Tangled Currents - Hikari Options

[Mercy]

Thursday 2000 13 June 2075 Hikari's house Seattle


The rain is pattering against the windows, blowing almost sideways in the wind from off the Sound. Even if it was only party cloudy in the rest of Seattle, it seems to always be raining here. The pirated electricity from the city grid is sporadic this evening and you give up on the soy processor and settle for some soycaf from yesterday's pot. You could complain about it, but since the electricity is supplied through a pirate grid set up by a chummer who owed you a favor, you can't complain too much. The ocean surges against the rotting piers outside the old warehouse, calling out to you in the special way it has for a long time, calling to you to just give all of this drek up and go home to the sea. Some days it is harder to resist that call than others and this is one of those days. You have not worked outside Kyra's shop in almost three weeks and even this place has expenses and you do have to eat. Poor Kyra cannot afford to keep supporting you with under the table payments in addition to what she manages to pay you for your hours.

Your 'link pings with the tone you have set up for Jackie Talon, a part time fixer still trying to make the score that will get him into the big time. Of course, if she did move on, she might leave you behind looking for someone else to take you on. She comes across as fairly friendly for a fixer, but you are not really sure how much of that is because she needs a friend or just needs a ticket upwards. In your state can you afford to ignore the call or do you let it ring off to more silence, or, more descriptively, to the sound of rain against your windows on a dark June night in Seattle?

[dluxcru]

I'm not one to turn down good work - most of the time, I do have some standards when it comes to the job. I simply think about picking up, and smile as my trode headband does the rest.

>> Hey Jackie, how are you? <<

Mentally, I'm running through a to-do list for the day - It's about time I bound a new spirit. and I should really ask Kyra to borrow a manascaping formula sometime soon - that spell is really a key to my stealth, because it will hide my presence even from the astral.

[Mercy]

Thursday 13 June 2075 2002 Hikari's house Seattle


>>Not busy are you, dear. Got something you might find interesting. Can you meet a guy at the Hot Taco in Touristville at 0100?<<

[dluxcru]

>> I can, but since you're suggesting an Atzlaner resturant, I have to ask - not an Aztechnology job, right? You know I don't take jobs for potential blood mages.<<< My tone was clear as a spat out the words. There are some people you don't work for, even if you have to eat. I'll steal food if I have to choose between working for Aztech and putting food on my plate.

[Mercy]

Thursday 13 June 2075 2003 Hikari's house Seattle


>>Hmmm. I never asked that question as it means little to me who is paying. But you can at least go and find out for yourself. And get the stick out of your butt about those guys. All of them aren't blood mages. Be there at the meet and make your decision.<<

[dluxcru]

>>I'll go and check it out, I suppose. But you gotta understand that just because the one I'm working for isn't a blood mage, doesn't mean I'm not working for a blood mage - Atzlan's higher ups are more likely to be blood mages, and that means that an order for a job can come from higher up the chain, from someone who is one - I won't chance working for a blood mage, even by proxy. I'll drop that stick when the blood mages stop doing blood magic.<<

I was fuming a little inside - blood magic, necromancy, toxic magic, fire spells and spirits - as a sea shaman those things get me all riled up. To me, they're perversions of the most precious thing of all - life, and there's nothing more beautiful or valuable then that to a sea shaman. That's not to say sea shamans aren't willing to kill - death is a part of the cycle of life, after all - but to twist and pervert life is far worse than to kill it. I can't help but feel for all the victims those blasted blood mages have taken the lives of and twisted beyond repair.

Despite that, I'm going to check this out - if the Johnson isn't an Azzie, or the job doesn't look like it's from Atzlan and Aztech, then we might have business worth talking about.

[Mercy]

Thursday 13 June 2075 2004 Hikari's house Seattle


>>OK. You are to ask for Rene. And that does not sound like an Azzie name to me. And sorry about the stick comment. I know....................well, just sorry. Let me know how it turns out.<<

[dluxcru]

>>Will do, and apology accepted. Thanks for sending some work my way. Talk to you later." <<

I looked at the clock - not really enough time to bind a spirit before the meet, at least not one powerful enough to be extremely useful. I'd have to wait on that. I'm lucky though - most Johnsons don't meet at 1:00AM. They like their sleep as much as I do. What that says about this Johnson and this job, I'm not sure. Makes me afraid it might be short notice - I don't like short notice, but I'll take the work if I need it.

