Shibuya, Neo-Tokyo - 04/21/2008 - 1000

Kambei appreciates the quaint settings and open - if not fresh - air. Dressed in his usual manner he leans against the wall and watches the students go by. Flashes of recent memories play in his head everytime he sees a student go by with a similiar look or haircut to Ayake or Aoi.

I really need to clear my head. I can't be thinking about personal matters when I'm on business. Father would not have approved. "Professional life is first priority, saving for retirement comes secondary and last is personal fulfillment and you'll have enough time for that after your retirement." That was his father's mantra to live by.

He stands up straight at his full height when he sees the western dressed woman, "Good morning Ma'am. My name is Hiroshi Wanatabe. I am here on behalf of the Mori family."

Neo-Tokyo - 04/21/2008 - 1010

The woman presents herself as Miss Fukuda, vice-principal of the Cherry Maiden School. She is probably the "sourpussin' sadist cow" Ahiko Mori cursed about in one of the clips Kambei found earlier. She looks very strict indeed, and the girls passing bow respectfully, and fall silent at her sight. Fukuda leads Kambei to her office, and bids him to sit down.

After making some polite if subtly strained conversation about nothing - the runaway caused a small loss of face for the school as well as the family - she takes some more time to politely tell Kambei that the the girl, not the school, would be at fault. All the other girls would be growing up to become perfectly proper little ladies.

Kambei nods, even though he's sure there are some less than perfect students there. Finally he is led to Ahiko's room - when the students are at lunch, so no one sees him. Men are not allowed into the dorm, as Fukuda explains.

The room itself houses two students, separated into two halves. Kambei starts to look through the girls belongings, searching for more clues.



While it is not a pleasant task, looking around under the scrutinty of Fukuda, Kambei is good at this sort of things. Ahiko left a number of electronics, cosmetics, and clothes. Like the t-shirt with an old punk band - she wore on a number of the party pictures Kambei found, so it must have been a favorite. Yet she left it here? Either she did not plan her running away very well, suddenly got tired of the shirt, or she didn't run away... He also manages to find - and palm - a small music player hidden under the bed, taped to the frame. The player is encrypted, asking for a passcode. Something to crack later.

Fukuda is not really helping, she's trying to hurry him along. She obviously wants him to be gone before the lunch hour is over. But there are still Ahiko's two friends to talk to, Ami Kuonji and Mai Mizuno. Not that they are likely to give any useful information with the vice-principal present though...

Cherry Maiden School, Neo-Tokyo - 04/21/2008 - 1155

Kambei places the items inside a kevlar messenger bag and secures the latch. Hopefully there is something useful on the music player.

He thanks Miss Fukuda, bowing politely, and says, "before I leave I would like to speak with Ami Kuonji and Mai Mizuno if I may. They may have information that could prove useful."

He hesitates for a moment before continuing in a lower voice, "I would also like to speak with them alone if I may. They will not be willing to tell me everything they know with you present, and I wish to bring this matter to a close as soon as possible to save face for all effected parties."

Cherry Maiden School, Neo-Tokyo - 04/21/2008 - 1205

Miss Fukada denies the request. Apparently, having a man meet a student without a chaperone is against school regulations. Although she words it like it's a sign of trust and support between teacher, students and parents. Of course, there are ways around that, mainly over the matrix - somehow Kambei doubts that the vice-principal is very well versed in electronic matters. But it might be tricky still.

Miss Fukada leads Kambei into her office - as austere as one expects from her - and has the two girls summoned. Ami Kuonji and Mai Mizuno look like all the students Kambei saw in the halls before, wearing the same sailor-style uniform, but there are some signs that they usually wear some slightly individualised versions. They must have removed some pins and other accessoires before coming to the office. They also stare curiously at Kambei, but when Miss Fukada mentions that he is there on behalf of the Mori family, they clamp up, claiming not to have noticed anything special about Ahiko lately.

Cherry Maiden School, Neo-Tokyo - 04/21/2008 - 1235

Interesting, it’s not just Miss Fukada that silences them, but it’s knowing I’m here from the Mori family.

Kambei scans the classmates’ commlinks and stores the address for when he wanted to send them a message. After listening to Ami and Mai repeatedly deny knowing the answers to any of his questions, he does not bother asking his more sensitive questions which might indicate his early suspicions.

Finishing with his questions, Kambei thanks Miss Fukuda and takes his leave. Outside he sits on his bike and takes a moment to draft a message to Rattler, “Hey, buddy, been a few days. When you have a second I would appreciate a moment of your time. I got a device I need cracked and maybe a couple of comms tracked.�

I really need to get some of these programs. A good exploit program, a spoofing program, bah, I just need a lot of programs. I feel like an amateur asking for help with drek like this.

After another quick Matrix search, looking for any of the bands on her last playlist or any of her photos and personal effects in her dorm to see if any of them have shows coming up in Tokyo.

He saves the search list, starts his bike and tears off with a squeal of tires towards a nearby mall to buy a few pieces of clothing similar to Ahiko’s style.

