The bar was dimly lit in reality, filled with the smoky remains of a dozen hookahs that dotted the tables in the room. In AR, the room was awash with the bright neon glow of advertisements, floating menus, myriad decorations, and the constant buzz of information being passed back and forth.

The table set aside for the meeting was near the back of the bar, next to a rickety looking stage that hosted a trio of females dancers, one orc, one troll, and a dwarf. They moved in bored syncopation, every abrupt thrust or sideways hop causing the stage to creak and shift slightly. The table itself was already ringed by a cloud of smoke from the hookah on it, and the trio of people seated behind the smoke seemed intent on maintaining their smoke screen. A female elf, though slighter in build, dominated the group. Obviously in charge, she sat poised with an obvious grace and confidence, her eyes occasionally flicking off to one side as she followed something in AR. Seated next to her was an orc in a very well cut suit, probably silk, and and a human with a series of nano-tattoos designed like circuitry under his scalp and down along his neck. Framing the trio was a pair of troll females, different from the seated three, apparently from local stock. They had caramel colored skin and long black hair flowed down between their horns, and both wore a solid red dot, a bindi, in the center of their foreheads.

This meeting was the result of a contact through a friend of a friend of a friend. The worn credstick containing 10,000 nueyen from the Atlantean Foundations Research and Development department had been even harder to acquire then the elf’s name, but the promise of an artifact that would could lead to a brand new metamagic technique had greased the wheels considerably. DIMR’s recent discovery of a cache of previous Awakened-era relics in the Himalaya’s had pushed the board to be a little quicker to follow up possible leads then they might have been otherwise.

Stepping into the bar was an odd assortment. A small group that seemed very comfortable with each other, all standing a little closer then strangers would. Several humans, an orc, and a troll filled the doorway.

As his eyes adjust to the dim lighting of the room from the outside, Mikael, Mickey to his teammates, nodded and moved towards the rear of the bar. With his commlink in passive, he hoped that most of the ads would soar past him.

I certainly don't want another one of those damn AR spamwares which make me start trailing glittery sparks...

Across a tight band communication to the PANs associated to his own,
"Everyone getting their usuals? Or should I pick up something local to drink?"

Sidling up to the bar with more than a casual glance at the dancers on stage, Mickey asks the bartender, "Is that thing actually rated for their mass?"

Yi moved along the side of the group as they entered. She felt the strangeness of once again moving through crush of a small city but she steadied herself and let the warmth of the others sustain her. She knows she draws stares from her clothing and mask but it was either that or slowly die from exposure to the chemicals in the air. She drops her PAN to passive and creates a small screen in AR for her to receive data fom the team if needed.

"I'll pass for now."

She turns her head slightly and accesses the sensor net imbedded in her mask and begins to scan the group they're here to meet.

Mikael

The bartender, an elderly old native, face wizened with wrinkles, chortles and offers in broken English, "That stage collapsed already several times, but entertainment options here few...What drinks you and friends?"


Yi

The sidebars along the small screen begin to fill with scrolling information, streams of data about the group of people pouring in through the collection of sensors hidden in the beautiful mask.

Jeff wasn't far behind Mickey and Yi. He blinked several times as his eyes adjusted to the sudden change of lighting, and coughed as a stray whisp of smoke drifted his way. Yet another run down bar on the other side of the world. Wasn't it great? "I'm up for some local color." he sent back to Mickey's question. He waited a bit for the others to get in before approaching their contacts.

"Keep it sharp everyone, these people are wired and packing like they intend to hurt someone." Yi quickly feeds the information from her sensors out to the rest of the team. She moves to follow Mickey to the bar, taking a moment to draw her long leather coat around her tighter.

:: Dakota cracks her neck by lifting her head quickly up and to the left. Taking a deep breath, she breathes in the smoke with a small smile at nostalgia for the good ol' days. Her dark unnatural eyes scan the room from behind a set of tricked out AR Shades, both AR and Reality is studied for potential threats and convenient cover should things get messy. ::

:: Her PAN in Passive Mode, she pulls up a side window for team communication, posting a simple reply to the drink request.

<< Scotch, No ice. >>

:: After scanning the info provided by the ever-resourceful Yi, Dakota nods once to Charlotte to let her know she's clear to make first contact. She then moves along the wall to a spot out of all foot traffic, yet which still gives her a good view of all obvious exits. The trolls will be hard to drop, but thankfully she can feel the weight of her twin Manhunters ready and waiting with a load of ex bullets. Even Trolls tend to get winded taking rounds like that. ::

:: Not that it would come to that. Dakota wasn't a pessimist, but she was a realist living in a dangerous world. She liked it that way. ::

Charlotte watches her team fan out. She smiles at Mikael, <<Brem, with a shot of arak.>> Yi's initial feeds were rolling in and confirmed what Charlotte had expected, Deray's double shadow was here. << Those two are the ones I told you about, Twist and Spark. >>

Dakota cracks her neck which means she's about to start her run on the room. She'd signal when she was done. Charlotte paused in the doorway, letting the light from outside frame and backlight her. She did love making an entrance. Her eyes twinge and her gut twists as she opens herself to the astral sight that was her stock in trade. Deray... I wonder how many times she's sold this tidbit. This week.

