//------------------------------//
// Roshab Inc. 
// Story: TD's Little Rarity 1.5: This Time It's Personal 
// by BronyWriter 
//------------------------------//

I could only spend the fifteen hour drive thinking about Rarity. Thinking about how she was being experimented on by a pharmaceutical company of all people. Roshab Inc. was not a small company, and it led its field in medical advances.  I didn't keep up much with companies like that, but even I knew that they had risen to prominence in the past year or so with some pretty big drugs. I didn't need to be a math major to figure out that coincided with their capture of Rarity. Now I was going to go get her back, drugs or no. I mean, yeah, some people would wonder if getting her back would be the right thing to do when she is helping create better drugs, but I literally didn't care at all about that. Get your freaking wonder drugs some other way, guys. Some way that won't bring down the wrath of TD Harrison Powell on you!

Er... that sounded a bit more threatening in my head. 

Whatever. 

Either way, I was going to do my best to get Rarity back, and if bursting into that place and killing everything except Rarity was the best way, then by golly I was going to do it. Of course, I didn't really want to kill anybody. I wasn't some Schwarzenegger or Stallone Rambo type of guy, but... well, it was a little late for that now, wasn't it? I checked the body of the assassin; he was definitely dead. 

The drive to California went without incident, and I found myself coming up on San Diego within a half an hour. From there it was only a matter of finding the place and getting inside. And getting Rarity. And escaping to somewhere we wouldn't be found. And Celestia getting there to take us both back to Equestria, because Earth had become a little hot for me, no matter how much I hated the idea. Assassins and the FBI wouldn't find me there, so I realized pretty fast that it was my best option. 

I guess I was legally dead to my family anyway. I wouldn't know what they're up to, though, I hadn't seen or heard from any of them in a year. Well, it's too late for that to happen, I think. It would just re-open old scars if I showed up, only to have to go back to Equestria when Celestia gets here. Heck, it could be dangerous for them if whoever I'm hunting finds out about me seeing them. 

Within ten minutes of driving, my phone dinged, and alerted me that my destination is on the right. I turned my head, and sure enough, there it was. It was a skyscraper with the words "Roshab Inc." emblazoned in blocky letters just above the doors. If Rarity was still there, then I was going to find her. I parked in a parking lot across the street and slung the bag over my shoulder, hoping that they didn't have metal detectors that would notice my guns. I took a deep breath and walked across the street into the building. 

The entrance room of Rashab Inc. was pretty typical. Marble floors, a large fountain and a bunch of potted plants as decorations, and a receptionist's desk right in front of me. No metal detectors, thankfully. I adjusted my bag over my shoulder and walked up to the receptionist, noting that her name was Mary. 

She stopped her computer work when she saw me come up and gave me a smile. "Hello, sir. How can I help you today?"

"Uh..." I gently cleared my throat. "Well, I have a meeting with the CEO at..." I glanced at my watch. "4:30. If you could just tell me which floor he's on, I would appreciate that."

Man, I needed to do a lot better than that. Stupid TD. You need an actual plan! Well, that was my plan, really. It involved fewer guns. 

Predictably, Mary looked at me with some trepidation. "Er... you're here to see Mr. Stephenson at 4:30? I don't understand; when did you make that appointment with him? I get notices of all of his appointments."

"I made it last September."

"Last September?" Mary crossed her arms. "As in about a year ago?"

I nodded. "Yep. Him and I engaged in some business, and I'm here to finish that up."

"I see." Mary looked down at her phone and hit some buttons before picking it up. She was silent for a few moments before speaking into it. "Hello? Mr. Stephenson? Who is your 4:30 appointment?" She paused. "Uh-huh, I see. I thought so. You have someone here who said he made an appointment with you a year ago and now he's coming to finish some business with you. I don't--"

Oh forget it. I reached forward and snatched the phone from her hand, putting it to my ear. She took it about as well as I thought. 

"Hey, give that back!" she snarled, getting to her feet. 

"No dice, lady," I growled, reaching into my pocket and grasping the handle of my pistol. "Just keep calm."

