01 - Let's do Business

[truthkills]

Who: Kiriya (still going by his AU name of Kiran for the moment) and anyone who needs a new phone at very reasonable prices
When: A couple of days after the app starts appearing on everyone's phones.
Where: Lazer's Pawn
What: Clearly, everyone who's been dealing with this Applenet thing needs a new phone, and Kiran is all too happy to exploit the situation while quietly trying to see if he can identify anyone else on the network in real life. Also serves as a general mingle for other pawn shop shenanigans should you so desire.

Lazer's Pawn, which is currently owned and operated by one Mr. Kiran Sparrow, has never been one of the more respectable establishments in Eddam. Far from it. People rarely end up there on purpose; they mostly wind up there on accident after making a series of questionable decisions. Located in Richmond, it's easily spotted by its bright pink neon marquee sign bearing the store name.

There's currently a sign outside the shop that reads "CELL PHONE BLOWOUT SALE AND TRADE-IN-PALOOZA! DETAILS INSIDE." Kiran even sprung for a few shiny gold mylar balloons just to help draw attention to his no-expense-spared handwritten posterboard that looks like it's been taped over a "Wet Floor" sign.

Stepping inside the pawn shop either presents the impression that the owner really loves the late 80s and early 90s...or is too cheap to pull up that hideously outdated vintage carpet or redo anything else in there. At least the cash register seems modern enough, and there are several signs up warning customers that these premises are monitored by security cameras...though there are no cameras in view, and it is entirely possible the signs are a load of crap. (They are, after all, cheaper than actual cameras.)

The proprietor is currently kicked back behind the counter, leaning back in an office chair with his feet propped up by the cash register. He's wearing round sunglasses indoors, so it's impossible to tell whether or not he might be asleep. Between that and the garish Hawaiian shirt and torn jeans he's also wearing, he truly looks like the pinnacle of responsible business owner.

Comments

[transient_specter]

Yeah okay, weird shady man. You do you. Gen rolls his eyes. "Looking to buy, not sell. What kind of cheap phones do you have that don't need a new SIM card and will be able to download apps?"

[truthkills]

Kiran leans forward with great interest, lowers his shades to get a better look at Gen--he is not impressed--and ducks under the counter to grab a box filled with phones. They're all older models, some are in a little rough shape, and upon close inspection, some of them won't actually have any serial numbers. "Got your cheap ones right here. Three thousand macca a piece." Here's wondering if the kid's going to try to negotiate.

[transient_specter]

He looks into the box and pulls out an older model with some scratches on the screen. It definitely looks like it doesn't have a serial number, but it does look like it'll fit his charger. Which is good, because he isn't going to trust any of the ones here. "Are you kidding me? This looks like it was stolen. Two thousand for this one."

[truthkills]

"Stolen?" Kiran is offended at such an accusation. So offended. "My friend, I don't push stolen merchandise here. It's just used." He frowns slightly. "Twenty-eight hundred."

[transient_specter]

He's so sure. "Could have been sold to you without you knowing it was stolen. But it has no serial number, so you're out of luck for tech support. I'm doing you a favor taking this. Twenty-two hundred."

[truthkills]

"And that's why I hold stuff for thirty days before putting it out on the floor, in case the police come knocking," Kiran says, sounding bored. "Twenty-five hundred, you don't need tech support. I'll swap it out for a replacement if it goes bad--but not if you smash it or something."

[transient_specter]

... Sensible. Stupidly sensible. "Fine, but I want to see you turn it on to make sure it actually works."

[truthkills]

Kiran shrugs and reaches out to press the power button. "Don't know how much charge it's got left, but it should switch on. Checked them all myself last night."

The phone does, in fact, turn on. "See? Runs like a dream." Probably the sort of dream you'd have after eating an entire pizza at 3 AM while watching bad horror movies while running a fever and taking heavy doses of cold medication, but hey. A dream's a dream.

