IC: A Short Victorius War, A Living in the Shadows Game Options

[Cedric Rolfsson]

01:23:00 Monday January 8, 2063 - Abandoned Warehouse - Puyallup

Erebus handed the dermatone to Dragon and explained what little he knew about its function, working hard to show no emotion at all as he explained to Dragon what it did.

The internal debate had settled, he felt no more compunction about what had to be done since he'd exhausted every remedy available to avoid the use of torture. If the Yak hitter got himself shredded by Dragon it was simply because the goon refused to give up the necessary data.

Erebus had been subjected to all sorts of sick drek while he was with Amanda, inflicting and receiving pain had usually been what turned her on, but he'd never gotten over the instinctive distate he had for torture. Still, what he'd said to Doc held true; what had to be done, had to be done.

[WinterRat1]

01:26:04 Monday January 8, 2063 - Abandoned Warehouse - Puyallup

Studying the item Erebus had brought back, Dragon nodded. It wasn't what he'd had in mind, but it would do. Truth be told, this was greatly annoying him. He didn't want it to come to this, but if it had to be done, it had to be done. Frankly, he'd rather the goon just talk and save him the time and trouble of torturing it out of him.

Still, he was curious what the others thought of the situation, and the goon wasn't going to come to for a bit anyway. Seeing Tenmou up and about, he decided to ask the two of them. Virgil's distaste for the some of the more extreme methods Dragon sometimes employed was well documented, and Daedalus just dealt with the harsh realities of their situation, despite his personal feelings, much as Dragon did. But these new teammates were variables, still largely unknown.

Deciding it could do no harm to ask, Dragon looked at both of his new teammates and said, "Are either of you going to have a problem with this? Between the three of us, I'd prefer we did this the easy way, but if he wants it the hard way," he shrugs, "then he's got no one but himself to blame. Still, if either of you has something to say about this, now would be the time."

[Shadowrunner13]

01:26:07 Monday January 8, 2063 - Abandoned Warehouse - Puyallup

"While I find the act of torture repulsive, I understand that our situation isn't exactly the best at the moment. I will simply remove myself from the proceedings and feign ignorance."

Tenmou looked to Erebus and Dragon. "I did have one thing I wanted to run past you gentlemen, however. I have spoken with my fixer and he has referred me to a doctor that may be able to patch up my injuries. It sounds like the man may be expensive and/or narcisistic. Do we risk bringing any unknowns here? My fixer has also volunteered assistance if we require anything in particular."

[WinterRat1]

01:26:34 Monday January 8, 2063 - Abandoned Warehouse - Puyallup

Dragon looks over at Erebus. "It's his friend who's here, his turf. If he's willing to risk it, that's fine with me, but we might be better off not bringing heat down on this place if we get made. At the least, I think we should check with our hosts before we start bringing strangers in here. Erebus, it's your chummer, so what do you think?"

[Cedric Rolfsson]

01:26:50 Monday January 8, 2063 - Abandoned Warehouse - Puyallup

Erebus looked at Tenmou trying to gauge his need to weigh against the risk. In the back of his head a small voice pointed out that if this street doc of Tenmou's was that good then it wouldn't hurt to get his name and contact points for future use.

"I have no problem with you bringing your street doc here, but before you do you need to talk to Doc to make sure that's chill. There is no way you're going to be allowed to bring that guy here if he's connected with some rival gang. We need to be sure Doc's friends are willing to give him safe passage."

Erebus paused then added as tactfully as he could.

"Also, the other issue, errr. . . .well its clear that you're Oriental. I know your street name is a Japanese kanji character, so I just want to make sure that you know this street doc before we bring him down. If he's a Yak allied street cutter and we bring him down here then we're just inviting trouble."

"I'd run the name and idea past Doc before we go anywhere else. If Doc says its okay, then I say its fine. Lets just make sure that we don't tell the cutter exactly who he's treating and be ready to scramble the minute this guy leaves."

[Shadowrunner13]

01:26:56 Monday January 8, 2063 - Abandoned Warehouse - Puyallup

"I'll have to talk to my fixer again. I have the Doc's contact info and was told that he's excellent, but I have no idea as to his affiliations, if any. And have no worries, Erebus, I am not Yakuza. I do have family in the organization, but they are my ear to the ground within that particular brotherhood. I would have spoken with him about our situation, if I wasn't concerned that they would be monitoring him. I don't believe the Yakuza knows of our familial ties, but I wasn't going to take chances without precautions in place."

