Up from the Bottom, Wipe Those Tears and Pass the Ammo Options

[adamu]

Dirty Dick's Fine Food & Spirits
Friday 8/22/70 18:20:12

"Well, my guess, my speculation, my assumption, my foreboding, my anticipation is that I may soon find out for myself. That pair has to be them," Nym answered, casting his eyes toward the entrance.

There was enough smoke in the place to make Caittie's eyes smart. Stepping forward two steps behind Sledge, she cast her gaze about the place. There were heavy-drinking men and orks, the least sleazy of which looked like they had just stepped out of a bad pirate sim, and an occasional woman serving drinks...or being plied with them, over-sized posterior on a grease-stained knee or beer-gut-covered lap. A bartender ran a filthy rag over his countertop, roughly shoving a passed-out sailor's head off so that the poor sot fell off his stool and onto the floor in a heap.

A group of Asian men sang some sort of song off in the corner - all she could tell was that it wasn't Japanese or Chinese. She figured she had more teeth in her mouth than their whole group combined.

At the far side of the place she saw Johnson's back, but his body screened the person he was talking to.

[adamu]

Black Clinic, Merideth, Renton
Friday 8/22/70 18:19:39

"Well, if your only criteria is truly to alter your facial appearance, we are talking about an extremely simple process. It can be done non-invasively and on an out-patient basis. Of course, I will need you to specify for me what you want to look like - I would not presume to decide that for myself. One of my nurses will take you into another room, where she will help you with a virtual graphics program that will allow you to reshape a 3-D image of yourself in any way you desire. As you work on the image, the price for the look you are creating will adjust, letting you know how much you will need to spend. Alternatively, you can input a maximum expenditure, and the program will automatically limit the sculpting options to that price range. The simplest mods start at Y100, and after that the sky is the limit."

The doctor spoke into the air, calling for someone named Matty. Then he added, "If you are interested not only in being unrecognizable visually, but also have your facial biometrics altered to fool an automated scanner, you can tell the program that as well. That tends to add an extra digit to the price, however."

A nurse came and directed the trolls to a room with a big sofa and some chairs. They sat, and she offered Rocky options for loading the graphics program.

[BlackHat]

Dirty Dick's
Friday 8/22/70 18:20:50
Smith - Face
PAN - Hidden

Smith glanced behind him, recognizing Sledge and Angel, and nodded his agreement. As they approached, he stood with a gentlemanly smile, offering both his seat, and the one he had pulled to the table earlier. He seemed content to stand, at least while introductions were made, but began eyeing the room for a nearby chair he might take without risking a knife to the face.

[adamu]

Dirty Dick's Fine Food & Spirits
Friday 8/22/70 18:20:40

As Johnson stood and stepped to the side, the team's two female members saw that they were approaching an ork dressed in faded and dated business-casual attire. His lower tusks were filed to points. His eyes were solid black orbs, and they protruded just enough to create a mildly bug-eyed effect - though whether by design or as a result of bad surgery was hard to say. Thick, curly, black chest hair billowed up out of his collar.

In tandem with Johnson's gesture, he motioned the two to sit. "I am Nym. Your names are not important, but who you are is critical. I love word association games, don't you?"

Johnson found a vacant chair, and the ork commenced.

[JDragon]

Black Clinic, Merideth, Renton
Friday 8/22/70 18:20:08
Rocky - physical adept
PAN: Hidden

As Rocky was loading the software on to his comm, a message came in from Sledge.

<<@team:: We need to get a hold of a GPR, the concrete saw, and a tractor for hauling the saw. A tractor is a truck with a 5th wheel. Kind of like the last one I crashed. We'll need the rig, truck that is, first. Keep an eye out and think about where we can get one for the weekend. I have some ideas on where to get a GPR, and the saw, will do some work on that.>>

After getting the message he looked over at Cerberus to see him digesting the information as well.

"Damn, sounds like we got a lot of work to do this weekend. Guess this should wait till the work is done."

He finished loading the software figuring it would give him something to play with during down time on the run.

Leaving the room they found the nurse that had set them up, "We've had some things come up and need to get on the road, can I talk to Dr. Cline again for a minute or two?"

Matty lead them back to the doctors office and made sure he wasn't busy, then ushered them in.

Looking up the doctor seemed a little surprised to see them, "Figure out what you want to do already?"