[transient_specter]

He nods, and takes the phone back, looking it over. There's something on the screen...

Gen frowns deeply as he recognizes the image of the app on his 'new' phone. "Stupid thing..." Whatever, it'll be good to experiment with it. But at least it works, and this guy may be ripping him off, but he's ripping him off honestly. He reaches into his wallet and pulls out his ID card, handing it over.

"Here."

[truthkills]

Well. That's interesting. Kiran's glad for the sunglasses hiding his eyes there--that was definitely a reaction to something with the phone, and given what had been going on with that stupid app... "Pleasure doing business with you," he says, as he scans that ID card, trying his best to look bored with the whole transaction. Got to remember that name now that he's identified one out in the real world...

"You interested in buying a case for it? 500 macca a pop." He gives the ID card back with one hand while the other reaches down under the counter to produce a bin filled with miscellaneous phone cases. Many of them have clearly bootlegged versions of popular cartoon characters, many of them won't fit the phone Gen just bought, and still others smell funny.

[transient_specter]

"No, I've got an old case." He takes a step back once he pockets his card again. Those smell awful... if he brought any of them back to his room, Ciro would probably have a shitfit as soon as he caught wind of it. The old phone is bad enough. "My little brother's pretty careful with these kinds of things - he just wanted to play a phone game.

That's plausible enough, isn't it?

[truthkills]

"What, your little brother wouldn't like a fun case?" Kiran pulls one out of the mass of cases in the box--it's some kind of horrible overalls-wearing monstrosity of a yellow blob, and it is likely one of the sources of that decaying rubber kind of odor that's coming out of that box. "The kids all go for these things. I think."

[transient_specter]

He winces at how bright that case is. "He's not that young. He doesn't need something from an awful kid's movie. He's fifteen." He's almost offended that the thought crossed his mind for about half a second.

[truthkills]

"Fifteen, huh? Ah, such a difficult age...but I have just the thing." The yellow rubber case is tossed back into the box only for Kiran to pull out one that's got a photograph of a very busty pin-up model lying there in a suggestive pose. It's impossible to tell if he's being serious or if he's moved on to just messing with Gen.

[transient_specter]

He chokes on air, eyes going wide, and shakes his head. Nope, nope. Definitely not Ciro's style, even if he wasn't lying out his ass about this. "He's not that kind of guy, either! Not everyone that age is a sex-crazed maniac."

[truthkills]

"Hormones are mysterious things," Kiran says airily as he tosses the case back into the box. "And some are better at hiding it than others."

[transient_specter]

"... I'm not an idiot. But if he wants a pair of giant boobs on his phone case, he'll pick out his own." He is not going to tell his little bro what to whack off to, that's gross.

[truthkills]

"Well, you know where to send him if he decides he wants in on that." Kiran flips through the box a little more and makes a mental note to throw out whichever ones in there are responsible for the smell. Maybe he can claim losses on his insurance. "You need a charger?"

Look, he's a businessman and accessories are cheap and easy to put exorbitant markups on. Especially when you've got a couple of under the table deals with lost and found at a couple of local hotels.

[transient_specter]

He looks at the chargers and then looks at Kiran, sighing. "There's a reason I went with this model. It works on my current charger." Or should, at which point if it fails he will probably throw it at the wall because stupid waste of macca. "I'm not some twelve year old you can upsell at, after all." He did his retail time. Never again.

[truthkills]

"Oh, sure, if you wanna just go and share one with your brother, sure." Kiran shrugs. "See how long that lasts before something happens to your one and only charger, fine, I see how it is when I'm only trying to help."

[transient_specter]

He snorts and tucks everything in his pockets. "We share a lot of things." And... also he forgot to lie. ... He's also always so bad about ending transactions if he's talking to someone. "I should get going." Just. Just gonna head towards the door and pretend the awkward never happened.

[truthkills]

Kiran smirks as the kid gets going. Oh, he's onto you, kid. "Hey, if you change your mind, I'll be here."