stardust
Adventurer
Name: Arina Caenis
Race: Asari
Occupation: diplomat
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Post by stardust on Apr 14, 2015 14:25:29 GMT
Artyom Solokov. That name just wouldn’t go away. More than that, this man seemed to have his fingers in quite a lot of businesses, that huge Miami club just being the latest investment and obviously his residence. The first mail had indeed come just days after that horrible meeting with the asari and the raloi. A suspiciously easy thing to do, provide some data on someone’s whereabouts. Not even illegal for all Arian knew, it was a bit random. But the asari diplomat was pretty sure this was just a test… and indeed.
Now a more juicy matter was in her private inbox and she could really burn her fingers with that. She needed to get out of this mess, where would they stop? Would they stop at all? Connecting the names she knew by now had always led to Solokov and a syndicate he seemed to run. She had even seen a few C-Sec files which had looked very suspicious. He seemed to have more sources like herself. What the fuck did he need her for?
This had to end before it got way out of hand and Arina was determined. The lack of sleep in the alst days was getting to her and her performance in the office slacked. It was only a matter of time before she would break down. She was completely unsuited for this and she had to make this clear to Solokov! He couldn’t be tougher than a Matriarch, right?
~~~~~
Arina tried to look casual as she entered the Cantina de Miami but a very close observer would notice rings under her eyes and a bit of a stiff posture, despite her elegant cloths… She was going straight to the elevators.
She bit her lip as she scanned the buttons. Top floor of course. To the void with ‘private access only’.she punched the button. Nothing happened. She punched it again, several times. “The top floor is private only. Please select another destination.” said a computer voice, void of any emotion.
Arian flashed her omnitool and opened a certain clearance. She had never used it before, it was given to all officials on the Citadel in case of emergencies to provide override access all kinds of exits, a supposed safety measure after the various attacks on the Citadel. This was probably an offence but how much worse could it get?
The top floor indicator changed to green and the left moved. It spit her out on the office floor and she looked around… Of course, the centre office. She approached the door and it opened without further ado…
“Solokov, we need to talk.” She said in a stern and serious tone.
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Artyom
Adventurer
Name: Artyom Solokov
Race: Human
Occupation: Business Owner
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Post by Artyom on Apr 15, 2015 6:20:01 GMT
Artyom's office gave a perfect view the whole club bellow. The slanted walls were lined entirely with two-way mirrors, giving the human the ability to watch the crowds below from his perch. His hand splayed outward as he placed it against the smooth, cold surface, propping himself up as he leaned against the wall. He often took time to simply watch the patrons below, his patrons. Sometimes it escaped him that everything around him, the club, the lights, the decor, all of it constituted his property, his achievement. It felt at times like a dream. Just one strong nudge at the wrong time would wake him up and it'd all come crashing down. There was truth in that feeling, regardless of whether he was dreaming or not.
The music coursed through the air, and even though the office was relatively sound proof it still managed to leak in, the vibration lightly transferring through the human's hand. The quiet of his office and his reflection was interrupted as a light tone pinged over head, warning him someone was attempting to reach the top floor. A hazy blue light flashed before the holodisplay over his desk flashed to light, drawing his attention away from the window as he looked over his shoulder. The particularly teal Asari caused Artyom to turn around, blinking as he watched her flash an omni-tool and the lift began moving, the lights of the club casting moving shadows as the elevator ascended. Artyom took a deep breath, realizing what she'd just done, and that the line she just crossed didn't bode well.
The lay out of the office put Arina on the opposite end of the office, and one large circular bar in the center that obscured her view. With about twenty meter's of space to cross, Artyom watched the petite alien storm towards him, with a look that could strike him down at a thousand yards. The human kept his composure though, one arm dangling down and the other braced against his hip, hand tucked in his pocket. His gaze was locked on Arina, his expression flat. "Ms Caenis, have a seat," he replied flatly, not asking so much as stating what she was about to do, "what is it you'd like to discuss?"
