Her face slammed against the barrier.
Daiya cried out, squirming against the rough hands that held her there. Her cheek was bruised at least, probably cut as it scraped against the hard duracrete surface.
A hiss slithered into her ear, worming its way through her brain and down her spine as a shiver. Hands rough with scales and callouses wormed their way through her clothes and pockets. The teen pressed her hands against the duracrete, pushing enough to lift her face away. She looked back at the red-and-black CorpSec outfits behind her. "
What the feth is this? I'm just trying to get in to see the matches!"
The handsy brute hissed again, her hands' battle against the pressure on her back was the only reason she didn't clamp them to her ears at the sound. The young shadowrunner looked up and down, from her sideways vantage she could only see one of them in full view. Just the edge of the Seccer frisking her with green, scaly hands.
"
I don't speak SSSSssss!" Complaining only earned Daiya a shove to her head, pushing it back against the harsh barrier.
"
If you don't hold still, we'll have to do this the hard way." Daiya's eyes strained to glance at the speaker, the other officer standing watch behind them. He was Human, flaxen hair standing out against the black of his uniform. She shot him a contemptuous look, and the man seemed to flinch. Once. He recovered enough to explain, "
She means we can do this here or at the station."
"
Yeah? Well, maybe she shouldn't be so rough on a little girl." Even so, Daiya relaxed a little, letting the reptilian woman kick her legs apart to search them as well. It earned her more of her face smashed against the duracrete. A moment later, her 434 Blaster dangled in front of the teen eyes, narrowing at the accompanying hiss. She needed no translation that time. "
I have a permit for that!"
"
I doubt it applies in the Sunlight Zone," the blond man told her haughtily. He might have been right, Daiya couldn't technically afford to a blaster permit for anywhere but the Twilight Zone levels below them, but he didn't have to be so smug about it. This time, the man didn't wither so much when she opened her mouth to debate it, quickly adding, "
Well, it could, but I doubt it."
Another hiss and the man spoke again, "
You look like the kind of gutter trash we picked up three blocks from a robbery yesterday."
"
I didn't rob anybody!" Daiya's protests fell on deaf ears. Though the Trandoshan —she decided that's what the woman had to be— was done with her search, but still held the teen in place. Now the man stepped up, picking up her bag from the ground and rifling through it. "
That's all mine, I swear!"
"
What does an innocent little girl need with all these tools?" Now the
omnicutter came out in front of her eyes, and they dimmed as she grew quiet. Daiya maintained her contemptuous glare while the Seccer pulled out the contents of her satchel one by one, examining and setting aside her datapad, ident, apartment keycard, and
eyeliner, but pocketing a few credit chits, a
view masker and the omnicutter.
He handed her bag back, and the Trandoshan Seccer let go. Daiya spun around, hurt in her eyes as she finally faced her accusers. They looked bored, almost looking
past her as she demanded, "
Can I go now?" She glowered at them, her eyes desperately shifting to the items they'd confiscated from her. It would take the young shadowrunner
weeks of jobs to earn all of that back, and all without the proper tools now. An ear cocked toward the sounds from the arena beyond, prompting her to say, "
You're making me miss the first quarter."
"
Aren't they periods, Captain?" Blondie swiveled his head toward the Trandoshan woman, who snickered and hissed some more. He turned back to Daiya, "
Are you sure you're a hover hockey fan?"
Daiya clutched the bag to her chest, more violated now by the questions than the invasive search. "
Oh my stars! It's my first game, okay?"
"
Really? I thought everyone had seen the Globex-Sun Galactic Games before. You should have watched last year, even the holos were..." Blondie started babbling before a hiss from his Captain shut him up. She hissed in Daiya's direction, too, followed up by the man's translation. "
Go. Just don't look suspicious around here again."
She stuck her tongue out at the retreating figures of the CorpSec pair. They didn't even have the courtesy to give her a second look, so the teen added the one-finger salute. She brought the hand to her cheek a moment later, brushing away the debris and wincing. It came away streaked with red.
"
Fething Corpos," Daiya grumbled as she packed her things away, wiping back tears that mourned for her cheek and her blaster most of all. Slipping the satchel over her head, the teen headed into the arena at last. Bitterness followed quickly, a cloud of misery she tracked in behind her until an idea stopped the young shadowrunner in her tracks.
There, adorned in chromium and framed with the laurels accorded to past winners, sat the trophy for today's tournament. A shrine to Corpo excess, and one that would look a lot better sitting on the shelf of her apartment instead. Daiya grinned as a plan began to take form in her mind.
If CorpSec was going to bully her, Daiya should at least get something for all her pain.