Tokyo in the Shadows, The story of Kambei Options

[Tabula Rasa]

Neo-Tokyo - 04/24/2008 – 1418

“I’ll take all three,� Kambei says, “I’m sure you are enterprising enough to find yourself another set.�

“Now for the second part of what I need. I need to know why they would do that to this particular girl. Seems like a lot of trouble to go through for a simfeed they could have gotten off any two bit girl they got off the street. Do you know which girl I am talking about or do you need me to spell it out for you?�

[Fuchs]

Neo-Tokyo - 04/24/2008 – 1418

Jun slowly gets up to get the chips, as careful as he'd be walking through a minefield. His answer takes some time too, probably because he's focusing on not moving hastily.

"I don't know about the girls, I just took the programs from the doctor's apartment."

Jun bends down, moving evne more slowly, and losens the cover of the entertainment system. There's a chip taped to the casing, and Jun hands it over to Kambei.

[Tabula Rasa]

Neo-Tokyo - 04/24/2008 – 1419

Kambei takes the chip and pockets it without easing up on the pistol, “I have no doubt that you don’t know about the girls, but I’m pretty sure you can point me to someone who would know exactly what I need to know. I need to know and I can’t really take no for an answer.�

“Remember, you help me get this done quick, no one finds out about our little deal and you can go on doing what it is that you do. I don’t get what I need and it becomes a bit more… complicated for both of us.�

[Fuchs]

Neo-Tokyo - 04/24/2008 – 1419

Jun swallows audibly, and his color doesn't improve, but the glimmer of hope he got is enough to make him pull hismelf together.

"That's Takashi Zunigata. He is the doctor's "handler", he's the one in charge. He brings the girls, and tells the doctor what to do with, to them."

[Tabula Rasa]

Neo-Tokyo - 04/24/2008 – 1420

"Great," Kambei says, "now tell me everything you know about him. I need to know where he lives, where he hangs out, how much ware he's got in him, how many people does he keep around him.

"Remember, you feed me any bullshit and this info is going to find it's way to the right people. Give me what I need to get what I want and no one will ever know you helped me."

[Fuchs]

Neo-Tokyo - 04/24/2008 – 1430

As it turns out, Jun hasn't that much information on Takashi Zunigata - not surprisingly, since the yakuza doens't mingle much with koreans, but what he knows he spills, even though he needs some questions to remember more.

According to Jun, the man is in his 30s, or looks like it, average height and weight, and dresses and acts like a sarariman except for his yellow cybereyes - and even those were in fashion half a season back among the middle-management.

Jun thinks the man is gay, since he never seemed to show any interest in the girls brought to the clinic, on the rare and not repeated occasions a new yakuza made some lewd remarks. Form what Jun knows, Zunigata has all his fingers, so he never messed up, and is treated with more respect by his men than yakuza his age usually get. No visible tatoos - but then, Zunigata always wore a business suit - and no visible weapons.

[Tabula Rasa]

Neo-Tokyo - 04/24/2008 – 1430

“Okay, two last questions,� Kambei says, “where do these guys, people in his position, usually work out of? And where do you keep the drugs you use to knock people out, I assume you have them.�

[Fuchs]

Neo-Tokyo - 04/24/2008 – 1430

Jun is sweating again.

"I don't know, but the kumi he is part of, the Sarenzen-Gumi, those guys have an office near our quarter. Not a good place to hang out as a Korean, you understand, so I don't really go there, but I guess that's where the man would be present. That or a gay bar in Shinjuku.

About the drugs... I don't got drugs to knock people out. I deal with chips, and watch the house here, that's all. I don't do no kidnapping."

[ Spoiler ]

Judge intention (8d6.hits(5)=2)

Kambei isn't entirely sure, but Jun sounds as if that's true - although he seems to be hiding something as well.

[Tabula Rasa]

Neo-Tokyo - 04/24/2008 – 1430

Kambei sighs loudly, “I think we were starting to get along, you trying to hide something from me?�

[Fuchs]

Neo-Tokyo - 04/24/2008 – 1430

Jun shakes his head, looking more nervous again. His language gets rougher as well, showing some accent.

"I am not hiding nothing, I don't do no knock-out drugs. I ain't no kidnapper."

He hesitates, but a glance at the predator makes him prattle on.

"I got chips, people slot them, you know? Just have to ask them, and they'll slot them. Don't need no drugs."

[Tabula Rasa]

Neo-Tokyo - 04/24/2008 – 1430

"Okay, sure," Kambei says. "Alright, now we are gonna walk out of here together, you in front."