Tenmou pulled out his cellphone.

"I will contact my fixer again and get further information on this doctor..."

[bclements]

01:27:33 Monday January 8, 2063 - Abandoned Warehouse - Puyallup

Stepping out of the makeshift torture chamber, Temnou thumbed down to his fixer’s drop, dialing the number while moving down the hall out of earshot. Surprisingly Zeyda answered, roadway sounds and soft jazz in the background.

“Hoi omae. What do you need?"

[Shadowrunner13]

01:27:37 Monday January 8, 2063 - Abandoned Warehouse - Puyallup

"Hey Zeyda, I think I might need some more info on this doc friend of yours. We're in a major gang area and we want to make sure that we won't cause any jurisdictional issues if he were to come to where we are. What do you know of his rep? Any ties to any particular group? I wouldn't mind running the guy's tag by the locals to make sure there won't be any issues."

[bclements]

01:30:14 Monday January 8, 2063 - Abandoned Warehouse - Puyallup

"Calls himself Bloodmoney," Zedya said, pausing for a second as Tenmou heard the soft clicks of someone paging down information in a psec.

"Don't know too much about his background, but I don't know of any gang connections," the fixer said after checking his notes. "He's human, ex-corp if I had to guess. Makes housecalls for the right price. Not the most pleasent person to be around either; the last two people I sent over to him swore they'd kill him if he wasn't so good. I think they're regular customers now," Zedya joked, a bit tiredly.

"Need anything else?"

[Cedric Rolfsson]

01:31:06 Monday January 8, 2063 - Abandoned Warehouse - Puyallup

Erebus stepped a little closer to Dragon, glanced over to make sure the goon was still out then said in a low quiet voice.

"While we got a couple of ticks omae I'd like to get your thoughts on what our next step should be." The young elf began ticking off fingers as he ran down the problems facing the team.

"One, we've got Daedalus's gear to recover. I'd put that pretty high up on the priority list since I'm assuming the gear is operational in nature and may well aid us in accomplishing the other missions. I'd try and accomplish that first since we're pretty much sucking wind in the resources department and could certainly use the assets." One finger down.

"Two, we've got to find Vinnie's stuff. I view that as a separate objective than recovering Daedalus's gear even though they are likely to be close to each other. I don't put this up too high on our priority list but we may well be able to accomplish this objective when we grab Daedalus's equipment. I recognize that Vinnie thinks he can impose time contraints on us to accomplish this mission but I'm not lending that as much weight." Second finger down.

"Three, find out who is trying to kill us. Hopefully, sleeping beauty can help us on this one. I put this real high on the list since the hitter has already demonstrated an ability to track us through a fairly complex effort to avoid detection. They've also demonstrated a willingness to use whatever means necessary to eliminate us. This suggests to me that whatever it is we know or can do it must be fairly significant since not even Yakuza use rockets in a Seattle street unless its really fragging serious. If its that serious to them then I bet they're going to put a lot of resources into hunting us down, and we're going to need to be able to put some pressure back on them even if only to give us a little room to work." Another finger down.

"Four, find out who set me and Tenmou up. That'll probably tie in pretty tight with Vinnie's stated missions for us. I think we need to move on it pretty quick or my Johnson is likely to roll up the trail he left in hiring me. I've already contacted my fixer who is himself running for cover. Whoever set us up was willing to risk the negative reaction of betraying his runner and his fixer. That means that he had to believe that he could bury both of us to keep the word from getting out or he'd never be able to hire decent shadow talent again. Either that or this deal is important enough to take the risk. Whichever it is I'd like to hit the flower shop in Renton where I picked up Tenmou and the recognition code from Hell and see if there are any clues leading back to the Johnson and I'd like to do that tonight." The last finger went down, and Erebus wrapped his thumb around them into a fist.

"I hope I'm not missing anything, but I am sure that I am. We need to co-ordinate this crew, trying to figure out where each of us best fits into the team and make sure everyone knows their roles. We also need to get a clear idea of what assets we have to work with so we can plan intelligently."

