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WHO: Space Thief and the Sexy Major.
WHERE: A bank, and then a few blocks away from a bank.
WHEN: Jan 18th, mid-afternoon.
WARNINGS: There might be some swearing? Whoops! Some violence.
SUMMARY: Someone noticed Kasumi's invisible pilferings.
FORMAT: Paragraph.

Kasumi shifted her weight from foot to foot as she stood against the wall behind the banking counter at the First National Bank of the City, a motion that barely would've been noticable even if she hadn't been cloaked. As it was, it was a silent motion that allowed her to not go crazy during the forty-five minutes she'd been waiting since she'd managed to slip behind the counter.

Waiting was something Kasumi was both good and bad at...on the one hand, she could do it, easily and for long periods of time. On the other hand, just because she could do it, didn't mean she enjoyed it. Still, from what she'd seen, the manager was about to make a run to the vault, which meant her waiting was almost finished.

And indeed, the small Asian woman she'd identified as the on-duty manager when she arrived emerged from her office with a metal box in her hands and headed into the back of the bank, Kasumi trailing after her. She made no sound as she moved, but even a small bit of sound wouldn't have been a problem in such a noisy environment. It was almost nice, really...a bank that wasn't all computers and emotionless VI's was almost comforting, in a way. Old fashioned.

Easy to rob.

When the manager stepped into the vault, Kasumi was half-a-step behind her, eyes tracing over the room until she spotted the already-counted money from the lunch take. It took only a moment, when the manager turned her back, for Kasumi to rest her hand ontop of the pile and let her cloak trace down over several inches of bills until they faded away as if they were never there. The only downside of doing this was that it was impossible for her to actually count how much she was getting, but it had averaged out to several thousand a bank. More than enough for such simple work, really.

As the manager stepped back out of the vault, Kasumi was once again right on her heels, but this time her invisible legs carried her past the woman, back up to the gate into the customer area and deftly hoping over it. Long steps carried her over to the glass door, and when the next customer slipped inside, she slipped out and headed down the street, cloaked all the way.

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It wasn't fair to say that she was expecting what she got, but when Motoko placed herself in the lobby for the day, she'd expected to be waiting all day and well into the night. This was what it always was; the waiting game, for hostages or backup or permission± or for the perpetrator to show their face. She didn't know anything about the thief that'd been making banks tighten their belts and cling graspingly to their bottom lines, but it was making the transactional thefts that she set up as a matter of course more likely to be caught. She was overpowered, here, but wasn't about to become sloppy.

Besides, it was something to do, in a manner of speaking.

Holding perfectly still was like flipping a switch in her brain— easy and straightforward. The sunlight cast from the windows crawled across the floor then inverted and began crawling across the sidewalk outside. Motoko watched the door and waited. It was intensely boring, and she began to regret not keeping more books in her cyberbrain for these occasions. Then it came, the tell-tale sign she'd seen on the security footage from a dozen banks like this one before; the door behind someone entering held itself open for too long, held by an invisible hand. It could have been the wind, or a sticky hinge, or the momentum of the man who'd entered before the invisible thief, but the pattern of banks hit and the repetitive nature of the action made that unlikely. Silently, invisibly, Motoko stood and waited, watching as that hesitation was repeated an hour later, in the door between the employee area and the back of the bank. She'd pull the feed from the security cameras later— but it was a sure bet that she'd see the pattern all the way to the vault and back. Thermal vision painted a hooded, female silhouette in those footsteps and the Major smiled.

This time she was watching for it, and so Motoko followed an unwary couple through the doors and out on the sidewalk, following that red-lit figure in one visual subwindow while another allowed her to navigate under normal-light vision. An invisible woman following an invisible woman, right through the streets and sidewalks.

Kasumi followed the edge of the sidewalk as she moved down the street, one foot after the other along the curb. She remained stealthed the whole time, most likely staying off to the side to ensure she didn't bump into anyone. She didn't need someone reporting an 'invisible person' near one of the robbed banks, after all.

Three blocks she went, four, five, before finally turning into a side-alley and following it halfway towards a parking lot at the far end. She stopped in the shadows near the middle, where the afternoon sun didn't quite manage to peek over any of the nearby rooftops, and with a shimmer of electricity she dropped her cloak, standing there in her usual hooded skin-tight suit, an amused little smile on her face.

"Now let's see..." With her back turned away from one entrance and her hands hidden by a dumpster from the other, she leafed through her stack of money, counting it out quickly. She wasn't being thorough, just getting a vague reference amount before she slipped it into several small, zippered pockets in her suit.

