[Everyone make a perception test].

If using AR or cyber eyes Perception target: [4]


Otherwise:

While within his Markus Shindler guise, Dick leans against a tree casually, looking for all the world like a local wanting nothing more than to get out of the rain for a few minutes. He scans the surroundings absently, his chameleon-coated Savalette Guardian close at hand.

Anyone paying attention sees the jogger who has stopped on the path lined with benches 50m North of the Memorial start a stretching exercise in preparation for starting off again in this cold, damp November evening.

She spreads her legs and reaches her left arm up over between her shoulder blades before dipping slowly towards her right knee.

<<encrypted text burst>>He's hiding in plain sight amongst the statues. **attached AR tag**

Swiftly she flicked through AR windows looking for the best targeting solution, it was a toss up between Thermo and Radar. She gradually released her breath as she zoomed her vision in on the offending statue and took careful aim with the AR cross-hairs she placed over his jugular.

<<He, being...?>> Dick queries as he folds his arms and pushes off the tree, shambling towards the memorial as if to pay his respects to the dead.

<<Got him, lets handle this with some soft-hands...>> As warrior walks towards this subject. "Evening, what's the occasion?" addressing him directly.

Warrior and Jane (and those who succeed in the previous perception test):

[OOC - Holy cow! I go do some work for once, and s**t starts flying!]

Professor heeds the warning and scans around, once visually, and then astrally.

Visual


Astral


EDIT: [OOC - somebody kick me the next time I don't add the 3 dice for "actively looking"!]

Professor:

GM:


EDIT: [OOC - Never mind, GM. I get it.]

Professor communicates to the team. "That statue... or whatever it is... doesn't show up on the astral at all. And... holy shit! The cemetery! I've never looked at it in the astral before. You could swim in the anger spread throughout it."

"What in the holy fuck was that!," As Warrior looks around. "Guys lets get what we need and get the hell out of here. I don't like this place anymore."

I really need to start laying off the kamikaze...

Warrior's comment snaps Professor out of his fascination with the aura around the cemetery. He activates his Three-dimensional Memory, enhanced by his Eidetic Memory, and memorizes the immediate area of the monument, in particular the drop zone and the area where the apparition occurred. He will touch the monument as well as look at it, to remember tactile impressions as well as visual. Smells, sounds, astral, every sense. He will ignore the distraction of the cemetery and the Watergate rift, using Heightened Concentration if necessary.

Afterward, he will remove the Astral Signature of the activation of his powers.

Those who see the apparition:

<<What's going on, Comrades? Who did you see? Did you manage to ID the assassin right off the bat? Because that would be crazy good luck.>>

Dick walks slowly and silently along the memorial, pausing here and there to trace his fingers over a name or a figure.

November, 18th 2069: A few blocks from Karkoff's apartment complex.

Lights. Camera. Action. The soft hum from the engine of the fire engine red Suzuki Mirage was barely vibrant as the figure strode upon it finshing off the remains of a cigarette. Arlington, Virgina is the haven of the affluent, serving as an ideal commuter location for the middle aged workers that worked for the UCAS governemnt. Settling his sports bike in the parking lot of a small community shopping area just outside of the Cathedral View living complex, Tyler Crey checked the digital display on his retinal scan just before flicking away the remains of the ashes from the cigarette butt. His 'allies' were sure taking their time.

The parking lot had a small amount of traffic going to and from the shopping center. Most likley it was people picking up groceries and other items from the various stuffer shacks which littered the area. Despite having to wait for the moment, Tyler could say the day had been productive not only for him, but for the man whom is currently under watch. Karkoff is a machine. Even though he was pushing 80 years old, the man worked tirelessly from the beginning of his shift to the end. Rarely did he take a break. Working at a Washington DC abortion clinic in 2069 might do that to you.

He gave himself an impatient sigh. He hated waiting.

Vroom..vroom.. With a flick of the wrist on the handlebar, the engine from the Suzuki Mirage came to life. He switched his PAN network to private, filtering out the advertisements from a local sports bar which was broadcasting the Urban Brawl blood match between Washington DC and Baltimore. It was time to check up on the old man again. The results of his last astral projection were rather interesting. A thunderous roar from an engine of a sports cycle beckoned into the night. In the suburbs of NoVA his sixth sense said something was going to happen tonight.

"Dick, I don't know if there is any connection between what happened here, or the emotions coming from the cemetery, with our mission. Places of huge emotional content sometimes develop their own weird traits. I have closely memorized this scene for later analysis. Maybe Warrior is right and we should go meet our other teammate."

