Deep Vengeance..., ...is the Daughter of Deep Silence Options

[UmaroVI]

Fat Man (after Cypher arrives)

"The wheel of wind and water turns constantly. I am happy that we could help you, and I expect soon we will be glad of your help in return. I go by Fat Man, for, haha, obvious reasons."

[Buddha72]

Looking Glass
As you all nestle into the booth your host smiles and gestures to the AR menu hanging above the table listing drinks and appetizers.

"On the house for the next hour so enjoy though stay sober enough to remember everything I tell you. Now gather round boys and girls, this is a rare treat for criminals like yourself. You're going to get paid twice for the same job - something to tell the grandkids or more likely your new boyfriend in the penitentiary."

She smiles and quickly begins to pull out several certified credsticks, sliding one to each person at the table.

"As usual here's 5k to hear what's being offered. Your mysterious benefactor has information on a shadow clinic that needs to be cleaned out. Cleaned out means all the staff removed by whatever means you deem appropriate as long as it sticks. The faculty MUST, cannot not stress that word enough here campers, MUST remain undamaged and functional with as much of the merchandise and tools intact. Do this and 10k will be your reward along with the ability to access this site at a future time for augmentation or top notch medical care as long as the clinic stays under the control of your present employer. The double pay part or the cherry on top is that a friend of mine and it appears Cypher's now as well has lost a runner and the rumor mill seems to think he, Emilio is the name of this poor unfortunate soul, is being held there. I do not know why but that's frankly not my problem. She is offering 5k to each of you if you can extract him alive with a good chance of staying that way for more than say a day or two so no pulse means no money. The Johnson also seems interested in this fellow and is adding another 5k to the pay if you get him out and convince him to join your posse for this delightful runs. Any questions?"

[BishopMcQ]

Cypher nods to Fat Man and introduces himself quickly before Widget begins talking. As the talk goes on, his hands idly tap the menu selecting out an eclectic mix of appetizers that will pair with the drinks in front of the team and a pot of tea.

"Here is a data packet of information that I gathered up about Emilio and the site of the clinic. You may recognize the good doctor from the shipping yards where we first met." The hacker's hands continue, seemingly without any attention, straightening napkins out and sliding appetizers across to the appropriate runners. He begins pouring tea, serving Widget as the honored guest first, and moving down the line to her right. Halfway through pouring the second cup, Cypher looks down and sees his hands moving. He puts the tea pot down with a sudden jerking motion, out of sync with the feminine grace he had seconds before. The hacker firmly grabs the cup in front of him, gripping tightly until the warmth of the liquid was nearly scalding his hands.

"The project laid out sounds good. Does your team have a more private location to discuss details? I'm not sure how many hear and speak to the horimono-san."

[JxJxA]

Zerone visibly wilts when Widget calls the group criminals. Admittedly, it is true: he owes his existence to what was likely a very illegal eugenics experiment. He is able to get around and function in contemporary metahuman society because of an illegal fake SIN. Many of the charity cases his church takes on---such as attacking metahuman traffickers, "dismantling" illegal drug laboratories, and opposing street gangers---dance delicately in the gray area between concerned civic action and unauthorized vigilantism. He knows what he is doing is morally good, but it is often difficult to face the bitter realities of the contemporary world.

He perks back up when he hears that the new mission involves rescuing someone. He listens while scouring the club's appetizer menu for "cinnamon buns" or "bear claws," his mind and stomach thinking about breakfast now that Eklipse mentioned the subject. He finally settles for a fresh fruit and cheese platter, afraid that "suicide wings" might give him a severe case of indigestion. He also orders a glass of pineapple juice. He avoids the alcoholic beverages because he rarely drinks anything stronger than watered down wine, and he imagines that being inebriated would make it very difficult to find the exit while caught in the club's torrential storm of sensory-overload.

"If your friend needs rescuing, I am more than happy to help," he says, smiling pleasantly.

