sick bow after 1 touch. I found Aphid sadly endearing. She’s so nice. And I get Anna’s liking for Darvey and Jyi, but isn’t that because both are the most human, and KAPS and Aphid are less so? I also don’t get Darvey’s sudden liking for his team. I get his mixed up feelings for Aphid because she has feelings for him, but his despair at saving Jyi I find a bit strange. When did they get so close? Especcially since she isn’t that nice to him. Darvey must be a very loyal person.

32

Lucas can’t partake in activities that will jeopardize the case against Papa Damascus.  Kaps disallowed by Lucas, as a CSA member.  Only person who COULD go in is Darvey, and he’s not cleared anymore.  Left alone, angry, depressed while Lucas looks for alts.  Aphid enters, shows off new legs, gives Darvey a hacked CSA badge. Darvey arrives at penal station, gets through initial security, but questioned by warden because he’s human.  After long and snarky convo, borrows warden’s pen and led into room and left alone with Papa Damascus.  Darvey vs Papa.  Game of chicken, until Darvey convinces him to cooperate.  Shipment is in a sludge warehouse, disguised as 30-year-old malt.  Won’t be touched for another 100 years at this rate.  Darvey leaves, returns pen to warden.

Whoa. What an ass kicking chapter. Really I vote Amagad as the new word of the year. Definitely for criminals! It has to become as known and cool as omerta. I mean, Darvey almost went Keifer Sutherland 24 style on Papa there! Also, Anna thinks she knows who is behind it all after reading this chapter. I voted Caffo before it, but not anymore now.

At the moment, Nancy, who co-authors Tori’s Row with MCM is doing an interview, so I’m heading out to listen to that!

You can listen here!

(Jan 12.00 PDT)

Didn’t you enjoy that livechat? I know I did. It’s great to be able to ask all these questions, and to see him be tired and upbeat, and laugh at all our silly suggestions. I sometimes think we ask to much of him, because we want him to talk, and explain and be silly and write and not be tired at the same time. At the other side I think we all admire MCM for what he’s pulling off again.

On to the chapters. I have the same problem with Darvey as I often have with Gare from the Fission Chips series. It all seems to happen so coincidentally. Though I have to admit that KAPS his knowledge is helping them massively. Did I already mention how much I like KAPS?

On to the chapters!

Chapter 29

Pension office. [TICKET NUMBER] Get address. In the sky, Total Eclipse because PLANET crosses STAR. It’s suddenly very dark. Everyone wears silly glasses

Ok. This has to be the shortest outline ever. Especcially when the eclipse thing was added by your truly, who thought that a six word outline was just too silly. So I added an eclipse into the story. Which made me think of this. I never noticed how incredibly random that video clip was, until after I saw that.

In case you are wondering, we don’t read the actual outlines in front. Or at least I don’t, and I don’t think Nancy, Anna or Cathi do either. We are allowed to add random questions to the chapters to make it harder for him. But we ignore the outline, except when there isn’t one, which results in us going wild. With sillyness.

Chapter 30

Fel’s place. Neighbour with [SMALL ANIMAL]. Play [SLOW GAME] every sunday. Boom. Big tragic death.

Ok. Short outline again. I have a new theory. Fel = Papa. He wasn’t in jail at all. Though that might be strange with the whole family of desease guy thing. Which was actually something we discovered on the Dispatch first! Yay for us!

(Anna) 12.34 pm PDT
ONLY 8 CHAPTERS LEFT ZOMG! All I wanted to say is that because of Jan, we have been discussing the kama sutra backstage. ‘Nuff said. Also, I didn’t expect Chrissie to die! He was getting annoying though so just as well. Ha!

I hope the next chapter goes back to Jyi as I want to see what she’s up to.

And I just wanted to confirm what Jan said — none of us read the outlines. Cathi even has a special envelope to cover up the half of the screen where the outline appears so she is not tempted to read it!!! On that note, big round of applause to Cathi actually for staying up so late — I think it’s past 3am where she is. Good going!

(Anna) 10:21 am PDT and I have been deemed a genius
Why didn’t we liveblog the livechat #2? I’m not sure. Anyway after a few false starts involving crappy ustreamage (terrible lagging, no sound, etc) MCM restarted his computer and it all worked out okay. So I got to show him my surprise. Remember Jan’s breaking news post about how awesome I am? Well the reason behind that post was finally unveiled to MCM during this livechat.

