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Black Market Dealings
Topic Started: Feb 20 2014, 04:33 PM (410 Views)
Velvien
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The light bustle, the line of makeshift stands that could be torn down for transport at a moment's notice, the dark, out of the way alleys that were occupied... All was far too familiar to Albrecht Mannock. He knew, as an officially sanctioned airship pilot and innovator, he should never be stepping foot in the black market. But screw that. He had needs, too. Needs that couldn't met in a legal setting. If there was anything to damn Dr. Levy for, it was that.

So, here he was, strolling through all manner of illegal wares, looking for whatever he could find to bolster his capabilities. As he walked, something caught his eye. An old machine that looked like a rotary device, a few crystals, a couple blades... Looked perfect. He walked up to the wares for a closer look.
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Velvien
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"Nah, the little genius that gave me stuff warned me of its legality. Or lack thereof." Mannock wandered closer to the rotary device, a long rod with a spinning end that had holes for placing more rods in it. "Anyways. Any idea what this came from? Oh, and, uh, info on what the crystals do would be pretty nice, too. Could always go for a new hover gem."
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vicroc4

'An' yet, somehow, I'm not convinced,' Micah thought. He'd never had much trust for the government - it was something that had served him well for much of his life. An unlicensed relic hunter couldn't be too careful, after all.

Plus, this guy was really pissing off his wolf. Meeting his challenges with challenges - his instincts were almost screaming at him to show this uppity pup his place. For once, he was thankful that the sun had come up - and even then, it was only through extreme focus and long years of practice that he was able to calm the wolf down enough to think rationally.

'Still,' he thought, 'it'd be interestin' to see what the police would say.' Interesting, if he didn't want to risk his own hide.

Putting that thought out of his mind, he looked over at what Mannock was indicating. Snorting, he shook his head. "Not much value ta that one. Cut it out of an ol' war machine o' some sort - think it was a tank, if'n I remember. I couldn't tell 'f it was from th' drivetrain or th' loader - that's how bad it was slagged."

He smirked, though, at the mention of crystals. "Well, I might have somethin' along those lines. Don't got too many crystals comin' through, and they're hard to ID at best. You're lookin' at most o' my inventory." He holds up the one Mannock was poking at. "It's a fire crystal, by-the-by. Don't wanna put anythin' into it, or else this whole alley might go up. Y'all pulled it out of the protective wards when ya picked it up."

Placing the small, red stone back in the box that Mannock had lifted it out of, he nodded in satisfaction as the wards flared back to life. Fixing Mannock with his yellow-brown stare again, he continued, "Now, if'n ya want a stone - like I said, I might have somethin'. But first I need to know what yer willin' ta pay."
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Velvien
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"Oh, right, sorry. Didn't think about the potential for a rock to blow an entire alley sky high." Voivod nods as he digests the information. The device... hell, maybe he could wrangle some use out of it. Might as well try, right? "Hmm... if'n you got the market values of them -- gah, you've got me saying that now -- I figure I could match them, plus 20% for convenience. Or I could just hand a couple thousand bucks for each of them. How much for the scrapheap reject?"
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vicroc4

A raised eyebrow and a snort are Micah's first response. 'You didn't consider it? And you want me to sell you something that's potentially as dangerous?'

Then he runs through the calculations in his head... and smiles. It's an unnerving sort of smile, like that of a predator that's just cornered his prey. 'Full market with a twenty percent markup? Boyo, if you're tryin' ta bribe me, I ain't that easily bought. But I'll gladly take that money offa yer hands.'

Nodding at Mannock, he chuckled. "Well that's awful generous of ya. How 'bout this, though: I'll toss in the scrap for free. It's got a crystal in it, too - buried in the motor. I wasn' able to get at it when I took it apart to try ta figure out what it was. If'n y'all can get it out, it's yours."

A friendlier smile crossed his face, and he continued, "Fair warnin', though: it does some sort 'a diagnostic about every half-hour. I think th' crystal's still somehow feedin' power to th' motor."

As if on cue, the object - which had been standing quietly up to this point - beeped quietly, three times. Then the shaft started to turn slowly counterclockwise. It stopped abruptly after three revolutions, beeped again, and then rotated back to its starting position - upon which it finished its routine with a sequence of four beeps and a short buzz.
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Velvien
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Mannock cocks his head. "It saying something? I don't speak bleep. Usually. Only in my most robotic moments."

Turning back to Micah, he smirks. "Sounds good to me. Want me to run a check on market value and see what comes up for these things?"
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vicroc4

Micah laughs, a coughing sort of sound. "I can only assume it's reportin' a failed test. I cleaned it out real good, but it's prob'ly all knocked out'a alignment."

Giving Mannock a smirk, he says, "What, ya don't trust me? I ain't got no reason to cheat ya - I got a reputation to uphold." He laughs again. "I guess if'n it'll make y'all feel better, though, ya might as well."
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Velvien
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"Huh. Alright. Might take it to a mechanic to see if they can figure out where it's reporting to." Mannock shakes his head. "And I learned long ago not to trust the underground, if'n I want to everything attached, including the wallet... god damn your accent. Gotta inspect the crystals to try and gauge their value. That alright with you?"
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vicroc4

"So long as y'all don't take 'em off the premises, I can't see why not." Micah grinned again, and motioned to two of the crystals. Both were set slightly apart from the rest, laying in boxes with glowing runes drawn around the insides. "Might want ta be a mite careful with these, though - if'n y'all have yer eye on 'em. They're possibly dangerous, and I don't want ta see anyone get hurt, huh?"

He held back a chuckle at Mannock's outburst. Pup was from the city core, it sounded like. Probably upper-class, a bit too much money for his own good. Maybe he never heard the way outer-city folk talked? In any case, he certainly had no business in a back alley.
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Velvien
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"Yeah, yeah, I can do them here. And I think I've inspected these things enough to know not to juggle with them. Seen an idiot decide tossing one around like that was a good idea. Don't think i need to say how that ended." Mannock lifts one of the gems close to his burn-scarred face and inspects for a moment, turning it around in his palm. "Corundum, variety ruby, rough crystalline structure, poor relative luster... eh, 1500 sounds about right."

He moves on to the next three crystals in succession. "Jadeite, no crystalline structure because jadeite doesn't come with those, pristine condition. 1800. Zircon, white, good structure, good luster, 2000. And... hm. Garnet, variety andradite, black, perfect structure, perfect luster for something as dull as andradite. Sounds like a good 3000 to me."

As he places the last crystal back, Mannock runs some quick calculations. "So, that would be 8300 dollars, plus 20%... how's 9960 for the lot sound?"
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vicroc4

'So the pup knows a bit about rocks, huh?' Micah chuckled. An unfriendly sort of grin crossed his face as he said, "Ya some sort o' geologist or somethin', boyo?"

Mentally, he was tallying the prices - Mannock had been a bit generous in his estimate of the quality of the crystals, so he overshot a bit. Not that Micah was complaining. "Y'all'll be cleanin' me out, if'n ya buy all of them. I ought ta charge ya extra just for that. But since you're bein' so nice, I'll take that deal. Ninety-nine sixty for the lot. And y'all even get a free... whatever the hell it is."

His grin grew imperceptibly wider. Almost ten grand in less than an hour. Today was looking to be a good day after all.
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