IC: Stalking the Edge, In-Character posts for Stalking the Edge Options

[Notsoevildm]

Shivan is unsure of what just happened there. Did he startle BigPanda or does the eco-warrior not like the touch of his cyberarm. He quickly retracts it so as not to cause his new friend and further discomfort.

The outside is changing. The plants grow in no pattern that he can discern. In the online games all the trees look the same after a while. Here every single one is different, just like the people. It is truly amazing.

He pulls his attention back to the conversation in time to hear BigPanda's offer.

"That iss mosst kind of you. We will do our besst not to causse you any inconvenience. Right NoissyBoy?"

The drone dog makes no reply, simply continuing to stare straight ahead. Shivan pats it on the head.

"Good, boy."

"Pluss I can contribute to our sshare of the rent and other cosstss. And we will only sstay until we can find our own place."

[Fenris]

Ama and Mato

The gunman on the stairs shout and twist away, one stumbling down a fear stairs, the other leaning half-out and over the dilapidated railing in their efforts to avoid the leaping woman's fists.

The girl, obstensibly Amy, screams, her voice mingled with loud gasps as she struggles against Mato's grip.

"The guy, the other Infected! He said...agh, FRAG! He said, he said we could have the stuff, said you wouldn't be getting back up again, and tha...umph...that we should just leave your body till he, till he came back for it! Lemme go, you hairy fuck!"

___________________________________

Boots

Most people studiously ignore you, further aiding in your desire not to be seen. The few that do actually look at you seem to look right through you, not bothering to engage you at all with their eyes. You wander too close to a door, once, and one of the uniformed attendants stiffens until he sees you wander away with now further incident.

It looks odd, you stepping into the sleek, high-end car, reeking of garbage and the alleyway. Sean crinkles his nose in obvious disgust, having pulled himself into the vehicle at some point.

"Holy frag, didya' have ta' pick somethin' so...agggh, mah God, shea' reeks man!" He shakes his head and pulls a little closer over to the door, trying to avoid touching the woman.

"Look, okay, it werks. Car's ready, jus' touch the reader on mah' commlink here so Ah can get the fingerprint, and...right, then, there, that button right there." The car purrs to life, a steady, slight rumble vibrating up and through the leather seat. A variety of displays spring to life, dotting the periphery of the windshield with information. Complicated looking meters, readouts, displays feed a constant stream of data to whoever's sitting in the driver's seat.

"Welcome, Mrs. Harris, please choose your destination."

_________________________________

Panda's response is quick, reassuring.

"No no, no inconvenience at all. You can stay as long as you like." There's an almost bark of scoffing laughter from the front seat, and Panda shoots a withering glance over his shoulder before he turns back.

"So, no, it'll be fine. I have a second bedroom, and there's a walled in space in the back for Noisyboy," He gives the dog a slightly apprehensive glance, "So I think it'll be great, really!"

BigPanda chatters on about plans, working out things with you about sleeping and eating arrangements, what you liked to eat, preferred temperature...mostly small details. A short while later the vehicle pulls to a stop, and Panda slides open the door to reveal a small house tucked in among larger buildings, the sidewalk and near edge of the street overgrown with greenery as far as the eye can see up and down the block. Trees have punched through the plas-crete in places, and thick vines wrap around the taller stone structures on either side of the small, two-story brick front house. BigPanda motions you in even as he pulls backpacks and gear out of the van, stepping up to have a quiet and intense conversation in a lilting, musical language with Gaia's Sister before the van abruptly pulls away from the curb and back the way it came. He turns to give you a nervous smile and leads the way up and into the building, fumbling nervously for the keys.

"I hope you like it..."

Inside, the house is done almost completely in natural woods and cloth coverings, draped over the cracked, plaster walls to disguise them. It's a riot of color and eclectic tastes, though all in natural and earth tones, spreading out through the house. Originally, the floorplan probably consisted of a living room, dining room, kitchen, and bathroom downstairs, with 3 bedrooms upstairs. The living room, however, has been cleared to make space for a large circle, several meters across, etched into the plascrete floor. Bits of plants and bone adorn narrow shelves and boxes piled around the space, every bit of the area cluttered except for the circle itself. The dining room has been filled with beanbags and gigantic pillows, no actual chair or tables in sight, and scattered with the plates and remains of several meals.

