The Found Arcana - Eighth Interlude [IC], Enter Tamarind and Raven Options

[Tecumseh]

<<Tuesday Morning - February 14, 2079 - Touristville, Redmond>>

It's Tuesday morning. Jawsey has been gone a few days and the general mood and has been down and unenergetic since he left. It doesn't help that the weather is cold and grey, with a damp fog that hangs in the air and lets the chill dig into your bones. It's good weather to stay indoors with a mug of tea and the trid on. The airwaves are plastered with advertisements for Valentines' Day, which do a good job of making you feel bad about your single status. There's a Horizon advertisement that's especially heart-wringing. Nice work, marketers.

The Sixth Word is being its usual unpredictable self. Ghostwalker has claimed the FRFZ as his own and has given notice that any foreign national who does not swear fealty to him - UCAS, CAS, Sioux, Aztec, etc. - will be evicted. Mato's been following the news closely, perhaps to distract himself from Jawsey being gone.

"This is nuts," he comments to no one in particular. "The Azzies brought down Sirrurg 4.5 years ago so they've got to be thinking it can be done again. But you have to figure that Ghostwalker knows that and has a plan to counter it." He shakes his head, not being an intellect that can compete at the level of dragons.

A call comes in to SIS for Razak:

<<Got the update about Guujaw Thompson. I've been reviewing your YTD financials. Impressive. You've established yourselves and now have the cash flow to expand.>>

<<I will send a couple assets your way. They should complement your existing skillsets and help fill the void left by Mr. Thompson. Integrate them as you see fit. I'll send you their dossiers.>>

<<Steesu Pandey goes by 'Tamarind'. She's a drone operator and should admirably fill that gap in the agency.>>

<<Rachel Moore goes by 'Raven'. She's been operating independently for quite a while, often in honey pot scenarios. She can help fill any social and summoning gaps now that Mr. Thompson has moved on.>>

<<Send me a status report at the end of the month with their progress.>>

[Tecumseh]

@Tamarind
A message comes in from Razak in response to Tamarind's inquiry about options.

<<As you know, Ghostwalker has dropped the guillotine in Denver. The UCAS and CAS think it's a feint and the Azzies are gearing up to fight. However, my Pueblo colleagues and I agree that it's not a bluff. We're pulling our assets out immediately and ordering them to stay out for their own good. The UCAS has constitutional protections against self-incrimination but Ghostwalker has no such limitations. We have first-hand accounts of mind-probe interrogations with messy results. The lucky ones are expelled; the unlucky ones are disappeared. Rumor has it that Ghostwalker is eating them, which is a common intimidation tactic among dragons. Intel says that dragon metabolism isn't rapid enough to account for everyone rumored to be eaten, so we're taking these rumors with a grain of salt.>>

It's tough to tell if Razak is serious or is being amusing.

He sends you some coordinates. It's an address in Seattle, in Redmond specifically but not far from the border with Bellevue.

