Charm City [IC] Options

[pbangarth]

Well, Bongo. This is it. Is she going to fry your brain? Nah. She's gonna read your mind. Mind Probe, or something like that, right? What the Hell.

Bongo leans forward to put his head at a more reachable level and looks directly into her eyes.

[sunnyside]

(OOC: It's possible I'm too harsh on mind probe. I make them re-roll at -2 after every complex action probing, though only resisting drain once. It might have been fun if they rolled hot enough to get deep into Bongo's unconscious but no. Still, they managed an impressive four dips at the 3-4 level then two at the surface. That would find what they're looking for, unless Bongo resisted at which point there's a very real chance he'd have been able to at least keep her at surface level thoughts.
But if he's playing along I'll leave what she finds up to him. She's looking for employment, affiliations with the powerful, and selling people out. Surface emotions are whatever he's got brewing. There's stuff you could draw from just from the charm city campaign, but, especially to the extent he isn't up to some of that recently, it'd be finding stuff maybe from earlier campaigns or backstory. I'll let you decide on those details and play it out, since the exact details she's hunting for aren't there. )

[pbangarth]

Thuy finds no resistance from Bongo. He is here to make a connection and is willing to give her as much as she can dig up. Scenes flash before his mind's eye, without a hint of subterfuge or reticence to share:

The escapade at Club Rojo in Toronto, in disguise and distractingly musical; and the woman at the Rex afterwards.

The little scuffle he and Willie got into with a Boston gangster trying to move into Baltimore, including Bongo's use of his Voice.

Early disappointments with school and his distaste with government and corporate headhunters at same. Oh, the disappointment in his parent's eyes.

The raucous good times with Johnny Winnipeg and Runs-With-tricks, and the ensuing hangovers.

The hurling of a cymbal at a particularly obnoxious patron of the arts, and the devastating effect it had to the man's dentures.

The unfortunate circumstances that made Bongo and Willie decide it was a good idea to cross the continent from Seattle to Baltimore.

The memorizing of the contents and layout of a pawn shop in Seattle, and his detailed recounting thereof to his team at the time.

And overarching it all, his deep desire to find the heartbeat of Gaia and to play it one day. One day.

[sunnyside]

As she finishes she says "Well, I'm pretty confident he doesn't have any job relating to coming after us, but he is a shadowrunner. Seems like he's been bouncing all over the UCAS. Never really locked anything big down. Mostly I think he wants power." Then she adds. " The magical sort, more than the being a boss sort."

The female dwarf butts in "Well, can't entirely blame him. And I'd buy that it's more than that. If it was just that, his talent probably wouldn't be in musical stuff. If anything maybe we're worse for our abilities. "

Brevis says "Ahh, but the running around is where it's at! Think he can keep up? "

Thuy replies "Well, he has his tricks, but he's been a Shadowrunner for a while, and that probably means he's had to make a lot of very serious getaways. Oh, and he's got some weird thing that was hard to lock onto as a concept about "finding the heartbeat of Gaia" or something. "

The elf drolls "Well, I've never heard of anything like that. But if Gaia has a heart it seems like we ought to be closer to it down here. "

Brevis suddenly jumps in. "You know, I just kinda got to know the rest of the pansies. We never got to do, like, a real initiation thing! Like we should have him do something cool. Or maybe all together but he has to do the craziest bit or something? Ohhhh, fucking A this could be fun! " He starts rubbing his hands together.

[pbangarth]

Bongo jumps right in. "You guys are musicians. How about I write a thesis/masterpiece theme song for the group? Like the main theme of an action trideo that could be played whenever a Vex action takes place. Who knows? It might catch on with the public."

[ Spoiler ]

As in Initiatory Ordeals, p. 50 SM. Specifically p. 52.

[sunnyside]

The elf says "Whoa Whoa Whooooa. That's some enthusiasm darling. I can appreciate that. But you're getting a little ahead of yourself. I'm not sure what trouble Brevis is thinking of, but you haven't even joined up yet. You don't have the vibe of the group to make something like that. Relax a little. " It takes him a while to get all that out at the pace he speaks, while lounging on the slow of the cave wall. Though, being the only one in the group over five foot six does make the space more of a challenge for him.

