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

[Thanee]

"This client seems to be extremely careful. Hopefully, it won't be so easy for whoever else is after this card to find out about the potential hiring of us. I assume they are going through this law firm also to conceal their plans to the outside."

"Anyways, I will go and visit my talismonger and see if she knows anything noteworthy about those tarot cards."

"As for protecting this place... I could also ask one of my spirit friends to keep an eye on it for a while."

[Tecumseh]

Mato's understanding of magical theory is really quite poor, especially given the nature of his coworkers and housemates. But there's a part of him that shuts his brain off whenever the topic comes up, compartmentalizing it as, "Oh, AM will know that" or "Bobby will understand what that means." So his comprehension of such matters is fleetingly limited.

Given his interactions with Green Toes, Mato is beginning to understand how things of an entirely magical nature can have thoughts, opinions, and agendas of their own. To him, it doesn't seem like that much of a stretch to extend such agency to an artifact like a tarot card.

"Is there a way to contain the threat?" he asks the better-informed members of the squad when Tamarind shares the chatter from the magical social circles.

"About six months ago, I pickpocketed one of these cards off a mark," he says, bringing Tamarind and Raven up to speed. "I only had it in my possession for a short while, but while I did the card spoke to me. It told me the rest of the team could not be trusted, that I should run and hide. It felt like magical compulsion. I kept my wits about me, but we only had it a matter of hours.

"If we're to be in charge of something for 'a few days' then what can we do to mitigate the risk? Not just from external concerns, like corps and criminals, but also from the card itself. Enchanting gloves? Biofiber pockets?"

[Thanee]

"That's ... interesting. And a little disturbing. So, whoever is after these might act on such a compulsion and be more than a little paranoid? Either way, I guess there are items that can shield the outside from such an influence, but they are probably very expensive, as they would have to be enchanted," Rachel comments.

[Jack_Spade]

"A strong will is the best defense. And if I remember correctly, it only talked to you while you had aura contact. A drone or a well shielded briefcase should be good enough to prevent any undue influence."
Bobby added his experiences.

"Alright, I'm off to meet Lysander. He should be at the bar anyway. Always better to talk in person about those things."

[Tecumseh]

"What I mean is that if all the private collectors are either dying or having the cards stolen, then perhaps that is evidence of the cards' desirability... or perhaps that is the expression of the cards' own will."

To Bobby's point:

"Tamarind, will you think of possible mechanical solutions that might involve drones? I might suggest emphasizing physical protection while minimizing maneuverability. We wouldn't want a drone slipping away with our payday."

[Beta]

When it was reveales that the 'tarot card' would actually be a tarot card, albeit a magical one, Tamarind was shocked "You've been involved in the Sixth World Tarot? That is a twist I wasn't expecting!" Then she went over what she knew about the cards.

While she explained, and they discussed, she launched her survellance swarm, using both long duration drones and half of the shorter duration ones so that they could swap out as needed. With Lazybones and Mimic giving a higher altitude surveillance, one of the Pellipers making wider sweeps through the airspace, two flying eyes sitting on the eaves of the roof while slowly moving themselves along to different vantages, and a couple of Kanmushi "bugs" crawling around the upper floor windows, they have pretty good coverage.

Most of the drones can be launched discretely enough. Tamarind opens up an upper floor window and attempts to wash the outside of it while not falling out of the building, meanwhile letting the smaller drones out. The Condors take a bit more work, she inflates them in the garage and gets the chameleon coating on the small body of the drones themselves activated and set for the building. Then when Bobby is ready to go she asks him to wait two minutes then come out through the garage and close it behind him. She backs the van out of the garage then gets out of it and goes back into the garage to grab a jug of water she'd prepared, and makes a show of refilling the wiper fluid resevoir. Meanwhile she commands each of the drones to slowly move out and up, using her knowledge of stealthy drone movement to keep them from drawing attention.

============================

After they'd talked about the cards, she asks Bobby "If you are going to meet this Lysander, can I come with you? I won't say much, but I should widen my circle in this city. If nothing else I'll drive you, I need an excuse to have the garage open for a couple of minutes anyway."

