Cricket nods to Granny, as he heads towards the door. "Send me the list, and I'll get started. I brought my car, but I would like to get a look inside your assault bus sometime... oh, here is that Leona Chen SiN that Silverzip used, before I forget." He transmits the SiN number to Granny, and then takes his leave.

11:15PM(23:15), March 15, 2070
The Naked Kat Gentlemen's Club
Wanchai Causeway, Hong Kong

The Naked Kat is, in the real world, a large red brick building in neo-colonial style, set back off of the street. It's rumored that the place has been a gentleman's club for over two centuries, having served English 'serving officers', Communist Chinese party officials, and now, in their turn, the corporate elite. In AR, the club's prosaic brick exterior becomes a wash of neon red and pink and orange, capped by a tasteful view of a feline woman, reclining on the roof, wearing not very much at all, and giving a knowing, sultry look to passersby.

Inside, the decor is all deep carpets, dim lighting, chrome, and leather. Booths and tables are full, especially at this time of night. The corporate crowd, especially those willing to pay the 50 nu-yen cover, take their stimulation very seriously. That stimulation begins with the barely clad hostesses, and 20 nu-yen drinks. Each hostess discretely has an AR attached indicating the gift required to get their full and undivided attention in a much more personal milieu.

There are dancers in cages, dancers on walkways, dancers on/around/generally nearby poles. In short, there is a fair assortment of female flesh on display, each dancer with AR tag for the music she is dancing too, or a general AR list of music choices from the club's system.

Given the combination of sex and alcohol, security is numerous and obvious. The Naked Kat doesn't even make a pretension of trying to keep most weapons out, but it is pretty obvious that the security staff is ready and willing to squash any trouble before it gets out of hand. There are scanners at the doors, and they are good ones, but the door man doesn't make any comment about anything of heavy pistol size or smaller.

Candy sits at the bar, her lush curves (This month, she is a busty blonde, but that varies on a fairly regular basis, depending on her own whim, or what her current interest prefers) clad in a short kimono robe and silk slippers. She smiles, seeing Stray. ""So what did you want to talk about? I have about ten minutes till my next set." She smiles, seeing Doc. "Oh, and who is your friend?"

Biuisness first, Candy, business first ," Stray says with a smile. Lookin for someone. You hear anyone with loose lips talk about a Mrs. Silverzip? You may have even seen her at the races. She rides a silver and Chrome mirage. Shes also been known to go by Leona Chen. , Stray tells Candy in alow tone. Turning to Doc he asks," Anything Im leaving anything out?"

11:10PM(23:10), March 15, 2070
Charlie Chan's
Wanchai Causeway, Hong Kong

After the others depart, Vice waits in the Armstrong Room for a few minutes, replaying the recording over and over, listening for any sort of indication or deciet or implied warnings or calls for help from the conversation.



Once a suitable amount of time has passed, he rises, and returns to the main area of the restaurant.

<Music Cue: Murray Head - One Night in Bangkok>

He quickly flags down a cigarette girl, makes his way back to the bar for another drink, and goes back to studying the crowd, looking for anyone who appeared to be waiting for him to leave the meeting. He goes out of his way to make eye contact with anyone and everyone who catches his attention. Of particular interest are the whereabouts of the girl with the girl at the bar with the gun.

Exiting the club, she stood in the doorway and exchanged polite small talk with the door staff. Within a few moments the matte black monolith she had arrived in emerged from the night and drifted to a stop within a few feet of the door.

The hydraulics were already opening the door before it came silently to a stop. Granny stepped aboard and it started to move off almost before her back foot left the pavement.

The door hissed, seamlessly, closed as it accelerated away and it's tail lights were soon lost in the traffic.

March 15, 2070, 22:55, Hong Kong, Whampoa Data Haven

Leaving the menacing black vehicle parked securely behind the automated steel shutters of one of the giant loading docks in the abandoned shopping mall that was home to the Data Haven, Granny activated it's perimeter defenses before winding her way up to the old junk shop she had made her home.

She carefully removed the outfit she had worn to Charlie Chan's to reveal the neoprene one piece she wore beneath. She looked a bit like a surfer that had been attacked by a vampire. The wet-suit was skin tight, which only served to emphasize her age and frailty.

