Bob - Sunday, March 29th, 2071; 18:52; Gold's Gym, 2290 15th Ave SE, Bothell, Snohomish

Pleased to meet you, Mr. Scalpel....ah, sorry, I mean Mr. Val. I stretched out my hand to shake, the cold chrome of my cyberhand showing as the sleeve rode up in the act. Hopefully it wouldn't be too offputting, what with all the inscribed sigils and all. Shaking The Scalpel's hand...who woulda thunk it. I wasn't sure how much he had forgotten according to Hardwire, but I made a mental note to only call him Val from now on. I knew that I probably wasn't going to impress someone as well-known as him, what with my rumpled clothes, well-worn hat, pudgy figure and chrome cyberhands...well, I'd have to work to prove myself in his eyes.

Dealing with such heavy hitters made the back of my throat drier than a dead cat in the Mojave Desert. I pulled my hip flask and took a quick swig, before offering it around.

Whaddya need looked at astrally?

Sunday, March 29th, 2071; 18:52; Gold's Gym, 2290 15th Ave SE, Bothell, Snohomish roto rooter van
val

val reaches out after ejecting the alphas magazine clearing the breach and shakes his hand concentrating on the bag and the iteam what kind of bug out kit is this what did i expect to do with this stuff, seeing the com he flips it on checking the information on it to see what secrets it held and what profits it might have for him. stuffing the items back into the bag he re tunes his senses and looks to BOB "sorry chummer, trying to think avout what ve next need to do da. Hardwire this kit has some serious wet work assets in it nades and a alpha. gear your using could you use my ingram. magical stuff is not my specialty to be sure sir. speaking of which." val reloads the ejected roudn from teh breach into the clips and slaps it back into the alpha and chamers the round, setting it in his lap. "so what is the story with....Bob here?i mean how you know him and vhat can he do to help us."

Have alook at the bag if you can, I've not that it comes with some magic stuff attached Could you even just enchant a bag for whatever? Hardwire wasn't so sure, but better safe than sorry.
Bob and I met a while back when he needed some electronics tinkering done. I figured some magic backup wouldn't hurt if they tried to go after us...plus he's got a talent for digging up the kind of dirt that's outside of my realm, and we need to find a few people, right? <<@Val[Hardwire]: Oh, and he can drink a bunch of Russian sailors under the table. But don't call him out on that>>

val nods in agreement looking past Bob to hardwire than again back to bob and than once again at the come he just nods. starting to look throught the new com he looks for any ideas about his past and his soon to be future to any leads that might be held inside. maybe even a link to some potential allies like the one he met in front of the gym that lead him to the bag. if he could get any assistance from his past it would make any aspect of the current job easier for them. Val cought the momentary lapse in Bobs mention of another name besides the one the front desk at the gym used and what hardwire said his name to be. looking through the com he starts to glimpse at bob then back to the com " so who is Mr. Scalpel?"

<@hardwire[Val]"Da">

Bob - Sunday, March 29th, 2071; 18:52; Hardwire's van

I was nervous as a teenage girl on prom night when Val asked me about his past. I didn't know who this joe was now, but from what I'd heard of his past, he might not take kindly to some of the rumors. I decided to play it as straight as I could and hope for the best. Another sip o' the hard stuff to bolster my courage, then I replied.

I heard of a guy went by the handle "The Scalpel". Local Vory lieutenant, name of Valery Strobokov. Palled around with another Vory, Yury "Crush" Fenenko. The Scalpel looked like you, but dressed better. Word on the street was that he was a real hard case, cold and calculating...not to be fragged with. Cut off people's fingers to prove his point and all that.

I finished my little speech and tried not to worry too much about how Val would take it. If current events were any indication, he was a different sorta ace than The Scalpel had been and he might not be as touchy. Not like he could take one of my fingers anyhow, unless he used a thermite cutter. Which he had done that one time, the rumor went...

