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

[Sedna]

01:00:04 Wednesday, 10 January, 2063 - A Warehouse in the Barrens

She released it -- and the mana breathed electric fire through her nerves, the familiar, flaying, agonising pain which whispered faint echoes of her first conscious memory. In loving relief she embraced it, welcoming its blinding clarity as her nails sliced open her skin, sharing. Pain, yes. Pain is life, little man. Be alive with me -- for a few moments more.

Her mind utterly clear, she discovered a new contempt as she considered the shrieking, writhing swordsman. Such a little thing? To think that a moment ago, she'd been admiring his skill.

Effortlessly she held him with the power of her will, already preparing to turn back to cover her charges as she redirected the white electricity of the mana through the open gash in the palm of her hand, letting one pain flow over and replace the other with the ease of long familiarity. The rain tasted very sweet against the blood in her mouth.

[grendel]

12:01:04 Monday, January 8, 2063 - Aurora Village Shopping Center Food Court

Sybersnake is uncharacteristically subdued, staring at her fingers as they flex against the dirty micarta table top. Dragon glances sideways at Erebus, trying to gauge the young elf's thoughts. Distantly, over the hum of the crowd, the chiming of the mall's center clock announces the noon hour. Looking back at Sybersnake, Dragon meets her gaze, reading the pain and fear there, as well as the overriding biological rage of a mother helpless to protect her son. He tilted his head down minutely.

You railed at me about telling the truth of who and what I am. Now is not the time for double standards.

The slim hacker sighs, knowing what must be done.

"What Dragon is referring to is they have also taken my son. When I realized what was happening, and that I might have to go to ground rapidly, I called Dragon and instructed him to pick my son up from school. What I didn't realize at the time was I was not, in fact, speaking with Dragon, but an amazingly convincing doppleganger."

Sybersnake looks away for a moment before continuing.

"I gave them everything they needed to get to him: location, time, the code...."

She stops in mid-sentance, a look of horrified understanding blossoming on her face. Her words have turned the final tumbler in the lock of Dragon's mind, and his realization is a microsecond behind hers.

"You're not the target!" he blurts. "They're after your son!"

[Cedric Rolfsson]

12:01:04 Monday, January 8, 2063 - Aurora Village Shopping Center Food Court

Erebus can't help but wonder about the lady decker, for S-K to kidnap her kid must mean either she's very valuable or the kid is, either way it made the situation volatile. People would act irrationally when they were trying to protect their kids, they'd take risks and chances that sane people wouldn't, which made them extraordinarily dangerous, like a momma bear and her cub. S-K had to know this, had to know that kidnapping a decker's kid could trigger all sorts of reactions, many of which could be very costly to the corp, and they decided to do it anyway. A small voice inside Erebus' skull quietly pointed out that could mean there was a lot of nuyen involved and the chance existed to maybe get his share, but he ignored it. One score was short term thinking, a long term loyal connection to a crew of professional runners would be potentially worth far more in the end.

"So S-K snatched your kid or are you saying it's likely they will snatch the kid? Have they contacted you with demands, or is he" Erebus gestured towards Dragon "saying that S-K wants something from your kid?"

[DireRadiant]

13:36:17 Thursday, 11 January 2063 - Outside the Raincrest Apartments, East Tacoma, UCAS

Litany really needed to be running a team of at least 6 for a job like this. This was why corps and governments could collect so much good data. Eyeballs were cheap. Rotating a trio of pairs through each location till they could pick up the target, once acquired the teams could support each other and switch with each other on a fully rotating surveillance. The only help she had was Gabriel.

Lord Help me..

//Gabriel:: Pull the latest from the iBall and let's map the area.

On the other hand, standard surveillance team pairs weren't going to be capable of doing what she could do once the target was acquired.

and probably wouldn't want to either, it can get very bloody right quick

Litany started scanning the area, setting up the basic escape and evasion routes she thought she was going to need soon enough.

[WinterRat1]

12:01:37 Monday, January 8, 2063 - Aurora Village Shopping Center Food Court

Dragon's fist clenched and unclenched, and for the sake of not drawing attention to themselves he visibly fought down the urge to smash the table in front of them into little pieces with a single blow. Through clenched teeth, he answered Erebus, "Her son has already been snatched. If it is who I think it is, they won't be contacting her with demands. They don't want something from her son, they just want her son. And I would bet a large amount of nuyen that 'they' is not Saeder-Krupp, but Aztechnology."

Still uncertain of how much information Sybersnake wanted to reveal, but confident that at the least, Erebus deserved to know it was most likely The Big A they were dealing with now, Dragon looked over at the decker. "I'll let her explain what she wants to about that aspect of the situation, but this whole damn mess is starting to fall into place really fragging fast."