Celestial Spring Mall, Neo-Tokyo - 04/21/2008 - 1300

The Celestial Spring Mall looks like every other high-tech mall in Neo-Tokyo, almost drowing Kambei in AROs and mails right after he entered and his commlink signed up to the node. The AR enviroment is saturated with flashy neon icons competing for his attention, and it takes him a bit to get his commlink's filters right so 90% of the traffic is blocked. The system will adapt soon though, and try to tailor the ads to what it perceives as his interests based upon his profile, and his actions inside the mall. A number of girls in the uniforms of the boarding school he just left populate the food corner.

Kambei's search has turned up two bands that Ahiko had t-shirts of, "Black Heaven" and "Panzer Strike", who have gigs coming up in Neo-Tokyo in the near future, both in the "Freefall" club. It also turned up a concert by "4 Ever After", another band he saw merchandise of in Ahiko's belongings, that happened on the evening the girl ran away from the boarding school at the nightclub "Fortune".

Rattler calls back just as Kambei manages to get rid of the last ARO trying to encite him to buy a high-tech shirt of the latest parisian design, asking for more details.

Celestial Spring Mall, Neo-Tokyo - 04/21/2008 - 1300

Kambei perks up as he sees the stylized cobra pop up in his vision, “Hey thanks for getting back to me so fast. I've got a hell of a story to tell you later too. But for right now I have this music player that’s got what looks like encrypted access I wanted to see if you could open up for me. And I’ve got a couple comm ID’s I wanted you to snoop on the data trial for me. You got the time for that?�

Celestial Spring Mall, Neo-Tokyo - 04/21/2008 - 1300

Rattler's icon nods, despite being a snake, and his synthetic voice sounds slightly amused. Kambei is not sure what's amusing him.

"For you? Always. What comm IDs are those? Your old friends?"

Celestial Spring Mall, Neo-Tokyo - 04/21/2008 - 1300

I wonder what he’s smiling about but not matter…

“Oh, no, nothing like that. This is business related. I’ve got two commlink IDs here,� he transfers the information to Rattler, “the first one I need tracked from two weeks back to now. This second one was stolen recently and I only need it tracked from yesterday to now. I’m looking to find the person carrying the commlinks so time is of the essence and I basically need to know where she’s been spending her time.�

Kambei activates the music player and attempts to connect to it wirelessly with his commlink and leaves the password screen open, “this device I just attempted to subscribe to my PAN is the encrypted player I need cracked.�

“I would really appreciate your help here and am of course willing to pay any reasonable fees.�

Celestial Spring Mall, Neo-Tokyo - 04/21/2008 - 1302

Rattler laughs.

"Of course, anything for a friend... for a reasonable fee."

500 credits for the whole search and trail seems reasonable indeed.

"So, pass me the data you have, and leave the player linked, and let me see what I can do. It might take a bit though."

Celestial Spring Mall, Neo-Tokyo - 04/21/2008 - 1302

"Alright thanks," Kambei says as he uploads the information, "and here comes the info."

"I'm going to keep the music player linked to my PAN for you to play with, but try to resist the urge to frag with the other drek on my PAN like last time."

While Rattler is working on his request, Kambei heads over to a shop catering to Ahiko's lifestyle where he purchases a pair of jeans, a jacket and a "Panzer Strike" t-shirt and a few accessories - pretending its a birthday gift for his brother - so he doesn't stand out when he's around her people.

Celestial Spring Mall, Neo-Tokyo - 04/21/2008 - 1330

The saleswoman smiles understandingly at Kambei during his purchase - pretending she doesn't think Kambei is just using the "it's for my brother" excuse. Apparently, many people use such excuses when shopping for the "wilder" clothes. Those who do not prefer to make such purchases over the net, of course. A woman nearby talks about a theatre project about zoku while shopping for some daring leather outfit.

Rattler is as good as his word, and some time later Kambei receives the information he asked for. Rattler even shows enough courtesy to ask for the transfer of money, and doesn't just take it from Kambei's commlink. He did put some "Hacking encryption for dummies" video showing his icon at work on Kambei's commlink but that's more good-natured ribbing to motivate Kambei to improve his hacking skills than real mocking.

The trails of the commlinks are interesting. Ahiko's shows a number of trips at night, not just on the weekend, into Neo-Tokyo's night scene. Freefall and Fortune feature heavily among the locations she spent a lot of time in, but she also must have spent quite some time just cruising around on the highways. An since she doesn't own a vehicle, she must have been riding with someone. Her father's commlink wasn't used as extensively, it was taken from her family's home the night she ran away, and registered as logged out at close to the same time her own was last registered by the net - on the parking lot of a highway restaurant/gast station/shop. Before that, she had soent a few hours in "Fortune".

The data on the player wasn't heavily encrypted - as Rattler's video put it "even you could have hacked that" - but the player contains useful information as well. A few racy clips of Ahiko stripping out of her school uniform while adressing a "Kouki", several illegally downloaded clips of punk and rock bands, some yaoi material, and some poems about running away.

