[X] My Assistant

[Trigger]

September 14th, 2072
Renraku Regus, 405 Lexington Ave, Suite 18-05
4:15 PM

Vamp shrugs to the Johnson and turns to look at the other runners at the table, looking for a sign of acknowledgment, while also discreetly typing a quick message over the encrypt line to Scorch.

<Ping the others and see what they think.>

[Ol' Scratch]

| Same Bat Place, Same Bat Time |

Crowley seems a bit overwhelmed by the pace of the conversation taking place around him. He vaguely hears a few numbers being spoken, but it's not until Mr. Johnson addresses the group with a questioning tone that he seems to find his focus. Completely unaware of the conversation taking place in the Matrix, the warlock simply nods in confirmation. "I believe the gentleman to my right," he pauses to nod in Vamp's direction without looking at him directly, "has suitably addressed my concerns on the matter."

[BlackHat]

September 14th
Renraku Regus, 405 Lexington Avenue
PAN - Public (Living Persona - Hidden)
4:15pm

Scorch remains quiet for the next few minutes, after that. Vamp and the Johnson go back and forth, and Scorch simply listens in, attempting to pay attention despite his focus being split between the conversation and the process of scrambling the messages going between his commlink and Vamp's. When the Johnson addresses the group, Scorch looks as though he is about to say something, when Vamp's request comes in, causing Scorch to stop what he was doing, and focus on the Matrix for a second.

While Crowley fills the lull in conversation, Scorch looks around the room, sifting through the AR iconography. Finally, he sends off a brief, unencrypted text-message to the AR icons for the two men sitting across from him - ignoring whatever public information they might be providing, for the moment. <What do you think?>. A split second after he sent the messages, Scorch realizes that one of them just said what he thought, aloud, but didn't amend his question - it might still be worth hearing what they really thought, if that was somehow different. He wished he was doing this meet in VR, as he probably would have been fast enough to catch him before he spoke, but Sammy's message had suggested (at least in Scorch's opinion) that physical attendance would be appreciated.

Afterward, Scorch turns his attention back to the Johnson, and says, "... He makes some good points..." Scorch wasn't sure why Johnsons always insisted on meeting Runners as a team - particularly when it was a new team being assembled just for them. Odds were that one of them would know just the right way to phrase what everyone else was thinking, and they'll all back him up. This was looking to be one of those cases. "I'm sure we can get the job done without anyone's SIN being tagged - we're not cherry, and you've done your homework - but even if you aren't all see-why-oh-ay, sixty-five split four ways is barely enough to cover what you're asking us to put on the line...." Scorch began biting at one of his fingernails, darting his eyes between Vamp and the Johnson, as though looking for confirmation that his foot was not firmly planted in his mouth. "... and... I'm going to assume everything is on a need-to-know basis... so... yeah... " He paused for a moment, to collect his thoughts, "... we're going to need to know a few more details... and it wouldn't hurt to consider Vamp's counter-offer." Finally, he fell silent to give someone else a chance to jump in and, he hoped, to take the attention off of himself.

[Ol' Scratch]

| Haven't Gone Anywhere Yet |

Crowley takes a sip from the glass of water he requested earlier while he quietly listens. "Hmm," he ponders as the nervous one in the corner began speaking, "so the smooth-talker is 'Vamp.'" He turns and glances at the one he dubs Cherry for now. "I guess Longfellow's old adage is true, 'Many a poem is marred by a superfluous word.' I should consider well what I say around this one. Who knows what information about me he'll rattle off to someone without thinking first."

When Cherry finally stops talking, Crowley turns back to the Johnson to await his reply.

[zed]

September 14th
Renraku Regus, 405 Lexington Avenue
4:15pm

Mr Johnson glances once at the Ork and nods. The Ork places another credstick on the table with a slight smirk. Mr Johnson places it next to the other one.

" (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nuyen.gif) 100,000 for this job is not an insignificant amount. However we are prepared to pay this amount. So I can offer you the (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nuyen.gif) 30,000 upfront and (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nuyen.gif) 70,000 after the event. For this amount there will be one additional requirement which will be explained upon acceptance. Do we proceed or should i ask tiny to show you out?"

