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

[grendel]

23:46:08 Wednesday 10 January 2063 - Apartment 875, Parkewood Village Apartments, Tacoma

Todd leans back in his chair and rubs his eyes, yawning. The search was finally completed, having been much more intense and far reaching than the one he did on Dr. Casimir. In the end, though, he'd managed to locate both of the individuals mentioned in the file Tony sent. The first had been easy:

[grendel]

10:05:21 Wednesday 10 January 2063 - Capitol Hill Terrace, Capitol Hill, Seattle, UCAS

Tony finds it a cruel irony that it's not the alarm that rouses him from bed, but the telecom. The incoming message alarm is too far for him to shut off, forcing him out from the warmth of his bed and into the chill air of the apartment.

[bclements]

10:07:21 Wednesday 10 January 2063 - Capitol Hill Terrace, Capitol Hill, Seattle, UCAS

Tony, still in the groggy, half-a-step-behind-life state of the abruptly awakened, looked at the message on his telecom. Does that guy live at the Landing? I'd be a penniless drunk if I lived in a place like that. Good music, though Tony thought to himself as he padded toward the bathroom, after flipping on the coffee machine.

15 minutes later and a cup of hot real coffee later, and feeling more human, Tony begins his morning exercises. Just the light exercise for today. Gotta keep my word to Sung, or else I'm going to have to deal with more of his 'Young Grasshopper' drek he likes to spout off.

The Tsui Pa Hsien style morning exercises were meant for someone a lot more hungover than Tony was today, starting at a slow, taut rhythm and working up to the full weaving, pausing, starting and stopping of the style. Even taking it easy as Tony was, he was sweating after 20 minutes in the chilly air of the apartment. After a warm shower Thank God again for gas heating a shave, and a change into his Vashon suit and longcoat, Tony left his apartment for his car, a small bag under his arm with a change of clothes in them.

11:02:21 Wednesday 10 January 2063 - Capitol Hill neighborhood, Seattle, UCAS

Tony pulls his car away from the curb. A truck had been by sometime previously to spred some ice melter on the road, and the Americar had gotten the full brunt of a broadside of it. Just glad that no one hit the thing in the night he thinks to himself as he pulls up toward Sung's Dojo

11:16:21 Wednesday 10 January 2063 - Sung's Dojo Capitol Hill, Seattle, UCAS
"...and feel yourself moving around. Don't just move your head, move your hips, your knees, your feet. Movement is the key..." Sung said to a group of young students, mostly human, but with some elves and orks in the group as Tony walked in. Sam was in there too, helping a side group of orks and trolls with some sparring practice.

Tony walked over to where Sam was, as he instructed what looked to be a young ork as he hit a heavy bag. "...no, son, put your hips into it. Rotate your body, try to move your weight to your front foot like this.." Sam said, moving to the front of the bag. Standing, Sam moved quickly, doing exactly as he instructed the student to do: rotating his hips, moving his weight, and landing a hard punch to the heavy bag with the heel of his hand. Noticing Tony, Sam smiled, and called to a young but already quite large troll with a bad expression on his face. "Tyzell, come over here and hold the bag for Scott for a second".

Motioning Tony over to a corner of the dojo, Sam said to him "Glad your here kid. You can help me with a little problem. See that young child there, Tyzell? He was the kid I was sparring with yesterday. Mom brought him here for some discpline, and he doesn't think that he needs it. Thinks that he can take any 'breeder' that comes along." Shaking his head, he continued "He got out on some gang rehab thing that the Star was doing, and if he doesn't learn something he'll be back in. I want you to take him down a peg; think you can sonny-boy?" Sam finished with a smile.

"Probably, but I don't want to hurt the kid" Tony said dubiously. "Also, didn't you 'take him down a peg' yesterday?"

"Sure, but your human. That kid thinks he can break you in half probably. You don't look too tough, especially dressed in that banker outfit you've got on" Sam replied, laughing.

Tony just shook his head. "Let me get changed. I'll be out in a few minutes" he replied, heading toward to locker room.