Celestial Spring Mall, Neo-Tokyo - 04/21/2008 - 1330

"Thanks man, this will prove useful. I might need a little more help before this is all over. I hope you don't mind if I give you another ring then. Otherwise, we gotta catch up. Maybe at that Matrix joint, "Corrupted Cache," you are always telling me about."

Kambei peruses through the datatrials trying to pin down the place she likely slept for the night since she ran away. He also takes a moment to look up Freefall and Fortune. If either or both places are playing a punk-rock show tonight, Kambei purchases a ticket to the show.

I'm still not convinced that this is just a simple run away story. Maybe if I can dig up a little info on the family.

Before leaving the mall Kambei spends a bit of time doing another data seach. This time on Ahiko's family, their business and anything else I can dig up on them.

Celestial Spring Mall, Neo-Tokyo - 04/21/2008 - 1400



The search starts out with some difficulties, both the cop as well as the family seem very close-lipped about their affairs, but then Kambei makes a breakthrough going through some business networking site. The Mori family is tied closely to the Gensi Corporation, being a major shareholder there. Ahiko's father is not that big in the internal hierarchy, but his uncle is very influential.

The Mori family dates their ancestry back to the Meiji Restoration, where they, coming from merchant stock, managed to make their fortune. Their ancestral family home, burned down during the Second World War and rebuilt in a more modern style, is in what was once the outskirts of Tokyo, and is now a high-class residentual district domianted by old families. The old servant quarters were turned into more living space for the family when the number of servants shrunk.

The Gensi Corporation is a smaller corporation in Neo-Tokyo, mostly providing services in data management and consultations for municipal offices and other corporations. It is a family-owned corporation, the majority split between the Mori Family and the Hazuko Family. Flying under the radar of the bigger corporations, it has carved out a niche in Neo-Tokyo by adapting very well to what local specialities a client requires.
There are also rumors about difficulties between the Mori and the Hazuko family, who have traditionally used arranged marriages to strengthen their ties.

The Hazuko family has a similar origin, but rose to wealth after the Second World War, making a killing by landing several reconstruction contracts. Their family home is in a less prestigious district.

Celestial Spring Mall, Neo-Tokyo - 04/21/2008 - 1400

So, there is indeed the possibility of intrigue, but isn't there always?

Kambei switches to another line of inquiry. He begins searching on information on "Freefall" and "Fortune." He wants to figure out exactly what kind of places these are, what kind of crowds they cater to, whether there is a lot of criminal activity in the area, their security and AR overlay maps of the area.

Celestial Spring Mall, Neo-Tokyo - 04/21/2008 - 1400

Kambei has no trouble finding out more about either club - both are well-known in Neo-Tokyo.

The Fortune is a nightclub in Shinjuku's less polished parts. Popular among punks and some zoku, it's a rough neighborhood for sararimen and other corp-looking people. Yakuza however pass without trouble ever since an "unfortunate accidental fire" happened to the club following a disagreement between the lokal kumi and a gang (which lost most members in said fire). The club remains popular for the numerous independent punk and metal bands that perform there.

Freefall is a modern nightclub, and has a state of the art sound and AR system. Its main appeal is that it features live music every evening, and with good bands of various styles. As the saying goes among Neo-Tokyo's musicians, if you make it to Freefall, you're halfway there on your way to stardom - the club always has talent scouts there, and pays well for gigs. Not many manage to become stars though, but a lot stay "in freefall", hoping for a contract while the gigs in the club pay their bills.

Not much information is available about their security though, other than pieces of blogs from guests which paint a picture of effective bouncers, with Fortune's being scarier and more brutal, and Freefall's very discrete, removing trouble cases without making waves in many cases - as a blogger put it "I turned around to see who shouted, and all I saw was a chair on the floor, which was being picked up, and a group of men heading for the exit".

Celestial Spring Mall, Neo-Tokyo - 04/21/2008 - 1400

The loud growling of his stomach reminds Kambei that he still hadn't eaten. Putting his current line of inquiry aside he heads to the food court and orders himself a noodle bowl. He takes a seat at one of the tables with a good view of the surroundings and eats his food at his usual pace while going through his usual lunch routine.

Kambei's regular routine is constantly thrown off track by memories of last night and the constant urge to send Ayaka and Aoi a quick message. Despite evidence to the contrary, Kambei preferred to believe that AA were model students, Best wait till they are at least done with class. I don't want to interrupt their studies.

Celestial Spring Mall, Neo-Tokyo - 04/21/2008 - 1430

The bowl tastes as well as one could expect from a food court, although not comparable to some of the real good food stands in the city. Cheaper though. After the lunch rush fades out the mall quiets down a bit, now becoming the hunting grounds of local house wives out shopping and socialising. Peaceful, almost idyllic - Corporations portray life like this.

Celestial Spring Mall, Neo-Tokyo - 04/21/2008 - 1430

Kambei gathers his shopping bag and heads to the garrage. He rides back to his place and lays out the clothes and dispenses with all the tags. He then throws the pants and shirt into the autowash and sets it to run for several cycles of washing and drying to get rid of the brand new look.

