IC: Origins, It takes two to tango. Options

[BlackHat]

Zee stares blankly at Tasha's quickly offered advice, but nods at the end.

As Tasha's demeanor undergoes its transformation, Zee does her best to emulate her. Cold emotionless eyes, and hard features, come easily - but her expression doesn't quite match the expert facade that Tasha puts forth. She walks, a few steps behind Tasha, emulating her gait, and coming to stop beside her as she speaks. Her attention was drawn, for a moment, to the electric car beside some of the gangers, but returns to them as their attention is drawn to Tasha.

[krayola red]

The gangers size the two of you up with an expression that’s half cocky amusement and half mild curiosity. A moment of silence hangs in the air after Tasha speaks, but eventually, one of them steps forward, a wiry human teenager with long, oily black hair and eyes of brilliant gold.

“What’s his name, old lady?�

“…Peyton Adams?� He shrugs. “Sorry, ain’t never heard of him.�

One of the other gangers pipes up, a short ork kid sporting a razor sharp mohawk. “Hey, I know that guy. He lives in my building. A real bastard, he is. Now that you mention it, I don’t think I’ve seen him around for the past couple of days. Maybe he decided to skip out on his debt to your boss.�

Another one of them turns to Zee, a girl with neon pink hair and a face full of piercings. She blows a bubble that’s the same color as her hair and pops it.

“Hey lady, why you drive around in that piece of shit?�

[BlackHat]

Zee followed the girl's gaze over to her bike, connecting the dots - only then realizing that the girl was not, in fact, referring to an actual piece of excrement. The confusion wore off quickly, and she turned back to face her. Part of her decision making processes suggested allowing Tasha to do the talking - but Tasha could not know the answer to this personal question, and seemed focused on talking to the boys about Peyton. Ignoring the girl was as likely to cause trouble than responding, so Zee answered, with a question of her own.

"Why do you ride around in your electric car?" She asked, calmly, nodding towards the Honda Spirit in the same way that she had seen Tasha gesture towards Peyton's building. Zee wasn't sure if the pink-haired girl actually owned the vehicle, or if one of her friends did - but they seemed to be leaning on it, loitering around it, and generally giving the impression that was theirs.

[BlackHat]

As she spoke, Zee scanned the area with her radar, and sent a message to Tasha including a summary of the cyberware and knives detected, including ARO information to overlay the locations of these items, in case she had an active AR image-link. Zee could do all of this, without seeming to do anything other than speaking to the girl, but was not sure Tasha would be able to receive the transmission as inconspicuously. She remembered Tasha had said something about Zee knowing about electronics and tactics, and resolved to set up some sort of communication path between them, after this encounter was finished.

[krayola red]

"What? This pile of junk?" The girl scoffs. "What do I look like, a soccer mom?"

"My ride is a Thundercloud Contrail," she says proudly. "Speed tweaked engine, hovercraft capability, improved suspension, ruthenium paint job...everything you can think of to make a bike better, I've done it. It's the sweetest pair of wheels on this side of town. Tell her, Mojo."

She elbows the boy next to her, who rolls his eyes. "Yeah yeah, the sweetest pair of wheels on this side of town. Shit, Anna, if that bike had a dick, I would be in for some stiff competition."

"Competition?" The girl laughs. "Baby, I would dump your ass without even thinking about it."

She takes the gum out of her mouth and sticks it on the windshield of the Honda Spirit.

"Anyway, if you ever wanna 'borg up that pile of dung you're cruising around on, I'm the girl you wanna talk to. Crap will always be crap, but I can make it serviceable, at least."

[BlackHat]

Zee seemed interested. "... and if I wanted to replace the bike, with something else, entirely - would you still be the person to talk to?"

[krayola red]

The girl ponders the question for a moment. "Depending on what you want, I might be able to get you hooked up. Nothing stock though, any ride that I touch is gonna undergo serious augmentation. It's gonna cost you, but I can guarantee that you'd be ecstatic with the results."

[BlackHat]

Zee nods, quickly becoming friendly with the pink-haired girl, with surprising ease. "I prefer unique machines, myself." She smiled, "I've installed a few off-the-shelf parts on that scooter, over there. It might look ordinary, but it serves its purpose well enough - but I think my needs have surpassed what it is capable of."

She shrugged, "I've been thinking about upgrading to a racing bike - to keep up with her" Zee juts a thumb towards Tasha, "but I would need one that could be heavily optimized towards some 'unique' requirements. If you're up to the challenge, I could send you a list of specifications, and you could quote me a price..."

