Hardwire didn't get most of what the Russian said, and everybody claimed backup or his big brother was just around the corner, it made actual backup neither more nor less likely. Still, he reached into his pocket and launched the Dragonfly towards the door before proceeding to search the kneeling guy's pockets

Val now angered by the goons nerve and confused by his attempted play at his past, bashes the goon again in the face "how did you find us?" " In a attempt to force the information out of him.

Hardwire shot a hard look at Val. "Great, another case of too many though cop movies..."

The Russian glares at Val. "I know my rights."

Hardwire does find a comlink in the Russian's jacket. The dwarf finally takes cognitive note of the bar owner and rushes out from behind the bar to the body.

val smiles"great. hey brother come do your thing. just dont turn his brain to mush we still need him to be able to talk." stepping back a few steps with his ingram still trained val notice the bar tender run to his now dead boss. it was a shame the man thought he could come to turns with a foot soldier. "you should have just told me what you knew" <@hardwire[Val]"we will see where this goes, if he doesnt talk you know any tricks or should we just knock him out?">

<@val[hardwire]Tie and gag him. And restrain yourself>

The Russian looks from Val to Hardwire and back again. He slowly raises his hands to the top of his head and interlaces his fingers.

Val rolls the thug onto his stomach using the in grams grip knocks the goon hard on the back of his noggins in. Attempt to knock him out. Looking for the first thing to use to tie him up. Looting the weapons. Looking at the dwarf kneeling next to his boss, " you coming or staying. " heading for a back way out val leads the way

The Russian falls over, unconscious from Val's strike. The dwarf at the bar looks to the duo, "Staying. I've my mom to think of." Looking at the deceased proprietor he continues, "and someone will need to keep the bar open."

Val and Hardwire exit the bar well clear of the arrival any reinforcements. Outside, a few locals are watching from cover, drawn by the gunfire.

In leaving, Hardwire passes the dwarf a napkin with a scribbled RTG address. "We still need to talk about your boss. Leave a message that you have spotted a thunderbird over the I-5 near the Sea-Tac mall, I'll be the one who does not tell you to get new eyes"

Outside, he lifted the bag with the pocket contents of the thugs and their unlucky host. "Let's hope we really find something in here. I know a place where we should be decently safe and dry"

Val picks up both he goons weapons searching for other if any than heads out the door with hardwire nodding to he bar tender in acknowledgment. Once outside val follows hardwires lead now at the mention of a safe place where val may be able to relax a minute and collect his thoughts. "Any lace is better than the last I have been"

Sunday, March 29th, 2071; 13:29; Spooks Irish Pub, 122 Place NE & NE 132nd St, Kingsgate, Redmond District

The dwarf takes the note and looks to his boss for a moment as he nods.

Sunday, March 29th, 2071; 13:44; Phin's Free Clinic, 168th Ave near 116th st, Redmond District

The duo mount up their respective motorcycles and put some distance between themselves and the scene of the gunfight, Val with a new pair of guns to deal with Stump. Parking at Doc Phin's, there is a line outside of people. The people are in good spirits, though a woman can be heard to grumble about "line cutters". Another woman shh's here whispering something about "paying customers".

Inside, Mary, the doctor's middle aged ork secretary is talking to several patients. After a moment she notices the duo. "Val." Her face crosses with concern. "Are you hurt? No? Have you seen Ghost?" Of course Val knows she means the mage who was supposed to help him with the job; the mage who went missing right before go time.

Sunday, March 29th, 2071; 13:44; Phin's Free Clinic, 168th Ave near 116th st, Redmond District
Val

Val smile and nods to the receptionist, "ghost never finished up with us, he vanished like his name sake with no word. I was hoping to talk to doc about something serious, it's concerning Athena." val hoped hardwire didn't inquire to much about ghost, truth was the Mage vanished without a trace.

