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JDragon
Truck stop on Snohomish Monroe Highway
Friday 8/22/70 13:46:41
Rocky - physical adept
PAN: Hidden


As he sat on the couch Rocky saw the messages start coming through from Cerberus and Johnson. Talking more to him self than anything, "Well I guess that answers that question. So it looks like the Feds from the gas station found Cerb while he was out running around."

He then sent a quick message out so everyone knew where he was. <<TEXT@Team: Holding down the fort and ready for a party as always.>>
pragma
Truck Stop on the Monroe Highway
Friday 8/22/70 13:46:50
Fortunato - Support Mage
PAN - Hidden (Contacts, Earbuds, Smartlink)
Astrally Inactive


Fortunato came back from washing his hands after his second lunch break and dried his hands on his temporary pants. He saw Rocky typing away at him commlink and noticed a message arriving on hi s own. He looked with horror at the growing exchange of messages.

<<@Team: Do not come back to home base. If whatever suits you're talking about could find you, they can probably follow you. Crossing our fingers and assuming comms aren't compromised (anything those of you in the know can do about that?) Lets meet here. [Map ARO appended]>>

He'd picked a waffle house in Auburn. It was far away from everywhere they'd been known to operate ... except for Fortunato's apartment. On the up side, he knew from experience the waffles were edible.
BlackHat
On his Bike
Friday 8/22/70 13:47:20
Adam Lear - Mr. Smith
PAN - Hidden


Smith's voice sounded slightly distorted as his commlink attempted to compensate for the hum of vehicular movement in the background. <<@Team:: "Good idea. If anyone needs a lift, and doesn't mind riding on the back of my bike, let me know. Wasn't too worried about leading strays home, though. It won't be 'home' for much longer.... better safe than sorry, I suppose.">>
Abbandon
Few minutes from the truckstop
Friday 8/22/70 13:55:42
Cerberus - Street Samurai
PAN - Active


<<Text@team: "These are the suits from the gas station, If they wanted us that badly they already would have grabbed us all, I dont think we need to worry about base. But if you guys decide we still need to meet somewhere else let me know and dont forget to bring my dufflebags!" >>

Cerberus consulted the ARO he was given against his commlinks map system but kept on heading back to the truck stop.
pragma
Truck Stop on the Monroe Highway
Friday 8/22/70 13:56:00
Fortunato - Support Mage
PAN - Hidden (Contacts, Earbuds, Smartlink)
Astrally Inactive


Fortunato stood bolt upright with such force that his overly developed gut wobbled slightly under the transition. His eyes twitched left and right and he breathed raggedly at best. His mind sprinted through redundant ideas.

He needed to clean up this place, he needed to get out of this place, he needed to do something else. He couldn't be associated with this group. Goddamn it, the feds couldn't find him, Necrosis couldn't find him.

In his head he built up a ladder of connections pointing from these FBI agents back to the invisible hit squad sent to wipe Fortunato off the map. It was oddly calming.

He immediately grabbed his old, bloody clothes and the bedspread he'd slept on and stuffed them into the communal trash can, then took the bag with him. Trudging out of the lounge he muttered an incoherent explanation to Rocky about why it was necessary to empty the half full trash can and said he'd meet him at the Waffle House.

Alley Near the Waffle House
Friday 8/22/70 14:12:22

Fortunato checked the mouth of the alley one last time before he took a deep breath and started wrapping sheets of mana around himself. Still no witnesses and still no cameras to the best of his knowledge. Three seconds later he was a short heavyset human with close cut hair and business casual clothing. He wiped the signature he'd left and took a moment composing himself before heading to the waffle house to see who was there.
DireRadiant
On the Road
Friday 8/22/70 14:12:22
Sledge - Holding Pattern
PAN - Hidden


She was familiar with it. The first job done, going off shift, hanging together for a few soybrews, celebrating a job done. Relaxing. Then heading in for the next shift, and finding the last crew had left a mess to clean up, bloody bits of some poor girder monkey to sluice off because someone forgot to make sure they fired the bolts in right.

She needed to be there to ride the crew, keep them focused, but the best thing was going to be for her to stay away. Best for everyone. The situation was worse then brewing a tub of nitroglycerine in the hot summer sun.

<<@Team:: Party without me.>>

<<@Sugar Lips:: Didn't take me because the suits didn't want to die trying like the last ones. Let trog loose to tag me.>>
JDragon
Truck stop on Snohomish Monroe Highway
Friday 8/22/70 13:55:51
Rocky - physical adept
PAN: Hidden


Rocky watched the messages go back and forth between different members of the team as this new meeting started to come together.

I guess I should get used to living this way. Fuck this sucks, oh well, gotta stay alive.

Before he could get him self moving and figure out how, he was getting to this meeting Fort grabbed a few things and was out the door.

Friday 8/22/70 13:58:02

Talking to the walls Rocky let out a sigh, "Well I guess I best find a ride. Fuck its going to be another one of those long days isn't it?"

Grabbing his comm he sent a quick text to Cerberus, <<Text@Cerberus: Hey Fort just took off, so I guess he's got his own ride. Can you pick me up? Thanks.>>

Hopeing a ride was secured Rocky spent the next few minutes packing up all the gear. he started with his own first, not that he had much at this point but it was his so he got it back in its duffle bag and ready to go. Once that was done he worked on the group gear that needed to go back in the van like the medkit and food supplies they had picked up. He finshed up with gathering up what was left of the rest of the groups supplies doing his best to get it back in the correct bags.
BlackHat
Downtown Locker
Friday 8/22/70 14:15:20
Smith - Running late
PAN - Hidden


Adam slammed his locker shut, after making hsi withdrawl. He was discrete, but a quick appraisal of its girth revealed that if Franco was trimming his wages, it wasn't by anything noticable. He had expected maybe half of what was there, considering the amount he was sure he now owed.

He had caught a message from Angel earlier, asking for a ride, but had since started letting the team-speak channel on his comm queue up. A private message from Sledge caught his attention, though, while he was on his way back to his bike. He cought up on what had been said before responding.

<<@Team:: "No worries. We'll fill you in, later. Want me to pick you up anything for dinner?">>

He then quickly added a private message to Sledge.

<<@Sledge:: "Wait. What? You killed one of them? Cerb's bait? I'm confused. Should I have the others bail until we get this sorted out?">>

A moment later, he continued, a little calmer.

<<@Sledge:: "Want me to find out what the 'message' is, and pass it along?">>

In a bit of a rush, after that, Adam headed back to his bike and got on the road towards the location Angel asked him to pick her up at. This deal was sounding worse by the minute, and if Sledge was a known cop-killer, this wasn't going to be easy to smooth over.
DireRadiant
On the Road
Friday 8/22/70 14:15:30
Sledge - Holding Pattern
PAN - Hidden


... intern ... corp speak ...

<<@Sugar Lips:: Last time we partied with them, you remember, they were unwilling to make the commitment to accomplish their goals. Anyone in the shelter of our vehicle, or able to move away fast enough, might have eluded the conflagration. Unfortunately several of our compatriots exposed themselves and consequently I personally had to take the actions that resulted in a standoff. Both parties subsequently chose to disengage from an inflammatory situation. From statements made at the scene it is clear they had interest in my person and did not have a conflict with our interests at that time. It is in the team's interest that I am not involved in this party.

tharon quaalz, quaalz vut zhakan.

Trog says they got biz, yerz . See if they want to meet without me there. rek glok>>

Abbandon
Truck stop on Snohomish Monroe Highway
Friday 8/22/70 14:08:24
Cerberus - Street Samurai
PAN - Active


<<@rocky: "Sure no problem I'm almost there, start packing up.">>

A few minutes later and the Love Machine was back in the parking lot of the truck stop and backed into the space in front of room #6. Cerberus popped the doors and climbed. Rocky opened the door to the room and started carrying stuff to the van. After nodding at Rocky he proceeded to help him out. Cerberus was kind of mad abot not having some more downtime but if this is the way it had to be it was better o just go with it instead of fight it.

