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

[Beta]

Tamarind lost track of who was where for a bit with the ambush, but quickly focuses her drones on following Big Stank and Tiny. She's confident that one of those two will hold onto the card, and so the question is where they are going.

[Thanee]

Rachel has been watching the exchange in front of the bank from a distance. It looked a bit heated at times, but then it cooled down again. When Mato emerged with the card, things went down pretty quickly, so it looked like they managed to do what they came for. Now, whether that would play out the way they want it to... time will tell.

* * * * *

He turns to Raven and Bobby. "Raven, can your astral friend tail him back? Or Bobby, do you want to wing it after him?"

When Mato asks her, Rachel replies: "Sure can. But I probably should do this myself, as I know better what to look out for. I can stay in the van in the meantime."

She follows the gangers in a large distance, staying on rooftops with her astral self, while Tamarind is using her drones and the van to follow them as well. She flinches a little bit, when the ambush happens on the Humanis gangers, even though, she has little sympathy for those. Still, hopefully they are merely getting 'taught a lesson' here. There isn't much else to do, so she gets back to the van.

* * * * *

Back together, it is now time to plan their next steps.

"I don't think I have all the information here... so, you are saying Tony sent this biker lady, Frisson, and some others after us? Is that right? Did she actually say that? Or was she working on her own? What exactly would Tony want to achieve here? We should be very careful with any accusations, even if they are only implied, and first figure out what is what. Staying to actual facts and not interpretations of those, might be a good idea."

[ Spoiler ]

I am really not sure that Tony even knows what Frisson was doing...

Refering to this here mostly: http://forums.dumpshock.com/index.php?show...p;#entry1361543

[Jack_Spade]

"I'm not saying it's Tony's fault, but it's his responsibility. Frisson and her peeps work for the casino as hired security. There job is to keep trouble away. What they did with us, crossed several lines. They tried to fleece us, they sabotaged our auction and they provided us with wrong information that in essence will make our mission fail.

That is on Tony, because Frisson and Co were allowed to work with insufficient oversight and/or parameters.

Vala booked the suite there explicitly so that the card would be save from the wrong people. We communicated our plans upfront with Tony and he agreed that we could conduct our business there.

So it is his responsibility to make this right. If he doesn't step up, we'll have to eat that reputation hit. But that also means we will tell our Peers that the Gates is drek for business and an unreliable partner.

I'm almost certain that Tony will be willing to part with a bit of cash to make us and the problem go away."

Bobby explained

[Thanee]

"He could just say, what they do in their free time can hardly be his responsibility. I mean, that wouldn't be entirely wrong."

"But, okay. I see what you mean. I just think we should carefully consider how to present that information. Ideally, we just state the facts about what happened, without any assumptions, and maybe he will offer something all by himself."

"Also, it isn't entirely clear, whether the job will be a success or not, yet. At least, that is what I can piece together at the moment."

[Jack_Spade]

"Don't worry, the facts are damning enough. Just remember - never negotiate against yourself. If those facts get out, Tony will have a problem. Getting robbed by a security guard because they were on break at the moment, won't convince anyone."

Bobby replied, now a bit less tense than before.

[Tecumseh]

"Nuyen is good," Mato agrees, "but favors might be better."

He pauses for a moment, contemplative.

"We're moving up in the world. We won't be snooping through garbage and taking photos of illicit mistresses forever.

"We want chips in the big game. Tony can get us those."

Mato isn't entirely sure why Bobby is the one driving, but if it keeps him calm and focused on something other than the Beast in his breast then maybe it's a good thing. Mato turns around in the passenger seat to look at Tamarind and Raven in the back.

"To Raven's point, Vala's job is still in play. We're on thin ice, walking the knife's edge, whatever metaphor you want to use. But should treat it like there's 50K on the line and do what's in our power to bring that home.

"We know where the card is now and we know where it needs to get to. We need a plan to get it from Point A to Point B.

"Raven, do you have spirit friends that can plant a suggestion in Stank's head? Nothing overt, just trying to nudge him in the right direction."