Rocky smiled and shook his head no, "Actually we have had something come up so I'll have to stop by some other time. I just wanted to thank you for your time and ask a couple quick questions before we leave. I know I need the work to effect my biometeric data, but can't go too crazy since I'm awakened and can't affoard any permenant damage." He stopped a second to let that soak in, "Since I was here I wanted to check and see how long it will take and what kind of lead time you need?"

[adamu]

Black Clinic, Merideth, Renton
Friday 8/22/70 18:22:18

The doctor responded easily. "As long as I don't add anything or cut any major nerves, the integrity of your aura should remain intact. You can add that parameter to the program, too, if you like. As for lead time, it is always best to call ahead - once you complete the program, I don't need much prep time, but I may not be here or I may be busy. So call ahead, unless you'd like to set up an appointment know, in which case Mrs. Cartwright out front will take care of you. The surgery itself should take no more than an hour, with maybe an hour recovery time here before you are ready to walk out on your own. After that, you'll want to take it easy for a couple of days."

His eyes drifted up and to the left. "Now, speaking of being busy, I have an appointment now."

The trolls took the hint, thanked the doctor, and headed out. Rocky decided he could make his appointment later, when he knew more about his schedule, and knowing he could do it by comm anytime, figured he wouldn't bother right now. Mrs. Cartwright indicated that there was no charge for the consultation, but that they would need the program back upon their return.

As they went out into the street, they saw a woman.

She was just swinging herself off of a big Honda Viking Supercycle. A golden jumpsuit climbed up her long legs, crept lovingly over generous hips, and culminated in a bonanza of cleavage, leaving her hugely muscled shoulders bare. She pulled her half-helmet off in an explosion of yellow hair that eclipsed her face in its abundance. It didn't hang from her head, it radiated from it, up and out. Only when the wind blew through its luxuriant mass could the delicate tips of horns be seen, placed well down the sides of her head and growing out almost horizontally.

Her skin was smooth, except for a single, dark-colored dermal deposit just a finger's breadth away from the left corner of her mouth, like a beauty mark. A collection of elaborate earrings dangled out from under her ears - they seemed to be made of teak or ebony - some sort of polished hardwood that was probably costlier than gold.

Her bold jawline contrasted sharply with her button nose and wide-set green eyes.

[JDragon]

Black Clinic, Merideth, Renton
Friday 8/22/70 18:23:01
Rocky - physical adept
PAN: Hidden

Rocky tried not to stare, but he hadn't gotten any recently and it was hard not to take in all of the view.

He glanced at Cerberus seeing that he was also enjoying the view, didn't stay anything and continued heading for the van, at a little slower pace.

He glanced around a couple times to make sure the woman wasn't just a distraction for someone trying to jump them or things of that such.

[JDragon]

Black Clinic, Merideth, Renton
Friday 8/22/70 18:23:15
Rocky - physical adept
PAN: Hidden

Not seeing anyone around and not wanting to be reconized near the clinic Rocky kept moving for the van.

"Lets go chummer, the weekend just got a lot busier."

Cerberus shot Rocky a nasty look as he continued to watch the woman heading for the clinic. Then with a sigh turned back toward the van and pulled up his comm.

<<@Team: Done with the side trip, on the way to find somewhere to crash. We'll call if we see anything we need for the party.>>

[Konsaki]

Dirty Dick's Fine Food & Spirits
Friday 8/22/70 18:26:51
Caittie – Technomancer – Hidden
PAN – Passive

Taking a seat at the table, the elven female looked from the ork that she followed in to Johnson before finally settling her gaze on the man named Nym. She ran his introduction through her head quickly, before replying with a slight smile, “I guess you can call me Angel. I cant say it’s a favorite of mine, but I’ve played word association before.� With that she flicked another quick glance around the area, eyeing the other patrons of the “Dirty Dick� club.

“Very well, let’s play some.�, she heard the man say. Her eyes focused on the man once again just as he said, “Cross…� Following the standard rules of the game, she replied the first thing that came off her head, “Religion.� Without much of a breath between Nym fired over “Wolf�, to which a response of “Pack� was returned.
Then to Caittie’s slight confusion, the man said “Lapidary�. Thinking quickly, she did a search for it on the matrix, pulling up the definition of the word and responding “Skilled� after a second. He seemed to take the pause in stride as he continued without one, saying “Frame� which echoed a “Picture� response.

