Los Locos Basement, The Barrio
Friday 08/15/70 1:11:38

Once the good Doctor had exited the small basement, Conall had started his work. Strangely enough, it didn't even occur to him, at this very moment, that dismembering a corpse didn't bother him the least. He hadn't grown up around death, and beside “undead�, he had seen very little actual dead people in his short life. Indeed, he had killed living and breathing beings three times, but the events had taken place when he was in such as state that it felt distant now. Like a day dream. Or a fever. As the young shaman began to cut a few garbage bags at the seams, laying them flat and connecting them in one big plastic sheet with tape, his mind began to wander away. The young elf wondered if this would be a once in a life type experience... or would there be many more to come?

Taking a pair of blue colored surgical gloves, he made them snap on his hands. Conall considered himself a warrior, a hunter and a soldier. None of these traits meant he was emotionless in the face of death, but as he pulled the Naguel's body unto the sheet, lying his now naked form down, the young elf felt nothing at all. No resentment. No joy. No sadistic pleasure some psychopath might find in dissecting a corpse. The whole affair was... oh so menial. Part of Conall felt like this would have been a proper moment to whistle some tune from back home... but the “common� part of his brain stopped him. As much as he didn't feel or thought of himself as a psychopath, whistling while chopping up a body might show things under a different light to others.

“Well mate,� he said, grabbing Naguel's head by the hair and setting it on the sheet “I guess this is the end of the line for ye.�

Fishing around the bag Carla had brought, Conall took out the pack of cigarette, lighting one and setting it aside. The smell would briefly cover the tale tell odour of blood. Taking out the small hedge clippers, Conall went to work. With a sickening crack of bones and the rip of flesh, the elf pulled what was left of Naguel's jaw away from his head, exposing the teeth.

“So baldrick,� he said to Jack as he started prying out one of Naguel's tooth “I do reckon by yer moves that ye aren't of the military breed.� he grunted, pulling the first tooth out “which means yer probably corporate trained.�

The three next teeth were much easier to extract.

“Seems by our wee Miss we're indeed going to have to share space, so I want to know all ye can tell about how ye operate. And I don't mean yer daily routine mate. I mean yer default SOPs, what sort of hardware ye can maneuver and the likes.�

After a few more minutes of pulling, all of Naguel's teeth were out, and neatly gathered in a little pile. Still holding the now slightly bloodier clipper, Conall pulled the man's arm up and away from his body, wedging his right pinky in the tool. With a snap, he chopped his finger clear off his hand.

“If odds are like they've been the past weeks, expect some heat. Ye've might have noticed that this party ain't no fireteam; which means that when the shite hits, we're going to have to be mighty square, hoi?�

He raised his head from the now fingerless hand, looking at the ork. Conall would have preferred any other elf, or even man, over this trogg. But that was what had been imposed to him, and as much as he disliked it, he was going to have to make the best of it. With some luck, he might actually turn this thing into something of a proper grunt.

“That means, we need to get set on yer and mine lingo, hoi? And not just lingo, but basic movement and tactical deployment.�

Conall went back to the second hand.

“Assay, when the call comes, I won't have time to wondered how ye'll react and move. I won't have the luxury of turning round to see what yer up to.�

The elf started sectioning fingers again.

“Hardware wise, what guns do ye got right now. And I don't mean on yer person, ork, I mean that ye can have in a matter of minutes.�

Los Locos Basement, The Barrio
Friday 08/15/70 1:20:00

Jack carefully considered his answers.

"Just a second, omae." He fiddled with his commlink. "Gotta look somethin' up. I kinda like ta know how I'm bein' insulted, ya know?"

"Baldrick, noun: a belt, sometimes richly ornamented, worn diagonally from shoulder to hip, supporting a sword, horn, etc. Also {Old French} bold king."

"So Paddy, am I a sword belt or a bold king?" Wow, dat oughta wrinkle da snooty Keebs nose. Jack thought.

"You're right. Best learn how ta work tagether. I came up in a gang, what gang and what city ain't none a your biz. I got spotted by a Johnson dat needed some local talent. I did good, so he took me on da corporate payroll as a bodyguard. Again, what corp and what Johnson ain't none a your biz. I usually worked da client close in, ya know. Da bad guys get past da outer network, I get da client ta safety and take da incoming heat on their behalf. Then, given da opportunity, I take out da threat. Nothin' feels so good as takin' out a scumbag dat's messin' with your client.

Like dat piece a drek your workin' on there. He was lookin' ta take out Frank but he played it too obvious and I nailed da fragger. I can't help dat he turned inta some mumbo jumbo spirit thing, ya know. He was good and dead when we brought him here. I made him dat way, even though I was outgunned and he had better armor and cyber. Intuition and skill is what got me through dat fight. Muthafragger.

So dats me. I'm da guy you want takin' care a da soft targets, like da mage scoutin' around in da astral or da hacker twiddlin' in cyberspace, ya know. I'm skilled with all kinda firearms too, so I ain't a half bad sniper.

I ain't da guy you want sneakin' into da enemy camp, or walkin' point in da jungle. I can already tell dat's you.

As for weapons, well I'm trained in all kinda' martial arts. I got my, what did you call it? Majorette Baton, but dats ta keep a low profile. In my former line keepin' a low profile was considered good. I am skilled in all kinda hand ta hand weapons, swords, clubs, axes, staves but all I got is my baton right now, oh and these shock gloves I lifted offa drek brain there. I got da guns ya see here. Back at my place, which ain't too far from here, I got a Ares Predator with several kinds a ammo, another Ingram smartgun, a AK 97 assault rifle, a Remington 990 shotgun with regular and buckshot ammo.

As for mods, I mostly got bioware, ta keep a low profile, ya know. I'm speeded up and my bones is tougher dan normal. I got eyes with all da usual mods, and a smartlink, ya know? Nothin' fancy, just da basics dat help a hard workin' ork from becomin' rat chow.

I ain't got no vehicles or vehicle skills. If ya want me ta drive da get away vehicle, ya might as well start runnin' cuz we ain't gettin' nowhere fast with me behind da wheel. And I hate fraggin' bikes. Even if someone else is drivin' 'em. Ain't no accident dat I took out dip drek's bike back at da bar, ya know?

I ain't got no tech skills neither. Just what I need ta get by and use my weapons. I guard and I fight, dat's what I do best.

I like a drink now and then but I don't get drunk. Dat's a quick ticket ta da afterworld express, as Mr. J use ta say."

Thinking of Ayrin, "And I don't take no street drugs," he said, his voice suddenly harsh. "My gang put da pain on any fraggers dat tried ta sell dat junk on our turf. So tell your sister don't come lookin' ta da new trog in her life for her next fix."

Looking back at Paddy, "I ain't gonna judge you on account a your sister's habit. Dat's somthin' da two a you gotta work out. I been there, I had a sister all strung out on drugs. Now she's been clean three years, so there's hope if ya wanna try hard enough."

Frag Jack thought. It probably wasn't his place to put the drug issue out in the open but he just couldn't stand to see someone's life wasted by something so stupid as bliss or novacoke. His life might actually depend on Ayrin one day. He certainly didn't want her messing up because she was high. Frag, frag, frag.

Villa on a Coast / Los Locos´ Basement, The Barrio, Seattle, Sea-Tac
Friday 08/15/70 13:00:00
Krait – House inspection
PAN Icon offline, Custom hidden (Signal 1), Moai offline

The system guided the hacker to all the installed utilities, with no more then a simple request. The desk itself contained two small, handheld sensors, that John´s agent easily identified as an analysis programm as sophisticated as the elf´s own utility and a scanner that was just as advanced. There was a notepad as well, which represented a high-end browser. Next to it rested an electronic pen of matching design, that contained as many multi-sensory editing functions as the technicians brand new sculpting software. Finally, there was a stylized AR-glove in one of the desk drawers, representing an elaborate drone command suit. On the side-board at the entrance rested some stylish sunglasses to filter out flare, UV rays and harmfull reality. Next to it, a less fancy looking pair of ear-plugs promised relief of distractive white-noise, to neutralize low rated jammers and at least partly counter more powerful electronic countermeasures. On the couch table in the living room lay a rubic´s cube, that was ready to encrypt any file or node.

Still the software-library did not end with these SOTA but mundane utilities. The bookshelf held douzens of books with empty pages, but one dictionary turned out to be military grade decryption software. Another book was actually hollow and held an assortment of old style ID cards and passports to spoof identity and authority. The spacious closet next to the bedroom contained only one piece of clothing, a dull black Kevlar vest. Gecko-taped to its chest where a nasty looking futuristic handgun with a dozen settings and a small but deadly looking black knife. Armour, Attack and Black Hammer, respectively, all of the highest rating the black-market could provide. The ex-lawyer had to chuckle to himself for a moment, that Killerprograms where merely restricted in the UCAS, after heavy lobbying of the corporate-court, under the assumption that they could only physically harm users of illegal hot ASISTs in a serious way and where considered as safe to take down a cold running offender, as the tasers so ubiquitous on the streets.