I finished my soykaf, and turned my attention to something else: a much needed haircut - have to do one every twelve hours or so, or the stuff would be dragging on the floor in a day. It grows that fast, thanks to my condition. Grabbing the scissors from my bag, I started trimming the glowing blue strands into a bob. I've had this odd bioluminescent blue hair as long as I can remember. I wonder what color they were before I SURGE'd.

[Mercy]

Thursday 13 June 2075 2010 Hikari's house Seattle


By now you are fairly good at hacking your hair off and it does not take too long. It is not a professional salon job, but you would be broke all the time if you went to one of those places. Oh, yeah, you are mostly broke all of the time anyway. Based on the distance and the route you need to take, your estimate of driving time is about 53 minutes if you were to leave now, or 33 minutes if you leave after midnight.

[dluxcru]

OOC: If I'm reading military time correctly, I've got a couple hours yet, so the midnight time is a better departure time. Correct me if I'm wrong.

IC:

I decided it was time for a Matrix search about the restaurant, the Hot Taco as it was called. (Tacos will be a first, they never served those back at the school.). I wanted to find out where in Touristville I needed to go, if I couldn't remember it, and I also wanted to find out if they were owned by Aztech. No sense in putting money in blood mages' pockets if I could help it, either.


OOC:
Let me know if I get any rolls wrong, this is my first Shadowrun game.
Matrix Search for Hot Taco Resturant: 7d6t5 1

[dluxcru]

OOC: Forgot Hikari would also try to remember anything she might know about the place.

IC: Thinking back, I might have seen something about the place before, as well. What was it again? Nope, nothing I can remember.

OOC:
Remembering details about the Hot Taco Resturant: 6d6t5 0 So much for that....

[Mercy]

Thursday 13 June 2075 2015 Hikari's house Seattle


In your defense, there is not much to know about the place and it might even be easy to forget, except for one thing: they make the best fragging tacos in the world, or at least seven people being paid to say such things do indeed say them. The place is a hole in the wall type of diner. The AR menu is mostly of the Mexican variety. If there is any link to the Azzies here it is well hidden, probably by the corporation.

[dluxcru]

Seeing little else to do before the meet, I work on my guns, cleaning them and making sure all my clips are loaded. If I've got a job coming up, I'll want to be prepared for the work. I don't bring any along - to much potential trouble for visiting a resturant, and basically nowhere to put them.

After that, I head for the bus, looking at the AR menu to give me an idea of what might be good to eat.

OOC: Depending on the dress code, Hikari is either wearing her Sleeping Tiger, or her regular jacket.

[Mercy]

Friday 14 June 2075 0033 Outside Hot Taco Touristville Seattle

Yeah, the only dress code you can find is "No Shoes, No Shirt, No Service". The bus ride out to Touristville is quick at this time of night and you are let off at a stop about two blocks from the diner with just about twenty-seven minutes before the meeting. Even at this time of night, Touristville is jumping. It services a far different sort of clientele in the wee hours than it does during the day. The family groups with parents and kidfs have been replaced by many of those same parent, but without kids in tow, who are looking for a bit of the darker side of what this place, called the tourist mecca in some travel mags and e-zines. Neon lights advertise bars that offer just about every sort of adult gratification that is legal. Men and women in dim alleys offer just about every sort of adult gratification that is not legal.

The Hot Taco is a smallish diner from the outside, appearing to be some old railroad dining car converted to a new purpose after being dumped by the railroad. You see a number of people inside the structure, sitting at several booths or along the long counter.

[dluxcru]

I don't want to show up too early, so I lean up against the wall for a while, enduring a few looks from passerby - SURGE doesn't come without that, and while mine was fortuitous enough to make me beautiful and exotic rather than freakish, blue skin and bioluminescent hair still stands out just about anywhere. About fifteen til, I head into the 'Taco, thinking that they ought to paint the rail-car like one.

I turn to one of the staff by the entrance as I step inside. "Is Rene here?"