[WinterRat1]

01:00:05 Wednesday, 10 January, 2063 - A Warehouse in the Barrens

With his foe writhing and shrieking on the floor, it was a simple matter for Scrapheap to approach and put two bullets into the man's brain and out of his misery. Against the driving rain and hail of gunfire that echoed throughout the warehouse they barely registered a sound, the only noticeable sign of their passing a suddenly limp body on the warehouse's upper floor.

A quick scan of the second floor with his vision mods left John reasonably certain that except for him, Nora, Lady Dove, and the mysterious resident who'd helped usher the girls away from the fight, the second floor of the warehouse was empty. For now.

Glancing down at the lower level, he couldn't see Max and could only hope the shaman was making his way to the exit ETG and Blaze were still doing a remarkable job of holding clear. As he jogged over to the girls, Nora ripped herself away from them and threw herself at him. Wrapping her arms tightly around his waist, she buried her face in his chest and began sobbing like a little child.

[Vegas]

10:45:17 Thursday, 11 January 2063, Metropolitan Park Apartments, 601 S. Washington St., Seattle

Lana sniffled back the last of her tears and wiped her nose on the sleeve of her shirt before she looked at Razor and shook her head.

“I don’t know, I mean I seem to be a walking string of bad luck, you know? I mean from Kat’s stalker, to the crap at the club, the cops and now this? I wouldn’t be surprised if you guys dropped me like a hot potato and went the other direction at this point. At least till this all blows over.�

She was talking nonsense and yet the thoughts had likely crossed each of her friends minds in the last 24 hours.

“I just need a way to check email and stuff for the next 24 or whatever, so the detectives can reach me if they… you know, find out anything important. And if I can get access to the apartment and see what might be able to be recovered.�

Her eyes moved from the face of one friend to the next, and back while they kept their thoughts mostly to themselves.

“Maybe we need to focus on what more we can do for Kat, there’s nothing really anyone can do for me right now you know?�

[Sedna]

01:00:06 Wednesday, 10 January, 2063 - A Warehouse in the Barrens

The mana drained from her -- and at the same moment the girl broke free and fled over to her "Uncle John". Alleycat let her go. Listening to the scattered background bursts of gunfire, they would have a few moments anyway, before breaking the pinned-down stalemate on the way to their freedom.

First though -- "Gotta get us some armour," she said matter-of-factly to Lady Dove, already scrounging, letting her voice and manner continue to bring across the image of just another harmless transient, but keeping her own street lingo light enough not to be a barrier, or a threat. After all, she would have to be understandable to guide Lady Dove into acting to conceal them. "Gotta keep our heads down. You don't look like you belong here, and if you're not wearing armour and packing heat, you gotta to be a mage, which means you're gonna become a target real quick. All the trids say so. We need something to conceal us, quick." And the tone of her voice added: It's up to you.

The man had been precise with his pistols, Alleycat noticed with relief: the floor angle had taken most of the mess, leaving the armoured jacket as reasonably clean as could be expected. Quickly she pulled it off, running through the man's pockets under its cover. Grab the most obvious stuff and go. No pistols, but then she hadn't really expected any, not from this one. The katana she took also, which decided her in keeping the concealing jacket for herself. The grenades and shuriken were a fortunate find, but she would have traded them for a couple more pieces of armour for the woman and the girl. However, the only other armour in the area was the samurai's and what was being worn by the other squad which had just descended from the helicopter.

She considered that thought for a moment.

Didn't hurt that it gave her something else useful to do while she let the girl's relief take its course, something that didn't involve a heartfelt one-on-one with Lady Dove. She hoped it would happen quickly. No changes in the pattern and location of gunfire yet, but the stalemate couldn't hold too much longer. When it broke, she intended to be with the group doing the breaking.

This new group doesn't really seem to be after us, as such -- more like we're caught in the middle. So if Blaze and that troll pillbox of his draw attention while the rest of us keep our heads down, and let the rest of this situation take care of itself ...

Her gaze drifted briefly upward, toward the shattered skylight. Maybe losing the high ground wouldn't be necessary after all.

She caught the moment of change between Scrapheap and the girl almost before the man knew it himself. Her scrounging time was over. As she pulled on the too-large coat, she finally let herself shiver in the cold, cold rain. "I'm Alleycat. I'm a friend of Blaze. You know, hothead, red coat? Got any ideas for getting us out of here?"

And let her gaze drift upward again, leadingly, toward the waiting helicopter.

[Sedna]

08:30:24 Wednesday January 14, 2063 - University bookstore, University of Washington, Downtown Seattle

"Wow, that's a lot of nuyen for a night of decking. You gonna take it?"

