Driving Back

JP with Trustno1, Jaxx and Cindy

Riding back in Alyssa's new van, Sartre noticed the upgrades."

"You have all new equipment!"

“When we get back to the hotel, I want to go over some of this stuff. See if we can make any connections. There has to be something somewhere, and you said you had something that you didn't want to show right away."

In the chip:"Alyssa, can I stay with you tonight? I feel safe with you.”

Agent Powers saw the text from Alyssa and replied, "Okay. Text me if you need me for anything. I'll help the others till then.”

"Yes, Cassini insisted. I mean I like this new van there's plenty of room for Max, when he's in it, and the tech is beyond state of the art. The security system is amazing as well." She paused, "But I still miss my old van."

Alyssa hit the thumbs up emogee and sent it to Max.

They were the only two in the van, so, the hacker was a little unclear why Peter used the chip. She made sure that he was ready, then started up the van before responding, which she did outloud. "I don't mind you staying in my room but a few things, I'll be working most of the night. And you'll have to sleep in the other bed." Alyssa then said. "Things got weird before with us in the same room. Can you promise that won't happen again. No trying to get into my bed, even if it's just to sleep. No asking me to kiss you, just as a friend, and no assumptions about what I might want. I will let you know when I'm ready for more. Can you agree to that?" Alyssa liked her space, the fact she was willing to share it was big enough in her mind, for right now.

"Oh we can agree.” Peter smirked. He loved her assertiveness. "I'm really excited to see what evidence you have? Why did you not want the others to see it?”

Alyssa nodded, with a slight smile to Peter agreeing with her on her terms. "Oh, I didn't say I didn't want the others to see it. I just didn't want to discuss it there." Alyssa clarified. "I want to wait until we're back at the hotel, then I'll show you what I was sent.”

"Sounds good Alyssa. I love spending time with you." Peter smiled. "Did your van get a new stereo?" he continued.

"Absolutely, Cassini didn't miss a thing." Alyssa grinned. "You wanna listen to anything in particular?”

"Whatever you want fiery and dangerous hacker." He reached for another fist bump.

Alyssa laughed slightly at his comment, and returned the fist bump. "Whatever, huh? Between that speakeasy and the ghost that was stuck in the 90s.... I've got it." While driving the hacker tapped a button. "Play Squirrel Nut Zippers, Hot album." She spoke to the onboard computer. Soon enough the sounds of jazz, from the 90s revival, was playing in the background, horns included.

"When I was a lad I was a little bit shy.
Something came along and caught my eye.
When I heard the jazz band strike up..."

The song, Got My Own Thing Now seemed to go with the theme of the day. "A compromise among the two time periods," Alyssa commented.

"How long till we get to the hotel? Hungry for some junk food Alyssa?" asked Sartre.

"A few minutes, but I am kind of hungry. What time is it anyway?" They had oddly spent several hours at the theater, as it had been morning when they arrived.

"It's about 5:00 pm, what would you like for dinner? It will be interesting to see what you found earlier, maybe we can find a connection between these things." Sartre said to the hacker. And thank you for letting me be able to stay in your room Alyssa. You mean a lot to me.”

"Pizza. I've always wanted to try the deep dish Chicago style everyone talks about. I bet we can find somewhere that has decent pizza. Door dash will deliver from Chicago, if we want." Alyssa commented

"Deep dish from Chicago? Absolutely!" he said as they pulled into the hotel parking lot. He would follow Alyssa to her room.