Living in the Shadows: IC, your run might be over... Options

[grendel]

18:50:22 Saturday 06 January 2063 - Seattle, UCAS

Akiko Omura is waiting for Tenmou in the lobby of her apartment building, pushing through the doors and striding to the car as he pulls up outside. Her outfit is in direct contrast to the casual style displayed yesterday, although this doesn't surprise Tenmou at all. Once again her hair is pulled back from her face, held in a bun by a pair of chopsticks. Beneath her black synth-leather duster, she wears a crimson bodysuit and knee-high leather boots. Not waiting for Tenmou to exit the vehicle, she climbs into the backseat, settling herself before glancing at him in the rear view mirror.

"You've done well so far. Head for North Downtown, 7124 Broderick Drive."

[Sedna]

15:01:38 Saturday, January 6th, 2063 - Puyallup Street Clinic // Cyberspace

"Exchange of information?" echoes Kiki. "Oh, yes ..."

Almost gently the decker reaches down inside the dress; the hand pulled out shimmers against the odd carnival light. "Don't worry about finding me, dear," says Kiki softly. "I'll find you."

And blows the sparkle into Sybersnake's face.

It never reaches her. In what might as well have been the same moment, a sharp movement -- and Bob's screwdriver shears off the heads of the remaining rivets -- and the roller coaster disintegrates under them and they're all falling through its floor, through the track, hundreds of feet above a hard hard ground more imagined than actually seen; Sybersnake's manacles rusted completely through; and one by one the others blink out like street lights --

// And in the still dead air of the small office Dragon suddenly gasps, flailing, too uncoordinated even rip the cords away as a part of him longed to do. Beside him Virgil is sobbing air into his lungs like he's forgotten what it means to breathe. Tiffany's only just choked off her scream; the echoes of it are still reverberating around the walls. Father Bremen is being raggedly and viciously sick into a bucket, the spasms tearing through his whole body.

In the decker's chair in front of Galina's massive bulk, Sybersnake lies sprawled, awkward, far too still.

Dragon is the first to struggle to his feet, the floor far too still under his feet. Attempts to compensate for the crazily tilting stillness pull him off-balance first into the desk, then into the far wall, then into the troll herself where she's standing, monitoring her, before he is finally able to reach Sybersnake's side. No one else tries to move, not yet.

Galina's eyes meet Bob's as he unjacks. Very slightly, he nods.

Against Dragon's hand, Sybersnake stirs, and moans.

[Scrapheap]

18:52:29 Sunday 07 January 2063 – Oodles of Noodles Restaurant

It was John's turn to lean back in his chair and rub his own eyes. Well, not his eyes exactly, but the area around the mirrored shields protecting them. He hadn't realized how tired he was, but now, sitting in the warm restaurant with a full stomach, it was catching up to him with a vengence. I guess this old man needs more than 3 hours of sleep in a 36 hour period, huh? I've got to stay focused; stay in the "now."

"Kid, I've said it before and I'll say it again now: all I want to do is find Nora. Since the quickest way to do that seems to be by talking to Twiggy, I'll go with your first option. You've got a good head on your shoulders and bringing some of your friends is smart. You can bring 3, but make sure that they all stay where I can see them."

Frowning, Megan shakes her head and starts to speak before John cuts her off. "Listen, you obviously believe me about Nora and trust me enough to make this offer, but you're still taking precautions. That's smart, but I have to take precautions too. What if you bring 10 chummers and lead me into a trap? Who would look out for Nora then?"

He paused to take a drink of his tea and let that sink in before continuing. For her part, Megan managed to look thoughtful even while continuing to eat like it was her last meal. Finishing her own dinner, she didn't even bother to ask before reaching across the table to take his bowl and begin eating the remainder of his pad thai. Her eyes remained locked on his, however.

"You say you can't do drek to make your friends safe, but you can. You can take me to Twiggy. The way it sounds, if I take care of the trouble that Nora's in it will help everyone involved, right? What do you say? You say the word, and I'll pay this bill and we can get moving."

John stiffled a yawn and waited for her answer.

[WinterRat1]

18:54:09 Sunday 07 January 2063 – Oodles of Noodles Restaurant

Megan shakes her head. "Five. I saw how fast you took down those two guys back at the arcade. What's one more going to do? And yeah, I buy that you're Nora's uncle, but trust only goes so far sometimes, especially when corpers get involved. And you got the skills to be one of them."

[Scrapheap]

18:54:59 Sunday 07 January 2063 – Oodles of Noodles Restaurant

John smiled slightly and shook his head. If she thinks that was fast, she should have seen me in my prime.

