@Silent
It's been a pretty slow couple of weeks for you and not much has been happening in the job market, if you know what I mean. Beginning to worry that you soon might start to loose your edge, you're excited when your fixer, Alan Flash, drops you a message:

Got a potential for you. Point your gear at this address 697-91-2293 and check out the information there. The host will only be available for the next 12 hours, so if you don't get the intel, I'll assume you're not interested. My sources tell me that your friends are more than welcome to be included in this operation.
--- Alan ---

--edit--

--Edit--

After checking his messages, Silent smiles a little and makes a note of the LTG address on his pocket secretary. Given the short amount of time available for the site, Silent decides to get on his computer immediately and check things out.

He sits down in front of his PC and logs on to the LTG to see what's there and whether it's too much for him to handle by himself.

@Silent
Arriving at the correct LTG address, you're startled to find an advertisement for bricks-and-mortar gambling den just inside the barrens named the Jack of all Spades. It seems that they're having a going-out-of-business extravaganza tonight and they're owner would like you and the others to contact him by midnight tonight at your convenience. The message includes a telephone number and the address for the Jack of all Spades.

Silent makes calls Hook, Aelarith, and Mallard, and tells them to check out the LTG address he was given. He also tells them that he is going to call the owner and set up a meeting.

After finishing contacting his 'associates', Silent calls the Jack of All Spades and asks to speak with the owner.

"Tell me what he says." Hook ends the phone conversation, a slight tug in his voice revealing a wish to be on the phone when Silent calls Jack of Spades. However, Hook had more important things on his mind: looking up this LTG. After heading outside, a quick (only 45 minutes) bus ride, and a ten minute walk, Hook arrives at his location: Seattle First Public Library. He waves hello to the librarian and, after finding out where the computers are, heads over, slips a pair of trodes on, and slowly dips into Matrix, looking for this LTG (and ironically, his lost saltshaker of salt).

"ok that sounds fine with me silent, thanks for letting me know and tell me what he says", Alelarith hangs up the phone.
She catches a cab to the nearest public library. As the cab pulls up to the curb she pulls out her credstick and pays her fare offering a warm smile as she steps out onto the sidewalk. She then anxiously steps into the library stopping at the first member of staff to ask about a computer to be used. She is directed to the nearest unused computer. Alelarith Then gets to work searching for this LTG.

<<ooc>> better?

@Hook and Alelarith
Arriving at the LTG you see a similar advertisement to what Silent described to you. It seems a static advertisement with nothing to really dig your teeth into. You both think that perhaps Mallard will have more luck with digging any other information out of the host.

@Silent
When you call the Jack of all Spades, the receptionist tells you that the owner is out on business at the moment, but will return tonight at 8:00pm. She then sets up an appointment for you, Hook, Alelarith, and Mallard for 9:00pm. She says that should give him enough time to greet people and answer his messages.

Alelarith waves a taxi down then gives him her home address to point his cab. As the cab reaches the sidewalk near her home she pays with her trademark smile and steps out of the taxi and walks casually to her front door. Alelarith then reaches into her pocket and out again to reveal her house keys. She fits them into the lock turns and enters taking out the key before shutting the door and firmly locking it.
Alelarith then makes her way to the bathroom where she slowly strips off and enters the now running hottub. She lies back and breaths out slowly and closes her eyes.

After lying in the hot tub for some period of time she gets out of the tub and starts wiping herself down with a towl. Alelarith then proceeds to brush her hair, put on her black eye shadow, and black nail polish. Ooc: Woops i forgot to tell you shes a goth..... sorry.

IC: after getting into some clothes she sits down on the sofa and rings silent.
"Are you going to pick me up or are you going to make me catch a cab?" she says in a mock playful vioce"

Silent has the receptionist set up the appointment for 9:00pm.

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

Silent replies to Alelarith, flirting back to her, "You know I don't have a car. None of us do. Besides, walking is good exercise. This place is out near the barrens. I wouldn't trust my car sitting out there if I had one. Our appointment is at 9:00pm. See you there, girl."

Alelarith continues with phone conversation: "Ok honey sorry i forgot (giggles) i'll see you later are we all going to take seperate taxi's or is one of us going to get a cab and go pick up everyone then go to the appionment, although i dont really see the point in that?"