The male human notices Thuy is smiling, so he smiles too. "Look. For now let's just play a set of jams and see if we can't get some folks to cough up some funds, and then we'll see where we go from there. "

[Thanee]

Looking at her slowly growing stack of chips, Selina wonders, if that is the thrilling feeling that gamblers seek out. Of course, she also sees the dread of those that have their chips diminish, the other side of the coin. Except for Mike, who probably does not care about losing a couple hundred Nuyen (and if so, the prospect of losing will probably bug him more than the actual money), or at least he does not show any signs of it. Good poker face. How was the saying? Quit while you are ahead. That seems like a good strategy.

"Gentlemen, it was fun. I think, I will cash in my stash now and leave you to it before my luck runs out."

She grabs her commlink and sends a quick text over.

<< Do you want to keep playing for a while, and win those chips back? >>

[pbangarth]

"OK. OK." Says Bongo. "I don't know the protocol of these things. Yeah, once I get an idea in my head, I do try to run with it." As he talks, Bongo looks around at the crew and makes note of their appearances. "You know I run with another crew here in Baltimore, and when the fixer calls, then I have a job to do. Aside from that I'm free to do other things. Like now, for example. So, what's the next step?"

[sunnyside]

Mike smiles. "Well, enjoy the chips everyone. I do enjoy poker, but I have my priorities" he says obviously looking at Selina as he gets up.

Despite winning the other uptowners, looking more than a little nervous now that they aren't deliberately keeping up a poker face also get up. One of them somewhat weakly gets out a "lots to do up here."

The gangers are looking at each other with animosity, seeming to want the other to say something first. However Mike, as casually as he can, interjects. "You might want to try out some dancing, maybe the side rooms, while you can for a while. It's only so long before the cops "bust" the joint for staying open too late. Don't worry they never actually hassle any of the customers. "

That does give the gangers a relatively easy out for the situation, and with a few more exchanges regarding being like bugs spirits or being tougher than them they break it up and start going for the dance floor.

Mike messages to Selina <<Probably good to get out, I was getting some bad vibes. And you were ahead! If you want to play more, maybe we could play for clothes later. >>

Out loud he says. "You know, I kinda want to show them how it done. What do you think. Something flashy to show what's possible, or maybe some easy moves they could pick up? "

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

The human male says "C'mon. The next step is the next set. "

The elf says "Oooh. I like that. Maybe we can work that in somewhere. In the meantime let's think of songs OTHER than songs about caves and mines. I've had quite enough. Maybe some new stuff for a while."

(OOC: It feels like a good time to spin time for Bongo, Paul, and Willie, while the crowd parties and Paul gets things done.

One thing is the crowd does cough up some dough, so Paul can either finish up patchwork repairs and give them a line of credit for future work at the union, or replace or add something more substantial down here. Another thought might be a high signal node for diagnostics.

Eventually Bongo would get the names of the group via small talk, though they're still a bit cagy on any details, but he could give them all comlink info for him.

Male dwarf : Brevis
female dwarf :Teres
Androgynous elf. Bem
female human : Thuy
male human : Binh

[Thanee]

<< They don't seem to know much else... >>

Since Mike is happy to end the game and move on, Selina gets up as well.

"Oh, you know that I love dancing. Sure, let's go for it. To the dance floor!"

Starting slow is probably a good idea, but Selina also likes the thought of getting a little wild with their moves.

[Koekepan]

Paul thinks briefly but hard about the options. Realistically, these aren't folks who want to go back to the union on a regular basis. What they do need is ways of understanding the mess that they have. The right thing to do is to add pressure, flow rate and level gauges and then add a descriptive panel that stipulates what things are and where, as best possible, they go, and perhaps a few specifications so that amateur plumbers have a fair chance to figure things out.

He gets out a flat chunk of PlastiBoard and lays it down. Then he gets a flatworker to engage an engraving bit, and lays out a design for it to engrave with the data on board. While that happens - gauge installation time! Fortunately, fittings are easy and standard sizes.

[pbangarth]

Bongo plays along with the crew, trying to gauge relative skills and who plays what instruments. During a lull, he messages Brevis.

<<Here's my contact info which you can share with the others. I know you are all being cautious, and that makes perfect sense. >>

As things wind down, he tells the group, "Thanks for the jam session. If you guys feel ready to let me in on the next step, let me know. Brevis has my contact info."

He checks in on Tubesnake. "How are things going here?" He sees the drone etching a guide of the plumbing system. "Cool. Multi-talented these little guys!"

#####

Willie whiles away the wait by scanning matrix training sessions on the use of blades of various types. He is ready at a moment's notice to leap to the service of his teammates.