He sits back. A subtle shift in the mans attitude.

[BlackHat]

September 14th
Renraku Regus, 405 Lexington Avenue
PAN - Public (Living Persona - Hidden)
4:15pm

Scorch doesn't say anything, but another text-message from him descrambles in Vamp's field-of-view. <No word from the other two, but I'm in.>

[Generic_PC]

September 14th
Renraku Regus, 405 Lexington Avenue
PAN - Public
4:17pm

<I'm fine with this rate. I see no reason to say anything more. This extra requirement could quite possibly be the straw that broke the camels back. Sammy sent you?> Thomas finally gets his message off, his frustration evident. He returns his gaze to Mr. Johnson, along with his emotional control. "This unknown requirement is slightly offputting, but I would accept it. However, we still need more information. For all we know, we're hitting an armoured convoy to murder every person who knows that it is carrying something. And that something could be anything, from a keycard to a crate. You might be prepared to pay us, but with the current state of our information, you'll have spent 30000 nuyen on something that'll end badly for both us and you, if any of us survive to talk. How much can you tell us, right now, without... call it; endangering the mission. It may very well be the difference between us accepting the mission and us walking out of here."

[BlackHat]

September 14th
Renraku Regus, 405 Lexington Avenue
PAN - Public (Living Persona - Hidden)
4:17pm

When the first reply comes in, Scorch sends off a quick message to Vamp, across their encrypted communication-stream, keeping him in the loop. <The other guy says he's in, too.> He then puts together a reply, while Thomas is speaking to the Johnson. <Yeah, but not with any details. Hoping he didn't give any to the J, either.>

[Generic_PC]

September 14th
Renraku Regus, 405 Lexington Avenue
PAN - Public
4:18pm
A message pops into his glasses, which Tom brings up. <Yeah, but not with any details. Hoping he didn't give any to the J, either.> Hmm. Just as vague then. The J was playing this really close to his chest. <Ah. I'm Tom. Nice to meet you...>

[BlackHat]

September 14th
Renraku Regus, 405 Lexington Avenue
PAN - Public (Living Persona - Hidden)
4:18pm

<Scorch. I'm guessing I'm your tech-support.>

[Generic_PC]

September 14th
Renraku Regus, 405 Lexington Avenue
PAN - Public
4:18pm
Thomas shifts his perception to the astral, the room lighting with the ambient glow that persists there, as well as the auras of the people in front of him. He takes some time to assense all of them. Then, he drops out of the astral again. (Note: Assensing doesn't have a listed action, so I assume this doesn't take too long.)

<Quite possibly. You're better with that damn commlink than I am. Its a miracle I manage to filter spam out when I've got these glasses on. I'm awakened, so I'm probably on that side. Do you know the other two?>

[Trigger]

September 14th, 2072
Renraku Regus, 405 Lexington Ave, Suite 18-05
PAN - Public
4:18 PM

Looking to each of the other runners around the table and not seeing anyone getting up to leave, Vamp leans forward again, sizing the Johnson up with his eyes, judging the business man's intentions. Getting the feeling that the man wasn't trying to screw them over, not yet at least, Vamp feels that they should be able to handle the extra requirement for the amount that Vamp had pulled out of the Johnson.

"Alright Mr. Johnson, you've got yourself a deal. Now we need all the information that you have. What is this package you need disposed of?"

[zed]

September 14th, 2072
Renraku Regus, 405 Lexington Ave, Suite 18-05
4:20 PM

Mr Johnson seemed to sigh. Relief, fustration, you couldnt tell. He reached down near his feet and pulled out a small black box. setting it on the table he turned it on and immediately a new node appeared in AR. The Ork seemed suprised and went to move forwards then checked himself.

"The information is contained within this data store, however in brief: A NYPD transport van will set out from Roosevelt Island moderate security prison sometime between 9PM and 3AM in two days time. The van will take an overland route finishing at the NYPD interrogation center on 54th street. My information tells me the van will be protected by two forward outriders and a single patrol car. There is likely to be 1 or 2 guards in the van including the driver. The package is one Duke Torres. He should not make the Interrogation facility. For the increase in payment you are required to make it look like the work of Neo Anarchists." He paused and looked at you all. "I believe all information and answers to questions can be found within the node. Be aware it is programmed to self erase in 10 minutes. This concludes our meeting. We will contact you via the same means in 3 days time for confirmation and final payment. "

Abruptly Mr Johnson stood and walked out the room followed by the Ork and Troll. The door closed behind them suprising you with the sudden end to the meet.