[Ecclesiastes]

23:46:21 Wednesday 10 January 2063 - Apartment 875, Parkewood Village Apartments, Tacoma

Moments after finishing up the final touches on his search, Todd brought up the heads-up display of his p-sec and sent out a message to Tony.

[grendel]

23:46:29 Wednesday 10 January 2063 - Apartment 875, Parkewood Village Apartments, Tacoma

"Welcome back, kid." LCPL Dawson smiles, drinking from his cup. The other two soldiers glance up, nodding their welcome.

"Glad to see you made it."

[The_Eyes]

12:27:30 Wednesday 10 January 2063 - Downtown Seattle, UCAS

Eyes repressed a yawn as the Americar picks its way down the still icy and treacherous streets, struggling to keep himself from falling asleep. It was a stupid weakness of his, but even as a child he had found it incredibly easy to fall asleep in a moving vehicle; in fact his parents had joked that they could never get him to nap unless he was in a carseat. It was a condition that extended to today, and was why he rode around on a motorcycle: it was harder to fall asleep while driving if there's no windshield blocking the outside air.

He pulled out his psec, absently tapping at it in an attempt to keep from snoozing in the comfy car and really embarrassing himself.

[Slipshade]

10:57:38 Monday 08 January 2063 - The Respite Soup Kitchen, Touristville, Redmond.

Max’s head was swimming, Keira is gone and this man’s niece was missing as well.

‘Could it be related?’ Max kind of doubted it, but he wasn’t ready to completely dismiss it as coincidence either.

John Standard seemed legit. He was obviously known by a few of the people that worked with Keira and his aura gave off no hint that he was lying. Annoyed, disappointed and frustrated maybe, but he seemed genuine, as did the letter.

Max gave a long slow sign as he let some of the tension go from his body.

“Ok Mr. Standard, this is what happened. I was talking with Melina, Trancer and Keira in the dinning hall here when a group of men, at least four, broke down the door. They were wearing black suits and gasmasks. I disabled two of them, but not before they dropped a couple of canisters of some sort of gas into the room. I didn’t wait around to see what it did. We moved to the kitchen and were trying to get to the roof when I was shot. Keira, Trancer and Melina made it to the roof, but without my help they had no way to escape. They were also shot. When I came to, I found the boy and his mom still on the roof, but Keira was gone. Taken by whoever had attacked The Respite. I looked around in Keira’s office for anything that may help me find the identity of the attackers, but could not find anything useful, except maybe this dress and one of her hairbrushes.”

He knew that statement would generate a few odd looks from Mr. Standard and the others, so he explained.

“I may be able to locate Keira through a ritual or spell, but I needed a link to make it easier for me to find her. That is where these items come in.” Max thought for a moment, he did not have any reason to trust this John Standard, but he did not want to lose a possible link between his niece and Keira and the man obviously needed some help.

‘Your never going to make a living giving things away for free’ he thought, but it still didn’t stop him from doing what he knew was right.

“If you would like I could attempt the same with the letter you have from your niece. I cannot guarantee its success as the letter is not nearly as good a link, but it is possible.”

[grendel]

12:43:11 Wednesday 10 January 2063 - Downtown Seattle, UCAS

Despite the proximity of Miner's Landing to the late Dr. Casimir's residence, it still takes them twenty minutes to make the trip. Traffic on the Crosstown and Intercity is snarled, bleeding over onto the primary arteries of the metroplex. Jennifer drives with care, silent for the most part on the trip, glancing over once to see what Eyes was up to.

5004 Mariner's Island Blvd turns out to be a fourteen story condominum high-rise, impressive in the manner of neo-classical architecture. Eyes has no trouble spotting the numerous surveillance camera installations, as well as other security sensors. Jennifer pulls into the underground parking garage, showing her ID to the guard on duty in the kiosk, before parking in the spot marked '8'.

The elevator whisks the two of them to the fourth floor, where a short hallway features a pair of doors along with the entrance to the fire stairs. A small noticed pasted to the doors of condo #8 proclaims the interior an official Lone Star Crime Scene. Jennifer ignores it, sliding her passkey through the maglock before entering a twelve digit code.

