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

[Sedna]

1337 Saturday, January 6, 2063 - at her Puyallup doss

Almost at once the signal comes in that there's a message waiting for Alleycat ... presumably the message. At first, she decides to leave that one, at least, until later -- but she's always been one to face things directly, stare the worst in the face and get it over with. And this wasn't the worst, was it?

A few seconds later she's done the electronic equivalent of folding it up and setting it to one side, and lets herself digest what this means. For an idle moment, she wonders if Grail knows that she can read between the lines at least as well as he. At least, it might tell her whether he's doing this to her on purpose. Belay that -- whether he's doing this to me on purpose because he knows exactly what it means.

At least he's given her a pair of names to go with the useless description (he knows! doesn't he think?), even if he's left the specifics of time and location as a "to be assigned". At the moment, she doesn't know if that's good or bad -- and, really, she doesn't care.

Her hour's almost up. She closes off the extra locks and the window into the alley, finishes setting all the small security alarms she'd set up for this place, shuts down the computer, flicks her cell to "Message" and takes it out of her ear; and settles herself onto the floor to wait out the last few seconds.

[Sedna]

15:44:09 Saturday, January 6th, 2063 - outside the Puyallup Street Clinic

As he's trying to monitor all three situations -- fleeing drone, downed drone, incoming missile -- Daedalus' cellphone beeps at him. Incongruously, here's another call trying to come through.

[WinterRat1]

15:44:09 Saturday, January 6th, 2063 - outside the Puyallup Street Clinic

Watching the missile streaking over his head towards the alley, the only thing running through Dragon's mind is You've got to be kidding me...they just don't give up, do they?

Moving out of the way, running up the block away from the alley so as not to be caught in the blast, he screams, "Incoming into the alley!!!" and prays it'll be enough warning for them to get to cover before the missile hits.

[Sedna]

15:44:28 Saturday, January 6th, 2063 - outside the Puyallup Street Clinic

Probably the missile was intended to pursue just that small bit further. Whether because of the grenade's billowing smoke or the spirit's concealment, it's clearly having trouble maintaining that lock, the positive feedback loop pulling it sharply and visibly in a tight spiral of continually re-adjusting swerves.

When the distance narrows abruptly to the width of an alleyway, it doesn't quite make it.

Dragon's ears finally stop ringing as the cyber struggles and finally succeeds in compensating for some serious sound overload. At some point he'd thrown up his arms around his neck and over his head: it saves him from the worst of the raining masonry. It seems very slowly that he picks himself up from where the blast had tossed him (in the direction he was already running, so not really hurt). Then (with a quick, nervous check toward the sky and after an All clear from Daedalus), he's rushing toward the alleyway.

The corner of the building bordering the alleyway no longer exists. Part of the blast was in the open and thus quickly dissipated -- but the scorch marks show clearly how the rest was funnelled inward in that tightly contained space.

Sybersnake!

It's Father Bremen he finds first, back blistered, part of his clothing burnt right off. The priest is hauling himself to his feet using the still-hot metal of the dumpster for support, seemingly not aware of his injuries. Yet. Burns are a bitch.

He finds Sybersnake in the dumpster. A very white and unmoving Tiffany is sprawled on top of her, and just for a moment Dragon flashes back to all those other times when he survived and those beside him didn't -- until she moves, and he belatedly realises the white is masonry dust.

All clear, Daedalus repeats; the sense of his words oddly echoed out loud by Virgil's parallel clearance of the alley.

Unlike Dragon's, Virgil's ears are still ringing. And he still has that headache from earlier.

The door of the clinic opens and Juliette flies out, crying out as she sees the wrecked car, skids to a stop when she sees the shaman standing there unharmed. "What happened!?"

He tells her quickly the skeleton of the thing, waiting for Dragon to assess the situation in the alleyway before he acts on that. When he starts to move toward Juliette though, she waves him away and he remembers: decontamination.

All four emerge from the alleyway. All four are scorched and white with fallen masonry, but they're all walking, more or less. Tiffany might not like it, but until something's done about that leg of hers, she's not going anywhere.

"Dragon's okay," says Juliette, assessing the situation coolly and quickly. "You'd better leave the others with us -- I know someone who'll cab it in later. But you're running tight. Wait --" Juliette says, and dashes into the clinic for a moment, emerging with something she tosses to him. "My car keys." And then, as Virgil's staring dumbly at them: "You'll need some way to leave this place. You've still got a job to do."