On the table in front of you sits the data box and two cred sticks.

[Ol' Scratch]

| A Moment Later |

"Well," Crowley speaks up after the Johnson leaves, "this promises to be an interesting job if nothing else. Shall we discuss matters here or retreat to a more secure location?

[Trigger]

September 14th, 2072
Renraku Regus, 405 Lexington Ave, Suite 18-05
PAN - Public
4:19 PM

Vamp eyes widen slightly at the nature of the target, and even more as the Johnson quickly exits the room, but he quickly composes himself. Connecting quickly to the new node, Vamp starts downloading all the information that he can from it, to be reviewed later.

Turning to the suited runner to his left (Crowley), Vamp nods his head in agreement, "We should get the information and get out of here. I don't think we should discuss our ideas here. My place is open for discussion purposes, I am used to having people over, and my neighbors won't bat an eye at you all."

[Ol' Scratch]

| Still There |

Crowley nods in response as he pulls his commlink out of his coat's pocket. He fumbles with the controls for a bit when he spots a curious text message. Having no idea what it's referring to, he whisks it to the trash bin just before following Vamp's lead and downloading the information.

"That sounds good to me. Just give me a time and place and I'll be there."

[BlackHat]

September 14th
Renraku Regus, 405 Lexington Avenue
PAN - Public (Living Persona - Hidden)
4:18pm

Scorch shakes his head in real life, seemingly at nothing in particular, but Thomas receives a corresponding response in AR. <Nope. Just met Vamp, and the other guy hasn't returned my message.>

September 14th
Renraku Regus, 405 Lexington Avenue
PAN - Public (Living Persona - Hidden)
4:20pm

After the Johnson leaves, Scorch also seems eager to get started. He even disconnects the secure connection between himself and Vamp in order to free up resources and his own concentration, for the task. Oddly, as everyone else begins downloading their own copies of the data, they do not see Scorch's public icon log onto the node, but he does seem to be staring at the box, intently. Hidden behind thick streams of data, his living persona coaxes its own secrets from the box and Scorch records them to memory on his commlink. "Yeah, I'm down. I'd invite you guys to my place, but the neighborhood is kind of... well, I'm sure we'll be more comfortable at your place."

He paused for a second, then turned his attention towards Crowley. "Scorch, by the way." He looked as though he was going to offer his hand, for a moment, before realizing that the distance across the table between them was too great. Instead, he sort of shuffled around in his chair, uncomfortably, for a second. "We can... you know... do proper introductions, later."

[Ol' Scratch]

| Haven't Gone Anywhere Yet |

"A pleasure." Crowley bows his head politely to Scorch. He considers offering his own name, but decides to take advantage of the nervous one's suggestion to wait until later.

[BlackHat]

September 14th
Renraku Regus, 405 Lexington Avenue
PAN - Public (Living Persona - Hidden)
4:20pm

Almost as though in response to Crowley's head-nod, Scorch suddenly goes slack in his chair - head lolling to one side. A split second later, a series of messages go out to the team - first Vamp, Thomas, and then, imperceptibly last, Crowley. <Probably innocuous but there 2KP of encrypted data hidden in one of those images> The message contains an identifier for the file. <Looks safe, but I can't unscramble it without the pass-code. Might know someone who can, though.> He then seems to come to, sitting upright in his chair, and rubbing his head a little.