[Notsoevildm]

As Widget explains, Eklipse posture and attitude become more and more focused. He sits up straighter in his chair and munches almost absentmindedly on the ordered snacks. When she deals out the credsticks, he scoops one up, checks and pockets it with barely a glance.

She will only find a way to make me pay most of it back to her anyway he thinks to himself.

Ignoring Cypher's concerns about privacy, he runs off a string of thoughts and questions.

"Eine rescue mission, neh? Comes vith its own problems, but as it's a bonus ve can work it in. Ze minimal damage is also a problem. Zat means gel rounds and flashbangs or gas, no live ammunition. Can you arrange zese things for us?"

"We vill also need a means to get ze prisoner out of ze complex, ja? A stretcher or wheelchair if he cannot walk, some clothes and a weapon if he can."

Glancing at Cypher's hands he adds, "You are obviously familiar with ze matrix. Can you can provide access to ze facility and deactivate ze alarms?"

Looking around the table, he states rather bluintly, "Our last run vas a shambles. If not for frau Vidget here, ve would likely all be in ze jail. A tacnet vould go a long way to overcome our lack of coordination in ze upcoming mission."

This time he looks to both Widget and Cypher. "Is zis something either of you can be setting up?"

[BishopMcQ]

"I know how to set one up. What I don't have is the software and gear that goes along with it. If you give me an hour with your gear, I can make a list of exactly what we need."

[UmaroVI]

Fat Man

"I am happy to continue working for our mysterious friend. I expect we will be better coordinated this time, now that we have worked together once, although I think we should prepare a bit more carefully against their magical security this time.

"I am not sure what this 'tacnet' thing is. What gear do you need to see, Cypher?"

[Buddha72]

Looking Glass
Widget smiles at the question.

"Of course but I am not a member of the team officially and I think the plan here was for you all to look to Cypher for that kind of help. I, as always, am open to negotiating doing work for you like last time and your employer is paying me to be on-call to verify your work and arrange these lovely chats."

She pauses as Cypher chimes in with his offer to look over gear to see what's needed to set the team up.

"If it's gear you need, Aideen is the one to talk to. She is the woman to see when you have firm budget."

[BishopMcQ]

"Fat Man, I'd need to see anything with a battery basically, commlinks, guncams, glasses with advanced optics. I can pull down the technical specs, but I need to know what the hard limitations are. This can be somerhing to talk about after Widget leaves. Let's use our time to focus on what we need from her.

"Is Aideen the best point of contact for the bang bang options that were mentioned, or just the electronics that I will need to setup the net?"

[JxJxA]

Zerone smiles and bows gratefully when the waiter comes by with his food and drink. He takes a careful sip of his pineapple juice to make sure that the staff did not accidentally add whiskey to it. When he is satisfied that the drink is alcohol-free, he takes a bigger drink and begins nibbling at his food.

"I should be able to help with removing the staff from the facility. I have had to do similar things for the church in the past, like when gangers take over a free clinic or shelter. I find sleep spells work well at subduing the enemy...but...uh...I have more powerful spells if innocent lives are in danger. They should not affect the equipment. I'm guessing we can't just call the police to...uh...take these people away? That's what we usually do with gangers..."

At the mention of tacnet, he adds, "Um...I recently bought some goggles and earbuds to help me keep track of my surroundings...do you think they would help with a tacnet?"

[Fenris]

Ayo has been silent for the most part, aside from a brief smirk when Ekclipse mentioned the no live ammunition, the facial gesture actually visible now that the he's taken off the mask. He seems to remember this fact himself a few minutes later, his face dropping back into a more neutral expression while he hear's everyone's commentary.

"I'll happily take the opportunity to wipe a few more of these people off the face of the planet," he growls quietly. "Let's find somewhere to get the details out of the way so that we can proceed. Nobody's getting anything they want while we hold the girl," he nods at Widget, "hostage over drinks and appetizers."