[banditf50]

20:55:08 Saturday January 6, 2063 - Touristville

As Erebus approaches the awaiting troll-guard he feels the jarring sensation of his p-sec virbrating with an incoming call.

[Cedric Rolfsson]

20:55:10 Saturday, January 6, 2063 - Behind the Paradigm Shift

Ignoring the interested eyes of the stun baton wielding sec-guard Erebus stopped and leaned against one of the cold wet walls of the building and slid the p-sec off his belt, using his left hand.

He'd chosen a spot against one of the walls were there weren't too many shadows or obstructions, he didn't want the sec guards to get too suspicious of the character lurking up the alley, but he leaned his head towards his left shoulder to make any video images coming from the cameras around the lot less accurate. Nothing to be suspicious, just a guy stopping to take a call.

Erebus checked the caller ID function on his p-sec, unsurprised to see that whomever was calling had their number blocked. He checked his watch as he pressed the Receive button, just in case the call's purpose was to allow him to be traced he'd keep it short.

"Hoi, its your nuyen, don't waste it." He said quietly into the microphone.

[banditf50]

15:44:46 Saturday, January 6th, 2063 - outside the Puyallup Street Clinic

Between the ringing in his ears and the dull headache that is still plaguing his senses Virgil almost reaches out to embrace Juliette, before remembering the warning about contamination. Stunned and feeling un-worthy of her gift of kindness he manages to respond, "Thank you Juliette. I promise that I will make this up to you in any form that you desire."

"Oh I know you will. Just make sure that you take better care of my car than you two did of your previous ride. Now, bring the others to the doorway of the clinic fast and get out of here."

Taking one more moment to bask in the combined glow of Juliette's kindness and smile, he quickly realizes that now is not the time for further words, nor would that impress her. Running over to the alleyway he calls out . . .

"Dragon! We need to get them to the door of the clinic and then get out of here. Juliette will see to their care."

[banditf50]

20:55:13 Saturday, January 6, 2063 - Behind the Paradigm Shift

"Hoi Erebus it's Max. I got a line on some quick work for you going down tomorrow night. Assisting in the secure delivery of a small package. A few hours work for 4,000 :nuyen:"

[banditf50]

15:46 Saturday January 6th, 2063 - Redmond Barrens, Cao Jaan's halfway house

"I am most grateful for you help. Unless you are in a dire rush perhaps you would like a brief tour of this place as we discuss your compensation?"

[Cedric Rolfsson]

20:55:15 Saturday January 6, 2063 - Behind the Paradigm Shift

Erebus hesitated, just long enough to breath in and out slowly, while his mind tried to work through all of the possibilities. It only took him that long to realize two things.

One that he didn't have enough information to even begin to assess the risks versus the reward. He didn't know any of the things he'd need to know to decide just how dangerous the whole deal could be, much less whether it was something he wanted to undertake.

The second realization was that this was a job that would pay but it would also likely put him in touch with other runners. Of the two the latter ranked higher on his list of priorities. Amanda had already proven to him that no matter how much money he spent on hiding she could still find him. He would need allies when she found him.

"Max, it sounds interesting, but I would need some more information before I can commit. Can I talk to the Johnson directly sometime this evening? Or if not the Johnson then whomever is ram-rodding the run?"

Erebus made sure that Max could tell that he was interested in the job, but only a poser wannabe jumped just because a fixer called and said "Frog." Erebus understood the need for operational security but he trusted Max understood his need for some vague information before he'd commit to a job.

[Tiredronin]

Relieved that the situation seems to have resolved itself, and sensing no other threats nearby, Daedalus warily moniters the fallen drone and answers this curious and random phone call:

Hello?

[Sedna]

15:45:58 Saturday, January 6th, 2063 - outside the Puyallup Street Clinic

Hey, Joshua, what took you so long? Did I call at a bad time?

It's Precious Phemalley Jones, plantation owner accent and all -- but call her Shifty or JP, she gets rather upset otherwise.

[WinterRat1]

15:46:15 Saturday, January 6th, 2063 - outside the Puyallup Street Clinic

Quickly moving to help Sybersnake and Tiffany , Dragon feels a lump in his throat at how close he came to losing them. Both of them. Surprising, that they should evoke such emotion in him, even the reporter, who he’s known only a short time.

It’s different, he muses. They are not combatants, nor are they soldiers, or people who are used to living this kind of life. Even Sybersnake , who runs the shadows, didn’t typically engage in this kind of action. They shouldn’t have to be here, shouldn’t have to deal with this. Perhaps, this is what it means to feel normal?

