Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:00 PM, Rusty's Safe House, Redmond

Ferret looks over to his van. Guess she'll be safe enough here.

He takes another couple of commlink's out of the bag and sticks all but one in his pocket. He stares at the remaining one for a minute and then tosses it to Rusty. "Here, hang onto this. It's clean and not linked to a service. But if you need to reach us, I've reprogrammed the emergency call feature to dial into our secure line."

Then he mentally locks the van's doors and sets up a feed from the van's sensors to his commlink.

Prodding at his belly, he sighs, "Guess I could use some exercise. I'm ready to roll."

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:01 PM, Rusty's Safe House, Redmond

"All right gentlemen, look alive" Rusty says as he pulls up the second garage door via a heavy chain. The light from the room spills out onto a black street. A small bit of moonlight silhouettes the buildings. There are fallen signs and poles, and abandoned cars stripped to a rusted frame. All of it has been cleared from the path to the north. Nothing has leaped out of the shadows yet. The streets seem empty, and very few parts of Seattle are this quiet.

[quote name='Red-ROM' date='Mar 4 2011, 06:47 PM' post='1048189']
Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:01 PM, Rusty's Safe House, Redmond

Acme nodded, clearing his mind as he tuned out things. He'd been spending the time looking into the other realm and wheedling a few favors here and there, bringing a watcher up to his attention. Anyone watching him would see him arguing with the thing, but in the end he cleared his vision, nodding. "Ok, we got a watcher for... a couple of hours at least," he replied. "I told him to watch over Thirty and tell me if his condition has gotten worse. I'm ready to go."

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:02 PM, Rusty's Safe House, Redmond
Pan Mode:Hidden and slaved to ferrets commlink.

I'm ready too. Ferret, I'm going to slave my pan to yours, cauz it don't have much in the way of protection. Other than that lets get goin.

Zo moves out towards the gas station taking cover as needed--not ninja like in stealth but decent. He takes it slowly and deliberately as he watches for dangers such as gun ports, cameras, ambushes and any other danger.

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:03 PM, heading to the gas station, Redmond

Professor takes a position in the middle of the team as it moves out, pistol ready, astrally aware, keeping an eye out to either side.

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:03 PM, heading to the gas station, Redmond

Much to everyone's surprise, the drugged-up old man moved out ahead of the others, darting across the street to the wall of the next building and then inching around its face, gun at the ready. He paused every little bit to watch the blimp and its radar through AR as it traveled ahead of the team.

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:03 PM, Rusty's Safehouse, Redmond

Jovan sighed to himself as Professor and the rest of them headed off into the night, utterly refusing to bother with further planning. That would come back to bite them all later tonight, Jovan was sure of it. Peh. No matter. If no one will assist me in outthinking our enemies, then I will handle it with my own abilities and my own servants.

He shifted himself around in his seat and moved into the rear of the Rover, where the ork Thirty was still hooked up to medical equipment. Wasting no time on thoughts of pity, he unhooked the various IV's and other tubes from Thirty's comatose body, and moved him into a sitting position on the floor (with a bit less care than what more emotionally sensitive people would think appropriate). Then he settled into the medical chair, simultaneously issuing orders to two of his watchers standing idly by. You two, go with those metahumans that just left. Scout ahead of them, and tell me what you see. Then he relaxed his body, took several deep breaths, and summoned an air elemental even more powerful than the one that had downed the Vipers' helicopter.

The med bay exploded in a burst of spots as his brain suddenly found itself very short on oxygen. The pain! Oh God, the pain! He felt like someone had just smashed a hammer into the side of his head - nay, even worse than that, and unlike the damage from a weapon strike, this pain was not going away. He felt the blood rushing to his head, he felt the beating of his heart pounding everywhere in his body, he felt the incredible ringing in his ears that drowned out all outside sounds. Black spots filled his vision, blinding him. He couldn't see. He couldn't hear. He could hardly even feel that he was sitting in a chair. He was blacking out, falling off a cliff into an endless chasm of darkness. Yet somehow, somehow, the nosferatu held on. Somehow, he managed to stay conscious. I cannot afford to black out, not here, not with these people. It will not happen. I will not let it happen.

