Tangled Currents - DES, Stormy Waters subthread Options

[adamu]

Thursday, 21 November, 0136; 38th Avenue NE, Northeast Tacoma, Tacoma, Seattle Metroplex

Bronwyn laughed out loud. "You're all right, dragon-kid. Hey, check this out!" And with a mischievous smile, she stood up, took a few steps towards him, and lifted the short skirt of her cocktail dress to around her waist. Her panties were microscopic, decent by milimeters, and Vexboy could see that scrolled low across her bikini line were letters reading: Boldly go where no man has gone before.

She held her skirt up just long enough for it to be read, then dropped back down on the sofa with a giggle.

Holding up her hand with fingers properly splayed, she intoned, "Long live and prosper, dragon-dude."

[Raiderj]

Vexboy's face went red but he manage to laugh as well. And did the vulcan as well saying: "You as well o, Epetai-zana. We have got to hang out when this is all over."

[adamu]

Thursday, 21 November, 0136; 38th Avenue NE, Northeast Tacoma, Tacoma, Seattle Metroplex

Vexboy though he saw something sad or dark shadow Bronwyn's face when he said that, but it was gone so fast he couldn't be sure he hadn't imagined it. "Absolutely. Quality time on the holodeck! Not joking - I know some illusionist Trekkies that can make it happen for the right people!"

[Raiderj]

"Hold on Kid I saw that too. Vexboy remembered something. They weren't coming with him. This was most likely a suicide run. "Yeah... Hey where is this guy? Is he... Waylaid?"

[adamu]

Thursday, 21 November, 0138; 38th Avenue NE, Northeast Tacoma, Tacoma, Seattle Metroplex

Bronwyn pursed her lips. Now her concern was clear. They'd just survived an assassination attempt, and, as she's said, their enemies were getting proactive on other fronts as well. When she spoke, her optimism seemed forced. "Of course he'll be fine. He was chosen by the Pattern. So of course he'll be fine."

D-Pop was obviously less concerned. She smirked confidently. "From what I've been told about this guy, we should hope he was waylaid. It'd just be that many fewer bad guys for you to deal with later. No, this guy isn't going to get himself killed, at least not in some street ambush. He'll be here."

[DireRadiant]

Thursday, 21 November, 0139; 38th Avenue NE, Northeast Tacoma, Tacoma, Seattle Metroplex

DES hadn't paid much attention to the conversation. He has sat himself comfortably and taken out some reagents and spent his time calling forth a manifestation of his Will. He sent it forth to to act as his eyes in the Spirit World.

DES next started looking for something suitable to serve in the Material world.

[mister__joshua]

Jan
Thursday, 21 November, 01:40; 38th Avenue NE, Northeast Tacoma, Tacoma, Seattle Metroplex

Jan had been across the street for about 15 minutes blending in convincingly as a homeless bum, the sweat and blood of his recent encounters nicely offset by clothes unwashed in weeks. He'd surveyed the outside well before his approach. He didn't want to be seen yet, not until he was sure. As he passed the window he saw a chick flash her thong, and a kid blush. Surely this wasn't the right place? He re-checked the address, but he already had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. He knew this was the place. What was the Dr. getting him into...

He drew his Ceska and held it close to his side, knocking the door while spinning away to the window. It'd be interesting to see what he was working with.

[Raiderj]

"Is that the guy?" Vexboy asked simply. He seemed at ease. Then again he had his guns in his arm slides.

[adamu]

Thursday, 21 November, 01:40; 38th Avenue NE, Northeast Tacoma, Tacoma, Seattle Metroplex

D-Pop already had a pistol out and on her lap, but she answered "Probably." in a calm voice without getting up.

Bronwyn's head nodded forward, and about one second later her voice reached Vexboy's ears from somewhere near the ceiling. "Yup, that's our guy." And a moment later her head came up and her eyes opened.

[Raiderj]

"Should... Someone open the door? It there a secret knock?" Vexboy asked. He noticed D-pop's pistol. "Why don't I... Double check if this is the guy? Any back entrances out of this place?"

[adamu]

Thursday, 21 November, 01:40; 38th Avenue NE, Northeast Tacoma, Tacoma, Seattle Metroplex

Bronwyn said, "I just checked. He's the guy. But I think there's a back door out the kitchen."

D-Pop asked, "How could there be a secret knock? None of us have ever met him."