"Five then, but you still need to keep them in front of me. And you might want to go ahead and tell them about the arcade so no one gets cute." He waved for the waitress to bring the bill. "It's too bad you're not closer to Nora. If you were, you'd know I'm no fraggin' suit."

[Shadowrunner13]

18:50:22 Saturday 06 January 2063 - Seattle, UCAS

Tenmou simply nods to let her know he heard the instructions and merges into traffic. He taps the autonav computer set into the dashboard to find the quickest way to get to the requested address. With a course plotted, he concentrates on making good time to the destination.

[WinterRat1]

15:01:50 Saturday, January 6th, 2063 - Puyallup Street Clinic

System scan. Initiate diagnostic. As soon as Dragon could think coherently, that was the very first thing he did. He knew people could die in the Matrix, sure, everybody did. But what else could happen in there? How else could you get fragged up? He didn't know the answer, but what with new enemies popping up seemingly around any and every fragging corner, he was taking no chances.

While he waited for the biomonitor to complete its scan, he turned his attention back to matters at hand. His immediate thought was to ask, 'what the frag just happened?' with as much venom as he could muster from all his years as a Sergeant, demanding answers, even guesses, from those who might have them. Then Dragon took a closer look around.

Virgil, he trusted completely. Sybersnake, not as thoroughly, but given everything that was happening, he didn't buy for a second that she was in on deliberately setting them up. Given the way Tiffany screamed, if she really was in on this then she was either a hell of an actress or willing to pay a hell of a price to be on the inside. He didn't buy either of those theories either. Bob was a wildcard, but he'd just saved their hoops, right? Or at least Dragon thought so.

Still, it was a fair bet that if the decker hadn't done whatever he did when he did it, something would've happened to Sybersnake courtesy of Kiki, and Dragon was willing to bet that said 'something' would've been anything but good.

Bringing his gaze to Father Bremen, the one he was most thoroughly pissed at, he softened a little watching the miserable priest puking in the bucket. He wasn't double crossing you. He didn't even withhold vital information from you. He didn't know what the hell was going on either. Sure, there's an outside chance, but...no, he's not even an ally! He's a freaking civilian! He's not out there running ops and doing crazy drek, he's just a good guy trying to do a bit of good in this damned world. And you're gonna do what? Haul him out back and hold the shotgun to his head and demand answers he doesn't have? Yeesh. Chill out. Hey! This is not a debate, I want answers and he might...he might what!? Throw up on you? Look at him!

Glancing over at the big troll, almost comically huge over the small bucket, Dragon shook his head to clear it from the internal debate raging in his mind. He had a tendency to drift like that sometimes, the part of him that was still human raging against the machine within.

OK both of you stop, he cut off his selves, before they could pick it back up again. We're not in the field, so we gotta work this whole social thing. He felt his human side smirking at the machine. BUT, we got biz to do, and sometimes that means we gotta take care of things because it has to be done, even if it's not convenient or nice to others. Now the machine side grinned and flipped the finger back.

Gathering his voice, Dragon leaned against the desk for support and asked, "Everyone ok? No one's going to keel over, are they?" His vision blurred slightly as the rush of blood to his head as he sat up straight hit. "Ugh. Correction, no one's going to keel over permanently, right?"

The collective response seemed to be a chorus of gasps, moans, and Father Bremen's emphatic retching. "OK, everyone take a couple, get things together. Bob, what happened, dumpshock? Is there anything we can do for everyone here? Water? Coffee?"

Not waiting for a response, Dragon continued, while gently stroking Sybersnake's hair with his free hand reassuringly, "We can't stay here long. We'll take a few to get it together, then debrief quickly if there's time, and then jet. We've got a lot to do and not too much time to do it."

Looking back at Galina and Bob, he gives them a wan smile. "So how about it? Anything that'll help us get through this any faster?"

[WinterRat1]

18:55:08 Sunday 07 January 2063 – Oodles of Noodles Restaurant

Megan nods. "All right, deal," she responds as she finishes scarfing down the last of John's food. "So what now?"

[banditf50]

15:02:05 Saturday, January 6th, 2063 - Puyallup Street Clinic


Precious air . . .real air. As his desperate urge to suck in deep breaths of oxygen subsided Virgil felt a new wave of unpleasant sensation wash over him. His legs suddenly seemed unable to hold his weight, as if the short foray into the matrix had treated his body like a three month coma.

Taking one final deep breath Virgil lowered himself to the floor and assumed a cross-legged seat, holding onto his knees for a bit of support.

"I'll think I'll be fine in a moment Dragon, but I'd kill for a cup of Joe right now."

"Bob, what happened back there? It seemed like negotiations were starting to take an upswing. I didn't expose us to any undo harm did I?"