The door opens on a short hallway, a closet on the immediate left, while a narrow table on the right offers a shallow basket for keys or change or other brick a brack. Beyond that the hall opens up into a large sitting room on the right, with a sectional, recliner, and coffeetable as well as an expensive looking trideo set. On the left is the dining room while the hall ends in an open doorway to the kitchen. Jennifer gestures with her hand, standing in the middle of the hall.

"Bedroom, bathroom, and office are there."

She glances around, not so much nervous as simply lost, uncertainty clouding her eyes.

[Ecclesiastes]

23:46:32 Wednesday 10 January 2063 - Apartment 875, Parkewood Village Apartments, Tacoma

Todd smiles as he replies to the program, "Thanks. It wasn't easy, but I got my hands on the key. Now... just got to find the lock. Got any data for me?"

[grendel]

23:46:41 Wednesday 10 January 2063 - Apartment 875, Parkewood Village Apartments, Tacoma

"Sorry, kid," Dvora shakes her head, "We're just messengers. We're forbidden from helping in any way."

As she speaks, she takes a bite from a bar of compressed survival rations. Using the heavy boot of her battlesuit, she smoothes out the dirt in front of the bench where she sits. With her finger, she draws a series of X's, three to one side and three on the other in uneven intervals. Something kicks at the back of Todd's mind, he's seen marks like these before. Glancing around, she connects the marks, the three lines intersecting near the edge of her drawing. Todd opens his mouth to tell her that he's figured that much out, but she shakes her head. Drawing again, she places all of her original X's on the circumference of a circle. Todd glances at the drawing, then up at her, confusion on his face.

"Efficiency operating in multiple dimensions." She smiles, taking another bite from her granola bar. Todd glances down at the drawing again with dawning realization. The location of the key, the intersection of the original three lines is off-center inside the circle! That means.... Moving quickly, he called up his map with the coordinates of the key gridded out. Placing the circle over the endpoints of each line of position, he drops an X at the center of resulting figure. Running the resulting lattitude/longitude through his map program gives him the address: 10441 Pacific Court Way.

[Scrapheap]

11:01:08 Monday 08 January 2063 - The Respite Soup Kitchen, Touristville, Redmond.

John sat staring at Max, cigarette forgotten in his hand. As the magnitude of the offer sank in, he slowly put the smoke in his mouth and reached up to remove his cap. Tearing his eyes away from the pale figure before him, he stared at the floor, lost in thought. This guy barely knows me and he offers to help? Not just help either, but use his magic to find Nora. I'm no fraggin' expert, but I know that casting any spell can be dangerous, so he's willing to put himself at risk too. Frag. I mean, what can I say...

Reaching up to run his meat hand through his short, greying hair, John took a deep breath and looked back up to meet Max's gaze. "Uh, Max, right?" After the elf's nod, he continued, "Max, that is a really generous offer that I would be a fraggin' idiot not to accept. I know that magic can be dangerous, so I know what it means for you to do this. But you said ritual. Doesn't that mean group spell casting?"

The elf sat in the cheap folding chair, watching as the older man struggled with his offer. He paused in the process of pulling his long, pale hair back into order as John finished, somewhat surprised at what he had said. "Do you know spell-craft, Mr. Standard?"

"C'mon, chummer, name's John. And I know very little. I've just worked with a few over the years." And almost married one, don't forget that. "I just asked because I may know someone who could help, if you need it. I mean, I don't know what you're planning, but just in case, you know?"

Still holding his hat between his hands, John shifted to get more comfortable. "I know that you didn't ask, but I think you should know up front that I can't really pay you for this. I mean, what cred I have is yours, but I can't afford to pay the going rate. However, what I can do is help you when you find your friend. If she was taken by organized, armed men, then there is someone behind this. Someone with money. They want her for something, and they're not going to just give her back. We should find out why they want her. Could be almost as important as actually finding her."

