Living in the Shadows: IC, Jan 8th-14th Options

[bclements]

11:50:10 Tuesday 09 January 2063 - Miner's Landing, Downtown Seattle, UCAS

Inclining his head slightly and raising his eyebrows in a look of surprise, Tony thinks to himself This kid is crazy. Graveyard in the Barrens?. "You want me to take you out to a graveyard in the Barrens? What is out there your looking for? And..." Tony pauses while the waiter delivers the drinks "...what kind of danger's did whatever it is say would be out there? I'm not very easliy scared, but I do like knowing what it is I'm getting into."

[The_Eyes]

19:52:12 Monday 08 January 2063 - Bluefish, Tacoma, Seattle, UCAS

Eyes glances at the dance floor, where Ran was still swallowed by the seething crowd. Gotta be something else going on here. Eh, might as well see where this is going, he thought, dismissing that nagging feeling of unease as nothing more than jitters from being around the crowds.

"Sure, why not? Lead on, my dear." Eyes says with a smile and a small wave of the hand.

[Sedna]

1230 Tuesday, January 9, 2063 - Land's End Magic Shop

Just when he was starting to feel completely forgotten -- "This will take longer than I had thought," comes from the front room, and then the fixer moves aside the heavy curtain separating front from back, lighting the back area with a reflected dazzle of snow. "Andie, I am going to have to step out for a bit. The store may as well stay locked up while I am gone, so you will not be disturbed in any way until I return. You have the kettle, if you want to make yourself some tea, but I will have to pick up some more raman noodles on the way." A slight smile. "We seem to have used them all."

"When?" asks Andie practically, and the fixer shrugs -- "I have to be here for this evening. Beyond that ...?"

"All right," says the young mage. The details of the store-to-be are still percolating through his mind: fireplace, reading room, garden?

"What will you name it?" asks Solomon quietly.

[grendel]

19:53:44 Monday 08 January 2063 - Bluefish, Tacoma, Seattle, UCAS

She chuckles again, holding out her hand.

"The name is Reign."

Turning, she leads Eyes upstairs, the bouncers glancing at their wrists before letting them pass. Her hips sway in time to the music, and she glances back over her shoulder at Eyes. A wicked smile plays across her lips before she turns back. Upstairs is much less crowded than the dance floor, but the crowd is older, a dangerous blend of seasoned veterans and aged poseurs. Reign makes room for herself at the bar with a careless gesture, pulling Eyes in close.

"What'll it be, sailor?"

[Ecclesiastes]

11:50:10 Tuesday 09 January 2063 - Miner's Landing, Downtown Seattle, UCAS

Todd nods, acknowledging what Tony says. "I know it sounds crazy. And honestly, if you knew why I needed to get out there, you'd think I was even crazier. But... yeah, I guess you do need to know."

The boy takes a moment to stuff his mouth with fries and let his mind go over the events of the last few days before continuing. How much do I tell him? Will he think I'm crazy? Will he back out if he does? Screw it.

"Alright, a few days ago a man was shot outside my apartment. He slipped a chip under the door. I don't know if it was to keep it away from whoever was attacking him or if I was ment to have it, but the fact is... I have it. This chip is crazy man. Encryption algorithms that beat anything I've ever seen before, and I've seen it all man, trust me. Crazy drek. The file inside was another encoded message and after a lot of work, I figured out it was a map. Well, longitude latitude markers actually. The file told me to be careful, that the key would be guarded. Guarded by what, I'm not sure. If its too much, we can bug out. But I am being called to this and I gotta check into at the very least."

Todd stops, takes a sip of his soda and a bite of his burger. Her eyes never leave Tony as he tries to get a feel for what he is thinking.

[bclements]

11:50:30 Tuesday 09 January 2063 - Miner's Landing, Downtown Seattle, UCAS


“Very interesting story kid, very interesting...” Tony murmurs half to himself. This kid is way in over his head. And I’m right down there with him by being here. He's motivated enough to go out there, though, and he'll be dead quickly without me. He may be dead quickly with me out there as well.