I could feel sweat starting to bead on my brow, so to take my mind off it, I turned to the bag and opened my senses to the astral, assensing the contents.

Val

Val listens to bob explain the type of person he was. A real hard ass from the sounds of it, val thought of his former delf as a real drek head the type people would not take as a joker immediatly his thoughts went back to the goons back at the bar where hardwire and himself first met, he had so many chances to use his past as a intimidation tool how ever if the bartender did t kill the man he was probably still alive telling stories of the scalpel turned butter knife. " we'll be assured that the past me is no longer the one here now. Ill not kill for no reason however we are on a run as we speak to investigate a murderer and bring all involved into justice."

Bob - Sunday, March 29th, 2071; 18:52; Hardwire's van

I could tell Val was trying to reassure me, but it wasn't working very well. The Scalpel never killed for no reason either. Instead he'd just cut off a body part to make his point. And for someone like him, finding a reason to kill was as easy as finding booze at a AA convention. I kept my mouth shut tight though, playing like a hooker going to confession at the Vatican. I hadn't sorted out exactly how to play this one yet.

Justice huh? Now there was a word you don't hear every day. Justice and some corp scrip would get you a cup of soykaf at the corner vendor, and I was all out of scrip.

"And I already got squeamish when he put a gun on that thug's head", Hardwire though sarcastically. Going by Bob's story, threatening somebody with a clean death was a remarked improvement over "old Val".

As for your part, Bob: There is money to be had, so you won't have to work for charity. So, do you have an idea why the Vory now want their scalpel dead?

Bob - Sunday, March 29th, 2071; 18:52; Hardwire's van

Money huh? Glad to hear it, I could use some. I got the landlord on my hide like a bad case of fleas, then I got some mobster joker calling in the debt of some other loser and blaming me for it. Now I gotta try to make good on some lowlife's bad financial planning. I tell ya, I feel like a real prince...the kind that hasn't been kissed yet and's still sitting in the swamp somewhere sucking mud.

I paused for breath. I hadn't meant to go on this little tirade, but once I started I just couldn't stop myself.

So anyways, whaddya need a guy like me for? I didn't see anything special on that duffel bag, and I don't know anything more about The Scalpel than what I just told you. This case mixed up with some magic somehow?

Sunday, March 29th, 2071; 19:05; 85th Street, just off the I-405 exit, Redmond, WA

The team gets to know each other as they head back towards better know haunts. Everyone was familiar with bug out bags, but no one had seen one of dreams like the one Val was rummaging through... not even Val, at least not that he could remember. Looking them over from the astral, they all lacked any impressions; Val had no significant connection to any of the items, not even one that he couldn't remember, at least not that Bob could discern.

Val powers up the comlink, subscribes his nano paste trodes to it and accesses everything within... He is first struck by the 7,500¥ in certified cred, then by the SIN and licenses; the SIN bearing his likeness. A small suite of programs rounds out this last Christmas present. There are no notes, an empty calendar and nothing else to attach him to the comlink.

As Val sits back looking around at the collection...
The Ares Alpha sat on the table, its shipping case open, displaying the top of the firearm in all its glory. A voice, off the the side, speaks with an Irish accent. "'m 'opin' this sets us square?"
Val hears his voice reply, "Yes. Get out." He shoves the firearm into the black duffel bag.

Val shakes his head as the vision fades, looking at Bob as the new man stares intently at the assembled gear. Focusing back to AR, he sees the name on the SIN in this new comlink: Demetri Putin
"Demetri Putin. That's the name on the comlink." A man stands before him wearing a towel, closing a locker before looking back. "Don't forget to bring the code key if you open this or it will be a very short bug out."
Val hears himself snicker. "Dis is between zu and me. No vun else." His voice is deadly serious.
The man pales a bit, but maintains the rest of his composure. "I saw Ribera last week; He's considering a cybernetic replacement. Whatever you did to the nerves on his hand... he'll never use it again."
"Regrettable, but sometimes a message must be sent." Val begins to dress in a suit, strapping his own firearm into a shoulder rig.

