IC: SRM04-02 Extraction, Artifact Rush, Part 1 Options

[Slacker]

Simon Andrews looks at Silas, then back at Mr. White, and back again. Then looks at Gardern and Parker Acson for a moment. Seeing only serious faces, he bursts out the loudest, most obnoxious laugh yet. It's loud enough that people out on the dance floor pause their movements to look over and try to figure out what is so funny. The laughter just keeps going and going too.

At first Silas thought maybe it was some amazingly cool hologram on his head. He started craning his neck and rolling his eyes up trying to get a good view. But no matter what he did, he could get a view of the brilliantly purple unicorn horn with equally purple ears that now appeared to be sticking out of the top of his head. This made Simon laugh even more, especially when Silas stuck his tongue out and to one side in an unconscious gesture of concentration.

After a couple minutes, Cindy comes over with a worried look on her face. "Uh... everything...uh...ok guys?"

Simon finally winds down at her question. Wiping a few drop of mirth out of his eyes, he continues to chuckled as he answers. "Yeah. yeah. Sorry bout that. My mates 'ere...they are just absolutely hilarious. I couldn't help it." He shakes his head at the runners. "How about getting me another?" he asks before tossing back the rest of his drink.

"Uh...Yeah." Looking at the group that is absolutely not laughing with Simon, she says "Funny....So, anybody else need a refill?

With orders in mind, she heads off with one final uncertain look back at Simon.

Once she had left, Simon finally addressed the group. "You guys are so cute. You actually believe you're still in control of this thing. How long have you been in the shadows? This your first night out or something?" He doesn't even wait for an answer before continuing on. "Do you reallize Horizon has mobilized an entire platoon to smack you boys down when they locate you? And then there's Lin Yao. Trust me, he's done quite well for the Great Dragon Lung as an assassin and is definitely something to worry about. And I hear tell one of you fraggers pissed him off by not only not taking an offer from him, but by just cutting off contact in the middle of the conversation. My sources tell me that has him SERIOUSLY pissed. With all that you still have the naive impression that anybody cares about this slag? That is FUCKIN' hilarious."

He laughs a little more, but in a more controlled way this time. "Damn are you boys a breath of fresh air. It's far too rare to have your kind of optimism in this world. Nah. I don't give a flying rats arse about some tosser of a whoshewhatsit. I'll at least be honest with you about that, unlike anybody else you might approach. Whatever the hell he went to school for. It don't fucking matter. He's dead meta walking. There ain't no way to save him. You boys though? You've just been trying to do a job. You I might can help. For that, why don't you tell me more about this book you mentioned?"

[Dak]

Mr. White nods his head at Simon. "You seem very well connected, Mr. Andrews, and very knowledgeable. I appreciate your interest in meeting with us. I'm afraid that Mr. Acson and his book are a package deal. Thank you for your time, perhaps our interests may cross in the future."

Mr. White will pay for the drinks of his associates and stands to leave.

[Slacker]

"Hasty ain't ya?" Simon calls as Mr. White stands to leave and Silas looks to be following him. "Aren't you going to even hear what I can do for you? he asks with a smile. "How does 100k sound to you boys?"

Meanwhile in the virtual landscape, Needle has been pretty busy. Keeping an ear towards the conversation at the table, she's been busy checking out various signals to make sure everything was secure. She hacked the waitresses' headband to make sure it didn't have have any clandestine connection to the ones given to the team. It looked simple enough. A very basic OS that manages the holographic image projectors. It looks like they can be updated wirelessly with new designs, but nothing to worry about. She did a quick glance over a couple of the headbands given to the team, but got bored with it when they looked to be exactly the same. She got distracted by a few random encrypted signals elsewhere in the club. But they didn't prove germane to the team or Acson. One guy apparently was conducting a virtual business meeting pretending he was at the office instead of on the dance floor. That guy must have a serious co-processor to be able to handle that so smoothly. The other seemed to be a woman calling her paranoid boyfriend while out with her girlfriends. The guy sounded like a real lunatic going on about how the Seattle Metroplex was out to get him and was she sure the line was secure.