He stood and began to pace, absently scratching his cyberarm with his other hand. "You searched her office, right? But you were looking for something to use with your spell. Did you notice if she had a computer? If so, we should take it to a friend of mine that knows computers. He might be able to find something. We should also search this room, see if those guys left anything behind. Not likely, if they were as professional as you say, but you can't assume." Turning to Megan, who was obviously trying to ignore Trancer as he sat and stared, John continued, "Hey, could you guys look through the room? Go real slow. Look for anything out of place. I'll help in a minute."

Snapping her fingers, she said "Sure thing, pops. Just don't forget about Twiggy." She then turned and started towards where the other gangers were cleaning up. "Hoi, chummers! Listen up..."

Smiling as she walked away, John turned back to the seated elf. "Anything else? Oh, yeah. You said something about the letter not being so good as a 'link.' What would be good? I could go get something out of Nora's room, if it'll help."

So find Nora and Twiggy, get them out of whatever trouble they're in, then find this Keira and rescue her. That it? Nul persp, chummer.

[WinterRat1]

11:10:48 Monday 08 January 2063 - The Respite Soup Kitchen, Touristville, Redmond

After several minutes of searching, the group is just about ready to give up when there's a loud bang and then a crash from the kitchen.

"Hey! Get offa me! Lemme go! Lemme go!"

Yelling, screaming, cursing, and fighting can be overheard coming from the kitchen as Max and John finish their discussion in the main room. Immediately they both run over to the kitchen, John in the lead, gun in hand. Max trails slightly, limping and obviously hurting.

With a mixture of amusement and relief, he sees it's only the gangers, holding down an elf kid with a cooking pot on his head like a helmet, apparently landing on his head during the struggle. He's kicking and screaming, apparently unable to see with the pot over his eyes. Finally Megan yanks the pot off his head and slaps him in the face, screaming, "Twiggy!!! Would ya shaddup already! It's us! We're here and we brought help! You're safe now! It's all good chummer!"

Despite her yelling, she hugs him in relief, clearly glad to be reunited with her friend. Gesturing to the two men standing over them, she points and says, "This is John, he's here to help, and you know Max, right?"

Twiggy just nods a bit apprehensively, relieved that he's safe but clearly intimidated by John's presence.

How the hell did I not know this kid was here? What was I... then it hits Max. He'd only gone to search Keira's room and then headed back to the main room. It never occurred to him to search the rest of the place for any reason. Stupid stupid stupid! he cursed himself. Lucky this John guy came along or I never would have even known Twiggy was here. If we're really lucky, he'll have a lead to this guy's niece, and maybe even Keira...

Well I'll be damned...sometimes even a loser like me has to catch a lucky break once in a while, and it looks like this is it. Found Twiggy, that's one down, two to go. If we're really lucky, he'll know where to point us next... John hides his relief and thinks about what to do next.

Sometimes two minds, great or not, think alike.

[The_Eyes]

13:02:13 Wednesday 10 January 2063 - Condo #8, 5004 Mariner's Island Blvd, Downtown Seattle, UCAS

Eyes surveyed the room wistfully; it reminded him of the place he had less than a year ago, living wrapped in the cocoon of corporate servitude. He could talk all he wanted about the evils and inhumanity of megacorporate politics, but he couldn't deny the life had its perks as well. Deliberately snapping back into focus, Eyes adjusted his glasses thoughtfully. The main thing he needed right now was Jennifer out of his hair; having her staring over his shoulder was distracting for any number of reasons.

"If I were a list of personal projects, where would I be..." Eyes mused, not entirely to himself. "If I were trying to hide something, I'd do it either on an off-Matrix terminal or deck, or I'd encrypt it on a chip and hide it somewhere. So I guess those are the first on the list."

Eyes turned to Jennifer "Could you do me a favor and check around the apartment for anything important your father might have hidden? What we're mainly looking for would be a recordable memory chip, or a CD or something in a place a thief wouldn't look. I'm talking tucked inside a book, taped under a shelf, hidden in a coat pocket, that sort of thing. I'll take a look at the Doctor's computer--or computers, as the case probably will be."

That hopefully taking care of his dear employer for a while, Eyes set out to see what he could really get done. First up, of course, was the inventory. Calmly strolling into another part of the apartment where he would be unseen, Eyes plugged his psec into his brain and began writing down a list of everything in the apartment.