[BlackHat]

September 14th
Renraku Regus, 405 Lexington Avenue
PAN - Public (Living Persona - Hidden)
4:20pm

Once firmly back in reality, Scorch puts together a quick message to one of his contacts, leaving it in a matrix drop-box that the two of them have used for this purpose before. <Came across some interesting data, that I could use a hand making sense of.> He included a link to a public matrix chat-room, a help-line for people with mental disorders, that the two of them occasionally met at to talk, and logged in, with his living persona, as he stood from his chair and prepared to head out from the meet. As an afterthought, he also concentrates on firmly establishing an additional layer of protection - a series of short, peak-amplified, wet-record snap-shorts of his emotional track's desire to be left alone, fear of being hacked, and whatever else his subconscious had floating around at the moment. He bundled the data together, weaving the streams through one another like a black net that he lay draped over his own icon, and pushed to the back of his mind. It wasn't that he expected Seg-Fault to try anything, but he sometimes got a weird vibe from him - and it was probably a good idea to firm up his defenses on his matrix nodes, anyway. He draped another copy over the iconography of his commlink's node, as well. Through his AR connection to that device, he saw tendrils of simsense begin to swirl at the edges of his perception, as a quiet voice - a distorted version of the way he sounded to himself - demanded the passcode. He provided it, and the iconography resumed its previous appearance.

[Generic_PC]

[ Spoiler ]

A thought: Maybe we can just have the header at the first post, and at any posts where the time changes significantly? It would cut down a lot on sections like this bit of roleplay, where everyone was adding 4:17 for three or four posts in a row.

"Hmm. Well then, I suppose we'll meet at... where ever Vamp lives. So, when should we meet? I'd say soon, since we've got two days and I'm sure you all have contacts you need to see. I'll be heading off, since I'm not liking this suit too much." Thomas' voice relaxes a bit, and a hint of a french accent comes into it.

[Trigger]

At the sight of Scorch going limp in his chair, Vamp's hand instinctively twitches towards his coat, but stops part way when the message appears from Scorch in his AR vision. Sighing, and changing the motion of his hand to adjusting his vest, Vamp quickly cues up his Agent, loading it Analyze, Browse, Stealth, and Exploit, and sending it into the data packet he now has on his comm.

"So, to my place then? Good, here is the address," he says as he quickly forwards them his address in SoHo, "And lets say that everyone be there by 5:30 so that we can start the planning on this. My name is Vamp by the way, and here is my commcode. Give me a call when you arrive and I will signal the lobby doors to open."

With that Vamp raised up out of his chair and nodded to the others, staying around long enough to hear if they had any questions for him, before heading out of the room, down the elevator, picking up his brief case from the lobby (and checking it for tampering at the time, and walking the block back to his bike, smoking another cigarette on the way.

That was a good meet. Decent nuyen after this. I should be able to get Alyssa something nice.

The thought made him smile as he put his helmet back on and pulled out onto Lexington to head back to his building.

[BlackHat]

Scorch glanced at the time in AR. Bit more than an hour. He brought up a map of the city, entered in the address, and got a reasonable list of public transportation options as well as some estimated travel times. Terminal wasn't directly on the way, but it wasn't terribly out of the way, either, and Scorch decided to stop at home, although he probably wouldn't change again. "Somebody better remember those," he said, gesturing at the two credsticks near the black box, but making no immediate move for them, himself. "We can do the nuyen-shuffle over dinner."

He followed the others out of the building, retrieved his taser from the guard, and called another auto-cab. During the ride home, Seg-Fault joined him in the help-line node, and the two of them made smalltalk for a few minutes before Seg brought Scorch on target by bringing up the data. Scorch transferred the small snippet of garbled information over a secure line - carefully peeling away the image around it - and Seg inspected it carefully. They discussed scramble-IC for a few minutes, encryption techniques, and their conversation even drifted to the human instinct to guard information, and information's destiny to either be set free, or lost forever. Seg watched, as Scorch attempted to cast the data through several filters he constructed on the spot, but there was something he simply could not wrap his mind around. Seg-Fault seemed to have a little more success, but explained that it would take some time - and a great deal of his attention - to solve the riddle that Scorch had presented him with. Seg seemed eager to return to whatever corner of the Matrix he had emerged from, and play with his new toy, and he and Scorch agreed on a location where Seg would drop off anything he was able to uncover.

