Game Face [2075: Game World], Persistent World [SR5] IC Sub-Thread Options

[Archmike]

[Thursday July 18th, 2075; The Cirolletisha Hotel, Mercer Street, Elven District, Seattle]

Slik and Mr Smith danced around each other like a pair of duelists armed with words rather than rapiers. Each trying to ensnare the other into revealing more than they wanted. He had to catch himself several times before he actually got attracted to the woman.
Oh she's good. I haven't had fun like this in a while He was almost sorry she had to go talk to the others.

His head snapped around at the alarm oh this isn't going to be good

Well given we're about to have visitors a little preparation wouldn't go amiss. Mr...Dog? I believe it was? Perhaps you and myself could meet anyone coming up the lift and maybe our two adepts could conceal themselves under the windows? im sure you'd be an unpleasant surprise for any one wanting to gain entrance that way." He smiles his smile again
"Also perhaps re-arranging the furniture may give us an advantage in a fire fight. On that note i think a blockage in front of the lift may help matters"
With a gesture the couch floats over to in front of the lift. not going to stop them but it should delay there exit long enough the ranged members to make the cramped confines of the lift...oh now there's an idea

"Doees anyone have a grenade?" All this whilst he walks up the steps and takes cover out to the side of the lift doors so as to be out of sight of anyone coming up. He takes a pack of cards out of his pocket and starts cutting the pack with one hand.

[Trigger]

[Thursday July 18th, 2075; The Cirolletisha Hotel, Mercer Street, Elven District, Seattle]
Hatter

There is a tingle in his skull and then suddenly Hatter's eyes go wide as someone's voice ring out in his mind. His eyes quickly scan the gathered runners and he notices Mr. Smith's gaze upon him. His eyes narrow in anger and his fists clench; he keeps his cool for the moment though and responds to the group he knows.

@Preston, Violet, Tide, & Dog:

[ Spoiler ]

<< Violet, I need some help. Smith is in my head somehow and you can probably get him out cleaner than me putting a bullet in his skull. >>

Seething as he waits for a response, he watches as Silk begins her presentation, his eyes lighting up again as he sees the target she begins to speak about as the building's fire alarm begins to chime. Motherfragging bulldrek, this is not good! This time he doesn't stop his hand as it grabs the concealed Predator from under his arm as he drops into a more protected position next to the couch and faces the entrance, mentally kicking his wired reflexes into action as he sends out the invite codes to Preston, Violet, Tide and Dog to slave their PANs to his deck. That done, he focuses on the virtual world around them, hunting for concealed and approaching devices.

[Archmike]

oThursday July 18th, 2075; The Cirolletisha Hotel, Mercer Street, Elven District, Seattle]
Mr Smith

Another thought occurs to him and he doesn't like it Drek and frak!

"Silk! How many rooms does this place have and how many have external windows?"

[Moirdryd]

[Thursday July 18th, 2075; The Cirolletisha Hotel, Mercer Street, Elven District, Seattle]

He listened to the alarm, the warning and the voice of Silk's decker running overwatch. He could almost hear Dog's wires bzzz as the meeting went from polite casual to a potentially hostile zone. He gave a glance to Orion meeting the other man's eyes as he casually walked a little closer to the big windows and also putting some room between himself and the other shark adept, they would need that room to move. But he didn't like it her, too open, too bright, they were just targets in this grand space that had seemed so fine a few minutes ago.

"Who are 'They' Silk? I'm happy to be on the paycheck for this but I want to know what I'm dealing with" his words are careful and measured, his English is good but not native to him and that accent cannot be easily suppressed or the desire for a far more musical language.

He taps the command key to shunt his Commlink into harmony with Hatter's deck as he kills all the AR overlays again except for those which he needs running. Magnification and Enhancements, not lie he'll need them in these quarters. He nods at the smooth guy's question.

"Yeah, what he said too, fighting out here will not be clever.." he is still studying the window. "In fact, if they know where you are and are coming for you we should be moving. Out through the main lobby would be my favourite call, but we may be too numerous to pull that off..."

He dips his hands into the deeper inner pockets of his lined coat, pulling free some gloves and knee pads, tesing their active and deactive status.

