IC: Working Nights, Earning a living the only way we can Options

[Fortune]

Ryan shrugs.

"So could the bullet in the head if you just throw him out back in the alley."

[amra28]

Out of the corner of his eye Pesto catches Bubbles leave the area behind the bar. Deciding that now is a good time to act on the groups talk of leaving he lets the diagnostics run in the background while setting Clara the task of continuously scouting around the bar.

He picks out a more comfortable spot on the floor and sits down while leaning against the bar. Closing his eyes he makes the transition to the world of virtual reality. Once there the orc pops on over to his van and takes control of Gina. After starting her up he uses the sensors to take a quick look around the immediate vacinity. Then Pesto casual drives the van over to the bar.

As he is bringing her in he sends the following message to the group:

"Our ride is on the way."

[Fortune]

Still holding the jammer wand, Ryan notes the message.

"That's handy. Still have to leg it for the bike though."

[adamu]

As most of the team coordinated their evacuation, Al found himself back at the bar, once again looking at the bottles of hard liquor he'd set aside earlier.

"Now kin we torch this dump?"

[Fortune]

Ryan looks up, a puzzled look on his face.

"So, can someone tell me again why we have to deal with dead junkies when we are just going to fire the joint anyway?"

[DireRadiant]

*** pop ***

Bubbles doesn't pause in her effort, but does glance down momentarily, before stating, "Wares?"

[Fortune]

Raising his eyebrows in an overly dramatic expression of disdain, Ryan casts his gaze in the direction of Mitch's corpse.

"Does he actually even have anythin' worth salvagin'? I doubt it."

Shaking his head, he shrugs and moves over to where Al is standing near the bar.

"Now that you're done with the doctorin', hold this for a while, will ya?"

Keeping it somewhat aligned with its intended target, Ryan hands the jammer wand to Al, simply assuming that the human will comply.

"Might be best if I run an' bring my bike back now. Could save us a pile of trouble later on." The elf pauses and looks around at the others. "You sure there's nothin' else you want me t' take care of first?"

While he waits for a sign from the rest of the group, he gathers up his medkit and checks the room for anything else of note.

[ Spoiler ]

Perception
Intuition 5 + Perception 4 + Vision Enhancement 3 + Visual Specialization 2 = 14 dice
-- 3, 1, 3, 5, 2, 5, 5, 6, 2, 1, 1, 3, 4, 1 = 4 hits

[adamu]

Busily uncorking bottles of liquor, Al crossed his eyes at the sight of the bodies being dragged off in one direction but the jamming wand headed in another - towards him!

Taking it with a grunt, he tossed several bottles around the bar hard enough for them to shatter, then grabbed three open ones by the necks in one hand and let them trail a spatter of alcohol in his wake as he trotted out after the fleeing bodies, wand pointed in their general direction.

Somewhere along the way, his lit cigarette managed to fall on the floor at his feet, but he didn't look back.

[BishopMcQ]

Ryan
You take a courier's pack and shove the clothing, sidearm and boots into it as you move through the bar. Double-checking everything, you mentally inventory items from each section that were of value. What you can't fit, gets loaded into the van when it arrives.

Team
The van arrives and you load bodies amidst small packages and stolen goods. Behind you glass shatters and alcoholics weep as thousands of dollars of liquour is spilled. Overproofed rum spills out on the hallway, saturating the cigarette until the embers ignite the liquid. A carpet of flame crawls across the ground and up counters.

Within minutes, the van doors slam shut and begins driving away. A low growl rumbles through the streets as a motorcycle pulls in behind the van.

[amra28]

After the door closes and everyone is tucked away Pesto starts Gina away from the bar. As he does so he pops up another AR window and connects to Angelina. Turing on her scanners he runs a scan of the captives to see what surpises they may have hidden inside of their bodies.

[Fortune]

Having repacked the medkit in his bike, and reluctantly throwing the shotgun in the van with the rest of the suspect gear, Ryan was set to go. Just before the group leaves, the elf sticks his blond head in through the open driver's window to talk to Pesto.

"So, while you are all thinkin' up our next plan of action, we really need to pick up some supplies. No sense playin' the convoy when we don't know where we're goin' yet, so why don't you meet up with us at the Stuffer Shack down on Dorchester an' we can figure it out from there."

