Charm City [IC] Options

[Koekepan]

Tubesnake gathers up his ladders, stowing them on top of the van and generally gets things buttoned down for movement. The damaged drones get set aside for later repair, when he'll recover and re-mould the damaged silicone as well as repairing the internal hardware.

[pbangarth]

Bongo shares with the team," The singer might be able to give us some more information. I will have a drink with her after the set is done. "

[Thanee]

"It's a bit of an acquired taste, I guess," Selina comments as she puts down the glass. "But not as bad as I thought."

As Mike mentions dancing, she smiles. "Is that your subtle way of saying, that you would rather do anything else than check out upstairs?"

"Alright, let's dance!"

[Koekepan]

Paul continues his cleanup work as he goes, sitting in the back of the van while keeping a view of the van's outside cameras in his AR in case there are further developments. He sprays degreaser on the damaged drones to make it easier to assess the necessary repairs.

[sunnyside]

Eventually Tubesnake gets Angel's voice in his head again, though this time just for him "Uh. Mr. Snake. You'd mentioned getting to use your drones. If we're waiting on the others, could I try some things with that cute crawling land Narwhal drone that you used to fight the bugs? I like exploring...but I don't like, outside yet. Those things are kind of like the matrix going on a walk.

I mean, if you don't think we should be getting started on the next place or something else. But I don't know what to do. "

In the real world Tubesnake can see that the area is getting really crowded as the night goes on. It seems to be the place to be, even if all you can afford is hanging out on the corner. Though by the look of some of the groups of Orks staring each other down or occasionally giving a greedy look at some uptowner or tourist and their bodyguards you might be able to get a show out here too.
--------------

(OOC: I'll give you a chance to specify what Selina and Bongo are up to, but I get the impression you're looking to advance time to the end of the set when Bongo can get a drink and the third floor opens. So if you want to advance time pbangarth just indicate how Bongo passes the time, along with any messages sent, and indicate that the set is over. )

-------------------------------

Mike smiles and says "I aim to please, and I'd like to keep you a happy cat. So I'll make arrangements to head up there, they should open it up at the end of the set, so we have a while."

At that he follows her out of the booth, and then leads the way back downstairs to the dance floor. The second floor is packed enough, mostly with tables, that it isn't a very popular place to dance now that folks are starting to get tired and pay to fill up the cheaper seats, versus the more private table with a view Selina had just been in.

Mike manages to find some space below, with the help of his large friend, and soon starts showing off his period moves. He's actually light on his feat, and the slack in his armor and suit at least keeps it from constricting him.

(OOC: rolled a couple hits but glitched. Getting a lot of those it feels like. Maybe time for new dice)

He shows off that he can manage some of the more impressive moves of the time, like the move where you jump up and click your heels, however on one he lands a little off and stumbles toward Selina.

(OOC: Up to you how Selina reacts and what the roll might be. By default it could be a simple dodge, but she could do a fancy gymnastic dodge, a melee based block/grapple, an athletic check to try and catch him, maybe even a dance roll to predict the flow of things and steady him like he didn't mess up. He isn't trying to hit her, so a single hit would make it "glancing" and two lets you pull off the maneuver of choice.)

-------------------------------------

[Thanee]

With amazing ease Selina somehow manages to hug Mike before he falls and steady him with her own body turning into the direction of him stumbling and just pushing against him to keep him on his feet.

[ Spoiler ]

Body + Strength: 4 hits (!)

She looks at him in a very playfully scolding way. "Don't tell me you didn't do that one on purpose..."

Then she winks and lets him stand on his own again, going right back to her own dancing.

[Koekepan]

<<No problem, ma'am. I can let you borrow a shankworm, sure. I usually use 'em on a comms link cable, but they can work wireless too. If you like it, I can build you one to your specifications, too, maybe with different hardware inside. What's your preference?>>

While he communicates with Angel, he grabs a shankworm and sprays it with degreaser as well in case she wants to play with it immediately.

[sunnyside]

Angel replies "Well, maybe I could try it out now Mr. Snake, unless there's something else you'd like me to do. I just feel so distant, but it'd be scary out there. "

(OOC: One thing I've been wondering is how you'd handle a shankworm attack if jumped in. I'm thinking a melee skill instead of gunnery, but I don't know if that's RAW anywhere.)

----------

Mike gives her an embarrassed smile "Well, if I'd known how it would turn out I would have done it deliberately. "

He gets back to trying to have a good time on the dance floor...just without the aerial moves.

