T-Town, A game in Alabama Options

[ludomastro]

"Johnson Party?" The elf checks his list. "Ahh, yes. Right this way sir." He escorts Flash to the elevator and then up to the top floor. He then gestures for him to take a seat in the main room. "Mr. Johnson will be here shortly. Please wait here."

-----

Chester finds the City Cafe accomodating. The seats are old but serviceable. Things are thinning out - the seats are full but no one is standing over them. There is a seat over by the counter on a bar stool. One of the "grandma's" asks while looking at the clock, "What can I get for you hon? We're about to close up for the evening.

-----

"Beer me," Steve says. The librarian shushes him before walking away. "Mostly just trying to catch up, see what's new since I went inside. I've also got a few favours to ask you," Steve replies.

"Well, let's see. I'm still reporting, involved with a guy, got a new place, my cat died. Not much else to tell, really." She smiles at her own joke. "Seriously, kitten, what can I do for an old friend? I would imagine that you need to work. I don't suppose that you are looking for an honest job are you? Cause, I've got a line on a job over at the Hunt Refinery.

[Redjack]

Flash nods to the elf, transferring a 5 (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nuyen.gif) tip. I'm out of Councilwoman Roger's district, but who knows when she may move up to mayor and take me with her. Still caught up in an over estimation of his own fame, Flash steps into the elevator.

Reaching the top floor, he confidently steps out and into the room. He takes a seat in the suggested area near a window. He takes a moment to look around the room, noting not only exit routes but also people in the room.

[ludomastro]

Flash finds the bar decked out in crimson and white (the University's colors). The edge rail is a continous silver strip with elephants' heads as fixtures. Each appears to be holding the rail in their trunks. There is an ork milling around and passing out drinks to the three people sitting in the general area. Two women are discussing some business opportunity while a dwarf sits quietly starring off into space.

[Meriss]

Steve just barely manages to hold his mouth closed. Dammit girl! You could have opened with "I'm dating someone else." He couldn't belive it. Well he could, the D-man had been inside, and he couldn't blame her for moving on. Guess I just hoped everything would be the same, fraggit all to hell.

"I might have a line on some work, but sure gimme the number I can always use it if someone gets picky about me serving time. Mostly though I just need you to track some stuff down fer me. One of the reasons I wanted to come down here" he points to the floor, " was to see if Bobby and Tom were still around. But it looks like they ain't and I don't have a recent number or locale fer either of them. Then, when you get that can you do me a solid and track down someone who knows about magic? Specifically something caled an adept." He had gotten lucky and had enough juice left in his eyes to grab a frame of his rap sheet during his inprocessing, it had read in part "Unregistered Adept" which was why he had ended up in his own private six foot cube.

"Anyway tell me about this guy, anyone I know?" Steve notes the time on his comm and figures he has enough time for a beer and some convo before he hits the meet.

[ludomastro]

"Well ..." She seems almost embarassed for not telling Steve earlier. "He's this guy I met here. Actually, here he comes now." She switches to the bubbly person who Steve knew from his previous involvement with her. "Aaron, come meet and old friend. Aaron, Steve. Steve, Aaron." Aaron looks over at Steve before adding a polite but genuine, "How are you?"

"I was just talking to Steve about when this place used to be the NuWave," Gwen says.

"Good to meet you, Steve. I hope that you like The Library. It's my greatest creation. Can I get you anything?" Somehow, the guy comes across as neither smug nor annoying.

Gwen says, "Can you check on our food, sweetie?" "Sure kitten," Aaron replies. He walks away.

"Kitten, I uh, I mean ... yeah. Sorry about not telling you sooner. Bobby is still here. He go a promotion to the private club upstairs. Tom is bouncing for City Cafe now. I'll dig up what I can on magic. Again, I'm sorry kitten."

A silence follows.

[SinN]

"Oh....um...Hi." Chester grins big, trying to put on the oh so innocent look.
"Im waiting for someone here. His name is Mr. Johnson. Have you seen him?"

[ludomastro]

The Grandma looks Chester over. "You look a little young to be having a meeting with a Mr. Johnson. Now, run along and don't make a fuss."

[Meriss]

Steve let the silence linger. Well fuck, first my bar then my girl, what the hell did I ever do to you buster? "Well babe if you're happy, then I'm happy for you." He was startled to find that was actually true. If she was happy then so was he.

The food finally came and Steve started a different conversation. The oldest get together game in the world "Hey, Remember When?" The two old friends chatted and giggled over the antics of their high school classmates till Steve noticed the time on his 'link. Crud half past six time to roll. "Babe hate to eat and run but I got a thing I gotta do, so we'll see you later." He stands and lets himself out of the booth. He grabs the check when the busty librarian brings the chit over. "My treat babe." He leans over and gently strokes Gwen's hair before lightly kissing the top of her head. "Lemme know if you ever need anything, babe." he whispers.

