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

[grendel]

14:42:18 Wednesday 10 January 2063 - Badger Street Bus Depot, South Downtown Seattle, UCAS

Thought not a great distance from Miner's Landing, the condition of the streets and the weather in general made Eyes' commute difficult at best. His navigation brought him, eventually, to shelter beneath one of the freeway exchanges to the 5. Across the street was the building described by the latitude and longitude coordinates in Dr. Casimir's apartment.

Two stories of gray concrete, with dirt and graffiti smeared windows, the building was singularly unimpressive. A crowd of squatters hunkered down next to one of the external heating vents, calling out to the occasional passenger passing throught the doors.

[The_Eyes]

14:42:20 Wednesday 10 January 2063 - Badger Street Bus Depot, South Downtown Seattle, UCAS

Eyes glances at the building dispassionately. The coordinates--if that's indeed what the first two numbers were--were extremely precise; a quick search told him that the difference between one-hundred-thousanth of a latitude line was only a meter or so. It was possible that the coordinates were meant to point to a specific object or room in the building--a row of lockers maybe? Either way the final number was looking more and more like a combination, maybe a locker combination or room code, and the setup looking less like a trap; only a monster would put a bomb or something like it in such a public place, and Dr. Casimir didn't seem the type.

The thought that this might all be a wild goose chase crossed his mind as Eyes searched for a place to park. It was a possibility; he was making quite a leap to think that these numbers really meant what he thought they did. But in the end of course such speculation was meaningless; trap or not, wild goose chase or not, nothing would be settled by just sitting around and thinking about the problem.

[grendel]

14:49:11 Wednesday 10 January 2063 - Badger Street Bus Depot, South Downtown Seattle, UCAS

The inside of the Depot is as drab and run-down as its exterior, the faded tile floor gray with slush and salt from the streets outside. A row of automated ticket kiosks stand just inside the door, while to the left are half a dozen vending machines offering everything from soda to microwave soy pitas. Along the right wall are three long ranks of lockers, while the rest of the open space is occupied by plastic benches bolted to the floor.

Eyes immediately angled to the right, his GPS nav confirming his suspicions. The lockers turn out to be numbered one through seventy five, each secured with a three digit combination. The lockers could be rented almost indefinitely by providing an account number, or for a limited amount of time through certified cred.

Finding locker thirty, Eyes glances around, suddenly suspicious. Oh well. No guts, no galaxy. Punching in 4, 0, 7, Eyes stands to the side and opens the locker. After there isn't an explosion, or poison gas billowing out, or a team of Red Samurai crashing through the doors, he glances inside.

Resting inside the locker is a high density optical memory chip. Written on it in Casimir's neat script is the word EPOCH.

[Bastard]

18:15.00 Wednesday, 10 January 2063 – Miner’s Landing, Downtown Seattle, UCAS

Halfway through dinner, Marq changes the subject from small talk, to something that may be more in Tony's expertise. "You have any more jobs where you may find an extra truck comming up?"

[The_Eyes]

14:49:20 Wednesday 10 January 2063 - Badger Street Bus Depot, South Downtown Seattle, UCAS

Eyes glanced at the chip, almost disappointed. He had been keying the moment up a bit too much in his mind, he guessed; it was a bit of a let-down not to get blown up after worrying about it so much. He grinned as he thought to himself that living with that particular disappointment was going to be pretty easy.

Slipping the chip into his pocket, Eyes checked the locker for anything else, though not really expecting to find anything. When finished, he began the trek back to his apartment. Hopefully there'll be enough time to delve into the chip's contents a little before his scheduled meet, though he supposed he could always postpone if necessary.

[bclements]

18:15.17 Wednesday, 10 January 2063 – Miner’s Landing, Downtown Seattle, UCAS

"Not that I know of, but then again I didn't expect a truck from this job," Tony said, spearing some green beans from his plate. Taking a sip of wine, man, that's some good stuff Tony thinks appreciatively, with the food, he decides to talk a little about the job.

"It's funny how things work out sometimes. I was hitting this spooky Johnson up for more payment, and then I get a truck out of the deal. Kinda strange, but everything around this job was as well," Tony added. "Typically, I get most of my stuff thru Zedya nowadays. And, while he's not perfect, he will get you stuff that isn't way out of your league, and will let you make your own decisions about jobs. Those are two things I've learned not to be common out here. If I do get anything else that I need you on, though, I'll let you know thru him."

