A new phone

[Littleton] It is a weekday afternoon, the time of day when people are caught up in work, or school, or other errands, and so the store is largely devoid of customers. These are the long, lonely hours, wherein the Blues socialize and vie for whatever innocent may walk through the doors representing a sale.

It's Emily who enters, and she walks past them with little more than a small smile and a raised eyebrow when they ask if she needs help. Straight past Greg, who has been less than helpful in the past, and up to the Geek Squad desk.

If Chuck is not already there, then she asks, pointedly, after his schedule. There is a crispness to her tone, a clipped nature to her consonants that says: I am busy. Do not waste my time. Do not dawdle. This is not the friendly, affable gamer grrl that joined in on FragFest not too long ago. She is polite, but just this side of impatient.

These are interesting times.

[Carmichael] Chuck is in the store, but in the back when Emily arrives; it doesn't take long to get him up front, though, when the voice in the earpiece (that he refuses to wear in his ear) says that there's a customer requesting him in specific. The only people he can think of who might do this are Emily, Ashley and Nathan, two of whom he'd be much more pleased to see than the third. Regardless, he finishes up what he's doing with due hast and emerges, headed for the desk . . .

. . . to find Emily, who is one of the two he'd prefer. This is a bonus.

"Hey, Little. Not having computer trouble, are you? You coulda called me on off hours to check that out."

[Littleton] Today is another witty black shirt day and this one says only root in monospace characters, leaving much up to interpretation. Most of the letter are visible in how her jacket hangs open. Emily's hands are in her pockets, and the messenger bag is oddly absent.

"Actually... I need you to help me pick out a phone," she says, with a quirked expression that implies there is far more to this dance than a simple inquiry. (Imagine that [it's the simple stuff that flummoxes me]).

"Feeling up to the task, love?" she asks, dangling that endearment easily (fishing, fishing) without any real weight behind it.

[Carmichael] ".....I know the blues are irritating sometimes, but they're really sort of better at the sales thing than I am. I just fix stuff," he says with a grin and a shrug, all that affable chill that is what she's always witnessed in him. He could be a good influence, as that sort of thing goes.

"But I'll see what I can do. What kind of phone do you need? And what happened to yours?" He knows, of course, that she has (or had) one and, while it amuses him to imagine it all fried like her breadboard had been, that seems improbable. "Everything's alright, yeah?"

[Littleton] Emily motions with her head for him to follow her. It's an easy thing, a practiced lead. She can be good at that, in the right moments, in the right places. (I don't want to talk here), it says, and the other Geek Squad members could imagine why that might be. Especially with the way they interact, almost as if they'd been friends far longer than a week and a half.

As they move away from the desk, she starts talking again. It's easier, this time, than the last time he'd seen her -- fried breadboard and all. "I need a solid, secure device to add to my account," she says, leaning a little on that word. They both knew its importance. "For the friend who turned up suddenly, after going missing."

That was not how Emily had described Enid before, and the subtle shift was nuanced but plain.

[Carmichael] An eyebrow raises as he glances over the array of retail phones they carry - all new model, some more easily hacked and modded than others. "What carrier? I know 'berries are awful, generally, but I modded and hacked mine like no one's business and no one's gonna find that sucker unless I want them to. Don't even think of telling me she wants an iPhone, because no. Maybe a Palm, though I haven't toyed with them as much as 'berries. I'd say a 'droid if they were out yet, but . . ."

He shrugs again, already pointing out the acceptable possibilities.

"How secure does she need this to be? I mean, who are we hiding her from? Because that will totally effect how much needs to be done, and how deep and convoluted it all needs to be."

[Littleton] And this is why she's come to Chuck with this quandry. He's run through the laundry list of acceptable devices (note please: "acceptable" rather than "available"). Emily is nodding as they walk, slowly, toward the mobile phones and PDAs section.

Too slowly to be accidental. Chuck may put it together, after a moment, that her pace was chosen so that this part of the conversation occurred in the no man's land between regions of the store. Where they were less likely to encounter passers-by or over-eager Blues.

Never the less, she looks around them furitively, then leans in a bit closer to say something to Chuck in a low voice. "Her mother is a Technocrat," Emily says, plainly. (For your ears only.) There is a small pause, in which she draws away, and pulls her own phone (the 'berry today, nowhere near as secure as Chuck's) from her pocket as if to give them a starting place to talk.

It all looks so coincidental to any of Chuck's coworkers. Mostly because they cannot see the meaningfully arched eyebrow, or the grave but calmly comported look in her eyes.

She'd pulled her phone out, though, so now she needed a reason to be holding it. "If we're going to put her on a data plan, I suppose I should move off the 'berry to something with secure email, at the least. Right? Who knows what sort of web-browsing and attachments teenagers get into these days." It's effortless, how she covers these things up. And that might not be entirely comfortable for Chuck.

[Carmichael] ".....jesus, Little, you don't screw around when you pick your friends, do you? I'll need all your devices too, including your key fob if it's one of the remote start/unlock whatsits. And that, in case you were wondering, is not a request. And if I'm working with that level of security, we're going to go 'berry despite the latent problems, because I have most experience with them. 9000 or 9700 Bolds, either'd be good for a kid."

