IC: Emerald City Nights, This Ain't no Oz... Options

[Digital Heroin]

The Rules are simple: No signatures, rolls to a Spoiler.
OOC: http://forums.dumpshock.com/index.php?showtopic=7785

[Digital Heroin]

Emerald City Messengers, the jewel of downtown Seattle; that's what the adverts declare, though the reality is of course far from the claim. The truth of the matter was, the main dispatch office for the company, hell, the only dispatch office, was closer to being located in Tacoma than Downtown. But hey, what can be said about it? Even in a time where more business than ever has gone digital, there still remains a place for the physical courrier. After all, there are just some documents you don't want going over a wire, and when you really need that Stuffer Shack Soycheeseburger, who better to bring it to your office?

That's why Hermes started the place. Hermes, the guy most people know as one of the most demanding bosses on the streets; an overweight, festidious orc with a voice that sounds like it could crack concrete. While he's quick to remind his people they're one mistake away from unemployment, he pays well. He pays even better if you're working for him in his other, less known capacity. Now some would smirk at those he employs as runners, but he fills an important niche in the shadows as a Fixer. His runners are the new blood in a world constantly in need of it.

Such a runner are you.

Sure you've got a past - everyone in the biz does - but you're still cutting your teeth in the shadows. Everyone needs to start somewhere. So when Hermes calls your name, and says you've got a hot run, well you know your break might just be now. Hot run, after all, is Hermes' way of calling you to the dingy old breakroom, so you can have that special talk that means a bonus this pay.

[Bastard]

Johnson is in back, getting changed in front of his locker when Hermes calls. "JOHNSON! IN MY OFFICE!" An outsider may think that Johnson was in deep drek, but he knew the drill. He throws the street gear back into the locker, and straightens his shirt with a smile. Hopefully its a hot run, not just the boss upset about some new policy. "JOHNSON! YOU GOT 30 SECONDS!"

Johnson was just about to enter, when the demand comes. So he stands outside the office for a few more seconds, double checking his clothes are in order, and there are no scuffs on his shoes. Then finally he walks in casually, "Hey boss, what have you got for me today?"

Johnson stands, waiting patiently for Hermes to offer him a seat. Either that, or give him todays route.

[Sedna]

JOHNSON! IN MY OFFICE!"

Kai swivels slightly around, opens his eyes. There's one very pissed-off overweight ork looking down at him.

"When I said you could crash here, I didn't mean in my chair!"

It's nothing Kai hasn't heard before -- many times before. As long as he keeps doing his job well, it's all bark and no bite. He leans back and closes his eyes again. In the background he can hear the ork bellowing: "JOHNSON! YOU GOT 30 SECONDS!" followed by the sounds of their boss rummaging in one of the filing cabinets.

This should be interesting.

When Johnson's slightly squeaky, unscuffed shoes are almost directly in front of the desk, Kai kicks his own running shoes down from the desk and straightens up in the boss's chair: "Geez, took ya long 'nough."

[Thomas]

Steve looked up from the screamsheet someone had left in the breakroom when he heard the boss yell. At least it was Johnson in the drek, not him.

I wonder what trouble that stick up the ass yuppy is in, thought his drek don’t stink. Steve thought to himself.

His attention returned to the article as he tried to remember where he had seen the author’s name before.

[Slipshade]

Amanda, Glide to her friends and co-workers, woke up early as she always did on the days she worked for Emerald City. She had moved out of her old apartment in Puyallup to be closer to her job at there. You would think that it would be an upgrade, but not really. Her doss in Tacoma was a hole, but hey it was her hole. Glide rolls out of bed and hits the shower. After a bit of clanging and sputtering the shower nozzle springs to life. It looks to be a good day for her. The water looks clean and has no strange oders to it. It was ice cold, but hey she could live with that. The shower was quick and after a few minutes of vigorous scrubbing she made a mad, shivering dash through her apartment throwing on clothes as she went. It wasn’t long before she was dressed and ready to go. Glide took one last glimpse of herself in the mirror, and tied her black and purple hair back into a small ponytail. She was pretty happy with the look. The purple eye shadow Marcy had let her borrow matched the highlights in her hair perfectly. She would have to remember to ask her where she got it.