He carefully unlocks the wooden cabinet with his permitted weapon and grabs one of his Predators and its concealing holster and other accessories. A few minutes pass as he disassembles the gun, checks it for cleanliness and reassembles the weapon making sure all it's components are functional. He prepares his ammunition - just one clip, lays out a pair of shock gloves, a few plastic restraints, his B&E gear, a facemask, and a small packet of stealth tags. Never hurts to be prepared for the worse.

He isn't planning to go in his first time around - it would be too early for them to be open anyway - but he plans to scope out the area, get a feel for the surroundings and see if he can get a layout of the security in the area. He quickly undresses and puts on his form fitting armr minus the hood, throws on a pair of jeans, a non-descript gray t-shirt, a black riding jacket, a pair of riding boots. He gives himself a quick once over in the mirror, grabs both his commlinks, the gear he layed out and his helmet and heads out for the garage.

Kambei sets his SINless commlink on hidden mode and the other on passive mode and drives to "Fortune." I hope I don't need to use any of this shit but I can't help but think there is more to this than just a runaway brat.

Nightclub "Fortune", Neo-Tokyo - 04/21/2008 - 1630

The trip to Fortune is fast at this time of the day, before the evening's rush hour. Not many on the streets, neither cars nor people - not many for Neo-Toyko, that is.

From a bit away, "Fortune" doesn't look impressive at all. The entrance has a semi-broken kanji stating "Fortune" over the door, and is closed. Sturdy looking, if slightly rusty door, with an old-fashioned peephole. The walls sport grafitti and tags, and some discarded bottles and cigarettes are strewn around the entrance. A number of oil stains show that most of the sidewalk is used as parking space for bikes at night. The only sign of life is an outdated drone resting near the entrance. The drone becomes active as it notices you, tracking you with its sensor. No weapons show, and the drone is small anyway, so it is probably just a barker. The windows of the first and ground floor of the building are barred too, and some old isolation foam is sticking out the cracks. The whole building looks dead but for some signs of life in the upper three floors - satellite receivers, some clothing hung out to dry or air out, a few windows open.

AR-wise, the place looks only slightly more alive - a program, opening times, and a price list for the drinks show up on the node outside. The net is not spotty, good reception, but would probably not be able to handle downtown traffic.

The whole area looks similar - a bit run down, according to Neo-Toyko standards. A group of teenagers, all wearing the same green jacket, appear in a side street, watching Kambei, probably looking for gang signs. They do not look armed, but might be hiding knucklers or knives. Kambeis' commlink reports a hacking attempt.

Nightclub "Fortune", Neo-Tokyo - 04/21/2008 - 1630

Kambei takes in the lay of the land, doing a few circuits around the area to determine a few optimal exit routes on the road just incase. He follows that up by parking his bike and doing another circuit on foot to determine a few alternative exit routes just incase. Never hurts to over-prepare.

After that he heads into a mostly empty kiosk with a human behind the counter and strikes up a casual conversation about the local area while buying a few basic items. He casually mentions that it looks like this might be a place that attracts a lot of go-gangers and zoku and try to get an idea for the specific ones that tend to hang around here.

Nightclub "Fortune", Neo-Tokyo - 04/21/2008 - 1650



The clerk in the kiosk is suspicious, and checks Kambei for gang signs or tatoos as he enters. He gets even more suspicious when Kambei mentions go-ganger and zoku, and clamps up, claiming he hasn't noticed any zoku or other criminals. He probably thinks Kambei is a cop.



Kambei hasn't spotted any other signs of gang presence in the area either, but the area does attract zoku - the clips he saw while he looked on the matrix showed that, and there are older tags on the walls near the club. And the group of humans that watched him near the club did look like zoku. It could be neutral territory, but even so there would be some regulars that visit more frequently than others.

Nightclub "Fortune", Neo-Tokyo - 04/21/2008 - 1650

Kambei wasn't at his best trying to get the specific information he was looking for. But at least it was fully confirmed that the zoku were frequently here even if it wasn't claimed by any one group. Looks like I'll have to come armed after all.

He heads back to his home in Shibuya to prepare for tonight. If I get lucky, I find her tonight, find out she really doesn't like her current situation and would love to find a way back home and I take her home. What are the chances of that...

Once back at his apartment Kambei begins preparing everything for the night and programs each one of the pre-determined escape routes into his AR overlay map of the area.

Shibuya, Neo-Tokyo - 04/21/2008 - 1930

Preparing doesn't take that much time, and Kambei can identify a few zoku from pictures of Fortune. The Suzuki Speedfreaks visited, but not too often. More regular guests seem to be the Falcons, the Mao-Tsukai and the Ghost Tantos - at least those he sees more than once on the pictures he has access to. Members of the Tokyo Motor Club were also around, but those are not really known to be a problem for anyone who does not mess with their vehicles.

An hour later, he's back at Fortune. This time, the club is open - and several bikes are parked outside, and the drone is actively patrolling. The bouncer doesn't look Kambei over more than a second, all he seems to care about is whether Kambei pays the admittance fee, probably rounded up for a newcomer, and if he looks like more trouble than the rest of the guests. Guests, as Kambei knows from his research, and confirms upon entering, who wear punk street style, tatoos and piercings, and dance like drunks to the music of the band on the small stage inside. The interiour is decorated in "early recycling" style, with lost of couches and tables that seem to have been thrown away by others, and restored or at least cleaned by the owners of the club. But the bar has a lot of cheap alcohol, and Kambei spots the bartender passing out not just drinks, but chips as well - even at this early hour.

