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

[amra28]

All of the exertion he had recently gone through has left Pesto hovering between the waking world and the world of dreams. The sounds of screaming take a moment to penetrate his foggy brain but eventually they have the effect of dragging the orc into the waking world.

Not sure what the heck is going on, Pesto first looks around the church. As he does so he also double checks the AR feeds from his drone's camaras. When it finally dawns on him that the noise is coming from Tara he brings up the AR feed from her node to see if there are any new developments there.

[BishopMcQ]

Pesto
The AR feed from Tara's node is still jammed by the directional jammer that Bubble's stuck to the wall. Outside, the drones show the street as empty as before.

Al
Looking in on the vixen, Hayden looks to be still unconscious. From the belly wound though, you've seen men linger on for days drifting in and out of consciousness. It's not unreasonable for her to be out for a few more hours.

[adamu]

Satisfied that the she-devil is probably still out, Al keeps one eye on her but leans against the door jamb and puts his shotgun under the crook of his arm. He takes out his commlink and, shooting for an inside straight, checks the public directory for bakeries that do early morning retail sales within walking distance of the kraut bar.

He hopes there aren't any.

[Fortune]

Startled by the sudden scream, Ryan's reflexes have him in a defensive crouch, his hand already grasping the butt of a pistol before awareness of the situation actually sinks in. He vainly tries to cover his twitch of surprise by slowly and deliberately running the hand through his short, dirty blond hair as he squares his shoulders and straightens his posture. Crushing the cigarette beneath a worn, black leather boot, he strides purposefully across the room toward the sound.

"You know, I was jus' wonderin' which one of 'em was gonna be first. Looks like we got us a volunteer."

His steps take him directly to the screaming woman, where the elf raises his hand and slaps Tara full across the face.

"Shut the fuck up, you slut."

Turning, Ryan glances in Sun's direction.

"You wan' me t' start? Or ...?"

*Sperethiel

[BishopMcQ]

Team

With the solid slap from Ryan, Tara goes still and silent. There is a ripple and shift in her body language as she turns to face the elf.

"Fuck you!"

She glances down at herself and then looks around the room.

"I see we're doing round two. Are you sure you don't want to just rape me, it's supposed to be a very effective torture method against women. And, you look like you could use a good thrust. Either way, there's nothing left for me to say."

[BishopMcQ]

Ryan
It's odd, for a split second while Tara was screaming, her eyes were a deep blue. Now that she's calmed down, her eyes are back to being a hazel color.

[Fortune]

Ryan hesitates, squinting as he bends to take a second look at the prisoner. Shaking his head slightly, he dismisses the momentary image, and stiffens both his posture and his expression as he addresses Tara.

"It hadn't occurred t' me, but I'm sure we can arrange somethin' if ya want. Long as you play nice an cooperate."

He leans right down and puts his maliciously grinning face right in front of Tara's, noses almost, but not quite touching.

"Besides, if ya think that's the worst I can do, well, you're in for a big surprise."

[ Spoiler ]

Intimidation

The way I see it, the positive modifiers from the Intimidation table pretty much cancel the negative modifiers from the Social table. In case that is not quite right, I will roll four extra dice and list them at the end. Feel free to adjust as you see fit. :)

4 charisma + 4 intimidation {+ 4 random modifiers} = 8 {12} dice
- 4, 2, 6, 2, 6, 1, 1, 3, {5, 2, 2, 2} = 2 {3} hits
-Not the best possible result!

[amra28]

After getting the results from his commlink Pesto shakes his head and thinks, 'damn I must be more tired than I realize. Forgot all about the jammer.'

The orc takes a quick glance at the trodes and then looks away as he realizes now is the time for the other team members to do their work. He does feel a momentary twinge of regret knowing what is about to happen to Tara but he gets past it when he reasosn she shouldn't have gotten involved in this type of work to begin with.

[DireRadiant]

"Noisy." she commented as the screams triggered her into a crouch alongside the little bench where she'd been examining the desktop forge. After checking on the people moving to the sound, Bubbles kept the ARO windows open where she was running some searches and analysis on the device as she made yet another circuit of the building checking on what she could see outside for herself.

<<@pesto:: Seen instructions for this thing anywhere?>>

[amra28]

After reading the message from Bubbles that pops up in his visual display Pesto shakes his head while looking at the troll but then stops and says, "Nothing specific like that but Al grabbed a bunch of chips from the bar. Maybe there was some info on one of them."

[Ophis]

Sun watches the the exchange between Ryan and Tara.