[Raiderj]

"Well it seems weird he would just be standing out there like a weirdo. It makes him seem suspicious. Its gotta have been like a minute or two and he hasn't knocked yet. Well might as well test my Doc Wagon..." Vexboy opened the door and saw Jan. He didn't say anything but went back inside and said to Bronwyn and D-Pop. "So he is just looking out the window... Is this normal behavior for a run?" Vexboy asked perplexed. "I guess this isn't a "run" but..." He went outside again. "Uh... Hey... Come on in. They scoped you out with magic like 3 minutes ago..." Vexboy said aloud to him very awkardly.

[mister__joshua]

Jan
Thursday, 21 November, 01:40; 38th Avenue NE, Northeast Tacoma, Tacoma, Seattle Metroplex

"3 minutes ago? Interesting..." Jan was already unimpressed "...I've been out there for 15. Is this a safe house or a frat party? Why is no-one posted on the front? If anyone had a mind..." Jan trailed off before spelling out the consequences. Needless to say they weren't pleasant, but he didn't want to appear too harsh. Afterall, he may end up having to work with this crew, though he didn't see them that way at the moment. "Apologies. It's been a long day." He let his annoyance fade, and messaged the commcode he'd been given by Know.

<<@FemaleRussianJohnson: I'm here. What's going on? I'm not working in the dark. Ten minutes then I'm back underground.>> Jan was acutely aware there was still a large target on him. There were more people gunning for him than he cared for, and he wasn't going to hang around.

[adamu]

Thursday, 21 November, 01:40; 38th Avenue NE, Northeast Tacoma, Tacoma, Seattle Metroplex

A tall, spicily attractive woman stood up from the sofa. She glanced briefly at her commlink before sliding it into a pocket. Then stepped forward, hand outstretched. "I am the female Russian Johnson. But everyone here knows me as D-Pop. We just arrived ourselves, as I think you're aware, and I have trusted my Warrior to bring us to a place unknown to our enemies. But you are right, our security could certainly be tighter. Perhaps you'd like to take charge of that before letting us know the information you've gathered."

[Raiderj]

Vexboy nodded. "What she said... Maybe I can help secure it. Im pretty good with sneaking around." He stepped loudly on the floor but no noise came from the impact. "My steps don't make,noise."

[DireRadiant]

Thursday, 21 November, 0141; 38th Avenue NE, Northeast Tacoma, Tacoma, Seattle Metroplex

DES was ashamed. He'd been so busy searching for appropriate materials he had not paid enough attention to the external feeds. He would have to just deal with it. And with his Watcher.

"It is true. I cannot do everything needed."

DES straightened himself up and looked challengingly at the newcomer, "I will do what I can."

[Raiderj]

"Ok. So... Whats the plan? Do we do recon seperately or as a group?" Vexboy asked hoping to get started.

[adamu]

Thursday, 21 November, 0141; 38th Avenue NE, Northeast Tacoma, Tacoma, Seattle Metroplex

"Vexy, have a seat. Take a breath," implored D-Pop. "Recon of what? We don't know the location of your target. That, in fact, is one of the things Jan is here to tell us. And now that he's here, he's right, we would do well to tighten our security. Let's take a few minutes to see to that. Bronwyn and her minions will handle the astral plane. Then we can all sit down to hear what the newest of our number has found out for us."

[Raiderj]

"I am perfectly ok with that. Thank you." Vexboy said with a sigh and a smile and went inside. He sat down and waited for the info.

[Vegas]

Thursday, 21 November, 0141; 38th Avenue NE, Northeast Tacoma, Tacoma, Seattle Metroplex

Rave had done a visual recon of the safehouse upon arrival from where she sank down into an armchair in what passed for the living room of the space. Once she was fairly secure in the idea nothing was going to jump from the shadows and they were, at least for the time being, safe, she immediately began to assess her physical injuries.

She unhooked the bloodied halter of her outfit and let it drop to her waist, exposing the skin-toned form fit beneath. It was still intact, but smears of lead decorated her chest and it was as if she could feel the bruises burrowing deeper into the skin beneath.

As Bronwyn entertained Vexboy who seemed all to eager to move forward, she re-tied the halter behind her neck as much as a test of her mobility as it was to remain “decent” for the company she’d be keeping. She felt rather exposed in an entirely different sort of way. She hadn’t carried in heavy to the club, not wanting to have to concoct a story that would be thin at best to the coat check girls, or worse, to Ilya.

