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

[Sedna]

0327 Saturday January 6, 2063 - at the bike

"Yes. I've left enough messages. Here's hoping Tin Star and Avalanche get back to me within the next few minutes." Even in considering details of what passed for a plan, her manner never loses its cool corporate sophistication, and her voice never once shifts from that deep contralto timbre ... although now it takes on a thoughtful cast. "It took us 12 from the parking space to get here, the last time Avalanche and I passed this place, and we'll be looking for safe parking for about another minute and change. Call that the outside limit, before we're for sure on our own."

Only one call to Tin Star though: the most recent, the moment she'd realised where he fit into the tentative plans, and just before she'd changed in clothing and -- other things. Predictably, she'd gotten his answering service:

[banditf50]

1242 Saturday January 6th, 2063 - Virgil's Redmond Safehouse

What the frag?

Though muffled by the walls of the small apartment, the unmistakeable sound of a terrified shriek yanked Virgil out of a much needed meditative break. Leaping off the bed accompanied by a chorus of protesting springs, Virgil threw open the front door and bounded down the flight of bare concrete steps two at a time.

As he reached the final stairs Virgil became aware of Dragon positioned right outside the open door. He was intently surveying a scene out of Virgil's line of sight, but was not acting. No immediate danger. . .

Virgil also immediately noticed that the shrieking had come to an abrupt stop.

Approaching Dragon, who had already detected the approaching shaman, Virgil was very careful to stay inside of the stairwell and not breach the barrier of the hearth. It'd be wise not to give up direct control of my hearth ally until I figure out what is going on.

"What's the situation Dragon?"

[grendel]

09:15:12 Monday 01 January 2063 - Los Angeles, CFS

"Later today, hmmm..let me double check my calendar. It appears I may be able to pencil you in. What time should I pick you up?"

[SentineloftheMou...]

1834 Monday January 8, 2063 - Land's End Magic Shop

"Fine, Jack. Give me the number of your contact."

[Sedna]

1834 Monday January 8, 2063 - Land's End Magic Shop

The fixer's eyebrows rise. "Give?"

"Fine, fine," says Andie. "Sell it to me. Whatever."

Elbows on the counter, fingers pressed to his temples. "You are not making this easy on either of us, Andie ... and even though it is a format you seem most used to, I do not suppose you would appreciate a lecture on how the world works outside the ivory tower."

Before resentment has a chance to rise very far, Solomon continues: "My standard finder's fee to connect a person with a computer specialist is 10k. As a favour to Sara, I am willing to cut that, this once, to 5k, and to take it out of the balance of our contract at the end of the month."

[paul_HArkonen]

0329 Saturday January 6, 2063 - on the way there

As Alleycat hops up on the bike Blaze starts it up and heads towards the Paradigm Shift. Blaze's mind is focused on the task at hand, despite his humor. approaching the building he slows down the bike a little bit and maneuvers towards the back side of the building. Stage door, stage door. Where's a fragging door when you're looking for one. As he passes by the first time Blaze does his best to fit into the "frazzled boyfriend" persona, looking over his shoulder from time to time, and looking mostly just frustrated, which isn't too far from his real emotions anyway. Going around for a second pass Blaze finds a spot behind the club to park his bike.

Cutting the engine Blaze looks over at Alleycat, "They won't let us in, and you know it. I know you want to see the band but they have rules. Why don't we just go back to the hotel?" As he steps off the bike he offers his arm to Alleycat again, helping her off the bike.

[Sedna]

0339 Saturday January 6, 2063 - looking for a stage or back door

"Rules are made for bending," Alianna says lightly, her body melting into his as she accepts his help in dismounting. The narrow heels on the boots are just high enough to keep her clear of, if not incongruous against, the accumulated winter debris. "I'm not letting this opportunity to meet kore slip by. It's just got to be around here somewhere," she says, pressing against him as her head scans the area, and the sudden, sexual hunger in her voice is distinctly predatorial.

[paul_HArkonen]

0339 Saturday January 6, 2063 - looking for a stage or back door

"Alianna, one of these days you're going to get me in real trouble." Looking down at her Blaze seems to decide the posibilties for later are worth the risk. "All right, I'll go. The door's got to be here somewhere" She's either a really great actress, or there's something deep inside her that she's been hiding this whole time. Either way this will be interesting.