"Calling our bluff my dear? You have some guts on you young lady. She's right I suppose, we have very little left we can use for leverage on her. Sweetie, I don't thing we're going to get more out of her. Then again given her Matrix presence I'm sure we can find some way to make a profit out of her."

Sun's mannerisms is businesslike and cold. She watches Tara carefully for any reaction.

"On the other hand if she tells us everything she knows, she may just walk out of here in one piece. It's her choice now. I just hope she's as sensible as she is ballsy."

[BishopMcQ]

Interrogation

"The question of course comes down to who you will turn me over to..."

Tara gives out a deep sigh and rolls to face Sun.

"So, since we both know that the worst you can do to me is torture and in all likelihood eventually kill me, let's pretend that I am afraid of you. What do you want to know?"

Hackers

Examining the desktop forge, it is obvious that there is a partial supply of unprocessed stock still inside the forge. The production process was cancelled earlier when it was removed from the bar. If a steady power source is reattached, you believe it will continue automatically. Despite the modifications that Bubbles found earlier, you may be able to find a basic operation manual in the Matrix.

[Ophis]

Sun smiles at the girl.

"We want to know about the people who set up the drug production in the bar. In detail please, or we'll sell you to MTC, I'm sure they'd love to open you up and see how you tick."

[adamu]

Bored with wondering whether Hayden was asleep or faking it, and equally exasperated with his inability to find out whether there was a bakery within walking distance of the Kraut bar, Al sauntered over to where Bubbles was working on the forge.

First he emptied his pockets of the vials of chemicals he'd liberated from the lock box - "Reckon since these ain't packaged fer distributation, they might as well be the raw stuff."

Then he squatted down and began offering a steady stream of completely unsolicited advice.

[BishopMcQ]

Interrogation

"Right, more with the drugs. Let's start with Keith. You remember him, right? So he hired me to serve drinks and sell some drugs...Keith works in his office, brings drugs to be sold and interacts with the big boys. He's an asshole with a penchant for "need to know" and how I usually don't. The fucker is a lousy lay and has no otherwise redeeming qualities except for the fact that he pays well."

The Forge

With the local grid being fairly shoddy for power consumption, Bubbles begins trying to stabilize the circuit and minimize the amount of fluctuation. Al and Pesto do their best to help out and soon the three of them have the small forge cranking away. As time ticks by, small pills start ticking out at the end of the production cycle.

Examining the forge, there is an opening where the blocks of encased vials will fit. At the moment, the slot is full while the system uses the internal product.

[adamu]

Once it was clear that the vials he'd liberated were indeed the base material for the drugs, Al gathered them up and put them back in his pockets. He didn't know his new companions well enough to be sure they wouldn't just decide to go into the poison-peddling business themselves.

And anyway, the Captain had said not to - which was not of particular concern to the enterprising little man, but he wanted a better handle on just who his employer was and how the fellow was tied up in everything before double-crossing him.

"So, 'nother piece o' the puzzle. That'd call fer a beer if'n I had any. Damn shame, torchin' that kraut bar."

It occurred to him that although the elves were cloistered with Tara, he wasn't hearing any screams. That meant the vixen - the vixen on their side, that is - was probably playing things smart.

But if she was getting what she wanted, the sound of a single gunshot could come at any moment. He wanted to see what was up in there, but didn't want to queer the questioning.

He settled on a quiet text to Flint: <<Made a bit of a breakthrough out here. Come check her out.>>

Then he addressed his mechanically-inclined companions. "Great work. Question is: how's this git us any closer ta shuttin' these people down?"

[Fortune]

Now that the slitch was starting to open, Ryan is quite content for the time being to step back and let Sun take over.

For the time being.

As he listens to the prisoner talk, only half understanding what she is going on about, his commlink pops Al's text message up in one corner of his cybernetic vision. A quick scan of its contents has the elf softly making for the doorway, stopping only for a moment for one last look back, just to reassuring himself that the other elf had the situation in hand.

For the time being.

[adamu]

Al hailed the elven gunslinger when he made his appearance in the chapel. "Looky here, cowboy, we done got this contraption workin'," he proclaimed, gesturing at the forge with his Lucky. "Any luck with the nekkid broad?"

[Fortune]

Ryan eyes Al for a moment, puzzled at why the human would call him out of the room right when they were starting to make progress with the slitch. He slowly shifts his gaze to the nanoforge, but after a couple of seconds he merely shrugs in response.

"Gettin' there."

He nods his head at the machinery.

"So ... what's it do?"

[adamu]

"Shit on a cracker, hombre, it makes the damned drugs. It's a manufacturin' an' distributation substation, supplies the local dealers. Only since the drug ties all o' they's heads into the Net, well, that explains how each dealer kin handle seventy-odd blocks o' territory. Helluva cost saver. Leastways, that's whut I got goin' on in muh head fer now."