Thinking a bit around chewing his food, Tony adds another thought. "What can you do, then?"

[Bastard]

18:16.00 Wednesday, 10 January 2063 – Miner’s Landing, Downtown Seattle, UCAS

"If thats the case, Im sure the truck isn't hot at the moment, but when the Johnson needs a fall guy, he may call on it. I think re-identifying the truck will be good enough...I will get it painted as well."

"I actually thought Z was going to have a run for me tonight. All he said was it was in my line of expertise." Marquis smiles, then grabs another bite of real potatoes.

[bclements]

18:17.44 Wednesday, 10 January 2063 – Miner’s Landing, Downtown Seattle, UCAS

"In time, mi amigo, in time. You don't just start out on the same scale as Argent or someone like that. God knows I'm not, and I may never be. As you prove yourself, you'll get more jobs to your liking." Tony said, remembering his starting days and thinking that not everyone had those same advantages. Yeah, some people are doing this because they have to, not because that's what they were trained to do. he thought to himself.

Thinking of something that may be more helpful to the man across from him, he said "Drek, you're doing something I can't do, and I'm paying for it, and I hope that they don't start trying to look for the truck while you're working on it. Another thing; be careful what you wish for. I don't much mind getting shot at, I'm just scared that they'll hit one day," Tony finishes, chuckling.

[WinterRat1]

21:55:49 Monday 08 January 2063 - In Front of the Paradigm Shift

Waiting in line in front of the Paradigm Shift, Max anxiously looked at the line ahead of him. It hadn't seemed very long when he'd gotten in line, and on a monday night, he'd figured that arriving about fifteen minutes early should have been more than enough. Unfortunately, it didn't look like it was going to be.

The line in front of him seemed like it hadn't shrunk at all, and despite the increasing snowfall, it didn't look like they were going anywhere. A huge troll bouncer in front and a human who looked almost big enough to be the troll's younger brother seemed like an impregnable wall determining who and who would not ever enter the club inside. He'd noticed them right off the bat, and the impressive astral security that was obvious and pervasive made him wonder, what kind of club needs this much security anyway? I mean, I know this is the Barrens and all, but this place looks like it's ready for a war! I hope I know what I'm getting myself into here, this shadow business might be more dangerous than I realized...

Multiple bruises and a lingering soreness that hadn't quite gone away were a testament to that reality, but those sensations quickly melted away as the human bouncer headed directly towards him. Staring at him, ignoring the crowd that was pointedly not watching them, the bouncer stated, "Maximillian Steiner."

Is that a question or a statement? And what does this guy want anyway? Crap, do they have a 'how to play it cool' guide somewhere I could research for stuff like this?

The guy kept staring at him, eyes concealed behind black mirrorshades, but it was obvious he was waiting for an answer.

[WinterRat1]

01:35:00 Monday 08 January 2063 - Research for Practical Applications Clinic, Redmond

"OK Cole," she stressed his name, reminding him that to her, he was and would always be Cole, "here's what I'll do. Can you give me a description of the place? Geographical, landmarks, basically if you were trying to give me directions as if I couldn't read, from my office. Or a description of the area. I'll come over myself and take a look at the place."

"Wait, Rosa, that's just what I asked you not to do. You weren't listening..."

"Relax Cole," she cut him off. "All I'm going to do is look. If there's no magical security, it'll be cake for me to take a look myself, won't take me but a few minutes. If there is magical security, I'll be able to tell that just from looking, and then...well and then we've got a whole different problem on our hands. But we'll discuss that if and when it comes up. So are you going to tell me how to get to this place or what?"

[Scrapheap]

13:36:24 Monday 08 January 2063 - Research for Practical Applications Clinic, Redmond

Sighing to himself, John replied, "Ok. I don't have a good feeling about this, but Ok. I'm in this industrial park on the border of Bellevue and Redmond. Let's see, to get here from your offices I'd go..."

He continued the directions, providing various details when Rosa required. Finally, when she was satisfied, she said, "Ok, I think that will do it. Just give me a few minutes and I'll call you right back."

"Ok, Rosie, but listen; be really careful. First sign of trouble, even a fraggin' whiff of anything mildly resembling trouble, I want you to..."

"Cole, that's sweet and all, but I am a professional. I don't need you to tell me how to do my job. Hang tight and I'll call you when I 'get back.'"

As the call disconnected, John pulled the phone away from his ear, looked at it for a second, then folded it up and stuck into his jacket. With a casual glance around, he walked around and climbed back into the van.