The room was empty in only a few trips and after making sure everything important had been picked up he was out the door. His ass was tore up from driving the stupid van manually so he hopped in the back this time to either let Rocky drive or use the autonav to get to the waffle house.
BlackHat
On the Road
Friday 8/22/70 14:16:00
Smith - Running late
PAN - Hidden


<<@Sledge:: "I remember we jumped the gun, and there was a standoff. From the van, I didn't exactly see what you did to defuse the situation, but I remember you handled it. Shit. They were there for you? Well, thanks for lookin' out, anyway.... I'll let you know what goes down - but if you think they're using Cerb to get another gander at you, chances are whatever they're offering is smoke and mirrors.">>

<<@Sledge:: "Assuming there is actually something to their message, should we just count you out until they're out of the picture? Or are you just trying to avoid face-time with them? Seems like... as long as they're looking for you... if they think we run with you... you know....">> Adam wasn't really sure how he wanted to end this last thought. It certainly wasn't his intention to talk her into an early retirement. <<@Sledge:: "It just seems like your options are pretty slim.">>
Konsaki
Northacres Park, Northgate, Downtown Seattle
Friday 8/22/70 14:15:45
Caittie – Technomancer – Hidden
PAN – Passive


A shadowy figure moved through the trees of the park. As it closed on the next tree in its path, a shot rang out through the air, followed by the sound of splintering bark. The figure moved no faster in its pace to get behind the tree, even as more shots rang out, causing more wood and now dust from the ground to fly. Just as it was about to reach the standing pine, a round pierced the shadow, causing it to explode in a shower of sparks, leaving an outline with a bright red mark indicating where it was hit. A number floated up above the specter of the shadow, an easily identifiable ‘5 Points’.

A sigh escaped the girl in red’s lips as she saw the scene before her. A field of images similar to the last one littered the area, plus more than a few that just had a large red X over them. ‘Great… What is it going to tell me now?’, she asked herself as she saw the simulation fade out of existence to be replaced with a printout of stats. Shots Fired, Targets Hit, Achieved points out of the max total and penalty deductions floated in an open window in front of her, followed by a blatantly bright red ‘Poor’ final score.
Caittie let out a snort after seeing that, hand waving the window out of existence. “I’ve done this stupid level eleven times already! Gah! That’s it! I’m done!�, she exclaimed in frustration as she shut down the program.

Taking a deep breath, the elf walked over to a nearby tree to a bottle of water she had laid there earlier. As she settled down to sit in the shade the large birch provided, she found herself muttering under her breath, “Stupid game…� Reaching for the water, she knew that it was just frustration getting to her, a new harder level with moving targets. She couldn’t deny how it excited her, a little bit at least, to fire the digital gun at the targets, the sound, sights and force feedback as each round fired off.
Still, even on the stationary targets she barely passed the level on what seemed more like luck than anything else. The moving targets had her just constantly pulling the trigger just praying to hit something, and it painfully showed in the results. The bad thing was the fact the game was giving her tips on how to play better, breathing, stance and such, but she just couldn’t get a handle on it. One of the last ‘tips’ it gave her played sarcastically off her lips, “Practice, practice, practice…�

The elven lass had just twisted the cap off the bottle and brought it to her lips as something unexpected happened. A message from Cerberus had appeared in an open window, indicating that it had gone out to the entire team. She read a bit of it, but Caittie couldn’t concentrate on it as her mind was more wondering about how he even made contact to her. ‘I’m pretty sure I disconnected from the network…’, she assured herself as she took a couple sips of the cool water.
She thought about it for a few seconds before looking down to her hip, where her eyes beheld a sight that made the girl mentally facepalm. She quickly remembered that she had activated her older commlink earlier that day to play the Miracle Shooter game, since it was already installed on it. Since it was already offline when she left the team two days ago, the technomancer had forgotten to take it off the network too.

Closing up the now emptier bottle, the red haired female let out a sigh as she connected back to the team’s network with her ‘better’ commlink and re-read Cerberus’ message before turning the older commlink offline. As Caittie read it, more messages from the team started appearing in response. Putting the picture together, she replied to Johnson’s offer of a ride, “I could use one, since you’re offering. I’ll send you my location.�
From the human male’s response, she knew it would take a bit for him to get there, since he needed to stop somewhere first. It didn’t bother her, though, because she wasn’t in a hurry. She still had a lot of reading to catch up on, trying to scan over the extended history of her ‘lives’ that Rebecca had sent her earlier that day. It was a lot of info to remember, but she had spread the reading out to be a little at a time, to make it easier.
‘Someday I’ve got to ask her how she got these…’ the teenager mentally noted to herself as she scanned down over ‘Kitoria McCree’s’ history. ‘For now, though, I’m just happy to have them.’


Northacres Park, Northgate, Downtown Seattle
Friday 8/22/70 14:28:44
Caittie – Technomancer – Hidden
PAN – ‘Kitoria McCree’ – Passive


Time passed as the girl in red sat on a shaded bench close to the designated pickup point. There was a slight up and down beat to the booted foot that hung suspended off the ground due to her crossed legs, matching the beat of a japanese techno-jazz matrix-cast she had connected to. Her head nodded with the beat in slightly the same way, though to a less noticeable extent as she was keeping an eye out for a particular motorcycle to show up nearby.
Boredom won over keeping an active lookout and the girl found herself reading the karaoke lyrics to the song slightly out loud. Time continued to pass as she very lightly sang out, “…genjitsu tokashite samayou. Aitai kimochi ni riyuu wa nai, anata e afuredasu Lovin' you!�

During the pause between what she had sang and the next verse to the song, she lost her timing completely as a friendly voice spoke up from beside her. “Ah, heavenly sounds coming from the ‘Angel’ in red.�, said the recognizable voice as Caittie quickly looked up and over to see Johnson standing there next to the bench she was sitting on. He could easily see that the comment had completely caught the technomancer off guard, the raging flush across her face telling all.
The human wore a matching button shirt and slacks, a more casual look than his business suit, but still presented himself in a professional manner. In the breeze, the elven girl could smell the light sent of some good cologne wafting from the man. Looking him over in those few bashful seconds, she tried to compose herself.
Trying to force a wry smile instead of a sheepish bashful one, Caittie replied in a way to try and force a change in the topic from herself. “So, um… Decided on something between a sweatshirt and a suit, huh?�, she commented as she stood. “You, um… It looks good... um, suits you.�, she finished as she mentally smacked herself for her failure of not paying attention along with the verbal stumbling.
DireRadiant
On the Road
Friday 8/22/70 14:16:10
Sledge - Holding Pattern
PAN - Hidden


<<@Sugar Lips:: Tell em Trog tried play medic after junkyard, stopped the blood but forget to keep me breathing. Suits will know the Trog got something personal with this tusker. Fed tusker to the ghoulies for a favor. See if that works. Take temporary vacation, take care personal biz. Hook up later you still alive.>>

... you'd think with bigger brains they'd be smarter, that one probably thinks muscles work just as well as brains....
BlackHat
On the Road
Friday 8/22/70 14:17:00
Smith - Running late
PAN - Hidden


<<@Sledge:: "That ruse will work better if you let everyone in on it. You just sent one message to everyone, so sending one more won't be any more conspicuous. I'll do my best to make sure the suits buy it, though - when and if I see them.">>

Northacres Park, Northgate, Downtown Seattle
Friday 8/22/70 14:32:00
Smith - Running late
PAN - Hidden


"Thank you," Adam said, smiling like he was about to laugh and then striking a pose, as though he had done it a hundred times before. "I hadn't planned on tonight being about business...." He was running late, but he didn't seem to be in any hurry to whisk the young girl off to the meet. Instead, he took a seat on the bench beside her and seemed to be taking in his surroundings, and enjoying the break. "But, since it looks like it will be, I think there's something I should tell you."

He wanted to explain a bit about what Sledge had said - but if the Feds had tailed Cerb when he left the motel, they might have followed Angel, too. He wouldn't normally have worried too much about who overheard their conversation, but he didn't want to see Sledge busted over his big mouth, or laid-back attitude.