"Hello?" said the voice on the other end. Mary? What's going on?"

My breath caught in my throat as the voice registered in my mind. Yep, the same one that had spoken to me with Rarity. I noticed that Mary was reaching down for something, and I pulled my gun out of my pocket. 

"Don't even think about it." 

Mary squeaked and backed away from the desk, allowing me to focus on the phone again. "Hello, sir. It's nice to speak to you again."

The voice on the other end was silent for a few moments before speaking. "Ah, Mr. Powell. What a... pleasant surprise. You would truly go anywhere for your dear Rarity, wouldn't you?"

"Yep. Sure would."

"I don't see how you think you can win here, Mr. Powell. I've already sent one man after you, and you've walked into my building full of security officers. Innocent men and women with families who don't know anything about what we're up to. Besides, you wouldn't want me to hurt Rarity."

I shrugged and leaned forward to press the speakerphone button on the phone. I gently put the receiver on the desk. "Yes, well, how about if I killed someone you had an attachment to? Like Mary, for example?"

Mary whimpered, but Stephenson scoffed. "Mary? Receptionists are a dime-a-dozen, Mr. Powell. You kill her and I'll get another one just as loyal. Lots of people want her position."

I looked up at Mary who stared at the phone with a look that was a mix of indignant and horror. I smirked at her and lowered the gun. Mary got to her feet and walked over to the phone, her expression having turned into a scowl. 

"You think I'm expendable? Well then you'll have no trouble replacing me! I quit!"

The voice on the other end stuttered for a few moments as Mary turned to me. "He's on the thirtieth floor. Knock yourself out."

I gave her a slight salute before she wheeled around and walked out of the building. I chuckled and turned off speakerphone before picking up the receiver again. 

"You... you put me on speakerphone, didn't you, Mr. Powell?"

I gave a light chuckle. "Yes. I did."

"Clever. Very clever, but I'm afraid that your intelligence will only get you that far. As I said, I have security here, and they're going to take you out." Stephenson chuckled. "I'm afraid that this is the end for you, Mr. Powell. It was a very good try. Better than I thought, really, but useless in the end. I assure you that Rarity will continue to be well taken care of. Goodbye."

The phone clicked, and I heard the dial tone. I grimaced and put the phone back on the hook. Time to get Rarity back. Now, I could take the elevator to the thirtieth floor, but that would be dangerous. I think he'd be expecting that. The stairs would likely be out too, as he'd send guards down there. I groaned, knowing that I only had a few seconds to make a choice. 

That's when it struck me. 

We were in a rather large city, and there were tall buildings all around us. I ran out of Roshab Inc.'s building and looked around. I grinned when I saw a building to my right only a little taller than Roshab was. 

And the buildings looked to be in jumping distance too. 

I cracked my neck and ran over to the building just as security officers entered the lobby of Roshab's building. I ran into the other building fast enough that they didn't notice me. With any luck they wouldn't find me. I walked up to the receptionist of this building, who smiled at me when she saw me coming. 

"Hi there," I said with a nod. "Can you direct me to the stairs or the elevator?"

"Sure can." She pointed at a doorway to my right. "Just through that door and to the right. The elevator is right there."

I gave her a little two-fingered salute and speed-walked through the doorway. I saw the elevators right where she said they would be, and pressed the "up" button. Fortune was on my side, for once in my flippin' life, and the elevator door to my left slid open with a little ding. I ran inside and pressed the button to the top floor. 

Once the elevator got going, I let out a breath I didn't know I had been holding in. "What am I doing?" I muttered. "This is a stupid, stupid idea. Come on, TD, you gotta think of a better plan than this."

"Well, you don't wanna kill anyone, do you?"

"Too late for that, isn't it?"

"Okay, then, anyone else." 

I looked up at the floor indicator. Floor 10. 

"Just gotta make a little hop. That's all there is too it, really. Then find a doorway and head on down to his office." I ran a hand through my hair and felt the gun in my pocket, grimacing at the thought that I had a lot more in my bag. "Just keep going. This is all to get Rarity back."

