You're the shit, and I'm knee deep in it. [locked]

[gunslingersai]

Roland Deschain knows how to go into hiding when it's necessary. No one remembers the kid that tried to kill Randall Flagg before the man had even officially become mayor. He's glad that they don't. Roland can walk through the city, again, without the fear that any citizen would recognize his face and call the police. He would rather not kill any

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[duology]

Across the street from the Chinese restaurant, outside of a convenience store, a young blond woman is leaning back against the wall, chewing gum and reading Cosmopolitan. Ace has always appreciated being blond. It means that people expect--or rather, don't expect--certain things of her, which is highly advantageous. Right now she looks for all the world like a girl far more interested in "Eight Ways to Please Your Man" than in staking out the area and watching the young man across the street. Even the duffel bag at her feet manages to not look suspicious; she could be a musician, or could be traveling, or could be spending the night at her boyfriend's.

She's not even wearing sunglasses. That would be too obvious.

Roland is a bit younger than she was expecting, but no matter. Arlin provided all of the necessary information, as well as the very lovely Dragunov SVD rifle currently buried under some innocent clothes inside the duffel. Ace is missing her old collection more than ever.

She glances up from Cosmo and looks around with an exasperated sigh, the picture of a girl whose boyfriend is keeping her waiting. She spots Roland still in the alley, lets her gaze slide right past him and then back down to the article. Arlin said that Ace's support--some girl named Luka--would meet Ace here. Luka isn't late yet, but Ace has an impatient personality, and there's no telling how long Roland is going to stick around.

It doesn't help that Dev is practically quivering in the back of her mind, the hunting dog straining at his leash. Tomorrow. Tomorrow is the raid on the Front meeting. Tomorrow he gets to kill. But today is her day, and they both know it, so he is thankfully remaining silent.

[designed2kill]

And just at that moment, Luka appears from around the corner. She surveys Ace. Young woman, blond hair, blue-green eyes, average height--she certainly matched the description she'd been given. Arlin hadn't warned her she wasn't a regular human, though. She didn't recognize that gray-green mindfeeling was, but perhaps after the hit she could ask what species that represented.

"'Scuse me," Luka says as she gets closer. "Are you Ace?"

[duology]

Ace looks up and gives Luka a casual once-over, not wanting to attract too much attention. Luka fits the description. Ace tilts her head a little at her; Luka isn't quite what she was expecting, which probably just makes her more credible. The best assassins aren't what you expect.

"Yeah. Luka?"

[designed2kill]

Luka nods.

"Yeah. What's the plan?"

She's not one to waste time on meaningless pleasantries, especially not on a hit. Best to get down to business as soon as possible (without looking suspicious of course). She doesn't expect Ace to start discussing all the details right then and there, at least not in the open, but a general idea of the plan couched in appropriately vague terms as to not be suspicious to passerby would be nice.

[duology]

Ace nods and folds the magazine, tucking it under one arm.

"Across the street in the alley. I figure in here, upstairs's best. Empty room up there." Ace jerks her head toward the building behind her, next to the convenience store. It's an old tenement building, probably scheduled to be torn down and converted into who-knows-what.

"Already cased it. Homeless on the first floor, no one upstairs. Good, yeah?"

[designed2kill]

Luka looks down the alley and spots Roland. Focusing on his mindfeeling, she tries to fix it in her mind. It's never been particularly easy for her to track individual normal people, but as long as a large group of people doesn't come through the area in the next few minutes, it should be okay.

"I'll try to keep a pin on his mindfeeling in case he moves, but if he moves away rather than towards us he might get out of range," Luka warns. Ace might be a bit confused by that, because Luka is assuming that Arlin told Ace about her Rift power. She's conveniently forgetting that Arlin told her almost nothing about Ace besides what she looked like and where to meet her.

"Sounds good to me, yeah." Luka makes a move to follow Ace toward the building.

[duology]

Ace tilts her head a little at the mindfeeling thing and waits until they're inside to answer. "Mm...average human walks at 80 meters a minute, range on a Snayperskaya Vintovka Dragunova is up to about 1,200 meters. Gives us about fifteen minutes, saying he walks in a straight line. Not, you can track him with the, uh...mindfeeling, yeah?"

She climbs up the rickety stairs, merely glancing at the homeless man sleeping in the doorless room on the first floor. When they reach the second floor, Ace pushes her way into the empty room, looking around first for any other homeless folk, horny teenagers or nosy onlookers. Ace gives a nod at the empty room. She has already positioned a table just in front of the window, and the single curtain is partially drawn. With the sun in the west, no one will be able to see them in this window, unless they're looking in from directly beneath.

Ace takes a quick look out the window. Roland is still there, just hovering in the alley across the street.

"Don't think we're gonna hafta worry about him wandering off, though. Like the guy's just waiting to die."

[designed2kill]

"Can't feel that far, about 75 meters at most, maybe a bit farther because there's not that many people in the area. Tracking's not so good either, because he's a normal--his mindfeeling blends into the others too much. Someone like you is much easier to track, you stand out from the background. But I'll let you know if he moves, yeah?"

Luka follows Ace up the stairs.

"Makes it easier for us. His distance right now is 61.2 meters horizontally and 4.5 meters down."

[duology]

Ace looks over at Luka and raises an eyebrow. "'Someone like me,' huh?" Never let them know you're a Duo. "We're gonna have a bit of a talk when this is over. Anyway. Knowing if he moves and knowing the direction'll be enough. Can track him to some degree. Won't lose him, at least."

Ace closes the door behind them and sets the duffel on the floor, unzipping it. The Dragunov has been broken down into its most basic parts, and the scope is in its own separate case. Ace sets all of the pieces on the table, staying clear from the window so that those outside won't see movement. No sense in having people looking toward the window, even with the sun glinting off the glass.

Only once all of the parts have been set in order on the table and the scope has been unpacked does Ace start assembling the gun, quickly but methodically.

"Let me know if you feel anyone coming. Don't want rubberneckers."

[designed2kill]

"There's a group coming toward him," Luka reports. She focuses closely, watching Roland's dot carefully to keep him separate from the people passing by. "They're stopping near him...okay, they're leaving. He's staying where he was."

Luka feels around the building again now that she's not occupied with keeping Roland's dot separate from the group. "Shit," she says. "Someone entered the building while I was tied up with that group. If they come up the stairs, should I shoot?"