Shibuya, Neo-Tokyo - 04/21/2008 - 1930

Kambei grabs a drink and spends a little time getting the lay of the land. He wonders around the club as if checking out the crowd while he scopes out the securiy setup trying to get a good idea what the physical and digital security systems are like - no attempted hacking though - and getting an idea of how many bouncers there are and how capable they seem just incase of an altercation.

He places and image of Ahiko in the corner of his vision in AR and begins to mingle with the crowd - changing his location from time to time - striking up the occasional conversations - though not pursuing them too far - just so he doesn't stand out while scanning for Ahiko's comlink ID and her stolen comlink's ID and scanning the crowd for her face.

Hopefully she shows up tonight. I can't stand this drek music. He doesn't tune out the music - though he does lower the volume a considerable degree - as he bobs his head to the music pretending he is enjoying the atmosphere of this drek club.

"Fortune", Neo-Tokyo - 04/21/2008 - 2130



Kambei spots several cameras, but from his impression, the club relies more on its staff to alert bouncers to trouble, not on cameras - the cameras are mostly aimed at the stage, and probably serve to make clips of the bands' performances. That of course means they'll have recordings of the club somewhere.

The half a dozen bouncers are easily visible - all wear a "Fortune" T-Shirt, and various leather and jeans style clothes, probably reinforced. In another spot they could be mistaken for a zoku, if not for their age - they're generally in their twenties, and seem also lightly enhanced. No visible weapons, but they could have some tasers or worse ready at the bar. Judging their skill is harder, but most of the "though teens" give them their space.

During his time there, Kambei gets several offers for various drugs and chips, and probably stolen goods, but neither Ahiko nor her or her father's commlink show up. Several zoku are present, among them the Falcons, Tokyo Motor Club, and the Speed Freaks - the techno punk band on stage seems to appeal to the bosozoku, and the conversations in the club center around technical details and engines, mostly.



The evening seems like a bust when Kambei overhears the name "Kouki", coming from a bunch of Zoku looking like Falcons. Might be coincidence, it's a rather popular name, but Ahiko made those strip clips for a "Kouki"...

"Fortune", Neo-Tokyo - 04/21/2008 - 2130

Kambei resorts to his various mental exercises taught to him in his training program to avoid boredom and distraction during a mostly uneventful night. An hour into the routine he spots a couple of girls together and one of the girl’s hairdos reminds him of Aoi. Drek! I’d meant to give them a ring when their school was out. Hopefully they don’t mind too much. Besides I remember back in high school when I wouldn’t even call a girl back for two days after a first date…

Kambei terminates that line of thought quickly before his memories come flooding back. A few seconds later and he sends a message to Ayaka and Aoi saying hello and explaining that he’s been caught up at work all day and he’ll try to get in touch with them a bit later if they don’t manage to do the same first.

With that business taken care of he returns to his present task. Some more time passes uneventfully before he gets his first break, or what he hopes will be his first break. The name Kouki is pretty damn common but it’s not like I’ve got anything else to work with.

Kambei positions himself closer in a more advantageous position where he can see the group of Falcons while pretending he is appreciating the group of girls on the dance floor. He shifts a portion of his hearing to the conversation of the Falcons and sets his comlink to record the conversation.

In his pocket he carefully opens the packet of stealth tags and pulls one loose just incase he needs to deposit it in fast time.

"Fortune", Neo-Tokyo - 04/21/2008 - 2150



At first, the Falcons just talk about their bikes, and mocking the Tokyo Motor Club ones for being "jury-rigged trash". This goes on long enough that the girls Kambei is pretending to watch notice him, and start to talk among themselves, after checking his profile. Their talking and subtly changed dancing seems to catch the attention of one of the Falcons, and he points one of them out to a man they call Kouki "Hey, Ko-Kun - look at that one, doesn't she remind you of Ahiko?"

For some reason, this makes the group laugh. Strangely enough, the girl they point out - the one looking at Kambei - doesn't look like Ahiko.

"Fortune", Neo-Tokyo - 04/21/2008 - 2150

Hmm… that wasn’t exactly my intention…

Kambei smiles when he is noticed but doesn’t linger and quickly away from the group – hoping they think of him just as another guy looking at a group of girls in a club = towards other people in the club while sipping his drink casually.

His attention is immediately snapped back to the group – though he attempts not to show it – the moment he hears Ahiko’s name. He adjusts his cybereyes to snap a good picture of the woman they pointed out as looking similar to Ahiko and he brings the image up in the corner of his vision next to Ahiko’s face.

Odd… they don’t look a like... maybe her physical dimensions are similar…

Kambei shits another portion of his hearing to the group of girls for good measure just incase there is something to it and he attempts to discreetly grab good shots of the Falcons – starting with Kouki – for his file and future reference.