“Hmm, anything about what the ‘key’ would be? A physical key, or just another chip?” Tony said around a mouthful of hamburger. “Do you know what’s around there? I’m not too knowledgeable about the Barrens, other than being out there a few times. Gangers and the other usual low level thugs I can handle or scare off pretty easily. Dedicated mechanical or magical security may be more than I can handle, depending on how motivated they are. And they may be pretty motivated, considering that they’ve killed at least one person for this chip. All without even mentioning what can happen in a graveyard in this day and age,”, Tony added, feeling a little more confident in reciting his abilities, tempered by the fact that he had a lot less knowledge about this situation than he wanted.

Taking another sip of water, Tony asks another question “You’ve had this for a couple of days, right? Notice anything strange happing to you in that time? Same face once too often in your peripheral vision, weird calls or emails, anything out of the ordinary since you’ve gotten that chip?”

[Ecclesiastes]

11:51:00 Tuesday 09 January 2063 - Miner's Landing, Downtown Seattle, UCAS

Todd shakes his head. "Naw, nothing like that. I've had to deal with Psycotropics before and this wasn't it. This file was... pure genius. As far as what the key is... I have no idea. If you want, I can check in on the security about the place and maybe look up a bit as far as street info surrounding the place goes too. So... you in then?"

I sure hope so, cause if he's out, I'm up a creek.

[bclements]

11:51:17 Tuesday 09 January 2063 - Miner's Landing, Downtown Seattle, UCAS

"Yep, I'm in, just wanting to know exactly what I'm in, though," Tony said. "However, I'm not in it for the money. I'd like you to do a job for me when we're done with this one, instead of a fee. Just a couple of people found, nothing that should be too taxing."

"Also, I'm pretty strapped for time, so if you want to do this today, now is the time. However, if you want to wait 'till tomorrow or so, then I'm free, assuming I'm still among the living, that is. If you are wanting to check security, then I or both of us can do a little scouting around there."

[Ecclesiastes]

11:51:17 Tuesday 09 January 2063 - Miner's Landing, Downtown Seattle, UCAS

"Wiz man! Lets get started then."

Todd reaches under the table and unzips his backpack. He pulls out a sheet of paper and places it on the table.

"This is a map of the cemetery. We're headed to the red X. The tack is the entry. Want me to jump online and check which Gangs hang out in the area and see if anything weird comes up in the news on the cemetery? I have my SatLink with me."

[The_Eyes]

19:53:47 Monday 08 January 2063 - Bluefish, Tacoma, Seattle, UCAS

Eyes takes Reign's offered hand.

"Call me Eyes. Everyone does," he said in return. Almost feeling the added question, he laughed, "I've had the nickname so long it comes to mind faster than the one on my ID."

As he followed her upstairs Eyes still couldn't quite shake the feeling that something odd was going on. It was almost certainly just crowd jitters, but even so he decided to take it easy on the drinking and do more talking instead. He had work to do tomorow, and from experience no matter what you tried a hangover and hot ASIST just do not mix.

"What'll it be, sailor?"

Eyes nodded briefly to his companion. "Ladies first." After she had ordered, he smiled and made his own, "Snake bite: Guiness and sweet cider, if you have it. Oh, and some ice in the glass too; beer is definately not good warm."

As the bartender went about making their drinks, Eyes turned to Reign, "So, what do you do?" he asked curiously, "other than picking up, um, curiously handsome strangers and inviting them to drink?"