His eyes seemed to slowly regain focus as if he was coming out of a daydream, then he turned to face Angel, his demeanor becoming serious. "Cerb mentioned who gave him the message. I don't see how anything they have to say to us can be good, in the long run."

"Personally, I figure anyone who wanted to look, could dig up enough dirt to bury me." He smiled and exchanged a funny look with Angel that somehow expressed that he thought she was such a person. "I've always relied on putting on a good show, and staying on people's good-sides, rather than trying to hide who I am. So, I figure, it can't hurt to hear them out. Well, hear Cerberus out, anyway."

That was when he stood up. "Whether or not you still want to come, that's your call. They never saw you on the last mission, but they'll probably be watching tonight. I just thought you should know."

Smith's smiling pleasant demeanor returned. "We've got their attention. Nothing we can do about that, right?"

"Besides, we didn't really have anything else to do this weekend, anyway."
adamu
The Waffle Iron, just off I-164, Enumclaw, Auburn
Friday 8/22/70 15:20:00

After eating about as many waffles as he could handle - and he could handle quite a few for an elf - Fortunato's companions still had not arrived.

He hoped it was because they were being extra cautious about being tailed.

The guise he'd chosen for this place, a short heavyset human with close cut hair and business casual clothing, was perfect. Half the people in the place wore Federated Boeing badges and AROs - apparently it was a popular hangout for white collar workers from the massive facility just to the north.

Of course, the usual denizens were also there - a filthy ork counting out change for soykaf and upending the ketchup bottle into his water to make tomato soup. A collection of teens in white-face and blood-red lipstick, clothes the color of their black eye-liner, a few even with what looked like real fang implants. Even a couple of Lone Star cops. They'd come in after he had, and he'd known the worst thing he could do was walk out while they were there. Luckily, they left, apparently on a call, just as the two trolls finally rolled in at a quarter after the hour.

As Johnson wasn't there yet, he decided not to expose himself even to them until everyone had arrived. Then, five minutes later, a bike pulled up right in front of the place, a handsome young man with an elf girl clinging to him. The human dismounted and stowed his helmet in one smooth motion - somehow, his hair was unmussed. The girl in red was more awkward, tugging her own helmet off and stuffing it into her rucksack, almost avoiding looking at the human.

Over the last few days, Fort had taken the teen under his wing to a certain extent, but watching her get off the bike with Johnson, he started to realize that not everyone was likely to see her in the fatherly way he did.

As the pair walked in, he knew they'd quickly see the trolls, and that they'd be just as oblivious of his presence.
pragma
The Waffle Iron, Enumclaw, Auburn
Friday 8/22/70 15:20:30
Fortunato - Support Mage
PAN - Hidden (Contacts, Earbuds, Smartlink)
Astrally Inactive


Focusing on the air in front of him for a moment rather than his waffles, Fortunato pulled together the necessary elements of mana to make a watcher spirit. Instead of his usual tiny glowing orb, a long flexible tube of mana had popped in to being. He was concerned for a moment that he'd done something wrong, but the unusually shaped watcher thought at him

What do you want, bosss

Did that last word sound strange? It couldn't have.

Fortunato replied. Wait under the table with those two trolls and say what I tell you in a tone which is loud enough for that table to hear. Also, let me listen to any conversation they have.

He went to scrub the signature only to discover that he couldn't find a trace of it no matter how hard he searched. It was unusual, was this like Rocky's trick this morning. Could he have initiated ...

Johnson and Angel arrived at the table and commenced small talk before Fort's watcher piped up.

"Hey guys, my boss says that he's Fortunate to have friends like you and that he'll be talking through me for a while. He also thinks we should be careful about saying anything suspicious out loud. You ought to use your comms, whatever that means, or talk really quiet."
JDragon
The Waffle Iron, just off I-164, Enumclaw, Auburn
Friday 8/22/70 15:20:04
Rocky - physical adept
PAN: Hidden


Rocky jumped a little as the voice started talking, but resisted the urge to look around. He just nodded and went back to working on the waffles, and rest of his food. It was nice to be eating real food again.

He kept his head down and did his best not to look at anyone, just trying to blend in with the crowd.
Abbandon
The Waffle Iron, just off I-164, Enumclaw, Auburn
Friday 8/22/70 15:28:52
Cerberus - Street Samurai
Pan - Passive


Rocky and himself had shown up at the waffle house but they didnt see any of the others so they walked over to an open seating area that had tiny table surrounded by chairs, a few of them troll sized. Theres no way they could fit their giant asses into a booth without breaking something. After ordering up some grub they waited and began eating. Cerberus who had already had a pretty big breakfast was still starting to feel the pangs of hunger and nobody would have been able to tell he had previously eaten such a huge breakfast from what he had ordered. A large salad and a couple of waffles with bacon, sausage, and some eggs. Syrup had been dumped over it all.

He had been saving the salad for last and by the time he was ready to eat it Rocky got his attention and nodded towards the door upon which Cerberus saw Johnson in a fancy casual outfit and Caittie in some bright red vinyl, she looked alot like any other teeny bopper but they made an uncomfortable looking couple. Probably less so than if she was walking around with him. They approached and moved a tiny table over to the two trolls and then sat down. "Greetings gentlmen," looking at the pile of dirty dishes the two trolls had in front of them with some degree of wonder he continued on "Can you recommend anything good to eat?", Johnson grabbed two menu's and handed one of them to Caittie who was doing her best to stifle a laugh and Johnson's joke and then smiled at the two giants and then started looking over the menu.

Before either of the two trolls could respond though, "Hey guys, my boss says that he's Fortunate to have friends like you and that he'll be talking through me for a while. He also thinks we should be careful about saying anything suspicious out loud. You ought to use your comms, whatever that means, or talk really quiet."

Cerberus froze with a fork full of salad covered in synthsyrup halfway to his waiting mouth as he heard the voice from under the table. After it was finished he shoveled the fork into his mouth and continued eating. With his other hand he began to happily type away with his AR glove. <<@team:: "Hey Fort! We didnt see you when we came in where are you? You better not be that hot waitress I have been eyeballin.">>. Cerberus gazed around the place inbetween bites. <<@team: "I guess if our other friend isnt showing up I will start. Around noon I left the truck stop and went to a friend of mine's to get some stuff, when I exited the place I was approached by our old friends who we had an unfortunate run in with at that gas station. They took me for a ride in their van while they pitched their deal to me. I didnt really have a choice in whether or not I went with them. Playing nice payed off though because they told me that they had tracked me down using camera footage, so I guess we should do something about that.

Anyways, the message they wanted me to pass on was this, they said that they would like to meet with us again, the sooner the better for a possable job. They said that the more of us that show up the better and that we must specifically bring our friend who isnt here or no deal. If we want to meet with them they said their number is in the book. I'm probably not the most adept at picking things up but it didnt seem like the guy was trying to decieve me, and I dont think the mage guy messed with my mind. Hold on and I will play back the entire meeting.">>


Cerberus mentally flipped on his datajack and then subscribed it to his commlink and then played back the entire meet's audio/visual to the team minus Sledge.
BlackHat
Northacres The Waffle Iron, just off I-164, Enumclaw, Auburn
Friday 8/22/70 15:30:00
Smith - Johnson
PAN - Hidden


Once he arrived Johnson made his way towards the table the trolls had already secured. Everyone seemed to be thinking the same thing, and nobody wanted to bring up business until everyone arrived. At the time, they all thought that meant waiting for Fortunato.

Still, Johnson did a pretty good job of keeping light conversation going, until it was interrupted by an eerie voice coming from under the table. "Dude, I think your waffle just talked." He said, looking at Rocky with a huge smile. It took conscious effort to resist the urge to look around at the other patrons and try to identify where Fortunato was. Chances are, he was on another plane, or something, or shrouded by magic like he did to the van earlier. It would have been a pointless exercise, which would have just made him look suspiscious or paranoid.

Then leaning in a bit, he adding in a quieter, serious, tone - completely in contrast to his jovial friendly facial expressions. "Use comms, but assume they are compromised, for now, we'll scrub them later. Feel free to talk about the reason we're all here though - just try to keep the conversation on topic."