‘Heh, look at me…the wanna-be shadowrunner, worrying about her make-up.’

Glide made sure any valuables were hidden before pulling her black “Rapid Transit” jacket on over her Emerald City Messenger uniform and shoulder holster containing her Predator. She slings the scabbard of her Katana over her back and heads out the door. The streets were still pretty empty, but it wouldn’t be long before Tacoma would be full of wage slaves on their way to work. Glide straps on her helmet and with a metal flick causes the Durashock wheels of her cyber skates to snap into place. With a push of her modified leg muscles Glide rolls out into the streets and towards the Emerald City Messenger HQ.

A half hour or so later Glide rolls up to the front door of Emerald City. She retracts her skate wheels just as she hits the sidewalk and transitions smoothly into a walking stride. Removing her helmet and tucking it under her left arm, she pushing the door open with her right.

"JOHNSON! IN MY OFFICE!"

‘Looks like Hermes is in his usual good mood.’

Glide throws a nod to Steve as she enters the breakroom, to store some of her gear.

“Any idea what’s up his ass this morning?’

[Thomas]

About a hundred odd kilos of irate ork if I was guessing.

Steve chuckled at the thought as he put away his pocket sec and turned to face the pretty young girl.

"Morning, Glide"

[Glyph]

Viper, hanging out near the dispatch office, raises no eyebrows - she hangs out here a lot. But Hermes actually left a vague message on her telecom, telling her that she might want to swing by today. That got her interest - she has her eye on some goodies over at Mort's, and it might take a chunk of change to get them. Hermes may be a bit abrasive, but his jobs have been a big step over the usual errands and mischief she does to get by. She hasn't seen Kai around, yet. Kid's probably snoozing somewhere.

In the meantime, she is amusing herself by explaining, with saintly forbearance, to Spike (one of the Emerald City messengers, and alas, poor deluded thing, a rivetgirl) just how much her favorite industrial band sucks. "Honestly, you can't even call it music. It's more like the noise you would get if you took a dozen cats and several revved-up chainsaws, and threw them all in a cement mixer. Although being a cat in a cement mixer with chainsaws would be a more pleasant experience than actually listening to that garbage." Spike, apparently unable to face the truth about her band, is responding with her usual mix of threats and insults. "Aaargh! You bitch! I'll eat your spleen between two pieces of toast! Yer momma's so goth, she don't eat beans an' rice, she eats beans Anne Rice! Yer momma's so goth, when she gets cold, she don't turn up the thermostat, she turns up the thermoLESTAT!"

They both pause when Hermes' voice booms out "JOHNSON! IN MY OFFICE!" Viper idly wonders if the pretty boy seeing Hermes has anything to do with why Hermes left her a message. Sometimes he almost seems to use Johnson as an intermediary when he's gathering a group together for a run. She nods briefly to Glide who, like Steve, is paying little heed to her usual wrangling with Spike.

[Bastard]

Hermes, still digging through files, probably more to look important and busy than actually looking for something, as Johnson waits his reply. He keeps in his laugh as Kai tries to sit up straight. Johnson gives him the "I seen that" smile, still holding his chuckle. With Hermes continuing exploration into the unknown of office paper work, Johnson reaches over and wipes the scuff marks Kai left on his desk. Returning to his professional stance, he gives the kid another smile, but this time an unaudible chuckle escapes.

Controling his facial expressions again, "Sorry boss, thought you called me. Im going to get some coffee. You want to join me Mouse?"

[Digital Heroin]

Four hundred pounds of orc shift about when Johnson says he's going to go get coffee. Hermes regards the two of them, the suit and the kid, for a long moment.