[Slipshade]

11:05:02 Monday 08 January 2063 - The Respite Soup Kitchen, Touristville, Redmond.

John Standard seemed genuinely grateful at Max’s offer. “Do not worry about the money John, perhaps in this we can help each other. What I intend to do first is cast a number of detection spells. Failing that I will try a ritual. You are correct a ritual requires more than one participant with whom you share a common magical ideology. Unfortunately most of my colleagues are of the Hermetic method, while I am what is commonly referred to as a Shaman.”

John looked briefly surprised at this and why not Max looked nothing like your standard trid shaman. He was not Amerindian nor did he travel with a sundry of Talisma and he wore designer labels instead of feathers and beads. John would have pegged him Hermetic.

“You seem a bit surprised.” Max smiled briefly; it was the first smile he had seen from the man. “I know, I do not look much like your trid-standard shamans but it is what I am and if I were to perform a ritual of detection I would need to contact other shamans to help, but first I will try my own spells as they are much less time consuming.”

“As to your question of searching, I looked through Keira’s office and searched her computer, but that is all. There was nothing that I saw that would be helpful in finding her or your niece, you are however free to look around as long as it does not disrupt The Respite any more than it currently is.”

Max listens as John questions him on ritual links and puts the gangers he showed up with to work searching The Respite.

“Well, something of personal value. A meaningful memento or perhaps something crafted by your niece, basically anything that your niece truly valued or cared for. Other valuable links are blood, hair or skin samples.”

11:10:48 Monday 08 January 2063 - The Respite Soup Kitchen, Touristville, Redmond

The ruckus from the kitchen causes both men to start. They hurry to the kitchen as fast as possible. Max limps up behind John to find Megan holding Twiggy.

“I think you better sit down Twiggy. We need to ask you a few questions.”

[Scrapheap]

11:13:31 Monday 08 January 2063 - The Respite Soup Kitchen, Touristville, Redmond

Holstering the Manhunter, John smiled as the rest of the kids ignored Max and piled-on Twiggy, pounding him on the back, patting him on the head, shaking him, and generally making lots of noise doing it. Everyone was obviously glad to see him, though it seemed all the attention was a little much. "Ok! Ok! Get off, willya? Gimme some room here!" When everyone was finally off, he sat up and straightened his clothes, though they looked like he hadn't changed them in a week or more.

Probably true, now that I think about it. Staying out of sight for a couple of weeks is no easy thing, especially with pros like the guys that did the Respite looking for you. These fraggin' kids are pretty resourceful. Let's hope that applies to Nora as well.

With a glance at Max, who was leaning on the doorframe, John squatted down to be more on Twiggy's level. "Kid, I can't tell you how glad I am to meet you. Name's John. I'm Nora's uncle." He stuck out his hand to help the the young elf to his feet.

As they stood, Twiggy looked at the older man with a strange expression. "You're Nora's uncle?" After John's puzzled nod, he continued, "No disrespect or nothin', but you're nothin' like I pictured."

"How's that?" What the frag's he talking about?

Megan added her two cred, "He's her uncle, Twig. We're sure."

Glancing at Megan and obviously embarrassed or unsure, Twiggy grudgingly continued, "Well, uh.. again, I don't mean nothin' by it, but... well..." He took a deep breath and then said quickly, "Nora always described her uncle as a loser and a drunk. Said that was why she spent so much time with us instead of at home." As John's face went blank, the kid held up both hands, palm outward. "Hey, I don't see it. Just repeating what I heard, you know?"

Sensing trouble again, Megan quickly got between John and her friend, but he cut her off before she could say anything, "Don't worry, kid. No hard feelings. She's probably right, at least from her point of view. I've definitely let her down enough times." He paused to look around at all of them before finally settling his gaze on Max. "And, yeah, I used to have a drinking problem. But I got help. Technically I'm still an alcoholic and always will be, but I haven't had a drink in over two years. Since then, I've been spending so much time trying to get my own drek together that I guess I haven't been paying enough attention to the people around me. Especially Nora. And now..."