She unstrapped the pair of sandals from her feet and settled back into the chair, thinking more about the still images she had uncovered on the server earlier and how that might benefit them as they went searching for their target but her thoughts were quickly interrupted by a knock on the door and the arrival of Jan.

As he stepped into the room, everything about him caused her cop training to scream at her to take notice. She forced herself to appear relaxed and managed a silent nod in his direction.

“I’m traveling a little light for any addition to security measures, but if we get any time off for good behavior, I can make a few calls and remedy that situation?” The lilt in her voice was different, her Russian accent was much lighter, almost nonexistent as she turned her attention away from Jan for an instant and pitched her question towards D Pop.

[mister__joshua]

Jan
Thursday, 21 November, 01:42; 38th Avenue NE, Northeast Tacoma, Tacoma, Seattle Metroplex

Jan knew his information was a little vague, but he'd gotten all he could out of Jae-Geun, he was sure of that. "Here's what I got."

Jan reeled off his info, parrot fashion where he could remember.

"The Komun'go have complex channels for procuring children. My 'contact' was unaware of the details, but they acquire about a hundred a month, as unlikely as that sounds. And not street kids, apparently. These are healthy, educated children, mostly white, mostly human or elf and all attractive. They fetch a very high price, but carry a lot of risk. They are the sort of children people come looking for, children that are missed, and often by people with money.

He paused and glanced at the ceiling, as if accessing a part of his memory stored there. "Secrecy and security in this thing are formidable. Jae, my contact, was Choson, and they provide protection for the transfer to the buyers, the Shotozumi. He was in charge of security at both sites. There are two exchange sites lined up, but they won't decide which to use until the last minute. This makes things tricky for us. He also didn't know the time of the exchange." Jan provided the addresses Jae had given him.

"He emphasized the security. It was recently doubled due to them being targeted by some sort of witch coven. I assumed you might know something about that? Jae's disappearance will raise more concerns and probably lead to even more security, but there there weren't any viable options for letting him live."

As he spoke Jan paced the floor, looking out of the front windows. He didn't even realize, as it was natural to him, but he was still gripping his MP and it swayed towards the window occasionally when he turned. Once he's finished his recollection he turned back towards D-Pop. "So, that's it. I'm hoping you know what to do with this info. I agreed to get is as a favour to Know. We don't have the manpower to hit both sites, and have no idea when the exchange will take place... ...but it will be soon, and once it's happened I feel we may lose track of Audric. I'd be surprised if he stayed in the UCAS."

[Raiderj]

Jan
Thursday, 21 November, 01:42; 38th Avenue NE, Northeast Tacoma, Tacoma, Seattle Metroplex

Jan knew his information was a little vague, but he'd gotten all he could out of Jae-Geun, he was sure of that. "Here's what I got."

Jan reeled off his info, parrot fashion where he could remember.

"The Komun'go have complex channels for procuring children. My 'contact' was unaware of the details, but they acquire about a hundred a month, as unlikely as that sounds. And not street kids, apparently. These are healthy, educated children, mostly white, mostly human or elf and all attractive. They fetch a very high price, but carry a lot of risk. They are the sort of children people come looking for, children that are missed, and often by people with money.

He paused and glanced at the ceiling, as if accessing a part of his memory stored there. "Secrecy and security in this thing are formidable. Jae, my contact, was Choson, and they provide protection for the transfer to the buyers, the Shotozumi. He was in charge of security at both sites. There are two exchange sites lined up, but they won't decide which to use until the last minute. This makes things tricky for us. He also didn't know the time of the exchange." Jan provided the addresses Jae had given him.

"He emphasized the security. It was recently doubled due to them being targeted by some sort of witch coven. I assumed you might know something about that? Jae's disappearance will raise more concerns and probably lead to even more security, but there there weren't any viable options for letting him live."

As he spoke Jan paced the floor, looking out of the front windows. He didn't even realize, as it was natural to him, but he was still gripping his MP and it swayed towards the window occasionally when he turned. Once he's finished his recollection he turned back towards D-Pop. "So, that's it. I'm hoping you know what to do with this info. I agreed to get is as a favour to Know. We don't have the manpower to hit both sites, and have no idea when the exchange will take place... ...but it will be soon, and once it's happened I feel we may lose track of Audric. I'd be surprised if he stayed in the UCAS."

