Friday, August 03, 2018

'38 Rue Utopia ~ Ep.18

like a mirror to your photographs
they mingled with the crowds until
the living and the dead became
each other
~ The Clientele ‘When I Came Home from The Party’ 2005

Rein Virtuelles ~ R.Geisler

Through the slits of her eyes Ellie watches Kristal approach, bristling with fetish and self-belief. The fetish is weak; the belief is strong.
The stripe across her face is more decoration than manifestation but it emanates nonetheless.
Aristos look down on these low skills, preferring the tried and tested weapons of coercion; fetish being only an affectation to them; an exotic fashion, something for the girls to tinker with.
Ellie neutralises any negative effects easily but she remains troubled how far this one has progressed along the path – Gil had said Krystal could be used by the promise of fetish power; he hadn’t said she might use those tools to shoot the messenger. Ellie wonders if perhaps she’s waited too long to take up the old man’s staff.
Krystal’s florid perfume crashes up against the musk cloud emanating from Meathead, she looks from face to face before settling her gaze on Giles, seated in a shabby but undoubtedly expensive sofa-chair, crossed leg bouncing to the beat of his anxieties.
She raises an eyebrow.
“She wants access to the grid” he says, more than a little bored since control is now in the hands of his loving wife.
“So use a NetRoom, the city’s full of them” Giles sometimes wonders if Krystal misunderstands deliberately; uses it as a tactic to disarm.
“Not just for her; not just for a few hours, she’s on a mission from one of the Farmie shitholes… sorry Enclaves… seems they’re looking to get hooked up to the power”
“And you had to beat her to get this request?” Krystal looks genuinely puzzled for a moment; Giles says nothing but holds her eye for as few seconds.
“Call it a test of will”
“I call it unnecessary, and I suspect it has nothing at all to do with business”
She glances at Ellie, as yet unwilling to engage in full eye-contact but taking in the beautiful intricacy of the tattoo mask.
“Take the bracelets off and show her to the guest room where she can freshen up, we’ll talk terms over dinner”
Krystal turns before leaving the room, Ellie sees her tailored back reflected in the giant mirror, a pose from one of those ancient magazines that Kay keeps in the back of her locker and won’t let anyone touch.
“Nikos, you go back into town and find out whether she travelled alone or not. And leave that stick in the hall with the umbrellas"





The Clientele
When I Came Home from The Party

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