Boxes are pulled out and he looks at them, shrugs. "Black or white? She can get one of those sleeve things if she wants to pretty it up or whatever."

No, the ease with lying isn't a comfortable thing for Chuck, but it's not a bad skill to have - he doesn't fault her for that. It just makes him wonder what she's keeping hidden from him, if anything, and why. And they're expensive phones, the ones he's chosen, but he can guess that - since Em's come in with obvious intent (and intensity), that's not going to bother her.

[Littleton] "All of my devices?" Emily asked, looking down at the lone PDA in her hand somewhat thoughtfully. "That... may take some doing, Carmichael."

The way she said his last name was familiar but also efficient. It was a little bit more formal, almost military. There were so many things about the young Orphan that Chuck didn't yet know. Undoubtably, he'd do some digging now.

"At least one of my phones can't be modded," she says, and it's non-negotiable. "I only use it overseas, when I'm with my parents." There's a little pause. "At a U.S. Embassy." This much is not discussed further, but it's likely to raise eyebrows.

At this point, she hands over her 'berry. "Enid can have a white one. If I need to upgrade, I'd rather go with black. And for my sanity's sake, I'll need to be able to tell them apart. Please tell me we can get nonsequential SIMs for them, though."

[Carmichael] "Well then, the rest of them," he says, not pleased but resigned - he may not know the exact rules, but he can guess that the government doesn't want random people screwing around with its stuff. "And I want to look that one over, make sure nothing's gotten at it. If the embassy's not down with my hacks . . ." They might well be more comfortable with the Technocracy's, but that's neither here nor there.

Non-sequential sims aren't a problem, he doesn't bother to say - it's him doing the work, after all - as he plugs in the new phone after popping one in. It'll need a charge for what he's going to do to it, and that's not even counting the deeper, more magical stuff he'll hit it with.

"She living with you, the kid? She been checked for mods of her own?"

[Littleton] "Not with me," Emily said, both of the other phone and the girl. It was a nice multi-purpose answer. The comfortable composure she wore was slipping, a little, around the edges. In direct response to how seriously Chuck was taking this whole thing. She was grateful for that, too. It was nice to be part of the solution, for once, rather than an extenuating circumstance of the problem.

"She called me from O'Hare, but I took her to Ashley's. Her boyfriend came back with her, too, but he took off pretty soon." She was reporting, now, not emoting these things. Chuck could tell the difference. Something in Emily was kept very tightly in check so she could be professional about this. "Ashley said that the girl," better not to use her name too often, "Would be staying with a friend of hers soon."

There's a pause, here, and Emily tries to lighten the mood a little. "My housemates don't even give me kitchen privileges. I think they'd draw the line long before bringing a teenager home with me." A softer smile. She's watching him while he works, intently, but without crowding him.

[Carmichael] "Alright, then," he says, now reaching out for the phone she does have on her, while her friend's charges. "You're also going to let me at your car, because if you think the chips that run it aren't capable of recording and tracking, you're wrong. Jesus."

The phone's looked over - newer than his, no doubt - to get a feeling for it, and then he goes to town with all the confidence of someone who's done this many, many times. Which he is. It's a complicated thing, hacking the hell out of a phone and making it do what he wants it to do, but Chuck? He can do it.

[intel + computers, +specialty]
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 1, 2, 3, 3, 4, 5, 7 (Failure at target 6)

[Carmichael] [And, trying again @ +1]
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 3, 3, 6, 8, 8, 9, 10 (Success x 5 at target 7) [WP]

[Carmichael] [+rerolled 10, cos idiot.]
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 8 (Success x 1 at target 7)

[Littleton] There's a lightly amused look on Emily's features when Chuck mentions her car, but she doesn't follow up on it. She doesn't explain that hacking her car wouldn't be worth it, to anyone. Instead she nods, and lets her expression trend back toward solemnity.

"I'll gather everything up, including the car -- if it feels like running -- and we can work through them together, maybe?" She asks, offering to lend a hand. She doesn't have Chuck's background or skills, but Emily is imminently teachable. "Or if you don't want me in your workspace, I can at least make you dinner for your troubles."

At least, these are leading words. Because she knows the sort of fees people like Chuck secure, when it comes to using their skillsets publically. So if he looks up at her, it's a seeking expression she's wearing. Curious.

[Carmichael] "Are you asking what I'm charging you?" That's amused, wry. "I'll need to have that back at home, but for now, it'll serve. Nobody's finding it by any conventional means, anyway, and you don't have to worry about viruses. Anyway, dinner would be great - bound to be better than carryout or hot dogs. But other than that, I already told Ashley I'd do this for anyone who wanted me to, anyway. Your phone will get some extra special attention, as will your friends. Ashley's should too, if she's been hanging out with the kid. And probably the boyfriend's. How far out do the ripples go? Ashley talks to everyone."

And now after handing Emily back her phone, with the new phone still plugged in, he's turning his attention to the one tethered.