"If he gets exchanged I'd would give it a good 48 hours before he is gone forever...whoever he is. If they are REALLY good possibly even under 24 hours. So yeah, looks pretty grim prospects wise." He coughs. "Do we have any magical force up our sleeves that can track these kids in anyway?"

[adamu]

Thursday, 21 November, 01:41; 38th Avenue NE, Northeast Tacoma, Tacoma, Seattle Metroplex

D-Pop answered Rave. But she hesitated first. "We tread a fine line." She took in the entire group with her gaze. As I may have touched on with all of you but Jan, so I apologize for repeating it for his benefit, it is imperative that the upcoming task be completed by you chosen ones alone. Two more will join you, and there are some others working in concert I may be able to talk to you about later, but no members of the organizations I represent can take any direct action in this thing. To elaborate on what Bronwyn explained earlier, suppose you were to shoot Hitler in 1942. You'd save so many lives, right? Maybe so. Or, a Third Reich in disarray would be unable to slow the advance of an enraged Stalinist Russia and the Red Army sweeps over all of Europe before anyone can do anything about it. A murderous brand of totalitarian socialism becomes the dominant force in the Western Hemisphere costing countless more lives than the always-doomed Nazis could ever have dreamt of. It's the law of unintended consequences. Any good act could, in an entirely unforeeable way, lead to worse consequences. Now, however, through heretofore unheard-of levels of big data interpretation intertwined with powerful scrying techniques, we can glimpse what the Fates have in store. It is a woefully inexact science, but in this case all of my sisters are in total agreement - any direct involvement in the interception of the children by anyone but our specially chosen surrogates will lead to disastrous and unpredictable results. Indeed, the closer we come to the process, or the closer any third parties are brought into it, the more the danger increases."

She looked back at Rave. "So yes, I suppose you need your gear. But if that means contacting anyone, please do so as quickly and quietly as possible. The less of a role, even a tangential one, played by anyone outside this room, the better. While Bronwyn's Sight gave her the glimpses of your reality she needed to deduce your true profession, we know you only as Victoria. Is that the name you wish us to keep calling you by?"

[adamu]

Thursday, 21 November, 01:44; 38th Avenue NE, Northeast Tacoma, Tacoma, Seattle Metroplex

"You bring up an important point, Vexy. As you and some others may have inferred, while we are determined to rescue all of these children from their plight, our particular interest is in a boy named Audric. He's eleven. Kidnapped from Atlanta. Above all else, he must be secured alive and delivered to myself for safekeeping."

She distributed AR images of the boy, the same as the hard copy that Jan had received from Dr. Know.

"Jan, you've done very well indeed. Now I would like to invite you to join us. You were not chosen at random. We will need you to complete the mission. Consider your willingness as we converse, and then speak to me once the meeting is concluded." She shifted on the sofa, looking around the room. "I have already relayed the two addresses to individuals that will take a first look for us, but they will be unable to get very close for the reasons already laid out. Once they've done a first pass, we will have to scout the locations tonight - Jan is right, against the sort of security you will face, splitting your numbers would be hopeless. And the locations are too far apart to make a quick switch, and even if we could move that fast, it would preclude setting up an ambush. So we must figure out some way to know which location it will be. I am very open to suggestions on this. And we have to pray we even have time to reconnoiter and set up, since we still don't know exactly when the transaction will happen. Sadly, we know precious little about the timing. We know, or strongly suspect, that these deals have been going on perhaps once a month for the past several months, but we are not even sure exactly when the past ones took place. So thanks to Jan we've narrowed it from all of Seattle to two spots. That's progress. As for the when, we only know it will be soon..."

She closed her eyes. "I'm afraid my reserves have been horribly depleted by the past day or so, as have many of yours. Let us continue to discuss this. But for the sake of our efficacy, let us take what opportunity we can to rest. And for the sake of avoiding further attempts on us, let us remain secure here at least until this evening, at which time we should know just a bit more about the two locations. And please use the time to consider how we will solve these final riddles. It is perhaps no accident that my people have been unable to penetrate them..."

[Raiderj]

"Kid... Excuse yourself for a sec...I gotta talk to you... And I need you to focus." Vexboy nodded. "Very well..." Vexboy said. He got up. "Id like to be alone for a second. I want to be able to focus to commune with my totem. Apparently its important..."