The surprise relates to the poem that MCM read aloud during livechat #1. And how we said he was a pansy because he didn’t read it aloud properly (e.g. all in one go)? He kept stopping to make comments and being a general wimp, so I thought I’d show him how it was done. And to spice things up a little, I made a small video to accompany it.

Here it is:

And in MCM’s own words, the video is “genius”. Ha!

(JAN)

He also watched ouur little surprise during today’s first livechat. His face was priceless. I laughed really, really loud.

You can watch the livechat here, or go over to MCM’s Ustream Channel. Loads of questions were answered so it’s definitely worth it!

(Anna) 8:02 am PDT and I am having lunch
Just finished reading Chapter 28, and…. Raiding the pension office? Seriously? I had a feeling that Darvey was just going to turn around and ask the old ladies behind him if they knew of a man called Fel, rather than this more drastic plan.

In either case, it’s interesting to see Darvey having a more active role in events, rather than just being a pawn going along with things as he was in Book 1. He also seems to think about suicide slightly less, which is a relief! But it’s odd to see him acting intelligently, don’t you agree? I think KAPS doesn’t believe it either.

On to ridiculous conspiracy theories: who is Fel? What if Fel is Lucas? No wait that wouldn’t work age-wise. What characters do we know who are old, then? I can’t think of anybody, but it would be interesting if it turned out to be someone we’ve met before (in book 1, perhaps?). What do you think?

MCM hasn’t given me the original outline for this chapter yet, so I’m going to sign off to let Jan give her thoughts on it.

But one final thing: any guesses on Chapter 29’s word count? I’m going to go with 1,200 (and will tweet about it with #tnr29).

(Jan 8.19 PDT and I’m in need of a snack)

I’m so glad Anna’s back. It’s silly. Nancy and Cathi have joined us backstage too, so it’s all jolly good. MCM has been rather quiet lately and we just found out. His eye is red and hurts a lot, and he closed his eyes for a bit to let it rest. Yups, he fell asleep while sitting up. Lucky, his awesome kids woke him up. I can only imagine how this must all look to them.

About the chapter. Wasn’t Fel also a disease from somewhere in the beginning? And are they connected? Does that make Fel a poisoner? poisoneer? toxic? O.O Maybe they’ll catch Fel, but he’ll turn out to be very toxic, so everybody starts crumbling down, but then Darvey is already sortof vaccinated, because that guy gooed all over him. So Darvey will be the only one able to resist the evil toxity, take Fel out with his sledge, and SAVE THE DAY!!!

YAY for crazy theories!

Here’s the original outline, that probably makes slightly

Darvey and Kaps grab the CSA agent and make their way to Ergo City.  Darvey doesn’t want to call anything in, because Lucas will freak out.  Call paramedics for Junior [ACCIDENT].  He’s not going anywhere fast.  Arrive in Ergo City, sit in coffee shop, eat [DISGUSTING FOOD] [DANGEROUS DRINK].  CSA guy in awkward conversation: who did he betray along the way?  How many secrets let out?  He argues that until recently, nobody died because of him.  He was keeping the peace better than that fool Caffo.  Darvey says he’s going to jail, but first he’s going to help them find and identify Fel.  How would CSA guy know who Fel is?  And how do you find a guy who doesn’t want to be found?  Lots of discussions, but then Darvey sees a bunch of old aliens trying to eat [OLD PEOPLE FOOD].  Easy.  This guy’s an old friend of Papa’s, so he’s old, right? On the planet of socialized everything, ask the pension office.

See how that outline says ask the pension office? Noticed how Darvey screamed Raid the pension office? MCM is turning meaner.

Oh, and Anna is Afweizg in the head!

(Anna) 8:36 am PDT

Just a quick addition for anyone wanting to enter word count guesses: a graph of MCM’s word counts so far.