This continued for a while, having “Behemoth� calling forth “Cerberus� with a grin from the girl then “Manuscript� begetting “Writer� and “Declaration� linked to “Independence�. The game seemed to wind down after that, with “Rabbit� and “Girl� both being countered with “Fast� and “Boy�.

[adamu]

Dirty Dick's Fine Food & Spirits
Friday 8/22/70 18:27:09

The ork appeared most pleased with the outcome of the game. He said, "I am most pleased with the outcome of this game."

He leaned back and regarded the trio of shadowrunners, although with the solid black bug-eyes it was hard to tell exactly where his gaze lay. "I now feel I have some context for you. That is ever so important in establishing accountability."

He sighed. "But your agent informs me that there is some haste surrounding this order. And I sense that this one is not the type to reveal much." Was he talking about Sledge? "We will therefore table our acquaintance. For now, tell me what you need and let us settle on a price."

[Abbandon]

Black Clinic, Merideth, Renton
Friday 8/22/70 18:24:15
Cerberus- Street Samurai
PAN- passive

Cerberus stood there with his mouth open taking in this modded out female just long to snap a pic of her from behind to go with the frontal pic he had taken a few seconds earlier and then hurried to catch up with Rocky. "Hey check it out, I have been searching the matrix for some places that we might be able to stay at that offer some privacy. The first place is over in Columbia so lets head there first."

Unlisted "Motel", Columbia Seattle
Friday 8/22/70 18:54:03
PAN- Hidden

After a short drive around Merideth to look for a truck they headed for Columbia and entered into some low class neighborhoods, they passed by 24/7's, liqour stores, Stuffer Shacks, and a few bars some of them advertising naked and or scantily clad women. A few more turns later and the van pulled into the parking lot of an apartment complex. Cerberus wedged himself into the front seat again and followed the instructions on the message board and parked the van in an empty spot closest to where they needed to enter the building. "I dont care one way or the other but you might wanna stay in the van while I take care of this if your worried about staying off the radar, these kind of people might easily recognize you? Then again maybe this would be easier with a celebrity along? Either way keep your gun ready cuz this neighborhood is pretty dangerous."

Cerberus waited for Rocky's reply and then stepped from the van and made sure his gun was still stuffed in the back of his pants and then began walking towards the main office of the apartment complex. There were people everywhere. People who couldnt afford the matrix and who had nothing better to do thing hang around on their balconies and watch what kind of crazy shit would be happening tonight, street walkers chatting it up with each and eyeballing anyone who came near them as a potential customer no matter their age or sex, young men of various skin color and metatype all hanging out in groups and laughing it up. Still this area was alot cleaner looking than the place in the barrens they had holed up in previously, these people atleast had the sense not to piss and shit in their own watering hole.

Cerberus ignored them all and walked through the door to the main office...

[adamu]

Unlisted "Motel", Columbia Seattle
Friday 8/22/70 18:54:12

The place had the un-fresh smell of deodorizers, and half the lights were burnt out, but it was the Ritz Carlton compared to the place they'd shacked up in out in Redmond.

For instance, instead of negotiating with half-feral gangers, there was indeed an actual office.

It said SUPERINTENDENT on the door, but if Cerberus' information was correct, this "apartment complex" had several rooms that were rented by the night, no questions asked. It cost more than it was worth, except that it had a reputation for anonymity.

The door to the office was open, and a skinny man that looked like he might have been of Middle Eastern descent asked, "You a cop?"

[DireRadiant]

Dirty Dick's
Friday 8/22/70 18:27:15
Sledge - Shopper
PAN - Hidden

She'd tracked the ping pong word game briefly, it reminded her of one of the office bonding retreats that Van Buskirk had taken in the Cascades. It seemed a kind of pointless fun, but seeing it in action here made her realize it had all been to get a handle on her.

Sledge looked around the room once more, then reached for a chair, flipped it around to give some space from the table and sat where she could watch the room and still have room to get moving without tipping the table.

The verbal sparring ended, and the ork woman flashed a couple tusks at the men to show she was paying attention before nodding at Sugar Lips to go ahead.

