Chalk marks on the black duracrete of a wall were where everyone knew (and no one said) that you went if you wanted to obtain substances that the local police didn't approve of. The man with the gold tooth grinned when he made his usual rounds and spotted the yellow-eyed young thing standing stiffly away from the walls of the alley and generally being as obvious as possible. First-time customer, then. He'd have to lay on the charm.
"Well," he said, smiling. "What's a girl like you d-"
"Escafil," she snapped. "I want to know how it works." The drug was booming, brand new in town. "Simple enough? I want to get out of here. It's filthy."
She was holding the edges of her duster coat in close to her body, as if she didn't want them touching the ground.
The man, whose sense of smell worked perfectly well, thanks, snorted. "You're no bundle of roses yourself. Seventeen credits gets you a vial."
The girl sneered, showing gums the same black as her dress. "I don't want it. I want to know why it does what it does. Why only humanoids? What happens if you give it to a non-sapient being? Does it work on corpses? Sleeping people? Humans in vegetative states? How is the shapeshifting process triggered? Does it follow mass conservation? Would it work on -"
"Seventeen credits gets you a vial," he snapped. "I didn't invent the frelling stuff."
"You aren't curious?" She asked. Clearly the idea was an anathema. "You live in this city, with things I've never even dreamed of, and you take it all for granted."
"Don't care what sort of hick planet you came from. I'm running a business, not a library."
"And thank fuck for that," she said, but dug out her credit stick. "It'd go badly with someone who never learned the alphabet. How much is a vial?"
"Seventeen credits."
"No, how much, what dosage."
The man eyed her. Short. Small. Pound for pound .... "For you? Two hits."
"It's not for me."
One of the shadows that the man had taken to be far too large to be a person shifted, stepped into the light.
Prompt #1
"Well," he said, smiling. "What's a girl like you d-"
"Escafil," she snapped. "I want to know how it works." The drug was booming, brand new in town. "Simple enough? I want to get out of here. It's filthy."
She was holding the edges of her duster coat in close to her body, as if she didn't want them touching the ground.
The man, whose sense of smell worked perfectly well, thanks, snorted. "You're no bundle of roses yourself. Seventeen credits gets you a vial."
The girl sneered, showing gums the same black as her dress. "I don't want it. I want to know why it does what it does. Why only humanoids? What happens if you give it to a non-sapient being? Does it work on corpses? Sleeping people? Humans in vegetative states? How is the shapeshifting process triggered? Does it follow mass conservation? Would it work on -"
"Seventeen credits gets you a vial," he snapped. "I didn't invent the frelling stuff."
"You aren't curious?" She asked. Clearly the idea was an anathema. "You live in this city, with things I've never even dreamed of, and you take it all for granted."
"Don't care what sort of hick planet you came from. I'm running a business, not a library."
"And thank fuck for that," she said, but dug out her credit stick. "It'd go badly with someone who never learned the alphabet. How much is a vial?"
"Seventeen credits."
"No, how much, what dosage."
The man eyed her. Short. Small. Pound for pound .... "For you? Two hits."
"It's not for me."
One of the shadows that the man had taken to be far too large to be a person shifted, stepped into the light.
The scream could be heard for blocks.