"I'm willing to put in the nuyen I got from selling my deck, since I don't have much else to offer. I would like you guys to agree to help me lift another deck if we can though to replace it. Obviously I'm muscle rather than Matrix but I'm going to need a deck eventually."

With a resigned sigh he gave a little shrug and looked to Dragon.

"Anyway, that's kind of what I see facing us and where I rank them on my things to do list. I'd be willing to follow your lead if you want to take command of this crew, I wanted you to know that."

[WinterRat1]

01:35:13 Monday January 8, 2063 - Abandoned Warehouse - Puyallup

While listening to Erebus's assessment of the situation, Dragon took the time to size up the young elf. So far he'd proven himself capable and competent, and given Dragon absolutely no reason to doubt him whatsoever. Of course, that didn't make the elf any less of a potential danger, and it was nearly a given that he had an agenda of his own, one that he had probably chosen not to voice just now. Then again, didn't everyone?

Erebus's assessment of the situation at hand was more or less accurate in Dragon's estimation, and with the exception of his fourth point, were all things that D&D V3 had a distinct personal interest in as well. Plus, the fact that Erebus had a personal stake in all this wasn't necessarily a bad thing, and could even work out to everyone's benefit down the road. In the end, the real question was, did they want to work with him and his Japanese partner beyond the immediate concerns at hand, or part ways as soon as possible?

A fair question, and not one Dragon felt he had a right to make on his own. A moment of reflection led him to the immediate decision that he really needed to consult his team before proceeding with Erebus. That decided, he believed the young elf had been upfront with him (although whether or not he was honest was an entirely different story) and as such, deserved some sort of immediate response.

"All right, here's how I see it. I think you've laid out a good summary of our current situation and I appreciate that you've laid your perspective of our situation on the table. I think you’ve brought up several things worth discussing, but I need to consult my team before continuing this discussion. You mind watching him while I take five with them?”

The two of them look over to their prisoner, even more securely bound than before, and back to one another. Erebus nods his head. “Go ahead. I can keep an eye on him.”

Without a word, Dragon strides from the room. He knew even if the prisoner did get loose (which he highly doubted) the elf had the situation well in hand.

“Daedalus, grab Virgil and meet me in the back of the warehouse, far away from everyone else. We need to talk.”

Jolted out of his sound sleep, Daedalus comes awake immediately, with a few choice curses right after. “Damn it Dragon, I was catching some quality shut eye. God knows I could use it after the last 48 hours. What the hell is it about this city that refuses to let a guy get some peace and quiet?”

“Quit your whining and get back here. We’re still on the clock and we’ve got a job to do. Several of them actually.”

“I was having a really good dream for your information.”

“Yeah, and it probably involved a bunch of cute and cuddly little drones playing happily at your feet. Get over it. If it’s that dream again, you’ll probably have it the next time you go to sleep.”

“Hey, don’t talk about the children that way! And I’ll remember you said that the next time you need one of those ‘cute and cuddly little drones’ to bail your sorry hoop out.”

“You and your freaking drones. I swear, I will never understand your fascination with them.”

“You mean like I can’t understand your fascination for getting yourself in trouble over a woman? Repeatedly? For example, like in at least two of the aforementioned jobs we have to do?”

“Wiseass.”

They broke the comm connection as the rigger walked up, Virgil in tow. To the shaman’s experienced eye, their grins over their little banter betrayed their conversation. “You know, don’t you guys get sick of being in each other’s heads all the time? Doesn’t it ever get old having someone else’s voice pop out of nowhere?”

“No, what gets old is always having to yell stuff to you when you forget to have your commlink with you,” Dragon quipped.

The shaman snorts. “Believe me, knowing that I still have my soul entirely intact never gets old.”

“Hey my soul’s intact. And whatever parts of it aren’t…well life would’ve done the deed just fine for me without cyberware, so I may as well reap the benefits of being soulless in addition to the downsides.”

Looking at them with a puzzled expression, Daedalus breaks in, “What downsides are there? It is only through cyberware that we can become a part of the Great Network that links us together. How could anyone achieve holy communion with the Drone Messengers of the Cyber Gods without it?”

Waiting for them to both look at him incredulously, the rigger smiles and holds up his hands. “Kidding, kidding. OK anyway, you woke me up, so this better be good Dragon. Start talking.”