He fumbled weakly for his commlink, and after a long period of groping blindly, managed to hit the sub-vocal mike button. He breathed heavily into the mike, too weak to speak politely or even to form complete sentences. <<@Oswald: Human...old man... med bay... need... medical assistance...your services... are... requested...again.>>>

He was able to communicate with his new elemental with more coherence, not having to expend so much energy on speaking. I will be with you momentarily... There is just a small inconvenience I must take care of first.

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:03 PM, Redmond

The team was scanning the area in every way imaginable. The blimps sensors picked up nothing new. The spirits raced ahead with nothing to report yet. The first road to the left was blocked by a mountain of debris, and the bulldozer that pushed it there. Zo spotted some movement up the street of rats slipping along side of a building. There was a sound like someone rummaging in a dumpster far to the east, and the sound of the garage door coming back down behind them. As they made their way up the street, they saw a sign that read,"CAUTION: Contaminated Area. Contact the CATco Hot-line for more information, 522.411.65/ Phoenix Labs" hanging on the door to a crumbling tenement. Progress seemed slow, but the alertness was comforting.

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:03 PM, heading to the gas station, Redmond

The call seemed like a pretty major emergency. Enough to stop the old man in his tracks. He crouched down next to an old mailbox and slipped into VR. Bringing up the machine's control display, he saw the same out-of-control readings on the diagnostic. Hemocrit levels through the roof and blood flowing like pancake batter. It was baffling how Jovan could operate at all in such a state. I really should see if he'll let me do a little research. Been meaning to see about getting a gene-tank installed...

A few seconds later, Jovan's levels were normalizing.
<<@Jovan: I'm getting pretty good at this, eh?>>

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:03 PM, heading to the gas station, Redmond

Ferret trails the others out of the garage, slinking along behind them. One of the advantages of being a scrawny dwarf, was that people tended to overlook him.

It was quiet out here, even the matrix was a whisper. He could see little beyond the icons of the other team members and the feed from his van showing Rusty closing the garage door behind them.

As he sneaks along behind them he links their icons with the overhead maps and blips the data back to each of the team members. It's not exactly milspec but might help if they get split up.

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:34 PM, Cross-Town gas station, Redmond

The few miles to the gas station, were stressful, but uneventful. There was still a sign standing on the corner that read,"Cross-Town gas". a place that has been out of business for years. The small garage looked worn and one of the bay doors was missing. The front windows were broken, and the pumps look like they were dismantled as well. The place was pitch black inside.

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:34 PM, Cross-Town gas station, Redmond

Reaching the building, Oswald took up a defensive position on the southern wall.
"The jackpoint for the old PLTG should be in the front room. There's probably only room for one plug, so that's you Ferret. If there's room for a second, or if there's any old-time stuff you thing my decrepit ass would be better suited for, let me know. I can work with any code going back to COBOL. Otherwise, I'll be on guard out here."

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:34 PM, Cross-Town gas station, Redmond
Zo looks at Oz for second, puzzled---"Kobold? What does a Skraa band hafta do with the terminal?

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:34 PM, Cross-Town gas station, Redmond

Ferret peers nervously into the gloom, relying on this thermographic vision to pierce the gloom. Frag, do ghouls even give off body heat?

As he steps cautiously into the darkness with his machine pistol held ready, he still manages a brief hint of a smile at Zo's comment.

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:34 PM, Cross-Town gas station, Redmond

Oswald rolled his eyes up under his goggles. "About as much as syncope has to do with rhythm... By the way, Rusty mentioned that Biggs likes traps. I don't expect much to be living around here, at least not so that our astral scouts wouldn't find it first, but the traps are another matter. To that end, watch for wires."

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:34 PM, Cross-Town gas station, Redmond

The team peers into the dark garage. There's very little light and very little heat, so even the dwarves are looking at deep shadows among the ransacked tool benches and old machinery. Ferret looks into the front room through the broken window, and can just make out an old Matrix terminal on the west wall by the sales counter. Oswald can almost hear the faint hum of electricity waiting for the circuit to close. As the team made there move on the gas station, Oswald's blimp picked up movement to the east, about half a mile. The signature was small, and it was moving slow.