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stardust
Adventurer
Name: Arina Caenis
Race: Asari
Occupation: diplomat
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Post by stardust on Apr 15, 2015 16:34:54 GMT
Arina wasn’t impressed by the office, it was a natural habitat for a diplomat. She also was not impressed be his cool manners. The asari crossed the distance to the table, not reacting to his offer to take a seat. Instead she leaned on the backrest of the chair across from Artyom.
“Now what might I want to talk to you about?” she spat with sarcastic dismay. “Get off my back and tell your people to leave me alone. It took some work to find out that it’s actually you who wants do business with me. The ‘requests’ your people are putting into my inbox are leaving a trail. I want you to cut this off, right now, if you please.”
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Artyom
Adventurer
Name: Artyom Solokov
Race: Human
Occupation: Business Owner
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Post by Artyom on Apr 16, 2015 2:07:50 GMT
Artyom continued to stand as did Arina, his eyes peering down his nose at the Asari as she leaned forward on the chair. He stood as still as a statue as she spoke, his white jacket fluttering only as he let his hand slip from his pocket, shifting his posture slightly. In truth he was a bit relieved that she was simply wanting out. He'd imagined worse case she was throwing the books at him, trying to leverage some sort of political clout to lean on him. For what reason he wasn't sure. Instead that wasn't the case, leaving him to deal with Mira and Kira's mess- no doubt the pair having been a bit heavy handed in their approach.
"Okay, we'll work out another system for delivery and pick up of information," Artyom replied coldly. Taking a step back, he slide his chair out with a single finger, the metal supports gliding across a frictionless track below. Plopping down in his chair, he waved his hand over the screen to banish the blue apparitions. "What would be the best medium and location to hand drops off to you, any place you frequent that wouldn't draw attention, a club like that Authority perhaps."
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stardust
Adventurer
Name: Arina Caenis
Race: Asari
Occupation: diplomat
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Post by stardust on Apr 16, 2015 14:54:36 GMT
Was he dense? Was he playing? Was he playing dense?
“You didn’t get it, you moron. The messages are forming a trail that led me to you. Connect the names and the places and read a couple of old, closed C-sec files and your name was all over the place. Why do you think I came here now? It wasn’t your people telling me about you.” He must have ‘friends’ in C-Sec as well if the closed files were an indication. He should go ask them for help. And maybe Arina could use the extension of that trail as a lever on him. Each order of his would play more information into her hands. But maybe she wouldn’t even have to pull this card.
“And seriously, no, I don’t want another location or procedure, I want you to leave me be and stop thinking about whatever kind of arrangement you are imagining the two of us are having.” She added with some anger showing in her voice, her eyes darting Artyom down.
And what was he suggesting with mentioning the Authority now? Was he really thinking this bit of info would unsettle her?
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Artyom
Adventurer
Name: Artyom Solokov
Race: Human
Occupation: Business Owner
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Post by Artyom on Apr 17, 2015 3:52:53 GMT
Artyom took the brunt of her angry tirade in stride. His nostrils flared slightly at the word moron, a low, barely audible grumble emanating from his throat. Her attitude wasn't helping garner any sympathy from the human. He could understand her desire to want out, but it wasn't as simple as waving a hand and saying she was free. The more she fumed and blew smoke, the more he was willing to let all the political fallout land right on top of her head, were she to be burned by the information coming through her office.
"I want to think of you as an asset, Ms Caenis, but right now you're looking more like a liability," he replied flatly, "liabilities have to be dealt with, or else someone else will exploit that liability, and I'd rather not have that happen, would you Ms. Caenis." Leaning back in his chair, his posture shifted, becoming slightly more relaxed.
"Besides the game you're playing right now with me is pointless." He paused for a brief moment, motioning broadly with his hands. "The game we're in right now, it's got stakes far larger than some diplomat and some crime boss sitting pretty on the Citadel, because at the end of the day, there's always another thread in the web, another node along the line."