The largest of the upstairs rooms is draped in tapestries from floor to ceiling, though it's the bed in the center of the room that dominates the space. It looks as if a large bedframe had been set up and then filled with a pile of pillows and blankets instead of mattresses. BigPanda actually looks a bit chagrined as he shows the space, and he quickly moves on to another room. Filled almost to the brink with boxes, the bedroom has obviously been used as a storage space, with flimsy clear-copy printouts stacked side-by-side with fading screamsheets and old actual books.

"We do a lot of research trying to track down secret...well, research facilities. The stuff the corps want to keep hidden. Sometimes they manage to keep it off the Matrix, you know?"

With the tour concluding with the upstairs bathroom, and an open window displaying a small yard in the rear of the house, overgrown with the same rampant vegetation that's claiming the rest of the neighborhood, BigPanda looks at you nervously.

"So, does it...I mean, will it...I mean, will you...can you, can you stay here?"

[Notsoevildm]

Shivan claps his hands with joy, when BigPanda offers them a place to stay.

"It sssoundss great. I cannot wait to ssee it."

Shivan hardly knows where to look inside the house. His tongue flicks in and out rapidly. getting a good taste of it. But it it the only part of him that does. Unlike his earlier excitement in the lab or his thrashing in the van, he moves with a restrained grace. His arms are tucked close in at his sides, although they seem to reach out and almost touch things of their own accord.

He stops at the edge of the circle in the living room. It reminds him of similar circles in Mage Wars 5.

"Are you a magician?" he asks, his heading dipping low to examine the edge of the circle in the living room. Although, he is careful not to touch or cross it.

"Iss there a demon trapped insside it?"

As BigPanda explains the function of each room, he nods in his head, a strange ducking motion rather than a real nod. He also adds a mental note to a file called 'BigPanda's House' as he follows along. His mind is awash with new sights, sounds and tastes and he is struggling to take it all in.

"Thiss looks very comfortable." he comments on the dining room. "Iss thiss my room. I could definitely ssleep here. Oh, I ssee."

By comparison, when Shivan sees the second bedroom, he looks a little uncertain.

"Hmm, that iss a lot of boxess. I do not ssee where I could ssleep. Do we need to move ssome of them ssomewhere elsse?"

Still the building is big. The space out back alone, the yard, is as big as his cage.

"It iss very beautiful, BigPanda. And sso big! Why, your bathing room iss nearly as big as my cage! We would be mosst honored to sstay here with you. Until we are ssettled up for oursselvess, that iss."

He gives a little bow, one metal hand touching his chest, the other performing a graceful arc down and back.

[UmaroVI]

Boots
"She might be a bit...fragrant, but nobody's going to listen to her if she claims 'a spirit made me do it,' either."

Boots followed Sean's instructions, tapping the places he said with the woman's fingers without really understanding which blinking bits did what.

[BishopMcQ]

His arms tightening around the girl like a vise grip, Mato takes a few steps toward the door he had smashed down on his way in. Leaning out he looks to see Babs and ensure that she is unharmed.

"When is the man returning?"

[Fenris]

Shivan

BigPanda blushes as you bow, glancing away quickly as he stammers.

"That's great! I mean, really good, really. And yeah, I mean, we'll need to clear out the room, I hadn't really thought we'd be bringing you back...I mean, back to here, that is."

He immediately sets about clearing boxes, hauling them down the hall and into his room, tucking them away in the back of his closet.

"That should help with the worst of the cold and some of the humidity. And no, I don't summon demons. I mean, I don't really think anyone does, but that's just my beliefs. Some people could call their spirits demons. I think they're the personifications of our belief in the natural orders."

He pauses, eyes flickering closed for a moment. You can full a sudden pressing, like the air pressure in the room had increased and was pressing down on you, making it hard to breath. Words trickle from the broad-shouldered elf's lips in a steady stream...the noises obviously a language, but something guttural, primal. There's a sudden rush of physical wind in the narrow hallway, and abruptly there's another presence there. Three or four feet tall, slender and almost childlike, it has wide, white eyes with no pupils, pale skin tinged in green, and no nose or mouth. In fact, it's missing most of the defining characteristics besides it's general shape of two arms, two legs, and a head, with wisps of mist trailing from a smooth scalp and green-tinged fingertips.

