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

[Tecumseh]

Mato was a rich kid himself so he doesn't discriminate against rich kids, but he does wince a bit at the Eurocar Westwind.

"Oh, look, it's Ms. 'Nobody in this room can guarantee ¥100,000' who happens to be driving a ¥110,000 car," he mutters to Bobby.

"Seraphina was a previous employer, if you can believe it," he quickly tells Tamarind and Raven before Seraphina gets to the door. Bobby fills in more details. "She's sharp for her age," Mato adds, although he wonders about the wisdom of driving such a vehicle into Redmond. She seemed much more astute than that. She seemed like she had street-smarts, even though she's from Bellevue. He wonders of she has a compelling reason.

"Raven, Tamarind, do you have friends that can keep watch on the car?" he asks. "Flash-bangs and the magical equivalent, if possible."

Mato hands his cyberware scanner to Tamarind. "Can you run this during the meet and tell us what it finds?" he asks. He figures that's a good way to leverage Tamarind's skill set and gives her something to do other than to fidget. He's also mindful that Seraphina might have something concealed under her large black parka.

He greets Seraphina when she enters. There's a part of him that's glad that he's still wearing his suit. "We'll try to keep an eye on your car," he says to try to take her mind off it.

While she speaks, he runs his Thermal Mood Reading and Vocal Tension Lie Detection subscriptions. They're fairly redundant with what Raven and Bobby can do with their astral perceptions, but he figures it helps to cover all the bases.

"Who is your uncle, if we may ask?" Mato asks Seraphina. "What is the nature of his work?"

He gestures to the commlink. "I presume he wishes to communicate with us discretely?"

[Gilga]

Seraphine shoots Rachel a stern look, not hostile, but slightly distanced. "Nice to meet Rachel; it is Seraphina, not girl."... and Clandestine or not, I owe him a favor.

She bows slightly to Mato and comments Mato, it is good to see you on our feet. She hesitates when Mato asks for her uncle's occupation. I don't know what he does, but I did know to contact him when Bernt was kidnapped, and he knew what to do. He is also completely analog and has no digital presence at all."

When the topic of the car comes up she comments The car takes care of itself. there is a hint of pride in that assertion.

Speaking of the car, I should probably get back home before my friends notice that I am here. Glad you were home.

[Beta]

Tamarind had sent the Aunties and Uncle rolling out the door when Seraphina came in, and send them to take up station under the car, scanning around for anyone approaching it. She prepared to use the scanner, but with Mato between her and the girl she had her doubts about how effective it would be, so she held off until they moved further into the house -- and then it seemed that they wouldn't be going farther in. For the moment she settled for having Beauty keep her chromed eyes on the girl, watching for any funny moves.

She messaged the team <<Drones to donuts that this is the first bid on the card>>

[Gilga]

Tamarind's drone soon realizes that the gangers have stopped their bikes on the other side of the street and seem to be debating if they want to try anything with the car. They then approach the vehicle, one of them carrying the comlink in an attempt to take a selfie.

However, once they get close enough, the car drives away unexpectedly, leaving one of them instinctively moving out of the way. They watch it looking confused for a few precious moments, then one of them laughs, "That was some car, heh?" the other "Damn, where did it go? "
After a few moments, they return to their bikes and drive in the same direction as the car. Which is less telling about their intentions as it is the same direction they were initially going.

[Jack_Spade]

When Seraphina left, Bobby waved her goodbye and bolted the door.

"Alright, word got out. Timer is ticking. I'm firing off a message to Lysander and then we should move post haste back to the safety of the hotel, before they storm this place to look for the card."

He picked up the parcel with the FAB.
"Tomorrow we can decide if we want to move the card. In the meantime we have a rigged auction to organize."

[Gilga]

Seraphina leaves shortly after and seems relieved that she did, she is a bit surprised that the car is gone, but she walks confidently walks down the street, toward the general direction of Touristville proper and the police spot.

Her uncle would call about half an hour later.

[Jack_Spade]

If no-one else was, Bobby would pick up the link and forward the call to the rest of the team.