[bclements]

11:51:25 Tuesday 09 January 2063 - Miner's Landing, Downtown Seattle, UCAS

"Sure kid, go ahead," Tony said absentmindedly while studying the map and having a few fries. This is bad: most of the way into the cemetary, passing a mausoleum it looks like, across from something that looks like a fountain. A fragging sniper's paradise. Tony thought to himself after a quick look at the map. At least there's one exit seperate from the entrance, if the map is accurate. Hopefully, quick in and quick out

"Kid,"Tony said, thinking of something else before the kid went comatose, "Could you tell how old the file on that chip was? If you could, search for stuff from a little before that time forward. Also, check if that graveyard is warded" Yeah, snowball's chance in Hell of that occuring, but it doesn't hurt to know

[Ecclesiastes]

11:51:55 Tuesday 09 January 2063 - Miner's Landing, Downtown Seattle, UCAS

"Got it."

Reaching back under the table, Todd reaches into the backpack and makes sure the Satlink is facing the right direction. He leaves the Sat under the table, so what he is doing isn't the most obvious thing in the world. He runs the dataline from his backpack up to his temple, pushes his plate aside and activates the uplink.

"I'll be right back."

[grendel]

12:02:23 Tuesday 09 January 2063 - Miner's Landing, Downtown Seattle, UCAS

The interference from the multitude of transmission points in downtown plays havoc with Todd's connection, static washing across the vistas of the matrix at regular intervals. It does not provide any real barrier to his search, though.

Sacred Heart cemetary has been abandoned for five years, its plots untended and forgotten. Those who could afford to, exhumed their loved ones interred there. Those unable or unwilling, abandoned them to the vagaries of time and nature. As far as Todd is able to find out, no gang has claimed the cemetary. Probably due to supersition about the abandoned area, especially in light of the strange events surrounding the arrival of the Comet.

[grendel]

19:54:26 Monday 08 January 2063 - Bluefish, Tacoma, Seattle, UCAS

Reign sipped at her cosmopolitan, smiling at Eyes. Beneath them, Speed Coma rose to the stage, welcomed by a roar that trembled the foundations of the warehouse. They immediately replied with the iconic strains of the title track on their 2060 Dragonbreath album. Opening his astral vision, Eyes is struck by the massive outflow of mana energy, finding himself in a pillar of living energy. The walls of Bluefish glowed with the lambent forces of a thousand beings. It didn't matter that individually they might have been burnouts, or down and out, or street nihilists, or teenagers certain that the angst they felt would never end. Here, in this place, in this music, they felt alive.

Above the screaming mass, hovering on black wings, were the angels of the city streets. Streamers of dark energy eneveloped the vaguely humanoid shapes, concealing their true natures even on the astral plane.

Reign gazes down at the crowd through the steel grating.

"Impressive, aren't they?" She chuckles again, sipping from her drink. "As for myself, artist usually fits me well enough." She glances back over her shoulder at Eyes. "Curiously handsome, eh? Any other qualifications I should know about?"

[The_Eyes]

19:55:10 Monday 08 January 2063 - Bluefish, Tacoma, Seattle, UCAS

Eyes watched the crowd below benignly. From a distance like this, it was easy to see where the theories of a linked subconscious come from. From this level, you could see the crowd moving and flowing to the music, almost like it was a single gigantic entity, composed of hundreds of hands and feet, hearts and minds. Then his eyes refocused, and the crowd once again became just a collection of people, all interacting, all connected, but still separated. The one becomes many, and the many become one. Eyes sips at his drink and smiles... before his brain realised what he just sipped and does a cold reboot.

"Curiously handsome, eh? Any other qualifications I should know about?" Reign asks slyly.

Eyes puts on a thoughtful air. "Well, let's see: charming, dependable, intellectually stimulating..." Eyes grinned widely, "and a horrible despicable liar."

Eyes chuckled a little at his own lame joke, and adds playfully, "No, really I'm pretty boring. 'Usually artist" sounds a lot more interesting than 'IT consultant.' Any chance on squeezing out a few more details, or is that getting a little too personal?"

