Outside of Humpty's Dump, Van
Thursday 08/14/70 20:58:10

"Here," Carla tossed Krait the two stim patches she had taken from the clinic and a small roll of bandages. "Those should ease the pain for a little while. We've got to get out of here, though; the destination isn't too far away, so I suggest tending to the injuries later - if they can wait."

Outside of Humpty's Dump, Inside the Van
Thursday 8/14/70 21:00:57

The Elven girl nodded in Miss J's direction before she shimmied her way through the tight spaces in the back of the van and came along side of Vanity. She spent a few moments looking into the woman's eyes, trying to find some emotion there beyond anger and bravado. Somewhere deep inside she caught a flicker of it, the instant of fear cutting through the veil of pain she was blanketed in. Etain closed her eyes and drew a few deep breaths, the scents of various body chemistry mixing with the damp sea air and the old rusty and musty scents from the van filled her lungs. A long exhale and she got to work, her hands hovering over various parts of Vanity's body, starting near her feet and working upwards with each spell, attempting to focus on both the visible and not so visible injuries.

With each move of her hands came a soft focused glow of pale light, a shift of her own hair colour to strands of silver and her eyes filled with that same pale light. It was eerie as it was beautiful to anyone watching or paying attention to the girl's movements. The shaman moved up so that she placed her hands on either side of the African American woman's side and steeled herself for what she thought might be the worst of her work, the injuries she might not be able to see could be her undoing if she pushed herself too far too fast. Surprisingly enough she felt stronger once she cast the spell instead of the opposite.

Once she got to the woman's head however, things started to unravel and for once she was thankful she wasn't linked to her brother. Just before she cast her last spell, as she was looking into the woman's face, the woman's features disappeared and were replaced with the haunting visage of her tormentor. Patrick's face loomed before her and she was emotionally yanked back to that instant in the Seelie Court where she had pledged her forgiveness and had saved her brother from the fiery depths of hell.

She had forgiven, but she would never forget.

As she pulled away from Vanity her breathing was shallow and rapid as she moved with noticeable speed away from the woman and back to her small corner of the van behind the driver's seat. She drew her knees to her chin and fell rather silent as her eyes focused on something that seemed to be thousands of miles away. Across the van Vanity slurred something incoherently. Etain had done all she could for the wounds the woman had, she'd just have to sleep off the alcohol.

Rendez-vous point, Docks
Thursday 8/14/70 21:06:00

Between Vanity's sprawled body and the enormous St. Pierre, there simply wasn't room in the van to fit any more passengers.

"Getting the girl to safety is top priority, so we're going to need to take off without you guys," Carla explained regrettably to Krait, who was still outside the van along with Paddy and the new fellow. She continued, "You and Paddy can follow along on Paddy's bike - assuming his bike is still working. If not, we'll send the van back for you - the destination's not too far away. See you soon."

With a curt farewell, she closed the back of the van and signaled the gangers to start driving.

As the battered van zoomed away from Humpty's Dump, Etain began working her healing magic on Vanity's broken body. And "magic" truly was an apt name for it, Carla thought to herself as she observed the elven girl's work with mixed feelings. On one hand, she was quite impressed to see Etain engaged in such deliberate, focused, even artful action. And it was even more impressive to see Vanity's wounds heal under Etain's hands right before her very eyes. The best mundane doctors in the world could patch a wound, provide therapy, or prescribe medication, but no mundane doctor could physically make a wound heal right in front of his very eyes; only time and the patient's own body could do that.

"Aren't you jealous of her, Papa?"

"Why would I be jealous of your mother?"

"I mean, she can heal a wound or cure a disease just with her hands. What good is a mundane doctor when there are magical ones around?"

"Well, there are lots of ways that mundane doctors can be just as good as awakened ones. Fixing people when their bodies are broken isn't all there is to being a physician, you know. And besides, suppose you lose your leg in a car accident; you're not likely to find an awakened physician - an affordable one, at least - who can grow your leg back for you. You need to go to a good old-fashioned cyberdoc to fix that kind of thing."

"Or a bio-surgeon."

"Eh, you kids and your biotechnology. When I was your age..."

Of course, that conversation had taken place before Carla's accident. Before she had lost her entire right arm. Before her parents had sought the services of the best genetic engineers in the world, only to find that every attempt to clone Carla's arm produced something that looked like the limb of a monster from a B-class horror movie. Before her parents had shelled out thousands of nuyen to buy a minimally invasive, beta-grade cyberlimb, only to find that Carla's immmuno-suppression system was overly sensitive to even high-grade cyberware.

Etain didn't look so good when she was finally through with Vanity. She pulled away from the previously-injured woman and curled up in the corner as if she was trying to disappear.

"Are you alright?" Carla asked the elf.

Just then, the van came to a halt.

Rendez-vous point, Docks
Thursday 8/14/70 21:06:25

She wasn't sure if she came back to this reality because of the abrupt stop of the van or the question that Miss J had posed in her direction. She hadn't heard the other woman's words but the furrow of the woman's brow implied it was some sort of concern. Etain made little effort to appear to be anything other than distant when she spoke, her voice quite flat.

"I'll be jist gran', naw nade ter worry."

She wanted out of the van and out into the moist night air and as soon as the door was opened at their destination, she shot out of the van like a rocket and skulked around in the shadows brooding, her demeanor much more like her brother's than her own.

Ally near Humpty's Dump, Seattle Dockyards, Downtown
Thursday 08/14/70 20:59:30
Two - Clearing the Location, never to come back
PAN Icon offline, Custom hidden (Signal 0), Moai passive (Signal 2)

As the van breezed off, John quickly scrawled something on the pack of bandages and handed it to the ork. The note read ‘13826@03827.com Subject: 006543’. It was one of the many anonymous addresses, John had set up since he had left his former life.

Krait: “That might help with your ear. Hope you didn´t hit my friend too badly. You stumbled into something there. Please don´t take my companions shooting back at you the wrong way!�

While he spoke, he seemed to be looking for something at the wall and quickly found it. As the Hispanic troublemaker had sent a picture of John through the ether, the paranoid man had wondered how he had taken it. It could have been from inside the bar, but the lighting and shadows didn´t match somehow. He had been sure on the other hand, that it hadn´t been from Big Glen´s cybereyes, as the troll had hauled him out into the alley.

By pure chance, he found what he had been looking for. A sensor-package was attached to the location´s entrance. The elven technician plucked it from the wall, just as if he had placed it there himself. Quickly he disabled the device, by removing the power supply with the tip of the pencil he had just used. Scrounging normally went against his innermost feelings of paranoia, but in his current situation, he couldn´t let precious resources go to waste.

At the same time he did all this, he sent a text message to his employer.

Two @ One [08/14/70 20:59:18] <<What should we do with that guy? The way he acted, I guess he´s looking for work. Maybe he could be of use at some point. We should however keep in mind, that he might just as well have been sent to spy on us. Please only say which of the following options to apply, if possible, due to your lack of encryption.
A) Just leave him alone (we would lose a potentially useful contact)
B) Exchange anonymous contact data, but don´t take him along
C) Take or send him somewhere, where we can pick him up later
D) Take him to the meeting (I would advice against this)>>

Waiting for a reply, he turned to the others, to inquire about their options of transportation.

Krait: “Your ride still working?� He waited for an answer, though he did gesture to move on towards the bike, before he turned his head and asked the ork. “Do you have some means of motorized transportation?�

Rendez-vous point, Docks
Thursday 8/14/70 21:06:25

"Don't wander off too far!" Carla called after Etain. She worried that the girl would disappear into the shadows and pass out somewhere all by herself.