"Would you help us, please?" BigPanda asks earnestly, kneeling down in front of the diminutive figure and nodding at the room full of boxes. The tinkle of wind chimes fills the hallway as the shape nods quickly and turns towards the room. It gestures, and stacks of boxes lift and withdraw themselves smoothly from the room and into the hall.

The boxes quickly fill that space, and he resorts to just piling them in clear spaces in the room until most of the guest room is empty. One last stack of boxes, 3 x 3 and piled against one wall remain, but the majority of the space is clear. Smiling and chatting happily about small, mundane things, more living arrangement details, he heads down to the "dining room" and brings up a supply of pillows and blankets, along with a small space heater. A few hours later, he's serving up plates of steaming food, the dishes covered in vegetables and flavored soy proteins that have the taste of meat, if not the texture and firmness.

"Sorry, I don't actually eat any meat. Oh, and I meant to ask," he mumbles around a mouthful of food, flopping down easily on one of the large cushions in the dining room.

"What do we do about him?" he nods at NoisyBoy.

"I can tell you what the organic part eats, but I have no idea if he needs like...maintenance, or anything. Or any kind of food or upkeep besides what a normal dog would need."

_________________________

Boots

Sean wrinkles his nose, but keeps silent about the matter, apparently agreeing. Once the actual car is in motion, the instructions he gives you are mostly to let the car drive itself. About an hour or so into the ride, which seems to meander north towards the bridge out of the city, there's an abrupt lurch. Bright red alerts flash over the windshield, there's an audible click from the door locks, and the car begins to slow and nose over towards the right-hand shoulder of the of the road. Sean hoots with glee and immediately drops unconscious. A few moments later, the alerts disappear, and the car resumes normal speed. Sean rubs a hand across his eyes as he sits up again.

"Alright, so here's the part that I needed you here for. You're going to need to drive now." He gives you a few hurried instructions and then directs you to pull off at the next highway exit and get back on headed the other way.

_____________________________

Mato and Ama

The girl screams again, struggling as she's lugged up the stairs. The gangers have gotten wise enough to quit blasting away at their fellow gang members, and have halted shooting for the moment.

Outside, Babs is crouched behind her car, smoking shotgun propped over the roof as she scans the front of the building. As Mato leans out of the doorway, she shouts and waves.

"Hey hun! Hope ya'll are planning to get on out here pretty quick. There's scum crawling all over that building!"

The girl in Mato's grip twists enough to look, furious anger radiating from her features.

"He's supposed to be back tomorrow. Said he'd be coming back for her corpse an' all. Now let me the frag down! I'll tell the boys to quit shooting..

[UmaroVI]

Boots
Remember, Boots, left pedal stops, right pedal goes, signal before turning, don't chase other cars.

While Boots only sort of understands how to drive, he's alert and attentive enough to make up for it and he quickly pulls towards the exit Sean indicated, then turns around and begins heading back, doing his best to drive safely and not attract attention.

"I see, we had to go to the edge of the car's leash to trigger an alarm."

[Buddha72]

Ama and Mato
"Tell them to stop now and return my things."

Her face is flat and grim as she waves a hand towards the men below her on the stairs. The air ripples as the magic is unleashed in the space below and engulfs the two gangers. She feels the pain race along her nerves as she overwhelms her ability to safely channel that much mana at once.

[Notsoevildm]

Shivan recovers slowly from the awe at seeing the shaman summon a spirit, just like that. He cannot stop one of his arms from reaching out to touch it. His hand passes through it although he feels a faint tingle like electricity. He quickly withdraws the limb fearing the charge will damage it.

He attempts to help with the boxes but quickly realises he is just getting in the way and retreats to the living room, only joining in again to help move some of the cushions.

"This is very perfect" he beams at BigPanda, mentally adjusting the control on the space heater to a mild 25 Celsius.