A curtain cut the old store in half and she pushed her way between it's folds into the shadows beyond.

Here the only lighting was the eerie glow of fiber optics and cold cathodes. In excess of a dozen drones hung from wires attached to the ceiling like some sort of mad constellation. Their exposed guts of fiber and light were intertwined in a web of pulsing patterns that criss-crossed the space between them like an explosion in a Spaghetti factory.

Behind them, hanging even deeper in the shadows was a bizarre silhouette.

Granny picked a banana from a bunch on a table near the curtain and munched absently upon it as she crossed the room to the strange figure.

Hanging from more cables was what looked, close up, like a crucified and disemboweled Cyborg.

Discarding her peel in the nearby bin, Granny climbed the short step-ladder that was set up at the 'Cyborgs' feet. Twisting she inserted first one leg and then the other, down through it's gaping abdomen into it's obviously hollow legs. Repeating the procedure with her arms she was able to draw herself entirely within the shining white exo-skeleton.

Close. Engage biomonitor and life-support systems.

The white carapace suddenly sprang to life, folding up like some terrible insectile piece of origami. When it was done it had completely subsumed the frail elderly woman in white cera-plast and myomer enhanced limbs. The single marking on it's smooth white surface a pair of snakes entwined around a staff on one breast.

March 15, 2070, 22:58, Hong Kong, Whampoa Data Haven, The Circle Cluster

The unreal light faded and in it's place the Priestess hovered, arms outstretched, in the center of the circle of ancient stones.

Now to work. Nodes 9 and 10 disengage. Copy slave image to nodes 9 and 10 and restart.

In the back of her mind she could feel the cluster diminish as she dropped two of the nodes. Their was still massive amounts of processing power and storage space though. She carefully reconfigured the two spare nodes as slaves with IC constructs, an additional guardian and a purely utility construct to run the Data Searches she needed to perform.

She carefully arranged the available data, name, known aliases, SIN, comm-code, the traced call and the node it was made from, Mr and Mrs Johnson, Cricket, the peculiar data chips and the girls last drop point. Then she specified what the construct was to look for, where it was to look for it, how relatively important each segment of the search was, how far back to look and what order to rank the results in.

Best case scenario, it found the access ID of her comm-link from the comm-code and it was still connected to the Matrix and could be traced.

Fat chance.

She set the IC running and started to re-task another with a list of software she was looking for while she called Shan.

Heh, Shan, 'tis your favorite Granny. Did Cricket call you? Good. I was also wondering if I could use a hand with the Stealth code-base?

12:05AM(00:05),March 16th, 2070

Across Hong Kong, the nightly monsoon rains continue to fall. In the matrix, electrons dance, and as always, the lines of Qi flow over and through the city.

Earlier:

At Charlie Chan's, Vice notices the two ladies he watched earlier are no longer alone. They've been joined by a corporate suit, who is doing his eager best to chat up both the girls. A bodyguard hovers not too far away, looking bored but attentive. He seems to notice Vice, and looks a bit more alert, though he doesn't do anything but remain in place. One of the ladies looks at Vice, and smiles, rolling her eyes a bit at the suit.

At the Naked Kat, Candy thinks for a moment, then says, "I know a Silverzip. She has a really sweet bike. She hangs out in the pits all the time with the techies. I know she races sometimes in the amateur races. I don't think that's her real name, though. But who uses their real name, anyway? I think she has something going with Lee Komo. He runs one of the racing teams. I heard that his mechanics modded her bike for her."

Now:

At the Whampoa Data Haven, Shan is something of a larger then life figure. A troll technomancer, he almost never leaves the Haven, though rumor has it he was quite the ganger in his youth. His ties to the Red Dragon Association are fairly established fact, however. He would never dream of invading Granny's circle, but he does send back a message: "Of course he called me. Granny, its always a pleasure. Let me know what you need, and what you can afford to pay. What sort of help did you need, or are you offering to help me with some tasty Stealth action?"

11:10PM(23:10), March 15, 2070
Charlie Chan's
Wanchai Causeway, Hong Kong

<Music Cue: Murray Head - One Night in Bangkok>

Swirling his drink, Vice observes the body guard for a bit, looking at where he’s watching.

