Through the Looking Glass [2075 Game World], Persistent World [SR5] IC Sub-Thread Options

[Aria]

[Thursday September 26th, 2075, Citadel Gaming Host: Private Game World, Seattle]

Having accepted Silk’s invitation you’ve whisked your virtual selves to this interesting locale. It is certainly more colourful than your usual haunts and you suspect that you collectively raise the age of the personas here by a decade or two.

The matrix architecture is impressive though even for ones as jaded to such things as yourselves. The gothic edifice that forms the outer host towers out of the matrix plane. The burnt bronze doors that open before you would easily accommodate a tallship under full sail. Gargoyles launch themselves from the walls into the blistering winds that howl around you, tugging at your personas, drawing you towards the doors.

Looming in the shadows is a hooded figure about double your persona height. Its voice, issuing from a faceless void seems to bypass your ears and resonate inside your heads

“WELCOME TO THE CITADEL. I AM THE GATEKEEPER. PLEASE FOLLOW ME, I WILL ESCORT YOU TO YOUR DESTINATION”

From the surprised look on the faces of the other gamers thronging in with you that is clearly unusual…

Entering into the great hall you are greeted with the sight of a vast and glittering planar orrery rotating above your heads. Gamers in all shapes (but not sizes thanks to the new protocols) mill through the hall, gossiping, trading code, jumping off into the various game worlds and doing whatever else it is that youth do in full VR. A lot of the conversation you hear talks about a planar conjunction which is supposedly coming which will crash various game worlds into each other…it’s a bit of a mystery to you but they are clearly excited by the prospect…

“THIS WAY…”

You are led to one of the glowering portals and as you are swept into the vortex you have time to briefly wonder whether this is all a good idea…

You are in a cave descending into the earth. In front of you are a set of doors that wouldn’t look out of place on a nuclear bunker where they not carved in a myriad of esoteric mystical symbols that defy the eye to look at for too long. You can see now that the walls and floor also bear these strange, slightly writhing sigils… the Gatekeeper has disappeared leaving only yourselves standing on the brink of this strange place. The doors open ponderously and you find yourselves standing on the lip of a vast cavern lit by a strange diffuse light. In the maw of this place a strange city spreads out below you, one that wouldn’t look out of place on the slopes of ancient Greece. White flat roofed boxes with small window openings spread across nearly vertical slopes with tight winding stepped paths linking everything together. The warm scent of jasmine and honeysuckle wafts up from below bourne on a light breeze that would feel more in keeping with a Grecian idyll than this strange underground site.

Leaning on the parapet of the closest building there is a small girl, seemingly clad only in her impossibly long hair, she winks at you and then disappears…

Despite the fact that gravity clearly applies to your personas in this place, flying across the cavern towards you is a small western dracoform. As it approaches you can see that it is in fact made up of whirling constellations, nebulae and other celestial phenomenon. The deck processing this icon must be bleeding edge, making the Fairlight Excalibur look like a children’s toy!

Landing before you it’s voice reaches you, seemingly without making use of your ears en route…

“Thank you for joining me. I am eTher…”

[Aria]

[Thursday September 26th, 2075, Citadel Gaming Host: Kaer Game World, Seattle]

“Some of you were recently involved with a run on one of my facilities in Bellevue, the research station under the Sound Mental Health Clinic. I’m not interested in why you were there. What it did reveal to me was that the original purpose of that facility was compromised, subverted, and I want to find out why and who was responsible. I will pay you generously for the information.

I have already searched through the available data on our servers but anything useful has been redacted or deleted, something that should not have been allowed to happen. There is however archive data in a data farm at a site in Fort Lewis. For reasons that do not need to concern you I am not able to access that information and I need proxies to do it…you. I can offer some assistance with guard schedules and possibly some access codes but I must not be linked to this run. You have been selected for your discretion and Silk speaks highly of you all…”

[adamu]

[Thursday September 26th, 2075, Citadel Gaming Host: Kaer Game World, Seattle]

There had been that doc in New Orleans, sweaty back room in the French Quarter, had to pull a cute little Walther slug out of his arm one night. First time he'd ever been shot. Instead of thanking him for saving her from her pimp's beating, the little lady had sent a bullet deep into his bicep, so the sawbones had given Al a local before he started digging.