November, 18th 2069: Outside Karkoff's apartment complex

Across the street of the row house is a tennis court. Despite the rain the burning of incadescent lamps illuminate two die hard tennis players. Rain running slick off their memtex jackets and billed caps they chase the soggy tennis ball with their smart AR assisted tennis rackets.

There are four units to the row house. Karkoff lives on the far right. The lights are on in the apartment. Next to it is a darkened apartment thick sheet plastic covers the facade a red storage trailer sits on the pavement. It's one wheel prominently placed in a wheel lock.

The other two units, 3 and 4, are also lit. A dog an be heard barking on the inverse side of the building.

On the left is an open space of a parking lot, home to a neatly illuminated 24h stuffer shack.

[OOC: Will you be standing outside or will you be by car, what is your plan for the stakeout?]

Professor scans the area in the Physical first, and then Astrally.

Physical:

Astral:

Elves are like wine. With age they only become more refined. Born in 2045, Tyler Crey had just hit the ripe age of twenty-four. He had already been running the shadows and serving his home country for years before being relocated to Washington DC a few weeks ago. His aptitude in the ways of the arcane had become more refined over the past year since taking a more traditional route in search of his magic. Still straddled to the back of the Suzuki Mirage, he gripped a dark ebony staff which lay in a scabbard like compartment that rested on the side of the motorcycle. Earlier in the night he had astrally perceived into the apartment, keeping a watch on Karkoff just as he was finishing his dinner. Nothing seemed out of the norm, until the doctor began to read. If Tyler was in the meat world standing next to Karkoff in the apartment he would have been able to find see what the man was reading, but in the astral world all he could make out was a number of symbols and glyphs.

Tyler Crey was as tall and slim like most elves, with bronzed skin so dark it almost looked black in the night, contrasting sharply with the yellow-bone color of his hair pulled back in a tight pony tail. A stylized tattoo of an Eastern dragon started on the outside of the arch of his right eyebrow, trailed down the side of his face, and curled its tail about his neck. The only interruption of the artwork was a thin shrapnel scar showing white against the bronze skin at the wing of the dragon. He was adorned in designer clothing, underneath a black lined coat duster.

At the present moment he was parked in a guest parking space within the complex, steam from the engine of the Mirage breaking into the slight drizzle. He had been only waiting there for a few moments, appearing as if he was a boyfriend waiting for a girlfriend to come out of the dossier for a date. He would not stay in this spot for much longer, he only wanted to get an up-close look at the building and survey the perimeter of the complex. Hopefully the other runners would arrive soon. The elf struck up a lighter and lit another cigarette. Tobacco in 2069 was soothing to his soul.

[OOC - I assume we do a drive by/around first to allow for a first scan by the team members. This ties in to my previous post. Do we have any information on our new team member? From the data files we just picked up, maybe?]

Dick stands at the edge of the light on the far side of the tennis courts watching the two players battle it out. He arrived walking down the sidewalk, only to stop to start watching the game with an appreciative grin on his face as he sips from a soycaf. Fairly regularly, he looks past the court to check the targets house.

<<To: known Team>>
<<Well, comrades, anything interesting in your lines of sight? I'm seeing 2 fairly skilled tennis players and... what looks like an elf waiting for a girlfriend. Any guesses on who's our latest friend?>>

[OOC: Retocnning Sincere's post a bit, the next housing complex and its parking lots are quite far away and do not have a line of sight to the four units. The difference is the nearest parking lot and local community centre on the REMAX site's street view, which has been demolished by 2069 and turned into a stuffer shack. ]

There is the sound of a child calling out, the dog barking becomes intense and the stops with the sound of a door slamming shut.

There is an elf waiting for someone in the nearby stuffer shack parking lot. Although there does not seem to be anyone inside except for a young woman troll behind the counter.

The rest of the street is quiet as most upstanding streets are. Not even a drug pusher at the corner. Despite the next corner only a few miles away.

Professor:


Professor:
Zoltan sends you a message with his favourite avatar of a big red bearded man, wearing a mock Roman centurion's uniform and angel wings.

<<Sorry for the wait chummer. Just got your message was in a ritual which seemed to last forever. I mean honestly how long does it take to to make tea and set out a plate of cookies? Anyways, perfect excuse to leave my mother's and her eligible "friend of a friend". I take it you need this pretty quick? Tell you what I'll do this for the price of escaping my mother as yentl.>>

[OOC: Chrysalis: Okay sounds good.

-Forgive me for not knowing the codes to make spoilers and change font on texts yet. For time constraints right now bear with the post.]