God bless bodyguards. When you need someone to get shot, or be obvious about looking for tails, they’re worth their weight in gold. He’s standing down from the dolls at the bar, and not watching anyone in particular in the room so either he’s incompetent or we’re clear.


�Doc, Stray, either we’re clear, or we’re way, way, way outclassed. Either way, I’m pretty much done here. I’ll be along in a few. There’s one last loose end that I have to tie up. Try not to get shot while I’m not around.

Vice smirks at the girl trapped at the bar, finishes his drink, and then makes his way over to them. Rather than intruding on their awkward conversation, he walks up next to them, sets his hat down on the bar, and helps himself to a few peanuts before heading to the restroom.



After a few minutes, he emerges, and moseys his way across the restaurant and out the front door, hat seemingly forgotten. Thanks to the large mirror behind the bar, casual sideways glances let him see the reactions of the room as he departs, looking for anyone who shows a sudden interest in leaving.

Outside, he spends a few minutes finishing his cigarette, waiting to see if anyone might be following him.

Stray slides 200 neyen Candys way undr his hand with a smile,"Thanks candy, apreciate the help. Now, for the introuctions. Candy, this is D, D this is Candy. Now, dont you two do anything I wouldnt do." as he orders a drink, and walks off , looking around to see what kind of entertainment the club has to offer as he sends Granny and Vice a message.

<Stray @ Granny: Mrs. Silverzip likes to hang out in the pits with the techies. she sometimes races in the amateur races. My contact thinks she has something going with Lee Komo. He runs one of the racing teams and she heard that his mechanics modded her bike for her.>

<Stray @ Vice: Got my info, ill fill u in when u get here>

The reply comes quickly.

<Vice @Stray:Encouraging. Anything more promising than stomping around Kowloon in the rain all night? Won't get much done if we have to spend fifteen minutes of every hour toweling off.>

<stray @ vice: Mrs. Silverzip likes to hang out in the pits with the techies. she sometimes races in the amateur races. My contact thinks she has something going with Lee Komo. He runs one of the racing teams and she heard that his mechanics modded her bike for her. So at least we got a start at the valley, rather than tromping around flashing a picture and asking if anyone knows her. That attracts too much attention for my taste anyways. You never know who your letting know your looking for her.>

<Vice @Stray:Think I've seen her out there before, though what little racing I've done tends to take place in the tunnels, or way up north on the mainland, or out near the monastery and the airport. As for us giving ourselves away, I wanted to get a look at the neighborhood tonight, rather than start chatting people up. But that can wait for the day, when looking around will draw less attention.>

Doctor Delicious smiles at Candy. Then looks at Stray.
Don't worry. I'll be a good boy. Then, looking at Candy, I have to say, you do look as sweet as your name.



He briefly opens his commlink and subvocals to Vice Not a problem. I'll probably be leaving here soon. Let me know if you need me for anything.

Vice chuckles, tossing the last smoldering bits of his cigarette into a nearby puddle. A quick wireless command starts the blue and white Mirage he left parked across the street. As the engine warms up, he responds.

Sounds like you're both done over there. Unless you'd rather stomp through Mong Kok to look around the alleys, it's time to hit the stadium and see where that leads us.

Ok. So you want us to meet you somewhere, or are you coming down here, and we figure out our next move, and roll out together? replies stray,suddenly jumping into the subvocal as he continues his search of the stripclub, lookin to see if theres a redhead w/ green eyes
Umhuh, i LOVE them redheads, Stray thinks to himself, giving himself a small grin, all the while, also keepin an eye for any signs of possible trouble. Probably wont happen here, but eh, you never know.

His ears filter out the blaring of horns and the droning rain as Vice crosses the street to his parked bike. Mindful of the wet road, he rides the clutch all the way up into 3rd gear, retracting the kickstand with a mental command.

�Might as well regroup before we head to the stadium. You catch bring me up to speed in person without having to get rained on. I’ll be there in a few minutes.�

A short ride later, the blue and white racing bike and its’ drenched mustard yellow suited passenger roll into the parking lot of the Naked Kat. Vice backs his bike into a space next to what he guesses are Doc and Stray’s bikes then makes his way across the lot and into the club.

