Author: artemis.ronan

The oppressive desert heat seeps through the cracks in the insulation of the downtown Oasis apartments as the sun rises on the first day of the Wave.

Each member of our group has isol>ated in their room, struggling (with various degrees of success) to find comfort from their recently-installed CallumTech Airfresh Window Units.

ISO lies motionless in Mavis’ crudely constructed recovery ward, his recording chip tucked safely away, back into the camera in his shoulder.

ISO’s ragged breathing fills the empty silence in Reed’s apartment as the phonecall with Medtech concludes.
Sedoy cracks a slight smile to herself, satisfied with her work. She nods towards Mavis, who returns a frustrated scowl. Sedoy averts her eyes, and turns to give Mavis some space – immediately making plans…

The skyline of the Oasis burns, as the Trauma Team Heavy Aerial Assault Vehicle slices through the chaos. Within the vehicle, the relative silence weighs heavy on the party.

Mavis cradles her broken arm, struggling for each breath, and wincing as their vehicle is battered by the high wind.
She stares out the window, her eyes unfocused, as she recalls the events of the past hour in her head…

In the dimly lit dining area of Oscar Christiansan’s heavily fortified penthouse, Mavis and ISO stand wearily in front of a cold metal blast door, their bodies battered, bruised, and creaking from over-exertion.

Mavis steadies herself against the polished metal of Oscar’s safe room, her breath ragged and adrenaline still coursing through her veins. The sharp smell of gunpowder and blood fills her nose as she takes a deep breath, and the sensory reminders kick-start something inside Mavis’ memory…

The borrowed Vidscreen goes dark in Mavis’ apartment.

Sedoy flinches in her chair, as Mavis moves involuntarily – forgetting for a moment about the surgery she was performing just a few minutes ago.

Mavis clears her throat, breaching the awkward silence:
“I… operated on Lexi Patel yesterday.”

Mavis gingerly taps the side of her apartment vidscreen – and then presses a few of the faceplate buttons for good measure.

Unfortunately, her ability to mend flesh and cybernetics doesn’t extend to vidscreens, and the electronics whine painfully before clicking off. 

Mavis sighs, and makes a mental note to order a replacement screen on Reed’s tab before collapsing back onto the couch. 

Producer’s Note: Apologies for the unplanned break, Artemis caught a breakthrough case COVID and has been slowly recovering over the past month.

Iso, Reed, and their edgy companion turn away from the police cruisers speeding down the street, and are startled to discover that their Blue Chip Boss-for-a-day has just finishing packing up the water regulator installation equipment that took the three of them almost ten minutes to unload.

They trudge back to the work vehicle and pile into it.

ISO gingerly fans himself with his injured hand, and Reed cranks the sputtering Air Conditioning and points the fan directly at his face. He stares at himself in the drivers side mirror and silently hopes that this terrible gig will end up being worth the effort.

ISO winces in pain as he hobbles along the sidewalk. 
He’s only a half-step behind Reed, but still – only barely able to keep up.

As he walks, he feels his freshly-mended bones and tissue straining against the tight bandages. A sharp stabbing hits him suddenly in the side, and he stumbles slightly, trying to mask his reaction to the pain.

Reed glares sharply at him, and ISO returns the glance with a sheepish grin.

As Reed turns his scowl forward again, ISO stretches a bit, testing the limits of his movement – and he wonders whether or not he can last a full day as a Corpo Bodyguard.

This is Episode 20 – The B-Team

Producer’s note: Thanks for sticking with us through 20 episodes! You’ve spread the word about the Oasis, and we appreciate your efforts – stay tuned after the episode for a special word from the Oasis Advertising Network!