[IP] Panzerknacker Options

[Volker]

"Did you really just walk over totally uninvited when I specifically left your goddamn table and then tell me to meddle in my own affairs? I really don't believe that a university is the right place for you, Barbie doll. They do all that logic and cleverness stuff in there, y'know"

[SquirrelDude]

"Oh just fuck each other again, already."

Slob did his best to corral the team back to the table. "Now, more formally. bnc, this is Kazuya. Kazuya, this tiny thing with the acid breath is bnc. I said you'd like her, didn't I?"

[Jack_Spade]

Kazuya once again inclined his head and smiled a small smile: "A pleasure." There wasn't even a hint of irony in the reply - just a very composed and somber tone. Yet Kazuya did not offer to share any information about himself but was content to listen to Slobber's and his team's conversation.

[Gilga]

Yael shrugged "For someone that cannot fight, let alone take a punch you sure are looking for trouble. Like having others to be fighting your meaningless fights for ya, don't ya?" She seemed to try to restrain herself but then could not, saying quickly and passionately with fire in her eyes.

"You called me a whore to a complete stranger, and now you call me stupid. Not all of us went to school, learned shit - I worked very hard for things you consider trivial. It is not your place to judge where I should and should not be... I seem to have a terrible taste in people and you do not respect me at all. You treat me as nothing more than a receptive for your endless pool of negative emotions. Heck, it is not even me that you resent so much... You never met me. Yet you have a twisted image of me, an image you had before even talking to me. Do not talk to me again before you apologize. I worked with you because it was my big break, and I bent over and endured anything you dished on me. I needed the money! Work is over I and I never have to work with you again if I do not want to. We are equals now, got that Bianca? Now if you guys excuse me, I CAN walk around alone in the early morning in Redmond... and the skinny bitch just killed the buzz, so the best I can get out of this day is to take a bunch of painkillers and sleep my injuries... I am in no shape for a party and am going home now."

[Volker]

bnc rolls her eyes, slightly annoyed, then shakes hands with Kazuya. "Pleased, too, I guess. Sorry for the entry..."

When Anna totally goes off, bnc sighs, shuts her eyes for a moment to compose herself, then says in a quite calm voice:
"Look, I'm sorry. Maybe I was being a dick, or - do you even say this to girls?
Anyway. See, I don't know why but you really are looking for this. I lock myself up to go cry my innards out after I spilled my life's story to you, then walk over to the bar to leave my frustration over loosing the only friends I had with some random zero. Thing you do, you shove your ass right into my face and then tell me to stay out of your business.
When I then, despite this, say thank you and tell you that I'll behave, you start yelling and screaming. See, whenever I'm nice, you're being an insufferable asshole. When I'm being an asshole, you're nice. So why the fuck would I be nice to you? Just fight back for once, maybe then I can respect you. Me ever seen treat Slobbertooth like that? No? Because he'd just break my nose then shake my hand rather then not fighting back and then crying around.

Anyway, if you cut the drek out, I'll try and not fuck with you tonight. And here, take these."

bnc pulls out another of the silver patches from her pocket. "I made them for myself, they're good. Also, you fucked with someone for your job, so technically you are a whore. Sorry to say that."

[SquirrelDude]

"Pretty sure that the issue is she wants you to fuck with her, bnc."

[Volker]

bnc rolls her eyes in annoyance, but unwillingly cracks a smile nevertheless.
"Ugh, c'mon. You do know that for that quip the next round's on you. And no Hurlg."

[SquirrelDude]

"The next round is a glass of water. We still need to make sure you are able to walk into our transport. Hold off passing out until we're on the way there."

[Gilga]

Yael looked at bnc and then at Slob and said "Thank you for reminding me about that, it was very kind of you. I shouldn't have come in here. Go drink with your only friends and then go and self-destruct. Or not... I shouldn't care what you do afterward." With that she exited the bar and started walking the very familiar road to her parents' house. Figuring that if someone is to torment her, at least let it be family. The real family, the kind you are born in, not the kind that fails to appreciate you.

[SquirrelDude]

"Since when did Redmond such thin skinned pussies." Slob said to no on in particular and then called after her as she left.

"Don't worry Yael. When you return, it will still be funny that you chose to flirt with the psycho drug addict instead of the handsome single troll or the gracefully aging bachelor doctor."

[Gilga]

Yael lifted her hand and did the finger in response, without turning her back. She felt somewhat cleansed and she did need the rest, perhaps even a few days of rest before she recovers.

[Volker]

bnc shakes her head.
"See? That's the reason I never took her for a shadowrunner. You think her growing up in Redmond was a lie? Shoulda grown some calluses here..."
She sighs, feeling bad for having spoiled the evening anyway.

"So you wanna change? Where? And why? The Sex on the Beach here isn't too bad.
And who are you, anyway. I now know the name but what in Jesus' fuck are you doing here?"

[Jack_Spade]

Kazuya answered in a friendly but precise voice: "I am Kazuya and a friend and brother of Jo... Slobbertooth. He invited me over so I could meet you and take care of his dog for him. But it seems you have some issues to resolve before you undertake your... travels."

