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

[Slacker]

Uneasy at the thought of leaving her home in an unfamiliar place, Needle has to admit that the excessive damage her baby has taken makes it a bit too conspicuous, particularly with a damn megacorp on their ass. She reluctantly plugs the new destination address into the bus's pilot system.

"This better be safe or you owe me a new home," she tells Silas.

"Trust. Uncle Danny is da man. He's got r bakcs," the smiling ork affirms.

At least it looks like the new address won't take them too far off their original course. No signs yet of any pursuit. Eerily, 40 minutes after their escape she's still seeing nothing on the newsnets regarding the excitement at the Horizon Splendor building. Looking around the Matrix she found a few posts in random forums about flashes of light and possible gunfire, but subsequent searches no longer see those same posts. Looks like Horizon's hackers are in overdrive squashing any mention of this incident. That's scary. Really fucking scary. That means this is big enough that they don't want even a hint of this getting out....

A shout of "Result!" shocks Needle out of her AR browsing. Silas is absolutely beaming and almost bouncing in his seat as the bus turns a corner to reveal the warehouse Danny Zucco had provided....and the bright glowing neon signs of the Stuffer Shack next door to it. Everybody can tell what's on the Ork's mind.

Needle shakes her head and takes over control of the bus to guide it up to the rolling doors of the warehouse. A quick message from her commlink with the access code Silas had been given sees the bay doors rolling up to let them inside.

The bus' headlights washes the dark interior with brilliant light. Boxes of varying sizes and shapes are stacked haphazardly many with brightly colored objects hanging out of them or sitting on the shelf next to them. The headlights also reveal a largish van/delivery truck in the bay right next to the one they are pulling into. The side of van is brilliantly emblazoned with 'Wheezy Bumble Bigfoot the Clown' and the smiling, painted, and absolutely terrifyingly creepy image of a Sasquatch's face in clown regalia.

Well at least it this place looks like it will let the team rest long enough to triage the gaping wounds. TundraWolf looks like he's on the verge of collapsing again. That stim patch won't be keeping him up much longer. Once that's done, they can figure out what to do next.

[O'Ryan]

Friday, 21:00; "Danny Boy's" Warehouse
Disposable Commlink: Hidden | SIN (Criminal) Adam Pliskin

LMGs were fun! Not something Eclipse had ever expected to use before.. too heavy when you spend most of your time fast roping out of helicopters and then sprinting the rest of the way...

He's snapped out of his thoughts by the grind of the warehouse doors pull up and Silus almost immediately shouting in joy at the near by Stuffer Shack. Of course. Eclipse waits until the bus has come to a stop before getting up and making his way to the back to start perusing Needle's medical supplies. If he can find a set of scrubs or even a labcoat, an identity change might just prolong his life...

"A'ight, whose first? Tundra, y'wanna maybe... no, sit still... stop.."

Oh well. Won't be the first stim-junkie I've worked on.. Supplies are removed from boxes and sorted, prepping everything for when Needle heads on back to take lead. No reason to operate remotely through the valkyrie when you have your hands right here, right?

"How's everyone doin'? Silus, if y' hold on just a second I'll go with y' for supplies..." Eclipse is starting to wonder, at this point, if anyone has noticed how inconsistent his accent is.

[Kiirnodel]

Gardner is a horrible patient, he scrutinizes everything you do, complains about "invasive techniques", even double checks every choice of treatment, looking for toxins or unnatural ingredients or some such nonsense. Even still, he seems to be acting very strange when you start treating his wounds. He had two relatively serious looking gunshots to the abdomen and shoulder (surprisingly close to his heart), yet he pushes you to NOT treat those wounds. Instead, he urges you to look into what appears to be burst blood vessels in his eyes and sinuses. They are difficult to treat, but you prescribe some medication, and it seems to soothe the strange wounds relatively well. You know you could have done more to help if he'd let you do more with those gunshot wounds.