"Your roommate should be dozing on a bettle downstairs and the camera won't record shit right now," he gestures with the gun, "lets go. Once we are outside, you walk towards that bar of yours and I'll walk the other way and hopefully we never have a reason to see each other again."

[Fuchs]

Neo-Tokyo - 04/24/2008 – 1430

Jun does not quite move like a man going to the gallows, but he comes close - the sleaze probably expects a bullet to the back of his head any second, even though he should know that Kambei would cap him in his apartment if he wanted to kill him. Probably the scene from "Stone Cold Returns", where the hacker is shot right when he thinks he was getting to survive is lurking in his subconscious.

However, Jun's got the right survival instincts, and behaves, so the two separate outside the building, and the korean doesn't look back until he has reached the next corner. By that time, Kambei has disappeared from his view already.

[Tabula Rasa]

Neo-Tokyo - 04/24/2008 – 1430

Kambei walks back to his bike – while fiddling with the chip in his pocket - and rides back home to get the nano-paste disguise completely off his face.

Once back home he puts the relevant – as in useful for blackmail – portions of his recent outing onto an encrypted chip and stores it in the small locked box he keeps for such things in the compartment underneath his floor boards.

Okay… so I got the chip, now I just need motivation and I can get my money and get some proper sleep. Now I know who the man I need to go after is. I think it’s about time for some outside help.

Kambei settles into his couch and rings up Rattler on his commlink. Hopefully he won’t mind me calling at this ungodly hour.

[Fuchs]

Neo-Tokyo - 04/24/2008 – 1445

Rattler's icon, the cartoon snake, appears in Kambei's visual field wearing a sleeping cap and a nightshirt and yawning demonstratively.

"I do hope this is either an emergency, or another lucrative business call, Kambei-kun."

The icon floats over to Kambei, circling around him.

"Do you ever sleep?"

[Tabula Rasa]

Neo-Tokyo - 04/24/2008 – 1445

Kambei sighs loudly, “not lately man, it’s been rough. If anyone suggests you take Long Haul to stay awake, my recommendation is to slap them.�

“Anyway, I did wake you so you can make some money, so there’s that,� he says, “I’m looking to track down a Takashi Zunigata, a member of the Sarenzen-Gumi, though I understand if you prefer not to. I’m looking to track down where he goes, what he does, etc… and most importantly where I can find him today.�

[Fuchs]

Neo-Tokyo - 04/24/2008 – 1445

Rattler's icon makes a face.

"Long Haul? Uh... that reminds me of long days of coding... but enough of that."

The snake icon sheds his nightshirt like a skin, and picks up a big book.

"Takashi Zunigata... hm... I should be able to find him, but it'll cost you - and I'll expect, of course, that should you get caught doing whatever you plan to do, you'll have the courtesy to make sure you'll not mention my name.

Isn't there this samurai tradition of dieing before capture? If not there should be... "

Rattler doesn't sound that serious, but he's also not using his joke voice.

"Anyway, about my fee...."

[ Spoiler ]

Rattler wants 2000 Nuyen for the job. Each hit in a negotiation test reduces this by 5%

[Tabula Rasa]

Neo-Tokyo - 04/24/2008 – 1445

[ Spoiler ]

Kambei makes a negotiation roll: (6d6.hits(5)=2)

After a bit of friendly negotiation they agree on a fee of ¥1,900 for his services. "And don't worry about your name," Kambei says, "I'm not sure I'd call myself a samurai but I would never rat out a friend."

"How long do you think it's going to take you to find what I need?"

[Fuchs]

Neo-Tokyo - 04/24/2008 – 1455

The snake shrugs.

"Given the usual Yakuza habits, probably in the evening. No promises though - that depends on his activities. But I do not think I'll find him prior to that.

So... before I get to work, how are you doing with hacking?"

The snake grins again, widely.

[Tabula Rasa]

Neo-Tokyo - 04/24/2008 – 1455

"Not too bad actually," Kambei laughs as he talks, "maybe a little slow for a dangerous situation though, I need to get a lot better before I can trust myself to pull that shit in a tight spot. I need a lot of other programs too before I can do everything I need to do."

"But I gotta say, it's a lot of fun! I can see why you would want to get real good at it."

[Fuchs]

Neo-Tokyo - 04/24/2008 – 1455

Rattler gets more serious again, even ominous.

"It is fun, Kambei-kun, but it's dangerous fun. Don't get overconfident - there's more to the matrix than buying programs and hacking commlinks, and more dangers than you can think of. It's a whole world, and you've just caught a glimpse of it yet."

The snake icon starts to fade, but Rattler keeps talking, his voice growing faint.

