The Found Arcana - Chapter 9, The last Tarot card Options

[Tecumseh]

"Well let's make it explicit, instead of implied, that we only consent to wipe out the memory of the meeting with the client. But, yes, as my colleague says, let's advance this so we can reach a mutually satisfactual resolution."

Mato pauses for a second. Satisfactual? That's a word, right? I've heard it in a song. A children's song? Hopefully they weren't singing gibberish.

[Gilga]

Mr. Smith responds, "There is no legal need, but I'll make it explicit. It is important that you are satisfied. "

It takes him several long minutes to edit the contract, which he does in AR. Sandy enters once he finishes with a heartwarming smile and physical copies of the contracts and blue quality pens.

[Tecumseh]

Mato honestly hadn't been sure if the contract would be signed physically or electronically. The pen and paper seem like a bit of a throwback, a sort of useless luxury for those who like to indulge in old, obsolete ways of doing things. But it turns out he's one of those people too and he appreciates the feel of a pen in his hand.

Mato did a bit of drawing and calligraphy when he first got his cyberlimbs to celebrate his new fine motor skills. He didn't stick with it but now he thinks maybe he should revisit it. He has his drum music as an artistic outlet, but that's big and loud with macro movements. Something slow and smooth and studious would do him good.

[ Spoiler ]

Agility 10 + Artisan 2: 12d6t5 3 hits

He signs with a flourish, but is a bit underwhelmed with the results. He commits himself to practicing more as long as he survives this job with his hands (and brains) intact.

[Jack_Spade]

For someone who spend a lot of time in forms with out hands, Bobby had surprisingly neat handwriting. It helped that his education had included a lot of field trips without electronics of any kind - and the coursework had to be done with pencil and paper.

Bobby handed back both the contract as well as the pen and asked: "Alright. When does the client want to meet? Today, or start of the next week?"

[Beta]

Tamarind takes a moment to think about the name on her fake ID, and reaches out Stitch and practices the signature with its arm, trying out a couple of different singles before it is her turn. She tries not to take too long to prepare herself, then makes a quick scrawl.

[Thanee]

Rachel watches the whole back and forth, and when it is her turn, she picks up the pen and also signs the NDA.

Well, it's too late to back out now...

[Gilga]

Sandy takes the NDAs and says Nice to meet you guys! she waves a bit and then walks to the main office, probably to file the document somewhere. Mr. Smith comments Okay, that is done. I would notify the client that it is safe to communicate with you. You would be dealing with her directly, but if you need anything legal. Feel free to contact me in case I do not see you again. Good luck.

[Beta]

Before they are even leaving the office Tamarind has her local Pelliper swoop around to do a lowish pass. She walks behind Bobby and trusts his back to guide her out, while she makes use of the drone's sensors to scan the area around the building for anyone who looks like they may be getting ready to pick up the team to follow them. (once again she doesn't expect such a thing, but by this point in her life it is just standard operating practice to check for observation, the way that some people would double check that their gun was loaded or that their make-up was intact).

[Jack_Spade]

"Can you drop me off at the talismonger? I've got an appointment that I'm paying extra for."
Bobby said, while he fingered the credstick in his pocket. A few months ago it would have been unimaginable to splurge such a sum on a moments notice. Now it seemed like a wise business decision.

[Tecumseh]

Mato might have thought that this whole trip downtown was a waste of time except... free coffee!

The heavily-illusioned office is also a data point, one he had not expected. He wonders if AM or Raven could work up a similar illusion for the SIS offices.

He doesn't want to chug his coffee, even though he secretly thinks It's so good when it hits your lips! every time he takes a sip.

"Nice to meet you too, Sandy," Mato says, drawing things out ever-so-slightly to buy himself a few extra moments with the coffee before their departure.

Mato wonders who the client might be, but figures they'll find out soon enough.

[Jack_Spade]

As he had announced, Bobby made his way to his talismonger early on Saturday morning.

Bill Whitewater's shop was not much from the outside - just a door to a sunken entrance and a very small window on street level. Inside, the cellar shop was so full with merchandize that Bobby was pretty certain that the fire inspector either never had visited here or was comensated with generous bribes.
"Morning Bill. Ted's in the back?"

"Morning Bobby, yeah, he has set up everything. You want to see the shema?"

"No need and no time to waste. It's a pretty simple piece, so no need to make a fuss."