Guesses we’ve had so far:
Me – 1200
Jan – 870
WA_side – 1400
Nancy – 1011

(Jan 6.12 PDT)

Boyohboyohboyohboy. What a chapter. Junior was trying to get rid of his Papa? But Papa still has is own assassin running around? Who Junior doesn’t control but still uses? And he wants Jyi? But is it Papa, Junior or the assassin that wants Jyi? For a moment I thought Junior would turn out to be Jyi’s fiancee. But now I’m thinking it was the assassin. Since people are turning up alive here anyway, why not Jyi’s supposed to be dead fiancee? It is a romance after all. Let us have a happy ending!

Does anyone else pictured Junior with 4 legs btw? I totally forgot that bipeds have arms too! Silly me. Oh I wish I still had Spore installed on my computer so I could make you all spiffy aliens :p. Also that sledge that Darvey has been running around with? Apparantly that’s not a sledge hammer. But a word MCM invented. Without realizing that it already existed. Some pretty minor but epic fail right there :p

Darvey and Kaps cornered by Junior.  Leans that Junior faked his death [ACCIDENT] [NUMBER BETWEEN 1 and 20] to avoid getting caught, and has been putting the business back together, bit by bit.  Talks about his fantastic wealth under the new order, how great it all is.  Darvey asks about Papa… if things are so good, why spring him from prison?  Junior is smart: he won’t admit to anything to do with snitches.  Darvey asks again: if Papa comes back, isn’t Junior second-in-command?  Junior suggests that getting out of prison and “coming back” are two different things.  Junior proposes they work together: he’s heard they’re looking for a woman who murdered people, and he thinks it might be the same woman he’s after.  Darvey says sharing confidential info with criminals is a no-go.  Junior says he can make an exception, because Junior’s not a criminal, he’s dead.  Darvey says yeah, shows the pic of Jyi.  Junior nods, says that’s who he’s after too.  Says if they catch her, just keep her somewhere accessible, and they’ll be rewarded.  Darvey says he’ll think about it, but she’s a slippery one.  Junior says no kidding… he tried to blow her up a few days ago, and she got away somehow.  Darvey laughs, laughs, laughs, and then shoots Junior’s [LEFT OR RIGHT] leg off with the sledge.  Kaps takes out the guards.  Who is the assassin?  Junior doesn’t want to say, but is threatened… admits it’s a guy named [NSWE].  He doesn’t work for him… one of Papa’s old friends.  He can’t control him.  Darvey readies to take off the other leg.  Where does the assassin live?  Sputtering, Junior admits: Ergo City.  Same planet, Ergo City.  But you’ll never stop him… he’s good.  Really good.  They’ll never win!

I can also confirm now that Anna finished MCM’s surprise, and that it will be hilarity in EPIC proportions. I’ll leave some white space here for her. Over and out!

(Anna) 7.27 PDT And I’ve just finished reading Chapters 19-27
Yay, I’m all caught up! After last night’s drama (internet breaking, no idea why) I finally managed to reconnect this morning after a systems restore and cache clean out and everything I could think of doing clean-out. It’s nice to be backstage again and share all the funny inside jokes, and also I’m happy that I’m back in time to share MCM’s lovely surprise.

The story has picked up a lot. There’s only about 10 more chapters left to go, I think, so I feel everything’s hurtling towards a dramatic conclusion. I like how kickass Jyi is, and also the fact that we got some backstory on her. But don’t you think Darvey and Jyi should get together? Both of them have dead spouses/lovers! It works!

I guess the only thing I’m a little disappointed by is there hasn’t been much Aphid, as she’s in recovery. In a way it’s nice to have less characters around because there’s more room for characterization. When all the characters are together it becomes harder to see the subtleties of their relationships with each other, and I like seeing the Darvey/KAPS good-cop-bad-cop routine. I’d like more Darvey/Jyi one on one time, too. But more Aphid would be good, especially as I was led to expect she’d have a bigger role.

Anyway. It’s 3:30pm where I am and I’ve only been out of bed for just over 3 hours, and I still haven’t eaten anything, so I’m going to go nom for a bit while I wait for the next chapter!

Zoop zoop!

(Jan 3.44 am PDT)

Hey peoples, and welcome to the third and last day of #3D1D. Yesterday I had to crash after chapter 22, since MCM was taking a nap then. I have to admit I secretly stuck around until chapter 23 before I really went to sleep, but don’t tell MCM, because I promised him I’d go to sleep earlier. While waiting for that last chapter I had fun creating a Southpark version of MCM, who I depicted as I imagine him after 2 days of livewriting. Below is the result, doesn’t he look charming?