"And once you have caught more than a glimpse of this world, Kambei-kun, you might realise you don't just want to get real good at it, you have to get real good at it..."

With that, the last pixel of the hacker's icon fades from Kambei's view.

[Tabula Rasa]

Neo-Tokyo - 04/24/2008 – 1455

Kambei promises to heed Rattler’s warning. Odd… he doesn’t get preachy like that too often.

He puts the chip away in his small safe in the floor compartment and then lays out the gear he needs on his bed the way he usually does.

I gotta decide how to approach this guy once Rattler finds him. I doubt he’d be as easy to work over as these recent guys… but it’d be nice surprise though.

After all his gear is arranged and properly arranged he lays down on the couch to just close his eyes and relax his muscles while he goes about taking care of his personal business which he has neglected recently on the matrix while Rattler’s recent warnings echo distantly in his thoughts.

[Tabula Rasa]

Neo-Tokyo - 04/24/2008 – 1455

Kambei promises to heed Rattler’s warning. Odd… he doesn’t get preachy like that too often.

He puts the chip away in his small safe in the floor compartment and then lays out the gear he needs on his bed the way he usually does.

I gotta decide how to approach this guy once Rattler finds him. I doubt he’d be as easy to work over as these recent guys… but it’d be nice surprise though.

After all his gear is arranged and properly arranged he lays down on the couch to just close his eyes and relax his muscles while he goes about taking care of his personal business which he has neglected recently on the matrix while Rattler’s recent warnings echo distantly in his thoughts.

[Fuchs]

Neo-Tokyo - 04/24/2008 – 1955

A few hours later, a message interrupts Kambei. The message has no signature. It says that Yuna Endo, known as "YE", a singer, will be performing in the club "Freefall" tonight at 22.00. "Z" has been seen at her last two gigs, and it seems very likely that he'll attend this one as well - a booth in the club was reserved by the Kumi.

[Tabula Rasa]

Neo-Tokyo - 04/24/2008 – 1955

Kambei smiles when he gets the message and scopes out the publicly available information on Freefall and purchases a ticket if it’s required for admission. He was never really into the live band scene so he hasn’t heard more than just the name being bandied about occasionally.

He lays out some appropriate – and subtly armored - clothes and considers his weapon options. Tonight might get violent, but this place will definitely have MAD at the door, but the place seems too nice for frisking.

He settles on his ceramic sealed heavy pistol and puts it next to the small container of nano-paste disguise for tonight. There’s no way I’m gonna let them see my real face.

Seeing as how he can’t exactly bring a backpack along he strips down the equipment he’ll bring to the necessary minimums. After he makes sure he has everything – breaking and entry gear, secured stealth tags, medical patches, an extra clip of HE, plasteel restraints, and a flashpack and his jammer to put into his bike’s storage compartment – he waits impatiently for the right time to head out.

He considers leaving Aoi and Ayaka a message but he decides to let them just do whatever they planned and he’ll just talk to them when they called or after his job was done. I don’t need any extra distractions tonight…

After he is dressed up and ready to head out he grabs his two commlinks, one in the front pocket and one inside his vest pocket and heads down to the garage and then to Freefall.

[Fuchs]

Neo-Tokyo - 04/24/2008 – 2135

The drive to the club does take a bit longer than expected - some accident blocked off a major lane. But Kambei arrives with time to spare still - bikes are almost unbeatable when it comes to giving jams the slip.

As far as AR signs go, Freefall's draws attention: An always changing view of a floating astronaut in orbit beneath a bright star. The entrance is clean and the bouncers wear suits, and the AR node as well as the conventional sound system are top notch, interfacing with Kambei's commlink very smoothly. There's valet parking, which might offer one way to get the yakuza, if he comes by car and Kambei can replace the valet when the yakuza leaves again. The parking garage is underground, but doesn't seem that secured compared to the club.

The bouncers at the door do not pat Kambei down, trusting their security system to scan him for weapons.

[ Spoiler ]

Scan (5d6.hits(5)=1)

Kambei's prepared for that though, and both his disguise and fake SIN as well as his ceramic gun pass inspection, and he can enter the club.

The interiour is styled as slick as the tech is. This club is clean, modern, and has a state of the art sound system. Currently, there's some band playing rock on stage - soft rocks and ballads, very retro, but with outlandish hairstyles. The booth Zuginata reserved is not occupied yet, so the yakuza is probably not here yet.

[ Spoiler ]

Perception test (13d6.hits(5)=4)

Kambei manages to spot Yuni Endo though, the girl is passing from the bar toward the club's backstage area, already in her skimpy show costume.