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

[Jack_Spade]

After his nap, Bobby was happy to go to lunch. As usual, when he had the chance, he opted for real beef and lots of fresh fruit as dessert.

He opted to accompany Mato, though the background count made him feel really ill.

Bobby added to Mato's opening statement: "And we are by no means put out if you don't want the hassle. We'll gladly take the remaining deposit and set up our auction elsewhere."

[Gilga]

Tony nods to Mato and patiently listens to Bobby. He takes then a shorter pause, and then he asks "Would this place fit your needs?"

[Thanee]

"I'll tag along, who knows, maybe I can learn something, or even be useful," Rachel comments to Mato's question. "Surely, it will be an interesting conversation."

When they get down to the rooms, she retreats from astral space, as it is not exactly pleasant down there.

This must be where the Finnigans deal with unwanted guests or those caught cheating in the casino... she muses.

Tony's veiled threat does not go unnoticed, but they knew who they were dealing with here, so not exactly unexpected.

"I certainly hope so." She puts on a confident smile.

[Gilga]

Tony sizes Rachel up for a brief moment, then he says in his stoic voice. "It is the most secure place in the casino and we can let you use it for your business in exchange for a future favor."

[Jack_Spade]

"No matrix reception - a bit counterproductive for an online auction. Also the BGC is making me sick."
Bobby answered honestly if not diplomatically.

[Gilga]

Tony says drily "I know about your magic card he pauses and adds matter-of-factly "it is too hot to handle upstairs."

[ Spoiler ]

Where do you keep the card? still in the room? on you?

[Tecumseh]

"It's good that you know, Tony," Mato nods, although his level of sincerity is unclear. "Friendship is easier without secrets."

Mato looks around the dungeon.

"You might be right, Tony," he allows. "But, at the same time, it would be difficult to conduct business in such an environment. There's no signal to the outside world but there is a background count that will not only nullify our innate advantages but also make us actively ill. The Gates is desirable for its combination of luxury and security, but this room trades away half of that equation."

[Gilga]

Tony says, "When dealing with mages, my reason was to nullify some of their advantages. Or they'll be tossing their magical nonsense to pull a fast one on you. These bastards are a lot to handle when they try to hassle you for some coins. That card is a lot more, we decided it was too risky to host you in a more pleasant space. I am afraid that finding a place for an auction would be very difficult unless you do not want your deposit and reputation back."

[Thanee]

"Can we get a cable down here, which is connected to a device or drone in a nearby area, where reception is still possible?" Rachel asks.

"Also, about that magic. I perfectly understand your position, you need to protect yourself and your business, of course. But maybe it would be possible to give us some more advanced permissions around the hotel? Naturally, we won't use any magic that will interfere with your business or the casino, help anyone cheat, or anything like that. That is not in our interest at all. But some extra surveillance might be useful, and we could alert your own security, if we find anything suspicious. We could also help fend off magical threats, if there were any. Hopefully, they are not that dumb to try anything like that, but you never know."

[Gilga]

"A cable is possible, privileges on the wards - sorry, no, we do not trust you guys enough," Tony responds in a succinct and brutally honest manner.

[Jack_Spade]

"Am I seeing this right? We are paying 20k to stay in a windowless room that feels like the murderbasement of a serial killer? Damn, that's some hard earned Nuyen."

Bobby was less than happy with this turn of events.

<<That doesn't work. I mean, it's super safe, but if the sales approach doesn't work how are we getting the card to Nightmare? If the spirit wants to take it by force, it'll have to level half the casino.>>

[Gilga]

Tony says, "You are welcome to lay low here; this was the deal with Vala. If you are looking to actively look for troubles, then the insane mages buy the card in the windowless room where they won't burn our carpets. This is the best the family can offer you, we run a business here, kapish?" as much as you can say, he seems truthful and not eager to close a deal.