While Etain split off from the group, the rest of the crew took a breather outside of the van, awaiting the arrival of Krait and Paddy. Vanity's recuperating body was left in the back of the vehicle; although her wounds had been mended, Carla guessed from her appearance that she was too weak to run away or put up much of a fight at this point. Bandito and Padre were leaning against the front end of the van, recounting their own perspectives of the recent encounter to each other. St. Pierre and Carla stood outside the back of the van, trying to keep Etain within their field of vision.

"I'm very sorry I had to ask you to do this," Carla muttered while standing beside St. Pierre. "God willing, that poor woman will tell us where we can find Sister Esmeralda, and we'll be done with this unpleasant business soon enough."

A shadow flickered nearby, catching Carla's attention and immediately raising her suspicions. She had momentarily forgotten that, although they had escaped the scene of the shoot-out, they were by no means in a very safe neighborhood right now. Nor did she have Los Locos covering her back like she did at home. Home?

"Help me keep an eye out for strangers, will you?"

Rendez-vous point, Docks
Thursday 8/14/70 21:06:30

"Of course," the troll answered, as he topped off his handgun's clip with some loose rounds from his pocket. "But I suggest we also keep a close eye on our guest. You were fortunate to catch her in an intoxicated state, but I take her for a very dangerous woman."

Ally near Humpty's Dump, Seattle Dockyards, Downtown
Thursday 08/14/70 21:03:10
Two - Clearing the Location, never to come back
PAN Icon offline, Custom hidden (Signal 0), Moai offline

Starting to walk towards Paddy´s motorcycle, John cast a last look on the troublemaker´s grounded drone-bike. It´s a damn shame to leave that much cash lying around here. But he knew this machine would not be cracked lightly and he knew there where more pressing issues at hand. Still he set up his Agent to subvert the vehicle´s node, if only to learn something about their unsuspected adversery. It wasn´t like he had much to loos, access ID spoofed and all.

That was when Ms Johnson replyed with a simple ‘B’. The former lawyer looked at the unknown ork. He had of course already given him an address to reach him.

Krait: “We have to go. If you´re looking for something to do, post your contact info, references and resume to me and I´ll see if I can find an engagement for you. In the meantime, why don´t you put that possessed bike somewhere our Hispanic friend won´t find it, if you´re here by foot, anyway. If I can scrounge up the time, we could see if I can get something out of it and divide the spoils. It just dosn´t sit well with me, that this asshole could just come back here and collect his baby without at least searching for it.�

After leaving the large metahuman behind, the two elves mounted the mage´s bike and zoomed off, none of them particularly pleased that they had to share the ride again. But that seemed to evolve into the groups standard MO after a fight. John hated to be predictable.

Halfway to the meeting point, John asked Paddy to take a turn in the wrong direction. In an ally, he wrapped the scavenged sensor pack into an old plastic bag and dropped it behind a dumpster unobstrusively, while he acted like dropping something into the dumpster. He planed to pick it up later, unwilling to take a potential bug to a prospectively hostile interview.

Then he turned down his signal strength, spoofed his comlink´s access ID and they made a loop to get back en route to the meeting location.

Rendez-vous point, Docks
Thursday 8/14/70 21:08:40

While awaiting the arrival of Krait and Paddy, Carla periodically checked in on Vanity while also keeping an eye on the wandering Etain. St. Pierre and his cohorts, meanwhile, were watching out for unfriendly strangers. Carla was thankful that she didn't have to wait very long for her elven friends to arrive.

"Oh good, you made it," Carla greeted the new arrivals. "Paddy, would you mind fetching your sister? She's right over there in the shadows. Thank you."

As expected, Paddy was not at all hesitant to be reunited with his sister. Once he had set off to get her, Carla consulted Krait for advice. "Should we begin questioning our captive right away?" Carla asked him. "What should we ask her? Do you think she'll cooperate-"

Carla shut herself up when she recalled that she was supposed to be the one in charge.

Rendez-vous point, Seattle Dockyards, Downtown
Thursday 08/14/70 21:10:10
Krait – Discussing the next steps
PAN Icon offline, Custom hidden (Signal 0), Moai offline

Before the mage headed off, to snatch his counterpart, his fellow elf nodded to him, to extend their leader´s ‘thank you’ to include his own professional acknowledgement. Both of the siblings had earned their share tonight, now it was the former lawyer´s time to prove himself.

Ms Johnson seemed to be a bit embarrassed about herself asking so many questions, but John actually respected her ability to consult team-members in situations they were more experienced in the she was. A good leader didn´t need to know everything, a good leader needed to know who to consult in what situation and keep the team together. Given the mixed composition of backgrounds and characters present in the team and her apparent inexperience, he thought she had done an acceptable, job so fare. John leaned in a bit closer –an almost intimate looking gesture, though it was based on practicality, so he could lower his modest voice even more- and, trying to reassure her of her position, touched off his battery of answers with some simple but honest praise.

Frank: “I could of course handle the talking and that´s probably the best option. You are the boss, though, and will have to make some choices first. And I might say, by the way, you have done a decent job so fare!�

The paranoid shadow-technician cast another wary look around the ally, to re-check the safety of the surrounding twilight.

Frank: “I´d advise to find some place that´s neutral, but offers a bit more privacy, first. A cheap motel, where people mind their own business, should suffice. Though, if you want to speed things up a bit, the van could do, it´s less Ideal and I´d like to have a place to keep our guest for a while, as needed.�

Well, none of their options was actually ideal. Fare from it, but they wouldn´t get their hands on an adequately equipped and staffed interrogation-room.

Frank: “I´m quiet sure, we can get our guest to cooperate. The question remains, how much we will get, and what we´ll have to pay for it.�

Money, favors, reputation, enmity – at the bottom-line of a shadowy operative, everything could be integrated into one value. Survival!

Frank: “Here´s what we´ve got. Our guest is intoxicated, unarmed, constrained and outnumbered. I think the message that calling out for help will cause trouble got through. I also intercepted a transmission from our guest´s friend, that indicates the group is believing our guest dead, will lie low and make no attempt to rescue.�

The elven negotiator paused for a moment to let everything sink in appropriately, before he continued.

Frank: “Here´s what we want. We need to know, who hired them to snatch our friend, what they got payed, where they delivered and everything they found out about employer and target. Now how do we want to get this?�

It was clearly a rethoricel question at this point, with the options following on the heel, but the ex-professor gave Ms Johnson a comfort his former law-students had seldom enjoyed, by letting her catch a breath and think about the matter on her own for a moment. At least a brief moment.

Frank: “My best guess is, that a hard approach will be most fruitful. Given the situation and the fact that our guest specializes in talking, intimidation seems to be most promising. We can wash our hands in blaming the escalation on our unexpected troublemaker, to reduce future enmity and reputation damage a bit. Still it has to be clear, that not negotiating this matter, won´t mean that the coveted information will come without a cost! Results and cost will likely increase, if we are to use helpful accessories, like weapons, magic and pain. So it´s upon you, to decide.�

Ally near Humpty's Dump, Seattle Dockyards, Downtown
Thursday 08/14/70 21:03:10

Jack replying to Krait: "References!? Resume!? What do I look like ta you? You want my resume? Here it is. I used to do corp bodyguard work but my team got downsized. Now I'm out on da street trying to make some scratch just like everybody else, ya know? Mr. J, he felt real bad about how da corp screwed me, so he tried to set me up best he could on short notice. I was down at this drek pit trying to scare up some work, ya know? Now dis Spitz guy probly won't give me da time a day. Not your fault. And hey I'm sorry I shot up one a your chummers but frag bullets was flyin' everywhere, ya know?"

Jack unwraps the bandages and puts the contact info in his coat pocket. He then does the best job he can of trying to bandage his ear. He staunches the flow down to a dribble. Then he glares at Krait and says, "You're right. I'm gonna move dis bike so dat spick prick gotta do some work ta find it. Once I got it stashed I'll give ya a call."