Their conversation ended shortly before the taxi arrived outside Scorch's apartment. He thanked the pilot program, and offered it more cred to stick around for a few minutes while he grabbed some things. The interface agreed by providing Scorch with an up to the second report of idle-rates, calculated specifically for this neighborhood - the numbers were larger than Scorch would have liked, so he was quick about his business. Apparently, the auto-cab was not confident that Scorch's agreements with the local enforcers would extend to his transportation. As Scorch exited the vehicle, he decided that he wasn't so confident, either, and "tagged" the local AR space with a black scorch mark, which might be recognized by a few of the better-informed locals. After all, if it wasn't for his place, providing a stable wifi bridge and gloriously rendered iconography, this area might not even have AR.

He dashed inside, impatiently suffering through the better-than-average security system he had installed, and spent a few minutes checking up on his MSP Agent, which was diligently gathering legal sim-clips for him. His array of holographic monitors sputtered between ten-thousand channels, including the "premium" channels which provided legal hot-sim-flicks, although most of those came in with strong copy-protection, and Scorch would have to crack that, himself. He narrowed down some of the agent's parameters, grabbed a few chips off a table - some empty, some full of Deus-knows-what - and hurried back out the door. He stopped to scrub away his "tag" and fired off a few matrix commands from the cab to make sure everything was locked down tight, behind him.



The cab dropped him off in SoHo a bit early. He dropped a quick line to Vamp, letting him know he was in the lobby, but didn't mind waiting around. While he waited for a reply, he checked for news from Seg-Fault. The team would probably be expecting an update on that mystery data - and Scorch was a little embarrassed about not being able to make heads or tails of it, right then. It made him feel better to know that it even Seg had taken an hour or so to get anywhere with it - but he wasn't sure the others would appreciate that fact. He also felt a little bad about showing up to somebody else's place, empty handed. Well, not entirely empty-handed, but he suspected that his new "business friends" didn't have quite the same recreational vices as his usual "casual friends".

[Trigger]

September 14th, 2072
Vamp's Apartment Building, SoHo
PAN - Public
5:10 PM

Tossing some empty cartons of Chinese takeout in the trash, Vamp moved around his apartment, cleaning up some of the usual mess he doesn't worry about. Alyssa was gone when he arrived home, having class at Columbia University tonight, and then a club to go to tonight. If they got everything planned quickly, he might just be able to meet her there.

Lighting up another Snuff cigarette, Vamp activated the vacuum drone and tells it give the living room a quick sweep over as he drops onto his couch and inhales deeply on the cigarette.

They say these things will kill me, but I don't think I would enjoy life as much without them.

Suddenly Scorch's message pops into Vamp's vision, telling of his arrival in the lobby. Glancing at the time in the corner of his vision, Vamp sighs as he sends down a confirmation to the door of the lobby to let the man in.

<Sixth floor, apartment 13.> He pings back to Scorch as well.

Rising up off his couch, Vamp sticks his cigarette in his lips, leaving it hanging there as he walks into his bedroom, grabbing one of his survival knives from its hiding spot behind his dresser, he sticks it in a sheath inside his sleeve, having changed his shirt from a tight white mandarin collar dress shirt, to loose black poet's shirt over black synthleather pants, still wearing his black biker boots, with a knife in the sheath at his ankle as well. Crossing next to his bed, Vamp pulls his right AR glove off and types in the 12 digit code on his coffin briefcase and slides his finger over the biometric lock. Opening the case with reverence, Vamp pulls out the sheathed black monofilament sword, his personal weapon focus, a gift from his Ancient's family in Seattle. Snapping the case close with a click, Vamp closes the door to his room, to keep prying eyes from noticing his giant bed, and St. Andrew's BDSM cross, in his bedroom. His bedroom was the only place where he spent lots of nuyen for luxury pieces, the rest of his apartment was minimalistic goth.

Setting his sword on the armchair in his living room, Vamp flicks the hanging ash from his cigarette into the ashtray on his coffee table and then walks over to the door of his apartment, knowing that Scorch should be knocking any second now.

[BlackHat]

Sure enough, Scorch's knock came as lightly on the apartment door as it had when Vamp had first spotted him at the meet. When he opened the door, Vamp found Scorch looking up and down the hallway. He looked basically the same as before, but his BodyShop AR Overlay had been changed from a business suit (and accessories) to a shimmering web of circuitry that ran on top of his physical clothes. Scorch glanced into the apartment, looking around a bit, and mumbled, "First one here, again?"