He had always remembered that, how surprised he'd been when he could, with complete clarity, feel every movement of the instruments in his flesh. The push of the scalpel, the way the tip momentarily pressed into the surface before breaking the skin, the clean slicing of muscle, the scrape of the slug against bone as it was eased away from an artery before being pulled out. All clear as day, only no pain at all.

That was a little - just a little, not exactly, but a little - how he felt right now, as he consciously knew that his meat was violently puking, but he couldn't taste the bile, couldn't feel the acids finding their way out through his nose, couldn't struggle to catch his breath as his diaphragm seized up in another spasm.

When he found out they'd be going this route, he'd told himself not to eat for a bit beforehand. But then some hippy or another where he dossed had had a birthday or got their first ware or something, and there'd been cake. And pizza. Tacos. And beer. You only live once. Carpe diem, and all that. He'd popped an anti-emetic right before going under, but here he was now.

The way he was going to smell when he came to.

Intellectually, he knew he shouldn't be able to feel his meat at all, but theory didn't mean squat when your body was violently expelling literally liters of chunky fluids through the same orifices it relied on for breath. A few weeks ago, he'd had occasion to set his internal air to automatically activate if his own breathing was interrupted for more than five minutes. It was a comfort now, to know that he wasn't about to go the way of so many other rock stars and movie legends before himself, asphyxiated after aspirating their own sick.

Every once in a while his bare-bones UMS icon rippled a bit in response to his body's convulsions. When his companions looked questioningly he just shrugged. He didn't want to distract them - some of what fairy-star-dragon said might be important, so he needed them to hear it. He himself hadn't listened to a word since it had told them its name.

This was just about as wrong a place as he figured the metahuman mind could conjure. What the hell was so lacking with God's green earth, these folks had to run off and take their pleasures in this sort of nightmare? Hieronymus Bosch with cleaner lines. At least the old painter had known exactly the name of the place he was portraying.

He reckoned him and Silk were even now, just for going through this. The job he'd done for her a month or so back, in hindsight it had occurred to him that she could just as easily have left them in there with the gas and the slamming doors. If she hadn't tipped them when she did, there they'd be, dead with every other poor technofreak in the place. And in return for her trouble, she now had nine security risks walking around the streets of Seattle with the secrets that hundreds had been slaughtered for. And she'd have known that when she made the call. The right call. So he reckoned she was good people to work for.

Until now, at least.

[Jayde Moon]

Ah, the Matrix. Another path, in another life, this could have been her calling. But the path she had chosen had diverged about as far as it possibly could. So despite many similarities with the wonders of the Astral, the differences gaped wide before her, leaving her stomach to lurch as it peered into the abyss they created.

She imagined that for those who lived this life, everything was as bright and colorful as Astral space appeared to her, but with a simple set of trodes running from her rudimentary commlink, she felt like a 64-bit hooker trying to find a John after the Opera in Bellevue. She was sure her attempt at fashioning a workable persona icon was being derided with every mental step she took in the place. But it had a cowboy hat and that was all that really mattered, after all.

Now, standing in the cavern, the massive form before her threatens to overload the paltry processor of her commlink, virtual frame rates dropping in a manner that exacerbated the alien feeling of the Matrix to her, but the audio came through clearly. Funny how the audio always seemed to work when the video wasn't up to par.

Silk... Silk... which one was that? When did I last work for her...

A datasteal, not her usual round-up, but when the nuyen's tight, a gal's gotta do what a gal's gotta do...

[8-bit]

[Thursday September 26th, 2075, Citadel Gaming Host: Kaer Game World, Seattle]

Phantom had never understood those who were obsessed with the Matrix. It was beautiful, no doubt, but nothing compared to the experiences of the real world.