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:34 PM, Cross-Town gas station, Redmond

The sound of the electricity humming perked Oswald up a bit. He thought back to Rusty's big bastard cattle prod that'd dropped a berserk ghoul with a tap. "Anyone else hear that hum? Be careful of electrical traps. I figured Rusty would tell us about any traps on the station, in the spirit of cooperation and all, but assuming the best is how fools die."

Crouching down, Oswald turned the blimp east to check on the movement. No use getting everyone worked up about a bag blowing across the open yard. He flipped first through the blimps thermal to see if he could spot it by its heat, then he switched to low light to try and get a better look.

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:34 PM, Redmond

<<GLL@Jovan: Didn't really take the guy's picture, here's a clip from our security camera [attached]. He's wearing a disguise, but that's pretty normal for ghouls out and about>>

The footage was nearly useless, a dark sewer tunnel with a man in a long coat, hat, and a beard that was probably fake.

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:35 PM, Cross-Town gas station, Redmond

Taking heed of Oswald's warning, Ferret fumbles around in his toolkit and pulls out a little screwdriver, the kind that lights up when touched against a live wire. He taps it carefully on the handle of the door to the front room as he carefully examines the door and the frame around it for traps before attempting to open it.

Taking cover outside the frame of the broken front store windows. Zo takes a peek in side, scanning the interior with the ultrasound sight of his AK-97. He pauses for a second taking it all in and feeding the image to the rest of the group.

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:35 PM, Cross-Town gas station, Redmond

Knowing that there was a possibility of dealing with ghouls, Acme took a position where he could get a clear view around them, looking for that faint glow in the astral that would show them off while they still had time to hunker down and prepare. Inwardly he muttered about this job seeming a lot worse than Johnson ever said it and he'd give her a nice slap up the face if he survived.

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:34 PM, Cross-Town gas station, Redmond

Zo scanned the front room finding little of interest. Shelves that probably were stocked with nabs and Machitoes now sit dark and empty. The door behind the counter was still intact and closed. There was an old beer can sitting on the counter near the terminal. Acme and Professor watched over the team in the astral. They could see Jovan's watchers scouting ahead, past the gas station. Ferret was fairly certain that the door was free of traps. Oswald was pretty sure that the Tower had spotted a couple more ghouls. Two men with pale features walking north. one was carrying a body on it's back, the feet just dragging in the dirt behind him. The other walked about ten yards ahead with an armload of what can only be described as flesh.

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:34 PM, Cross-Town gas station, Redmond

Acme held his hand up to keep people back. They couldn't be sure if the ghouls they'd spotted were affiliated with the ones that had attacked them or were simply just... doing their own grisly business. He slid out of the gas station a bit to see where they were headed.

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:34 PM, Rusty's Safe House, Redmond

Jovan played the video footage slowly, waiting for the best possible look at the man's face. When he felt he had gotten the best picture the footage had to offer, he showed it to another of his watchers still on duty outside the Rover. Find this man. I know it isn't much to go off of, but I'm much more concerned about ascertaining whether he's nearby than I am about his specific whereabouts right now. Go.

Watchers scouting ahead, double back a bit and check on the metahumans. Let me know what their situation is. They've been radio silent for some time, I hope they haven't gotten themselves eaten or anything. I have to feed sometime too, after all.

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:34 PM, Cross-Town gas station, Redmond

"Two ghouls coming from 500 meters east. Moving slow and swollen with fresh flesh. Should I scare them off, kill them, or invite them for tea? They're ghouling out pretty hard, so I doubt they're sensible. Hell I don't even know how well a warning shot would work with those fucked up eyes of theirs"

Oswald sat down, cross-legged, and went into VR.

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:34 PM, Cross-Town gas station, Redmond

Ferret hesitates, one hand on the door to the front room.

"I'd rather not end up like Amber, or BDLL if they ate him too. Can you take them out without letting anything else that's trying to kill us know we're here."

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:34 PM, Cross-Town gas station, Redmond

Professor turned his gaze away from the gas station window and looked east, not expecting to see anything but concerned by Oswald's warning anyway. The previous encounter with a ghoul still weighed heavily on him.

