IC: Plata o Plomo - Reloaded, One Month later Options

[DireRadiant]

She'd smiled politely at each of the others as she encountered them and listened to their idle chatter.

Oni

None of what she'd seen here was surprising, conducting business for Butterfly made her more then familiar with the business. Surveying who was here, she made a decision. In her old company she would be more delicate and subtle, but here amongst these people it was better to be direct.

"Excuse me. For the amount you offer you can get another girl instead, neh? Several probably. There is something special about this one, so you are much more interested in finding out who and why this was done then the girl returning?"

She smiled brightly as she paused, before finishing, "You ask several things of us, if some are done, and not others, which ones do you prefer?"

[Fuchs]

02-Apr-2071, 20:13:06, Ticklers, Alki, Downtown, Seattle

Mr. Johnson smiled and did not even blush when he answered the woman. "Not at all. Cheryl is dear to me, and she can't be easily replaced. Appearance is not everything, you know, there's the inside that counts as well." Given his attitude he was probably talking about 'ware, not character.

"Both getting her back and knowing why she was taken is of equal value to me."

[DireRadiant]

Nodding in understanding Yukika glanced around at the others to check for objections before proceeding.

usual uncertainty... turn the card ... we play...

She focused back on the sculptured pimp and shifted her body subtly in emphasis, "Since there are so many valuable services you'd like us to perform for you, they will take more time and effort on our part, neh?"

[Fuchs]

02-Apr-2071, 20:14:11, Ticklers, Alki, Downtown, Seattle

Mr. Johnson turned out to drive a harder bargain than expected, but after a bit of negotiation he agreed to pay 1K more per runner, provided the girl gets returned within the week.

He also uses the opportunity to send all females in the room an employment offer with the note "If you need more money I've got an opportunity for you" attached.

[DireRadiant]

Yukika ignored the buzz from her message indicator and tucked her legs underself as she relaxed back on the couch. Time for the others to learn what they needed. She looked over at Nuke expectantly.

[DWC]

Nuke slouches in his seat a bit, listening to the metaphorical clash of mental rapiers as Snowflower and Mr. Johnson debate the various aspects of the job, what each factor is worth, how long it should take, and eventually settle on an acceptable price.

�Now that we’re working for you, where and what time was she taken, and who was her client? It’d also help to know everything you have on the missing girl and the driver, and to get a good long look at the van and the driver.

[Fuchs]

02-Apr-2071, 20:15:45, Ticklers, Alki, Downtown, Seattle

Mr. Johnson nodded to Nuke. "Ok, I trust you to treat this information with the utmost discretion. Cheryl was meeting a Mister Frank Smith in the Chelsea's. Of course that's not his real name. But from our, ah, sources we know that he looks a lot like Andrew Kelborn, a manager from United Oil. Cheryl was abducted last night, at 0100 hours, right in front of the entrance." Mr. Johnson looked mighty pleased when he used military time, and put a chip on the small table in front of him. "Here's a recording from the driver's simrig. It's not much, I am sorry. Ah... make sure you remove the pain track before you play it, ok? It's a raw record." From the way he winced, he might have forgot that himself. "The driver is currently undergoing surgery, but she's been with us for 2 years already."

[ Spoiler ]

The recording is from a female human driver, rigged to a modded Nightsky. The interesting part starts when she stops in front of the hotel, right when Cheryl leaves the hotel - she called ahead, but the timing is still nice. The driver gets out, but stays connected to the car through wireless links - quite confusing for anyone without much VR experience, and opens the passenger door for Cheryl. The squealing noise of brakes makes her whip her head around, catching a glance of a delivery van stopping right next to the limousine, just in time to catch a faceful of Stick'n'shocks. The pain from the broken bones and the electricity charges must have been something indeed. From then on you've got the recording of the limousine's systems - showing two black-clad, masked people tazering Cheryl without giving her time to scream, dragging her into the van in a few seconds - obviously augmented.
The Van speeds off right afterwards.

The van was found a few hours later on a Parking Lot in Everett - the cameras covering the place have been hacked.

[Fuchs]

02-Apr-2071, 20:19:03, Ticklers, Alki, Downtown, Seattle

Mr. Johnson took another mouthful from his drink before he returned to the subject. "Cheryl... I don't know much about her, to be honest. I don't pry in the private lives of my employees, I am a gentleman, you know. Her SIN checked out, and that was it. She started working for me one year ago, and is quite popular with our discerning clients. Paid back her implants already. She doesn't chip either, just does Tempo, but who doesn't these days? Nice girl all around, never gave me trouble. Really friendly, if you get my meaning, neh?" Mr. Johnson handed over Cheryl's adress - a high-class condoplex in Downtown.

"We've already looked at the van. It was sanitized though - one of those chemical grenades or what they are, which break down even DNA and stuff. Smelled nasty, I tell you."

[Fuchs]

02-Apr-2071, 20:20:05, Ticklers, Alki, Downtown, Seattle

Stray had smiled internally - and grinned externally - at the offered sum. That should cover her expenses for another month! The attached work offer made her blink, and left her unsure how to react - that sort of stuff didn't usually happen during a meeting, right?