He then looks at Carla and says, "Thanks for the band-aids little lady. Nice job on da bike, I fraggin' hate bikes!"

Jack rights the bike then starts pushing it east away from the waterfront. Two blocks down he turns south in the first ally he finds. He leans the bike against a wall, growls and kicks it a few times before he continues on his way with it.

Serves ya right drek head. Dis is da mean shadows of Seattle. Ya shoulda just minded your business and let da spick put a bullet in da pointy ears brain. Like I never would a done dat good Samaratan drek back in Orkland. Fraggin' corp work made me soft! Jack thought to himself.

Rendez-vous point, Docks
Thursday 8/14/70 21:08:40

The night was starting to feel too long for Conall's taste. Not much time had actually gone by ever since they had headed off towards the dock, yet the few hours had stretched themselves for what seemed like an eternity. The most simple of task had gone completely awry when God only knew who had decided to get involved. Whomever that Hispanic man had been, the wrench he had thrown in their night out had more than ticked off the young elf. Not the one to step away from a fight, Conall's hand had been forced. It wasn't that he felt guilty in inflicting any sort of harm to anyone... it was more the fact that in this case, it had been uncalled for.

Most of all, the young shaman, although he would never admit it, did felt slightly ashamed of not having been able to down the Hispanic man and EJ. The big man should have been an easy target, especially in tight quarter... but in all honesty, Conall hadn't planned on him having an automatic weapon at his disposal. Back in the Tir, firearms were rather difficult to come by. They weren't unheard of, just not as common of a threat as magic or crude meelee weapons. Submachine guns were a little above what he had prepared for. The young elf had spent all his time evading EJ's attack cursing at himself for being so foolish: this was America. People were crazy and uncouth enough to fire full auto weapons in a crowded bar. But Conall had survived the encounter without a single scratch. His hair was a little messier, and he had sweat under his heavy jacket... but he was still in perfect shape. Next time, he wouldn't make the same mistake. Next time, bystanders were either going to get out of the way, or be blown to bits.

Guns... So dishonorable... So common man.

Approaching his sister, he smiled at her warmly. When he had felt the link between them go down, and then seen her lying flat inside the bar, a wave of worry and panic had swept him. But seeing her standing on her own two feet, and looking if only tired from the night... he was calm again. He reached her, wrapping his left arm around her waist, he placed one of her loose strand of hair behind her ear.

“Are you alright?� he asked softly, choosing to speak in Sperethiel instead of their native English.

Seeing her nod, he smiled back, his grip around her waist loosening.

“I'm sorry I...� he started before she cut him off, by waving it aside. The smile she gave him back meant it all. He knew it wasn't his fault... and she knew he knew it very well.

Taking her soft hand in his, he looked up at the sky for a few seconds, saying nothing. He simply stood there with her, looking up.

“Grand night were havin'...� he said with a slight chuckle.

His hand still holding hers, he pulled her slight out of the shadows she had been skulking in.

“We'd better head back ter de Miss... we nade ter git dat broad yappin'�.

Conall caught the end of Krait's speech as the twins approached the van.

“For once, Ah've got ter agree wi' our guy dare.� he started, releasing his sister's hand to crack the knuckles on his right hand.

“Oi say we gie 'er de choice av tellin' us waaat she knows, or 'avin' us club it oyt av 'er.� he continued in what sounded like a casual tone... as if beating information out of an already badly injured woman was a totally normal thing to do.

“By de looks 'er man gave 'er, ye tinks she dead an' gone. By me guess, no knight in a shiny armor is comin' ter 'er rescue..�

He turned to Krait slightly.

“Yer want blather ter 'er first, or ye reckon yer want me ter gie 'er a beatin' ter git 'er mind open ter discussion?�

Conall eyed Carla on the side, as if unsure what to say.

“...Yer might not want ter be raun 'ere ter clap dis...�

Rendez-vous point, Docks
Thursday 8/14/70 21:08:40

"Hold on just a moment," Carla said while scanning local motel listings, trying to find a good location for interrogating the girl. She kept her voice low to prevent Vanity from overhearing her.

"Damnit, I don't have the nuyen to spare for a room. We'll have to move the van down an alley or someplace out of sight for the interrogation. Once we get there, we'll have Frank lead the interrogation; he'll do the talking and decide what measures need to be taken - except for agreeing to offer payment or services. That's the only thing I want you to ask me permission for first. Paddy and St. Pierre can provide extra...intimidation, and the rest of us can stand lookout for strangers and intruders. Unless, of course, any of you have a better configuration in mind."

"I want Vanity to think Frank's the one in charge, so everybody follow Frank's orders while he's doing the interrogation. Frank, if you need my approval for a payment, you can send me a message on my commlink, but try to be discrete about it. I want her to think you're the one calling the shots. Any objections?"

Alley, Rendez-vous point, Docks
Thursday 8/14/70 21:014:00

It didn't take long for the team to locate an appropriate alley nearby - it was narrow enough that little light got in, long enough that they could put some distance between themselves and the main street, and the walls on both sides had few to no windows. Carla didn't know much about this neighborhood, so she wasn't sure whether there were any nearby residents who might respond to cries of help from Vanity. In any case, she'd have to ask Krait to ensure that Vanity remain relatively quiet.

"Ayrin and I will watch the north end of the alley," Carla explained; the team was huddled just a few feet from the back of the van, where Vanity was locked up alone inside. "Bandito and Padre will guard the south end. I imagine that you three - Frank, Paddy, St. Pierre - will be able to handle the girl on your own, but call us down if you need help."

"Bandito, Padre, - if you encounter an aggressive group of strangers, don't try to fend them off. Just report straight to the van so that we can evacuate immediately. Ayrin and I will do the same."

"Well, I think that about does it. Do your best, Frank."

Crappy tool shed, 4 blocks east of docks
Thursday 8/14/70 21:014:00


"What luck," Jack muttered. He found a tool shed that was missing its door and southern wall. He pushed the bike in through the missing wall. No sooner had he entered the shed then four Norwegian wharf rats emerged from a pile of refuse in the northwest corner. Two immediately ran out through the missing door but two lingered. Jack leaned the bike against the east wall of the shed and snapped his baton into readiness.

"No offense little guys," Jack said, "but I kinda want to be alone right now, ya know."

He crouched and with incredible speed (from the rats point of view) brought his baton down on the head of the first rat. With a sickening squish, blood and brains were imbedded into the floor of the shed. The other rat paused, then ran out the south side of the shed.

"Damn right it's my shed!" Jack snorted.

He pulled out the bandage wrapper from his pocket, activated his PAN, and called the number the elf gave him. After consulting his mapsoft he left a message with the location of the bike. "I'll stick with da bike for two days to keep da scum away but after dat I gotta go. Gimme a call when you're ready, all right."

He looked at the bike and sighed. I wonder how Mr. J is doing? he thought.

He consulted the mapsoft. He needed to find a store where he could buy some urban camping supplies before he embarked on two days of living the street lifestyle.

Abandoned Ally, Seattle Dockyards, Downtown
Thursday 08/14/70 21:14:50
Krait – Setting up the ‘Negotiation’
PAN Icon offline, Custom hidden (Signal 0), Moai offline

'Mr J' was talking to the boss of the Los Locos street gang.

Frank: “Go in and make sure our guest is entertained and all comfortable in there, please. But don´t break her! Make sure that our guest is not burdened by any baggage.�

John instructed the huge troll, the expression on his face and the addition about not breaking her making it clear, that he wasn´t really concerned about Vanity´s happiness. The tusked grin on the monstrous metahuman´s visage confirmed that the gang-leader was smart enough to understand. Some groping and searching by big trog hands would be a good introduction. As the Loco walked away, the elf signalled Ms Johnson to stay just a bit longer, before moving to her sentry post further down the alley.