"Another vanished teammate?" Val sure seemed to have a problem keeping his people around. "Or maybe this ghost just changed his handle to something more creative" Hardwire mused, pacing behind Val. He seemed to be a regular patient here, so Hardwire decided to let Val take the lead for now.

Sunday, March 29th, 2071; 13:54; Phin's Free Clinic, 168th Ave near 116th st, Redmond District

Mary acquiesces to Val's response regarding Ghost. She winces a little, then regains composure and silently leads the duo to a patient room. They are only there a few minutes before the venerable Doc Phin comes in.

"Gentlemen." He seems truly happy to see them, "Did you see the line? With our resupply, we are able to treat a lot of patients who otherwise would not have gotten treatment."

When queried about Athena, Doc Phin pulls over a stool and silently sits for a moment. He rubs his eyes and finally speaks, "There is something you need to see."

A trideo begins to play from a handheld unit the doc produces and places on the examination table.
The video shows a room that looks more like a hospital room than a apartment. In the middle of the room, a woman is in some sort of stabilizing bed; she is a quadriplegic. The motion sensors kick in, activating the cameras as the front door flies open with a kick. A pair of obviously Russian men kicked in the door, then sweep into the room with a professional precision. A doberman drone lights up one of the two men with a automatic gunfire taking him off his feet. The second man returns gunfire in kind, silencing the drone's weapon. He then enters the room, slowly, looking for more threats. A third man follows, whispering to the second man in Russian while checking on the first. The second man approaches the bed, pulling out an obvious wi-fi dampening unit. The last thing that can be heard before he switches it on and the signal ends is him asking in English as he pulls a thin bladed knife. "I understand you have been inquiring about Valery Strobokov. We would very much like to find Val-"

The doc takes a moment to compose himself after the video plays, then continues. "She has an account of 7,652 ; it is yours to track these men down." He looks to Val, "I don't know how you are at the center of this and I doubt you remember either. I trust that you are a good man. I trust that even if you remember what you have done, who you are, that who you are now is the true you.I trust that you will find her justice."

The emotion of the moment resonates within Val's soul. Looking at Doc Phin, another memory washes into his brain.

A old Russian man sits in on a divan wearing an old suit. He looks tired and grief stricken. Val hears his own voice speaking to the old man in Russian, "Father, she was... she is my everything."

The old man looks up, he gently raises a hand to touch Val. "No."

Val's voice continues, "I did not start this war. I did not want this war, but now I will see blood repaid... and her blood is more precious than all of them."

The old man raises his hand for silence. "Vladamir, she is gone. They took my Galina and your unborn son. Live your life. She would not want this."

Val's perspective changes; he is kneeling in front of the old man. "Today I too am dead." He gently hugs the old man, then stands. "I have a new life and that life has a single purpose. You have been more of a father to me than my own father these last two years; I will miss you, but I am committed." He turns from the old man, walking towards the exit of a modest home, tearing his shirt symbolically as he goes.

The memory recedes back into his brain leaving Val momentarily lost for words.

Hardwire swallowed hard at the events unfolding on the trid screen. Getting caught while out was every hacker's nightmare, and Athena's obvious disability made it even worse...not that functional limbs would provide much help against professionals. "A doberman. Exactly what I rely on when I'm out of town"

The reaction to the Doc's offer was clear: "I would gladly do it for free, though the money might help with some expenses -- do you have any idea where this happened? Or do you know where they might have taken her, Val?"

Val's memories seemed like a old movie playing In his head, tears started to fill his eyes at the mention of a wife with unborn child being taken from him. A wife he couldn't remember. The photo graph from previous days found in the table of the old office where this tragedy had started. Seeing Athena with no limbs seemed almos unreal but for the work she did it made since not to require them, the automated drone lighting up the fist intruder and the lone knife wielding assassin the sneaked up to her as she was defenseless. Val was determined to find who these men where. Looking at the video and rewinding it on the lone intruder" hardwire can yu get a match to that face, we first need a name to get this going." pointing at the knife's owner. "Doc any information on Athena's dos would be helpful. As for any information on these guys my memories are as useful as a shadow at night can't tell what's what up here." Val taps the side of his head.