`Yeah, you go do that. While you're getting your coffee, round up the usual suspects, meet me in the lounge. And for the love of my ugly mother make sure there's no one nosy about.`

Johnson usually gets a begrudging respect from Hermes, mainly because they're almost the same age. This all isn't unusual, though. This is the routine they've had for every run. He bellows for the suit, to make the others know he can still be angry when he wants to, and then he gets him to pull the group together in the lounge area. Hermes is nothing if not theatrical.

[Bastard]

Johnson walks out of the boss's office with a smirk. "Oooo you're all in trouble now," he says to his coworkers with a laugh. "Hermes is pissed!" His joking manner looses most of the others in the office, now loosing their interest.

As he walks up to where Steve is and passes the much more simple message, "Hermes wants us in the lounge." He does so quietly enough for others not to overhear, but not the obvious whisper, that seems to make others ears perk up.

Continuing on down the line, Johnson meets up with Viper. "Hey are you guys talking about Chrystal Drek, they fraggin rock. Yeah!" Spike snorts and leaves, being revolted by someone as ancient as her dad having the same taste in music. "Thought that would piss her off. Hermes has work for the 'dream team'. We are meeting in the lounge."

In the breakroom he finds Glide. "You're in deep drek. Hermes wants to see you in the lounge." Glide knows its a lie, but you can never tell with Johnson, he can make it sound so serious, that you don't know sometimes when he is kidding.

[Thomas]

Steve gives Johnson a quick nod, finishes whatever entry he's making in the pocket sec and trails slowly toward the lounge.
Whatever had the big ork going was about to spread - and sometimes that meant good nuyen.

[Sedna]

"Yeah. Sure, boss." Not moving from his perch, Kai doesn't bother to conceal his grin as he watches what's obviously an established routine unfolding betwen his boss and Johnson. He still hasn't been able to figure whether the older guy's some kind of manager, or just a grunt like the rest of them. Grapevine -- name of Viper -- had said something about there being some more interesting jobs run out the side for the 'dream team', extra cash, that kind of thing. Looks like it just might be Kai's chance to finally get in on that action. Long's it involves a bicycle, ought to be right up his alley. "Double delux skinny tall, extra froth with peppermint sprinkles, on ye'r nuyen, right?"

"Some time today, Mouse." That's from Johnson. Kinda figures that the one thing the guy would pick up on real quick was that fraggin' name -- and then he's up and out of the chair and ducking the light, punctuating cuff from Hermes out of long instinct -- okay, about a week's worth of instinct, it's not like Hermes ever really means it seriously. "And for the love of my ugly mother make sure there's no one nosy about," Hermes adds quietly to Johnson -- making Kai's ears perk up real good.

Bunch of others, milling around sort of outside. Guess they was warned by Hermes' yell. Huh, Viper's here. "Hoi, Viper," he says, and she waves back, but she's listening to Johnson, he overhears something about meeting in the lounge. Geez, like that's a stretch. Yeah, definitely some kind of routine, and it's on the QT: besides Viper, Johnson's pickin' out a person here and a person there, talking quietly to each of them.

Hey, an' he's pulled me inna the lounge as well. That means it's official. The grin grows wider. I'm in.

[Slipshade]

[Bastard]

Johnson watches as the team assembles in the lounge, keeping a close eye for any easedroppers. He grabs the coffee pot, a couple of clean mugs, the sugar and creame and carries them across the office to the lounge.

He enters, checking again to see if any nosy coworkers are around, then enters behind the rest of the team. After setting all the mugs up right, Johnson fills the six cups and passing them around the table. He sets a full mug at the empty 'big chair' for Hermes, then takes the seat opposite of him.

[Slipshade]

Taking a seat near Hermes "big chair", Glide graciously accepts the mug from Johnson and takes a sip.

"Ahh, nothing like the taste of soycaff in the morning to wake you up."