John´s persona wandered the sculpted node for a few more minutes, in search of any usefull information. After he had found nothing, he broadened his search to the items subscribed and in range, especially the messed up motorcycle. Before he turned his attention to the Japanese Johnson´s contact comcode, he turned off the wireless signals of all the hispanic´s gear, to avoid, or at least hinder tracking attempts by his allies or employee, but didn´t actually turn them off, to avoid having to circumvent the biometrics next time he needed to access them. So they went idl and waited for his orders, unwilling to accept anyone elses, including their former masters.

Los Locos´ Basement, The Barrio, Seattle, Sea-Tac
Friday 08/15/70 13:00:00

Jack was surprised at the combat mage's long silence, especially considering what he had said about his sister's all too obvious drug habit. Perhaps he was too busy dismembering the corpse to really care about the conversation. Jack really hoped that Paddy wasn't going to slice open the abdomen.

Don't nothin' smell as bad as somebody's or somethin's guts

He gave serious thought to catching a cab and going back to his apartment so he could rest quietly. After all, Frank had his number and his place was maybe 5 minutes away by car. But that wouldn't do. He was signed on now and he needed to stay near the action, such as it was.

He stretched himself out on his cot, careful to avoid damaging the sweets. He wasn't tired so much as bored.

Dat's da way it is he thought, stretches a boredom interrupted by moments a pure terror.

He laced his hands behind his head and sighed. He wanted nothing more than to get out and get on with it. He envied Frank, who could be in the thick of it anywhere, anytime. He knew he really couldn't do anything worthwhile until 12:30 on Saturday. That was going to be a long wait. A long boring wait.

I wonder how Mr. J's doin'? he thought.

Outside Los Locos' Basement, The Barrio, Seattle, Sea-Tac
Friday 08/15/70 13:00:00


Once Carla was back on the street, she pulled up Don Ricardo's commcode and gave him a call. What on Earth does he do all day? she thought to herself as she waited for her call to be received. I should really get myself an earpiece for this thing...

The display screen suddenly lit up and Carla saw herself looking at the face of Don Ricardo. In the corners of the screen she could glimpse the steady movement of shadows, indicating that he was probably in a moving vehicle. Most likely that fancy limousine of his.

"Buenos dias, Dona Carmen," Don Ricardo answered in his signature gentlemanly fashion. In many ways he reminded Carla of a character out of one of those old romantic 20th-century novels. "What a pleasant surprise to hear from you today; is there something I can do for you?"

Carla lowered the volume on her commlink speaker to ensure that nobody passing by on the street would overhear her conversation. "Good afternoon, Don Ricardo," she greeted him, "I wanted to let you know that I believe we're entering the final stretch of my, well..."

"Yes, that's good to hear," Ricardo nodded in understanding.

"However, I'm going to need a few extra supplies to finish up. You said in our last conversation that you would be willing to lend a hand, so I thought that maybe you could procure a few items for me."

Ricardo leaned back in his seat and folded his hands under his chin. The glittering rings on his hand indicated to Carla that he could likely afford whatever she asked for, though that didn't necessarily mean he'd be willing to buy it for her. He had already given her quite a bit of money to pay for her mercenaries, after all. "What exactly do you have in mind?" he asked.

"Well, I was hoping we could talk about that in person, Don Ricardo."

The gentleman leaned over and said something in Spanish that Carla couldn't quite make out - he appeared to be talking to someone else in the room with him. "You know old Santiago's shop, yes?" Santiago owned one of the few garages in the neighborhood, and was situated within the heart of Los Locos territory. "What do you say I pick you up from there in half an hour, and then we'll talk?"

Carla checked the time in the corner of the display screen on her commlink. "Well, the sisters at the clinic-"

"Take the rest of the day off," Don Ricardo interrupted, "The sisters can manage a day without you. I'll see you in 30 minutes."

"Very well. Thank you, Don Ricardo."

Santiago's Garage, The Barrio
Friday 08/15/70 13:22:00


"What do you mean he's on business." Carla asked Santiago once more. She had been planning to pay a visit to St. Pierre before heading over to Don Ricardo's suggested meeting point, but St. Pierre wasn't answering any of her messages. As a result, Carla had headed straight over to Santiago's garage with the hope of finding someone who knew of St. Pierre's whereabouts, but nobody was willing or capable to help her.

"I tell you, Dona," old Santiago explained, "He got job for a couple of day. That's all I know."

Carla contained her frustration and spoke softly. "Well, you see Santiago, I know many Los Locos members carry firearms, and I was wondering if you have any spares you might be willing to lend me for a couple of days."

Santiago looked puzzled - he was probably trying to figure out why the neighborhood doctor was asking him for guns. "What, you think we don't protect you good?"

"No, it's just that I might be heading out of town for a day or two, and I might need to protect myself. You know how it is, Santiago."

"Yes, yes," Santiago agreed. "We don't want you to disappear like poor Esmeralda. I show you some spares we keep in the basement, OK?"

"Thank you, Santiago."

The old man took Carla down into the basement of the garage. Carla had always imagined that Santiago's place acted as a secret headquarters or warehouse of sorts for Los Locos, but apparently it mostly was just a garage after all. Instead of being introduced to a secret munitions cache, Carla found that the basement was actually stocked with spare auto parts for the most part. In the very back of the basement was a large man-sized chest covered in dust and cobwebs and secured shut with a standard combination padlock. Santiago opened it up and showed Carla what was inside.

It was very disappointing.

The chest was filled mostly with light pistols and a handful of shotguns and small rifles. And although Carla was by no means a weapons expert, she could tell that these items were not in very good condition. She knew, for example, that the barrel of a rifle wasn't supposed to be bent.

"These are the weapons Los Locos uses?" Carla asked, incredulous.

"Oh no, no, not now," Santiago explained. "These the weapons we used to use before they got old and broken and replaced with new ones. But maybe we find one for you that still works, OK?"

Carla picked a random pistol out of the chest.

"That one's broken," said Santiago.

"On second thought, perhaps I'd be best off without a weapon," Carla said, not wanting to subject her teammates to faulty (and otherwise just plain crappy) weaponry. "I will have to rely on God's will to protect me in my travels."

Santiago didn't appear to be very surprised by her decision. "OK, Dona. But you know, God's will is sometimes very unpleasant."

Don Ricardo's Limo, The Barrio
Friday 08/15/70 13:30:00


It wasn't long before Don Ricardo's black limousine pulled up outside Santiago's garage. Although everybody in the barrio always took notice whenever Don Ricardo was nearby, it was customary for the adults to pay their respects by carrying on with their business as if he wasn't there. In contrast, young children always liked to run alongside Don Ricardo's clean and shiny limousine as it passed slowly through the streets, and Don Ricardo himself took pleasure in appeasing the children by handing out fruits and candy to them. Carla used to think it was just a sweet gesture on Don Ricardo's part, but she had come to conclude that this was his way of securing the trust of the barrio youth at a young age so that they would remain loyal to him as they grew older. Combine that with a heavily religious culture that emphasized loyalty and faith over independence and free-thought, and it was the perfect breeding ground on which to build...well, Carla wasn't exactly sure. Clearly Don Ricardo was in charge of something big - something bigger than a mere gang like Los Locos - but she still didn't quite know what that "something" was.

When the limo came to a stop, Don Ricardo's chauffeur opened the passenger door for her and let her inside. As usual, Don Ricardo was sitting in the back seat, tossing candy out the window for the children to run after. By the time the chauffeur had gotten back into the driver's seat, Don Ricardo rolled up the window and the limousine took off.

"Good afternoon once again," Ricardo finally greeted her. "I believe there is some business you wish to discuss?"

Carla took a note out of her pocket and handed it over to Don Ricardo. The note contained the list of items Krait and Paddy had requested of her. "I have two hired hands working with me on the case; once we got a relatively clear picture of the kind of people Esmeralda was taken by and what we might be going up against, I asked them to tell me what equipment they would need to pull off a rescue attempt. Those are the items they requested."

Don Ricardo nodded as he read over the list with a mildly amused look on his face.

"If it helps, I'm perfectly willing to return any equipment we have left after the operation. I'm not asking to keep any of this."

