Behind the Crown [IC], Behind the crown are shadows Options

[Bastard]

"""While that is odd, I don't know where I fit in. Sounds like politicians being politicians and trying to buy votes."""

She moves forward with the queue and waits for Booker to continue.

[Koekepan]

Booker shrugs slightly in his jacket. """Buy votes? I doubt it. It's not an issue that lots of people care about. But anyway, the other end is that more and more businesses up there are de-linking their cameras from our systems, even the streetside cameras, and reported crime is well down. Now, I know you might think that they're saving money but the additional fee for the hookup is tiny. Also, I checked the statistics for all the surrounding areas and crime is either steady, or marginally up. Why would that area report less crime? Maybe because there is less, but my gut says something, or somebody, is moving in up there and mafia-style telling business owners to drop their connections."""

[Koekepan]

The line moves a little forward, and Booker yawns heavily, half-concealed behind his hand, before continuing with: """This doesn't mean there is anything going on. It might be nothing. It might be an anomaly. It might also be some kind of vigilante action, although we don't really have any indication of that either. Could be the local crooks are getting slicker, too. We sent a couple of undercovers to check things out on the quiet, and they bounced around a while to tell us that everything seemed quiet, even street meat was rare on the ground. What that tells me is that if the surrounding areas are suffering, it's because the usual suspects got driven out of there, into the surrounding areas."""

[pbangarth]

Blue keeps his head down and assembles a list of items he is interested in purchasing on his personal assistant. He plans to send out the list to Mary Margaret once they have lft the vicinity of the police precinct. No point in giving a competent detective a clue to follow up.

[Bastard]

"""Alright. I don't see where I fit in. You already have under cover operations in the area. Is there another place they haven't been authorized you want me to go?"""

[Koekepan]

"""That's the trouble. The undercover boys are great about jandering down a street and picking up on the wavelengths. They can get in with gangs, and make the right friends in low places, but that's all the wrong data. We even ran a predictive analysis, looking for a group of people who visited the businesses that de-linked their cameras, in case there was some threat being handed out. Nada. It's as if they all got a message from Mars in their dreams and just got the vibe some other way. Now, fit that with the whole citycops plan, and to me it looks like a bourgeois movement. That's not where the undercover guys shine. But since you brought that up, there's something else."""

He casually lifts his cup in front of his face; a classic anti-lipreading move, and turns his head a bit so that Karmakaze can hear him murmuring:

___We've lost one of our undercovers. Girl called Daisy. She operated as a classy escort, great at picking up gang leaders. She went dead signal about 48 hours ago.___

[Bastard]

"""Okay. I will look for that as well. I am going to need a starting point. I don't have the months of building up rep in the area like the unders."""

[pbangarth]

Blue is figuratively kicking himself. +++ Why didn't I cast a Mindlink spell before Karmakaze went out? They're talking and talking and I don't know what is going on. Yet something else to remember. +++

Blue reminisces about the days when the worst he had to worry about was the quality of sludge dumping out of Biozu's exhaust tanks.

[Koekepan]

"""Oh, I can get you into the mix easily enough. I got a datapack all ready to go.""" Booker counts on the stubby fingers of his off hand. """List of businesses that de-linked, records of city council members and their yapping about contracts, a map of criminal activity reports, known regional miscreants, all the usual. But I also got you a screamsheet on each council member in case you want to follow them up and recent business openings and closures in case you want to follow that up. One leading theory was that one of those crystal cult centres opened up and raised everybody's cosmic consciousness in the ways of righteousness blahblahblah ... but while one opened, we found no link whatsoever."""

[Bastard]

"""Okay. I will see what I can do. Now, most importantly; What is the pay?"""

[Koekepan]

"""So ka. Always the most important. If you can find a flower and bring it back whole, that's fifty kiloyen right there. That's the most important. Figuring out what's up, so we know which way to jump, that's ten. If you can tell us what's up with the de-linking and how to reverse it, that's another ten. But nothing's as important as friendship."""

His tone is even, but it's quite clear that he's really worried about Daisy, and wants her safe first and foremost.

Then again, they've reached the head of the line, and in this moment placing an order for Karmakaze's coffee is important too. """What'll you have? I'm buying."""

[Bastard]

"""Two large real coffees please. Cream and sugar on the side."""

She turns back to Booker, """Can't forget about my partner."""