Dakota gives Charlotte the high sign and, that bit of business concluded, Charlotte picks her way across the room, careful not to step over any of the stray limbs and plates scattered around the place. As an after thought she re-publishes the list of 'Do's and Don't While in Bali' that she compiled for her team. Mostly 'Don't's.

* DON'T do much of anything with your left hand in any social transactions. It is unclean.
* DON'T worry about drinking alcohol in public... while much of Indonesia is Muslim, Bali is Hindu and drinking in public is A-Okay.
* DON'T step over people or food. This is very rude.

* DO point with your thumb. Not your index finger.
* DO greet people with raised eyebrows. Not a wave. And doubly not a wave with your left hand. Left hand == BAD.
* DO say "Ma'af tangan kiri," if you do use your left hand.

It certainly wasn't everything. But the Balinese were pretty tolerant of strange foreigners. Especially strange foreigners with money. And certainly Deray fell into that category. Both ways. Ingiri had duly warned her. With no small amount of admiration. Ingiri was a strange cat.

She gives Deray a broad welcoming smile that shows off her tusks handsomely. "Apa kabar?"

Jeff decided that it was time to park it where he could watch Charlotte and Dakota at work. He went over the list of Dos and Donts again. The joys of a different culture. He was more comfortable around Central and South America. He was picking up quickly on Asian culture, though. The cooking definetly agreed with him. But he'd leave the talking to the experienced speakers.

With a look to the bartender, Mikael begins to place his drink order.

"Can I get Brem with a shot of Arak, a bottle of water, and a local brew-something dark."

Use your thumb Mickey...keep the left hand on the counter... He could almost here Charlotte telling him the words over and over again. He'd been practicing using his right hand in public, but instinct carried him when he wasn't careful.

"Also can you send a glass of warm scotch over to the big girl in the corner?" He raises his right hand and pointed with his thumb to Dakota

Once the drinks are ready, he reaches into his pocket to pull out the small amount of hard currency that the wayward archaeologist team had pulled out for this trip. As he begins to hand the money to the bartender, he realizes that it's his left hand.

"Maaf tangen kyri." And he switches the money to his right "cleaner" hand including a tip.

"Scotch in bound to you Dakota"

The hermetic set the glasses down at the table Jeff had chosen, sliding the dark pint across to him. Continuing with Charlotte's order, he touched her right shoulder and leaned past her to put the drink down on the table.

"Service with a smile, ma'am."

Drinks in play, Mikael returns to the table with his Dragonslayer.

:: Dakota's eyes were always moving, scanning each face looking for any tells that they were more of a danger than a first glance would reveal. Re-scanning the handy popup etiquette primer Charlotte sent out, Dakota finds herself once again impressed with her team. She never though such a band of misfits would ever work as solidly as the squads she had lead during certain classified military assignments. There, rank and training forced a compatibility that resulted in reliable support and confidence that all jobs were being done according to their hardwired training. They did everything exactly the same, everytime. ::

:: Yet here there was much more freedom and much less structure. While few had any military experience and there was no "rank" to determine priority of command orders, they had learned to respect the unusual talents each other possessed and fully trusted in one another enough that orders were unnecessary. Sometimes, their lack of strict training worked to their advantage, allowing for a greater degree of flexibility and creativity when dealing with obstacles. Wasn't that a kicker...something she'd never expected to really work, let alone be a part of. ::

:: Watching the unlikely face conduct the meeting with the professionalism of an elf, only with a more trustworthy smile, she shifts her weight slightly to avoid any hint of stiffness. Taking the drink offered to her, in her right hand as instructed, she offers a nod of thanks to the server but never allows her line of sight to her team be blocked. ::

Deray arches one brow, offering a cold smile as she speaks.

"Usstan tlun greatly nauqu'allath ulu thalra dos. Xal dosst dosute arunai vesuta ulu nacta vel'bol hessudori unough dos xal inbal. Qualla s'tharl." as she gestures towards an empty seat. Twist, nano-tats sparkling for a moment, coughs, and seems to be trying to stifle a laugh.

"I assume those that accompanied you in the door are your associates?" she says in oddly accented English.

A waiter breezes by the table, the drink appearing in front of Dakota almost without motion.

Charlotte murmurs her thanks to Mikael as he hands her the drink, she smiles at his deliberate right-hand useage. Three identical icons appear in AR above the heads of Deray, Spark and Twist. Twist's icon is pulsing slowly, a threat indicator. And the icon itself indicates a spirit's Guardianship.

At Deray's greeting Charlotte's raised brows turn from traditional local greeting to genuine surprise. She replies to Deray with a polite tilting of her head, "Ussta dosute... lu' dosst jesshc. Ji. Usstan kyorl l' rumohrs ph' seke. Tet LU' eld'chalok."