[BlackHat]

Dirty Dick's
Friday 8/22/70 18:39:40
Smith - Face
PAN - Hidden

Smith jumped right in after Sledge's nod. "Haste, indeed. For starters, we're going to need a handful of new IDs - nothing fancy, just something we can put up so we don't stand out. If anyone checks on them, I won't be upset if they don't hold up. We also won't need, or particularly want, them to work past Monday. They should be typical of under-the-table construction-labor type Joes. Three of them. Two for the guys I met with your before, about, and the third one for my friend here." He gestured at Sledge. "Second, we're going to need a ID for myself. Something more sophisticated. It will certainly have to pass a cursory examination - but equally disposable come start-of-business Monday. I will be playing the role of the foreman, forced to deal with an emergency situation this weekend. It'll need a history of construction-management details, but we will handle the actual insertion of the SIN into the company's employee database ourselves."

He saw Nym nodding along, paying attention, and perhaps taking notes mentally, or in some sort of headware. The details of how Nym did his job wasn't overly important - the less physical evidence, the better. Smith continued, "We'll also need a few fake licenses and permits to tie everything up nicely. Three of them. The first is a construction permit - the company I will be working for have a problem that they don't know about yet. Their sewage is backing up in their building, and we're going to be sent in to take care of it. This will require some heavy construction equipment, and the local authorities will expect that we have proper... authorization. Secondly, we'll need a waste-disposal license for the same job. We'll be taking some nasty stuff out of there, and, on the off chance anyone checks, we better be certified for this sort of thing. Lastly, we need a vehicle license... we're not exactly sure what for yet." Johnson glanced at the other two, then back at Nym with a confident smile. "But we'll let you know in a few hours. Once we do, we need it to say that the vehicle isnt' stolen, and, rather, is typical of trucks rented by this particular construction company."

Smith sat back in his seat, and both he and Nym were silent for a second. Just as it looked like Nym was going to speak, Smith added, "Oh, and if you can get me a spoof-chip or one of those dynamic license-plates, that would be awesome."

There was another moment of silence. It was clear that Nym wished to be sure the young man in front of his was done. "And when do you need all of this by?"

"Yesterday, would be excellent."

"The three simple SINs should be no problem - I have a couple of characters in mind, already." It was Johnson's turn to nod. "For a premium, I can probably get you those and the licenses in a couple of hours." Smith looked momentarily surprised, but transitioned the emotion effortlessly into one of pleased acknowledgment. "The foreman might take a little longer to get just right."

"Tell you what, for sixteen-kay, I can get something together before midnight - I'll even throw in the name of a guy that can help you with your license-plate and spoof-software."

If Smith even considered the offer, it was for less than a second. He shook his head, "We're in a hurry, but we're not desperate." Still, he made no move to get up. "My intention was to make-good on my promise to bring in new business, not be mistaken for someone without options. I'm prepared to go as high as eight. If you don't want the job, or your bottom line is higher than that, then there'll be no hard feelings. I would hate to think that my problems are keeping you from the Salish Lodge, this weekend, but you'll have to understand if my friends and I have to get back to work." In contrast to Nym's empty stare, Smith's expressions and body-language spoke volumes more than even his mouth. It managed to keep the attention of the other three people at the table on him, and gave the impression that he was more than interested in keeping negotiation going.

"Eight?" Nym's blank expression faltered for a moment, looking slightly annoyed and perhaps a little offended - but just as quickly, he seemed to catch on to some joke, and smiled. "For what you're asking, even discount-class, I'd ask eight if I had all week to work on it. I'm happy to help you out with... whatever it is you have going on this weekend, but its going to cost me a little more to get the wheels of progress working overtime. The quality of this sort of work, is in the details - and that takes time to get right. If you know someone who can do work as good as mine, overnight, for less than fourteen, let me know."

Smith nodded. "You see, this is why I came to you first. Your work speaks for itself - and has been speaking for me for longer than you and I have known one another. I think we can help you with the details - if that is where the expense is. See, you haven't gotten to know my friend Sledge, here, yet - but she knows a lot about this sort of thing. I'm sure she could fill you in with all sorts of anecdotes and details regarding the sorts of individuals we're talking about generating - and the sorts of details that could colorfully pepper their backgrounds. Still, I think we could go as high as ten, because I really do appreciate the fact that you're giving up your trip to the Falls to do me this favor." Smith smiled at Sledge. He hadn't actually thought of that when he invited her along - it was mostly because he figured he would need her biometrics. Well, that wasn't entirely true. Angel could have taken them, and sent the data like she did last time. In any case, he was glad he did, because when Nym had mentioned details, he had suddenly realized what leverage her background gave him.

