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

[SentineloftheMou...]

2000 Tuesday, January 9, 2063 - Land's End Magic Shop

Andie continues looking over his two new roommates and says, "Your friend looks a little the worse for wear, Sam. Is he going to be alright?" Andie thinks hard about the implications of this being Sara's brother and wonders if he has ever meet the man before this night. The resemblance is remarkable...

Andie turns to see Solomon's reaction to the situation and his chit chat with their uninvited guests to defuse the ackwardness of the situation. Well, better to make the best of the situation than to offend, I always say. Where is Sara now, I wonder?

He turns back to Sam and says, "You wouldn't happen to know anything about security systems, would you Sam? I've been working on a system for a new building and could use some help on it. Think you could help me out?"

[Sedna]

2003 Tuesday, January 9, 2063 - Land's End Magic Shop

No, for sure Andie hasn't met this person before. I'd surely have remembered ...

"Uh -- I guess?" Sam looks a bit taken aback, one hand wandering down, out of Andie's sight. The thumping sound slowly abates. "Sure. What do you need to know?"

[bclements]

00:03:56 Wednesday 10 January 2063 - Everett Dockyard, Seattle, UCAS

So weird I don't even want to start thinking about it. I might as well be dealing with little green men from Mars, Tony thinks to himself as he witnesses the scene before him. "If there is nothing further..." he asks the children, checking the contents of the black case.

[Bastard]

1100 Wednesday 10 January 2063 - Cooper's Automotive, Downtown Seattle-UCAS

"Hey Chavez, anything new?," Marq asks, walking into the garage.

"Not really, well not yet. Im suposed to have a slick Westwind coming in for some fine tuning."

[The_Eyes]

12:06:55 Wednesday 10 January 2063 - Miner's Landing, Downtown Seattle, UCAS

Eyes resisted the urge to wince. Now that he thought for a second, of course it would be the daughter; who else would try such an obvious ruse, in particular when she, as a woman in her mid-twenties, had little chance of actually passing for a 50-year-old? The thought came that this could just be a second fake name, a double-blind or whatever it was called to get him caught up in his own cleverness, but he'd already been, rude? enough already, trashing her alias right to her face once like that.

Besides, there was something more important to talk about right now. "I don't doubt that you think you mean that, but I've had to eat my idealistic words a few times once, so I know better than to take a pronouncement like that at face value. I don't want to scare you off or anything, but I suggest you consider carefully just how much you really want to know."

Eyes glanced around casually, trying to pick up on any prying eyes or ears. "Let me be clear here: this is not some detective trid where the bad guys are just waiting around to be discovered. I've barely scratched the surface of anything so far, and already in the past two days I've received more veiled death threats than I've received in the past two years. These are dangerous people, people who apparently felt no remorse at putting a bullet in your father's chest through an armored wall. If they find out that you're looking, they will kill you. Oh, and me too," he added, almost as an afterthought. "So I suggest you take some time and think, really think, about how much you need to know."

Not really expecting an answer right away, Eyes folded his hands and moved on to the next matter. He hated to throw all that out, but really this woman needed to know how deep a game she was involving herself in. Her backing out now would definitely be preferable to her backing out after he and she had stumbled unto something serious. "Now then, if you are serious, then the next step is to find out just what your father was working on before he died. I've looked around, and frankly it's rather like trying to question a black hole. Your father is very good at covering his tracks, and honestly I'd expect no less from a man of his talents and skill.

"The only place I can think of that might have the information would be your father's own apartment. As his daughter, would you have some way of getting me inside? I suppose I could try and sleaze my way in by myself, but it would be much easier, less dangerous, and far far more legal for everyone involved if we had your help." Eyes made a lopsided grin. "Plus I'd have to charge you extra for a B&E job."

There. Let's see how she chews on that. Eyes blinks. Wow, did I really say all of that? About 80% of that was unnecessary, and the rest was far too indiscreet. Drek, am I an idiot or what?