"As for drone solutions, along the lines of what you mentioned I could remove the tracks from Toothless for a little bit. He won't like it, but they need a good cleaning anyway -- they are treated with a gecko tip treatment, but at his weight they accumulate a lot of debris that clogs their effectiveness. He has an internal compartment for his specialized medkit, which should allow a card to be put in. And he is at least moderately durable. Another alternative is to keep the tracks on and Toothless sleeping, so that he can't be matrix seduced. Then if we have to move the card he could potentially drive himself, with escort, keeping the card isolated. It can handle up to moderate expressway speeds, comparable to Honda Spirit."

"Or if we think that the cards have more limited range, we could stick it in a delivery drone and send it buzzing around the city, blending in with all of the others. Of course if the card can reach out over a distance, or people could track it magically that would be vulnerable. We could also attach it to one of my balloon like surveillance drones, they can go to a fair height and it can be hard to even realize they are are there. Plus they can barely hold their position against the wind, they don't go anywhere quickly, but they also are totally vulnerable to attack."

"For any more more short term handling, we can bring Stitch along. His 'hand' is finely controlled, he could hold the card for us so that nobody had to touch it directly."

"Unfortunately I can't really speculate on the abilities or traceability of an unknown magical object. There is always divination, but it doesn't usually deal with with quickly changing situations. One danger, if these have become so popular, is that someone has a specialized extended range detection spell, and could use a ritual to make it even broader, then run passes across the city."

[Tecumseh]

Mato blinks at the info dump.

"I was imagining something like Toothless," he says simply. "Slow, durable. Like a safe that rolls."

[Jack_Spade]

"Sure, no worries. It's not like we are on a schedule. And likely Lysander will do the talking and ask you some questions. I'll sell you as hot news eye witness from Denver."

Bobby waited and tried to process the technical details

"Keep them all on hand. We don't know how far we have to range for that card - so a quick hand over might be good just as a longer storage on our side might be required."

When they finally reached Lysander's bar, he went in and waved to the elf: "Morning, got 10 minutes?"

[Beta]

Tamarind ran software to reduce the noise for her RCC, but knew that the quality of surveillance would drop while she was away. She considered leaving her RCC with one of the others, but she wasn't quite there yet.

Once they reached the bar, Tamarind left her blazer in the van, and after a brief internal debate left Beauty there too. She told it "I don't know what sort of bar this is. Let's not subject you to anything too sordid when we don't need to. I'm sure Bobby will keep me safe." She left the chrome pigeon running silent, perched on the back of the driver's seat, with instructions to tase anyone entering the van who was not Tamarind or Bobby.

Chasing after Bobby she arrived just after he'd greeted Lysander, and she stood by his side, clearly with him but waiting for him to make introductions.

[Gilga]

Lysander seems to be in a good mood, he is chatting with a younger elf lady, and when Bobby arrives, the androgynous elf is giving him a big smile. He looks at his friend with an apologetic look and then addresses Bobby What can I do for you, Bobby? he asks; his gaze then moves to Tamarind, but there is no recognition in the look.

[Beta]

Tamarind does her best to smile apologetically at the elf, then says quietly "Sorry, we shouldn't be too long. I love your style by the way." Which coming from Tamarind probably isn't the best of compliments, but it does have the virtue of being true, and she hopes that comes across.

Then she waits for Bobby. She knows that he intends to trade her first person perspective on Denver to this barkeeper, but she isn't sure what preliminaries need to take place. She assumes she shouldn't be offering any of that before a deal of some sort has been struck, but she is staying well out of negotiations.

[Thanee]

In the meantime, Rachel will put on something a little less trés chic, to visit Cassandra, her talismonger contact. The orc shaman has a small store in Redmond, and hopefully, she can give her some insight into these tarot cards. Either way, it will be nice visiting her again.

[Jack_Spade]

Bobby indicated to Tamarind: "As you know, we've got new colleagues at SIS. This is Tamarind, our new technical expert.
She just arrived from Denver and was witness to all that went down there. I thought you might be interested in all the latest developments - especially along the route between Seatle and Denver. Likely a lot more refugees to come.

In exchange, we'd be interested in an update on the tarot front - what's the latest on those damn cards? We heard a rumor, that another one is potentially around again."