[Sedna]

15:03 Saturday, January 6th, 2063 - Puyallup Street Clinic

The system is scanning, sure enough. It's just Dragon's vision that hasn't quite refocused yet. No matter: the data will keep until his inner ear stops trying to tilt the floor out from under him. No matter how he tells it otherwise, the proportions of the room still feel wrong -- and they're moving, which is worse. But Sybersnake is also slowly stirring against him, and that gives him an anchor point against the rest. Her colour is starting to return.

"A cup of soyJoe, we can handle," says a light, exhausted, friendly voice from the doorway that's very familiar to Virgil and unexpected and just plain good to hear: "Juliette! When -- what --?"

"I heard Bob was taking you into the Matrix. I thought you could all use a hot one, after dealing with Kiki. I'll tell you a secret --" she smiles softly to herself "-- it's not just soykaf in there, but I promise you it is shaman-friendly." She's got a tray of steaming styrofoam cups in her hands that at this particular instant in time raises her to near-sainthood, and is passing them out to each person. It's on the low side of average, and hot, and odd-tasting, and heavenly. As she reaches Virgil, her hand brushes slightly against his, her eyes suggesting that maybe she'd like to hug him, hard; and the rest of her telling anyone who's looking that she's not at all certain how Virgil would take that. Then she moves on, and the brief contact is broken. "I've heard a lot about him, but I've never met him," she says, looking uncertainly at the priest, but it looks like Galina has that situation well in hand; holding together the soft strands of the spell and tying into the effects of whatever was in that patch, and finally releasing them as Father Bremen sags back, the spasms temporarily abated. Even that relatively small effort visibly drains the healer; but instead of sinking into the single troll-sized chair she finds herself a solid corner of the wall and braces, her entire demeanour daring anyone to suggest anything different. Juliette quietly removes the bucket.

There's only just enough room in the back office to hold all of them. It helps that of all of them, only Juliette is actually moving, or really wants to.

"I'll second that," says Tiffany sharply, but she doesn't say no to the cup offered her. Although it would have helped if you guys had shared what you already knew, she doesn't say, but her posture in the chair is absolutely rigid. "We went in there looking for info. What did we get, besides dumpshocked?"

"We were about to be traced," says Bob quietly, evoking a twitch in the mercenary (who'd almost reached for his Savalette): he'd overlooked the decker almost to the point of forgetting, just in the few moments that his attention had been captured by Juliette and Tiffany and the others. It's something about the small man Dragon's actively making a point of remembering, now: he doesn't like being taken by surprise, even within something that could be something completely innocuous. "Kiki generally decides what he is and is not prepared to give," continues Bob, "and is rarely swayed afterwards unless he finds some entertainment in it. His sources are solid, but he has a penchant for playing games with those meeting with him. One might say he was part cat," he added with a glance at Galina, in what was as near to humour as they'd yet heard from him.

"We noticed," says Virgil, a bit stiffly. "So what you're saying is that even though it looked like it, we wouldn't have gotten any more out of him?"

"We have the files," says Bob. "I am keeping them quarantined off-Matrix for now, at least until I can examine the code more closely. He was trying very hard, at the end, to plant code into my machine, and I do not think all of it is tracker."

"How long?" asks Tiffany, and Bob gives a little, helpless shrug which turned into a mid-bow: "I do not have the data yet to give an estimate." Virgil has the impression the decker had almost said the short phrase in Japanese -- and maybe Tiffany had picked up on it too in replying, "So ka. What does that leave us with? And you three" -- indicating the mercenary, the Wise Warrior shaman, and the Latina decker who had now managed to sit up a little straighter, and was gulping the soykaf like it was a lifeline -- "I don't care if it's point form, tell me everything you know. It's my job to spot the patterns connecting the dots, but I can't do that if you don't give me the dots first."

[grendel]

19:26:39 Saturday 06 January 2063 - 7124 Broderick Drive, Seattle, UCAS

"Park in the driveway." Akiko gestures to the narrow concrete slab next to the small house on Broderick Drive. Tenmou nods, pulling in and shutting down the sleek vehicle. Akiko is out of the car almost immediately, and without instructions to the contrary, Tenmou follows.

Inside, the house is almost devoid of furniture, the front room empty except for a stack of unmarked plastic cargo containers. Akiko moves past without a glance, pausing at the entrance to the kitchen. Four other figures wait there, all of them children less than twelve years old. Three boys and and one girl, all are dressed in baggy canvas jumpsuits.

"Status report," directs Akiko.

"Phase one complete," reports the middle boy, who appears to be the oldest. "Phase two in progress: alpha; complete, bravo; complete, charlie; in progress. Phase three will commence once positive confirmation received that phase two charlie is complete."