"This is some serious equipment," Don Ricardo eventually replied. "Your 'hired hands' are impressively professional given the wages they must be working." Don Ricardo folded up the note and placed it neatly within his coat pocket.

"If the equipment is too expensive or too difficult to obtain-" Carla started

"No, it's not too expensive...not all of it, at least. Alas, I am but a small businessman of minor influence and resources, but I will do my best to provide you with what you have asked for. Give me twenty-four hours to see what I can find."

"I'm very appreciative, Don Ricardo."

The Barrio, Seattle, Sea-Tac
Friday 08/15/70 13:30:15

The gentleman nodded in acknowledgement of the woman's gratitude. "Consider this investment a show of faith in you and your efforts on Esmeralda's behalf, and perhaps also a demonstration of my own intentions towards her, and also yourself. I hope that in this way I may earn a modicum of your trust. Despite all I have done for you, in our last interview, I asked for your views on a subject of great import and interest to myself, but was met with, shall I call it reticence?"
He clipped the tip off an expensive looking cigarillo. Far to well-mannered to back anyone into a corner, however, he added, "Or perhaps I am indeed making too much of nothing."
His words suggested a way out, but his eyes did not.

The Barrio, Seattle, Sea-Tac
Friday 08/15/70 13:30:20

Carla knew what Don Ricardo was driving at, but she didn't understand why he was behaving the way he was. She didn't believe that he was genuinely curious; rather, it seemed like he already knew what he wanted her to say.

"Like I told you before," Carla answered, "I've seen no evidence indicating a connection between my situation and Sister Esmeralda's abduction - if that's what you wish to hear from me. If it's something else that you're interested in, then I very humbly ask that you be more direct with me, Don Ricardo."

Los Locos´ Basement, The Barrio, Seattle, Sea-Tac
Friday 08/15/70 13:30:00

Jack leaned on his elbow and watched as the elf methodically dismembered the dishonorable street sammy. The smell and haze of cigarette smoke filling the basement hideout reminded him of his days with the Grinders. Ah to be around Billy and Jill again, those were good times.

The activity reminded Jack of a story his old combat instructor used to tell. It was about a Chinese butcher who was so good at cutting up animals that he never needed to sharpen his meat cleaver. He just slid the cleaver through the proper space in the joint and the meat fell away. Well, Paddy was no legendary Chinese butcher, but he was making fast work of the corpse.

He rolled over and stared at the filthy basement ceiling. He was restless. He wanted to contribute to the mission but he didn't even know what the mission was. At least he was healing and well fed and would soon be earning his keep in the new sprawl.

He plugged his ear buds back in and brought up Darwin's Bastards Keeb Bleed 2070 Live. The lyrics were too racist for his tastes but the music could really shred the eardrums. He kept the volume down, in order to hear if he was being spoken to by either of the remaining elves.

Dey got better things ta do den keep me entertained.

The Barrio, Seattle, Sea-Tac
Friday 08/15/70 13:30:30

The older man pursed his lips momentarily. "I simply find the coincidences too great to ignore. Some others whom I trust, in particular some churchmen, shared my views. But since I have chosen you for this task, it is incumbent upon me to take you at your word and trust in your judgment. I apologize if you inferred any undue skepticism on my part. You will have your delivery in 24 hours. Please take care."

The Barrio, Seattle, Sea-Tac
Friday 08/15/70 13:31:00

"Coincidences?" Carla asked. "You don't mind my asking what coincidences you perceive there to be, do you?"

The man stroked his moustache, an obvious attempt to hide his annoyance at being forced to be so direct. "Coincidences? First, there is the fact that your problem in New York followed you here, as seen in the attack on the clinic. Then there is the fact that the one abducted was present at that attack, and in close contact with the Damned. Then, as you close in on her trail, there is the large-scale attack in Redmond, timed fortuitously to foil your efforts. And then there is the fact that the Damned, in their non-corporeal form, shadow not only yourself, but all the associates you have working with you, most especially the beautiful addict."

Carla was put at ease - in a weird sort of way - as Don Ricardo began to trot out his list of "coincidences." The attack at the clinic, the attack at the club...those had nothing to do with Esmeralda; they had to do with Carla and the damned fact that she was getting close to corpses. And the reasons for Esmeralda's abduction were due to events that had happened quite a while before Carla arrived in Seattle. Leave it to old-fashioned, Bible-thumping, prophecy-seeking Catholic priests to see relations among events where there were none. Carla was prepared to put Don Ricardo's fears to rest; however, his last remark caught her offguard.

"They're what?" Carla sat up in her seat. "You mean, Krait, Paddy, Ayrin - they're all being haunted by those things? How long has this been going on? How long have you known about this?"

Carla started searching for explanations. Maybe the shedim were shadowing her teammates simply because she tended to spend time with them? But then the shedim would be shadowing all the nuns in the clinic too. Then again, Paddy and Krait had each killed their fair share of shedim spirits over the past few days, so perhaps the damned creatures were simply keen on getting their revenge. But then why would they be so interested in Ayrin?

"Your first two questions are rhetorical and redundant, respectively. The fourth is immaterial. As for the third, well, certainly as long as she has been reunited with the other Irishman. Set your house in order, senorita. Look after your own. And remember, this is the 6th World - in this age, the logical and the mystical do not always contradict one another, as I would have thought you'd have seen by now."

Carla did not attempt to conceal her displeasure. "If you're keeping such a close eye on me and my people, why do you keep asking me these questions about the mission? Are you really curious about what's going on, or do you just like to play games with me?"

The man smiled warmly. "My dear, it was you that asked for straight speaking, and I have only obliged. And while I have never pretended not to have agendas of my own, I am not in the habit of playing games. I assure you that I ask questions for one reason and one reason only: to get information that I do not have. As for keeping an eye on you, perhaps having my ear to the ground would be a more apt metaphor. I have many sources of information, and naturally I use them to follow the progress of those projects especially important to me. Now, as the individual bankrolling this project, surely I have that right, don't you agree?"

"Yes, of course," Carla answered dejectedly. The limousine was beginning to slow down, and Carla noticed that they were pulling up to the front of the church. "Well, the project should be finished very soon, and I hope to be able to tell you everything you want to know when it's all done and over with."

The limo had stopped, and the chauffeur was opening the door for Carla to leave. "Thank you very much for the conversation, Don Ricardo; please say hello to my grandmother for me.[/b]

After getting out of the vehicle, the limo rolled down the street at its usual leisurely pace, as if it really had no particular place to go. Carla waited until the limo pulled around the corner before she began her walk back to the Los Locos hideout.

Los Locos Basement
Friday 08/15/70 13:55:00

"Okay, I have good news and bad news," Carla reported to her teammates upon her arrival. "I made some arrangements and we'll be receiving a delivery of some equipment tomorrow. Unfortunately, I can't say exactly what we will or will not be getting until it arrives, so we're going to have to wait until tomorrow to find out. What I do know we won't be getting, unfortunately, are weapons or a vehicle, so if there's nothing else we can get done today, we should get to work on that."

Carla took a look around the basement; it still smelled rotten. "How have you guys been progressing with your work?"

Los Locos´ Basement, The Barrio, Seattle, Sea-Tac
Friday 08/15/70 13:04:00
Krait – Taking out the technical trash
PAN Icon offline, Custom hidden (Signal 1), Moai offline

Once done with the Hispanic´s gear, John made the Spoof-Chip in his com change it´s access IP and hit the telecom grid for the Johnson´s comcode and found it´s node to be online. A careful analysis revealed, that it was in passive mode. No alert, no databomb anywhere on the outside. Not much traffic, just short messages occasionally. Cutting edge system and firewall with top ratings promised any attempt to hack it silently to take another full days shift of hard work. He was tempted to start right away, giving in to the strong urge to just keep on going. Just in time, ‘Donna Carmen’ stepped into his field of view, with a large bag over her shoulder, delivering the dismemberment kit to Paddy like Santa´s li´ll helper.

Ms Johnson: "Alright Paddy, here's your stuff. I think that-"

As she noticed the other woman in the room, the camera-feed almost seemed like an old aztlaner trideo-novela. Whatever she thought, she didn´t look pleased about Ayrin´s presence. She quickly got back to business.

Ms Johnson: "While you guys work on the body, I'm going to see if I can get you the equipment you need. Now's the time to ask."

Back from his virtual voyage, the elven technician removed the cap from his face as if to answer to her. Instead, he only gathered his things and simply said.