The tactic was a little unorthodox, but it seemed to do the trick. Smith apparently knew a little more about Nym's personal interests than Sledge or Angel did. Nym raised an eyebrow, and looked at Sledge - but with curiosity, not the sort of look that the other men in this place gave the two women on the way in. Nym was obviously interested in whatever specific details she might possess, that he might add to his repertoire. Or, maybe there was something more there. Smith couldn't really tell, but certainly wasn't going to complain if the two of them hit it off.

Nym then looked back at Smith, and negotiations resumed. It seemed that the closer they got to agreeing on a price, the more personal, and less professional, the discussion became. It was as if each man was using the banter to learn more about the other, and his position, and that as they learned more about one another, they became better acquainted and friendlier. Ten minutes later, when they were done, and settled on a price of (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nuyen.gif) 11,270, both men seemed pleased. Neither man had expected their initial offer to be accepted, but both seemed happy that they had moved away from the other's equally ridiculous initial offer. Strictly speaking, Smith seemed to have gotten the upper hand, but only by (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nuyen.gif) 800 or so. It seemed the two men held one another in higher esteem, afterwards - and in addition to throwing in the name of the mechanic who could help with the plates (who both men had seemingly forgotten about until the end, when Smith brought it up), they had agreed to get together some weekend, when work was less demanding, for an entirely social get-together. Of course, Sledge and Angel were invited, as well, but it was unclear if this was out of courtesy, because they were present, or because either man had any interest in some sort of bizzare shadow-world-double-date.

[Abbandon]

Unlisted "Motel", Columbia Seattle
Friday 8/22/70 18:54:25
Cerberus - Street Samurai
PAN- Hidden

"You a cop?"

Cerberus was stunned briefly, how could anyone mistake his ass for a cop he though to himself and more importantly how could he prove he wasn't. "Not even close chummer, what about you? For all I know this could be a sting op." He reached one arm behind his back and grabbed his predator and just held it there ready to be quick drawn. The manager guy held his hands up in a wait gesture, "Ok big guy just stay frosty, I believe you, dont do anything stupid." The manager waited to see what Cerberus was going to do next which was good enough to cancel out some of his fears so he let go of his predator and brought his arm back into a nuetral position. The manager continued "As for me not being the cops you probably didnt have a very easy time finding out about us which would make it a very piss poor sting op if we were the cops. So lets just get down to business. We do not require SIN's and you do not have to worry about camera and your free to scan for them to verify that fact, of course if wanted to have some camera in the rooms for whatever reason we have some equipment and a crew who can set it up in a flash for a little extra. All audio/video/sim captured will be turned over to you at the end of your stay and erased from the equipment. So what did you have in mind?"

Cerberus waited and listened patiently for the man to give his little speech even though he just wanted him to shut up already. Cerberus had alot to get done tonight but you you catch more flys with honey or so he had been told so he waited. "Excellent, I won't be needing anything extra..this time. I am just looking to rent 2 rooms that are next to each other for the next 4 nights and absolute privacy. I'm not doing anything crazy with the rooms so you dont have to worry about the place getting trashed...this time. One of the rooms should be troll friendly though if possably, if not no biggy. So can you hook me up? If so how much are we talking about, my budget is kind of tight.

[adamu]

Unlisted "Motel", Columbia Seattle
Friday 8/22/70 18:54:35

"Four nights, two rooms, no questions asked. Sixteen-hundred, in advance."

There was a gurgling noise as the man sucked something from an elaborate brass water pipe.

[Abbandon]

Unlisted "Motel", Columbia Seattle
Friday 8/22/70 18:54:50
Cerberus - Street Samurai
PAN- Hidden

Cerberus stood there and stared at the man trying to be intimidating as possable while he churned all the numbers around in his head. He knew this place sure as hell wasnt going to be worth no 1600 nuyen as far as accomodations were concerned but what price could he place on their anonymity. Cerberus finally came to terms with it all, he could tell his stare down was having no effect on the guy so he just continued along, "Thats alot of cash for a pace like this anoninymity or not...is there any chance you can throw in some free room service if the need arrises? I will take the rooms either way. Besides rooms and girls what other things do you have to offer? For future reference.."

Pulling out the last of his nuyen he peeled off sixteen hundred worth and laid them on the counter. This was bad, he was hoping to get a much nicer place as the fallback location but now it looked like it was gonna be another dive like this only in worse shape from the lack of high rollers coming and going.

