Max Capacity

Sabrehawk stepped into the dim glow of the elevator's diehard florescent lights.  Its walls once white had since faded into a pasty stained yellow. The floor was molded plastic modeled to look like linoleum and was peeling at the corners.

Cate had told her how to operate the outdated key-coded access panel and Sabrehawk entered the passkey, slipped the data card into the slot, and pressed the large glowing button with a three.  The lights flickered and the elevator's gears groaned reluctantly to life as it began to clack ponderously upwards.  After a time the elevator shuddered to a halt.  There was a mechanical buzz that should have been a ringing chime then the doors cracked open and stopped mid-way.

Sabrehawk shook her head and smirked. She kind of liked fixer-uppers and boy did this one look like a doozy.  Bracing herself she shoved the doors open and stood looking out at a sparse forest of skeletal steel beams and struts.  Thick shafts of moonlight slanted from windows somewhere off to her left and partially illuminated the large gray space.

She could see the air was thick with dust as motes drifted in the yellow light from the elevator that cut clearly onto the grime and trash littered floor.  The sheer size of the space was promising but Sabrehawk's heart sank a little as she began to think how much work would be required to make this place a secure and operable safehouse.

"Well at least the structure is bare," Sabrehawk stepped forward and glided one hand across a nearby beam.  "Demo won't be neccessary."

There was a sudden dragging sound in the back corner of the floor.  Sabrehawk found one of her Steyr TMPs in hand seemingly unbidden, through her skinlink had the safety off, and switched to semi-auto.  She felt a little vulnerable without her AR glasses providing her smartlink and glowing combat HUD up.  She could feel eyes on her coming from somehwere out in the darkness.

A shadow towered above her as it rose up off of the floor and began to take shape.  Sabrehawk could make out the bulk of a massive grey troll as it slowly stepped forward out of the shadows.  The floor boards groaned beneath the troll's boots but held.  In a fraction of a second Sabrehawk had drawn her second machine pistol and now had both in her hands aimed directly at the troll's eyes.

"Whoah, whoah lady!  I was just taking a nap, put the guns away."  The troll looked almost sheepish as he muttered, "Can't take a nap in this town without being woken up by an elf chick with guns, man."

Sabrehawk was taken aback by his deep baritone voice and watched in undisguised awe as he stretched his enormous shoulders and yawned.  The troll stood over two and a half meters tall, his hands had brushed the support beams on the ceiling, and must have weighed 300 kilos.  It must have seemed rude but Sabrehawk just stared for a moment.  Though her mouth tried to make a sound none came out.

"Look, I'll get out of here okay?  I was just crashing for the night.  Cate said I could crash here if I ever needed a place.  She must have forgotten.  I've worked as a bouncer for her a few times.  Nice lady."

Sabrehawk held up her guns in what she hoped was a reassuring gesture and put them away. An embarrased smile crept up one corner of her mouth.  "Its ok, you just uh, startled me was all."

"I'm Max by the way, but most people call me Bull.  I used to be a professional fighter, might have heard of me?"  The troll reached out a massive hand towards her.

"I'm uh, sort of new in town."  Sabrehawk's smile flashed and she had to suppress a giggle as she shook hands with Max. This was probably the nicest troll she had ever met, let alone the most polite squatter in the whole of the barrens.  Seattle was shaping up to be pretty nice afterall, especially in its darkest places. Sabrehawk arched an eyebrow as her smile grew.

"So Max, looking for a job?"