John paused again, embarrassed this time, as if he hadn't meant to reveal so much in such a short time. Roughly clearing his throat, he turned back to Twiggy. "And now it's time to talk. C'mon. Let's go back into the dining room and sit. Sound good? Wizzer. Go on ahead, and we'll meet you in there."

As the others left, John turned to the tall elf. "Sorry 'bout that chummer. TMI, I know." At Max's shrug, he motioned for them to follow the others before falling in beside the shaman and speaking quietly. "Ok, back to business. As far as a more personal object of Nora's, I can do that, but I'll have to swing by home first. When do you need it?" Nodding at the answer, he continued. "Fair enough. Also, count me in for the long haul. Even if this kid leads me directly to my niece, I'll help you with your friend." Smiling, he quickly added, "Though somehow I doubt it will be that fraggin' easy."

Catching up to the others, John and Max sat down in the now larger circle of folding chairs. Around the circle were Twiggy, Megan, Melina, Trancer, the shaman, and himself. Looking around he could see that Tyler was still watching by the front entrance, though he had found himself a chair and managed to prop one of the bent security doors closed. As for the other gangers, they appeared to still be searching, though he couldn't see them all.

Turning back to the group, John said, "Ok, Twiggy, time to spill. So far I know that something bad happened about a week ago, and that you and Nora are involved. How and to what extent? Also, I've heard a mention of a 'clinic.' What's that all about? Finally, is this drek with Keira and what happened here related to your mess?" Finishing, he waited for the young elf to start talking, listening intently. Make it good, kid.

[Ecclesiastes]

23:46:45 Wednesday 10 January 2063 - Apartment 875, Parkewood Village Apartments, Tacoma

10441 Pacific Court Way

Todd kills the application and jumps out of the test system. Seconds later he is slumped into his LayZMan and looking the address up online to see exactly where it is.

[grendel]

23:45:28 Wednesday 10 January 2063 - Apartment 875, Parkewood Village Apartments, Tacoma

10441 Pacific Court Way is part of a small business park in Southern Downtown Seattle, probably half an hour or so from the apartment.

[Ecclesiastes]

23:45:38 Wednesday 10 January 2063 - Apartment 875, Parkewood Village Apartments, Tacoma

Hmmm... now that gives me something to think about...

Todd backs out of the system and back out onto the RTG. May as well get some coding time in while I wait for Jack's call.

Todd kick flips his skateboard up into his lap as he takes lotus seating.

[The_Eyes]

13:05:24 Wednesday 10 January 2063 - Casimir's Office, Condo #8, 5004 Mariner's Island Blvd, Downtown Seattle, UCAS

Eyes gave Dr. Casimir's study a thorough once-over, impressed at the quality of the living space. He glanced over the list of objects and discarded it with a sigh; it seemed that little trick wouldn't work around here, with all the other apartments close by contributing too much interference. It looked like he was going to have to do the physical search the hard way; good thing he had already (hopefully gotten Jennifer started on that.

Glancing around the room, Eyes lingers over a poster on the far wall with the quote, "Those who would raise the Gods of the Machine might take care, for history shows that it is most often the Children who strike down the Parents." His eyes travel over to a few books he remembered reading in school about freedom of information. It indeed looked like Casimir had been involved on the Arcology AI project as Arturro had said, and now seemed to regret it. But how could that lead to him getting killed?

Eyes's eyes settled on Casimir's workstation with a grimace. Thoughts of just easily swiping the dead man's computer or computers and walking away with them suddenly got a lot more complicated; somehow the doctor had gotten his hands on an actual tower case, with what looked like a liquid cooling system and HEPA filter. In an age of miniturization, such a system meant Casimir probably had his own private high-end Matrix host, which, as much as it made sense from what he knew about the man, was still a bit heady of a prospect. The monster would be a headache and a half to take home with him; he'd probably be better off just removing the memory module and taking just that. Then again, hardware-level encryption was likely as well...

Options and issues tumbled after each other in Eyes's head as he searched the room for other--hopefully more portable--sources of information.