Growing up with claymores in his front yard and SAM air defenses in the back yard, missile strikes were, while not an everyday occurrence, something he was used to. But a small voice in the back of his mind (the voice of common sense) told him that alone set him apart as the abnormal one here in this group.

Filing that contemplation away for a time when there actually was time for such introspection, he gently supported Tiffany and eased her on to the stretcher that a pair of clinic staff had brought up. Grimacing in pain, she still managed a smile and said as she lay on the stretcher, “Don’t worry about me, I’ve been through worse. Just take care of business for now, ok?”

Dragon nodded simply. “I will. We’ll be back for you guys as soon as we can.” Patting her hand gently, he watched as the clinicians carried her off into the clinic. Turning to Sybersnake , he just looked at her, uncertain of what to say. His heart had stopped, he was sure, in the seconds he’d thought she was dead, and the relief he felt in his heart immediately afterwards was as strong as ever.

He wants to say something, anything, but he isn’t sure of the words to use, and even if he was, would this be the time or place to say them? She makes the decision for him, knowing what he’s thinking and wanting to make it easier on them both. “Don’t say anything. Just…don’t. This isn’t good-bye. We’re going to see each other again, and soon.”

Nodding in both response and relief, he replies, “Right. I’ll see you soon.” Reaching out her hand, she hands him back the Guardian. In response to his inquisitive look, she says simply, “You’ll probably be needing it more than we will. And if they come at us like they did the past two times, this wouldn’t be much help to us anyway.”

They both turn for a moment as Father Bremen limps towards them. The pain on his face shows clearly that the burns and the searing pain they bring have begun to register on the troll. Putting a big hand on Dragon’s shoulder, he says, “Don’t worry son, I’ll take care of them. You go do what you have to do to see this through and take care of everyone on your end, ok?”

Looking up into the priest’s kindly eyes, Dragon knows that anyone trying to hurt the girls, or anyone in the clinic, would have to go through the big troll first. Clasping the big troll’s hand, careful to avoid the burns, Dragon gives silent thanks to the troll’s support.

He turns to leave, and makes it down the first few steps of the clinic before he decides the hell with it, and strides quickly back up the stairs towards Sybersnake , who had already turned to walk into the clinic. Taking her gently by the arm, he turns her towards him and clasps her in an embrace filled with the emotion of someone who thought he’d lost someone he loved, and the subsequent relief he felt at knowing that she was still with him.

At first she tensed, surprised, and then she gave into the emotion herself, and softly snuggled into his arms. They stayed like that for what seemed like a very long while, but was probably only a few seconds, until Dragon gently let her go, but ran his hands down her arms to her hands, and clasped them carefully. Walking down the stairs slowly, reluctantly, he never let go of her hands, drawing them out towards him as he descended, eyes locked on hers. When their arms were at last fully extended, and neither of them could move another step, she squeezed his hand tenderly, and they shared one last silent smile.

Then they let go of one another, almost one mind acting in concert, and turned to go their separate ways. Striding swiftly towards Virgil , he ignored the shaman’s mock exasperation, and said, “Ready to roll Virg .”

For the shaman’s benefit, uncertain if he knew yet that their third teammate was now present, he said aloud as he transmitted, “We’re ready to roll Daedalus . You going to ride with us, or you got a way there on your own? We’ll fill you in on the way.”

[banditf50]

20:56:11 Saturday January 6, 2063 - Behind the Paradigm Shift

"I realize that this request is very sudden. I have been given a list of details to provide to you, however you would not speak with the Johnson until after the delivery is made. Another specilist has been secured to make the delivery, and a request was made for someone with your skill-set to provide additional security."

"If you choose not to accept the job it is no loss for me Erebus, I just thought that I'd send the option for some easy cred your way."

[Cedric Rolfsson]

20:56:11 Saturday January 6, 2063 - Behind the Paradigm Shift

Erebus grinned to himself, Max could be grouchy sometimes but it was never personal.

"Relax, Max, yes I'm interested, and I have no need to speak to the Johnson as long as you have the details. I'll need those details but would prefer not to do that over the phone, unless absolutely necessary. Is there a time frame involved here or can you and I sit down and go over this latter tonight?"

[banditf50]

20:56:40 Saturday January 6, 2063 - Behind the Paradigm Shift

Erebus could hear a slight chuckle over the line.