[Gilga]

@Bobby and Tamarind
Lysander seems more interested when you mention the Tarot cards "I'll pay you well for heads up on any new card in the market. This is hot information. I haven't gotten much new on the cards but for a small fee, I'll give you an outline of the current situation. As usual, I'll give you a discount if you share some new piece of information. "

Looking at Tamarind Welcome abroad Tamarind" Looking to the woman that sits with him, he says This lovely lady is Qara she can get you tickets for any event in the city. If she can't it is probably not worth your time anyhow. The woman says a shy "hi". Uncertain where she has found herself.

@Raven Cassandra's shop is quite busy when you arrive. It is not that the shop is buying; there are customers that browse through the pseudo magical stuff one orc teenager is measuring shaman suits and taking selfies while talking to someone through her glasses.

Other buyers in front of the counter are two augmented humans who are very annoyed when Cassandra does not have what they need. "We need the Sage, and the Aghxexex now. This is unacceptable, we cannot wait for two weeks. We had a deal." My supplier has issues, I am truly sorry. but I tell you what, I'll call in some favors give me one more week and you'll have it... Three doses of each right?" she says trying to lighten the mood. The disappointed purchaser says With such delivery times, make it six, and it better be here in a week. There is an implicit "or else" there.

Cassandra transfers some money from the credstick and returns it to the man that pockets it and sighs. Nothing ever goes easy. He leaves unsatisfied the angry man says "fucking poser!" as he passes the teenage orc in her ridiculous shaman suit. She barely notices.


Finally free, Cassandra waves to Raven "Well hello there Raven, what can I do for you?"

[Thanee]

Wondering for a moment, whether to say something to the unfriendly customer, Rachel decides not to. No reason to add more fuel to the fire.

"Cassandra! So lovely to see you again. I'm actually just looking for some information today. But I do not want to distract your nice customers with all the chatter, maybe there is some place where we can talk a bit more privately?"

When there are no more curious ears around, she asks: "I have heard some rumors about tarot cards being highly sought-after. I only really know the basics, but they seem pretty interesting. Can you tell me more about these items? I heard that some of them even talk to you?"

[Jack_Spade]

@Bobby and Tamarind
Lysander seems more interested when you mention the Tarot cards "I'll pay you well for heads up on any new card in the market. This is hot information. I haven't gotten much new on the cards but for a small fee, I'll give you an outline of the current situation. As usual, I'll give you a discount if you share some new piece of information. "

Bobby shrugged: "Deal. But all I know about the cards is that another one is about to hit the market. No idea which, where or how. Though I might learn about that in a bit."

[Gilga]

@Raven Cassandra rolls her eyes and shrugs. Sadly I need to be here. when the young orc girl finally buys her spirit suits as a wired fashion accessory Raven says what's on her mind. I know enough to tell you to stay away from these cards. she gives her a stern look and says A new card would fetch quite a hefty price by collectors but most of them would lose it. It is one thing to buy a card and an entirely different thing to keep it.

@Bobby and Tamarind. Lysander says In that case, vouge information does not worth much - but if you know concrete details about a new tarot card I can pay you a few grand for it, depending on the level of details you have. So contact me as soon as you know something.

About the current exchange, since I have no new information about Tarot cards, I'll say 200 for my survey, and 100 if your friend tells me something I don't already know. Would that work?

[Jack_Spade]

"Sure, ask away - Tamarind, have at it." Meanwhile Bobby filled a credstick and slid it over to Lysander.

[Thanee]

"Hah! I didn't mean for you to leave, just find a bit more quiet corner in your shop."

"So, when you say they lose them... does that mean they get stolen? Or is it more mysterious?"

"And finally, I will probably need a bunch of Reagents soon. Do you need some advance notice for those, or do you carry a good amount here?"

[Beta]

Tamarind looks a bit awkward, being put on the spot and asked to perform is really not her favorite thing. On the other hand she does know how to give a report, and she realizes that in fact she had been putting together a report in her head during her trip. "If you are interested at all I assume that you know the basics. UCAS military assets are all being routed east almost immediately, on what the UCAS maps still call highway 14. Anything that is not military has to head up towards Cheyenne. The queue are long at checkpoints along the way, but it's only about 170km. If you aren't on a Sioux SIN you get routed into a temporary camp south of the city. That part runs pretty smooth. It is after that when things get tough. The long haul highways in the Sioux don't all have inductive charging. Denver has encouraged electric vehicles for a long time. There are a lot of people who need to charge up to get much farther. The Sioux government is hands off about that, leaving it to private enterprise and enterprising individuals Plus they are only allowing non-Sioux to use certain major routes, so the traffic can't spread out more widely. I'm sure you've seen the reports about the long queues for charging."