Val snaps back to the present, another memory stirred loose from the depths of his brain.

"Nope, no obvious magical dealings so far...but with the combined talent of us two there could have been a whole gang of mages and spirit-stuff following us around and we wouldn't have noticed. Val, maybe you can fill him in on what is going on with Athena, I'll make some calls to get our faces off the gym's camera recordings."
<<@Bob[Hardwire]: One thing beforehand: I'm not gonna let him put the killers against the nearest wall in cold blood, you know me...>>
With the roads getting rougher and GridGuide trailing off, Hardwire dared not to leave steering to the pilot program alone, and thus only accessed The Back Hat via AR while keeping an eye on the road.

----

Not wanting to deal with the traditional haggling on the job blackboard, Hardwire scanned the list of online regulars (well, those wanting to be listed) and was delighted to see Seeker as active. The Technoshaman was one of the handful members Hardwire knew to be technomancers, and while his "pantheistic" view of seeing every pico-pulse of the Matrix as manifestation of the supernatural was a bit weird at times, years of visiting obscure Matrix locations (which, as Hardwire once had grudgingly admitted in a discussion, was not so different from his own way) had made Seeker a capable hacker. Hardwire shot him a quick message that he needed a few hours worth of footage removed and a little infodump along the way, emphasizing the fact that he needed the images removed ASAP.

Bob - Sunday, March 29th, 2071; 18:52; Hardwire's van

I turned my attention to Val, waiting with a patient expression on my face like a dog waiting for a treat. I was anxious to hear the details of the job, but figured extra care needed to be taken when dealing with the Vory (ex-Vory now, by the sound of it) lieutenant.

Bob - Sunday, March 29th, 2071; 18:52; Hardwire's van
Val

Val looks to Bob pulling up the vidoe on his com and shows it to bob the men entering the room taking out the dobberman and than yuri's slow methodical murdering of Athena, val pauses teh video of Yuri up close. "we are after this man for the murder of this person and the people. so far we have some information on these guys but the true target is this man yuri. Hardwire is apposed to killing the man out right from earlier discussions so i have agreed to find alternative method of framing him for the murder of this women and the murder of countless others." val locks and load the alpha with one grenade and a full clip and stuffs i back into the duffel bag. settling into the side of the van and re caps on the memories he has had lately and tries to see if closing his eyes will bring any other tragic memories to help him fuel his revenge.

Bob - Sunday, March 29th, 2071; 18:52; Hardwire's van

The video turned my stomach something awful. Noone should have to go through that, especially a good-looking dame like the one in the vid. I took a quick pull from my hip flask to steady my nerves.

I know that slotter. Yury "Crush" Fenenko. Got to see him in action once, having a man's fingernails shortened over some small nothing. I neglected to mention that it had been Val doing the actual work of shortening. Didn't seem like the same guy now.

So who's the dame he iced? And what leads do you have so far?

Val never thought to look at Athena in a attractive manner he never really thought a chick missing her arms and legs was all too exciting, never the less it was the loss of a meta life and a recent ally of his val just tightened his jaw and continues to fill bob in on the Vory hit squad and the meeting at the bar where the bar owner was blasted adding a little something else to the mix " hardwire can you run my face against Interpol and other foreign national task forces I am wondering if I have any allies I don't know about that might have it out for yury and his crew."

Her name was Athena, Val hired her to help him find out who he was -- looks like she got too close to the truth, or at least close enough to be noticed. We also had a visit from some Vory goons earlier today when meeting an informer, and...well, at least just got a bullet to the head straight away and not this

Hardwire sent Bob a small data packet, containing the cargo manifest they had found. Athena told us that Kirill Yunter was the guy we're looking for, and the way I read that thing he indeed got the corpse of Galina's father delivered. So I guess we know who ordered the murder, but what does that tell us about Val's past?