Sunday, March 29th, 2071; 13:54; Phin's Free Clinic, 168th Ave near 116th st, Redmond District

"Her house is only a few blocks away. 16514 NE 117th Court. I have not had a chance to get over there to clean up yet; the body is still there. One of the Lords is sitting on the house, keeping vultures away."

The body...of course it was a body, when had the Vory ever cared for leaving somebody alive if it did not suit their needs. If those mad dogs had left her alive, it would only have been to sell her to MCT for vivisection

"Give me a minute...I'll need a copy of the recording" he said and slumped down in a chair in the adjoining room

The Data Sprite materialized nearly effortlessly as soon as he called it, tiny tendrils of machine code extending from its form into the depths of the matrix. I need your help. Find everything you can on these men <<Screenshots>> and report back to me


I have an agent looking into it...I guess there is no way to put off our visit to Athena any longer...

Val nods in agreement shaking the doc hand on thier way out. Passing the front desk he looks at the clerk. he felt sorry for her. Feeling the renewed remorse of losing his loved one with child made him feel for the lady. Pressing forward he drawer upon the resolve of revenge for a killed loved.

Seeing Athena for the first time under these circumstances was not exactly what val wanted but to get a accurate account of what went down they would need to see the scene. Jumping n the bike Val starts e short trip to Athena's place making a few passes to make sure who ever had done the deed was not lurking about.

Sunday, March 29th, 2071; 14:01; Athena's House, 16514 NE 117th Court, Redmond District

The sprite arrives in the form of a white owl. It swoops in and lands on a nearby desk, invisible to all but Hardwire. It nods at his command and fades as it streaks off into the ether of the matrix.

------------------------

The duo make their way a few blocks to the little house. A teenage ganger in Lords of War colors is sitting on the porch obviously preoccupied in AR. When the duo stops, she stands, pits on her best tough girl face and strides towards the two. She opens her mouth to speak, stops, uses her AR gloves to acknowledge something, softens her face slightly and then finally speaks, "You must be Val... and his partner. I'm Dancer. Doc says you have full access; I'll stay out here."

After the obligatory small talk and/or conversation, the duo head up to the house. The front door has been kicked in; a pair of bungee cords now hold it closed. Inside, the smells of chemicals, feces and other smells of death assault the sinuses of the pair. The damaged doberman can be seen in one corner as well as a hospital bed. Beyond the bed, on the floor, lithe legs can be seen, the rest of the body obscured by the bed.

Val greets the ganger with a nod. " thanks, anyone come asking about the place or seen anyone hanging out that doesn't quite fit in around here?"

Once inside the room val holds the scene angling his view to reproduce the angle from the camera, looking around for any clues. The last place he ends up is next to Athena's corpse, carefully looking for any signs of torture. He wanted that man's Id so he could repay the act ten fold. There had to be a clue somewhere he just didn't know where.

Hardwire stared sullenly at the corpse. "At least they did not sell her off", he thought. Trading in human guinea pigs was certainly not above the Vory, and the fate which awaited them was even worse than what happened to Athena.
Looking up, he saw Val trying to establish the location of the camera...maybe there was a recording unaffected by the jammer somewhere, which would give them some hints on the assailants.

" think u can find her where she would have stored her files if she did so here? Val looked at the body of the great Athena goddess of old times, double checking the apartment Val looks for any clues as to her life or parts of his past she might have left in the apartment.