Meanwhile he had sent a message to Lysander

<<Hey, you told me to let you know when I got news about the cards. Well, guess what: We found the owner and the owner would like to sell it with our help. I'm sure you know all the players around here who would be willing to buy, so we are auctioning it off. Starting price is 25k - and as long as the money is good, we don't care much about who we sell too, so feel free to share the info.>>

[Tecumseh]

Mato looks around the HQ. Would they really storm the place looking for it? Perhaps, even if that was a silly course of action because why would the card be there if Mato, Bobby, Tamarind, and Raven weren't? But, of course, that's not always how criminals think, or at least not gangers. Maybe they would smash the place up, or burn it down, out of spite if nothing else. Mato exhales, a little put off by the thought. He's not terribly emotional nor sentimental, but he does despise needless waste. Ripping this place up would benefit no one.

"Alright, let's pack up," he says. "Don't leave anything of value behind. Like Bobby said, if you leave it you lose it."

Mato has his clothes and the tools of his trade: weapons, armor, plus some surveillance and B&E gear. But, for the most part, everything could fit into a couple large duffle bags. There's a part of him that likes suits and nice clothes, but there's another part of him who likes the thought of living lightly and being self-sufficient. He has an occasional daydream that with some good clothes and a well-loaded backpack he could drop off the grid and disappear for weeks or months at a time. It's a bit of a stretch as his survival skills are only rudimentary, but it's an aspirational goal.

After a moment of reflection, he decides that he should help AM pack up. She probably wouldn't want Mato sifting through her underwear drawer, but nor would she want all of her personal possessions burnt to a crisp in her absence. He packs two large duffle bags for himself and a large backpack for AM.

"Alright," he says once he's loaded up. "If Wakan Tanka leads us away, I don't need to come back. Do we need to break down the lodge?"

[Gilga]

@Bobby Lysander texts back You sell a card - wow that's... good. I'll put the word out that there is a card and accept bids. Any picture or something you want to give me to verify the authenticity of the claim?
=====
@Alll - mysterious phone call.
When the new comlink rings, an unrecognizable voice comes from the other side. Possibly Bau, perhaps someone else? >> Bobby, Mato... SIS...my niece, has told you my name. Please do not mention it. My ears have picked up the chatter that you have a certain rare tarot card. Bluntly speaking, if you still have it, I'll take it as long as you can deliver it discreetly.

[ Spoiler ]

a Keen-eared listener would notice an imperfect voice manipulation. 4 hits in perception check.

@Mato (@AM's room)
(Figured I never described AM's room so I thought it would be a nice touch).

AM's room is a bit of a mess; there are about five used cups of coffee by her workstation and some dirty clothes hastily stashed under her blanket. On the wall above her table is a fully functional, well-kept urban tribe tomahawk combat axe, a traditional Sioux weapon, and a self-defense instrument. She has a few dream catchers above her bed, as well as a throwing knife held on one of the legs of the bed. They are not hidden, and it seems like you have a line of sight to at least one of these small weapons anywhere in the room. Though, they are placed out of the way.


At the closet level, it is organized more in character (she is usually very organized but has been down recently). The clothes are neatly placed and ordered. Some very expensive ones are on hanging, along with very simple dresses (which she improved with magic). The part she wears normally comes from a single shelf with neatly placed male clothes three sizes above her size. Once he packs her clothes, the Ares Sigma sub-machine gun is left visible, but the bullets are kept in a locked metal box under the bed.

Going through her closet, he cannot miss her blue bug-out bag, a simple 50L camping bag with a sleeping bag attached.

[ Spoiler ]

The bag is packed with a few sets of clothes, basic amenities, a leather canteen, several nutrition bars, a sleeping bag and her Walter pistol, some ammo, and a second throwing knife.

On the walls are a few ceremonial masks and a dream catcher over her bed.

[Beta]

"A lodge is a substantial investment, but also takes time to set up again. If it is just AM who is really using it, though, hopefully she could take that time when she returns. If anyone breaks in here and decides to trash the place, whether because they think we have hidden the card or just because they like breaking things, the lodge would be an obvious target. And the more ambitious might take it apart themselves to sell for whatever they could get for it."