[Slipshade]

10:45:52 Monday 08 January 2063 – Redmond - Touristville - The Respite Soup Kitchen

“No kid, nothing that I can use immediately.” Trancer looks crestfallen at his reply.

“What are we gonna do now.” He mutters.

Trying to cheer the boy up, Max lets him in on part of his plan. “First I am going to take this dress and Keira’s hairbrush home. They may be able to help me find her.”

Trancer looks up at Max in confusion. “How is that going to help?”

“Well, I may be able to cast a spell that will help me locate Keira, She were she is and hear what she hears, but I am in no shape to try it now. It requires extreme concentration and I need some rest.” Max starts to slip into what his friends call his professor mode, but stops himself before he rattles on.

‘No time to go into Astral Theories and the correspondence points.’

“When I get back, Melina, you call the police. Tell them everything that happened, but I need you to leave me out if this. I can’t help find her if I am doing nothing but answering their inquiries…ok?

Melina nods in understanding.

“Good.” He looks into both of their faces. Fear, exhaustion and anxiety swirl through their auras. “If you need any help, call me.” He hands Melina a business card on which he writes his cell phone number. “Don’t worry I’ll find her.” Max gathers Keira’s things and takes another look around at the damage to the soup kitchen.

‘Don’t these people suffer enough?’ He thinks sadly to himself.

Melina stands and puts a hand on his shoulder. “I’ll open her up tomorrow, Max. We need The Respite around here. I may not be able to do the job Keira does, but I will keep it going until you can find her.”

Max nods. “If you need anything to help get this place going again, let me know. I am going to get in contact with a few people. Maybe they can help The Respite and Keira.” Standing there briefly he stares out the busted doorway into the streets as a light snow begans to fall.

[Scrapheap]

????- Finn's office, Loveland Quinn's Bar, Puyallup

"John. It's Finn, chummer. Wake up."

"Huh? Wazzit? Who's there?"

Struggling to sit up from the deep chair, John brought his eyes online and saw Finn standing in the doorway with 2 cups of coffee. The room was still just as dark, but he had the feeling that time had passed. For one thing, the monitors all showed different images than they had before. For another, though his neck was stiff, John felt rested. Finn crossed the room and handed him the cup. From the smell he could tell that this was coffee, real coffee. He couldn't remember his last cup. "Careful. It's hot."

"This smells great. Thanks, chummer." Taking a sip, John suddenly notices that Finn is wearing a different shirt than he remembered. A sinking feeling started to creep over him. "Uh, Finney, what time is it?"

Finn's gaze seemed to lose focus for a second as he read the time display from his cybereyes. His eyes were a much more expensive model than John's. The only way that you could tell that they weren't real was if you were close enough to see the manufacturer's logo. "09:05. Why, got someplace to be?"

"Holy fraggin' drek! Are you fragging serious? I'm supposed to meet people in Redmond in twenty-five minutes! Redmond!" Rising from the chair, John started to pace.

"Sorry, chum. I didn't know. I was jacked in 'til about an hour ago, when I found you there. I decided to take a shower and let you sleep. Figured you could use it."

Taking a deep breath, John turned to his friend. "No, Finn, you were right. You had no way to know. It's just that these people I'm supposed to meet were going to introduce me to someone who might be able to help me find Nora. Without that intro, I don't know how far I'll get. I didn't even get a number to contact them." Thinking furiously, he looked up as a thought occurred to him. "Speaking of Nora, did you find anything else?"

Shaking his head, Finn took a drink of his coffee and replied, "Sorry, chummer. I didn't look much more after I talked to you. I saw something on Shadowland, something that looked big, something you might want to know if you're heading back out today. I spent all night digging up everything I could find, but that wasn't much." Leaning over, he punched a couple of keys and some text displayed on one screen. "Seems that there's some nasty disease running through
Puyallup. No one seems to know anything, but there's a lot of theories. The one thing that everyone agrees on is that it's bad news. Maybe some sort of new plague."