"I dunno. I heard things about Milan Viddmar. Besides, everyone's offering, these days. Maybe all the demand will drive the price higher. Kind of nice being in a hot skill market, you know?"

Nestled behind his stack of stocked bookshelves, Andie favoured the two of them with a completely unseen glare. It was hard enough trying to track down Sara's selections without the added distractions. He had left Dusha tied outside to a lamppost. For an irrational moment, given all the bicycles already locked in the racks this early in the day -- and when did I start being forced to be a morning person? -- he wondered if he ought to have added a kryptonite lock.

It didn't help at all that Sara's selections turned out to be in a completely foreign language, although he supposed that it wasn't exactly a surprise, after the way the last week had been going. At least it was English alphabet, looked like German or something, which would have been nice if he had known German; but when he ran it through the bookstore's free Babel software, it came up unknown. He had had to go to the special order centre for assistance, and after waiting for twenty minutes for all the other beginning-of-term desperate students in front of him (and it would have been more, he'd learned from half a dozen conversations in the line, if he hadn't gotten there right at opening time), he'd discovered that she'd not known. Of course, like so much of the current staff, she was just a temp student hired for the rush. The regular staff was already swamped, Matrixing the faculties' last-minute class orders -- and even they had pulled in extra staff to handle the traditional overflow.

Andie idly started wondering if there was a way it could be done faster and cheaper with magic. Maybe he could create a niche here, tide him over until he got the orichalcum assembly line going.

"I got it!" she exclaimed suddenly, pulling out the jack from her temple. "You're looking for a couple of collections of children’s stories:The Topsy-Turvy Emperor of China and Naftali the storyteller and his horse, and other fools. They're in the dead languages section. Here's the stock numbers."

Children's stories?

And now here he was, at the farthest end of the dead languages section, staring at a small card on the shelf:

Not in stock. Please see Special Orders.

All right. Once more ... but that is absolutely it. I have better things to do. If she can't get paper in my hands, I'm out of here.

Back again, listening with half his attention to the earnest discussions going on behind him: add-drops and tuition and what a particular professor had turned out to be like and some kind of anti-Tir demonstration to be staged later that day. "We're already putting it up, the Portland shantytown and lots of packing paper to represent the wall."

"And the administration let you do that? Thought for sure that would violate the code of conduct."

The elf shrugged: "What are they going to do? expel half the student body?" and the body language added an unspoken expel me? "Tir embassy's even sent over their main PR spokesperson, so administration has to let it play out now."

"What? You mean Catarina d'Erethiel is coming to campus? Campus Matrix had nothing about that."

"Oh, like they'd advertise her movements in advance. I mean, think about it. Especially what with all the stuff going down in town. I only know because I'm invited to the pre-talk lunch."

"Abuse of board of governor student-rep privileges?" tuskily grinned the ork.

"Damn straight."

Elf's called up to the special orders desk, looks like he's got things pretty much in hand. Andie's next but for the ork, who's staring up after the elf with thoughtful eyes. "And wouldn't I like to be a fly on the wall at that lunch," he says quietly to himself, "when you discover that Lady d'Erethiel is an ork."

Andie's at the help desk now, and he's really not in the mood for more being jerked around. His right shoulder gives off a slight twinge at the thought, and he rubs it absently. "They're not on the shelf," he says bluntly to the girl. "What can you do for me now?"

"Okay," she says brightly, wired on her double shot, extra caffeine latté, "I'll put them on order. We'll give you a call when they’re in."

She's already reaching for the cable to plug in the order. Andie has to physically catch her hand to stop her (standing on tiptoe, the service window here is unrealistically high for any normal human being): "What can you do for me now?"

"Uhm. Well. I guess you could always download them?" in a voice which conveys unequivocably, So why didn't you do that in the first place?

"Can you download them for me now, here?"

"Well, sure, I guess. It's gonna cost more, you know."

"And print them out?"

She blinks for a moment like the idea isn't really computing. "Gee, I dunno. No one's asked me that yet. Hang on a sec, let me get the manager."

She jacks in, and once again Andie is left to his own thoughts. But this time it takes only another minute or two before she nods, and jacks out, and, after running his credstick through (note to self: get reimbursed from Sara -- he can't afford to just drop that much nuyen), places a "Back in Five Minutes" sign on the counter (to the collective groan of the line behind him). She leads him to a small room off the stock shelves at the back, where a large multitask printer is already printing busily into an enclosed tray. "When your job is done," she says, "take it over to Campus Printing. Give them this receipt, and they'll collate it for you."

"Lot of work for a couple of books," he says, and she shrugs: If you didn't want to be bothered, why didn't you just download them in the first place?

