Jeremy James (jeremyjames) wrote in rrinitiative, @ 2012-11-11 22:39:00 |
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Entry tags: | day eight, jeremy, jeremy and mazie, mazie |
Kindred Spirits
Characters: Jeremy and Mazie
Setting: Space Invaders game, just before noon
Seeing he was supposed to be meeting someone new, Jeremy had taken the time before being let out of his room to look into her, scrolling through what was public on her journal. After lingering at breakfast, listening to others talk and smiling where appropriate, he set off to find her, guessing that a message sent over the computers would be the best bet, at least until he spotted a young woman hands in the inner workings of the arcade game he’d noticed earlier. Call him crazy, but he was going to go out on a limb on this one.
“Let me guess...you’re Mazie,” he said, leaning against the console and looking down at her, simple smile on his features, fedora pushed back enough to show his face.
Mazie had hit a wall again. She’d gotten some good progress done but this was going to take most of the day and maybe into some of tomorrow too for her to make sure she did it right and not screw up the machine too badly. What she wasn’t expecting was for someone to interrupt her muttered curses. The annoyance she was feeling towards this machine and its stupidly difficult wiring filtered a little into the annoyance she felt when someone she didn’t know came up and asked her who she was.
“Yeah, what’s it to ya?” She asked, pulling away to lean against the game’s side and look up at the man, fedora on his head. The man who knew her name but she didn’t know him. Maybe this was that person she was supposed to seek out today. That she’d completely forgotten about when she got down to this game.
“I’m supposed to be meeting a Mazie today, so if you’re not her, I’d imagine you’d be pleased to get rid of me if I have the wrong person.” Jeremy smiled, seemingly harmless. “But you are her, so hello. I’m Jeremy.”
“Hey Jeremy,” She said, trying not to let her confused/annoyed expression through when he started that. She was fully engrossed in her wiring and definitely hadn’t been ready to put up with someone’s turn-of-phrase right now. “So I guess this is an effort to be social thing, right? That they’re making us do. I also probably should tell you that I think it’s kind of bullshit that they make us do this the day after a death.”
Jeremy thought about it then shrugged. “I’ve been to a funeral or two before, people are shockingly social at those sort of things. A distraction from fear and death. That and often people don’t see each other besides funerals.”
“I’ve been to enough funerals...but I guess you’re right, people tend to be social. It helps when there’s food and moonshine involved too.” She looked back at the wiring and sighed, pulling herself up to stretch out and give her body a break from the awkward angle she’d been in. “So...What do we talk about?” She was awkward enough as it was, but now they’d thrown together an obligatory meeting and Mazie had absolutely no idea what to talk about.
“Food and moonshine. We have been to some very different funerals.” Though wine was pretty common, he doubted the funerals in New York had the same feel as from wherever she was from. “I figure, whatever you want. I’m a good listener. Anything you’ve got on your mind?”
Mazie furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. “Ok..I don’t do well with this...especially since I don’t understand what the hell we’re even doing here. Why is it up to me to make the conversation happen?” She didn’t know this guy and his charming air put her off, made her wary and cautious around him almost instantly.
Well, there was that. Jeremy nodded adjusting his direction with her. “It’s not. I was just suggesting it.” He was calm, then looked at the machine. “What are you working on? Did it break?”
That was easier. Maybe she should have realized she had a built in ice-breaker right there, but Mazie wasn’t used to this stuff. She was only comfortable with conversation with certain people and even then, it hadn’t started with a forced set up by The Administration. It made her wonder why they’d picked him for her to meet, why she was supposed to meet him in turn. Was there something about this man that they wanted her to know? Or was he someone she should be looking out for. “It’s Space Invaders. Autumn requested it for me the first day we met. I’m working on rewiring it so that it won’t have to run on quarters, now that Jun-he was able to crack it open.”
Jeremy looked impressed. “You know how to do that? The rewiring thing?” That was a good skill to have. Something he could definitely appreciate.