A shiver ran up John's plastic-laced spine. "Well, that's just fraggin' great. I don't have a choice, Finn. I have to go out there." He began to pace again, and muttered, "Knowing my luck, I'll fraggin' walk right through the heart of the fraggin' outbreak."

"Maybe not. At least not walking." Seeing John's confused look, Finn continued, "Why don't you take the bar's van? Maybe you can even make your meet, or close enough. I mean, if it gets fragged, it's no big deal. The bar's a legit business, so that van is insured. I'd just report it stolen."

"I don't know what to say, Finn. Thanks."

Rummaging around on the desk, Finn tossed him the keys. "Nul persp, Co..., uh, John. Hey! Where's this meet?"

"Place called The Respite Soup Kitchen. Run by a woman named Keira, last name unknown. Which reminds me, I need the address too."

"Don't worry about it. Why don't you clean up and get started. I'll look this place up and call you on the way with the info."

[Scrapheap]

10:45:38 Monday 08 January 2063 - Somewhere in Touristville, Redmond

His luck holding true to form, John had run into awful traffic on his drive across the sprawl. The bar's beat-up van, while serviceable, certainly wasn't built for speed. I'm so fraggin late! What are the chances that those kids waited? Idiot!

Following the directions that Finn had provided during his call, he turned right at the next intersection. The old decker hadn't really been able to tell him any more about the Respite than the kids had, and nothing about Keira. The matrix was endless, and searches like that took time. At least that was his explanation...

According to this, it should be up here on the left. There! I think that's it.

The van skidded to a halt in the slush, and the old runner stared at the sight that greeted him.

What the frag? You've got to be kidding...

[WinterRat1]

10:45:42 Monday 08 January 2063 - Somewhere in Touristville, Redmond

Pulling the van to a quick stop by the curb, he wasn’t sure what shocked him more. The fact that the doors leading into the soup kitchen appeared to have been busted in, or that waiting outside for him were Megan , Tyler , and the others. Waving to him, Megan ran up to him as he exited the van. “Hey old man, you get lost or something? We’ve been waiting here since friggin’ 10:30 or so.”

Part of John wanted to ask, ‘weren’t we supposed to be here at 9:00?’. But considering he was pretty late himself, he decided to keep his mouth shut, and thanked them all for waiting instead. “Why did you guys hang out here so long?”

Tyler shrugged an appropriately tough shrug. “Didn’t have nothing else to do. Figured may as well stick around. Plus the door’s were busted in when we got here. Thought something funny might have gone down, and if you’re as bad as Megan says you are, waiting around for ya couldn’t be a bad idea.”

Before any of them could say anything else, movement inside attracted their attention. Adjust his cybereyes to compensate, John realized that a well dressed man had just stood up, and there appeared to be a kid and a woman inside too. Who the frag are they? Maybe they have some answers about what happened here…

[SentineloftheMou...]

2003 Tuesday, January 9, 2063 - Land's End Magic Shop


Andie shows Sam the floor plans for the new magic shop and asks, "This is the rough layout of the new building and I need to develop an effective security system to prevent thieves from getting in." Andie points out features and rooms on the sketch to Sam. "This is the business front room. This will be for storage and hydroponics. This will be living quarters and this will be a work area." Andie glances at Sam to make sure he is following along. "Do you think you could develop an effective security system for such a building?"

Andie gauges Solomon's reactions out of the corner of his eye to make sure the situation doesn't escalate.

[Scrapheap]

10:48:02 Monday 08 January 2063 - The Respite Soup Kitchen, Touristville, Redmond

Using the van door to block the action from casual observation, John reaches beneath his jacket and pulls one of the battered Colt Manhunters free from its concealed holster. As his hand made contact with the grip, the weapon's status flared across his field of vision via the smartlink display. Slamming the door shut, and holding the heavy pistol along his leg, he then turned to the young gangers. "Someone's moving inside, so I'm going to go check it out. Wait here." Quickly turning to face her, he cut Megan off just as she opened her mouth. "That means you too. I don't want any of you guys getting your hoops shot up if the people who did this are still around. Besides, if something happens to me, you guys are the only ones who can help Twiggy and Nora."