Val's proposal to hack Interpol certainly stirred Hardwire's interest, but for now he restrained himself. Just checking if somebody was wanted would easy enough, something every precinct could do legitimately. But the full files would be buried under an ICeberg, and he was not so sure if he could really penetrate that. "Maybe we should take a look your new commlink first..."

Val sends hardwire his pan acess to all the workings except the agent programand funds balance.already looked there is a pretty sweet agent program. 7.5k in creds to put away for a rainy day i suppose other than that no contacts files. Take a look for yourself." val gives hardwire access to the com remotely.

Bob - Sunday, March 29th, 2071; 18:52; Hardwire's van

You're looking to catch Yury with his pants down, is that the gist of it? If you know where to find the guy, it shouldn't be too difficult...

"Yeah, more or less".
and then we face the excellent question of what to do with him.., Hardwire thought.

Sunday, March 29th, 2071; 19:08; 85th Street, headed east, Redmond, WA

<<@Hardwire [Seeker] I can take care of both. Coincidentally, tomorrow I need your particular expertise. I'll reach out when I'm ready. I'll get back to you when I finish your request.>>

As the conversation continues, the thought to hack Interpol resonated in Hardwire's brain. He recognized the echoing sound: It is the song of Black Hat.

Accessing Val's new comlink, he finds it new. Default settings. Nothing except the SIN, nuyen and some newly installed software.

Bob - Sunday, March 29th, 2071; 18:52; Hardwire's van

Ok. Figure this guy and his goons know your faces already, but I'm an unknown. I could start casing the joints he's known to hang out at. See if I can spot him, see if he has any patterns we can exploit. What did this Kirill Yunter have to say when you talked to him? Anything we can use?

Sunday, March 29th, 2071; 19:08; 85th Street, headed east, Redmond, WA


Hardwire made a frustrated noise after looking at the commlink. "Nothing. Well, who leaves a note 'dear future self, here's your biography' in their bug-out gear."
As the three discussed their future agenda, Hardwire's thoughts continued to swirl around Interpol, a target like he did not have in a long time...

Sunday, March 29th, 2071; 19:08; 85th Street, headed east, Redmond, WA
Val

"If we go anywhere near there, It might be a good idea for me to stay out of sight. I can stay in the van in the back just keep a feed open in case you run into trouble." Val went through everything racking his brain against all that had happened over his old past and how he lived his life now he knew he had to do something to find his memories and complete the run by Athena's last moments.

Sunday, March 29th, 2071; 19:xx; near 6326 41st St E Tacoma, WA

"You've got the mother of all bug-out bags and not even a fake mustache in there? Your old self really wasn't much of a subtle guy, ne?
Anyway, both of you be sure to shut down your SIN broadcasts, these parts of town we won't need 'em and I hate showing more identifiers than necessary"

Hardwire unplugged the Dragonfly from the dashboard power plug and performed a cursory check of its rotor wings and beak. It would probably be a longer stakeout, even though he'd rather stake out something else...

Bob - Sunday, March 29th, 2071; 18:52; Hardwire's van

I nodded at Hardwire's advice. Been around the block a few times, you knew what was what. A quick command shut down my SIN broadcast. Then I sat back and waited for us to arrive. Seeing that drone being taken out gave me an idea.

Need extra drone support? Got a flyspy we could use too.

Val stops broadcasting his sin to keep eyes away. Keeping his head down in the back he looks through his old com again to see review all the info they have gotten so far and try to piece together all the puzzled mess to put his life to a traceable fashion.

Nah, I'd say one drone is less conspicuous for now

Bob - Sunday, March 29th, 2071; 18:52; Hardwire's van

Hardwire's response wasn't exactly news to me. I figured he knew what he was doing, more than an old hack like me anyway. Val had that far-away look in his eyes, what used to be called day-dreaming but nowadays was probably signs of extreme AR use. I left him be and turned to talk to Hardwire.

So how long have you and Val been working this gig together? It's plain how he got involved, seeing as it's his life he's trying to piece together. What's your angle though?