Then you understand why he had you do all of that. Once the medication has had a chance to kick in, the Giant takes a calming breath, and lays his hands over the two wounds. His face once again takes on the serene visage of an elderly man, skin made out of bark, a beard composed of a tangle of vines, hair sprouting small leaves and buds. As quickly as it appeared, it is gone. His hands go back to his sides, and the wounds that were once marring his rough, thick skin are... gone. Like they were never even there, just gone. "Now, on to the others," he says in his deep rumbling voice, "I will be-- nngh"

Suddenly, a fresh, blistering rash ruptures across his chest. The backlash of the magic he just performed was too much for him apparently. Gardner, cringing in pain, gives Needle another glance, "Or perhaps you can give it another look..."

[Severus Snape]

Needle easily guides the bus into the over-sized bay, tears welling up in her eyes at the thought that her baby was injured.

I'm sorry. Had I known you were going to get shot at, I wouldn't have brought you. Not that the go-gangers in the barrens treat you much better when I pay them to watch you...

She dries her eyes as she brings the bus to a stop, climbing out of the front seat and heading towards the medical supplies in the back. She pulls out a couple of medkits, rummaging through them for the needed gear to start patching up bullet wounds and bruises, giving each one of the team a once-over in turn. Her medical training had kicked in, forcing the tears to stop instantaneously while she focused all of her efforts on performing triage and near-surgery.

Once everyone had been patched up - Gardner twice, as the rash had appeared just after she thought she had finished up with him - she set about taking care of herself. She found that she now had a large headache, and she was still a bit queasy from having been dumped so unceremoniously from the sniper's commlink. Then she started thinking about how she flew from the top of the building, landing easily on the ground a few feet from the bus, and she had to choke back the serious urge to vomit again.

"Gack...urp...ech..."

She found a couple of migraine-strength acetaminophen tablets in the medkit, along with the necessary amount of water to wash them down, and quickly took them, waiting patiently for the effects to drown the headache and put her back in an easy state of mind. While she waited, she started slowly combing through the matrix, puzzled at the lack of news on the events of the evening.

"Hey guys...shouldn't we be on the news right now?"

[Mach_Ten]

"Hey guys...shouldn't we be on the news right now?"

"Aaaaw Lady, yous just wanna see if you looks good flying, I tells ya already that your ass don't look so big in dat suit"
Silas is busy rummaging through old cardboard boxes of stuff, clouds of dust catch the street light through holes in the corrugated walls and the occassional rat dives for safety.

Eventually he surfaces from the ocean of Clown accessories, his face powdered white with a red 'squeeky' nose, Bright yellow and pink polka dot pants and a pair of shoes that even Gardner would be unable to walk in.
"Tadaaaaaaa!" He exclaims, "I gots disguises for all of yous, Dem Horizon fellahs will NEVER find us now ! .. wot ya finks ?"

He tries to move too quickly over towards Mr. White and Parker Acson and nearly loses his footing in the oversized boots, tripping, he almost manages to regain his footing but launches his armful of clothing on the floor in front of them.
"I don't fink dey need to matching anyways, so no worries" he says apologetically, looking at the mismatched pile of clown suits on the ground and the look of utter shock on their faces.
"what? .. he cries "Dere's a gorilla or giant banana suit back 'dere if yous don like Clowns!?" pointing over his shoulder with his thumb.

[O'Ryan]

Eclipse steps out of the bus after helping Needle tend to the wounded - though it's abundantly clear there was no actual need for him. A bit sloppier technique than he would have liked, but the sheer knowledge! - to stretch his legs.
"So what's the plan? Hijack a car, grab some soyburgers, swing by the Guns R Us..?"
His eyes land on the clown bus already residing in the warehouse, and a massive grin splits his face.
"Guys. ...no, seriously. Unless we can find somethin' nice, big, and subdued in the barrens I think that... thing might just work! I mean, no way'n'hell we're getting to Bellevue in it, but if we hang out here 'n just use it for delivery..."
Eyes track to Ascon then, and he offers a light smile, a scant two degrees better than what Skeletor could manage. His word choice probably could have been better... But, too late for that now. LMG is dropped onto a crate between the buses so he can keep an eye on transport and party members while the discussion rages. He idly pops the feed tray, clears the chamber of the belt, and starts examining his remaining ammunition and machine gun for faults.