Her eyes flicker to Spark and for a fraction of a second she allows him to see into the depths of her eyes. Allows him to see how deeply she... sees. And that there will be no hiding. No deceit. No secrets. No shelter.

"Yes," she begins, still looking at Spark. Amusement flickers in her eyes for the briefest of moments before she blinks, breaking the spell, and looks back to Deray, amiability ruling her features once more, "They are. What do you have for me?"

Deray preceptibly leaned back in her chair, arching an eyebrow at the Sprethiel coming from the troll. Spark abruptly quiets and looks somewhat discomforted until Charlotte removes her gaze.

She nods at Charlotte's compliment, a bit more respect in the gesture, briskly turning to business, placing both hands on the table in a general sign of good faith.

"You have the creds?" she says quietly in her oddly accented English.

"So how is it?"

Mickey looks to Jeff and the dark beer that he brought over. Sipping his bottled water, the sometimes hacker scans the AR and ponders loading in Miracle Shooter. The game would be an easy way to pass the time, but he doubted that anyone in the bar played.

Instead he keeps his eyes and ears open, scanning across the bar. So different from the bars across Europe and America that he had toured during his youth, Mickey could feel the combination of tourism and tradition clashing along the periphery of the island.

Charlotte had prepped the team well for the locals, the next test would be to see how they handled themselves given that advice. Yi hiding behind her mask, and Dakota's gruff exterior an emotional mask to foil the physical one. The group worked, no one questioned that, though at moments like this Mikael found himself asking why it worked as well as it did.

Moving around the bar, Yi placed herself in a line with the table where the meet was taking place. She quickly looked over the space in between her and the hired muscle. It would be an easy matter to jump from the floor then table to table to close distance if it became necessary.

"Dakota, if this goes wrong who are you shooting first? I don't want to compromise your line of fire."

<< "Stand by for PARP" >>

:: Dakota scrolled through the information both Charlotte and Yi had provided giving her a complete breakdown on the potential hostiles. While Twist and Spark seemed to be the alpha team as far as combat went, the magical nature of the local muscle combined with the cyber/bioware scanned marks them as potential adepts. This alone notches them up several levels. ::

<< "If things get ugly then Mickey will assist Yi with the hired muscle, Charlotte and myself will engage the twins and Jeffery I want you to try and get rid of that spirit. Once the spirit pops, someone drop the elf with a stun and we'll try again." >>

:: As she lays out a Prelimenary Aggressive Response Plan, a small window in her AR vision pops up to show a listing of all team members and their current assignments. Dakota then distributes the list to the team members. ::

Dakota:
Primary Target: Spark
Secondary Target: Twist

Charlotte:
Primary Objective: Conclude Negotions Peacefully and Obtain Info
Primary Target: Assist against Spark/Twist

Yi:
Primary Target: Closest Local Muscle
Secondary Target: Farthest Local Muscle

Mickey:
Primary Target: Assist Yi with Local Muscle
Secondary Target: Deray

Jeffery:
Primary Target: Spirit
Secondary Target: Deray

Charlotte places her hands on the table, politely echoing Deray's posture, glad that Deray's irritation appeared to be blunted. For the moment.

Her stomach tightens with a flutter of excitement.

She is sweating freely. Swaths of darkened fabric grow where her inobtrusive body armor prevents good ventilation. Fine beads glistenkon her forehead and forearms and made dark, clinging curls of her very short hair. Mostly sweating well was a trick of being comfortable with it, rather than fighting the natural response as an unwelcome intrusion. Charlotte had always considered herself an an attractive sweater. Some people definitely sweated better than others. Charlotte was a pro.

She holds up her right hand in a forestalling gesture before reaching slowly into a pocket of her jacket. She fishes out a small electronic device and places it on the table. She looks askance at Spark as she activates it. Abruptly anyone eavesdropping electronically will find their job much more difficult. Charlotte leans forward and murmurs, "Yes," her eyes regard Deray intently, "I have."

She adjusts her AR display to reflect Dakota's assignments.

Spark winces briefly as the device is activated, but says nothing.

Deray smiles, the expression again devoid of any real warmth, and slides an optical chip across the table top towards you. She keeps one finger on the chip, reaching for the credstick.

Before any actual exchange can be made, there is a shout from the entrance of the bar. A group of men have just attacked the bouncer. Two of them continue beating on him, the rest turn, shouting and pointing at Charlotte and Deray.

"Not bad." Jeff said, wincing a bit as he took another sip. "Has quite a kick to it. Kind of like the local cooking. Could get used to it."

He continued watching the negotiator at work. Hopefully the info would be good. He hated wild goose chases. However, the status of the goods was given a boost towards the credibility when men busted in, apparently intrested in the negotiations as well. *I'm taking it these aren't friends of ours....and doubting friends of theirs.* he messaged to the group. He shifted his vision to the astral, taking a good look at their new 'friends'.