[X] My Assistant

[Koekepan]

The man and woman end their embrace long enough to go inside and close the door behind them. Symbolic, perhaps. Does the universe have a poetic sense? Perhaps.

At least the light is good enough on this street that collecting licenses and vehicle models is a quick and easy job.

[Bastard]

"""Now what? I still have some leads to check out on the punks who attacked us at the cafe."""

[pbangarth]

""" Now that we have some license plates and vehicle descriptions in case I should follow up on this thread, we should gt back to the main job, which is to build a report for my Mr. Johnson. Following up on your leads is a good idea. As for me, after dark is my awake time, and I still have at my disposal a decent city spirit, waiting for me to give it something to do.

""" I don't know where you have a base of operations, but you are welcome to do your search at my place, where I could leave my body and go for a little reconnoitering around Petsonal again. The noise from the bar upstairs might be a bit much for you, even with the sound insulation my landlady put in. One of the things we need to work out is how we interleave our sleep schedules. I'm a night owl ... almost literally.

""" First thing, though, can we go a ways away from here and ditch this burner? I need to get yet another one to try to prevent us being found the way we were in the restaurant earlier. """

[Bastard]

"""Well, if you are going to toss your phone, why don't we install a kid tracker program on it, then toss it in that hoop's car?"""

[pbangarth]

""" Sounds great! But which one is his car? """

[Bastard]

"""I thought you knew."""

"""No, first time I seen him."""

"""Well, don't toss it yet. We can pull the battery out for now and use it as a tracker later."""


The two drove off, making a stop for a couple new burners. One for now, and two for later, just in case. And that case would probably come sooner rather than later.


The next stop, SPD. Not a place most shadowrunners make planned trips to, but Blue and Karmakaze weren't really shadowrunners. At the civilian reports desk, Karmakaze found some rookie, but through careful and almost painful questioning, was able to find a detective on shift that she trusted.

"""Kahless? Good to see you. How is the civilian sector?"""

"""Drekky."""

"""You here to report a crime?"""

Karma told the detective of her concern about the Church of Purity member taking an interest in a little girl with magic ability. She turned over a set of pictures of the cars and license plates, as well as one of the suspect, though it was from behind, and not a great shot. She also gave him the names of the family members and their address. Unfortunately, after running the plates, none look like a match for the man. The detective assures he would keep Karmakaze informed if anything turns up, but she knew that line. That information was going to cost more than a couple boxes of doughnuts.

[Bastard]

The next stop was Blue's old safe house, or what would be left of it. Karma drove through the neighborhood a few times, looking for any suspicious characters, besides themselves, while also allowing Blue to make an astral recon.

"""Maybe I should go in solo, since I have no ties to the property, and you can overwatch."""

[Koekepan]

The safe house is taped off with a rather slapdash winding of tape around mailboxes, shrubs and whatever else was left standing. The house itself - well, that was a big bang, and as far as can be seen the inside was shredded, while the outer walls failed and collapsed. The houses on either side are substantially damaged, but repairs appear to be under way. The safe house also appears to have burned pretty well.

There's a posted sign about investigation ongoing, blahblah - but considering that Karmakaze is licensed to investigate stuff, and there's no guard, provided she doesn't disturb any evidence (that has been burned, exploded and rained upon), the number of damns given is likely to asymptotically approach 0.

Interesting is that no corporate reference applies here beyond the regular Lone Star stamp at the bottom of the notice. Mitsuhama's logo is nowhere.

[pbangarth]

"""Well, Karmakaze, I had hoped to see something left of the house in the hopes that I might be able to do something to save the hearth spirit of this place. I had grown fond of her. Doesn't look good. I can confirm the hopelessness by entering the remains. If my city spirit doesn't disappear, there is no change in domain. If no hearth domain, no more spirit. I'll just project into the Astral, look for enemies, and then fly into what remains. That should do the trick."""

Blue sits back and leaves his body.

[pbangarth]

Blue returns to his body. Once together, he asks Karmakaze, """ It looks as if the hearth domain is still active, even though I can't sense Madel anywhere. If it's alright with you, can we enter the remains of the house together, and I will try to summon her? She might be able to tell me what part of the house we can salvage to transfer to a new location. """

He sees the eyebrow Karmakaze raises. """ I know. I know. But if there is a way I can keep her going, it will make up to some degree for the destruction of her domain. My digs already have a hearth spirit, but maybe some new construction will be able to accept her. """

He thinks for a moment. """ Hmmm. Maybe Sweez, the bar's hearth spirit will allow me to establish her in my apartment. The two of them would make an interesting pair. """

[Bastard]

At first Karma had thought they were talking about a spirit and someone namedMadel , but after a bit she realized that the spirit was Madel.

"""That sounds like a plan. Let's be quick. Seems like whoever is hunting you is one step ahead of us, though. They probably have had some time to identify me and start some legwork."""

She exited the vehicle, scanned the area, and without being too obvious about it, drew both of her weapons.

[pbangarth]

Blue steps out of the vehicle and heads into the ruins, carefully avoiding the police tape. Booby traps, and all, you know. once 'in' the remains of the building he tries to summon the hearth spirit, hoping it is still Madel. Hoping Madel still is.

[ Spoiler ]

Summon Hearth Spirit. Figuring she could manage very little force at this point, he chooses F1:

Conjuring 5 + Owl at night 2 = 7 dice, target 2( minimum) : 7 successes 7 services
Resist Drain: 2(minimum) (L), CHA 4 + Owl 2 = 6 dice: 6 successes no Drain

[Koekepan]

Madel appears - perhaps.