Tamarind had barely settled into SIS, but already it hurt to possibly leave it. She hadn't anything that she could really have called home in many years, and she'd come to desire it amazingly quickly. She doesn't have much to pack, other than her drones and they are capable of getting themselves together. She does suggest "We have three vehicles, if we leave in convoy it will be more obvious that we are bugging out. So we may want to send them out one at a time and maybe make it less apparent that we are all leaving. But we may want to stick together? I can remotely command your cars, to drive downtown and probably lose any tails. We can load everything into my van I suspect, although it will be crowded possibly. Then we can leave together without making it obvious that we are doing so."

[Jack_Spade]

"Taking down the lodge is quicker then setting it up. Let's take all valuables with us. I don't have a problem with a convoy - we want people to know we are at a safe place. Makes it less likely, they take out their rage on a place, that we apparently already abandoned."

To Lysander he sent: <<It's the Fool card. No photos unfortunately - consider the fact how much trouble we are calling down on us to be proof enough that we have it. And we are interested only in serious bids anyway>>

To the voice on the link he said: <<All nice and good, but how much are you offering for the merch? This isn't a charity org>>

[Thanee]

After Seraphina left, Rachel comments, smiling: "That girl has some attitude... But, Seraphina. Cool name."


She does not have much in terms of belongings. The only big thing is her own magical lodge, which she started to pack up the moment they got back to the HQ.

By the time the team wants to leave, she has everything sorted. There is a fairly large backpack with all her stuff, most of which is clothes, and a duffel bag, where the items that form her lodge are put in.

"Ready to go!"

[Gilga]

phone call:

When asked about money, the man says >> I can go perhaps 50k for quick delivery if you can keep it discreet, and my expert says that the card is authentic. No interest otherwise.

Packing Taking down SIS and loading your valuables into the cars would take about an hour, but there is not that much work to be done - just a threshold of what is 'valuable' would a two-week supply of soy nuggets be considered valuable? Or a coffee machine that draws dirty pictures on the coffee? Though you have a lot of working hands so, after an hour or so, you will have anything you want in the cars. SIS remains quiet for that time, and your cars are ready to leave.

[Beta]

With a bit of reluctance Tamarind leaves another insect drone behind in SIS headquarters, to keep an eye on what happens. It gets into a corner of the ceiling over the stairs, since anyone breaking in will likely come up there. Then she sets her agent to keep checking on the drone every few minutes to see if anything has changed in the view since the last check.

[Jack_Spade]

Bobby looked around in the room and when no-one gave him a cue, he continued the conversation:

<<Noted. But this is an auction. Card goes to the best offer. Not necessarily the largest amount of money, but the best offer overall. You are ahead of the others, so we'll let you know where you stand at the end of tomorrow. Best of luck.>>

[Gilga]

The man sighs . Very mercenary of you, but fine, I understand everyone like the jing The card gets hotter as time passes, so I can only commit for an hour or so, got to be realistic about my chances. Good luck, regardless he says and then comments ... and Mr. Walker, as a show of good faith, here is a free tip - you have a Muse problem. he says quietly and disconnects the call.

[Jack_Spade]

"Well... drek. Seems like we pissed off that spirit somewhat majorly. And with the power of that particularly muse, even the banks security might be not enough. Let's hope they are loyal to our client at least..."

Bobby spoke into the temporary silence.

"Alright, let's pack up and roll out."

Bobby hefted to bags and went down to the car.

[Beta]

As they were heading out, Tamarind remembered the slightly creepy painting. It might be somewhat valuable, and certainly very damageable, so she runs back and gets it, and finds a secure spot to wedge it in the van.

As they head out she comments "First bid is fine, later ones may get better, but I guess key is that we have to figure out who to sell it to in order for it to end up in Nightmare's hands. I don't think I know the players well enough yet to know who could be best. Or maybe we say we'll deliver it, and let our delivery be intercepted? Bad for our rep I guess, but it might be the surest way to get the job done?"

[Tecumseh]

Mato clicks his tongue at the mess in AM's room. Who knew the elf would have so much stuff, with a significant percentage of it spread out over the ground?

