Sunday Snippet: A Day in the Life

Happy Halloween Eve! Our small town always has its annual trick or treat several days before the actual holiday. On Thursday, it was brisk and chilly, but we had a whole host of costumed kiddos strolling the streets. So much fun!

On the television front, Gotham had another great episode. I'm happy with how things are going on that show. Here's hoping the consistency holds through the end of the season.

The Flash and Agents of SHIELD pulled out some surprises. The new director guy on AoS is actually kind of fun and hopefully not evil. LOL I'm not gonna hold my breath on that score.

Arrow keeps making me happy. Diggle is out of prison, but who knows what'll happen next with him. The new team suffered some shake-ups. We'll see how that all shakes out.

Legends of Tomorrow delivered again. I like the new guy. And Mick is fast becoming another favorite. Brutal honesty goes a long way with this group and he's definitely not afraid to embrace the truth. LOL

MacGyver's episode might have been the set up for introducing Murdoc. I guess we'll see if the ghost pops back up again.

The Walking Dead… I skipped the premiere and watched The Talking Dead instead. I honestly couldn't see the point in watching when I couldn't bear watching any of my favorites die. I'll be watching tonight's episode… I think. LOL

And that's it for television this week. Tonight's post is from A Day in the Life, a tie-in, free read for my Furlough 99 story, Shyler: Finding Home.

Here's the mini-blurb:

Alphie is a kick ass droid who assists Inspector Shyler Lumen. He's also not afraid to offer unwarranted advice.

And a sneaky peek…

Several hours later, Alphie had some quiet time. He got started on a scan of ISP personnel logged on transport flights to Furlough. He wanted to know the inspector's name.

Bingo! Shyler Lumen, Inspector, first grade. He scanned for everything he could find on her. She had a long list of collars for Mars Planetary Police and now with the InterStellar Police. Looked like the inspector almost always got her man.

And what was this? Girl volunteered all over the place. With BAWs—battered and abused women, food distribution shelters, and two different half-way houses.

When did the woman sleep?

Ah… another interesting fact. Shyler had no romantic connections. No past marriages or multiple living occupancy requests on file. The inspector appeared to be a loner.

She was either very careful or had been burned in the past. He dug a little deeper. Nothing on file so she was careful. Smart woman.

More than a match for Marshton Gray. Alphie had a feeling he'd see more of both.

His circuits almost singed at the potential for fun.

Alphie went into quick shut down mode and transmitted data to the Guild. The group of bounty hunters ran a tight ship on Furlough and Spider Smith, their very talented hacker, made sure he received any and all pertinent information. An ISP inspector counted as very pertinent.

Transfer completed, Alphie blinked several times, bringing himself back online. He remotely connected to the security camera closest to the Den and set a facial recog program to ping him when Inspector Lumen entered the bar. Alphie wanted to keep track of her progress.

I'm looking forward to finally putting the finishing touches on this one and getting it out there for a free download. Fingers crossed that happens soon.

That's it for this week. Catch everyone on the flip.

ML Skye

Sunday Snippet: A Day in the Life

Wow, survived something of a long week. Just now catching up on Orphan Black and again, this show eats my brain. I'm about halfway through this week's episode and I'm sitting on the edge of my seat as I type this. LOL

Tonight's post is from A Day in the Life, a free read and companion piece for one of my first releases, Shyler: Finding Home, a Furlough 99 novella. Told from an awesomely cool droid's point of view, I hope it provides as much entertainment as it did when I wrote it.

Here's the tagline:

Alphie is a kick ass droid who assists Inspector Shyler Lumen. He's also not afraid to offer unwarranted advice.

And a sneaky peek…

Just when he thought his circuitry would fry from the banality of it all, he spotted a dynamic woman exited a civilian transport. She looked determined, cranky and in a rush. Also somewhat lost.

Alphie decided she needed his brand of humor to shake her up a little.

He moved to stand in an obvious location. Hopefully she'd need assistance and ask him for help.

She moved in his direction and Alphie tugged on the bottom of his vest, catching her eye. With a quick wave, she indicated she'd like to speak with him.

Alphie started toward her.

"Can you tell me who runs security on Furlough and where the best place to meet would be?" Her eyes narrowed and he knew the moment it pinged that he was a droid. "And um… maybe how I can get a message to them."

Alphie gave her credit. Clearly caught off guard, she kept it all business, going with the flow until she could figure out how advanced his model was.

He quickly scanned through his personality files and picked one he thought she'd enjoy. His eyes blinked rapidly several times, spooling the information then he looked directly at the woman.

"Oh, they'll find you, sweetie cakes. Trust me."

The woman laughed out loud and seemed much more at ease. She didn't have a backwater planet look to her. No, more like a big city vibe, one that would not be offended by something a little off beat. His over the top drag queen persona definitely did the trick.

Mission one accomplished.

Oops. Maybe not. Her gaze slid sideways and she narrowed her eyes. The earlier outburst stopped a gentleman on the glide path in his tracks.

Alphie immediately recognized him. Marshton Gray. Stakeholder in Furlough 99, Luxury Quadrant and head of Grayswell Industries. And someone the woman thought she should know.

She must be from Queen City, Mars, but clearly didn't move in the same circles as Gray. Her eyes followed him, like she'd seen him before but couldn’t place where.

She dismissed him and focused on Alphie. "I'm sorry. They'll find me?"

Her jaw dropped open when he rolled his eyes. "Sweetie cakes, you've got enforcement written all over you." He added air quotes to emphasize enforcement and she chuckled.

"I'm ISP. Not exactly trying to hide it. Don't have time to waste going covert." She glanced toward Gray again and he moved away slowly, maybe too slowly and Alphie wondered if it piqued her curiosity or if he'd have to call for the security team she wanted to see.

Maybe if he distracted her. "Hmm… Inter-Stellar Police, not exactly total enforcement. At least not the kind we used to have around here. You guys at least provide trials for the accused." He'd been around long enough to have that unpleasant data stored in his memory banks.

The inspector, from her demeanor she had to at least have rank, clearly didn't know what to make of his off the cuff observation. He liked that.

She got back to business. "Give me a public place that has privacy so I can park it until the security people find me."

He scrolled through several locations before choosing what he perceived as the best one. "You'll want the Den." Oops, her first time here, she wouldn't know the shorthand nickname. He clarified. "Den of Iniquity… the bar up on Level 4. Ask for Varina, she'll point you to a place you can 'park it'."

"Right. Thanks."

The inspector strode away and Alphie had a feeling he'd be seeing or hearing from her again in the near future.

He'd look forward to it. But first, he probably ought to assist the very lost looking couple over by the food court.

Seriously, I loved writing Alphie so much I had to give him a brief spotlight of his own.

That's it for this week. Catch everyone on the flip.

ML Skye