What Blue sees is like a wispy series of manifestations. A torn house slipper lying in the rubble. A half-burned dress lying limp. A scratched, discarded cane on the lawn. But he knows that the spirit is there, to some degree.

[pbangarth]

Blue pulls the pieces together as well as he can and tries to communicate. ::: Madel. Blue here. You there? :::

[Koekepan]

A voice comes through - not really a voice, so much as an intuition. :::Yeah, I'm here I guess. What's left of me anyway. Whaddya want, to drop feathers on the wreckage?:::

It's about as thready and weak as Blue has heard a spirit - but then again, he summoned the weakest manifestation that he could. Maybe that explains it. Or maybe that's just what he might tell himself.

[pbangarth]

Blue's excitement is barely concealed. """ I think I've made a connection,""" he says to Karmakaze.

::: I am sorry those who hunt me found me here, and that the woman who owned this place chose to destroy it. I want to know if there is a way I can move you to a new home, a new hearth. Maybe take a piece of what remains here and transplant it? Help me keep you going. :::

[Koekepan]

There's a sort of breeze, or sigh. :::Oughtta be rebuilt, but times ain't what they were. Can't build the new house with the old stones.:::

There's a long pause. Blue's instincts perk up at ghostly rats moving through the broken timbers and plaster that lie around.

:::The lock. The lock and the key.:::

[pbangarth]

""" Karmakaze. There's a lock and key around here somewhere. She needs me to collect those. """ Blue points to where he saw those ghostly rats. """Maybe there? """ Blue starts looking around.

[Bastard]

Karma assisted in looking for remains of the door near the entrance, but also kept her eyes out for anything else that might be mobile parts of a foundation, if that is what Blue was looking for; Maybe some piping, plumbing fixtures, a fireplace insert.... If she could find something good, maybe the spirit would look over her. With all the other drek flying around today, that would definitely be a good thing.

[Koekepan]

Karmakaze's investigatorial eye and knowledge of police procedure turn out to be helpful. The door was clearly kicked in, and on the ground by the time the whole place went up. The explosion wasn't near where the door lay, so while rubble fell on it, it didn't go very far.

A few moments of yanking and tugging, and the scorched, dented, scarred remains of the door come free. The lock, as far as it remains, could be removed with a screwdriver and some creative profanities.

But the key? Tough call. Was there a hook inside? Maybe. Old school, but this was an older, rather nondescript sort of building.

As for other things, there are hints of plumbing fixtures visible under wrecked roofing, but nothing that promises to be particularly whole. Maybe a solid metal thing, like a bathroom sink's tap?

[pbangarth]

Blue dredges deep for an idea. """ There was some kind of pipe embedded in the front steps. It supposedly had a key dropped down in it. Let's take a look. If there is something down in there, I can fish it out with a spell. """

[Koekepan]

Sure enough, Karmakaze and Blue go over to the debris where the front steps used to be, and there they are. A basic set of poured concrete steps, with a little drainage pipe (or what's left of it) set horizontally in the concrete itself. Once upon a time this proud PVC cylinder might have conveyed a trickle of rain, but now with the aid of a flashlight Karmakaze can confirm that there is a keyring inside it.

It's a little funny, really. Technically, the key was under the doormat, just about six inches under the doormat. Oh, well. Blue mutters something that sounds like a soft chirruping sound, and the key comes scraping out. It's on a keychain adorned with a small brass maple leaf.

A little toolwork, and they could leave this charred, crumbling hold.

[Bastard]

"""Anything else? Anything I should look for to see if any of your friends made it out? Anything look out of place, for an exploded building of course, that could lead us to the culprits?"""

[pbangarth]

Blue is very happy to retrieve the key. He drops the barely adequate Magic Fingers spell and hangs on to the key. ::: I think I have what you asked for, Madel. See if you can stay connected with them. I release you to make that easier. :::

He answers Karmakaze. """ No, those with me who lived are long gone to parts unknown, and the explosion was almost certainly triggered by my erstwhile protector, whose safehouse this was. Madel showed me the hidden explosives earlier. Blow the bridges as it were. There were some other hidey holes Madel showed me, possibly with cash or data in them, but searching for them now would take a long time. And probably Hopalong cleared those first. If you have anything to remove the lock from the remains of the door let's do that, otherwise just break the section with the lock free from the rest and we can remove it properly later. We shouldn't tarry here any longer than necessary.

""" I released Madel to make it easier for her to stay linked with the parts of the house she called for. If you can take care of getting the lock free from the bulk of the door, I'll step outside to be sure I don't get Madel again, and summon a stronger spirit to boost our numbers. """

Assuming Karmakaze takes on the mundane task, Blue steps just past the front steps and summons a wind spirit. +++ We might have to move quickly. +++

[ Spoiler ]

Summon F4 wind spirit: Conjuring 5 + Owl 2 = 7 dice, target 4: 1 success
*sigh* A little foggy from all that time on the beach these last few days.

Resist Drain, target 4(M) CHA 4 + 2 Owl = 6 dice: 3 successes L Drain (1 box)

""" Not a good night for summoning. Got a headache and one service. """

[Koekepan]

The wind spirit is a fickle, blustery gust that tugs at Blue's attire and whines and whispers. It's a poor substitute for Madel, who faded out when released.

For now, the street is quiet, but that could change soon enough.

Karmakaze's 'link, however, isn't so quiet. There's a message on it from Badger.

<<<Hoi, Karmakaze. I hear you're running with a pretty heavy crew these days. Hypothetically, if I knew who was after someone, and how much was on offer, would that data be valuable to you?>>>