Needle's words carry from House Bus and he looks up, frowning. Or, he would, but in the process of looking up he spots Silus in full clown regalia. As it turns out, it's very hard to hold a serious conversation when your face is split open in a childish grin.
"Doesn't Horizon own the news? Seems t' me if I owned trid, I wouldn't publish any stories about me getting ro... ahem my prisoners getting extracted."

[ChromeZephyr]

Nighttime, a warehouse somewhere in Seattle

By the time the bus pulled into the bay of the warehouse Tundra Wolf's multilingual cursing has lapsed into slurred, increasingly incoherent Russian. He had stopped pacing several minutes earlier, instead leaning against an available wall and twitching slightly. He could hear the voices of his team talking amongst themselves, but the words made no sense to him, disjointed and strange. Alarms registered in his vision, and he wiped his meat hand at them irritably, but they wouldn't go away, blinking away in nonsensical crimson figures that he knew meant something important but couldn't quite grasp. Then he was sitting down, and a mosquito bit his hand. It has been a warm winter, there will be millions of the blasted things. I hope Grigori has stockpiled enough repellent. Though thankfully the cloud cover will keep the worst of the heat off.

Pause.

Grigori is dead. I shot him after the Jingbian mission, when he sold us to the warlord. What is– Clarity began returning slowly, and Nikolai knew it was an IV in his hand, and the shadow over him was the massive form of Gardner blocking the overhead light. The scattered puzzle pieces of the evening's events began fitting together until he remembered the shock rounds hitting him.

"спасибо..." He frowned. "谢谢..." He rubbed his forehead with the non-IV'd hand, the metallic taste of stims and their counters lingering on his tongue. "Thank you." After the IV had been unhooked he exited the bus with the rest of the team, gritting his teeth as the steps down amplified the headache still throbbing lightly behind his eyes.

"Da. There is face to save, if nothing else, even for a non-zaibatsu." He walked over to where Eclipse was examining the machine gun.

[Mach_Ten]

Nighttime, StufferShack™ next to "Wheezy Bumble Bigfoot the Clown's" Warehouse Seattle

"Hoi, Chummer.. Where's da insta-meals?" Silas asks the pimply faced youth in the security booth as he bursts into StufferShack™,
having successfully negotiated his Euro size 347 boots throught the electronic doors that were trying to open and close before he had even approached them.

The clerk, barely turns his head away from the remote trid screen, in which light his prepubescent facial hair glistens in the red and green glow, while spittle runs from his slack jawed mouth "Huunh?"
The vacant expression takes in the appearance of a not too tall Bald gentleman, with patchy white face powder and a Bright red nose held in place by a single strand of rotting elastic,
dressed in Pink and yellow polka-dot pants and day-glo flowered nylon shirt with pom-pom buttons.

"Ailse seven" he responds and Silas can tell that there was absolutely no spark of recognition in the attendants eyes,
he could murder everyone in here and perform any list of depraved acts and the cops would get a description of the perp, that would match about half of the population of Seattle.

He grabs a wire basket and heads, skipping, down aisle seven swiping an old unregistered credstick into machines at random and pulling out self heating microburgers and various recepticles of drinks so filled with sugar and additives that teeth fall out of mouths before tasting.
"Ooooooh, Eclipse will likes 'dis! .. free NERPS toy with every purchase .. I gets five, jus' in case he has one already!" with that another few redy-meals™ get launched into the basket.

Surrounding him, other patrons of the store cling to their respective partners with looks of utter confusion and horror, before mostly rushing for the exit dropping goods already paid for on the ground in their haste. "You nots want these den?" Silas enquires before retrieving them.
Wandering to the clerks booth and depositing the discarded items into the goods drawer "I finks your toilets blocked, I can't smells it but alla your customers left in a big hurry so it must be bad and dey dropped dese!"
The clerk turns his head slightly but his eyes stay fixed to the trid show that has captured his full attention " uuuh Huunh! ... thanks" he responds,
Silas waits a moment for anything further to be said, but nothing comes, then shrugs and exits, the doors trying to murder him in the process as the shoes preceed him by about two feet.

Back securely in the warehouse, Silas begins to lay out a feast of epic proportions onto a table made of several similar sized cardboard storage crates.