Walking around the front of the van, patting Tyler on the shoulder as he went, John used his body to block the gun from the people inside. Zooming in on the three figures inside, he didn't think they would be much trouble, but you could never tell. He quickly covered the distance to the entrance, paused to check out the battered doors, then ducked inside. Looks like those doors were knocked in with one of those 2-man battering rams. Which means that this wasn't just some random thing.

Inside was a short hallway, a couple of doors to each side, and then another set of double-doors at the far end. These hadn't been knocked in, as they were blocked open with door-stops made from old 2x4s. He walked silently down the hallway, quickly clearing each doorway as he passed. He was careful to step over all of the discarded food, trays, and other litter in the hallway. As he neared the other double-doors, John could see that the three people in the other room were in the middle of a huge mess of broken and overturned furniture and spilled food. Two of them were seated on old folding chairs, while the other stood with his back to the doorway. Each held a cup of what looked to be water. They hadn't noticed him yet.

As he stood in the doorway watching, one of the other people, a woman in an old pink shirt and faded jeans, stood and reached up to put one of her hands on the shoulder of the guy standing. As he turned to face her, John saw what looked to be an albino elf. "I’ll open her up tomorrow, Max. We need The Respite around here. I may not be able to do the job Keira does, but I will keep it going until you can find her."

The elf looked down at her and nodded. "If you need anything to help get this place going again, let me know. I am going to get in contact with a few people. Maybe they can help The Respite and Keira." He then turned and looked directly at John. Aw, frag...

The elf quickly shoved the woman behind him. The other seated figure, a kid, jumped up to stand next to him and said, "Hoi! Who're you now?" The elf shifted what looked to be a wad of green cloth from under one arm to the other, and placed his freed arm protectively around the shoulders of the kid. "Easy, Trancer." Turning his pale gaze onto John, he said in a deep cultured voice, "Sorry sir, but the Respite is closed for the day. Perhaps if you come back tomorrow..." He trailed off as his eyes narrowed and he seemed to stare more intently. His eyes widening, he looked back up and locked his gaze onto John's. "Who are you?"

Stepping out into the open, the old runner held up both hands, plainly showing them the pistol, before just as obviously holstering it. "I ain't no squatter looking for a fraggin' handout, that's for sure." Reaching up, he took the ever-present cigarette out of his mouth and blew a plume of blue-ish smoke skyward. He looked around at the destroyed dining room before replying. "Name's John Standard. I came here looking for a woman named Keira, needed to talk to her, but judging from what I just heard someone else beat me to it. What happened here?"

[grendel]

00:04:14 Wednesday 10 January 2063 - Everett Dockyard, Seattle, UCAS

The dark haired boy glances over at Tony.

"We require nothing further at this time."

He motions, and the group returns the their vehicles. Within minutes, the only things left in the warehouse are the two bodies, left in disarray, and Tony standing with a certified credstick in the amount of 1500 :nuyen:.

[Sedna]

2003 Tuesday, January 9, 2063 - Land's End Magic Shop

" 'Effective', meaning what exactly?" asks Sam, but he's already recovering his balance after the unexpected instant goal-oriented interrogation. "The most usual low-level systems involve combinations of locks, cameras, scanners, screens, and sometimes photoelectric beams; but I tell you right now that there is no system in existence that will keep someone skilled, determined, and equipped from breaking in. The most you'll ever do is to deter, detect, and possibly contain." He pauses, his gaze shifting focus. "And wards, of course." Testing it with his hand, keeping the astral duality -- and the "give" of them is very obvious indeed: "Usually stronger than these, though?"