[Ecclesiastes]

12:02:33 Tuesday 09 January 2063 - Miner's Landing, Downtown Seattle, UCAS

Todd's hand twitches, alerting Tony, but a moment later the hand moves towards the boys temple and pulls loose the datacord. He sits up, brushing a few crumbs from his cheek that stuck to him while his face was on the table. "Looks fairly clear. The place have been abandoned for about five years now, swallowed up by the barrens. Some of the bodies were moved, others weren't. No gangs claim the area, I'd guess over supersition about claiming a cemetery or whatever."

[grendel]

19:55:31 Monday 08 January 2063 - Bluefish, Tacoma, Seattle, UCAS

Reign laughs, her eyes sparkling. Turning away from the spectacle below, she sets her glass on the bartop.

"It depends, how personal were you planning on getting?"

[bclements]

12:04:39 Tuesday 09 January 2063 - Miner's Landing, Downtown Seattle, UCAS

"Hmm," Tony says, trying to think of another way of gaining information about the place and not succeeding. "I guess the next step is to go out and take a look at the place. At least that can tell us what's going on out there. If it's clear, we can try to get this 'key' you're looking for. If its not, then at least we know what to bring."

"Oh yeah, you were twitching just a minute ago, while jacked in. Is that normal?"

[Ecclesiastes]

12:04:45 Tuesday 09 January 2063 - Miner's Landing, Downtown Seattle, UCAS

Todd shrugs, "It happens. I'm not exactly a run-of-the-mill Decker. Anyhow, where is your ride?"

[bclements]

12:04:49 Tuesday 09 January 2063 - Miner's Landing, Downtown Seattle, UCAS

"Car's in a parking deck a couple of blocks up. And now would be a great time to tell me..." Tony stops as the waiter comes over.

"Anything else, gentlemen?"

"Double bourbon, neat, for me. God knows I need one at the moment. And whatever that gentleman," Tony points at Zeyda's position by the bar, "wants to drink, with my complements. You want anything else before the check?" Tony asks to Todd

[Ecclesiastes]

12:05:19 Tuesday 09 January 2063 - Miner's Landing, Downtown Seattle, UCAS

Todd shakes his head, declining. He waits for the waiter to leave, then asks, "Now would be a great time to tell you what?"

[WinterRat1]

09:16:00 Monday 08 January 2063 – Redmond - Touristville - The Respite Soup Kitchen - Main Dining Hall

She looks at him blankly for a moment, then blurts out, "Yes, we do, there's a ladder in the kitchen to get to the heating and ventilation units on the roof. Why?"

[Slipshade]

09:16:02 Monday 08 January 2063 – Redmond - Touristville - The Respite Soup Kitchen - Main Dining Hall

"We need to get outta here and the exits are likely blocked by whoever is out there. Keep your head down and I will follow you." The gas spewing forth from the canisters was quickly filling up the room as he pushed Keira towards the kitchen door. Max was about to follow, when he saw Trancer and his mom huddled under one of the folding tables.

"Melina...Trancer follow Keira...QUICKLY!'

Fear was beginning to overwhelm them, but the young kid managed to pull his mother out of her shocked state and got them stumbling after Keira, with Max following closely behind.

[bclements]

12:05:21 Tuesday 09 January 2063 - Miner's Landing, Downtown Seattle, UCAS

"Now would be a great time to tell me what you can do. You can deck, obviously, but what can you do otherwise? Helps me to plan a bit, in case stuff starts going haywire. As for my role in this, I'm your bodyguard, and I'm not bad at it. I'll do what I can to make sure that you don't come to any harm, but I do need to know what you can handle," Tony says, while taking a sip of the bourbon.

"We get that settled, and we can get on our way." Tony finishes, waiting interestedly for Todd's response.

[Ecclesiastes]

12:05:31 Tuesday 09 January 2063 - Miner's Landing, Downtown Seattle, UCAS

"Oh.. umm...", Todd blushes a bit, "Not much else really. I'm no good in a fight or anything if thats what you mean. I can try to hide, but even that I'm not too good at. Computers and Electronics is my thing. I deck and bust through security systems like no ones business."