"Ideas? Options?"

His voice is calm and cool... no... cold through it all. He knows his team is good, but they are still only just finding stride with each other. These new faces, unknown factors. This would be messy... and perhaps fun too. A grin slides across his lips and he nods to Orion. it's almost like they've done this before...

[Thanee]

[Thursday July 18th, 2075; The Cirolletisha Hotel, Mercer Street, Elven District, Seattle]
Violet

Violet has been keeping her eyes on the motley crew assembled in the expensive suite. Some of the runners were known to her, others were not.

Chatting with Silk about this and that, she was patiently waiting for her to get to the point, knowing quite well that there was no point in pushing her towards it.

Then, suddenly the news make things a little more hectic.

"Weapons? Grenades!? Do you remember where we are here?"

She nods to Silk. "You can count on me."

Instinctively, Violet begins to channel her magic to prepare herself for whatever might be heading for them, wondering at the same time who might be so crazy to stage an attack in such an expensive place, which will have quite a bit of security itself.

Seeing the messages on her commlink, Violet realizes now, that she has missed them before. Oops!

@Dog, Hatter, Preston & Tide

[ Spoiler ]

<< [Violet] Sorry, missed the messages... I do not know any of these either. And no clue why she needs so many talents... but considering the latest news, I am glad they are here. As for that Mr. Smith, I will let him know, that you do not appreciate his presence. >>

She moves over to Mr Smith and nods towards Trigger then leans in to whisper in his ear.

@Mr Smith

[ Spoiler ]

"You better stop with the games. He's paranoid enough already."

[ElFenrir]

[Thursday July 18th, 2075; The Cirolletisha Hotel, Mercer Street, Elven District, Seattle]


Orion smiled back at Tide, also giving the two of them enough room to fight. "I agree that we may be too many. Normally I hate this option, but I wonder if this case wouldn't be better if we divided up. If there's more than one safe way out that is. If not then it might be worth trying to get a drop on 'em."


He turns toward the nervous looking decker."Can you see anything coming for us? Maybe that way we'd know if we're better sticking or trying to get out now."


He opened and closed his hands, building his power in them; the natural teeth granted to him by Shark. He might need them tonight.

[Archmike]

[Thursday July 18th, 2075; The Cirolletisha Hotel, Mercer Street, Elven District, Seattle]

His head snaps around a look of genuine concern on his face.

"Oh dear I assure you my intention was entirely the opposite, please convey my apologies I'm just used to contacting my team that way. However whilst you're here I have to admit my ability in the astral is somewhat lacking. If there are any spirits involved I can try my best but I will almost certainly need your help"

[Thanee]

[Thursday July 18th, 2075; The Cirolletisha Hotel, Mercer Street, Elven District, Seattle]
Violet

Violet offers Mr Smith a sweet smile. "No harm done."

As she walks away, she turns around once more.

"I will keep my eyes out on the astral."

Then she switches her vision into the astral realms to be able to see any activity there.

[Lobo0705]

[Thursday July 18th, 2075; The Cirolletisha Hotel, Mercer Street, Elven District, Seattle]

As the rest of the team begins to make their preparations, Natasha turns to Orion.

"Da, to stay here when we know nothing of what is coming for us, while they know precisely where we are is perhaps not the best move."

She moves to put a solid piece of furniture between her and the door.

[Archmike]

[Thursday July 18th, 2075; The Cirolletisha Hotel, Mercer Street, Elven District, Seattle]
Mr Smith

He nods at Natasha.
"The lady definitely has a point. Can any of our decker friends bring up some blueprints of the building so we can see if there's a way out they might not expect?"

[AlDaRoN]

[Thursday July 18th, 2075; The Cirolletisha Hotel, Mercer Street, Elven District, Seattle]
Preston

"The name is Preston, Mr. Smith. And I'll leave the introductions to Silk."

When the alarm begins to ring Preston is not really surprised. "Here we go again".

He quickly climbs the stairs while taking out his guns. He stops before reaching the top and uses the floor to cover himself, only showing his head and his guns.

"I'll take you on your offer Silk. How good is that barrier you have here?"