[Sedna]

Kai grabs the largest of the assorted mugs as they're passed around. On it, accompanying the caption, is a large picture of a grinning, striped cat. He pulls the bowl of sugar packets over to himself, and proceeds to start dumping as many of them as he can into his soykaf before someone objects.

[Glyph]

Viper sits down with a slight smirk. Looking around, she sees that her hunch is virtually confirmed - it's a job. "Yo, Kai," she greets as the street kid comes in. So Mouse is going to be part of this? The others might be a bit surprised, but she's not. She doesn't go around tripping on her astral sight all the time, but she takes a peek enough to know that some of the others are cybered, and that Kai is awakened. She idly stirs her soycaf with her finger. "Well, what do you know? No dead bugs floating around in it this time. Pity... they were kind of tasty."

[Sedna]

"Gotta get the protein somehow," says Kai, glancing beside him, then leaning over to stare more intently into Glide's mug. "But -- er, never mind." And he tilts back his head and downs most of his own mug. "Got any more?"

[Bastard]

Johnson quietly replies to Viper's remark, "No, they all sank this time, and they are all in the bottom of the far cup." Old Man Johnson is obviously referring to the boss's mug, but not saying it. The team is left to wonder if that is because its true. It is usually Kai and Viper sabotaging the others for a laugh, but maybe Johnson actually did it, to let the others know he is really part of the team. I guess we will have to wait and see Hermes reaction, if he finishes his cup.

"Mouse, you want to toss me a sugar packet, before the whole box is in your drink?" Johnson waits with his hand on the table, bottom of his palm touching, but his fingers and hand raised, waiting for a packet to be slid over to him.

[Digital Heroin]

It's a few more moments, and some bellowing in the main dispatch area of the offices, before Hermes makes his way into the lounge. He's never moved fast in the time anyone's been working for him, though there have been whispers of the time he sprinted after a delivery truck laden with Doritos.

He takes a look about, and moves to the chair that's customarily his, settling in slowly, so as not to crush it. When he takes up his mug, and takes a swig, he sloshes the contents around in his mouth a moment before swallowing.

`Extra bugs today, eh?`

How he knows what they'd been talking about is just one of his mysteries. After letting that settle a moment, he smiles a yellow toothed smile.

`I bet you've all just been waiting for this, haven't you? A good old hot run. Here's the deal, for those of you who haven't worked one of these before. What I talk about here, doesn't get talked about outside this room. I hear rumors going around, and I get to firing people.`

He takes another swig of the coffee, and sets the mug down.

`I've got a man who wants to meet with you about a special order. So yous all have the rest of the day off, paid.`

He has of course aranged his fees, so he doesn't care about floating them a little extra.

`I don't want to know what this deal is you're doing, but if you don't come to work tommorrow, I'll dock a sick day. You get three, then I look for new couriers. Comprende?`

[Bastard]

"Boss, tomorrow is my off day. If I dont show up are you still going to dock me a sick day?" Johnson smiles watching Hermes reaction. Before he can answer though Johnson continues.

"When and where is the meet?"

[Slipshade]

Glide sits back in her chair and waits for the details of the meet.

'Good, extra nuyen.'

[Thomas]

Steve pushes his untouched cup towards Kai then opens a new file on his pocket sec.

[Sedna]

With a flick of his wrist that sends a packet skittering across the lounge table to stop right in front of Johnson, Kai finishes his own mug, then grins thanks at Steve and begins dumping sugar into the new one.

"Ya gonna pay me an extra day if I stick around here anyway, long's I go meet yer guy an' don' talk about it except in here? Ya kin pay me Johnson's." He leans forward, a gleam in his dark eyes. "But ya know, that's gonna be ratty, ifn' ya think 'bout it. Like, kin I talk 'bout it with these guys even if we're not inna lounge? Or if there's other people inna lounge, kin I talks about it then? Or --"