And it doesn't really help that he completely agrees with her.

[grendel]

12:03:06 Monday, January 8, 2063 - Aurora Village Shopping Center Food Court

It takes a moment for Sybersnake to recognize that Dragon is once again deferring to her judgment in how much information to impart to Erebus. The fact that she's busily swearing under her breath in Spanish doesn't help either. She chops the air with her hand, clearly ready to move despite the fact that not all questions have been answered.

"Martinez. A mid-level opeartions officer in Aztechnology with a biological interest in my son. If he is involved, then we have less than twenty four hours before my son will be on a plane back to Aztlan and out of reach forever."

She turns back to Dragon.

"You've got a car here, right? And some heavy ordinance? Or, at least, you can call some in, right?"

[Cedric Rolfsson]

12:03:06 Monday January 8, 2063 - Aurora Village Shopping Center Food Court

"If he doesn't have a car here," Erebus injected, "I do, but I'm not rigged so don't expect a whole lot of fancy driving from me."

His head was reeling, shocked by the mention of the Azzies in addition to S-K. If they were talking about hitting a major corp like this, especially one that magic heavy, then he'd prefer some magical cover. If it was just one mid level exec who was the problem. . .well that could be solved a little more simply.

"If it's just this one guy who's the problem then I'd suggest just eliminating the problem. If he's snatched your kid, and he'd doing it for his own reasons then hopefully he won't have the full resources of the corp behind him. I'm up for simply eliminating the problem in the most direct fashion available." The young Elf looked over at Dragon and remembered the coldly methodical way he destroyed the Yak solider earlier. He didn't doubt for an instant that Dragon would be all for simply eliminating the problem.

[WinterRat1]

10:46:34 Thursday, 11 January 2063, Metropolitan Park Apartments, 601 S. Washington St., Seattle

Her friends shift nervously from side to side, uncomfortable with the idea of abandoning Lana yet painfully transparent in revealing that yes, they were very worried about all the drek that was happening, and how they could easily be swept up in events far beyond their ability to influence.

After a brief, awkward silence, Kat says, "Well, why don't you crash at my place for now Lana? You can check your email there, and it should be pretty safe. So far O'Halloran hasn't followed me home or showed up there." She pauses. "At least not yet."

"Yeah, that's not a bad idea babe. Why don't we all go back to Kat's and try to figure out what to do next? I mean, that's what we were planning on doing last night, right?" Aidan chimes in, catching himself before blurting out 'before we found out about the fire'.

Razor just shrugs. "I'm cool with that."

The three of them look to Lana for her opinion.

[WinterRat1]

12:04:12 Monday January 8, 2063 - Aurora Village Shopping Center Food Court

Dragon looks at the hacker first. "I've got a car here, but I have to return it to its original owner. We can take Erebus's car." He glances over at the elf to confirm this is, in fact, ok, and receives a nod by way of an answer.

"I've got some gear in the trunk I need to grab before informing the owner of where to pick it up. But if we're going to have to take your son back by force, I'm going to want to grab some heavier stuff first."

He looks over at Erebus. "I agree, taking on the root of the problem directly would be the optimal solution. I do not think he's acting on company approval. This is personal. That leaves him without the full weight of the company behind him, which is definitely a plus."

Shaking his head, the mercenary immediately dismisses the cherished idea of simply killing Martinez. "I'd love to just geek the guy and be done with it, but if I know Martinez, he's safe and sound in his office in Aztlan. No way he's risking himself on this op personally. Right now, I think the best we can hope for is to get her son back safe and sound, and with all of us in one piece when it's over."

Even without the full weight of The Big A behind Martinez, Dragon still felt a chill at what they could be up against. "We're going to need more than just heavy ordinance. We need backup. Magical and vehicular. I'll call Daedalus and Virgil, hopefully they can regroup and get back in on this action. I think we're going to be operating on a very short timetable and I don't know who else might be available I would trust for this precise a job on such short notice."

Turning back to Sybersnake, he continues, "You said in twenty four hours he'll have your son on a plane back to Aztlan. How long has it been since you gave them the information needed to get your son, and how long do you think we have left?"

While the hacker ponders that question, he opens a secure channel on his headware commlink and mentally transmits via his transducer to her, "I'm begining to suspect Hector set you up to take the fall for this latest Aztechnology experiment that's supposedly running wild in the Barrens. Remember Kiki? That psycho seemed convinced you were in cahoots with The Big A, and I'm starting to understand why. I think you should tell Erebus, he has a right to know at least the basics of that angle so he isn't blindsided by it. Any other thoughts on that front right now?"