“I know some things. When you live in West Virginia and you get a computer for Christmas, you learn to pick up some new skills along the way. Especially when your parents paid that computer off for a couple of Christmases afterward.” She’d learned how to do the best she could and build a computer she was extremely proud of off of the skeleton of her very first one with that knowledge, so wiring had come in handy then and she’d done some more research into it just before prison. “I’m running into some issues, but I should be able to work it out so that it actually gets done. And when that happens, I’m gonna have to trust you before I even let you touch that game. Goes the same for everyone.” She wasn’t realizing that she was still putting herself up with a pretty easy weakness. All she wanted to get clear to him was that this game wasn’t just for everyone to go around touching.
Maybe she needed to try and be nice, be social, though. Some people would appreciate it. “Do you like Space Invaders?”
“Always good to have a respect for what you’ve been given.” Jeremy appreciated that more than he’d let on, but he did for just a moment let it filter into his eyes and tone. Maybe she’d respond better to that. “Impressive though, that you could figure it out. I don’t know many people who could.” He was patient as she jumped on her plan for the game. “Are you planning on putting up a sign then? Keep away? Or working it so only you can turn it on?” He smiled a little and looked at the unit then shrugged. “I’m afraid I have little to no experience with Space Invaders.”
“No, probably not.” She had other plans, getting control of the cameras in the area and a perk would be to make sure no one was abusing the game. She just couldn’t bear to think of it not getting treated with respect, not when Autumn had gotten it for her. “It’ll probably be fine, don’t seem like anyone would really want to mess with it...And if they’re game lovers, then they might as well get to play it. Just don’t want people kicking it or something it a glitch happens.”
Looking back at him, she shook her head. “That’s a shame. It’s a classic. Some people like it enough to get something tattooed on them,” She said, lifting up the leg of her sweatpants a little to show him the tattoo of the Space Invaders crab on her ankle. “Do you play any games?”
“Seems petty to mess with it. Though maybe I’m off in thinking that.” He looked at the game then shrugged. When she showed off the tattoo he smiled at it, giving her a nod. “A true fan,” he said with a nod. “I can appreciate that, loving something. As for games, no. Not unless you count things like poker, but that’s always been more recreational than anything else.” And something he was really good at.
“There are people here who were in the stocks, stocks the other day and we’re still not sure why. So I don’t know that anything’s really considered ‘petty’ to mess with.” Mazie looked back at the game. “I don’t,” She said, regarding poker as a game. Poker was some sort of game, but not in the way that she saw games. She still couldn’t figure out why they would have put her with someone that she had zero in common with and so finally just turned to him. “Aren’t you the least bit curious as to why they put the two of us together in the required meet-and-greet?”
“I saw the stocks,” Jeremy agreed with a nod. “And I don’t see how the two line up.” But he was willing to listen to her reasoning, and that was obvious in his tone and demeanor. “I just got here, so I’m still figuring things out.” He assumed she wouldn’t find poker a game, but then it was better played with people and Jeremy was starting to think this one didn’t do well with people. “Maybe. Could just be at random. They could think that you and have something we’d agree on if we dug deep enough or maybe they were just thinking it’d be entertaining.”
“If the Administration somehow managed to get us all to put our own people in the stocks over accused transgressions without even a right to trial or something...well, then I’m pretty sure that anything could be used against us at this point. Any ‘petty’ thing.” Mazie looked back down at the game then listened to him for a moment, biting back a scoff. “I hope they’re all having a big giant laugh up there in whatever penthouse they’re watching us from. “ It wouldn’t last for long, not when Mazie finally got control of the cameras. “Ok, so...what else do you want to ask me? Or do you want me to ask you something? Or hell, are you any good with holding instruments?” Because what she really wanted to do was get back to work. Maybe an extra pair of hands wouldn’t be so bad.