Meanwhile Needle has finished up attending to Gardner and is stood shaking her head trying to comprehend the truck in front of her with "Wheezy Bumble Bigfoot the Clown" Emblazoned on the side,
She mutters "The Go-gangers alone will murder us dead in this or likely anything else, sorry but my place is off limits... we need to find somewhere else to go"

TundraWolf and Eclipse break from comparing weapons and look up in her direction, Mr. White too,
as they are about to launch into a discussion on the merits of certain locations and their needs for gear, tools and equipment from homebases that the group could not possibly stay at..

Silas beams at them " The Maiter Dee 'as been given de night off ..." He grins at them "Dinner is serveds!"

[Severus Snape]

Nighttime, StufferShack™ next to "Wheezy Bumble Bigfoot the Clown's" Warehouse Seattle

Needle sat straight up as the information hit her like a brick wall. Her eyes in the physical world were still closed, no sign that anything was going on with her at all. Her eyes in the matrix were wide open, and getting wider. In fact, her entire digital persona looked like it had just been weirded out by something, her body rigid, her eyes wide and mouth agape. And she needed to get to the bottom of this.

She had run a scan on Acson's commlink, and that came up empty. No outgoing calls, no incoming messages...nothing. It was too neat and clean for a prospective Horizon employee that would have had to be recruited immediately coming out of college, what with the party they just crashed. It could have been give to him by Horizon as a work device, but it was still too clean for that. Even temporary devices get used, and this one should have been no different.

"Bullshit. Something's not right with this fracking guy. A commlink that has zero information on it? What is this - Horizon's idea of a joke?"

The words sounded almost alien to her. She heard them clear as day in the matrix, the monotone-sculpted voice a welcome noise in her ears. But when she spoke them aloud in the physical world at the same time, she was treated to hearing herself speak in stereo. And in the physical world, the words and tone sounded off, like she wanted them to sound important but it came off as blase.

But that didn't change what she saw. That didn't change why she sat straight up. That didn't change why she was now jacking out of the matrix.

She opened her eyes, the landscape of the digital falling away sharply and quickly, giving way to the light and sound from the physical world. She removed her glasses briefly, rubbing her eyes in a practiced fashion, returning them to the bridge of her nose when she was finished. She stood up, grasping Acson's commlink in her hand and storming over towards him.

"Explain yourself," she blurted out, throwing his commlink into his lap with a bit of force. "And don't give me any crap about you don't know what I'm talking about. You know damned well what's going on here, and I think you owe us an explanation. Scion."

She stood there momentarily, knowing the rest of the team would be looking at her with unapproving stares over her course of action. She waited just long enough for Acson to want to defend himself before throwing out what she knew.

"His external commlink - the one I just hacked - had nothing on it. Nothing. It was cleaner than a store model in the box. Tells me it's never been used. Not entirely out of the question, but odd.

"But what I saw as I was leaving your commlink is another story. Seems he's got an internal commlink implanted in his skull. Again, not out of the question. But the internal commlink was active for about the same amount of time it took the Scion to call us just now. And at the same time. When the Scion's call ended, so did the wireless broadcast of Mr. Acson's internal commlink."

Needle knelt in front of him, continuing to stare him down.

"I don't know what your game is, but you have about 30 seconds to spill it before I move out of the way and let the boys here scoop your brain and that commlink out of your head to let me have my way with it.

"What's it gonna be...Scion?"

[ChromeZephyr]

Nighttime, a warehouse somewhere in Seattle

TW blinked. Blinked again. Then his cyberspurs snapped out and he stalked over to 2 steps behind where Needle was kneeling, fury twisting his face into an ugly mask.

"Are you fucking kidding me?! 30 seconds is far too long. You talk now or there won't be enough left of you to fill a soycaf cup." He could feel the blood pounding in his temples, exacerbating the headache he already had as the stims finally bled out of his system.

[Slacker]

Mr. White was starting to make Parker Acson sweat. That's why he risked turning on his secret weapon. The quick message about a Horizon Strike Team seemed to have the exact effect he wanted it too...give him more time to figure out how he was going to get them to do what he needed.