Sunday, March 29th, 2071; 14:02; Athena's House, 16514 NE 117th Court, Redmond District

Hardwire scans for nodes, finding nothing. Val moves into room, moving things around. Suddenly static breaks across some speakers, then a small hologram of Athena appears on the bed. The hologram is bent over. "Help me Obi-wan Kenobi. You're my only hope." The hologram turns to Val, looking him in the face. "They have a powerful signal blocker. I assume you're hear after meeting with Doc or one of the fixers I notified. Time is-" the hologram pauses, grimacing. "Torturing a quadriplegic; these guys are winners." She looks back to Val, "I brought it on myself. I was too curious. The people you paid to back clean your history were very good. I actually didn't figure it out, the Vory did. They tortured Galina's father... but you don't even remember your wife... or your unborn son. Your name is not Valery Strobokov, it is Vladamir Sukhodolskaia. You were an orphan." The hologram arches her back and throws her arms outwards as if electrified as the hologram becomes fuzzy. Beads of sweat form as the image clears. "Do me a favor? Cut their ears off for me?" Despite being a hologram, she looks ragged... aged. After a quick moment to compose herself, she continues. "We haven't much time left, they are realizing there's not a lot of meat to torture. You came here for Kirill Yunter; he personally killed Galina and ordered the attack on her father last week after he figured you out. But be careful because-" The hologram freezes, her face wretched in abject horror, forever frozen in that moment.

Hardwire now detects one wireless nodes. Following to the source with his meat eyes, he finds the holo-projector recessed into the ceiling. Curled around it is a millipede, now emitting the signal he detects. He quickly deduces that the goons took every other wireless node, memory chip and node from the room when they left.

Athena's body is withered, pale and untouched. Her face however is unrecognizable. Her ears and nose were cut off, slices criss-cross her face, cigarette and electrical burns. She suffered greatly in her final minutes.

"Waitasecond...you erased your tracks and then forgot what they were yourself? And now these charming gentlemen are after you" Hardwire waved his hand at Athena's ruined body"cutting up those who know? Just great..."

Val didn't know what to say,Athena found Val's wives name "Galina" "Kirill Yunter" val was going through his partial memory then kneeling next to Athena's body after the hologram glitches out. " thank you Athena." Standing val takes note of her request. So he was involved with the Vory. Why would I want my past cleaned though? For what purpose. Of course the last of the message a warning no doubt, what was Kirill planning and what had val done to require such attention. <@hardwire[val]" hardwire I never meant for any of this to happen, if your planning on leaving I can understand. For me this is now business and personal, The man that did this killed my unborn child and his mother and my family a family I...I... I have always wanted, if you help me find these men I will be indebted to you greatly. I am asking for your help the money I will find if that's what it requires.">

"Don't worry, this became personal to me as well"

Sunday, March 29th, 2071; 14:02; Athena's House, 16514 NE 117th Court, Redmond District

As the duo take measure their resolve to bring this to a blood end in spades, Hardwire's sprite returns, ragged, leaking a trail of neon matrix fluff. It tags up a number of ARO posters.

The first is Iosif "The Georgian" Tsoplin. He was the second into the room; the one who shot the doberman. Iosif is rumored to have been born in the Russian territory of Georgia. It is also rumored that he earned his stars around the age of 20 in Vladivostok. An arrest warrant in Vladivostok from '67 was issued for the murder of a policeman, amongst other crimes. The profile is light, but includes a Me-Feed tag last week by a teenage girl named Anna Chupov who refers to him as her uncle.

The second is Yury "Crush" Fenenko. He was the third man to enter the room. The information on Yury is current, with no background. He is listed as late 30's. A news feed lists him as a suspect in the firebombing of a bar in '66; no arrest. Charges of extortion in '69; charges dropped for lack of evidence when his accuser disappeared while in police custody. A blog entry details that Yury is called Crush because he likes to crush any hope from those he targets.

The information delivered, the sprite fizzles out and reverts to the fluff of the matrix.

Val, seeing the picture of Yury... reading the details... feels he has met Yury before...