Once the room is cleared he joins the shaman at the kitchen table, moving a chair aside and coiling himself in it's place until he 'sits' at an appropriate height. He carefully cuts the food into small pieces and puts them one at a time into his mouth. His tongue flicks over each 'bite' savouring the taste, then with a gulp he swallows it down.

"In the lab, I learned to eat and enjoy many human foodss. McHugh'ss RealBeef triple burgerss are my favourite. I can eassily eat ssix or sseven of thosse at once. And while I do like Mr Po's Ssuper Ssambal Ssurprisse, number 66, it doess not agree with my sstomach."

He glances at NoisyBoy.

"He iss trapped like me you know. In hiss head there iss a tiny cage. I hope to free him like you freed me. I have ssome sskill with a sscrewdriver but will need ssome time to look over hiss sspecificationss before I can see if he needss...maintenance, or anything."

The yawn is unexpected and somewhat shocking as his jaws open so very wide to reveal a pair of long, sharp fangs.

"Excusse me. That wass very rude of me. I fear that my ressearch of NoisyBoy must wait until I resst. It hass been a rather exciting day for me. And for you too, I ssusspect. If you do not mind, I will go to ssleep now."

[Fenris]

Boots

"Summit' like that. They gotta trigger the alarm, and I don't want them knowing where we're headed when they hit it. Some unlucky prat back there's gonna have 'im a poor time with 'Knight." Sean claps you on the shoulder, and then pulls his hand back with a mild look of disgust, apparently having forgotten the body you inhabited at the time.

The remainder of the drive is fairly uneventful, Sean give directions to let the pilot program take over again as you head back into the city, and then down south, into Tacoma. A few hours after the actual heist at the restaurant, he's directing you into a small parking lot in front of Dragon's Breath Coffee. He shuts down the car with another grin, signaling the truck to open so that you can grab the wheelchair as turns in his seat. Once established in his wheelchair, he locks the car and rolls up to the front door, taking up a position to one side and waiting. Several minutes later, a a low-slung bike with a thin orc comes pulling up, the engine noises muted from the normal roars that accompanied the vehicle. It's obviously customized, numerous odd tubes and blocky protrudences bolted on in a design that looked odd but balanced, at least. Dressed in casual slacks and a blazer, he tucks a pair of wrap-arounds into his pocket as he steps up in front of Sean.

"Seanp." The voice is slightly slurred, the words spoken around ornately curved tusks jutting from the orcs lips.

"Fleet." Sean's response is measured, effecting a cool and casual that the man did not usually display.

________________________________________________

Ama and Mato

One of the, apparently nominally a leader, screams at the others to put the guns down as the two gangers on the stair way tumble back, one staggering as the other goes limp and tumbles back down the stairs. That was Amy, god-dammit! seems to be the gist of the noise. He looks at the Ama and Mato and nods, rage written across his face.

"Let's go, dump it," he snarls, motioning to the gangers behind him.

_______________________________________________

Shivan

BigPanda blanches a bit at the description of your favorite foods, shaking his head.

"We've got to get some real food into you," he says, motioning at the plate you're holding. "This isn't it, but it's closer than McHugh's."

As you yawn, he blinks, eyes going wide, staring almost in fascination until you close your mouth again.

"Oh yes, of course, I mean..." he stammers, rising and motioning for you to follow. Once upstairs, he glances once at your room, and makes a bit of a face at the mostly empty room. He shakes his head once, and moves on to his room.

"Here, you'll sleep here tonight. We'll work on your room later." he says definitively, motioning to the nest of blankets and pillows in the bedframe.

[UmaroVI]

Boots decides to let Sean do the talking - this body's smell would not help make friends. Instead, Boots takes a careful look at Fleet's aura.

[Fenris]

Boots

In the astral, the orc's essence waned like a flickering candle. Shot through with the tell-tale black of cybersurgery, cyberware implants range from his head to his spine, and tendrils stretch throughout his entire body. His eyes have been completely replaced with pits of black nothing, hovering in the middle of what should normally be a bright and vibrant aura of life and vitality. You note the details...the individual colors and hues, the swirls and lines that differentiate one aura from another, and know that you could pick him out of a crowd. The calm lines of his aura spike a bit with some sort of negative emotion as he glances at you and Sean, but it's hard to say if it's anger or dislike or just disgust.

