04-27-2014, 06:56 PM
The nearest metro station was several blocks away, and included some backtracking toward the diner. With every passing block, the city roused from the slumber of before. The faces of buildings were covered in uplighting. More people stalked the sidewalks or criss-crossed the street between cars.
He nodded at a pair of guys leaning against a doorway. The orange glow of lit cigarettes pulsed every so often when drawn to their mouths. The first said something in his native tongue, and the second chuckled as he flicked ash at Jensen's feet. Jensen put his head down and walked on.
At an intersection, he looked around at the various storefronts while waiting for the light to turn. An electronic's shop caught his eye. The window display looped holographic images, advertisements, both for brandings and for the technology itself. He subconsciously pat the pocket holding the iScreen and folded up mask, and turned to let himself in rather than continue to the metro stairwell.
Bright lights and electrified music blasted his senses. The walls and ceiling of the shop were covered in screens, some projected, others glass mounted. The counter was topped with a complete surface touch pad. A man was leaning against it, twiddling what looked like chop sticks, but was instead engaged in some sort of game with players unseen. After Jensen's eyes adjusted, he wandered over, hoping the man would pause without him having to interrupt.
"What do you want?" He asked without looking up from the game.
Jensen smoothed the frown from his expression and placed the iScreen on the touch pad counter top. It immediately recognized the hardware, and synchronized with the store's purchasing catalogue.
"I want something that scans police activity,"
he said.
The worker took one good look at Jensen and laughed. "What do you want that for, boy?"
Jensen's brow furrowed. The man was trying to be intimidating. "Do you sell anything like that or not?"
"Yeah, we do. One second."
The worker put down the chop sticks and sorted through a range of options for Jensen to try out. He demonstrated the different applications. "There's this one, works like a radio. This one has a search feature to pick up specific keywords that is communicated between the two links. This one has an integrated map feature."
Jensen stopped him.
"That one. A map feature and keyword search, I want that one."
The salesman shrugged and started pulling the appropriate sales figures together. The app cost almost as much as the entire iScreen was worth, but to run it he had to upgrade the device to a newer operating system, but when he walked out of the garish shop, he was quite a few dollars lighter.
He spent a few minutes configuring the app after the purchase. It needed to triangulate his location as well as filter by keyword: "Injuries sustained".
Earbud in hand, he turned back to the salesman before leaving. "Know anywhere to buy a cheap bike?"
The man looked him up and down again. "What are you looking to get?"
Jensen thought for a second. "Light. Agile, but quiet. Good in the city."
As Jensen continued, a grin slowly drew across the man's face.
"I might know someone for you," he said with a grin that said he thought he was in for a night of profiting off one slow-talking, soft-spoken Texan.
Little did he know, no red-blooded Texan was worth his salt if he couldn't haggle his way into a good deal.
He nodded at a pair of guys leaning against a doorway. The orange glow of lit cigarettes pulsed every so often when drawn to their mouths. The first said something in his native tongue, and the second chuckled as he flicked ash at Jensen's feet. Jensen put his head down and walked on.
At an intersection, he looked around at the various storefronts while waiting for the light to turn. An electronic's shop caught his eye. The window display looped holographic images, advertisements, both for brandings and for the technology itself. He subconsciously pat the pocket holding the iScreen and folded up mask, and turned to let himself in rather than continue to the metro stairwell.
Bright lights and electrified music blasted his senses. The walls and ceiling of the shop were covered in screens, some projected, others glass mounted. The counter was topped with a complete surface touch pad. A man was leaning against it, twiddling what looked like chop sticks, but was instead engaged in some sort of game with players unseen. After Jensen's eyes adjusted, he wandered over, hoping the man would pause without him having to interrupt.
"What do you want?" He asked without looking up from the game.
Jensen smoothed the frown from his expression and placed the iScreen on the touch pad counter top. It immediately recognized the hardware, and synchronized with the store's purchasing catalogue.
"I want something that scans police activity,"
he said.
The worker took one good look at Jensen and laughed. "What do you want that for, boy?"
Jensen's brow furrowed. The man was trying to be intimidating. "Do you sell anything like that or not?"
"Yeah, we do. One second."
The worker put down the chop sticks and sorted through a range of options for Jensen to try out. He demonstrated the different applications. "There's this one, works like a radio. This one has a search feature to pick up specific keywords that is communicated between the two links. This one has an integrated map feature."
Jensen stopped him.
"That one. A map feature and keyword search, I want that one."
The salesman shrugged and started pulling the appropriate sales figures together. The app cost almost as much as the entire iScreen was worth, but to run it he had to upgrade the device to a newer operating system, but when he walked out of the garish shop, he was quite a few dollars lighter.
He spent a few minutes configuring the app after the purchase. It needed to triangulate his location as well as filter by keyword: "Injuries sustained".
Earbud in hand, he turned back to the salesman before leaving. "Know anywhere to buy a cheap bike?"
The man looked him up and down again. "What are you looking to get?"
Jensen thought for a second. "Light. Agile, but quiet. Good in the city."
As Jensen continued, a grin slowly drew across the man's face.
"I might know someone for you," he said with a grin that said he thought he was in for a night of profiting off one slow-talking, soft-spoken Texan.
Little did he know, no red-blooded Texan was worth his salt if he couldn't haggle his way into a good deal.