The songs are upbeat and energetic, working well with individualistic dancing, but at the end of the set they slow it down with Ella Fitzgerald's "Cheek to Cheek"

Mike casually takes out a handkerchief to dry off his hands, while giving his best winning smile. "So, you seem to have many talents. Is the Foxtrot one of them? If you'd like we could even start dancing our way to the stairs up."

[pbangarth]

Bongo admires Selina's quick save. She'd make a good hockey goalie. He looks for the most visible table still open, paying whatever the reservation fee is, and occupies it, waiting for Rose to finish her set and come join him.

[sunnyside]

As the night had gone on tables had started getting bought up, but Bongo gets one along the west wall of the building, closer to the front of the club, bit still with a decent view of Selina's now empty table on the east side.

The trip to the table is smoother for Bongo because people are taking a break as the "live" music has stopped for the moment, and had been slower with that last song. A fair number are heading up the stairs to other tables, but Bongo walks past them to the staircases going down to the private box with it's view of the first floor.

He doesn't have to wait long for Rose. She slides in along the bench, getting right up next to Bongo.

"It would have been trouble, but I was disappointed when you didn't show up on stage. I was wondering if you had the confidence to really lead a show. But maybe you..."

At this is starts walking her fingers up his chest.


"have less to prove than I thought if you're just dropping the nuyen to sit here. I didn't realize your gigs had been so successful. We get pretty steady work, but I've never actually been up in one of these table."

She thinks a moment, leaving her hand on his chest and resting her head on his shoulder. "I've been invited plenty of times mind you. But I can get free drinks wherever. I'm only interested in artists, and I'm serious about my music.

She leans back a little and lifts her head so she can look Bongo in the eyes. Giving him a look of her red iris tinting, maybe from her AR contacts. "I guess what I should really be asking is why did you leave whatever you has going to come here?"

Bongo is spared having to answer on the spot by being interrupted by a waitress. 'Hello you two birds! What would you like for the bottle you paid for with the table. The moonshine and mixers set, or the absinthe service? You could request other spirits or champaign from the bar, but they don't come with all the fun stuff. "

[Koekepan]

<<No problem. Here, let me turn this one on and give you its address. If you like the ride, I'll make you your own. No big deal.>>

Paul takes the shankworm that he's just degreased, plops it onto the floor of the van, coils it up so that its little sucker-tipped pseudopods are all on the floor but the body is a spiral, and then turns it on.

<<Should still be plenty of battery in it, but I have charging points if you want more.>>

[pbangarth]

Bongo goes for the moonshine option, glancing at Rose to be sure she is OK with that.

It's been a while, what with travelling around. And with Willie beside him, many would steer clear. He enjoys the attention Rose is paying him and reciprocates with an arm around her waist. As young as he is, he has nevertheless learned the cost of getting distracted while on a job. But this does feel good.

"I have a pretty good rep for myself back home in Toronto, but I'm a bit of a rolling stone." He smiles at the oblique musical reference.

"I've travelled around the continent some, Seattle, some of the NAN. There are things I can do that people find useful, so money seems to find a way to me. All of it is background, though. Someday. Someday I'm gonna find what I'm really looking for, and I will be the only one to make that thing happen." A look comes into Bongo's eyes whenever he talks of his quest. Anyone with the least bit of perception will notice the change in him.

"I can't find it staying at home, so I travel. Make music, find things, people, like the job I have now. But here. This first before the job. This is what I can do as a musician."

Bongo withdraws his arm from Rose, with some regret. He finds the sounds the table, both surface and legs, the bench and his chest make. Then he improvises a rhythmic pattern, mixing time signatures against each other. And he calls up the Magic to give it full life.

[ Spoiler ]

Enthralling Performance: Artisan (percussion) 14 + MAG 6 = 20 dice: 8 hits

[sunnyside]

"Thank you" Angel replies to Tubesnake. A little bit later the drone starts moving forward. Tubesnake recognizes the walk pattern of the default command mode. Then it shudders a little bit, and then starts moving much worse, though still managing to go forward. Then it tries turning, apparently taking in its surroundings, but soon it comes around and hits itself, like someone losing a game of "snake."

"Arrrgh" comes the voice in his ear. How am I supposed to move without seeing myself. Where is the third person perspective! Oh, right real life and all. Humpf. So frustrating! I can't see anything except everything that isn't me, and by the time I can see me I'm all twisted up! "

She makes some synthetic frustrated noises for a while, and then says hopefully. "Are there any other cameras around Mr. Snake?"

-----------------------------

Bongo was reasonably certain based on how her body language tensed up that Rose was just waiting for a pause to respond to the "only one" comment. But he's saved by the bell, or rather the bongo, or more correctly the table as his performance gets her to relax and her mind to go a little slack.