Anyway, she was starting to think there was nothing to worry about when she started noticing a deterioration of the overall bandwidth of the club. After a few quick diagnostics, she was able to narrow it down to something in the general area of the table where the team and Simon were at. She suddenly realized that there was another hidden node that seemed to be hidden beneath one of the ones she noticed before. This hidden node was pumping out a bunch of encrypted data too. She quickly dove into her decryption software to find out what was going on.... A few seconds later, she managed to crack into the stream. She found herself looking directly at a reptilian figure that she had to assume was Simon Andrews. Then the view turned to looking at the familiar Mr. White and back again. Son of a bitch! she curses in her thoughts.

Her mind running quickly through what was going on. She sends out a warning to the others.<<Alert: Somebody has hacked the wageslave's eyes via skinlink. He's broadcasting everything going on at the table! Going to track to track the signal now.>>

[Dak]

Mr. White turns back to the table. "Time is valuable, Mr. Andrews. I don't seek to waste the time of my clients, nor my own. You throw out a price that is enticing, but with no regard to what is is that you intend to purchase. We are not slavers, but at the same time, we have a monetary interest in Mr. Acson's future career. So perhaps we have gotten off to a poor start." Mr. White waits on his response.

[Slacker]

Seeing the threat implied by somebody secretly filming the discussion, Needle scrambles to track the signal to it's whoever is collecting it, discovering two things. First the video stream was being sent a very short distance to a hidden node she hadn't paid much attention to only a few feet from the table with Simon Andrews and the team. Secondly, the stream seemed to be being broadcast out to some other location outside of the club.

She internally debates on if it would be better to track the rebroadcast or try hacking this node in the club for a micro-second, she decides on following up the more immediate threat. First she sends off another note to the team. <<Guys. We've got a snoop in the booth next to yours and the stream is broadcasting to somewhere unknown outside the club>>

Outside in the van TundraWolf is trying to decide if he needs to head inside or not. He gives the parking lot a suspicious ones over for surveillance vans or other possible threats. Everything looks like it did moments before. That black Toyota Gopher that pulled in a minute ago, finally found a parking space and was backing into it.

Inside, Parker Acson wasn't liking where the conversation was going at all. "Hey now! What are you talking about here. He can't have the book without getting me. If you don't have a job for me then we are done. Especially considering the pittance you are offering." He stood up to leave ignoring the frustrated looks he was getting from the professional shadowrunners. But it was impossible for him to ignore bulk that was a giant still sitting at the booth and blocking him in.

Ignoring Acson, Simon Andrews agrees with Mr. White. "Yes. Perhaps you did start off on the wrong foot here. When somebody offers you help in the shadows, it pays to hear them out after all. Now, why don't you tell me more about what I'll be buying with my shiny nuyen?"

[Dak]

Mr. White looks at the adjacent booths, looking for someone watching them. Most should be focusing on their drinks or conversation, but someone must be staring right at them.

"No, thank you Mr. Andrews. Perhaps we'll have other opportunities in the future." he turns to his associates, and tersely says, "Let's go."

[Slacker]

"Oh...I guess you really are that foolhardy. No. I don't believe we will have any further opportunities all things considered. I don't work with idiots. Have fun getting yourselves killed." With that, he waves the team away dismissively as he turns to his AR vision and the latest ping from a party-er in the club that wanted his attention.

[Mach_Ten]

The Bass thumps and Silas makes a mental command, his earbuds filter out the audible elements
apart from the conversation between Mr. White and Simon Andrews but does nothing to dull the feeling in his enhanced bones as they vibrate in rhythm,

the Comm buzzes with Needle's anxious report and Silas subtly forms a plan to reconnoiter.
Speaking silently with the subvocal mic under his collar "Where's dey at Needle? I's can get eyes on 'dem!"
taking a cue from White as he stands,

the text flashes up in his AR << @SILAS [Needle] : Adjacent booth, move fast they have a visual feed from Acsons Link!>>
Silas follows suit still playing the casual drunk and staggers out of the booth almost knocking a dancing patron flying as he passes too close
"Soz chummer, din't sees ya dere !" he calls overly loudly and steps backwards away from their booth whilst waving to the man as he is absorbed into the throng on the dancefloor with a backwards angry glance.