[sunnyside]

Mike starts out with a fitting dance, but, as much as he seems to act like he doesn't care about anyone but Selina he's soon looking around at the gangers, who still are mostly sort of bobbing near their women. Most of the uptown folks aren't getting into it either, also finding it awkward.

He just stands there and rubs his chin. Eventually he says to her. "Ok, before I start let me explain. I work on armor professionally. Our stuff is among the best I think, and we have very nice rigs for concealed anything. However even then it can be a pain."

He moves to wrap Selina up in a slow foxtrot to get close and quiet. " I think they're wearing stuff that, well, isn't exactly designer. Besides that, I've noticed a lot of them are wearing combat boots, or boots too bulky for combat, to the dance floor. Also lots of dance feels like it's about showing you're light. It's right there in "light on your feet." Even if they were, I don't think these guys would want to be called light...and they aren't."

He stops speaking for a bit to dip Selina, but then gets back to it.

"Also they don't seem to have the idea of couples dancing down exactly. That takes some planning. So I'm trying to workshop ideas. Maybe it could be a whole thing someday. Armored dance class. Anyway I'm thinking the first rule is you always have to have one foot planted. I mean actually planted, no twisting on it while the other foot can't bear weight, those treads are made for traction. Then I'm thinking about limited mobility in ankles and hips. And then maybe nothing entirely silly. Maybe those are the biggest factors. Oh, and maybe half tempo? At least for the feet. Let me cook for a while here."

He lets Selina go, and starts trying to do a planted foot Charleston.

It looks pretty clumsy and awkward, and even though he's going slow he nearly manages to lose his balance.

"Ugh. This should be easier, but I guess it's always harder to unlearn things. "

But he does keep going, though if he gets to many stares he'll throw in an elaborate flourish and get closer to Selina.

At one point he says "You might be able to have quite different criteria for the ladies, but they seem to be managing on their own."

It takes him quite a while, and a few drinks, but he eventually seem to get some dances sorted out that he seems to enjoy, don't look horrible, and follow his criterion.

At that he goes over the to DJ and has a short discussion. The first song is "Posin'" by Peggy Suave, but the underlying four on the floor beat has been boosted, acting like a 120 beats per minute metronome. He steps into the middle of the dance floor and starts doing his planted foot Charleston, with the more sweeping motions he prefers broken down so a foot is always tapping on the beat or every other. It does lack a certain something over the real dance, but it does start getting some of the guys subtly tapping out parts of it near the wall.

He seems to not want to mix it up too much at this stage, but he seems a little awkward all alone, and gives Selina an "I could use a little help out here" look with his eyes.

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

Brevis gives Bongo a nod "I'm still not sure what I'll get up to, but I'll definitely ping you at some point soon. You've got it being a little boring down here on your side. Maybe work on mad beats to get shredded to. I need some muscle in addition to mojo"

The band might have chatted more, but Bongo (OOC: Again unless he dodges) takes an impact from Abby from the side. "Oh, this is just wonderful! I had a great time, and didn't wind up having to burn all my money to get this problem fixed. However can I thank you? Oh, I'd really appreciate it if you'd come and check out my house to make sure everything is find despite all the leaking and whatnot." she says running a finger along his clavicle.

The band members make a hasty exit while chuckling.

Paul would notice on his drone feeds that while basically everybody is gone now except Bongo and Abby there are a couple guys staring at what his drones are up to. Their clothes are stained with the peculiar sandstone mud you find down here. One of them asks the other "What part do you think this big thing is. They're really carving it up. " But the second just shrugs.

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

Outside Willie finds it somewhat difficult to take care of Paul's van. The driving is easy as you please. Out here the roads are in good condition, all the lights work, he hasn't run into anyone double parked yet, and there aren't even any go gangers randomly tearing up the joint.

However what he'll occasionally pick up with his sharpened senses is one of the local goon squads giving anyone who doesn't look like they fit in a hard time. They like to make certain people aware they don't belong, or block roads to indicate they better head north into downtown Baltimore instead of South to the Japanacorp peninsula. He hasn't seem them engaging in outright violence yet, their intimidation tactics seem to be working just fine.

Willie probably isn't the only one who has noticed cameras are everywhere. The thing about privately owned cameras is the owner decides which snippets of the recording to share with law enforcement, and how much nuyen to send along to enhance the image.

[Koekepan]

Paul lets his sense of humour get the better of him. He sends along a shankworm, creeping along on its stubby little legs, to join the drone crew and then perform a little dragon dance for them. Happy lunar new year ... or whatever. Hey, it's dancing!