He watched her for a moment, smile at the corners of his mouth. She didn’t know it, but he was starting to figure out why they’d put them together, if there had been a plan. He knew exactly how she felt and some of what she said aligned so well with what he thought. “Question for you, even with a trial, or whatever court proceedings, don’t innocent people still go to jail?” It wasn’t to goad her, just to find out how deep her anarchic tendencies ran.
“I can hold things quite well, so I might not be completely useless. And you can ask me whatever. Free pass, just this once since we’ve been forced to play nice.”
“Hell yeah, innocent people still go to jail. The issue is, we’re all already in jail. They can pretend this isn’t a jail, but it still kind of is. Especially if they’re putting up barbaric forms of punishment.” Mazie knelt down again, examining the wires. “Still doesn’t mean that the innocent people here aren’t at just as much risk as the guilty ones. I just tend to think I’d rather keep the innocent ones protected from this bullshit power game going on.”
“Ok then, two things. What’s your name, what’re you in for?” Mazie asked, gesturing for him to kneel down and handing him a pair of pliers and some of construction paper she’d tore in small strips with matching colors: red, blue, green, yellow.
He knelt with her, watching her face, the tattoo on her neck. He would have liked her if he’d met her when he was younger. He didn’t not like her now, but the teenaged version of himself would have found her fantastic, even if they probably wanted different things. “So those who were punished weren’t guilty?” he asked, curious nature to his tone.
“Jeremy James,” he answered to her question even if he’d already told her his first name. “And insurance fraud, though more because I was on the wrong end of it when it went down. I firmly believe I was the only person who was actually a real person.” And a delightful lie. He took what she handed him, waiting for more instructions.
“Not necessarily. I just don’t think it should have gone down the way it did.” Mazie shrugged a little. She kept her voice lower as she leaned closer to the wires, checking on one of them while she spoke. “I just don’t trust this place yet. Definitely don’t trust them.”
Looking back at him, she narrowed her eyes as she studied him. “Interesting...” Insurance fraud was a privileged man’s game, though not unlike her skills to tap right into the nearest bank account and liberate some money. “Got a reason?”
This time Jeremy couldn’t help the smile. He would have adored her. He went through that phase, hating the ‘them’ in the world. The ‘haves’ who lorded over the ‘have-nots’. “I can understand that,” he agreed. “A reason for what?”
“A reason for insurance fraud. Why’d you do it?” She asked, hand out but not mentioning what she needed as she had her nose still buried in the wires. Glancing back after a moment when her hand still hadn’t been filled with the plyers, Mazie sighed, grabbed them out of his hand, and then dug back into the wiring box.
“I’ll do a better job of handing you things if you tell me what it is you want,” Jeremy pointed out before shaking his head. “Never said I did it. I was just the one left.” He paused for a moment, considering her. “Though maybe I can see reasons why someone would.”
“Cut the crap, did you do it or not?” Mazie asked, looking back at him to lift an eyebrow. Yeah, she got it, she probably should have mentioned what she wanted. Maybe she’d do it in the future, if she remembered. She wasn’t used to having helpers even if she’d offered him the position.
“I was arrested and charged with advising people to purchase and insure forgeries. One of the points that came up in my trial was how elaborate the rouse was. Now, saying they were right and I did these things, wouldn’t I have had to do others before?” Jeremy smiled at her, something else there, lingering but not enough to grasp. “As for why someone would do it, I’ve heard plenty of ideas. Greed, arrogance, an utter disregard and lack of appreciation for the arts... I was never really fond of those. Always figured if I did to it, which I didn’t, I would have done it because I could.”
Mazie listened, trying to make sense of that all the way around. “So...you insured art forgeries? Or, sorry, was accused of insuring, blah blah blah...” She looked back at him. “So I’m guessing they don’t consider those posters of famous paintings that people sell outside of college campuses forgeries then?” Mazie reached for a piece of construction paper, a little piece of tape beside her, and wrapped the red one around a wire. “I get that,” She said to the last part. “I did some of what I did, at the end, because I could...”