Mato wonders who else Stank would go to for a second opinion but struggles to think of any. Urubia? Maybe their surveillance will give them a clue.

[Thanee]

"Yes, that would be possible. But we would need to find a situation, where it can be done without them noticing, otherwise, we would just help them figure this out."

[Gilga]

The morning traffic is heavy as usual and the way to the Gates drags giving a while to contemplate but not doing much for relaxing. Once you arrive and park the car (or use their service to park it for you). Tammie greets you in her usual happy/polite manner, and says "Tony will meet you in the office at the 5th floor."

[Jack_Spade]

Bobby nodded: "Lead the way."
By now he was very calm. He even smiled. At least he showed a lot of teeth.

[Tecumseh]

"Let's make it happen," Mato nods to Raven. "Let's keep Stank under tight surveillance - or as tight as we can manage remotely - and pick a moment to plant the seed."

***

At the Gates, Mato stuffs his Walther into the glove box and leaves it behind.

"Thank you, Ms. Wu," he tells Tammie, and moves to follow her and Bobby.

Is there a weight off now that the card is sold? No, not yet. He still wants Vala's piece. If Stank destroys the card, then the card can't bring down Nightmare then can it? There's a part of Mato that wants to be in Redmond quarterbacking this operation, not in the Gates trying to shake down Tony for favors. But Mato understands that Bobby is a creature of instinct and that he needs to get this out of his system. If he doesn't then he's liable to bite someone in the neck, which would be unproductive. So Mato resolves to play defense first, offense second. Hopefully the card will still be in play by the time this is over.

[Gilga]

The "office" is a large room with a small coffee corner, a fridge, a large table, and a whiteboard. Tony is already there but not entirely their kin to what a person in AR would look like, but when he notices the team coming, he regains his alertness. Unlike what Frisson has said, he does not seem tired and eagerly working.


" Mr. Torres, Mr. Walker, Ms. Pandey, and Ms. Moore. How lovely it is to have you in our facilities. Can I make you some coffee? Are you hungry? We have an excellent chef on duty today. Makes killer omelets. "

He seems satisfied with another opportunity to speak to the team and expects a quite pleasant conversation.

[Jack_Spade]

Bobby dismissed the offer with a slight wave: "Thank you very much for that offer, but we don't have much time. Let me send you a quick call log from one of your freelancing security people."

Bobby sent the call history with Frission to Tony.

"As you can see, your operators took it upon themselves to run a scam on us. As we relied on your security to conduct our business, this hit us somewhat from the blind side. Their manipulation of our communication channels - including faking messages from our bidders - as well as posing as a contact to the Halloweeners forced us to sell our merchandize prematurely and to the wrong customer.

We relied on your assurances that we could conduct our business here and do it unmolested.
We understand this is not your fault, but it happened under your watch. We are interested in keeping good relations with you and your organization, but we also have our own reputation to worry about. So we'd like to give you a chance to make this right, before we have to explain what happened to our customer and the other bidders."

Bobby looked at Mato and Raven to give them a chance to jump in.

[Gilga]

Tony remains serious and listens intently. "Let me get it right, that woman first threatens you; then she lies to you about the identity of her employer to get you to accept a lowball offer and give credibility to her threats. Then when you tell her that she has lost, the woman tries to get you to delay or cancel the sale by lying to you again about the identity of her employer, and you still take her words for face value. Haven't you heard of Fool me once, shame on thee, fool me twice, shame on me? "

While I do have a third layer security of semi-independent shadowrunners they cannot accept jobs without my approval, and my only female member in that team is Finestra, and she has an alibi for yesterday. The point is I am certain that Frisson does not work for me. However, like I said before, my organization would be very happy to collaborate with yours, so let me see what I can do to help.


The mystery is that her intel seems very fresh like she was in the meeting.

I had my best people scan your suite for anything technological right before the meeting, so it is unlikely that there is a listening device, but I will scan it again at your approval. Magical security was top-notch, we have wards for the building, and Vala took a team of free spirits to secure it, and she paid their leader Melpomene with her life force to ensure their loyalty. So listening to you with magic is also quite difficult.