:Kesdak while speaking to his Fixer overhears another Fixer telling a group of people to jack into 697-91-2293, curious he jacks in. Upon finding information about a meeting that he might be interested in going to. Jacks out:

:Prods Xel who is sculling down a Beer:,"Hey Xel, give us a lift 'ey. Were heading out near the barrens"

Xel naga having his drink interupted by Hidden-shadow while giving him an evil stare agrees to take him to the barrens

:ignores last 2 posts:

OOC: Mana Child, were just trying to join in the game. Fool

Xel naga & Hidden-shadow, apply to join the game on the OOC thread please guys. It's bad form to post on a game you aren't part of.

Silent says, "It would be best if we all arrived in separate cabs. There is less chance of a gogang attack if we are on the road less time. It also won't look like we all know each other, which is a good precaution to take."

Mallard hangs up after getting the call from Silent. I guess this why I make the big bucks....

Ignoring the little voice in his head that tells him to not deck from his doss, he hauls out the Avatar and plugs it into the wall. Taking a second datachord, he conects one end to the deck and holds the other end in his hand for a moment before sliding it into the jack on his right temple with a 'snic'.

The world of the Matrix unfolded before him and as fast as thought he made hi s way to the Jack of All Spades.

@Mallard
Jumping onto the Matrix, you log onto the Seattle-UCAS LTG and the virtual representation of Seattle leaps into view. Entering the LTG address given to you by Silent, you zip forward towards a small matrix hosts with blinking lights. The advertisement for the going-out-of-business extravaganza is still prominent, but you notice that any mention of the the owner wanting to meet with you has been removed.

Entering the host, you see that their iconography is that of a casino. The flashing lights and the mirrors are reminiscent of Las Vagas in the late 20th. Red shag carpeting covers the floors and pulsating colors assault you as your reality filter ties to deal with the garish data-stream. Pulling up any information you can gather from the public grid, you get their normal hours of hoperation (3:00pm - 2:00am) as well as the name of the owner -- one Jamison "Jimmy" Lincoln -- who's smiling face beams out at you from the "Meet the Owner" section of their host. They list blackjack, poker, and craps as their main games but do not list any slots or other mechanical games of chance.

As you move through the casino, you notice a small door on the back wall that is marked "Employees Only."

Alelarith says to Silent "where are you at the moment?" "is there anything thing we should do until the meeting?"

Silent says to Alelarith, "We might want to have Mallard check the place out before we go there. Knowing him, he probably already is."

Alelarith says to silent "fine that sounds good should we wait till he contacts us?"

Silent says over the phone, "Yes, let's wait, but not too long. We don't want to be late. Mallard has our numbers. He can call us on the way if he needs to. Eh.. you did pick up a cellular phone like I suggested didn't you?"

@Everyone except Xel Naga and Kesdack
As night approaches, you all get to the Jack of all Spades as exected. Not wanting to arrive late, most of you are able to land cab rides early and arrive between 8 and 8:30. Mallard arrives just in the nick of time at about 8:50 before you are approached by a tall human in a three-piece suit.

The Jack of all Spades is a run down dive of a place, nothing like the matrix advertisement and iconography would have lead you to believe. It's a smoke filled, somewhat smelly place and not near as nice as you expected. The tables are worn and the chairs don't match. The dealers are mostly human with a few orks mixed in. There are two obvious bouncers (a human and a dwarf) at the door but when you tell them that you're here to meet with the owner at 9:00, they let you in with only a cursory glance.

"Hello. My name is Jimmy Lincoln," says the man as you approach. "I believe that you are here to meet with me?"

"Yes", says alelarith. "i hear you have some potential business for us?"

"You'd be right." Hook says quietly, lighting a cigarette.

Silent nods at the owner in acknowledgement and begins milling about the room as the owner talks, examining the surroundings.

@Leowulf
The owners is droning on for a moment obviously trying to get into the rhythm of his sale. You can almost fell the sleaze coming off of this guy. He must have been a used car salesman in another life!

The bar is filled with a small number of patrons despite the going-out-of-business-extravaganza. Most are humans, but you see a few orks and dwarves in the room as well. As you look around you do notice that there are a few people who seem to watch everyone else instead of playing any games. They're probably the bouncers and the employees who watch for anyone trying to cheat the house. There are more than a few places to hide in the room where you could probably watch over all the action. You don't see any cameras or other passive security, but they're probably out there somewhere. Even a place as bad as this could probably afford some type of electronic survailence.