<<I need you here. There's an agency called Seattle Investigative Services. They're expecting your visit. Consider them your home away from home until we get this Denver situation sorted out. No need to live in your van: there will be a roof over your head and a paycheck in it for you.>>

~~~~~

@Raven
It's Valentines' Day, which is a complicated day for Raven. It's actually a pretty good day to pick up a lonely heart, although they tend to be depressed and maudlin and not as much fun. Either that or they want to immediately get married.

There's a buzz on her commlink. First she thinks it's an old flame looking for a booty call, but it turns out to be Captain Razak.

<<I have a line on something for you>> he says. <<Should be a good fit with your skillset.>>

He sends an address, which is in Touristville.

<<There's an investigative agency running out of Redmond. They've established themselves financially and are ready to expand. I know you like your comforts; they should be able to keep you housed, clothed, and fed.>>

<<Their resident mage just relocated. No, that's not a euphemism for something worse; he really did move. Now that he's gone, the remaining elements are the ones who have a harder edge to them. I need you to be the velvet glove for their iron fist. They'll be accustomed to less-traditional working arrangements. Should suit your personal patterns nicely.>>

<<They'll be expecting you.>>

[Beta]

"Look everyone, Razzamatazz isn't done playing with us yet.". Tamarind shared the message those of her drones who were awake. "And naturally he comes through three hours after we rented this garage for the rest of the month, he wouldn't really be a man if he could be relied on, could he?". After a moment she admitted " that was sloppy speech, he can be relied on to further his own schemes and to be inscrutable, and for all I know to clean the soycaff maker. Just not relied upon to work to my convenience."

She continued cleaning and polishing her friends for a while, then wrapped a long burgundy and white knit scarf around Toothless's forecasters "I know you aren't used to the damp, it was colder in theFRFZ, but Seattle has such a damp cold." Stitch had already taped on his Everett Giants ball cap, but she did add a matching cuff to his arm and admired how jaunty he looked.

Finally all was to her satisfaction in the van. She climbed out double check that everything was neat in the bachelor apartment that had been created from the room over the garage, then finally they headed off to what these new prospective team-mates were like.
++++++++

[Gilga]

A quiet, productive, and sad weak.

It has been almost a full month without a high-paying job, and life appeared to become more about the intricacies of Redmond rather than making progress. SIS was safe thanks to the deal with Bellevue computer club that paid enough per month to keep the lights on, and with the occasional detective jobs, they could remain in business. AM is worried about moving to a more expensive location because it would make SIS more fragile and because she does not like it when people change things for her. Even if it is just a UI change for her matrix games, she likes her routines, she feels safe within her routines, and now everything feels changed.

Jawsey is gone; she has a room for herself for an entire week. Technically, Trouble has claimed dibs on Jawsey’s bed, and though he does not actually sleep, he stays on it occasionally when Mato is distanced, and everyone is asleep. A lot of the spirit's life goes by when the metahumans are sleeping. He tries to keep them safe without explicit instruction. AM being a shaman that treats spirits as her equals means that she rarely uses the magical leash to command him, and even when she does, she leaves him a lot of room for interpretation. He is not sure how he feels about that, having room for interpretation means that he is responsible, and Trouble does not want to mess up.

AM wanted to slack down and take off the pace, but she cannot do so. She needs to constantly keep busy and is unsatisfied with how she handled getting marked when hacking Huge’s host. She was careless and too spontaneous, and there was a price. When dealing with bombmakers, mediocrity is dangerous. So she spends a lot of time studying forceful matrix actions in a field named Cybercombat. So far, she has focused on tricking matrix devices to think that she is authorized for some action. Cybercombat was about forcing their hand, especially useful for erasing marks. In the future, if she is marked she will erase the mark and then hide her icon again. If she is fast enough, it is uncertain that the host would be alarmed, and she can finish doing what she was doing and check out rather than run for the hills. More of a meta note to herself, just because she has a small hammer does not mean that any problem is a nail. If they could solve the drone problem by tossing a screwdriver around, perhaps hacking was a needless risk.

She thinks about the last matrix crush and how much chaos it created for all the SINners around them. She was fifteen and happy. She thought they would now understand what it was to have no legal identity and that the Man would fix the glitch and give everyone some SIN. Well, that didn’t happen. Shared sufferings did not bring normative society any closer to the edges. They built a new matrix, and the world stayed pretty much the same - but this time Amy was keeping up on the new Trix and supporting her mother with remote computer jobs. When some SINNer employee felt lazy, Amy did the work for him, and he took all the credit, and she got crumbs. Thinking about the first days causes her to miss her mother, and AM decides to visit and perhaps smuggle her mother to Seattle - not that being SINless here is better and there, but perhaps if they can afford a good enough fake SIN then the old woman can have a good life...