[WinterRat1]

11:17:13 Monday 08 January 2063 - The Respite Soup Kitchen, Touristville, Redmond

Clearing his throat and looking around nervously, Twiggy finally shrugs, figuring that if all his friends are here and believe the big-scary-cybered-up-guy is legit, he can too. Plus, Max seems to be cool with him, and if Max was in all right with Keira, he had to be pretty good too, and Twiggy'd been around enough to know how the guy felt about Keira. Course, everyone else did too, but you know...

Shaking those thoughts from his head, Twiggy haltingly begins, "Well...you know Nora, she chipped a lot, right?" Nodding tersely, John motions for him to continue. "Well, I don't want to get her in trouble with you, but yeah, so anyway, we were lookin to score some cash so we could buy some more chips, you know?"

Although it was painful for him to admit he understood, remembering his own struggle with alcohol, he nodded understandingly. "Keep going kid. Don't worry about hurting my feelings or pissing me off. I need the facts and I need to know so I can help you and Nora, and Keira if she's tied into all this. So don't spare me cause you think it'll help. Just lay it on me straight up, and we'll figure it out once we know the score, okay?"

Twiggy nods quickly, and eagerly complies, "All right, uh...Nora's uncle, I mean, John." He looks pretty uncomfortable sounding so familiar with the big man, but John just prompts him to continue. "OK, well, uh, we saw an ad in the screamsheets about a week ago, it was looking for volunteers for some test they were running. You didn't have to take anything or anything like that, just let them take some samples from you, and some tests or something, and they'd pay you like 100 nuyen. You didn't even need a SIN. Just had to show up and fill out some forms and then do the stuff for about two or three hours, get your nuyen and you were gone."

He pauses, clears his throat, and looks down. "I know we shouldn't be chipping, and I know it's getting dangerously addictive for Nora. But we didn't think about that. Just saw an easy 100 nuyen each. So we went, and..."

"And what?" Max prompts. "I went to the bathroom, and I saw an open door, so I was curious and went to take a look. Just natural I guess. Well I saw that some guys in suits were taking some people who looked unconscious and throwing them into a van. It looked shady as hell, so I beat feet out of there and told Nora, and we bolted."

"Did they see you?" John asked intently. "We didn't think so," Twiggy answers, but a few days after that they came looking for us at the arcade. They made their move after we left the place. I got away." He looked down, obviously ashamed. "Nora didn't. I didn't know what to do, so I went and hid, and I've been hiding out until now, when you found me."

[Scrapheap]

11:20:57 Monday 08 January 2063 - The Respite Soup Kitchen, Touristville, Redmond

The group had fallen silent as Twiggy finished, trying to digest what they had just heard. Suddenly, everyone was startled by a loud metallic 'crunch.' John, lost in thought, slowly realized that the rest of the group had turned to look towards him. Looking down he was surprised to see that the edge of his folding chair was mangled where he had been gripping it with his left hand. He mumbled a "Sorry" to the group and continued to look towards the floor. Frag it all. From what this kid says, this clinic has Nora. What's worse, they've had her for several days. Whatever they planned on doing to her has probably already been done. She may even be dead already...

No. Slowly forcing his cyberhand to unclench, John willed himself to focus his thoughts on the task at hand. No, can't think like that. You've spent too much of your life wallowing in self-pity to fall back on that now. She's alive, and you're going to find her.

Sitting back in his chair he looked around at the group. Max was looking towards him with concern, though he was sure the shaman had other things on his mind as well. Melina was talking quietly to her son Trancer, and Megan was patting Twiggy on the shoulder as the young elf slumped dejectedly in his chair. Kid obviously feels bad about Nora. Not that I blame him, but what was he to do? He knows he's no fighter, and even if he was he'd have been overmatched.

Clearing his throat to get everyone's attention, John looked at Twiggy. "Listen, kid. You did the best you could. These guys were armed pros. If you'd stuck around all that would have gotten you was caught... or worse. By getting away at least now you have a chance to help Nora. Did this place have a name? What about the address? Better yet, can you show me where it is?"