The others are calling to you at this point. It seems that the owner is moving out of the common room and into a private one.



@All but Silent
The owner continues: "I brought you all hear because Alan vouched for you guys. He told me that you'd done a few jobs but nothing too big, and those are exactly the type of .... employees .... that I'm looking for right now. I was afraid if I hired people that had too much of a street rep. that you might be spotted." He looks around conspiratorily as if he expects to be overheard but goes on to say, "As I assume you learned from the advertisement, we're going out of buisness, but it isn't my fault. You see, I've been robbed." He whispers this last bit so no one betting against the house can hear. He looks around again and says: "Why don't we go in to a private room? Yes?" Without waiting for your responses he turns and begins heading to the back of the room.

Beckoning to Silent to follow you in ....

@Everyone
.... you all follow Jimmy into a back room. The room you enter is obviously a "high roller's room." There's a circular table with a felt top in the center of the room that coudl be used for poker or blackjack. There's also a long rectangular table for craps in the corner. As you all enter the room a bored looking ork is startled but when he sees Jimmy in the lead he mumbles something and moves behind a small bar that you didn't notice at first, "Anyone want something to drink?" he growls.

Jimmy waves his hand, refusing the ork's offer, and sits down at the poker table. "Feel free to have anything you'd like, assuming it's behind the bar," he begins. "Do any of you know of the Queen of Hearts? She's a similar casino about 3 miles from here in a better part of town. Well, there's been a few incidents between us. Seems I sent a few of my people to go start a fight in her place, they sent a few to do the same out there," he gestures to indicate his own common room. "But, things went a little further last week. I am convinced that they sent a card shark in here to clean me out. We had one guy all but break the house at this very poker table and then when we went to pay up, we found that the money on the safe had been lifted! We don't know how it happened, but we want you guys to find out."

Silent stands off to the side again. This time, he makes sure that he close enough to hear what is being said. Now that the introduction was out of the way, Silent wants to make sure he hears the important things. He still looks around the room, pretending not to pay attention and studying his surroundings.

After the initial set up for the job, Silent says, "Can you tell us if you have questioned your employees to see if this was an inside job? And, what was your name?"

@Leowulf
I have spoken with my employees and my name is Jimmy Lincoln. Why?

Alelarith brushes her chin against silents shoulder closest to his neck breathing softly.

Silent says, "I didn't catch your name the first time. It seems suspicious for all of your casino's money to disappear. Most casinoes keep their money under tight security. I notice that you have several people around watching the tables to make sure that players are honest. Do you have cameras? More specifically, do you have cameras in your vault area? The point that I am making is that someone would have to have access to your vault area in order to get the money, unless your vault is not very secure."

He turns and smiles at Alelarith.

Alelarith focuses her gaze on Jimmy Lincoln "To tell the truth i dont really believe your story.......... Although i could yet be convinced".
She then whispers into silents ears "what do you think sweetie" she then looks intently into silent's eyes, she then raises her left eyebrow in question.
She then runs her fingers through her hair on the right side of her head and then refocusing on Jimmy Lincoln in a questioning fashion she then scans the room with her eyes veiwing the whole place in general distrust then turns back to silent again.

Xel naga casts a glance towards silent, before staring at the ground in front of him mumbling a tune to himself.

@Everyone
"We have the cameras and have reviewed the tape. However, the cameras did not record anyone in the vault. We think that there was a matrix intrusion into our system and that our cameras were tampered with, but if that is the case, the decker was good enough to leave no trace of his activities, other than a doctored and suspicious log."

"The employees were mostly focused on the guy who was winning. We think, but can't prove, that he was cheating. As a result, we had most of the people on the floor watching him, hoping to see him switching cards, palming a deck while cutting them, etc. But we caught nothing. It also seems as if he know the layout of the building because he picked a seat," he indicates the one to the left of his own seat, "where the cameras couldn't see his face or his hands; an oversight we have since fixed."

He sighs for a moment, "Our vault is as secure as we could afford to make it. It's a room in the back that we installed a pressure sensor in front of to warn us if someone stood in front of the door. It also had a maglock and a voice print analysis. All of which, however, were hooked into a central security system. If the decker got into the cameras, he could have also gotten into the security system. The only thing that he couldn't have turned off was the pressure sensor, but some how that didn't seem to go off either. There is only one way in or out of the vault, over that sensor. I just can't understand it."