I think I’m in love! Hahahaha.

Staying up secretly also means I only had 6 hours of sleep, so don’t expect these little dispatches to rise in quality, they’ll sure only show my demise into insanity and utter sleep deprivation. Yups I said my demise, because the chances are high that Anna won’t be able to join us. Her internet finally broke down completely yesterday, and since today is sunday, I’m not very hopeful it will get fixed in time. Liveblogging without Anna is only 20% as fun, so she will be missed.

On to my thoughts on yesterday’s last chapters. But before I do anything, I have to announce that it’s 4.04 am PDT at MCM and he just connected. Yes he’s awake, feeling horrible, and fixing things in the outline because he didn’t plan this through. He’s silly like that. He also said he looks exactly like my South Park envisioning, which slightly worries me. But the show must go on, or at least that’s what they say.

Chapter 23

Darvey and Kaps on way back to dive bar. Get call from Lucas: Brek has been selling off old Damascus properties, but not just casually. All but the [TYPE OF BUSINESS] are on the market. Sometimes for a lot less than they’re worth, to the first bidder. Smacks of desperation. He’s trying to buy his way out of trouble.

Go back into dive bar, but the guy with the tip is gone. Kaps gets them drinks, and they start discussing theories. Recap: Tenzo takes control of the bits of Papa’s empire, preps it for his return. Best way to do that is to kill all the snitches, so he hires a hitman to off [bird], Jyi and others. With no more witnesses, Papa comes back, and Tenzo is second-in-command. Probably pressuring Brek to rally the money needed to bankroll the assassinations. So if they find Tenzo, they unravel the whole mystery.

Kaps goes to use the washroom, and Darvey notices he’s sitting next to his dead wife. She asks him how things are going, discuss [EARTH VACATION]. They missed the flight because he was busy with a case. Travel agent took the trip for them, and they only found out much later. Shoulda sued him.

Kaps arrives with the guy with the tip, found him in the bathroom. Want to know where to find Tenzo. Turns into a scuffle, and barkeep kicks them out.

In the alley, they bump into the missing CSA agent. He needs to talk… things are about to blow up…

I really liked this chapter yesterday. Can’t really give a fresh outlook on it anymore now, except that I adore KAPS. I really wondered what the use of the dead wife was in the story, except for background information. Can I say I <3 KAPS again?! Really, if there’s one biped that can come over and hold me, it’s him. I just asked MCM what he looked like, and he said “Big and rocky”, so that sounds good to me. Did I ever tell you guys my first fiction crush was Gambit from the X-men? Apparantly tastes change, but I really think I prefer KAPS over Darvey’s charms here. Who are your fiction crushes? But I digress. Also, that Flower dude is about to tell them Caffo is with the bad guys. Just sayin’. On to the next chapter!

Chapter 24

Jyi is racing in the cab, Tenzo is shot again, this time in the shoulder. Jyi wants to know what happened, but Tenzo lapses out of consciousness. Gets him to the hospital, he gets taken into surgery. She claims to be his [RELATIONSHIP], doesn’t know what happened.

Jyi looks for a terminal she can use to call the ship, but as she’s calling, she sees Caffo walk by. Follows him down to basement. Bribes a guard (who takes an unscheduled break) and slips down another hall. Jyi follows him into the morgue, where he pulls a knife and starts cutting open a corpse’s [BODY PART].

Jyi steps in, and they have a little standoff. What’s he doing here? Recovering a recording device off an informant who was killed by Tenzo. How many informants does he have? He won’t say.

She asks who would kill Tenzo? Kill Tenzo? He’s top of the food chain, isn’t he? He’s upstairs right now, in surgery after an ambush. Caffo is stumped: as far as he knows, nobody’s above Tenzo. He’ll work his sources and see what he can see.

Mentions to her she should keep a low profile in the hospital, because half the city is hunting her for murder. Bumped into Darvey and Kaps. Good guys, if a bit stupid. He tells her he’s on her side: he’ll find out what he can about the hierarchy, and she should guard Tenzo until he talks.