Bumping gently off the partition between booths with his left shoulder he spins awkwardly as if to address someone else he may have knocked over,
instead faced the wall he staggers towards the booth occupants, he slams both his hands onto the edge of the table loudly, staring at them wild eyed, the band on his head tilting to one side with the pink unicorn horn and ears adding to the image of a lunatic or utter drunk
"Heeeeey you guys, hopes yous is havin a gooood time , YEAH!" he bellows at them attempting to out volume the DJ

[Slacker]

As Mr. White starts leading the others away from Simon Andrew's table and towards the door, Silas stumbles away in his impression of a drunk coming to rest against the table at the next booth over. Expecting to find a group, he instead finds one lone dwarf with a tuft of curly blond hair on top of his head with the sides and back shaved. He's has a multitude of color-changing piercings in his nose, lips, and eyebrows. And he's wearing a spandex bodysuit striped yellow and brown underneath a grey hoody. He had been bobbing his head to the music and staring off at the dance floor before Silas attracted his attention.

The dwarf blinked a few times and it took him a moment to refocus his eyes from whatever he'd been looking at. Looking Silas up and down, the diminutive meta seemed startled by the ork's appearance and a little intimidated by his size. "Eh...Um...what was that?...Good time. Yeah. Uh. Would you mind going away. You're uh...spoiling the view." The dwarf vaguely gestures to the dance floor behind Silas though he doesn't make any attempt to look past the ork.

[Mach_Ten]

Silas twists his head to look at the dance floor, taking a moment to subvocalise a query to Needle
"Are you fraggin' sure ? ..dis guy looks like he belongs in our van! "

returning his gaze to the Dwarf, he replies "Yeah man, I scans, these gurls is prurrty ... say, you looks familiars... I knows you?"
With a bound, Silas is round the table and sitting next to the dwarf, grabbing his shoulders in an overly friendly manner "Gerry, is that you? ... Man it's been too long brutha!"
He waits for the affirmative from Needle to come, sure that despite his looks the guy is the mark he prepares to subdue him.

[Slacker]

Needle pauses in her attempts to hack the snoops commlink. Does some quick analysis of the signals and shoots off a quick reply to Silas<<Confirmed. The commlink collecting and rebroadcast video is less than 1 meter in front of you.>>

Frustrated with the delay she returns to her attempts at hacking into the guy's commlink.

Meanwhile, the dwarf Silas is sidling up to is getting really nervous about this tough looking ork being so close to him. "I ain't Gerry. I don't know you. Get away from me." He begins scooting his way out of the booth towards the other side of the u shape.

[Mach_Ten]

" Heads up, on the move with target, lemme knows if dat signals stays or moves wid dis guy.. I kinda likes tha poor lil' fragger, I'd hate to break is neck by accidentals! "

Reaching out for the dwarf Gerry , Silas misses grabbing him by a hairs breadth and dashes after him "OH GERRY ... Don't leaves me Gerry ! ... Noooooooooo...... You seds we was brutha's Geeeeerrryyyy!" He calls after him

[Slacker]

<<I'm a little busy here trying to access the snoops 'link.>> With a sigh, Needle again interrupts her hacking to analyze the signals. As best she could tell Silas was practically on top of the offending commlink. And the signal had some movement to it. <<Not moving much, but seems like you're on top of the guy.>>

Jwuigg, the annoyed dwarf, says again. "I don't know you. I ain't your brother. You should...uh...go...please?."

[Dak]

Mr. White takes a couple of steps to the booth where Silas and the dwarf are sitting, and puts his foot down on the edge of the seat, cutting off the other exit from the U shaped booth.

As soon as the dwarf sees him, White glances pointedly at Gardner. "We need a few questions answered, chummer, and there's two ways to do that. One is for you to have a nice chat with us. The other is to remove any cranial cyberware so that we can analyze it later. Which do you prefer?"

[Slacker]

Jwuigg is startled by this new figure appearing in his way, "Wh..Who are..." He stops mid sentence as he sees the massive bulk of Gardner behind Mr. White. A strangled noise of fear squirrels its way out of his throat."Eeeeepp. As he scoots back in the booth until he bumps into Silas who'd he forgotten in his panic. "What....what are you talking about? I don't know anything. Don't hurt me!" The little guy is sweating bullets and fear is very evident on his face.

[Slacker]

Meanwhile, Needle is surprised at how difficult it's proving to crack the commlink she's trying to access. Going for admin access is taking longer than she would have thought, but she thinks she's getting close.

Outside in the parking lot, TundraWolf has gotten suspicious of the black extended cab truck that pulled in a few moments earlier. The truck is perfectly parked in a space facing the front of the club. It's shut off its lights and possibly turned off it's engine, though it's hard to tell from this distance. But nobody has gotten out yet.

