Beautiful Red

Episode Seven

Jack scanned a news report from the previous day. “Estella Rowan, a 63-year old adult entertainer, was reported missing yesterday by her employer after she failed to log in at work for her shift that evening.” Jack felt a slight chill as she realized that the evening in question was the night of the Brugges robbery. The reports were not connecting the events – surely Brugges had its share of crime and what would a prostitute have to do with a theft of electronic parts? Jack connected the events, though.

The theft had occurred only three quarters of an hour after Rowan’s system had been accessed. Jack had to try and find Rowan, who might be able to lead her to the people who had contacted the missing woman just before the heist.

Direct download

Music:

• low level format by Bjorn Fogelberg
• some sonics provided by The Freesound Project

If you have feedback, I want to hear it! Leave a comment on the website, send me an email or call me with your comments at 206-339-8577.

Episode Six

Jack started walking back to her apartment, planning her next move. If she could trace the path of the unknown login back from the Bellis system, she may be able to find out where it originated. If she could find where it came from, she might be able to figure out what they were doing. She was pretty confident that whoever it was, and wherever it came from, the Bellis system was not the final destination. There were no flags raised by the security system and, as far as anyone could tell, no damage done aside from the downtime the other day.

Direct download

Music:

• low level format by Bjorn Fogelberg
• some sonics provided by The Freesound Project

If you have feedback, I want to hear it! Leave a comment on the website, send me an email or call me with your comments at 206-339-8577.

Episode Five

“Well, that was fucking unnerving,” Jack said, sitting at her table in her apartment, nursing a growing headache and a slight case of nausea.

“What happened,” Gilles asked, “are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Jack replied, having a sip of water, “I just felt what it was like to be, I don’t know, deleted, I guess. Weird. Did anything show up at your end?”

“Not really,” he said, “I caught a strange blip on the log but it didn’t get flagged or anything so you’re probably okay.”

“Cool,” Jack said, rolling her neck and working out the kinks of being essentially away from her body for a couple of hours.

Direct download

Music:

• low level format by Bjorn Fogelberg
• some sonics provided by The Freesound Project

If you have feedback, I want to hear it! Leave a comment on the website, send me an email or call me with your comments at 206-339-8577.

Episode Four

Jack woke again to the chirping birds, each peep sounding a bit like a tiny jackhammer to her aching head. The first morning of the weekend often started this way, though usually a few hours later. She silenced the birds, rubbed her eyes and banged her way through her tiny apartment to the water.

She drank down a couple of glasses and tried to convince herself that she felt better. She grabbed a hot breakfast packet from the box and chucked it in the zapper. She turned on the coffee and while everything was heating up, she found some comfortable clothes.

The zapper dinged and the coffee machine pinged, and Jack took her food and drink to the table. She ate and drank offline, becoming less aware of her headache, more aware of her surroundings and thinking subconsciously about the previous day’s revelations.

Direct download

Music:

• low level format by Bjorn Fogelberg
• some sonics provided by The Freesound Project

If you have feedback, I want to hear it! Leave a comment on the website, send me an email or call me with your comments at 206-339-8577.

Episode Three

The birds weren’t that bad after all. They really did just chirp, and about three of them flapped benignly over Jack’s bed until she hit the off button on the alarm. “I can live with that,” she said, getting out of bed and padding to the bathroom.

She went through the usual morning paces and was out the door within fifteen minutes. She washed down half her breakfast bar with coffee as she headed for the train stop. The morning was pretty much the same as every other day, maybe a few more streeters than before. It seemed like there were more streeters every day. It was hard to tell if it just seemed that way; if there were any official stats on the number of street people, they were classified and unreported. Most people were thankful for what they had and didn’t like to think about the alternative.

Direct download

Music:

• low level format by Bjorn Fogelberg
• some sonics provided by The Freesound Project

If you have feedback, I want to hear it! Leave a comment on the website, send me an email or call me with your comments at 206-339-8577.

Episode Two

As Jack left the building, the rain was falling lightly and making the streets shine in the dim late afternoon sun. Without even thinking, she opened up a program called “shades” from her home brew launcher and a dark platinum tinted screen rolled over her field of vision. To any bystander she looked like she had silver eyes – utilitarian but not very fashionable. The trendy look was to have glowing or animalistic prints on the outside of your shades, but Jack couldn’t be bothered.

She started heading directly for the train stop, but was distracted by a sidewalk vendor selling spare electronics. The seller was obviously a scavenger, one of the many street people who eke out an existence on one or other side of the law, but always close to the line. The spare parts gleamed in the wet, and Jack stopped to take a look. She wasn’t working on any particular project, but you never knew when you might need something.

The seller had spread an old rug on the sidewalk and had arranged her wares carefully on top. Jack recognized this as a sign of someone who actually knew what she was dealing with, not just someone who will grab anything that looks like it may fetch a euro or two. Jack looked over the merchandise, waiting for something to catch her eye.

Direct download

Music:

• low level format by Bjorn Fogelberg
• some sonics provided by The Freesound Project

If you have feedback, I want to hear it! Leave a comment on the website, send me an email or call me with your comments at 206-339-8577.

Episode One

The figure stood beside Jack’s bed and looked down at her sleeping form. Maybe she sensed his presence because she turned ever so slightly.

He leaned toward her, his 5 o’clock shadow nearly scratching against her chin. “Good morning, Jack,” he said, his voice low and gravelly.

“What the fuck!” Jack woke up immediately, terrified and energized by the unexpected presence in her bedroom. She sprang toward the figure, jumping through his body and punching a button on the console sitting on the table at the side of her bed. The image of the intruder flickered once, twice, then disappeared.

Direct download

Music:

• low level format by Bjorn Fogelberg
• some sonics provided by The Freesound Project

If you have feedback, I want to hear it! Leave a comment on the website, send me an email or call me with your comments at 206-339-8577.