He leaves the little club with a wave to his old girlfriend. As he stands in the bus shelter a light Southern mist rolls through the streets. He looks up at the washed out sky and the pain hits him. "Frag it all to HELLLLLLLLLLL! ARGHHHHHHHH Fuck, shit, DREKKIN' BASTARD!" The club kids standing near him move slowly away from what they see as an obviously crazy person. A slight sadness washes over him. Three, fucking, years the Star owes me and change.

He arrives at the City Cafe without too much incident other than most of the other bus patrons leaving a bit of space around the crazy man. He spots the familiar figure watching the Cafe door almost as soon as he arrives. "T-Bone! My man!"

[SinN]

Chester grins big.
"Ok!"

Chester walks past her and examine the diner. Taking notice to all possible exits, and the people.
It always pays to see if anyone sees me.

After checking the place out for a bit, Chester makes his way back to the sqauter house to get a few of his things together. After finishing, he waits a while and then goes to the meet spot a half an hour early.

[ludomastro]

Chester finds his way back to the exit without incident. No one appears to take notice of another street kid.

Upon returning to the Cafe Chester is stopped by an ork who asks, "What do you want street rat?"
-----

T-bone replies, "Long time, no see. What the hell are you doing here, man?" Lowering his voice he adds, "I thought that you were still inside. You here for Mister Johnson? Isn't that kind of stuff that got you sent up last time?

[Redjack]

Flash orders a glass of iced tea and waits. Looking at the time, he expected Johnson in the next fifteen minutes. Give or take.

[fistandantilus4....]

MITNick - 1800 - Headed out
Hacking himself a quick ride in an autocab, MITNick rezzes out the cam and makes a few adjustments on the pickup locale on the cab's map logs. After convincing it that it's been properly paid, he's on his way, and nervous as hell.

Should stilla brought a gun. Not that I coulda gotten IN with one, or that I'm really likely to need it. Still .... now that I don't have it , I'll need it. Damn it. At least I'll be early. .... Hope 'Johnson' is buying...I'm broke. Ugh.

[Meriss]

Streve smiles at his old friend and main source of muscle. The large human looked like he hadn't missed a single day at the gym. He doubted that Tom would fall for one of his usual lines. So he did what he very rarely did and tried the truth.

"Good to see you, too big guy." The two friends clasp hands briefly.

Steve slouches against the wall and pitches his voice so only Tom can hear. "Between you and me T, never, ever try and pull a five man job with three. And these two sub-morons Uncle Phil dug up, fegetaboudit. Brainless is the polite way of saying it. You called it though, man 'm here fer Mr. J. He in yet?"

[ludomastro]

@ Steve

"Yeah, I'd imagine that's him now."

-----

@ MITNick

An elf asks, "Are you with the Johnson party this evening?"

-----

@ Steve and Falsh

A troll comes walking across the room. He is wearing a trenchcoat and smoking a cigar. "It would appear that I am early or the others are late. Sit down for a few minutes. Barkeep, the next round is my treat."

[SinN]

.....street....rat...

Chester stands for a moment, breathing heavily and scowling, taking in the insult. After a second, he smiles warmly at the orc.

"Okay, listen hear. I'm looking for....oh wait.... Im sorry, I didnt notice the tusks." Chester cocks his head to the left. "A bit.....small, aren't they? Oh well, I hear most orc women dont mind size much as they do motion. Anyway, Ill talk a bit slower for you."
Chester clears his throat.
"I. Am. Here. For. A. Meeting. With. Mr. Johnson. Can. You. Direct. Me. To. His. Wereabouts?"
Chester, feeling pleased with himself. Looks up at the orc, ready to dodge any fists. This wouldnt be the first oversized being he's gotten mouthy with.

[Redjack]

Flash considers a reply that is complementary, but not ass-kissingly so. "Timely, I would say." He extends a hand to the troll, "Please refer to me as Flash. As in flash-in-the-pan; A quick flash and when their eyes clear, nothing." He realized he had probably already said too much. Time to be quiet John, he mused waiting to gauge Johnson's reply to his attempts to divert from the tardiness of the remaining team members. Have to have a word about time-management afterwards.

[Meriss]

Steve notes the troll sit and start chatting with the totally clueless suit monkey. Newb He grins. Like candy from a baby. He looks up at Tom, "Welp dude, I gotta do this thing. You stay cool." Another hand clasp "See you later maybe, if Mr. J. don't have a time table." The larger human nods.