It has to be the metahuman factor. I'll hash it with Brick for the protocol, but I trust the man, and I don't trust many people. The least trustworthy in the meeting is Melpomene since one can never trust addicts. How are your relations with her? "

[Tecumseh]

Mato is suitably impressed with Bobby's diplomacy.

"Thank you for your consideration," he tells Tony. "We wished to keep you informed about activities under your roof.

"They disrupted our business and may try to disrupt other activity on your watch. We would hate to see that reflect negatively on you or your organization."

[Thanee]

"Couldn't they simply have hacked one of the phones? I think she even mentioned something like that..." Rachel adds.

[Gilga]

Tony looks at Mato and says, "Part of the job, Mr. Torres. He looks at Rachel and says, "Good, that part might have happened, but my estimation is further down the road one of your devices was compromised."

[Tecumseh]

Mato isn't sure what else can be accomplished at the moment, although an omelet does sound good. Still, he suppresses the desire to request one. He doesn't want to be in Tony's pocket for anything, even some eggs and herbs and chèvre and maybe some chicken & pork sausage, roasted rosemary potatoes, and baguette, oh Great Spirit yes...

He snaps back to the present he DNIs some thoughts.

<<Melpomene is a loose end. We don't know if she is done with us or if the games will continue. We should try making contact and see if we can mend relations.>>

<<Same for Frisson, but I don't see any value in extracting revenge. If anything, maybe we could flip her and put her in play to help manipulate Stank.>>

<<We shouldn't linger. We need to pull Stank's strings.>>

[Jack_Spade]

Tony remains serious and listens intently. "Let me get it right, that woman first threatens you; then she lies to you about the identity of her employer to get you to accept a lowball offer and give credibility to her threats. Then when you tell her that she has lost, the woman tries to get you to delay or cancel the sale by lying to you again about the identity of her employer, and you still take her words for face value. Haven't you heard of Fool me once, shame on thee, fool me twice, shame on me? "

While I do have a third layer security of semi-independent shadowrunners they cannot accept jobs without my approval, and my only female member in that team is Finestra, and she has an alibi for yesterday. The point is I am certain that Frisson does not work for me. However, like I said before, my organization would be very happy to collaborate with yours, so let me see what I can do to help.


The mystery is that her intel seems very fresh like she was in the meeting.

I had my best people scan your suite for anything technological right before the meeting, so it is unlikely that there is a listening device, but I will scan it again at your approval. Magical security was top-notch, we have wards for the building, and Vala took a team of free spirits to secure it, and she paid their leader Melpomene with her life force to ensure their loyalty. So listening to you with magic is also quite difficult.

It has to be the metahuman factor. I'll hash it with Brick for the protocol, but I trust the man, and I don't trust many people. The least trustworthy in the meeting is Melpomene since one can never trust addicts. How are your relations with her? "

Bobby shrugged: "The point is, we didn't trust her. And we didn't pay her. Her calling us to apologize makes only sense if she was worried we'd come after her and inform you. Which means she isn't done yet. Frisson was already around the casino before we ever were involved in the case and knew how you operated. Which in turn means, she and her group - if there are actually more people involved - had the information before we did. That means our employer was compromised from the start.

And yes, it's very likely that the muse we pissed off is behind Frisson.

I suggest we let each other know when we catch up to Frisson. It should become clear then to what extend you were compromised - and how."

<<It's not about revenge, it's about consequences. We can't let people get the idea that they can just walk over us. The bombing was bad enough. Getting conned is one step too far.

But yes, let's first get Big Stank to do the right thing. If the muse is behind all this, we'll likely run into her anyway.>>

[Gilga]

Tony sighs That may be Mr. Walker. Tammie can message the muse if you'd like to confront her. As for Frisson, I'll have her pretty face to the wall of shame and let you know if we find her here again.