Sunday, March 29th, 2071; 19:xx; near 6326 41st St E Tacoma, WA
Athena asked me to run Matrix overwatch for a run, which was headed by a guy who turned out to be Val. When we split the payment afterwards both of us realized that Athena had vanished, we went looking for her and, well, you saw the video

Athena had not exactly asked him, but Hardwire was afraid to paint the situation as chaotic as it really had been.

Sunday, March 29th, 2071; 20:12; One block from 6326 41st St E, Tacoma, WA

The trip across the city if nothing but uneventful. For Hardwire, Black Hat's call is now distracting. The song is like music played just a little too loud, constantly interfering with his ability to concentrate on everything else going on. A thought in the back of his head equates it to the pull an addict must feel that threatens to drive them mad without a fix.

Being Sunday, traffic is light in the shipping district as the bulk of operations are on minimal staffing. Driving through the neighborhood, security cameras are the norm and abound in plenty. Trucks and vans are parked at numerous loading docks and parking lots. About one in five facilities have crews working, but even those crews look light for the facility size.

Their destination is Pier 1.0 Import Company; a name obviously designed to slip in beside more credible names with just enough differentiation for legalities, but not enough to a hurried, casual observer. The office sits amidst a plethora of like buildings, blending in amongst other, presumably more legal, similiar ventures. The fly-spy locates several cameras on the perimeter of the facility and a single car in the parking lot beside the building. Given the hour and the time of the year, all the windows appear to be closed.

Bob - Sunday, March 29th, 2071; 20:12; Hardwire's van, One block from 6326 41st St E, Tacoma, WA

Looked like someone was home. I scanned the registration being transmitted by the lone automobile, sent my agent off into the digital netherworld to see what could be dug up about the owner. That intel could come in handy some day.

Since someone was on site we'd need to play it quiet-like, keep things from getting too noisy. Those cameras bothered me for a moment. I'm not a hacker, and normally I have to take extreme measures involving unpleasant spirits. But today I had an ace up my sleeve.

Hardwire, you able to nullify those cameras for a bit? I want to get on the roof of the building, then look around inside with some hocus pocus stuff.

Normally Hardwire enjoyed scouting places in a drone, near-invisibly moving as he pleased and scanning a spectrum far beyond human human capabilities. But right now it felt stale, his thoughts circling around the Interpol hosts even as he checked the car for signs of life. Confident that it was empty, he angled the drone's rotor wings and slowly descended towards the camera overlooking the drain pipe.
<<@Teamnode[Hardwire]: Let me see what I can do...In the meantime, I'm really thinking about getting back to Val's Interpol idea...>>

Bob - Sunday, March 29th, 2071; 20:12; Hardwire's van, One block from 6326 41st St E, Tacoma, WA

I nodded at Hardwire's message, bobbing my head to noone in particular like one of those bobble-head dolls that used to be so popular. Waiting for his go ahead, I tried to prepare for what was coming, going through my routine personal checklist with the thoroughness of a boyscout before a hike. Ruger was fully loaded and seemed in good working order. Check. Various magical implements located in the many pockets of my coat. Check. Quick swig o' the good stuff for some liquid courage. Check. Another one for luck. Check.

After putting the flask away, I opened my senses to the astral, letting the physical world drop away like a dame slipping out of her dress. Hardwire might have the matrix side covered, but I had to make sure there weren't any wards or astral patrols going on.

Sunday, March 29th, 2071; 20:12; One block from 6326 41st St E, Tacoma, WA

Bob's agent, looking like a frumpy Dr Watson, saluted and headed off into the nether.

Threading up scan, Hardwire goes to work looking for hidden nodes on the cameras. Locating 6 cameras, he is able to discern the hidden access ID of one. The song, echoing in his head is unrelenting, driving him to distraction even from what should be simple tests.