Virgil gives Daedalus a long-suffering look and mutters “Heathen…” under his breath, but he turns to listen to Dragon as well.

Quickly the mercenary relayed the gist of his discussion with Erebus. “So what do you guys think?”

Stroking his chin thoughtfully, Virgil says, “I think that at this point, having allies is definitely a worthwhile consideration. He’s played it straight with us so far, and I don’t see how having him onboard could hurt.”

“I agree. We have a lot to deal with and not enough people to do it with. We need more manpower,” Daedalus adds.

“Are you suggesting we bring him into our personal business as well?” Dragon asks.

“Not so fast,” Virgil interrupts. “I don’t think it’s fair to agree to work with him, and then dump all these personal issues on him. What are we supposed to say, ‘oh yeah, and if you’re going to work with us, you’ve got two or more groups of people who will want to geek you by association?’”

“Hey there’s risk that comes with any job,” the rigger answers.

“Yeah, but our biz isn’t a job. It’s…”

“Us being do-gooders again and grasping at the hope of a payday,” Dragon interrupts Virgil. “Since when did we become freaking Robin Hoods anyway?”

“You’re a mercenary! How on earth do you arrive at the conclusion you’re a Robin Hood?!” Virgil exclaims.

“Do you see a payday waiting for us at the end of all this? For that matter, where’s our advance? Heck, why don’t you tell me who our employer while you’re at it Virg, because I must have missed that too,” Dragon fires back sarcastically.

“Would it kill you to do something good for free once in a while!?”

“Hey I do a lot of good for free!”

“Name one time!”

“When we busted out Sybersnake in Aztlan.”

“Guys, do we really need to bring this debate back up again?” Daedalus interrupts.

“Shut up,” the mercenary and shaman answer automatically without even looking at him.

Rolling his eyes heavenward at the mercenary and shaman’s neverending debate, with the speed of thought, Daedalus takes the opportunity to check in with his drones to see if the situation has changed noticeably. When both come back with the ‘all clear’ signal, he takes the opportunity to praise them. “Well done my children. Continue to vigilantly keep watch.”
“Acknowledged, master.” Both drones acknowledge his command, and he turns back to the discussion.

“You can’t count Sybersnake! You were doing it as a favor for Global!”

Silence.

“OK…well what about when we went back for her kid, huh? What about that?”

“You were sleeping with her by then!”

“So?”

“Guys! Business. Virgil always gets us in trouble because he’s trying to do some good in the world, and Dragon always gets us in trouble over a woman. And me, I’m just there to bail both your hoops out,” Daedalus concludes with a self-satisfied smile.

Dropping their ages old argument, after a few more minutes of discussion, a consensus emerges, when Daedalus brings up a question. “Wait, are we talking about Erebus and Tenmou or just Erebus?”

“That’s a good question…I don’t know. I’d have to ask him. Anyway, I think we have enough right now for me to present our proposal to him. Are we agreed on this?”

The other two nod their assent, and split up once again to what they were originally doing. Virgil to the street shaman, Daedalus back to his nap, and Dragon to Erebus.

01:55:11 Monday January 8, 2063 - Abandoned Warehouse - Puyallup

Returning to the ‘interrogation room’, Dragon motions the elf out of earshot of their prisoner. With both of them keeping an eye on the prisoner, Dragon casually folds his arms in front of him and says, “OK Erebus, I talked over what you said with the guys, and here’s how we see it.”

“We concur with your analysis of the situation, as well as the objectives that you laid out. However, there was one thing we think you left out.”

Aware that Erebus was in his apartment when the strange messenger approached the team for a meet, Dragon quickly reminds the elf of their strange visitor.

Holding up his right hand, he raises a finger. “We think it would be most efficient to go to the meet first as a whole team, if only to try to identify one of the players in this convoluted mess. Right now we’ve got a lot of questions, and not a lot of answers, and we’d like that situation to change. Hopefully sleeping beauty over there,” Dragon motions with his head towards their prisoner, “will give us some answers, but whether he does or not, we’ve got to move fast.”

“Once we’re finished with him, we go to the meet and see what they have to say, maybe try to leverage ourselves some extra info or even an ally. At the very least, make sure they stay out of our way. One thing we don’t need is an extra enemy floating around out there.”