Still, his companions' personas revealed nothing. Always a good sign. Phantom had always enjoyed working with those who knew when to act professionally. As the hooded figure speaks, Phantom's virtual eyebrows raise. He might be tuning in on a less than stellar commlink, but even he knew that "The Gatekeeper" as he called himself seemed to be breaking some rules. No matter, even if it did leave his head ringing a bit. Maybe more than a bit.

As Phantom's persona descends through the virtual earth, he has to refrain from making any tells. Whoever is behind this has some deep pockets and power; no one has this good of sculpting unless they really know what they're doing.

The dracoform rendered flawlessly in Phantom's vision; something that not even the beautiful sculpting had been able to do. That could only mean one of two things; either someone had massively upgraded his commlink when Phantom wasn't looking, or that icon was backed up by a lot of processing power. Once again, Phantom's head was barraged with that voice that seemed to arrive from nowhere and everywhere at once; he could only imagine how his technology was faring.

As the dracoform laid out it's plans, Phantom turned over the possibilities in his mind. Silk had always been good, never once had Phantom been set up on a job from Silk. Money had been short recently, and the job sounded promising. Dangerous, of course, every job was, but promising, nonetheless. It was a little disconcerting that such a clearly powerful being, or at least one possessing bleeding-edge technology, was unable to retrieve the information. He couldn't seem to find any fault with the job yet, but something seemed off to Phantom. He did need the money though ...

[Ericen]

Ahh my home away from home, only thing better than working or fixing things with my hands is checking things out in the matrix. Yeah a computer jockey might out run me here, but I get to always even the playing field with a drone in the meat world. Kind of strange having a meet here with everyone, I guess each team does things differently but I would rather be giving old Betsey the once over, but I do need cash to get those new sensor packages for the fly spies. And need to get a good one for the Roto as well as a sniper rifle I need that long shot. So much to do.
But this meeting should help fund my upgrades, Silk seemed to take a real concern for the people doing her runs, when it went pear shaped she called us out, saving us was a priority and not just denying she knew us and let us fry. Al, now there is a character was like watching a flat trid of that Dukes Of Hazard show, just a good old boy doing anything to save the pretty lady. I bet he even has the dynamite arrow to blow everything up.

Haze chuckles to himself

As he watches his little remote control replica of Betsey zipping around the area he is sitting in. He sees his reflection in the mirrored surfaces around him. Looks just like his meat body, short human with hints of dwarven features in his face but now he is wearing racing leathers, knee high racing boots and skin tight racing gloves. The funny thing is the ancient racing helmet with googles on top.

A data steal, means I get to be the getaway driver, I love driving almost as much as shooting things. I really need to think about that, I might have a problem I really do like to blow things up. But driving is more peaceful just me, Betsey and the matrix if needed against those who think the can catch me, but they seem to always learn you can't catch a ray of light all you can do is see the Haze as it flashes by.

[Vegas]

[Thursday September 26th, 2075, Citadel Gaming Host: Kaer Game World, Seattle]

Ali's matrix icon was nearly as unforgettable as she was in person. Standard off-the-rack iconography that countless users were defaulted to should they bother to share their gender with their hosts. She listened to what new job was being proposed to the new team and at least on first pass it seemed straight forward. Of course that's what they had led them to believe about the run against the facility nearly two months ago. They had made it out by the skin of their teeth, and while Silk had done much to smooth things over with the previous team, Ali still harbored more than a little suspicion when it came to a new job that had anything at all connected to the original run.

Still she was grateful for work, and even more appreciative that they were doing this initial meet via the matrix instead of some seedy bar, or the backroom of some club. If anyone were to bother to check, she'd read like she was jacking in from the other side of the world, grateful to employ a few tricks from her mother's old sleeves while she truly lounged on the recliner in her living room, a freshly opened craft beer by her side.

She was monitoring the time going by while a list of questions were already starting to grow in her head. Truthfully there was a brand new prototype of a maglock sitting on the workbench of her office that she was dying to get her hands on.