After a few more minutes of pep talking, the elevator dinged again, and I found myself on the top floor of the building. It looked like a bunch of offices, but that didn't concern me. There had to be somewhere for me to get on the roof. 

"Okay, roof access, roof access roof access..." I tapped my chin as I walked up and down the hall, looking for some staircase that would get me there. As luck would have it, I found one at the very end of the second hallway I tried. I looked around and saw that the few people in the hallway weren't paying much attention to me, probably assuming that I was some maintenance worker. Well, let them. I entered the short concrete stairwell and walked up the single flight of stairs to the door that led to the roof. I pushed down on the bar that opened the door to open it and... 

Locked. 

I bit my lower lip and took a small step back from the door. I hadn't really planned on that. The door had a small window, so I could see the promised land of the roof on the other side. I groaned and scratched the back of my head. I should have figured that my luck would run out eventually. 

Just as a silly test, I rammed my shoulder into the door to see if I couldn't break it down. All I got from that was a sore shoulder. Yeah, better not try that one again. I sighed and went back down the stairway. The door wasn't going to give, and I didn't have anything in my bag that would get it open. I couldn't be at it too long before attracting attention either. I had only one option that I could see: human contact, something that I really wanted to minimize. 

I exited the stairwell and into the hallway again. I saw a few employees in suits lounging by the water cooler, and figured they'd be my best bet. At the very least, I had a better plan this time. I raised my hand to get their attention and walked up to them. 

"Hey, I'm here to do some maintenance on the roof, but the door to the roof seems to be locked. Can I get your help with that?"

The three people all glanced at each other, then looked over at me. "Maintenance?" said the one on the far right. "What kind of maintenance? I didn't think we hired outside contractors for that kind of thing."

I shrugged. "Well, nobody told me that. All I know is that my boss told me that I needed to get over to this building to do some preliminary work on the electrical wiring up there to get an idea of what we needed to do to get it all settled, alright?"

The three of them paused for a moment, glancing at each other again. "So..." the one on the right began, "are you the guy that's here to work on the air conditioning on this floor?"

I scoffed and crossed my arms. "Isn't that what I just said?"

All three of the employees breathed a collective sigh of relief, and two of them gave me wide smiles. "Finally!" said the one in the middle. "We've been complaining about that for months! I thought they'd never get a guy on that."

"Maybe we won't have heat stroke every time we come into work now, eh, Tony?" the one on the left said, nudging his partner. 

"Yeah, yeah, I'm here to make all of your dreams come true," I snarked. "I just need to get to the roof, alright? I won't be up there for very long."

"Yeah, sure," the one on the right said, putting his paper cup on top of the water cooler. "I'll go get Mac. He'll get you up there." 

On the outside I nodded nonchalantly. On the inside I felt two seconds away from a heart attack. Any moment something could go wrong, and if the cops go involved at any stage, I'd never see Rarity again. Well, the FBI would probably step in, given that I was in the Witness Protection Program and all, but now that Stephenson knew that I was willing to come all the way to California for him, he'd probably step up his game in terms of having me killed. He'd also really make Rarity disappear. I counted myself lucky that I managed to find this lead at all. 

Within a few minutes, the worker came back with a janitor who beckoned me to follow him up to the rooftop. I nodded a goodbye to the three employees and went after the janitor. 

"'Bout time somebody came to fix that darned thing," Mac grumbled. "I always hated coming up to this floor because of it."

I shrugged. "Yeah, well, I hope that I can do what I need to quickly and easily."

"Same here," Mac grunted as he unlocked the door. "In fact, I think I'm gonna help ya out a little bit. Gotta show ya where everything is and all that."

My stomach, which had been relaxing a bit, tightened up again. "Oh, I'm a professional, sir, I think I can figure it out."

"I'm not gonna have you mucking up the AC because you only think you know what you're doing!" Mac snapped as he pushed the door open. "Now I'm not gonna get in your way, I'm just gonna watch over you a little bit for a few minutes to make sure you got everything you need, that's all."

