(JAN 14.32 PDT)

I don’t feel like typing for a moment, because my finger still hurts like crazy from smashing it with the door yesterday. So small video dispatch instead. Outlines for chapter 18 and 19 below

Jyi gets downstairs, avoids guards, tries to eavesdrop… and then the place erupts with gunfire. Gets attacked from behind, loses the blaster she stole. Kills the attacker in hand-to-hand combat. She finds a [TOOL OF WAITER] and takes out two men who try and shoot her, recaptures her gun and stumbles upon [bird], who is critically hurt and dragging himself out of the lounge.

She pulls him into a safe area, talks to him. What happened? He talks about their fun times, wants to go back to that tree with her, that it was nice. Asks her if she has been to the restaurant [NAME OF RESTAURANT] down by the waterfront. She says no. He says there’s a waitress there that [ACCEPT OR IGNORE] him, and in the end, it made him [HAPPY OR SAD]. She asks him what happened in there. He dies before he can answer.

More bad guys are pouring into the building, getting into firefights with Tenzo’s men. A pair of baddies are creeping down the hall, backs to her, and she’s about to get them when she’s grabbed from behind and pushed against the wall. It’s Tenzo. He’s bleeding but alive. She’s going to help him escape, or he’s going to kill her.

Chapter 19

Jyi and Tenzo get out the back. Baddies everywhere. Jyi takes out [NUMBER] more guards without making a sound, gets them to the parkade. There’s a [NAME OF CAB COMPANY] cab across the street, but too many bad guys in between. Tenzo has a grenade… he’ll throw it into the crowd, it’ll explode to clear the way. Jyi convinced it’s not going to stop enough of them. They’ll be sitting ducks. Tenzo tells her to amplify amplify the fear and keep them stunned long enough for them to get through. Jyi says it’s going to be tough to do, and if she does, there’s a very good chance he’ll end up debilitated by fear too. She has to time it exactly right to hit the second everyone is freaked by the noise. He tells her to carry him.

She agrees, but right before Tenzo throws the grenade, she sees a family walking through the crowd as the bad guys search for them, guns ready. Jyi stops him from throwing it. He tells him to stay put, and she walks into the crowd, past the guys with guns, and gets next to the little girl [LITTLE GIRL CLOTHES] with the [CHILD’S TOY]. She asks to see it, keeping an eye on Tenzo, who looks worse for wear. The girl gives her to the toy, and Jyi compliments it. Bad guys are starting to search back around where Tenzo is.

Jyi throws the toy as far away as she can. The bad guys just about shoot it, and it sends the kid into fits of wailing. The mother grabs the kid and they rush off towards the toy as the bad guys are about to find Tenzo. Jyi nods to him, jumps behind a pillar, and he throws the grenade. The second it explodes, Jyi amplifies, and holds it as hard as she can. When she gets up, everyone left alive in the square is huddled in a ball on the ground, weeping.

She makes it over to Tenzo (who is also collapsed) and drags him across the street. She catches sight of the girl with the toy, she looks almost comatose. Jyi panics, and feels her control slipping. One of the bad guys sees her, starts to reach for her gun. She can’t do everything at once. She gets Tenzo to the cab, throws the driver onto the street, and gets in. The bad guy shoots at the cab, blows out the back window, and Jyi floors it, racing away.

Boy how I miss Anna already!