"Sorry, you caught me at the end of a very long day chummer, but a cold beer is just the cure. Meet me at Caveman Kate's in about an hour and 15 minutes I'll give you what I got, and if you don't like what you hear your beer is still on me."

[Moirdryd]

15:46 Saturday January 6th, 2063 - Redmond Barrens, Cao Jaan's halfway house

Knight smiled and slowly stood with a nod.

"Of course Mr Jaan, that was the next thing on my small list."

Always good to know the territory afterall, sure i was going to do a few things first but getting the look about done now wil work just as well.

He followed Cao through the rooms, listening to the prescribed purpose of each. Mentally he mapped the building as they went along.

Lots of leaking pipes, prime water elemental possibilities too, always good.

Knight took the tour at a natural, almost leisurely rate, noting faces of those within the shelter and learning a few names, making a note to learn them all before long.

[Tiredronin]

15:47:05 Saturday, January 6th, 2063 - Daedalus's place in Tahoma

"Whats the destination Dragon ? I don't have wheels now, but I can have Icarus and Talos follow you.. as long as it is not too far out... otherwise... I may need you to pick me up, by the way, hit me up on the radio"

Clicking back over...

"Hey JP, no worries, just cleanin up a little mess. It's good to hear your voice as always, thanks for the tip, I found em just in time. What can I do for you?"

[banditf50]

15:47:20 Saturday, January 6th, 2063 - outside the Puyallup Street Clinic

"Juliette's car is around the back." Virgil beckoned to Dragon indicating that they should walk while they plot.

"Jonah's address is 102-10th street, Northwest apt. B in Auburn. I assume that is still are priority stop before our next meet. Can you pull up some directions?" The shaman inquired tapping the side of his head.

"Already done." Replied Dragon as he simultaneously relayed the location to Daedalus.

"Given that location, what do you need us to do?"

Rounding the corner Virgil pointed out the lone, well-used four-door, tossing the keys to Dragon as they reached the car.

"You drive since you've got the map. I am going to do some scouting as we travel."

[WinterRat1]

15:47:40 Saturday, January 6th, 2063 - outside the Puyallup Street Clinic

Switching to a prearranged radio frequency, Dragon mentally answered, "Address is 102-10th street, Northwest Apt. B in Auburn . Let me know if we'll need to pick you up."

Turning back to Virgil, Dragon nods in response as he easily catches the keys out of the air. "OK let's roll. Daedalus will let us know if he needs us to pick him up. In the meantime, I'll take care of the directions."

Pulling up the map of Seattle on his display link, Dragon mentally plots out the fastest route to their destination. Smoothly pulling out away from all the debris that is now littering the street, they begin driving towards Jonah's place, and hopefully, towards answers.

[banditf50]

15:48:40 Saturday, January 6th, 2063 - outside the Puyallup Street Clinic

Settling back into the cushion of the passanger seat Virgil set to preparing for yet another leg of their journey. Mechanical cover via combat drones was a wonderful blanket to have, but some situations just called for a less mundane approach. Virgil felt his mind explicitly drawn to his encounter with the rouge fire-elemental. That battle could have easily shifted against me, it's best to be prepared from now on and assume that the same dark man could appear at any location we do as we search for Julia.

Beginning his seach for aid among the spirit world the shaman began to take stock of all the summoning that he had performed over the past several days . . .all that he would do . . .all the help that he would ask of the spirit world.

It seems necessecary for a warrior in my position to repay his debts to those that aid him, mundane or spirit. But how does one repay a debt to a spirit . . .

[Cedric Rolfsson]

20:56:50 Saturday January 6, 2063 - Behind the Paradigm Shift

"Null sheen chummer, I'll see you there at 22:30 then."

Erebus grinned, as Max gave his usual grunt of acknowledgement and then disconnected. The old norm had manners that were as abrasive as 80 grit sandpaper but he made a living in the shadows putting together deals. His style was about 180 degrees opposite of what Erebus knew about fixing, but Max had been making a living at it for years now.

Just goes to show that there is more than one way to skin a devilrat.

Erebus clipped his p-sec back in place on his belt and resumed his approach on the parking lot. He had a meeting to make.

As he approached the checkpoint, he unobtrusively glanced around the parking lot, taking full advantage of the optical abilities of his cybereyes. The parking lot provided all kinds of visual cover for someone to wait in ambush. He tripped the IR circuits in his Zeiss eyes and looked for any unusual heat signatures, any areas that were warmer than their surroundings for no good reason. Ambushers had to remain still to keep from being seen, but if a metahuman remained stationary for more than a couple of minutes in a dark, cold parking lot they tended to warm up the ground and or vehicle they were in, creating unexplained warm spots. It was those kinds of tell-tales that Erebus looked for.