"I hope that thifff woman if either artfully diffguiffed, or that you just picked her up for a bit of fun after the run.' Sean flushes but shakes away the job, nodding over at the stolen luxury car.

"Exactly like you said, delivered clean and clear, no cops, no trails, no evidence. All clean."

Fleet eyes the car for a moment, and there's a cold and casual disdain in his voice.

"No way it'ff completely cleaned, but if you handled your businefff, it'ff clean enough for uf to get to work. Good job." The last part is offered grudgingly, but Sean still smiles and ducks his head, his aura flushed with his reaction to the orc's words. There's a brief nod, and Sean's eyes flicker up into the distance for a moment before his smile grows wider, and he nods back. Fleet tugs on a pair of gloves as he walks over to the car, catching a small bit of electronics that Sean tosses over, and leans into the car. A moment later he rises, nodding with some satisfaction, and heads back to his bike. The car starts up, perfectly tuned engine purring, and pulls away from the parking lot, heading in one direction even as Fleet pulls out, heading in another. Sean turns and looks at you, giving another hoot as he nudges the woman's body with his wheelchair, forgetting for a moment that it's not really you.

"That's it! This is where it starts! We're living large, Boots, living large."

[UmaroVI]

Boots
"That's right - now we don't have to worry about covering the rent. I'm going to ditch this smelly woman, then we can head home. I'll be right back without her body."

Boots grinned in a distinctly canine manner, with his mouth wide open and his tongue out, as he wandered off to cut the woman loose, looking for an isolated back alley or the like with some nearby animals.

[Fenris]

Boots

Isolated alley's are in generous supply in this area, and there's a sudden look of vacancy in the woman's features for several moments as your overwhelming presence rushes free of the flimsy shell, leaving her gasping and shaking her head in shock. The sharp tang of her body odor and salt on the air hits your nose as you dive into the brightly sparkling body of the cat crouched on the dumpster nearby, along with a riot of other details of the physical world that the woman hadn't noticed in the dark alleyway.

There's only a brief instance before her eyes glaze over at the effects of the spell, and she looks a bit disoriented, mumbling to herself as she pulls herself to her feet and staggers out, towards the mouth of the alleyway, looking around with an appropriately confused look, considering that she's now miles from where she started, and probably hours of travel from anything she called a home or belongings.

[UmaroVI]

Boots decides to hold on to the stray cat for the moment, and scampers out of the alleyway and back towards Sean.

Boots briefly drops his realistic form, overlaying his coat and eyes over the cat's form so that Sean can recognize him, then meows and follows Sean's wheelchair.

[Notsoevildm]

"No, no, no!" hisses Shivan, waving his arms frantically. "Thiss iss your room. I will jusst bring a few more cusshions up from your room of living and that will ssuffice for tonight."

Plus the other room is now nice and warm.

"But firsst, I will take NoisyBoy to your outdoor yard."

He beckons to the dog/drone to follow him and takes it out to the yard. He lowers his head to the level of the dog's.

"Stay here. Rest. I will get you out of your cage tomorrow."

He pats the dog on the head and moves back inside out of the cool evening air. Then he returns to the still mostly empty room. He places his Flyspy "Sparrow" on top of the boxes and the little Ferret drone "Ferris" near the door, then settles down to sleep.

But sleep does not come easily. He sees the dead guards lying in their own blood and gore. He sees SilentMoon killing the scientists. And worst of all, he sees a dog in a tiny mirrored cage, barking at its reflection.

With sleep eluding him, he casts his mind out into the matrix.

<<@SolidSnake: I am seeking some more work. I have a better commlink now, more powerful than my previous one. So I hope you can find me something that is a little more challenging and better paying than the data searches I did for you before.>>

He considers contacting Professor Smith and Janet, his technician friend, but he is worried that the company will set a trap for him.

In this case, letting things 'cool' down for a few days is probably a good thing.

So instead he turns his attention to the dog/drone, carefully probing its systems and capabilities while it rests.