The trio of twenty-something wage slaves standing in line to get in is cut in front of as if they were invisible. The cover is overpaid by 200 nuyen. Vice pulls open his damp suit jacket to reveal the holstered handgun, as he strolls through the weapon scanner without breaking stride.

<Music Cue: INXS – I Need You Tonight>

Entering the main room, the smell of leather, sweat, alcohol, and perfume mixes with the hum of whispered conversations into an intoxicating atmosphere that wraps him like a favorite blanket. The rain water streams from his hydrophobic clothes as he looks around, surveying the talent for someone who catches his attention.

“Nice little place. Where are y’all hiding?�

I left Doc at the bar with my contact, im heading that way now, stray subvocals, as he cranes his neck to get a look at the redheads butt as she walks by him. Making sure he takes a path that brings him by the good looking readhead, stray runs his hand along her arm as he walks by her, and returns the warm smile he expectdly recives on his way back to the bar.
Once he gets to the bar, Stray finds Doc still there, chatting up Candy. As he takes a seat and orders a cheap beer, he feels a soft touch on his arm. As he looks back it is the redhead from before. Again smiling warmly, she replies "You mind if I join you?"
With a shrug, Stray replies "Sure, though I dont know for how long. I may have to leave pretty shortly here, but if i got time..........
(stray just lets it trail off as he checks her prices via his link.)

<Music Cue: INXS - I Need You Tonight>

After caving into his compulsions, Vice chums the proverbial water by being grossly overgenerous with a particularly friendly hostess, and is waylaid several more times for his trouble as he tries halfheartedly to make his way to the bar. When he eventually arrives (1000 nuyen poorer for the journey) he lays claim to an empty stool, buys two more girls drinks, and looks over Stray's old friend and new friend.

"I probably have a giant flashing red arrow over my head by now. So, other than that I can't say no to a pretty face with no pants on, what'd y'all find out?

Well, other than this redhead right here suits my tastes, not much more than i told ya. Hopefully granny can find something more over the matrix with the little bit of extra info, replies stray, looking knowingly at the redhead.
So, are off to work immediatley, or do we have time to ...... enjoy ourselves? asks stray, looking up the redheads services and prices, wondering what he was in the mood for tonite, if time permitted.

Vice shifts his attention between the mental notes hovering in his field of view and the girl whispering in his ear as she rubs chest.



"Much as I'd love to stick around and pay Jade here's mortgage, I'm not smart enough for my money to make itself. This place will still be here when it's time to celebrate."

looking up at Vice, ill head out there with you. work before play,right? (Stray chcukles)Besides, who knows, work may turn into play, huh? With that, Stray looks to the redhead and replies, sorry , but im going to have to take a raincheck on this With a start, Stray stands and gets ready to go, You ready then Vice? The longer we stay here, the harder it will be to leave

"D, you coming along, or are you staying here to make sure your new friend makes it home safely in this storm? Either way, is one of y'all going to introduce me?"

The girl on his arm continues whispering in his hear, trying to convince Vice to stick around and spend a little more time and a lot more money, but remarkably, he seems dead set on leaving.

<Vice @Granny: Turn up an address for Silverzip yet?>

Stray nods to the girl on Doc's arm,(chuckling as he replies) thats Candy and this lovely lady playing with my arm, well, i dont know her name, so lets just call her Red. So,have we decided if we are going to go check out this stadium tonite?

When Doc doesn't even look up from his working Candy, his intent is unmistakable. "Time to hit the road. Candy, Red, I'll make sure he doesn't get beaten to death before he can come back and see you." He reaches up to tip his hat, scowls at not getting it returned, shrugs, and walks out.

On the way out, Vice buys and downloads a rating 6 Mapsoft of Hong Kong from an online retailer for 30.

Outside, in the rainy parking lot, Vice tries to be discrete about swapping his heavy pistol for the machine pistol stored in the bike's underseat compartment. "To be honest, if I had his head start, I wouldn't have left, either."



<Music Cue:Motley Crue - Wildside>

After securing the weapon, he starts his bike, waits for Stray, then heads out into the night traffic, and places a quick commcall to his fixer.