[adamu]

Unlisted "Motel", Columbia Seattle
Friday 8/22/70 18:55:10

The swarthy little man shrugged. His posture was abysmal, and as he raised his shoulders his right ear almost touched his collar. "We got anything you need. Chips, pills, pizza, pussy. Room service free. But nothing else. Pay as you go." He tossed a couple of keys onto the counter in front of him, and also flashed a sealed ARO at Cerberus. "For your rate, rooms have two kinds of locks. File has transferable code for maglocks. Keys for the old ones. You're on the top floor. Anyone comes looking for you, we let you know. Maybe not me. But someone. Maids are on vacation."

[JDragon]

Unlisted "Motel", Columbia Seattle
Friday 8/22/70 18:54:07
Rocky - physical adept
PAN: Hidden

"No I'll hang here, call me if you need any back up."

Rocky scanned the parking lot from the window after Cerberus left to see if any one was paying to much attention to the van. Not seeing any problems he sat back down and pulled out his comm, loading up the program Dr. Cline had given him.

As the doctor mentioned the program had options at the beginning that would allow him to set the limits he needed to make sure it did not have any negative effects on his aura, which was the most important thing to him. The second setting he looked in to was to set the limit to allow him to make the most changes possible to prevent facial recognition software from being able to pick him out of a crowd.

[Abbandon]

Unlisted "Motel", Columbia Seattle
Friday 8/22/70 18:55:30
Cerberus - Street Samurai
PAN- Hidden

"Cool, ok well it was a pleasure doing business with you.", Cerberus scopped the keys off the counter and made his way back out to the van and Rocky. As soon as he was within piggyback ange of the van he flipped open his commlink and got on the team network. <<@team: "Ok, I just got us hooked up with a place where we dont have to worry about laving a trail. It was alot more expensive than I thought but i think it was worth it. I have to change the plan for our second option, I'm gonna need 800 nuyen wired over to this SIN so I can go shopping online. Other than that I guess Rocky and I should begin looking around for a new truck?>>

Cerberus approached the van's rear and climbed in and took up his usual seat across from Rocky, who was being playing with his commlink, and then shut the door. He didnt have any idea where they mght find a truck like they needed that was available for repossession and he dreaded talking to the she bitch but that would be the fastest source of info. <<@team: "So..where exactly should we be looking for said truck?">> Cerberus opened the search browser in his view and began looking for places to stay on the other side of town that had prices they could afford while he waited on a response to his question, at the same time he also set the van on a course back towards the heart of Seattle just because he would probably have to start heading that way anyways..

[BlackHat]

On the Road Again
Friday 8/22/70 18:56:40
Smith - Face
PAN - Hidden

Smith, Sledge, and Angel hadn't spent a lot more time at Dirty Dick's. Once the deal was made, and half of the money transfered (the rest to be transfered upon delivery), the trio spent only enough time at Dirty Dick's for Sledge to go someplace discrete with Nym and supply her biometric data, and fill him in on some tidbits of background with which to color the histories of the new identities. Afterwards, they excused themselves, and Nym understood. Now, all of them had a lot of work to get done, this evening. As they left, Smith brought up the vehicle again. He was concerned that the team would need to lift it (or decide to rent it) quickly, so that Nym would have time to fix it up, and so that he would have enough time to arrange for fake plates. Actually, he suspected he could do that anyway - and that it would be a good idea, even if just for the love machine, and his own bike. He checked with Sledge to see if she needed the same parts for her own bike, or if she had already taken care of it. Angel was still doing her thing, and suspected it would be most of the night before she would be done investigating their matrix security. So, the two groups split up, as they left - the idea being that both Sledge and Smith would joyride for a while, keeping their eyes open for suitable vehicles, but first Smith would call the man whose name Nym had given him to ask about parts, and Sledge would drop Angel off somewhere where she could go VR in peace. They also intended to check in with the trolls.

First, Smith called the contact. There wasn't any answer, so he left a voicemail message politely introducing himself, explaining his connection, and mentioning interest in a business-deal (without naming any specifics).

Fifteen minutes later, Smith was driving around more industrial parts of town, wasting gas, but keeping his eyes open for anything that might be usable (whether it was guarded or not). He clearly didn't know that much about construction equipment, or stealing vehicles, because the few suggestions he made to Sledge had obvious problems that she explained to him. He had forgotten to check in with the trolls until he saw their traffic on the network. He was glad they were on the job, and taking care of the team's lodgings.