But then that bitch, Needle, had noticed his commlink signal before he could shut off it's wireless again. All that time and money spent buying the deltaware system and hiding his surgery to get it implanted from Horizon's eyes gone to waste...

What the frag can I do now?

Acson's eyes dart all around, like they are looking for a way out, but all he sees is the runners he duped into getting him out of Horizon glaring at him. "Ok...ok. Don't hurt me......I....I had to get out of Horizon. I just had to. You understand right? I'm sorry I lied to you about being able to pay you. But I swear to you, on the heart of my dear mother, I swear that the Draco and Atlantean Foundations really would want my abilities for their organizations. Get me a face to face with a rep from each of them, and I'll get you your extraction fees and more. They'll be beating down our to hire me on. Chip-truth!" He ignores the sweat now pouring from his brow as he gives the group his best attempt at innocent begging, none of them are very moved by it though.

[Kiirnodel]

*Sigh* That would explain the unprofessional setup for that extraction.

"You're lucky to be alive Mr. Acson," Gardner motions toward the angry Tundra Wolf, "you just might be worth more alive than the enjoyment my compatriot here would get out of you..." He raises one of his giant hands, a motion for Tundra Wolf to stand down.

"Your methods are a bit unorthodox, and I urge you to learn to be a bit more professional with people you hire to do dangerous work like this... As I said, you're lucky to be alive..." The giant lets out another big sigh, "we will look into bartering this deal for you, but for now we do need to get moving." He ushers Acson into the van, "you're little ruse just now did remind us that we might not be as safe as we might hope. You may have meant it as a scare tactic, but it might be more true than we would hope."

[Severus Snape]

Oh, this just gets better and better...

Needle stands up and motions to the rest of the team to help her unceremoniously deposit Acson in the clown car. Once they are inside and moving towards a safe location, she leans in towards Acson, a clear look of disdain and mistrust on her face. She folds her hands in her lap and scowls slightly.

"Oh, you can guarantee that we are going to contact both organizations and try negotiating a price for you. And don't be surprised if we also try to clear the air with Horizon seeing as you set us up. But that's all secondary at the moment."

She shifts in her chair and stares really hard at Acson for a moment before continuing.

"What I'd really like to know is WHY you wanted us to extract you from Horizon in the first place. You were part of a new hire banquet, which means you aren't some ordinary wage-slave, sitting at a terminal punching keys all damned day. So I'm thinking that you've either got something of theirs that they are going to want back, or you've got some information on someone there that you can use as leverage to get money out of the other organizations. You know, something they can use against Horizon."

She looks upwards quizically for a moment, grabbing the nearest pointed, sharp object and then returning her gaze to Acson.

"The best part about being a medic is that I get to perform surgery on people. And the only way to get better at it is to practice. But I'm not a mean girl, so I'm going to give you this once opportunity to tell us what it is you have that you think the other organizations would want so badly. And why it is you wanted out of Horizon so badly. 10 seconds, or I start cutting."

[Slacker]

Shock covers Acson's face at Needle's speculations. He was afraid before, but at the sight of her gripping the rusty box opener and threatening to carve him up he finally reaches a state of complete and total terror. In a torrent of words, he confesses to Needle that he was able to copy the mythic Thaljun Cordex. “Until now, Horizon had the only surviving tomes. When the Foundations find out the Cordex is on the table, they’ll pay, and you’ll get yours. Chip-truth!”

[O'Ryan]

Eclipse sighs. This is getting to be a bit much. The Scion - whom he really wants to punch in the face, is the target whose condition matters? ...except if The Scion isn't paying...

"Look chummer, the wheelin' 'n' dealin' was all very clever and all. I sympathize with ya - I've been places I didn't wanna be. But what pisses me off more'n anything is that 'cause you didn't come clean at the start most of us ended up with lead in our blood. Y'best be happy none of us died, or I'd be gettin' even on principle, frak the money, deltaware's a pretty penny. Say we help you, 'n turn you over to one'a the foundations... what are you personally gunna do to make me... us... feel better about the dickin' around you did playin' Johnson?"