[Dak]

Good. He'll talk. "We won't hurt you if you'll just step outside with us where we can talk for a moment. Otherwise, my large friend here will break your arms and legs."

[Slacker]

The dwarf is starting to shake violently. In a pleading voice, he says "But I told you. I don't know anything!"

[Dak]

"We know you're providing a feed to someone else. We just want to know who..."

[Slacker]

The dwarf screams a little though not enough to attract much attention over the loud music. What little attention it does attract turns away as soon as they see the threatening figure of Gardner and the hard looking Silas in the booth. "Aahhh... It was Lin Yao. He told me to do it!"

Needle finally gets through the substantial firewall on the commlink. She quickly sees that there's not just video going out, but a filtered and enhanced audio signal coming from the dwarf's own cyber-ears. <<The bastard's been sending audio too. I'm shutting it down now.>> With a simple flick of her virtual wrist, she severs the stream of data heading outside the club.

Speaking of outside the club, TundraWolf is staring at the Toyota truck getting more suspicious by the second with nobody coming out of it. Something in the corner of his eye distracts him for a moment though. He allowed his eyes to flick away from his target momentarily as he spots the bulk of an Ares Citymaster rolling around the back of the club.

[Dak]

"I see. Thank you."

Mr. White pulls his comlink from his pocket and pulls up the recent messages from Lin Yao, clicks on the number and presses Dial.

[Mach_Ten]

Silas breathes heavily behind the Dwarf, not touching him but making him feel very uncomfortable, even more so with Mr. White pacing as he waits for the comm call to connect, with Gardner towering above him.
"So's you see Gerry, you dun picked da wrong night, da wrong peeples and da wrong drekking place!"
He waves one of the waitresses over and orders a soft drink, looking up to the giant to see if he'd like a beverage while they wait, but the big man shakes his head placidly and patiently stands guard.
"So, whiles we waits here a sec, chummer ... hows bouts you tells me ... what 'sactly did Lin Yao ask ya to do...tells da truf.. and we only breaks da one leg, 'kay!"

[ChromeZephyr]

Friday night, Outside the Alabaster Maiden
CMT Clip: Hidden | SIN: Sergei Zharov

The sight of the Citymaster rolling behind the club twigged every alarm Tundra Wolf had, and he tagged the team channel with a particularly vulgar series of curses in his native Russian.

"There is an unmarked Citymaster deploying behind the club. You should probably be leaving now, I will provide cover if required. Needle, we need to be ready for evac now."

The mercenary opened the surplus bag and retrieved the gas mask and one each of the thermal smoke and gas grenades, strapping the well-used mask over his grim face. The mask wouldn't provide much in the way of disguise from the omnipresent cameras Downtown, but it was better than nothing if everything went to hell. He set Mishka on top of the bag, then set the Smartgun to fully automatic. Finally, he unlatched the door to the van and opened it a centimeter in preparation. If we are to run, a quick entry. If we are to fight, a quick engagement.

[Slacker]

Answering Silas, Jwuigg the hacker stammers out, "He told me to get recording of anybody meeting with the lizard. That's it." Then he breaks down crying. "Don't break my leg. It was just business."

Frustrated with the entire situation, Mr. White dials the LTG number that had contacted him earlier. He's barely able to hear the ringing over the loud music within the club. Realizing this location is not only going to make any conversation difficult over the phone, but also is likely compromised, he waves to the others to get everybody moving towards the front door. After a few seconds the ringing stops, and Mr. White things he hear a voice on the other end of the line, but couldn't make it out as the synth-guitar currently playing hit a particularly ear splitting note.

[Mach_Ten]

"He told me to get recording of anybody meeting with the lizard. That's it." Then he breaks down crying. "Don't break my leg. It was just business."

Silas relaxes a little at the obvious distress in the guys pleading tone and appearance
"I ain't gunna hurts yoo, but ...is it turned off ?" He waits a second for Gerry to confirm that the link is hacked or broken before continuing
"You DO knows you failed right? Dere's guys outside waiting to kill you, Gerry ........ands us ...!"
He lets the pause take it's effect as Gerry slowly comes to the realisation that the 'Just Business' argument is one that will be repeated to his face, and punctuated with hot lead once he exits the place.
"But, I has a idea, can yous gets us outta here ? Back doors an' fronts is covered now!... up to you, if yas wanna live, ya scans?"