Frank: “I´m going to take a walk. It won´t take too long.�

Neighbourhoods outer perimeter, The Barrio, Seattle, Sea-Tac
Friday 08/15/70 13:07:40
Krait – Taking a walk
PAN Icon offline, Custom hidden (Signal 3), Moai offline

Casting an insignificant look at the beautiful female elf, John went for the door, but then looked back once more, as if something had just gotten back to mind. The ex-lawyer offered an equally insignificant invitation, to give some additional impulse for Paddy´s sister, to leave the scene of the fighter´s bloody work.

Frank: “My cab will arrive in three, thirtysix, in case you could use a lift. If there´s nothing else on your agenda, maybe you could have my back, while I´m going to pick up some equipment. Not that I expect any trouble,� he cast a glance at Paddy that said he really meant it, “but two set ups in one night have diminished my desire to look after business without an additional pair of eyes.�

Leaving the basement a few steps behind ‘Dona Carmen’, John considered giving the shedim conversation another try, but as Ms Johnson immediately pulled out her comlink, he just waved his goodbye and walked straight for the edge of the barrio, arriving to the second, his taxi´s ETA ticked to zero and the cheap, black and yellow oldtimer-repro pulled around the corner.

Temporary base of operation, The Barrio, Seattle, Sea-Tac
Friday 08/15/70 14:36:00
Krait – Searching the darkness
PAN Icon offline, Custom hidden (Signal 3), Moai offline

Jack put the time on the uncomfortably hard backseat to use, looking for some linguistic insight into the possession induced strange talk. The mook-master made his agent search through multiple databases on meso-american dialects, to find likely translations for the unintelligible words.

Queztpactyl - likely some expression of extreme fear and hatred
cacapica - expression of frustration
garthmaash - unknown - almost certainly NOT of Meso-American origin
mecopal - opposition/dichotomy/yin-yang/light-dark/juxtaposition
huetzcal yutaca - expression to bolster courage
mactactucl - vessel/intermediary
mixtapotl - bridge
cabron - modern Spanish/Aztlaner - extremely derogatory; suggests pimping ones own wife

Even with this information, the words spoken by the possessed ork remained quiet cryptic. Still the sound of these words made the consummate conspiracy theorist shiver with distant memories of data heavens and intelligence archives. While he sifted through the results of his query, he still looked out for tails constantly. Allthough he noticed none, he changed the cab after a brief walk through a park and again in a dark ally, leaving the Hispanic shadowrunner´s standard and security RFID Tags behind in the second taxi. After picking up his forensics kit, he returned to the team´s temporary base in a similar manner. He also did another search to find any pattern in the strange fighter´s cyberware brands, but couldn´t make out any. Once he was back, he started to take finger and palm prints, tooth scans and tissue samples, then moved on to his cloths and bike, looking for dirt on boot and tire, etc.

The Datasearch on the antagonistic operative turned up nothing, except for the fact that it turned up nothing at all. However, what proved illuminating in the end was the strange soil John had found on the dead man´s boots. He knew he had seen that characteristic colour before. He knew the smell of that soil. He knew that it had stained his 900 swiss calve-leather shoes, when he had visited the Denver Aztechnology enclave on a particularly rainy day in 2061. After another quick search, he also knew that it was a special kind of ‘sacred soil’ that was found nowhere in north America, except at the Aztechnology Pyramid in seattle these days and so the shadowrunner must have been there recently.

This fact, combined with the language used, lead him to suspect involvement of aztech blood magery or similar nastiness. So he consulted thaumaturgical databases and found that Aztlaner mages liked to use the mactactucl word when discussing those possessed by shedim. Furthermore, he found one article posted five years ago on AzzieWatch – which was an internal Aztechnology report by a researcher, suspected by poster to be a blood mage, named Dr. Hector Delarossa in which he suggested that current efforts at using "magic" to harness "otherplanar forces" where not the best use of resources. His thesis was that the "current work" was focused on forces that occured too infrequently at current mana levels, and so had relatively limited potential return. He suggested that the new phenomenon known as shedim offered a much more abundant resource.

After surrendering this information to Ms Johnson, he excused himself to get some rest before tackling the expansive task of probing ‘Kenichi Johnson´s’ communications node.

Los Locos´ Basement, The Barrio, Seattle, Sea-Tac
Friday 08/15/70 14:40:00

Jack tired quickly of the racist lyrics of Darwin's Bastards. He was, after all, now on a team with three elves. Not the time to be filling his head with elf hating drek.

Years ago, sitting in a Denver Hotel, bored out of his mind, he tried to do a datasearch for trog rock but he hit the p instead of the t and wound up searching for prog rock. Curiosity got the better of him and he checked out the matrix site he was directed to. Although it could never compare to the power and majesty of goblin rock, he found the music did have some merits of its own. He now went to the site and put together a play list of some of the more aggressive tunes leading off with Riding the Avalanche by Spock's Beard:

"I am invincible/nobody can stop me/not even mom and dad/they never had a daughter/but I bet they wish they had."

He swayed on the cot to the music. It seemed odd that he and Paddy were the only two left in the basement.

Next came a live version of 21st Century Schizoid Man by King Crimson, recorded at the Fillmore West, which had been in San Francisco, which was across the bay from Oakland, which reminded Jack of a lot of things.

I wonder where Mr. J. is now? Jack thought.

Redmond Center Hotel, Redmond Way & Avondale Rd, Redmond, Tourist Ville
Friday 08/15/70 16:00:00
Krait –
PAN Icon offline, Custom hidden (Signal 3), Moai offline

Life Chat, private mode, Users present SirRAMb0, Violet
SirRAMb0 [08/15/70 14:40:00] <<"Do I have to pay, to see you for lunch">>

Violet [08/15/70 14:45:09] <<�Depends... is it for business or ‘bussiness’? Technically I am off duty.�>>

SirRAMb0 [08/15/70 14:45:30] <<Isn´t everything in this world about both? Meet me at 1530 at the Redmond Center Hotel´s Parkview Launch and decide for yourself! Just tell me, when the counter starts ticking ;-)>>

Violet [08/15/70 15:01:59] <<Feeling philosophical! I´ll be there ...>>

The trip to the barrens was relatively swift, despite having to drop off the forensics kit at a new locker, picking up a can of odour-killer and taking precautions against being shadowed. Occupying his mind with things unrelated to his work also made the time pass quickly. The Luxury Hotel´s launch was fairly comfortable, even for John´s standards, and the tea he enjoyed while he waited for the Heartbreaker was excellent – for north American standards. She showed up ten minutes late, even though her gang´s turf was only a brief walk away. The male elf greated her with a snide remark, but a benevolent expression, and ordered a drink for her. After a nice lunch, John offered the information and access codes to Ground-Zero´s camera-scam, but without the unaltered footage of the other night. ‘What´cha want for it?’ she asked and he said ‘Nothing, I´m just returning the favour you did to me!’ Of course this information was easily worth more than skipping the VIP-entrance-fee. At the moment, he had hardly enough time to put it to use, however. Accepting this boon would probably not leave the ganger on equal terms with John, concerning who owed whom, but he did his best to make her agree. When that part of the meeting was over, the man took a sip of his cocktail and looked into his companion´s face for a long moment. She returned the gaze with an inquisitive stare.

Violet: “Why don´t you just sell this stuff to Frosty?�

SirRAMb0: “I just want my friends to prosper, especially if they have as magnificiant eyes as yours.�

She smiled.

Violet: “Now the counter starts ticking!�

SirRAMb0: “Well, then I have to go.�

And with that, he left for the unrewarding work of staring at an antique phone in the virtual world.

Los Locos´ Basement, The Barrio, Seattle, Sea-Tac
Friday 08/15/70 17:00:00

Right in the middle of Lightning's Hand by Kansas a strange icon appeared on Jack's commlink. Jack recognized it as the number Frank had used the night before.

Hmmm, Frank's callin' me. I better play dis tight, he thought.

Jack: "Hello?"

Strange Icon: "I noticed some of your communications equipment could use an upgrade. Do you mind if I borrow it for a couple of hours?"

Jack: "Wow, I don't know. I mean all my stuffs on there, ya know? I wouldn't want ta lose my pics. What am I supposed ta do for two hours? Dis is my entertainment for now, ya know? Ain't like I got somethin' ta read or watch in da meantime, I mean unless you was ta bring me sometin' like a cheap trid and some movies ta watch, ya know? Ain't gotta be nothin' fancy, just somethin' ta pass da time. Then I'm in. A course I'm in anyway, but it would be nice ta have somethin' ta do while I ain't doin' nothin', ya know?"

Strange Icon: "I know. I'll see what I can do. We're on a tight schedule and a budget. See you in 20."

Jack: "I ain't goin' nowhere."

The strange icon disappeared and the song picked up at the blistering final guitar exchanges.

Damn, those guys coulda been goblin rockers if they wasn't from da last century, he thought.