"Observable?"

"No indications that any of our primary operations cells have been detected."

Akiko nodded, glancing around. She seemed to realize that Tenmou was standing there for the first time.

"Wait here." She follows two of the children into the next room.

[Morgannah]

04:18:46 Tuesday 02 January 2063 - Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles, CFS

There were few things in this world that Cosmo enjoyed as much as these quiet contented moments, this deep breath after the storm. She smiled softly, letting her active mind wander as she stared into the depths of the fire, her subconscious mollified by the strong presence behind her and the beautiful body that housed it. For the first time in a long time, she was not alone.

This was not to say, however, that her guard had been lowered. That mistake had already taken place tonight and she'd vowed not to do so again. She was aware of everything around her; she knew where the closest weapons were and which of them Caska would be most likely to choose if there was an intruder. She knew where her handbag had landed, where each of her shoes, her stockings, undergarments, and both pieces of her dress were and more importantly, that her slender knife was within vaulting distance from where she lay and that the thick king sized mattress, flipped over onto its side, would provide the quickest, easiest, soft cover in the room if there was trouble. No, her guard had not been lowered.

Cosmo's smoothly sleek muscles stretched and bunched beneath his gentle touch, a faint purr rumbling in her throat as she glanced over her shoulder. Her breath caught; that look, that languid predatory smile, was what had drawn her in the first place .. what had kept her here wallowing in pure, hedonistic bliss much longer than she would have anticipated. She smiled more broadly, offering up plush, beestung lips for the taking, her warm gaze informing him that she was satisfied .. for now .. but that as soon as he was ready ....

Again? He raised an eyebrow inquiringly.

Again. She nodded, her arms already slipping about his neck, already drawing him close....

[grendel]

05:03:27 Tuesday 02 January 2063 - Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles, CFS

Caska splashed water on his face from the tap in the bathroom before cupping his hands to drink from the refreshingly cool flow. Shaking his head, he stared at his reflection in the mirror. Straightening, he examined the ten parallel red scratches down his chest. This time had been more...playful. The sound of metal against china drew his attention back to the bedroom.

Cosmo leaned against the doorway, naked save for a wicked little smile. She held a bowl of gelato in one hand, a spoon in the other. As he watched, she lifted a spoonful of the treat to her mouth, small pink tongue darting out to catch a taste before letting the rest spill deliberately across her skin.

"You're insatiable," said Caska matter of factly as he crossed the floor to her.

"You say that as if it were a bad thing," she replied in a husky whisper.

[Morgannah]

06:11:52 Tuesday 02 January 2063 - Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles, CFS

Steam. Wonderful, heavenly, marvelous steam.

Cosmo sighed blissfully and adjusted a few of the shower heads to her height. Whoever's house this was (and she was reasonably certain it wasn't Caska's) they were taller than she .. and had remarkable taste. The shower was spa quality and the light from an enclosed fireplace in one wall painted the billowing steam in shades of red and gold. She ran warm soapy fingers across a tender shoulder, gently massaging a knot that had only just started to bother her, feeling instantly revitalized by the hot water and sandalwood scented bubbles.

Sensing his presence before she actually heard him, she glanced idly over that slick shoulder and fixed Caska with a smouldering, self-satisfied smirk. The look he shot back at her though was enough to elicit another one of her low, throaty chuckles and a devastatingly dimpled smile.

"I'm insatiable?" She arched an eyebrow, laughing as he answered with a growl and an animal grin of his own.

[WinterRat1]

15:06 Saturday, January 6th, 2063 - Puyallup Street Clinic


Dragon takes a deep breath and nods. "First of all, we owe you an apology. I owe you an apology. The Julia thing is frankly what I contacted you for in the first place. Somehow we just got swept up in the mess with Sybersnake and we never had a chance to talk it out."

He gives her a tired smile. "Of course, I suppose having a hit team sent after us might just distract us from our original purpose."

"Just a little." She's willing to give him that, and her tone shows she understands that, even if she's still not too happy about being in the dark this long.

"OK but anyway, here's the deal. A couple days ago, rumors about Julia started showing up on Shadowland. Personally, it's not the kind of stuff I pay much attention to, I had stuff on my own plate at the time. But Virgil, being the do-gooder he is, couldn't sit back and let whoever had any interests in her come along and abuse her for their own purposes. And of course, he had to contact me and drag me into all this as well."

Virgil and Dragon shared a tired smile for a moment. Damn, how many times is this now? Ha I swear. If I don't watch it, one of these days I might accidentally qualify as a 'do-gooder' myself.

