Escorting Dr. Reid

Job Details:

Job Sign-Up: Page 11, Post Number 271

-Motor City, just before nightfall-

Wearing her green, white, and gold outfit with Argent Gloves on her hands and Silver Longsword in its scabbard on her left hip, Leona entered the mechanic's paradise known as Motor City. There were cars parked on the side of the road as far as the eye could see and almost as many mechanic shops as there were cars. It was hard to see the evening sky for the towering buildings that surrounded her and reached skyward to block out the sky, but she was not here to critique the architecture. She was here on a mission and that mission was to escort a local scientist named Dr. Loretta Reid to her home, which was located near a seedy part of the city.

Dr. Reid was currently in a cafe named The Mocha Fix, which tended to be a haunt for the tech-saavy citizens of Motor City. The Mocha Fix was helpfully located somewhere along the main street, but there was one small problem. This was Leona's first visit to Motor City and she had no idea where anything was or whether she was even on the main street.  All she could do was walk and look for the coffee shop until she found the right one.

Leona walked down the fairly crowded streets and watched as people recognized her and parted to make way for the Wizard Saint of Courage. She disliked when people did that because an uninformed observer could easily construe her as a bully, but she was not forcing them to make way. They did so willingly. She walked through the space that had been created while looking around her until she reached the corner of a street named Faraday Street and noticed a red neon sign shaped like a floppy disc with blue letters that spelled The Mocha Fix. Leona went inside the cafe to look for Dr. Reid.

-Inside The Mocha Fix-

Leona strode into the lively cafe with an unmistakable tech theme with lines on the walls that resembled electrical wires running down the middle of the white walls. Floppy disc decorations hung from the ceiling and the menu screen behind and above the counter was framed in dark plastic like a computer monitor. The music playing overhead was bass-heavy electronic music with the occasional dubstep track mixed in.

Leona quickly adapted to the environment and did her best to not look threatening despite having a weapon at her side and being an Earthland-renowned Wizard Saint. The patrons slowly but surely took notice of the blonde Wizard Saint. The numerous conversations that were going on stopped and people turned to look at her, making the blonde feel rather awkward. With all attention centered squarely on her, Leona decided to make the best of it and ask for the doctor.

"Does anyone know where Doctor Loretta Reid is?" Leona asked the patrons. Soon a young blonde-haired woman with blue eyes and pink attire wearing a white lab coat stood up, walked over from the far left booth closest to the counter, and presented herself to Leona.

"I'm Dr. Loretta Reid. You must be Leona Jarnefeldt." The young woman introduced herself to Leona.

Dr. Reid:

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"You must be here to help me get home safely. Come, let's not delay any further. The criminal element comes out to play after dark and it's getting late." Loretta said to Leona. The scientist then walked briskly past Leona, leaving the green-clad blonde hurrying to catch up with the very person she was supposed to escort. The Wizard Saint hurriedly left the cafe to follow the pink-clad blonde, who had turned left the way Leona came in and was putting distance between her and Leona.

-In Motor City-

Leona jogged to catch up with Loretta, who was not stopping for anything or anyone. Leona made her way through the parting crowd and caught up with Loretta, who was muttering something about "Dr. Hanlon" and a "Chiron." Leona had no idea what those were, but she needed to stop the pink-clad blonde before she got lost. The Wizard Saint hurried up to her and tried to get her attention by calling her name.

"Dr. Reid..." Leona started the conversation. The young woman kept on walking while muttering some technical jargon about "hoverbikes" that Leona could not even pretend to understand. All Leona knew was that the scientist was ignoring her and leaving her behind, so the Wizard Saint hurried in front of her and put her hands out, grabbing her by the shoulders to stop Loretta from moving.

"Dr. Reid!" Leona repeated a little more forcefully this time. The doctor blinked and realized who was in front of her.

"Oh, hi there! Sorry about that. I got a little... distracted. You see, there's a technical problem with a project a friend of mine is working on." Dr. Reid apologized for spacing out.

"It's no problem, really. Where's your home?" Leona asked her in an effort to learn where the doctor lived.

"It's on Babbage Avenue. It's not too far from here, but it's close to a seedy area. It's to the right and straight ahead on Tages Street. Once you reach the intersection of Tages and Babbage, you turn right on Babbage. It's House Number 1950" Dr. Reid answered with a little more information than Leona had expected. Still, the green-clad blonde had an idea of where to go... sort of. Dr. Reid suddenly jogged to the right across a four-way stop while traffic was stopped and Leona followed her, closing the distance quickly before the pink-clad doctor could get too far away from her.

-On Tages Street-

Leona walked briskly beside her charge and gazed at the housing intermingled with mechanic shops and computer technology stores. In one garage a burly shirtless man with numerous tattoos was getting the engine of his jet black motorcycle swapped out for a newer, presumably better one. In a garage just across the street a skinny youth with neon blue hair and khaki cargo shorts was working on the engine of a type of sports car Leona had never seen before.

"It's fascinating, isn't it? How technology's so much a part of Motor City's fabric?" Dr. Reid asked Leona, who looked into the window of a computer repair shop and saw so many computer components sitting on the shelves that she could not even count how many there were.

"Yes, definitely. When I heard the name Motor City all I thought about was vehicles. I didn't even think about computers being part of the city." Leona admitted to the doctor. Dr. Reid smiled.

"Motor City's nowhere near as high-tech as Bosco, but in a century or two we might start to catch up with them. Maybe three centuries at most." Dr. Reid opined to the Wizard Saint. So far the pair had not run into trouble. Leona hoped that their luck would hold for the rest of the trip and Dr. Reid would get home safely.

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-Twenty minutes later, 1950 Babbage Avenue-

After following Dr. Reid all the way down Tages Street and getting her daily allowance of exercise just by trying to keep up with the pink-clad scientist, Leona paused outside a nondescript house with a white door with the numerals 1950 in bronze hanging above it on a white wooden doorframe. She was glad that they had made it to Dr. Reid's home because the Wizard Saint's legs were getting a bit tired from the brisk walking pace she had to sustain to keep up with her. At least the doctor had not lingered anywhere long enough for the local hoodlums to catch up to them. The doctor's quick pace and the presence of a Wizard Saint had likely kept them at bay... not that Leona minded. She was glad that for once she did not have to use her sword on anyone.

"Here we are, Leona. This is my home." Dr. Reid announced, fishing a silver key out of the right pocket of her lab coat and placing it in the lock of the bronze doorknob. The blonde turned the key all the way right, then withdrew it and placed the same key in the deadbolt lock and turned it right. She pulled the key out and opened the door without a hitch.

"Thanks for getting me here safely, Miss Jarnefeldt. I think your just being with me kept the criminal element away. There's not too many street toughs who would be dumb enough to fight a Wizard Saint." Dr. Reid thanked Leona for her help as she stood in the doorway of her dimly lit home, which was bathed in a dim yellow light for whatever reason. Leona did not say that her presence was largely superfluous. Any local toughs who wanted to accost Dr. Reid would have to be very good shape to keep up with the speedy scientist. She calmly accepted the praise and the payment for a job well done.

"It's no problem, Dr. Reid. I'm glad I could help." Leona said to the young scientist, accepting the bag of Jewels in both hands. Dr. Reid went to shut the door but stopped halfway and poked her head out.

"I may have some more work for someone of your reputation, work that's more lucrative and more exciting than this. Please keep a watch on your mail. And thanks again!" The doctor thanked Leona before shutting the door and locking it. With her work in Motor City completed, Leona turned around and started retracing her steps down Babbage Avenue. She wondered what sort of work Dr. Reid would have for her in the future.

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