"Now I can give you what you want,"he continued, shifting forward slightly, "but the moment I do that, all of the sudden Arina Caenis becomes a red flag, you said it yourself, just takes some digging and you find me, it won't be that hard to track your link to me either, specially with that override you flashed to get up here, logged and tracked to the Cantina de Miami, owned by one Artyom Solokov, I bet she'd have answers." He stopped there, the glare in his eyes piercing right through Arina's own. "I'm offering you protection, and compensation, and perhaps a chance to make up for Kira and Mira's... heavy handed tactics; I'd suggest you accept my offer, because if worse comes to worse, I've got a whole planet to hide on, and at least a hundred different governments I can probably seek asylum, all you've got is political machine that'll throw you to the dogs the moment you're a liability."
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stardust
Adventurer
Name: Arina Caenis
Race: Asari
Occupation: diplomat
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Post by stardust on Apr 18, 2015 7:59:54 GMT
„We don't have a link!“ she replied with contained voice. “I and I don't care what you want to think about me. I actually want you to stop thinking about me completely.” She erected herself and crossed her arms in front of her chest.
“Do you really want to take the chance, give all this up, running and hiding on planets just because just because we can't end this little... mistake like two responsible adults? If I can trace certain names back to you, so can others, if they ever receive the puzzle pieces I have. I seriously doubt you have all of Citadel security and prosecution on your bag. Just so you make no mistake here. I too have worlds to go to, place you can't even think about reaching. And have you considered that maybe you are misjudging my situation?”
She felt pretty sure about herself now. He may be well versed in bribery and crime but he had little experience about the galaxy of diplomacy. She was estimating her chances.
“I want nothing else from you and it would be a shame to ruin this beautiful club over such a thing. Don't you like your office and your perfect little web? I don't really care about it as long as it stops creeping into my world. So make it stop and lets pretend all of this never happened.”
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Artyom
Adventurer
Name: Artyom Solokov
Race: Human
Occupation: Business Owner
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Post by Artyom on Apr 20, 2015 6:10:16 GMT
The Russian's nostrils flared as the asari continued. He closed his eyes and grit his teeth, knowing that they were just going in circles at this point. It was frustrating, and it was showing on his normally ridged face. "I don't think you understand what I'm saying," he hissed through pursed lips, slowly rising up from his chair, "I'm not threatening you, and it's not me who you should be worried about, they already know about me" His gaze focused on the Asari as he stood up again, placing both hands on the desk. His right hand moved slightly, his finger sliding over a small display built into the desktop. A quiet beep alerted Arina that a file had been transferred to her omni-tool
"But since you're so adamant, then you'll have your wish, here's the files my two associates had on you, a good will offering" he added through gritted teeth, "now get out of my office, before I have to escort you out of my establishment, forcefully."
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stardust
Adventurer
Name: Arina Caenis
Race: Asari
Occupation: diplomat
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Post by stardust on Apr 21, 2015 15:10:46 GMT
“You can’t… oh. What.” She looked at him in disbelief. She had been prepared to maneuver, argue, be persuasive. And then it was naive persistence that did the trick. Rule two – or three - of diplomacy: Grab the offer while its hot.
“Oh well, no need to get all excited.” She replied with a sarcastic undertone. “I’ll go, no need to to see me out. I think I know the way.” She turned and walked to the elevator. The second it took for the doors to open was an eternity as she felt his gaze between her shoulders. She didn’t turn until the doors were closed again but her face showed a satisfied grin.
Maybe she could sleep better tonight.
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Artyom
Adventurer
Name: Artyom Solokov
Race: Human
Occupation: Business Owner
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Post by Artyom on Apr 25, 2015 7:59:12 GMT
Artyom didn't sit as Arina retreated from his office, having accepted his rather generous offer. The human wasn't one to argue a point. He wasn't a politician. He didn't proselytize to the unaware, or evangelize the unwashed masses. He was a soldier at heart, and that meant he acted. He could have kicked Arina out of his office, telling her she'd just have to suck it up, but then having to deal with an angry diplomat and protecting her would have been too much hassle. It wasn't worth it in his eyes. So he'd just let her have her way, and leave her to her own devices. It'd free up a couple of his men anyways.