[grendel]

12:04:49 Monday January 8, 2063 - Aurora Village Shopping Center Food Court

"Let's go then," says Sybersnake, the legs of her chair scraping across the floor as she stands. Erebus glances at Dragon, but follows suit when the human samurai stands as well. Together, the three of them head for the parking lot.

"Based on the timeline I've figured, we have eighteen hours before Roberto is on his way to Aztlan with his father. Don't underestimate Martinez. This won't be a corporate sanctioned operation, but just because he doesn't have corporate resources doesn't mean he can't use the corporation's network of contacts. He may be a lying sack of drek, but he's good at his job." Sybersnake keeps her voice low, pitched to carry no further than her two companions. Falling silent, she glances once at Dragon before diverting her gaze and answering his silent communication.

"That information isn't particularly useful at this juncture, but if you want to brief him on it, do so. I've got some work to do on the drive so feel free to give him a rundown on the situation."

[Scrapheap]

01:00:06 Wednesday, 10 January, 2063 - A Warehouse in the Barrens

John winced slightly as Nora threw her arms around his waist, hanging on with surprising strength, body shaking as she wept. Gently, he turned them so that he provided the young girl cover from the raging gun-battle below. He holstered his Manhunters and returned her embrace. An image came to him from happier days: kneeling in a park somewhere, his arms around a much younger Nora, comforting her over some playground wound. He didn’t move as the squatter wandered over to where the swordsman lay, muttering something to Lady Dove about armor.

A burst of gunfire snapped the spell. Releasing his niece, but not prying her loose, John moved his satchel so that he could access it better, and removed his Ingram SMG. He had just slid the strap over his shoulder and snapped the stock into place when the squatter reappeared. He noticed the change immediately; no longer entirely anonymous, they had become a she. She said, "I'm Alleycat. I'm a friend of Blaze. You know, hothead, red coat? Got any ideas for getting us out of here?"

Finally prying Nora loose, John moved her behind him and turned to face Alleycat. Following her gaze he answered, "Nuthin’ that fancy, lady. Take forever to climb, an’ we’d be hangin’ out in fraggin’ open the whole fraggin’ time. ‘Sides, we both got friends down there. We need to make our way down to the others, pull-out under cover. Together."

[Sedna]

01:00:08 Wednesday, 10 January, 2063 - A Warehouse in the Barrens

Alleycat smiles, letting a little more of the street slip away from her low voice as she considers the squad's current intent. "Not if we decoy those four out of our way first and borrow Lady Dove's concealment to make this our new firmpoint. Don't sell yourself short. I've seen you climb, and now I've seen you fight. There can't be more than two or three left up there, just one if we're lucky, and they won't be at all like the guys down here."

They don't know for sure; and with what's going on down below we're not that high on their threat level. We've got the cover to decoy them past us and then briefly hold this position, especially if we can get those two other spirits working with us. We've got the communication, with Lady Dove's help. We can do this, but I'll have to set this plan in motion quickly.

"Keep our heads down, bring our friends up here a few at a time under concealment, and let those two groups take care of themselves. It'll be safer for everyone than trying to work our way through that mess. They're not after us. We can use that. It's still an escape route, after all. It's just one they won't be expecting."

The smile breaks into a tight grin, white teeth briefly flashing against the dark tan skin.

"Besides, your friend down there has a levitation spell. Didn't you notice?"

[WinterRat1]

12:06:11 Monday January 8, 2063 - Walking towards the Aurora Village Shopping Center Parking Lot

Walking towards the parking garage, Dragon considers Sybersnake's words. He disagreed that information wasn't particularly relevant at this juncture. It was a pretty good guess that Hector was trying to kill at least two, maybe three birds with one stone.

If Kiki had been telling the truth, it seemed as if Aztechnology had released some kind of disease into the Barrens, possibly to test it, while setting Sybersnake up to take the fall, settling one score, then taken advantage of her being on the run to snatch back her son, settling another. All in all, a very neat setup.

Even if Sybersnake wasn't particularly concerned about the plague right now, they'd still have to deal with it down the road, and Hector was too smart to not have a way to keep that angle running while he handled this vendetta. Then again, with an eighteen hour time limit on rescuing Roberto, maybe now was not the time to focus on the plague. It wasn't going anywhere, and would still be there to deal with afterwards. Besides, it was obvious the hacker was focused on one thing only, and without her full attention, trying to handle the plague angle would be more of a distraction than anything else.

That settled in his own mind, he silently messaged Sybersnake back. "All right, I agree, it can wait until after we get Roberto back."

In a low voice he said to the other two, "We're going to need to pick up some stuff from my place, and possibly Erebus's too. Hopefully Virgil and Daedalus can join us shortly. How soon can you have a situational update for us on Roberto's possible current location or where he'll be transported from? Do you already have that information, or should we be putting the word out to our contacts to try and dig it up?"