[pbangarth]

Really? Months of drought and now when it rains it pours. With hail stones, too.

"Uh, yeah, it's going to take some time after the fix here for the dripping into your place to stop. No point looking now. Once it does stop, you will have some cleaning to do, I'm sure. Thanks for us is a job well done, m'am."

Bongo hopes that last honorific will dampen Abby's spirits a bit. Geez.

[sunnyside]

(OOC: I appreciate the new years reference! I was out all yesterday and slept in until noon today, so I'm only now getting to things).

The guys smile and laugh at the little shankworm. That has the advantage of getting them to stick around if Paul wants to try to entertain them until it's clear what the first drone is building (presumably by etching in pictographs of pumps, pipes and such).

Abby hasn't noticed the dancing drone. Bongo can see the gears working a little on that lest sentence, but she seems to be getting the message that he advances aren't being reciprocated.

Eventually she says, a little crestfallen, "Well, it take it you're saying that eventually everything should be fine in my place one I clean up the water. So...well, I guess I'll head there. Feel free to message me if you have issues with payment or anything else. Or drop by." She picks up some of her previous confidence as she speaks, and as she turns to go she throws in a little swing of her hips and a swat on Bongo's tail (OOC: Again assuming he doesn't throw some dodge dice).

[pbangarth]

Whew. Dodged a bullet named Abby. The tap on the behind is a small price to pay for release. Bongo nods to her as she leaves, "Thanks. I'll keep that in mind."

he gives his attention to the drone show. <<Any ETA on when we can leave? I've gotten what I can today from the people I wanted to meet.>>

[Koekepan]

<<Fifteen to finish etching in the results, we can start packing up what I've finished so far, and we can hit the mean streets above in half an hour. Willie, would you be able to bring the van back around?>>

[pbangarth]

Willie replies, <<I'll be there.>> He continues his studies until it is time to go pick up his teammates, and then he pulls out of the parking spot and heads back to the park. He (sorta) hopes the same thugs are still there. Sorta. This is mostly Bongo's parade, and why rain on that?

[sunnyside]

The board seems to have intrigued the guys in the tunnel. They don't seem to think to ask Paul or Bongo about it as they try to figure the thing out amongst themselves (OOC: But Paul could spend a little while filling them in if he wants). Otherwise things are cleared out and the union tab in the system reads as paid.

Outside, the goons from earlier are still around somewhere probably, Willie has spotted them in the distance a couple times as he drove around. But they're moving around versus camping out at an empty parking spot. So Willie won't have a problem parking for a while. He's pretty confident he'd find them in a few minutes of driving around looking though.

[Thanee]

Selina listens to Mike's ideas. She does like the general idea of giving them something else to focus on. Dancing is as much about training as it is about improvisation, and with her experience, Selina is quite capable of trying something new and having it look not overly awkward.

"Alright. Let's see what we can come up with."

Since Mike is going with the idea of being fairly stationary in what he does, Selina will join in with two different approaches. First, she also dances on the spot, just opposite of him, going a little back and forth, but overall pretty slow, until she has figured out the rythm and increases the tempo a bit. Occasionally, she moves into a second set of dance moves, that let her circle around him, like a satellite, or a moon, or whatever else comes to mind. That part is clearly more light-footed, but her own outfit is also clearly more suited for something in that direction.

[Koekepan]

Paul takes a moment to stop by and point out the key: ""Hey chummers. This is a water pipe - this icon means sewage water, this is clean. Here are flow rates, here it says what the pipe material is. This icon is for check valves, this is for manual valves, this is a pump. These are electrical lines, and this is the voltage and amperage. If you want to do it yourself, you should be good but don't hesitate to call in a union worker to do it. I gotta vacate, see you all later.""

[pbangarth]

Bongo joins Tubesnake and walks back out with him. Willie is there in the van, waiting.

[sunnyside]

As the evening goes on Mike seems to note with increasing satisfaction that some of the guys are attempting to subtly and not so subtly copy his moves. He changes them up within the repertoire he had been working with Selina earlier.

Occasionally going a couple songs where he really pushes himself, perhaps a bit more than he'd enjoy, but he's quite the dancer when he focuses on it. Selina's lithe and graceful form helps a great deal in making him look good with lifts.