"What the media don't show, but you can probably guess, is the extortionate practices. Some charging stations are giving access by auction, so if you don't have the money you might be waiting until the middle of the night to charge up. And while you wait you are going to be paying crazy prices for food, or even for being parked there. Or individuals show up with a generator and a big can of home distilled ethanol to run it, and will charge you up for whatever the market will bear, from people who trust the beat up old generator not to damage their vehicle."

"Beyond that, naturally the vultures are circling. Some will buy your vehicle from you, for a discounted price and a bus ticket out of Sioux territory. Others will loan you money, and only the foolish think that they don't have ways to collect on it. And in a few cases they'll offer to lead you off on a side road, and I don't know what happens to them that take that option but I'm not hopeful."

"I do have two tips that I guess you could pass along. IF you can get off the main routes, if you see a ranch or farm with two flagpoles, one flying the Sioux flag, the other bare, it means that they have enough power they are willing to sell some. It is how you travel distances on the side road if you are running electric back home. Most of them aren't exactly paying taxes on whatever money that brings in, but they aren't going to hesitate to call cops on anyone who seems too dangerous or dodgy. Mostly they'd not report a smuggler who had to make an emergency stop either. I can't say for sure how they'd react to an anglo right now, but you act polite, pay them decent, and maybe share a story you are probably good."

"The other tip is that in the north part of the country they aren't always so fussed about what they say in Cheyenne. The official route towards Seattle is north on the 25 until it hits the 90, which goes north a bit farther before it turns west toward Butte. Most of that you have to stay on it, or get in trouble. But once you hit Billings you are probably good to get off the expressway and try smaller roads. Obviously there is some risk, but most people up there will figure you are just being smart not following the government mandated road, and why shouldn't they get a share of the refugee money? A lot of the roads lead to Butte, it is a bit of a choke point, so it is also an extortion point and also somewhere that the government can easily check in on you, so cutting farther north there can pay off."

"Salishe-Sidhe isn't as predatory. The tribes are the tribes are the tribes, they'll always screw everyone else a bit, but as far as I could tell prices were only a bit higher than normal, maybe 25%. But things were pretty spread out by the time you get out of the Sioux, so there wasn't the same scarcity issue really making an opportunity."

[Gilga]

@Bobby and Tamarind - Lysander takes a few points and nods at the right moment but it is information to him, rather than a heartbreaking story. When she is done he says You Look like you need a drink. What is your poison? He then speaks about the Tarot. I am giving you the short version, skipping things I think you already know. For once your firm has touched all but the first card. He thinks for a while and adds Haloweener leader Nightmare is perhaps the most dedicated collector of arcane artifacts in the city, and is obsessed with these cards. He has all four cards and has gone to great lengths to get them. I am talking about ignoring consequences that even the Triads would consider.

So... if you acquire more information about these, give me a call. Somehow the cards tend to arrive at your agency a lot" He says, perhaps being sarcastic or perhaps suggesting that Bobby is holding back some information.

[ Spoiler ]

I'll get a raven post later today.

[Gilga]

@Raven Cassandra says No mysteries, the regular things. Extorsion, theft, or even murder. " she says, and then says So just how many reagents are we talking about?

[Jack_Spade]

Bobby nodded: "That fits. Hopefully it's not Nightmare that wants to hire us. That would bode ill for us.
That's what you get if you pull of one job successfully in regard to those cards - you get called on for more."

Bobby waited for Tamarind to get her drink and said: "I'm off - I have to talk to my talismonger about a piece of equipment. See you later."

[Thanee]

"Alright. That really sounds like something people are a little bit too crazy about."

"Reagents... cannot give you an exact number just yet, need to get the funds first, but maybe a few hundred units?"

[Gilga]

@Raven Cassandra says "I'll have enough reagents for that, but I am not sure they'll be of your tradition; if you risk a number, I'll build a stockpile.

[ Spoiler ]

I never heard of an Urban witch, so I am uncertain how common this tradition is.