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

[WinterRat1]

19:04:26 Sunday 07 January 2063 – The sidewalk in front of the Oodles of Noodles Restaurant

Moving to the payphone, Megan quickly dials a number. A tired looking teenage human answers. "Whoozit? Watcha want?"

"Hoi chummer, it's me, Megan."

"Megan?" Rubbing his eyes, he squints and blinks at the screen. "Whazzapening?"

Glancing over her shoulder at John, she says, "Hey chummer, listen, I need you and four others to meet me. I need someone to watch my back, kay? Meet me at the Oodles of Noodles restaurant, about a block from the arcade, aight?"

"Whoa whoa whoa." Sitting up straight, the figure yawns. "Is this serious? What you need backup for?"

"Trying to help out Twiggy and Nora chummer. There's a guy, says he's her uncle. I said I'd take him to Twiggy if he promises to help them."

More alert and suspicious now, the kid says, "How you know this guy's legit? He could be trying to scam us."

Mildly exasperated, Megan answers, "That's why I need you to back me up, in case he ain't legit. He's flying solo, so I don't think he's up to anything. But just in case, scan?"

"All right all right." Rolling out of bed, the kid stretches. "I'll get the others and meet you in..." he appears to be looking at a clock, "an hour, cool?"

Megan nods, and finishes, "Only four. Not counting you. Part of the deal I had with the guy. See you in an hour."

Disconnecting, she turns back to John, "OK, that's set. Can you wait an hour for them?"

[Scrapheap]

19:07:06 Sunday 07 January 2063 – The sidewalk in front of the Oodles of Noodles Restaurant

"Can I wait? Do I really have a choice?" John replies, smiling to take any possible sting out of the words. "Sure, kid. One more hour shouldn't make that much difference. Besides, I'm waiting on a call."

Taking a pull off of his cigarette, he notices Megan shifting from foot to foot, hands stuffed deep into the pockets of her coat, trying to stay warm. "You suggested that your chummers meet us here," he gestured in the general direction of the restaurant, "so do you really want to go back inside? Or should we look for somewhere else to wait and then come back in an hour?"

Following his own suggestion, John took a couple of steps away from Oodle's storefront and looked up and down the block to see if he could spot any other possible places to wait.

[grendel]

15:19:31 Tuesday 02 January 2063 - FTL Matrixware, Los Angeles, CFS

Sean slotted his ID through the cardreader at the entrance to the parking lot, waiting as the gate scaled back to allow him access. Pulling into the lot, he parked in the section reserved for security personnel. With a sigh, he stepped out of the vehicle and headed towards the service entrance of the building.

Cosmo waited until the sounds of Sean's footsteps faded before releasing the webbing which held her in place. She set her left arm down first, trying to cushion her back from the hard asphalt. She taken two good whacks from the road on the way here, one of which she knew had torn skin from her shoulderblades. Getting out of her jumpsuit was going to be a painful endeavour.

[WinterRat1]

15:12:08 Saturday, January 6th, 2063 - Puyallup Street Clinic

Dragon sighs for a moment, then shakes his head. "Truth be told, I don't have any hard evidence to back up that theory." He looks over at Virgil, whose brain still appears to be a bit fried. "You'll have to ask him, since he's the one who actually saw the guy. But he mentioned his aura was...wrong? Not sure how he put it. I'm sure when he gets over being dumpshocked, he'll be able to tell you more."

Adjusting his body so he could more comfortably support Sybersnake, he continued, "The tactics were familiar, and so were the methods. And again, Virgil thought the aura was similar. As for if he'd have anything to do with why Sybersnake was..." He trails off, and it occurs to him that Kiki brought up a lot of questions and accusations about Sybersnake, questions and accusations that to this point, have not even been brought up, let alone dealt with.

Squeezing her tightly against him, as much for his own reassurance as hers, to affirm to them both that he trusts her, he looks pleadingly at Tiffany. His look clearly says, I'm sure you know what has to be asked, and what has to be said. I'll say it if I have to, but if you'd like to bail me out and say it for me in your capacity as reporter, I would really appreciate that.

Dragon knows the reporter understood him. She's too savvy not to. The question was, what would she do about it?