This post has been edited by Scrapheap: May 23 2005, 04:39 PM

[Bastard]

1539 Wednesday 10 January 2063 - Cooper's Firearms, Downtown Seattle-UCAS

Returning to the shop to recover the rifle barrel, Marquis finds it unrecognizable. He drains the bucket and places the rings in a brown paper bag, along with some other scrap metal. Later they will be mixed in with the auto shop's scrapmetal to be recycled.

Sitting on the couch, Marquis places a call, looking for some upcoming work.
"Hey Zyeda. Haven't had any work for the past couple of weeks, you have anything coming my way?"

[Slipshade]

11:23:45 Monday 08 January 2063 - The Respite Soup Kitchen, Touristville, Redmond

Max waited patiently while the young elf told his story. He watched John’s reaction to his niece’s chipping habit and was somewhat surprised at how he shrugged it off. Obviously he had had a hard life and so had his family. Max was only beginning to understand what it was like being SINless, but he could still leave the barrens and return to his penthouse. These people could never leave. They knew nothing but survival…they lived one day at a time on the refuse that others leave in their wake. It was a miracle that they all weren’t addicted to something, be it drugs, alcohol or BTL, but looking at people like John and Melina and how they fought their addiction everyday, made Max thankful for everything he had and firmed up his resolve to help in anyway he could. These are people worth saving. Keira knew that and now Max did too. Unfortunately Max didn’t hear anything in Twiggy’s story that connected Keira to this clinic?

“Twiggy. Did you tell Keira about the clinic or why you were hiding out here? And did the group of men that raided The Respite today dress the same as the ones that jumped you and Nora?”

Max knew there were other questions that needed asking, but his head wasn’t thinking straight. He knew he had to find Keira and fast, but he needed rest before he could use magic to help and he needed be sure about any connection to this clinic and Keira.

[WinterRat1]

11:24:16 Monday 08 January 2063 - The Respite Soup Kitchen, Touristville, Redmond

Looking up at John , Twiggy nods eagerly. “Yeah chummer, I can take you there no sweat. Anything to help Nora and…” he stops, ashen, realizing he’s said more than he really wanted to. Immediately catching on, Megan leans over and puts her hand on his shoulder.

“Come on Twig , if you know something, now’s the time to spill. If anyone can help us, it’s these two chummers. Frag, Max is a real, genuine wizworm, you know that! They’ll be able to do something for sure! But they can’t help us if you don’t talk.”

Looking at the floor, lower lip trembling, Twiggy whispers, “I didn’t have anyone else to go to or tell. Miss Keira’s always been there for us when we needed it. I didn’t want to get her in trouble, honest, but when I asked if I could stay here for a while she knew something was up. She wouldn’t let me stay unless I told her, so I did. And then…”

“And then what?” Megan prompts gently. “She said she’d investigate to try to help Nora ! It’s my fault they came and took her because she tried to help us!” Trembling turns to full out sobbing as the young elf throws himself into Megan’s arms.

After a few seconds, he looks up at Max , shaking, tears running down his cheeks. “I didn’t want to get Miss Keira in trouble, I swear! I’m sorry Max ! Don’t turn me into a frog or something, please!”

He looks over at John with the same desperate expression. “I swear, I didn’t know that place would be trouble for Nora ! I never woulda gone if I thought that for a nanosecond! I’ll help you guys, honest, I never wanted all this to happen! I just wanted some money for Nora and me, and I didn’t have anyone to turn to but Miss Keira when it all went wrong!”

[Slipshade]

11:26:12 Monday 08 January 2063 - The Respite Soup Kitchen, Touristville, Redmond

Max winched at Megan’s use of the term “wizworm.”

“Actually I am a shaman Megan.” He gave the young girl a smile while correcting her, more out of habit than annoyance. “And no Twiggy I’m not going to turn you into a toad. What Keira did for you, she did because she cares. You did not force her to help.”

'Why do the one that help the most get hurt the most...'

Turning to the Large street samurai he says, “Well, John it looks like you and I are in this together, what ever THIS is, but I am not going to be of much help until I can get some rest.”

Max pulls out a business card and writes his home LTG number down. He hands to card to John it reads: