Xenomeld Stims (Usually Groovy Tunes), Saturday

[furnaceface]

Chamber's gaze seemed to be focused on very little in particular as he straightened his collar up over the lower half of his broken face, which still cast a faint electrical-blue haze from his cybernetic implants as the effects of the electro-stim he'd taken earlier wore off. It had been his usual morning picker-upper, a burst of synthetic confidence that helped him get out of bed every day in spite of... everything. His most vivid memories of the worst of what had led to it had been reaped ages ago, replaced with only the most vague sense of purpose, and had been distilled down into their most pure components, peddled off as fear and pain and horror stims to the highest bidders. That didn't mean it was any easier to get up and going every day, mind.

If he was going to have to live with being a physically broken husk of a man, he might as well pull a tidy profit from it, after all.

On the shelves around him, chips containing mood implants and phials of distilled emotional stims were waiting for buyers to come in. People were always looking for an escape, a new experience or a laugh that they'd never achieve on their own, or, as had been the case with the buyer who had purchased Chamber's distilled horrors, a weapon. A small black feline lurked the outskirts of the room, keeping an eye on the door for him as he contemplated which mood to showcase today. Chamber could let Jon-I pull the heavy lifting when it came to surveillance- the neural link that he shared with her meant that he'd know immediately if anybody came to the door.

Xenomeld was open for business, peddling synthetic or authentic distilled chemical or digital emotions of questionable legality. And, if you knew how to talk to the man minding the shop just so, memory implants of definite illegality. He wasn't exactly advertising those, of course, but that wasn't what contributed to the fact that he was always in stock.

[OOC: Because the closest thing to music is apparently digital emotional implants or chemical mood injections. Memories are also available, but they aren't exactly advertised in the window. Open!]

Comments

[sharp_as_knives]

The man who came in, smirked at Jon-I, and strolled up to the counter wasn't a customer. His top-quality nanosilk suit shimmered, cycling from blue plaid to a subtle purple paisley that might have been tacky on anyone else, but somehow he pulled it off.

"How's business today?"

[furnaceface]

It took Chamber a few moments to orient his gaze toward the man who had walked into the shop, easing his senses back from those of the cat still watching intently near the doorway. He nodded faintly, gestured around to one of the displays, and then shrugged.

"Good business today on that warm feeling you get when you step out into the sunshine," he said, his synthetic voice disjointed, seeming to come from hi in general, but nowhere in particular. It lacked inflection or even a definite human feel to it, but the words were there, unmistakable as they were spoken. "We've had enough rain this week, that's usually how it goes. Nobody looking for the more specialized merchandise, though."

[sharp_as_knives]

"Pity." Hannibal shrugged, ending the gesture with a flick of his fingers that revealed a new chip. "Who might be in the market for a long, luxurious kiss mixed with affection, caring, and heart-pounding lust?"

He knew his audience.

[furnaceface]

Chamber's gaze was suddenly far more firmly focused at that, eyes zeroing in on the chip in Hannibal's fingers and a look in his eye that would have suggested he was breathless, if not for the fact that he couldn't breathe at all.

"I might know somebody who has an interest in that sort of thing," he said, one hand lifting toward it as though it had a mind of its own. "Hasn't had one in far too long, in fact."

So far as addictions went, 'feeling wanted and appreciated' wasn't even nearly the worst the world had to offer.

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal pulled it just out of reach, smirking wider. "But what would they be willing to pay for it, do you think?"

[furnaceface]

At that, Chamber's hand stuttered to a stop and his eyes narrowed slightly, either in scrutiny or annoyance. He didn't bother with a vocalization in reply, but Jon-I had a growl at ready for the occasion from where she was sitting near the door, some of Chamber's reaction bleeding over to her.

A few moments later, and he was turning his hand over, holding it out to Hannibal, palm-up.

"Oh, are we negotiating today? I have a suggestion or two if so."

Now, now, Chamber.