"Fortune", Neo-Tokyo - 04/21/2008 - 2155

The girl does not have a similar build as Ahiko either, as far as Kambei can tell. He does notice that the group the girl is in backs away a bit once the girls realise that the Falcons are talking about them.

Kouki is a handsome young man, late teens or early twenties, and shows signs of past fights - several scars on his lower arms, typical reminders of knife fights. He's tall and slender, and looks like a leader among the rest of the gang - most seem to defer to him. Kambei notices no guns, but he's carrying quite openly two knives - western bowie knife style.

"Fortune", Neo-Tokyo - 04/21/2008 - 2155

Well, it would appear that Kouki is my hottest lead to Ahiko as of right now. Now to find a way to get a stealth tag on him…

Kambei continues to monitor the Falcons’ conversation and the girls’ conversation – just incase it continues to be relevant – while he continues to mingle in the crowd and changes his position to decrease the likelihood of him being noticed.

He specifically listens in on the bits of their conversation on their bikes, trying to determine which one will be Kouki’s so he can tag it to follow them after they leave the club.

"Fortune", Neo-Tokyo - 04/21/2008 - 2215



Kambei gets lucky again, and catches a reference to Kouki's "black scorpion" during an exchange of the Falcons and some members of the Toyko Motor Club - the Motor Club members stating how they left it and it's neon-green falcon crest in the dust at the last pan-Toyko race.

Outside - "getting some fresh air" - there is a big American-made Harley Davidson Scorpion with a green animated Falcon on the tank - an expensive decoration. No other Scorpion is black among the parked bike - and only the Falcons seem to ride them anyway, so this must be Kouki's. But placing a stealth tag on it will be tricky, with the drone surveillance.



Tricky, but not impossible. Using his training, Kambei exploits a distraction when two zoku members start a shouting match over a parking space, and places a tag on the big Harley.

"Fortune", Neo-Tokyo - 04/21/2008 - 2215

After the tags are placed Kambei runs a simple tracking test from his comlink to assure the job was done right. After he detects a clear signal he puts the tag back in stealth mode and heads back into the club to continue to spy on the Falcons.

Hopefully I didn’t miss any juicy details…

Kambei worries a bit while continuing to spy on the Falcons about what could have happened to Ahiko. The files on her music player indicated that she went willingly, but other evidence indicated that she left hastily or was perhaps even possibly kidnapped. Maybe she wanted to run away but changed her mind. Or maybe they just convinced her to run away to get something from her parents and have now secured her incase she changed her mind.

So many possibilities and so much time to wonder about them all… there were few things Kambei disliked more than a stakeout…

"Fortune", Neo-Tokyo - 04/21/2008 - 2235

It seems as if the conversation shifted to technical details again. Kambei notices that the group of girls has put more distance between them and the Falcons, and some tension grew worse between the Flacons and some men he pegs as Tokyo Motor Club members. Two bouncers are standing nearby keeping an eye on the two groups.

Kambei also noticed that the bikes of the Falcons looked very well maintained - and their clothes look new, expensive imported stuff. But it looks to be a long night full of boring teenage talk about bikes.

"Fortune", Neo-Tokyo - 04/21/2008 – 2235

Kambei watches things while continuing with his mental exercises meant to keep him alert and prevent his mind from wondering off its task. This better end up being worth it. How long till it’s these kids’ damned bedtime…

While waiting for them to leave or something to happen he wondered on how they could have managed to afford to keep those bikes in tiptop shame and afford to buy brand new clothes. Must make a decent amount running with the zoku these days… or perhaps they’ve recently come into some good money. What a shame that they'd blow that money on UCAS bikes... nothing but shoddy craftsmanship off that continent. Only three places worth getting a bike from in my book: Japan, Germany and Italy.

He sympathized with the group of girls distancing themselves from the Falcons, but he couldn’t really understand what they were thinking coming to a place like this. I don’t know what you’d really expect coming to a place like this. I understand getting into trouble at a hot club when you are new in town and looking for a thrill… but coming to a place like this is a bit different.

And through all this – despite his best effort – he couldn’t help but keep glancing at the time and hoping he would get a message from Ayake and Aoi.

"Fortune", Neo-Tokyo - 04/21/2008 – 2235

The crowd - mostly punks - gets warmed up by the band's anti-corp song, and starts to sing along. The group of girls Kambei watched does so as well. A she watches them and the Falcons, a message arrives in his commlink: Ayaka and Aoi ask how he is doing, and if he's free tomorrow - with a picture greeting of them in short dresses, waving and smiling.

Seeing their picture, the differences between them and the girls here - the girls he was watching don't look so much like thrill-seekers, but almost like a zoku themselves. Harder, less innocent, and less educated. Not zoku, but low-class.

"Fortune", Neo-Tokyo - 04/21/2008 – 2235

Upon further reflection, Kambei feels a little bad about his presumptions. Having come from the comforting embrace of the corps in a rich family it was difficult for Kambei to understand people from other more unfortunate walks of life. Even since he had been cast into the shadows it was difficult to think of the lower class and criminals as people who were simply handed a raw deal rather than people who chose their path in life or people who weren't motivated enough to dig themselves out of the lower class.