Then, leaning back, he studied his menu and continued to make idle chatter while Cerberus began subvocalling the details, and transmitting the feed. When he finished, Johnson asked something mundane of Angel, trying to express that he wanted her to help him keep up the fake conversation, so he could contribute to the real one happening between their PANs.

<<@Team::"Nice work recording the meet. That's a bit of a deal-breaker, though."> He leaned towards Angel as if intent on whatever it was she had said, but his eyes stayed focused on Cerberus. <<@Team:: "Even if that bullet didn't kill her, convincing the ghoul to regurgitate her will be difficult.">> His eyes darted back and forth between the trolls, judging their reactions. He hoped they caught on to what he was doing, but readied himself to interrupt them should he get the impression that they were going to correct him out on his obvious mistake. He hadn't seen any communication on the network from Sledge clarifying the situation, and assumed the FBI was eavesdropping one way or another right now. <<@Team "Either way, the deal is off if we can't produce her, and we can't. Sounds pretty open and closed to me - although it is unnerving that they would only want to offer us a job if she's there. They didn't give us any details about the job, or why we're suited to handle it, and only hinted that we could make more money by exposing more of our group's identities to them. Sounds fishy, and I don't like it. If they don't want to work through middle-men, then they shouldn't be trying to hire Shadowrunners.">>

<<@Team:: "Now. Here's the delema. On one hand, I don't want the Feds breathing down our backs, anymore. I'd like to trust that you guys can go to the mall, or whatever, without being tagged, picked up, or questioned. If we get a rep for talking to the Feds, our professional careers are over. We get a rep for working for them, and doubley so. That might not be such a bad thing, being secret-agents sounds sweet - but its probably much less lucrative than our other options.">>

<<@Team:: "On the other hand, if their offer is legit, we could use the money, and you are all probably starting to get a little stir-crazy. I'm open to discussion about our options here - but I say we play hardball. See if they are willing to meet, or talk, without whats-her-name, we don't have a lot to lose. Hell, I see no reason they need to see any of us. If they need us, they should meet with us on our terms. We definately do not want to give the impression that we can be controlled.">>

Johnson then rejoined the somewhat awkward real-world conversation, giving everyone a moment to read or listen to what he had just sent them, and reply, in kind.
pragma
The Waffle Iron, just off I-164, Enumclaw, Auburn
Friday 8/22/70 15:30:10
Fortunato - Support Mage
PAN - Hidden (Contacts, Earbuds, Smartlink)
Astrally Inactive


Fortunato unseen by the group, nodded his assent with Johnson. The man was saying a lot of good things about their rep and their pay grade. At least, they sounded good. Fortunato hadn't done a lot of hiring in his days with the company.

The names worried him. Pritchard and Higgins were kind of a powerhouse team. If they were involved then something big was going down or someone on the team was deep into something of federal importance. He eyed the table, Cerberus, Rocky and Angel were all new to the scene and Fortunato had some difficulty considering Johnson being a serious underworld bigshot of any variety. Sledge was conspicuously missing. After mulling the problem over for a moment he realized that the only person he knew was being hunted by a federal agency was himself.

<<@Team: I agree with what is being said. We absolutely don't want to agree to their terms, but we have to be able to beat them at their own game and really effectively go to ground if this goes south. That means back to motel hell, not the cushy accomodations we just had. And it also means no more wandering around downtown and certainly not in the Love Machine, that needs a new paint job and some body work, by the way.

I've also got to warn you: the feds absolutely can't know I'm there. No astral presence at the meet, they never see me, I never deal with them. If that can't work with you guys, then no matter how much I'd like the cash -- I'm out.

One other thing, since these guys aren't operating under cover they're probably not planning to bag us or double cross us. Doesn't mean we shouldn't be careful, but Higgins dropping his name at the beginning was a decent insurance policy for our survival.>>
BlackHat
Northacres The Waffle Iron, just off I-164, Enumclaw, Auburn
Friday 8/22/70 15:31:30
Smith - Johnson
PAN - Hidden


<<@Team:: "Assuming they'll even be interested in meeting with us, I think we can work around that. Keep in mind that they'll certainly have an eye on us while we are working for them, though - so if you don't want them to see you, you're probably going to have to pass on the whole deal. Lay low for a while, ya know. I think I see what they're trying to do by claiming we'll get a bigger offer if we all come out of hiding, but it looks like it is going to backfire. There is no way they would seriously base their offer on the number of people we bring to the meet. ">>

<<@Team:: "Think about it. Either we just show up, and give them the information I assume they want, which we're not going to do, or we try to limit them to only meeting with one of us - possibly less - and risk them offering us next-to-nothing to get it done. I figure, if they do that, they're not very serious about wanting us to do the job, in the first place, and we're better off using that as the reason we decline - which makes us look completely reasonable for not accepting their unreasonable offer. Hopefully, there will be no hard feelings, but since they won't get the information we want, it certainly won't be the end of it.">>

<<@Team:: "The only other possibility would be to try to round up a whole shit-load of people and call their bluff. Something tells me if we rolled into the meet with a hundred-man-team that we wouldn't be seeing a two-thousand percent increase on their offer. It would also flood them with red-herrings, and not a one of them would be the people they're interested in. I dunno that many people that I'd want to put under the FBI's microscope, though - so I say we go with the second option. Unless one of you has a lot of ballsy friends that want to stick it to 'the Man'.">>

<<@Team:: "Its all pointless if they refuse to meet, though, and we're losing members like flies, just talking about them. So, gimme that number, again, and I'll get them on the comm right now and sort this shit out.">>

<<@Team:: "That is, of course, assuming that the three of you are at all intersted in hearing what they have to say.... If not, we can just head home, and I'll work on finding something worth doing this weekend, on my own.">>
Abbandon
Northacres The Waffle Iron, just off I-164, Enumclaw, Auburn
Friday 8/22/70 15:32:43
Cerberus - Street Samurai
PAN - passive


<<@team: "Everything is pointing at these guys being honest. Even though we no longer meet their requirements I think we should still give it a shot. This job could have major perks. I dont know about everyone else but my bank account could definately use a few more 0's and we could all benefit from having help keeping the heat off our backs. >>

Cerberus stacked his dirty dishes on top of one another completely empty of any last bit of food. Sitting there listening to everyone's input he prodded the places he had been shot and tested how sore they were but was relieved to find that they no longer hurt near as bad as a few days ago. It was a reminder though just how dangerous this shadowrunning drek could get. If they started working for the Fed's what kind of shit would they be doing? Wetwork, spying, runs against corps. Would they be facing off against organizations from other governments and corps. Everyone knew corps had more money than the government so that means they would be facing off against better equipped and more skilled people usually.

Having none of the technical skills like the hacker or the mage or even the talking skill of the johnson his job would be to do all the heavy lifting. Government types usually seemed to work non stop to. There were lots of reasons not to take the job but there were just as many reasons to take it, namely shiny new cyber, fat paychecks, protected identity. It didnt sound like the others felt the same way though. Were they in even more drek than he was?

Oh well, Cerberus was already brewing up something to keep him busy if they turned these feds down and they had some downtime.
JDragon
The Waffle Iron, just off I-164, Enumclaw, Auburn
Friday 8/22/70 15:32:48
Rocky - physical adept
PAN: Hidden


<<@team: "Well they may be honest, but I don't think they have said they won't arrest those of us that have existing warrants out for us. And if I was interested in going to jail I wouldn't be sitting here right now, and from our first conversation I'm pretty sure they know who I am.>>

Rocky stopped for a second, a look of deep thought on his face for the few that could see it.

<<@team: On the other hand, a call and seeing what can be worked out might not hurt. I'm in to at least see what the story is, but can't guarantee I'll do a meeting."
BlackHat
Northacres The Waffle Iron, just off I-164, Enumclaw, Auburn
Friday 8/22/70 15:33:30
Smith - Johnson
PAN - Hidden


Johnson turned to Angel who had not yet established her level of comfort with this proposition. He didn't suspect that she would have much objection, since, as far as he knew, she hadn't broken any laws at all. Her thrust into this lifestyle was out of her control, and, by all accounts, she was a victim not a criminal.

