(D2 EA, Lenore's Residence) Wakeup Call

[Boogiepop]

Rosalind Carlisle

Rosalind let out an exasperated sigh, perhaps just remembering now that she should shut the door to her room whenever talking to Lenore. There was a faint sound of the door sliding shut in the background as she activated her home controls on her PAD.

"Lenore. I'm not going to get into a fucking debate with you about clones. You really should have divorced yourself from your job but it seems pretty obvious that you've made your choice. I hope they at least love you at Jinteki." She said with very much some venom in her tone.

"So, the visitation. When are you coming by?"

[Lenore Gauvreau]

People don't respect someone who knows how to make the difficult choices, the right choices, the sacrifices.

Does Jinteki love us? This apartment could be a bit nicer.

Lenore massaged her forehead then meandered over to her liquor storage. All out in the open, this was another thing to cover up before her daughter's arrival. "Uh, how about in a couple days or so?"

[Boogiepop]

Rosalind Carlisle

"Oh, a couple of days," she said, not exactly sounding impressed and likely condescending in her tone. "I hope you know for sure and not keep Delphine waiting forever. We're thinking of taking a trip to SanSan in a few days actually, you know...take her on a pre-school field trip to see Old Hollywood, the Golden Gate Bridge, and San Diego Zoo? So much nicer than being in the middle of nowhere in La Costa."

[Lenore Gauvreau]

"Yeah, a couple of days," Lenore said, her finger tapping on each of the different varieties. Vodka was her best friend, surely, but sometimes it was nice to sample other things. "We, huh? Like your clone help?"

Why would you ask that? Our heart might not be able to handle the answer.

[Boogiepop]

Rosalind Carlisle

There was a pause at the question but there was a possibility that time was filled with glaring at the screen.

"...yes, my clone help, myself, and Delphine, of course. Look, why are you so caught up about who I spend my time with? We're not together anymore and I'm under thirty, I can do whatever and see whoever I want! What does it have to do with you? Are you going to beat them up? What if I said I was seeing Thomas Haas, are you going to take to the streets and fight bioroids with your bare hands? What if I was seeing Miranda Rhapsody? Are you going punch her windpipe?"

[Lenore Gauvreau]

She can't know about any lingering feelings. Please don't let her know.

Lenore cracked open a bottle of gin and drank straight from it. "On the contrary, I do have some say. Delphine is my daughter too and I don't want her seeing anybody she shouldn't."

This wasn't a part of the plan. This is only pushing her father away.

It's because we haven't had enough of that cigar to cool the edge.

[Boogiepop]

Rosalind Carlisle

"Well, you could say that I at least share the same point of you as you. You know she's not even five yet and these are easily the most influential years of her life, every little thing she sees, feels and...smells are bound going to affect her profoundly. She's not going to have the foundation to grow up to be a proper person if she doesn't have good role models to help her. I've done everything to make sure she has the best private home pre-schooling and surrounded her with only good people."

She let out an exasperated sigh. "You know, maybe you should come to realize the best thing for her is that you never see her again. Just let go."


Preston Liu

Preston, from Lenore's Clone Retrieval Service branch, was calling her on the other line.

[Lenore Gauvreau]

She might be right.

How do you think we got in this mess in the first place though?

"I can't abandon her like that," Lenore said, her shoulders sagging. "I don't want you or anyone to have to tell her why one of her moms isn't around anymore."

She looked at the new caller and shut her eyes tight. "Monday. I'll come by for her on Monday. But I need to go now." Explaining why, well, hopefully Rosalind wouldn't ask. Too bad Lenore's entire salary depended on being on-call.

We have to say something nice to her.

"Take care until then, okay?"

She shut off the call, put out the cigar, and picked up the new one, video included. "What's the job? Or you calling to check in on me?"

[Boogiepop]

Rosalind Carlisle

"She's also young enough to forget," she would also say on a parting note, further twisting the dagger. "See you later."


Preston Liu

Preston would momentarily raise his brows at the question. "Good afternoon, Lenore. Maybe it's a bit of both. I see that you're up and awake, that's good. I've got a few tickets in circulation that needs to be taken care of, if you want to take care of them and meet your quota."

There were a few blinks from his BMI hardware as he brought up some information on the screen.



"Felix Cordova. Cordova line, obviously." Lenore would likely know that the Cordova lines were typically hosts and waiters when it came to the restaurant industry, often reserved for high-end restaurants but sometimes used for retail and other customer service-related jobs. "A bit of a dine and dash episode over at Laguna Velasco. Performance was slacking and the service quality was worsening. Management called in one of our technicians to figure out what was wrong, thinking it was a diet issue. The next thing, he freaks out when she shows up on site and made a quick getaway."

[Lenore Gauvreau]

Don't think about what she said. Just don't.

Lenore smirked, doing her best to maintain a cocky attitude. "Glad to see you care. But yes, I don't think I have much of a choice anyways. Somebody needs to be in pursuit of these tickets." That and she couldn't afford to lose this job.

Cordova line. Cordial, subservient, which explains immediate retreat as opposed to other forms of resistance.

"And does this technician have any other leads? Surely she could have found which direction he ran to." She also needed things like which restaurant exactly, date, uniform, age, and so on, though she assumed he'd send the dossier.

Laguna Velasco... We could get in contact with the police. That's assuming they're doing their jobs, of course.

[Boogiepop]

Preston Liu

"I didn't think anyone was work-exempt for doing civic duty in New Angeles, so you are still on the clock." He nodded soundly on that note before glancing elsewhere, reading from a screen. "I can give you her contact or connect you over if you want to talk to her. Aleksandra Zajac. It happened sometime in the morning just before the lunch rush over at Leao D'ouro. They have a few Cordova models on staff, Felix was about three years old. I can send you the rest to your PAD."

[Lenore Gauvreau]

"I see. Well, I don't need to take up any of Aleksandra's time at the moment. She can just send me a recollection of what she remembers and I'll ask from there."

There's no need to ask about me. They wouldn't call us if they didn't know what could happen.

[Boogiepop]

Preston Liu

"It is a bit of a short read, to be honest. There was a freakout or a panic attack and the Cordova did a bit of shoving and pushing like he was trying to escape a burning building. Now it's the wild and who knows where in New Angeles." He took a glance at a few other screens and windows before him, looking back at Lenore as he had other assignments to hand out. "Do you have everything you need to work with on this?"