Al dug into his pocket and fished out the chips he'd read. "Scan the data yerself if ya like. Leastways, we know Seattle here ain't but a test market, but results've been good 'nuff that the high hats an' revenoors reckon they kin live with the body count. More important to our work at hand, we know there's more'n one o' these here contraptions scattered around, but that they ain't no good without the crap in these here vials I done abscondalized with. So rather'n go chasin' down all the different spots where they pump out the final product, we torch the place where they cook up the secret formula here an' we's on our way ta gittin' paid. An' I'd bet a week or three without poon that we gon' find the lab in question at a clinic in Georgetown."

[DireRadiant]

"Nano factory!"

Pointing to the input slot, "Feed it raw materials." then waving her arm through some ARO icons, "Plug in plans." a giant finger hovers over a switch on the machine, "Push button."

*** pop *** "Drugs!" as she points at the output slot.

"Whatever drugs you got plans for. All the drugs you can find explained on the Matrix!"

"Reds, greens, blues, poppers, hoppers, blowers, scams, tranks, tanks, freddies, bennies, debbies, holy smokers, dopes, soothers, curveballs, submarines, roller coasters, rockets, come arounds, nova, red hots, tamales, shrooms, booms, and whatever else you can think of."

*** pop ***

"Can even make aspirin."

Bubbles chews speculatively, "Pretty much anything it can make if you have the plans."

[adamu]

"Well hell, Yer Highness, ya got plans fer a beer?"

[Fortune]

Ryan listens somewhat distractedly as Al explains the contraption. Not really caring much for the technical aspects of the mission though, he is just about to repeat his shrug when the troll speaks up. Despite himself, he turns and looks at in her direction, eyes widening in interest as she fully details the possibilities of their new toy.

"So, you're tellin' me that this thing can make any drug. Any drug? Like novacoke? Psyche? Even that trauma patch drek?"

He eyes the machine with renewed interest, his mind spinning through the many scenarios that could be possible with this type of tech. He looks up, returning his gaze to Bubbles for a moment before once again addressing the human.

"How many of these things do ya think there are?"

[adamu]

"Least one, at a place called Location Bravo. Could be more. Reckon gutshot girl might know where it is," Al said.

He paused to hawk up a huge wad of phlegm and launch it into a distant corner of the chapel, sending a black spider with yellow bands scurrying. He had to be careful with this next bit, or things could go all to hell in more ways than one. He spawled out on one of the pews, legs spread wide, cigarette in his left hand, shotgun across his knees. But he used the casual movement to make sure his hand was firmly positioned on the grip of his weapon - he just didn't know these people that well yet.

"I kin guess where yore goin', Pecos, an' I won't say its a bad idea. Hell, just fer straight cash value, one o' these doohickeys be worth a damned sight more'n we's gittin' paid by the Cap'n - and that's IF he pays us, an' AFTER we do a helluva lot more shootin' an' pillagin'. So, bird in hand, an' alla that. Mighty temptin' to take what we got an' call the whole thing done. Or go git another one an' then walk. Or keep these things, an' THEN go finish the job we wuz hired fer."

His throat was clear, but there remained some annoyance in his nose. Deftly avoiding the lit tip of the cigarette in his mouth, he blew his nose into the space between his left thumb and forefinger, pinched off the product, and wiped it on his fatigue trousers.

"But no matter how ya slice it, there's a few things ya gotta consider afore goin' off half-cocked. The first an' foremost o' which is Her Gloriousness here. Seems ta me she already done foregone her cut o' the Cap'n's money in exchange fer dibs on all various an' sundry loot. Reckon we all agreed on that, so reckon at this point it's clear she gambled an' won. By rights, this gadget is hers. Now I don't mind blowin' off the Cap'n - he was an asshole, an' we already done enuff fer him to warrant our up-front pay. But we done been through fire with Her Majesty here, and that means goin' against her would be wrong an' worse'n wrong."

[Fortune]

Ryan's eyes narrow slightly as they move to the troll while Al moralizes, his mind turning over a number of various scenarios. When the human finishes, the elf gives the machine another look, but merely shrugs his shoulders casually in response. He pulls a pack of Virginia Reels from his jacket pocket, tapping the bottom to pop up a smoke. Leaning back against on of the few still intact pews, he touches the flame of his Zippo to the tip of the cigarette.

"So, now that the thing's workin', what does it actually do for us? Is there some kinda way that it can be used to hone in on the other sources? An' speakin' of that, can this thing be tracked by someone else?"