Stepping into the astral, while the hacker deals with the virtual, Bob looks out across the grey, dreary landscape. It is actually a step up from many places in the Barrens where the misery generates varying degrees of background count; here there is mostly nothing. No plants, no trees, no people, no emotion.

A moment to survey the landscape reveals the occasional watcher passing over on an errand and a few spirits watching over other areas of the docks. His target warehouse is lacking is active astral security. The lone guard being mundane he is not active on the astral plane. A moment to read his aura by Bob reveals a man with implants in his eyes, along his spine and imbedded in all of his major muscles. His essence is just under 1/3 a normal persons. The guard is healthy, despite his low essence, and bored.

In side the warehouse, the majority of the space is open. The office area is protected by a ward. Its relative strength is unclear to Bob. No one else is in the warehouse outside of the ward. Inside the ward is unknown at this point.

Sunday, March 29th, 2071; 20:12; One block from 6326 41st St E, Tacoma, WA/above 6326 41st St

"One problem at a time, do this and in half an hour I can do the big one, just one problem at a time" Hardwire kept telling himself, trying to focus his circling thoughts on the issue at hand. He concentrated on the cameras' EM waves hitting the skin of "his" drone body, trying to get a picture of their locations in his head. He certainly would have made a poor Zen monk since he could barely concentrate on some signals, but together with the drone's enhanced vision he finally managed to map all six cams.

<<@Teamnode[Hardwire]
I'm spotting six cameras in total, locations marked out for you
[overhead image]
Bob, do you think you get get on the roof unseen if I simply break the antenna on one of the cams? A lot faster than the electronic route, and if that lone mook should come out to take a look, you might even just sneak in.
>>

Pushing the Teamnode aside for a moment, Hardwire called a Data Sprite from the Resonance. The chaotic cloud of file icons materialized, and he sent if off to look for any information on the server architecture of Interpol UCAS, inquiring it to dig as deep as it could.

Bob - Sunday, March 29th, 2071; 20:12; Hardwire's van, One block from 6326 41st St E, Tacoma, WA

Cameras here were laid out pretty badly, covering arcs set up like a simpleton trying to finish one of those mazes they used to have on the placemats at Dennys.

"Yeah, I think if you break this one here, I can get up there unseen. I already did an astral look-see - they've got a mundane guard with some heavy implants, but I didn't see anybody else. There's also an office area that's warded. I'll try to get more details when I'm on the roof, but that ward probably means someone has to go inside."

Hardwire reluctantly left his persona at the Black Hat message board and returned his attention to the drone. The pilot had landed it on the mounting right behind the cam, and the modular transceiver at the back was clearly visible
<<@Teamnode[Hardwire]Ready when you are. Are you planning to evade the mook or put him to sleep?

Val came out his trance. While his thoughts traveled his attention to the here and now were still alert. Val came out his trance. While his thoughts traveled his attention to the here and now were still alert. <@team[val]"stealth is key here no action should be taken to alert them of a presence,last thing we need. Lay him flat only as a last resort.>

With the first Dragonfly perched behind the camera, Hardwire had launched the second to keep an overview of the situation, even though for now everything looked fairly clean and simple. Bob gave the go signal, and he signaled his drone to use its jaws for what they were made for.

Sunday, March 29th, 2071; 20:12; One block from 6326 41st St E, Tacoma, WA

The dragonfly makes its way around to back of the camera and begins its work, meanwhile, off in cyberspace an agent and a sprite begin their own work. Dr Watson returned. The broadcast registration for the car belonged to one Art Vicci. Public records, and those for Bob's current subscriptions, for Art Vicci are lacking at best. Non existent when stated in other terms. The sprite was surely working hard elsewhere.

A moment later, the dragonfly noted a small spark and the matrix signal of the chosen camera went dark...

Bob - Sunday, March 29th, 2071; 20:12; Hardwire's van, One block from 6326 41st St E, Tacoma, WA

With the camera going dark, I figured it was my turn to earn my keep. Not that they'd paid me yet, but Hardwire was good for it. Val was an unknown quantity, sort of. Sure he had a rep...but was this the same guy?