[phlapjack77]

[Thursday July 18th, 2075; The Cirolletisha Hotel, Mercer Street, Elven District, Seattle]
Dog

miz complinkage be flashin...

@Violet, Preston, Tide, & Hatter:
<<nah iz scan clear on em too. hatter youz gank my gear momently[translation available]>>

whun i seun dis orion sniff da nasty i wuz curious. whun i seun i is speed garage them blades from iz levens, i wuz chuffed. perhaps da fresh playmate? i popped me own metal to show i is e wasn't da only one wiv grill. surgical steel slid from da knuckles hof me cyber, curvin blades extend thun lockin in tha house.

...

slitch askd haz i dakka? funneh. the bang bang i snatched up my ownsome into hand and scanned the nancy boy in teh suit, hez sayin me outta sec the lifts? not da rank thoughtsums, havin da peepers covered by da closeups muscleboys. i laid me downside in front hof da lifts wiv me burna pointed strizzaight ups, da claws on me east side hand gleamin da nastiness.

haight nancy boy. you be peepin wiz me da liftaz. dey crackin, wez blazin. scan me?

[ Spoiler ]

My commlink was alerting me to incoming messages. I responded:

@Violet, Preston, Tide, & Hatter:
<<No I don't know any of the newcomers either. Hatter I'm subscribing my gear to your deck now...>>

When I saw this Orion smell the air I was curious. When I saw him pop those blades from his legs, I was happy. Perhaps a kindred spirit? I popped my own blades to show him he wasn't the only one with teeth. Surgical steel slid from the knuckles of my cyberarm, curving blades extended then locking in place.

...

Woman asked us if we had weapons? That's hilarious. I pulled the SMG from it's holster on my hip and glanced at the pretty boy in the suit. He wanted me to help him guard the elevators? Not a bad idea, having the windows covered by the closer range fighters. I laid down on the floor in front of the elevator with my gun pointed directly upward, the claws on my right hand gleaming deadly light.

[Aria]

[Thursday July 18th, 2075; Penthouse Suite, The Cirolletisha Hotel, Mercer Street, Elven District, Seattle]

All

You scramble to meet this perceived threat, probably silently cursing the designers of this elegant suite who wanted to emphasise space rather than cover for a fire fight! At least what little furniture there is is of good quality and is correspondingly heavy.

Silk waves at the huge doors to the balcony and they ponderously begin to close, shutting out the humid night. She, or her decker, even mutes the building alarm so you aren’t being disturbed by its insistent voice urging you to exit the building…you might want to exit but Silk seems keen to meet these intruders head on…

Violet

As you peer into the astral you can feel the nervous tension of the group but otherwise it is remarkable calm here, the mana sphere flowing freely through the many plants that reinforce the potent wards protecting the place.

Silk’s aura ripples and becomes charged with mana…given that she appears to be a mundane this is a sure telltale of a fellow magic user. An adept perhaps? Hopefully she won’t be just a hopeless target in this fight…you’d heard the rumours that she’d been a successful runner a few years back, seems they were on the money.

Tide

"Who are 'They' Silk? I'm happy to be on the paycheck for this but I want to know what I'm dealing with"

Silk faces you briefly

"Yeah, what he said too, fighting out here will not be clever. In fact, if they know where you are and are coming for you we should be moving. Out through the main lobby would be my favourite call, but we may be too numerous to pull that off..."

She takes a moment to reflect, considering how to respond, perhaps how much to tell you, it might even be the truth, stranger things have happened…

“I’m not sure who They are, but they have dogged my steps for years now. It would seem they have finally decided to act openly and I am keen to get some answers. That seems to indicate a confrontation but if you have other ideas I am open to suggestions”

She strides towards an area next to the bar that corresponds more or less to the entrance lobby on the floor above

“There are weapons and some armour in the panic room here, perhaps other things that might be useful. I don’t propose to just wait for them but until we get some sight of them I’m not going to flail around blindly either”

[Lobo0705]

[Thursday July 18th, 2075; The Cirolletisha Hotel, Mercer Street, Elven District, Seattle]

Natasha steps quickly over to the panic room, keeping an ear out for any approaching noise. She notices the entrance to the service lift.

"That provides another entrance, da? I will cover it in a moment and make sure no one comes up."