The crackle of power as the woman's cloak disengaged was a little startling, but the Major wasn't the kind of person who had the luxury of nursing an habitual twitch. Informative, that— whatever method she used to bypass visible wavelengths was a different method than any the Major knew about.

She watched silently as the woman pocketed her cash before speaking. After all, it wasn't the money that bothered the Major, it was the prudence and location. Overlapping territories didn't have to be a problem.

"Most people would have waited, and tried that at night," She neglected to disengage the thermoptic camo, and held perfectly still, betraying no footprint nor sound, aside from her voice, too close at hand "You're pretty cocky, aren't you?"

Kasumi looked up with a start as the other woman started to speak, her glowing eyes narrowed behind her hood and a faint frown on her face. "Hmmm. Most people aren't as good as me." She said, and as she spoke her cloak re-engaged, a swirling energy net around her body before she disappeared in another little crackle.

She took several silent steps away from where she had been standing, though she knew rationally that the other must have been able to see her while she was invisible. It was an unsettling thought. Her hand tugged her compacted pistol off her belt and it unfolded with little clicks as she let herself reappear again.

"If you were going to turn me in I assume you would've done so at the bank...so...how can I help you, hmm? And it's not much fun to talk to someone I can't see." Well, that was a bit of a lie, but it was worth a shot.

This was why she hadn't uncloaked, of course. The hot plume of life around the thief dimmed slightly when her cloaking went live, but stayed as visible as the Major could please. The alleyway wasn't exactly clear of snow, but there was more than enough room to step silently back, allowing the target room to take her place as she drew her gun and spoke. Motoko watched the weapon finish unfolding with interest— that was pretty unusual, too.

But now she had an advantage; she was behind the woman's back. Still all but intangible, Motoko wrapped one arm swiftly around her shoulders and the other at her throat, putting the weight and strength of a mil-spec cyborg behind the motion. There was a knife in her hand, pressed against Kasumi's throat between the bunched and flattened fabric of her hood and Motoko smiled against the side of her head. It was one thing to challenge a military cyborg on the long range, where luck and patience had a role; this girl was in melee range.

"You're hunting in my territory," She murmured as the thermoptic hiss popped at her belt and she came back into view, "I think we should have a nice, civil talk about that."

There was a moment as the arm tightened where Kasumi thought she might've had a chance to break free of the grip, one arm shooting up to grab at the wrist near her throat and pushing, but it was obvious that the woman was...enhanced. Whether she was cybernetic or this was one of those porter-given powers that she kept hearing about the thief didn't know, but her own modifications weren't strong enough to push her off.

Her mind raced. She was close enough to the wall that she could kick off it, but not before the knife was inside her hood. Or she could do a straight backflip but the knife...was still a problem.

After several seconds of somewhat undirected struggling she let herself still. She could think her way out of this, she just...needed a moment. "Alright, have it your way. Though nobody mentioned this city had any sort of boss."

She held up her hand still holding her pistol and let it click closed. Her other hand was still pressed against the woman's, pushing lightly, instinctively...that wasn't likely to stop. "I do much better talking over dinner, though. You could've just asked."

The Major rode out the struggling with bored pleasure. She was a sadist at heart, and if she was more often a lawful one than otherwise, then it wasn't any problem of hers. But she wasn't a needless one, nor a rapist, and so she just let the girl fight it out, waiting until she had the attention in which to speak.

"I could have," Motoko murmured, seductive-sweet and patient as you please, as if this were no more more extraordinary circumstances than a pair of women meeting at a coffee shop. The wind was a dagger of ice through the alley, but the Major barely registered it, "But then I might not have gotten such a good look at your face. Drop it, now."

"I'm not dropping it, they won't make parts for it for two hundred years." Kasumi was somewhat overprotective of her weapons. She could repair them herself, but...well, she needed to be able to get parts. After a few seconds though, she tossed it on the top of the nearby dumpster, relatively out of reach.

"Now, what's say you let me go? I'm don't want to fight you. Honest." She'd smile but, well, the woman was behind her. And there was something unsettling about the calm, soothing sensation of the others voice. Kasumi was good at reading people, and generally...well, they didn't sound like that mid-fight. It reminded her of Jack, in a way, when Jack was really enjoying a fight.

Which was why she never went on missions with the biotic if she could avoid it.

In reply, Motoko took a step backwards, half-pulling the girl with her, thereby forcing a little room between them. There was a weapon at the small of Kasumi's back, she'd seen it in the glance before seizing her. The hand that wasn't holding the knife let go and took it from its holster— and kept it. She wasn't afraid to hurt someone else's pride, after all. It took a moment but the reach around for Kasumi's wrist was just as firm.