While they wait on the coffees, she continues to discuss business. """Of course our priority is your man. Of course I will take the job for that reason. I assume that you are paying what you can and I don't need to negotiate."""

[Koekepan]

Booker nods and sighs while he makes with the credstick. """Yeah, I don't write my own budget. If it were up to me, I'd have turned the city upside-down already and shaken it but I can't do that. I'm reaching outside the system because I need somebody who can work outside the system. All I know is that no DocWagon call went out, but they refuse to give any more data. So here I am."""

[pbangarth]

It looks like Karmakaze and Booker are having some reminiscences over coffee. +++ I hope she brings one back for me. +++ In the meantime, Blue starts building a shopping list to send to Mary Margaret.

It's weird. He never had to make such an extensive set of such requests from someone other than the corporate equipment manager. Blue had read somewhere that things cost more on the street. A markup for desperation. Capitalism at its finest.

[Bastard]

Karma takes the two coffees along with a small bag of creamers and real sugar and follows Booker off to some tables set on the sidewalk. She sets one coffee down while taking a careful sip from the other.

"""Money up front?"""

[Koekepan]

Booker takes a seat nearly opposite from Karmakaze, and settles down with a sigh. """Can't do much. I can give you one thousand on each of the research items - so, two kiloyen to pay for snacks?"""

He's a bit of a blend of new school and old, as cops go. His goggles certainly show him a stream of all sorts of data, but he never took to gestural commands. Instead he slips a little keyboard from a pocket and taps in a few commands before replacing it. """All the data about the flower's last known whereabouts are in the files, if you're taking this on."""

[Bastard]

"""I said I would."""

She takes the files and takes another sip of coffee.

"""This has pictures of the target, too, I assume. I will need all the details of the cover and the real background of the flower as well."""

[Koekepan]

Booker takes a moment to offer a transfer of funds before sipping more coffee and adding: """All right. I'll give you what I have on her of course but you hafta understand that a lot of that is data that isn't on my scope. Her handlers are a very locked-down bunch and they don't even let me know everything. Or most things."""

[Bastard]

"""Can you get me in contact with her handlers then?"""

[Koekepan]

Booker's response is as quick as a rat-trap, and just as final: """No."""

He heaves a sigh and adds: """You should know from your time with us, undercover is something we wished we didn't even have to admit existed. The more people know, the more of our people die. That's as simple as it is. I already bent the rules like a pretzel admitting that she is ours, and I'm only doing it because I'm ... very concerned. Gotta say, I'll be surprised if you bring her back, but I'm not totally hopeless because of what DocWagon said. That's all I have."""

[Bastard]

"""Okay. I will do what I can. It's not much starting cap, and I am going to have to hire a decker, and probably some additional backup. This 2 K upfront is in addition to the payment at the end?"""

[Koekepan]

"""It's an advance. I only got so much in my slush fund, and you're getting the whole kitty, if you can do this. Tell you what, I can give you temporary access to our internal bounties list, in case you want to supplement your take that way. You're bound to see a few interesting faces."""

[Bastard]

"""Well, I will see what I can do. I will definitely take that access. Maybe I can find a decker that way."""

She takes the access information from Booker, thanks him, then leaves but doesn't head directly towards Blue, and keeps an eye on Booker, to see if he makes contact with anyone else.

She finds a spot to stop where she can keep an eye on the foot traffic, in case anyone is following her or paying too close attention to her contact.

She dials Blue's latest link number, then her eyes are back to scanning the street.

"""Hoi. I am across the street and up a block. Come pick me up. I got coffee."""

[pbangarth]

Blue finishes the shopping list for Mary Margaret and files it for now. No sense putting a pin in a location that could identify someone on the team.

<<< Be right there. Mmm. Coffee. >>> He slides over to the driver's seat and starts out. He picks out the tall elf right away and pulls over. +++ Let's have some fun. +++

As he stops beside her, he rolls down the window. """ Hey, good lookin'. Goin' my way?"""

[Koekepan]

Booker doesn't stick around; he gets up, takes his coffee and heads straight for the precinct office, only looking around to check traffic before crossing the street and otherwise moving with a steady stride.

The environment is pretty busy, but in a business and shopping sort of way, rather than anything else. The car creeps along until level with Karmakaze. A young woman laughs out loud - but it's not at Blue's hackneyed greeting, just at something on her wrist-mounted 'link.