Even the music's lyrics - despite the fact that it was so far from his preferred style - appealed to him a bit, though it seemed naive of them to believe we could really be in a world without the corps. Kambei glances back at the girls, they clearly like the message enough to risk attention from the zoku to come get their fill. Maybe they didn't so much deserve his sympathy, but rather his respect.

Kambei is ripped away from his faux-philosophical contemplations he was prone to when he was bored by his message indicator. He quickly responds, "I'm doing fine, just busy at work. I'm not sure exactly when I am free tomorrow but if you tell me when you are free I can be sure to make time." Kambei hesitates before he sends the message. I could still be on this job tomorrow and by the looks of it I will... but I'm sure I can put aside a couple hours to spend some time with the girls. He quickly sends the message before he could reconsider and come to a wiser decision.

"Fortune", Neo-Tokyo - 04/21/2008 – 2400

Ayaka and Aoi answer Kambei with a trid phone call, makeing him squirm a bit before stating that they'll call him. They seem to enjoy the banter.

After more of the songs and technotalk, and a few unsuccessful attempts to hit on a few girls, and more posturing with the Motor Club members, the Falcons finally leave the club and mount their bikes. They do not seem to notice the stealth tag.

"Fortune", Neo-Tokyo - 04/21/2008 – 2400

Kambei, now relieved that AA called him back, gets on with business without anymore distractions.

A while later he is finally awarded with some movement. After confirming again that his tag is working, he allows the Falcons to leave before heading outside and following them at a safe distance with the assitances of the tag.

I hope this gets me somewhere other than a damn street race.

Neo-Tokyo - 04/22/2008 – 0030

The Falcons drive over several highways, buzzing the turfs of other zoku, and finally reach the outskirts of Tokyo, where they park their bikes in an old warehouse. The area looks abandonned, probably used as a tax write off, or hoarded for future development, depending on some corp spreadsheet somewhere. Lots of the buildings seem to be used by squatters, or by more dangerous people.



Kambei looks the warehouse over, checking entrances and possible escape routes, and spots a guard on the roof as well as a few hover drones - pretty expensive tech for a zoku. Most of the other gangers seem to be inside, one is outside, smoking. Not quite a guard, but he's blocking the entrance.

Neo-Tokyo - 04/22/2008 – 0035

Kambei looks the warehouse over, checking entrances and possible escape routes, and spots a guard on the roof as well as a few hover drones - pretty expensive tech for a zoku. Most of the other gangers seem to be inside, one is outside, smoking. Not quite a guard, but he's blocking the entrance.

Kambei parks his bike somewhere discreet nearby. He pops the back seat up and grabs some of the items he prepared earlier. His maglock passkey, sequencer, lock-picking tools and a face mask. He secures the equipment on his person to minimize any potential noise, loosens his holster slightly for an easier draw, tightens his gloves and pulls on the ski mask.

He begins to approach the building hidden in the shadows cycling through his vision modes to watch for any signs of detection as he gets closer to the warehouse. Kambei also increases the sensitivity of his hearing as he gets closer.

Neo-Tokyo - 04/22/2008 – 0036

Sneaking is as much a test for patience and perception as for hiding and moving silently. Spotting the patterns of guards and patrols, waiting until the there's an opening, followed by a quick but silent dash to another, closer corner the guards and drones can't see into, Kambei works his way closer to the warehouse.

Not as difficult in this case as in other missions he did in the past - the Falcons seem not to know how to use their new tech best yet. So after 15 minutes, Kambei is hidden one floor up, and working on an old door there that most likely once led to a platform for a crane lone since gone. Picking the antique maglock is no problem - even the cheapest sequencer would have sliced through the 20 year old codes, and Kambei has much better gear. Again, a rookiee mistake on part of the Falcons, fixating on wiz high tech stuff like hover drones, and neglecting the basics - locks on doors and windows.

Inside, Kambei spots a lot of bikes parked near the main entrance, a mound of sleeping bags and discarded fast food containers, mostly burgers, and a dozen zoku playing some AR game. Kouki is not among them though. A bit away in the former office space of the warehouse he sees light and movement. Up under the roof is a veritable network of rafters and beams, and much of the floor is covered by old crates haphzardly pushed out of the way to make room for the bikes of the zoku. Both would allow Kambei to move further with less of a chance to be detected, although not without risk.

The whole set up looks temporary to Kambei, as if the zoku planned to move on in the near future, and did not care about the current location much. Or they simply don't care about having a trsh heap next inside their HQ...

Neo-Tokyo - 04/22/2008 – 0036

Kambei grows increasingly suspicious by the second but clamps down his wondering thoughts. He didn’t like the temporary look of this warehouse, nor did he like the advanced but poorly planned security. This was clearly more than it appeared. But o point in imaging worst case scenarios at any point. Just find this girl – if she is here at all – and get home in one piece.