[WinterRat1]

19:07:56 Sunday 07 January 2063 – The sidewalk in front of the Oodles of Noodles Restaurant

A glance up and down the street reveals numerous bars and small shops, but nothing of particular interest stands out. Shivering a little, Megan nods and says, "Lead the way chummer, as long as it's inside."

[Morgannah]

15:23:04 Tuesday 02 January 2063 - FTL Matrixware, Los Angeles, CFS

Cosmo ground her teeth as she laid perfectly still against the cool pavement, letting the burning pain in her back seep into the ground. She gave herself a slow count to fifty to relax before glancing around the parking lot at ground level to clear herself and get her bearings. Slowly, deliberately, she'd begin the slow process of shrugging out of her long coat, moving by the smallest degrees possible until the garment lay beneath her and then finally on the side of her opposite the building. It was a calculated risk to remain beneath the Americar but she was counting on the shadows already beneath it (and the residual heat from its engine) to conceal her until full dark.

Stay sharp. Wait for nightfall, she reminded herself, look for the larger vehicles then, move, and wait for someone to be leaving for the night.

The bright smile that flashed across her face was quickly suppressed. So what if she'd made it in? There was still too much to do before there'd be any reason to celebrate.

[Sedna]

15:14:00 Saturday, January 6th, 2063 - Puyallup Street Clinic

"Okay. Set aside the maybe-yes, maybe-no blood mage for now," says Tiffany, with an odd look in Virgil's direction that the mercenary can't decipher at all. The tightness is back in her voice, causing Dragon to re-assess: No, she knows what it means, but she still very much does want to know why. And then he almost laughs out loud as the obvious hits him: of course she does. She's a reporter. She'd chase a story if it killed her. The thought instantly sobers him. And this one might.

"We've got three different stories here," Tiffany is saying, "but it's starting to look like it's really all the same story." To Dragon's surprise, she doesn't add the obvious "and it's a big one"; not even in her thoughts, as far as he can tell.

"We've got the Julia-abduction-Jedi-fire connection, which is what got Virgil involved and which is where you come in." She indicates Father Bremen with a slight movement of her head. "Kiki and the Jedi both warned there might be trouble here, before it happened. I've heard of this Jedi character before, though I've never met him. I've also seen what's happened to the crime stats in 'his' territory since he established himself there."

"His 'territory'?" asks Sybersnake, then coughs, and winces.

"Might as well be. He comes across as very protective of the place, even got some kind of alliance going with the local gang, and people around there say there's nothing that happens there that doesn't get back to him. Whatever he's up to, it's not hurting the area. Gives him a real good rep with Lone Star. Couple of beat cops think he might be in with Irregular Assets, but no one knows for sure." Tiffany shakes her head ruefully. "I really don't know a whole lot about the area. It's not where news tends to happen."

"No one knows?" asks Sybersnake.

"No one I know," snaps back Tiffany.

Dragon smiles as he hears the reporter's version of "not knowing a lot". "Doesn't really matter," he says, "if he's gone to ground outside it." In passing he notes that of the clinic people, only Juliette seems at all surprised by the reporter's information: and in her it doesn't show all that much, if he hadn't been watching for it he wouldn't have seen it. Then again, what had Virgil mentioned about her? World's same as it always was, not time for change yet. Huh.

"Anyway," continues Tiffany, "story number two. We've got the Julia-Aztechnology-CorpDeVo-plague connection with whatever's been planted in CorpDeVo's research files, which is where you two come in." She nods at Galina and Bob. "I'll understand that one better once I get a look at those files. Obviously Kiki's already seen them. And he wants me to make them public, or else he wouldn't have shared them with me. I'd feel better about that if I understood why." She hesitates. "I don't know, but it's my hunch that it's something in those files first got him interested in Julia. And Kiki's also said that where Julia is, this disease isn't." She doesn't add, that's enough in itself for me to want to find her. She doesn't have to. Everyone's thinking it anyway.