Turning back to Tiffany, Dragon continued, "So we decided to investigate things. I'll give you what I can remember in point form from here, now that you know how we got involved."

Resting Sybersnake's head on his shoulder so she could sit up and drink her kaf but still be supported by him, he began ticking points off on his fingers.

"1. Julia shows up on the doorstep of Sister Perkins and Father Bremen.
2. Attempted kidnapping is thwarted by Father Bremen slightly before Virgil and I get there to meet with them.
3. Sometime between the kidnapping and us meeting him, Father moves Julia into the care of someone named The Jedi, also known as Quixote.
4. This is done at least partly based on the recommendations of Kiki."

Who's a dead man, altruistic or not, Dragon adds silently to himself.

"Stop me if I'm going to fast for you by the way." The withering look Tiffany shoots him in reply says 'chummer, I've heard way less coherent stories way faster and made some damn good sense out of them, so don't insult me like that'.

"Ahem. Right. Anyway," Dragon shoots her a sheepish look by way of apology,

"5. We go down to meet Quixote, but a fire in Auburn where we found Cindy was apparently our destination. We weren't able to follow up with Quixote because we had to get Cindy here to the clinic.
6. According to Virgil, a 'dark man' was responsible for the fire in Auburn. And if he is who he could be, well let's just say that I'm not surprised the Big A is involved here."

"Wait a minute, stop. Clarify that sentence. Why aren't you surprised Aztechnology is involved, and who is this 'dark man'?"

Dragon shoots Virgil a 'should we tell everyone look', and is met with a 'hey you're the military need-to-know type, I'm just the do-gooder. this one's all you' look in reply.

Sighing, Dragon answers Tiffany's question, "Well, we think the 'dark man' might be a blood mage, from what we've gathered so far."

The room goes silent for a moment, and Father Bremen crosses himself reflexively. Everyone knew things had gone from bad, to worse, to even worse, but hearing that blood magic might be involved...that was the kind of thing that happened far off in Aztlan, not here in Seattle, right?

"Go on." Tiffany's voice is tight, and indicates that she doesn't need to know the answer to the 'why' question anymore.

"Yeah, so if they've got one of those guys around here, it's serious. Incidentally Virgil, is the Draco Foundation still offering that one million bounty for those guys? Since we're here, and he's sort of in our way, that could make all this significantly worthwhile, at least monetarily."

The looks he gets from nearly everyone in the room for that comment suddenly make him feel like a real heel for even bringing up money, but he refuses to back down from this one.

"Hey all right, I know the comment about money sounds bad. But think about it. You think the Big A doesn't know that if people find out they've got a blood mage in town, at least a couple people aren't going to start seeing a million nuyen credstick floating over their boy's head? OK fine, maybe he'll scare away most guys just cause of the whole blood mage thing, but Virgil and I have dealt with them before, and you can't tell me there aren't other top tier bounty hunters, assassins, agents of various organizations, etc etc et al out there who won't be ready, willing, and able to take a crack at that bounty."

He shrugs. "Hell, some of them might do it for free, for any number of reasons. The fact that he's here shows that it's serious, and even if we don't go for him ourselves, it gives us a potential card to play against Aztechnology. Just tell the right people a blood mage might be around, and maybe the hunter becomes the hunted, at least for a little while. Even if no one takes him out, let's see him hunt for Julia when he's looking over his shoulder for any number of equally tough characters who aren't innocent little girls and are ready, willing, and able to take a bite out of his sorry hoop."

The mood in the room relaxes a bit, and Dragon feels like at the least, they recognize he's not a totally self-serving mercenary, and maybe, just maybe, money's not the only thing in mind for him here.

"Right, so yeah, that was just a thought, because a blood mage brings a lot of complications into it sure, but there's a number of ways to play against that card, and that million nuyen figures prominently into the calculations. It isn't just about the money, it's about the strategy, ok?"

Having bought himself grace, at least for that particular comment, he turns back to his summary.

"7. Well, you pretty much know the rest. After we brought Cindy here, we didn't make any further progress until we all met at Tommy Wong's this morning."

Damn, has it really only been what, four, five hours? Time flies when you're getting hunted down and jumped from all over the place, doesn't it?

"So where we stand right now, from where I sit at least, we might want to think about Quixote, who may or may not be the same guy Cindy talked about, and we've got the possible blood mage out there, plus the hit team after Sybersnake. We need to worry about the Big A for sure, and whichever corp owns that 'Corp Devo' Kiki was talking about. We have to get to Julia before anyone else does for a bunch of reasons, help stop the plague in the Barrens, and oh yeah, avoid getting blown away in the process."

He looks around the room and then smiles sardonically at Tiffany, "Does that answer your question?"