Eclipse pauses, elven features struggling fiercely to stay under control. For whatever reason, the whole incident seems to strike a little close to home. Even so, he vaugely seems to remember something about good-cop-bad-cop, and with Needle threatening to take a box cutter to him the choice seems clear! Whether it works or not is a different subject.
As they speak, Eclipse slurps on the soy-shake Silus brought back for him. That'll make him look less menacing, right? Even with the black trench coat and machine gun cradled in his lap.

[ChromeZephyr]

Nighttime, Da Clown Van somewhere leaving Renton

Tundra Wolf sat like a statue while his cohorts interrogated the "Scion", his predator's eyes staring unblinkingly at the panicking thief. "You also left out why you wanted out of Horizon's employ, трус." The smartlink pad embedded in the palm of his cyberhand almost felt like it itched. "It is all well and good that you hired us to extract you and should be paid well for doing that, but that money does us little good if they have reason to find us later and melt our brains looking for you. Why?"

[Slacker]

Acson replies,"I..uh...knew I could get away with it.....They paid for my schooling, but there's no way I'm going to be a wageslave all my life just to pay back those bastards. Thanks to a post in my research about the company, I figured out a way to get a copy of something out of their private thaumatergy library and make me....err... well, maybe not rich, but it will set me up with nicely and you know how the corps like people with initiative....I just know I can negotiate a better deal than I'd ever have gotten out of Horizon. And I just know you will all be handsomely rewarded for everything. Chip-Truth!"

[Slacker]

As the team is crossing from the invisible line dividing the sleep suburbs of Renton to the more rarified Bellevue district with it's lakeviews and elegant shopping centers, Mr. White's phone buzzes in his ear. Looking at the callerID he is a little surprised to see its his buddy, MarcusB. Then he remembers he'd messaged the fixer earlier trying to find out about the Scion and Parker Acson and quickly answers the call.

"Ahhh, Mr. White. So glad I could reach you this evening. My apologies for being out of touch for a while now. I had been....indisposed for the last few weeks and only recently made it back into town. I do hope you forgive me. I got your message earlier and took the liberty of looking into this Scion character for you. Considering the timing of your message, perhaps you're already know of his current situation. I don't care, and certainly don't want to know the details. Not considering what I have to tell you. I was following up a lead on this Scion using reptilian iconography when my IC caught somebody sniffing after my traffic. I don't know who it was, but they hit me hard and fast once they were detected. You seriously need to watch your back on this one. Stay off the 'trix. Hell. I'd stay off comms with this stuff. You know who has some damn strong voice search capibilities and have their fingers any all things communication related.....Just saying."

[Severus Snape]

Needle drops in and out of the Matrix, trying to find any information on this Cordex that Acson insists he has trapped inside his head. She only scans through the mountains of search detail with AR, not wanting to lose sight of Acson or miss anything that's being said. But after a few minutes of searching and getting next to nothing, she stops the Browse program and flips off the AR display. She rubs her temples a little, trying to get the blood flowing again.

"There has to be a better way..."

Almost as soon as the words come out of her mouth, she sits bolt upright, her back and body going rigid and her eyes fixated on Acson. She stares at him for a long time, not saying anything, but definitely inspecting him for something. Even she isn't sure what she's doing at first, but then the idea hits her like a hot bullet in the back.

"Ok," she starts a little coldly, "you claim you have a copy of this Thal...Thola...Cord...book thing. But how do we know you have it? This could just be bullshit for all we know, and it's already been established that your word don't mean drek."

The van is still moving, and Needle's experience in moving around a moving vehicle - she does live in a bus, after all - shows when she stands up and cups Acson's face in her hands, staring into his eyes, the blue of her hair and lipstick looking semi-neon in the light from the street lamps as they whiz down the road.

"I want proof, dear. Proof of what you say. I want a copy of that book, and you are going to give it to us one way or another. So either tell us where you've got it stashed, or I'll carve your head open like a ripe watermelon, take out your internal commlink, and hack into IT to see what secrets it holds."

She turns her head slightly to the rest of the team.

"Don't look at me like that. I can feel the ugliness on the back of my head. If we've got multiple copies, we can make multiple deals, right? I mean, it really wouldn't be him those organizations want..."