As he shut the door behind him, Megan asked, "That your sister again, old timer?"

Slowly turning around to look at the rest of the van's occupants, and trying to ignore the drek-eating grins, the old runner started fishing the crumpled cigarette pack out of his shirt-pocked. "Ha-fraggin'-ha. No, that was someone who's going to help us see if this place is going to be easy or hard. It just took some convincing, that's all."

"Sounded like it." Tyler kept a carefully neutral face.

"Yeah, well...whatever." John added eloquently. "Anyway, now we wait for someone to call. Nobody saw anything while I was outside, did they?" While waiting for an answer or a phone call, he lit another cigarette and cracked the driver's window to let the smoke escape.

[Bastard]

18:17.44 Wednesday, 10 January 2063 – Miner’s Landing, Downtown Seattle, UCAS

"Yeah, I get ya, its just I'm looking for more excitement, more challenge, you know. Plus I could use the extra money, to expand my business...es..." Marquis lets that last sentence fade. "I can't complain, business is good, but I am always looking to expend, but I do get your point. Just keep me in mind if you need an extra body, wheelman, or whatever. Plus, you got to start somewhere." Marquis ends on a highnote, and with a smile to let Tony know he isn't a total newb, and does know what he is getting into.

[bclements]

18:18.32 Wednesday, 10 January 2063 – Miner’s Landing, Downtown Seattle, UCAS

"I hear ya, man. And unless your Damien Knight, one can always use extra money," Tony says, finishing his glass. Pushing his mostly empty plate away, he continues "and if I need help, I'll get ahold of you, at the number on the card, right? And if you need anything I can do, let me know as well." Scratching his mobile number out on a napkin with a pen, he hands it over to Marq.

"So, I'll see you tomorrow at noon?" Tony says, slotting his credstick for the amount of the meal, with a decent tip.

[SentineloftheMou...]

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

“I just want the security system to be enough of a deterrent to keep the above average thief out to the shop and be able to detect/record anyone else for identification later. I have about 20,000 nuyen to spend on the system and wanted to get some ideas from you.” Seeing if Sam has more questions Andie says, “Let’s sleep on it and I’ll touch base with you in the morning. Alright?”

Andie then leaves the room and returns to the circulation in the back of the store to check on it and then goes to bed.

[grendel]

18:22:49 Wednesday 10 January - Unit 303, Winlock Apartment Complex, Tacoma, Seattle, UCAS

Eyes leaned back in his chair, absently rubbing the back of his head in thought. The chip, not an OMC like he'd first thought but an OCC, held a very large, densely written, but ultimately incomplete program. Something about the missing blocks, though, told him that it was designed to be this way. Possibly in the same manner as a binary explosive is packaged and shipped separately, the two components only combined when they're ready to be used.

The coding was some of the most elegant he'd ever seen, though, more art than science. He got the same feeling from it that he got when he watched Ran or any of her tribe work with the matrix. Without the complete code he didn't want to hazard a guess as to what it did, but aspects of the code itself were familiar. It had frame elements to it, although much more advanced than a simple smart frame design like Jane. Portions of operational utility code appeared within it as well, resident in the overall structure of the frame. That was part of the reason for the size, as well.

Eyes glanced at the time. Only an hour left. The partial construct stared back from the screen. If this is only half the program, who has the other half?

[WinterRat1]

01:58:49 Monday 08 January 2063 - Research for Practical Applications Clinic, Redmond

Not even half an hour later, the natives were getting restless. Sprawled out in the back seat of the van, Tyler was irritably playing with a knife. "Come on man, when's that chica of yours going to call back anyway? We've been waiting forever."

The tragedy of his life passing before his eyes was evident, and John couldn't help but laugh in his mind. Kids these days. No patience. Think shadowrunning is all guns blazing and magic flying. Bah, watching too much trid and not thinking things through enough. Why back in my day...

Before he could let his mind wander around telling itself how much better he was back in his day, he was yanked back to reality as he looked in the rearview mirror and saw Megan leaning forward slyly. "So...who's the lady?"

"A friend," he answered gruffly, hoping to dissuade her and end the conversation before it started.

"Bulldrek!" Tyler's voice shot from the back.

"Yeah come on, who is she? It ain't like we got anything better to do?" Twiggy spoke up, apparently losing some of his fear of John, and bolstered by his two friends.