"This may come as a surprise," She lied, calmly squeezing with a grip that would take a blowtorch to remove. No one here knew anyone's name, "But I don't actually know your name. I'm Kusanagi Motoko. Who are you?"

Edited 2011-01-19 00:59 (UTC)

Kasumi nearly got free of the others grip when the other pulled back, starting a twist that probably would've resulted in her ducking under the arm around her neck and using the wall as a baseboard to flip up, snapping the other woman's arm at the elbow and breaking her grip permanently.

Of course, she only got as far as starting to turn before her wrist was grabbed, locking her back in place, and she let out an audible sigh of irritation. "Anyone ever tell you that you'll catch more flies with honey?" She said, half-turning her head to peer at the woman with one eye. It glowed blue with the glimmer of electricity while under her hood. She gave a little tug on her wrist, but that grip was irritatingly firm.

She wasn't sure she believed the woman didn't know her name...this all felt too much like a set-up...which made lying pointless. "Kasumi Goto." She finally said.

"You'll notice that I haven't actually hurt you yet."

Motoko's eyes didn't glow— but then, the color in them was glass and plastic, a deep and bloody red. Glowing would have constituted a security hazard. She smiled sharply into that gaze, as if to say, 'so you see?' and waited until Kasumi gave her name.

"This is normally where I'd have to arrest you, Miss Goto," And it was curious, that, because she had a Japanese name but spoke with neither accent nor fashion. It was in her face, too— a halfbreed, then, "But I'm not working for this particular government right now, so I'm probably going to end up letting you go."

And she did, casually swinging her wide and picking up the sidearm from the dumpster in one well-planned motion. None of that, now. But she could still run, if she wanted, and while that would be interesting, Motoko thought she wouldn't. More flies with honey, but how many with words?

Red eyes. Well, that was interesting. Artificial, then. Which would explain the rest of her strength, actually. Well hidden cybernetics, though. Kasumi was already turning back, reaching for her weapon as the other let her go, but she fell into an easy stance as it was swept away, her head tilted to the side beneath her hood as she stared at the woman.

"They wouldn't be able to hold me anyway, even if you were." Just because one cybernetic woman could catch her off guard didn't mean Kasumi could be held by the police here. Unless they could find a way to literally remove her cybernetics, well...she wasn't worried.

She could've left, but there was no way she was leaving her guns behind. "I need those back now, please." She crossed her arms. "Especially the big one. Sentimental reasons."

"I'm sure they are," Motoko drawled companionably as she slid her knife back into it's sheath. Sentimental reasons that have nothing to do with shooting the woman who just jumped you in alley.

"This is a fairly public venue for that kind of discussion. Are you still sleeping at the MAC, or have you been putting that," She meant the money, "To good use?"

Well, she was sentimental about shooting Motoko, probably. But she'd get over it, Kasumi isn't very good at holding a grudge. She tapped her fingers against her upper arm as she considered the question. "In case you haven't noticed, being in public isn't really something I have to worry about. But you don't either, do you..."

She rolled her eyes. "No, I'm not still living at the MAC. I stayed there a night...it was more than enough for me." She wrinkled her noise. "A girl has to have her space, you know."

"There are people in this city fully capable of sitting on the rooftops and listening to every word we're saying," She replied, and looked down at Kasumi's sidearm in her hands. It was a bulky weapon, strange design, but relatively low risk; if the Major had known that she held what was essentially a personal railgun, she'd have never let anyone else touch it, ever again.

"I prefer a little privacy when I ask a favor of someone— Shall we?"

Yes well, what the major didn't know probably wouldn't hurt her. At the moment. Kasumi said nothing as she studied the other woman, thinking the idea over. It wasn't a bad plan, exactly...privacy was good for a lot of things, really. And Kasumi genuinely didn't have any interest in another fight.

"How about...you give me that back," she pointed at the large gun. "And hold onto the other, hmm? Till we get there. Call it...a show of good faith."

"A show of good faith?" Motoko raised an eyebrow at that and tossed the smaller gun instead. Kasumi wasn't in any position to be making demands," Do you know where the Regency is, downtown?"

Kasumi swiped the weapon from the air and turned it over in her hands, letting it snap open. She checked it over, then snapped it closed again and tucked it onto her belt.

"I've passed it once or twice."

"I've taken out a suite, for the weekend," She replied, phrasing it deliberately— she wasn't living there, after all, "I'm sure you can find your way."

Another toss, this time a slim red card, magnetic. Motoko flicked on her camo— it flashed once and then she faded from view while Kasumi was distracted with her weapon and the card. When the thief got to the hotel, she'd be waiting.

Kasumi only looked away for a second as she caught the card, and looked back just in time to see the woman vanishing. She didn't even bother to call out, just narrowed her eyes at the empty space and sighed. "Damn it."