"If they are 500 meters away, they could be going just about anywhere. Firing at them may get them to run, but they could just as easily run in our direction. Firing at them will also be rather noisy, which is something we tried to avoid by walking. And by your description, they have no incentive to hunt at the moment. I wouldn't worry about them just yet, but keeping an eye on them would be prudent."

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:34 PM, Cross-Town gas station, Redmond

"Ferret, da place is empty an I gotcha covered. I don't see any trip wires, mono wires or other nasties except for an empty beer can. Oz, place the ghouls on our map and keep an eye on them. As much as I feel we should do our civic duty and geek the fraggers, I'm wit Prof, we need to keep it chill so we can get in an get out. Preferably not gettin shot at, bullets and streetdocs are expensive."

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:34 PM, Cross-Town gas station, Redmond

The big ork's presence makes Ferret feel more secure. Just like when Throgg covered my back when we ran BTLs to the Vory, he thinks.

"Thanks Zo. I do appreciate having some backup."

He opens the door and enters the room carefully, scanning around with his machine pistol held in a two-handed grip, then hustles over to the ancient terminal.

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:34 PM, Cross-Town gas station, Redmond

"I got a silencer as long as your arm on that gun. Quiet isn't a problem. Even if they knew exactly where we were, I could down about 40 of them before they arrived. Killing them would be as easy as breathing. I just don't particularly feel like wasting the ammo."

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:36 PM, Cross-Town gas station, Redmond

Ferret made his way across the small room to the Terminal on the far wall. It was amazing how odd it was to be standing in front of the thing. On one hand, They had been ubiquitous only seven or eight years ago. But technology changes fast, and this was a cave painting nowadays. The screen was cracked and blank, and the LED light was busted out too. But there was a low hum and a warmth that told Ferret that this thing was on. There was a datajack to the right of the keypad. It was the only way left to operate this thing.
Jovan's watcher sailed away from the rover, zipping almost aimlessly through the area. Heading past the gas station towards the town beyond. It stops shy of the outer condos,"The mana ahead is too dark, and too sick, I fear I would not survive."
As the spirit speaks, it also witnesses a large explosion to the west. An explosion that can be heard like distant artillery by the group at the gas station. The watcher begins to relay what it sees to Jovan,"There's an explosion, a fireball erupts from the ground. There are a few men thrown to the ground, dead, a dog is running from the blast, what shall I do now?"

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:36 PM, Cross-Town gas station, Redmond


Oz-- could you feed us what's goin on over there? That didn't sound dat good, sounds like one of BDLL's traps went off. If he's alive an kicken he's gonna be more alert.

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:36 PM, Cross-Town gas station, Redmond

The explosion fed into Oswald's mind through his headphones' pickups and his body jerked through the VR trance.
"That explosion wasn't linked to the geeks I'm watching. Radar picked that up over west. A mile at least. I'll let the sweeper keep track of our corpseaters for a minute while I track down the blast. I'll broadcast the full sensor feed for anyone curious."
<<@Team: [data feed]>>

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:36 PM, Rusty's Safehouse, Redmond

Jovan's paranoia was starting to kick in again. News of this explosion had far-reaching implications in Jovan's mind, and none of them boded well. It could have been a sprung trap of BDLL's, which was of course quite a likely possibility. That could mean that there were far more traps in the area than they had anticipated; the gas station could rigged with bombs, several other streets could be rigged, an even this safehouse was suspect. But what if it was not one of Long Legs' traps? What if their enemies were on the move again? What if it was placed not by Long Legs, but by something turned toxic by the astral taint in this place? Insect spirits, perhaps, or an insane ghoul? What if Johnathan was behind the bomb, maddened and dehumanized by these monstrous Barrens? What if the Vipers were the perpetrators, and were in the area with them, perhaps having somehow traced their movement to this Cross area? Perhaps those men were other Viper members, which would further decrease the threat posed by the (formerly) 12 Vipers - though Jovan doubted that such a thing would be fortunate for them in the face of whoever was behind it.

Get as close as you can to that location. Very close. Tell me what the dead men look like - do they have claws? Do they look armed and professional, like mercenaries? That sort of thing.