<<@Team:: "Good work. How expensive are we talking?">> Smith was slightly worried that 'a lot more expensive' meant that Cerberus had been screwed, but if it was within the team's overall budget, he wasn't going to let it bother him too much. <<@Team:: "Also, what makes you think the next place is going to be any cheaper?">>

[Abbandon]

On the Road
Friday 8/22/70 18:57:00
Cerberus - Street Samurai
PAN- Passive

<<@team "Well 1.6k for two rooms for four nights. We didnt need SIN's and we dont have to worry about camera's. I tried to haggle with the guy but he wasnt budging. The other place isnt going to be as expensive because im going the legit route that will require a SIN, and will have camera's and I'm looking at the prices of the rooms right now. How did things go on your end? How much money do we have left to play with? >>

[BlackHat]

On the Road Again
Friday 8/22/70 18:57:40
Smith - Face
PAN - Hidden

Smith's voice seemed relieved. <<@Team:: "Well, sixteen-hundred isn't too bad. Negotiations went pretty well on our end, so we've got about seven-thousand left.">>

He paused for a moment. <<@Team:: "If our first location turns out not to be secure enough, I think our backup should be more secure - not less. If we were going to risk going some place linked to our SINs, we could all just go home. Even if it cost us another two-thousand, I think it would be a good investment... although, maybe this time I should do the shopping, and you two can focus on the upcoming smash-and-grabs - it'll help the two locations seem less connected.">>

<<@Team:: "Speaking of which, every truck I've seen that we could use looks like its being used - and not by the kinds of guys we necessarily want to mess with. Would we rather wait 3 hours, and rent a vehicle - which I figure would run us less than a thousand for the weekend. It'll mean they'll be checking up on my rushed SIN, though - and if it throws up any red-flags, we won't have enough money to replace it before the job. What do you guys think?">>

[adamu]

On the Road Again
Friday 8/22/70 18:59:20

Johnson's commlink sent his AR display an icon signifying a new text message that had apperently been sent through an anonymized router. It also notified him that the connection was no longer active and that the virus scan had come back negative. And it thoughtfull made the icon green, so that it wouldn't be confused with the plethora of red traffic icons swimming before the young man's eyes.

Opening the mail, he read:

<<Called our mutual friend and he assures me that you "have accountability." I think he also said he had "context" for you, which is really high marks from that guy. If you want to do business, send one person alone to the Starbucks on Fifth and Pacific downtown. Tell us the time. Be visible in the window, and get into the first green van that stops and is playing loud Goblin Rock. Do what you're told from there, you'll be fine. Don't, you'll be dead. ET.>>

[pragma]

Greg's Doss, Enumclaw, Auburn
Friday 8/22/70 18:59:40
Fortunato - Support Mage
PAN - Passive (Contacts, Earbuds, Smartlink)
Astrally Inactive

The work was arduous. Exhausting. Slow. Every inch of the wall had to be covered, formulae had to be dredged up from ancient classes. Under normal circumstances he would have pulled out his professor's books and started looking through them, but he didn't own those anymore. Also, the garter snake coiled in the center of the room seemend to be getting impatient, hissing and shifting wildly. Greg really didn't want it to start shitting on the floor. He decided to improvise.

He would give the room scales, and slitted eyes, to see what was coming and protect itself. Reconfigure and slide out of the way. His meticulous equations gave way to long, sytliezed arcs reminiscent of cave men huddled in the dark, scratching stories on the wall to ward of spirits.

It made things interesting at least.

He'd kept an idle eye on the comm traffic that flitted in and out as he worked for hours. His furniture sat in the center of the room and his commlink was piled atop his makeshift kitchen supplies, sending text to his rapidly drying contacts.

He chimed in to the latest barrage, saying:

<<@Team: I know it's uncomfortable, but the last place we stayed was pretty secure. We've got a working relationship with the gang and we know they'll work for cheap -- especially if Johnson talks to them -- they don't like metas but they do like cash. I think Hotel Hell should be the backup.>>

Pausing, he continued.

<<@Team: And I think we should rent the van. We stand to turn a bigger profit on favors than on keeping the expense money. Also, stealing the truck will probably throw up a lot more red flags. If we can rent Saturday -- I can take care of disguises for whoever's buying. Just busy until late tonight.>>

He took a deep breath and continued sketching. Two more walls needed protection sooner or later, no matter how much of a pain this promised to be, and the snake wasn't getting any happier.