Raising another finger, he continues, “Then we’ll split up, half of us to the flower shop to try to track down whatever leads we can over there while the other half goes the impound lot to try to case the place. Vinnie isn’t exactly high on my ‘People to Trust’ list, and I don’t want to rely on him in any way, shape, or form to get Daedalus’s stuff. If at all possible, I’d prefer to get it back ourselves and I’d definitely like to have it before we deal with Vinnie again.”

A third finger goes up. “Between the flower shop, the goon, and the meet with this mysterious third party, hopefully by then we’ll have Vinnie’s answer for him, as well as a line on who is trying to wack us. Then we can get Vinnie off our backs and decide what we want to do about whoever set you up. I’d like to be able to put some pressure back on them like you suggested, but I don’t know if we’ll have the resources to do that. Besides, if those chumps they sent after us at the Depot were their idea of a hit squad, I’m not exactly sweating bullets just yet.”

Down to his pinky now, Dragon holds that up. “We appreciate your willingness to use the funds from your deck to give us some operating capital. I’d bet we’re going to need it, myself. However, from where we sit, it’s no more or less a sacrifice than any of us using whatever resources we have available to get us out of this alive, so we’re not going to explicitly agree to help you boost another deck.”

Opening up his thumb to hold his palm up, indicating Erebus should keep listening before saying anything, Dragon continues. “But, we have noted that you’ve expressed at least some small interest in working together after this current situation is resolved. At least one of those hints, in my opinion, was in asking our willingness to assist you in getting another deck. I’m sure you will agree that such a job is not directly tied into any of the four objectives currently at hand, correct?”

The elf nods assent, and it appears he is at least still willing to listen, and curious about where Dragon is going with this. “So here’s our proposal to you. You want us to assist you in getting another deck after this is over. Frankly, we’ve got a lot of…other biz on our plates right now, and this scenario is all the more fragging annoying because of that. I don’t want to get into it here and now, but if you want, after we’ve handled the four objectives you laid out earlier, we’re willing to discuss working with you and your partner on a more long term basis. One of things we discuss can be getting you a new deck, and like I said, we’ve got numerous projects going on right now. Some are personal, some are biz, and some are in between, if you catch my drift.”

Erebus nods, knowing full well what Dragon meant. Sometimes the lines between biz and personal got entirely too blurry, and one had to wonder if in the shadows there was really any distinction at all.

“All right then, so to summarize, we agree with your assessment of the current situation. We’ve laid out our proposed plan for approaching the problems at hand. After we’ve dealt with this drek, we’ll sit down with you and Tenmou and discuss the possibility of extending our working relationship. That includes some of the projects we’ve got going on, getting you a new deck, and anything else anyone happens to think of. What do you think?”

Letting out a breath after all that talking, Dragon falls silent, waiting for the elf’s reply.

[bclements]

01:55:18 Monday January 8, 2063 - Abandoned Warehouse - Puyallup

As Erebus thought about what Dragon had said, the bound man over in the corner coughed loudly, trying to spit blood out but only succeeding in making it dribble down his chin. Moaning, he rolled his head around to try to take in his surroundings, a pounding headache still causing him to see stars in the periphery of his vision.

[Cedric Rolfsson]

01:55:17 Monday January 8, 2063 - Abandoned Warehouse - Puyallup

Erebus thought for a second about the other warrior's words and decided the offer was the best he could hope for under the circumstances.

"Fine. I can live with those terms. Since it looks like I'll be joining your crew, at least temporarily, then enlighten me as to the command structure. I've always believed there needs to be a unified command structure for combat situations, so when the bullets start to fly who runs the battle drill?"

Of course, at precisely that moment the prisoner started making noise again, so Erebus held up a restraining hand before Dragon could respond.

"Perhaps we should finish this conversation latter, it looks like there is work to be done."

[WinterRat1]

01:55:37 Monday January 8, 2063 - Abandoned Warehouse - Puyallup

Dragon nods at the elf's words. "We'll discuss our strategies in more detail later. For now, do you and your partner have a common communcation channel or channels you use? We'll set up a few common frequencies so we can all communicate quicker and clearer when the drek hits the fan after we take care of this piece of biz."

Turning to the prisoner, any trace of amiability is gone from Dragon's face. He has returned to the business minded individual who grew up knowing every day, every second could easily be your last, and you'd never even see it coming.