[Beta]

Tamarind keeps on with following Big Stank and Tiny, as best as she can. She'd like to head back to the Gates soon, as she is fairly exposed being out on her own, but also it matters to know where they are going in case it is someone surprising.

While she drives, she thinks, and she comes up with something that might be useful? She messages to the rest of the team <<I still have a drone in the Lantern. I could swap out its memory with that of the one that was in the card case, add some audio from what Mato recorded talking to Big Stank, and then have it move to be more easily seen. They might just crush it, but with some luck they'll get someone to open up its memory and see the information about Big Stank having the card, and hopefully the info then would get to Nightmare. I can't guarantee that would work, but it might be one way to let him know, without being quite so obvious about it.>>

[ Spoiler ]

They took two vehicles to the bank, so Tamarind is still out in the van still on troll trailing task.

[Tecumseh]

Mato nods at Tony's suggestion. But he'll ask Tammie directly about making the connection with the Muse; he doesn't want Tony as the middleman. As before, he doesn't want to be in Tony's pocket for anything, whether it's an omelet or a comm call.

<<That's brilliant>> Mato replies to Tamarind.

<<The complication is it might be too brilliant for the Halloweeners. They're psychopathic pyromaniacs. I can only imagine one smashing the bug with the heel of their boot, not picking it up and dissecting it. Carn-Evil might be clever enough... and sober enough... to do it. At some point you have to think that if Carn-Evil is that clever then they would back an overthrow of Nightmare.>>

Mato can't imagine that a free spirit would make a good supervisor.

<<But a Trojan Horse... I like it... I like it a lot.>>

He debates which side Carn-Evil would be on, trying not to project his own thinking too much. But how can you mimic the thinking of a demented Rager who is either a savant and/or college-educated? Doing so would put your mind at hazard.

[Jack_Spade]

Bobby chimed in:
<<I like the principle of the idea, but it makes it look like the leak came from us. Can we somehow get a layer of separation going, so Big Stank can't blame us as easily for ratting him out? Maybe make it look like one of his lieutenants snitched? Would likely involve some hacking.>>

[Gilga]

Tony says "Alright, feel free to use the space if you wish, but I need to get back to my work. Thanks for the heads up, and I hope I could help." the plain-looking, middle-aged man stands up and walks out of the room without ceremony.


***************

10:00 - the Lantern is active again. Day shift arrives to tidy the place up and bring it openly, and there is chatter and complaints as the employees go on with their day. The drone picks up a conversation fragment. "The other night was brutal, they torched five bikes one by one in front of the place, and the explosions shook everything; customers were afraid it was terrible."
"Yes, I heard something happened, but I did not know it was that bad. So we're opening again?"
"I would stick to day shifts until it is safe."

12:00, the doors to the Latrines open at noon, and the drone are finally freed. The drone can have duty boots, and that skilled hands move the tanks from the latrine, robbing the drone of hiding places very quickly.

12:00 The drone with the card wakes up to report two gunshots but no visual data. It happened within the last 15 minutes.


I hope they do something about this driveby.

[Thanee]

After Tamarind reported the drone's findings, Rachel asks: "The card is still at the same place where we tailed them to?"

"I could quickly go there on the astral and see what's going on," she offers. "If there is anything to see still. Since I have been there, already, it shouldn't take long to find, at least."

If there are no objections, she will find a cozy place to leave her body in the meantime, and summon a spirit to accompany her, just in case things get heated, which, knowing who might be involved, could very well be the case.

[Beta]

It isn't a perfect plan, but it is what they have so far as a way to maybe point Nightmare at the card, so Tamarind does as they'd discussed. She clean's out the Kanmushi's memory of the night before, and copies in selected files from the bank that morning. Anyone good at hacking or knowledgeable about drones will realize that these are more recent updates and not from the right sort of camera for the Kanmushi to have taken them. So if they are too brutish they'll just squash the drone. If they are too sophisticated they'll realize that they've been given a deliberate information feed. She just hopes that maybe they'll be just clever enough to fall for the ruse.