Ok, I'm going to scout from the roof. I'll report back what I see. Any trouble happens, I'm counting on you to live up to your reputation Val.

Exiting the van, I casually headed towards the area where the camera wasn't working anymore. Trusty spell-slinging could get me to the roof, then give me a peek inside. Not all the way inside, that office was guarded like the a bartender guards the good stuff behind the bar. But still, if I could get a better look, it might give us a clue about this place.

"Didn't I tell you about my favorite trick?...or did you just have a little blackout when I did? I lace the jaws of my drones with Narcoject, makes for a clean and quiet takedown

Hardwire kept one virtual eye on the team node overlay while digging through the Black Hat BBS. He felt a little like back in school (well, the small shack which served as a school in his neighborhood), trying to listen to the lesson while reading a book on matrix design at the same time.

Sunday, March 29th, 2071; 20:14; One block from 6326 41st St E, Tacoma, WA

Bob slipped out of the van and made his way down the street towards the target warehouse while Hardwire split his attention between the video feeds and Werner Dorthup's Guide to Renraku Matrix Protocols of 2071. For Val, the warehouse looked familiar. As he watched Bob move out of direct line of sight, his eyes returned to the front of the building and a memory...

He was driving a car, pulling into the parking lot. It is the same car that was stripped in the Redmond Barrens. Getting out, a man, the same man as today, is walking the perimeter. The man nods to Val. Val does not know his name, but the face is familiar. Walking into the warehouse, Val walks directly toward the back, past crates of goods.

Up the stairs and into the back office. Yury is sitting at the desk, three other men are in the room; two of them are sitting as well. Yury looks to Val and speaks in Russian, "Do you have her?"

The words, "No. She has disappeared." come out of his mouth, they are spoken with his voice, in his native tongue, but they feel false.

Yury growls, "You can't find that girl? I have promises to keep with that peach."

"He appears to have made contingency plans." Val feels a little smile as he steps into the room and takes the last chair. "Did you expect less? He had to have known he would eventually be caught and our... justice would reach deep."

The memory blurs and shifts. He is in another place...

Val is sitting on a park bench. Warm sun can be felt to his back and somewhere off in the distance, children can be heard giggling and playing. The old man from an earlier memory approaches and sits down. He speaks in Russian, "I have the names, but you will not like it." He paused, looking Val in the eyes. "Kirill Yunter killed her, that is certain. He had to do it personally. Pyotr "Knuckles" Kharzin... he raped her; we have DNA evidence there-"

Val could feel the rage building, the emotion returning, his hate building. He stopped took a breath. A voice inside told him, this would take time. The voice said he needed details.

The old man continued to watch and evaluate Val's eyes. "If this-"

Val replied one calm word, floating on the river of his voice, gentle but firm, "Continue."

"Video places a third man, Yury "The Crush" Fenenko, there. He involvement is unclear." The old man pauses again to gauge Val. "You should understand they are outside your reach."

Val's anger threatens to rise up. He struggles but keeps it under control, but it is evident in his voice. "How so?"

"Beyond your own inability to keep your emotions under control. They have left the country. They made bigger enemies than you... and you should know: All three have earned their stars."

Again the memories shift back to the room and Yury.

Yury looks to Val, staring for a moment, unsure. "If you don't find her, you will explain it to Kirill. Personally."

A rush flows over Val in the memory. He can only hear his inner voice telling him to remain a stone.

Val shakes his head from the memory to see that Bob has reached the roof.

On the roof, Bob looks around to see several air vents and a door for roof access by maintenance.

In the virtual, Hardwire's sprite arrives back. He notices it first not because he sees it, but because the song of Black Hat diminishes to a tolerable level. The sprite produces three separate mini-clouds. Each represents an access point labeled "Interpol".