“No, actual pieces of art. Museum quality. Minus the fact that they weren’t real.” He smiled a little more. He was giving her a touch more than he normally would have, but at least most of his story was in the papers, it wasn’t really uncommon knowledge. “And why did you do the rest?”
“How would one find themselves in the museum-quality forgery business?” Mazie asked, pulling back to rotate her shoulders from the hunch. “Where are you from, Jeremy?” She asked, not sure how else to describe the reason why she did what she did other than to explain part of her upbringing. It was a heavy part of it and not something she felt guilty about.
“I was working as a consultant, advising people as to where to invest their money, as far as physical investments go. At some point putting your money in stocks doesn’t quite make sense, and computer programmers aren’t usually as cultured as the circles they want to run in.” Jeremy shrugged one shoulder. “New York City.”
“What do computer programmers have to do with any of it?” Mazie turned and leaned against the machine, pulling her knees up to rest her arms on them. “The fancy part of New York City or the not so fancy part? Because you might relate a little more if it’s the not so fancy part.” Looking back his way, Mazie watched him. “You look like the people I’d take from. I got my computer and found out that a lot of people think their money is safe, right along with their secrets, and a lot of them found out that that wasn’t the case.”
“Can you name four famous painters?” he asked, raising an eyebrow at her. He watched the way she sat and part of him wondered if he should tell the truth, or maybe an inkling of it, but he knew better. “The fancy part. You can tell that much. So why take their money?” He had a guess, but he wanted her to put words to it.
“..No, but maybe you should realize that not all of us care about famous artists. I have my own artists but they don’t use paint and brushes. And I still don’t get why you bring up computer programmers in the first place. And I’m not a programmer, I’m a hacker.” She said. “And I did it because there are too many people screwing the system up to not do something about it when I can. My town doesn’t have the same opportunities that New York City does.” The town was a lot less personal to talk about than the catalyst, her father, so she stuck with the town for now. “When you see people around you get screwed over your whole life and then you find out that you can do something about it, you do. Doesn’t mean I didn’t still take some stuff for myself too, but the main reason was because the wealth was way too concentrated and the secrets were just there for the taking.”
“I bring them up because I worked for them, that’s all. But don’t knock famous art even if you don’t like it. I do.” There was something about it, a talent he’d never have. An understanding, a beauty that had really appealed to him until he’d met his lady luck. That changed things and of all the things he hated about her, well he’d held on to that one thing. Jeremy listed to her explanation and nodded. He wished again he’d known her when he was young, though maybe not. Maybe he would have broken that promise to work alone a lot sooner. “So you robbed from the rich to balance the scales.”
“Sort of, yeah. Gave some money to the local library, made sure the kids had the new releases when they came out. The nearest movie theatre was...maybe an hour away. Gave my parents some money for medical bills, it’s probably all gone now...Had a fund set up for me too...Doesn’t matter much anymore, I’ll have to start from scratch when we’re out of this place. They ruined my handle, I’ll have to get a new one of those too.” Shrugging again, she glanced at him. “And when you find yourself infiltrating bank accounts, private information tends to float your way. And then you realize that maybe that Senator with the interesting banking history isn’t just dropping thousands of dollars into this unrelated account for no reason. And you dig and find out that he’s got a thing for...well, let’s call them strong tops. And then you let his people know and you get to watch them scramble around to protect his ass, someone who’s voting to raise taxes on towns like mine all over his state....So it’s sometimes the money, sometimes not, always satisfying though.”
That earned her a smile, a real one he couldn’t explain to her. Not without ruining everything, but yes, this girl he liked. “And you won’t quit. Despite being here and they’re chatter about...rehabilitation?”