[Shadowrunner13]

19:27:46 Saturday 06 January 2063 - 7124 Broderick Drive, Seattle, UCAS

"As you wish, miss," Tenmou says, taking up a position at the archway into the kitchen.

He was surprised by the presence of children, speaking like veterans of tactical situations. He vaguely recalled one of the recruits, when he was training at Chiba, talking about children who could use the Matrix without the aid of a deck and that were highly intelligent. He had called them Otaku.

Not one to get himself any further involved in this series of events than he already was, Tenmou remained silent, withholding any questions he might have had.

[Scrapheap]

18:58:17 Sunday 07 January 2063 – Oodles of Noodles Restaurant

Ignoring the girl's question for the moment, John returned the wan smile offered by the tired looking waitress, and glanced at the plastic printout of the bill. Ooof. It's a good thing that I just finished a job, the way I'm going through the cred. If it wasn't so depressing, it'd be funny that a guy with 3/4 of a million nuyen worth of cyber has to worry about a 35 nuyen check. Yeah, it'd be a regular riot.

He stood, tossed a few crumpled bills on the table for the tip, and motioned for the girl to follow him as he walked over to the counter to pay the check. He handed the scowling old lady his bill, which she promptly scanned and then pointed at the credstick reader. She watched carefully as he slotted the John Standard stick, her scowl deepening as she saw "FRAG" tattooed across the knuckles of his meat hand. She glanced up at him, still scowling, then blanched and pulled back from the feral smile he wore. Pulling the stick free, he turned and walked out.

Megan watched him go, then shrugged her shoulders in apology as she and the old lady behind the counter shared a glance. In way of explaination she said, "I barely know him," before zipping up her oversized coat and turning to follow John outside.

19:03:26 Sunday 07 January 2063 – The sidewalk in front of the Oodles of Noodles Restaurant

John stood in the deepening snow trying to light one of the cigarettes he had acquired back in the arcade. Icy blasts of wind made the task difficult, but he managed to light it after a few tries. Scaring old ladies now, eh chummer? Nice. You really are a piece of work. He shook his head and took a deep drag off of the cigarette. Hearing the door open and close behind him, he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out some folded nuyen bills. Not bothering to look back, he held the money up between index and middle finger, his hand at chest-level. As he felt Megan's small hands eagerly snatch the bills he said, "To answer your question, I need to make a call, and maybe run a quick errand. Then we gather your friends and you take me to Twiggy."

As he pulled his phone out of his other jacket pocket, Megan said, "Nul persp, but...uh, there's 80 here, plus the 20 I already got. Not that I'm complaining, but what gives?"

"The deal was 50 and a meal in exchange for your story. Since you're now escorting me to Twiggy's location and providing introductions, I thought you deserved more. Consider it a tip if you want." Ignoring the thoughtful look she gave him, John flipped open his phone and dialed.

"You have reached the offices of Dr. Dirk Carson. We are now closed. Our regular business hours are as follows: Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday, 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM. Tuesdays, from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM. Fridays by appointment only.

"To leave a message, hit one. If this is an emergency, hit 2 for Dr. Carson's answering service. To reach an operator, hit 0."

John waited for the automated message to end before typing in a series of numbers. He then put the phone back to his ear and waited. In the background, Megan stomped her feet and blew in her hands to stay warm. However, he knew that she was listening intently.

Hearing a tone on the other end, he knew that he'd reached the voicemail for the body shop that Doc Carson ran in addition to his legit practice. "Doc, it's John S. I know my eyes are past due for service, but that's going to have to wait. I'm in immediate need of a few small items that I'm sure you have on hand at your 'clinic.' Call me as soon as you get this message." With that, he hung up and turned to the young girl.

"Do you need to use my phone to contact your friends? If they're close, we can go pick them up now. However, if this call pans out I may need to run that errand first. I won't know until they call back, which should be almost immediately if the place is open tonight."

[grendel]

20:05:12 Saturday 06 January 2063 - 7124 Broderick Drive, Seattle, UCAS

Akiko steps out from the backroom after half an hour. In that time, the remaining child doesn't move, staring at Tenmou with intense blue eyes. She gestures towards her bodyguard.

"Let's go."

Once in the car, she slumps in the front seat, eyes closed. She appears to be exhausted, in much the same fashion as two days ago.

"Home."

Tenmou nods, putting the vehicle into motion. Glancing over, he is not surprised to see that Akiko appears to be asleep.