He puts down his bags, realizing this will not be quick and easy. His eyes alight on the Urban Tribe tomahawk, a personal favorite of his. He doesn't need one because of his spur, but they are very versatile. Mato takes a few swings with his right hand before flipping it over to his left hand with a flourish, then pretending to throw it. He will make sure this doesn't get left behind.

He finds the throwing knife too. AM doesn't exactly have the musculature to do a lot of damage with it, but she does have that spell that makes her grow... He envisions a Hulk-ed out AM throwing the knife through a troll. He half smiles, half shudders.

Mato then picks up the Ares Sigma-3. A fine weapon, he thinks to himself, turning it over in his hands. Collapsible stock, foregrip, powered slide mount, smartlink... everything a growing girl needs. They're ¥1,000 so he's definitely not going to leave it behind. Not as high-end as the HK Urban Combat, but less than half the price and decidedly less illegal. He mentally compliments AM's choice of weapon and then stuffs it in a bag along with the locked metal box of ammunition he finds under the bed.

Then it's time to get to work. He grabs clothes out of the closet, starting with the most expensive ones. There's a part of him that sighs at the men's clothing that would fit him, but he packs it all the same. He knows that AM finds comfort in it and comfort is something that has been in short supply recently.

Then it's on to the dream catchers and the magical lodge. Here he needs some help from Bobby and Raven to ensure things are done appropriately and respectfully. He can only imagine what sort of sick thrill Nightmare might get from immolating these things.

Now Mato is loaded up with twice the number of bags. His legs are strong but not preposterously strong like his arms. He staggers a bit under the weight, wobbling as he makes his way down the stairs. Like most men, he seems committed to doing it in a single trip.