"Since you are discussing these things, you might want to mention to him what your budget is, Andie," adds Solomon. Leaving the flashlight on the chalkboard ledge, the fixer had moved into the entryway to the front room, where he is watching the two of them with a light amusement. "Seems the two of you are getting to know each other," he says dryly when Andie's gaze lights on him. "I will leave you to it."

[bclements]

00:07:33 Wednesday 10 January 2063 - Everett Dockyard, Seattle, UCAS

Still befuddled by the macbre events in the warehouse, it takes Tony a minute to collect his thoughts. Looking out of the door, he sees that the snow has tapered off, but the wind off the Sound is still whipping up small tornados of the snow that the dock traffic has pushed off to the sides of the thrufares.

Snow is everywhere, though, and based upon his trip out here, getting a cab isn't going to be easy, and not knowing the area well enough, it may be hard to find a place to sleep it out.

Tony almost walks out of the building out into the snowy, windy night before he realizes that the Workhorse is still in the garage. Silently cursing his momentary lack of perception and thanking whatever God happened to have pity on him, Tony loads up his duffel bag in the floorboard of the truck, fires up the engine, and pulls out into the snowy, rutty thrufares.

Driving out is not going to be fun. Just take it easy, follow the tracks, and now is not the time to look for new and interesting drinking holes Tony thinks to himself as he pulls out of the warehouse block and back toward Downtown.

[grendel]

12:08:19 Wednesday 10 January 2063 - Miner's Landing, Downtown Seattle, UCAS

Jennifer stares at Eyes for a minute, conflicting emotions chasing themselves across her face. Righteous fury gives way to indecision which is subsumed behind a mask of cold professional detachment.

"I am not as sheltered as one might think. Certainly I do not have the same appreciation for danger that someone in your line of work does, but don't think that I lack an awareness of the hazards inherent in conducting this investigation. I appreciate your warning as one professional to another, consider this my verbal waiver releasing you from any responsibility in the event of my own death or injury."

Jennifer takes a deep breath, almost managing to suppress a shudder in her slight frame. Eyes begins to understand how important the answer to this question is to her. She won't be able to fully mourn her father until she knows. She drinks from the glass in front of her before continuing.

"Now, you mentioned wanting to see my father's apartment? I think I can arrange that. Nothing of his belongings have been disturbed, I've made sure of that."

[The_Eyes]

12:10:21 Wednesday 10 January 2063 - Miner's Landing, Downtown Seattle, UCAS

The irony was not lost on Eyes that he has not in fact been in '[his] line of work' yet a week, and that until six months ago he was just another mindless corporate drone. He wanted to chuckle, but realized that would probably be taken the wrong way. In any event the response was essentially irrelevant; once she really understood the reality of the danger she'd either try to back out or not, and no words at this point would mean anything then. Eyes was rather painfully reminded of his own point of choosing, the choice he did make, and how it turned out wrong in the end.

Fair warning given, he moved on to the next piece of business. "Wonderful. We should probably get this done sometime today, but I'll need to pick up some equipment first. Maybe... 7:00 tonight?" At the same time, he was writing on a nearby napkin:

[grendel]

12:10:56 Wednesday 10 January 2063 - Miner's Landing, Downtown Seattle, UCAS

Jennifer nods, listening to Eyes. She blinks in some confusion when she reads the napkin though, before nodding in understanding. Glancing around, she clears her throat.

"Right, today. I can meet you outside of his apartment complex, say at 6:45?"

She writes on the napkin with a pen from her purse, quickly passing it back across the table to Eyes.

[The_Eyes]

12:11:10 Wednesday 10 January 2063 - Miner's Landing, Downtown Seattle, UCAS

Eyes nods, slipping the napkin into his pocket. "Sounds good to me. Anything else you wanted to discuss?"

Inwardly he sighed. Having not brought his deck, a toolkit, or really anything other than his psec, a little spare cash, a pen and his glasses to the meet he wasn't prepared at all to go scrounging through Dr. Casimir's apartment... but then, what did he really need? Worst case scenario Casimir has a big expensive computer lying around, and he'd have to take it home to analyze it. Wait, is that worst? Maybe best.