Once the doors of the elevator closed however the human finally collapsed into his chair, letting out a heavy growl. How he hated politicians. His hands found their way to his temples, rubbing out the tension that'd seemingly built up over a matter of minutes just talking with the Asari. It was no use, and the human pushed out of his chair to find the only medicine that could treat him. The bottles of spirits and liquors danced as he spun the center bar around, finding his drink of choice. He reached for a glass on a shelve above his head, and sat it down with a clink. The brown liquid in the bottle pour smoothly into the clear container before a split second later disappearing down the human's throat. Pouring another, he sipped slower this time at his drink, carrying both glass and bottle with him as he headed back to his desk.
He sat the bottle down on the metal surface before sitting himself down, glass still in hand. With his free hand he waved his displays into existence. A single finger danced between panels, pushing at a button. "What'cha need sir," came a familiar voice over the comm channel.
"Have the men watching over Ms. Caenis's apartment to head home, we're done with her," he said flatly, receiving a "yes sir" from the man on the other end. Finishing his second glass, he poured a third and downed it as quickly as the first. He had more than he could deal with on his plate at the moment, but sadly having Arina removed from his watch wasn't as big of a relief as he'd hoped.
Arcina Caenis's Apartment 2000 hours
"You see them."
"No, moved on just like Festive said."
"Good, give me that breaching tool."
The Citadel might not have been circling a star, but the station maintained it's own day/night schedule. That didn't seem to stop most beings from operating 24/7 it seemed. Even late at night there was activity. Always someone moving, always something going on. That made the two Turian's jobs that much harder, but at least now the Black Krokodil's weren't watching over their little informant. There'd been a few attempts on Arina's life already, but each turn they'd been thwarted by the Black Krokodils. That wasn't going to happen this time.
The larger of the two turians, a white plated, aggressive looking male was fiddling with a circular plate, placing it over the door's electronic locks. A light hum came from the plate as sparks began to arc off the metal underneath. A few moments later the lights on the door and around it went out, indicating a failure in the doors systems. Without a word the larger turian motioned to his smaller compatriot to do his part. The black crested turian stepped forward and wormed a flat hook into the apartment's door jam. Once inside, the flat metal surface curved and hooked around the doors edge, and gave the pair leverage to open the once locked and closed door.
A pleased hiss escaped the white turian's mouth as he slid in first, looking around to find their target. "Ms. Caenis, citadel maintenance, we're here to see about your door," the black turian called out to the apartment. The two looked the part, clad in maintance coveralls, and packing tool belts to match. Of course they were packing far more than tools.
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stardust
Adventurer
Name: Arina Caenis
Race: Asari
Occupation: diplomat
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Post by stardust on Apr 25, 2015 14:10:54 GMT
Arina stood under the shower, leaning her forehead against the hard wall and letting the warm water pour over her head and down her back. She could feel it forming trails down her leg, her toes lazily playing in the small pool she was standing in. The asari had her eyes closed for a moment, smiling and relaxing from the stress of the day, the water rushing in his aurals and the steam around her. Wash that Citadel business off and become a person again, she thought to herself.
With a sigh she switched off the water and stepped out of the shower.
"Ms. Caenis, citadel maintenance, we're here to see about your door," a turian voice was calling from somewhere inside her apartment! “Tides!”
In shock, she grabbed a towel and wrapped it around herself in a makeshift fashion, holding it tight with one hand before stepping out of the bathroom. She had to cross her bedroom to reach the living room and to actually see the entry hallway – and the turians.
“Who the fuck are you?! I didn't call for any service, get the hell out!”