Satisfied that the drunk face would be distracted, he inquired a detailed description of the fight in the Dump from Paddy, specifically asking weather Vanity herself had put up a fight or had just waited to be picked up by her boyfriend. Speaking in a whisper, he kept an eye on the van and had his com scanning for any transmissions all the time though. With a better picture of what he should await, he sent in the second bad cop – not that there would be any really good cops tonight.

Frank: “Thanks for the intel, go ahead to give our guest some lesson about not shocking any strangers, but make sure they stay conscious and don´t loos the rest of their senses.� Turning to Ms Johnson as the combat mage left, he asked: “Do you have anything to dampen the intoxication, but not make it go away compleatly?�

Abandoned Ally, Seattle Dockyards, Downtown
Thursday 08/14/70 21:14:52

"Sorry," Carla answered. "The only thing that will help with the intoxication is time - and I don't know how much of that we have. What about you?" she said, turning to Etain. "Do you have any magic tricks that can help with this sort of thing?"

Crappy tool shed, 4 blocks east of docks
Thursday 8/14/70 21:15:00


Having asserted dominance in his temporary squat, Jack quickly browsed the matrix to locate the nearest convenience store. He then looked the shed over one last time and walked briskly to the store. He purchased supplies to last for two days and some low tech security items, then hustled back to the shed.

To his relief he saw that the bike was unmoved and that the shed was still devoid of vermin. He quickly began setting up his intruder warning systems. Once that chore was finished, he popped open a can of soy spam and devoured it, washed his meal down with water, then leaned up against the bike to take a nap.

As he drifted off to an unquiet nap, he realized that promising to stay with the bike for two days was probably a really stupid promise to make.

Well, a promise is a promise, ya know. He thought to himself as sleep overtook him.

Abandoned Ally, Seattle Dockyards, Downtown
Thursday 08/14/70 21:15:07

"If oi did sistah, wud yer 'av been forcin' drugs down me throat in de cafe? Sorry, oi'm al' tricked oyt on de magic front."

The Elven girl shook her head, the platinum and brightly coloured streaks whipping around as if they were in the wind. She paused thoughtfully after her flippant remark and looked back at the woman.

"Oi suppose yer cud try ter use wan av dees on 'er... might 'elp."

From one of the many pockets on her black cargo pants she pulled out a small foil-wrapped derm patch and offered it over to Miss J.

Abandoned Ally, Seattle Dockyards, Downtown
Thursday 08/14/70 21:15:13

"What's this?" Carla took a closer look at the derm patch Etain had retrieved from her pocket. "Oh, a catecholamine patch - this might perk her up a bit." It would also probably make the poor woman feel like hell after a short while, Carla thought to herself. Mixing stimulants and alcohol usually resulted in an unpleasant experience.

Carla drew her medkit from her coat and searched through the small assortment of poison-antidotes contained within. None were specifically made for treating the effects of alcohol or alcohol poisoning (which was odd, considering the prevalence of alcohol abuse in her community), but she knew that a few of the drugs had mild stimulant-like side effects.

After popping off a syringe cap with her teeth, Carla punctured the skin of Etain's derm patch and replaced a small portion of the original contents with her own special cocktail. The results - if she had her chemistry right - would be a bit less harsh on Vanity's central nervous system than the original stim patch. The patch was easily re-sealed with a small adhesive bandage.

"Here, put this on the back of her neck," Carla instructed Krait. "A normal stimulant patch of this size is only effective for about 30 minutes, and the crash is going to be quite debilitating depending on how much alcohol she's already got in her. I suggest you finish up your business before then"

Abandoned Ally, Seattle Dockyards, Downtown
Thursday 08/14/70 21:15:13

Throwing the van's sliding door aside, Conall stood out in the street for a few seconds. Holding himself with one hand on van's frame, he leaned in a bit, peering into the back of the vehicle. St-Pierre was seated off and to the side, a short distance between Vanity and shaman. In his eyes, the woman didn't seem even one bit more aware of the situation that she had been before... but what Conall could tell was that she was in worst than shitty shape. He head kept swaying ever so slightly from side to side, as if the van was spinning around only for her delicate pleasure.

His eyes still trained on the black woman, Conall spoke to the troll.

“Ye frisked 'er?� he said, in a tone that sounded strangely annoyed.

St-Pierre answered back only with a nod.

The young shaman stood his ground for a few more seconds, his mind running through all the things he could do to bring pain to the woman. After all, she had shot his sister. There was going to be hell to pay. Pulling himself in the van, he slid the door closed behind him... and suddenly becoming aware of how silent the inside was. None the less, he played the little silence game for a few more seconds. He took up a crouched position close to her, gesturing for St-Pierre to move a little further back.

Abandoned Alley, Seattle Dockyards, Downtown
Thursday 8/14/70 21:15:30

Carla's cocktail had had some effect - enough to heighten the prisoner's awareness of her predicament, but not enough to give her the will to hide her distress. Alone in the back of the van with the troll and the brooding elf warrior, the slamming of the van door set her mouth moving; struggling to control her voice, she said quietly, "Please don't hurt me. We can work something out, but please don't hurt me. I can see you're pros. Me too. Let me talk to my man, then I'll tell you anything you want to know."

Abandoned Alley, Seattle Dockyards, Downtown
Thursday 8/14/70 21:15:35

For a split second, when she had opened her mouth, Conall had considered the option of slapping it shot right the frag away. Instead, he just stood there, staring at her long after she had done spilling her guts.

“No.� finally said Conall, shaking his head slowly.

“You're in no position to ask anything.�

He flexed his right hand, the knuckles popping loudly.

“You say you're a pro. Good. We don't give a bloody shit about you or your man. You tell us what we want to know, and you can go. You try to stall us in any fucking way...� he got a little bit closer to her, letting his words hang in the air.

Conall simply stood there staring at her, until she took a breath in and her lips parted. As she was about to speak something, the young shaman's hand flew out and wrapped itself around Vanity's throat. He trusted forward with such violence that the young black woman found herself painfully pinned against the back of the van. The young elf, his eyes two narrows slits, simply looked into Vanity wide opened eyes. Her face was already starting to puff itself up when she lifted both of her hands to try to pry herself out of the grip. Conall still didn't speak a single word. His free hand simply balled itself into a fist... and he gave the woman a vicious jab in the gut. Her eyes shut themselves as the sockwave of pain went up her body.

“And will not hesitate to hurt you. This is nothing compare to what you will feel.�

As he finally released her, Conall sidestepped to let Vanity slump forward. She fell flat on her stomach, gasping for air as he whole body shook. When she started to pull herself slightly together, pushing herself off the van's floor with her hands, the young elf leaned forward a bit.

“The skeleton gal you snatch outside Ground Zero, where is she now?�

Abandoned Alley, Seattle Dockyards, Downtown
Thursday 8/14/70 21:15:55

The faint wash of streetlights from outside the alley was all Conall needed to see the war of terror in the woman's eyes - fear of death versus fear of pain. The latter won the battle, and she answered, "I don't know. We delivered her to the J an hour after the grab. That's it."

Abandoned Alley, Seattle Dockyards, Downtown
Thursday 8/14/70 21:15:58

Well, it wasn't quite the answer he was hoping for... but it was a start.

"Tell me everything you know about him. Don't let any details out."

He leaned in a bit closer.

Abandoned Alley, Seattle Dockyards, Downtown
Thursday 8/14/70 21:16:34

"I know his first name's Kenichi. He thinks I only know him as Johnson, but we did some research. Got his private commcode, too. It's in my headware, if you'll let me access it. Well-dressed Japanese guy. Definitely Japanese. I don't think the face he brings to our meets is his, though."