The room is mostly dark. A sole, singular light hanging by its wire provides light to the room. The bulb is weak and several people can be seen at the edges of the shadows. The tell-tale highlights of his native low-light vision allow him to make out the trench coats of the men and the steam as they breath out into the cold room. Beneath the light is a man dressed only in a pair of dirty slacks and bloody, sleeveless t-shirt. He face has the tell-tale signs of a recent beating. Yury steps up to the man, smiling and speaks in Russian, "You thought you could steal from us?"

The mans reply is garbled from a swollen mouth and perhaps loss of teeth, "I did not. I have kept the faith." In this memory, Val feels the man is truthful, but remains silent. Despite that, hatred for the man clouds the memory.

Yury frowns. "Now I will have to pay your step-daughter a visit..." The man, raises his head, a new fire burning in his spirit. Yury continues, "There is nothing you can do now. As far as you are concerned, it is done."

The man yells, "No!" He struggles and the cords that bind his arms and legs to the chair. He begins to wobble, but a man steps from the shadows to keep the chair from falling over. Yury smiles. The man's rage subsides; he then weeps. "I did it. I did what you said. Please, let her be."

Yury leans in to the man, "I will ravage her and she will know that it is because of you that I visited her." He then deftly reaches out and slices the man's throat, holding the man's head, looking into his eyes, until the life drains from them. For Val, there is a great measure of satisfaction in the result.

An uncomfortable feeling washes over val as his memory assaults his morality he now follows and the lack there of that he used to have. Feeling rage for losing a loved one but such a feeling seeing a man protect his family from the monster he now hunts, who is responsible for the death of his own family. Val puts aside any recognition of his past comparing it to the man standing today his memory's fading like dreams in and it Val's thought of a past filled with few troubles maybe money but such violence and in the presence of a man being murdered in cold blood and feeling justice for it Val's stomach almost rejected what pasted for his last meal of soy. " I believe my past with this yury is closer than I first realized " sharing the memory in fine detail with hardwire, sharing also that yury may very well be responsible for the death of Val's loved ones. " what did Athena find that was so important before they finished her off?" Angered by the lack of information and memories to put them all together val slams his fist on the counter top in annoyed at the results of someone helping him.

A former professional bone-breaker on the run from his ex-colleagues...Hardwire could not help but take some satisfaction in the irony as he tried to ply the chip from its recess behind the projector. "The average Vory thug surely could benefit from the experience" he mused, before a look at the ruin of Athena's body reminded him of the price several people had already paid for this "experience".
"The more important question would be, what makes your past so important to the Vory? It does not seem like you were one of their top figures..."

With the help of a plast splinter from the floor he finally got the chip in his hand, hoping that Athena had managed to push some more data there before she perished.

" I don't't know what I could know if I was only a leg breaker they wouldn't let me know anything too important. Unless I stumbled upon something. Could be why I'm in the current condition I am in. If I stole something that could very well be it too but damned if I know now, the thug we left alive back at the bar might have known more but we didn't have the time to stick around in case they had back up coming to interrogate him." val wanted to have his momories back so bad to remember the experiences he had with his love and the experience of knowing they would be having a child together he could only imagine at this point what her face would look like, if the picture he found was indeed the women he was in love with that is. There were still so many questions. Thinking of that val shows hardwire the photos of the women" I found this photo during my search of the place i fled. I do not know what she is to me but it might be our next clue to follow to get us to the right people."

Hardwire takes a look at the photo. "I suppose this is what Athena took as a starting point? She said she found a lead on this..." he focuses on his AR view "...Kirill Yunter, does that name ring any bells with you?"

"The questionn is what did athena find out about me that the vory want me dead so bad, she said they found out about me but what?" val shrugs at the mention of the name

"Hmm, looks like we have two possible names to go after, and one mystery woman" Hardwire said and re-arranged the AR view:

<<<<
[photo] Iosif "The Georgian" Tsoplin --uncle to--> Anna Chupov
??? Kirill Yunter
[photo] Mystery Woman
>>>>>


"I don't think we should split up and get caught alone with these drekheads on our heels, so which route do you suggest? It's your memories, after all"

Val thinks of the past events that have taken place. "Well there were a few hangers after me the other night and the troll that helped me. There is also a gym membership I used to have and a few lieu in my com I have no idea what they are too. That along with the names might be something to cross reference."