"You sure, you want to do it on the inside of your thigh? Pretty sensitive area..."

"I'll power through. I've got good heal flesh."

"Suit yourself. I'm going to breakfast. Tell Ted to make sure he locks the door."

Bobby grunted assent and went into the small studio behind the counter. A lodge was set up and a tall Haitian man with bulging muscles, a shaved head and an immense array of very intricate tattoos sat and grinned at him.

"Bobby, my man. You finally brave enough for a good stiching?"

"Didn't lack the courage - just the money. You can expect to see me a lot more in the future. Gotta get two sets of dragon scales one of these days - the heavy duty ones. But for now let's just take the Forget Me pattern."

"Alright, take a piss first then take of your pants. This will take a while."

And so the man got to work on Bobby - not with a motorized needle, but a little tray of inks and a set of regular needles...

[Tecumseh]

Once they're done downtown, Mato doesn't want to immediately leave.

"Let's drop down to Pike Place Market," he suggests. "It's the oldest farmer's market in the country."

Pike Place? Isn't that the spot for tourists?

"Not on a Friday morning in March. Should be fine. If you don't want to go, I'll find my own way back."

On a weekend or in the summer, Pike Place is a crush of humanity. On a Friday morning in early March, most of the vendors are slowly setting up their stalls. The produce mongers arrange their fruit and vegetables in tasteful arrays. The flower vendors set their things out in pretty displays. It's a bit early for daffodils but there are some greenhouse hyacinth available. Mato always loved these and his olfactory sensors just take his appreciation to new heights. He walks around, seeing the sights, hearing the sounds, and smelling everything from soykaf to bakeries to lovely flowers. The seafood can be fragrant too, but it's mostly on ice and early March isn't that warm to begin with. It's manageable.

Growing up in Sioux Nation - and with orks who like BIG flavors - Mato isn't that familiar with seafood. Most fish is too delicate for ork palate, although their are some bolder, oilier cuts - like herring and sardines and mackerel - that are popular. He resolves to try some if they finish this job. (This logic is a bit backward. He should be trying them now in case the job goes sideways and Mato goes two meters under.)

His eye catches something.

"Is that..." he begins, somewhat perplexed.

"Zebra meat," the proprietor nods. (The establishment is called Maury's Meat Emporium so presumably the man is Maury, or Maury's descendent.)

"For hellhounds?" Mato asks.

The man nods with a world-weary look on his face.

"Huh," Mato says with a curious look. He walks away, wondering if he'll ever be so rich and so bored as to own hellhounds.

[Gilga]

@Bobby the tattooing process does not take very long, perhaps an hour if we are generous. However, there are many blessings to be said, chantings to chant, and many processes that simply take a lot of time for reagents and other magical ingredients to mature. So it is about two minutes of needlework and then four hours of waiting. None of you can leave the room at the same time - luckily, they have toilets and you can order in food, Pizza in Ted's case. After about 24 hours, the focus is ready as a neat symbol of power.


@All You enjoy (or perhaps are too paranoid to enjoy) the weekend. Initially you expect the client to call at any time, and are getting alert every notification in your links. The hours pass which then becomes days and the entire weekend passes and no call.

On Sunday night, however, there is a message. >> Hi, I was told you signed the NDA. Can you come to meet me at the Gates casino in Bellevue? They also have a hotel, I am at Suite 308, third floor, can you come early morning -- fewer watchful eyes. Would 10:00 be acceptable? Can also do 11:00 if it is too early.

[Tecumseh]

Mato is too paranoid to enjoy the weekend.

"Why haven't they called?" he mutters to himself rhetorically. "The logical conclusion is they've been neutralized. A syndicate got to them, or shadowrunners, or the card itself." He shakes his head sadly, wondering if the delay in signing the NDA between Thursday night and Friday morning is what caused this.

By Sunday night he has basically given up on the job. He frowns, disappointed in the lost payday, but then the call comes in. He jumps into action, which is to say that he repeats what he knows about the casino.

"The Gates Casino," he repeats unnecessarily, but it's clear he's excited that the job hasn't evaporated. "It's a hotel/casino complex. Opulent, on the lake shore. The type of place where billionaires feel comfortable. We'll need to dress the part. Not that far from the ice cream shop where we met the hacker club, half a kilometer maybe.

"They have two restaurants there I've been meaning to try, by which I mean waiting until I could afford it. The first features American-Salish cuisine and the other is Aztec-Mex. Hmm, I wonder if we could wrangle breakfast out the meet..."