"Oh, sure." I walked past Mac onto the rooftop. "Reasonable enough, I guess."

As we walked further onto the rooftop, my gaze flickered over to Roshab's building. I could see it standing so close beside me. I just needed to get rid of this janitor first, then I could actually... jump between buildings in a busy city. It would all be worth it in the end when I got to hold Rarity again. So much better. 

I tore my gaze away from Roshab and followed the janitor over to some panel on some of the wall jutting out of the roof. "Alright, this is where I think the problem is coming from with our air conditioning." Mac patted the panel. "Something might have shorted out, or something. You'd better be able to fix it."

I nodded and walked up to the panel, wondering how the heck I was going to get rid of Mac long enough to jump over to Roshab. "Er... yeah, sounds reasonable enough. If nothing else it's a good starting point." I put my bag down on the ground and knelt down next to it, opening up a side pocket that I knew was empty. I reached into it and cursed when I, predictably, found nothing. 

"Dang it. I cannot believe this."

"What?" Mac asked. 

I sighed and began rubbing my temples. "I... I know this is embarrassing, but I forgot my case of screwdrivers. You think you can lend me one or two?"

Mac glared at me, but let out a long-suffering sigh and nodded. "Yeah. Fine. Whatever, but you'd better do a really good job. I don't want you to half-ass it then have to come back again next week."

"Neither do I, sir."

"Whatever." Mac walked back over to the door and walked through it. When the door slammed shut behind him, I zipped up the side pocket, slung the bag over my shoulder, and ran over to the edge of the building. 

You know when you're up high and they say "don't look down?" Yeah, sage advice, actually, especially when you're about to jump from one high building to another, and if you mess up, heh, no more you. They're cleaning you off the streets with a spatula. Al of this was made worse knowing that this would probably be one of the least crazy things I did that day. 

"Dammit, TD," I grumbled. "Just do it. This is for Rarity. One step at a time. Your bag first, okay?"

Yeah, my bag first! Good idea. I took the bag from around my shoulders and stood up on the edge of the building. The weight of the bag threw me off for a moment, but with my improved the physique, I could get it across. I gripped the bag, wound up, and threw it as hard as I could. The bag sailed through the air and, to my immense relief, landed right on the edge of the building. Not close enough to the edge that gravity would take its toll and it would tumble down. My bag was safe. 

Now for the nastier part. 

I grimaced and cracked my neck, my stomach getting that feeling in it that you get just as you're about to go down the first gigantic drop in a roller coaster. I groaned to myself and took a few steps back. Had to get a running start. Mac could be back at any moment, so it was now or never. I bolted forward as fast as I could and, just as I reached the edge, put as much power into my jump as I could and sailed through the air. 

My first thought while I was mid-air was that I wouldn't even come close to making it. 

Not a fun little thought. 

However, as I began my descent, I realized that I might have put enough power into it; that I could make it! I reached forward and braced for impact. As I collided with the stone side of the building, pain shot through my arms as I grasped onto any purchase that I could find. I managed to hook my fingers onto the rooftop, stopping my descent. 

Not a good spot to be in: hanging from a thirty floor building by your fingers. 

I couldn't give up now, though. I had to get to Rarity! Using all of my strength, I pulled upward and, inch by inch, I managed to move myself onto the rooftop. I knew that a single slip meant instant death, so that made a nice motivator. It took me a minute, but I finally managed to pull myself fully onto the rooftop. Once I knew I was safe, I rolled onto my back and began taking a few deep breaths. 

"Okay," I groaned. "Not doing that again... I hope."

Okay, enough of that. I had no real time to waste. I stood up and slung my bag back over my shoulder. I looked back over to the rooftop I had just jumped from. Mac didn't seem to be back yet, so that was good. He'd sure be confused, though. Hope they got their AC fixed for real soon. I turned away from that and walked towards a small doorway on the rooftop. 

My infiltration of Roshab Inc. had officially begun.