<<@Team:: "Supposing I do call, and they're willing to talk, I think our odds are pretty good that they'll either begin tracing the connection, or hacking into the commlink. We can limit what they'll find, if anyone has a reasonably clean commlink, and I don't mind handling the negotiation, especially since the ball is in their court, but it would definately be useful to have Angel running interferance. That is, assuming we don't want to invite them over for waffles.">>
adamu
The Waffle Iron, just off I-164, Enumclaw, Auburn
Friday 8/22/70 15:33:30


Even as Johnson typed, Angel was already finishing up a few minor tasks she hoped would help shed light on their problem. It took her 0.003 seconds to ascertain that there was, in fact, no Archer Higgins in the public directory for the Seattle grid, but that was no surprise. It took her just as little time to anonymously access the FBI's Seattle office, which was especially easy since she'd already done so just a couple of days ago when verifying the validity of the FBI AROs on the supposed agents' car.

Sure enough, there was a listing with an internal extension number for an "Adjunct Special Agent Higgins." No first name was listed, neither was there any listing for anyone named Lowell.

She noticed that while most of the listings included a brief description of the areas of responsibility of the various personnel, although again no first names, the field under Higgins' name was blank.

All of the listings included an electronic copy of the staffer's FBI ID, although the pictures were all blank. Instead, that space was filled with a uniform message -

In order to safeguard the personal security of our employees, visual identification is not made available to the public. Photos are, however, attached to the hard copy and electronic IDs of all field agents, and those IDs may be electronically overlaid over the templates on this site to verify authenticity. Please direct further inquiries to our Help Desk.

The teen-runner relayed these findings by text message to the team at the wafle shop, using a signal strength of 1.
Konsaki
The Waffle Iron, just off I-164, Enumclaw, Auburn
Friday 8/22/70 15:35:32
Caittie – Technomancer – Hidden
PAN – ‘Kitoria McCree’ – Passive


It wasn't until after she sent the message that she looked up from the food she was pecking at, to see Johnson looking at her. Quickly rereading the last message in the que, she quickly undersood what he was waiting on.
<<"I'll watch your back... I mean, we arn't doing anything wrong by talking with them. Besides, they're supposed to be the 'good guys', right?">>, she replied over the net. <<"I dont see anything wrong with my helping the FBI out, depending on what they need help with... I'm not re-living this last week...">>, she finished, Johnson and the two trolls seeing the distain clear on her face.
BlackHat
Northacres The Waffle Iron, just off I-164, Enumclaw, Auburn
Friday 8/22/70 15:37:30
Smith - Johnson
PAN - Hidden


<<@Team:: "Absolutely. I think we're all in agreement there. I'll use my commlink. One sec....">>.

Johnson's commlink appears to go offline for a moment. When it comes back on, its identifying information is different. His next message appears to come from a different commcode.

<<@Team:: "Commcode spoofed, and I've done what I can to clean up my datatrail. Picked up a hotspot a few blocks away. I'm logged in as the admin, but I've created a super-user account for you that should have access to all of the security features. Feel free to bring along your own. Here's the details, and encryption handshaking protocol.">> In AR, a glistening bundle of data formed above his gloved hand, which he offered towards Angel. This wasn't the typical sort of user-friendly information one might pass along to a friend to share a Sim. This had some technical details, and low-level parameters, that would really only be understood or useful to someone with a background in computers, who wanted the flexibility to do some 'creative' things to the firewall and security programs that average-Joe-gamer was wise not to mess with. Of course, the data was encrypted, but since Angel was the intended recipient, she should have no trouble getting at the information. <<@Team:: "Time to see how serious these guys are....">>

With a few motions in the air, Johnson connected with the Seattle branch FBI office's public node, as a guest, and began scanning their directory. It wasn't difficult to locate the name 'Higgins' or to issue the command to connect to his office. As the connection was being established, Johsnon glanced at his AR clock, and wondered what sort of hours this guy worked - hopefully, from his office node, he could get a message to his personal commlink.
adamu
The Waffle Iron/FBI Seattle System
Friday 8/22/70 15:37:40

Selecting "Higgins" off the public access directory brought a virtual reception desk up in Johnson's field of vision. It was about what he'd expect of a government office - kind of bland, but not bad resolution. Not great, either. The picture of President Colloton hanging behind the desk probably had a higher pixel-count than the woman who worked behind it. Her mannerisms were wooden enough that Johnson couldn't tell if her icon represented an agent or a live operator.

"One moment please," was all she said. Her face was too blank for even the people-skilled college shadowrunner to guess whether she had discerned that his icon was spoofed, stealthed, and rerouted, or whether she cared if she did. It was only a couple of seconds before she muttered fourth door on your left without looking up from her newsfax.

*****

Flying along to the rear of Johnson's left shoulder, Angel perceived his 2.5D experience in all its fully-textured, 360 degree glory - some ironic civil servant programmer had even added a hint of soykaf smell, but all in all the place was a shadow of even a mid-size mall shop in terms of VR imagery. She had no problem matching the surface of her persona to the colors and shades around her, making her all but invisible.

Of course, out in the public access lobby no one had been looking. Once Johnson had been authorized for the system's next security level, she'd had to brute-force her way through on the fly. It had been easy enough, though. Too easy for what she'd expected from an FBI office. Either someone had essentially left the door open for her, or they weren't anywhere near the real secured areas.

*****

Keeping his hand under the table at the Waffle Iron, Johnson mimed a rapping motion as his icon knocked on the AR door with Higgins' name on it - a completely unremarkable black nameplate with institutional white lettering.

"Come in," came a gruff voice from within.

Higgins' icon looked just like he did, except it was sort of fuzzy and ripples of static flowed across it at irregular intervals. He clearly was not interested in appearances.

Neatness either - his virtual office was a sea of loose paper, though there was a clear enough space on the top of his desk for his wide dwarf ass. His stubby legs dangled from the edge as he faced his guest.

"I don't think we've had the pleasure."
BlackHat
The Waffle Iron/FBI Seattle System
Friday 8/22/70 15:38:30
Smith - Johnson
PAN - Hidden


Knowing his facial expressions wouldn't translate to his icon, Smith allowed himself a smirk, and his gloves commanded his virtual-self to close the door behind him, and lean against it, rather than taking a seat so close to the dwarf. His voice, however, would translate to his icon, so before he spoke, he brought up a few scripts to alter the defining characteristics of his speech. He didn't care if his voice sounded unnatural to the dwarf. Since he was doing all of this from AR, it must have felt like an eternity to Angel before Johnson replied.

"Indeed, not."

He had come online, expecting to leave a message, or even to play tug-of-war over a voice-connection. Agent Higgins's willingness to meet online, in 'person', actually said more about him, to Johnson, than anything on Cerberus's tape. Johnson quickly changed his plan, which was far from uncharacteristic of him. His voice came off friendly and polite.

"I already have some idea who you are, so allow me to introduce myself, for what it is worth. My team calls me Johnson, and, frankly, that's what brings me here. Word is, you and your partner are meeting with some of my talent, trying to encourage a little moonlighting, and want to cut out the middleman," Johnson's avatar gestured at itself. "Understandable, especially if you're working with a tight budget, but ultimately, it is inconvenient for everyone involved."

"If you're not too busy, I was hoping we could discuss our options, here - as I am not necessarily against the idea... so long as the proper business etiquette is observed. I would like to see everyone get what they want out of this opportunity."