To him, the guy tied to the chair wasn't a person; he was simply an obstacle, with the added complication that the obstacle was also a resource. The task of maximizing the resource while removing the obstacle was the only thing on his mind, and he set to that task with cold efficiency.

Standing in front of the man so he could see him, Dragon said, "You're awake. You already heard the speech last time, so I'm going to cut right to the chase. You will talk. I'm not asking you, I'm telling you. Every time I don't like one of your questions, I'm going to get creative."

He grins cruelly. "Really creative. But don't take my word for it. Feel free to test my patience. Oh, and don't think I'm going to accidentally kill you in the process. So don't even think about holding out for that."

Folding his arms in front of him, Dragon says, "So let's try this again. Who are you, and who sent you?"

[bclements]

01:55:55 Monday January 8, 2063 - Abandoned Warehouse - Puyallup

The goon struggled a little as Dragon spoke to him, but the combination of jumper cables and chains didn't allow much movement.

Settling himself as Dragon finished, he slurred out "Dumb gutterpunk like you probably hasn't figured it out yet, but I ain't sayin' a word. If you knew what was good for you, you'd let me out of here; you really don't know who you're fraggin' with," the goon said, blood and spit dribbling out of his mouth as he spoke

[WinterRat1]

01:56:05 Monday January 8, 2063 - Abandoned Warehouse - Puyallup

"See, now that's exactly what I'm talking about," Dragon says softly. "I want to know what's good for me, so I need to know who you work for. Without that, I can't begin to make any educated decisions, now can I?"

He chuckles, but it is a sound devoid of mirth. "Besides, I'd say there's no point letting you go, since I'm already in trouble. At least, that's the conclusion I came to when you all decided to introduce yourselves to me by way of a rocket launcher. I still don't appreciate that, by the way." Sighing, he adds melodramatically, "But, since you don't seem to believe me when I said I'd get creative, allow me to prove to you that for whatever else, I am a man of my word."

Handing several strips of cloth to Erebus he says politely, "Here you go, my good man. Do me a favor and gag him for me, will you? We do so want to keep the noise down."

Dragon's personality had taken a distinctly frightening turn for the worse, as he was as calm and casual as if he was discussing what to eat for dinner that night, and not torturing a person. In his mind though, he had long since shut off everything but the cold, hard professionalism that drove him when things got ugly.

Jacking up the dampener in his ears to keep the noise level down, he begins humming cheerfully as he picks up the promised dull and rusty knife, pliars, and the lighter while Erebus gagged the prisoner.

Turning from the table where he'd assembled his tools to their now gagged prisoner, he says, "If you're from who I think you're from, you'd have to do this anyway as a symbol of your failure, so consider this a favor from me to you, since I'm going to be saving you the trouble of doing it yourself."

Grasping the prisoner's left pinky firmly with the pliars, he smiles and says, "Feel free to stop me at any time by telling me what I want to know." With that, he holds the prisoner's hand steady with the pliars and with grim resolve begins sawing his finger off at the third knuckle, where the finger is attached to the bone. Even with the casual facade he puts up, the human part of Dragon is still glad the dampener prevents him from hearing the screams.

[bclements]

01:59:50 Monday January 8, 2063 - Abandoned Warehouse - Puyallup

"UGHH! AGHHH!" are all that the prisoner could say through the gag, but even with that Dragon was glad that the proverbal sound was turned down. The goon tried to struggle, but the combination of jumper cable, chain, and pliers held him fast as the knife didn’t so much cut through the skin, but sawed the flesh apart. The knife blade was quickly red as Dragon roughly moved the man’s hand around as he outlined the joint. Blood spurted as he shifted the fingerbone with a sickening pop as it released from the hand. The man went pale, and almost fainted until Dragon asked for the lighter…

[WinterRat1]

01:59:59 Monday January 8, 2063 - Abandoned Warehouse - Puyallup

"It doesn't have to be like this you know," Dragon says conversationally. "Just tell us what we want to know and it can all be over quickly." Lighting the flame and holding it close to the hole where the man's finger used to be attached to his hand, the mercenary seared the wound shut. Sweat poured down the man's face as he thrashed and shrieked, but the gag muffled his screams and Erebus and the restraints held him tight.