"Third, we've got the someone-wants-to-kill-Sybersnake connection, because apparently she was working for Aztechnology to uncover a person working at CorpDeVo who Kiki thinks was a threat to an existing Aztechnology mole." She glances at Dragon coolly, something that might have bothered him more if he hadn't understood in himself about separating out emotion from one's work, and then stares at Bob, who doesn't seem to notice. "We've heard there's two separate Aztechnology factions involved here, so this may or may not be the same faction. She thought she was working for Saedar-Krupp, but it's supposed to be a team from Saedar-Krupp that's trying to kill her. And someone with a strange sense of humour seems to have been blocking her at every turn; but whoever it is seems to have been protecting her at the same time. You know," and she hesitated, "something about that ambush outside Tommy Wong's has been bothering me all along. Those guys, they were pros. They ..."

She trails off, not looking at Dragon, not knowing how to say it. Trying to struggle upright, Sybersnake supplies it: "They should have succeeded."

Reluctantly Dragon nods, seeing it now. It wasn't because we were that good, because so were they, and they were already set up for this. It was because someone else had disrupted them. "Kiki?" Involuntarily his own gaze drifts over to Bob. Surely not ...

Tiffany shakes her head firmly, to both. "Doesn't fit his style," she says. Yet her gaze lingers on Bob for a long moment ...

"I'm not sure if it qualifies as a fourth part of the story or not," and now Tiffany's gaze touches lightly on all of them, "but if Kiki's information is accurate, we've also got the Astral Space Preservation Society looking for Julia. I can't figure out how that one fits in, at all."

[Morgannah]

17:47:21 Tuesday 02 January 2063 - FTL Matrixware, Los Angeles, CFS

Come out, come out wherever you are....

Cosmo smiled as she lay beneath a battered '59 Ford Texan, her body pressed close to the chill black asphalt. The digital readout on the inside of her glasses indicated that it was just coming on ten to six and the small cluster of vehicles she'd chosen for her battleground were the coldest in the parking lot. A small, hard-sided case was clutched in her left hand, a single slap patch concealed in her right. Taking out a random employee for their ID card was almost as important as securing Sean Andersen's Americar for the ride over but she saw no reason to connect the two. Sean had seen her face, after all.

So here she lay, poised and ready to strike, her keen eyes scanning the building for signs of someone heading to their vehicle after a long shift at FTL Matrixware. She would take them out quietly and advance to the next stage in her plan.

This post has been edited by Morgannah: Apr 22 2005, 01:40 AM

[WinterRat1]

15:18:00 Saturday, January 6th, 2063 - Puyallup Street Clinic

"Well let's go through what we've got, and start making the transition from what we know to what we're going to do about it. If you don't mind?" Dragon raises an eyebrow at Tiffany inquisitively, and she nods assent, yielding the floor, such as it were, to him. When it comes to putting the pieces together in a way that makes sense, she is unquestionably everything Dragon had hoped she'd be, and more. But now it's hitting a point where they need more information for her to do her thing, and that means, at least to some degree, hitting the streets and probably getting nasty in the process. That's where he comes in.

Leaning his hand back against the wall, he closes his eyes briefly, gathering his thoughts. When he feels he has things in order, he opens his eyes and speaks. "OK, story one, we know that Jonah was the Jedi's contact, and we know we're not the only ones after this guy. We almost certainly need to get moving on that one, if we're going to track him down and get to him before any other interested parties."

A nod from Virgil , who's still reeling with having Cindy's mind integrated with his own, confirms the urgency of this point. "Point two, we need those files so we can examine them. How long with that take you Bob ? Give us your opinion after I finish my summary, please." The decker nods assent silently, and Dragon clears his throat, grateful that Tiffany had broached the topic of Sybersnake's involvement in all this for him.

"As far as Sybersnake , I think right now there's three issues at hand. First, what are the factions involved from the Big A? Second, which faction is she working for? Third, who helped us with the ambush outside Tommy Wong's ?"

Looking over at Virgil , Dragon continues, "When he recovers a bit more, I'm sure he can cover the whole ASPS angle, that's his thing more than mine. Until then, what do the rest of you think or have to contribute?"

Dragon leaves the question out there and waits for the others to voice their thoughts, and for Bob's estimate on the time it would take to get them the files.