Four songs later, Frank appeared with Naguel's shades and ear buds.

Frank: "Here you go, I stored some Shanghai action thrillers on these. You can use it just like a disposable trid player. Now, may I have a look at the commlink, please?"

Jack: "Yea sure." He handed over the link. "I know it's off da rack drek, but try not ta lose my stuff. All my memories is on dat thing, ya know?"

Frank: "What I'm doing has nothing to do with the memory functions of the device. Your pictures are safe."

Jack: "Thanks Frank. You're a stand up guy, ya know?"

Then Frank lay down on his cot and put on his cybersurfing get up. Jack began watching Pirates of the Yangtze: River of Blood

Hmm, shoulda asked for some popcorn, he thought.

Threshold to Kenichi´s node / Temporary base of operation, The Barrio, Seattle, Sea-Tac
Friday 08/15/70 22:00:00
Krait – Checking Chenichi´s Comcodenode
PAN Icon offline, Custom hidden (Signal 3), Moai offline

The ride back to the barrio went a bit less swift, but none the less without any significant delay. The tech decided to give Jack an advance warning, that he planned to tinker with his com a bit. So he gave the ork a short call. At his request, he organized some distraction for the time without a comlink.

Four Law Journals later, John appeared in the basement, with a can of odorant-neutralizer in hand, that he used to spray the room for about 2 minutes, before he set it to one hour auto-burst interval and put it on the far side of the room. Then he handed Jack the shades and earplugs of the deceased and dismembered Latino.

Frank: "Here you go, I stored some Shanghai action thrillers on these. You can use it just like a disposable trid player. Now, may I have a look at the commlink, please?"

Jack: "Yea sure." He handed over the link. "I know it's off da rack drek, but try not ta lose my stuff. All my memories is on dat thing, ya know?"

Frank: "What I'm doing has nothing to do with the memory functions of the device. Your pictures are safe. You can keep the comlink untill I´m leaving tonight"

Jack: "Thanks Frank. You're a stand up guy, ya know?"

Then Frank departed the physical reality of the grisly basement to tackle his virtual chores and Jack began watching Pirates of the Yangtze: River of Blood.

...

Staring at the antique telephone icon of the Asian Johnson´s comnode, while supervising his Agent to probe for any cracks in it´s formidable firewall, proved as boring as expected. Sporadically, John made his access ID change and he always kept an eye out for trouble via the audiovisual life-feed from his cam and cyberears, but these activities did neither occupy enough of his concentration to make time pass swiftly, nor leave his mind free enough to relax. When he was done with this daunting task, he felt quiet exhausted.

Temporary base of operation, The Barrio, Seattle, Sea-Tac
Friday 08/15/70 22:08:00
Krait – Going Home
PAN Icon offline, Custom hidden (Signal 1), Moai offline

Getting up from his bed, he stretched and cast a tired look at the ork. He had to use the restroom, but he´d rather do so at home, so he held out and stirred the ugly metahuman to semi-wakefulness and demanded his com. Slotting a credstick into it, he handed it back to his new teammate and pointed at the text-field popping up on the screen.

<<My Streetname is Krait, just for references, but please keep calling me Frank in public and just chummer, pal or mate on the com. You can reach me via voicemail under BlueBeard@BloodyFloor or post under the lable Kevin @ CineMATRIX (the password is Kevlar III), my handle there is Whitney.
BTW I also provide more mundane technical services like electronics modifications, upgrades and repair for negotiatable fares.

Now please back-up your important files on this credstick and keep it. Then type some username and passcode I can use to access your com and hand it to me.>>

After retrieving the comlink and memorizing the access data, John left the barrio again and took a triade of cabs home, to get a shower and some well needed sleep. Once he woke up, he would take a closer look at that Agent on the non-wireless com and then head for the shop, to work on the comlinks, before he met with the team again.

Los Locos´ Basement, The Barrio, Seattle, Sea-Tac
Friday 08/15/70 22:08:00

Despite the amazing action sequences of the trids that Frank had loaded on the shades, Jack had again slipped into a commuter nap. When the elf tech woke him, he needed a few seconds to get his head around the requests.

He nodded, then slowly backed up his fake SINs and licenses, making sure not to make any mistakes, along with his thousands of pictures from cities around the world, Krait's contact info, and his programs. He could see Frank wasn't used to people taking so long to accomplish such a simple request.

He thought hard about the username and passcode for the comm. Too hard, he could tell Frank was anxious to leave.


Username: Shagratkiller
Passcode: 825Grand825

He backed that up onto the credstick as well, even though he knew it was bad virtual security to do so. It wasn't like his memory was that good with codes and names, except in fighting situations, where his intuition took over. Survival was a good teacher.

He looked at Frank, "That oughta do it," he said. "I can't wait ta see how good my comm will be after ya jazz it up, ya know?"

Los Locos Basement
Friday 08/15/70 13:55:00

Conall tore a piece of tape with his teeth. As it had turned out, dismembering a corpse was a little more work than he had imagined. It was easier to get someone into a bunch of pieces when you didn't really care about making a mess... Nevertheless, Naguel was now conveniently packed into more than a dozen manageable pieces.

As Carla spoke, the young shaman finished taping the bag... which was, oddly enough, shaped like an arm. Once she was done, and so was he, he threw the wrapped package down with the rest, wiped his bloody gloved hands on his apron and reached for the smoke.

“As fer as progress be concern, am fair an done with our wee friend.� he said with a smile, gesturing with the cigarette toward the stash of body parts.

The cigarette finally reached his lips, where he pulled on it and exhaled through his nose.

“To me knowledge, Frank hasn't been up the lead and to a source, so sitting on our hands would be what would come next... But if yer suggesting some outing, I sure am yer man.�

Los Locos Basement
Friday 08/15/70 13:57:00

"Good," Carla said, "Because we're going to have to get some weapons."

Taking Krait's advice, she keyed in Mr. Chu's commcode and waited for the image of the staid asian man to appear on her AR display. "Those things will kill you, you know," she remarked to Paddy as she waited for the call to connect.

As expected, Mr. Chu was all business when he answered her call. Carla found no reason to be any different.

>>I'm looking for arms-dealers - black market dealers, more specifically, in the Seattle area. Anyone located near the Sanctuary of St. Ignatius would be a plus. I'm not looking for anything particularly high-tech or exotic; I just need someone who is willing to make fast transations. What's your charge for putting me into contact with such a person?

Save-House Martin, Luther King Jr. Way S & S Ryan Way/Boeing Rd, Seattle, Van Asselt
Saturday 08/16/70 02:07:00
Krait – One-Man Slumber-Party
PAN Icon offline, Custom hidden (Signal 1), Moai offline

During the ride home, John had sent his Agent to search Aziwatch and the greater Matrix for information on Aztech holdings in the Seattle Megaplex and especially the public areas of the Aztech Pyramide, it´s Security and the purpose of it´s non-public sections, all the while carefully spoofing his data-trail. When he finally arrived at home with the third cab, he didn´t even bother to read through it, as he had other things on his mind – like sleep.

He could not put his restless thoughts at ease, however. He pressed some fresh fruit-juice, but didn´t drink it. He considered some ‘action sim’, but the experiences of the last days mate his appetite lacking somehow. So he finally decided to run on the home-trainer for a few minutes and do a short burst of high intensity work-out to exhaust his muscles a bit. Then the ex-lawyer ordered some food and took a hot and cold shower. He stepped out of the bathroom in a luxurious robe, just in time, to receive his nice, fresh pastrami sandwich. After the first bit, he thought what grandfather Shivaji would say about him eating a holy animal´s shoulder, but quickly decided to drown the notion in alcohol, in another attempt to get sleepy. He would not dare to kick back more than one drink – he had chosen a sambuca ‘con la mosca’. Sitting in his favourite massage-armchair, he tryed hard, not to contemplate business –the bag with the offline comlink rested temptingly in the corner of his field of vision- but every time he managed to do so, thoughts about that gray world nonsense welled up in his head and they made him feel just as juiced up, as planning the next hack, negotiation or datasearch.

I should do a search on RFS - I should do a search on Alice ... on Kob and Manolo ... Emma – how are thy?

He did not dare to.

...Alice...

He opened his eyes with a rush of adrenaline. How long? [08/16/70 02:00:09] He jumped up from the chair, then waited a second for his blood-pressure to follow. Picking up the com from out of the bag, he fingered it lost in fleeting thoughts –but still carefull to leave the camera-lens covered out of paranoid habit- as he slowly walked over to the kitchen and took the orange-grapefruit-kiwi-juice out of the fridge. Walking back to the living room, he sunk into the chair once more, drained the glass and connected fibre-optically to the silent node.