"Come on old man, we heard her yelling at ya. What'd you do, stand her up on a hot date or something?" Megan asked with a smirk that said she already knew the answer to that question.

Well, sort of... John's mind replied to itself. "Damn kids..." he muttered under his breath.

"Start spilling already would ya! I'm bored!" Tyler sat up and leaned forward on the bench seat in the back, adding his voice to the 'demands' for a juicy story.

[The_Eyes]

18:23:00 Wednesday 10 January - Unit 303, Winlock Apartment Complex, Tacoma, Seattle, UCAS

Leaning forward in his chair, Eyes unplugged the chip from his reader. For a moment he considered just chucking the thing: it was essentially useless to him and his investigation, it seemed vanishingly unlikely that he would ever run into the other half of the program, and even if he did it was not necessarily likely that other half would be of much help to him either. On the other hand something like this just radiated danger: a program so complex that it was either an SK or the digital code of one of those otaku "daemons" he'd heard about, and yet so dangerous that it was split at least in half and hidden separately seemed just the sort of thing that a man like Dr. Casimir would have been killed over. Yes, it would be far better to both him and Jennifer if he just threw the chip away and forgot it existed.

Despite all this, Eyes surprised himself by pocketing the chip. He wasn't really sure why he did it, other than the vague notion that it wouldn't be right to just throw away something so obviously important and valuable. Indeed it'd almost be a crime to throw away a program so elegantly written, even if it was only half a program. He chuckled at the irony of such a thought.

Eyes took off his glasses and rubbed his temples tiredly. It had been a trying couple of days, and after this latest disappointment his only real prospect for clues seemed to be Casimir's computer records. The sheer amount of time that such an operation might require, and the little likelihood of such a project of having any meaningful results made him want to just forget the whole thing, lean back in his chair and go to sleep. After all, he did have a dream from a couple of days ago that he wanted to get back to, as much as it shamed and disgusted him to admit it.

"'The woods are lovely, dark and deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep,'" Eyes muttered to himself, the words appearing in his mind from the murky depths of a high school English class. With a grunt that was more theatrics than actual effort, he got to his feet, picked up his helmet and a keys, and headed back out into the cold.

[Bastard]

18:18.32 Wednesday, 10 January 2063 – Miner’s Landing, Downtown Seattle, UCAS

"I will see you tomorrow then, round noon. Thanks for dinner, " Marquis finishes his meal as Tony exits the bar. One last swig of his Alaskan Amber to wash the food down before climbing out of the booth.



0945.00 Thursday, 11 January 2063- Hidden Oaks Cooper's apartment, Downtown Seattle, UCAS

Marquis dials Chavy's cell, speaking in Spanish, just to keep fluent, "Morning Chavo- whats up for today at the shop?"

"Nothing much killer, the Westwind is going to be picked up around 1130 or so by the owner, but thats it."

"I got a truck coming in, that Im going to re-ID, about noon."

"It has to stay inside then? How big is it?" Chavez asks.

"Good sized. I figured we could hold it up in a storage garage somewhere, until we do the actual work. Im going to make some calls and see if I cant get one this afternoon."

"If you need, I can follow you over and give you a ride back to the shop."

"Sounds good, see you at noon then," the call ends.

Marquis places a few calls, trying to locate a self storage unit that can hold the truck, that is close by. Then a few calls to find a junkyard with similar make and models, not completely destroyed by joy riding juveniles and drunk drivers. It only takes a few minutes, but its way out in Redding.



1147.25 Thursday 11 January 2063- Cooper's Automotive, Downtown Seatle, UCAS

Marquis's golden 2005 Cadillac slides to stop behind Chavez's red and chromed 1974 Chevrolet Chevelle. Which is resting behind the crimson red Eurocar with jet black tinted windows, which happens to be parked in front of the small auto shop with the sign reading "Cooper's Automotive."

Climbing out, Marq sees Mr. Morris in the office with Chavez. A small nod of recognition is this morning's greeting. Up the street Marquis sees the Westwind's bright yellow sister, idling in wait for her. Marquis enters the loby and picks up the stapler of the desk. He dissasembles it, examing its components for possible enhancements, as he waits for Tony to arrive.

[bclements]

18:18.34 Wednesday, 10 January 2063 – Miner’s Landing, Downtown Seattle, UCAS

"No problem. See you tomorrow" Tony says as Marq leaves. As he gets up to leave, the band playing with Aria begins tuning up for their next set. Nodding a goodbye to Zedya, Tony leaves the Landing for the freezing three block walk back to his car.