(OOC: You could roll if you wish Selina to attempt to be particularly extravagant herself, but she can buy hits to keep up. )

However he doesn't do that for too long, and soon goes back into teaching mode. He doesn't actually attempt to offer any unsolicited advice, and keeps his attention on Selina, but she can tell that he seems to be taking some pride in others copying his moves. It's rather obvious they are. Without knowing the traditional dances, they wouldn't know that these are new and not just common. However even out of the corner of her eye every stompy step or flat footed foxtrot sticks out like glaring neon.

The other uptowners surely notice, but they don't appear to be saying anything about it, some even mess around with it themselves.

(OOC: FYI I do partly mention all that because my interpretation of the perception skill is a strong tendency to keep one's head on a swivel and to continually scan the environment. You'd have to say if you really wanted to give someone obviously undivided attention. Selina doesn't have the highest perception, but she gets a decent pool from her stat and specialization, before other modifiers.)

Besides being able to increasingly share the dance floor, Selina notices some of the security and magical personnel from the two gangs talking. Presumably about her, as they glance at her and Mike, until Reggie takes note, which is never too long.

Selina's moves are more complex than the ones Mike is trying to teach. However the women are generally picking things up much faster. Though some are more interested in looking tough than dancing. There's an odd balance between tensions growing and relaxing. For there part there are actual coolers that the club has brought in, that do a competent job of moving in when things seem a little too hot, and offering drinks or distractions to cool things down. However Selina still suspects the gangers are more concerned ultimately with her group. Fiona doesn't think any of the club guys have magic, and not much if any cyber. The gangers might have the same read.

When someone shouts that the cops are here, some of the gangers act like they're ready to throw down. However reassurances from management fly rapidly, and the uptowners are clearly unbothered as the place empties out. There's a last bit of silliness as people slam down their last drinks and hustle out the door.

Mike gives Selina a little wink as they head out and ducks down to his table to get a last swish of hastily prepared Absinth as they head out.

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


Bongo has a couple days, but does get messages from Rose and Brevis in the next days.

Rose says <<Hey there Mr. Professional! Just checking to see if you found any talent you want to work with. I've been bouncing around the local college. There are some folks that are eager if not entirely exceptional. >>

That does pose a slight problem as Bongo isn't overly impressed with the musicality of Vex, from a technical skill standpoint. Though he hasn't seen them play in anything resembling a properly set up stage either, and a sandstone hole full of more people than any fire marshal would approve of aren't the best for acoustics or hearing either.

Brevis sent <<Hey. The guys would be Ok with jamming sometime, now that we know about it we could meet up in the pump room. They also took a big steamy dump on all my awesome initiation ideas. Seems they're worried you'll get yourself shot up. Also we don't want our hoops on the line if you frag up the getaway. So you can pick a place for a little solo. Make it cool, get it on trid, but don't get caught. The rest want you to pick something where you know you can pull it off, and are willing to be there to help just in case.

But, you could fucking push it if, ya know, ya wanna. >>

(OOC: I'm not looking to make that a whole adventure. Pitch what you'd like to do, roughly and I can help with specifics as needed. Make some legwork rolls to get a bead on how difficult it might be (i.e. the threshold you're looking for with running and gymnastic tests). Then it's a performance check and athletics rolls.)

-----------

(OOC: Since Paul went to the whole bother of getting something figured out for a drone for Angel I figure RPing getting that thing fixed and to her is his next short thing.


I don't know of anything on tap for Willie. He could attempt to develop contacts a bit from his run, or the Boyz outside the how, who he already has made an impression with after his inital edge fueled escapades. )

[Thanee]

Selina is fine with not letting things go out of hand on the dance floor. With their experience, they are miles ahead of the others there, already. It's interesting to watch the dynamics.

[ Spoiler ]

Just buying the hits

As they rush out before the cops come looking for the noise complaints, Selina giggles. "Look at us, stealing away into the night, like some criminals ... wait, I still need my coat!"

Once they have retrieved that, it is time to get to the car. Of course, Mike has one waiting for them. "That was quite a fun evening! Thank you!" She cozies up next to him on the backseat and it does not take long for their lips to meet in a few kisses. They are both clearly in the mood.

Back at the Tourmaline, they take the elevator up to his place. He takes her coat, like a gentleman.

In the meantime, Selina plays with the straps of her dress, pushing them over her shoulders, which essentially makes the whole thing slide down to the ground. "Oops! Looks like you won't need those cards after all..." she says coyly.

As he leads her further into his apartment trying hard to not let his grin grow even wider, Selina casually remarks: "You would have lost anyways..."

With nothing else going on, she is happy to stay for the whole night this time...