Another pet project that AM was working on changing her body. The realization that Sorcery can allow her not to be the shortest elf in every room and to be considerably stronger and faster suddenly feels very appealing. AM always wanted to be taller, and after Mato was bombed, she felt even more vulnerable than usual. So when AM is not reading about Trix protocols, the (still) short elf reads about what universal magic theory calls quickening. The ability to create stable spells that remain indefinitely without a mage in the loop. Hermetics view it in symmetry; some shapes are more stable than others. Translating these concepts into Shamanism is very hard, and she is reluctant to ask for Iktomi’s help, knowing that pleading for higher powers always has consequences. So she talks with Bobby and with Fenghuang and reads a lot and posts in online forums.



Tamarind Arriving

Trouble is the first to notice Taramind. He quickly notifies AM and checks the new visitor with curiosity. He knows that captain Razak has sent them pieces of information about candidates to fill the void left by Jawsey - but none of these people was even in the right metatype or gender. How can they fill the void Jawsey left in Trouble's immortal soul? Why do friends leave? No, captain Razak did not send them for my emotional needs... I am not sure that he knows about me at all. The captain only cares about SIS and having the right people to do things.

“A penny for your thoughts?” AM thinks at the cat that hovers in the astral around the van, filled with many emotions and thoughts. She does not want to intrude on his privacy. “A woman is coming with a van and drones, but I do not feel like she can fill up the void left by Jawsey.” AM shrugs “Life is pain and disappointments and compromises. Jawsey leaving is just another scar in a soul that was scarred a thousand times before and would be scarred a thousand times more. We will be together as long as I live.” The cat wiggles his tail “I knew you’d say it, but I am happy that you did. You have been distanced for a while.” --- “I get distracted when I am sad.”

AM quickly ensures she is presentable, wearing a grey oversized long-sleeved shirt and black corduroy pants. All very casual, except for the golden spiderweb earrings that she never takes off. Partly because they make her long ears look gorgeous, but mostly because the earings help her with spellcasting. She opens the door and says, “You must be Steesu Pandey; Please come inside! I am Amy, but everyone calls me em. " AM offers to take the woman's coat and then asks, “Do you want some coffee or herbal tea? The rest will be here in a moment.” She gets into the kitchen to make hot drinks and look for cookies and texts >> Mato; Bobby rigger lady is here --- come quick and wear pants. Also, did you finish all the client's cookies? I can’t find any.

[Thanee]

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Little hearts are flying through her field of vision, red roses pop up all around. To be fair, it does look kind of pretty.

"Oh, please, stop!"

Something... someone... is stirring next to her. "Hmm. What? Honey! I havn't done anyth..."

She immediately shuts him off. "Shh! Not you, silly! That darned Horizon advertisement. Must have left my contacts on. How do you shut those things down?"

Grabbing her commlink, she fumbles around with it for a moment. Yes, that works. Phew! Rachel sits up, takes a deep breath and blows some air up across her face and into her hair. The guy next to her certainly enjoys the visuals. What was his name again? Michael?

Feeling a little bad, Rachel purrs in her softest voice: "Good morning! Sorry for that." With a sheepish grin on her face, she leans down and gives him a long kiss as compensation. "I'm gonna take a shower. You wanna come?"

"Good morning! That was nice, Mi...chelle?" Okay, now she isn't feeling bad anymore. "And hell yeah!"

* * * * *

Back at her own apartment, she trades the slinky back dress for her business attire. She wants to look her best, well, in a more business professional way. The coat stays. It's the only one she got that is suitable for the weather.

Razak can be a bit intense, but Rachel does appreciate what he is doing for her. The little jobs can be quite fun, sometimes at least, and they pay better than her usual stuff, and often enough make the difference to actually keeping some change after paying her expenses, at least until she has blown it all on pretty things. She really needs to work on that.

Standing in front of the mirror, she turns left and right and makes sure everything looks great. She looks like one of those federal agents in the trids. Orange-tinted sunglasses and all. Minus the gun, of course. A few deep breaths and a little motivational speech to herself later, she is ready to go.

A cab brings her to the appointed destination.

Standing in front of the building for a moment, she looks around, takes it all in. Then she switches her senses to the astral to get an impression of the place.

[Gilga]

@Thanee Looking astral it is not difficult to notice a black cat-shaped spirit located near the door existing only in the astral (it is too cold and wet). The cat spirit seems to be checking her out, and then when he notices that you can see him he says "Hi, I am Trouble - what is your name?"

[ Spoiler ]

Let's clarify if the two arrive at the same time or we do a time split before she enters to not break the space/time continuum.

[Jack_Spade]

Bobby appeared to be in a pretty bad funk throughout the week - almost every waking moment he spent in the form of a raven. The same form over and over. And apparently, he never slept, instead meditating the need for sleep away while keeping his transformation.

It became a little creepy when he started to greet people entering the living room with a croaked "NEVERMORE".

Even when AM asked to convene the circle to study for her initiation, he stayed in this form, relying on telepathy. At about the end of the week, Trouble and by extension AM noticed a change in Bobby's aura. Now it no longer looked like he was an awakened human, but an awakened raven.