[Mercy]

Friday 14 June 2075 0045 Outside Hot Taco Touristville Seattle


The gum popping waitress in the too short dress gives you a close look then must decide that you are certainly not the strangest thing she has ever seen and gives you a tired smile as she shakes her head. "Sorry, dear, no one working here by that name. If you're meeting someone, you can sit over there by the window. Can I get you something to drink while you wait?"

[dluxcru]

I smiled, "Guess I'm early then. I'll take some water for now - they should be here in around fifteen minutes."

When it comes to meeting a Mr. Johnson, I'd rather be early than late, but I guess I overshot the time. I take a seat near the door, and open the menu in AR, looking for something good to eat, but I keep my senses on alert, just in case.

[Mercy]

Friday 14 June 2075 0046 Outside Hot Taco Touristville Seattle


The waitress nods and you go sit at the indicated table. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the menu is full of different kinds of tacos. You probably had no idea that there are so many kinds. The waitress brings you your water and looks at you. "First time here? If you are not sure, I would recommend the chicken. Some of the more esoteric ones are designed for specific tastes."

[dluxcru]

I took a quick look at the menu, to check the price, probably not too much for a place like this. "Sure, I'll try that, unless you've got some kind of seafood taco."

[Mercy]

Friday 14 June 2075 0047 Hot Taco Touristville Seattle


"Sure we do. Several different kinds, actually. Look on page twenty-three of the menu to see them all. Once you decide, just punch the codes into the terminal there and I will bring them out to you when they are ready. Press the button on the left there to call me if you want anything else." She smiles at you and moves off to another table.

[dluxcru]

I took a quick glance at page twenty-three, quickly settling on the tuna and crab taco, and entering the code (adding a note to go light on anything spicy). I only went for a krill-based version - my budget can only afford so much right now.

With my order in the system, I leaned back a little, but stayed on alert looking for "Rene".

OOC: Would like to get this meet going.

[Mercy]

Friday 14 June 2075 0100 Hot Taco Touristville Seattle


Your food is brought to you be the cheerful waitress who stops by a couple of minutes later to make sure that it is not too spicy for you.

At precisely 0100, you notice a young woman enter the diner and approach the waitress, who points to where you are sitting. The girl nods a thanks to her and comes to stand at your table. Her French accent is quite clear when she speaks. "I am Renee. You are waiting for me, oui? May I sit at your table, please?"

[dluxcru]

"You're welcome to join me. How are you?"

I studied Renee closely. I like to have a decent idea of who I'm dealing with it comes a job.


OOC:
Perception of Renee: 8d6t5 4

[Mercy]

Friday 14 June 2075. 0101. Hot Taco. Touristville. Seattle


Renee appears to be in her early 20s, standing about 5'6" and perhaps a bit shy of 130 pounds. Her hair is a washed out blonde and is cut short so as to hang just above the collar of the jacket she is wearing over a midriff-baring shirt. Her skirt hugs her hips and stops just above her knees. She is hugging a folder against her ample chest, but puts it on the table as she pulls out a chair and sits opposite you. She looks at you through glasses that really do little for her face. She pauses then starts speaking all in a rush. "Youmaythinkiamcrazy,butithinksomethingandbythatimeansomeoneistryingtokillal
lthefishandiheardthatyoumightwanttohelp."

[dluxcru]

IC: I listened as I studied - my only impression was that she might be some kind of college student, perhaps foreign exchange - the French accent was pretty clear. The speed with which Renee started talking was remarkable, and I barely caught it - but what she said caught my attention. Someone trying to kill all the fish is not a good thing - I have friends who will not be happy about that - which is good because it's less likely to be a solo job.

Whatever it is, though, I'm going to want to see more information about this. First, though, I need to calm her down enough that I can collect information.

"Woah. Slow down. I can tell you're excited, or nervous, probably both. If this is going to be a productive conversation, I've gotta be able to understand what you have to say. Someone's trying to kill all the fish? If that's the case, then I both want and need to know more. That said, I think you've got the right person with the right connections to do something about this."

I decided to take a gamble that I usually don't - I lowered my scarf on one side, the one that I usually use to hide my gills, long enough for Renee to catch a glimpse that would give one a decent idea of what they were. Hopefully, that would draw some attention away from her stress, and establish me as someone who can be trusted to take a personal interest in the case.

"You can call me Azure, by the way. Start from the top - who's trying to kill fish, and why?"