[Beta]

There may not be a link to the external matrix from here, but firing messages to things right in front of her had to still be possible. <<OK, what if we go with the 'sell the card to a sucker, and let Nightmare get it from them?' angle? Make the whole auction and pick-up slow enough to let 'weenies get in place for their attack? Play up the security of the auction to show that we did all that we could, not our fault if they aren't as safe on their own? Of course the risk is that they are that safe and Nightmare doesn't get the card, that wouldn't be a good look.>>

Tamarind thinks a bit more, then offers what she hopes is a better idea <<We offer viewings here, to prove legitimacy. Let's us a get a bit of a read on the bidders, right? Then we take the bids in private, and announce the winner as somebody we think the 'weenies can appropriately hit. Private bids make sense, so unless they actually compare notes they don't have to know that it didn't go to the highest bidder. Heck, we don't even have to tell anyone that the highest bidder will win, who'd expect that we wouldn't take the richest offer?>>

She's still itching to come up with some good solution where they go mobile, but she has to admit that staying one step ahead is at best a short term game.

[Jack_Spade]

<<Good points. But that creates two new problems:
First: Private viewings will necessitate bringing people down here - including spirits who want to buy. There's nothing stopping them from just taking it from our corpses if they are strong enough - like certain dragons or free spirits. The whole point of this arrangement is keeping those people out.

Second: Even if this goes without a hitch, we still have to decide on a sucker that will take the brunt of Nightmare's attention. Worse, we'll have to tell Nightmare who we sold to, or we can't be sure the card will come to it. That's a damage to our rep that I'm not comfortable with. Worse still, even if we don't tell, people might think we double crossed them - especially after all that security that we are showing here.

Let's make this simple: We call the various people that we know have an interest in the card and ask for their bids. Then we also call Nightmare or rather his flunky Carn-Evil and tell them, they are in the bid, but only if they add the money they owe us from the hit on us. We don't have to call it that, but we let him know that either he does that, or we sell it directly overseas.

Nothing suspicious about us being avaricious. Our trump card is that no-one knows yet that we have Raven and Tamarind now on the team. That means they can move freely about. Add to that, that we have the protection of the Finnigans for this whole thing, and there is little Nightmare can do but to pay us.>>

Bobby sent while looking ponderously around, turning to Tony:

"Can we set up a temporary lodge down here, so we can at least have one room that won't make us barf?"

[Tecumseh]

Mato scowls.

<<This place is foul>> he DNIs to the others. It smells awful, by which he means it doesn't smell like anything. There's an astringent, antiseptic scent that's the olfactory equivalent of a gross background count.

<<Under no circumstances is the murderbasement worth a favor to the mob. That puts us in their pocket for something of questionable value, at best. There are so many hoops we have to jump that counteract the value of the security that this hole provides.>>

Mato is very tempted to say this out loud. Tony seems like the honest, direct type. But, at the same time, Mato wants to do his colleagues the courtesy of not scuttling things without consulting them.

<<Bobby makes good points.>>

<<Raven and Tamarind are so new that they can pose as the sellers. The sale doesn't even have to be directly connected to SIS. There's some plausible deniability while we relocate our living quarters and the heat dies down.>>

<<We should bail. Do the biz elsewhere so the carpets don't get burnt and piss off the wrong folks. Use the hotel for a good dinner and a massage. Gamble a bit, rub elbows with future clients.>>

[Gilga]

Tony responds "Lodge is fine as long as you keep the strange stuff in your room, we need the rest of the place presentable enough for our less esteemed clientele." he comments on Bobby's suggestion about a magical lodge.

[Beta]

Tamarind thinks through Bobby's and Mato's suggestions, then offers <<I did arrive from Denver not that long ago, and am living in cheap digs and have a small debt. People might have seen me around SIS, I haven't been secret about it, but that doesn't mean that I couldn't have had a card and decided I had to sell it. Maybe it only just arrived from Denver -- I could include a trip to the airport and then back here before putting it on the market, if anyone back traced they might assume it just came in, they didn't pick up on it on the brief transit. I reached out to Raven as local magical talent. The word will get out eventually that we were all here together and that I'm with SIS and people who care will see through the ruse I expect, but for the moment it might hold, if Raven does the talking.>>

<<But I don't see how that gets us any farther ahead on the whole "once people divine that the card is in town, they will come looking for it, with magical or mundane forces, or both. We are still left with a) sit in a fortress, here or elsewhere, b) try to keep moving too quickly for anyone to draw a bead on us -- for that it may help if they don't know it is SIS, or c) sell it on so quickly that people don't have time to assemble their forces. I don't think anyone has suggested a different solution yet?>>

[Jack_Spade]

Bobby nodded to Tony: "At least something. We have to discuss this a bit among our team though."