Zee wasn't entirely sure how much these things went for, but based on what it cost her to get her Dodge Scoot, and the fact that a lot of the modifications could be re-used, she thought she might have enough cred on her, right now.

[krayola red]

The girl shakes her head. "Sorry lady, I don't do 'specifications.' You don't get a good whip by slapping on a list of parts. You gotta talk to it, listen to it, and if it likes you, it'll tell you what it wants. Every whip is unique and has its own style, just like people do. You want me to set you up with something, you're gonna have to trust me to deck it out the way it wants to be decked out."

She takes out another stick of gum and pops it in her mouth.

[BlackHat]

Zee shrugged, quickly losing interest in the girl, as soon as it became apparent that she wouldn't be able to help her get what she wanted. "If you are unable to do it, that's fine. I've identified what my needs are, and if you cannot find me a bike that suits them, I'm not interested." Zee wasn't sure if what Anna was asking for was out of the ordinary or not. She had a hard time imagining that people often handed tens of thousands of dollars to total strangers in exchange for an effectively random selection of vehicle parts. The modification she selected for her scooter cost well more than the base vehicle - she calculated that, by doing business this way, she would end up paying at least twice what she intended (once to get a good bike, and twice to modify it into what she wanted). She could not afford that.

"Where is your bike, anyway?" Zee looked up and down the street. "Wouldn't you rather be seen standing around next to that, then this pile of junk?" Zee motioned towards the Spirit, that the group of teenagers were still gathered around - despite the claims that one of them had 'the sweetest pair of wheels on this side of town'.

[krayola red]

The girl grins. "Cougar only comes out of the garage when there's a street race going down. Leaving him out on the street would just make all the other cars jealous."

Her boyfriend groans, putting his face in his palm and shaking his head. "Him she says...she calls it a him."

[BlackHat]

Zee nods, looking over to check on Tasha's progress. Then she comments, offhandedly, "I like you, Anna. It sounds like you really connect with your machines." She smiles, and looks back. "If you find any extra bikes in your garage, send me their bios, and a picture. If it turns out that we're 'compatible', I might be interested, again." She then beams the girl her disposable commcode.

[Glyph]

Tasha grins, sharklike, at the ork kid's comment.

"Well, he won't get too far, wherever he tries to run. Thanks."

She lets the interaction between Zee and Anna play out. Truth be told, Zee does need a better set of wheels, and whatever she wants, she'll likely need to get it at street level. She'll step in if Zee missteps, but so far, looks like she's doing just fine.

Not much progress finding Peyton, either. It's nice to get confirmation that he's been missing a few days, though. More and more, it's looking like foul play.

[BlackHat]

Seeing that Tasha seemed to be waiting for her, Zee pulled herself from the pink-haired girl, and rejoined Tasha's side. She had not been paying as much attention to their conversation as she probably should have, but it seemed to be pretty quiet. Pointing at the short orc with the Mohawk, she says, "You live here. That means you can let us inside." The statement was more of a fact, than a request - but Zee seemed to be looking at the child, expectantly.

[krayola red]

The kid shrugs. "Yeah, I suppose I could. But why would you want to go inside, when the guy you're looking for isn't home?"

[BlackHat]

Zee looks curiously at the child, "We don't know that. We only know that he isn't answering the buzzer." She looked at Tasha to see if she understood where Zee was going with this - but didn't expect that she would. Even if the kid got them past the front door, Peyton's apartment would surely be locked. "Maybe his intercom is broken." She looked back at the kid with the cold hard eyes that Tasha was still wearing. "If you let us inside, we will be able to find out what we need to know." Again, there was no request, but there seemed to be some expectation in her face. Zee wasn't entirely sure if there was going to be some negotiation, here, or if they would have to lean on the guy to get him to help them - but she understood, perfectly, that they needed to get past that door, and that the key to doing so was right in front of them.

[Glyph]

Tasha isn't sure what Zee is doing, but assumes that if she's trying to get them past the front door, she must have tools or a plan to get them into the apartment. Good enough for her. Time to support her teammate, now.

"Like I said - we can make it worth your while."

She leaves the offer open-ended and hanging, curious to see if the young ork will ask for cred, or be smart enough to barter for some kind of reciprocal favor, or even leave them owing him. The gangers don't seem overtly threatening, at least, but she doesn't relax. She does nothing overtly menacing, not wanting to unintentionally escalate anything, but she still projects a calm assurance. That's the whole key to the "I'm so badass, sometimes I scare myself" look - you gotta underplay it.