Getting back on task...

"It was founded by the Gates of Microdeck fame. I guess tech fortunes get boring after a while. Rumor has it that they used it for money-laundering for the hacking jobs they did, not that they needed the money. Bored rich folks, neh? Who knows, maybe they were exploiting holes in Microdeck software..." He shrugs.

"Rumor is that it's Mafia territory. Not in the sense of needing protection, but the Mafia provide certain 'services' to the guests that the Gates overlook. It's all a part of the entertainment package, I suppose.

"We'll act like we've got some sense and everything will be fine."

[Beta]

Tamarind was stressed over the weekend, but happily so. Running counter-surveillance kept her busy and was improving her feel for the flow of the neighborhood, the sprite had left her drones alone so far, and the counter-surveillance left time to keep her body busy. The sweater that she was knitting was coming along fairly well, and Cutty had put her on a training regime based on what she'd done as a recruit (the familiarity of the misery of it was comforting).

The one flaw in her happiness was that she needed this payday. Her funds were almost drained, and she was all to aware of needing to pay interest on her debt in a few weeks.

When the meet info came through, she confirmed with the team "This is the time for one of us to stay out of the meet, correct?"

[Jack_Spade]

Bobby absentmindedly rubbed his new tattoo and flinched. It hat already healed, but was still tender.

To Mato's information he just replied: "Interesting, so unlikely that it's Nightmare who wants to hire us. So let's not waste anymore time and tell them 10.00 is fine.
And no need to stay away. I'll take the risk of a mage rummaging around in my head. I can deal with it."

Bobby had purposefully not informed the team about the effect of his new tattoo, so a mind reader wouldn't pick up on the fact. And Bobby could just forget that he had gotten it before the procedure - as well as other incriminating information.

[Thanee]

Rachel was actually kind of glad, that they had some more time between the NDA signing and whatever came next. Sure, they were all anxious. It was unknown territory, for her moreso even, than for the rest of the crew. So, she spent saturday night in a territory well known to her... going out to party in the clubs and falling into her usual routine for the rest of the night. On sunday night, when they finally got the message, she went back to the HQ, however, as she wanted to get enough rest before the morning.

"I assume my business attire is the right choice here? I can also bring a nice dress for the casino, but it seems a little early for that."

She also asks Mato, specifically: "We didn't get to use them the last time, but I could also prepare some magical aid for the negotiations. Of course, for someone employing mages with mind-altering spells and a bit of a paranoid streak, these preparations might be fairly obvious. Not sure, if that is a good thing or a bad thing, though."

[Tecumseh]

"Yes, 10:00 on a Monday would suggest business attire," Mato agrees.

"Magic is touchy. On one hand, the client is presumably reaching out to use due to our experience with the cards and our magical expertise. On the other hand, it is typically a breach of etiquette to employ magic during negotiations. Magical manipulation is certainly out, although self-enhancements are a bit of a grey area.

"Perhaps a wait-and-see compromise? We can bring the preparations with us. Should we see that the client is enhanced, we can trigger them to level the playing field with little room for complaint. But if they are meeting au naturel then we will do the same. Ultimately it may depend on where the meet takes place. Presumably in a guest room or a VIP room for privacy purposes, but that may determine how tolerant they are.

"Their security will be tight to the point of restrictive. They will want to exclude any possibility of cheating at the gambling tables, either through personal charm or enhancements to memory or insight. We may be able to smuggle them in - I have compartments for the purpose - but we should also expect that they will be confiscated. They will also ask us to hand over any weapons. Killer looks and rapier wit, only."

[Beta]

"Oh, I need to go in?" She sounds disappointed. After knitting furiously for a couple of minutes she addresses her concern. "You have seen the best clothes that I have at the moment. I do still have a couple of hundred nuyen so maybe I could buy something a little nicer if I have to? But I need this job to buy some of the nice clothes needed for jobs like this ... I'm OK with waiting outside if I'd just be an embarrassment. I wouldn't want to talk anyway."

[Thanee]

"Oh, I can help you with that. No need to buy clothes, if we can alter them, right?"

Rachel offers to create a nice outfit for Tamarind, using some of her existing clothes. Using illusion spells, she can show her a few options first, so she knows what direction to go, before actually changing her clothes for good. She is basing the designs on the tribal chic she has seen on the trid numerous times. That should be fitting.