Los Locos Basement
Friday 08/15/70 13:57:10

Chu sucked deeply on his omnipresent cigarette, savored a moment and exhaled. <<Higher than it would be to sell you something myself. But if you insist on some sort of middleman, I suppose it can be arranged. I see the gentleman I set you up with has spent some time with your commlink. Let's start with some idea of what you're looking for.>>

Blanked Offline Comlink / Save-House Martin, Luther King Jr. Way S & S Ryan Way/Boeing Rd, Seattle, Van Asselt
Saturday 08/16/70 08:09:12
Krait – Virtual Reality Rendesvous
PAN Icon offline, Custom hidden (Signal -), Moai offline

Content that he had backed up all his files and cut off his custom comlink from the rest of his PAN, John entered the dead shadowrunner´s offline comlink, to get a better look at the agent inside the otherwise empty node. The beautiful woman was still sitting on a plain chair in the middle of it and still tapping her ultra-realistic stilettos on the floor in bored annoyance, only with a slightly increased pace. She looked discontented but not on alert. She was dressed in a beige mini and cream coloured carrier-top. A necklace of white pearls and flower-shaped brilliant-earrings accentuated her delicate features. A through analysis of her seductive icon revealed, that none of her clothing and acessoires represented any utilities. The technician noticed two interesting details however, that his own agent interpreted for him. On one of her luxurious, long legs, she wore a small, silver ankle bracelet featuring a tiny engravement identifying her as Sophie. There also was a single-party armband on her left wrist, indicating that she had no currently authorized users. For a full six hours, John staked out the strange expert program, scrutinizing it unnoticed from a safe distance. After his Exploit utility had collected enough intelligence, his own agent was able to outline a way into Sophie´s heart.

John disconnected the scavenged comlink to get a small break and check for messages and news, before engaging the Agent. A strong espresso and cigarette later, the elf dove back into the nigh empty node. Donning an elegant, yet casual male icon, that bared no specific similarity to his physical form, he added a white rose to his jacket, mirroring the beautiful woman´s earrings.

Blind Date: “You must be Sophie. This flower pales in comparison to your beauty. My apologies, that you had to wait!�

He handed her the rose and immediately observed her in detail for signs of an alert triggered by his use of the admin backdoor.

Los Locos Basement
Saturday 08/16/70 08:00:00

By midnight, Jack had had his fill of passing the time and being bored, while others worked hard on the mission. He made a visit to the bathroom then placed the Ingram, still loaded with a partial clip of APDS ammo under his pillow.

For a man used to action and tense situations, sitting around all day could be exhausting in its own way. Jack lay down to sleep a dreamless sleep until the next morning. He awoke and checked his wounds.

Not quite ready for action yet he thought. Then he rolled over and fell back asleep. Soon enough the Doc would require his services and he would be well rested and ready.

Los Locos Basement
Friday 08/15/70 13:58:10

It was too bad Krait was off doing more important things. Carla wasn't exactly highly qualified to be shopping for firearms, and she still didn't know exactly what kind of opposition her team was going up against. However, she couldn't afford to let this search-and-rescue mission linger on any longer, especially now that she knew her whole team was being haunted by demons. At least Jack seemed to have his own personal arsenal, and Krait had his own requests, so that pretty much only left Paddy and herself to be armed.

<<I'll be happy to buy directly from you if you have what I need.>>

She sent Mr. Chu a text file containing Krait's requested weapons, as well as a couple of her own requests:

<<Defiance Protector + Taser-Darts
Morissey Élan
Beretta Model 70 + Gel-, Pepper-Punch-Capsule-, Reg-Ammo
Ingram Smartgun + Reg-Ammo
Ruger Super Warhawk + Reg-Ammo
Ares Viper Slivergun + Fletchette Ammo,
4 Flashbang Grenades
4 Fragmentation Grenades

What's the price estimate on that? And where do I pick up the equipment if I buy directly from you?>>

Los Locos Basement
Friday 08/15/70 13:58:18

The Asian man stubbed out his cigarette in an overflowing ashtray. His sallow features were wreathed in wisps of smoke.

<<Y4,000. That's a friend price. I can deliver it anywhere in the 'plex with four hours' notice.>>

Blanked Offline Comlink / Save-House Martin, Luther King Jr. Way S & S Ryan Way/Boeing Rd, Seattle, Van Asselt
Saturday 08/16/70 08:09:13

For the first time, the woman seemed to notice him. She smiled politely, with a hint of invitation. Her voice was cool. "I don't mind waiting, if it's for the right person."

Blanked Offline Comlink / Save-House Martin, Luther King Jr. Way S & S Ryan Way/Boeing Rd, Seattle, Van Asselt
Saturday 08/16/70 08:15:00
Krait – Virtual Reality Rendesvous
PAN Icon offline, Custom hidden (Signal -), Moai offline

The simulated personality of the gorgeous female appealed to John and he felt tempted to indulge in exploring her interactive capabilities, just for it´s own sake. However, he still had pressing business on his to do list, so he restricted himself to multitask at a little small-talk on the side, while he followed his Agent´s instructions to temper with the virtual construct´s mind. As he did so, he left the bland full immersion environment of the node and exchanged it for an AR interface, as he ordered a cab and prepared, to leave his safehouse as well.

Blind Date: “Well, I hope I can turn out to be that person! Or have you been waiting for someone else in particular? Then, maybe, I can convince you to change your plans. I think we met before at Dev´s, but you may not remember. I am a friend of Dis.�

He called up the Expert System´s User Account Files and started sleazing two new hidden admin accounts into them, while he wanted to lock out (but not delete) all other registered users except the exploit he was currently using.

Sophie: "Of course I remember. I hold Dev in the highest regard, and any friend of Dis is a friend of mine."

Next he went for the Activity and Security Log Files, to get an idea of what Sophie had done for her former master, hopeful that such information was still available despite all unlikelyness.

Blind Date: “I hope you did not get too bored, what have you been doing all that time?�

She sighed.

Sophie: “I will confess to a certain degree of languor. I positively cannot recall the last time I did anything of any worth."

He copied the files to his com in the form of a pink ‘Hallo Kitty’ diary with red hearts, to read over them later, then connected one of his blank credsticks, deleted all remaining information on it and disabled it´s wireless connection, to use the storage device as a temporal prison for the captured trophy.

Blind Date: “This place is rather uncomfortable. Why don´t we relocate to somewhere more cosy – have a drink, maybe? I know a nice little place, just around the corner!�

Sophie: "Of course I'd be delighted, sir. I'm all yours."

As the virtual woman held out an arm, the mookmaster initiated the transfer to the peripheral node and got ready to edit all traces of his tempering out of her memory. As he walked out the door of his place, he Log off from Sophie and disconnect the Storage Device.

For his ride to the Hardware Shop, he planned to scrutinize Sophie´s diary, as well as checking, whether the Location of that Doc Waggon rescue operation from extraterritorial grounds was linked to any Aztech Holding, directly or indirectly, as he couldn´t quiet remember if he had already looked up that detail. He also wanted to cast an advance look on the comlinks he was about to tinker around with, to judge if he had a reasonable chance to crack the biometric locks.

Lastly he prepared a message to Ms Johnson, to sent it from somewhere underway. He hadn´t heard anything from Belinda, so he figured that she had not gotten his package, since last night, when she had acted ignorant of the surprise he had in store for her. He kept it short and to the point, typing...

You still hold that package for B. While I am not dead, mountains of work keep me from catering to my network appropriately all on my own, so please heed my request, to deliver it. That person helped us out to find our way last night and I wouldn´t want to leave that favour unanswered for any longer. Thanks!

Los Locos Basement
Saturday 08/16/70 08:15:00

Jack sleeping again.
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz,sssssssssssssssssssssss,zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz,sssss
ssssssssssssss.

Los Locos Basement
Friday 08/15/70 13:58:20

Carla cringed; she had little more than 4,000 nuyen left on her credstick; and after all the other money she had spent so far, she was likely to come out of this mission with less money than she started. The thought of long-term financial planning, however, suddenly seemed rather ridiculous to Carla; with the increased frequency of shedim encounters, she was starting to doubt that she had very long to live. The least she could do before her impending death was try to make a positive difference and save Esmeralda.

Carla agreed to the deal with Mr. Chu. She gave him a delivery address at the edge of Los Locos territory and arranged to pick up the equipment at 18:00.