"Before you ask, we had some money in a matrix bank in case of a big winner, which is what we've used up for tonight hoping to be able to foreclose on our morgage. We have two weeks to figure out what happened to the money and try to get it back. If we can, then I can pay the morgage and keep the building and probably re-open the Jack. But, if not then I guess the Queen has won this hand."

"i dont know about everyone else but i'll help you"

"Yes... this could prove to be interesting..." says Silent.

And it's bound to be tough if we get into a fight. A good way to train.

"The decker might not have needed to turn off the pressure sensor, only feed your computer a false reading. If you were hit by a decker, then they were a real pro. I have two more questions: Why is your security system remotely accessible - is it linked to the matrix? And second, how much will you pay us for our help?"

@Everyone
The security system isn't directly available to the matrix, but it is connected to the host within the building. That host is then connected to the matrix. We were hoping that no one would bother to attack us -- protection due to anonimity perhaps."

He sighs for a moment before answering Silent's second question: "I can pay you 10,000 nuyen each for this job. If it become hazardous I can increase that amount, but only if we recover some or all of my money."

"Ten Thousand nu's?" Hook sits up, the cigarette all but forgotten. "Ten thousand?" He shakes his head for a second, and takes a deep breath. Then he shrugs. Money, as most runners know, is money.

"What do you know about this other casino, what kind of people to they generally employ? Do they have any kind of special security? Who runs it?"

Silent looks around at the other members of the team, trying to guage their responses to the offer before speaking his opinion.

Money. The more I have, the more weapons and training I can buy. I want more.

Mallard raises an eyebrow at the price. That's more than I expected. I wonder what he's hiding...?

@ Jimmy: "Assuming that we're all in on this, I'd like to get a look at your Matrix security as a first step. You can provide me with the necessary passcodes, correct?"

@Hook
The Queen of Hearts is run by a minx named Amanda Scheorn. She hires the usuall muscle to watch her place, probably not to different from mine. She's got a better place than mine, to be honest, and she's been wanting to by the Jack from me for a while.

@Mallard
That should be fine. I can give you basic access to the system. Well, I can't, but I'll get my sec. people to get them to you.

"hmm i suppose you guys are right, money is money"

Silent looks around at everyone once again and says, "We'll take the job. Tell me more about this man who was very good at playing cards. Did you have anyone capable of percieving the astral watching him? Was anyone with him? What did he and his friends look like?"

@Everyone
Jimmy nods, "Good. I was hoping you'd be able to help me." He flashes you a quick grin before continuing, "The card shark looked like anyone else. We don't have a mage that works for us, so we couldn't look at him on the astral. He was alone, as far as we could tell. He was tall, maybe 2 meters, lightweight, wearing plain clothes. Didn't go near his pockets, wore short sleeves. Didn't look like he was cheating, but somehow the cards always came up for him. I suppose he could have been legit, and it just happened that the vault was robbed at the same time, but that seems a longshot, doesn't it?"

"Heh. So, we're looking for a guy thats above average height, wears shirts and pants, and doesn't use his pockets...No prob."

Mallard stretches lazily and shakes his head. "Forget I mentioned it. I'll take those codes as soon as you can get them. The rest of you shoud get a look at the vault. I'll be along as soon as I finish."

" as far as the guy is concerned we dont have much to go on but that amanda scheorn could be a different matter"

@Mallard
"Our security is handled by an external firm called Polson Securities. I will contact them when we're finished here and get you the information you need.

Mallard nods, "If thats the case we might as well go take a look at the vault and start interviewing your staff. I assume we have carte blanche for these purposes? Also, we'll be needing half of the agreed payment up front. I'll take mine in certified cred or script. Which ever is easier for you."

"After we all go to the vault I think we should split up. We can cover more ground that way. Aley, you're with Silent. Take the dealers and those guys that look for cheaters--they may know more than they're letting on. Hook, Naga. You're with me. Well take the security and wait staff"

"Jimmy, how quiet or noisy do you want this to be?"

@All
"You may speak to anyone that you wish to, but not all at once -- at least not all at once tonight. I want as many people out there tonight as I can have so that I can make get some money back. If you wait here a moment, I'll return with your cred."

Jimmy exits the room leaving you alone for the moment.