He figited a bit. His body was craving a dosage.

Not right now..best to be active right now. Fight the urge. He thought to himself as his body throbed.

He peeked inside the stuffer shack and only saw a troll female working at the counter. He pushed the outer part of his cheek with his tongue as a sly look came across his face at the irony. He then thought to himself how he would be able to discern whom his new allies were and how they were supposed to meet him. Perhaps displaying a token he received upon being employed for this job would be helpful. Maybe the others received a simliar item.

(OOC Let me know if this is cool Chrysalis) Taking out the white rose, Tyler Crey gets off the Mirage and walks to the edge of the parking lot. (Attemping to find a landmark such as lamp post, or something to place the rose down.)

He then casually makes his way back to his motorcycle and patiently waits once again. As he reaches the bike, he leans against it, lowers his head and attempts to take a moment to himself.

(OOC Astrally Projecting. Viewing the tennis players and any other figures in the vicinity. Roll. Int=3, Assessing=3, Act Searching=3 Total of 9 dice. [3,3,5,4,1,4,3,1,3]= 1 Success!)

<<Yeah... mothers. Glad I could be of service, Zoltan. Here's what I need, and sooner is better than later, I think. You know I can sustain a spell cast on me. My current team doesn't have a magician, though we have yet to meet the last member. In case he/she also isn't a magician, and just in general, I'm hoping you can connect me with a freelancer who will cast the occasional useful spell on me. I don't know the running rates for that kind of service, so if you could fill me in on reasonable rates, I would be much obliged. You know I am drek in negotiations. Let me know.>>

Hmmm. Someone sitting alone on a motorcycle, just sitting outside the store? Nobody in the Stuffer Shack? Last time I saw that it was a drug dealer. I think I'll have a look. Whoa! What is he doing? Is that ... a white rose?

Perception:

Yes it is!

"Chummers. White rose by the Stuffer Shack. Check out the guy who put it out by the lamp post."

Assense the guy by the Stuffer Shack:

Professor and Tyler:

[OOC. Chrysalis, I summon a level 11 Fire Spirit to attack the car and the tennis players. I kid I kid. .]

The car passes by the stuffer shack area as the dwarf who is looking out the window notices him. In return he notices the dwarf as well. His eyes lock onto to the dwarf for some reason as his gaze can't help but follow the car. It was as if as if a hairy man walked by with a half way zipped jump suit, sprouting chest hairs like a Chia Pet. It's a car wreck, but you can't help but watch.

What the heck are you staring at ditbrain? First thinking this was a random guy driving by, simply staring at him.

His gaze followed the dwarf. Just as the car was about to leave his peripheral sight, Tyler picks his nose, making sure the dwarf can see him.

"I believe we have made contact with our teammate .... such as he is. Shall we go over to the Stuffer Shack and get acquainted?"

F^%&, he picked his nose at me! Who the drek is this guy?

When we get over to the parking lot of the Stuffer Shack, Professor sends a message via AR to the PAN of the stranger on the bike:

<< Clearly a man with a nose for business. We're in the rose business, and it appears you are too.>>

A small letterhead appears in the corner of his commlink just as he returns to his body from the astral world. Without a thought he begins to key in a response and send a message back to the sender.

<Text to Prof.> "The dwarf I assume. Yes I recently was provided with a rose to represent a form of occupation. Signal as many of members of the team who are staying idle to gather. Perhaps we should become acquainted with each other."

Tyler removes the ebony cane from it's scabbard at the side of his bike. He approaches the car as he begins twirling the staff in his hand like a champion baton twirler.

*Edited. Removed Snarky comment. Hopefully providing a more positive atmosphere for replies and introductions.*

[OOC - Awww! And I was thinking up some wonderful replies, too!]

"Team, I've made contact with the biker, and he invites us to meet."

Dick nods to the tennis players as the game ends and turns to walk towards the stuffer shack.

<<Does our new teammate have a convenient meeting place selected?>>

He doesn't even stop to acknowledge the others as he enters the stuffer shack and purchases another soycaf and a soydog.

"We're all here now, and he is approaching the car... twirling a cane!? We might as well meet here. It gives us a view of the apartment as we talk. Keeping the server unaware of the content of our discussion should be no problem."

[OOC - You'll get plenty of future opportunities ]

Tyler's natural low light vision manifested as the dwarf approached him. He had yet to see any other members of the team. What he did know. The dwarf is magically active, putting him one notch higher most in Tyler's book. Second, the male is a dwarf which knocked him down 5 notches. Third, the dwarf had stared at him like a slack jawed yokel (In Tyler's opinion).