She examines the weapons and armor Silk has to offer.

[AlDaRoN]

[Thursday July 18th, 2075; The Cirolletisha Hotel, Mercer Street, Elven District, Seattle]
Dog

"I'll check that room for a second, keep an eye on the door." Preston runs off to the room to se what he can use.

Hatter, Dog, Violet, Tide:

<<How long until we know something from the building security?>>

[Lobo0705]

[Thursday July 18th, 2075; The Cirolletisha Hotel, Mercer Street, Elven District, Seattle]

Natasha shrugs an armored vest on over her clothes, picks up one of the heavy pistols (selecting a Pred V if there is one), a couple of magazines and a flash pak.

She slaps a magazine into the pistol, enables the wireless capability on the flashpak, and slides it over to where the service elevator entrance is.

Ducking behind cover, she aims her pistol in the direction of the service elevator.

"What now?"

[Archmike]

[Thursday July 18th, 2075; The Cirolletisha Hotel, Mercer Street, Elven District, Seattle]
Mr Smith

Gesturing at his coat it flies over to him and he slips it on yeah armour, now there's a plan dipshit...

he glances over at Dog, his brow furrows and he turns slightly paler with a sudden thought He's obviously chromed up to fuck.... how did he get in!?

"Er...Mr Dog..how did you get past security? I only ask because our new friends may be using the same way..."

[Thanee]

[Thursday July 18th, 2075; The Cirolletisha Hotel, Mercer Street, Elven District, Seattle]
Violet

Violet nods absentmindedly as her gaze moves past Silk.

Looks like she knows how to handle herself... good!

She keeps her vision trained on the astral while moving somewhere in the suite, where she won't be right in the line of fire, if someone bursts through the doors, or windows, or whatever other obvious entrances she can make out.

[phlapjack77]

[Thursday July 18th, 2075; The Cirolletisha Hotel, Mercer Street, Elven District, Seattle]
Dog

"Er...Mr Dog..how did you get past security? I only ask because our new friends may be using the same way..."

i don' scan how dat's non ya bizzle. but dey ass-weak defense hat da bak siiiddeee an' da waita-liftuhs.


@Preston,Hatter, Violet, Tide:
<<yea', hatta yous got da line on sum scratch from da hotel brothas.?
[translation available...click here to always translate messages from Dog]>>

[ Spoiler ]

<<Right, Hatter do you have a line on some intel from the hotel guys?>>

[Trigger]

[Thursday July 18th, 2075; The Cirolletisha Hotel, Mercer Street, Elven District, Seattle]
Hatter