When he finishes, she just stares at him for a little while until the effects fade enough that her natural loquaciousness kicks back in.

"That was amazing!" She says, and then looks at the table "Also really weird with a bar table. Are you going try and say you sprung for this for the better acoustics? Anyway I don't mind a little weird I... "

She cuts herself off, and her head slowly turns away from Bongo out into the club. These tables are designed for seeing, but also for being seen. Since the bench is only on the wall side, Bongo is essentially up on a tiny stage facing the dance floor. Following her gaze through and around the gilded bars and railing he realizes he'd attracted a substantial audience from the people just below.

There's something of a pause and then someone yells. "Hey. That was cool. Do that again!" A few cheers come up from below and then more join in, drowning out the muzak playing while the band takes their break.

[Thanee]

Selina nods to the suggestion. "Sounds good to me! Let's see what this place is offering 'under the table'."

"Foxtrot? Sure, I can do most of the classic dance routines. Lead the way!"

[ Spoiler ]

Just buying 2 hits with her 8 dice in Gymnastics (Dance)

Via those handy trodes, she mentally constructs a message to send to the team. << I'm headed for the third floor now, to see what kind of 'entertainment' they have there. Probably some not so legal stuff. I was hoping to find some leads to our missing girl there, but from what I heard, that might not be so likely after all. Still, worth a try. I don't think I will be very long. >>

Fiona follows in her astral form, informing Selina, if there is anything noteworthy going on in the awakened realm.

[pbangarth]

Bongo knows from experience what happens to a crowd when he does his thing. His first reaction to the attention is to look to see if anyone seems immune or at least unaffected by his Performance. Always good to know who the resistant ones are. Looking around while he plays is second nature to him, and he has developed his Magic to help him do just that.

He responds to the crowd, waving his arms palms down in the universal gesture of 'quiet down, please.' Then he says, "Maybe later folks, I don't want to overdo it. Watch for me in the scream sheets to see where I might be performing in the future." He gives a glance and a raised eyebrow to Rose as he says so.

He turns to Rose and speaks softly, so only she can hear. "This is going to sound even weirder, Rose. My belief is that the world is alive. Some people call the planet Gaia. I'm a percussionist, and the first most primal beat is that of the heart. I think Gaia has a heartbeat. I wanna find that, and play it. It'll have to be me, 'cause, you know, I'm a damn fine drummer. Maybe the best there is." Big, Bongo grin after that.

He waits for a chance to get to tonight's job question.

[sunnyside]

(OOC: Huh, you really had the specialization).

IC: Like Selina, Mike is also not out to push it. The calmer beats lend themselves to expressiveness and being wary of the crowd anyway. The pace lets mike focus on Selina, smiling broadly at her while having a hard time taking his eyes off her face.

At the end of the song he doesn't resist her movement towards the stairs up to the third floor along with a smaller portion of the crowd. Mostly men. Mike seems a little distracted as he seems to be making some arrangements in AR. The staircase goes up the North side of the building, with a window on the landing, with bathrooms ahead, and about equal spaces to the east and west.

The bouncers look casual and relaxed against the door east, towards the "back" of the club. They're glancing at everyone, but presumably their AR glasses do the work of checking passes and IDs, allowing the crowd to casually stroll in. There's aclosed door marked "Offices: Staff only" on the west side. (OOC: If you've ever shared telemetry the gap in the wifi paint was over the office side, hence the access to the business node)

As Selina, Mike, and Fiona approach the open door, Selina would see a dark smoky interior, with some of the older gents sitting down at the closest tables.


Fiona, however, has her view impeded by a ward across the door, making it much less open in the astral. The walls block the view to see if the ward spans much more than just the door.

(OOC: Two hits on her assensing test isn't enough to give you the force of the ward)

-----------------------

Both Rose and the crowd are disappointed by the news, but the crowd gets back to doing their thing soon enough, along with a few sour grapes comments like "stupid table thumper. " that Bongo can just make out. Some start acting like he isn't there, but with his magically enhanced perception he can make out that some are talking about him still.

(OOC: An advantage of your diverse powers is since you aren't using all your abilities at once we can mostly ignore lower background counts. Hmm. Maybe it should knock a dice off your check though.)

Rose pouts a little "Aw, I really enjoyed that. But maybe you can make it up to me by playing some later. As for the Gaia thing... well, I'm OK with weird. At least that sounds like fun weird not creepy weird. Right? "


She stretches leans her long slender form over the table, letting her turn her back partly toward the crowd to better look Bongo straight on, and blocking his view from and to the crowd.

[Thanee]

Selina opens her own senses to the astral space, in order to take a look around.