Sunday, March 29th, 2071; 20:14; One block from 6326 41st St E, Tacoma, WA
val

val rocks back from coming back into his memory, this flash was something different something felt familiar yet cold. the names the face's in the memory colliding with the faces in the video that killed Athena. Val stops for a moment sharing what he just witnessed with both Bob and Hardwire in detail. writing out the names used in his dummy com for later reference, <@team[Val]" so that explains a few things but also rises more questions than answers. so there are probably more than two men inside at least, both capable and at the very least murderers."

Hardwire - Sunday, March 29th, 2071; 20:12; Van/Matrix, One block from 6326 41st St E, Tacoma, WA
Listening to Val's description with one ear, the Hardwire got the mental image of the incarnated movie cliche: The officer in wide hat and overcoat meeting his confidential informer...and Val had felt the need to make preparations for an escape, didn't he? @Val[Hardwire]"Dont get me wrong but...could it be you were grassing on the Vor and they found out? I mean you clearly were not playing it straight with them"

Val looks at hardwire sitting in the van and shrugs a little "until I remember everything I have no idea what I was planning. All evidence so far points to me ending these men. However with the job I now jave to hold back emotion and bring them to justice instead of retribution."

@Val[Hardwire]"Yeah, you were obviously double-crossing them for somebody. Question is whom...whoever helped you set up the bag probably knew, but he didn't leave a card"

Interpol might also know, or at least have some random hints to trigger Val's screwed synapses, which brought Hardwire back to the three clouds of information his sprite had left hovering in his virtual space: The front door was not exactly his kind of plan. The bar sounded more promising, it certainly would not be his first intrusion through a hole left when employees used their systems for fun...like that one spider, who had wanted to keep his excursions to certain a Matrix establishment hidden, and built a shortcut past any ICE to a fat stash of paydata. On the other hand, a bar full of cops was not an easy hangout.
And then there was the informer's node, which could be anything, but if a confidential informer indeed used it, they might have kept it confidential from their admins even...

Bob - Sunday, March 29th, 2071; 20:12; On the roof of 6326 41st St E, Tacoma, WA

I made it to the roof without anyone noticing me, or so I hoped. Gettin' up wasn't so difficult, it's always gettin' down without gettin' split open like a ripe melon that's the fun part. I crept over the sticky tar-covered surface as quietly as a devil-rat in a ghoul warren, silently praying that the ceiling wasn't going to give way at any moment. What an entrance that would make...

The maintenance door wasn't too far away, so I positioned myself so as not to be surprised by unexpected visitors and crouched down there to send out my mojo again, this time trying to get a look-see inside the warehouse...

Sunday, March 29th, 2071; 20:15; One block from 6326 41st St E, Tacoma, WA

Dusk has since given way to darkness. Street lights are lacking in the shipping district allowing darkness to rule the night. From the roof of the warehouse, a gentle light spilling over from the west illuminates no more than a weak moon, but more than the darkness below. Bob concentrates on his spell and shifts his own visual senses to the end of the magic eye. The magic, floating eye provides clearer sight in the near darkness than his own, mundane eyes. The invisible eyeball drops silently through the roof... into the darkness below. The faintest amount of light spills in the high windows, allowing Bob to at least determine that either no one is here or no one is awake if they are here.

The mystery node sits quietly out the way on the edge of the downtown matrix. It is local to Seattle, but otherwise unassuming. It is a two dimensional entrance sitting in a three dimensional world. Pass it at the wrong angle and you would never have seen it. The nearby sculpting is outdated and poorly maintained. The sense of anticipation is so thick it can almost be tasted.

Bob - Sunday, March 29th, 2071; 20:15; On the roof of 6326 41st St E, Tacoma, WA

Too blasted dark inside. I hoped that meant noone was home...

<<@Hardwire[Bob] It's too dark inside to see with my mojo. That COULD mean that noone's home...or that whoever or whatever is inside doesn't need light to see. I've got a few air vents and a service door up here - want me to take a crack at getting inside from this angle?>>