[ChromeZephyr]

TW looks at her with a brutish, ugly smile on his face. "Like what, Моя дорогая? Someone as stupid as he is should reap the rewards of his foolishness. I agree..." He sweeps his eyes back to Ascon, his expression flattening to a glacial remorselessness. "..let us make sure he is truly holding what he says he is."

[Mach_Ten]

Nighttime, Da Clown Van somewhere leaving Renton

Silas drives the van, "uhh Eclipse, TW , Wheres you guys live?"

[O'Ryan]

Friday, ~22:00; Clown Bus just inside Bellevue
Disposable Commlink: Hidden | SIN (rating 4) Dr James Earnest

As the bus continues, Eclipse's mood worsens. He can accept that he messed up not bringing a Panther to the meet (though he'll still complain!), but the mistreatment from the Johnson who still wants their help?
"Carpe di... vini... quid pro quo, makkanagee morkhan..." he mumbles, mixing his bare understanding of latin with a much more fluent, but clearly derogatory Sperethial. He lapses into silence though, letting Needle and Tundra Wolf play bad and worse cop. He figures when he speaks up again with the voice of less violence (if not reason) Ascon should be more than willing to comply if just for implied protection. So, instead, he lets his gaze wander out the front of the windshield waiting until he recognizes where they are. Silus speaks up around then, and he answers.
"Just take a right, head down a mile, and another right... find an alley and lemme out, I'll grab supplies 'n regroup." He's almost completely abandoned the accent at this point. "Tundra, you need some more for the Ingram, right? I think all I have is subsonic... what do y'all need? We're just grabbin' stuff for the handoff, right? And in case we get jumped?"
While he speaks, Eclipse fishes his commlink from his pocket, idly logging out of one ID and into another.

[Kiirnodel]

Friday, ~22:00; Front Seat of Clown Bus
Novatech Navi: Hidden | SIN: Gerald Adler

As the others interrogate Acson in the back of the van, Gardner settles into the oversized passenger seat in the front of the van. He pulls out his commlink with its oversized display, made for Troll-sized digits, and pulls up the Comm-code for his contact, Moreau. As the call is linking through, he overhears talk of the Thaljun Cordex, but has little time to think over the implications before the call is picked up. Gardner quickly sets the pick-up to his subvocal microphone, preventing the Draco fixer from overhearing the argument coming from the back of the van.

"Hey there, how's Fiona doing? ... Good, good, no long term effects of the dehydration? ... Right, just make sure she takes it slow, no reason to over do it." The giant makes a bit of small talk before delving into the true biz. "Listen, I have a new hire here, says he wants to see about doing Foundation work. I figure he must be real wiz at what he's got to jump from the Splendor of what he's got. But you know more about these things than I do, maybe we could meet up and we can talk things over?"

[Slacker]

Acson is visibily shaken, but he has still has some spine left to him. "The Cordex is somewhere safe. That's all you need to know. Do you really think I would be stupid enough to just hand it over to you? Or that I'd try to leave Horizon without a plan to ensure a better life for me? That book is my plan. And Nobody is seeing it until I get paid. If you lay even one finger on me you will never see a penny for your trouble. Oh, I'm sure Horizon will still hunt you down for the attack on their building. It'll be easy for them considering you won't have any money at all."

He finally snaps and his borish upbringing finally cuts through the fear he's been feeling. He looks to Mr. White. "Get this bitch out of my face if you know what's good for you," he demands hautily. "I can tell she's a blood thirsty animal, but you're smart enough to realize there's no profit in letting her have her way with me"

[Slacker]

Moreau listens to the obviously coded pitch from Gardner to hire this guy. He's a bit tired of such games, but mention of Splendor tells him exactly who Gardner is talking about. "So, you're the ones who grabbed that arcanoarcheologist Parker Acson from Horizon tonight. Quite the stunt there." He sighs heavily over the phone. "I owe you for Fiona. So I'll meet with him to discuss why I should have to deal with these petty inter-corp antics. Maybe the Draco Foundation has a place for him. I'm not promising anything though."

Gardner's commlink beeps with the receipt of an address down on Pier 60, You Should Not Eat So Much.

"I'll tell Fiona you said hello. I'll be seeing you soon."