Johnson's avatar cocked its head, slightly. The scripted emote didn't look nearly the way Johnson had wanted it to. Again, if he were connected in full-VR, his personal mannerisms would translate much better, and he would do a better job of expressing himself. However, for the moment, he felt doing things this way was safer. In fact, if he came off as a complete VR n00b, it might be to his benefit.
adamu
The Waffle Iron/FBI Seattle System
Friday 8/22/70 15:38:45


"All right," the dwarf said, rubbing his hands together in a getting-down-to-business gesture. "I am pretty sure I know who you are." He smiled. "We had assumed the Incredible Hulk was not in a position to speak for your team, so we are delighted to now be in contact with you.
"I am not sure whether your associate accurately relayed my message, so here it is again. We have a job for you. You get to work for the good guys. We need to discuss it face to face, compensation will be made individually to team members, so they need to be at the meet to get on the payroll. It is absolutely essential that the woman with the taser be on the team. We are willing to have this face-to-face meet at a time and place of your choosing, no questions asked, and it will be just me and my partner attending on our side. And that, my friend, is all I am willing to say online to an AR icon... No offense."
BlackHat
The Waffle Iron/FBI Seattle System
Friday 8/22/70 15:42:00
Smith - Johnson
PAN - Hidden


"None taken." Johnson was still smiling in the meat, because of the Incredible Hulk reference. "And I believe I understood your position, before coming here. The 'Hulk' was wearing a wire."

"If that is all you will say, we will have to meet, in person, to disucss this further. However, allow me to state my own position, before I go - since that only requires that you listen." Johnson's avatar paced back and forth as he spoke. He wasn't really sure how best to put what it was he wanted to say, but he knew that as the words rolled off of his tongue, they would either fall right into place, or get spit back into his face. "As you already know, we have met to discuss your offer - vague as it was. Frankly, nobody was impressed. There is a reason people in our position deal through middlemen. By cutting me out of the equasion, you have spooked the team. Half of them have left - not interested in your cause, or in further dealing with someone who has the attention of the authorities. You have caused me great personal discomfort... and for what?"

"A job offer? I can find one of those, anywhere. And you can certainly find men more desperate than mine, if you tried. I am certain, however, that you and your partner have some reason for selecting us, specifically. You have just chosen not to share it. You have not given me any reason to believe that this particular job is worth exposing myself, and my clients, any more than we already are. As much as I would like to help you, the constraints you have put on this relationship, coupled with your unwillingness to offer suitable explaination, make your first offer completely unreasonable." Johnson's avatar smiled, "I put my faith in your training, never to open negotiations with your final offer."

"So, if I am to believe that you and your partner are simply looking to 'outsource' some of your work to local 'deniable assets', I do not believe we are capable of helping one another. You don't want to play by the rules, and nobody on my team wants a reputation for working with your department."

"Had you come to me, earlier, things would have been much easier. It is commonplace for someone in my position to handle the customer relations, protecting the identity of those who need somethign done, and likewise, protecting the anonymity of those he hires to accomplish the job." Johnson winked across the table, at the trolls.

"However, you did not, and the damage is done." Johnson's avatar stopped pacing, and faced the dwarf once more. "And, yet, I am here, so I am clearly still interested. It might be my sense of civic duty, my curiosity, or simply desire to make amends for whatever discomfort my clients may have caused you last week. In any case, I would be happy to meet with you, in person, to discuss the details, so long as you are willing to acquiesce to one of two requests, right now."

"I would like you to either reconsider your decision to withhold relevant information, and explain to me what it is about my team, in particular, warrents your personal attention. Help me understand what necessitates that you meet them all, personally, and handle finances individually - specifically, if you intend to hinge this entire deal on the presense of a particular taser-wielding woman. I want to know why. These particular demands invalidate the majority of the services I offer and, should I be unable, or unwilling, to produce her, we may have nothing further to discuss."

"Alternatively, if you are unwilling to present evidence to the contrary, I would like you to agree that it is sufficient for you to meet me, and hire me, personally, to handle this matter for you, in whatever fashion I am comfortable with. This will, of course, involve bringing on additional assets, as the situation demands, which will be reflected in the compensation I expect. These assets may or may not include those members of my team that you have already identified, but, as the situation stands, I fail to see why the exact composition of that team should be of any of your concearn."

"So, clearly, I am looking for a little give-and-take. I don't think my requests are unreasonable, and I am being completely up front about the fact that they will be how I judge how reasonable you intend to be." Johnson's avatar reached for the doorknob, pausing before activating the link to exit the node. "I do not deal with unreasonable people, Agent Higgins."
adamu
The Waffle Iron/FBI Seattle System
Friday 8/22/70 15:42:30


Higgins listened to Johnson's entire speech without any attempt to interrupt. In fact, his face showed no change of expression whatsoever - but then, with the bargain basement icon he was using, it wouldn't - not unless he consciously instructed it to.

Even when the team's face reached for the doorknob with the line about not dealing with unreasonable people, the dwarf waited a moment - possibly making sure the human avatar was done speaking. Then he began, "Well, I'm very sorry for not approaching you personally. I can see how that would have been a lot better. I guess my only excuse is that until two minutes ago I didn't know you existed." The dwarf's icon shrugged mechanically. "Apologies." Arms spread, palms upward, like a marionette placating its audience.

"If you insist, I can give you a little of the information you are looking for - the part that pertains to you. That's no skin off my nose, really, who hears it. The first reason we wanted to hire your team despite your complete lack of reputation...well, we really didn't, actually. We wanted to hire the woman. There are certain things we know about her that make her very desirable for this job. Then, when we saw she'd attached herself to a crew, that was potentially convenient for us. Subsequently, your group's actions showed marginal promise - your desire to hear details of a job over a wireless connection notwithstanding. So there it is - that is why this offer has come your way.
"As for why we want to meet everyone, that goes to the payment method. The sad fact is, we are strapped for cash. The only monetary compensation involved, well, I am sure you'd find it no better than expense money. And you'd be right, which is why you'd get it all up front. But over the last few decades I've developed an impressive array of contacts and markers in places with resources your people can only dream of accessing. I am prepared to offer substantial, but reasonable, favors in exchange for work well done. But I'm not doling those sorts of favors out to a middle-man. I need to know they are going where I'm told they are, because bestowing them directly affects my reputation, which I value very very highly.
"So there you have it. I think that mostly answers your questions. I really am not unreasonable. And I repeat my offer to meet your team face to face at the place and time of your choosing. Provided the woman is there, I can discuss things in full detail."
BlackHat
The Waffle Iron/FBI Seattle System
Friday 8/22/70 15:43:20
Smith - Johnson
PAN - Hidden


Johnson hadn't really expect that. He had expected to have to dance precariously around the issue for quite a bit more. When he listened to what the dwarf had to say, the situation did sound reasonable. Unfortunately, it still hinged on Sledge whose apprehension was similary reasonable. Sledge wanted Johnson to convince the Fed she died. Johnson was disinclined to lie to Agent Higgens, especially since he was offering to help out him and his team. Favors were something potentially more useful than cash, right now.

"Thank you for coming straight with me." Johnson's icon looked once more at the door, and then back at the dwarf. "It does sound like a reasonable explaination. I think I would be quite happy to facilitate this assistance - to the extent that it remains in my control."

"If you will indulge my curiosity one moment further.... These qualities, for which you sought out the woman...." Johnson thought carefully before speaking this time. He wanted to give just the right impression, without unbalancing the whole affair. "... it is clear that they are so well-suited for this task, as you would not be interested in my team, if she were no longer a member. It also appears quite clear that you would still be interested in her, in such a case - but would find yourself at square-one in terms of locating her and negotiating the deal. If I am not mistaken, whatever issue it was you would have her attend to is time-sensitive, in nature."

"I suppose, my question is how developed is your contingency-plan? Are there others who share her unique-credentials? Are you prepared to do things yourself, or would you spend your remaining time seeking out her, specifically? In any of these situations it sounds as though you could still use help - and yet, the impression I get from your conditions is that this is not the case."

He was stalling, but he hoped he wasn't that transparent. Johnson glanced around the table at the two trolls, as if looking for ideas. As he waited for the dwarf's response, he typed up a quick encrypted message to Sledge in another window, hoping her commlink was filtering on data other than commcode - so that she'd actually get the thing, in time to respond.