Tyler came to a pause in front of the dwarf. The dark ebony cane continued to twirl (but at decreased intervals, like once every ten seconds) whenever he performed a circular motion with his wrist. It continued to rain, but that only enchanced and stylized his hair even further.

"It's curt not to be punctual for a Shadowrun. It's unprofessional to keep a colleague waiting ." The elf said to the dwarf. He offered the dwarf a wry grin. "And frankly. It's rude to stare at people. By the way. My name is the Toreador, and I'll be your friendly neighborhood ally for the evening."

"My name is Professor. I am pleased to make your acquaintance, Toreador. How fortunate for you that your pique enabled you to stay focused on your surveillance. A lesser man might have allowed the misconception that we had a specific time to arrive to distract him. And close inspection of the stranger hanging out in the vicinity of one we are to protect for the next few days allowed us to identify you as one not to be killed immediately. Professionalism all around. How encouraging.

"Now that the niceties are out of the way, shall we retire to the dryness of the Stuffer Shack to discuss our immediate future? Or do you have another place out of the rain? I would be happy to introduce you to our fellow team members there. I see one walking over here from the tennis courts, and the others are in the car."

An amused expression permeated from his face.

"I wouldn't dare assume that this group consists of paranoid blood-thristy mercenaries whom would kill an innocent man without striking a civil conversation with him first, besides I was simply adimiring the beauty and grace of the young troll female within." he replied to the Professor with a stoic expression at first, but upon mention of the troll his face cracked a sardonic smile. He continued. "The confines of the stuffer shack will be adequate for now. I do have a safehouse in Fairfax prepared for us already. Seemingly the location of the haven should be convenient, since Fairfax is a town adjacent to Arlington."

With that Tyler gave the Professor a fancy bow and motioned for the dwarf and the others to enter the stuffer shack for the time being.

Professor proceeds to the Stuffer Shack.

"Zoltan warned me about runners like this one. I hope he is as good as he thinks he is."

Tyler files in behind the Professor and enters the Stuffer Shack as well. He then gives a small smile to the troll cashier as he sends her a commlink text.

<Text to the troll cashier.> "Hello darling. Is there my friends and I may rent for a few minutes?"

He then grabs a bag of soy chips and begins to eat. Tyler slots the troll 50 nuyen.

The troll girl according to her AR screen as being called Abigail, belonging to a chastity circle, by the silver around her. Marking her as being christian, new age, fundie. She hesitates a bit and heads into the employee only service area. An area that is about the size of a Japanese phone booth and as clean. They say the UV light is to kill germs, but it is mostly that Stuffer Shack staff have to use derms instead of needles.

The Stuffer Shack is empty except for the stoic and short Professor and the efacious, but graceful Toreador.

-Chrysalis

He provides a bow to the Abigail just before she shows the two of them the back room to the stuffer shack. Japanese phone booths. Something has to give. This situation was in favor of the dwarf. That wouldn't do. Not at all.

Tyler looks down at Le'Prof. "It pays to be under four feet tall for once. Still something is missing."

The elf goes and finds a milk crate. He then places it inside of the booth and then motions fo the dwarf to enter.

"A stool for you. Your majesty." He says with a smug grin.

"Thank you, no. Air at that altitude affects the thinking." Professor nods to Dick, "Come join the party."

"While the rest of the team takes it's time arriving, I have analyzed the earlier killings of virologists and have found some interesting information. Let me pass the info to you to fill you in." Professor makes an AR link available to Toreador. [OOC - use the previous thread for info.] "There is significant infiltration expertise among the other members of the team. If the adjacent apartment is truly vacant, we should be able to use it to set up an observation post close to the good doctor.

Does our subject know anything about the potential danger to his life, or protection we are providing?

"Not that I know of. I began my surveillance earlier this morning while Karkoff was working at the abortion clinic. The man is a machine, working non stop, going to and fro despite being old enough to be my grand father. I did astral reconasense at the clinic but was unable to determine the nature of his work. From there I trailed him to back home." Tyler pauses as he looks back into the stuffer shack before continuing. "He made a brief stop at a local store for dinner before returning home and then making stew, rice, and vegetables. After eating dinner he played a CD with African music from his stereo and then began to read a book while drinking scotch. Moments later he puts down the book and begins pacing around his apartment. I was unable to make out the source of his present anxiety, but that was where I last saw him. Which was about 15 minutes ago..."

"Hmm... if he's agitated now, he may head out somewhere. We should keep an eye on his place. We can see it from here, can't we?" Professor looks.