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Artyom
Adventurer
Name: Artyom Solokov
Race: Human
Occupation: Business Owner
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Post by Artyom on Apr 30, 2015 5:51:32 GMT
"Oh but you don't have to call for Citadel Maintenance Miss, we come when there's a problem, and boy do we have a problem" the large white turian said as he sauntered over towards the kitchen like he owned the place. His sharp claws raked across the counter top, the surface too hard for him to leave a mark, but still enough to eminate a rasping noise as the talons moved across the surface. A quick bump against the faucet set it off, running as he turned back towards the Asari, his hands resting against his belt. The smaller black Turian kept his position near the door, arms dangling loose at his side as if he were ready for the Asari to make a break for the door.
"We'ed have been by sooner, but there were few obstacles standing in our way, they're gone now," the turian continued, his voice going flat, eyes zeroing in on the asari, "gonna be a real shame huh Sartus, so pretty."
"Just finish it Jaecus," the black turian snapped. The look on Sartus's face seemed annoyed, unhappy with Jaecus toying with Arina. Whether that was because he wanted to get the job over with, or because of some sort of dissatisfaction with his role in the whole thing was unknown. Sartus simply laughed his smaller compatriot's complaints off. The white turian's talons drifted down further towards a small pouch, procuring a cylinder about a foot in length and setting it down on the counter top island that Sartus was standing behind. It looked fitting among all the different cooking devices.
"Too pretty indeed," Sartus remarked, leaving his parting words as he turned around and passed his partner. Jaecus followed suit a second later, and the pair left Arina's apartment. The door closed behind them oddly enough with a loud metallic bang, an almost ominous sound.
A few moments of eerie silence hung over the apartment before being broken by an almost ear shattering screech as the cylinder burst into flames. The silver canister completely melted as the incendiary grenade detonated and everything around it in a two meter radius burst into flames. The bright flash would be more than disorienting to the Asari, but since she was outside of the blast radius she'd not be touched by the grenade. Her death would be a far more agonizing affair if she couldn't escape.
Flying had been something of a hobby for the Russian. He'd picked up the skill during his time in the RADF, learning to pilot shuttles and small strike craft, before being transferred to the Alliance. He loved racing through the air ways, in between buildings of the citadel, and all around the station itself. It helped clear his mind at times. Specially when he felt torn.
He sympathized with Arina, he really did. He was a ground pounder at heart. He hated the politics of the Citadel, and he knew full well the stress living under the threat of being burned by some piece of intel, literally. The scars on his back from a Cerberus attack attested to that. At the same time he knew that the moment Kira and Mira had recruited Arina she'd been painted a target. While his organization was covert, they didn't go undetected. Organizations had their eyes on the Krokodils. One in particular had a malicious gaze centered on the primarily human group, as well as the Alliance in general. Their moves against Artyom and his organization had already included Arina, and thanks to his men she was none the wiser. That changed though the moment he issued the orders to pull back his men from staking out her apartment.
He didn't want to admit it, specially not to himself, but that's where his current flight path took him. Down the Kithoi arm, and towards her apartment block. It was more for his own confirmation, that perhaps his fears were wrong, and he could just fly right by, no problems.
With a sharp roll and a bank towards the massive arm, Artyom dove towards the structures below, making a hard bank left to bring him perpendicular to the station. In and out he wove between buildings, making a circular path towards his destination. He spiraled closer and closer, looking up out of cockpit of his air care to watch the building he knew Arina called home. Moment by moment he drew closer, and before long he could see the details of the building perfectly. Including a bright yellow light from her window. Eyes widening, Artyom hit the throttle and closed the distance as quickly as he could.
The aircar looped one last time around the building before coming to complete stop outside Arina's window. Artyom hit the autopilot and kept the craft hovering right next to Arina's bedroom window. He jabbed hard against the door's control, popping the top of the Aircar up. He peered through the window, trying to spot Arina, hoping he wasn't too late.