[Sedna]

15:59:59 Saturday, January 6th, 2063 - Auburn, near Jonah's place

Virgil hasn't arrived at any better answers by the time Dragon begins slowing down the car. Previously preoccupied, threat-focused, the sudden awareness of difference in the local neighbourhood catches him by surprise. Children play in this area. Although it's a bit cold and damp for it, the swingsets in the small park are filled. While it might be too much to hope that the streets would be clean, at least the litter in these curbs is of a higher class.

"That one," says Dragon, passing by and swinging around the block.

It's an older red brick house on a patch of crabgrass and ancient dandelions (and visible attempts to seed other, more acceptable types of plants), with peeling shingles, peeling paint around the narrow windows, and a loose waterspout emptying into a rain barrel. Water has seeped into the brick itself and seeped out again, leaving long, rust-coloured streaks along the sides. Mostly though, it's superficials -- and a roofer's sign out front indicates that the most immediate serious problem is being actively dealt with. Four tarnished brass mailboxes out front suggest a fourplex, probably two on the bottom floor and two on the top.

A hemp-woven "Welcome" mat sits out in front of the large front door.

[WinterRat1]

15:57:02 Saturday, January 6th, 2063 - Driving to Jonah's Apt

After driving in silence for a bit as they headed over to Jonah's, Dragon turned to Virgil and said, "OK, so let's debrief our schedule here. First we go try to talk to this guy Jonah before the bad guys do, then we hit up our meeting with your contact. Somewhere in there we have to pick up the gear from Susan still and get you a radio. Also, we have to meet up with Daedalus and fill him in on the situation."

Clearing his throat, he continues a little sarcastically, "Hopefully when we get back, Bob will have the files decrypted and summarized for us if we're lucky, after which we get to figure out how to save Julia while stopping the opposition from nabbing her, get her to safety, and if we're really lucky, collect a nice big reward at the end of the rainbow. Does that sound about right to you, or did I miss some details in there somewhere?"

Before the shaman can answer, Dragon snaps his fingers and adds, "Oh yeah, and we also have to find and rescue Sybersnake's son and get her out of this mess as well, and clear Tiffany's name from whoever set her up earlier in that trid report, not to mention try to get her the story on top of all this. Now I think I've got it all. Or did I miss something else in this wonderful sea of objectives?"

15:59:59 Saturday, January 6th, 2063 - Auburn, near Jonah's place

As luck would have it, they just arrived at Jonah's before Virgil could respond. "Ah screw it, we'll cover all that junk later," Dragon muttered. "May as well concentrate on our immediate objective first since we're here. You want to do some scouting around before we go in?"

Without bothering to wait for a reply, Dragon made sure to reload his weapons, as he checked out the area himself with his own cyber-enchanced senses, just in case.

[Sedna]

15:56:27 Saturday, January 6th, 2063 - Daedalus's place in Tahoma

You told him about the transponder beacon, right?

Daedalus considers for a moment, ages of transducer time. No longer an issue, JP.

Considering it's Dragon we're talking about, it got blown up, huh?

Hell, why hide it. She'd been two steps ahead of him since they were in grade school together. Yeah. Guess that takes care of the dealership issues you'd uncovered.

What's he in now?

A boat. Ancient four-door, 15 years old at least. I think they discontinued the model ten years ago, but she's been taking care of it. At least, no rust that I can see, and the engine's still firing on all cylinders.

She?

Virgil's girl. There was nothing Shifty liked better than finding out about personal stuff -- other people's. She was a lot more private in her own affairs. Don't know a whole lot about her -- and I'm not sure how much I'll tell you when I do, do I really care enough to find out? -- but they're tight enough that she up and tossed him the keys when they needed a ride.

Cool.

So what did you call me about? Daedalus asks, bringing her back on track. I may be here ahead of schedule, but now that I'm here I'd better keep an eye on them. And besides, it looks like they need me.

Oh, yeah. Did you get hold of Vinnie yet?

Er, no. Was I supposed to? I thought we were meeting tonight --

The plan might have changed. Check out Shadowland, you dork, but there's a grin in her voice as she says it.

Will do. It's good to hear from you, Peejster.

Just as long as I'm not the one waiting for you to call, huh? Don't be a stranger!

And with that she clicks off.