Fragment Scenario: A discarded possibility to the flashback in which Vin first reunites with Nick.

Vin could hear the sounds of an argument long before he could see the cause. That he heard any human voices alone was a bit unexpected, but hearing a pair of angry male voices involved in a vociferous battle of words this far out in the wilderness was enough to make him uneasy. Gripping his rifle by the barrel, he squeezed gently on the reins with the other hand and brought his mount to halt.

Quietly, the young bounty-hunter dismounted and crept toward one likely boulder. As he approached his vantage point, the sounds of the argument resolved until he began to get some idea of the content. From what he could piece together, the two men had been driving off-road when one distracted the other and they wound up getting stuck in deep rut on the side of the trail. The two men were now arguing about whose fault it was and what they were gonna do about getting free. Vin shook his head and sighed… city boys.

Glancing over the boulder to get a visual on the men, he was surprised when he saw the fancy black sports car half tilted into the four foot gulley. His eyes widened increduously. Even city boys couldn't have been stupid enough to take a sports car off-roading! And how in the hell would they have gotten it this far out into the hills, anyway?!

That's when Vin realised something else. He had a clear view of the wide swath cut through the trees from his high vantage point, the boulder placed on a hill just beside the old grass-covered logging road leading deep into the wilderness. He could see everything in the immediate area, and for quite a ways around it. And yet, though he continued to hear two voices from close up, he could only see one man.

That one man was crouched on the ground, leaning down into the gulley to inspect where his car's front end dipped into the deep rut. He was cursing continuously, while the other man (whereever he was) called him all kinds of fool for having driven into the ditch in the first place.

Vin raised his eyebrows as the man on his knees suddenly got fed up and shouted angrily at his invisible companion. "Will you shut up! You're the one with the goddamn scanners; you should have warned me!"

"I did warn you!" the companion returned in cold, clipped tones. "You just didn't react quickly enough!"

"You gave me half-a-second's notice, you bucket of bolts! I didn't have time!"

"I would have been able to avoid this obstacle had I been driving," the cold voice insinuated nastily.

Not missing the insult, the guy in Vin's sights rose from his crouch to stand glaring at his vehicle. Instinctively, the bounty-hunter tightened his grip on his rifle, the weapon shifting into near ready position as a natural motion. Something about the man's demeanor set off all of Vin's mental alarms.

This man, whoever he was, was dangerous.

"You are injured," the faceless voice continued in a calmer tone, all emotion suddenly leached from it until only cold clear logic resonated. "You are not operating at peak efficiency. Your performance is suffering."

Vin's brow furrowed at the odd choice of words, even as the man flinched as if slapped.

"My 'performance' is fine! I don't need a computer telling me what to do!"

A computer? Vin thought. What the heck?