<Vice @VinnieC: You working tonight? Got some questions I was hoping to get answered.>

With a nod to doc, whch of course goes unnoticed, and a goodbye to red,Stray stand and Downs the rest of his beer and walks out the door with a single sentence, "Careful D, that ones a tiger, shell have all your money before she can make your head spin.
With another chuckle, stray walks out the door and down to his bike, where he pulls out his ceska and holsters that one as well. As he does all this Stray also buys and downloads a rating 6 Mapsoft of Hong Kong. As he mounts his bike and starts it up, he looks to Vice, and says, the Collesum, right?, the confirmation punctuated with a few revs of the engine.

<Music Cue: Motley Crue – Wildside>

“That’s what I was thinking. Shouldn’t be too much trouble to find an open gate or door, roll in like we belong there, lie through our teeth to get to Kumo’s crew, and milk them for anything they can give us on Silverzip. I doubt they’d tell us if they knew where she went to ground if she ran, but they might let something slip. Either way, it beats sitting around a strip club spending money I haven’t made yet while I wait for a bunch of agents to do all the work for me.�

During the trip over, Vice swaps his attention between the rain, the traffic, and poking around Granny’s cluster’s controls, looking for what he has to do to send a search agent to go find an address for Lee Kumo’s racing team’s garage, its’ team name, and whether the team entered anyone in tonight’s contests.

Stray responds to vice with a grin and a nod that snaps down the visor on his helmet. Revving his bike, Stray roars off, wondering if maybe he was good enough to give the races at the colloseum a shot. Afer all, I have raced before, just not at the colesum.
Stray grins behind his dark visior, feeling his blood rush at the thought of racing at the colloseum. With the sudden rush of adrenaline, Stray revvs his engine, taking off with a burst of speed down the road, feeling the wind and rain rush against him before he slows back down.
You think the races may still be going? maybe a race would get our foot in the door. Let me know what you think? And who should enter? or maybe both of us should?

Vice subconsciously shrugs, the rain running off his bare head.

"I'm dressed for pimping, not racing, and I'm pretty sure I'd only hurt my credibility if I got out there to mix it up. If you're going to give it a try, let me know, and I'll try to get a piece of the action, but I'm pretty sure the only things still going out there are bike and building maintenance. If I'm wrong, it'll definitely give me time to go find Kumo's crew and work them a little bit without drawing too much attention."

His inner monologue continues. "Damn. I can't believe Doc picked up that stripper, and the slitch from the bar didn't even take the chance to come bring me my hat. I'm slipping. Maybe it's the body language barrier. They do seem a lot more passive here, except for Bonnie and Silverzip, that is. And Bonnie doesn't count because she's a transplant. what the hell could be on those chips? Who could have known she was making a run yesterday? Who could have known far enough in advance to bring someone in to rip her off? It will seriously ruin my week if it turns out that she's already dead, and we can't collect that last 5k. But the only reason she'd still be alive and missing would be that she's in on it. Who paid her off? Who knew? Why would she sell out this Cricket guy and the Russian? who would she sell them out to? Wonder what she looks like through a steamed up shower door. Who else tracked her through the trains yesterday? What are the odds that the girl from the bar will knock on my door tomorrow morning, hand me my hat, and shoot me in the chest? If the bullet flattens, will she stick around?" The train of though meanders back and forth, jumping randomly between the current job, the orbiting diversions, annoyances with the rain, and a resurgent craving for a potent cocktail of novacoke and galak.

Eh, its was just a thought, im not so sure i got what it takes to make it out there either.
Stray's thoughts wander to what this "Silverzip" character is like. Wondering if she is even still alive, and hoping so for that extra 5k. Strays thoughts also start to wander off, wondering if he could even hold his own on the track at the colloseum.

<Music Bed: Motley Crue - Wild Side (Instrumental)>

The Mirage, subdued in the Team Suzuki blue and white, weaves around a slower car, carrying its' rider ever closer to the lights of Happy Valley.

Just gives you something else to work towards. Keeps you on the grind to get more cash to pour into your bike, keeps you out on the roads near the monastery in your free time. Either way, it can't hurt to get out there at least once."