Steve makes a bee line for the troll and ork combo. Taking the walk across the bar to let his breathing slow and feel the familiar subliminal hum, of what he now knows to be something magical, drift across his body. He sidles up to the bar dropping in beside the suit monkey and smiling broadly at Mr. J. and the ork.

"Mr. J?" he asks. The troll nods almost imperceptably. "Glad to meet you. Name's.... " Crap can't use my real name. I've got a record now, dipshit. FRAG fingerprints! They're on file. FRAG FRAG FRAG! Where the fuck did I leave prints!!!!! "Call me D."

[ludomastro]

MITNick is escorted in by the elf from the parking lot. A few moments later Chester is led in by an obviously irritated ork. "This yapping whelp supposed to be here Mister Johnson?"

The troll nods and the ork and elf disappear quickly.

"Gentlemen, please, this way." The troll leads the group of four to a side booth in the room. He draws the curtain and the sits down.

"Gentlemen, I have a job for you so I will get to the point. I will offer you 15,000 nuyen - to split as you see fit - to retrieve an item from me. What questions do you have?"

[Redjack]

Flash straightens his tie and nods. "That's a good number to generate some initial interest in your proposal." While not a skilled negotiator, neither is Flash socially inept. His goal is to set the stage and assist a more skilled negotiator. "Before making any commitments, we, of course, will need some additional details. General threat level of those currently holding the item. Travel requirements. Any specifics regarding tactics you wish implemented."

As he looked to Johnson for a response, he tried to remember anything else he had seen on the trid shows Shadowrunner 101 or Dirk Death, Assassin in the Shadows used by the negotiator.

[fistandantilus4....]

[b]MITNick simply nods in response to the question, keeping his thumbs in his pockets, although not fully inside, so as to not make the local security jumpy, but keeping them questioning if he perhaps has some weapon they missed.

I might be over thinking this.

... "Flash in the Pan"? Is this guy serious? I thought I'd seen too many Runner 'trids. These guys ... well... I ain't exactly Prime Runner material , but still...

Sitting at the table, MITNick takes a moment to look over the Johnson, doing his best to memorize features, as well as watch his mannerisms, movements, and listen for anything that might identify him as a corporate, especially accents.

"Some general information about the "object" would be useful as well. Is it potentially or inherently harmful to us? How 'hot' is it likely to be? Will we need to hold it for any amount of time, or hand it over immediately?"

MITNick tries to keep his voice even and paced, not trying to rush or overwhelm the Johnson. Most of all, he tries to keep his veneer as a calm professional, going over general questions he's gone over a hundred times, almost as if he's jsut going through the movements. Hopefully, no one will realize how far from the truth that really is.

[SinN]

Chester, tired of keeping quiet, pipes up with a question.
"I have a question, and this may up the pay just a tad. Is this item mundayne? Or magical?"

[ludomastro]

At the outpouring of questions, the Johnson smiles. The troll's healthy teeth show through the lines on his face. "Excellent questions all. The item in question is mundane. It is hardly 'hot' in that sense. Travel will be to an area to the west of Tuscaloosa in some awakened areas. The ... 'facilitaty' ... in question has no secuirty other than the awakened critters that have no doubt moved into the area in the last twenty years or so. Here is a map that should be helpful." He transmits a map of the area labeled Bule. It is/was a community near the edge of Tuscaloosa. "Anything else?"

[Meriss]

Steve sizes his potential partners up as Mr. J. shows them to the booth. Well, suit monkey is big but he don't strike me as a fighter. Short stack is well..... hmmmm something there but I can't quite say. The kid looks like a total newb. Guess we'll see how things pan out

As his teammates ask the Johnson questions he realizes that while he may not be dealing with actual pros these people are well informed and reasonably intelligent. Good, a step up from those two sub-morons. And a four way split on 15K ain't bad.

"Real quick Mr. J. you told us about the target and our possible threats. Any chance your're willing to talk about the people we might meet in that area." All the while Steve racks his brain trying to remember who or what lived in Bule.

[fistandantilus4....]

Is he dodging, or jsut mixing a question in the flrry?

"And is it potentially dangerous? A general idea of it's size would be helpful as well, incase there are considerations we have to make for transportation."

Yeah, that sounds good. Use the buzz words all those VP types like to use...

[ludomastro]

The troll smiles again. "The object is not dangerous, in and of itself. However, it poses a threat to those I represent. I seriously doubt you will encounter anyone in the area. The object is small enough that any of you should be able to carry it with the possible exception of the youngest here." He casts an eye toward Cheser. "I am afraid that we have come to the point where we either come to final terms and an agreement or say goodbye. I will not reveal more until I understand where we all sit."