[Sedna]

15:19:27 Saturday, January 6th, 2063 - Puyallup Street Clinic

"Helped!" mutters Tiffany under her breath, at the same time as Bob repeats quietly, "I do not have the data yet to give an estimate." The wall doesn't offer a comment, and (for a change) decides to helpfully remain still, even with his eyes closed. Seems Dragon's inner ear is finally beginning to recover. "But there has been news on Shadowland that will be relevant to you. Did you wish --"

"NO!" say four voices in virtual unison, and after a moment Sybersnake's reluctant shake of her head adds the fifth.

Bob nods acceptance: "I can pull it up for you on-screen," and does so. "This came through early this morning, Seattle time. I have not seen anything about it since. Not one person has even commented."

They all stare at the odd mixture of English and Japanese script, the odd conflation of Latin alphabet with hiragana and kanji. After some moments of silence, Father Bremen asks, "What does it say?"

More silence: then few short phrases in English come into being below the original message.

"Who's Vinnie?" asks Virgil in a blurred voice.

"Seattle mafioso," supplies Tiffany absently. "What I'm wondering is, why would anyone openly ask a mafioso for help in Japanese?"

[WinterRat1]

15:20:32 Saturday, January 6th, 2063 - Puyallup Street Clinic

Dragon shrugs. "Perhaps to tip off this Vinnie that it is the yakuza who are making a move? Or perhaps to throw off people who are aware of this Vinnie's identity? If this guy is connected to Jonah or Jedi..."

Holding up a hand to forestall objectsions for a moment, he continues, "Yes I know I'm really stretching, but let's just say hypothetically, then the possibility that the Mafia and/or the Yakuza are involved, or potentially getting involved could make an ugly situation down there worse. I just don't think we can afford to ignore possible syndicate involvement."

[grendel]

18:24:49 Tuesday 02 January 2063 - FTL Matrixware, Los Angeles, CFS

Cosmo watched the workboots approach the pick-up truck, controlling her breathing. They stopped at the driver's side door as the individual fumbled briefly with their keys. With one swift motion, she scissored her legs across their ankles, using the momentum to swing her into position to bounce their head off the ground with her hardliner gloves. The driver gave a single ooof before relaxing into unconsciousness. Cosmo yanked the body beneath the truck, lifting the man's ID card from the lanyard around his neck.

We're in business now...

[Morgannah]

18:25:14 Tuesday 02 January 2063 - FTL Matrixware, Los Angeles, CFS

Growling softly under her breath, Cosmo turned the card over in her hands just to be sure.

No RFID. I guess it's better to know for sure than to guess, but .. she growls again and removes his jacket, quickly wrapping a long strand of duct tape around his forearms before rolling him onto his back and fastening a smaller strip of the tape across his mouth. One of the tails of her tattered long coat is pulled over his head like a hood and secured around the neck, and then all over, with still more duct tape. She reviews her handiwork carefully, nods, and tosses his keys, along with the roll of tape and the tranq patches, into her soft-sided duffel. The ID card is hung about her neck and secured behind the fair (unworking) copy she'd created earlier that day.

A feral grin plays across her features as she pulls the black stocking up over her head, revealing a face that is both hers and not hers all at once. The soft contours of her features are sharpened with makeup and darkened to seem vaguely hollow, her eyes, diminuitive and all but hidden behind her glasses are ringed with brownish yellow circles. Full, soft lips are lined to seem smaller, coloured to be paler than average in a lined face that might have been pretty .. once upon a time. Cosmo slips out of her armored jumpsuit quickly and bundles it into one of the zippered sides of her bag. Her uniform, though a little rumpled from the trip, seems remarkably similar to the one of the man she'd just taken down and it is with a great deal of confidence that she straightens, shrugs into the oversized jacket, and begins striding towards the building.

Tilting her head somewhat away from where she judges the cameras to be, she slots the fallen sec agent's ID card and waits, barely able to keep from crossing her fingers.

[grendel]

18:27:43 Tuesday 02 January 2063 - FTL Matrixware, Los Angeles, CFS

The armored external door slides open on soundless pneumatics, admitting Cosmo to the well lit corridor beyond. The floor is tiled with sound deadening anti-static polymer hexagons, while the walls are plain construction plastic. Overhead lighting is provided by halogen glowstrips. According to the map on the wall, the warehouse section is to Cosmo's right.