[Slipshade]

10:53:46 Monday 08 January 2063 - The Respite Soup Kitchen, Touristville, Redmond

Max had never seen a person with that much cyberware in him. By the looks of his oversized arm and ratty clothing, some of it may have been second hand. But that didn’t make the man any less dangerous. Max could only guess that this was what the Trid called a Shadowrunner. One that had lived through a lot if his age was an indicator. He didn’t look like a Max Aurora or a Sliver but then again this wasn’t the Trid and Max couldn’t think of anyone else that would pack that much cyber. The man’s aura showed no signs of the flickering red and black that would have indicated impending violence, but he was clearly irritated about something, maybe it had to due with the malaise of grayish sorrow that seemed to be cling to him…that didn’t seem right. Not sorrow, but regret maybe. John’s voice interrupted his train of thought.

“What do you want with Keira?” Max answered John’s question with a question.

‘Keira has been kidnapped and now this cybered up guy is asking questions. What the hell is going on?!?’

Max was beyond his breaking point. Keira was gone, he had fallen a good 10 feet off of the ladder after being shot multiple times, The Respite was in shambles, now this guy comes here asking questions. Frustration, anger, fear and fatigue began to come crashing down on Max, but until he knew this John Standard meant Keira no harm, he wasn’t going to get a damn thing from Max. That and he still had Melina and Trancer’s safety to think about.

[grendel]

12:11:10 Wednesday 10 January 2063 - Miner's Landing, Downtown Seattle, UCAS

Jennifer smiles, a brittle tension in her expression.

"No, nothing more. Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to meet me." Taking another sip from her glass, she stands, sliding the heavy Navy peacoat around her shoulders and tucking her purse beneath her arm. She nods once to Zeyda at the bar before making her way downstairs. The fixer slides into the seat she vacated after a moment.

"Need anything, omae?" he asks Eyes.

[The_Eyes]

12:11:31 Wednesday 10 January 2063 - Miner's Landing, Downtown Seattle, UCAS

Eyes smiled. "Nothing I can pay for, I'm afraid. You checked out the, client's credentials, I'm sure? She's not hiding anything important, is she? Other than that, I don't think there's anything."

What do I need? Eyes repeated silently, A plane ticket, yet another new identity, a good bunker and a dozen bodyguards might be a good start. This whole thing is getting creepier and creepier.

Eyes started preparing to leave, as he had a ride to catch. "Oh, and one more thing," he adds, "I'm not sure how much you know, but this whole thing just, well, feels bigger than what a 2,000 nuyen investigation should be. Watch yourself; I might be stirring up something big." Waiting for Zeyda's reply, and making any other necessary discussion, he heads out.

[Scrapheap]

10:55:13 Monday 08 January 2063 - The Respite Soup Kitchen, Touristville, Redmond

"What do you want with Keira?"

Irritation and frustration welled up in John, as he started to realize that this may be another relative dead-end. Briefly, he entertained thoughts of making the elf talk. Making all three of them talk. He'd certainly done worse. And you hated every second of it, didn't you? Hated having to follow those orders, do the things they told you to do. You've been down that path, chummer. You didn't like the view.

He regarded the three with outward calm, and took another drag off of his cigarette. He could tell that his manner and questions had put the tall elf's back up. They all looked worried, scared and hurt, and here he was making demands? That was likely to lead nowhere. No one's going to just spill because you say so anymore, chummer. No one knows who you are, and what's more no one cares. You came here to talk, so talk.

Putting on what he hoped was a comforting expression, John said "It's OK, chummer, I just wanted to talk to her. I needed to ask her something, that's all." Doubt still showed on the pale face silently regarding him, so he motioned towards the chairs where the three had been setting. They looked like they were on the verge of collapse anyway, so he figured that they should sit. "You mind?" After a brief pause and another intense stare, the elf gave a terse nod.