[ Spoiler ]

Selina only has 4 (6) dice on Assensing (Aura Reading), so she will likely only notice the obvious stuff, but if there are any astral forms present, that should be obvious enough.

Fiona will look around the sides of the floor in the meantime, to see whether it is fully covered by the ward. Maybe she can even sneak herself through the ward with some effort, but generally that is considered intrusive, so she is still waiting with that.

[ Spoiler ]

Can you only assense something once? Or can you try again, given there is no real time pressure at the moment.

If so, she could just try a few more times, to see if she can learn more. And she could possibly just pass through it with a Magic + Charisma vs. Force x2 opposed test, but she will only try that, if Selina sees no astral patrols inside (in which case Fiona will just wait outside).

[Koekepan]

Paul wanders over to the refreshments in his van, grabs himself a cup of bean juice and a Nutzkrunsh bar (It'll crunch your nuts!) then settles down on his workstation stool to watch the shankworm writhe.

<<It has pretty good optical sensors, but they're not panoptic. What you're looking for are the touch matrix and proprioceptors. I could set you up more cameras, but you won't always have them so it makes more sense to get used to the extended sensory facilities. You should also make sure that you're hooking into the auditory and vibration sensors, because they'll correlate with the regular balance, attitude and other information coming in from proprioception so you can handle movement better. Bear in mind that the feet have suction cups as well as gecko tape tips.>>

He takes a pull from his cup and then unwraps the bar for a snack while Angel wrestles with the information flood.

[pbangarth]

"Right!" Bongo replies. "But it could take years ... a lifetime to figure it all out. In the meantime, I have to eat. So, speaking of earning my keep, let me get my business here out of the way so I can concentrate on enjoying your company.

"My teammates and I are looking for a young woman who went missing a while back. She showed up on someone's picture taken here one night not long ago. " He makes the pic available to Rose. "If you recognize anyone at the table, it would help us track her down and get her back to her family."

[sunnyside]

Looking around quickly in the astral, Selina doesn't see anything magically active except the ward. Perhaps just for state of mind it's just as well Fiona bumped into the astral magician earlier so they left.

By very slowly moving her face into the aural shadow of the wall, Fiona can see the glow of the ward before hitting it. The ward certainly extends down hall, and so it isn't a hasty mana barrier, so probably the couple hundred cubic meter variety.

For Selina, being led to the otherwise inviting doors by Mike, the only issue would be if she had any active spells or items (OOC: As I understand it fashion isn't magical after the required turns of sustaining, and I don't think fetishes have an issue, so I think she's Ok).

------------


(OOC: You have Bongo's Charisma down as 1+4=6. But even counting it as 5 you come up with 6 hits on etiquette, and generally a mound of positive modifiers for negotiation after that, which was useful as she isn't shabby in the social department either. )

Rose doesn't seem nearly so bothered at talk of help of the job as she had earlier at the bathrooms, and gives the picture a serious look.

"Well, I know the table for sure. It's right over there, but you probably figured that out.

Hmmm. No, I don't recognize her, or the guy she's with. But I feel like I've seen the other guy around some, maybe a few times. I've never talked with him or anything. "

She leans back with her hand on her mouth thinking.

"Actually wait, I haven't only seen him in the club while it's open. I'm pretty positive I saw him around off hours when we were working on getting everything set up. So he must have some business here with management. He's not regular staff or I should have a better idea of who he is. I think he was talking with the Miguel, who handles security here, and a couple of the bouncers that are usually on the third floor, so probably something security related. "

--------------------

Angel makes another frustrated synth noise in response, but on tubesnakes tip gets out of her predicament by using the feet to climb over the body section she'd bumped into, which works reasonably well, and then she's off again. She starts making happier noises as she starts heading around, and soon is under the van and messing around with going up the tires she she can walk around upside down.

Eventually the length of the thing gets her in touble again as the tail end binds in a wheel well.

Aside from some noises at first she doesn't immediately ask Tubesnake for help. After a little bit the worm makes a relatively elegant rolling move to get out of it's bind. And it takes off toward the building.

" This time I compiled a friend to help out with moving. It does a real good job....but it'll only do one job for me before having to leave. So I told it to explore the top of the building again to see what it does. Would it be OK, if you sent another drone up there Mr. Snake? Please? "

[Thanee]

"Just take your time, Fiona, to see if you can squeeze through the ward. If it proves too difficult, just wait outside," Selina informs her ally via their telepathic link.

She drops her own astral perception, in order to not interfere with the ward, as they head inside. Once there, she will focus her senses on the astral once more, to see if there is any other obvious countermeasure in place, like patrolling spirits.

