Exodus: The Assassin's Path - Chapter 77

Chapter 77






"That looks good right?" Quinn was examining Merci's wing base, it had taken them a few hours of work before Nia was satisfied with the result. Merci was sitting up on Zy's desk talking with Nia, they were holding hands. Quinn didn't understand it at all, but suddenly the vibe between the two Ba'Avriel's had become very good.

"Yes, it looks great. Merci, this procedure was pioneered in this office yesterday. Quinn is the person who created it." Nia had used the notes from the first procedure to go even further, she had improved the steps already.

"Nonsense, it may have been my idea, but you were right there when we developed it and you completed the more difficult part in the first procedure." Quinn patted the young healer on the shoulder, "let's share the credit."

"Thank you Carab Zei." Merci bowed her head, she looked exhausted.

"A nickname? What's that mean?" Quinn loved giving them himself.

"It literally means "Wingless King." Nia covered a yawn with a white hand.

"Let's find you two somewhere to rest." It had been a long day, he opened the door to find almost all of his friends sitting in the hallway.

Anna approached him with a mischievous smile. "I've an idea where we could temporarily put these people."

Quinn loved the dark necro look on her, "really?"

"Yes, the Exodus Heaven's Gate Hotel." Anna pretended she didn't see Crow staring at her.

"Hmm? Never heard of that one." Quinn caught the interaction between them, "what's going on?"

"It's a Virtual Hotel in the Entertainment district, it's owned by Orion Media." Em opened her hud and checked it's status. "It won't open for another two months because of virtual permits, besides that its fully functional with automated staff."

"Quinn, these people haven't even heard of Exodus, nor of other worlds." Leah looked sleepy, it had been a long day for her.

"So you're saying that tossing them into the access point of several worlds might be a bit much?" Quinn smiled innocently at her, "don't worry, I have a plan already."

Em closed her hud, "we can use the Hotel, all we need to do is get them there."

"Okay, move them all at once, use the HQ portal." Quinn did a double take when he noticed Tal and Mojo. The dark elf was sound asleep, leaning against Tal's shoulder. Tal has several huds open and was working on something.

Barrister Zy approached them, "I'm glad you are okay." She looked a bit rattled and scared.

"Zy you will be my guest at our home in Ravenwood, Leah can you get her settled?"

Leah nodded and gave Quinn a quick kiss, "love you Quinn."

Quinn grinned, Leah was always the same. "Love you too."

"What about us?" Nia and a very tired looking Merci were watching him.

"Leah take them to Ravenwood also, good thing we built a big home." Quinn bent down and placed a gentle hand on Mojo's shoulder.


The dark elf's eyes opened up, "Oh... was I sleeping?"

"It's fine." Tal stood up, she turned her blue eyes on Quinn, "going to log now hun."

"Okay, I'll be right behind you." Quinn noticed that Jin and Ro-Ro had already logged. "Did I forget anything?"

Mojo hugged Quinn, "I'm going to get some rest too."

********

Quinn stretched slowly, he noticed immediately that there was a warm body next to him.

Tal had her head propped up on a pillow and was watching him. "Welcome back Little Q."

"Hmmm.. so nice to be home." He placed the ceramic discs on the bedside table. "Wow... past lunch?"

Tal nodded, "that OP went through the night and almost another day. It's a bit after 3pm. Pops is firing up the grill, so grab a shower then come outside."

Quinn rolled out of bed and headed toward the bathroom. "You aren't going to join me?"

"Oh.. well I managed to log-off this morning to take a quick shower, but I'd be happy to lend you a hand."

"Great, I could use a hand."

********

An hour later Quinn carefully carried Tal down the stairs. They were both wearing their swimsuits.Tal hugged his neck tightly. "How long you going to keep babying me like this?"

"Rest of my life." Quinn pushed open the door to the back and stepped onto the patio. "Pool or table Tal?"

"Edge of the pool please." She kissed the back of his neck as he sat her down.

Quinn headed toward the barbecue, "need help Pops?"

Pops grinned, "Quinn! Welcome back." The old man scratched his head, "embarrassing.. I miscounted apparently."

"Impossible... a renowned economist like you making an error?" Quinn started counting the burgers on the grill. He snatched one of the burgers off the grill, moving from hand to hand as he started eating it. "Hot.. hot.. hot.."

Pops frowned at him. "Helpful... but I'm still one off."

"Nope.. make mine a double!" Quinn shoved the rest of the burger in his mouth.

Pop's wrinkled face lit up. "Oh.. yeah, now it's perfect."

Quinn wolfed it down like a starving animal. "It's what I do Pops."

"How did I know you were going to eat the extras?" Ro-Ro shook her head from the pool, the brazilian beauty loved spending time in the water. If Quinn was being honest, not many women could pull off that tiny yellow bikini that she liked to wear.

"Dunno Ro-Ro. Lucky guess?" Quinn sat down next to Tal, letting his feet dangle in the water.

Tal slid an arm through his. "You're a bit predictable hun."

Quinn frowned at the the blonde beauty. "That's crazy. Wait...you really think so?"

Tal smiled teasingly, "yep."

Jinn, "yep."

Ro-Ro, "yep."

Ren,"yes."

Em, "not sure."

Anna, "this girl says yes!"

Pops, "No way Quinn!"

"...." Quinn.

Quinn walked over to the table and sat down, his back facing the pool.

Tal patted the spot next to her. "Awww, come back Little Q."

"Is he sulking?" Ro-Ro laughed and then tried to splash him, the water falling a bit short.

The small group hung out laughing and talking. Pops finished the burgers and they continued to hang out at the poolside until long after the sunset. Quinn had been busy working on his hud most of the time.