She paused for a moment, considering saying something else. She blurted it out, trying to finish before she got hit or choked: "Listen, none of my chummers knows any of this. I handle all the face work, and we don't share info, for security, you know? They don't know anything."

Abandoned Alley, Seattle Dockyards, Downtown
Thursday 8/14/70 21:16:34

Conall actually let a small smile creep unto his lips. Given the situation, it might have looked a bit sadistic to smile in such a situation... but matter of fact was that Conall was feeling pretty satisfied with himself. He knew very well Frank had planned to talk his entire way through the situation. It would have taken hours on ends. This... This was much faster.

Conall nodded his head.

"Don't ye worry aboot yer mates. If they don't know shite, no harm will come to them. Swear."

He straighened up a bit, giving the woman some room.

“Where did ye drop her off?�

Abandoned Alley, Seattle Dockyards, Downtown
Thursday 8/14/70 21:15:35

Carla grew quite uncomfortable after hearing Vanity's initial pleas for mercy. She had only managed to tolerate the shrieks of agony in the emergency rooms because her express duty back then had been to stop the agony. Now she had to sit by - no, she was responsible for making this woman suffer at the hands of these brutish men. Carla tried to remind herself of what Vanity had done - of what Esmeralda had no doubt been through and the lack of mercy that had been shown to her. But goddamnit, instinctual reactions weren't governed by rational thought, and no reasonable argument could quell the nausea that this whole situation was beginning to induce in her.

"Call me when you're finished," Carla instructed Krait before he and the other men went to work. She didn't wait for Etain before heading down to the end of the alley.

Abandoned Alley, Seattle Dockyards, Downtown
Thursday 8/14/70 21:16:42

"Nowhere." She was sniffling now, spent. "I mean, we just ass-kissed our van with theirs in an alley in Bellevue. Behind the Crazy Horse Saloon on 134th. We named the spot. It's no connection with Kenichi. That's all I know about him, I swear. Except that he wanted that crazy bitch bad. Had to have her, and we couldn't figure out any good reason why."

Abandoned Alley, Seattle Dockyards, Downtown
Thursday 8/14/70 21:16:58

Conall had somewhat expected the woman to be a little less forthcoming with the information. It could have been that she was bullshitting him all the way, and every single word spilling out of her mouth were lies. But somehow, the young elf didn't feel like she was lying. For all intent and purposes, she probably thought he would kill her if she didn't cooperate... It wasn't his intention, but if it came to that, the young shaman found that the idea didn't quite bother him. Maybe she even thought he could read minds. For some reason Conall still didn't fully grasp, most mundanes thought every single awakened could read their thoughts like an opened book.

Still squatting low on his legs, his shoulders slightly slumped forward under the low roof of the van, Conall keep a short distance between Vanity and himself. After the mild beating he had given her, and the obvious strain she was now under, giving her some room to breath would bring some comfort.

He looked at Vanity in silence, watching her pull herself together to sit on the van's floor. St-Pierre was still silent in his corner, his attention actually more on Conall than on the black woman.

"Listen. Like I said, we're are not after you, or any of your friend."

His parted his hands away from his body, giving her an almost exaggerated apologetic smile.

"Matter of fact being, we tracked you down with the intention of chatting. But with all the bullets, I got a bit carried away."

Conall did something that resembled and uncomfortable cough.

"Since you've partaken in this shady enterprise that was kidnapping, and that our girl might now have been packaged in different parcels... common man justice would make me killing you something that would be accepted."

Using the nail on his right thumb, Conall seemed to pick something out of his teeth.

"But this is not how things are going to go down. You and I will get out of this van. You will repeat everything you've told me to the man outside. You will not forget any details. You will answer what questions he might have left. After, we will return you all of your belongings. If you require medical attention, it will be given to you. If you require us to deliver you safely somewhere, we will do so."

Putting his hand around the door handle, Conall almost opened it... but stopped, looking back to Vanity.

"Do realize this, Vanity. It took us less than 12 hours to track you both down. It took us but a few seconds to dish out enough damage that we could have easily killed you both. And we still could. But we won't. You have my word that no harm will come to EJ and you from my hand.... unless you leave here tonight with vengeful intention."

His hand released the handled as he turned once more to face Vanity.

"If I ever see you or your man coming around the corner, I swear on the blue blood that runs in these veins that you will die in the most of painful ways."

Making sure she had understood him quite clearly, Conall pulled the sliding door aside.

"Hoi." he said to Frank's intention.

"Lady's got some things to say to you."

Abandoned Ally, Seattle Dockyards, Downtown
Thursday 08/14/70 21:18:20
Krait – Taking over the Talk
PAN Icon offline, Custom hidden (Signal 0), Moai offline

John had overheard the interrogation inside. Of course it wasn´t easy to judge the validity of her information, but that wasn´t the point. He´d ask her to repeat anything once he´d see to the interrogation, to see if she would stumble over any inconsistencies. The ex corporate-lawyer had been to nearly innumerable hearings and had whitnessed a great deal of interrogations as a defence-attorney before.

He didn´t like the other elf promising to Vanity, to return all her possession´s to the face. He had planned to do so in the end, but he didn´t like to have his options cut short. That behaviour shifted the weight further away from his theory about a mafia background of the mage, though, so he at least got some kind of information out of it.

The former Johnson sidestepped his fellow runner, right when he climbed out of the van, before the woman could follow Paddy outside, giving him a nod of recognition. No need for her to see the outside of that van, he thought, or any prying eyes to see her.

Mr. J: “Alright, from now on, I´ll handle the talking ... why don´t you give me and our guest a bit more breathing space in there.�

He gave St. Pierre a short glance and stepped aside, for the troll to exit as well and then slipped inside the suddenly much more spacious vehicle. It would be bad form for the supposed team leader, to talk business in such cramped confinements, much more so without any place to sit down besides the floor and the huge seat previously occupied by the gang leader.

Mr. J: “Would you please close the door? I´ll call on you, should I need your expertise again!�

That statement was more aimed at Vanity, then the other men. He wanted to suspend the threat of more pain and worst things above the woman´s head. Though his speech was all business like, similar to many a corporate suite´s in love with their own voice, it never failed to make sure that this wasn´t actually a negotiation.

Mr. J: “You heard the man, but before we proceed, let me introduce myself – sort of. You can call me Mr. Johnson as I have a mutually beneficial offer for you. You will give me the answers to all my questions and I´ll give back freedom and life to you. Right now, you have none – your teammates already belief you dead and are lying low. So I´m afraid, no crimson bearded knight will come to your help. I wish I could make a more pleasant proposal and I apologize for the inconvenience, but that latino joker sabotaged my plans for a civilized conversation somehow. You don´t happen to know him – the guy that left through the backdoor right before my friend?�

His question served both to plumb any possible additional info he might gain, as well as to distract her from what she had told Paddy, before she would have to repeat and elaborate it all for John.

Abandoned Ally, Seattle Dockyards, Downtown
Thursday 8/14/70 21:16:25

At first she stood in the alley torn. Torn between her feeling of need to stay near her brother to "reign" him in if he got too carried away with Vanity and torn by her desire not to leave "the boss" trapsing off down a dark alley by herself. She shot a look of concern in Krait's direction as her brother had already tossed open the door of the van and had started inside.

Bejasus 'elp dat doll if she doesn't tell 'imself everythin' me brother wants ter 'ear.

Shaking her head with a look of resignment on her features as she heard Conall get to work and Vanity's unanswered calls for mercy, she chased down after Carla which didn't take long as the woman hadn't gotten too far ahead of her.