[grendel]

13:44:26 Thursday, 11 January 2063 - Outside the Raincrest Apartments, East Tacoma, UCAS

The Raincrest Apartments are part of a series of apartment complexes in the neighborhood, most of which are identical in physical layout if marginally different in facade. The streets are two lane secondary arteries with parking on both sides, and most street corners feature a Stuffer Shack or Arco gas station. Traffic is low but steady, with a Lone Star patrol through the area only once in the half an hour that Litany has been watching. The wind continues to howl bitterly, and the pale sun that peeks irregularly through the gray overcast does nothing to warm the air. Occasional bursts of snow flurries give the horizon an ashen look, as if the low clouds were drifting smoke from distant fires.

[grendel]

12:07:28 Monday January 8, 2063 - Walking towards the Aurora Village Shopping Center Parking Lot

Sybersnake shook her head once.

"No data yet, I'll get online for real once we're on the road. I'm estimating that my searches will take approximately thirty minutes. That should give you guys enough time to gear up. I'll update you with target intel, recce, and status as soon as I know it."

[Vegas]

10:47:03 Thursday, 11 January 2063, Metropolitan Park Apartments, 601 S. Washington St., Seattle

She shrugged with this little-girl-lost look in her eyes before nodding.

“Yeah, sure. Whatever. Why don’t Aidan and I head back to his place to grab my stuff and meet you two over there. Save us a trip back later.� She watched as Kat and Razor looked between each other with knowing glances. “I promise, we won’t be long ok? We’ll get to solving all the world’s problems soon enough.�

She managed a slight smile and an arch of a brow to get her two friends to give in and it didn’t take much convincing to have Aidan come around. The group parted ways and Aidan did everything in his power to keep Lana’s mind off all that was swirling around her and what was supposed to be a short stop at his apartment turned into something entirely different and much longer.

12:57:42 Thursday, 11 January 2063, Tashirocaplan Artist Lofts, 115 Prefontaine Pl S, Seattle

After a number of phone calls Lana finally arrived on Kat’s doorstep with both her duffle bag and boyfriend in tow. After being let in through the security they made their way upstairs to the apartment. It was nothing lavish, but it was easy to see by looking around Kat was able to afford a lot more than just school on her stripper’s salary.

Lana tossed her bag beside the couch and promptly flopped onto it, a bit of the dark and depressed mood lifted from her shoulders. Everyone else took spots around the living room and stared at one another until someone broke the silence.

“So, this whole thing with O’Halloran, do we even know that he’s dead set on getting Kat to work for him in some way or another?� Lana got right down to business, it was hanging in the air heavy and it would at least keep her mind off the other things weighing on her shoulders.

“I mean is there perhaps some other option, I’d say lets talk to him face to face, but I suppose I kinda blew my chance last night.�

[WinterRat1]

12:07:45 Monday January 8, 2063 - Walking towards the Aurora Village Shopping Center Parking Lot

Dragon nods. "Understood. Let's get moving then." As the three of them walked in silence to the Aurora Village parking garage, he started making the necessary phone calls.

Opening a secure line, he silently dials up both Daedalus and Virgil on a conference call using his transducer. Neither of them picked up, so he left a message. "Hey guys, it's Dragon. Things are starting to fall into place. It appears Sybersnake was never the target of this screwed up mess to begin with. It looks like the primary target was Roberto, her son, all along. That places our main enemy as her ex-husband, Hector Martinez. That son of a slitch. Remember him Virgil?

My personal theory is he orchestrated this whole situation to not only get his son back, but also to frame Sybersnake and bring her down, payback he's probably been waiting on for a long time. If you really want to stretch it, I bet the plague in the Barrens also furthers his schemes, possibly as a live test of some sort. That's pretty impressive, three birds with one stone. He gets his son back, tests out Aztechnology's new toy, and Sybersnake takes the fall for it, assuming she even survives the hit squads he's sent her way.

According to Sybersnake, we have about 18 hours before Roberto's back on a plane to Aztlan and gone forever. Well, maybe not forever, but I sure as hell don't want to take a vacation down there to try and get him back. Again. So let's avoid that scenario and stop it from happening in the first place.

I know we agreed to split up, but after what Hector's thrown at us so far, I have no doubt wherever Roberto is being held will be loaded with security. I would really like to get backup on this, and after we get Roberto back, I think following the trail could eventually take us to the truth about the plague in the Barrens. If we're really lucky, we might even find answers for how to stop it. Erebus is with me now and he certainly seems like the real deal, but it's do or die right now and I can't think of anyone else I'd rather rely on in this situation than you two. Give me a call back and let me know if I can count you in, or if I need to start looking elsewhere for backup. Dragon out."