<<@team: Yes, some upstanding young gentleman out for an evening stroll with their dog, it seems *rolls eyes*. Watch your backs, and let me look into the explosion. It may have been one of Long Legs' traps freshly sprung.>>

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:36 PM, Rusty's Safehouse, Redmond

The dog is coming for me! I must flee! Help me!
The panic is palpable from the spirit. Jovan can sense it tearing through the astral plane in fear.

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:36 PM, Rusty's Safehouse, Redmond

<<@team: Only gentlemen wandering around here are ghouls. Only dogs in a place like this are gonna be fucked up twisted things. Maybe a Cerberus attacked a couple stray ghouls? I'll have visual soon enough.>>
Oswald was suddenly feeling very exposed.

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:36 PM, Rusty's Safehouse, Redmond

Big dog that survived an explosion. Nope, not a good time to be out in the open.

Professor stepped inside the building and took a position by the window, covering part of the open area to the south of the building. "Maybe getting inside is a good idea for all of us. I don't know what that dog is, but there is some agitation on the astral over that disturbance. Might be one of Jovan's kids, don't know. But I feel safer in here."

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:36 PM, Rusty's Safehouse, Redmond

Zo followed the professor into the building muttering under his breathe one of his favorite Neil the ork Babarians lines "I don't care if it bleeds or not , just smash it in da face!"

Zo then checks the door behind the counter before he opens it. Looking for any sign it might be trapped.

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:36 PM, Rusty's Safehouse, Redmond

Jovan narrowed his eyes venomously at this obstinacy and irrationality he was receiving from a lowly watcher, of all things. His intuition felt something magical at work, and his intuition was usually right, but if that was not the case here than he most assuredly would not brook any more of this nonsense from the watcher. Get a hold of yourself, watcher! Have you so easily forgotten what you are? You are a spirit, a creature of the astral, fettered neither by gravity nor matter! You are not bound by the 2-dimensional movement restrictions that limit that dog! If you are so desperate to keep the dog from destroying you, then all you need do is move skyward and float outside of its reach. But I need you to tell me what I'm dealing with here, and whether it is dual-natured. I cannot help you further unless I know what it looks like.

<<@team: Maybe, maybe not, but I definitely smell a paranimal at work here regardless. I suggest you all retreat inside the station, but truly, you absolutely must make sure there are no booby traps anywhere in that building. This entire thing could be just a feint to get you into a more vulnerable position if and when you trigger a trap in the gas station, and the trigger of which might very well be the act of accessing that terminal by anyone who isn't Rusty.>>

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:36 PM, Rusty's Safehouse, Redmond

Acme frowned at the possibility of some sort of paranimal. That could be any sort of problem, and if it was capable of causing explosions, well.... that was another kettle of fish. He just kept watch in his own direction, since Professor had his direction covered.

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:36 PM, Rusty's Safehouse, Redmond

<<@team: Well, I'm all for shooting it in the head, whether it's a beast or a ghost, but maybe we can use it to clean up more of these ghouls. Think we should drive the ghouls to it? I'd rather not bring it any close to me.>>

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:36 PM, Redmond

Oswald's tower pulled off from the ghouls it was watching, and headed for the second disturbance. As Jovan tried to rationalize with his Watcher, the small spirit soared into the second floor of an abandoned building,"The dog glowed bright and terrible. It looked right at me with a piercing gaze. It had magic that shook me to the core. I am hiding, I am sorry master, but I have to hide!"

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:37 PM, Redmond

Ferret examines the beat up old terminal almost reverently. A Cyberdyne 2150. Jeez, these were old when they were introduced.

He runs a finger round the datajack, feeling for anything strange. Then he unspools a length of fiberoptic cable and plugs one end into the jack just behind his right ear. He finds a comfortable spot on the floor near the terminal and prepares to jack in.

"I start twitching and bleeding, jack me out. I'll take my chances with dumpshock over black IC." he mutters to noone in particular."