After waiting patiently to fully evaluate his current situation, Kambei begins to move forward using the boxes, bikes and general refuse as cover. Any reward worth having is worth taking a risk for…

Kambei continues to scan his environment carefully as he moves forward, often switching to thermographic vision to checking for people behind walls. He is specifically looking for any place that could contain a prisoner, a sleeping area or any other place that could possibly be housing Ahiko. Due to his earlier suspicions, Kambei also keeps a photo of the girl who “resembled� Ahiko next to her actual photograph incase he spotted a woman with a similar look.

I really should have brought my chameleon suit…

Neo-Tokyo - 04/22/2008 – 0050

Slowly and methodically, Kambei moves through the warehouse. Ahiko isn't among the people playing the AR game, nor among the two dozing off on the matresses a bit behind them. A third form is hidden by the sleeping bag its in, but when a drunk AR player stumbles over it and falls down, the angry face that appears and curses the drunk is that of a male.

No girl looking like Ahiko or the other girl Kambei has a picture of is visible. No girl at all, that is. Moving towards the "office space", Kambei uses a short shouting match between the sleeper and the player as a distraction and cuts through an area with less cover. One zoku might have noticed something moving, but pays it no mind, instead trying to get ahead in the game.

Finally relatively safe behind the thin walls of the office space, Kambei listens to the people talking inside.



He can't make out every word from his position, but they are talking about Ahiko and money, and waiting on some "Keru" to hack a commlink. To hear more he'd need to get closer. Not impossible, but riskier - the thin walls of the office container won't block his body heat much if at all...

Neo-Tokyo - 04/22/2008 – 0050

Kambei inches closer trying to get into a better position to listen in on the conversation. He considers his options for a moment. I really should have brought the chameleon suit… the heat dampening would be perfect for this. Oh well… They’re probably waiting to hack into the black account commlink. Maybe she didn’t give up the access codes.

After he has gotten himself as close as he thinks he can before opening himself up to detection he sends a message marked “Urgent� to Rattler to see if he is currently available to provide some assistance.

Neo-Tokyo - 04/22/2008 – 0051

A minute later, Rattler's icon pops up in an AR window at the edge of Kambei's field of vision.

"What's burning?"

Rattler's synthetic voice doesn't sound too concerned, but the somewhat teasing tone it at times takes is absent.

Neo-Tokyo - 04/22/2008 – 0052

“I’m in a bit of a situation,� Kambei links him to his audio and visual feed into his commlink, “as you can clearly see.�

“There’s a commlink they are trying to hack into her. I think it’s one of the commlinks I had you track,� he forwards the commlink ID again just to make sure he’s got the right one. “Can you try to locate the commlink from my node and see how far along they are in hacking the ‘link without tipping them off and telling me what exactly they are trying to do?�

Kambei can’t help but chuckle internally at his current dilemma, “while you are at it. Mind picking up a couple things from my place and dropping them off here too?�

Neo-Tokyo - 04/22/2008 – 0052

Rattler's icon shakes his head after a few seconds.

"Sorry, Kambei, that commlink is not logged on or turned on at all. They are not currently hacking it."

Rattler just laughs at the suggestion he should physically move, much less to such a dangerous spot.

"What I can do is hack their own commlinks, and through them their cybereyes - if they have any. They seem to be the people who are not covering all their angles. That won't help much with those who are not augmented, but those don't see body heat anyway. However, that'll cost some dough, to borrow an expression from our America-loving friends here."

The snake icon pauses.

"And, of course, if I get noticed, slim as the chance may be, and you get caught, then I never knew you."

Rattler is asking for another 500 nuyen for this risky operation - risky for Kambei, that is.

Neo-Tokyo - 04/22/2008 – 0053

Kambei thinks it over for a second, 1,000 nuyen in expenses now and if this works I just might be able to make that 2,500 bonus. And hell, it’s not like Rattler’s any hacker off the streets…

“Yeah, why not, go for it. And while you are in their systems if you notice anything that stands out let me know.� He looks around at his precarious position, “meanwhile I think I’m going to find a better place to hide.�

Neo-Tokyo - 04/22/2008 – 0055

Even for a good hacker like Rattler it takes some time to hack into the three people inside the office, so Kambei has enough time to switch to a better position. When Rattler finally gives the all-ok - and noted how two of the people he hacked had their cyber with the factory setting on still, brand new - Kambei is ready to move closer, secure in the thought that the zoku won't see anything but empty space behind their walls.

That close, he can listen in to the zoku inside - the wands are thin though, so he has to be extra silent. There's Kouki there, going on about how smooth he is, or was, with the girl.



What Kambei hears is not good news though. From Kouki's boasting, he seduced Ahiko, made her trust him, then sold her to some yakuza kumi. He is mad that the "stupid bitch" didn't get the code for the commlink she stole from her father, but thinks that his hacker buddy will help with that. The other two, all three probably being the leaders of the Falcons, disagree with Kouki's assessement of being the most useful member. One claims to have brokered the whole deal about Ahiko before Kouki ven came into the picture, but the other tells him that he did not even know who he was dealing with until he told him. Kouki disagrees with both.
It seems clear however that they have the commlink of Ahiko's father in there.