Ok, Caffo seriously creeps me out. I hate condescending people with a passion, and the way he held her chin felt very condescending to me. It might be that he’s genuinly worried, but I don’t really believe that. He did seem genuinly surprised that Tenzo was a target. But I really, really don’t trust him. What do you guys think? Is he on the good or the bad side?

Chapter 25

Jyi waiting on Tenzo when a doctor comes by, sees her bleeding from a cut on her [BODY PART], and starts to work on her. She notes it’s very busy around here, busier than it’s ever been. Figures it’s because the illegal drug trade is faltering, so people are coming for prescriptions to fill the need. Doctor disagrees: he’s really seeing way more patients. Without the drug trade, people feel safer on Panella, and there’s more immigration. Higher standard if living, even if the trees are growing into every window they can. He asks her about herself, what she does. She says she’s [JOB]. He’s unfailingly kind about it, says he might be able to use her services himself. She’s patched up, given a [CANDY], and told to have a good day.

Another doctor tells Jyi she can see Tenzo now. Out of surgery. Weak, drugged, but will survive. She goes in, tells him she’s going to protect him. She’s CSA, but if he wants her help, he needs to talk. He’s upset that he was betrayed, talking nonsense. She asks him who tried to kill him. Who’s killing snitches? He’s delirious, tells her it makes no sense… he was paid to have men testify against Papa… that was all part of the deal. He’d stay second if he turned on Papa. All the work, all the money, and now he’s changing sides… it makes no sense. Jyi doesn’t know what he means… Who? Who’s changing sides?

Tenzo about to speak when he’s shot again. Jyi, shocked, turns to fight, but is hit in the back of the head and is knocked out.

Ok. WAOW. What a huge thrilling chapter. First Jyi and her fiancee. Finally the reason for her revenge, I knew it was something personal. Though I do wonder if the death of her fiancee happened while she was undercover or before. Since I got the feeling before that her revenge modus was kicked by something in Panella. Or maybe she lived in Panella before she joined the CSA? I don’t recall if Centaurians still have a home planet or not. And then… Tenzo’s information. What does it mean? If someone wants to turn people on to Papa, and then switch sides… // OMG ANNA JUST CAME ONLINE I AM SO FREAKING HAPPY RIGHT NOW!!! WE CAN GO ON AS PLANNED! SURPRISES AND ALL THAT JAZZ. WOOOHOOOHOOWOOTWOOTWOOT // I think it has to be a sneaky way to see who would switch loyalties. It also must mean Papa has a way out of the trial. What a cliffhanger too. I’m kinda relieved I left before it, or I wouldn’t have slept at all. On the the next chapter! I’m all jumpy with excitement!

Chapter 26

Darvey, Kaps and [flower] heading to empty factory to talk. Used to make [APPLIANCE]. Had to be recalled after [MISHAP]. What happened at [flower]’s apartment? [bird] was going to switch sides again, start cooperating with the CSA. Took a while to get him to that place, but when old associates started turning up dead, he made his move.

Who killed him? [flower] doesn’t know who. He wasn’t home when the hit happened, and when he got back, the cops were outside, and he knew he had to lay low.

What does he know about the new leader of Damascus? Is is really Tenzo? No idea. Tenzo never had the volume to take over the operation, so it was doubtful. With all the work being done, it’d take someone with immense resources and whole lot of pull.

Kaps says he’ll call Lucas and get the guy extracted from the planet, so he can debrief HQ. Guy says that’s not necessary… things aren’t dangerous for him anymore. How so? Well, long ago, he learned how to stay ahead in this game: you saddle up with the winning team. And in walks Junior Damascus.

OMG! He’s ALIVE??? Whoa! Didn’t see that coming. But does it mean that he’s turning against his father? It makes sense that guys like Tenzo would trust Junior, believe that it was part of Junior’s plan to take over the reign of Damascus. And Junior could both be taking out people that snitched his father because he realizes they one day might snitch on him. Or he’s still working for his father. With Chrys on their side, it makes sense that they knew Jyi used to be an undercover agent too. Can’t wait for the upcoming chapters!

MCM, BRING IT ON!

Jan over and out at 5.16 am PDT.