<<Alright, I think we can agree that this place isn't really for us.

How about this idea: We just rent a safe deposit box at one of the larger banks for a month and get insurance.
We put the card in and then we start the auction.
AM is out of town, so no-one can get to her.
Raven and Tamarind are not yet associated with us, so no-one should come after you either.
Mato and I are pretty hardy, so anyone trying to get to us will be in for a hard fight. And if we let it be known, that we don't actually have the card on us, the only thing they can do is trying to blackmail us.

Now we are free to just announce we are selling it, make sure it reaches Carn-Evil and Nightmare, gauge them for compensation and then be done with it.>>

[Thanee]

Rachel is skeptical.

<< That sounds a lot more simple than it probably will be. If we do not stay in a safe place, we can definitely expect some parties trying to use force. Not something I am looking forward to. But, yeah, this place down here is not a good choice, and it seems like the suite isn't going to work, either. We can still stay there, though, right? >>

[Beta]

<<The bank idea works for me. We should go do it now, before anyone is apt to have the card localized. I'm all for staying in the suite, for the security. Hopefully it keeps people from even taking a run at us.>>

[Tecumseh]

<<Not having direct possession of the card would make me uneasy>> Mato admits.

<<I grant that a safe deposit box might be just as secure as any other available option, but it would still make me nervous.>>

<<But if we don't do that then we're basically on the run until the card gets sold and transferred. How long could we keep that up?>>

<<If those wards that we popped>> Mato is being very generous with the 'we' <<were the thing keeping it under wraps then Tamarind is right that we should go now.>>

<<And, yes, let's stay in the suite. I don't have hands or feet but I still appreciate the feel of Giza 45 Egyptian cotton.>>

[Jack_Spade]

<<Any idea, what else we can do, without risking getting robbed? It's certainly safer to have a safe deposit key on you than the merchandise.>>

Bobby asked

<<In any case we have to come to a decision - stay with the card in the murder basement or without it in the luxury suit.>>

[Gilga]

Tony watches the team preoccupied in their discussion and eventually says, "Well, just let Tammie know if you want to use our basement. The Gates is happy to entertain you nonetheless. He sighs and says resolutely "In bocca al Lupo, gentlepeople!", and as he says that he signals them toward the elevator. While Tony's suggestion still stands, he does not feel in a very accommodating mood to negotiate it further.

[ Spoiler ]

In bocca al Lupo "in the wolf's mouth" is kind of like "break a leg or good luck.

[Thanee]

"If I may, I would like to recap and summarize everything, just to be sure, that we are on the same page here," Rachel says.

"Vala hired us to deal with the business around the card. She also put up a credit line with you, that is used to pay us, and yourself. 70k total, of which 20k are meant for you, which we are supposed to gamble away in the casino, and 50k for us, which we will receive from you, probably as our "winnings" from all the gambling, once Vala confirms, that we have done our part. In addition there is the suite, which is rented for one week, and which we can use during that time."

"Now, when it comes to the card, it gets a little more complicated. You know about the card, obviously, but Vala does not seem to have cleared anything else about handling it with you in advance. You do not want us to meet with potential buyers to show them the card inside the casino property, including the hotel and more specifically our suite, unless we do it here in the basement, which you would offer us to use for that purpose, in exchange for a future favor. The basement, however, due to the magical nature of this whole business around the card, isn't very well-suited for our needs. Can we keep the card in the suite, though, under our protection, if we make arrangements to meet any potential buyers elsewhere, outside of the casino? And could we meet with potential buyers here in the suite, while the card is at another location, in the basement, or completely off-site during that time?"

[Gilga]

You have 70k credit, and the suite costs 20k, which you can either pay us or get a refund if you left that kind of money overall on the gambling tables. It is not as complicated as you make it up to be, all of it legitimate transactions seriously. As for your credit, you need to pay it in full at checkout.

You can keep your card here as long as it causes no problems. Vala took some precautions and took that risk upon herself. I am sure you'd know how to properly handle such an asset. "