[DireRadiant]

Snow Flower avoided the chip and let the others view it. Later would be a better time to get help before accessing it. She could still feel the ache in hip from the last simsense recording she'd tried to experience.

"Regular client? Who else would know Cheryl's schedule?"

[Fuchs]

02-Apr-2071, 20:20:22, Ticklers, Alki, Downtown, Seattle

Mr. Johnson confirmed that Mister Smith was a regular client of Cheryl. He frowned slightly when the question of her schedule came up. "Anyone with access to our system, which is fairly secure, would know her schedule. And her friends, of course."

[DWC]

Assuming no one objects, Nuke jams the chip into a decoy commlink then connects his own to it to examine the data. First, he runs a quick scan of the data on the chip, looking for worms, Trojans, or any other malware that might be lurking.

[ Spoiler ]

Computer+Analyze
9d6.hits(5)=5

Assuming he finds none, he opens the file, turns off the tactile, olfactory, and emotive tracks, and plays the audio and video channels.

The segment of Cheryl walking towards the car gets flagged. The audio of the gunfire gets flagged. The segment of the actual snatch gets flagged.

They shot the driver at close range as they got out of the van. She’s lucky to be alive. I’d have blown the top of her head off from a few blocks away rather than risk her returning fire. Confident shooters. Wonder what else they let slip through the cracks. Have to keep careful track of all the tricks these guys used and all the things they missed. Some of it might keep me out of prison.

“Any witnesses who might have called Lone Star?�

[Fuchs]

02-Apr-2071, 20:22:34, Ticklers, Alki, Downtown, Seattle

Mr. Johnson blinks. "Yes, of course. But none of their recordings are as good as ours."

[Red-ROM]

Jasper waits for his chance to veiw the feed from the chip. He looks for other vehicles in the backgroud that might be reacting to the scene, if anyone follows the van, how many people are involved, he watches for anyone in the vehicle thats "sacked out" either in VR or that Magic thing. I gotta see this Van up close.Jasper looks to the johnson,"Have ya talked to Mr Smith? "

[Fuchs]

02-Apr-2071, 20:22:55, Ticklers, Alki, Downtown, Seattle

Mr. Johnson shook his head. "Of course not. Our business relies on discretion."

[ Spoiler ]

The van got blackened windows, but through the open door one can see a figure slumped over, held back by a four-point-seat-belt, in the drviver's seat - though with his face mased too, as the rest of the kidnappers.

[DWC]

"Lone Star start their investigation yet? Hate to have to climb over twenty miles of yellow crime scene tape to get anything done."

[Fuchs]

02-Apr-2071, 20:22:55, Ticklers, Alki, Downtown, Seattle

Mr. Johnson leaned back. "Lone Star has started their investigation - in a matter of fashion I would say. I was contacted by the detective in charge, a detective Vandersmith. He wants to talk to me... in two weeks."

[Red-ROM]

Jasper Looks to Snowflower to rap up the meet. they had gotten the gist of it, now it was a matter of legwork.

[DWC]

Still focused on rooting through the driver's recording, Nuke fires out one more question, satisfied for the moment that he won't be tripping over a group of LS forensic hackers.

"That's a relief. Where are the van and the limo right now?"

[Fuchs]

02-Apr-2071, 20:24:15, Ticklers, Alki, Downtown, Seattle

Mr. Johnson coughed. "The Van was impounded by Lone Star, it was stolen some time ago I believe. The limousine is currently in use, but we've given you all the records from it, and the kidnappers never touched it."

[DireRadiant]

02-Apr-2071, 20:25:05, Ticklers, Alki, Downtown, Seattle

"We know where to reach you if we have more questions, neh?"

Snow Flower looked around at the assembled group, "Shall we go now?"

[Fuchs]

02-Apr-2071, 20:26:38, Ticklers, Alki, Downtown, Seattle

Mr. Johnson nodded at Snow Flower, and sent the runners present a message with a comm code. "Yes. You can reach me under this comm number."

[DWC]

02-Apr-2071, 20:26:41, Ticklers, Alki, Downtown, Seattle

Nuke nods.

"Yeah, sounds good."

[gobogen]

Flash had remained silent at the beginning, and she had watched the chip handed to them - in hot sim. The pain had been excruciating and she had to make a lot of effort to keep her composure. Some of the other runners might have caught a glimpse of her painful experience when she first felt the stick'n'shocks to her face. This was a fun experience for Flash, though. She usually played the part of the aggressor in recordings, not the victim, and she'd have to try it again. She also made a quick copy of this one recording when it was plugged in, because it seemed that it had no auto-destroy feature like usual BTLs. She looked forward to playing it back again.

"It was a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Johnson. Can we receive our 20% now?"

[DireRadiant]

02-Apr-2071, 20:30:20, Ticklers, Alki, Downtown, Seattle

Snow Flower moved to her feet in a smooth practiced motion, bowed to the pimp with a smile then turned and left the room.

Once outside she asks, "Chelsea's, neh? Until we decide what to do?"