And still he kept to this form - until finally a casual glance in the astral no longer was able to identify his aura as anything else than a healthy corvus, sitting on a table and picking a piece of day old soy-bread apart.

Only when Trouble came in and was about to chase the foreign bird, he finally reverted.

"Yeehaa!" He exclaimed "Praise the trickster, it finally worked." At Mato's irritated look he replied: "Yeah sorry, didn't want to spoil your breakfast - I'll put on some pants."

[Gilga]

The last week.
... and so just when Jawsey leaves, Bobby turns wired and changes semi-permanently into a crow. Praise the Trickster for having such a wonderful sense of humor. SIS turns even more empty and quiet there is Mato, Trouble, and herself - as well as a crazy crow.
She religiously admires Bobby despite the grief it causes her; the man is performing an act of dedication that she is unwilling to perform. Bobby's spiritual connection has grown especially strong these months, and AM begins to wonder if perhaps the man has taken too much power from the spirits and is beginning to lose his grip on humanity. It is a noble sacrifice but still... Yet she tries to be as supportive as she can when he calls his terrible crow cry in the middle of the living room before she has her morning coffee.

Somehow talking to a crow with telepathy is not as satisfying as talking to a person, but Bobby does have some insightful comments and is fun to bounce around. She feels like she just had another ally spirit; no, on second thought, Trouble behaved more human than Bobby did. She smiles every time she sees the annoying Crow - because she is also seeing her totem. If that stunt does not get the Trickster's attention, then nothing does.

That morning
... and So Trouble report that another woman is entering. AM quickly loads her file and curses silently, "Razak sent both of them at the same time?!" she never once interviewed a person, and withhowy Bobby was behaving, leaving a good impression would be tricky. Mato was once a normative person; perhaps he would know what to ask people in an interview. Perhaps he worked somewhere that interviews people. AM feels so out of her element, but she is skilled enough not to let the guests know and asks Troubles if he can keep the other lady occupied for a few moments. So she gets to set up the table, and Mato arrives.
"I hope he wears pants and not feathers." she whispers and as if the Trickster has done her a little courtesy, she finds the cookie box misplaced.

AM would set the table and make tea coffee for the guests, anxious to see her colleagues joining the table and wishing that Razak would have left scheduling a meeting with them rather than drop people on them. Then again, Razak is not to blame - when the Trickster is present things get out of hand.

[Beta]

Tamarind had driven around the area a couple of times, augmenting what she'd found online with an up to date view of the site. Fortunately Touristville hadn't changed in substance since she'd last been flying out deliveries of Saumya's samosas and biryani and other dishes. In fact Saumya's Shack is still there, although not open yet this early in the day.

She doesn't spot any tough hanging around to be bribed to ensure the safety of parked vehicles. Hopefully that means nobody is on the duty of breaking into vehicles that failed to pay the appropriate fee, but she'll check with theses detectives once she is talking to them.

She parks beside the building, then takes a few minutes to store Backbones, Mimic, and all the Harriets into the van's hidden compartment, sends the Pellip sisters out to patrol the skies to look for trouble -- and further update her data-- and puts Beauty in her usual place on her left shoulder. The rest she puts on alert and swarms them to her RCC, booting up the autosofts for maneuvering Stitch and Uncle and the Aunties, Clearsight, and targeting for the tasers some of the drones carried currently.

Security dealt with as best as she could in the circumstances, she locked the van behind her and went to ring the bell at Seattle Investigative Services.
+++++++++

The pretty, and petite, elf who answers the door seems nice, so Tamarind tries to be nice back. "Hello Amy, or Em. Which do you prefer? i am Steesu, which means "corn woman" which I think is a silly name. My usual nickname is Tamarind, which is a lumpy brown fruit that doesn't grow around here."

Gesturing to the shiny chrome pigeon on her shoulder she continues with introductions "and this is Beauty, my primary walking around drone. She is well trained and won't fly around in doors unless invited."

"And yes, I would like some tea. Beauty won't have anything."

[Gilga]

AM says Both names are fine. Looking at the drone, she adds ... and it is nice to meet you too, Beauty; feel free to fly around. We are a bird-friendly home. We often have a Raven wandering in; Perhaps it wants to play , she says, hoping to pull a fast one on Bobby and academically curious how sophisticated the drone's AI is. Leading the woman to their kitchen table, she comments "I grow the tea herbs myself using a grow light. Gives me a part of nature in the city. My colleagues would be right there; in the meanwhile, perhaps you can tell me how did Steesu become Tamarind?

[Thanee]

'I am trouble.' Not just you, sweety. Have been called that before as well, Rachel thinks.

"Hello there! Aren't you beautiful. I'm Rachel, but you can call me Raven. How's it going?"

When looking a bit closer, she realizes that this isn't just some spirit hanging around in the neighborhood.

"I suppose, you belong here, then? Should I ring the bell, or will you tell them that I am here?"

[ Spoiler ]

Just buying 3 hits on Assensing

[Gilga]

Trouble responds, "I am doing alright! and yes, I live here with my family. I keep them safe and they keep me entertained... Well, most of the time they have this annoying tendency to sleep at the same time. He pauses and then adds, hoping to keep Raven at her place for a moment or two as he enjoys the conversation, and AM suggested he does. Raven is a good name; they are black like me and difficult to hunt. Why do you call yourself Raven?" When she asks about the bell, he says "Oh feel free to announce yourself to the humans. They should almost be ready for you.