Sunday, March 29th, 2071; 14:03; Athena's House, 16514 NE 117th Court, Redmond District

The millipede is a '69 MCT Millipede (equatable to a Shiawase Kanmushi. It has ten legs, instead of 4 and is a little longer than the Kanmushi.) As Hardware hacks the little drone's firewall, he finds an account already established for him by Athena. The account is new, as if she was unable to complete the configuration. The drone is running facial recognition software, programed to respond to Val and activate the pre-programmed recording, streaming it to the cheap holovid projector in the ceiling.

Val notices the ganger peeking in. He realizes the slamming of his fists must have drawn her attention.

A search with all those parameters will take time...if the search space gets too large, look for clues that can be solved or discounted fast. My suggestion would be to see if the girl can tell us something, at worst we'll waste an hour or so.

That is, after we cared for Athena. Do you think the doc can arrange for somebody who does not sell her as ghoul chow?

Sounds like a start , noticing the ganger peek around the corner val looks to her " there a good caretaker around here that will give her a proper funeral?" val looks to hardwire again <@hardwire[val]"we might need a little more muscle if we are going to pull this off, the creds we have nowwe can go shopping for anything we need, any ideas where to start? Can you take a look at my com too, you might be able to find a little more inside than the lucky. Double check to make sure there aren't any tracers or bugs inside.">

Sunday, March 29th, 2071; 14:03; Athena's House, 16514 NE 117th Court, Redmond District

The ganger, when Val addresses her, pulls the door open, standing tall. "Old Mr Donaldson was a corporate undertaker. He's done some real good work making some of our boys look good after they got themselves geeked."`

Sunday, March 29th, 2071; 14:03; Athena's House, 16514 NE 117th Court, Redmond District

Val looks around the room" give him a call will ya and have him send me the costs." Val kneels next to Athena's body saying a few words of thanks and and raises again with a new found sense of direction.

I'm less worried about her looking pretty than about the kind of undertaker who hands some fake ashes and makes a side business with the actual body...still, I'll take your word that he is trustworthy

Having never been a religious person, Hardwire takes a silent look at Athena "Deeds not words. Whatever made her pick me to help her, I will pull through with it...not that I have much of a choice by now, the Vory don't know any bystanders"

Hardwire took Val's commlink and looked around for a seat to slump into VR, before realizing that Athena had no need for any such furniture. Feeling slightly embarrassed of himself, he cleans a spot amid the chaos of the floor and puts on a little show with his decoy 'link before letting the pulse of the grid engulf him.

Sunday, March 29th, 2071; 14:06; Athena's House, 16514 NE 117th Court, Redmond District

The comlink, much like Val's memories are missing details. Physical inspection reveals that the case has been fixed with epoxy and new memory chips installed onto a slightly damaged corner of the system board. An inspection of the memory reveals that the address book, notes and various other saved data files were mostly all lost. In addition to an address & digital key [ Romulov Enterprises Membership #46543834526, Locker #1347, Gold's Gym, 2290 15th Ave SE, Snohomish ] , Hardwire is able to locate access code to a sedan (currently offline) and a digital key, most likely to a door. There data on what the key opens was corrupted.

Data searches for Anna Chupov place her at a parochial school in Bellevue at this time of day. Her last Me-Feed update was lunchtime and included whining about gym class after lunch.

Sunday, March 29th, 2071; 14:06; Athena's House, 16514 NE 117th Court, Redmond District
Val

Val looks over the information of his com " the gym locker could hold some answers how ever there could be eyes on it if it was a last. Or it could hold my past, the girl we could make a visit or nab to get Kirill." thinking of the locker and what it might hold it made sense to try to get the contents might be useful.

Sunday, March 29th, 2071; 14:07; Athena's House, 16514 NE 117th Court, Redmond District

Charles Penny
From down the block, Charlie leaned against the side of the old house, obscured from view by the overgrown foliage. The presence of ganger-girl out front all morning had been disconcerting enough. The recent arrival of the scrawny ork and the hard-edged with dermal plated skin was a completely different deal. Something was amiss.

The message, delivered to his comlink via a owl in the matrix, peaked his curiosity. It had sliced through his comlink security like there was none. The owl has offered a bounty of 400 for a document. A paper copy. Something not easily found in the wilds of the electron jungle. He slipped into the residence he was directed to, found the paper hidden where he was told it would be and had now returned with it to the place he was told to deliver it.

As the ork and elf stepped back onto the porch and talked with the ganger-girl, he got a glimpse inside. An overturned chair meant something had happened. Choices were evaporating, but the duo represented considerably higher class than the ganger girl. Perhaps they would pay for the package?

Val/Hardwire
The duo exit Athena's little house, surely for both the first & last times. The ganger-girl pipes up, "Old Mr Donaldson is on the way over. I'll make sure he treats her as one of ours." She then smiles to Val, "You're the new guy working for Doc right? That medicine... it saved me mum's life. You need anything... anything... you just ask."

Charlie was a little leary of walking into something this cold – but short of spending the rest of his day shadowing them and trying to figure out who they were, something that wasn’t going to get him paid any faster – there wasn’t much choice. Running his fingers over the honest to god paper in his pocket, today he was wearing his kick around clothes boots, jeans and a tshirt topped by a well worn leather jacket He’d not needed his usual work attire to get into the dump he’d found the paper in, though he *had* needed to pick the lock on the old fashioned file cabinent he’d found right where his instructions said it would be. It’d been a fairly easy lock – as if someone had just wanted to give him the barest hint of a challenge so it would feel like he’d earned the scrap of paper. He’d read it, though it didn’t make a lick of sense to him.

Decision made, he made a conscious effort to make noise as he approached the porch. People didn’t like it when he sidled up to them a little too quietly, and he didn’t want these two any jumpier then they already looked.

“Hey…” he said by way of greeting as he got closer, “I think I’ve got something for you two.”

Sunday, March 29th, 2071; 14:07; Athena's House, 16514 NE 117th Court, Redmond District
Val

Upon the thanks Val's nods to the ganger " glad I could help, thank you for helping with our friends remains." As the new comer makes his presence known, val gives a look of confusion " I'm sorry?" Saying like he didn't hear the voice cupping his right ear as he reaches for the predator slung inside his jacket turning sideways to hide the maneuver.

Hardwire's AR view was filled with an interlinked arrangement of what little information he had on The Georgian, as well as the volumes of useless trivia his niece posted. He certainly was not a social engineer himself, as he found the idea of talking past a firewall dull compared to the thrill of slipping through the tiniest of cracks, but information was something he could provide. And Val certainly could give a good impression of a Russian mobster, so he figured their plan might just work.

"Yes?" Instinctively, he had assumed another ganger approached them, but this fellow did not look like one of the Lords.

Val's hand ready to pull his pred should this be a problem. Trying to ease his hand onto his pred as the man approaches he almost slips his hand right past the pred. " you say you have something for us ?" Val repeats after a moment to get his gun ready, seeing hardwires automated response val would have to knock him back into the apartment should this guy pull anything to keep him from harm.

"Uh, yeah... that's what I just said Charlie replied a bit louder as Val twisted as if to turn his ear to hear him,"You deaf or something? Frag - look, little bird told me where I might find something, and that the people I might find here might make it worth my time. So - I'm here with a delivery of sorts. Are you in a paying mood or should I just keep walkin?"