There at the end of the alley, leaning against a different wall each, the two women stood in almost uncomfortable silence, the only noises surrounding them were the natural sounds that were generated around the docks and the extremely muffled sounds of the "negotiation" taking place further down the alley inside the van.

Idly, Etain wrung her hands together as she kept her eyes moving, looking for anything before it spotted them.

Abandoned Ally, Seattle Dockyards, Downtown
Thursday 08/14/70 21:18:40

The woman shook her head, the movement filled with groggy fatigue. "No, don't know him. Never saw him..." She stopped in mid-sentence, a light coming on in her eyes. "Noooo...dammit, yes, I have seen him. Hell, I've got his picture in my headware, if you want to see it...son of bitch." It was clear that her mind had started puzzling something out.

Abandoned Ally, Seattle Dockyards, Downtown
Thursday 08/14/70 21:18:50
Krait – Inquiering about the hispanic headache
PAN Icon offline, Custom hidden (Signal 0), Moai offline

Suspicious as he was, that this might just be some con attempt on the female face´s part, John went along with Vanity, trying to use the wave of information she was riding on, to extract more information than she might give away otherwise, trying to get the women further on the teams side.

Mr. Johnson: "Sounds like we have all been set up! We will deal with the pictures later, just tell me what you know."

Abandoned Ally, Seattle Dockyards, Downtown
Thursday 08/14/70 21:18:45

As with Etain, Carla kept to herself while keeping look-out at the end of the alley. It was best to stay silent, given that they were trying not to bring any attention to themselves.

Abandoned Alley, Seattle Dockyards, Downtown
Thursday 8/14/70 21:24:00

A stray ray of light from out on the street created a sheen on the woman’s high black forehead, making the rest of her features even darker. She reached up with her left hand and massaged her temples between thumb and middle finger. “Man, I don’t feel so good. I need a drink.�

She risked a hopeful look up at her lone interrogator, the one that hadn’t actually hurt her yet. But she saw from his expression that no alcohol was forthcoming. Leaning back against the inside panel of the van, she explained about the picture. “The Johnson, Kenichi, he gave us several image files of the target. The very first one was a video clip of her in a firelit street, kneeling on the ground in her nun outfit working on some green troll-looking slab of meat. But mostly she was yelling, just yelling and cursing like a mother-fucking wildcat straight at the camera. Behind her some soldier had an Ares Alpha pointed at her head, but she couldn’t have given less of a shit. She just kept yelling and throwing whatever shit was lying on the ground at the cameraman until someone called off the soldier behind her. The guy was wearing colors, marked him as part of some sorry-ass gang called Los Locos, got some weak turf just north of the airport. But he wasn’t no ganger, he was top-of-the-line corp firepower. And he was the same guy at the bar tonight, same one sent me a note to watch out for you all. Never put the two together till just now. Shit, for all I know, he was playing me true, sent by Kenichi to keep me from getting grabbed by you all mother fuckers.�

Krait had heard what he needed about the Hispanic, and he didn’t want her getting too off track, so he reined her in by making her repeat everything she’d told Paddy. It was obvious she knew what he was doing, but she gave him all the information again, just the same as the first time. The lawyer had a number of follow-up questions though, mostly about the Johnson. By the time he was through the first round, he knew that the man’s van had been stripped of all identifiers for the pick-up of Esmeralda, and that EJ and Vanity had been paid Y500 up front and Y2,000 on delivery, all in certified cred. It had been the fourth time they’d worked for Kenichi in the last three years. He’d called them the first time, and never given a reference. Once they had his first name and commcode, they’d known they could track him anytime they wanted, so they had never bothered, as all their deals had gone smoothly.

For this latest job, the man had given them several photos of the nun, as well as the address of the church and rectory. They’d done their research, and had taken some of their own footage – or at least so Vanity claimed, again offering to retrieve it from her headware for them. But they hadn’t dug as deep as Krait’s own team had, and all he got was stuff he already knew – the eating disorder, the weird, sexless masochism, her amazing force of personality and ability to take a seemingly endless amount of punishment – the really noisy details had been enough to satisfy these runners. They had been only half interested in why the J had wanted her, and had just needed enough info to know where and when to grab her. The info they had gotten had been just enough to dehumanize Esmeralda in their eyes; they had seen nothing of her tireless work for the poor in the barrio, but it seemed doubtful that would have mattered to these mercenaries.

When it seemed for a moment as though the elf might be done with his questions, the woman looked at him and said, “Okay, just don’t hurt me no more before you waste me.�

Abandoned Alley, Seattle Dockyards, Downtown
Thursday 8/14/70 21:24:00

Outside the van, St. Pierre lumbered to the end of the alley where his own boys were keeping watch. Once he was sure they weren't sleeping, he came back to the van, squatted down, and smiled ironically at Paddy, not really expecting a response.

Abandoned Ally, Seattle Dockyards, Downtown
Thursday 08/14/70 21:25:00
Krait – Briefing the Team
PAN Icon offline, Custom hidden (Signal 0), Moai offline

John´s perfectly natural looking cybereyes evaluated the African American´s face for a moment. Then his adamant expression softened up just a bit.

Mr. Johnson: “My runners don´t have anything to lose by killing you – your team already believes you dead. But I´m a businessman and I think I might gain something by leaving you alive. Don´t make me reconsider that.�

The elf´s features darkened again, almost turning into a demonic mask in the twilight of the van.

Mr. Johnson: “The data!�

As he extended a hand with one of his credsticks, the look on the former corporate negotiator´s made it clear to the female, that any attempt of trickery would forfeit her life. His agent was still scanning the waves. In case the runner did not have any wired means to access her hardware, he´d instruct her, to connect to the the credstick with zero Signal rating, stepping outside of the three meters circle, to make sure she didn´t send out any long-range communiqué.

Next he would leave the woman in the custody of St. Pierre, within earshot ordering him to answer any attempt of her´s to talk to him with a sound fist-strike.

He wanted to tell the others about what he had learned and he wanted to ask Ms Johnson for some concoction to put the captured runner to sleep for the coming day or at least the next few hours. He was also itching to call back the ugly ork from the ally. Something about the stranger didn´t leave John alone. Maybe it was that he reminded him of Kob Parker, maybe it was the ‘vision’ he had when the bruiser had first approached, maybe it was just the prospect of gaining another reasonably professional contact in this cursed Plex and possibly making a bit cash in the process, that would help fund this fucking welfare operation.

Abandoned Ally, Seattle Dockyards, Downtown
Thursday 08/14/70 21:25:00

A text message alert appeared on Krait's PAN.

>>One @ Two: I don't hear any noise. You having trouble back there?

Women's restroom, 8 blocks east of docks
8/14/70 21:29:00

Jack dreamt of his childhood in the Oakland projects. He was playing HORSE with Billy Prentiss. He dribbled the ball at the top of the key. If he made the shot he would avoid getting an R. Just as he made the shot, he heard a voice from beyond the playground’s chain link fence.

“That’s pretty good young Jack, but could you do as well with a pistol?�

Jack didn’t even need to look to know who was speaking. The raspy guttural voice could only belong to Shagrat, leader of the local chapter of the Sons of Sauron.

Jack turned and faced the gang leader, who had now entered the basketball court. “I don’ wanna shoot no pistol, ya know? And even if I did, what would I shoot at?�

“Perhaps your puny little human friend would be a sporting target,� Shagrat replied.

He was hunched and twisted. A red tattoo of the never sleeping eye was on his left hand. Or'zett curses in red emblazoned his right. A bit of drool dripped from his right tusk as he eyed the human child.