"You and I can if we perceive him astrally." He said responding to the professor's question, "Why don't you send one of your 'minions' to keep an eye on the apartment in case he does leave. You and I have more important things to do such as planning how to execute this mission. I for one would like nothing more then to barge down his door and use coercion to force Karkoff to work for us."

"The other team members are not my minions, and the skills they bring to the team are valuable in the planning process as well as the execution phase. I would value their input greatly. There are things they know and can do that are beyond either of us.

"I am not sure why the good doctor Karkoff would not be willing and eager to cooperate with us if he were informed of the potential danger to his life. A simple exposition of the pattern of murders would bring any logical person to the conclusion that he was a legitimate target for the killer. Simply talking to him should bring him on board. Were he to decline, then we could take a more forceful tack. The downside of this option is that if he doesn't want to cooperate, or is in fact somehow in collusion with the killer for reasons unknown, then we may have exposed ourselves unacceptably."

There was a brief silence.

Tyler nodded his head at the Professor.

"Simply going up and talking to him whether through intimidation or empathy has some merit," Tyler paused before continuing. "We should also take a moment to view all of our other possible options to approach this task. According to your words I'm assuming the others are not as useless as I originally thought so let me divulge this information as well. Earlier in the day there were two plumbers and a painter who conducted renovation work in the living space adjacent to Karkoff's. Maybe one of the others could make use of this information."

*Edited once again to remove abrasiveness on the characters part in order to move the story.*

"Hoi, Zoltan. I have some cash available. Can you see if anything in this list is available?

Forensic Thaumaturgy Kit,
Lucifer Lamp,
Lucifer Lamp Bulbs, 10 hrs. capacity,
Pocket Mage Library(top of the line).

Thanks for anything you can come up with."

Zoltan come back with a message his red beard and wings making him look like an escapee from a Wagnerian epic.
<<Hi, let me have a look at the list. Hmm... Sure no problem. Can get you everything tomorrow around noon to you. Except the forensics kit unless you want a loan one. Look. I am in a bit of a bind, a friend of a friend sent me something in lieu of cash owed. Its more your job than anything. Could you have a look at it? There might be even some money involved.>>

The lone figure pounded along the trail heading North-West along the South Bank of the Potomac.

She had elected to make the trip this way to avoid being seen with the team by the millions of sensors blanketing this area of DC although now that she had passed Spout Run the trail had deteriorated markedly and the number of sensors had dropped off as well.

She had the Agent running on the new hardware she had installed in the warehouse this morning alter her 'link's Access ID and made a call to Liz Crane's Fixer.

Bonsoir Michel, it's Liz Crane. Yeah, long time, long time. Listen, I'm having some domestic issues with one of my new room-mates and I was wondering if you could set me up with some of that wiz' gear that you got me before?

Remember the RFID tags you got me to track my makeup? They were totally my favourite thing ever. I need some tags like that but set up with cameras and mic's and built in laser links to beat a signal scanner. There's some other stuff I need too, like a Decrypt routine and maybe some other sensors, micro ones with better quality cameras and stuff. I'll send you a list. Cool, cool.

Do you still use that cloak'n'dagger dead drop routine? Cool, I love that, makes me feel like a real spy. Anyway, gotta go, love ya, bye, bye.

She hung up the call and fired off a list of her requirements to the Quebecois Fixer. She didn't know if he bought any of that spoilt little rich kid routine but you had to at least play the game.

Here at the bottom of the Potomac Gorge the trail was narrow and broken. There was nobody else around, although she could hear the occasional car rumble past on the road above her. With a bit of luck somebody might try to mug her but she wouldn't hold her breath.

After about another mile or so she reached the mouth of Donaldson Run which she followed all the way to the top of the bike trail.

She was smiling as she listened to the byplay between the Prof and their new associate while she worked her way down to the streets of Arlington.

Her sensors started to light up under her mental command as she slowly jogged along the front of the University, ramping up to a fever pitch as she passed the trees screening the target apartment from the street. She paused at the local telecoms nexus to tie her shoelace and gave the structure a good close range scan with the Ultra Wide Band Radar.

She drained her bottle of water while her Agent pin-pointed all the active nodes in the area and then went into the Stuffer-Shack for a refill.

<< Thanks for collecting the equipment. I have book-rate payment ready for you and am sending it ... now. Let me know if there is an adjustment necessary. Usual delivery system for the goods? As far as the job-in-a-bind goes, send me the data and let me know what you need. I am on a job right now, as you know, but I will have some moments of down-time in which to give it a scan. Is there a deadline? >>