After scanning the nearby virtual world for approaching devices and determining that there were no hostiles within the immediate vicinity, Hatter looks around the room as the others get into position and raid Silk's armory. Hatter notices the wet bar with a smile and darts across the room and behind the real cherrywood bar with black marble countertop. He sticks his head above the counter top, making sure to catch the attention of the others before giving them a tip of his invisible hat.
"BRB," he says with a wink before ducking back under the counter and falling fully into the glorious experience that is hot-sim VR.
~~~
Hatter's persona is a tall, skinny man in a black suit, white shirt, black tie, and black top hat above a featureless white face. It quickly scans the environment around him, the Host of the Cirolletisha Hotel; it is laid out similarly to a lot of the systems used in the Tir's: large, sweeping marble arches covered in vines and celtic knotwork, avenues lined with the greenest of trees and paved with mosaic cut stonework, all rendered with a level of detail unseen in the physical world. He breathed in and could smell the crispness of the fruit trees interspersed on the lane. With his general access to the Host from checking in earlier, he easily found the general schematics of the building, quickly uploading it into his deck and running a general utility to pinpoint the signals of the devices slaved to him and create points associated with them on the map and then route that to the visual uplinks of those he was connected to.

@Violet, Tide, Dog, & Preston:

[ Spoiler ]

<< Here's a general layout of the place, I will update it is I get more intel. >>

[Thanee]

[Thursday July 18th, 2075; The Cirolletisha Hotel, Mercer Street, Elven District, Seattle]
Violet

@Dog, Preston, Hatter, Tide:

[ Spoiler ]

<< [Violet] Paranoia or not, but don't you think it would make sense to include the other people here in the talk as well? >>

[Aria]

[Thursday July 18th, 2075; The Cirolletisha Hotel, Mercer Street, Elven District, Seattle]

Preston & Natasha

The panic room is surprisingly comfortable looking despite its intended use. The, now ubiquitous, flowering vines wreathe the walls, maintained by some sort of artificial sun program that sheds a warm diffuse light from the ceiling. The AR imagery is designed to have a calming effect on the, no doubt, overwrought dignitaries hiding away from the world.

Silk opens a wall panel to reveal a small arsenal

“This is here for whoever’s sec team needs additional firepower. They belong to the hotel so if you use any of them I suggest they disappear afterwards, we wouldn’t want to leave a trail back to you…”

There are five matte black Heckler and Koch submachine guns with underbarrel laser sights, a series of vicious heavy pistols and a rack of flash packs. Hanging next to them are a number of armour vests and Silk proceeds to pull one on, oblivious to the social faux pas of wearing armour over a cocktail dress! She slams a magazine into one of the HKs and briefly tests the laser sight, the menacing green flicker tracing her aim across the wall.

Hatter

Using the hotel’s public domain as a jumping point you breeze your way into the secure host making sure you steer clear of the spider who can be seen desperately trying to pin down information on the fire situation. Running silent you don’t think that you’ve caused any ripples but it would pay to get the information and go…lingering here could be bad for your health!

Suddenly you feel a touch on your arm and a persona materialises beside you. Once you manage to quell the spike in your heart rate you realise this must be Silk’s hacker…Gossamer was it?

“I have prepared a user security passcode for you [file attached]. It will stop the demiGODs coming to look for you while you are here. I have been monitoring the camera feeds but haven’t yet seen anything that might be obviously a foe. I do not believe they have been tampered with but you might see something that I have not”

All

It’s quiet, too quiet without the humming alarm, and you can feel the tension building as you wait for these mysterious attackers. Perhaps there aren’t any? This really could be just a fire, although Silk seems to think that’s unlikely and in this day and age it’s unusual in a building like this for a fire to develop to such an extent that the building needs to be evacuated.

[Thanee]

[Thursday July 18th, 2075; The Cirolletisha Hotel, Mercer Street, Elven District, Seattle]
Violet

"Maybe we could somehow check on what's going on? Maybe it is just someone attacking the building from the Matrix? I could summon a spirit to go have a look, but I doubt that the hotel's security would like that too much..." Violet ponders.

[Aria]

[Thursday July 18th, 2075; The Cirolletisha Hotel, Mercer Street, Elven District, Seattle]

Hatter

As you watch the security feeds in a marble fountain wreathed in the same jasmine flowers present in the hotel you see the ebb of guests and staff begin to subside as they exit the building. In this neighbourhood it won’t be long before the Knights or Franklin respond so whoever is going to make their move will need to do it very shortly.

Then you see them, two dark figures in the main stair core only a few flights of stairs down from the penthouse. They’ve come in from a room above the level with the fire and are proceeding up instead of down. Their faces are masked and you can make out cradled sub machine guns of some sort. As you watch their forms blur as active camouflage masks their outlines. Not true invisibility but a good technological approximation.

All

It seems like ages but in fact less than two minutes has passed since the alarm was sounded. When the sec footage is relayed to you it’s almost a relief! At last, something to focus this adrenaline against.

Tide and Orion

Something tags at your attention outside and peering out and up you see a patch of light polluted cloud disappear behind something large and dark. You can dimly make out the outline of one of the MCT advertising blimps. Even if it wasn’t for the fact that it is running uncharacteristically dark you would be alarmed by the commando style rope lines that whistle down from the cupola and the five dark figures descending at speed towards the balcony…

[ElFenrir]

[Thursday July 18th, 2075; The Cirolletisha Hotel, Mercer Street, Elven District, Seattle]


Orion glances over at Tide, motioning a bit before whispering quietly.

"What say we blend in and try to surprise a couple as they try to step inside?"

He cracks a couple of his knuckles, shifting his armored longcoat around to ensure he's fairly well protected as he starts to slip into a more...surprising position.