[ Spoiler ]

Trouble is an F5-bound spirit of a unique type (AM's ally spirit)

[Beta]

Tamarind tells her friends back in the van <<the first one that I've met seems very nice!>> She tells Beauty <<Stay on my shoulder, this place is a bit small for you to fly in>>

To AM she explains her names "I was working in the motor pool for Sioux Defense Force. I guess Atzlan started growing tamarinds because a visiting colonel from there had brought a bunch up with him, but he wasn't getting a lot of takers on trying them. I was his designated driver and he ended up giving me a bundle of them. I ate one at lunch each day for two weeks, and they were strange enough looking that people made comments about them. I joked that I liked them because they were a small, lumpy, and brown, like me. Really I just liked the variety from the usual army food. But one of the mechanics started calling me 'Tamarind' and it stuck."

"That is exciting that you can grow your own herbs here. I've planted wildflowers, but mostly I was working places that we were trying to make look like they were still abandoned, so I could never plant a real garden."

"Your offices seem very nice. Have you been here long?" Conversations usually go so much better if she can keep other people talking. Far better to ask questions and listen! But maybe detectives would know that same trick? That was a worrying thought.

[Thanee]

"It is, right? You know, most of our names are actually not chosen, but given, but in this case you are correct. It connects me to my family, and I definitely appreciate to be difficult to hunt. Also, black clearly suits me. Most of my clothes are black. Though, some of them are really shiny. Gotta break character occasionally. So, the bell then? Sure."

Rachel steps forward to ring the bell, then takes a step back again.

"I have a friend like you, actually. Well, not quite like you. But she also kept me safe when I most needed it. And I suppose I do keep her entertained. She's a lot more reclusive, though. I hope your family likes me."

[Jack_Spade]

At the ringing of the bell, Bobby huried to find a clean pair of pants. Not having participated in doing laundry for a week was biting him in the hoop right now. He went for a clean, orange button down shirt (magnet buttons for quickly getting out of) and a pair of light blue trainers, giving him the appearance of a color blind new age adherant. Definitely not the best way to make a great impression - especially since there was no time for a shower now and all he could do was apply a healthy dose of sweat-ex and a wet comb through his short hair.

He heard the coffee machine and wondered what message their guests would receive today. For good measure he changed his aura to look like that of a perfectly mundane human.

Only then he sauntered into the small concerence room.

"Good morning", he greeted, "You must be the drone slinger. I'm Bobby. Are you any good with armorer work?" He took a seat, looking at AM for confirmation that he wasn't interrupting anything with his small talk.

[Beta]

"Slinger? Not in the sense of loading my drones in a sling or a sling shot, but sometimes 'sling' is used to mean throw, and sometimes I do throw some of them. Actually it is an idea, Uncle might like being launched from a sling shot, I'll have to try it sometime."

She realized that she was going down the proverbial rabbit hole, and changed tack. It is nice to meet you, Bobby. You can call me Steesu or Tamarind. This is Beauty." Touching her drone. "I like your shirt. I'm used to wearing muted colours on the last position that Razama... -- I mean Captain Razak, helped me find. And I'm still in my travel clothes for dealing with border agents and landlords. I haven't done Seattle shopping yet. I'm glad that brighter colours suit this association."

She remembered to ask questions. "Is there a dress code?"

[Tecumseh]

Mato
Mato is Mato, which is to say that's he's not terribly emotional about Jawsey's departure. A keen eye might detect an extra frown here and there, or perhaps a scowl curling his lips, but he could also be reacting to the news out of Denver, or the proposed prices for his new chrome, or relocation plans for SIS sleeping quarters.

Mato has been up since 0500 so he's showered, shaved, and ready when the call from Razak comes in. He's not wearing a jacket but he has a pair of slacks on and an ironed dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up. Might as well let them see the chrome and know what they're dealing with, he thinks to himself. His arms are black carbon-fiber-and-titanium cyberarms. His legs are too, not that you can see them through his slacks but they're obvious enough on the astral. He also has cyberears and a bunch of headware, plus an essence hole that doesn't seem to be connected to any obvious ware. He must have had some implants removed recently.

"Razak," he mutters to himself. Razak and Bobby are friendly but the Captain is all business with Mato. Mato files the financials monthly like clockwork and was the one to pass along the report about Jawsey's departure. Mato isn't sure whether he should be feeling grateful for the two referrals or resentful not to have more of a say in the matter. Like it or not, the agency isn't really his nor any of theirs. Razak provided the start-up capital and so now he gets a say in things forevermore.

"I did not eat the client cookies," he says to AM while looking over the dossiers. "I believe the sprite that was affecting our soykaf machine has graduated to our BusyBuddy and may have relocated them in a fit of mischief, praise Iktomi. Check in the cupboard with the cleaning supplies."

He then taps the dossiers, which he holds in his hand.

"These two are good fit on electronic paper. Let's give them a stress test. I'll ask the business questions. AM, you be nice. Bobby... you be yourself."