Hanging up on Daedalus, he continues with his message to Virgil. "Virgil, I left Juliette's car in the Aurora Village Parking Garage, section 7B. Shouldn't be too hard to find. The car's clear of our presence, I took care of that before I headed over here. Wiped it down, bleached and cleaned the insides to screw up DNA identification, astral tracking, etc., the usual. It should be safe here, so you or her can pick it up at your leisure. Tell her thanks for me."

He pauses, then adds, "And Virg? If you could back me up on this, I'd really appreciate it. I need you for this one. Hector's not kidding around, and we're gonna need to reach deep to pull this off. I'm going to need magical backup no matter what, but there's no other spellslinger I'd rather have covering me than you."

With nothing else that could really be said, he cut the connection.

12:45:00 Monday January 8, 2063 - Cruising in Erebus's Car

After transferring his stuff to Erebus's car, the trio drove in silence to one of Dragon's safehouses to pick up his heavy artillery. After grabbing his necessary gear and ensuring Erebus had his as well, they cruised down Seattle's highways, careful not to draw attention to themselves.

Turning to Sybersnake, Dragon said, "All right, we're set. You ready for that briefing yet?"

[Sedna]

01:00:08 Wednesday, 10 January, 2063 - A Warehouse in the Barrens

But the rest of this situation wasn't going to take care of itself without her assistance, Alleycat realised with a resigned irritation. Concealment by itself wouldn't suffice, not for the group as a whole. For whatever reason, this new group of infiltrators was paying just a little too much attention to their position. They knew. It was even entirely possible they were after Lady Dove or the girl, in which case running would be ultimately pointless. Some of the answers, no doubt, lay up in that helicopter.

The girl. Why had Alleycat intervened? There'd been no danger to Alleycat before. Entire tides of battle had swept around her and past her uncaring, leaving her untouched, unseen. It would have been so much simpler, even profitable, just to let things unfold, and then pick up the pieces afterwards. She'd abandoned so many before this, she'd betrayed so many that betrayal had lost all meaning, what's one or two more? But the girl had screamed: and suddenly it was the most important thing in the world to get her silenced, and -- not to let her uncle be killed in front of her eyes? But why should that have mattered?

She had no idea what colour the girl's eyes would be; but her mind suddenly painted them a deep, dark blue, tinged with the smell of -- pancakes?

It was taking forever for her new ally to consider the situation for himself. He'd have to, of course -- he's the kind you don't just tell what to do -- but Alleycat herself could have told him what his decision would be. He would also have to be the kind who would forget how to see the long-term for the immediate risk where a loved one was in danger. So she'd either have to abandon the possibility and give herself up to a far-too-vulnerable stair retreat -- the obvious choice, and too obviously the one he preferred -- or she'd have to find a way to make her preferred retreat much more visibly desirable. Either would be far from optimal, but the girl was his life. Talia understood.

She understood.

And now it's actually important, what happens to them.

Alleycat considered the squad again. Professional outfit, without a doubt. As soon as she'd identified that, she'd rejected immediately the idea of borrowing the flimsy visual cover of the offices. They had neatly established control of all the key second floor points of access toward the west, where the rotor wind had driven the early ropes: and now they were working their way in pairs toward the east, end result would encircle Alleycat's small group completely if she didn't quickly do something about it. None Awakened like the swordsman, but headware, bodyware, almost certainly sensory upgrades -- movement and coordination in a way that told her she'd be listening for a clue to their language in vain. Oh, for an electronic jammer. Don't waste your time wishing for what you can't have.

No headgear. Now wasn't that interesting?

New evaluation, this time taking into account the pattern of the specific pairings -- and now she saw the potential vulnerability where a hole could exist. Three separate sets of combatants, the gangers and triads below and now this new professional squad, picking and choosing their degree of involvement with the rest in a way Alleycat could appreciate. But if there was one thing she knew, it was how to throw wrenches into neat plans. If just this one pair could be bypassed, be -- elsewhere?

It fell into place with a shivering clarity. Too much sheer noise to do it from here -- she felt Lady Dove flinch behind her as yet another explosion shivered the floor under their feet, but also the growing focus as the woman came closer to the all-important conjuration -- but from the cover of the smoke cloud -- yes! Two together with only submachine guns, that was as nearly optimal as she could have hoped for. But she'd have to move quickly, gain that cover before the others could flank her -- before she could second-guess that deep instinct that had shown her the pattern, and the way of opening a hole.

Alleycat took a deep breath.