Quinn activated the table hud, "Okay, Quiz time!"

Tal's face showed her interest, "quiz? What kind of quiz?"

"I've written down five easy questions, some multiple choice and some fill in the blank." Quinn frowned at his friends sitting around the table, "if you know me so well, then guess my answers."

Tal clapped her hands, "yes!"

Ren nodded, "count me in."

Ro-Ro's face lit up, "is there a prize?"

Quinn nodded, "Yep, dinner at a nice restaurant, unless the winner misses more then two questions."

Jinn seemed to think about it, "virtual or real dinner?"

Quinn shrugged, "whichever you prefer."

Jinn smiled at her former student, "I'm in."

Em gave her brother a thumbs up. "I won't say no to dinner."

Anna slapped both hands on the table, "this girl wants to play too!"

"Hold on a moment Quinn," Tal opened up two huds and a moment later both Mojo and Leah's faces appeared.

Quinn smiled at the newcomers, "fair enough." Tal had been including the two of them in a lot of their group activities.

Tal quickly briefed Mojo and Leah on the game, they both opted to play.

Quinn stood up, "okay ready to start?"

Ren had been on her hud while everyone was talking, "I'm getting subbed out Quinn."

Quinn gave her a confused look. "Um.. Subbed out?"

Ren nodded and transferred her hud to the table. "I'm giving my spot to Lara, she wants to play."

Lara Sy's calm face looked out at them. "Is that okay Commander?"

Quinn shrugged, "it's fine, since you are all going to lose anyways." He uploaded the quizz choices to everyone's hud and made his the master. "You won't be able to change or see anyones answer."

Lara nodded her head at Ren, completely forgiven.

Quinn cleared his throat. "Let's start off easy."

Question: "What kind of girl do I prefer?"

Choices: Blondes, Brunettes, Redheads, Other.

Nearly all the women smiled and chose their answer right away, Leah was the only one who seemed hesitant.

Quinn looked at the answers, "that was too easy, only one person got it wrong. It was redheads."

Leah looked around, she'd been the only one to miss it, she had said blondes. She smiled sweetly, her freckled face blushing. "Oh.. I see."

Question: "Who was the first girl I saw without her clothes on?"

Choices: Tal, Mojo, Leah, Anna, Other.

All the girls started talking at once.

"So many?"

"Hey why is Nanna on there?"

"I know this one!"

While they were talking, Ren caught Lara's attention and pointed to herself.

Quinn looked at the answers. "Let's see, doesn't look good ladies." They were split between evenly between Tal and Leah, only one person chose other. "Correct answer is other."

Anna jumped up, "what? Other is a cop-out. I demand proof! And why was I on there anyways?"

Quinn gave her an evil grin and put up a screenshot from the time she had called him wearing a towel.

Anna tried to hide under the table, "this girl is so embarrassed."

"And for those of you who are wondering about other, a certain musician fled down the hallway in our apartment building during bathtime." Quinn smiled at Ren, because of that he had called her 'streak' for weeks after.

"Oh god.. now I remember. She use to hate baths." Tal shook her head, she had thought she got it right when she picked herself.

Question: "How did I win Scorch at the Apple Festival?"

Choices: By being faster than everyone, teamed up with Bez, Cheated.

No one got this wrong.

Quinn frowned at the contestants. "Damn... was that one too easy?"

The entire group burst into laughter.

"Very funny, next one is fill in the blank." He glanced at Lara, in fairness he had wrote the question before she showed up. Would she remember?

Question: "What was my mother's Hero name?"

Only one person entered a correct answer, most of the other ones were outlandish guesses. "I seen better ladies, correct answer is Silver Princess."

Most of them started complaining loudly.

"Quinn you cheat!"

"How are we supposed to know that?"

"This girl thinks it's rigged!"

"Okay, let's not be spoiled sports, one person got it right. Last question now."

Question: What was I doing during the Apple festival when everyone was hunting dervish?"

Choices: Hiding, Napping, Hunting, Swimming.

Leah, Jinn and Ro-Ro chose swimming. The rest were split between hiding and napping.

"The correct answer for the final question is of course... swimming." Quinn laughed at the faces of his friends. "Not the best performance, let me count these up."

Jinn glanced at Ro-Ro, "you remembered his hair was wet when he came back for the dervish turn in?"

"What? Who can remember something like that? I just guessed." Ro-Ro shrugged at her friend.

"It was a very nice night for swimming," Leah smiled at the surprised faces around the table. "Don't be mad, I actually did quite bad on these questions."

"Okay, the results are in. I'll post them to your huds."

"Oh crap.. this girl didn't do good." Anna stuck her tongue out at Quinn.

"I'm a terrible fiance, can't even get half of them right." Tal was smiling when she said it, she understood that it was a game.

"Unexpectedly, I won the contest Commander." Lara's smile lit up her hud. "At your convenience of course."

"Hmm, four right answers. Not bad Lara, not bad." Quinn checked his hud, "Umm... next week, you choose a day and I'll plan it out."

Lara nodded, "I'll let you know Commander."

*********

Quinn and Tal lay comfortably in bed a few hours later. Everyone had still been a bit tired, so no one wanted to stay up. She lay across Quinn's chest, their faces close as they whispered in the dark.

Tal's soft hair fell across his chest as she bent down to kiss him. "Confession time Quinn, I couldn't wait and checked the gender of our baby."

"Oh? Opened the present before Christmas?" Quinn caressed her back, her skin was always so smooth. "Tell me then."

"Hmm, how do you feel about the name Quinn James?"

*********