[Gilga]

Yael reached her house without a hitch, the sign on the door "The love shack of Ron and Ravit" with the names Larry and Yael added later with a pen. It was not much of a house, a combination of a small shack that was connected to a larger improvised plastic building to expend it when they needed more room. Clearly, that hood had no building inspectors as the house seemed like a hazard. She did not knock, but unlocked the door... thinking and not for the first time that there was little point in locking a house where one could just break one of the plastic walls, or in some cases move them away. The place was almost a tent. Though, they had little to steal, to begin with. Still... a lock was... a lock. Perhaps it was more of a message than an actual security - this place is OURS - not an abandoned building... we are not squatters - this is our home.

[SquirrelDude]

Slob pulled out his commlink when she left.

@Team> Yael knows we leave in a little under 4 hours, right? >

[Gilga]

She texted
>> Just wake me up before you leave to the airport. I need some shuteye. Kisses.

Walking quietly as a cat, she entered her parent's room to meet her mother Ravit, still sleeping. Ron (her father) was not there, perhaps still out on some illegal job. Some rich kid would be missing a car, tonight. She sneaked into bed and curled up next to her mother. The surprised mother hugged her and whispered: "Yael, my love" and without many questions just fall back asleep. They were not morning people, and Yael felt like she needed some warmth before she actually left the nest for the very first time. Sleep came easily to her, and she did not even bother to take the makeup off - uncharacteristically for her.

[Volker]

bnc, still standing next to Slobbertooth, answers to the text in meat-space. "Don't worry, I got her 'link. Can trace her anytime. Give her the time to cool off... Maybe she's wise and uses the patch I gave her. A real chiller."
She turny to Kazuya.
"So ... why did Slob want you to meet the team he's about to abandon? Taking a snapshot of the sinking ship?"

[Jack_Spade]

Kazuya took a long look at bnc before answering: "You are assuming quite a lot - both about me and about my brother. He never abandoned anyone ever and I don't think he'll do so now. He is taking his responsibilities serious - as do I. You might not know this, but I was the one who initially brought you into contact with Schmitt and also who made sure that he was solid. Likewise the Sunkid. You achieved quite a lot for a team that hadn't existed three years before.
Now you are going on a break - which I heartily recommend after what I've seen on the shadow channels.
My advice to you: Don't try to guilt Slobber into staying with you. He has done and given much for this team - and you for him. He has a right to explore the life of a retiree. You are young and human. You have all the time in the world compared to him. Sooner or later you'd have to lose him from your team anyway. You should enjoy the fact that this way you still can talk to him, ask for advice and help if you need it. Retired or not, I'm sure he'd be at your side the minute you asked."

[Volker]

"You're his friend, and I appreciate that you have his back. But he's wasting his life and betraying his totem, that's what he is. There's no more pathetic way to abandon Wolf than to stop fighting and give up your pack in the same move.
Sorry, I could let that pass for everyone else - Yael, Flatline, even Krestov - but Slob?
But rest assured. His head is so thick, whatever I say will leave him unswayed. So whether or not I try to persuade him, is basically a philosophical question. And as it is a question of philosophy, I can't stand down."

[Jack_Spade]

Kazuya shrugged: "So you intend to put pressure on a man who get's harder and more determined the more you pressure him? Good luck then."

[SquirrelDude]

"I'm like an ugly pale diamond, and probably less common than them, too"

[Volker]

"Kind of... I know that I won't sway him but I want him to know that he's wrong regardless"

[Jack_Spade]

"Seen like that: How do you know that you aren't doing the wrong thing? How many innocents died because of that last heist? Some would say taking care of and spending time with their parents while they are still alive is the right thing to do. I think I'd miss my brother also if he were to go abroad and never coming back. Is your pain more important then mine? What about Slobber's pain and that of his parents? Is finding peace worse then fighting a war?
And is no-one going to stop me reading fortune cookie koans to you?"
Kazuya smiled and winked at Slobber. He obviously enjoyed the verbal sparring, now that it had been established that it was more about being right then changing things.

[SquirrelDude]

Slob chuckled "I told you that you'd like her."

[Volker]

bnc sighs. "All right, let's just keep pretending we-
What? Who the drek's an innocent in here? You countin' Aztechnology soldiers?? Being a military force in service of the meanest megacorp on fucking Gaia is the very definition of being not an innocent. We didn't even geek the goddamn spider when we had the chance to. Or the security mage who willingly and consciously chose to side with bloody blood mages. The god-darn ants you tread on are more innocent than those mean bastards out there. And just to remind you: They died by the hands of the fucker they served. The one whose side they chose. So don't try to turn this on our hands. It's like blaming your ancestors for the thousands of Germans they killed when they finally at long last decided to stop Hitler from chewing up Jews. I'm sure, Sepp and Fritz were oh so innocent but at least they didn't die because Hitler just killed them when they were useless.
So please cut the whiny crap out and give me solid arguments. Ah, and by the way, Slob doesn't have parents. No one can substitute them just like this."