Oh, they'll never recognise that this is helping them --

[bclements]

21:05:01 Wednesday, 10 January 2063- The Sundowner Tavern, 14640 58th Ave S. Seattle, UCAS

“Certainly,� Rodrick said, seemingly having recovered from the huff he’d been in when Isir had left, fanning away the blueish smoke coming from Leo’s cigarette. Leo did note that the homeless man at the front perked up when he had come in, seemingly noting his presence. The waitress also kept an eye out for Leo, but mainly because of the cigarette.

“Although, I am perfectly capable of staying at my own place, under my own protection, but if Isir is insistent, then I will relent. They are my team, after all. What’s your plan?,� he said, sighing as if this was something like a dental checkup or a particularly long wait in line at a crowded bar; one of those things that is endured in life, but not looked forward to.

[bclements]

20:01:47 Thursday, 11 January 2063 - Tooth and Nail, West Galer St, Downtown Seattle, UCAS

The house-trance vibe was a very obvious, and welcome change for Freya from the hard house music from the floor above. The smell of Deepweed was evident upon entering the floor from the stairwell, and judging by the slouched state of some in the booths surrounding the floor, in abundant use. Leon knew that Luna didn’t mind on this floor at least; a lot of what she called ‘neo-hippies’ aggregated here, and it was one of the more innocuous drugs out there. Unlike the floor they’d just been on, this was a pretty mellow environment to trip out. Even the gazes from the floor upon them entering were more subdued. Freya’s clothing seemed almost conservative here, and Leon was just another Changeling. Neither stood out against the laserlit, foggy backdrop of the dancefloor.

Freya felt it as well: upon finding a booth and sitting down, she closed her eyes for a moment. “Wow, you mind if I clock out for a minute? I haven’t seen anything like this� she said, astonished smile on her face. Leon laughed and nodded, looking around for anyone he knew as Freya slouched down, her astral presence leaving her body. He felt a twang of envy as she floated above the thronging mass of people. A sip of whiskey would help with that.

He’d barely brought the glass to his pursed lips when Freya bolted back upright in her seat, banging her knee against the tabletop and almost causing Leon to spill the liquor on his shirt. “I swear to Ghost I didn’t know they were here,� Freya said, enough to be heard over the soothing, melodic tones of the music. Leon also noticed a few Elves moving toward them from another booth.

[Sedna]

07:15:07 Monday, January 8, 2063 – Downtown Seattle

"Of course. Just like every other time. May Tyr watch over us both."

"See you on the other side," grinned Dragon, tossing his friend a quick, casual salute.

Virgil managed to hold his own grin until Dragon was out of sight. The crowd swallowed him quickly, uncaringly, oblivious. For whatever reason, Dragon seemed to have escaped infection completely -- so far, but maybe that meant that close proximity by itself wasn't enough to transmit this thing. By Tyr, he hoped so.

Until he'd stepped out of the car, he hadn't realised just how badly he'd overestimated his own strength. The apparent remission had deceived him, and now the relapse was hitting him even harder than before. He closed his eyes briefly, trying to focus. Bad idea. Only his willpower and a clutched railing kept him upright as the world around him spun; and for a brief, blinding moment the pain threatened to consume him.

His fingers left tiny spots of blood on the railing as he straightened, eyes open and carefully focused on the stone edifice of the building next to him. It kept him anchored well enough, for now.

Virgil knew now that he wouldn’t be able to make it to the safehouse, not and keep it safe. He hoped he had enough left to make it to the clinic. He thought vaguely about calling back Dragon, decided against it. Dragon had enough on his plate, and a cab could serve as well for transportation. Besides, what could Dragon really do anyway that Juliette and Galina couldn't? Hold his hand?

"No," he said out loud, and those around him, absorbed in their own phone calls and personal musical environments and full-immersion games, didn't notice. Their auras sparkled with the flashes of interest and faded again as quickly, colourless as their jobs and their lives, a feverish sea of humankind sweeping through the turnstiles and moving moving always moving without going anywhere --

Virgil found himself clutching at a dumpster in an alleyway between buildings, with no clear recollection of how he had gotten there. The pain had grown and widened, eyes and skin and bowels twisting into a silent scream shuddering through his body into an agonised retching of warm blood. The very air against his skin was fire.

Dear spirits, this thing was spreading fast!

This is no way for a shaman of Tyr to die. Get up, Virgil. You've been through worse than this.

But he knew he hadn't.

It was getting hard to see. Gray flirted at the edges of his vision, interrupted here and there by warm, sticky red. Whatever else, it would mean an end to the pain. No! Not like this. Just make it to Juliette's, call her to come get him -- in what? Dragon had her car.

"I found him, Master." A girl's voice. "He's in bad shape."

-- and then he knew no more.