“No. There’s people here who need information on what even got them here. And there’s always gonna be people out there getting the shit end of the stick while other people live it up in highrises and eat appetizers that cost more than a car payment. I’m not a real religious person, but my mom always used to say that God made the poor resilient and that when the good times came, they’d know how to enjoy them just as much as they did getting by day by day. I’m just out there to try and make it a little easier on those people, whether it’s information or money or both. So that’s why I did it, and why I’ll keep doing it, but don’t tell them that. I think there might be a game I need to start playing here...” She said, lowering her voice a little as she looked back at Jeremy.
He could kiss her. Not in a romantic way, but more just revel in how fantastic of a young woman she was. “I believe there might be as well,” he said, voice as conspiratorial as hers. “And between you and me only? I do respect what you do. But I’ll deny it if I hear it again.” Jeremy smiled at her, a light sort of thing.
That had her smiling back, though she didn’t know why. She liked getting to talk about this, as she was starting to think that it might become a dying thing here. That she might have to tone it down to play the game properly, but it was nice to say it again. “So...I think I’ve earned the truth from you. Did you or did you not do it?”
That made him grin more, a light look to his features. “Alright, maybe you did earn it. Let’s say...I might have had a part in it.” Jeremy smiled more. “Though if you tell that I’ll deny it too.”
“You think you can’t trust a hacker with your personal information? C’mon now, I’m offended.” Mazie grinned a little. “I told you more of my story, you tell me more of yours. Or I’ll just find it out on my own and if I do that, I guarantee you that I’ll find out more than you want me to.”
That really made him grin. “Alright, a little bit of my story, if you went looking...you wouldn’t find much. I don’t recommend looking.” He smiled more then reached to adjust the hat, pulling it down lower, giving him a much darker look.
“That’s cute, that you think you don’t have anything I could dig up on you. Naive, but real cute.” Mazie shook her head again. “Tell me your story before I get bored and go back to wiring.”
“That is the story Mazie; I’m not naive,” Jeremy said grinning a little. “And if you will, I trusted the wrong person and a house of cards fell around me. And for once my name was actually on things.”
“Looks like we could both benefit from new names. But I’m not exactly interested in the how. I want to know about the why. Eye for an eye, Jeremy. I gave you my reasons and you gave me some reasons, but you didn’t give me your reasons.”
And she was smart. He loved that about her as well. “I told you my reason. I could. I wanted to. Sometimes it’s just fun.”
“Yeah, well, no one starts off doing something because they can. There’s always another reason. I don’t know why you’re holding out of me, Jeremy,” She said, reaching again for the pliers as she ducked back under the hood of the game. “What do you think I’m gonna do with the information?”
There was a lot more to be said for things than what he could say. Looking at her as she went back to work, “Because I got tired of not having. I’d swear my life otherwise, but I think I understand parts of your story more than you’d think.”
There it was, the honesty she’d been hoping to hear. Coming back out from under the wires, Mazie looked his way again and gave him a small, knowing smile. “Good enough reason to do just about anything, I think.”
He nodded a little then smiled more. “Thought you’d think so.” He nodded back towards the machine. “You gonna impress me with this or what?”
“Maybe not just yet. It’s a lot more difficult than I thought it would be. In theory, I should have had this done by now. In practice? I don’t get to screw this up, so I’m taking it slow. Come back tomorrow, maybe it’ll be playable by then.” She looked back over at him, smiling a little more. “You got the privileges to play it now, so once it’s up and running you can take a spin on it anytime. You’ll need the practice anyway.”
“I’ll need a teacher too,” he added giving her a look that said he was curious, hoping for that. He liked this girl, more than most of the others and shockingly enough, he wanted her on his side. “Thanks for the perks though.”
“Yeah, that’s what you’re gonna need the practice for, when I challenge you to a game. But I guess if I tutor you, I’ll already know all your weaknesses to begin with. You’re on.” She said, pulling back again to lean against the game. “...Good to meet you, Jeremy,” She said, giving him a smile that agreed.
“You’re on,” Jeremy said handing her the pliers so she could finish. Smiling at her again he nodded. “You too kiddo.” And he meant it. he said it a lot, but this one, this one he was glad he met.