Dreams of the Quill

Thanks to Alar and spambot, you get an extra chapter this week.
Also, some notes on tagging:
- I have gotten rid of “joe chapter,” “jason chapter,” and “marin chapter”
- Instead, I tag installments by characters who appear in the installment
- Rather than tag an installment “inside jokes” I now tag it by the work/joke being referred to

Jason was curious. He caught a train across the bay and got off in downtown Berkeley. Ten minutes’ walk later he was standing in front of an impressive-looking apartment building, each unit with its own beflowered balcony.

He stood patiently on the sidewalk, examining traffic with a measured look of concentration, until the garage gate opened to let a resident out. Jason turned, smiled at the cautious driver as the hybrid car rolled up the driveway and onto the street, and then ducked under the gate as it began closing. He grinned to himself as he readjusted the laptop case under his arm. Infiltration successful.

Jason entered the first floor of the apartment complex and was pleased by the sight of a television relaying the latest NBA happenings to an empty common area. He stopped to buy a Coke from the vending machine next to the television set and then made for the stairs.

After climbing five flights, he found himself on the top floor. There was only one door leading off of the beige carpeted hall, and he strode right up to it.

Jason produced his Macbook Air from the laptop case and opened it up. He launched his web browser, checked the cached web page he’d spent most of the train ride reviewing. He scanned the contents of “How to pick locks with a Macbook Air” one last time and then powered off the computer. He closed it and got to work.

Within a minute he was inside the apartment.

“Just like on camera,” he chuckled to himself as he closed the door behind him. He examined the room carefully and then moved on to the next. He passed from kitchen to living room to bedroom to second bedroom… he had known that the Cal girl had an extravagantly luxurious apartment, but actually being in it made his own one-room abode seem all the more inadequate.

Jason had come for information but the luxuries at hand were enticing. He jumped onto the bed, awed by its size and softness. The mudkip bed sheets were hilarious and didn’t detract from the experience. Jason reveled in the comfort for a few minutes, and then he remembered his mission—to look for clues. He would discover for himself why she had summoned that demon.

He got up and walked across the room to the desk. The girl’s hideous Apple desktop machine reared its ugly head and Jason cringed a little.

“What are you afraid of?” came a booming voice.

Jason’s heart beat quickly and his legs trembled as he looked around the room, searching for the speaker. Had he been caught? He fumbled in his pocket for his LAW1 badge and tightened his grip on the Macbook Air.

“I’m over here.”

Jason looked at the desk with wide eyes. He was sure of it—the voice had come from one of its drawers.