Joe Is Not Real - - OPEN

[STEPHEN QUINN]

A day off from INQUIRA at last! Stephen thought as the door to his car closed with an accidental slam. He cringed slightly as he set his laptop carrier in the empty passenger seat beside him before starting the ignition. There weren't ever many reasons for him to step outdoors from his one-bedroom apartment around in L.A., other than perhaps going to work, but he had two days off and staying cooped up was out of the question. It wasn't like he didn't know his way around, because he did..at least enough to go to places he needed to go and find his way back home easily. "You really have to get out more." He told himself with a shake of his head.

The speakers buzzed with the mesmerizing sounds of classical music down the freeway; his favorite; guilty pleasure, with windows rolled up and A/C turned on enough to keep himself from cooking within his Dodge Magnum. The GPS stuck to his dashboard flashed at him once signaling his exit to his destination; "Take exit 210 and stay in the right lane." It instructed, and made the way clear with a giant blue arrow on the road of the small screen. "Turn right on Franklin Avenue." It chimed in once more; the woman's robotic voice was becoming rather annoying by now. "I heard you woman." He responded and did as he was told. Not too far from his current location he could see the large Starbucks sign staring at him as if it knew he was coming.

Stephen smirked as he lowered the music down when he came within 100 feet of the entrance to the parking lot; it didn't seem too busy today, though he couldn't say the same for the drive through. Taking a spot between an over-sized HUMMER taking up a tiny little spot, and a blindingly yellow sports car that apparently didn't know how to park on its side of the line, he managed to squeeze out of his own vehicle. If it was one thing he hated the most aside from crappy drivers was people who didn't know how to park correctly or thought their vehicles fit just fine in an obviously too small space.

Locking his Magnum and laptop case draped over his shoulder he trudged through the slightly uncomfortable heat of the day across the small parking lot, before reaching for the door handle and stepping into a room filled with the intoxicating scent of coffee; his mouth practically could have started watering at that moment. Taking his spot in line, it felt like only a few seconds of waiting before the next customer had been called up to the register (him). "Ugh, yeah, let me have a grande caramel macchiato with caramel on the top of the whip cream and bottom of the cup." Taking his wallet, he eyed the danish's and before handing over his debit card he pointed out a scrumptious looking cherry turn over. "And that too, please." Given his total he handed over his card and took it back when it was handed to him. Now the waiting game.

Taking his turn over he took a seat in the farthest, empty table to set up his laptop. As of lately he had been handling a time consuming project at work, but as it was one of his days off he could finally continue working on his code programming for Castor's new 'orders'. It wasn't a paying job, but it gave him something to do within the game and definitely helped give him reason to continue going back although he couldn't exactly ever call Castor a friend; he was a program after all, but Castor just always seemed to him like the type you couldn't fully trust. As his fingers worked their magic on the keyboard he hadn't heard his named being called, but a few seconds later was surprised by the fact that one of the workers had brought his coffee to his table. Turning up to look at the young woman, he smiled "Thank you." He said and returned back to his computer..

[QUORRA]

Ah, the real world. Quorra loved everything about it. Flynn had described and talk to her about it many times during their exile in the Outlands but his words barely did it any justice. The real world was beautiful, it was colorful, it was everything that she had imagined and more. The Grid was her home, it always would be, but the real world had a certain allure that her home just couldn't match. She tried to spend as much time out here as she could, though a lot of that time was spent with Sam, helping him as much as she could with ENCOM and the Grid. She was far from a business person though and there were often times that she was left to her own devices.

With Sam tied up at a meeting, Quorra was cooped up inside the home that she resided in whenever she was in the real world. She had already watched the sunrise, always a beautiful sight to behold and her favorite part of the day, and was trying to figure out what to do next. Flynn had taught her the virtue of patience but she was bored and there was still a few hours before she would see Sam. Since it was still morning, the thought of getting some sort of breakfast came to her mind. The ISO dressed herself in a white tank top underneath a black leather jacket, dark denim jeans and knee-high black leather boots. It was an outfit she wore often and enjoyed. Grabbing some cash and the keys to her motorcycle, Quorra was out the door and heading off toward a nearby cafe.

She opted not to wear a helmet, though she had been told that it was possibly dangerous to ride without one. But Quorra loved the way the wind felt as it blew through her short hair and figured since it was a short drive, that she would be alright. It took only about ten minutes before she arrived at the cafe, her speed slowing to an eventual stop inside the confines of a designated parking spot. The ISO grinned as she could already smell the fresh coffee being brewed inside and quickly made her way into the building.

A curious glance was taken around the cafe as she made her way to the counter and she spotted a familiar face sitting at a table by himself. Quorra didn't know his name nor had she ever actually met the man but she had seen him around the End of Line Club more than a few times. He was either a friend or an associate of Castor's and she was naturally curious to learn more about him. After ordering a frappuccino and a muffin, Quorra grabbed her items and cautiously headed over to where the man was sitting. Castor dealt with all sorts of people and Quorra had learned that not all humans were as kind and friendly as the Flynns. But this man didn't seem to be very intimidating and she figured he might like a bit of company. "You're a friend of Castor, right?" She asked as she approached the table, stopping about a foot away. "Mind if I have a seat?" She smiled warmly at the man and gestured to the empty seat across from him, hoping that he wouldn't reject her offer of company.