On the way by, he passes the govi. He sighs in defeat, realizing he will have to make a second trip. He delivers his carried bags to the car then comes back for the govi.

~~~

When it's all done, most of the portable property has been moved. He leaves the vulgar soykaf maker, secretly hoping to purchase an upgraded model when they relocate to Bellevue. Plus, with any luck anyone who damages the machine might be terrorized by the sprite inhabiting it. The thought makes Mato smile, and gives him an idea...

"Should we booby trap the place?" he asks Bobby, figuring that will be his most receptive audience. "Not to turn the place into rubble, mind you, but to terrorize anyone sweeping through. What do you think?"

When it comes to the card, Mato nods at what Tamarind is saying.

"Yes, that's the concept I've been trying to communicate. I don't like the idea of sullying our rep but... everything has a price.

"Let's get all the offers on the table and see if there's an obvious course of action."

After the free tip, Mato turns to Bobby. "We have a muse problem?"

He thinks back to the conversation at the hotel earlier in the day.

"Back at the hotel, Tara said Melpomene is the muse that inspired Vala to create the cards. Tara said that Mel is their mastermind, their leader.

"I think Mel was the one which manifested as a striking lady wearing white Greek-styled clothes with demon-like horns and a tail. She said, I am loyal to the people that feed me. She said she wanted a relationship rather than a hookup.

"Do you think Mel is just mad that we turned down Tara's offer? 10 percent of the proceeds with restrictions on how we do it wasn't a compelling deal, but perhaps we can negotiate our way out of this one. Maybe we can mollify Mel with a promise of future payment."

He hesitates, knowing the next part is a sensitive subject. "I am personally not opposed to a relationship with Melpomene," he says as neutrally as he can manage. In his head, it's not significantly different than his transactional relationship with Green Toes. If anything, it might be nice to feel... inspired as a tangential benefit.

"We can use that as a bargaining chip if it will keep some heat off our backs. Do we have a way to reach Tara and Mel?"

[Jack_Spade]

Bobby shook his head: "Traps are only good if you are around to finish what the trap started. Otherwise there are always people around to finish the job. And we might hurt someone who wasn't inclined to waste our appartment, but gets convinced otherwise by being hurt. That said, I wouldn't mind leaving something disturbing around that would discourage someone from going any further. But then, we are dealing here with grade A sickos, so not even a crucified ganger in our front yard would keep them from coming in.

All in all, too much effort for too little gain. Not to mention that friends could get hurt as well that want to help."

On the muse he said: "No idea what's going on or how to reach them, but my gut feeling is, Mel is now offended and puts spikes into our wheels so we seek them out to beg for their help. But I don't think that they would go so far as to actively sabotage Vala. So let's wait and see. Shouldn't be long before the next calls come through."

[Gilga]

Your next call arrives at about 23:00 when Lysander calls [>> I got two offers of 30k and 15k. Some people don't listen when I tell them it is a minimum price.

[Jack_Spade]

Bobby replied: <<Who made those offers? If you can't tell, give them this number to call.>>

Since they already had a new, untraceable commling on hand, it made sense to use it for the auction.

[Beta]

At Bobby's mentions of friends, Tamarind thinks to ask "Are there any friends around that should be told that we are pulling out? So that they don't try to protect the place? Cutty as a minimum I guess?"

She helps do a last walk around, then when they drive off she takes lead, telling the other cars to follow her. They lay a nice straight trail out of Redmond into Bellevue, then get themselves into some busier roads and eventually an expressway, take a bit of time to pull off and on and go through some higher traffic zones while telling the other two cars to take different routes, eventually all converging back to the hotel. Hopefully enough not to have been followed, except by a spirit. But that side of things is beyond her control to do much about.

After the call she comments "The 15k offer is the people we probably really have to watch out for, not able to win a bidding war, but enough money to hire someone to try and steal or extort it from us."

[Tecumseh]

Mato is surprised by Bobby's moderate advice when it comes to traps. Mato nods thoughtfully and acknowledges that Bobby makes a good point.

Tamarind, to her credit, thinks of Cutty while Mato had not.

"He's a survivor," Mato says. "I expect he knows when to fight and when to flee. But, you're right, we should give him a head's up and remove all doubt."

<<Cutty, might be some drek going down at HQ tonight. If it does, it does. We won't be here so don't do anything stupid like play the hero. If anything, you might want to lay low for a bit in case someone thinks they can find us through you.>>

"Cutty basically lives at the gym," Mato says, thinking out loud. "Does he even have a place to lay low?"

Mato, not the most thoughtful or empathetic of people, is uncertain whether he has fulfilled the expectations of professional etiquette or if SIS needs to some more to keep Cutty safe.

To Tamarind he says, "Yes, it makes me nervous when you try to sell something on the black or grey market that costs more than it would cost to hire at a professional to acquire it for you. At some point it makes better economic sense to pay four heavy-hitters ¥10K each to pinch the card off of us than it does to pay us ¥50K for the card. And as the price of the card goes up, that equation just gets more and more dangerous for us."

He sighs. This is something he's thought about a lot. His father was in the finance department and actually ran the numbers on shadow-work one time. The risks were considerable, but the ROI more than made up for it. Shadowruns were easy to justify from the perspective of the bean-counters. For ¥100K an elite team could snag you a prototype that would cost millions to produce, or research that would take years to replicate. The shadow economy was a double-edged sword and Mato found himself straddling it uncomfortably.

[Gilga]

Lysander responds >> The 15k is anonymous, some elf lady calling herself Frisson, and she gave a credstick to a trusted, neutral party, so in the unlikely event you pick that offer, payment is guaranteed. The 30k one is more boring; some known collector asked me not to disclose the name- man is legit, as far as I can say. He asked to keep the offer as discreet as possible, which is understandable considering the last time it ended with a murder. Both of them have burner links for the occasion, though.

He shares with you two contacts first one named Frisson and the second named The Collector.

In the casino
By the time you get back to the casino, it is a lively place with many people gambling and having fun, and accessible quality food (by your Redmond standards) is being distributed for free. The hotel has a secure parking service under the building, and while it is cramped and leaving in haste may be a bit of an issue, it feels safer than the outside streets. There is live music by some female singer that plays the piano, and a popular band will perform later tonight on the rooftop garden.

The suite had beds made, and everything looked neat and organized. There are two bottles of wine in the kitchen, and a sealed envelope, next to them as well as some still hot chocolate cookies on a plate. The casino seems to have a very kind room service.