[intel + comp + spec]
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 1, 4, 4, 6, 8, 9, 9 (Success x 3 at target 6)

[Carmichael] [and, extending]
Dice Rolled:[ 7 d10 ] 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 8, 9, 10 (Success x 5 at target 6) Re-rolls: 1

[Littleton] "Do you want a cascading map of the whole community?" Emily asked, taking her phone and looking at it for a long moment before slipping it back into one of her coat's pockets. "To which degree of freedom? Because between who I know, and who Ashley's bound to know, and everyone they know... This could get very big, very fast. Unless the network closes in on itself quickly; that's the best we can hope for, I think."

Emily wasn't saying she was well connected, just acknowledging the preternatural way that Awakened folks clustered and clumped in Chicago. At times like these, it was damned inconvenient.

"Speaking of paying work, though," she adds, while he works on Enid's phone. "I've got more projects in my consulting queue than I can handle on my own. A couple of them are even leaning towards security work, once the underlying network gets established. If you'd be willing to travel, and have the time, I can justify a second headcount and fee." Ho-hum. Just a professional courtesy, this. Emily doesn't seem to think she's extending anything terribly interesting, or she's doing well at hiding it if she does.

[Carmichael] "Right then - you're going to have to send me everyone you've talked to - who's had an electronic device on them - over the next few days. With their electronics. Or have them call me, I suppose, if it's all desktops and things. We're gonna nip this in the bud as quickly as we can. Same thing with this phone, by the way - I'll need it again when we're at my place, unless you know someone else who can pull it off the grid. Because help on that front would be useful."

It's one thing, putting the mundane skills he's taken years to hone to use, and another thing entirely to do the sort of rote-work required to make a device (or any sort of information) disappear. Then there's the rest, and it gets raised brows.

"Travel would have to work into my schedule here - I'm too new to ask for a lot of time off, regardless of my numbers at another store. But other than that, yeah, it sounds awesome."

[Littleton] ((Say what? I mean, no no, that's cool.))
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 2, 3, 4, 8, 8, 9 (Success x 3 at target 6)

[Carmichael] [Per + Sub!]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 2, 3, 4, 6, 7 (Success x 2 at target 6)

[Littleton] "Send you?" she asks, canting her head a little to the side. "Like a roster?" Oh no, he continues with their electronics, which would be more like referals. "Ah, I see..."

And here again is the smoothing over of things said and unsaid, a polite redirection. It's almost seamless, if he doesn't know where to look.

"I... don't have the sort of standing, Chuck," she says, evenly. This much is true. She can't make them go to him, not really. "But Ashley might. I can ask her to spread the word and I can offer," a pause here, the word is lifted for emphasis, "To the others I know. But most are thick-headed enough to be disinclined to acquiesce."

A movie quote, thrown in with a little smile. He'd catch it, no doubt.

"As for help with the simpler parts... if you think I could learn quickly enough, I would be happy to help you." And if he said no, she would understand. No hurt feelings. "Perhaps a better approach might be to have a walk in type day. I know there was a meeting house, at one time, so you wouldn't have to have people in or near your home?"

Just an idea. Emily's hands are in her pockets, and her head dips down just a little to hide her eyes from him. There's a small shrug, and she looks up again.

[Carmichael] "I have no doubt that you could make just about anyone do just about anything if you put your mind to it, sweetheart," he says, with a hint of a smile. "And yeah, I heard about the clubhouse. If everything's all squared away there - it wasn't, last time I talked to Ashley - that would work well. We should square this away sooner rather than later, though."

By now, he's run through all the necessary information in the computer - one new phone on Ms Emily Littleton's plan, there we go. And . . . he probably would catch the movie quote, if he weren't at the most serious she's ever seen him.

"And yeah, we'll get you started on some of the basics. I'll try to teach you enough that it's not a little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing sort of situation."

[Littleton] Emily hands over her HSBC card to bill the new charges to, for the phone, for the extension to her plan. The logo is likely unfamiliar, and may take a second look, despite being a fairly well known British bank.

"I haven't been back since..." she trails off here, and if he's busy putting her credit card information into the system (or confirming it), there's a chance that it will seem merely like a thoughtful pause (remembering) to Chuck of Best Buy. "Early January."

She's saying (Cheers) thank you, and tucking away the receipts and Enid's new phone, while they're talking, now. It is getting close to time to go. She's been there long enough to raise eyebrows, and this chat was one they both intended to keep off record as long as possible.

"I'll ask Ashley about the house, and see what I can do to get people to come to you. Ring me with a good night to bring the tech toys over?" she asked. "We can swing by the grocery and my post box together, then get to work." A warmer smile. Hidden in the corners of her eyes (just barely there around the solemnity and surety) was a smile, fonder, grateful. And that, that was all Chuck's today.

"Hey..." she fought to catch his eyes for a moment. "Thank you." Emily waited until she was certain he'd caught her meeting, and then nodded a little. "I mean, for the help with my phone," she added with a little wave as she started away, in case any of the Blues were trying to overhear.