The Price We Must Pay
Apr 2, 2015 23:06:02 GMT -6
Post by A.G. on Apr 2, 2015 23:06:02 GMT -6
In life, to accomplish great things, great sacrifices had to be made. That was just sorta how life worked.
Ellie Cullington, black sheep of the infamous "Streak" family and alter ego of everyone's favorite phone operator, knew this quite well. It was why she had an unwritten disclaimer with just about all of her clients, who tended to be heroes. It was why she wasn't a very judgmental or holier-than-thou type of person. It was also, as it so happened, why she, dressed in what couldn't be better described than a hooded cloak of rags, dirt, and the scent of sewer rats, had taken this particular Thursday night to go out for a stroll through the darker depths of Jump City's underground waterworks. Because in order to accomplish great things, great sacrifices had to be made. At least, that's what she told herself to justify this.
A minor sigh escaped Hotline's throat as she stepped through an opened bar gate that divided one subsection of the underground slums from the last. She'd have to do this another infinite number of times, it seemed like, until she reached her destination. The underground was host to any number of thugs, hobos and otherwise weird... 'things', that cropped up here and there. Most were too self-absorbed in either pity or something darker such to pay her any mind; Others knew by her familiarly ratty attire that while she wasn't a resident, she was also not to be messed with. This sort of environment tended to bring out the worst in people, and Ellie was almost always itching to knee someone in the face while moving through Jump City's unmentionable sector.
Another few turns, and a trip down an older, cobweb-filled, lightless passage through the sewers would eventually lead the girl where she wanted to be; A small, secluded room at the end of the tunnel, notable only by what seemed from a distance to be LED light... Two LED lights. Three LED screen lights. One was a desktop computer, which had no desk; The tower lay on it's side, and the monitor sat on top of it. The other was a TV; a 65" UHD Flatscreen, no less, which was propped against a wall, due to the fact that there was no stand or table to sit it on. The last was... who knew what the last was. It was a screen, built into a large machine which looked almost like some sort of arcade game, if it didn't flash and beep with several buttons and lights too complicated to make sense of at a distance.
Before it all sat a man, some 6 feet tall, probably close to 400 pounds. If bears lived in sewers, here was a man who would be king; His rags were so tattered they likely resembled fur in the daylight. His head twitched slightly; It had moments before been glued to the computer screen he was sitting at, but it seemed the slow, cautious footsteps had awoken him from his dazed state.
Hotline slowed to a stop. With only 6 feet between the two of them, this was as close as she was comfortable getting for now.
His breath echoed through the entirety of the small tunnel end. A single bead of sweat slid down the girl's mostly-covered face as he opened his mouth to say,
"...Hello... Ellie..."
Ellie Cullington, black sheep of the infamous "Streak" family and alter ego of everyone's favorite phone operator, knew this quite well. It was why she had an unwritten disclaimer with just about all of her clients, who tended to be heroes. It was why she wasn't a very judgmental or holier-than-thou type of person. It was also, as it so happened, why she, dressed in what couldn't be better described than a hooded cloak of rags, dirt, and the scent of sewer rats, had taken this particular Thursday night to go out for a stroll through the darker depths of Jump City's underground waterworks. Because in order to accomplish great things, great sacrifices had to be made. At least, that's what she told herself to justify this.
A minor sigh escaped Hotline's throat as she stepped through an opened bar gate that divided one subsection of the underground slums from the last. She'd have to do this another infinite number of times, it seemed like, until she reached her destination. The underground was host to any number of thugs, hobos and otherwise weird... 'things', that cropped up here and there. Most were too self-absorbed in either pity or something darker such to pay her any mind; Others knew by her familiarly ratty attire that while she wasn't a resident, she was also not to be messed with. This sort of environment tended to bring out the worst in people, and Ellie was almost always itching to knee someone in the face while moving through Jump City's unmentionable sector.
Another few turns, and a trip down an older, cobweb-filled, lightless passage through the sewers would eventually lead the girl where she wanted to be; A small, secluded room at the end of the tunnel, notable only by what seemed from a distance to be LED light... Two LED lights. Three LED screen lights. One was a desktop computer, which had no desk; The tower lay on it's side, and the monitor sat on top of it. The other was a TV; a 65" UHD Flatscreen, no less, which was propped against a wall, due to the fact that there was no stand or table to sit it on. The last was... who knew what the last was. It was a screen, built into a large machine which looked almost like some sort of arcade game, if it didn't flash and beep with several buttons and lights too complicated to make sense of at a distance.
Before it all sat a man, some 6 feet tall, probably close to 400 pounds. If bears lived in sewers, here was a man who would be king; His rags were so tattered they likely resembled fur in the daylight. His head twitched slightly; It had moments before been glued to the computer screen he was sitting at, but it seemed the slow, cautious footsteps had awoken him from his dazed state.
Hotline slowed to a stop. With only 6 feet between the two of them, this was as close as she was comfortable getting for now.
His breath echoed through the entirety of the small tunnel end. A single bead of sweat slid down the girl's mostly-covered face as he opened his mouth to say,
"...Hello... Ellie..."