Nodding once, as if what he had just said had already been agreed upon, he spins and jogs over to the Harley, winking at Sun as he swings his leather-clad leg over the hog. Once she is seated behind him, Ryan hits the ignition, cranking the gas a couple of times just to savor the big engine's echoing roar in the confined space of the alley, then kicks it in gear, pops the clutch, and pulls out after the departing van.

Catching up with the other vehicle, the elf swings the bike out, pulling alongside and giving Pesto a wink and a wave before gunning the accelerator and speeding off in the direction of a fresh pack of smokes.

[Ophis]

Sun smiles as she climbs on to the bike behind Flint. As she settles her look shifts into a blonde haired elven biker babe. Her heels extend to impractivle levels and her bra shifts 'purting up' her breasts some.

In Sperethiel she says, "So is this how all your girl ride? Or do you have any other moves I get to see?"

[Fortune]

Ryan shifts his eyes to the mirror and catches Sun's gaze, his emerald cybereyes sparkling with a strange inner glow. A sly grin flickers momentarily across his features, then he winks, pops the clutch, and pulls the speeding bike up on its back wheel for a block or two.

[ Spoiler ]

Reaction + Pilot Ground Vehicle {Bike} = 10 dice
-- 3, 4, 2, 5, 3, 6, 6, 2, 1, 2 = 3 hits

Bringing the big Harley down onto two wheels just before swooping around a corner, Ryan again grins at the elf riding behind him. Another quick corner and he nods his head toward the unmistakable neon glow coming from the Stuffer Shack sign at the far end of the block. He mocks a frown in the mirror, then shrugs as he pulls into the parking lot.

Ryan smiles innocently as he turns to face Sun after they both dismount.

"I guess you'll have to wait a bit to find out just what other moves I might be willin' to show off."

[adamu]

Once the horny elves had roared off, Pesto had turned a corner, allowing Al, now riding shotgun, to see a satisfying billow of black smoke rising from a structure fire a few blocks away.

For a moment, he got a bit misty-eyed at the thought of all the beer they'd had to leave behind. A glance back at the cargo they'd opted for instead - Mitch's corpse and the unconscious figures of two drug-dealing divas - showed him Bubbles also in the back of the van. She had that far-away look in her eye that told him she was busy online.

He asked, loud enough for both tusker techs to hear, whether either had any way of scanning the girls for headware, not knowing that the ork beside him was already all over that problem.

[BishopMcQ]

Bubbles
A digital overlay of the world crosses your vision, blocking out parts of reality and enhancing others. You go back to the cameras the team had previously identified and begin to scrub evidence and security logs. The last fleeting image you have as you log off is a Knight Errant drone arriving on the scene. In its wake several news drones begin recording the burning building.

Pesto
Passing a thin scanner over both unconscious figures has a series of images and schematics flash across your image link. The younger woman, Tara, comes back without any apparent cyberware--oddly there's a tracing of what the scanner perceives as dust along her cranium and central nervous system.

Hayden is an ugly mix of implants that are so densely packed together the scanner is having a problem identifying them. Judging by their placement along her spine and core muscle group, reaction enhancement is nearly a guarantee. She also has extensive headware.

Team
With the burning bar in your rearview mirror, you put some distance between the scene of the crime and yourselves. Eventually, Ryan pulls into the parking lot of a mid-sized StufferShack. Behind him, the van pulls in and parks a few stalls away.

Chemical clarity reminds most of you that even if you felt tired, you won't be able to sleep for a day or two. Hopefully, this job will be done before then. Heading inside, a glassy eyed clerk sits at the counter. Beside him a teenage girl is flipping through a holographic screamsheet meant to entice customers. She occasionally pokes him when he begins to drool.

[amra28]

As Pesto is parking the van at the Stuffer Shack he sends the results from the scan to he rest of the team. The orc then adds the following message:

"Ok looks like Hayden is the muscle but she also has a head full of gear. Take particular note of the results from Tara's head. It looks like something was there and is not now. Right before we were attacked I found a hidden node through her but did not get a chance to investigate it. It may be gone now."

[adamu]

Al chuckled, very pleased with himself. "Well that there confirms my thee-ree - we din't find no comm on 'er, an' now we see there ain't none in 'er neither. That damned drug kin turn reglar folk into them danged new-fangled virtuoneticals - an' dollars ta donuts they done that ta pore Mitch, an' then hacked his drug-addled mind inta doomed submission."