<<@Rusty: Pick up old fella. I need to know if you got a password or anything to log on to this washing machine here that's pretending to be a terminal.>>

Without waiting for a reply, he pushes the jack into place. The world twists, greys fading not quite to chrome. His icon shimmers as it adjusts to the capabilities of the ancient hardware. His skin is a flat, dull grey rather than mirrored chrome, his features are blocky and poorly rendered as the rendering engine completely fails to handle his icon's advanced smoothing algorithms. Even directly linked to the old terminal, his reactions feel sluggish.

Still his jaw opens into a broad toothy grin. Man this takes me back. Don't remember it being this slow though. Either it's system rating is way too low or it's running on a power saving setting. Or there's some big ass black IC waiting to gank me.

His matte black eyes scour the node's icon looking for just that.

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:37 PM, Redmond

<<790: Multiple persona error/>>
<<5402:UnknownProtocol//>>
<<999:RuntimeError//>>
The pixelated ferret itches with code errors beating down his systems response as it tries to compensate. The world around him is an almost blocky feeling Highway with over blue skies and fluffy clouds. A friendly gas station smiles at the tiny rodent, that seems to be rendered much smaller than his surroundings. The man asks,"How can I help you today?"
Ferret's analyze program is reading this guy as a main menu interface. He waves his arm and many options appear. A cyberterminal like the one Ferret is on appears reading,"Public Matrix". A fiery bird appears, circling around two white towers making the label,"Cross Labs directory". The gas station appears with a shiny 60's model Eurocar parked in front reading,"schedule garage services"

The Blimp moved to the west in time to see a dog running into an old building. It looked like a bull mastiff, but bigger and it's fur was black. There was scorched earth in the middle of an open road. Two bodies lay motionless on the ground as if tossed there from a moving car. Their skin is pale and grey, and the claws are visible and bloody. scattered about are dead rat carcasses, probably carried by the ghouls.

Zo opens the door behind the counter where Ferret lays. the room beyond is dark, with empty tool benches along the walls. to the right are the work bays, with car lifts and large toolboxes and old diagnostic machines. the light breeze outside made it's way through the missing bay door. The place still looked to be deserted.

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:37 PM, Redmond

"Well, that was Fido, boys. Looks like he's staying put, and he's certainly not on the hunt, since he's leaving all that tasty ghoul-meat on the ground to rot. I'll mark the hazard on the map. You boys think I should test his boundaries? I could fire a shot into the asphalt a few hundred meters from his doss and see if he perks up. If he rushes out, I'll fill him full of daylight. If not, we just go around the shit-beast."
Oswald kept the lens focused on the door to the house where the dog had disappeared and maneuvered the gun's reticule down and to the left, to hit a spot over half a kilometer away from the dog's position.

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:37 PM, Redmond

Professor chimes in, "I don't think we should stir up any trouble."

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:37 PM, Redmond

Ferret tries to ignore the itchy code as he focuses on the icons presented by the menu interface/attendant. His whiskers twitch sluggishly as he turns his attention to each of the icons presented. He starts with the Public Access terminal, figuring it to be the least likely to be protected. Then he examines the Garage Sheduling Services and finally the Cross Labs Directory icon.

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:37 PM, Redmond

Ferret scans the Icons presented. The public Matrix seems to be a portal to the ,now defunct, Matrix of the 60's. The Gas station icon is a scheduling program, boasting that there's no wait. The Cross Labs directory is a list of public nodes on the grid,including the Bistro that Rusty mentioned.

Jovan's spirit yelps again,"The beast still chases me. I'm taking to the skies!" with that, he flies through the wall of the building and heads for the clouds. Even though the spirit is still trying to get away, Jovan can feel the fear subsiding.

Professor spots a man glowing with the dual nature and infection of a ghoul, emerging from a building to the east with a devil rat in hand.

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:37 PM, Redmond

Professor starts at the sight. <<Ghoul, with a ... an ugly, weird rat in his hand coming from the east.>>

Friday, Sept. 11, 2071, 10:37 PM, Redmond

Acme tilted his head, and jerked over to the east to see what Professor was looking at. He wasn't entirely worried, at least it only seemed to be one of them, but he decided to fall back into a better position anyway. It wouldn't do to just be out there as ghoul bait.. He squinted to see if the rat was alive or just another snack.