“You’re sick,� Jack replied. “I ain’t gonna kill my friend just ‘cuz you’re a loser.�

“You may feel differently when you’re older and little maggot Billy has a nice comfy wage slave job and you’re out on the streets getting your dinner from a trash can. It won’t matter that neither of you have gone to school. All that will matter is that he is human and you’re an ork. “

“Oh that’s drek! You’re just mad at humans ‘cuz you can’t get no job, ya know? You ain’t got no skills. Dats your problem. Not even orks or trolls would give you a job, ya know?�

The sound of the basketball swishing through the net announced that Billy had made his next shot.

“Hey Jack look,� Billy said, “I made a baseline jumper from right here. You gotta make one just like it or you’re gonna get an R. It’s your shot. Quit talkin’ to that loser and play the game.�

Billy tossed the ball to Jack.

“No human maggot child calls Shagrat a loser!� The twisted ork produced a streetline special from his jacket.

“Run Billy,� Jack yelled. Then he threw the basketball at Shagrat’s left hand, knocking the pistol out of it and giving Billy enough time to make his escape. Shagrat scrambled for the pistol but by the time he had it, Billy was long gone.

“I should kill you for that,� Shagrat snarled.

“Oh dat’s smart. A ork killin’ annudder ork, ya know? What would Sauron tink of dat?�

“Fuuuck,� Shagrat cursed and shot the basketball. As he shambled away, Jack picked up the flattened ball and yelled, “Billy’s mom spent t’ree weeks pay on dat ball. You better buy him a new one.�

The twisted ork kept walking, his steel toed jack boots crunching on broken glass. Crunching. Crunching. Crunching…. Jack awoke to the sound of crunching coming from the door of the tool shed. He leapt to his feet and snapped his baton into place. Keeping to the wall of the shed, he peaked out the door to see two rats eating his carefully placed soy chips.

Oh you’re so stupid. Sure da rats and birds is gonna help demselves to a free meal. He eased himself over his tripwire and gave the rats a lesson in manners they would take to their graves. I ain’t gonna stay here wit all dese chips gettin’ eatin’. I’ll never get no sleep. Gotta find myself some udder place.

He gathered up his supplies, including his other alarm system and pushed the bike out of the shed. He continued east, away from the waterfront, until he found a burned out building, possibly an old gas station. The office and repair bays had been converted into squats. All the occupants were fast asleep. Jack eased the bike around to the side of the building. The men’s room door was open and it was obviously well used by the squatters. The women’s room door was shut and locked. More fraggin’ good luck. Jack thought.

After leaning the bike against the wall of the station and setting down his groceries, Jack gave the door a well aimed kick. It popped open with surprisingly little noise. He eased the bike into the restroom. Damn dis place stinks awful he thought. In the restroom were a toilet, a sink, some dispensers and a trash can and just enough room for the bike and for Jack to lie down on the floor. Jack searched the room and found the remains of several mice, the source of the odor. He tore off a piece of what remained of the cloth in the towel dispenser and scooped up the mice. When he went back out to pick up his supplies, he tossed the mice across the street. He stood by the door about five minutes to let the room air out, then went back in, shutting the door after himself.

The key lock on the door was ruined but Jack found that the door had a primitive sliding lock, which he slid into place. He placed the trash can in front of the door. Next, he called the number on the bandage gave directions to his new hiding place, warned Krait that it was attached to a squatters den and gave him a secret knock so that he would know it was him. He did not bother to reassemble his secondary alarms. Anyone attempting to physically enter the restroom would have to make a lot of noise. Then he made a pillow out of his suit jacket, paper towels and toilet paper and lay down for a well earned nap.

Abandoned Ally, Seattle Dockyards, Downtown
Thursday 08/14/70 21:25:30
Krait – Briefing the Team
PAN Icon offline, Custom hidden (Signal 0), Moai offline

Restraining his urge for a brisk walk down the alley to a slightly slower pace –the semi-casual but ever time-conscious stride befitting a corporate exec- the former lawyer closed the distance to his current superior, in the meantime carefully analyzing the content of his credstick for any dangers, before using the cable conection to load the paydata into his skinlinked PAN and add a short resumé of his confersation with the woman called Vanity to the credstick´s mass storage. He didn´t respond to Ms Johnson´s impatient inquiery. What noises did she expect us to make?

Frank: “This device holds a transcript of our conversation and a short synopsis, as well as some visual data. It looks like our brash, hispanic friend is into this fairly deep. He was involved in the para-military operation in your neighbourhood, that your friend mentioned it to us some time ago. This is bad news, because it seems that the kidnapping was something personal, reducing the odds that the victim is still alife. However it may turn out to be a good thing, as we have one more face, that could lead us closer to our goal. I´ll have to do some research. I´d prefer to load our guest with some strong tranquilizers and dump them into some coffin hotel, in case they lied to us or left out some detail we want to inquire about later. They can pay for the coffin themselves.�

Abandoned Ally, Seattle Dockyards, Downtown
Thursday 08/14/70 21:25:45

Pushing himself off the wall he had been resting on, Conall uncrossed his arms.

“Well then, what are we waiting for?�

Abandoned Ally, Seattle Dockyards, Downtown
Thursday 08/14/70 21:30:00

"Alright, give me a couple of minutes," Carla said, pulling out her medkit and looking for any medications containing sedatives, "Oh, and you can go keep your sister company on the lookout," she suggested to Paddy, "We'll come pick you up as we head out."

It didn't take long to whip up an appropriate cocktail that would knock out a female like Vanity for a while. Upon finishing her work, she handed Krait a small syringe filled with the sedative.

Abandoned Ally, Seattle Dockyards, Downtown
Thursday 08/14/70 21:30:00
Krait – Organizing the slumber-party
PAN Icon offline, Custom hidden (Signal 3), Moai offline

After Ms Johnson consented to the plan and signalled that she might be abled to improvise some anesthetic concoction, John returned to the van to make sure, Vanity wouldn´t get any ideas, while screening the matrix for a suitable dump. He hated to rely on hacking on the fly, but there was no time to probe and he wouldn´t want any of the female runner´s comrades to find the place because of some cheap anti-vandalism security-cameras. He was less worried about them picking her up, then he was about them ambushing his team in case they had to return. Thus he set up his Agent to search for a cheap, no-frills coffin-hotel with no life clark and wirelessly accessible security to access and hack on the fly. These kinds of places shouldn´t be too hard to find, so he could afford a brute force approach, breaking up the operation and sarting anew with some other place, in case his tempering raised any alarm.

Meanwhile, he used the time to speak to Vanity, but only reiterating the same stuff again, to keep her occupied. When his partners knocked at the door, he cracked the window open, just enough to receive the drugs. No need to give anyone else on the team any face-time. He acted as if the syrings contained some truth-cocktail, so she wouldn´t freak out in fear of a lethal injection. He guessed it would be applied i.v. and the syrings´ ARO confirmed it with some graphic instructions.

Time to go, the rest of the team could deliver the package on their own, with their visit to the hotel screened by his agent. He also instructed Ms. Johnson, to pay out of her purse and refill it with Vanity´s cash instead of using the runner´s funds directly, for the slim chance that her money could be traced. Next up, he had some digging to do, but before that, he would want to retrieve that sensor-package and while his datasearches where running, he planned to meet up with the ugly ork again, to get that bike chopped up and more importantly, give it´s autopilot another look-through, in case it held any usable navigational data.

Van, Abandoned Ally, Seattle Dockyards, Downtown
Thursday 08/14/70 21:34:00

Packed into the van once again, Carla made sure that Vanity was out cold before speaking to Krait.

"So I take it she gave you some information?" she asked. "Where do we go from here?"