Walking over to the chairs as they backed away, John arranged them and and took a seat, leaning forward with elbows on knees, before motioning for the others to sit as well. The kid, Trancer, quickly did so, staring at him with youthful curiosity. Finally, the others sat too, though the elf shifted his chair to keep both John and the door in view.

After everyone was settled, he continued, "I needed to see if Keira had seen someone who I know sometimes helped out here." At this, John could see the elf stiffen again, so he quickly added, "Frag, chummer, it's not like that. See, my niece is missing. I think she may be in trouble, and I'm trying to find her before it gets any worse. I..."

"Fraggin drek! What happened in here?"

As the elf half-rose from his chair and turned fully towards the doorway, even that small movement causing obvious pain, John sighed and shook his head. "Frag it, kid. Don't you ever listen?"

"You ain't the boss of me, old timer." Megan stood in the doorway, hands on hips, surveying the destruction like some tiny general. The other kids had already started to spread out, looking through the rubble, turning tables back over, and so on. At the sight of the gangers, John could see the elf sit back in his chair and relax slightly. Why? Does he know them, or just figure that he's safer with more witnesses?

The young elf came into the room, and now John could see Tyler out in the hallway, keeping watch near the front doors. Smart kid. Turning to the others, she continued, "Max, right? What happened in here? The Respite is fraggin' trashed! Was it gangs? It was, wasn't it? What about Keira? She in the back? You ok? You look hurt."

As she got closer, her mouth going its usual kilometer-a-minute, Trancer suddenly piped-up: "Hi, Megan." Looking over, John knew that the goofy grin the boy wore could only mean one thing. Making eye contact with the woman, who seemed as surprised as John that the kid had spoken, he could tell that she was thinking the same. Even though she could only be a few short years older, Megan replied with a dismissive, "Yeah. Hi, kid." She then opened her mouth to continue, "Where the frag was I? Oh, yeah..."

Finally fed up, Max said, "OK! Everyone just hold on and be quiet!" Taking a deep breath and rubbing his hand across his face and through his pale hair, he turned to John, "Mr. Standard, you say that you are looking for your niece and that you mean my friends no harm. I'd like to believe you, sir, but after today's events you'll forgive me if I ask you for some proof. That you know Megan and her friends speaks well of you, but if you have anything else to support your claims I would suggest you produce it now. My patience is nearly at an end."

Megan's eyebrows climbed towards her spiky blond hair as she looked back and forth between Max and John. Obviously sensing trouble, she quickly said, "Hoi! Simmer, Max! I think the old fragger's legit. He's Nora's uncle. You ever meet her? Human girl, 'bout my age but a little taller. Black hair with red and purple highlights. Pretty, I guess. Remember?" Fishing around in her oversized coat's pockets she finally produced the crumpled image and handed it to Max. "Here, that's her. Anyway, she's been gone for a while and he's looking for her. We came here to find Twiggy, since this is where his cousin said he'd be, but figured we should talk to Keira first. She around? She OK? You never said. Anyway, Nora's note said that Twiggy would know how to find her. Oh, yeah!" Turning to John, she said, "Give him the note. Maybe he can help."

The old runner had been following the exchange with some amusement. He was starting to get used to her, but he could tell that Megan had Max's head spinning. The pale elf's demand had irritated John at first, so Megan's interruption had come at the perfect time. If not for her, he might have said or done something stupid; something he couldn't afford since he needed these people's help. His patience is nearly at an end? What about mine! I mean, it's not like I wasn't going to show him the letter. I just hadn't got there yet.

Pulling the carefully folded note from his shirt pocket, John opened it and handed it to the elf across from him. "I came home from a job yesterday and found this in her room. It was hidden, but in a fairly obvious place. Before you ask, that's her writing." Pausing, he lit a cigarette from the smoking butt of the one he'd just finished. Dropping the old one to the floor and grinding it out, he continued, "So there's your proof, Max. Now, what happened here? Maybe we can help each other."