~~~~~

Tamarind and Raven
SIS HQ was probably a residence back when Redmond was a nice place to live... pre-Crash 50 years ago. There's a garage on the ground floor that's big enough for a single vehicle. There are a few stairs leading up to the front door, and once inside more stairs leading up to the next level. That floor has the living spaces, plus a room that functions as the office. It has a round table big enough for several people and mismatched furniture of varying quality.

Contrary to Tamarind's opinion, it's not particularly nice. It's warm and it's clean-ish, although a discerning eye will detect rude drawings in the dust left by the BusyBudy. Raven might feel a slight wave of dread and could be wondering why Razak thought that it would be up to her standards. The good news is that there's obviously been some maintenance done: all the windows on the street side are brand new, for example. That must be a good sign, right?

[Gilga]

Inside
AM is thrilled that Mato knows how to interview. She nods to Tamarind's story when she asks about the dress code. The small woman responds , "No dress code, but you have to be dressed. We have a walk-in client every few days. Sometimes we need to visit places and try to look like we belong there." With all the shapechanging Bobby has been up to recently - being dressed was not strictly a requirement, but a job interview was a poor time to mention the oddities. AM braces for accepting the mage wrapping her head as to how that would go with two of them simultaneously. Job interviews in TV did not go like that, but they did not have many interviews in the trids.