[krayola red]

The young ork scratches his head, obviously unsure of what to do. The kid with black hair nudges him and signals to the gang, and they move off to confer in a huddle. After a few moments, the ork returns to you with an offer.

"Okay, I'll let you inside, but only if you can hook us up with a gun. And I mean a large gun, not one of those pussy pea shooters."

He pauses, and grins. "And if you break into the dude's apartment, you gotta trash the place. That'll teach the bastard for telling my mom that I was the one who slashed Mr. Peterson's tires."

[Glyph]

"Dunno about trashing the place - the boss might not want that. But it's definitely possible that we'll be knockin' over a few things, to teach the punk a lesson."

Tasha shrugs, nonchalantly, before suddenly becoming more serious.

"Now, the big thing, the gun, that, I can get for you. But a gun is serious biz. It's not a toy. I'll get you a gun, but either you show me you know the basics, or you let me show them to you. I'm not budging on that! I'm not gonna give a gun to someone who doesn't know how to take care of it. So, you got an idea what you want, or do you want me to be like Anna, and surprise you?"

[krayola red]

The kid's eyes bulge at your words, and he stares at you, slack-jawed. The rest of his crew seems equally astonished.

"Holy shit, you wanna teach us how to shoot? Damn, that would be just edge. I dunno, how 'bout like a sniper rifle or something? I'm really good with the sniper rifle in Blaster Master 3: Attack of the Trogs."

[Glyph]

Tasha shakes her head, half amused and half exasperated (although she lets none of the amusement, and only a little bit of the exasperation, show).

"I'm gonna show you the basics - how to use it, how to clean it. Learning how to shoot - that's gonna take you practice. Lots and lots of it. And forget a sniper rifle - you're not gonna get a gun worth thousands, for openin' a fricking door! I was asking you what kind of pistol you wanted. Something you can actually carry around with you, something you can keep hidden when you aren't using it. And don't sneer - it won't be some cruddy little holdout - it'll still be a real gun. Pistols are what I use, and you can damn well bet they get the job done."

[BlackHat]

It was Zee's turn to be confused by the tactics employed by her partner. She was having a hard time telling which parts were lies, and which parts were truths, but was a little surprised that Tasha was so willing to spend upwards of $500 to open a door. Still, the kids had become quite agreeable, all of a sudden, so perhaps the plan was working. Zee was not sure that giving a handgun to a bunch of teenagers - teenagers who were almost certain to get themselves into trouble with it - was really the best plan, but Tasha seemed to know what she was doing.

She eyed the situation wearily, watching how it unfolded. Zee suspected that, whatever they agreed upon, Tasha would need some time to get it - time Peyton did not, necessarily, have. She intended to insist that the boy open the door, first, and that the gun would be delivered, later - but was not sure that would be acceptable by the young gangster, who seemed eager to get his hands on a weapon that he had no idea how to use.

[krayola red]

The kid nods, and he appears to be doing all he could to stop himself from jumping out of his skin with sheer excitement. It was clear that he didn't expect Tasha to agree to the bargain at all.

"Okay, we got a deal. Come with me."

He leads the two of you to the apartment entrance and presses his thumb to the print scanner. You hear a barely audible click as the lock disengages and the door eases open.

"Don't forget our deal!" the kid says.

You leave the street outside and make your way up two flights of stairs to reach Peyton's apartment. One of you tries the knob to find it unlocked. Your gut tells you that something is wrong, and when you open the door, the scene inside confirms your instinct. The place is a mess, with upturned furniture all over the place and household items of all kinds scattered across the floor. The trid unit is toppled over and there's an axe lodged halfway inside one of the walls. You see a trail of dried blood on the floor leading up a closet on the far end of room. The closet door is closed.

[BlackHat]

Once inside, and able to identify which apartment belongs to Peyton, Zee sees the mess before they even reach the door. She reaches into her boot, and draws her pistol, before trying the door. To her surprise, it opens. She doesn't sense anyone immediately nearby, but steps into the room, pistol first, before motioning for Tasha to follow behind her. If there was anyone still here, Zee wanted to be the first thing they encounter. As they made their way towards the closet, she kept her "eyes" open for movement, through the walls - focusing her attention on whatever might be in that closet before opening it.

[BlackHat]

Zee points to the closet. "Apartment, clear." She didn't seem to have even glanced in the direction of some of the smaller rooms, but looked fairly confident about her situation awareness. "Wounded metahuman in the closet." She then reaches out to open the door - gun still ready, in her other hand.