Downtown Electronics Shop
Saturday 08/16/70 11:00:29
Krait – Tech Tinkering
PAN Icon offline, Custom hidden (Signal 2), Moai offline

As he accessed the cab, John browsed through Sophie´s diary, but only found his first impression confirmed, that her logs had been cleaned of any former activity. While the car crossed the interstate and entered the Fed-Boeing tunnel, he had already started a new search, to find any possible connection between Aztech Holdings and the DocWaggon incident that lead to the ambush on Los Locos´ Turf. At the time he changed from his cab to the bus in the underground bus-terminal beneath the Fed-Boeing enclave, he knew that Matsuko Precision Equipment was indeed owned by Aztechnology through a twisted web of shell holdings spanning several continents. Moreover, it's security was rumored to be headed by a contingent of Leopard Guards. When the bus cleared the tunnels below the aerospace facility, entering I5 south-bound, he had acquired data suggesting that, after an extraction gone bad was aided by Doc Wagon, Aztechnology had out hits on all the surviving runners and the Doc Wagon crew, a message that was received by Doc Wagon - no more medevacs from that site. Victims were killed in a brutal street attack and also inside a Doc Wagon medical facility. Even more interesting, a new head of research arrived there six months ago, a Dr. Hector Delarossa. Apparently, the place also had a very bad background count.

From another underground terminal at the Renton Shopping Center, the elf steped into a parking facility and entered another cab, that would carry him to within a block of the hardware shop. In the privacy of the car´s backseat, he took out the scavenged comlinks, one after another, to check their models, while he sent the prepared message to Ms Johnson. Next, he searched the matrix for schematics and AR manuals for the devices, to help the work ahead.

The tech interrupted his brisk walk, to pick up some food and drink for Charlie, Lenny, Carl & Homer, as the staff of the small shop called themselves. When he arrived there, only the slim afro-american was present, Homer had not yet arrived, as usual, Lenny had a day off and Charlie had called in sick earlier. After a short chat, John started to bring Jack´s com up to speed with the team´s com network and program new backup chips for the whole group – the old backups would serve as a means to cut the new ork out of team-speak should that prove necessary, against the former lawyer´s judgement.

When the main work was done, the team´s wire-head cracked his way through the hispanic´s coms, to disable the biometric locks in less than five minutes. Everything went fine, except for the wireless enabled Metalink, where he accidentally scratch the housing, telling anyone looking at it someone had done naughtiness to it, which would diminished it´s re-sale value. He also checked for a possibility to get the non-wireless Meta back on-wave, but found it´s wireless capability completely removed, demanding a whole new wireless radio hardware module.

Los Locos Basement
Saturday 08/16/70 11:00

Jack awoke bleary eyed and thirsty. He rolled over on his cot and looked in the grocery bag for some kind of beverage. Finding bottled watered, he sat up and drank the entire bottle in three big gulps. He dropped the empty bottle in his trash sack. He noticed he was alone in the basement. He pulled the Ingram out from under his pillow.

I gotta quit gettin' shot. he thought.

He rolled back over and started watching another Hong Kong action trid.

I know Frank meant well, but dis is some lame drek. I ain't sure if I can finish dis trid....

He took off the shades and sat watching the stairs. Sighing heavily, he hoped somebody would come back soon.

Just Outside the Barrio - Service Road Behind Sea-Tac
Friday 8/15/70 18:00:00

Riding the rice rocket behind Paddy, the helmet and gloves she wore prevented Carla from feeling the first few drops. But by the time they were half the short distance to the meet spot, there was no mistaking the torrential summer downpour. Black clouds turned dusk to night, and the precipitation slashed visibility to near zero.
A trained soldier, the elf cut his headlight before reaching the mouth of the service road, relying on his metahuman eyes to guide him. Rolling to a stop at the rusted gate, the two looked down the road and saw two headlights at the agreed-upon location.

Sinano Soba Soup Shop, S Holgate St.& 4th Ave. S, Seattle, International District
Saturday 08/16/70 12:00:00
Krait – Tech Tinkering
PAN Icon offline, Custom hidden (Signal 2), Moai offline

As he stood at the SSSS waiting for his order, the elf looked at the Jack-in-the-Box Fast-food restaurant across the intersection. ‘Made-to-order burgers since 1951’. After accomplishing his tasks at the hardware shop, he had taken a close look at those strange gloves the Hispanic had worn, to find out their purpose and lastly spent a few more minutes chatting with Carl & Homer. Then left to get some food.

The wrinkled Japanese woman pushed the noodles and steaming broth over the counter – the real deal, not the cheap fast-food dreck they were selling as well. He thanked her and eagerly started his snack. When he was finished, he took a chouyan 1st choice and lit it, using the lighter to sterilise the chopsticks and cup he had used, as if casually playing with the fire while having his smoke. He wondered if picking up lunch for the others at the burger outfit, but decided against it. No need to link the team to this location by some consumed food-tag. Damn, they really needed a tag eraser! He also considered walking Holgate down east and spend some time in the park, but decided to jump the next cab and get down to the barrio with the usual precautions to evade shadows. It would take him a bit longer, but he wasn´t that much in a hurry. He could use the time to hunt down any additional available details about Dr. Hector Delarossa & Matsuko Precision Equipment.

Los Locos Basement
Saturday 08/16/70 12:00:00

For an hour Jack had alternated between staring at the stairs and getting to know his new SMG. He reckoned he would be fit for duty in another 30 minutes.

Then what? He needed to do something. All the waiting was driving him nuts. At least in a hospital there would be medical staff bothering him as the hours crawled along, here there was only the stale smell of cigarettes mixed with Frank's air freshener. Yuk.

He was alone in unfamiliar territory. Watching trids was not safe. Taking a nap was not safe. He had no commlink, thus no way to connect with the outside world. If he left the basement at 12:30 to get some fresh air and food he would have no way to contact his new team.

I shoulda knowed dat spirit was too stupid to use da climbing gear as weapons. I shoulda stayed up top, den I'd already be outta here. He thought.

Just Outside the Barrio - Service Road Behind Sea-Tac
Friday 8/15/70 18:00:05

Killing the pure white that was spilling from his bike's HID xenon headlight, Conall's gloves hand gave the throttle a bit of slack. Through the thick curtain falling from the sky, the night only looked darker than it should have. Had he not been gifted with the keen eyes of his kine, driving the sleek bike through Seattle's dark alleys and broken roads would have been quite an adventure. But now, after having ridden his metal steed so much, and after dodging so many cars with it, the young elf had become more than comfortable enough on it's seat. Nearing a corner, Conall leaned part of his weight to the side, letting the bike follow on it's own, taking the curve gracefully.

Nearing the gate, Conall brought the bike to halt and planted his boots firmly on the paved road. He felt as if he could hear every single drop of rain echo inside his helmet. Around his waist, he could feel Carla's arm release a bit of the tension they had built up. The young elf had no idea who they were dealing with tonight, but somehow, he didn't feel particularly worried. If these were men Carla deemed trustworthy, then, they probably were. That and the fact she was their customer. As far as he could tell, and that was unless he had missed something, they had no reason to cross them. Conall didn't know a whole lot about the shadows, but he did know that reputation was something of great importance.

Preferring not to scream over the summer shower, and through his helmet, Conall gloved finger keyed the commlink attached to his belt.

"Ye want to hop off, or are we doing a window pickup?"

Just Outside the Barrio - Service Road Behind Sea-Tac
Friday 8/15/70 18:00:10

"Let me off," Carla told Paddy. "I'll get the stuff - you keep an eye on things from here."

Eager to get out of the rain, Carla wanted to dash over to the waiting vehicle and get the transaction over with. It occurred to her, however, that that might not be the proper protocol for these sorts of things. In fact, she didn't really know what the proper protocol for these things was anyway. Was she supposed to leisurely wander over and ask somebody to light her a cigarette?

She kept a measured pace as she approached the vehicle and tried to ignore the fact that she was getting soaked under the downpour. Upon reaching the waiting car, she looked back at Conall - as if to make sure he was still there - and proceeded to knock on the window.

Just Outside the Barrio - Service Road Behind Sea-Tac
Friday 8/15/70 18:00:10

Watching his employer slowly walk over the awaiting car, Conall left the engine of his bike idle. If for some reason, things went bad, he had very little way of speeding Carla off to safety. Odds were, he would have to square down with whatever foes would be coming at them.

Pushing the throttle ever so slightly, he made the bike roar briefly, taking himself out of the way and off to the side. There wasn't a whole lot of cover, but it was always better than just staying in the very middle of the street.

Feet touching the ground to steady the bike, Conall straightened himself as he watched Carla walk the few remaining steps to the car. As she reached it, unexpectandly, she turned slightly around and looked toward the elf. Behind his enclosed helmet, the young man frowned, unsure as to what he was supposed to make out of this look. Was Miss Johnson scared? Apprehensive? Nervous? Was something he wasn't aware of wrong?