Outside
The black cat response Your friend sounds awesome! Is she a cat? When Raven comments about his family, Trouble responds What not to like? and does the astral equivalence of a smile.

[Thanee]

"A cat? I do not know that, actually. She might very well be. But I have never seen her. As I said, she is pretty reclusive. Ah, the door opens. Guess that's me. Thank you for the nice welcome! You brightened my day, already."

With that, Rachel steps inside. Then she waits and looks around. She wrinkles her nose a little bit and wonders if this would be a step up or a step down from where she currently is. But she does trust Razak and so she embraces the thought that this is her first step into a better life.

[Gilga]

AM answers the door and says Hi there! Welcome to SIS. You must be Rachel Moore like the captain promised. Common in, have a seat. Once she seats, AM says I am Amy or AM for short. Can I offer you some coffee or perhaps herbal tea? We also have okay chocolate-flavored cookies if you want.

AM is a short elf (160 cm) wearing oversized male clothes that obscure most of her athletic body and make people focus more on her face.
She is currently wearing a grey oversized long-sleeved shirt and black corduroy pants, which seem rather homey. She has green eyes and short blond hair, which is still moist from a recent shower. Her long pointy ears are decorated with elaborate golden spiderweb earrings.

Aura: She has no augmentations, has slightly weaker magic than Raven (5), and is currently in good health.

[Thanee]

In stark contrast to her fairly poor living conditions, that are probably outlined in her dossier, Rachel Moore just looks high-class. She could have stepped out of a big hotel in the better parts of Bellevue or Downtown and wouldn't seem out of place. Only about as tall (or short) as AM, maybe a little more petite, she just fills the space she is in with her presence. Her dark brown hair is in a long ponytail, orange-tinted sunglasses cover her eyes, but cannot hide the fact, that she is very pretty. She wears a trés chic business suit (from Zoé, for those who have an eye for designer clothes), all black, and a warm overcoat, as well as heeled boots. The brunette definitely gives off a bit of a federal agent vibe.

"Hello, AM! Yes, I'm Rachel. Thank you! Tea sounds great. Already had enough coffee this morning." She chuckles lightly. "Didn't sleep all that much."

Her astral senses are still active and so she takes everthing in as she moves along.

[Gilga]

She comments Is that a Zoé? You wear it so well! I use their second skin occasionally, and I am very satisfied. Then she pours herbal tea from the jug, where the herbs are still popping out. Mint, sage, and lemongrass this time.

Well, welcome to our humble home and office. We are a private detective agency specializing in magic and technology.
We are mostly autonomous and mainly sustain ourselves from the demand for detective services. Day to day is pretty quiet, and we have a lot of spare time. A few times a week, we have a walk-in, often at odd hours, and we listen to their story, negotiate occasionally, and then go solve their problems. We have seen our share of infidelity and taken pictures too. It tends to make you cynical after a while, but once in a while there is a job that makes you feel good inside like finding a missing kid, or a lost baseball card.

However, the main reason you are here is that there also are special works on occasion. Either from the captain or word-of-mouth references. These are highly discreet and often include a significant risk, but the compensation is high, which is how we make a living. We don't discuss these with anyone but the most trustworthy of friends. In Redmond, if you advertise your successes, the local criminals would want a higher cut. What can I tell you, when in Rome...

Pausing, she says, "Perhaps we start with a bit of introduction, and then Mato would ask some professional questions. So I am AM, short for Amy and Maka, my given and Shaman names. I received my shaman name after leading my first successful ritual.
I am a decker and a sorcerer. I also have an adorable spirit child cat spirit which I call Trouble. I think he is now watching Tmarind's van but he might materialize here if our conversation gets too interesting for him to miss. Immortal cats can be very curious. So I hope none of you is allergic to cats." Her face is asking 'whose next'.

[Thanee]

Rachel smiles. "Thank you! Yeah, it is. You got an eye for fashion, I see."

One of her eyebrows raises a little when AM mentions the second skin. She cannot exactly imagine the elf in that kind of clothes at the moment. From the advertisements she has seen, it is mostly used to show off excessive amounts of skin. Not that she would mind. Also, looks deceive. She of all people knows that very well. And it's also very expensive.

