1. ATTACHMENT: Third Eye Interview: Operative Carol Ann Ripley, Human SCL
6A, Talent Scout; Operative Cloud, Ebon SCL 6A, Talent Scout
[Publication Suspended]
Ripley
Yeah, we've been very successful recently. And of course,
success for us is success for SLA. Can't have enough fresh talent!
TE
Tell us about some of your recent finds and what you look for in a
recruit.
Ripley
Sure. One recruit of ours from fairly recent times stands
out: Copper. He's an Ebon. He's already passed all the exams and is in
his second week at Meny. He's one to watch. I guess he pretty well
typifies what we look for in a recruit.
Downtown is full of pretty faces. All you have to do is wipe away some of
the dirt to see `em. So you need to have more than good looks or a good
attitude to get noticed. Good looks and good attitude won't cut it for you
as an op, so it's not what we look for, although it's part of it. [Ripley
hesitates.]
Cloud
What Ripley's saying is that there must also be some inner
drive. Attitude is all part of the image. It's a survival thing
Downtown. You've got to be able to project attitude to ward off the
predators. But drive comes from deeper down. It's a refusal to yield to
what others might find overwhelming. That's what we look for in a recruit.
TE
And this `Copper' had that?
Ripley
(She leans forward) Oh, he had it alright. I wouldn't be here
if he didn't. Last month we're Downtown near Heartland, trying to keep a
low profile, but still, you know, with an eye out for a new face or new
name. Station Analysis calls with a Red. Has to go to us, we're the only
ops down there. Or at least the only ones willing to respond that
day. Anyhow, there's a fading distress beacon from a SHIVER patrol on
sleeper. We've gotta find it and lend aid and assistance. Station gives
us some coordinates, and they appear to be right under us. We looked at
our equipment and it showed `em, alright. About twenty levels down. Now,
unless you're on one hell of a Yellow or Green, you just don't go down that
low. It's stupid. Still, we had the Red and didn't have much choice. So
I call a few people from there in the market
and they put me in touch with this guy. `Raggedy-Man,' he called
himself. Looked like he was dressed in patchwork. About the only intact
clothing he had was an old-style top hat. You know, the kind they wear in
the Gothalia vids. We go to meet him in this old garbage dump nearby, and
he's surrounded by, like, a dozen kids. And standing next to him is this
human kid, older than the others, maybe sixteen, and on the other side of
him these two Ebons, maybe sixteen and thirteen. That was Copper and his
sister Lithia. They stood out. They had that `something' about `em.
Cloud
A gravity. A stillness. An intensity that the others lacked.
Ripley
Yeah. The little kid actually spooked me. Weird. Cloud says
sometimes Ebon kids get that way when they grow up without a
family. Anyway, the boy, Copper, he had this intensity, like Cloud
says. Like when we started talking he was watching the words leave our
mouths, or something. We told the
Raggedy Man what we were after and the human kid leaned over to him and
whispered something. The Raggedy Man smiles and turns to us, tells us his
"children" found a Carrien nest right about where we think the SHIVERS
are. Says he can give us a guide. So, we do some fancy bartering and a
few minutes later we're headed out. We're in armor, toting hardware, and
leading us are the older human kid and the Ebon boy, Copper. Well, sure
enough, they know a way down. Wasn't the way I would have picked, but it
was pretty quick. Takes us an hour to go down twenty levels. Some of it
we did on cable and winch, although
the two kids didn't bother. `Course, they weren't wearing a hundred pounds
of armor, either. Suddenly, they stop us and make like we're supposed to
be totally quiet. Now I don't hear a thing, and Cloud doesn't either,
although he says there were bad vibes all around. The two kids split up
and kinda vanish into the dark. The lighting was long gone where we
were. After about five minutes the two come back and tell us to come with
`em, quietly. They take us to a level-drop. That's part of where a quake
or some other disaster has sheared the level insulates, so there's a shear
drop to the next level. Anyway, right down below us is the SHIVER APC. As
we stretch our necks over the edge we hear this rhythmic banging, and
because we got us some pretty cool goggles, we can see about a dozen
Carrien banging away at the sides of the APC, which is hanging half way
over the level drop below us. Looks like it's been pushed there by the
Carrien. Well, make a long story short, we opened up a can of whupp-ass on
the Carrien. I mean, they were big, but we had 12.7mm HESH, know what I
mean? We lowered ourselves down to the APC and set about trying to pry the
doors open. They'd been smashed in by the monsters. So, I'm going at the
door with a crowbar when the manway in the walk I'm standing on shoots,
hell, it had to be ten feet into the air, and the grandfather of all
Carrien jumps out. This mother is, like, fourteen feet tall if he's an
inch. Fast, too. Nailed me with a claw before I knew what was going
on. Two more come out of the manway, and then there's this flash. Cloud
saved my ass.
Cloud
Art appreciation. (he grins)
Ripley
(she blushes) Um, yeah, well, I'm happy it's still in one
piece. Anyway, I'm alive, but the Ebon kid's in bad shape. Got crushed by
the manway cover, looks like. I go over to him, bend over him to check him
out, what does he do? Before I know what's goin' on he grabs my Blitzer
and has it pointed. I'm totally sure I'm gonna die and at the same time
goin' "What the fuck?" `cause the kid's been cool `til now. There's this
roar as the Blitzer goes off, and behind me, the big Carrien, who's
apparently just gotten to his feet again, goes down for the count. Kid
saved my life. Had three crushed ribs, and an arm and a leg broken and
still had the wits to move when moving counted. Cloud was able to heal
him, and well, we didn't wanna let him go after that. We kept him with us
after we let the SHIVERs out of their box. Made him the offer on the way
back up. Must'a liked what we had to say, `cause he took us up on the
offer and now he's at Meny. He ought to do alright.