[Sedna]

0339 Saturday January 6, 2063 - looking for a stage or back door

A throaty laugh around her shivering: "Will you hurry up and get me inside? It's tó'samriel'sket cold out here!"

[paul_HArkonen]

0339 Saturday January 6, 2063 - looking for a stage or back door

Before taking any other actions Blaze wraps his Coat around Alianna, "Here, I'm not sure how much it will help, but anything is better than nothing."

[Sedna]

0339 Saturday January 6, 2063 - looking for a stage or back door

She sighs, melting into it (and thus concealing Blaze's Predator with her body, the pistol a cold piece of metal between them): "Mmm, that's nice ... but you'll freeze! No," she adds, blowing on her gloved hands in great clouds of white, "keep the coat, you'll need it. I'll just borrow body heat directly from you."

[paul_HArkonen]

0339 Saturday January 6, 2063 - looking for a stage or back door

Blaze chuckles to himself, "well, I can't complain about that." Blaze adjusts the coat so that it partially covers both of them, and the chunk of metal.

[Sedna]

0339 Saturday January 6, 2063 - looking for a stage or back door

Pressed against him as he folds the coat around the two of them, into his ear she murmurs, "Remember what I said on the bike, coming here."

Blaze remembered.

"That place must have been cleaned of all magic signatures. I didn't see anyone else that stayed around to "see" anything. Only the matchbook remained, odds are it's bait -- but we can make that work for us. What we're looking for here is a lead to Melissa, not Melissa herself. So we've got to play it low-key: get into the place, search for evidence or links or any trace of the astral signatures you encountered -- but not until one or both of us are clear of the secguards. Ideally, we'll manage to get something solid, maybe someone's seen one of the people we're looking for, or maybe we can narrow it down to something a particular security camera picked up. I wish Avalanche ..."

She'd gone silent then. When she picked up again, her voice had gone crisp:

"If all goes well, our way out is back the way we came. through the secguards ... but if we've found anything immediately useful I'll be wanting to dance first, and I'll be mingling and asking questions. If Tin Star turns up, my way out is through the dance floor, and maybe you'll be with me, and maybe not. That's also our first default -- second's looking for a way out by the roof, if we're in real trouble -- but if we're still clear at all, ditch the pistol first. I don't want those weapons detectors drawing further attention to us if there's any way around it."

[Shadowrunner13]

17:56:24 Wednesday 03 January 2063 - 10441 Pacific Court Way, Seattle, UCAS

Tenmou absorbs the information as Mr. Omura relays it. "I am to escort your niece from this building to her appointment and return her here? How am I to address your niece for the duration of my employ, Omura-san?"

[SentineloftheMou...]

1834 Monday January 8, 2063 - Land's End Magic Shop

"Agreed." Andie says simply. I don't need problems Jack I need problem solvers and if you don't want to help me then I'll find someone who will...

Once Jack gives Andie the phone number for the computer specialist Andie will contact that person to arrange the computer purchase.

[grendel]

17:56:51 Wednesday 03 January 2063 - 10441 Pacific Court Way, Seattle, UCAS

Mr. Omura shakes his head once, a sharp gesture.

"Pardon, no. Please pick my neice up at her apartment, 6461 Woolfes Lane, and return her there when the appointment is over. For the duration, you may call her Miss Omura."

[Morgannah]

09:15:48 Monday 01 January 2063 - Los Angeles, CFS

"Well, how about seven or eight this evening?"

Cosmo pauses briefly, a soft chuckle slipping out of its own volition.

"What did you have in mind? Since you'll be picking me up and all...."

[WinterRat1]

0339 Saturday January 6, 2063 - looking for a stage or back door
As the two young lovers gaze across the street at the Paradigm Shift , they cannot help but notice a few things. One, the place still seems unusually busy for this time of night. The lines are gone, but the bouncers up front remain as diligent as ever. Also, while it could hardly be called a steady stream of people, more like a trickle, there were still enough people going into and leaving the club at such a late hour to qualify as unusual, certainly.

Gone too are the corporate yuppies slumming it for the night. In their place is a rougher crowd. Not in the ‘street thug’ sense. No, they’re too well dressed for that. Harder too. Continuing their surveillance, a side door near a small loading area, big enough for a truck to drive into and unload, band equipment perhaps? Both of them easily spot the surveillance camera by the door. Then again, it appears that it is meant to be found, mounted as it is over an intercom system set into the wall by the door.