<<@Sledge:: "Met with suits. Claim you're suited to help. Deal's off if you're out. Last chance to change your mind, before I explain the ghoul. I won't blame you if you don't.">>
adamu
The Waffle Iron/FBI Seattle System
Friday 8/22/70 15:43:30


The dwarf made no attempt to answer Johnson's series of questions point-by-point. "I think I've been pretty clear. If she's not with you, then I am afraid we have no reason to employ you instead of a team with more experience and with which we have a stronger relationship. If that is indeed the case, then we would be willing to pay for help in locating her, which could have an added benefit for you, since if she accepts our offer she may choose to work with you on it. But then you'd know more about how inclined she'd be to do that." He paused. "I'd hate to think this is about the Jolly Green Giant. If friction between those two is the issue, then I recommend you use your silver tongue to solve that issue and get in line for a job that pays some fat favors. In any case, you are right - as I told your associate, time is a factor...both for the job itself, and maybe for her. I told her I wanted to be her friend, and I meant it. But if she didn't take me at my word, she could be in a world of trouble."
BlackHat
The Waffle Iron/FBI Seattle System
Friday 8/22/70 15:43:50
Smith - Johnson
PAN - Hidden


Johnson's avatar nodded. "You've been very clear. I'll tell you what, let me check some facts with my team, reguarding who saw her last, and I'll get back to you within the hour. Either we can set up a meeting, soon thereafter, or discuss how we can help you find the woman you're looking for. I apologise for any inconvenience, or misunderstanding. If you need to contact us again, please contact me, directly. Here's my card."

In VR, his avatar manifested a small packet of data containing enough non-identifying information to allow the FBI agent to contact him. It took the icon of a buisness-card, which flew across the room to the dwarf. His avatar then reached for the doorknob and logged off of the node.

In realspace, he looked towards the rest of the team. <<@Team (Including Sledge who is BCCed seperately):: "Well, short of a miracle, I don't think we're going to be able to help Mr. Higgens. He isn't going to budge on the face-to-face thing, particularly with Sledge. He was rather upfront about his reasons why, but he hasn't given me any proof that we have nothing to fear. He did imply that it was in Sledge's best interest, that she hear what he has to say.">>
Abbandon
The Waffle Iron, just off I-164, Enumclaw, Auburn
Friday 8/22/70 15:44:50
Cerberus - Street Samurai
PAN - hidden(Robert Nevall)


<<@team::"Hmmm. When they grabbed me off the street they claimed someone else was looking for me to but who knows if that was just a ploy to bug the van while we drove around or serious. I'm not really to keen on not havng an income but then again if I can get some free shit like maybe some better 'ware it will only increase my ability tp help the team. My position hasnt changed, I say we go for it. But if we are still divided I'm fine with letting this opportunity slide by.>>

Cerberus leaned back and drank his orange juice flavored water. This seemed to be ut of his control. Cerberus almost zoned out completely thinking about the cool video game he had seen and had yet to purchase. The text/voice of one of his other teammates brought him right back to reality though and he couldnt have slapped himself for daydreaming at a time like this. He had been to war and had some wounds to prove it but he wasnt a disciplined veteran yet.
BlackHat
The Waffle Iron
Friday 8/22/70 15:46:00
Smith - Johnson
PAN - Hidden


<<@Team:: "Let's give it an hour, and see what fate throws our way. I'm with Cerberus. If its out of our control, it's out of our control, and I won't lose any sleep over it - but if given the opportunity, I'd like to help him out. He seemed like a good enough guy.">>

<<@Team:: "In the meantime, I had meant to catch you guys up on current events. Word on the street is, if you guys are willing to look the other way, so is O'Malley. Don't go bringing it up, and they're willing to pretend they never heard of you.">>
Johnson paused for a moment, then added. <<@Team:: "I know its small consolation, considering everything you guys lost, but its one less reason we have to look over our shoulders - and considering who we're dealing with, that's something.">>

Johnson thought for a moment about what Cerberus just said about someone being after him. <<@Team:: "You just reminded me of another thing Higgens said. For some reason, he got the impression that the reason Sledge didn't want to talk, was because she had some beef with you.">> Johnson raised an eyebrow, looking directly at Cerberus, as he finished off the last of his soda. <<@Team:: "Any idea what he was getting at? That seems like an awfully strange conclusion to jump to, unless he knows something I don't.">> He then set his drink down on his tray, and shrugged. <<@Team:: "We may not be able to do much about Sledge's fate, but it might be worth our time to figure out who's after you. It might be connected.">>
JDragon
The Waffle Iron, just off I-164, Enumclaw, Auburn
Friday 8/22/70 15:46:19
Rocky - physical adept
PAN: Hidden


It was nice to be doing something almost normal for once in the last few weeks, even if it was tied to having a covert conversation with the FBI. The food had been the best he had in weeks and Rocky took advanatge of it, throughly cleaning his plate as he listened and watch Johnson's expressions as he talked. Once the conversation was over Rocky listened to the report and the others thoughts. He didn't think Sledge or Fort would change their minds on what they had found out, and he still wasn't that interested, but if the team went for it he would go along.

<<@team: Good to hear we may be left alone by the remains of Louie's guys. So now I guess we wait and see if the additional info gets Sledge's interest?>>
Abbandon
The Waffle Iron, just off I-164, Enumclaw, Auburn
Friday 8/22/70 15:47:32
Cerberus - Street Samurai
PAN - hidden(Robert Nevall)


<<@team "Well she did kind of taser me unconscience when we ran into our friends the first time. Its good to know someone noticed">> Cerberus took a deep breathe and exhaled imagining himself blowing out all the negativity that memory braught up. <<"Its all good though, I'm over it. As for who else is after me... It could be the guys who are the reason for me having to enter the shadows. While working for Doc Wagon I rescued some runners from Matsuki Precision Instruments. After that I was almost killed twice, once in a trap and again at a hospital. They might still be after me..otherwise I have no clue." >>
BlackHat
The Waffle Iron
Friday 8/22/70 15:49:00
Smith - Johnson
PAN - Hidden


Johnson let Rocky's question about Sledge go without mention. At this point, he doubted the Feds were listening in, but didn't want to completely give up on the ruse, either. At least, if someone was reading his lips when he subvocalized, they would get his impression, and miss the messages that are typed. Instead, he ran with Cerberus conversation, with little more than a nod towards Rocky.

<<@Team:: "I dunno... That would explain why you'd have a beef with her... but I dunno if it 'works' the other way around. I mean, other than her worrying she'd need to put you down again. What's our policy on that, by the way? Anyone have a problem with a new rule that says nobody shoots anyone else on the team? I suppose that would only work if we had another rule that said that if someone on the team asks you to back down, you do it. Those sound fair?">>

Without really waiting for a response, he added. <<@Team:: "If anyone else wants to put any rules on the table, now's a good time to discuss our process.... Tighten shit up... in case we get a job... that we can actually go after.">> His grin was pretty big, at this point - but he was honestly interested in hearing how everyone thought they should be doing things. Its not like he had a lot of experience.
pragma
The Waffle Iron, just off I-164, Enumclaw, Auburn
Friday 8/22/70 15:49:05
Fortunato - Support Mage
PAN - Passive (Contacts, Earbuds, Smartlink)
Astrally Inactive


<<@Team: So you know, my conditions on this job still stand. I'm never mentioned and never show my face to the feds.

Regarding the work we just did, which we really shouldn't mention over wireless unless the better Angel's of our nature say otherwise, I think we need to plan a little farther ahead regarding where we plan to sleep when doing business. A few places reserved in advance would go a long way towards making our lives easier. J ought to get on that.>>
BlackHat
The Waffle Iron
Friday 8/22/70 15:49:30
Smith - Johnson
PAN - Hidden


<<@Team:: "All good points. Leave out details where possible. I had hoped to talk in person, but this other thing sort of got in the way....">>
JDragon
The Waffle Iron, just off I-164, Enumclaw, Auburn
Friday 8/22/70 15:50:01
Rocky - physical adept
PAN: Hidden


Rocky glanced around a little, still wondering where the mage had gone and made sure no one was really looking at them. Keeping his voice a s quite as possible added his thoughts.