[sharp_as_knives]

"Oh?" Hannibal leaned forward on the counter, tapping the chip against it as he grinned. "What sorts of suggestions would those be?"

His suit paled out to light blue with a faint snow of green as the sleeve brushed Chamber's arm.

[furnaceface]

"One or two of them are rather rude," Chamber intoned, raising an eyebrow, though there was no disguising the little shudder that ran through him at that faint moment of contact. "I don't imagine you'd care for them much."

From under his collar, that electric blue light glowed a little more vibrantly for a moment.

"Are you looking for business or pleasure today?"

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal thought about it for a moment, his eyes tracking that blue glow, then shrugged again. "I'm willing to entertain whichever is more interesting."

[furnaceface]

Well, if he was going to be that way...

Chamber's hand moved again, jarringly fast, reaching to grab Hannibal by the wrist and that pretty colour-change suit of his.

"Pick a piece of me."

What was left of his body. What was left of his mind. There was still plenty to choose from.

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal's eyes narrowed at being grabbed, but Chamber was one of the very few people he'd allow to get away with it.

He raised his free hand and ran it down Chamber's face. "I want to watch you when you use it."

[furnaceface]

At that, Chamber balked, his eyes widening a little, the blue glow flaring up for barely a second, the closest equivalent to a caught breath that he had. So far as the list of people allowed to touch his face went, Hannibal was the entirety of it, from beginning to end.

That didn't mean he was any less shocked whenever it happened.

"You want to--" His gaze turned toward the chip again, lingering there for a long moment. "Yes. Of course. Of course you can watch."

If his voice was capable of portraying emotion, it would have been thick with it. Times like this, Chamber was almost grateful that it couldn't. Almost. His eyes were still saying plenty, after all, and Hannibal had always been more perceptive than most, in general, and especially where Chamber himself was concerned.

[sharp_as_knives]

It wouldn't be strictly true to call Hannibal a voyeur, but he did enjoy watching people, particularly at their most private, inside their heads. There were reasons he'd been called a ghoul and an emotional cannibal by those he dealt with.

The fact it was Chamber only made it better.

He smiled, not entirely reassuringly. "Now, or should I wait for you after you close?"

[furnaceface]

A chill ran down Chamber's spine as he caught that smile, and somewhere in the back of his mind, it occurred to him that he ought to feel, if not worried, at least somewhat nauseated by the sudden feeling he had. The feeling that he was meat being eyed by a hungry wolf. But a moment later he was nodding toward the back room, eyes closed.

"Watch the front for me while I'm busy, Jon-I," he said, simply. "This shouldn't take long."

That was the problem with the memory chips. They never took him out of his head for nearly long enough.

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal stood back up straight and headed for the back room, holding the chip out as a tease and lure. He didn't bother to sell it any further; he didn't think he had to.

[furnaceface]

That was all it took, really. Chamber's head was down as he walked, gaze on the floor, but there was a small cat by the entry that was watching the chip keenly until Hannibal disappeared beyond the door.

Chamber would have been shamefaced, if he had much of a face left.

"What is it you're hoping to see?"

[sharp_as_knives]

"Only you," Hannibal answered. All of you.

[furnaceface]

Chamber stopped mid-stride at that, that electric blue sparking up from under his coat collar as his eyes widened slightly. He'd been poaching from his own mind in order to replace his toxic memories with fleeting moments of peace for long enough now that whatever ability he once had to take comments like that in stride was long gone.

"Why me?"

That seemed like the logical next question here. Didn't it?

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal raised an eyebrow at him as he stood ready to slot the chip in. "I think you underestimate your fascination."

[furnaceface]

"Mostly I'm confused by it," Chamber admitted, then leaned his head to the side and pulled his collar down, revealing the sleek metallic surface of what was intended to be a replacement for his lower jaw. Wherever there was a joint, the blue pulse of raw energy shone out from behind the metal, casting an eerie spiderweb of light from under the shell that gave his wreck of a body something resembling form. "Unless you mean as a curiosity."