[RdMarquis]

[Thursday September 26th, 2075, Citadel Gaming Host: Kaer Game World, Seattle]

In contrast, LeFey was around the age of an average player. On the other hand, MMOs were not her pastime of choice. She was dressed for the occasion (at least as far as the High Fantasy genre was concerned), a knight persona custom sculpted by her friend. Flo had really outdone herself. Her red cape looked eerily real as it fluttered in the wind. So did the metallic sheen of her armor. Flo had even offered to add function to form and code in Armor and Attack programs, but LeFey had talked her down. She noted with a hint of self-deprecation that going as "herself" would not have raised many eyebrows. Which was more than apparently could be said of the Gatekeeper.

Yet, at first, it had only led them to another part of the gaming host. LeFey smirked beneath her helmet. So why all the staring? Were Matrix games just lacking in hooded, Dementor-like figures as of late? Still, she made a note to look up that character after the meeting.

Surreal. But fascinating. She had to linger behind the others and take in the sight of the underground city. Perhaps it was time she reconsidered her gaming preferences. LeFey glanced up at the long-haired girl. She then removed her helmet and offered her a slight bow. Nice to see you again. I hope. The woman underneath the helmet was a few years older than LeFey. She had lean, attractive features, and platinum blonde hair in a long braid.

The technomancer was more than impressed by eTher's persona. At the same time, she idly wondered if they would take offense at her knight getup. Unconsciously, LeFey tensed when the dragon introduced himself. She knew at that point there was very little chance of her refusing this job. She had to know. Why? What was wrong with all of those people? And why did they have to...? <Please, continue. What data do you need us to retrieve?> She was invested, no doubt about that. But she had to be cautious about this job. Strange and deadly things were at work here.

[Aria]

[Thursday September 26th, 2075, Citadel Gaming Host: Kaer Game World, Seattle]

eTher listens to your questions and (s)he seems pleased that you haven’t just taken the information at face value.

"I am a representative of NeoNet, possibly even a powerful one. That does not mean that I can simply wade through the internal politics of the corporation to get what I want. Going in heavy handed lacks grace and finesse and I prefer that nobody knows that my project was compromised and hardly wish to draw attention to the fact by causing a disturbance. The actions of shadowrunners, however, can be explained away, particularly if there is no link to me or the project in Bellevue. LeFey did a thorough job of wiping your existence from our servers so have no fear on that count.

You will be encountering NeoNet employees when you breach the data centre so I would prefer it if the mayhem was restrained to the level necessary to get the job done. I will not presume to tell you how to perform your tasks, just help in ways that can't be traced back..."

***

[Thursday September 26th, 2075, Crime Mall, Puyallup, Seattle]

Silk greets you as you enter the secluded room off one of the myriad levels of the Crime Mall. She's younger than you had anticipated, probably somewhere in her late twenties, certainly younger and prettier than your average back room fixer. She is dressed for the occasion in a figure hugging silvery grey body glove and armoured bolero jacket that barely conceals the holstered fire arm.

"Welcome. I'm sorry for the choice of location, I trust you didn't have any trouble making it in? The last time I met with a runner team the party was crashed so I prefer to be somewhere public...somewhere the public are all criminals with a high level of disregard for someone breaking the peace that is.

So you've met eTher, interesting isn't she? And Aria allowed you the use of the Citadel, a slightly different meet location than normal no doubt. You will have questions I'm sure, neither of them give up their secrets willingly...I will see what I can do about answering them..."

[adamu]

[Thursday September 26th, 2075, Crime Mall, Puyallup, Seattle]

Al settled himself onto the floor of the furthest corner of the room from the svelte young fixer. He nodded to those that had already arrived - he knew all but one of them from previous jobs.

After the interminable virtual meet, he'd cleaned himself up, refilled his belly with beer, and drove his truck here to the Crime Mall for a second meet. Horsemen of the Apocalypse, hadn't they asked enough questions with the fairy-drake?

Still, realizing he had no idea what this job was beyond stealing some data from somewhere in Fort Lewis, he decided to pay a bit more attention this time, just in case there was anything he might need to know.