It's probably the longest speech anyone's heard from the normally-recalcitrant runner, and one might suspect that the environment has loosened his tongue a bit.

[Buddha72]

Looking Glass
Widget smiles as the runners chat around her, her face perks up at the mention of Aideen's name.

"As far as I know the woman is a professional "you need it - she finds it". The only difference is how soon and how much juice you're willing to throw behind the effort. She's been able to get me tech, armor and weapons along with vehicle parts and drones so I think she can handle it. As before I am on-call for the duration of the run starting tonight. Please remember if you want to collect on any bonus money you need to have me verify you've met the terms set by your employer."

She drinks and eats some food with gusto.

"If you all don't need me then I can scoot and let you all get down to planning your dastardly deeds done in the dark of night?"

Her smile plastered across her face and she taps her finger on the table along to the music thrumming through the club.

[UmaroVI]

Fat Man

"I believe so. I agree that we should take more time and care in planning this operation, since if things go poorly we cannot simply blast our way out."

[JxJxA]

"So...um...do we know what time we should go? I mean...if someone is in danger, I don't know how long we can wait. If it helps, can call another ravmalakh to help us like before. Maybe even one more powerful, but I probably should have someone around just in case I pass out from the spiritual toll..."

Zerone looks around at the rest of the group to see if they have anything else to add. He nibbles on more of his fruit as he waits.

[Notsoevildm]

Eklipse finishes his drink, the caffeine helping shake off the last of his daytime sleepiness. It is evening now and the night is his time. He nods to Ayo.

"I am sure zese booths are relatively secure, but perhaps it would be better to work out ze details of our plans elsewhere. I cannot help with this, but perhaps you or one of ze others know of a suitable place. Zerone is right. We should not wait too long if we wish to rescue this missing person. If we can already meet later tonight to plan then ve could potentially go in tomorrow night at ze earliest."

"You all have my commlink code and I vill provide ze sensor specs of my helmet to Herr Cypher so he can look into setting up a tacnet. Plans of ze building would be good if we can get them. And ve will likely need transport there and back if only for ze missing gentleman. Can you help us there Frau Widget? Is there anything more we need to discuss now? Otherwise, I must go pay ze gorilla-man or he vill most likely be pulling off meine arms and kicking me out of my apartment."

He smiles his perfect smile as he pockets the credstick and makes to leave.

[UmaroVI]

Fat Man
"We could meet where I live. It is large enough for all of us, but perhaps not the best location for this. If nobody has a better option, though, I think it's best we use it for now and perhaps look into finding a better location, if we plan to continue working together for this mystery employer."

[BishopMcQ]

"Before you go Widget, can you send me the data packet that you have on the location? Anything that you were given for us."

Cypher has a nagging memory of a place that could fill the team's need, but it isn't coming immediately. Since the accident, thoughts seemed to come either in a torrential storm or sluggishly.

"I may know a place, but it will take some checking. Fat Man if you can host us for a little while, that would be good. I need somewhere to gather some data and look over everyone's specs to see what I can scrounge together for the net."

[Buddha72]

Looking Glass
Widget nods at the request and looks unfocused for a brief moment as she transmit the data she has to Cypher.

"I'm afraid it's not much at this point - an address for the clinic and a photo of your target for extraction and recruitment."

[JxJxA]

"That would be fine with me," Zerone says to Fat Man, "Thank you for your hospitality, Mr. Fat Man." He smiles and bows his head gratefully at his teammate.

"As for the...um...information? Anything is better than nothing. I am free to start working on a plan right now." He finishes up his food, just in case the group decides to leave the club right this second.

[Buddha72]

Cypher
You feel your awareness spread out around you into the many AR portals you have open as you begin to run the data searches. You quickly set up the parameters of your search, entering all the details you remembered from the house to narrow it down. You watch as the code spins out and begins to run the information down. You watch selections being brought up then discarded as filters strip away the pool of potential matches. The numbers slowly cycle down and you see a final 15 matches stream part you. You see the one that you recalled and quickly pull up the link to it. You discover it is indeed open for a "new occupant" and that price seems workable at 150 (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nuyen.gif) per 12 hour period. You arrange the rental and transfer the data to your commlink.