[ Spoiler ]

Raven can use Physical Mask or Trid Spectacle to give Tamarind a good idea before using Fashion.

When that is done, the witch sits down and creates two preparations, in case they might need some magical help during negotiations. She gives the stronger one to Mato and keeps the other one herself.

"This should work, despite your ... modifications. Just let me know, if and when you want it to take effect. I can start it at any time. Should be good for about five minutes. If we do not use it now, we can still make use of it later that day. It should stay active for the whole day."

Afterwards, Rachel pulls out a few toffees and unwraps them, in order to enchant the bonbons and carefully wrap them up again. This takes some effort, not the unwrapping and rewrapping, but the magic, so she is pretty tired after about half an hour. She hands one of the toffees to Mato and another to Tamarind, keeping one for herself.

"These allow you to crawl along walls and ceilings, once you unwrap and touch them. You can also just eat them, they are pretty good. But once you touch the bonbon, the magic unfolds and stays with you for a few minutes. I don't know if this is useful, but you never know what to expect, right? If you want to give it a try now, these two are not great and won't last until tomorrow, but should work for a minute or so if you use them now."

She hands the remaining two toffees to Mato and Tamarind.

[ Spoiler ]

The last two are F5 and F6 with Potency 1 each.

[Jack_Spade]

Bobby looked up at the discussion: "AM usually does the fashion thing for us. But say, you are a full mage, can you make my armor jacket look like a business suit? I seldomly wear it because it's hard to get in and out with a transformation. But on that occasion, I wouldn't mind having it on - just in case."

[Beta]

Tamarind is a bit slow to understand what Raven can do for her, and then her expression seems to cycle between giddy, gob-smacked, and envious. Eventually she gathers herself and finds some words. "That is so kind of you. Thank you so-so-so much. Aside from the money I don't know much about good clothes, I'm usually about overalls from Kong-Walmart or whatever I find second hand that is comfortable. Trying to understand how other people expect that I should be trying to look to them is just ...." she waves her hands around in lieu of words. "I can usually figure something out from trids or news shows, but I never really know."

"Whatever you think would be appropriate will be fine with me. All I aspire to with clothes is not looking too out of place."

[Jack_Spade]

"Seems we are fine then, everyone does what needs doing and everybody be ready on Monday - no hangovers or bruising."

Bobby managed to say that without a hint of irony. "There might be a healthy payday behind that - or a trap - or both.
In any case, I'll go meditate a few hours extra, so we can make the most of our time once we have the job."

[Tecumseh]

Mato is delighted to learn that Raven has tailoring abilities like AM's, plus opinions on fashion that are even more advanced than his own.

He brings her the Chasseur Field Uniform and the Chasseur Gala Uniform from Pike Hall. AM tailored the field uniform to be a little more modern and a little less traditional, but it's still decidedly formal.

"What do you think?" Mato asks. "The gala uniform is essentially a tuxedo and this is a morning meet. Traditionally you don't wear black-tie attire before 18:00, but do you think I could get away with it given that it's a casino? Or should we tweak the field uniform, which is closer to formal day dress?"

He shows her the longcoat. "We could work with this as the traditional morning coat with tails" - he then switches the the uniform jacket - "while this is more of a cutaway coat. I like the herringbone pattern. What do you think? The color is a Dover grey right now, bit I was thinking it could go a step darker to an Oxford grey or a Knight's Armor."

He looks over Raven. "Or do you always just recommend black for everything?"

[Thanee]

Rachel still gives Tamarind a few options and if she does not quite seem able to decide, she will simply judge by her expressions.

In the end, she is wearing a nice long dress in muted colors, orange and earth colors mostly, with a touch of blue. It is a practical design, with a bunch of pockets, some hidden inside, and with a definite tribal vibe.

"You look great! I hope you feel good wearing this."

Mato also seems interested in her opinion, so she happily offers it. "Black is always a safe choice, but I do like colorful clothing as well. Especially, if I want people to look my way. Grey also works well. As for the gala uniform, I agree that it is a bit much. Often enough, less is more. The other one looks sharp. A tone darker? Yeah, that could work. Why don't we just give it a try? I would also go with the jacket instead of the coat. We do not exactly know what to expect, so I would just go with the middle ground. A touch of formal, but also a bit laid back. That's why I love my Zoé's. It fits to almost every occasion. Different shoes or accessories, and I can wear it to almost anything."