[Buddha72]

Ama and Mato
She locks eyes with the ganger who appears to be speaking and directing the others. She feels the heat and the hunger rise in her, the dark whispers of Izanami tease her with the sight of their broken bodies and shattered souls around her. She feels the rush of recognition and feels the yearning to let go and just let that be her way but she sees Mato. Her only possible friend in this world was not worth losing her self in her goddess. Keeping her face still and focused as she sends her prayers out through the spirit realm fueled by her own magic.

I call to the spirits of this place, to the guardians of this place. I stand ready to honor you and remember you. I will make the offerings and offer my thanks.

The ripple passes through this place and an answering chorus of whispers comes echoing back at her. She picks one voice from the din and draws it to her. A small man shaped assorted of trash and debris forms in the astral near her, yearning for offerings and prayers it stands at her side. She feels the connection form between herself and it as it accepts her promise and is prepared to aid her in her endeavors. She finally speaks to the quiet room.

"My things returned please and a name to go with the man who brought me here."

[Fenris]

Boots

Sean starts and his eyes bug out when the cat's form twists in front of him, but he manages to stifle the scream. He shakes his head and looks off in the distance for a moment before blinking and looking out into the night in front of the shop. A few moments later a cab arrives, one of Seattle's finest Yellow Cab - still delivering great service after 125 years!™. The cab's rear door swings open, the fairly spacious interior brightly lit and offering up the broad back seat. Sean struggles for a few moments with moving himself to the cab, collapsing the wheelchair into something that's manageable in the back of the cab, and motions to you to hop in.

"Animals require a 25% increased 'Special Fare', with additional costs as necessary automatically charged if there is additional cleaning or downtime needed for the cab." The voice is a soft and soothing one, friendly but firm, and matching the smiling face displayed on the monitor just above the sealed partition between the front and rear of the cab. Sean grumbles something but sends an acknowledgement of the costs and gives directions back to the house.

He's gleeful on the ride, talking about the gig and how impressed Fleet was, and how this would mean steady, well-paying work. He laughs about the amount he got for just that nights work, already making plans for the future.

"and a bigger place for more animals with a decent backyard not just that run and the kennels you know Somewhere nice with security and stuff and real food most of the time No more soy" he crows, thumping the back seat in his enthusiasm. He pauses, looking at you with the broad grin, and you see him do something, and the cab abruptly slows and changes direction. It stops a few more miles on in front of a pub called O'Riley's". Bea and Sean used to frequent this place, before, and it was a favorite of most of the team when they weren't working. He manuveurs the wheelchair out of the door and settles into it again.

"...an' a better fuckin' wheelchair!" he grumbles as the doorman, Sal, a flush-faced dwarf, claps Sean on the shoulder with a chuckle and motions him into the pub.

____________________________________________

Shivan

Panda looks a bit crestfallen when you refuse, but he nods, even helping you move a few more of the cushions into your room. He comes back by the room once you're back from taking out Noisyboy, pausing in the doorway and seeming about to say something before he hesitates, finally just giving a wave and a 'Goodnight' and walking back to his room.

SolidSnake responds almost immediately.

<<@Shivan[Solid Snake]: Hey look, I'm glad you called, actually. I've got more work than I can handle at the moment. Glad to hear you got new gear, the last stuff sucked. So, are you up for something serious? Or you looking for something light to throw the new gear against?"

_____________________________________________________

Ama and Mato

There's a rumble of discontent that's stifled when Amy curses at the lot of them. Gear continues to trickle down in bits and pieces, accumulating on the floor in front of the speaker.

"Guy's name is Samael. He's all biblical and drek, thinks he's some sort of fraggin' prophet or some drek like that. Always spouting verses. Look, he's supposed to come back here tonight, to collect your body. Said it would have run it's course, and that we were just supposed to keep you here till it was done. That's all we know! Look, can you...let Amy go. We'll let you go, let you take your stuff. Hey, everybody," he turns back to face the crowd, anger hot and bright in his glare.

"You keep yer frakkin' pieces down, got it? First one that takes a takes a pot shot at these slitches get's his throat slit, capisce?" He turns back to glare at the two intruders.

"Alright alright, you got your stuff, everybody's still breathing, just let Amy go and you can walk outta heyah."

From outside, Babs yells again.