<<@team: Sounds good to me. If this thing isn't going to workout for a quick job, it would be helpful if Johnson could help me find someone that could alter my look some. I don't to get reconized by some fan and have the Star all over us.>>
Konsaki
The Waffle Iron, just off I-164, Enumclaw, Auburn
Friday 8/22/70 15:43:59
Caittie – Technomancer – Hidden
PAN – Kitoria McCree - Passive


Opening her eyes slowly, she blinked a bit as the rest of her teammates slowly came into focus. the girl then brushed a few free floating hairs from in her face with an easy movement, tucking them behind her pointed ears. With the same moment, she straightened herself from the position she had put her body in, slightly leaning into the slight corner the booth made, to keep from causing a commotion of someone seemingly passing out into their food.
Keeping up with the digital communication easily, Caittie felt a calling on the physical plane, one not unheard of when partaking of a meal as she and her compatriots were. With a showing of some social grace, she hinted to Johnson, which he understood easily. The trolls looked a little interested at seeing their ‘boss’ getting up, but quickly dismissed it as the elven hacker slid out and the human retook his spot, seemingly nonplused in his conversation. With a quick, “I’ll be right back�, she made her way towards the restrooms, red braid swinging with her strides.


The Waffle Iron, just off I-164, Enumclaw, Auburn
Friday 8/22/70 15:54:30
Caittie – Technomancer – Hidden
PAN – Kitoria McCree - Passive


With a click, the hand dryer shut off. Caittie frowned and shook her still damp hands in the air to try and dry them some more before resorting to wiping them on her jeans. ‘Environmentally friendly, but it doesn’t matter if it doesn’t work…’, she thought in annoyance, before having her thought process interrupted.
Easily seeing the cause, she let out a smile as she pushed open the door to the bathroom and stepped across the threshold back into the dinner proper. Making her way towards the booth, the technomancer’s smile faded quickly, till it was more of a concerned frown. ‘I wonder what the others are going to think when they find out?’, she asked herself just before reaching the booth.

Johnson saw her approaching from a while away, motioned as if he was getting up to let her back into the booth, but stopped as he saw the expression on her face. A mild quirk of his eyebrow as she finally stepped up to the table asked the question of what was up. Looking towards the human, she spoke in a slightly annoyed but hushed tone, "Sometimes people just wont leave you alone...� she then tied it into some more common conversation on people calling at the wrong time and other annoying situations.
On the digital realm though, she uploaded videos of a known dwarf/human pair onto the team network, adding commentary but mainly pointing out time and location using a digital map overlay. As the video and commentary went, she motioned for Johnson to move over and then sat down on the now vacated spot, finishing with, <<“That’s the last one I found, putting them around five blocks away at around fifteen-thirty… around twenty five minutes ago…�>>
BlackHat
The Waffle Iron
Friday 8/22/70 15:56:00
Smith - Johnson
PAN - Hidden


Johnson worked his response into Angel's casual conversation, while accepting the video feed she was offering in AR. "There are worse things than being popular on a Friday afternoon." As he saw what was being presented, he smiled, and added. "I'd get used to it. For the next couple of years, I think you're going to have boys calling you all the time." His disarming smile made the comment somehow come off as complimentary, rather than creepy. "Trust me, you don't need to worry until they stop."

Turning to the two trolls, he gestured in the direction that the map suggested lead to their friends. "Want me to deliver the bad news, personally? They got here a bit early, but I don't think the situation is gonna change. I could hop over there, and save them the trip over here."

Turning his attention back to Angel he winked. "There a bit old for you, I think - and they haven't exactly got the 'playing hard to get' part down yet."

A moment later, he added, "Any chance you can get me a current look at that store? I spose, by now, they could be ordering waffles." He half peered over the divider at the line of customers waiting for a table.
Abbandon
The Waffle Iron, just off I-164, Enumclaw, Auburn
Friday 8/22/70 15:56:30
Cerberus - Street Samurai
PAN - hidden(Robert Nevall)


Cerberus whispered as quitely as he could "If you want, I can go deliver the message. No need for you to show them what you look like, if they dont already know by now." Of course Cerberus also had other reasons for wanting to be the one to deliver the message. For one he wanted to ask who else was looking for him that the two feds had eluded to. And two he was pretty pissed off at being constantly followed and watched and if they were going to arrest him he would atleast like to gets some shots in before it happened with his fists and that would only happen if he went to them.

"If not then does anyone have any contacts with somebody that can hook me up with some living qaurters that are maybe off the grid?"
BlackHat
The Waffle Iron
Friday 8/22/70 15:57:00
Smith - Johnson
PAN - Hidden


Johnson smiled at Cerberus. "Thanks for the offer, man." He shook his head. "Thing is, I just gave our friends an earful for talking to you, instead of me, in the first place - if I sent you to bear the bad news, I would look like a hypocrite." Then he gestured towards the door. "You wanna come with, though, feel free. I just figured I'd be playing interception, and buy the rest of you some time to split."

As he spoke, he was looking past the trolls, through the window, scanning across the cars in the parking lot. He figured, if the Feds were onto their location, they would probably be outside watching them.
BlackHat
The Waffle Iron
Friday 8/22/70 15:58:30
Smith - Johnson
PAN - Hidden


Johnson didn't recognise any of the car's out front, and couldn't see anything through their windshields, anyway. He saw Angel looking out the window, at the sky, and followed her line of sight to a nearby rooftop. The glint of metal tipped him off to what she was looking at, and he saw it too. A surveilance drone. He had no idea if it had some sort of laser sensor whathaveyou, but at that distance, it was probably mostly visual, which meant his intuition was right - they were being watched, and there was a good chance his lips were being read.

He continued to look along some of the other buildings, as if he hadn't seen it at all, and decided to try to tell the others to play it cool. <<@Team:: "Alright, check it out. ">> He flourished his hand in front of Angel making sure she and the others turned their attention to him, rather than the scene around them. He stood where he knew he would be facing the general direction of the drone - but tried not to make it obvious that that was what he was doing. His brief stint in acting was gonna pay off. <<@Team:: "They're gonna keep pulling this shit until we come straight with them. Every dollar they spend tracking us, is another dollar they don't have to offer us when they finally catch on.>> He gestured at the trolls. <<@Team:: "You two, either take the van and start shopping for a place to sleep, tonight, or sit tight here where its nice and public. I'm gonna go try to straighten everything out. I think its best if I go alone.">> He got out of his seat and wiped off his mouth. <<@Team:: "Angel, why don't get some rest... see if you can't make a friend around here?">> He smiled, maintaining eye contact until he felt she understood his meaning, and then headed for the door.
pragma
The Waffle Iron, just off I-164, Enumclaw, Auburn
Friday 8/22/70 15:49:05
Fortunato - Support Mage
PAN - Passive (Contacts, Earbuds, Smartlink)
Astrally Inactive


Fortunato carefully glanced around the diner. He'd heard enough to know that it was time to put the mask he was wearing to use.

First thing was first, Watcher, are there any astral forms in this room?

While the spirit bit its non-existent lips trying to determine what was and wasn't worth mention, Fortunato in the guise of a Boeing employee slowly started to pay his check while looking for a publicly accessible back door.
BlackHat
The Waffle Iron
Friday 8/22/70 16:07:00
Smith - Johnson
PAN - Hidden


Before he left, Johnson threw down a few worn bills for his share of the tab. He left nonchalantly, and when he got to his bike, he took his time putting on his helmet, seemingly adjusting a few things in AR. In reality, he was forming one last message for Sledge. <<@Sledge:: "Time table moved up. I need your answer now. Call if you have questions.>>

Then, expecting no more response from that message than his last two, he flicked a few AR dials and picked up one of his favorite Matrix music stations. He headed out of the parting lot, initially heading perpendicular to the route one would expect if he were going towards the 24Heaven. After a block, he took a couple of fast turns, and swung around in that direction. As he drove, he had no idea if the drone was following him or if the Feds had seen him leave and were similarly on the move. Somehow he doubted it, though. These guys seemed laid back.

One more block, and he'd find out if he was right.
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