[8-bit]

[Thursday September 26th, 2075, Crime Mall; Puyallup, Seattle]

eTher seemed to have made himself pretty clear. After everyone accepted the job, Phantom logged off. He pulled the trodes off of his head. He had never enjoyed VR, it always left him feeling, empty, when he returned to the real world.

His contacts blinked in the side of his vision. As he moved his hand to sweep the message into view, he saw that Silk had summoned him. A place called the Crime Mall. Interesting spot. It would be about a 20 minute walk.

20 minutes later, after some research along the way, Phantom finally arrived at the Crime Mall. The Crime Mall was, interesting, to say the least. Not a great part of Puyallup, but you probably couldn't find a more neutral meeting ground. I mean, it was called the Crime Mall for Ghost's sake. Still, Phantom was a stranger in this part of town, it was best if he kept his eyes open. He had packed lightly, and his eyes scanned the message Silk had sent. It had directions for where to meet. Phantom had no problems finding his way through, and he was amazed that no one tried to haggle him, or even shot a glimpse at him. Sure, he wasn't the most conspicuous person around, but even legitimate people did something. I guess this place really does mind itself.

He smiled when hearing Silk's voice, for someone in the shadows, she was surprisingly vibrant and full of life. He approached the room and faded into the background, waiting for everyone to arrive.

[adamu]

[Thursday September 26th, 2075, Crime Mall; Puyallup, Seattle]

Al watched with interest as a tallish but nondescript round-ear walked into the room. At the virtual meet, he had been able to put some of the icons to faces, but others had left question marks as to who was who, even though he'd worked with most of them on jobs back in the real world. He knew, at this point anyway, all the people on this job's roster. Except one - and this was him.

Trust didn't come easy in this business, that's what they said on the trid, anyway. But for Al, it was just a handshake and a smoke away.

His left hand busy chain smoking, he extended his burn-ravaged right: "Greetin's an' salutations, kemo sabe. Alouicious Harlan Guthrie, esquire, at yer service."

[8-bit]

[Thursday September 26th, Crime Mall; Puyallup, Seattle]

As the human greeted him, Phantom considered his choices. Sure, he could be paranoid, but anybody who was here was probably part of his team. You had to start the trust somewhere. He noticed the smoke in the human's left hand, but he didn't judge. Everyone needs their vice.

As the man extended his arm, Phantom noticed it was ravaged by burns. He accepted it and said, "Glad to meet ya. You can call me Phantom; I'll admit I'm sort of a newcomer here." Phantom looked around the room, but nobody else except Silk seemed to be there yet. "You know any of our partners we are supposed to be working with?" Phantom liked Al, which would normally raise his suspicions, but he figured that he was placing his life in Al's hands, as Al would be in his. No reason not to be friendly.

[adamu]

[Thursday September 26th, Crime Mall; Puyallup, Seattle]

Shaking the taller man's hand and then setlling himself back down on the floor, Al answered, "Hell, know all of 'em, 'ceptin' fer yerself. Leastways barrin' any later additions. An' speakin' of late, hopin' they'll git here soon an' not keep the li'l lady waitin'. 'If'n yer five minutes early then yer ten minutes late,' that's what my Pa always told us, an' I daresay there's a lick o' truth to it."

[Ericen]

Haze sees the message light flash in his lower vision, bringing it up he sees meet at the crime citadel. Guess it's time to meet the meat and see if there is new talent in the mix. Will be good to see the team without all the gunfire.
Okay Betsey lets get moving, a nice fast relaxing drive.

Walking into the room Haze notices Al shaking hands and talking with someone new.

Hello, how are you doing? Nice to see ya Al
So we expecting more from the last run? Seems like a lot for a data steal?

[Jayde Moon]

Rodeo was the fifth in the room. She'd not worked with most of the fellows before her, though she was pretty sure she had seen the short fellow around before. 'Al', if she remembered correctly.

"Howdy, ya'll," she purred in an affected southern drawl, two parts 'belle and one part cowboy. "Guess we're all here for the roundup. Can call me Rodeo and I'll be providing a bit of magic support for us."

She gave them a charming smile and directed her attention to Silk. "Reckon we must be waitin' for a few more before ya' get started?"