[grendel]

08:35:14 Tuesday 02 January 2063 - Riverwalk Apartment Complex, Los Angeles, CFS

Caska holds the door for Cosmo, handing her out of the vehicle before the lobby doors to her apartment complex. The sun, in a cruel irony, shines brightly in a surprisingly smog-free day. After the second shower, they'd eaten breakfast at Rich's Deli, an out of the way spot in West Hollywood. It had done much to heal the exhaustion of the night's activities. Caska was still worn, though, operating at three quarters efficiency. Still deadly enough for the streets, but without the edge he was accustomed to having.

"I had a really good time last night. This morning. I'd like to see you again. I'll call you on Wednesday."

[Morgannah]

08:35:21 Tuesday 02 January 2063 - Riverwalk Apartment Complex, Los Angeles, CFS

Cosmo smiled meaningfully and quirked an eyebrow as she glanced from Caska to the lobby doors and then back again, a devilish dimple peeking out of one cheek. Come with me, she said wordlessly, knowing full well that he wouldn't .. not that she had all that much time before her meeting with Tino anyway.

"I'd like that as well," she nodded, "Wednesday."

Tomorrow. Cosmo grinned, blowing a soft kiss in his direction before she turned and gracefully made her way inside the building. They'd made a point of saying their farewells hours ago so there was no point drawing anything out (as much as she would have liked to graze her lips across his cheek one last time...). As pleased as she was with the night's success, there was a certain delicacy she would have to use from now on; questions she'd expected to ask the night before would have to be re-evaluated .. a couple key portions of her plan for tonight would have to be reworked. She could not ask him to work with her, not while they were still new to one another; it was a strain neither of them needed.

She sighed and stepped into the elevator, weary but completely alert, carefully assessing the interior before selecting the button that would take her to Megan Richard's cozy apartment for a short nap, tall cup of java, and a couple of pastries before she made her way to Il Grano.

[Sedna]

15:09 Saturday, January 6th, 2063 - Puyallup Street Clinic

"Got it," says Tiffany, matching the mercenary's sardonic smile with one of her own. By now he knows her well enough to know it's not aimed at him, or really at anyone in particular. "Okay, you all know I've got more questions. Want I should fire away here ..." trailing off at the end like that much at least isn't quite a question.

"May I correct something?" asks Father Bremen. Dragon didn't think the priest was aware of just how tightly he was clutching the worn arms of his chair. "Er -- Kiki didn't recommend anyone to me. She -- er, he -- er," he gets past the brief flustered moment with a resolute "they just said I would do well to get Julia away from the shelter. The Jedi showed up on his own, I'm sure of it."

"If you say so," the reporter acknowledges coolly without giving away a single inch of ground, and Dragon is startled almost into speech: She doesn't like him very much. But she doesn't even know him? Something must have translated through his body, for Sybersnake hunches a little closer to him and then curls against him completely, her head against his chest.

"I'm sure of it," repeats the priest firmly.

"Wait a second," says Dragon. "You said it differently earlier. Did you call in Quixote, or did he turn up on his own?"

Father Bremen considers, then shook his head. "You've got to know the guy."

"Well, I don't know him." That dangerous, near-interrogation note in Dragon's voice is back; and Virgil, picking up on it, quickly adds: "Maybe if you could just give us a sequence of events here, Father."

Part of a nod, which ends up keeping the priest's head bowed long enough for Dragon to start becoming impatient, before the troll finally raises it again with the attitude of one who now has something firmly in his grasp: "The article went out about Julia, you've all seen it." Nods go around the small circle. Now that he's actively paying attention, the mercenary notices that Bob doesn't -- but it's not the blankness of ignorance either. At least, Dragon doesn't think so. The small, balding decker is proving very hard to read.

"After that article went out, well, you remember us talking about the tent city ..."

"I don't," says Tiffany, gently and pleasantly, pulling Dragon's senses instantly into alert. He's never before seen her in hunt mode. "Explain it to me?"

"I -- well -- that is --"

This part of the story Virgil remembers, about the gathering homeless and the full beds and the tent city starting to spring up outside the shelter "-- and then he called me --"

"Was that the Jedi?" asks the reporter, and Father Bremen nods. She gets him to continue, and after he's gone through the story of the attempted abduction again, she skillfully confirms that the initial call had happened first, then the attempted abduction, then Father Bremen asking the Jedi for help, then the Jedi taking Julia away from the shelter and under his protection, leaving only an address and a person through whom he could be reached. Under Tiffany's careful questioning, it comes out that, although the priest hadn't ever experienced it for himself before, apparently this Quixote is known to have quite a few metahuman "drop boxes" of this nature. The man plans for the worst, Dragon thought to himself, and then, people seem to trust him. Word on the street reaches him quickly. People are willing to pass on dangerous messages for him. Strange -- since if there is one thing this story confirms, it's that somehow the Jedi had suspected what was going to happen at the shelter ahead of time.