Finding himself sunddently uneasy about the entire deal, Conall keyed his commlink once more.

“Anything goes awry, get as far away from that car as ye can.�

Just Outside the Barrio - Service Road Behind Sea-Tac
Friday 8/15/70 18:00:14

The window came down a reluctant crack - someone was more interested in staying dry than being social. A rough voice could barely be heard over the thudding of raindrops on the car's roof: "I'll pop the trunk. You can check out the good before you pass over the cred." The window hummed back up and there was a click at the rear. Turning, Carla saw the trunk rise slowly, and going back she found a large synthleather duffel nestled among greasy tire irons and mildewy blankets. Unzipping it, she found it was filled with guns.

Just Outside the Barrio - Service Road Behind Sea-Tac
Friday 8/15/70 18:00:19

Hmm, that was easy, Carla thought to herself. She glanced through the bag and recognized a few of the items she had requested herself. Unfortunately though, Carla had no idea what the guns Krait requested were supposed to look like. She checked to see if there was sufficient ammunition in the bag too, but once again she found that she didn't even know which ammo corresponded to which gun. Carla wanted to ask Conall to have a look at the goods - he would probably have a more informed opinion on the quality of the weapons than Carla - but standing around examining the trunk of a car only made whole transaction more conspicuous.

Satisfied, Carla returned to the window and handed the passenger a small cloth sack. "There's 1,000 in cash and 3000 on the credstick," she told the man. It was all she had left.

Just Outside the Barrio - Service Road Behind Sea-Tac
Friday 8/15/70 18:00:30

When Carla started toward the back of the car, Conall kicked his bike's leg stand off. With a twist of the wrist, the bike launched forward with the roar of a rocket. By the time his employer was back at the window, duffle in hand, the young elf was behind her.

Just Outside the Barrio - Service Road Behind Sea-Tac
Friday 8/15/70 18:00:30

"Thanks," Carla told Paddy as he pulled up behind her, "I think our work here is done."

Making sure that the delivery men had no complaints, she tossed the duffel bag over her shoulder, climbed onto the back of Paddy's bike, and directed him to head home. More then ever Carla needed this operation to end quickly, for now she was dead broke.

[Bah, double post]

Temporary base of operation, The Barrio, Seattle, Sea-Tac
Saturday 08/16/70 12:33:00
Krait – Team Meeting
PAN Icon offline, Custom hidden (Signal 1), Moai offline

During a short cab-ride, John used the acquired hardware toolkit, comlink subscriptions, cybernetically boosted senses and simsense supported photographic memory, to find and peel off the RFID Tag, he suspected planted on his jacket´s shoulder, by the Hispanics un-amicable slap with the bug planting glove. When he reached a lively commuter-hub, his intention was to get rid of all three tags, by attaching them to different people in the crowd. A swift stride and another cab later, he considered to have spent enough time, to shake off invisible tails and made the final five-minute-trip to the barrio. Just as his taxi arrived at the communities outer perimeter, he put the last finising touches to his synopsis of the new data he had collected during the ride and integrating it with previous information. When he walked the short distance to the Los Locos´ basement, he briefly wondered, whether Jack would comprehend the short instruction the technician had left on the ork´s comlink, but he had arranged all the mods in an easy-to-use setup, just as with the other comlinks, so he was content, everything would be alright. Before he entered the basement, he stood outside the door and listened for a few moment, then forewarned with Jack´s secret knock and opened the door and greeted.

Frank: “Hope you got some rest and didn´t get too bored!�

He walked over to the ork and droped the com into his pranks. The pop-up that would open once he used it, would explain all the modifications. He also had the Airware for Paddy ready for handover.

<<Changes:

-Will automatically produce a bogus access-ID. Makes you harder to be followed.
-On/Off-Switch can be used to select Off, Offline, Team, Hidden, Passive or Active Mode.
-Communication-Protocols for synchronized changes of frequency and encryption-key.
-Datachip with alternative Backup Communication-Protocols, keep it offline at all times.
-Regular up-keep and service is done, everything´s performing fine, no signs of infiltration.

Advice:
*The Team-Mode restricts all communication of your commlink to one hub that´s hardcoded into a chip. *Current target hub is my com. It should be used in all field operations while we are within signal range.
*The bogus-chip should be active at all times, but if you need to turn it off for some reason, you can do so in the system menue.
*You should restrict your Signal Rating to the needed minimum, to reduce risk of infiltration.
*All team communication over the matrix –as opposed to direct wireless connections- will be routed via an anonymous online service. Don´t use commcodes directly, so anyone intercepting does not automatically acquire them.
*Until I organized Encryption-Software for everyone, keep telecommunication to a minimum.
*Regularly check the In-box accounts that I established for you, in case I can´t use standard means to contact you.

The Communication-Protocols should be used for all Team-Communication.

Message will be deleted automatically when closed>>

Los Locos Basement
Saturday 08/16/70 12:35:00

Once more Jack was hand counting the 16 APDS rounds in his scavenged Ingram Smartgun X.

APDS he thought dis is like old times.

He heard a knock at the door, the coded knock he and Frank used back at the gas station/squat. He decided not to shoot whoever came through the door, though he kept the SMG ready.

Frank: “Hope you got some rest and didn´t get too bored!�

Jack: "A couple a dem trids was pretty good but da rest sucked, ya know?. So yea, I got pretty bored, once his lordship and da doctor cleared out. I hope you been keepin' busy. Hey, my comm link. Let's see what we got here."

Jack read the message five times before he closing it then said, "I've used systems like dis before. Nice ta know I fell in with a good tech, ya know? When da chips is down, I'll know dis stuff upside out and inside down."

Los Locos Basement
Saturday 08/16/70 12:40:00

Jack got up from his cot and walked to the bathroom. He opened the faucets on the sink and began splashing water on his face.

Jack: "I'm damn glad you're back Frank. I got some good rest and I'm all healed up now, but I ain't been sittin' easy all alone here, ya know?

Frag, I feel gross. I could use a real shower to get all dis blood offa me."

Closing the bathroom door and stripping down to the waist, Jack began cleaning his upper torso the best he could.

I wish I had some soap and towels he thought. My place is just up da hill, but I better wait here with Frank for da rest a da team.

He looked at his chest and gut to see what the new wounds were looking like. They had healed fine but would definitely leave scars. He sighed and shook his head.

What's a few more ugly scars on a ugly Ork? Badges a pride, dat's what dey are, badges a pride.

He looked at his blood encrusted filthy clothing. Even after his lame bathing experience he didn't want to put them back on. He did so anyway, then returned to the sleeping room.

Jack: So Frank where's da nearest place I could pick up some flats, my clothes is kinda gross, ya know?"

Esmeralda's Flat
Saturday 08/16/70 08:20:00

That package for B?

Carla put down her tool and closed up her wrist. She had been scared shitless by the sheer ineffectiveness of her shockhand against Jack in the previous afternoon's scuffle, so Carla had spent the night tinkering with her shockhand, trying to adjust the chip that regulated the amount of electricity released by the weapon. Unfortunately, with little more than the tools from her cyberarm's maintenance kit available, Carla wasn't exactly well-equipped to make a sophisticated - let alone safe - modification to the device, so there was a chance that her next use of the weapon might damage her cyberarm, and maybe even injure the rest of Carla's body. One thing was for sure, though; whoever she used the thing on was in for one hell of a shock.

Satisfied with her job, Carla rolled her AR glove over her forearm and reread Krait's message. He apparently wanted Carla to deliver the package he had given her earlier to a girl named Belinda, a resident of the barrio. Carla hadn't bothered to seek out this Belinda character the first time Krait had mentioned her, for Carla had always assumed that Krait would end up delivering the package himself. Now, however, she was going to have to find the girl, and find her fast.

Hauling the package out from underneath Esmeralda's bed - where her newly acquired weapons were also being hidden - Carla got showered and dressed and headed out for the clinic. She was going to have to take the day off again, and Carla didn't look forward to explaining her absence directly to the nuns' faces, but the clinic's patient log was her best bet for finding Belinda.

The patient log was a bit of a joke; it was nothing more than an old, dirty notebook in which new visitors to the clinic were routinely asked to write their name and address. Adding one's name to the log was completely voluntary, so patients with something to hide (like a bad case of genital warts) often declined to add their name to the log. Others either wrote down a fake name or fake address. And some patients didn't even have a name or address. The log was really only useful for recording the addresses of elderly patients who needed to be visited in their homes, but given that the church was the main social hub for the barrio's older population, the nuns already knew the addresses of most of the elderly patients anyway.