[Vegas]

[[Thursday September 26th, Crime Mall; Puyallup, Seattle]

True to her skills and nature, Ali had slipped into the room just before Silk's introduction, with nearly no one noticing her. Clad in jeans, combat boots and a faded band t-shirt beneath a leather jacket, she straddled a crate near the back and perked up once the fixer spoke. Her eyes roamed over the gathered group, glad to see some familiar faces and some new ones. On any other run she would have been concerned with the number of bodies in the space given their objective, however after the events at the facility, she was grateful for the numbers present. She gave Al an almost imperceptible nod as his eyes found hers.

[adamu]

[Thursday September 26th, Crime Mall; Puyallup, Seattle]

Al chuckled at how he'd almost failed to notice Peaches' arrival, and silently congratulated himself on choosing his company so well.

Having shaken hands with Haze and the Cowgirl, he turned to the young fixer in the bolero jacket. "Heya there, Silk darlin', this here meet 'n' greet catered? Done lost muh dinner doin' the vee-ar pow wow with digital dragon dude."

[RdMarquis]

[Thursday September 26th, 2075, Crime Mall, Puyallup, Seattle]

Her brother had insisted on giving her a ride. As she understood it, the Crime Mall was located in one of the less hostile areas of Puyallup. "Less hostile" being a relative term. It wouldn't do to run into trouble before the job even started. And the two didn't know when they would see each other again. So after LeFey had teased him for being a mother hen, she took Riley up on his offer.

She was still wearing a gas mask when she entered the Mall. Puyallup's atmosphere was havoc on her lungs, and the fewer people who noticed her, the better. But she removed the mask outside their meeting place, then slipped on the old pair of dog tags. LeFey knocked before entering the room. Force of habit. "Good afternoon," she greeted the others. There was a faint smile for Al, Haze and Ali. It fades entirely once Silk reminded her why they were here.

The meeting with eTher had given her some names and vague ideas. Not much to go on. Plenty to make that anxious feeling in her heart much more intense. "You were watching, weren't you?" If she was as calm as she hoped, the question wouldn't sound accusing. "During the run on the mental health facility. Do you know happened to those patients?" Or demanding.

[8-bit]

[Thursday September 26th, 2075, Crime Mall; Puyallup, Seattle]

Phantom managed to sense a few people walk into the room, but he almost had a heart attack as a girl in combat boots and jeans seemed to materialize. He was getting complacent, he had been leaning on his magic as a crutch.

Damn, these people are good.

He quietly looked over his new companions. They certainly all knew each other, just as Al has said. They also all seemed perfectly relaxed, not giving anything away. Phantom nodded in approval.

Al had an accent that Phantom couldn't quite place, much less understand. Oh well, he would get used to it in time. Something about catering and losing his meal. Phantom waited, as everyone else seemed to be asking the questions. The girl who had entered in the gas mask had a similar attitude to the knight persona in their initial meet. Might as well see what happens, these guys seem to know more than I do, especially the questions to ask. Besides, he was curious to see their reactions when Silk answered.

[Aria]

[Thursday September 26th, Crime Mall; Puyallup, Seattle]

Silk waits as you arrange yourselves to your liking around the spartan room

"Reckon we must be waitin' for a few more before ya' get started?" She smiles at Rodeo “No, I believe we have enough here to start, Gossamer will tie them into the conversation so that they can keep track of the discussions.”

"Heya there, Silk darlin', this here meet 'n' greet catered? Done lost muh dinner doin' the vee-ar pow wow with digital dragon dude."

Silk raises an eyebrow at the request but seems amused “I hadn’t intended to provide food but the Mall will no doubt cater to your wishes somewhere…I’m happy to pay if one of you wants to go and get something?

I prefer to meet in the matrix normally as it helps to preserve all our anonymity but given the events of the previous run that some of you were involved in I felt it was a good idea to meet you face to face and allow you to meet each other prior to any planning sessions you may wish to arrange between yourselves.