She couldn't lose that gun. Shep would kill her when she got ported home, for one thing. And frankly, it was her gun. She was going to get it back.

[Hours later.]

Of course, she was also patient. When she needed to be. She didn't head right on over to the hotel, of course. She waited until after ten that evening, arriving in the hotel back under her cloak. She took the steps, considering the keycard as she went until she reached the right floor, footsteps perfectly silent as she moved to the door. Hmm.

She almost just went right in. It was honestly tempting, push the door open, walk in...now that she knew what she was dealing with she'd be able to spot the woman...these glowing eyes weren't for show, after all...but she was actually a bit curious about the woman. And a strong friend might not be a bad thing to have.

So...without letting her cloak down...she knocked.

The knock was expected, and the Major of course did not answer it immediately. For a moment she considered not answering it at all— after all, Goto did have a key. But that was a measure of her as well; she knocked, even when she was invited. Perhaps only when she was invited.

"Come in," She called, without getting up. It was dim in the apartment, lit mostly by the star-deadening glow from the city lights outside. The curtains were open and Motoko sat in one of two chairs beside the view, facing the door, looking out.

Kasumi wasn't one for knocking at all, unless the situation intrigued her. 'When she was invited' might have covered...some of that. She'd also knock before walking into Shep's quarters. Probably. Otherwise it was a toss-up. When she heard the other speak she pushed the door open and slipped inside, keeping her cloak up even after she closed the door, remaining stealthed until she faded into view with a crackle of electricity in the center of the room.

She was dressed as before in her hooded suit, and she glanced around absently from under her hood, a little smirk on her face. "I thought it would bigger."

Motoko gestured wordlessly to the other door on the wall perpendicular to the one Kasumi had entered through, innocently open to show the lack of threats beyond. It was a suite, after all— have a seat, her eyes said.

"You haven't been in the city very long, have you."

Kasumi glanced towards the door and shrugged,a nd then moved to drop down into the chair next to Motoko, letting her gaze linger on the window for a few moments.

"Not particularly. A few weeks." It wasn't quite accurate but it was close enough, really. She didn't look away from the window as she spoke, though she did tug her feet up onto the chair in front of her, letting her hands rest on her thighs.

"I've been skimming most of the banks in this city for the last four months," She mused, watching the line of Kasumi's chin before following her gaze out at the twinkling city lights.

"Electronically," Motoko clarified, "They haven't noticed yet. But you've been physically lifting your funds directly from the vaults. I'll admit it's more fun, but they've already noticed the discrepancy in the bottom line— they're looking for a thief."

Of course, right now they were looking for an embezzler, but if Goto couldn't figure that out on her own, then it wasn't something that needed to be said aloud.

"Regardless of what they're looking for I'm not particularly concerned." Kasumi didn't seem to be surprised by the fact that the other had been thieving, though her method made sense. Kasumi had thought about doing it that way herself, too, but this had been more...interesting. And frankly, she hadn't wanted to bother with learning the intricacies of a two hundred year old banking exchange.

Cash was also harder to trace.

"And frankly if you're good at what you do, which it's not hard to guess you are, you probably shouldn't be concerned either. Security here is pathetic, frankly. It's like stealing from children." It was almost boring, honestly. But she needed a place to stay, so it was rather necessary.

"So you're content to get fat and sloppy just because there's no one here to force you to stay sharp?"

Between Batman, the police force and the dozen other pseudo-criminals around, it was a toss-up as to who would eventually catch on. Change is what keeps people alive, and nothing motivates survival quite like money.

"This? This isn't even real work. I can't get fat and sloppy doing what amounts to busy work." She shook her head and smirked. "No, I'll think of other things to keep me sharp and entertained."

"I'm just doing this for spending money. And I couldn't stand living in those awful little apartments."

"Hmm," And it was the kind of vocalization that could have meant, 'I wonder.'
The sound her coat made as she turned away from the window and looked more fully at the side-lit figure in the opposite seat was loud in the silence.

It was barely a smile, barely a smirk, and far-removed. As if she were smiling at memory, or at someone else behind that thousand-yard stare, someone Kasumi reminded her of.

"How would you like to do some real work, then?"

Kasumi did not move as the major turned to study her, her glowing blue eyes remained on the window, slightly narrowed, a little smirk tugging at the corner of her lips. Her only motion at all was the tapping of two fingers on her left again, pressing into the fabric of the arm of her chair without making a sound. Tap-tap.

Whether she was thinking over the question or not was anyones guess, but after perhaps thirty seconds her gaze flitted towards the other, and her smirk got a bit wider. "It would really depend on what the work is."

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