20:31.50 Wednesday, 10 January 2063 – Capitol Hill Terrace, Capitol Hill, Seattle, UCAS

After spending some time at the Spirit catching up on the day's business news, Tony made his way back to his flat. Reletively quiet evening; no bullets or rabid dogs he thinks to himself as he walks into his apartment. And, the power's still on. What more can a guy DAMNIT! he thinks to himself as he walks over to the fridge unit and almost trips on the small robotic vac unit patrolling the apartment. Recovering his balance, he points down at the small unit, "That's the second time this month. One day, I'm going to kill myself falling over you" he says to the disk-shaped appliance as it scurrys about its business. Getting a glass of water from the kitchen, Tony heads to the bathroom to clean up and hit the bed, eyeing the vac unit wairly as he makes his way.

23:50.10 Wednesday, 10 January 2063 – Capitol Hill Terrace, Capitol Hill, Seattle, UCAS

Awaking to a loud beeping from the telecom, Tony tries to shut it off by voice, but finds that his tongue is stuck to the roof of his mouth. Too much whiskey, not enough water he thinks to himself over the beeping while taking a large drink of water from the glass. Just as he is about to silance the beeping, he realizes that it is the message tone. Getting up and walking to the telecom, carefully keeping an eye out for the vac unit in the dark, he pulls up a message from Todd. Wow, the kid did come thru Tony thinks to himself as he types a message in return.

[Ecclesiastes]

23:52:46 Wednesday 10 January 2063 - Apartment 875, Parkewood Village Apartments, Tacoma

Todd's meditation is broken when the LED starts to glow in his vision letting him know that Tony had already got back to him. Scanning the message, he sends back a quick reply.

[bclements]

23:54:08 Wednesday 10 January 2063 - Capitol Hill Terrace, Capitol Hill, Seattle, UCAS

Very good. It'll be great to catch up with Andie and Ricky again Tony thinks to himself. Suddenly unable to go asleep from excitement at getting hold of his old friends again, he lay on his chair in the living room absentmindedly watching a news program on the trideo, thinking of old times. Finally mentally exhausted, he goes to bed again at around 2.

07:14:55 Thursday 11 January 2063 - Capitol Hill Terrace, Capitol Hill, Seattle, UCAS
Snapping bolt upright in bed, Tony reaches frantically over to check his psec, thinking that maybe he dreamt the exchange with Todd last night. Nope, everything's real he thinks to himself while placing a call to Todd. Come on, kid, be up this early he thinks, as the phone rings.

[Ecclesiastes]

07:15:00 Thursday 11 January 2063 - Apartment 875, Parkewood Village Apartments, Tacoma

Ugh... who the hell is calling this early...

It had been a late night of coding and Todd didn't get to bed until nearly 1am. Bringing up the time in his heads-up display, the young Otaku growns, waaaay too early.

He answers the call anyway, figuring it had to be good. A groggy voice picks up the line.

"This better be good."

[Slipshade]

21:58:33 Monday 08 January 2063 - In Front of the Paradigm Shift

Trying to muster as much ‘cool’ as he could, Max stares the bouncer directly in the sunglasses, swallows hard and say, “Actually it is Maxwell Steiner. Are you under the employ of a Mr. Fan?” It was a logical assumption that Max very much hoped was correct.

[WinterRat1]

21:58:57 Monday 08 January 2063 - In Front of the Paradigm Shift

Unfortunately, his logical assumption did not appear to be correct. The bouncer cocks his head curiously. "I'm sorry sir, you misunderstand. I am in the employ of the Paradigm Shift. They noticed you waiting in line even though we had been informed to expect you. Why did you wait in line instead of coming to the front and informing us of your arrival?"

Waving his hand dismissively, he continues, "Never mind. It is not my business, and I'm sure you have your own reasons. However, if you keep waiting in line, you will be late for your appointment. Please sir, if you will follow me I will escort you to see Mr. Fan."

Turning sharply, he begins walking towards the entrance of the club, obviously expecting Max to follow.

[bclements]

07:15:05 Thursday 11 January 2063 - Capitol Hill Terrace, Capitol Hill, Seattle, UCAS

"Hey, Todd? It's Tony. Sorry to get you up so early, but I was wondering when you could meet today?" Drek, last thing I need is a decker pissed off because I called too early