[Morgannah]

18:27:47 Tuesday 02 January 2063 - FTL Matrixware, Los Angeles, CFS

Cosmo hunches forward in the large jacket, subtly rolling her shoulders forward to give the illusion of a smaller, less confident individual. She turns to her right, keeping a careful eye out for surveillance cameras, indications of sensory equipment, and any signs that things here may not be as they seem.

30 meters and counting. 29 .. 28....

[grendel]

18:29:08 Tuesday 02 January 2063 - FTL Matrixware, Los Angeles, CFS

Turning the corner of the hallway leading to her target, Cosmo spots the security cameras in the corners, their positions given them excellent views down both corridors. She tilts her head towards the cameras, shielding her face. Footsteps announce the approach of a guard down the hall towards her. The man, dressed in an identical jacket and pants, nods as he passes.

"Hey."

Cosmo returns the nod, lowering her voice to a harsh growl.

"Hey."

The guard passes on, and Cosmo slips the ID card into her hand, ready to open the door ahead of her. The guard's footsteps stop behind her.

"Hey!"

[Morgannah]

18:29:12 Tuesday 02 January 2063 - FTL Matrixware, Los Angeles, CFS

Barely missing a beat as she dissects the pitch of his voice, she turns around and raises an eyebrow.

"Yeah?"

Cosmo looks the guard over before offering a gloved hand.

"Jess Chaplin."

[grendel]

18:29:50 Tuesday 02 January 2063 - FTL Matrixware, Los Angeles, CFS

"Rob Haney. I haven't seen you around here before, did you just start?"

He smiles at her, resting his hands on his web belt.

[Morgannah]

18:30:17 Tuesday 02 January 2063 - FTL Matrixware, Los Angeles, CFS

She affects the smile of an overall unpleasant person trying to be nice, smiling tiredly as she rests her hands on her padded hips.

"Yea, just a coupla days ago. I'll be seein' ya around I guess."

Cosmo notes the lack of a wedding ring on Rob's finger and looks him over again, her raised eyebrow taking on another meaning entirely.

[grendel]

18:30:37 Tuesday 02 January 2063 - FTL Matrixware, Los Angeles, CF

"Yeah, looks like we're working the same shift. Say, how about we go for coffee tonight?"

Rob grins, his eyes running over Cosmo's form.

[Morgannah]

18:31:12 Tuesday 02 January 2063 - FTL Matrixware, Los Angeles, CFS

Cosmo shrugs.

"I'd rather it was a brew but coffee sounds okay. Where'd ya wanna meet?"

[grendel]

18:31:30 Tuesday 02 January 2063 - FTL Matrixware, Los Angeles, CFS

"How about the breakroom?"

Rob glances at his watch, mentally counting how long he would have to wait until he saw her again.

[Morgannah]

18:31:53 Tuesday 02 January 2063 - FTL Matrixware, Los Angeles, CFS

Charming fellow. I didn't know they still made this model of Caveman....

Mentally, she couldn't help but shake her head; it was all Cosmo could do to keep from rolling her eyes. Instead, she fixed him with a frankly appraising stare and considered the variables.

"How about the ..." she grins wolfishly. "How long have you been here, anyway?"

[grendel]

18:32:07 Tuesday 02 January 2063 - FTL Matrixware, Los Angeles, CFS

"Oh, going on about four years now. I'm a veteran of this job. They recruited me from the military and put me in charge of the High Threat Response squad. But I had to transfer from that job after a year, I'd been in too many firefights. They said I was too stressed out, so they sent me here."

Rob flexes minutely, sucking in his stomach a little as he recounts his dubious achievements to Cosmo.

[Morgannah]

18:32:51 Tuesday 02 January 2063 - FTL Matrixware, Los Angeles, CFS

Her eyes widened slightly as if she was both surprised and impressed by his accomplishments.

Firefights, hmm? Maybe brawl; those knuckles look like they've been broken a few times.

"Stressed, were ya." She smiled meaningfully. "Do you fellas have a procedure for this sort of 'High Threat Response'? I'm not so sure I want coffee any more."

Cosmo hoped she wouldn't have to hit him over the head, well, for him to understand what she was talking about, anyway....