[Koekepan]

<<No problem, hang on a moment.>>

Paul whistles quietly to himself while pulling the Fly-Spy back off the charging system, and popping open the hatch to send it flying up to the top of the club building.

<<On its way, ma'am, it'll be there before you finish walking up.>>

[pbangarth]

Bongo sends the new information on to the team. Then he settles in to a nice conversation with Rose. "Thanks. My part in the investigation is over for the moment, then, and I am free to indulge in conversation with a lovely lady.

"So is this the style of music you prefer? He gestures toward the stage. If you had your choice, what would you sing?"

[sunnyside]

Stepping through the doorway Selina is able to get a better view of the inside of the large room. Looking in the astra she doesn't see any obvious defenses. But the murky environment reveals the background count in here is a two.


The room is set up somewhat like a standard stripper joint, with chairs and tables and short catwalk with a bar next to it on the north side. As this isn't a big building to start with the whole area is smaller than typical. Making it more crowded is that the east and west walls are taken up by little rooms with separate doors, less than three meters wide. Seven opposite where Selina came in and four on this side, owing to some space being lost to the entryway here on the south side of the room and bar north side This leaves a rectangular space in between. There are no windows, though there is a fire escape door near the catwalk. There are a trio of large Orks there, they don't come up as bouncers in AR though. The artificial light gives the room a purple tint.

Selina had time to warn Fiona if there was a spirit on patrol, but there isn't and after a short while Fiona manages to wriggle through the ward. This puts her into one of the small rooms. All she sees inside is a bench curving around the small space and the walls look like they might be padded.

There are some girls dancing, though they still have some scanty period clothes on.

Young girls, too young, of the different metahuman races are around in a variety of outfits, some period, but some more turn of the 21st century school girl outfits and the like.

Mike leads her towards the south wall, which puts them away from the crowd filing in, which tend to head towards the bar, tables, or catwalk.

"So the idea is the club doesn't employ any of them in any way. They're just supposed to be here for a good time and just happen to have fake IDs. In the wildly unlikely event they ever get busted they can ask what are bouncers supposed to do if the data isn't good after the last crash? They do the best they can with matrix security and so on and so forth.

The game is that they're naive and think everyone here is fascinating and nobody breaks character. People give them gifts for company and rent rooms, but never discuss money.

Though half the people here just seem to like the atmosphere and just want to hang out with friends and gamble while some pretty young thing pretends to care when you win, or just to have someone listen to their stories. Some just like to do business up here with higher security. "

Scanning the room the girls are mostly doing a good job of putting on an act but Selina knows something about conning people herself (OOC: 4 hits) and can tell most of them are terrified.

--------------------

Rose thinks a little while. "Well. " She pauses and bites her lip. Then lets out a big sigh. "I'm all over the place. That's why I change bands so often and keep on the lookout. Maybe what I really like is some variety you know? " She pauses again " I'd really like to hit it big, but maybe I'd get tired of it all if I get pinned down with whatever style finally shot me to the top."

She smiles broadly at Bongo "Though worry about that. I'd really really like to find out if that's the case."


------------

(OOC: pbangarth was a little fuzzy, but presumably he passes on, maybe as an audio file, what Rose said)

Angel thinks "Thanks Mr. Snake! I like this flying one. Ohhhh and the crawling one is cute. Just hard to work with. Being long and all. " She's getting a liiiiitle too close to the scaffolding for Tubesnakes taste but seems to be handling the spy alright.

For it's part the spirit is getting some good speed, as far is it goes for these things, out of the shankworm. But, checking the telemetry, it isn't too long before it's explored the roof and the shankworm just stops.

After a bit Angels voice returns "Mr. Snake. Could we try having them do a little narwhal swordfight? Do they break easy? "

[Koekepan]

<<Length gives advantages in some conditions, especially where footing is complex. The suckers and tape mean that it can hang from pipes or wires, look around corners and so on. The knife doesn't really work the way that you think, though. You could sort of wave it around, but it's made for a hard, powered jab. It's a good option for stealthing up on a devil rat or a raccoon, and skewering it, and of course all those feet give lots of purchase for driving it right through bones and cartilage. The primary use case is going down pipes and narrow spaces to fix problems and hunt down varmints. Depending on the varmint, there's enough length on the worm to wrap around it for a good grip and perform repeated stabs. The silicone is doped with internal fibrous structures to make it a flexible composite, which is kind of tough and strong, but I wouldn't recommend trying to get two of them to fence. The smart way to use them is to retract the blade until you can sneak up on your target, and then punch it out in a stab. The flexibility of the worm also means that it can foreshorten its body and then lunge out at the same time as it drives the spike out to add more range and strength to the attack.>>