"Soo... this whole place here is just a front then? Makes sense, if I think about it. And, yeah, I know Lakota. A little bit. My father taught me, before... well, you probably know my background from the Captain."

She takes a deep breath, then puts on a slightly forced smile again, which soon enough becomes more genuine, as she goes on.

"I already met Trouble outside. Nice... cat."

"Anyways, as you will undoubtedly know, I'm a mage. I call myself a witch. I never had formal training or anything, but a lot of practice. Sorcery, Conjuring, Alchemy, the whole trinity. Still, there is a lot to learn and I'm always eager to gain more insight. Got some other talents, too, of course. I learned how to keep a low profile early on, and I'm pretty good with people, mostly in wrapping them around my finger, I suppose. But a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. Razak also had some use for my special talents in the past. I think he calls it 'honey pot'."

[Beta]

Tamarind does her best to disappear into the paint once Rachel enters. Captain Razak hadn't mentioned anything about two of them being interviewed for the position! And the newly arrived mage looks the private detective part so well, and SIS could probably charge more just by having someone like as their representative.

Tamarind is at least grateful that she hadn't changed her clothes after interviewing for the apartment. She'd be more comfortable in her usual flannel shirt and well broken in jeans or overalls, but at least these clothes -- dark grey slacks and and a plain green long sleeved pull-over top were clean, and the material didn't wrinkle much.

But the clothes didn't change that she was short (although for a change her 157cm wasn't especially short in this room). Or that as a human woman in her forties, who had spent a lot of her life in some mixture of poverty and working outside, her face was closer to an aerial map of the foothills than it was to anyone's idea of pretty or handsome. Not that her face had ever been anything but plain, and she never had much bothered with cosmetics -- sometimes in the SDF when she pulled driver duty she'd but on something light, but in all her many years as a shady drone operator there hadn't been many occasions when she'd bothered. And her body never had received the memo that it was supposed to either be an hourglass or else petite all over, and had instead chosen 'lumpy' as its governing esthetic.

Not that she particularly cared if most people found her uninteresting to look at. But this job sounded interesting, so for once it would have been nice to be one of those people whose looks intrigued.

On top of which, almost all of these people had magic so could no doubt see her minor enhancements, and the reactions to that were usually "how could you tamper with your body like that" or else "is that all that you have? No wired reflexes? No control rig? Too slow, too weak, not committed enough to carve away even more."

All of this made her hands feel twitchy, but she'd left her knitting in the van. Moving gently so as not to attract attention she took Beauty off her shoulder and started using the end of her sleeve to polish the already gleaming chrome pigeon. Her movements settling into the rhythm of the conversation between the others, further helping her fit into the situation without pulling attention.

[Jack_Spade]

Bobby wanted to reiterate his question about armoring, but before he could, the second candidate came in. He shrugged, realizing that going directly for questions of competence and skill apparently weren't how you did these things.

He lazily waved at Raven, but didn't get up. Bobby had good posture, making him look taller than his actual 179 cm. His short cropped hair was black and stubbly - though his colleagues knew all too well, that this was a very mutable feature and that every day could bring a different style - depending if Bobby needed the extra warmth. For the moment at least he did not sport excessive body hair to obscure his wiry frame. He certainly didn't sport excessive muscle tone, but neither did he have fat to spare. Deep lines, speaking of lots of sun as well as cold winds gave his face a lot of character - if you were charitable.

The only thing standing out were the very intense, dark brown eyes that were easily to mistake for black in insufficient lighting - or if you wore sunglasses inside.

"Yeah, welcome and all that. Everyone grab a seat, damn it. I've just spend a week perching without sleep and could really do with a nap. So come on, let's get this going - the sooner we do, the sooner we can sign whatever contract we have or get you back on your way.

Mato, what's it called when you get more than one potential recruiter together to assess them? Ah right, an assessment. So yeah, I not only want to know what you do, but what you could do and how you'd be going about it.

So let's talk about a hypothetical: You walk through a desert and you find a turtle lying on its back. The sun is hot, it's struggling with its tiny legs, but there is no chance it can right itself. What do you do?"