And oh yes, there is a fire elemental that seems to be on patrol in the area, guarding the club as well…

[WinterRat1]

1244 Saturday January 6th, 2063 - Virgil's Redmond Safehouse

Without turning to look at him, Dragon answered, “Some kid was screaming and drawing attention to us. I don’t know why your spirit didn’t scare her off, but regardless of that, Tiffany did a,” he paused, searching for the right word, “efficient job of silencing her. Hopefully she did not draw too much attention to us.” Looking at the sky, he added, “at least, no more than we already have.”

In a dry monotone, almost mechanically, he asked Sybersnake , “How are we doing with the car? Are we almost ready to roll yet?”

It was a shocking sort of shift, even for those who knew him well. Despite the earlier emotion that had been present with the Latina, both in the kitchen and back at Tommy Wong’s , there were no traces of feeling in his voice. Just cold, distant professionalism.

I’ve seen this before , thought Virgil . He’s got this crazy…disconnect from life. Sometimes it’s like he’s not even human. I’m used to it, and it still gives me the chills. I wonder what it’s like, to go through life seeing everything through…. With a start, the shaman almost jerked away from the mercenary as he realized once again, that his friend didn’t even see life through his own eyes, but rather through cold, metal replacements. What does he see? What does he see through those eyes of his? I can only imagine, but I certainly don’t ever want to find out.

Cutting through Virgil’s thoughts, Dragon asked once again, “Status please Sybersnake . And Tiffany , is there anything about the girl we should be made aware of?”

Addressing the shaman once again, he continued, “She knows we were here. She is a witness to our presence. A witness does not bother me overly so. However, a suspicious one does. And a witness, a child witness who was not frightened off by something many grown men would have run from, is a very suspicious witness indeed. Your thoughts on what to do with her?”

[grendel]

09:16:02 Monday 01 January 2063 - Los Angeles, CFS

"Seven o'clock it is, then. Wear something nice."

[Sedna]

1245 Saturday January 6th, 2063 - Virgil's Redmond Safehouse

Head and shoulders into the car, Sybersnake doesn't answer. The reporter shrugs, her face carefully expressionless ... but she's got the kid held closer than she really needs to. "If you leave her here, she won't be a problem to you much longer. She's ODing bad."

[Sedna]

1834 Monday January 8, 2063 - Land's End Magic Shop

Andie's on the receiving end of another of those intense gazes as he quickly writes down the LTG number. He doesn't care. He begins to dial, hoping for a quick answer. Perhaps predictably, there isn't.

"He might be occupied," says Solomon. "A job came through recently. If you still cannot connect with him after a day or two, talk to me again and I will fix you up with someone else -- but he is among the best in the business. Fallaces sunt rerum species."

The appearances of things are deceptive, the mage automatically translated in his head. It was one of Sara's favourite sayings ... but Solomon was not Sara. "Quicquid." Whatever.

The fixer laughed. "Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum viditur" -- anything said in Latin sounds profound.

Without further comment Andie decides to return to his circulation, redialing the number at regular intervals.

[Sedna]

0340 Saturday January 6, 2063 - looking for a stage or back door

"I dunno," Alianna said, hooking a stray strand of hair behind one ear. At this close range, the smell of the earlier beers still wafted lightly around her. "They said the dance floor was still open, but l -- dunno." A sudden shrug and a wicked smile: "Can't hurt to ask, now?"

Waving at the camera, she strides over to the intercom, the coat slipping from her bare shoulders: "Yo, hey in there, it's freezing out here. What's a girl gotta do to get a little kore action around here?" Shivering, she broadens a willing smile for the camera and clutches the coat around her a little more tightly (but managing somehow to accentuate rather than conceal what cleavage the dress had helped create), and waits.

[Morgannah]

09:16:18 Monday 01 January 2063 - Los Angeles, CFS

"Mmm, count on it."

Eyes opening suddenly, Cosmo looks around, her brow lowering suspiciously while a bit of a smile peeks out of one corner of her mouth.

He'd know know the number if he set up the 'storage room,' now wouldn't he? Black stockings it is....

[grendel]

09:16:31 Monday 01 January 2063 - Los Angeles, CFS

"I'll see you then."

Caska terminated the call, waited for a moment, then engaged the counter-trace program. Swapping over to his other line, he re-opened the call interface.

"Sorry about that, one of my important contacts. Change of plans, we'll have to move our meeting up to 1600."