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stardust
Adventurer
Name: Arina Caenis
Race: Asari
Occupation: diplomat
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Post by stardust on Apr 30, 2015 15:00:19 GMT
Arina pressed the towel closer to her bosom as a faint glimmer on her other hand appeared, the reflex of biotics. “What the fuck are you talking about...” she looked from one to the other but none of them seemed to care. Arina staggered a step backwards. She could not yet connect all the dots but this was bad, very bad, that much she realized.
She was trying to calculate if she could overpower the two turians but her mind refused to work at normal seed as the leader of the turians droned on with his speech. And as he positioned the device on her kitchen counter. Basically between her and the exit and her whole body refused to go any nearer to the object as the door closed behind the intruders. She even took another step back
Then, not a second too soon, she took a diving roll sideways into her bedroom, her body engulfed in what barrier it could raise on pure reflex. The bang was still deafening her ear and made her head explode like as if she had stuck it into a bell made of glass. The blinding flash was visible even through her closed eyelids, everything was twisting and turning blinding purple shapes.
A damaged put was rolling around the corner into her bedroom and she was just a shivering ball on the floor, staring at it in horror. The break-proof windows were damaged but had contained the explosion inside. That bell made of glass....
She noticed a shadow outside her bedroom, a vague shape of an aircar.... she needed C-Sec. Arina rose to her feet, her legs shaking, her vision blurry. She was coughing from the smoke... open the window... she grabbed the handle and opened the door to the small balconette. The air made her cough again.
“Help! C-Sec!” was all she could caw up, blinking against the blinding light and the dancing reflections.
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Artyom
Adventurer
Name: Artyom Solokov
Race: Human
Occupation: Business Owner
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Post by Artyom on May 2, 2015 7:50:51 GMT
Artyom saw a figure encased in a bright blue glow that flicker and faded as what he assumed was a biotic barrier die down. Standing up, he looked around his aircar to find something, anything, to break the glass from the outside. His pistol normally at his side was nowhere to be seen. He spat out a quick Slavic curse as he realized he'd left it back at the club, figuring his drive would be just that- a flight to clear his mind. He looked back at the controls of the aircar as the idea of ramming the nose of the craft into the glass passed his mind. Right now it was his only choice.
"Get back, get back," he started to shout, waving at Arina to get back from the window, hoping she could hear him. He stepped back over towards the pilot's seat, but stopped mid step as the door to the balconette opened up. How that detail had some how evaded was a mystery to him.
The aircar wasn't quite right next to the small balcony, forcing him to hold the top door to extend his hand out to Arina. "Grab my hand," he shouted over the roar of the flames that were starting to lick at the door of the bedroom, casting their bright glow on the normally dark Citadel exterior.
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stardust
Adventurer
Name: Arina Caenis
Race: Asari
Occupation: diplomat
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Post by stardust on May 3, 2015 8:19:14 GMT
Arina barely noticed the sprinkle of cold water from the automatic fire extinguishing system. The fresh air helped her senses to clear up after a couple of seconds though. She looked back into her destroyed kitchen and living room and the slowly drowning bedroom. “Fuck!”
She couldn't get out through the sizzling catastrophe that had been her kitchen. She didn’t think twice and grabbed the hand of the man that was parking his aircar next to her balconette. She had never used it, up in n-th floor it merely was an item of decoration (and to get the prices up). she tried not to look down but couldn't help a yelping cry of fear. “Goddess! thank you… why YOU!” Only inside the car she could have a good look at her rescuer. Artyom Solokov!
She pried open the door again to scramble back into her apartment but the car had unmoored from the balconette already and she almost stepped into empty air. Again she screamed and shut the door again.
“Get me down! get me to C-sec! Get me down and let me go immediately, you… you… you beast!” She was under the obvious impression that Artyom was playing a part in all of this.
Arina moved as far away from him as possible and pressed the towel to her breast. She was eventually feeling cold and began to shake a bit.
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