The scruffy little man pulled compulsively at his Lucky Strike. "Ya ask me, Pesto muh friend, our first priority orta be seein' if there's still enough o' that rapidly disappearin' devil dust in 'er system to hack this hidden node yer goin' on about."

[Fortune]

Ryan gives the pair behind the counter a long, intimidating stare, almost daring either of them to say something about the pair of guns very obviously strapped on his hip, then busies himself filling the empty space in front of them with a growing jumble of goods. The elf's time spent stocking up for parties and raves, and his long familiarity with Stuffer Shack's seemingly universal layout makes the task go rather quickly. Soon there is quite an assortment of Nuke-n-Gnaw burgers, Krazy Krispies, Hurky Jurks, and other stuffers piled high on the counter.

After adding some duct tape and a couple of resupplies for the medkit to the collection, Ryan eyes the bubble gum momentarily while the clerk pulls down a carton of Virginia Real cigarettes, but quickly discards the idea, shaking his head in disgust that the thought even entered his mind.

[Ophis]

Sun hides a grimace at the pile of artificial food building on the counter and braves the Shack in search of something a little more culinarilly convincing. Finding nothing with any real merit she sighs and settles for a prepacked salad bowl and a tin of peaches.

[amra28]

"I will take a look and see if anything is still there to hack", Pesto sends to the groups links in response to Al's comments.

Staying in virtual reality the orc attempts to find any signals coming from Tara to see if he can again attempt a hack.

[DireRadiant]

Without any sign of strain the young troll unlimbered herself from her contorted position once the vehicle stopped and half slipped, jumped out. Turning back to face the interior she eyed the arranged bodies critically, then with a wad of gum stuck the jammer wand against the convenient groove in the side paneling pointing the device down into the interior. Seeing Pesto at work Bubbles strolled into the store, headed straight for the Red Hot Nuke It Burritos and grabbed a dozen El Grandes. With a practiced swipe of her credstick in one hand, with the other juggling the packages of burritos as she popped the self heating tabs on all of them in rapid fire sequence. She was half way out the door again, when she stopped. whirled and headed for the duct tape, industrial ties, and a 8 litre jug of Rainbow Brite Soda.

During cheery mid wave to the girl behind the counter a burrito package chimes, and in a flash she squeezes out the burrito and starts chewing on it, balancing chiming self heating burritos, industrial ties, duct tape, jugs, and a bites of refried soy-bean as she mentally flashes a confirmation code for the credstick to the Stuffer Shack node for her purchases.

Done shopping, Bubbles heads for the van and offers everyone a burrito.

[BishopMcQ]

Pesto
Sorting out the interference of the jammer is difficult, but you are able to find a thin line of data that isn't coming from the team's communications gear. It's possible that extra signals are being blanketed by the jammer.

[amra28]

Pesto mentally scowls at the trouble he is having with the jammer but figures that it might be to dangerous to turn it off.

The orc signals his find to the others:

"Ok there is still something there to hack but with the jammer on it will be tougher. I would like to take my time with it and maybe Bubbles can join me in case of trouble. Since going slow could take a few hours we might as well wait until we get set up somewhere."

[adamu]

Gratefully accepting the burrito, Al took a huge bite. For the last few months he'd been pouring all his wages into natural foods in an effort to rejuvenate his ravaged body, and he was surprised to find that he'd missed the always versatile taste of soy.

"Bitch of it all is," he said around a sticky mouthful of soycheese, "much as we's hankerin' fer a look at the other side o' that signal, whatever's on the other side may be lookin' back at us'n even as we speak."

[Fortune]

Tossing the young clerk a certified credstick, Ryan answers his questioning glance with another silent, steely stare. Gathering up his purchases, the elf wanders out to the van, where he deposits all but one of the bags of stuffers amongst the gathered group. Noticing that Bubbles had already doled out the food she cut in line to purchase, he graces her with a highly irritated scowl.

As the group discusses their immediate plans, the elf devours a couple of lukewarm burgers, then after lighting up a cigarette to the accompaniment of an exaggerated sigh of pleasure, Ryan sets about refilling and repacking his medkit.

A tentative plan agreed upon surprisingly quickly, the blond elf swings his leg over the bike, gives Sun a quick wink and kicks the big Harley to life. As soon as his passenger is settled behind him, Ryan cranks the gas and squeals out of the parking lot without a backward glance. Next stop, The Glory Hole in Tarislar.