[Bastard]

1253 Wednesday 10 January 2063 - Cooper's Automotive, Downtown Seattle-UCAS

Just before one o'clock, the crimson Westwind pulls up to the shop. Its engine winds down, and settles at a quiet purr. The driver climbs out slowly, closing the door gently behind him. Chavez meets the man in front of the shop to discuss the transaction.

"Here she is."

"Beautiful. Lets go inside and fill out the paper work."

"Thanks."

Inside the office Chavez and Mr. Morris discuss the details of the job. Shortly later another sportscar pulls up, this one yellow. The driver is hidden by the jet black tinted windows, that even make peering in the windshield hard to see inside. The car sits at idle behind the Westwind, while Chavez and Mr. Morris continue to talk.

After signing the work form, the customer gets into the yellow car, which quickly reverses. It spins around, leaving only smoke and rubber behind, as it heads off back from which it came.

"So whats the deal."

"Basic tuneup, but using some top of the line parts that he specially ordered. Then we are going to also change some of the chips out."

[bclements]

01:14:11 Wednesday 10 January 2063 - Sea-Tac International Airport, Long Term Parking Terminal, Seattle, UCAS
It takes Tony nearly an hour to drive the Workhorse back to Sea-Tac over the icy road conditions brought on by the storm. Much of that time was spent trying to get back onto I-5; Tony had to dodge carefully around abandoned cars stuck in the road at weird angles covered with a thick coat of snow, a few accidents that the owners hadn’t bothered to report, and even had to back down the icy onramp once to get enough momentum to get onto relatively clear interstate.

The relatively high traffic on the highway, combined with lots of attention from snow-removal vehicles (like the IceMelter truck Tony followed the last couple of kilometers into Sea-Tac) made the roadway passable at lower speeds. The news radio had mentioned that the Governor’s office had put out an advisory to “…stay off of roadways except for emergencies. Road crews will continue to clear main roads, and will move to residential areas as soon as the snow stops. Bridges and overpasses remain icy…”

Pulling into the Sea-Tac long term parking area, Tony slotted his credstick in to the meter, getting a parking spot 3 levels from where his Americar was parked. No need to take up Zedya’s ‘fraidy hole, just in case this thing is bugged or tracked. Regretfully getting out of the warm truck into the frigid parking garage, Tony gets his bag and takes the elevator down to his parking spot.

02:00:42 Wednesday 10 January 2063 - Capitol Hill, Seattle, UCAS

“God-Fragging-Dammit!” Tony yells to himself, after trying for the 5th time to rock the car out of the rut it was stuck in. “5 blocks from the apartment, and you do this to me!?” he yells again, moving around to the back of the car. Apparently, after dodging a Westwind that came around a corner too fast, Tony had gotten off of the lane he was driving in into a icy rut in the roadway. The car was off to one side of the street, back end pointed toward the curb. Kicking the tire once to further express his frustration, he picked up his bag, locked the car, and began the short, cold walk back to his apartement

02:22:33 Wednesday 10 January 2063 - Capitol Hill Terrace, Capitol Hill, Seattle, UCAS

Walking into the apartment building, Tony noticed that the power was back on, and the heat was still working. Good, finally Tony thought to himself, as he sat down with a hot cup of coffee to type out an email;

[grendel]

12:12:40 Wednesday 10 January 2063 - Miner's Landing, Downtown Seattle, UCAS

"Yes, she checks. ID went through at the bar and came back legit. As to whether or not she's hiding something, aren't we all?" Zeyda chuckles. "Don't worry, I'll watch six and keep you up to date. Be careful out there."

Eyes nods, tabbing closed his jacket against the brutal winter wind and slipping down the stairs. After moving his bike to a different, more sheltered parking spot, he trots down the aisle of cars until he finds a green Ford Americar with exhaust pluming from its manifold. Sliding in to the welcome warmth of the passenger seat, he nods to Jennifer, who puts the car in gear and heads out of the parking lot.