Moving north in the Locos´ van, Seattle Dockyards, Downtown
Thursday 08/14/70 21:35:00
Krait – Picking up packages
PAN Icon offline, Custom hidden (Signal 3), Moai offline

John checked the time in the corner of his field of vision. Still 28 minutes left, before the hispanic´s bike would go onwave again, if only for a brief moment to ping it´s location, before it would turn down it´s signal range to minimum again. There was no point in meeting it´s keeper any earlier, still he aired a text-message to the ominous ork. There would be no distinctive marking telling the message´s origin, after the technician had piped it through a few anonymizer nodes, but to the intended recipient, it would be clear who sent it.

Will arrive shortly. Relocate if you have to, I´ll find the two of you without further notice. Please give ample warning through usual means, if I should expect any trouble at your companion´s location!

With a few mental commands, he started the first of what would become another lengthy string of data searches. This one concerning the Doc Waggon incident on Los Locos´ turf a few weeks ago. After getting his certified credstick back from Ms J, once she was done checking the unconscious Vanity, the elf offered her a fibre optic to connect to her com and spoke up briefly.

Frank: “I´d like to pass on some more thoughts and information, but our guest –though unconscious- might still carry any microscopic listening devices.�

Then he turned to Georges St. Pierre.

Frank: “It was a pleasure, working with you, Senór. I hope it has not been the last time.�

While he spoke, he withdrew the Colt L63, carefully removed the clip, unloaded the chamber and relaxed the spring and returned it to the Troll.

Frank: “Thanks for your assistance, and that of your men. As I understood, you offered it without asking for any compensation. If you happen to remember any additional details about that fight going on a few weeks ago – anything might make the difference. Our friend can provide you with some pictures, that might be helpful.�

Finally, meeting the huge metahuman´s eyes, he offered his hand to the boss of the street gang again. Then he turned back to his employer, at the same time checking his cab´s ETA. Just the sensor package to pick up and then go on.

Frank: “You can drop me over there, my cab should clear that corner in a few seconds. If you miss anything in the package I just sent you, contact me as usual.�

Said package contained the name and directions to the coffin hotel, an anonymous in-box to contact John, as well as a few instructions and some well-meaning advice.

... the coffin has already been payed for, you just have to enter the access code. Please send me a message on the in-box above, a few seconds before you enter the street of the hotel, so I can take care of the cams! As I said earlier, I think it´d be a good idea to keep her possessions until she is ready to leave. I´ll have to do some searching to do, but I´ll keep you updated. If we find out who was behind that incident in the neighbourhood, we might get a good leap ahead. In the mean time, everyone should catch some breath. The whole team did a great job tonight. Maybe you can give our partners some perks for it. I know that´s not in the budget, but a decent meal can go a long way and I´m certain you can find someone competent to volunteer for some cooking. Otherwise, there are still other leads you could pick up again, even if they don´t seem as hot at the moment. I.e. you could check out those three possible chiakis!

Suddenly waking up in the Fortress of Putritude
Thursday 08/14/70 21:35:00


Jack's comm unit beeped. He checked the time.

"Six minute nap," Jacksaid. "Guess I've had shorter, ya know?"

He returned the elf's last call to the pre-arranged box.

Smells worse den a Paris sewer, ya know? But we got no plans to move. Mind da neighbors and don't forget da secret knock. See ya soon. Hope we can make some cred offa dis here bike.

Jack yawned, stretched and rubbed his eyes. He thought Stay frosty old boy. Ain't but one way outta here and da elf will be blocking it. Hope I didn't make a mistake here. Hope dis guys on da up an up, ya know? He readied his pistol and hoped like hell he wouldn't need to use it.

Locos´ van - En Route to Coffin Hotel
Thursday 08/14/70 21:40:00

The gangers didn't wait for Krait's cab to show up - once they got his package, St. Pierre firmly pulled it closed and signaled for the driver to get moving.

"Frank is correct," Carla muttered, "We shouldn't say very much aloud, just in case the girl has some recording device on her."

The troll sitting across from her nodded silently.

She opened up Krait's package to give Bandito the address of the coffin hotel, but she got distracted by the transcript of Krait and Vanity "conversation." Crap, this was the incident that St. Pierre had told her about! And if this whole kidnapping was nothing more than an attempt at revenge, then there couldn't be a reason for her captors to keep her alive. She remembered briefly that Miguel had offered her a small reward even if they found Esmeralda dead, but that hardly helped her spirits. Carla had learned so much about Esmeralda - some of which was rather gross, to be frank - but she now felt like Esmeralda's friend moreso than she ever had before.

"Which way are we goin', Dona?" Bandito piped up, interrupting Carla's read. Carla fumbled to pull up the address on Krait's designated hotel and scribbled it down on the label of one of the medications she had used to for her cocktails.

"There," she said, handing him the little bottle with the address written on it, "Call me a minute before we reach the destination."

While Bandito and Padre argued over the best routes to take, Carla and St. Pierre spent the ride stripping Vanity of her possessions. Knowing a thing or two about cyberware, Carla tried to identify as much bodyware as she could, inspecting the woman's ears, pupils, nostrils, even the inside of her mouth for tooth compartments and the like. Her inspection was interrupted by Bandito's announcement that they were almost at the hotel.

Per Krait's instructions, she messaged his inbox to let him know.

<<One@Two: One minute from destination. How long shall we keep the subject?

Locos´ van - En Route to Coffin Hotel
Thursday 08/14/70 21:40:00

Without saying anything out loud, Carla made it clear to St. Pierre with her eyes what they were going to do. He quickly understood that it was time for a much more thorough search of their prisoner than had been carried out previously.

The troll started at her feet, taking off her shoes and going over them carefully. Carla started at the head, carefully working her fingers through the woman's tight curls....and bingo! Tangled in the short-cropped afro was a small chip. It wasn't well mounted - it almost looked as if it had been dropped right into her hair.

Setting the item aside carefully, they continued their search. Jewelry, drug patches, lockpicks,...the girl was loaded with various trinkets. As they piled up Vanity's possessions in the corner of the van, Carla was careful to make sure that St. Pierre didn't sneak any of the slap patches into his pockets. "Don't touch those," she instructed, "I don't want to get mixed up in whatever is in there."

With the search completed, Carla re-examined the mysterious chip from Vanity's hair. Was it a tracking device? If only Krait was here with her...he'd certainly know what to do. She photographed the front and back of the device - getting as close of a view as possible - and sent the images to Krait's commlink. >>Found in subject's hair. Thoughts?"

As for the rest of the items, Carla set aside the passkey, the lockpick, the taser, and a long red wig. The rest of the items - including the jewelry, money, and drugs - were bundled up in one of Vanity's garmets. Vanity would get to keep all of those items, as Carla didn't want to risk anything being tracked back to her or Los Locos.

The van stopped. Peeking out the back window, Carla found herself in a very lowly-lit, very quiet section of the city. She hoped Bandito knew how to get back home.

"Alright - Frank has a room set up for us," she told the gangers. "I'll take the girl inside by myself - if anyone sees us, I'll tell them that she's my friend and she had too much to drink. You guys wait right here for me." One tug on Vanity's arm, however, quickly revealed that Carla wasn't going to carry the woman anywhere.

"Okay, new plan: you carry the girl" she said to St. Pierre, "And you two wait here for us to come back. And don't let your guard down while you're waiting."

Cab on the move, Seattle Dockyards, Downtown
Thursday 08/14/70 21:42:00
Krait – Taking care of the cams
PAN Icon offline, Custom hidden (Signal 3), Moai offline

John picked up the sensor package he had dropped behind the dumpster earlier, then walked down the allay towards the corner where he cought his cab a few seconds later. While still in the cab, Ms Johnson´s message arrived the elven techhead. He slipped back into the coffinhotel´s system effortlessly, using the prearranged backdoor. Once he had started the prepared camera-loop, he gave her the go to procede. When they had cleared the hotel again, he again cleaned the logs of any traces of his tempering and left.