They can all see now which way the story is going, but Tiffany lays it out for them piece by piece until the priest confirms that Cindy's "Jonah" is in fact the priest's contact with the Jedi; and that the Open Arms shelter seems thus far to have been completely spared this strange plague. Her eyes and Dragon's meet, just for a moment. On the minus side, we now have to find him. On the plus side, at least he apparently wasn't killed in the fire.

"... fire," Tiffany was saying. "Dragon, you've brought up this 'dark man', and you think he's a blood mage, is that right? But you've never seen him, right? Only you have, Virgil?"

Bob speaks up unexpectedly (but from him, it's always unexpected): "This 'dark man' -- would he have anything to do with why Sybersnake was working for Aztechnology?"

Dragon gives him a look, in parts mixed irritation and belabouring the obvious, but in her corner Galina is nodding slowly: "Why ye think 'tis a blood mage?"

[Morgannah]

11:58:43 Tuesday 02 January 2063 - Il Grano Restaurant, Los Angeles, CFS

The facade of Il Grano was no less impressive by daylight than it was among the harsh shadows of the Los Angeles night, the lovely pale bricks and terracotta accents almost seemed lit with a soft inner glow in the bright January sunshine. Cosmo was in an infinitely better mood than she was at the beginning of her last meeting with Tino; a full day's worth of rest and .. recreation had seen to that. A satisfied little smile played across her lips as she remembered that exercise had always helped her find focus. Now, focused as she was, she was quite ready to get to work.

And get to the bottom of this....

She'd spent another full forty minutes this morning going over the FTL Matrixware blueprints, poring over the surveillance photos, and picking her own brain over what she'd seen the other day. There would have to be a few alterations to her initial plan. Ultimately, she'd decided not to ask Caska to join her tonight; there were too many variables with the man who had proven just as adaptable as she'd worked so hard to become, too many questions she'd have to put to him later that would already be difficult considering their as yet undefined relationship. There was no point complicating things with a business relationship as well.

You're flying solo tonight, girl, she mused, glancing down at her watch. It was almost like old times, actually. Those first confusing weeks in the shadows when she was grasping for something, anything, that could tell her who she was and where she'd been all this time had taught her to rely on her own skills and intelligence above everything else. Gear, cred, and contacts were a luxury, not a necessity. Working alone eliminated a lot of the guesswork inherent in team-play but also required that she be at the top of her game. There was no room for a mistake, even a small one.

11:59:53

Cosmo began glancing around casually for signs of Tino, one hand idly brushing a few strands of sleek auburn hair out of her eyes.

This would be very much like old times.

[Shadowrunner13]

20:05:54 Saturday 06 January 2063 Seattle, UCAS

Tenmou drives in silence to Akiko's residence. He silently wished for this particular job to end, but wanted to honor his side of the agreement and be loyal until paid.

As he pulled up in front of Akiko's residence, he lightly touched her arm and said, "Miss? We're here."

[grendel]

12:01:05 Tuesday 02 January 2063 - Il Grano Restaurant, Los Angeles, CFS

The heavy-set Italian fixer steps from the dim recesses of the bar, a tumbler of clear liquid in one hand and data display unit in the other. He smiles and winks at Cosmo as she waits by the maitre d' stand.

"Ah, signora, just on time. Come with me."

With a deft move, he slides back into the kitchen, past the long stainless steel tables full of food and utensils, to the large walk in freezer in back. The outer door opens silently on oiled hinges, revealing floor to ceiling racks stocked with boxes and crates. Making his way through the narrow aisle, Drago keys in a ten digit code to a second door in the rear of the freezer. The room revealed is narrow, but large enough to hold five times the gear currently waiting on the tile floor. The jumpsuit came in its own disposable plastic bag, while the patches were sealed in a hard sided case about the size of a cigarette pack. The grenades shipped in an OD green plastic carton that still carried the NSN and manufacturer's part number stenciled on in yellow paint.

"Double check to make sure you have everything," advised Drago, sipping from his mojito.

[grendel]

20:06:03 Saturday 06 January 2063 Seattle, UCAS

Akiko sighs, rubbing a hand across her forehead. Tenmou realizes with a start that her nose has bled during the drive home, a thin black-crusted trickle makes its way down across her right cheek. If she notices, she doesn't seem to care. Reaching into her inner jacket pocket, she withdraws a certified credstick.

"Two thousand nuyen. The rest that Mr. Omura owes you, plus a little extra for this trip. I may have need of your services in the future. Expect my communication."

She exits the vehicle without looking back, making her way into her apartment complex.