Dragon held the finger up in front of the man before tossing it into a metal bowl on the table holding the rest of the torturous implements. "Nod if you decide you're ready to talk. Otherwise..." his voice trails off as he dextrously twirls the knife around his fingers, "I can move on to the next one. So what do you say? Are you ready to chat yet?"

Despite the cool, sadistic show he was putting on, a part of Dragon was sickened. He never really liked torture. Frankly, in his mind, two professionals shouldn't have to resort to it. But this guy was clearly of a different mentality, one that had to be broken before he would be of use.

Besides, Dragon told himself, to get where he was, this guy had probably done, or would do, much worse to people who never even had a chance. The rocket fired into the bar earlier in the evening was proof of that. Consoling himself with that rationalization, he returned to the grim business at hand.

[bclements]

02:02:16 Monday January 8, 2063 - Abandoned Warehouse - Puyallup

The man started grunting, as if to try to say something. Taking the gag out carefully, so as to avoid any other possible surprises that this guy might have, Erebus took the gag out. Spitting, and still shaking slightly from the pain, the man spoke to Erebus, not looking at Dragon.

"I ain't telling you gaijin pieces of drek nothin'. Get the other guy in here. He speaks my language, I'll talk to him," the man spat out, not looking at his mangled hand either.

[Cedric Rolfsson]

02:02:20 Monday January 8, 2063 - Abandoned Warehouse - Puyallup

It was only a couple of steps to the doorway but Erebus took his time getting there. He refused to hurry or show the meat puppet in the chair that what was happening bothered him.

"Hoi, Tenmou we need you to come do Jap-speak at this guy." Erebus called out to the other runner. Without waiting for a reply he turned back into the room and gave the victim cold dead eyes. He figured he'd try and emulate Dragon since they were trying to accomplish the same thing.

[Shadowrunner13]

01:30:16 Monday January 8, 2063 - Abandoned Warehouse - Puyallup

"No, that'll do it for now. Thanks again, Zeyda. Apologies again for the late hour."

"No worries. Take care of yourself, Tenmou."

Tenmou disconnected before looking for a place to rest semi-comfortably for a while.

02:02:23 Monday January 8, 2063 - Abandoned Warehouse - Puyallup

Tenmou had jolted awake when their captive had begun screaming, but he remained out of sight from the torture being inflicted. He forced himself to move when Erebus called him.

He did his best to mask his discomfort as he witnessed the injury inflicted on their captive.

"Jap-speak?" Tenmou asked, somewhat offended as he strolled past the runners and knelt before the Asian man, to put himself at eye level with the man.

"Konnichiwa," he said. Continuing in Japanese he alludes, "I hope you are able to provide us with honest and helpful information, so this needless barbarism can come to an end."

[bclements]

02:03:08 Monday January 8, 2063 - Abandoned Warehouse - Puyallup

"Get him," the man nodded in Dragon's direction "out of the room. I am not speaking with him in here," the man said in good Japanese, only slightly accented by the Sprawl's normal tones.

[Shadowrunner13]

02:03:12 Monday January 8, 2063 - Abandoned Warehouse - Puyallup

Tenmou turned toward Dragon and Erebus. "It would seem that or visitor is unconfortable chatting with you present. If you could excuse us for a moment? I will contact you if your task must resume."

[WinterRat1]

02:03:18 Monday January 8, 2063 - Abandoned Warehouse - Puyallup

Dragon grins savagely at their prisoner and nods. "Of course. I'll be right outside. You know, just in case you need anything."

Setting his cyberear frequencies to filter out extraneous noise, he tunes them to focus in on Tenmou and their prisoner's voices, amping up the volume for those two sounds, so he can still hear their conversation even from outside the room.

Of course, it probably wouldn't help, since they'd be speaking in Japanese. That being the case, it was probably a good thing that Dragon spoke Japanese. He couldn't help but smile as he turned around and walked out of the room.

[bclements]

02:05:21 Monday January 8, 2063 - Abandoned Warehouse - Puyallup

"So, Flower-man, what do you want to know? Other than that you're probably going to be as bad off as me soon," the bound man says in Japanese. With Dragon and Erebus out of the room, his body seemed to visably relax despite the hard stare that he fixed Tenmou with.