The Safe House
You drive through the city and arrive at a quiet suburban collection of homes. The house is a small affair with a simple lawn and an inoffensive color scheme that fits in with the houses around it. The interior is decorated with a generic set of furniture you might see at any middle class department store. Some color but nothing bold or too distinct.

[BishopMcQ]

Cypher transfers over 600 (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nuyen.gif) from the credstick Widget had handed him, locking in the safehouse for the next three days.

"Alright team, this place is ours for the next 72 hours. Let's spin up what we know about the target, the location, and all that jazz. I can run the electronic side of things but it will take me awhile. Since I don't know what you guys do or how, can someone subtly get eyes on the building and look around for the mojo or anything that may not be posted to the matrix--recent changes to security and the like? Also, if one of you is the talking type, see if you can shake loose the latest gossip about Grandma Death, the psycho surgeon, and who may have burned this Emilio fellow. Everything i could find online was transferred over in the data packet.

"Anyone who wants to be plugged into the tacnet, once I get it up and running, needs to show me what you've got along the lines of hardware and software in your comm, and any sensors that you carry, have implanted in god knows which piece of flesh or gear. If I look distracted, jot it down in a message and leave it for me to see when I come up for air and kaf."

[JxJxA]

"That sounds fine," says Zerone, visibly relieved that the planning would take place somewhere else than the strange and confusing confines of the club. "I think that Mr. Fat Man or myself can help with investigating the area on the astral. I'm more...uh...combat oriented, but I can call on a ravmalakh to search the area."

He quickly scrawls a message on his commlink and sends it to Cypher.

"These are my items that have sensors. They have a few adjustments to them, like ultrasound, thermographic vision, spatial recognizers and audio/visual enhancers. I think that'll help with a tacnet, right?"

[UmaroVI]

Fat Man
"I would suggest holding the flaming swords in reserve for now, since we do not want to alert anyone of our investigation. I can summon a shen that can sneak past astral security; that might be a better plan for now."

"Cypher, here are the detection, uh, devices that I have...linked to my...pan?"

[BishopMcQ]

Looking around the living room of the safehouse, Cypher chooses an armchair that is relatively out of the way. He sits down and pulls up a dozen windows--most are blank, with titles on them for dropping the salient bits of data as he collects them. He looks over the devices Fat Man was offering, jotting down make and model where possible, and estimating quality where the manufacturer's mark was worn away.

"Thank you." He jots down information about the commlink itself, and the OS it is running.

Getting ready for the heavy lifting in the data flow, he scripts small commands to copy and paste them into the appropriate windows with minor keystrokes. The hacker squirms left and right in the chair, trying to find a position that would be comfortable for the next while--once this got started, data had a way of connecting to different points and dragging him halfway across the Matrix before giving up the good stuff.

Loading up Agent Black, he tasked it with sending his data trail into the farthest reaches and redirecting any traces that might start hunting him. He then places an order with a local shadow service to anonymize his signal and bounce through several proxy servers. For straight hacking, it would cause too much of a lag, but scouring for data would be fine. Cypher nods once to anyone left in the room, then turns the windows opaque to keep anything from distracting him. Then he dove into the noise and wash of data.

[UmaroVI]

Fat Man closes his eyes and concentrates, searching the ambient mana for an appropriate shen. The first one he finds refuses his request for help, but the second one appears. An enormous gray pigeon, about the size of a dog, appears out of the air and flutters in front of Fat Man.

"Thank you for offering your assistance, noble spirit of this city. We are trying to rescue a man who is being held, and I beseech you for help in scouting out the area where we believe he is being kept to find out what defenses it might have that are visible from the astral plane."

The pigeon bobs its head and vanishes.