"Hey hun? I can hear a couple of cars coming. That's a serious convoy in these parts. Not saying they're comin' directly heyah, but I'm bettin' it ain't good. We should scoot. Oh..are you, ahh, bringin' the emo kewpie doll there with ya'?"

[Notsoevildm]

Shivan is half asleep, his mind somewhere between his own and NoisyBoy's node when he gets the message from SolidSnake. He pulls his mind back firmly into his own head and ponders for a long moment before replying.

<<@Solid Snake[Shivan]: Prudence would dictate a test run rather than plunging into the deep end of the digital swimming pool. So I think a light to moderate challenge would be best. Something that would let me test the boundaries of my hardware and matrix skills without facing a significant risk of failure or damage to my brains or shiny new hardware. Also something that would not compromise your own reputation or trust in me if it was not completed as cleanly or smoothly as desired.>>

Was that too wordy. I should sleep. It has been rather a long day.

And with that last thought, he curls himself into a tight ball and drifts off into sleep.

[Fenris]

Shivan

There's a message waiting for you the next morning, blinking quietly in the corner the commlink display. It's accompanied by a light rapping at your door, an anxious BigPanda sticking his head in the door when no immediate reply is forthcoming.

"Are you...oh, I mean, I'm sorry, I was just worried that..." He colors and stumbles over his words, trailing off.

[Buddha72]

Ama and Mato
Walking over with a measured pace she begins to pull the jumpsuit off the grappled form of the woman. Reaching through her connection to the spirit she summoned she asks for aid.

Grant myself and my ally speed to move quickly here - we must move like the wind. Please protect us should those here seek to do us harm.

She moves quickly and precisely with practiced ease, having done this simple task of preparing for work numerous times. In the dark, deafened and with one limb she was drilled to do tasks like this without conscious thought so that she could focus her attention elsewhere like keeping an eye on the squatters all around her.

[BishopMcQ]

Ama and Mato

The large man stares straight at Amy, baring his teeth slightly as he shifts his grip around the ganger's throat to control her.

"Give us the number for the talking-machine to Samael."

Once Ama finishes pulling the jumpsuit free, Mato looks at his companion. He sniffs the air gently, trying to push away the stench of fear from the woman in his arms. The foul thread of infection hopefully still lingered.

[Fenris]

Ama and Mato

The leader, whoever he is, appears to be barely restraining himself as Ama effectively strips the girl in front of the gathered crowd. With grinding teeth, he spits out an LTG number.

"That's the number he gave us, it's just a message center though."

Coughing slightly as the large man grips her throat, Amy twists in his grip, only just barely cooperative with the act. She glares at Ama as the woman dons the jumpsuit, looking thin and underfed in just a dirty pair of panties and a sports bra.

Testing the air, Mato detects a chorus of scents, at least two of them mimicking some particular details of Ama's scent, others having the distinct edge of ghouls, similar if not identical to the scents you'd been tracking from your village.

[UmaroVI]

Boots at the bar.

Boots felt a pang of sadness as he remembered the good times spent in the bar with his entire family. Still, he and Sean had each other - and hey, they'd pulled that job off!.

Act like a cat. Act like a cat.

Boots completely ignored both Sean and the doorman, and hopped into Sean's lap as if his wheelchair was specifically designed for feline transport.

[Notsoevildm]

Shivan's head appears from under the pile of pillows, cushions and blankets. This time he remembers to cover this mouth when he yawns, one metal hand snaking forward to cover his open mouth. He slithers out from under the covers bringing his head up level with BigPanda's. His arms flex in an approximation of a stretch as he runs a brief diagnostic to check on their perfomance.

Hmm, left one is reacting a little slow. Will need to check that later.

"I am fine. I slept like a human child. My first night of freedom. I admit I was a little worried it was all just a dream and that if I opened my eyes I would be back in my cell."

He follows BigPanda down to the dining room, his eyes and tongue darting around as he takes in more of the unusual decor of shaman's house.

"I should check on NoisyBoy. Do you have any tools? I need to adjust one of my arms and may also need to do some maintenance on him too."

As he babbles on, his eyes flick to the message in his AR and he opens it with baited breath.