With a faint whirring sound of mechanical parts at work, a small panel slid aside on his neck, revealing the port to slot the chip into.

"Should be used to that by now, I suppose."

[sharp_as_knives]

"Mm." Hannibal trailed his fingers across the blue-glowing joints and traced that panel. "But there are curiosities, and there is curiosity."

He pressed the chip carefully into place.

[furnaceface]

"Curiosity ab-"

Really, Chamber should have known by now not to think that he was going to finish that thought before his neural interfaces were overridden by the data on that chip. It happened every time, though admittedly, he didn't generally do this with an audience. His eyes fell out of focus all at once, looking toward some point in front of himself that was occupied by nothing in particular. His shoulders raised, his back straightened. Every indication that he was anything less than whole melted away, and in their place was left a young man without a worry in the world, swept up in a moment of passion, of lust and genuine affection.

His synthetic bottom jaw opened slightly, his voice produced something that from any other person might be a soft moan, or perhaps a chuckle, though coming from Chamber now it seemed mostly to consist of a metallic buzz with a static undertone. The blue shifted again, to something sharper, redder, flickering behind his synthetic form like embers in a dying flame.

His body arched in want. In need. And it reacted in turn as though there was another body there, guiding his movements, accounting for the shape of somebody pressing against him, a phantom lover pulling him close. His shoulders rose and fell, emulating the motions of breathing as best as his body was able, as though he was catching his breath before leaning forward to kiss again.

His eyes fell back into focus a mere breath away from Hannibal's face, and for the briefest instant he looked torn; trapped between the fading lust and something akin to panic, the flickering red lights going shock-white.

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal stared back, wearing a faint smile, not moving. He'd taken in every move and expression on Chamber's body and half-face, drinking in and storing every nuance.

He thumbed the chip free and held it out to him.

[furnaceface]

Chamber's hand lifted to take the chip, shaking only faintly. It was exactly what he'd hoped it would be, of course, but having that experience with an audience left him feeling more than a little bit unsettled. If looking at one another was a game of chicken, he was the one who lost it, turning his gaze downward to stare at the chip in his hand.

"Feel as though you've gotten your money's worth?"

[sharp_as_knives]

"The money I spent on the chip?" Hannibal smiled secretively. "This was more than worth it. And you?"

[furnaceface]

Chamber was silent for a long moment before he reached up to pull his jacket and collar back in place over his face, eyes still turned downward. A moment later, he pocketed he chip.

"It's more affordable than most of our wares. Suppose I can't complain about the price."

Stand there confused and a little shamefaced about it, absolutely. Complain? Not really.

[sharp_as_knives]

"I'm sure I can find more where that came from," Hannibal said. "I'll let you know."

[furnaceface]

//Same price?//

It was one Chamber was willing to continue to pay, was the hell of it. He wouldn't even say so much, but he suspected that Hannibal was well aware that he'd do so much more for the same.

[sharp_as_knives]

"The same or along the same lines," Hannibal said, a tiny smile on his face.

[furnaceface]

Yeah, Chamber should have expected that answer. He was silent for a moment, and then he nodded, just the slightest bit.

"Fair price, then. If you find more, you know where to find me."

[sharp_as_knives]

"Always."

Hannibal reached into his pocket and drew out a small plastic box. "Some more stock for you; all standard issue. You can look over the more select items later. You know where to find me, too."

[furnaceface]

"Right." Chamber reached to take the box, seeming at least a little relieved to be slipping back into business as usual. "You'll hear from me after we close up, then. If I can't slip out tonight, I'll send Jon-I. The usual."

Chamber hitting up the same place on the regular, considering his line of work, was entirely too suspicious. A small cat doing her usual rounds of the neighbourhood and stopping somewhere for treats was far less likely to attract attention.

[sharp_as_knives]

If Hannibal could just convince Chamber to be his patient, they'd have an excuse to meet regularly. A legally protected one, even.

"Tonight, then." Hannibal nodded to Chamber and Jon-I before he left.