I’ll be frank, that run was a mess, and through no fault of yours. I was impressed by the way you were able to adapt and change with events, that’s why I have brought you together again for this…”

"You were watching, weren't you? During the run on the mental health facility. Do you know happened to those patients?"

Nodding to LeFey, “Yes, I was watching…some runners do not appreciate my scrutiny but I find that is useful to have an overwatch position…you are alive because I had knowledge that you were not privy to and I was able to pull you out…sorry, I should rephrase that, you pulled yourselves out because of the intel I was able to give you.

As to the patients, I have my suspicions, I am sure if you have been listening to street rumour you will share them. I believe it was the first time I have seen Sybil in action. eTher’s actions would seem to confirm my suspicions, why else would she murder all those people? Be under no illusions, eTher is dangerous and this run will be a reflection of that…you have a small chance to walk away now but you’d better hide deep…” she held up a placatory hand “It’s not a threat, I wouldn’t have picked you all if I didn’t believe you were up to the task, merely that she is not one to be crossed…but that is your lot as runners is it not, to deal with the dangerous movers of this world and then to disappear once you’ve done their dirty work? I am in the enviable position of being able to pick and choose my clients and I believe there is more than just financial worth to this run. I am keen to find out if it really was Sybil that was being investigated down there, who authorised it and how they were able to slip it past eTher’s gaze. I will pay you for any extra intel you are able to extract from their archives, in particular any research evidence that may have been extracted from the facility before its abrupt end… at least I assume it is ended, perhaps that information will be there too…”

[adamu]

[Thursday September 26th, Crime Mall; Puyallup, Seattle]

Al was still debating whether his new resolution to pay more attention in this meet outweighed the opportunity to skip the whole tedious affair and go on a self-appointed food run on the boss's tab. He'd just decided in favor of the food when LeFey asked about the patients.

That was interesting.

So fine...he'd put his earpiece in and try to listen a bit while out searching for chow. He was half up off the floor when Silk mentioned Sybil.

He was damned if he knew what it was, but he'd heard the name - a whisper in the dark corner of a cheap dive here, a texted breath in a digital ear there, something forbidden lurking in the cobwebbed corners of the shadowy undercurrents of this wacky world he'd let Silk lure him back into.

He slid back down the wall and resettled his ass on the floor.

[Jayde Moon]

Rodeo listened closely to the folks speaking. Looks like this run stemmed from another run, one that didn't end well, though apparently the crew involved did the best they could and had impressed their Johnson with their professionalism. That boded well on the one hand, if the former set her ill at ease.

She watched Al reconsider leaving for food at the mention of 'Sybil' and returned her full attention to the brief. Let the others ask the questions, she would soak in all the information she could.

[8-bit]

[Thursday September 26th, Crime Mall; Puyallup, Seattle]

Sybil? Phantom had heard rumors about Sybil, none of them good. Just hearing the name made him shiver.

Phantom, his tone inquisitive, spoke, "May I hazard a question?"

He looks around the room; every person's face seems to reflect their, and his, emotions: Curiosity and what appeared to be a hint of terror.

"What exactly is 'Sybil'?"

Phantom's head tilts slightly, as if anticipating an answer before it's given, "I suppose the only way to find out for sure is to do this, neh?"

[mister__joshua]

Jan
[Thursday September 26th, Crime Mall; Puyallup, Seattle]

Jan fell in through the door, a bit heavier than he'd have liked. Blood was pissing down his side and forming a pool around his feet. "Apologies, continue" he managed. He shrugged off his armourjack and tore open his shirt around the wound. Sliding down the wall he sat and grimaced briefly before setting down the package under his right arm. Using his combat knife he slit open the cellophane and unwrapped a brand new FieldDoktor patching kit. The security tag was smashed and the box was ripped, but you didn't ask where things came from in the Mall.

He shot a local into his side and his left arm dropped to the floor. Focusing better without the pain, he whipped off his belt and strapped it around his bicep, tightening with his teeth like a junkie's tourniquet. He needed to fish the shrapnel out before he'd stop the bleeding. "Anyone got a lighter?"